Free Republic

Tareq Al-Suwaidan: "There are no civilians in Israel. Neither men nor women – there are no civilians. According to the Israeli military system, they are all soldiers, who take an 11-month break every year, in order to work. They return [to the army] when they are summoned. We are talking about soldiers here, not about innocent people. "Should women be taken captive? Yes, of course. If God forbid, Oman is attacked by women, would you not take women captive? What kind of mentality is this? "We draw a distinction between innocent people and criminals, and between combatants and civilians. The...

A military enthusiast bought a tank on eBay recently and discovered $2.5 million of gold bars hidden inside in one of the most unexpected and intriguing places where gold has been found. Nick Mead discovered the five gold bars stashed inside the diesel tank of the ex-Iraqi Army Type 69, a Chinese copy of the Soviet T-55, back in 2017. It’s believed the bullion was looted by plundering Iraqi soldiers during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait but forgotten about inside the 36.7-ton tank. Man regrets handing in the gold found in the tank from eBay Stunned by the discovery, Mead...

In a three-part interview with Kuwaiti podcaster Amar Taki, posted during the second week of January 2024, Khaled Mashal, the leader of Hamas abroad, rejected the two-state solution. He said that there is a consensus among Palestinians that they will not give up their rights to Palestine from the Mediterranean River to the Mediterranean Sea. Mashal said that October 7 has renewed this dream and hope and shown that it is a realistic idea, not merely a dream. He stated that taking control of the Gaza Strip following the 2006 elections was necessary in order to build up the resistance,...

It is déjà vu for major oil producers, who are again considering steeper production cuts. It took only a month after the Hamas attacks on Israel unleashed a punishing war for oil prices to fall below their pre-Oct. 7 level. The steep drop in oil prices last week, with Brent crude briefly dropping to $77 per barrel, led to speculation that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers (OPEC+) will decide to cut production at its next meeting. OPEC’s last-minute decision to delay the meeting, now scheduled for Nov. 30, will only add to the speculation. U.S....

Democrats across Congress are calling on President Biden to allow Palestinians entry into the U.S. on humanitarian grounds as war drags on in Gaza. Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., together with Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Was., led a letter of 103 colleagues to the president asking him to grant the Palestinian territories Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and/or authorize Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for Palestinians already living in the U.S. The TPS program allows those from war-torn or crisis-wracked countries to legally live and work in the U.S., but does not give them permanent residency. It allows...

At first glance, Thursday’s first-ever phone call between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi might suggest the two predominantly Muslim nations are coming together to support Hamas and its war on Israel. But a closer look shows the two leaders were talking past each other. The Saudi prince, known as MBS, wants peace with Israel and his country’s full integration into the world economy, an agenda that puts him fundamentally at odds with Tehran’s drive to destroy Israel and dominate the Middle East through a network of clients and proxies. According to the Saudi readout...

Confirmed... China has ships as of now in the Mideast...44th Chinese naval escort taskforce arrives in Kuwait - Ministry of National Defense https://t.co/cwcNsmbWAn— EndGameWW3 🇺🇸 (@EndGameWW3) October 21, 2023

The United States and Qatar have reached an understanding not to allow Iran to access the $6 billion funds reserved for humanitarian assistance. U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told Democrats behind closed doors on Thursday that the U.S. and Qatar had reached a “quiet understanding” not to move the money, a person familiar with his comments told Semafor. The news comes as U.S. officials probe whether Iran was directly involved in the Hamas attack on Israel over the weekend. Adeyemo told the lawmakers the funds would not be moving anytime soon, the person said.

The Barbie film has been banned in Kuwait and faces calls for a ban in Lebanon amid criticism in the Arab world of the movie's social values. Kuwait acted to protect "public ethics", the state news agency said. Lebanon's culture minister accused the film of "promoting homosexuality".

The Bahrain-based U.S. fleet continues to monitor the situation in the Persian Gulf. Over the past two years, Iran has attacked, interfered with or harassed the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged commercial vessels, U.S. officials have revealed. Late last month, Iran’s state television showed footage of the country’s navy commandos in a helicopter operation boarding the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Advantage Sweet. The Turkish-operated, Chinese-owned tanker was reportedly bound for Houston, Texas carrying Kuwaiti crude oil for U.S. energy giant Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX). Iran claimed that the tanker collided with an unidentified Iranian vessel hours prior to its seizure, with...

