Free Republic

After Hamas announced its response to his peace proposal Oct. 3, President Donald Trump called on Israel to “immediately stop the bombing of Gaza” to clear the way for the release of hostages. In a breaking news report, Hamas-friendly source Al-Jazeera reported that the terrorist organization accepted two key proposals of Trump’s 21-point plan, namely freeing all Israeli captives and handing over administration of the enclave to Palestinian technocrats. According to the Associated Press, Hamas also argued that “aspects of the proposal touching on the future of the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rights should be decided on the basis of...

More than 2 million people across Italy rallied in over 100 cities Friday for a one-day general strike to support the residents of Gaza and a humanitarian aid mission, Italy’s largest union said. Italian unions proclaimed the strike after the Global Sumud Flotilla that was trying to break Israel’s naval blockade to deliver aid to Gaza was intercepted by Israeli naval forces Wednesday night. Protests and demonstrations have sprung up all over Europe and globally since then, but they have been particularly strong in Italy. Italy’s conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had sharply criticized the strike. She anticipated it would...

NEW YORK (AP) — Army veteran Samuel Port couldn’t believe what he was reading in his latest weekly newsletter emailed from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.It blamed Senate Democrats for the federal shutdown, saying they were blocking a stopgap bill to fund the government “due to unrelated policy demands.” It then listed various disruptions to veterans’ resources.In Port’s view, the finger-pointing was inappropriate from a federal agency and lacked the context that Republicans, too, could have taken steps to keep the government funded. He said it wore away any trust he had left in the VA to offer services...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order vowing to use all measures including U.S. military action to defend the energy-rich nation of Qatar — though it remains unclear just what weight the pledge will carry. The text of the order, available Wednesday on the White House’s website but dated Monday, appears to be another measure by Trump to assure the Qataris following Israel’s surprise attack on the country targeting Hamas leaders as they weighed accepting a ceasefire with Israel over the war in the Gaza Strip. The order cites the two countries’...

European soccer body UEFA is moving toward a vote to suspend its member federation Israel over the war in Gaza, people familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press on Thursday. A majority of the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) 20-member executive committee is expected to support any vote in favor of suspending Israeli teams from international play, two sources told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Such a step would prevent Israeli national and clubs teams from playing in international competitions including next year's World Cup. Israel's men's team is...

Pooja Tilvawala knows it’s a gamble to use more than $46,000 of her own savings to help young people get to the United Nations climate summit in Brazil. But she thinks it’s a necessary one. As national delegations, activists and other attendees struggle to find affordable places to stay by November, with some deciding not to go at all, Tilvawala, who lives in London, has spent hours working from afar to find lodging in Belem, negotiate prices and contracts and put down deposits. She did all that to create a housing portal specifically for young people who want to be...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump broke from his prepared remarks at the United Nations on Tuesday to bemoan an inoperable escalator and a defective teleprompter, using the incidents to portray the global body as dysfunctional.... Stephane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, said a videographer from the U.S. delegation who ran ahead of him triggered the stop mechanism at the top of the escalator.... In recent months, U.N. offices in New York and Geneva have intermittently turned off elevators and escalators as part of steps to save money because of a “liquidity crisis” at the world body. That’s due in...

A Florida man convicted of killing his estranged wife's sister and parents before setting their house on fire was put to death, extending the record number of executions carried out in the Sunshine State this year to 12. David Pittman, 63, died by lethal injection on Wednesday at 6:12p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. While the drugs were being administered, Pittman took a few deep breaths before ceasing all movement, according to The Associated Press. "I know you all came to watch an innocent man be murdered by the state of Florida. I am innocent. I didn’t kill anybody....

NEW YORK (AP) — Two ABC affiliate owners spoke out against late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel ahead of ABC's decision to suspend the presenter over comments he made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Their comments highlight the influence local TV station owners have on national broadcasters such as Disney-owned ABC. Here are key facts about the two companies. Nexstar Media Group Nexstar Media Group, based in Irving, Texas, operates 28 ABC affiliates. It said it would pull Kimmel's show starting Wednesday. Kimmel’s comments about Kirk’s death were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in...

