Free Republic

Nairobi - US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Kenya on Sunday for talks on security co-operation and ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to his late father's home country. The trip to the east African nation is the first high-level visit since 2012, and comes after a year of tensions surrounding Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta being charged by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The ICC has since abandoned the case against Kenyatta over his role in the 2007-2008 post-election violence, citing a lack of evidence and Kenya's failure to cooperate - somewhat removing Kenyatta's...

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II on the sidelines of economic talks in Egypt on Friday, US officials said. The talks are likely to focus on the economic crisis facing the Palestinian Authority and could be a four-way meeting which would also include Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a State Department official said. "We continue to be concerned about the PA," the official told reporters travelling with Kerry on his plane to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. "It’s really part of the continuous, ongoing conversation we’re...

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — A person believed responsible for shootings along highways over the last two weeks in the Baltimore-Washington area, including shots that damaged a National Security Agency building, is in custody, the FBI said early Wednesday. The FBI believes the person in custody is responsible for shootings along Maryland highways, including one near the Fort Meade Army installation, which is home to the NSA, FBI spokeswoman Amy Thoreson said in a statement. She said no other information was available early Wednesday.

Park Police officials told News4 they're investigating a report of shots fired along BW Parkway and Route 32 in Fort Meade, Maryland. The National Security Agency is located nearby, and has reported that one of their buildings has been damaged by what appears to be gunfire. NSA and Park Police officials are investigating whether the incidents are related. No word of any injuries.

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyTel Aviv, Israel — January 21, 2015 … An elite Israeli police unit, which serves both prisons and courts, reacted quickly in capturing a 22-year-old Islamic terrorist from the West Bank city of Tulkarm. The terrorist boarded bus number 40 in central Tel Aviv and began to attack the driver. The wounded driver Herzl Biton, 55, a father of three and a bus driver for over 23 years responded by spraying the attacker with mace spray. Biton, who was stabbed in the chest, was evacuated by Magen David Adom emergency medical services to Ichilov and...

The Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip, Hamas, has intensified its efforts to achieve the destruction of Israel. Hamas has obviously interpreted these two decisions -- by the EU court (to remove Hamas from the list of terror organizations) and the International Criminal Court -- as a green light to proceed with its plans to eliminate Israel. The main goal of Hamas's "Liberation Army" is, of course, to prepare for war against Israel, according to Hamas spokesman, Mushir al-Masri. "The main purpose of these training camps is to prepare an army for the liberation of Palestine and its holy...

Germany’s top human rights official has urged Israel to cooperate with the International Criminal Court probe into possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories. After the investigation was announced last week, Israel’s government immediately said it would not work with The Hague-based court and called for its funding to be cut. The government’s human rights commissioner, Christoph Strässer, said in an interview published Tuesday that Israel’s reaction was counterproductive. …

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening released a strong statement of condemnation on the International Criminal Court (ICC) decision last Friday, in which it chose to launch a preliminary probe into charges of Israeli "war crimes." “Israel rejects the absurd decision of the ICC prosecutor," said Netanyahu. "It’s absurd for the ICC to ignore international law and agreements, under which the Palestinians don't have a state and can only get one through direct negotiations with Israel." Reportedly Netanyahu spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday night, requesting American support in preventing the ICC action against Israel....

A Lebanese newspaper reported that Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas told Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi that the Palestinian Authority would not file a case against Israel in the International Criminal Court if negotiations between Israel and the PA resumed “in the coming weeks.” According to the report in the Al-Ahabar newspaper, Abbas made the comments to Sisi during their meeting in Cairo Wednesday. The PA several weeks ago formally requested membership in the ICC. Approval of the PA's membership is expected within two months. Last week, the PA recognized the ICC's jurisdiction to investigate what it said were Israeli war...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJanuary 6, 2015 — New York, NY … UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated this evening that the state of Palestine will join the International Criminal Court on April 1. This action will enable the Palestinians to pursue war-crimes charges against Israel. As Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court, it is not required to participate in any investigations by the ICC. The Israel Defense Forces are conducting their own internal investigations of any possible wrong doing and this may very well suffice for the ICC. The Palestinian Authority, which is in a...

The United States said Monday it opposes a move by Israel to freeze the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority in retaliation for its bid to join the International Criminal Court, AFP reports Monday. "This step is one that raises tensions as others do," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, referring to the freeze on revenue transfers to the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority (PA) formally presented a request to the United Nations on Friday to join the ICC, in a move firmly opposed by both Israel and the United States.

