Free Republic

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, has called for Hamas to “hand over its weapons,” immediately free all hostages and cease ruling Gaza, the French presidency said on Tuesday after receiving a letter from him. The letter was addressed to President Emmanuel Macron of France and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who will jointly chair a U.N. conference in New York next week to explore the creation of a Palestinian state. Mr. Macron has set a number of conditions for the possible French recognition of such a state at that meeting, including the disarmament of Hamas. “Hamas...

..... IDF Spokesperson (Res.) Doron Spielman is joined by Major Amiad Cohen, Senior Director of the Herut Center and a reservist who just returned from Israel’s northern border. Together, they expose how Israel’s new military and humanitarian tactics are splitting the Gazan population from Hamas, destabilizing the terror regime’s power base and reshaping the battlefield. Backed by tribal militias fed up with Hamas rule, and no longer relying on international NGOs that Hamas exploits, Israel is asserting direct control of aid distribution—delivering over 1 million meals in one week alone. This discussion covers why Hamas profited billions from stolen humanitarian...

SummaryEight OPEC+ members met online OPEC+ cites steady economic outlook, healthy fundamentals Started unwinding output cuts in April For more detail on OPEC+ unwinding its cuts, see Explainer LONDON/MOSCOW, May 31 (Reuters) - The world’s largest group of oil producers, OPEC+, stuck to its guns on Saturday with another big increase of 411,000 barrels per day for July as it looks to wrestle back market share and punish over-producers. Having spent years curbing production - more than 5 million barrels a day (bpd) or 5% of world demand - eight OPEC+ countries made an modest output increase in April before...

Syria’s new government will relocate ISIS families from camps, with Kurdish and US support. The new Syrian transitional government is seeking to find a way to deal with thousands of ISIS families who have been housed at camps in eastern Syria since ISIS was defeated in Syria in 2019. When ISIS was defeated in several villages near the Euphrates River in 2019, some of the terrorist group chose to surrender, and thousands of families of ISIS fighters ended up in the hands of the US-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The thousands of families were sent to several camps and detention facilities...

Good news everyone: We're back to pre-911 complacency as Islamic terror armies gain ground all over the world (as a side note, the United States apparently still doesn't have a strategy in place on how to deal with this growing, real threat). An alarming new report from ABC News shows authorities from U.S. Customs and Immigration and the State Department have lost track of 6,000 foreign students whose visas have expired.  Watch more news videos | Latest from the US As a reminder, the 9/11 hijackers purposely applied for student visas to get into the United States and knew when...

The president didn’t travel all that way for photo ops. But here’s the greatness that most analysts have missed. President Trump’s recent trip to the Middle East was groundbreaking on many levels: economic, diplomatic, and strategic. In each of the countries he visited, he was greeted warmly by all the highest-ranking officials. He lined up billions in economic agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. However, Trump didn’t travel all that way for photo ops. Although the economic agreements are important, his boldest move was meeting with the new Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa and the agreement to...

France’s civil aviation authority asked airlines to reduce flights by 40% at Paris-Orly airport on Sunday evening after air traffic control systems suffered a breakdown.. The authority, known as DGAC, said in a statement that some “regulation” was needed involving a significant reduction in the number of flights. The statement didn´t provide details on the cause of the breakdown. Paris-Orly airport serves domestic and international flights, including to most European countries and the U.S. Flights to Spain, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Ireland and several French cities were canceled on Sunday while many others were delayed. More...

...With the guidance of former Nazi German munitions experts, Nasser expanded Egypt's chemical weapons program to include the production of mustard gas, chlorine, phosgene, and according to several intelligence estimates, even advanced nerve agents. A short four years later, Egypt deployed this new class of weapons in January 1967 on the small northern Yemeni village of Kitaf, located within the vicinity of the Yemeni tribal opposition's cave headquarters.International media, whose attention had already been drawn to South Arabia by the continuation of hostilities, wasted little time in shining the spotlight and launching full-scale journalistic inquiry into Egypt's use of chemical...

SummaryTrump's Gulf tour sidelines Netanyahu, marks new Middle East order Netanyahu's stance on Gaza, US-Iran talks creates rift with US Massive arms and financial deals signal US pivot to wealthy Gulf Domestic critics say Netanyahu's policies leave Israel paralysed Dubai, May 18 (Reuters)- - Nothing captured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's isolation more starkly this week than the image of U.S. President Donald Trump shaking hands with Syria's Islamist leader Ahmed al‑Sharaa - a man Israel has branded "an al‑Qaeda terrorist in a suit." "He's got the potential. He's a real leader," Trump told reporters after talks with Sharaa on...