The U.S. Navy said Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday amid wider tensions over Tehran’s nuclear program. The Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet identified the vessel as the Advantage Sweet. Satellite tracking data for the vessel from MarineTraffic.com showed it in the Gulf of Oman just north of Oman’s capital, Muscat, on Thursday afternoon. It had just come from Kuwait and listed its destination as Houston, Texas.

According to Stars and Stripes, some members of the United States military have a new hobby: hunting one of the most dangerous scorpions on earth. And the hobby has become so popular that there is now a waitlist to get in on the scorpion hunts. The scorpion they are hunting is called Androctonus crassicauda, known as the Arabian fat-tailed scorpion. Although the venom of the scorpion is extremely dangerous, it is generally regarded as not aggressive towards humans; rather, members of the military hunt these creatures because they are a danger to the service dogs the military relies upon. In...

Preparing for any potential war against Iran, the Biden administration has formally elevated Israel in military planning.... ...For the Pentagon, Israel is the most prized military and intelligence partner in the Middle East, with its vast combat experience and advanced technologies. With the end of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and with the brokering of the Abraham Accords by the Trump administration, Washington sees an opportunity to incorporate Israel into a new regional alliance. ... ..."CENTCOM will now work to implement the U.S. Government commitment to a holistic approach to regional security and cooperation with our partners," the Tampa-based command...

'European democracy is under attack': Roberta Metsola addresses EU Parliament corruption scandal By Euronews • Updated: 13/12/2022 - 11:31 Roberta Metsola address the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, France. Roberta Metsola address the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, France. - Copyright Philippe BUISSIN/ European Union 2022 - Source : EP Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, warned on Monday that there would be "no impunity" for those found guilty of corruption as she addressed what is perhaps the gravest graft scandal to hit the hemicycle in recent years. "Make no mistake, the European Parliament, dear colleague, is under...

Historians say early churches and monasteries spread along the Persian Gulf to the coasts of present-day Oman and all the way to India. Archaeologists have found other similar churches and monasteries in Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Another day has passed, and another Muslim man has murdered another Coptic Christian in Egypt. On Sunday, June 5, 2022—the same day Muslims attacked a packed church in Nigeria, massacring more than 50 Christians—Abdullah Hosni, a Muslim man with a long history of harassing Christians, randomly attacked a Copt, Kirollos (Cyril) Megali, with a meat cleaver in a village in Sohag, Upper Egypt. Kirollos, who was rushed to a hospital “drenched in blood and with multiple stab wounds,” spent three days in an intensive care unit before succumbing to his injuries, including hack wounds to his skull. Kirollos after being...

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry said Friday it had summoned the top diplomat at the US Embassy to object to social media posts on Twitter and Instagram in "support of homosexuality." On June 1, the embassy posted a picture of an LGBTQ flag, known as the progress flag, and quoted US President Joe Biden, "All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love." ... Why are the tweets problematic in Kuwait? Kuwait legally bans homosexuality, as do several other Muslim countries. In the...

Muslim countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia condemn remarks about Prophet Mohammed made by top officials in India's Bharatiya Janata Party, as calls grow on social media for boycott of Indian goods in Muslim countries. Qatar, Kuwait and Iran have summoned their Indian envoys over insulting remarks on Islam's Prophet Muhammad by two officials of India's ruling party. In a statement on Sunday the Qatari Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Indian envoy to "voice disappointment of Qatar and its total rejection and condemnation to the controversial remarks." Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Soltan bin Saaad Al Muraikhi handed...

Kuwait has summoned a top US diplomat in protest over tweets from the American embassy supporting LGBT rights, its foreign ministry says. US officials there had posted a rainbow flag and message of solidarity from President Joe Biden for Pride month. But Kuwait officials criticised the embassy for "supporting homosexuality" and demanded it didn't happen again. Rights for LGBT people are severely restricted in Kuwait and it is illegal there for men to be gay. In a pair of tweets published in English and Arabic on Thursday, the US Embassy in Kuwait quoted President Biden as saying all humans "should...

The Kuwaiti journalist @JasemAljuraid @JasemAljuraid against the Qatari al-Jazeera over the coverage of the attack in Beer Sheva: "You call murderers as having died as "martyrs," a rotten channel ?! Incitement to kill innocent women and old men, legitimize the killer and announce to him the death of saints. Whoever kills innocent people on the street from any country or religion is a rotten terrorist! "pic.twitter.com/lRXGtY59IF— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) March 23, 2022