Free Republic

Residents of a city in Siberia don’t need to fly off to tropical locales for picturesque selfies taken by pristine turquoise waters. Thousands of Novosibirsk residents — ranging from scantily clad women to newlyweds — have been busy instagramming near a bright blue lake nicknamed the “Siberian Maldives.” The lake is blue, however, due to a chemical reaction between toxic waste elements from a local power station. Environmentalists are warning people against coming into contact with the water. Siberian Generating Company said Friday it has deployed guards to keep trespassers at bay, but insists the lake presents no environmental danger.

Images of the site showed a fireball exploding, billowing clouds enveloping the area, injured people, and damage to buildings. The blast was so powerful that it knocked down factory buildings some distance away, trapping workers, according to local media. Staff at the Henglida Chemical Factory, 3km (1.8 miles) from the explosion, said its roof collapsed as they fled, and windows and doors were blown out. Provincial authorities said firefighters had to be brought in from across the province. The fire was brought under control at around 03:00 local time on Friday, state TV said.

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan24) – Amb. Kenneth Ward strongly criticized Iran and Russia on Thursday for maintaining chemical weapons programs, in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention to which they are both signatories. Ward, the US Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), addressing that organization, cited Iran and Russia for their own chemical weapons programs. He also criticized their support for Damascus, which, he said, is “enabling Syria’s chemical weapons use by shielding the Assad regime from consequences in international fora.” Turning to Iran, Ward explained that the US “has had longstanding concerns that [it]...

President Bashar al-Assad has approved a gas attack in the Idlib province, which is the country’s last rebel stronghold, a report on Sunday said. Reports of Assad's approval comes about a week after President Trump warned the strongman and his allies not to “recklessly attack” the province. Trump called any gas attack a potential “grave humanitarian mistake.” The Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. officials, was first to report on Assad.

In a corner of northwestern Syria packed with nearly 3 million people, the government and its opponents are preparing for a final, bloody showdown. The campaign for Idlib, the opposition's only remaining stronghold in the country and now a refuge for over a million displaced Syrians, is likely to be the last major theater of battle after seven years of brutal civil war. It is also potentially the most dangerous. The U.N. and aid workers are bracing for disaster, warning that up to 800,000 people are in danger of renewed displacement if a government offensive gets underway. A massive military...

Emissions of a banned, ozone-depleting chemical are on the rise, a group of scientists reported Wednesday, suggesting someone may be secretly manufacturing the pollutant in violation of an international accord. Emissions of CFC-11 have climbed 25 percent since 2012, despite the chemical being part of a group of ozone pollutants that were phased out under the 1987 Montreal Protocol. “I’ve been making these measurements for more than 30 years, and this is the most surprising thing I’ve seen,” said Stephen Montzka, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who led the work. “I was astounded by it, really.”...

Depending on who you believe, 11-year-old Hassan Diab is the victim of a chemical gas attack ordered by Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime, or: he's an unwitting pawn in a fabrication by rebel forces who deliberately staged the attack as a "provocation". Either way, the Syrian boy has become the face of a broader story about war propaganda: initially portrayed by the West as a victim, he's since become the face of Russia's claims that the chemical attack was a fiction. Hassan is the boy filmed at a hospital in Douma late on April 7, with apparent symptoms from being gassed...

The people of Syria are speaking out against media reports which suggest the Assad government has planted informants to deny the alleged chemical attack in Douma. One America’s Pearson Sharp is in Syria and has this exclusive report.

A perceptive and precise narration of what happened yesterday in Syria. We are cautioned not to argue about politics, as that is not our concern as believers. Nothing can change prophecy. And Amir stresses that he is not criticizing anyone, just giving the facts. Our concern should be to bring as many unbelievers to Christ as we can before it is too late.

President Trump was instantly tweeting tough about Bashar al-Assad’s latest atrocity, the gassing of civilians in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta. But America’s response this time should be more than Trump’s answer to Assad’s use of chemical weapons a year ago. It’s time for Washington to declare a no-fly zone in Syria east of the Euphrates, the region Trump freed from ISIS occupation. Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies don’t deserve to win the fruits of America’s war there, nor should Turkey be allowed to take its insane vendetta against the Kurds into an area the Trump administration liberated. If America...