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the jihadist terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), praised President Donald Trump in an address on Wednesday for taking the “courageous and historic” step of lifting sanctions on his country. Sharaa delivered a speech to the Syrian people following an in-person meeting with President Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where President Trump concluded the first of three stops in a Middle East tour on Wednesday. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who first met Sharaa shortly after HTS toppled the half-century-old Assad family regime in Damascus, arranged and presided over the meeting. The...

Donald Trump has said his administration is now exploring the possibility of normalising relations with Syria - his comments coming shortly after he met Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose forces ended the decades-long dictatorship of the Assad family. The extraordinary encounter, unthinkable just months ago, was short but significant. "I think he has got the potential," Trump remarked after his meeting in Riyadh, 37 minutes long, with the former Syrian fighter formerly linked to Al-Qaeda. The $10m US bounty on his head was only lifted in December. Video footage of their conversation in a lavish Saudi royal palace showed...

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday had tea with a former jihadist who until recently had a $10 million US bounty on his head. Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, once known by his militant nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, met Trump in Riyadh six months after leading a swift campaign that toppled the half-a-century-old Assad regime, ejecting Iran-backed armed groups and declaring himself leader of the country. Al Sharaa was placed on the US Specially Designated Global Terrorist list in 2013 for heading al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, known as Al Nusra Front, and allegedly orchestrating suicide bombings across...

There’s more to Donald Trump’s Middle East trip than billion-dollar contracts, parades of camels and a storm back home over Qatar’s offer to give the president a new Air Force One. A tour narrowly billed by the White House as a chance for Trump to show he’s a master dealmaker is jumbling the region’s geopolitical jigsaw puzzle.Wherever he goes, Trump’s brings disruption that can forge possibilities. And he takes risks – for instance, his decision on this trip to lift sanctions on Syria to give a war-ravaged nation a second chance.But the move revives a perennial question about Trump’s entire...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Trump urged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to sign the Abraham Accords in a previously unplanned meeting on Wednesday, one day after lifting all sanctions on the Middle Eastern country. The two leaders met on the sidelines of a Gulf Cooperation Council gathering in Riyadh, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan phoning into the conversation. Syria currently doesn’t recognize Israel’s statehood, and the Abraham Accords were just one of Trump’s requests to Syria in an effort to normalize relations. Trump also told the Syrian leader to make all foreign terrorists leave Syria, deport Palestinian terrorists, help...

SUMMARY Donald Trump has met the Syrian interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia this morning The brief meeting came after the US lifted sanctions on Syria - Trump said the move is designed to "give them a chance at greatness" Until December, the US offered a $10m reward for al-Sharaa's arrest, our correspondent Lina Sinjab writes from Damascus Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attended the US-Syria meeting, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined remotely Trump then addressed a Gulf leaders' summit - saying again he wanted a deal with Iran, but they must stop "sponsoring terror" After...

@Brick_Suit YMCA plays as President Trump is joined on stage by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. Amazing finish to an incredible summit meeting!

The United States and Saudi Arabia reached a $142 billion arms deal, President Donald Trump shared on Tuesday. Trump’s announcement came during his speech at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, amid his state visit to the Middle East. “In addition to purchases of $142 billion of American-made military equipment by our great Saudi partners, the largest ever, this week, there are multibillion dollar commercial deals with Amazon, Oracle, AMD…Uber, Qualcomm, Johnson & Johnson, and many, many more,” the president said. The commander-in-chief touted the quality of American military products moments earlier. “Nobody makes military equipment like us;...

Elon Musk said Saudi Arabia has approved Starlink for aviation and maritime use in the region, speaking at an investment forum during a White House-led trip to the kingdom on Tuesday. Starlink is the satellite internet service owned and operated by Musk's aerospace and defense contractor, SpaceX. Musk also briefly discussed his other business ambitions in the region, promising to bring Tesla robotaxis to Saudi Arabia at an unspecified date. "I think it would be very exciting to have autonomous vehicles here in the kingdom, indeed, if you're amenable," Musk said. Musk also said he showed several of Tesla's Optimus...

Obama intel chief violating Iran sanctions? Board member of Chinese government-owned company in deal with Tehran Charles "Chas" Freeman JERUSALEM – President Obama's nominee for a top intelligence post sits on the board of a major oil company owned by the Chinese government that is in the midst of a multibillion dollar deal with Iran which may violate U.S. sanctions, WND has learned. The oil company is widely seen as conducting business deals meant to expand China's influence worldwide. One of its recent attempts to purchase a large U.S. oil firm drew bipartisan congressional opposition amid fears the deal would...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Trump got the royal treatment on his first stop in Saudi Arabia, as white Arabian horses flanked his motorcade — with adviser Elon Musk in tow. Dozens of Saudis rode on horseback carrying US and Saudi flags as Trump’s motorcade peeled into the Royal Court, where he got a warm welcome before going to a lunch in the palace adorned with chandeliers and marble floors. “I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump told reporters after his arrival, referring to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a friend. He later recalled...