Free Republic

Local children of Al Arafia stand in line, Dec. 8, as Soldiers from Company D, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment and Concerned Local Citizens hand out bags full of school supplies. Photo by Sgt. Natalie Rostek, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Soldiers of Company D, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment completed two humanitarian missions in Al Arafia including a food and schoolbag drop, Dec. 8, and a medical assistance visit, Dec. 14. Company D Soldiers together with Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) of Arafia, handed food and bags of school supplies to...

Arabs fire rocket, stab elderly Jewish womanIsrael Today, Israel - Dec 16, 2007In Gaza, four Palestinian Arabs were killed and another 30 were wounded on Friday when a grenade was hurled at the funeral procession of a terrorist killed ...http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=14803

Maj.Mariusz Zadara, section chief of the Polish Civil-Military Coordination group helps distribute humanitarian aid in Nahda district of Diwaniyah, Iraq, Dec. 11. DIWANIYAH — The Polish Civil-Military Coordination group, in cooperation with Iraqi Soldiers from the 8th Division and Polish Soldiers from Task Force Lynx, delivered four trucks full of humanitarian aid supplies to 110 families in Diwaniyah, Iraq, Dec. 11. During the distribution of the family packages, which contained food, an electric generator and bedding, Polish Soldiers were able to speak to residents.“Nowadays, we can observe a big change in the citizens’ behavior,” said Warrant Officer Janusz Sawa, deputy...

Quiz yourself on the Israeli Arab ["Palestinian"] conflict       1) When was the Arab immigration to [the historic Jewish land of] Israel -"Palestine" boosted?   A When they wanted to see Jewish holy sites. B When [anti French and anti British] Arab nationalism spread across the middle east. C When the Zionists Jews came and cultivated the deserted land.     2) What's [Arab "Palestinian" highest "national" icon] Yasser Arafat's country of origin?   A Israel ["Palestine"]. B Jordan. C Egypt.     3) Why were there --initially-- more Arab immigrants ["residents"] than Jewish immigrants (Arab majority)?   A Because...

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration now acknowledges it is trying to recover nearly $500 million from people who improperly received federal aid money intended to help victims of two deadly hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, along the Gulf Coast two years ago. It said the amount may increase further. "This is a moving target and not finite," said James McIntyre, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The government's newest estimate of improper aid represents $494 million FEMA paid to 134,000 people who were ineligible for the aid they received. More than half the money went to people who couldn't...

Sweden's international development agency, SIDA, relies on left-wing ideology rather than facts and logic, argues Nima Sanandaji, from the Captus think tank. ”Gender inequality is one of the main reasons for poverty in a world where 99 percent of the world’s total wealth is owned by men and where 90 percent of the total incomes globally are earned by men.” Where does the above quote come from? To begin with, it is of course as wrong as it can get. In a country such as the UK women own more wealth than men. And more than two percent of global...

Pakistan facing aid cuts by West By Isambard Wilkinson and Damien McElroy in Islamabad Last Updated: 1:40am GMT 05/11/2007 America and Britain threatened to cut billions of pounds worth of aid to Pakistan last night as President Pervez Musharraf arrested hundreds of opponents after imposing a state of emergency. The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, said Washington would "review" its aid after the military ruler suspended the constitution. Gen Pervez Musharraf cited terrorist attacks as justification for his action Gen Musharraf, a key ally in the US-led war on terror, invoked emergency powers on Saturday to stifle challenges to...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HOPE — In an area where clinics are scarce and a trip to the hospital is too far, residents in the New Baghdad District of eastern Baghdad were helped when the Iraqi National Police provided security and joined Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry, attached to 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, providing medical care Oct. 29. After they were seen by a doctor, residents were allowed to choose from clothing, soccer balls and other items for their family as they left with more than 300 of them seeing a doctor. Capt. Cindi J. Schuler, the...

PA red-tape prevents medical care for Palestinians Palestinians arriving in Israel for medical care encounter Palestinian government's refusal to reimburse Israeli hospitals' expenses, causing delays in treatment. 'We don't really exist as far as Hamas and Fatah are concerned,' patients say Ali Waked Published: 10.29.07, 08:33 / Israel News For many Palestinians, the ongoing fighting between Hamas in the Gaza strip and Fatah in the West Bank has created a far more serious problem: The lack of proper medical care. Palestinian hospitals refer many of their patients to Israeli hospitals, where they can receive better treatment; but in many cases,...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is providing immediate emergency aid to victims of the California firestorms. Six semi-trucks have ....

