Free Republic

President Biden spoke Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marking the first time the two have spoken since Biden said the prime minister was “hurting Israel more than helping” and a top Democrat called for new elections in Israel. The two men discussed “the latest developments in Israel and Gaza, including the situation in Rafah and efforts to surge humanitarian assistance to Gaza,” the White House said. Biden has sought to balance his frustrations with Netanyahu with his administration’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas. The president has repeatedly asserted Israel has a right to defend itself...

The FBI and Homeland Security sounded the alarm over the possibility of “lone actor violence” that could target holiday-related gatherings and other events due to tensions from the Israel-Hamas war. The federal agencies, along with the National Counterterrorism Center, issued a public service announcement Tuesday about the heightened threat of violence this winter after issuing previous warnings in October. While the alert was not in response to a specific plot on the feds’ radar, “various foreign terrorist media organizations have called for lone actor attacks in the US,” the agencies said.

A rash of legal disputes in San Francisco is highlighting the city's ongoing conflict over how to tackle homelessness. Driving the news: Hundreds of people faced off in dueling protests outside the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday as the city fights a temporary court order preventing it from clearing homeless encampments. The Coalition on Homelessness (COH) plans to request that a district court appoint a special master to ensure the city's compliance with the order at a hearing Thursday, the San Francisco Standard reports. Catch up quick: The nonprofit filed a lawsuit last fall alleging San Francisco violates...

There have been skirmishes between armed ethnic Serb protesters and Kosovo police. The reason is that a while ago, Kosovo ordered that drivers surrender Serbian-issued license plates and replace them with Kosovo plates. On Dec. 10, Serbs living in northern Kosovo started erecting barricades. Kosovo residents confronted them, and Kosovo police blocked the border checkpoints. A traffic jam ensued, and so did a small shootout, including the use of a stun grenade. The shooting has died down but the threats have mounted. A shootout over license plates may seem excessive, but this is the Balkans. It is a relatively small...

Is it just me or does the country seem more divided not less? Both sides, right and left, appear to be taking a position, digging in their heels, accusation and finger pointing at an all time high. How long can this go on? How does it end?

Lawmakers are frustrated about being kept in the dark as Democratic leaders strategize how to jimmy an energy deal struck with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) behind closed doors through Congress — while also averting a government shutdown. Democratic leadership is aiming to use a must-pass government-funding bill to advance an energy permitting proposal by Manchin by the end of the month. But with roughly two weeks standing between Congress and the critical funding deadline, tensions are simmering over the closely-kept negotiations.

President Joe Biden is sending his national security adviser for talks with a senior Chinese official in Rome on Monday as concerns grow that China is amplifying Russian disinformation in the Ukraine war and may help Russia evade punishment from economic sanctions. The talks between national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi will center on "efforts to manage the competition between our two countries and discuss the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine on regional and global security," said Emily Horne, speaking for the White House national security council.

Members of the environmental justice movement sent an email blast more than 5,600 times over a 48-hour period to top Biden administration officials, disrupting White House communication and sparking a tense exchange between the administration’s chief environmental outreach official and one of the key leaders of the movement. The form-letter blast effectively shut down email communication over two August days between high-ranking Biden administration officials, including national climate adviser Gina McCarthy, her deputy Ali Zaidi, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and David Kieve, who leads outreach to environmental groups for the White House, according to Erika Thi Patterson, campaign...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — After only their first few weeks of work, tensions already are high among lawmakers meeting in-person at some state capitols — not because of testy debates over taxes, guns or abortion, but because of a disregard for coronavirus precautions. In Georgia, a Republican lawmaker recently was booted from the House floor for refusing to get tested for the coronavirus. In Iowa, a Democratic House member boldly violated a no-jeans rule to protest the chamber’s lack of a mask rule. And in Missouri, numerous lawmakers and staff — some fearing for their health after a COVID-19...

Iran is slowly taking off its gloves and has dropped its mask in the widening confrontation with Western countries and Israel. After the United Kingdom (UK) seized an Iranian tanker with oil bound for Syria on July 4, the Iranians embarked on a piracy campaign against British and other vessels in the Persian Gulf. The tanker, Grace 1, was carrying 2.1 million barrels of oil when it was detained by British Marines and will stay in Gibraltar for another month, a court in the British colony decided last Friday. Iran called the British action an “act of piracy” and again...

