Free Republic

North Korea's military is "examining the operational plan" to strike areas around the US territory of Guam with medium-to-long-range strategic ballistic missiles, state-run news agency KCNA said early Wednesday local time. Specifically, the statement mentioned a potential strike on Andersen Air Force Base designed "to send a serious warning signal to the US." The base is one of two on the Pacific island, which are the closest bases on US soil to North Korea, and represent the westernmost tip of the country's military might. The North Korea comments were published after US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang that if it...

But Sunday, as he promoted his book on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Flake took his assault on Trumpism back years further — all the way to the pre-dawn of Trump’s political rise, to “when the birtherism thing was going on,” as Flake put it to host Chuck Todd. “Some people did stand up, but not enough,” the senator said. “That was particularly ugly.” “Did you do enough?” Todd asked. Flake smiled. “On that, I think I did.” Flake was a congressman in 2011, when Trump flirted with a presidential run against President Barack Obama. The current president did so “spouting...

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - State Rep. Gene Ward is no stranger to unconventional ideas. He recently suggested bunkers under Diamond Head for storage be converted into bomb shelters. And he once proposed "urine-free zones" in key gathering places to cut down on public urination and defecation. Now Ward is suggesting a meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. And he wants it to take place in Hawaii. In a news release, Ward said he sent a letter to the president requesting the meeting.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - It's not surprising that Oahu's condos are expensive, but prices are now at an all-time high, a new report says. According to the report by real estate firm Locations, the median price for a unit in July was $425,000 compared to the $419,500 in April. Once condo units were on the market, they went quick, lasting an average of 15 days before being sold, according to the report.

<p>Canberra, Australia -- The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said Thursday he would launch a nuclear strike against China next week if President Donald Trump ordered it, and warned against the military ever shifting its allegiance from its commander in chief.</p>

The state's emergency management agency said the threat to the islands from the rogue nation is "currently assessed to be low." But officials added ongoing North Korean missile tests — and growing public concern — have prompted officials to work on preparedness and disaster management plans. Vern Miyagi, administrator of the emergency management agency... said, the public should see the preparation and education much like the work being done to prepare the public for hurricane and tsunami... Earlier this month, North Korea tested an ICBM missile, drawing condemnation from the US and other countries. Experts say an ICBM like the...

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to President Donald Trump on his embattled travel ban today, rejecting his bid to bar entry by some people with family members already in the country. The 6-3 order by the justices — who last month let the president start restricting entry by people from six mostly Muslim countries — means the government must accept people with grandparents, cousins and other relatives in the (snip) Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented from today’s action, saying they would have blocked Watson’s entire ruling.

Under a law signed on Wednesday, pro-life pregnancy centers in Hawaii will be forced to tell patients about free abortions provided by the state. And if they don't, they could face fines up to $1,000 dollars for a repeated offense. There are currently five pro-life centers in the state. "This clinic does not provide abortion services or abortion referrals. Only ultrasounds performed by qualified healthcare professionals and read by licensed clinicians should be considered medically accurate," reads the mandatory notification the centers will have to provide patients with. "Hawaii has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to...

Approximately 100 firefighters battled a huge fire in a 36-story building in Hawaii’s capital. At least 3 fatalities and 16 injuries were reported. Firefighters have been battling a fire that broke out yesterday (Friday) in a 36-story building in Honolulu, Hawaii. The city’s mayor has confirmed the death of at least 3 victims and stated that dozens more are trapped in their home. The building wasn’t properly equipped with fire extinguishers.

The Trump administration said Friday it will ask the Supreme Court to block a federal judge’s ruling limiting the scope of President Trump’s travel ban. “The Supreme Court has had to correct this lower court once, and we will now reluctantly return directly to the Supreme Court to again vindicate the rule of law and the executive branch's duty to protect the nation,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. The decision came one day after a Hawaii-based judge dealt Trump a defeat by ordering the government to expand the number of people who are exempt from the...

