Free Republic

Israel launched a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, where its forces killed at least nine Palestinians and sealed off the volatile city of Jenin, according to Palestinian officials. Israel has carried out near-daily raids across the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza triggered the ongoing war there. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said that “large forces” had entered the volatile city of Jenin, which has long been a terrorist stronghold, as well as Tulkarem and the Al-Faraa refugee camp dating back to the 1948 Mideast war, all in...

MOSCOW (AFP) – President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday announced a "large-scale" rearmament and renewal of Russia's nuclear arsenal, accusing NATO of pushing ahead with expansion near Russian borders. Meeting defence chiefs in Moscow, Medvedev said he was determined to implement reforms to streamline Russia's bloated military and stressed Moscow continued to face several security threats needing robust defense capacity. "From 2011, a large-scale rearmament of the army and navy will begin," Medvedev said. He called for a renewal of Russia's nuclear weapons arsenal and added that NATO was pursuing a drive to expand the alliance's physical presence near Russia's borders....

ANKARA, Turkey - Police fear militants have infiltrated Turkey to organize attacks on U.S., Israeli and other Western interests or Istanbul's most popular shopping mall over the Christmas season, according to an intelligence document made public Tuesday. The document, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, follows suicide bombings in November that targeted two synagogues, the British Consulate and a London-based bank. Those attacks killed 62 people, including the suicide bombers. "It is being detected that the preparations for a large-scale third wave of attacks to follow up the suicide bombings has been completed," said the document....