Free Republic

In Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, Iran-backed Houthi rebels are clashing with supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh — an outburst of deadly violence between two groups that have recently been allies. Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels are claiming to have fired a missile at a nuclear power plant under construction in the United Arab Emirates. The claim has been denied by state media in UAE. The WAM news agency also says that the UAE would have the ability to shoot down such a missile, if it were fired, The Associated Press reports. Last month, Houthi rebels fired a missile...

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas has been waging a battle against U.S. President Donald Trump's intention to recognize Jerusalem as the official capital of the State of Israel but appears to be having trouble recruiting Arab leaders to the cause, Hahadashot (formerly Channel 2 News) reported Sunday. According to the report, Abbas has been calling all the leaders of the Arab and Islamic region and asked them to convene an emergency meeting of the Arab League. Despite his appeals, however, the leaders of the Arab world are not cooperating with him. The only one who expressed willingness to help...

Sen. Lindsey Graham says North Korea is pushing the U.S. closer to military conflict and he believes it’s time to start moving the families of American military personnel out of South Korea. The South Carolina Republican said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” he is also going to urge the Pentagon not to send any more dependents to South Korea. […] About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to deter potential aggression from the North. …

The Palestinian president on Sunday warned that American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would jeopardize the White House’s nascent Mideast peace efforts. President Mahmoud Abbas’ comments came amid a diplomatic push by the Palestinian leader to rally international support against the possible American move later this week. […] American officials say that President Donald Trump may recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital this week as a way to offset his likely decision to delay his campaign promise of moving the U.S. Embassy there. Israel regards Jerusalem as its capital, with most government functions, including the prime minister’s office, Supreme Court...

The US argues the United Nations pact is 'inconsistent' with its policies, adding that decisions on domestic immigration should be 'made by Americans and Americans alone'. The administration of President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from a United Nations pact to improve the handling of migrant and refugee situations, deeming it "inconsistent" with its policies, the US mission to the global body announced Saturday."Today, the US Mission to the United Nations informed the UN Secretary-General that the United States is ending its participation in the Global Compact on Migration," the Americans said in a statement.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leader Sabban Hamo said on Saturday that ISIS has been driven out of areas lying on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. In the official announcement on the liberation of the eastern bank of the Euphrates, the SDF, formed mostly from Kurdish units, said it has secured most of the economically valuable parts of Syria. Territory under SDF control includes oil and gas wells and factories, water sources, three dams and large tracts of agricultural land. If these areas were added to Afrin, the Kurdish-controlled district north of Aleppo, they would control 23 percent of...

KABUL (Reuters) - The commander of the Taliban’s “special forces” branch, known asthe “Red Unit,” was killed last week in Helmand province by Afghan forces, according to Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency. The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said Mullah Shah Wali, also known as Mullah Naser, was killed in an air operation in Helmand. The province is a Taliban stronghold in the heartland of Afghanistan’s lucrative drug trade. [snip]

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – In an interview with Kurdistan 24, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R, California) explained why he felt strongly that the US must support the Kurds. “I am totally dismayed that there’s been any talk whatsoever about reducing our arms support for the Kurdish people, who are fighting against evil forces in the Middle East,” he said. Rohrabacher described the Kurds as “a stalwart in the fight against the evil of radical Islamic terrorism, or, let’s say, radical terrorists who are using Islam.” “The Kurds need to be recognized for this,” he affirmed, as he cautioned...

Video IDF soldier Sergeant Ron Yitzhak Kukia, 19, who was murdered on Thursday evening in the stabbing attack in Arad, was laid to rest on Sunday afternoon, accompanied by hundreds of family and friends. Minister of Science Ophir Akunis, Head of Central Command Roman Numa, Head of Southern Command General Eyal Zamir and the Head of the IDF's Technological and Logistical Directorate, Lieutenant General Aharon Haliva, arrived at his funeral in the military section of the Kiryat Shaul cemetery. Minister Akunis eulogized Ron on behalf of the Israeli government. "How heroes have fallen, the people of Israel bow their heads...

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated over the weekend as US stealth fighters moved into the region and official sources from both North Korea and the US said the chances of war are growing. The bellicose rhetoric from North Korea came in two phases: On Saturday, a statement from its Foreign Ministry said US President Donald Trump is "begging for a nuclear war" through what it called an "extremely dangerous nuclear gamble on the Korean Peninsula"; A day later, a commentary from Pyongyang's Rodong Sinmun newspaper, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, said US-South Korea joint air exercises...

