Free Republic

Pakistan's interior minis­ter is warning that outspoken critics of the current government could find their biometric identity cards blocked, leaving them without access to their bank accounts. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan also claimed that "hecklers" who bother government officials could have their passports blocked and even be arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) using Pakistan's national ID system, according to Newsweek Pakistan. His threat is aimed at supporters of former Prime Minister Imrah Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Party, and it came after some of those supporters harassed a member of the new government who was eating...

A U.S. Army captain working in Iraq helped foil a terrorist plot to blow up a school in Denmark, according to a U.S. defense official. Capt. Bradley Grimm provided "actionable intelligence" gleaned from captured documents in Iraq about foreign fighters from Denmark that included information on threats against a Danish school using homemade explosives, according to Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the coalition fighting ISIS....

U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren calls the Russian air strikes in Syria, "reckless, indiscriminate and irresponsible." Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

Obama administration officials said Thursday that Russia is firing artillery from its own territory into Ukraine to hit Ukrainian military sites, pointing to escalating Russian involvement in the deadly conflict. “This clearly is a military escalation,” Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said, adding there is no question that Russian military—as opposed to Russia-backed separatists—are firing the shots. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf first made the accusation during a press briefing earlier Thursday. She also claimed Moscow is boosting its military shipments to pro-Russian separatists. …