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LEICESTER, United Kingdom - Catholic schools in the Republic of Ireland can no longer give preference to Catholic students. Richard Bruton, the Irish Minister for Education and Skills, made the announcement Oct. 3 on Twitter. Unlike in the United States, the government funds religious schools in Ireland, and about 96 percent of elementary schools in the country are under the patronage of a religious group, and approximately 90 percent of these schools are run by the Catholic Church. In some areas of the country - mostly in and around the capital Dublin - there are more students seeking places in...

Kentucky Agri-business Development Team medic, U.S. Army Sgt. Isaac Jones, examines a boy during a medical outreach program in Janqadam village, Parwan province, Afghanistan, Dec. 19. The program was conducted inside a school in Janqadam village and provided a wide range of medical treatments for those who live in and around the area. (Photo by Combined Joint Task Force - 82 PAO) Written by U.S. Army Spc. William E. Henry Combined Joint Task Force - 82 PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan –  Task Force Cyclone Soldiers from the Kentucky Agri-business Development Team recently participated in a medical outreach program for the people...

Locals express concerns about "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which includes a rape scene of an 8-year-old. An autobiography by renowned author Maya Angelou has become the latest book in Orange County to be challenged as unfit for school libraries. Judy Ahrens, a former Westminster School District trustee, took to the podium at Monday's Huntington Beach City Council meeting to read a scene from Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' that details the rape of an 8-year-old girl. The reading was a demonstration on why the book should be banned, she told the audience. "I would...

Safford Middle School officials did not violate the civil rights of a 13-year-old Safford girl when they forced her to disrobe and expose her breasts and pubic area four years ago while looking for a drug, according to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. The justices voted 2-1 in favor of the Safford School District on Sept. 21. The decision upheld a federal district court's summary judgement that Safford Middle School Vice Principal Kerry Wilson, school nurse Peggy Schwallier and administrative assistant Helen Romero did not violate the girl's Fourth Amendment rights on Oct. 8, 2003, when they...

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27 —Ladera Heights is a place that some black Angelenos aspire to and others scoff at. Skip to next paragraph Monica Almeida/The New York Times Alisa Ivie looking at the homework of her children, Joshua, 11, and Jessica, 6, at their home in Ladera Heights, near Los Angeles. It is a choice hilltop neighborhood filled with spacious houses, well-trimmed shrubbery and city and ocean views. Home to many African-American doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals, the community is sometimes called "the black Beverly Hills." But community leaders say just one thing is missing, decent public schools, and...

'Killer Culture': A call to the churches Posted: January 26, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: Early in 2003, while preparing our February Whistleblower issue (titled "Taking America Back") on restoring the nation's political, cultural and spiritual heritage, our editors asked WorldNetDaily columnist, veteran talk-show host and media expert Bob Just to write on what role America's churches should play in taking America back. The issues he addressed in that story – centered around today's neo-pagan and highly sexualized youth culture – were so potent that we decided not to publish it in that edition, but instead to produce an...