Mahmoud Al-Habbash, a senior adviser to Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, on Saturday declared that an American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital will destroy the peace process. His comments followed reports that U.S. President Donald Trump could recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as soon as Wednesday. “Any American declaration of recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – if there is one – would mean total destruction of the peace process," said Al-Habbash, who was quoted in Israeli media. “The whole world will pay a price for any change or harm to the political reality of Jerusalem,”...

The micro-quake occurred about 1.7 miles northeast of the Punggye-ri nuclear site in the country's northeastern province of North Hamgyong, the Korea Meteorological Administration said on its website. "The quake is a natural one and it is believed to have occurred in the aftermath of the sixth nuclear test", it said. Minor tremors have been detected at the site since the North carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test underground in September, damaging geological structures in the area. An official of the Korea Meteorological Administration said: "Kilju is a rocky area where natural earthquakes normally do not occur....

I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!

Israeli warplanes struck a military base near Syrian capital of Damascus overnight Friday, Syrian state television has confirmed. According to pro-Assad news oiutlets, the target of the attack was an Iranian military base near the city of Al-Kiswa, located some 13 kilometers south of Damascus. Syria's air-defense system fired missiles at the Israeli aircraft, which reportedly launched the attack from Lebanese airspace, Sky News Arabia reported........

AIRSTRIKE ON IRANIAN BASE IN SYRIA RAISES QUESTIONS > Israel’s Red Lines on Iran’s Foothold in Syria > Reports: Israeli aircraft struck an Iranian base outside Damascus BY SETH J. FRANTZMAN DECEMBER 2, 2017 11:26 Why did it take so long to target the facility and in whose interest was it to reveal the facility to the public? In the early hours of December 2 reports claimed that a base or ammunition warehouse south of Damascus had been hit by missiles from an airstrike. Foreign media has alleged that Israel was behind that strike. However, unlike previous airstrikes on Syria,...

Former Minister of Defense for Israel, Moshe Yaalon, just wrote a major opinion piece United States Policy in the Middle East: The Need for a Grand Strategy which was published by Institute for National Security Studies in which he claimed: “The first year of the Trump administration has been characterized by the lack of clear policy guidelines vis-à-vis the Middle East. The great hopes that many countries in the region hung on the change of administration and a new proactive president in the White House have slowly been eclipsed by a sense of confusion, given United States behavior that shows little...

A security expert has warned that the Islamic State terror group's warnings of violence and bloodshed over the Christmas holiday season need to be taken seriously, given the lone wolf attacks that continue rattling the world. "The recent spate of threats to attack during the upcoming holiday are significant and should be taken seriously by law enforcement agenciesm," said Jeffrey Treistman, an assistant professor of national security at the University of New Haven, according to The Hill. "It is essential that security experts remain vigilant during the upcoming Christmas holiday and closely scrutinize their list of radicalized individuals who are...

Kansas case arguing for the religious right to boycott Israeli Jews may have far-reaching ramifications. Ellen Koontz, a Kansas contract schoolteacher, is asking a federal judge to re-affirm the anti-Jewish boycott campaign begun by Adolf Hitler on April 1, 1933, openly adopted shortly thereafter by the Mufti of Jerusalem as part of the Arab-Nazi alliance during the Holocaust, internationalized against the Jewish State after WWII by the Arab League in December 1945, made illegal in America by a 1976 amendment to the Tax Reform Act and a 1977 amendment to the US Export Administration Act, which governs commercial activity impacting...

A top Indonesian Cabinet minister said that the Trump administration’s hostile rhetoric toward Islam has left many in the world’s most populous Muslim nation feeling that a wedge has been driven between the U.S. and Indonesia. Luhut Pandjaitan said in a column written for Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper that the negative sentiment felt in Indonesia will only disappear when it’s clear the U.S. has not abandoned its openness to all faiths. “Many Indonesians were dismayed by the Trump administration’s hostile rhetoric and intemperate policy stance towards the Muslims of the world,” he said. “Given that Indonesia is home to the...

"These epithets of 'moderate Islam' are very ugly, it is disrespectful and an insult to our religion. There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that's it." — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In keeping with Erdoğan's assertions, the Turkish government-funded Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) published in July a detailed 140-page report, which stated that Islam is "superior" to Judaism and Christianity, and that "interfaith dialogue is unacceptable." "The word kafir is the worst word in the human language. It is far worse than the n-word, because the n-word is a personal opinion, whereas, kafir...