An Iraqi Army Soldier hands a toy to a local girl during a humanitarian aid operation in the small town of Hawr-Rajab, Oct. 13. Photo by U.S. Army Pfc. Erik Burmeister, Combined Press Information Center. BAGHDAD — Iraqi Army (IA) Soldiers and a Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) group brought much needed aid to nearly 500 families in the small town of Hawr-Rajab, Oct. 13. While U.S. forces provided security, the humanitarian aid operation offered medicine along with school and household supplies to the town’s residents. The event was made possible only after the Hawr-Rajab CLC group reached out to the...

'Half of Zimbabwe will soon need food aid' By Sophie Arie Last Updated: 2:28am BST 27/09/2007 Half of Zimbabwe's people will be dependent on emergency food aid next year, a senior British diplomatic source has said, in a damning indictment of President Robert Mugabe's regime. Of an estimated eight million Zimbabweans still in the country, "we know we'll be feeding four million people by January or February, possibly more", the official said. Zimbabweans line up to receive food aid He estimated that since Mr Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms in 2000, the population has fallen from 12 million to eight...

The Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin accuses Norway of supporting "terrorist groups" in Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan. "False allegations," replies Norwegian Parliamentary Secretary Raymond Johansen.

President George W. Bush arrived in the Twin Cities at approximately 4:26 p.m. aboard Air Force One at the International Airport's Air Reserve Station. Following a 15-minute closed-door briefing on recovery efforts related to the I-35W bridge collapse and flash flooding in southeastern Minnesota Bush departed for for a private political fundraiser on behalf of U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman. On hand to meet with Bush at the airport were Gov. Tim Pawlenty and First Lady Mary Pawlenty, Coleman, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Reps. Michele Bachmann, John Kline, Keith Ellison, Tim Walz and Betty McCollum and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak. Following...

Overstretched US cuts aid to Israel By Damien McElroy and Tim Butcher in Jerusalem Last Updated: 11:04pm BST 08/08/2007 America has been forced to withhold funding from its key ally in the Middle East amid the strain of paying for its expensive military campaign in Iraq. Insurgents fire off a battery of 49 rockets aimed at an American military base in Baghdad Washington had promised Israel a substantial increase in its financial support to bolster it against Iran. But US officials decided to amend their pledge because of escalating costs, including the need to spend $750 million (£375 million) to...

US aid ban threatens alliance, says Musharraf By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad Last Updated: 1:43am BST 08/08/2007 Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, warned yesterday that America's recent decision to link US aid to Pakistan's efforts in tackling Islamic militants was an "irritant" between the two countries. Relations between the US and Pakistan, a key ally in the war on terror, have soured since President George W Bush signed the new law last week. It contains a provision, proposed by Democrats in Congress, which obliges the President to withhold aid if Pakistan is deemed not to have fulfilled its obligations in...

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has signed an agreement giving the Palestinian Authority $80m (£39m) to reform their security services. Ms Rice was in the West Bank, where she met with the Fatah-appointed cabinet installed after the Hamas faction took over Gaza in June. She said Israel was ready to discuss "fundamental issues" leading to the creation of a Palestinian state. The US is seeking to bolster the Fatah leadership, headed by Mahmoud Abbas. At a news conference in Ramallah with Mr Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, Ms Rice said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was ready to meet...

FALLUJAH, Iraq, Aug. 1, 2007 – Even though she’s surrounded by war, Dalal is not much different from other children her age. She likes jump-rope and Cinderella and enjoys reading and drawing. Her favorite classes are religion and language, and she recently completed second grade -- earning perfect marks in all her studies. But, unlike many of her peers, the 8-year-old Iraqi girl also has fought a life-threatening battle from within since birth. Dalal, an 8-year-old girl from Iraq’s Anbar province, was escorted to Baghdad, along with her father, by U.S. Special Forces members so they could catch a...

UN in food aid plea for Zimbabwe Food shortages have become common in Zimbabwe The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is asking donor countries to fund an expanded aid operation in Zimbabwe. The WFP says a poor harvest and the country's worsening economic situation means hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans are running out of food. It says it will have to provide assistance to more than three million people over the coming months. Without additional funds, UN food stocks will be completely exhausted by the end of 2007, the agency says. According to the WFP an estimated 3.3 million...

Some state lawmakers want to create a fund for victims of the April 16 shooting at Virginia Tech that left 33 people dead. Any significant action on the proposal is likely several months away -- the General Assembly meets in January -- but several state legislators say the idea is increasingly becoming a topic of conversation. "I feel it's altogether appropriate, in this case, for the commonwealth to do this," state Sen. John S. Edwards, D-Roanoke, said during a phone interview yesterday. "I would strongly support this." Edwards, whose district includes Blacksburg, the home of Virginia Tech, believes money for...