Free Republic

On Thursday evening, the Pentagon confirmed that at the direction of President Donald Trump, US forces killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in an airstrike near Baghdad's airport, the most drastic step toward conflict with Iran in the 21st century. Soleimani was for decades one of the most important and highly regarded military figures in Iran, playing a pivotal role in shaping Iranian foreign policy and the politics of the Middle East today. The killing of the high-level commander, first reported by Iraqi state TV and later confirmed in a Pentagon statement, is the US's most significant escalation of tensions...

AMC and production company Stalwart Films had argued that John Bernecker’s death in a fall from a balcony during a staged fight was an unforeseen accident that happened when the trained stuntman missed a landing pad 25 feet (7.62 meters) below. Bernecker’s parents, Susan and Hagen Bernecker, sued AMC, Stalwart and several other defendants involved in the show’s production, claiming they skimped on safety measures for financial and scheduling concerns. In a statement, plaintiffs attorney Jeffrey Harris said the 33-year-old “was a remarkably talented stunt professional who had an incredibly bright future in the film industry. My sincere hope is...

Christine Rollins, 59, was attacked in Anahuac, east of Houston, outside a home where she worked as a caregiver to an elderly woman. Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told reporters on Monday: "In my 35 years I will tell you it's one of the worst things I've ever seen." "No doubt in my mind that it was multiple animals and we can tell that from the different sizes of the bites," said Sheriff Hawthorne, adding that the homeowner's dogs appear to have chased away the hogs before Rollins' body was discovered. The sheriff said neighbours had recently complained about rampant...

Five police vehicles were traveling through the municipality of Aguililla in the early morning when they were ambushed by more than 30 armed individuals, according to a statement from the Michoacan state prosecutor. The attackers, in five "presumably armored" vehicles, opened fire with high caliber weapons, said the prosecutor, Adrián López Solís. Security forces dispatched to the scene found officers slain and injured with bullet wounds, their vehicles shot up and two of them on fire, the statement said. Images published on social media showed posters left on police vehicles signed "CJNG" -- the initials of the Jalisco New Generation...

Danielle Burnett, of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, was scaling the steepest part of the trail Thursday when she fell more than 500 feet (150 meters) down the steep, rocky terrain. Gediman says Burnett was dead when Park Rangers arrived on the scene. Rangers installed cables to help hikers get to the top of the 8,800-foot rock face. The cables are installed each summer to assist the climbs of thousands of hikers who make the popular 14-mile round trip.

VENTURA COUNTY, California – The Ventura County Fire Department has confirmed 34 people have been killed in a boat incident off the Ventura County coast.

In a shocking coincidence, the prison guard who was watching Jeffrey Epstein during his suicide, Malcolm Smith, was tragically killed in an auto accident tomorrow. “I can’t believe it,” Oswald Harvey Lee a Smith coworker said. “It’s hard to believe that he’s gone.” Smith had overseen the transfer of Epstein’s cellmate and the switching off of the security cameras that monitored Epstein during his 24-hour surveillance on suicide watch. “It’s just a shame. Nothing like this has ever happened in American politics,” Lee added. “I just can’t believe he died tomorrow.” Many questions have arisen since Epstein was suicided while...

I repeat: 500,000 trees. Killed. (That’s all U.S. Sunday newspapers combined.) What a bummer. **SNIP** What I found was bad news… >> 500,000 trees must be cut down just to produce each week’s Sunday newspaper (all U.S. Sunday papers combined). >> In total, newsprint consumption in the U.S. (2009) meant a loss of 95 million trees, generation of 126 billion gallons of waste water and emission of 73 billion pounds of greenhouse gases. Ouch! >> Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees. >> If all newspaper was recycled—including the daily papers—we’d save about...

Pennsylvania Game CommissionLike Page 1 hr · 🚨Operation Game Thief Alert: Erie County We Need Your Help - A dead bald eagle was found last night, July 25, near Hope Cemetery, Elk Creek Township, Erie County. This is the intersection of State Route 18 and Sherman Road, near Cranesville. State Game Warden Stutts responded to the incident and his investigation revealed the mature bald eagle was shot. If you have any information, please call the Game Commission's Northwest Region Office at 814-432-3187 or the Operation Game Thief Hotline at 1-888-PGC-8001. Thanks in advance for any information provided

Hodan Nalayeh spent the last days of her life doing what she loved most: sharing a side of Somalia rarely depicted in the West. On Twitter, she posted photos of young boys grinning on the island of Ilisi, fresh fish and lobsters pulled straight from the Indian Ocean and a colorful sunset from the port city of Kismayo. “It was an incredible day to witness #Somalia’s beauty,” the Somali-Canadian journalist wrote. Then, on Friday, al-Shabab militants stormed the Asasey Hotel in Kismayo, killing at least 26 people, including Nalayeh, 43, and her husband, Farid Jama Suleiman. An additional 56 people...