Palestinian source says Hamas, Islamic Jihad willing to risk counter-suit should Israel be investigated Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel for war crimes allegedly committed during the 50-day war with Hamas and other Gaza terror groups last summer. In the request filed with the Dutch Embassy Thursday morning, Abbas asked the court in The Hague to investigate Israel retroactively for alleged war crimes starting from June 13, 2014 — a day after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered by a Hamas cell in the West Bank, an unnamed NGO worker told...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem — January 1, 2015 … Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a discussion this afternoon on the Palestinian Authority’s application to various international treaties, and made the following remarks at the end of the meeting: “We expect the International Criminal Court to reject outright the Palestinian Authority’s hypocritical act because the Palestinian Authority is not a state,” said Netanyahu. “It is an entity in alliance with a terrorist organization, Hamas, which perpetuates war crimes. The State of Israel is a nation of laws with a moral army that upholds international law. We will defend...

Welmoed Sisson’s drive between her northern Montgomery County home and her business clients across the Maryland suburbs often includes a trip on the Intercounty Connector, a toll highway with so little traffic that Sisson can’t recall ever tapping her brakes. Almost 19 miles of pavement with no one in her way. Ever. Not even at rush hour. “It’s not an empty wasteland,” said Sisson, 54, who owns a home inspection business with her husband. “But it’s certainly nowhere near the volume of the free roads in the area. . . . It’s nice, but then again, you’re paying for that...

Coalition Seeks to Send North Korea to International Court Over Rights Abuses By SOMINI SENGUPTA OCT. 25, 2014 UNITED NATIONS — Seven months after a groundbreaking report documenting how North Korea tortured and starved its citizens, a broad coalition of countries is pushing for the first time to refer Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court for prosecution of crimes against humanity. Japan and the European Union circulated a draft resolution last week among United Nations member states that encourages the Security Council to refer North Korea to the tribunal in The Hague; 43 countries have so far signed on in...

A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official last Friday opposed his organization's aspirations to sue Israel for "war crimes" at the International Criminal Court (ICC). His reason - such a move might prevent Arabs under PA jurisdiction from "shooting Israelis." The official, Abbas Zaki, is a leader in PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. His comments came in an interview on the Lebanese Palestine Today TV, which was translated by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). "I'm against signing the Rome Statute (i.e., joining the ICC) as long as our country is occupied. If tomorrow you shoot, they'll say you signed an agreement,"...

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is continuing its efforts to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Ma’an news agency reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the PA’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, met with ICC officials to discuss the Israeli operation in Gaza. During his visit, Al-Maliki inquired about the legal procedures necessary for the PA to join the ICC and sign the Rome Statute in order to take action against possible Israeli war crimes in Gaza, according to the report. Al-Maliki said he would consult members of the Palestinian Authority government on the matter after his visit. He...

Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, running for the Democratic nomination for governor, proposed Friday that the state give commuters a break on the tolls on the Intercounty Connector in the Washington suburbs. Gansler's campaign issued a statement and a video in which the candidate asserted that ICC traffic and revenue are well below projections because of high tolls. According to the Gansler camp, usage is 20 percent lower than expected and revenues are 20-45 percent below projections. The attorney general said his plan for a 50 percent discount for commuters who make at least 15 trips a month on the...

Americans should internalize they are in a whirlwind of trouble, particularly when Egypt’s leaders (not exactly a bastion of freedom and liberty seekers) are the ones taking the lead, that is, in pushing back against the leader of the free world. Its essence revolves around Barack HUSSEIN Obama’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood Mafia. They have an incontrovertible case to bring before the International Criminal Court, aka the ICC. What an upside down world. Alice-in-Wonderland time…down the rabbit hole…loony tunes too. In this regard, HOT on the heels of yesterday’s commentary, REVEALED: MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD MAFIA COMPLETES ‘PHASE 3′ FROM ‘THE...

Driven on the Intercounty Connector lately? No? You’re not alone. Many haven’t. The 18.8-mile highway—the first stretch of which opened two and a half years ago after great hype and amid great controversy—is the road less traveled. Traffic counts are well below early projections, and revenue from tolls—needed to pay off the bonds that were sold to build the road—is far less than originally anticipated. The initial estimated cost of $1 billion has ballooned to $2.4 billion—or as much as $4 billion if you include interest payments. Consequently, all tolls on Maryland highways, bridges and tunnels have been raised in...