Free Republic

Shipping giant Maersk said on Thursday that ongoing disruptions to global shipping that attacks from the Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen have caused are making shipping increasingly expensive. Maersk’s update confirmed that its predictions in July of a “cascading impact” from the Houthi attacks, affecting far more than shipping lines that run through the Red Sea, have come true. As for the Red Sea shipping lane, Maersk cited data that conclude transits of the Suez Canal are down by 66 percent since Houthi attacks began prompting shippers to reroute their vessels around Africa. “These disruptions have led to service reconfigurations...

The lives of American sailors were valued less than appeasing Iran.. The Biden-Harris administration has spent the past months pressuring Israel into surrendering to Hamas Islamic terrorists and to avoid offending Hezbollah to avoid ‘escalation’. Now to be fair, this is also the same policy they’ve adopted for America. After a Houthi attack on an oil tanker led to a leak into the water (mostly ignored or minimized by the same media which went nuts over the Exxon-Valdez spill), we have to ask again why the United States has spent 8 months trying to stop attacks by an Islamic terrorist...

Khaled Mashal, the terrorist leader in charge of the Hamas “diaspora office,” delivered a speech on Wednesday in which he called for Palestinians in the West Bank to engage in mass suicide attacks against Israel, insisting “the escalation of this conflict is required.” Mashal made the remarks in a video recorded for an anti-Israel conference in Istanbul, Turkey. The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a hardline Islamist, is explicitly pro-Hamas despite its status as a genocidal terrorist organization and the perpetrator of an unprecedented massacre of upwards of 1,000 people in Israel on October 7, 2023. Erdogan himself...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 3-year-old child was severely injured after a dog attacked them in northeast Charlotte. The incident happened on Monday just before 9 p.m. on Monday on Cameron Commons Parkway, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD). Police say a group of children was playing with three dogs outside when two of the dogs playfully knocked the victim to the ground. The third dog then bit the victim and dragged them down the driveway, according to police. Adult witnesses attempted to stop the attack. Two people fired gunshots near the dog, which caused the dog to stop. The...

Argentina’s Federal Police forces dismantled this weekend what they described as an Islamic terrorist cell allegedly planning attacks against the Jewish community in the western province of Mendoza. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich announced on Friday evening that federal police officers carried out eight raids on the homes of the group’s members to dismantle the radical Islamic terror cell, resulting in the arrest of seven individuals. The terrorist cell was identified after it issued threats against a local Jewish journalist, who denounced the threats to the Delegation of Israelite Associations of Argentina (DAIA), prompting local authorities to launch an investigation. Bullrich...

An Iranian attack on Israel could be delayed amid hoped-for negotiations later this week for a hostage release and ceasefire deal in Gaza, three Iranian officials said on Tuesday, indicating that a successful deal could hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel for alleged assassinating Hamas terror chief Ismail Haniyeh on its soil. Iran has vowed to retaliate harshly for Haniyeh’s killing, which took place as he visited Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed or denied its involvement. The US Navy has deployed warships and a submarine to the Middle East...

The US has to be ready for what could be a significant set of attacks against Israel by Iran and its proxies, US National Security Communications adviser John Kirby told reporters in a virtual briefing Monday, as international diplomats raced to avert a regional war. “We have increased our force posture and capabilities in the region even in just the last few days,” Kirby said, adding that “we have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks.” The most important step right now is making sure that "Israel can defend itself and that we, the United...

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) clapped back at those attacking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military record, stating it is a “sign of the bankruptcy” of critics’ ideas. Walz’s 24 years in the Army National Guard came under intense scrutiny by Republicans last week, specifically over whether the Minnesota governor misrepresented his time in the service.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) slammed former President Trump for his attacks on the intelligence of Vice President Harris Friday. “I don’t pay attention to what he has to say,” Pelosi told MSNBC host Joy Reid on “The ReidOut.” “It’s pathetic.” At a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate Thursday, Trump said Harris is “not smart enough to do a news conference.” The former president’s campaign has aimed criticism at Harris for not taking questions from reporters since she kicked off her campaign last month. On Thursday, Harris took some questions from reporters who went with her to Michigan...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg slammed recent attacks against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) by former President Trump as “mushy and lazy” on Friday, suggesting Trump’s heart may not be in the race anymore. “It’s also pretty mushy and lazy for Donald Trump’s best attack to be, what was it, ‘He’s heavily into lotsa different worlds,’ like?” Buttigieg said on CNN’s “The Source” with anchor Kaitlan Collins.

