Free Republic

The official U.S. Visa Service for foreign citizens website, to help them travel to the United States, is surprisingly not part of a government Internet domain. Apparently this service has been outsourced by the US government to another firm, possible Computer Sciences Corporation. It really is the official US visa site, though, and a number of US embassy and consulate webpages point there. This one says explicitly that it is "the ONLY authorized website for the payment of visa fees." The reason this is interesting is the page from this official visa site that offers individuals to choose which country...

Even in the midst of an astounding 2016 presidential campaign that is gripping the attention of most Americans, the U.S. - Iran nuclear deal is back in the news. The IAEA says that, so far, Iran appears to be in compliance. But that is not the whole story. Now we learn that the regime of the Ayatollahs has a new program to support Palestinian murderers of Israelis. Iran has committed to give $7,000 to families of attackers who have used knives, hammers, scissors and other crude implements to kill and maim. For families that have their homes destroyed by Israel...

While North Korea keeps firing literal and figurative salvos, the world has responded with harsher sanctions -- ones that the Philippines has put into effect by detaining a ship from the reclusive East Asian nation. The Philippine government has impounded a North Korean freighter, the Jin Teng, in Subic Bay and plans to deport its crew, presidential spokesman Manuel Quezon III said in a radio interview, according to the official Philippines News Agency. This wouldn't have happened if not for Pyongyang's recent nuclear test and missile launch, and the global community's reaction to these defiant acts.

A 12-foot-tall inflatable Pinocchio prominently featured in a pro-Israel installation at Columbia University has been permanently deflated, according to one of the students in the group that had erected it. The news came Thursday from Columbia’s Student Governing Board (SGB), nearly 48 hours after it held a special meeting to discuss Pinocchio’s fate. “SGB decided not to approve it,” Rudy Rochman, a co-founder of the Columbia chapter of Students Supporting Israel (SSI), told The Algemeiner. “We will put the rest of our display back up, without the Pinocchio.” When The Algemeiner asked Rochman whether SGB had given a reason for...

Given North Korea’s track record, the Security Council reserved the right to take further significant measures in the event of continued North Korean nuclear tests or launches The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on March 2nd that imposes tough new sanctions and tightens some of its existing measures against North Korea. Resolution 2270 (2016) was the Security Council’s latest and strongest response to the rogue North Korean regime’s ongoing nuclear and ballistic missile-related test activities in violation of a series of prior Security Council resolutions. Led by the United States, which collaborated extensively with China to reach...

Trump Gains Among Christians in the Middle East By Ray Hanania February 18, 2016 Donald Trump may have angered Muslims with his broad swipes at Islamic terrorism and violence, but he has garnered more positive sentiment from Christians in the Middle East. ...snip... Trump's comments have gained strong support among Arab Christians and Middle East Christians who feel as though mainstream Muslim activists have failed to fully confront extremists. Though Muslims reject the radicals' tactics of terrorism and violence, arguing that they twist the true face of Islam, their leadership fails in strategic communications. Trump is honest and compensates for...

The European Union fears Mediterranean migrant smuggling gangs are reviving a route from Egypt, officials told Reuters, putting thousands of people to sea in recent months as they face problems in Libya and Turkey. "It's an increasing issue," an EU official said of increased activity after a quiet year among smugglers around Alexandria that has raised particular concerns in Europe about Islamist militants from Sinai using the route to reach Greece or Italy. Departures from Egypt were a tiny part of the million people who arrived in Europe by sea last year; more than 80 percent came from Turkey to...

His name was never spoken in two hours of speeches, but Donald Trump's anti-Islamic rhetoric and the Islamophobia it has churned up were roundly repudiated Sunday, as Bay Area civic and religious leaders told Muslim residents and neighbors: You are one of us and you are not alone.

Ever heard about the 'Khazar' myth pushed by the Neo-Nazis/KKK? In fact, Jews are both a nation and a religion. the percentage of those with any roots in khazaria is so minimal, that there was only one non-historian "writer" that came up with the idea to say that the percentage is higher. As a penpal who is of Jewish background told me once: 'Before the WW2 Were were told to go BACK to Palestine where we came from... now the same haters don't even grant us that...' Hitler VS Khazar mythOddly enough, Hitler's "aryanism" and anti-Jewish sick obession was AGAINST...

Penning an article for the Financial Times, historian Simon Schama, a liberal belonging to the establishment, writes that “the problem of the left with the Jews has a long and unfortunate history” and that “criticism of Israeli government policies became a rejection of Israel’s right to exist”. Schama then asks: “Why is it so much easier to hate the Jews?” This is an article that should be sent to all those intellectuals, journalists, writers, academics who for years, every day, in Italy and the West, demonized the Jewish State. The good people on the left who feel that it is...

