Free Republic

In the West Bank and Gaza, USAID empowers Palestinians to build thriving communities, promote inclusive development and advance a two-state solution. USAID assistance aims to increase stability and improve lives by working within local communities to increase economic opportunity and access to basic services, promote effective governance, empower youth, and provide humanitarian relief. Additionally, USAID strives to build trust, mutual understanding, and respect by advancing cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians through its peacebuilding initiatives. USAID’s assistance helps build a freer, more prosperous, and more secure region, benefiting Palestinians, Israelis, and Americans.

For over four decades, the American people have partnered with the people of Egypt to build a globally competitive economy for the benefit of all Egyptians. Through investments totaling over $30 billion since 1978, USAID has changed the trajectory of Egypt’s modern development. USAID programs brought clean water and wastewater services to 25 million Egyptians, eliminated polio, reduced child mortality by 80% and maternal mortality by 78%, built 2,000 schools, expanded electricity and telecomms across the country, and created hundreds of thousands of jobs. Today, USAID’s programs in economic growth, education, health, and governance advance a peaceful and prosperous Egypt...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Six-time convicted felon William Groves remains in a lockup after prosecutors convinced a Cook County judge he's a danger to society. The 48-year-old is accused of opening fire in a crowd of people attending a Halloween party in the city's North Lawndale neighborhood, injuring 15 people. Groves, who had a pre-trial detention hearing on Tuesday, has arrests and convictions dating back to when he was 19 years old. He faces 15 counts of attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon for the attack that happened early Sunday in the 1200 block of South...

As a result of the ongoing civil war, Yemen is suffering the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. USAID provides humanitarian assistance to Yemenis in need, ensuring that the most vulnerable receive lifesaving assistance throughout the humanitarian crisis. Through the offices of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance and Food for Peace, USAID supports interventions including emergency food assistance, medical treatment and vaccination support for children, emergency obstetric services for women, blankets and household goods for displaced families, and hygiene kits and water treatment supplies to reduce the spread of disease. While humanitarian assistance is crucial, it will not rebuild key social...

Jordan has made significant progress establishing state institutions, preserving tolerance and religious pluralism, promoting economic growth, and increasing social welfare. Life expectancy at birth increased from 52.6 years in 1960 to 74.3 in 2016. Gross domestic product per capita increased from $511 in 1965 to $4,129 in 2017. Regional instability on Jordan’s borders has burdened Jordanian society and contributed to domestic unease. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq led to influxes of more than one million refugees, which contributed to the doubling of Jordan’s population since 2000 to 10 million people. This dramatic population growth strained labor markets, increased the...

Florida authorities arrested 19 squatters last week after they allegedly destroyed a vacant motel, creating a “really atrocious scene” and causing $15,000 in damages. The squatters were charged with trespassing at a former Budget Inn in Gainesville where police have responded to dozens of times in the past, WCJB reported. “This time there were a lot of people there, a lot of damage to the facilities. They had broken into the utilities. There was an enormous amount of drug paraphernalia and alcohol,” county spokesperson Mark Sexton told the Gainesville Sun. “It was just a really atrocious scene that we found.”...

Since 2003, the United States, through USAID, has been a steadfast partner of Iraq, helping enhance the social and economic stability of all citizens. USAID activities include supporting Iraq’s efforts to address climate change impacts through mitigation and adaptation programming and policy initiatives. Alongside other U.S. government agencies, USAID works with the Iraqi government, international institutions, and a network of local partners to rebuild infrastructure, provide equipment and training to civil society organizations, farmers, and entrepreneurs, and help government at all levels respond to the needs of all Iraqis, including minorities, women, youth, and other vulnerable groups. USAID remains committed...

On October 13, 2022, the FBI testified that they were using geo-tracking data to identify Trump supporters who had gathered near the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. A bombshell report by the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) revealed the “vast, secretive” partnership between private companies and the federal government to surveil and track the movements of millions of Americans. According to the EFF, the intel alphabet agencies, including ICE, the FBI, US Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Defense (DoD), as well as state and local law enforcement, are being funneled hordes of private...

The Syrian conflict is one of the largest and most complex humanitarian crises of our time. According to the United Nations, more than 12 million people are displaced within Syria or have fled to neighboring countries. More than 15.5 million people are in need of humanitarian aid. Whereas the Assad regime has waged an unrelenting campaign of bloodshed and violence against its own people for over a decade, the emergence of ISIS and other malign actors worsened the protracted crisis. The United States, through USAID and the Department of State, continues to work through all possible channels to deliver aid...

