Free Republic

For a stunning and emotional 18 minutes on Thursday, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly cut through a nasty debate over condolence calls to Gold Star families, appealing to the political class to allow at least this one thing to remain “sacred.” Instead, Democratic lawmakers and operatives and allies in the media immediately turned on Kelly – himself a Gold Star father – branding him a liar and an “enabler” of President Trump, even suggesting his criticism of a black Democrat who publicized one of those calls was racist. “Kelly isnt just an enabler of Trump. He's a believer...

North Korea has warned it will not be intimidated by Donald Trump's threats in an "unprecedented" letter sent to other countries. "If Trump thinks that he would bring the DPRK, a nuclear power, to its knees through nuclear war threat, it will be a big miscalculation and an expression of ignorance," the letter said. "Trump threatened to totally destroy the DPRK ... it is an extreme act of threatening to totally destroy the whole world." The document was published by the Sydney Morning Herald and has been verified by Australia's foreign ministry. Foreign minister Julie Bishop described the missive as...

(CNN)Natasha De Alencar was sitting at home after a trip to Walmart in April when a phone rang. It was President Donald Trump, and he wanted to talk about her husband. Staff Sgt. Mark R. De Alencar had been brought back to the United States from Afghanistan days earlier in a flag-draped casket. The member of the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) died April 8 -- the first American killed in combat in Afghanistan this year, according to Pentagon records. The soldier died of injuries in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province "when his unit came in contact with enemy...

So here are the key facts: The FBI found that Russian intelligence had targeted Hillary Clinton before and during her time as secretary of state. Clinton’s spokespersons denied that this was so. Clinton opposed the Magnitsky sanctions on officials tied to Putin. After her husband received a half-million dollars in Moscow from a Kremlin-connected investment bank, Clinton moved with unusual speed to whisk the ring of 10 Russian spies out of the country and back to Moscow. She had the lopsided swap take place over a long summer weekend, before the FBI was finished with the spies, and before the...

Citizens United Releases Clinton - Russia Related FOIA Documents From State Dept. https://www.scribd.com/document/362127538/Citizens-United-Releases-Clinton-Russia-Related-FOIA-Documents-From-State-Dept6:57 AM - 20 Oct 2017

Russia takes on key role in de-escalating tensions between Israel and the Mullahs. On October 16, Syrian anti-aircraft units fired a SAM-5 anti-aircraft missile at Israeli planes conducting a reconnaissance mission over Lebanon. Israel frequently conducts these types of intelligence gathering operations over Lebanon to keep tabs on Hezbollah. The missile missed and all Israeli planes returned safely back to base. Shortly thereafter, Israel retaliated transforming the missile battery, located approximately 50 kilometers east of Damascus, into an expensive heap of scrap metal. Following the Israeli strike, an Israel Defense Force spokesman stated that Israel “hold[s] the Syrian regime responsible...

A top Chinese official has claimed several high-ranking members of the Communist Party had plotted to seize power from President Xi Jinping. These party members have since been arrested or jailed in a wide-reaching corruption crackdown launched by Mr Xi. Some observers have said the crackdown was used to conduct a political purge of Mr Xi's opponents.

Austria’s president gave the green light to conservative leader Sebastian Kurz on Friday to form a government, but Kurz gave little away about his coalition plans, leaving a tie-up with the far right the most likely outcome. Kurz’s People’s Party (OVP) secured 31.5 percent of the vote in Sunday’s parliamentary election, winning by a clear margin but falling well short of the majority needed to control parliament in the affluent Alpine republic. “I would like to build a government that has the courage and determination to bring real change to Austria,” Kurz, 31, told reporters after meeting President Alexander Van...

Pakistani police say a Muslim cleric has been arrested over the murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch. Ms Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, was found strangled in her home in the city of Multan last year after posting racy images of herself on Facebook.>Her brother, Muhammad Waseem, has confessed to strangling her after giving her a "tablet" to subdue her.A senior police officer, Mohammad Fahad, said the cleric - Mufti Abdul Qavi - was arrested as he tried to leave Multan.Some of his phone calls were traced to another brother of Ms Baloch around the time of...

Russian Scandal: As the old saying goes, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. That's certainly true with the growing scandal over the Russians' extortion racket in the U.S., possible bribes to the Bill and Hillary Clinton Foundation, and the FBI's curious decision not to reveal the Russians' activities and ties to the Obama administration. This week, IBD discussed new reports from the Daily Caller, The Hill and Circa.com, of how the Russians, through their state nuclear company Rosatom, engaged in a campaign of bribery, extortion, money laundering and racketeering to gain control over U.S. nuclear assets in the private...