Senators urge president to enforce provisions 'as enacted and intended' Leading Democrats are taking aim at the Obama administration for its opposition to newly passed legislation that aims to bolster the U.S.-Israel economic relationship and combat boycotts of Israel, according to a statement issued this week. The Obama administration announced that it opposes portions of a bipartisan trade bill that would strengthen economic ties between the U.S. and Israel and force trade partners to sever ties with backers of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, an anti-Israel movement that seeks to economically isolate the Jewish state. President Barack Obama...

US intel officials warn Tehran's upcoming test of space vehicle this month breaches UN nuclear sanctions, paves way to nuclear weapon. US intelligence officials have warned that the anticipated space launch by Iran later this month as part of its "massive" missile drills will likely violate a recent UN nuclear resolution against long-range missile tests.

Powell aides go public on rift with Bush Chief of staff says secretary of state is fed up with apologising for the administration and is disdainful of 'ideological' hawks Gary Younge in New York Thursday May 6, 2004 The Guardian Colin Powell's key aide has described US sanctions policy against countries such as Pakistan and Cuba as "the dumbest policy on the face of the Earth". In an article in GQ magazine Larry Wilkerson, chief of staff of the United States secretary of state, bemoans Mr Powell's firefighting role in President George Bush's cabinet. "He has spent as much time...

A mail from the Cargo Systems Messaging Service of the US Customs and Border Protection dated to this Saturday, and revealed by Channel 1's "Mabat" show on Thursday, shows the US is now required products from Judea and Samaria to be labeled differently. In new instructions on marking requirements sent out to American importers, goods from Judea and Samaria are not to be marked "Israel." Those who do not comply are to be sanctioned. "West Bank Country of Origin Marking Requirements," reads the title of the mail, which begins by clarifying that "the purpose of this message is to provide...

Reuters, in its headline for a story reporting the death of Philip Agee, a former CIA agent turned traitor, labeled Agee a "CIA whistle-blower" ("CIA whistle-blower Philip Agee dies in Cuba [1]"). As the blog Little Green Footballs put it [2], Agee was "the traitor who exposed fellow CIA agents to violence and murder by revealing their names" in his 1975 book "Inside the Company: A CIA Diary." Agee, who had worked for the CIA for 12 years both in the United States and in Latin America, resigned from the Agency in 1968 after expressing "disagreement with U.S. support for...

Palestinian condition is based on their repeated rejection of generous Israeli peace offers Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction campaigns are not built on any solid foundation. They are built on a hypothesis, hypothesis being a proposed explanation based on limited evidence, or no evidence at all. It is used by BDS as their starting point and its lack of intellectual depth and honesty is draped in a mantle of emotional claims and sloganeering. No need to elaborate or produce facts or statistics. Emotional sloganeering is more effective in rousing support. Something hypothetic is based on an imagined situation rather than fact....

The Obama administration confirmed late Sunday it had delayed the imposition of new ballistic missile sanctions on Iran to ensure the Islamic Republic released five imprisoned Americans under a secret agreement reached on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations, according to senior administration officials. The officials confirmed that "secret" talks between U.S. and Iranian officials had been taking place for the past 14 months. In exchange for the release of the five Americans--including a Washington Post reporter and Christian pastor--the Obama administration pardoned or dropped charges on 21 Iranians convicted of violating U.S. sanctions, including seven who had been detained...

How McDonald's gets to Tehran American titans like McDonald's or Apple are left in a very awkward place by the deal. There's clear demand for their products (at least from some Iranians), and it's a "new" market of 80 million people, about 60% of which are under age 30. The problem is, U.S. companies still can't open a store or restaurant in Iran. However, a European subsidiary could. "If a company like Apple or HP wants to get involved with Iran, it would have to do it with their foreign subsidiaries," explains Patrick Clawson, research director at the Washington Institute...

The July 2015 agreement officially entered into force after key United Nations confirmation that Tehran has shrunk its atomic program, triggering the lifting of painful international sanctions on the Islamic republic. "The Iranian nuclear program will now for many years be subjected to strict technical restrictions and close monitoring," said Steinmeier, whose country was among the six world powers that negotiated the landmark deal with Tehran. ...

Iran has complied with last July's nuclear deal, the UN atomic watchdog said Saturday, allowing sanctions to be lifted and the landmark accord to enter into force. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that its "inspectors on the ground verified that Iran has carried out all measures required under the (July deal)... to enable Implementation Day to occur." The United States has received the IAEA report confirming that Iran has honored its side of the nuclear accord, and will proceed to lift its economic sanctions.