During an interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) responded to a question on the immigration positions of 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz by saying he’ll “take on these criticisms, but do it always with facts and with a smile on his face.” Later, she added that “I wish we had the days where people would welcome people to the ticket for at least one day.” After Klobuchar defended Walz’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and riots in the state, stating that he opposed defunding the police and increased funding for police, and...

Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group launched a series of drone and rocket attacks into northern Israel on Tuesday morning before warning that was just the start. Hezbollah said it launched a swarm of attack drones at two military sites near Acre in northern Israel, and also attacked an Israeli military vehicle in another location, Reuters reports. The attack was confirmed by the Israeli military, the Reuters report detailed, adding: […] a number of hostile drones were identified crossing from Lebanon and one was intercepted. It said several civilians were injured to the south of the coastal city of Nahariya. Reuters TV...

During an interview with CNA on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to a question on how far the U.S. will go to defend Israel from attacks from Iran after Israel’s reported killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh by stating that since October 7, “one of the things that we’ve been focused on is trying to make sure that the conflict that emerged in Gaza doesn’t spread, doesn’t go to other places, doesn’t escalate, and we’re going to continue to do that as well. Now, again, the best way to bring the temperature down everywhere and to put...

The suspect who severely beat two elderly pro-life activists outside an abortion clinic last summer has been arrested as the pro-life movement continues to face increased violence amid a volatile political climate. The American Center for Law and Justice, which represents two elderly pro-life activists who were brutally beaten outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Baltimore, Maryland, last year, announced Thursday that an arrest was made in connection with the attack. While the legal organization did not release the suspect's name or information about him, it described the development as a "major breakthrough." Mark Crosby and Dick Schaefer were...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a podcast released Saturday that attacks aimed at Vice President Harris claiming she was hired due to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are “a bad look for Republicans.” Asked about the attacks by The New York Times’ Lulu Garcia-Navarro said on the outlet’s “The Interview” podcast, Buttigieg argued they are likely to backfire on Republicans. “Well, I do think that those attacks have been a bad look for Republicans,” Buttigieg, who is seen as a possible contender for likely Democratic presidential nominee Harris’ running mate, responded.

France’s high-speed train system was targeted in a series of attacks Friday, wreaking havoc on the opening day of the 2024 Olympic Games. A series of “coordinated acts of malice” in France led to the cancellation and diversion of a large number of trains, while all travelers were asked to postpone their journeys and not go to train stations on the opening day of the Olympics, according to French rail company SNCF and CNN. Damage was reported at several SNCF facilities as well as the Atlantic, Northern, and Eastern high-speed lines. At least one of the attacks was mitigated by...

Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele said in an interview late Thursday that former President Trump’s attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris are “incoherent.” “At a rally in North Carolina, Donald Trump showed in real time how the ground has shifted for Republicans, as he tried out some incoherent attacks on his new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, including repeatedly mispronouncing her name and trying out a recycled insult or two,” Steele said while guest-hosting MSNBC’s “The ReidOut.” Steele highlighted a whirlwind week in politics after President Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed Harris. Since then, Harris’s campaign...

Chicago's annual Pride parade took place on Sunday and the event appeared to go smoothly enough. Authorities had been wary of potentially violent disruptions, so the parade route was shorter than in previous years with fewer floats and a large police presence. The peaceful portion of the proceedings was not destined to last, however. Once the parade was over, hundreds of participants and observers stuck around well into the night, drinking, singing, and dancing. Then fights began to break out. When the police attempted to break up the altercations, the revelers attacked the CPD cops. In the end, more than...

A legendary surfer and actor known for his role in “Pirates Of The Caribbean” was killed in a shark attack in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday. Honolulu’s emergency services were unable to save Tamayo Perry, 49, after he was attacked by a shark while surfing off the island of Oahu at around 1 p.m. Sunday, according to the BBC. Shayne Enright, spokeswoman for Honolulu Ocean Safety and for The Honolulu Medical Services Office, confirmed Perry’s death in a press statement after paramedics used jet skis to bring him back to shore. Kurt Lager, acting Chief of the Ocean Safety Department, said...

Attorney General Merrick Garland this week called for “attacks” against the Justice Department to stop, in a rare op-ed a day before the House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena. Garland said in the piece, which appeared in the Washington Post on Tuesday, that in recent weeks, there have been an “escalation of attacks that go far beyond public scrutiny, criticism, and legitimate and necessary oversight of our work,” and claimed that the attacks are “baseless, personal and dangerous.” He suggested the attacks were coming from Trump supporters, in response...