Ruling applies nationwide and means grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and cousins are no longer subject to the ban WASHINGTON—A Hawaii judge late Thursday ordered a nationwide loosening of President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on U.S. entry for some travelers from six Muslim-majority countries, ruling the administration’s strict approach contradicted a recent Supreme Court ruling.

A federal judge in Honolulu has expanded the Trump administration’s list of family relationships needed by people seeking new visas from six mostly Muslim countries to avoid a travel ban. U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson ruled today that the travel ban exemptions should include grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts and other relatives. President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which was partially allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court, did not include grandparents, grandchildren and other relations considered “bona-fide” family relationships to be granted an exemption to the ban. The administration said a bona fide relationship would be a parent, spouse, fiance, son,...

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii — As part of the continuing demonstration of the U.S. commitment to its allies against the growing threat from North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear programs, two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, conducted a 10-hour sequenced bilateral mission yesterday with South Korean and Japanese fighter jets. The mission is in response to a series of increasingly escalatory actions by North Korea, including the July 3 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, officials said. "North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland," said Air Force...

A coffee farmer in Hawaii who appealed his deportation order in federal court was forced to leave the island late Friday, after a last-ditch effort to remain with his wife and children was denied, according to NBC-affiliate KNHL. Andres Magana Ortiz said goodbye to his wife and his three children at Kona International Airport late Friday after the Department of Homeland Security rejected his lawyer's petition to grant him legal status because he is married to a U.S. citizen, KNHL said.

Just hours after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied its most recent challenge to the Trump travel ban, the state of Hawaii filed yet another motion challenging it in federal court: In its June 26 decision, the Supreme Court let stand the temporary travel and refugee ban contained in that executive order but added that the ban would not apply to refugees and visa applicants with a “bona fide relationship” to an American resident. The Trump administration quickly defined “bona fide relationship” as parent, child, sibling, spouse or fiance. The state of Hawaii wants a broader definition that would...

A U.S. appeals court refused Friday to clarify the scope of the Supreme Court's lifting of the blockade against President Trump's travel ban, citing a lack of jurisdiction. Earlier Friday, the state of Hawaii had asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to expand the categories of people who can bypass the travel ban. On Thursday, a U.S. district judge had refused to act on Hawaii's request, leaving in place the Trump administration's rules regarding what classes of people to exempt from the travel ban. The judge in that case, Derrick Watson, also claimed he did not have the...

The state of Hawaii asked a federal appeals court on Friday to issue an emergency order blocking parts of President Donald Trump's temporary travel ban while the state seeks clarification over what groups of people would be barred from travel. A Honolulu judge on Thursday rejected a request by Hawaii to narrow the government's implementation of the ban, saying the state should directly ask the Supreme Court to clarify its ruling. Instead, Hawaii appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, saying in a court filing on Friday that the appeals court has the power to narrow the travel...

A federal judge from Hawaii has denied an emergency motion to broaden the scope of exceptions to President Trump's executive order on travel Thursday evening. As NBC News reported, Hawaii and other challengers filed their final court papers on Wednesday, clearing the way for a ruling on the state's claim that the Trump administration wrongly excluded grandparents and other relatives from the list of close family members who can get visas to travel to the United State during the 90 days while the executive order is in force.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Two additional medical marijuana dispensaries -- one on Oahu, the other on Kauai – were recently given the green light by the state Health Department to begin cultivating cannabis, even though the labs needed to test marijuana products still have not been certified to begin doing so. The announcement brings what's expected to be an even bigger workload for employees from the three independent testing facilities, who have not even begun to approve any of the cannabis that's already been harvested. The continued delays have one pain specialist concerned for a very specific reason: He says one...

“In Hawaii, ‘close family’ includes many of the people that the federal government decided on its own to exclude from that definition. Unfortunately, this severely limited definition may be in violation of the Supreme Court ruling,” Attorney General Doug Chin said in a news release today.