BERLIN (AFP) — German critics savaged Tom Cruise's portrayal of Adolf Hitler's would-be killer in "Valkyrie" ahead of the film's release here this week, but relished a homegrown hero getting the Hollywood treatment. "Valkyrie" has been one of the most keenly awaited new releases in Germany this winter, thanks to the legendary status of its subject – Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg – and a string of controversies during its production. Although expectations were low here for Cruise in the role ...

Opponents of the Church of Scientology have accused the controversial organisation of attempting to ban a pair of HIV-positive protesters. Lawyers acting for Scientology are allegedly using medical information about two protesters picketing a Scientology facility near Hemet, California in an attempt to prevent the duo's attendance at further demos. The two protesters Angry Gay Pope and Happy Smurf, a former Scientologist, are contesting the legal action, which would prevent them protesting at the important facility (known internally as Gold Base). ...

A Chicago dentist has agreed to pay $462,500 to settle federal allegations that he violated U.S. discrimination laws by sexually harassing workers and by forcing employees who wanted to keep their jobs to submit to indoctrination in the tenets of Scientology. The Chicago office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had filed a civil lawsuit against James L. Orrington in September 2007, asserting he had discriminated against 18 employees by subjecting them to sexual propositions, comments and improper touching. The suit ...

RIVERSIDE — The Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday suspended a new ordinance that restricts residential picketing to 50 feet or more away from a subject's property in light of evidence that the measure was already proving difficult to interpret. The board voted unanimously to refer the anti-picketing ordinance to the county counsel's office and Riverside County Sheriff's Department to determine what amendments might be necessary to make it easier to enforce. Last week, the board approved the measure as ...

Riverside County supervisors on Tuesday suspended enforcement of a newly approved picketing ordinance, backed by the Church of Scientology, and instructed county staff to return in one month with clearer rules. "I want to make things easier and simpler for everyone involved, particularly for the sheriff which has to enforce it," Supervisor Bob Buster said of the picketing ordinance. "We don't want to pass ordinances that are used in an incorrect way to ... intimidate people from exercising their rights." Last ...

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors today temporarily suspended an ordinance it passed last week to limit protests outside a large Church of Scientology compound near Hemet. Protesters show up about once a month outside Golden Era Productions, home to 500 Scientologists, on Gilman Springs Road. In an incident last week, protesters were swarmed by sheriff's deputies trying to enforce the ordinance. After a vigorous debate among supervisors, the ordinance was suspended today. The measure, which was requested by the church ...

John Travolta and his wife Kelly stood vigil for four hours over the body of their 16-year-old son Jett on the tiny island of Grand Bahama. The poignant scene was described by neighbour and family friend Obie Wilchcombe, who said: ‘They didn’t want to leave.’ The teenager’s premature death from an epileptic fit last weekend was as unexpected as it was tragic. Although Jett had suffered serious health problems since early childhood, the Hollywood actor believed his son would be as ...

THOUSANDS of members of the Church of Scientology may be suffering from untreated mental and neurological conditions, according to a former follower who taught John Travolta, the Hollywood star. Sufferers are told to cure themselves with vitamins and saunas while it is denied that they have problems such as epilepsy or autism, said Tory Christman, now a fierce critic of the church. Christman left after suffering epileptic fits, culminating in a seizure which caused her to fall in the bath, knocking ...

By Jeff Proctor Journal Staff Writer As controversy has swirled around the Second Chance secure drug rehabilitation center over the types of inmates it is allowed to house, the center's officials have maintained that the decision has always been up to individual judges. But it appears at least some of the judges who have sentenced people to Second Chance were told different things about what sort of inmates the program was geared toward. Second Chance President Joy Westrum has refused interview ...

Riverside County supervisors Tuesday fast-tracked and unanimously approved an ordinance that restricts picketing outside homes and a Church of Scientology base near Hemet. Supervisors deemed the restrictions urgent and voted to forgo regular statutory proceedings, which include a second hearing. The ordinance went into effect after its introduction Tuesday despite unresolved questions about exactly how rules will apply to the Scientology base. The new ordinance, backed by the church and Supervisor Jeff Stone, stipulates that pickets must remain at least 50 ...