Free Republic

Sabreen Alrouh Joudeh was born an orphan. And her life, however hopeful, has proved brief. During a barrage of intense Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah this weekend, one blast hit the family home into which Sabreen would have been welcomed, according to local health officials, hospital staff and family members. The blast killed her mother, Sabreen Sakani — who was 30 weeks pregnant with her at the time — as well as her father, Shukri Joudeh, and her 3-year-old sister she never got to meet, Malak. The family was declared dead at the city’s Kuwaiti Hospital...

For one day at least, Russia’s opposition came alive to mourn its lost leader. The funeral of Alexei Navalny on Friday almost did not happen at all. But thousands ultimately turned out — braving the snow, heavy security and weeks of Kremlin efforts to derail the event — so that they could pay their respects to the man who challenged President Vladimir Putin with a vision for a democratic Russia. Bearing flowers, candles and placards, the crowd chanted Navalny’s name as his body was first delivered to a church in southern Moscow for a brief funeral and then to a...

TEL AVIV — Israel’s ferocious bombardment of the Gaza Strip will create an incubator for a new generation of terrorists, some extremism experts say, as thousands of young people who have lost families and homes risk being radicalized by the war and its likely chaotic aftermath. Israel says it wants to destroy Hamas, the terrorist group that carried out the massacre of more than 1,400 people and the kidnappings of 240 others on Oct. 7, according to official estimates. But Israel’s retaliatory bombing campaign has killed thousands of civilians, many of them women and children; reduced swaths of the tiny,...

Russia’s winter push in Ukraine may have made little progress and at a “stunning” cost. More than 100,000 fighters from the Kremlin’s forces have been killed or wounded since December alone, the U.S. now estimates — outlining Moscow's massive losses as its military leaders scramble to recruit more men and prepare for an impending counteroffensive. The figure, if accurate, could spell trouble ahead for President Vladimir Putin. He faces a second year at war with the land he seized increasingly in Kyiv's sights and with his military's struggles forcing the Kremlin to balance battlefield necessities with domestic pressures. The casualty...

Germany said on Sunday it was continuing to work closely with the United States on implementing a deal on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea and carries gas from Russia to Germany.Germany's foreign ministry said it continued to coordinate closely with the U.S. administration on implementing a joint declaration on the $11 billion pipeline....The document also said Nord Stream 2 presented "no threat to Ukraine as long as reasonable gas transit is ensured," and referred to potential sanctions on the pipeline as "a victory for Putin" as it would divide Western allies, Axios added.

Three high school basketball players from Tennessee have been charged with raping and assaulting a teammate while staying in a rental cabin for a tournament, officials said late Tuesday. The male victim was hospitalized and had to undergo surgery "due to the extent of his injuries" after the Dec. 23 incident, according to local police. The three suspects and the victim were all juveniles from Ooltewah High School, in Ooltewah, Tennessee. Their basketball team was in Gatlinburg, around 100 miles to the northeast, for a tournament, Gatlinburg Police Department said in a statement.

Interpol issued wanted-person notices Wednesday for six people accused by the Department of Justice of being involved in a vast corruption network surrounding soccer's FIFA governing body. The so-called "red notices" — which do not have the power of an international arrest warrant — were issued at the request of U.S. authorities, Interpol said in a statement. Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner and former FIFA executive committee member Nicolás Leoz were the top names on Interpol's list, followed by Alejandro Burzaco, Hugo Jinkis and Mariano Jinkis, all heads of marketing businesses based in Argentina, and José Margulies, who runs...