New York City could be the next site of a chemical assassination attempt if world leaders fails to punish Russia for its alleged role in poising of a former spy in the United Kingdom, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned Wednesday. “If we don't take immediate concrete measures to address this now, Salisbury will not be the last place we see chemical weapons used,” Haley told the United Nations Security Council. “They could be used here in New York, or in cities of any country that sits on this Council. This is a defining moment.” Haley raised...

Two explosions have occurred at a chemical plant outside of Houston, hours after a spokesman warned a gas explosion was imminent. The explosions came after The Arkema Inc plant in Crosby, Texas, lost power and its backup generators amid Harvey's days-long deluge, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises. Just after 2am local time, the Harris County Emergency Operations Center reported explosions at the plant and black smoke rising from the facility. The Harrison County Sheriff's Office said that at least one officer had been taken to the hospital after inhaling fumes following the...

Industrial chemical manufacturer Arkema said Wednesday it has “no way to prevent” a potentially large explosion and fire at its facility near Houston, after flooding due to Tropical Storm Harvey. The Arkema plant in Crosby, Texas, some 25 miles northeast of Houston, was evacuated late Tuesday. Working with authorities, the company also urged everyone within a mile and a half of the plant to evacuate, and shut down a stretch of Highway 90 that runs alongside the plant, which produces organic peroxides for things like acrylic-based paint. “We have an unprecedented 6 feet of water throughout the plant,” Arkema’s North...

A chemical plant in Crosby, Texas was in critical condition Tuesday night after its refrigeration system and inundated backup power generators failed, raising the possibility that the volatile chemicals on the site would explode.

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday that the U.S. warning to Syria not to conduct a chemical attack on its own people appears to have been taken seriously by the Bashar Assad regime. "They didn't do it," Mattis told reporters on his plane as they flew from Germany to Belgium. "It appears they took the warning seriously." Mattis would not confirm or discuss on-the-record statements by a Pentagon spokesman that the U.S. had observed the movement of chemical munitions at the Shayrat airfield, the same airfield from which a Syrian warplane dropped deadly sarin...

Several military officials were reportedly caught off guard by a White House statement Monday night that indicated Syria was engaged in "potential preparations" for a new chemical attack, The New York Times reported.... ...The reported lack of communication between military channels also appeared to be corroborated by a BuzzFeed News report that cited five defense officials who said they did not know of the details regarding a potential chemical attack, and were not aware of the White House's plans to release a statement. Shortly after the White House statement was released, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations,...

The US says it has identified 'potential preparations' for another chemical attack in Syria, and issued a stark warning to the Syrian government. The White House said the activities were similar to those made before a suspected chemical attack in April. Dozens died in that attack and prompted President Donald Trump to order a strike against a Syrian air base. The US statement warned President Bashar al-Assad of "a heavy price" if another strike occurred. It said "another chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime" was likely to result "in the mass murder of civilians." The statement added: "As we...

The US military and intelligence community has intercepted communications featuring Syrian military and chemical experts talking about preparations for the sarin attack in Idlib last week, a senior US official tells CNN.

A United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Shanghai, China was diverted from flying over Russian airspace for "diplomatic reasons" early Wednesday morning, passengers on the flight say.Those diplomatic concerns forced the flight to refuel at Tokyo's Narita airport, the flight's captain told passengers, several of whom posted about it on social media. On @United 857 enroute to PVG, diverted to NRT. Captain: Due to diplomatic reasons, Russia denied access to air space. Now refuelling-- brianlinca (@brianlinca) April 12, 2017 One passenger named Andy Brown says that the airplane almost ran out of fuel before landing at Narita. "Then they...

Tuesday on CNN’s “At This Hour,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Russian President Vladimir Putin was a “war criminal” who he believes “intentionally left chemical weapons in the hands of Assad.”