German satirical magazine Titanic posted the picture on Twitter which shows Austrian conservative Sebastian Kurz, who won last Sunday’s election, with a target over his chest.The tweet has caused a storm of criticism from Austrians who voted Kurz and the Austrian People’s Party into first place in Sunday’s national election.Reactions have been not only negative but some have even alleged that the Tweet may be breaking the law in Austria as it seems to call for the assassination of the 31-year-old politician who is expected to be Austria’s next chancellor.The official Twitter account for the Vienna police even commented on...

Former President Bill Clinton reportedly called the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean Peninsula the “scariest place on Earth.” He also gave his Secret Service guards a scare when he walked to the middle of the Bridge of No Return during a visit to the tense border area in 1993, with North Korean soldiers watching from about 50 feet away. Several U.S. presidents have traveled to the 2.5-mile-wide, 150-mile-long buffer zone, which is just about 35 miles north of Seoul. But Army officials said Clinton’s stroll on the bridge made him the only one to get so close to the...

"They are those who believe that Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance and love and do not want to hear about an Islam of war, intolerance and hatred". — Michel Onfray, Le Figaro. Le Figaro just devoted an entire issue to Muslim women in France who are trying to fight radical Islam. They are journalists, activists and writers who want equality between men and women, freedom of expression and sexual freedom. These Muslims clearly care more about the French Enlightenment than many non-Muslims who advocate appeasing Islamists. In short, France needs to start fostering its side of this...

The United Nations has supported and endorsed dozens of organizations which are anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, and promote terrorism, according to a new report. According to the report by Human Rights Voices, a UN watchdog organization, the UN has granted formal accreditation to hate groups which use the legitimacy the UN gives them to spread anti-Semitic propaganda against the Jewish people and the Jewish State. The report states: "Accredited non-governmental organizations have been allowed to flaunt the core of the UN mission by advocating terror and intolerance. At the same time, they have been permitted to draw closer to the world of...

A little over a century ago, the ancestors of modern Austrians were at the vanguard of religious liberty in Europe, giving their small Muslim community the same rights as Christians or Jews. Today, the much larger and rapidly growing Muslim population of Austria sees their country again setting the tone in Europe — but this time in a far more ominous direction. In Sunday’s election, well over half the country’s voters chose parties that defined themselves by their hard-line stances on immigration, integration and multiculturalism. The third-place finisher, the Freedom Party, campaigned on the proposition that Islam is incompatible with...

First lady Melania Trump will take the stage and make remarks Thursday night at the guest of honor at the Kuwait-America Foundation's gala dinner. She will make remarks and be honored by the foundation "for her dedication to causes affecting women and children in the US and abroad," per East Wing communications director Stephanie Grisham. President Donald Trump will accompany the first lady to the dinner, which is held at the Embassy of the State of Kuwait. "As an American woman with an international background, she is an inspiration to women and girls worldwide. She is honored by the recognition,...

8-tonne Tiangong-1 not expected to pose threat when it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere between now and AprilA defunct, yacht-sized Chinese space lab is expected to fall out of orbit and crash to Earth in the coming months. China launched the eight-tonne Tiangong-1 satellite in 2011. Tiangong means "Heavenly Palace" in Chinese. The satellite, which is 12 metres long and 3.3 metres in diameter, was designed to test technology for a future space station. The Chinese space program used it for a series of spacecraft docking tests and visits from astronauts. The space lab broke down and stopped functioning in March 2016....

HMCS Chicoutimi crossed the Pacific Ocean and arrived in Yokosuka, Japan on Tuesday evening. Major Travis Smyth confirmed the sub's arrival. The sub's presence "underscores the commitment of the Canadian Armed Forces to the Asia-Pacific region," he said in an emailed statement. This also marks the first time that any of Canada's four Victoria-class submarines have ever entered the Asia-Pacific region. The overseas mission is scheduled to last until March 2018

Boeing has disclosed that the expected service life extension program for the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornets could include stealth features and improved avionics and mission systems in addition to a more general airframe overhaul. This more comprehensive update would not only keep the aircraft safely flying at least until 2040, but could potentially make them a capable, but low-cost alternative in many scenarios compared to the service’s up-coming F-35C Joint Strike Fighters or any future sixth generation design. On Oct. 17, 2017, Mark Sears, director of Boeing’s Super Hornet service life modification (SLM) division, told Aviation Week that the...

The leaders of the 28 members of the European Union are showing their support for the Iran nuclear agreement, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s opposition to it. EU spokesman Preben Aaman tweeted that the EU leaders agreed at a summit Thursday to show their joint commitment to the international agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear program. The EU leaders called the 2015 deal a pillar of efforts to reduce the global nuclear threat. Some fear that walking away from the deal could compromise chances of encouraging North Korea to negotiate on its nuclear program. …