Free Republic

President Barack Obama has authorized the use of air power to defend a new U.S.-backed fighting force in Syria should it come under attack from Syrian government forces or other groups, officials said, in a move that could increase the risk of the U.S. coming into direct conflict with the Assad regime. The decision ends a months’ long debate over the role the U.S. military should play in supporting its few allies on the battlefield and comes as the U.S. and Turkey discussed joint operations to clear a zone along the Turkish-Syrian border of Islamic State militants. Turkish officials wanted...

Three years after the Obama administration announced its “pivot to Asia,” American allies in the region are looking somewhat unconvinced. While no one disputes that managing China and its multiple neighborhood conflicts remains on Washington’s radar, this effort is often overshadowed by other priorities. In particular, the Middle East and confrontation with Russia — both historic preoccupations that had been expected to subside — keep on emerging at the top of the agenda. The result is relatively simple. Those countries in Asia most worried by China — Japan, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Australia and others — are increasingly banding together....

The Socialist Utopia has come to Venezuela and so has triple-digit inflation. Inflation is soaring at about 65%, murder rates are the second highest in the world, they don’t have food, chocolate,cooking oil, sugar, beer, shampoo, chicken, beef or even toilet paper. Businesses put the blame on the socialist government’s economic policies and the government blames it on everyone else. A number of U.S. movie stars have gone to Venezuela many times to applaud their regime and compare their economy to ours. Sean Penn was one. ... American leftists cheered the Socialist government and the social justice he forced on...

(VNRN) - Any new U.S. Ambassador will always attract the attention of Vietnamese everywhere, but when President Barack Obama nominated Asia pro Ted Osius, it generated a little more than the usual high interest. You see, Osius is openly gay. Regardless of whether the nominee’s sexual orientation was a factor, the nomination hopefully will usher in more LGBT rights in Vietnam. Certainly Osius is qualified to be ambassador. He has served as Deputy Chief of Mission before, in Indonesia from 2009 to 2012. For the past year, he has been an Associate Professor at the National War College. Osius had...

French riot police have sprayed migrants with a chemical irritant as they tried to storm the Channel Tunnel, and the British and French interior ministers said the nightly attempts to reach Britain are part of a "global migration crisis" that needs an international solution.

Morgan Freeman, Jack Black and a host of other celebrities star in a video backing Americas' nuclear deal with Iran, wise-cracking their way through an often surreal mixture of Hollywood, politics and diplomacy. The video uploaded this week onto YouTube comes as President Barack Obama's administration tries to sell the agreement to the public and a sceptical Congress.

'Joe Shute reveals how a son’s mission to honour his father uncovered one of the most dramatic - and touching - stories of the Second World War.'

Two years ago during the G-20 Summit, a spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin reportedly said that Britain was a “small island no one listens to.” British Prime Minister David Cameron accepted the official line from the Russians that such remarks were not made, but nevertheless responded with a robust defense of the United Kingdom. “Britain may be a small island”, he said, “but I would challenge anyone to find a country with a prouder history, a bigger heart, or greater resilience.” He focused on this small island doing its bit in being resolute throughout World War II in the...

History has shown that when a government wants to solidify its power, it has to turn its subjects into taxpayers. The Roman Empire demanded high tribute payments from every tribe it had newly conquered. And the United States developed from a commonwealth to a federal state when, in the 18th century, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton achieved uniform duties and taxes for the entire union, initially on whiskey, because it was so lucrative. Politicians in the eurozone are now seeking to emulate the historic model from the early years of the United States. The unnerving bargaining over the latest Greece bailout...

A teenage girl who was stabbed at a Gay Pride march in Jerusalem has died from her wounds. Shira Banki, 16, was one of six people attacked at the event on Thursday........ Yishal Schlissel, an ultra Orthodox Jew, who carried out a similar attack in 2005, was arrested at the scene. Dramatic images showed the suspect reaching inside his coat and raising a knife above his head. He then began stabbing marchers while screaming, before being tackled by a police officer....

The Voyager Golden Record recordings are now available on Soundcloud, which means that anyone with an Internet connection can experience NASA’s “time capsule” for themselves, knowing that the originals are still traveling through empty space or the heliosphere.The Voyager Golden Records, included aboard both Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977, are phonograph records — 12-inch gold-plated copper disks — containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life on Earth. They include 115 analog-encoded photographs, spoken greetings from Earth-people in 55 languages, a 12-minute montage of a variety of natural sounds — such as those made by surf,...

