Free Republic

Rebels including al-Qaeda-linked fighters gained control of a Christian village northeast of the capital Damascus, Syrian activists said Sunday. Government media provided a dramatically different account of the battle suggesting regime forces were winning. Independent information has been nearly impossible to come by in the 2.5-year-old conflict in Syria. Maaloula, a scenic mountain community, is known for being one of the few places in the world where residents still speak the ancient Middle Eastern language of Aramaic. The rebel advance into the area this week was spearheaded by the Jabhat al-Nusra, or Nusra Front, exacerbating fears among Syrians and religious...

AMMAN, Jordan Rebels including al-Qaeda-linked fighters gained control of a Christian village northeast of the capital Damascus, Syrian activists said Sunday. Government media provided a dramatically different account of the battle suggesting regime forces were winning. Independent information has been nearly impossible to come by in the 2.5-year-old conflict in Syria. Maaloula, a scenic mountain community, is known for being one of the few places in the world where residents still speak the ancient Middle Eastern language of Aramaic. The rebel advance into the area this week was spearheaded by the Jabhat al-Nusra, or Nusra Front, exacerbating fears among Syrians...

Moscow Both Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister have lashed out at the West in recent days for pursuing what they regard as naive and incoherent Middle East policies. The critique targets Western backing of anti-dictator rebellions in Libya and Syria, which, as Mr. Putin tells it, only fuels the spreading flames of extreme Islamist insurrection, including the current war in Mali and last week's terrorist strike on a gas complex in Algeria. "The Syrian conflict has been raging for almost two years now. Upheaval in Libya, accompanied by the uncontrolled spread of weapons, contributed to the deterioration of the...

Now this… Kyle Lawrence, a Colorado Springs Occupier, remains in a Denver Hospital burn unit with second degree burns that he received when he was caught on fire during the arson that leveled the Historic Green Mountain Falls Town Hall.

The recent executive director of the controversial Council on American-Islamic Relations' South Florida chapter is a founder and spokesman of Occupy Miami, WND has learned. Mohammad Malik currently is as an activist with several other Islamic groups. He has led hate-filled anti-Israel protests in which participants were filmed wearing Hamas paraphernalia while chanting "Nuke Israel" and "Go back to the oven" – a reference to Jews being killed in the Holocaust. Malik has been widely quoted in the Florida news media in recent weeks speaking for Occupy Miami. The Miami Herald identified Malik as one of the organizers of Occupy's...

Police are investigating a fatal shooting just outside the Occupy Oakland encampment in Northern California, the apparent suicide of a military veteran at an Occupy encampment in Vermont's largest city and a man found dead in a tent Friday morning in Utah. Salt Lake City's police chief has ordered all protesters to leave a city park after authorities found the body of the man, who was in his 40s. A cause of death was not available, but authorities say it did not immediately appear to be foul play. Police Chief Chris Burbank says the group will now have to pack...

WASHINGTON — Knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious, a controversial border security strategy that allowed guns to be shipped illegally into Mexico in an effort to track them to drug cartels, went to the top of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, according to evidence released on Wednesday at a House Oversight Committee hearing. Witnesses at the House hearing included three relatives of a Border Patrol agent killed in Arizona and three A.T.F. agents, right. The operation, which began in 2009, came under fire after two guns linked to it were found at the scene of the killing of...

In what could be the final straw for Rep. Anthony Weiner’s political career, new embarrassing photos are surfacing — including one showing Weiner dressed in women's clothing. Anthony, Weiner, Scandal, sexting, bra, pantiesThe photos, said to have been taken when Weiner was a college student, show him dressed as a woman in a black bra, panties and leotards. The explicit photos are expected to touch off a bidding war involving a number of media outlets. “These new photos make Weiner’s current scandal even more disturbing,” said one industry source.

almost rammed car with palin bumper sticker. with intent.. held up..coulda been kids in car.

Barack Obama has come under fire for extending a formal invitation to a shamed African dictator who has ruthlessly plundered billions of dollars from his own country. The U.S. President will today have a coveted private meeting with President Ali Bongo of Gabon in the Oval Office despite his appalling track record. Bongo’s family has ruled the impoverished African nation with an iron fist for five decades and have used its oil riches to fund a life of outrageous luxury. Meanwhile one third of people in Gabon live on less than $2 a day and thousands starve to death each...

If you're wondering what we've been getting for the money Imam Obama has been flushing down his third war in Libya, Uruknet.info has video of pro-Gaddafi soldiers who were foolish enough to surrender to the rebels. For some reason they didn't run the footage on CNN. Here's one of the least unwatchable; mercifully, the action doesn't start until two minutes in.