Free Republic

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The birth of their daughter should have marked the beginning of a joyful chapter for the young Palestinian couple. Instead, the devastating war in Gaza, now in its third month, has turned childbirth and parenthood into a time of worry and fear for Salim and Israa al-Jamala. First, they endured a perilous journey, dodging missile fire, to reach a maternity ward. And now, the couple is sheltering with their newborn in the partially tented courtyard of another hospital where they can’t care properly for their now 3-week-old daughter, her mother’s namesake. His wife’s breast...

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is racing to boost its production of artillery shells by 500 percent within two years, pushing conventional ammunition production to levels not seen since the Korean War as it invests billions of dollars to make up for shortfalls caused by the war in Ukraine and to build up stockpiles for future conflicts. The effort, which will involve expanding factories and bringing in new producers, is part of “the most aggressive modernization effort in nearly 40 years” for the U.S. defense industrial base, according to an Army report. The new investment in artillery production is in part...

After Rep. Tom Rice became the first electoral victim of Donald Trump's revenge campaign against the Republicans who voted to impeach him, a GOP colleague who had also backed the former President's impeachment reached out to the South Carolina lawmaker and attempted to console him. "I told him afterward, I said, 'So much for the adage that members of Congress are more concerned about their next election than their job here,'" retiring Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan recalled telling Rice, in a nod to the fact that his impeachment vote is likely what cost him in last week's Republican primary...

Colin Powell, the former U.S. Secretary of State, has died as a result of COVID-19 complications, his family has said. He was 84 years old.