Four days ago, French President François Hollande declared his in-principle commitment to the creation of a “euro government, with the addition of a specific budget and a parliament to ensure democratic control.” This is more an opening gambit in a debate about the terms of putative federalization (a term Hollande was careful to avoid), than a statement of French commitment to it at all costs. If some form of federalization comes about, it will not be because the French especially desire it, but because the logic of the Euro ultimately demands it. […] Germany is also in a better position...

How very fascist. So, Obama is saying that if Congress doesn’t play ball on approving the Iran deal, he might just go ahead and do it anyway. That violates the Constitution and the law. Technically he can’t do it – oh, but he will. Notice how Kerry sidestepped the issue? If Obama does this and isn’t made to answer for it or stopped, that’s the end of our Constitutional Republic and the actual beginning of a dictatorship. Even if a conservative is elected in 2016, by then $150 to 200 billion will have gone to Iran, effectively arming our enemies...

The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for ammunition for the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) and associated equipment, parts and logistical support for an estimated cost of $500 million. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has requested a possible sale of (1,000,000) 430/M430A1 40mm High Explosive Dual Purpose (HEDP) Cartridges, (60,000) M456A1 105mm High Explosive Anti-Tank Tracer (HEAT-T) Cartridges, and (60,000) M107 155mm High Explosive (HE) Projectiles.

N. Korea shifts entries of border-area howitzer bunkers northward SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has moved the entrances to the military's howitzer bunkers in the border area to a northward direction from the south, making it more difficult for South Korea and the U.S. to curb the howitzer attacks in a war situation, a government source said Sunday. "Changes have been detected in the shape of the bunkers for self-propelled guns, which belong to artillery units of the North's 4th Corps in Hwanghae Province," the government source said, asking not to be named. "Previously south-oriented doorways of the...

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – A simple trip to the store ended with a veteran getting a hateful letter left on his car. When a local Iraq War veteran went shopping Thursday morning, he did not expect to find an anonymous note with ugly language left on his car. The letter blasted the Marine for having a Purple Heart and serving overseas. It stated, “All of you Islamaphobe vets deserve to die.” The note has people shaking their heads. Some call the author pathetic. “It’s just shocking,” Ann Lanoir said. “It’s just ignorant. That’s the way I feel. I feel like...

(note: Translated using Bing translator.) It was confirmed the news about the impact of a meteorite in Qazvin, Iran, there would be serious damage Breaking news: has just confirmed the news of a meteorite impact near Qazvin, Iran, not too far from the capital Tehran Iranian State. The news of the meteorite in Iran has just been confirmed by all the major news agencies in Iran, many of whom speak of damage (when wounded or victims have not been confirmed, although on the web are circulating rumors). The meteorite fell near Qazvin, but also near Karaj, Zanjan and Hamedan. The...

Through an acquaintance, I learned about a Vietnamese television show, "The Separation Never Seems to Have Existed," which reunites people who have lost touch. When the producer heard of my quest, she asked me, via e-mail, to write a letter stating my intentions and the circumstances surrounding the dogfight. Within two weeks she had found the MiG pilot, and invited me to Vietnam to appear on television with him. On April 5, 2008, on live television, my heart pounded as Nguyen Hong My—the man I had last seen in a black flightsuit, swinging under a red and white canopy—walked onto...

Amal Clooney – the barrister and glamorous wife of Hollywood actor George Clooney – has made an 11th-hour bid to save the lives of the son of Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi and his hated spy chief. Saif Gaddafi and the former intelligence boss Abdullah al-Senussi were sentenced to death in a Tripoli court last week for crimes against the Libyan people. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3182483/Amal-Clooney-ditch-legal-bid-save-life-hated-son-Colonel-Gadafi-sentenced-death-Libya-week.html#ixzz3hcddqIdV Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Extraordinary events have taken place inside a Kabul courtroom this week. Back in May, a 10-year-old girl was raped inside a mosque in a remote Afghan village. The mullah responsible – Mohammad Amin – had asked three young girls to clean for him when he started behaving inappropriately. The girls made a run for it, only one of them tripped and fell in a stream. Amin dragged her back inside the mosque, where she was raped and left with serious injuries. According to Sharia Law, which the Mullah tried to rely on in court, rape is considered a form of...