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has waged an aggressive campaign against the media unlike any in modern U.S. history, making moves similar to those of authoritarian leaders that he has often praised. On Wednesday, Trump cheered ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show after the comedian made remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk that criticized the president’s MAGA movement: “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. It was the latest in a string of attacks...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel launched its offensive in Gaza City on Tuesday, vowing to overwhelm a city already in ruins from nearly two years of war as thousands of Palestinians fled in vehicles strapped with mattresses and other belongings that clogged a coastal road. The operation into the largest Palestinian city escalated a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushed any ceasefire with Hamas farther out of reach. The military would not offer a timeline for the offensive that aims to crush the militant group’s ability to fight, but Israeli media suggested it could take months. “Gaza...

LONDON (AP) — The Netherlands added itself Friday to a list of countries pressuring organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest to drop Israel from the contest because of its war in the Gaza Strip. Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, one of dozens of public broadcasters that collectively fund and broadcast the contest, said it would not take part in next year’s competition in Vienna if Israel participates “given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza.” “The broadcaster also expresses deep concern about the serious erosion of press freedom: the deliberate exclusion of independent international reporting and the many casualties among journalists,”...

When Israel arrested 24-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi for inciting terrorism in 2023, mainstream media outlets described her as a modern-day Gandhi. The New York Times hailed Tamimi as an "international symbol of Palestinian resistance." Reuters claimed her protests of "Israeli land seizures" had made her "a hero since she was a teenager." Even before her arrest, CNN called her a "fearless teen" who suffered the horrors of "living under Israeli military occupation." What those outlets have not reported, among other things, is Tamimi’s praise for Adolf Hitler, promises to drink the blood of Jews, and declarations that she is...

The debate is not just about the power of prayer. In the United States — with both a large religious population and the most mass shootings in the world — it’s also a polarized debate about gun control. In other words, the episode set off rhetorical skirmishes along two of the biggest dividing lines in America’s cultural and political wars: God and guns. (That doesn’t even count the scrutiny over the motives and gender identity of the shooter, who died by suicide after the attack.) Frey tapped into the principle of “Tikkun Olam,” in his Jewish faith, which speaks about...

The Israeli military said on Friday that it has begun preliminary operations and the initial stages of a planned offensive on Gaza City, adding that it is currently operating with great force on the outskirts. Earlier on Friday, Israel's military said it was suspending midday pauses that allowed the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza City, calling it a "a dangerous combat zone." The city was among the places that Israel paused fighting last month to allow food and aid supplies to enter from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. The "tactical pauses" applied to Gaza City, Deir al-Balah...

George Mason University’s efforts to diversify its workforce violate a civil rights law intended to end segregation, according to the Trump administration.Following a roughly six-week-long investigation of GMU’s hiring practices, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has found that the Northern Virginia-based university violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race in public education.To resolve the alleged violation, the department has proposed an agreement that would require Mason President Gregory Washington to issue a statement and “personal apology … for promoting unlawful discriminatory practices in hiring, promotion, and...

President Trump went on a late-night attack against NBC and ABC News on Sunday, deriding them for what, in his view, was "biased" coverage and said he would be in favor of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revoking their licenses. The Republican president said the news outlets had given him negative coverage on "97%" of stories. It wasn’t clear from where Trump was citing the "97%" figure. A study released earlier this year by the conservative media watchdog group, Media Research Center (MRC), found that coverage of the president’s first 100 days in office was "92% negative." "IF THAT IS...

Despite a very high popularity and, according to many, among the greatest 8 months in Presidential History, ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC. I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!! MAGA

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump started the week declaring a diplomatic breakthrough in his bid to prod Moscow and Kyiv closer to peace, announcing he had begun arranging for direct talks between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Four days later, the Republican president’s optimism has diminished. Russia’s top diplomat made it clear Friday that Putin won’t meet with Zelenskyy until the Ukrainians agree to some of Moscow’s longstanding demands to end the conflict. It’s a stinging setback for Trump, who had been touting his diplomatic blitz as resulting in indisputable momentum for a deal to halt...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from U.S. strikes angered President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the decision and a White House official. Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. The firing is the latest upheaval in military leadership and in the country’s intelligence agencies, and comes a few months after details of the preliminary assessment...