Protests have continued in the United States, after violent incidents involving African American people and the police last week. On Sunday, dozens of protesters were arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where a black man was killed by police last Tuesday. In an atmosphere of heightened racial tension, and amid growing debate over the seeming militarisation of American police, one photo has stood out. It was taken by Jonathan Bachman, a New Orleans-based photographer who has been working for Reuters in the past few days. The image shows a young woman in a dress standing calmly in front of two police...

Hamas announced on Wednesday night that it had reached understandings with Israel on calming the tensions along the Gaza border and stopping the fire towards southern Israel. One of the leaders of the organization said that in return, Israel had undertaken upon itself not to conduct operations inside Gaza. Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk, commenting on Facebook on the understandings, said they had been reached with Egyptian mediation. “What happened on the Gaza border was a Zionist attempt to apply a new reality on the border. This required Hamas to rise up in order to prevent the tools of the...

Two recent events aggravated the existing political disputes and tensions between Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA). On May 22, 2015 worshippers disrupted a Friday sermon delivered at Al-Aqsa mosque by Jordanian chief qadi Ahmad Hulail, who was visiting the mosque at the head of a high-level Jordanian delegation. Also in late May, the Arab media reported that Jibril Rajoub, the president of the Palestinian Football Association, who holds dual Palestinian and Jordanian citizenship, refused to back the Jordanian candidate for the presidency of FIFA, King 'Abdallah's half-brother Prince 'Ali Bin Al-Hussein. These two incidents sparked furious reactions from the...

While trying to work on initiatives to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs flooding our border with Mexico, Arpaio said, "I'll tell you whats sad, all the top law enforcement officials told me don't go into Mexico." "Isn't that sad law enforcement is afraid to cross that border and go inside Mexico. I just cant believe it," he added. "I did talk to four federal officers, I had to stick my arm through the fence to shake their hands."

North Korea Just Moved Some Of Its Most Advanced Weaponry To The Chinese Border In A Sign Of Rising Tensions Jeremy BenderAugust 20, 2014 In a sign of the continuing decline in relations between North Korea and China, Pyongyang moved a number of tanks and armored vehicles away from South Korea to the Chinese border, according to The Chosun Ilbo, citing an anonymous source. North Korea has reportedly deployed 80 tanks to Ryanggang Province, directly across the border from China. The tanks were reinforced with armored infantry units, multiple rocket launchers, and a sharpshooter brigade. According to Chosun Ilbo, this...

The U.S. is sending an additional Army combat force of 800 soldiers to South Korea with tanks and armored troop carriers. A brief Pentagon announcement said the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment from the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, will deploy to two locations in South Korea on Feb. 1....

Houston - Gasoline for $5 a gallon? The possibility is hardly far-fetched. With no clear end to tensions with Iran and Syria and rising demand from countries like China, gas prices are already at record highs for the winter months — averaging $4.32 in California and $3.73 a gallon nationally on Wednesday, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. As summer approaches, demand for gasoline rises, typically pushing prices up around 20 cents a gallon. And gas prices could rise another 50 cents a gallon or more, analysts say, if the diplomatic and economic standoff over Iran’s nuclear ambitions escalates

BOSTON -- Tensions were high at Dewey Square Thursday night when police took Occupy Boston protesters into custody. The confrontation started when a protester allegedly brought a sink into the Occupy Boston encampment. According to protesters at the scene, they demanded to know from police why they were blocking the sink from entering the site. 7News was told police took possession of the sink. People then formed a barricade around a police vehicle. A protester told 7News one person was injured, and police confirmed that three people were taken into custody for disorderly conduct. Earlier on Thursday, a judge upheld...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Facing a U.N. showdown over Palestinian statehood, President Barack Obama plans talks with feuding Israeli and Turkish leaders and renewed efforts to revive Middle East peace talks in a diplomatic push next week to ease rising regional tensions. Obama will meet Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu separately on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, the White House said on Friday. The president will urge the two U.S. allies to heal a damaging diplomatic split over the 2010 killing of Turkish activists in a Gaza-bound aid convoy, a...

VietNamNet - China placed bricks that build the foundation for today’s disputes to seek control of the East Sea over 20 years ago. What will China think and do in the next 10, 20 or 40 years? It is not strange that after making threats of using forces against Vietnam on the Global Times on June 21 2011, a high-ranking meeting between China and Vietnam was held to confirm the both sides’ respect of the 16-golden words of good neighborhood. The two events are only four days from each other, with absolutely different signals from central agencies of China. The...