Free Republic

In a few words, US President Donald Trump this week suggested that one of Washington’s closest allies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was lying. There was “real starvation” under way in Gaza, Trump told reporters in Scotland on Monday, a day after Netanyahu had called such reports “a boldfaced lie”. Trump said he had seen the images of hungry Palestinians on television and on Tuesday declared that a person would have to be “pretty cold hearted” or “nuts” not to find them terrible. It was a rare rebuke from a US president who has placed few limitations on the behaviour...

The House, in a decisive vote Thursday, passed the annual defense authorization bill, delivering a bipartisan rebuke to its most conservative members who had sought to infuse the legislation with a wishlist of provisions targeting Pentagon policies on abortion, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights. The $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was approved by a vote of 310-118, having passed the Senate by an overwhelming margin Wednesday night. It proceeds next to the White House, where President Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law.