A Virginia doctor on vacation with his wife and three children was reportedly murdered on Sunday while fly fishing in Belize. Dr. Gary Swank, a cardiologist from Roanoke, Va., and his tour guide were shot and killed while fly-fishing in a lagoon west of San Pedro Town, according to local media reports. Both men were reportedly shot multiple times in the body and head. San Pedro police believe the tour guide, Mario Graniel, 53, was the intended target of the gunmen, according to The Reporter. Graniel had previously called the authorities to his home on Saturday after an unknown gunman...

The suspect in the shooting fled the scene and was later located in a nearby apartment. Once police entered the residence, officials say the suspect was confirmed dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Mooresville K9 Officer Jordan Harris Sheldon, 32, was shot during a routine traffic stop on West Plaza Drive shortly after 10 p.m. on Saturday. He was transported from the scene, but officials say he later died from his injuries. Sheldon served with the Mooresville Police Department for six years. The suspect in the shooting fled the scene and was later located in a nearby...

An 11-year-old Suitland, Maryland, girl has been charged with first-degree child abuse after police said she assaulted a 1-year-old boy left alone in her care and he died from his injuries several days later. Prince George’s County police identified the boy as Paxton Davis, of Southeast D.C. Police said the baby had been left last weekend with the girl’s mother, who was a family friend of the baby’s mother. When the girl’s mom went to run an errand the next morning, she left the 11-year-old alone at home with the baby boy, police said. When other family members returned home,...

"""PICTURED: Border Patrol agent, 36, killed by 'rock throwers' in ambush attack near US-Mexico border in Texas that also injured his partner""" Agent Rogelio Martinez, 36, was killed while responding to activity at the border Authorities said his partner is also in serious condition following the incident FBI has taken over the case and officials are currently searching for suspects and witnesses President Donald Trump tweeted: 'We will seek out and bring to justice those responsible. We will, and must, build the Wall!' Authorities were searching Texas' Big Bend area for suspects and witnesses Monday after US Customs and Border...

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed that 50-year-old Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo has been charged with the murder of Sana Muhammad, 35, following the violent attack in Ilford on Monday morning. CNN has learned that Unmathallegadoo is the ex-husband of the victim. Sana Muhammad -- previously named by police as Devi Unmathallegadoo -- was eight months pregnant with her baby, who was narrowly missed by the crossbow and was delivered safely in hospital. The victim's husband, Imtiaz Muhammad, told the Evening Standard newspaper that the alleged killer had been hiding in the family's garden shed, before attacking her in front of her five other...

MINYA, Egypt (AP) -- Hundreds of Egyptian Christians attended a funeral service Saturday after seven people were killed in an ambush by Islamic State militants of buses carrying pilgrims to a remote desert monastery. 【Related】IS attack on Christian pilgrims in Egypt kills 7 【Related】Japan, Egypt to work to bring stability to Middle East 【Related】Egypt governor: Remove Disney figures from kindergartens The service at Prince Tadros church in the central city of Minya was held amid tight security. Minya's top cleric, Anba Makarios, led prayers over a row of six white coffins, all victims from the same family. A separate funeral...

In Minya, Egypt, Coptic Christians were terrorized in another attack targeting the minority group on Friday. Islamic militants opened gunfire on two buses carrying Coptic Christians en route to an ancient monastery in Upper Egypt, killing seven and injuring more than eleven. Friday’s attack is one in a series of attacks on Egypt’s ancient Christian community, which currently makes up between 10 and 15 percent of Egypt’s population. Minya has the largest population of Christians in the country — 35 percent of residents are Christians — and experiences a lion’s share of the sectarian attacks. According to Open Doors USA’s...

CAIRO – Islamic militants on Friday ambushed two buses carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing seven and wounding up to 16, according to the Interior Ministry and security officials. Coptic Orthodox Church spokesman Boulos Halim said the death toll was likely to rise. Local church officials in Minya province where the attack took place put the death toll at 10, but the higher figure could not be confirmed. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of Islamic militants who have for years...

A Kurdish-led force backed by a US-led coalition on Wednesday suspended operations against the Islamic State group and said they would not resume until Turkey halts its attacks on Kurdish militia posts in northern Syria.The Syrian Democratic Forces, joint Arab-Kurdish units under Kurdish command, announced a "temporary halt" to their operation, launched in eastern Syria on September 10, and condemned Turkey's "provocations".On Wednesday, Turkish shelling of Kurdish positions in the Kobane sector of northern Syria killed four fighters, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.The SDF condemned what it called the "coordination" of Turkey's attacks with a fightback by jihadists...