A small nation of more than 4 million people, Lebanon’s strategic location, the diversity of its citizens, and its entrepreneurial spirit have long made it a center of trade and culture and a bridge between Europe and the Middle East. Since the end of the Civil War in 1990, Lebanon has been working hard, despite continued sectarian strife—and now the crisis in neighboring Syria—to rebuild its physical, social and economic infrastructure. Lebanon’s economy is largely driven by services, a strong financial sector and, prior to the current crisis in neighboring Syria, tourism. Years of civil war and recurring periods of...

A teen was shot and wounded outside of Sardi’s in Midtown Tuesday night as diners were eating inside the iconic eatery, according to police and law enforcement sources. The gunfire rang out in front of the Theater District restaurant at 234 West 44th Street shortly after 10 p.m., police said. A 16-year-old boy was shot and five young men were taken into custody near the scene, the NYPD said.

Hearing the news this week that Wayne Rooney got a vasectomy makes me think of my own decision to go under the knife. If I’m honest, in the three years it’s been since the procedure, I’ve often wondered if it was the right thing to have done. But every time my mind wanders there, I take a moment and, with a clear head, see it as being one of the best and most important decisions of my life. Already blessed with children from previous relationships, I met my current and forever partner. She also had two children from a previous...

It highlights DeSantis' efforts to bring Americans back from Israel, to recover after hurricane damage and his deployment of Florida troops to the southern border. [cut] The surprise ad launch also comes just days after a new Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll found DeSantis and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley tied for second place among likely Republican caucusgoers.

Rockets rained down on cities and towns, bulldozers toppled border fences, and hundreds of armed militants from Gaza flooded the border and crossed into Israel. Some militants arrived by paragliders; others used boats to storm Israeli beaches.The ensuing death and carnage by armed members of Hamas claimed more Israeli lives than any attack since the Holocaust and caught Israel by surprise. But threats from the terrorist group are nothing new. A ¬rundown of Hamas’ history reveals an organization with a persistent commitment to wiping Israel off the map.Launched in 1987 as an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas has never...

The American Ornithological Society says it will alter the names of North American birds named after humans, starting with up to 80 of them After two years of discussion and debate, the nation’s premier birding organization has decided that birds should not have human names. The American Ornithological Society announced Wednesday that it will remove names given to North American birds in honor of people and replace them with monikers that better describe their plumage and other characteristics. The group said it will prioritize birds whose names trace to enslavers, white supremacists and robbers of Indigenous graves. Among them is...

Explanation: Part of the Sun disappeared earlier this month, but few people were worried. The missing part, which included the center from some locations, just went behind the Moon in what is known as an annular solar eclipse. Featured here is an eclipse sequence taken as the Moon was overtaking the rising Sun in the sky. The foreground hill is Factory Butte in Utah, USA. The rays flaring out from the Sun are not real -- they result from camera aperture diffraction and are known as sunstar. The Moon is real, but it is artificially brightened to enhance its outline...

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer on Wednesday is expected to advance President Biden’s nominee to serve as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps after insisting for months that he wouldn’t schedule individual votes for military positions over Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blanket hold on promotions. Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, also filed cloture motions on Adm. Lisa Franchetti for chief of naval operations and Gen. David Allin for Air Force chief of staff. The last-minute move by Mr. Schumer came Tuesday after Mr. Tuberville, a Republican, obtained 16 signatures needed for his own cloture petition for Lt. Gen. Christopher...

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, the first time in nearly two years that the central bank paused rates over the course of two consecutive meetings. Since March 2022, the Fed has hiked the federal funds rate from near-zero percent to a range of 5.25 to 5.5 percent in an effort to curb rampant inflation. Price growth upeneded the economy in the wake of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which helped push volatile energy prices higher.

If you expect former President Donald Trump to fulfill even one campaign promise he is making for 2024, you would have to explain why he is openly mocking the idea that he could fulfill the promise that defined his entire candidacy in 2016. The core promise of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was that he would build a wall on the southern border and make Mexico pay for it. This is what defined his tough-on-illegal-immigration approach, and he even mocked detractors who said that he would not or could not possibly do it. As late as October 2020, less than one...

Occupational costumes are nothing out of the ordinary for children on Halloween whether it's nurses, army people, or astronauts. One Scotts Valley boy wanted to dress up as a grocery store employee. Maxon told his mother Trisha that instead of going out to trick or treat, he dreamed of being a Safeway employee for Halloween. Hid did just that today and got to work with his best buds at the store. Maxon got to work the registers, patrol the isles, and even work the food counter. He was a natural doing so!