Free Republic

No Excerpt due to USA Today. Link: https://news.yahoo.com/trump-administration-reduce-nato-aid-215515120.html

Orthodox Christianity and Islam are based on the same fundamental values, President Vladimir Putin said in an address to a religious conference in Kyrgyzstan. The conference, titled "Orthodoxy and Islam — Religions of Peace," aimed to promote interethnic and interreligious dialogue between Russia and Kyrgyzstan. "Islam and Orthodox Christianity, just like other world religions, are based on fundamental humanistic values that are of enduring importance — on mercy and love for one’s near, justice and respect for human beings," the state-run TASS news agency quoted Putin as saying Thursday. The address, which was read out to the conference by Russian...

Accompanied by the image of a blood-splattered cross and star of David Billboards belonging to the traditionalist Muslim Justice and Development Party (AKP) municipality are on public display in Konya, central Turkey, featuring the verbatim text of Koran 5:51 (in accurate Turkish translation). Accompanied by the image of a blood-splattered cross, and star of David, the text simply re-states Koran 5:51: O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Auliya' (friends, protectors, helpers, etc.), they are but Auliya' to one another. And if any amongst you takes them as Auliya', then surely he is one of...

Full title: Judicial Watch: AP Reporters Gave DOJ/FBI Ukraine Info and Code to Private Locker of Paul Manafort in Apparent Effort to Push Criminal Prosecution Andrew Weissmann organized off-the-record DOJ/FBI meeting with AP to exchange ‘clarification’ and ‘assistance’ in their investigation for details on former Trump Campaign Director Paul Manafort (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released two productions of heavily redacted FBI documents – 28 pages and 38 pages – about an April 11, 2017, “off-the-record” meeting set up by then-Chief of the Justice Department’s Criminal Fraud Section Andrew Weissmann, between the DOJ, the FBI and the Associated Press...

As the Garbage Party and their media sycophants continue to pretend as though President Donald Trump committed some impeachable offense with Ukraine, the real scandal involving that country belongs to former VP Joe Biden. And his son, Hunter Biden. Anyone who is interested in the issue and has an Internet connection has already seen the video where Biden admits that he threatened to withhold $1 billion in loan guarantees to the Ukrainian government if then-President Petro Poroshenko didn’t fire a prosecutor looking into a corrupt gas company where Hunter was a $50k-a-month board member. What’s more, presidential attorney Rudy Giuliani...

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said nuclear power should either be free for all states or banned completely. He warned that the “inequality” between states who have nuclear power and who do not undermines global balances. This comes amid global concern following news that Iran has exceeded limits to its uranium stockpile and was enriching the chemical to beyond limitations imposed by the Iran nuclear deal. Earlier this month, Tehran announced it would use advanced centrifuges prohibited under the deal. President Erdogan said: “The position of nuclear power should either be forbidden for all or permissible for everyone.” …

A 34-year-old British astrophysicist visiting the Greek island of Ikaria vanished during a morning run — and authorities believe a body found in a ravine Wednesday is hers, according to new reports. Dr. Natalie Christopher, who was from London but was living in Cyprus, was on vacation with her 38-year-old partner, who reported her missing when she didn’t answer her phone Monday, Metro UK reported. Authorities on the island, about 130 miles southeast of Athens, discovered a body in a ravine as they swept the region for any signs of Christopher, the outlet reported. The body has yet to be...

Between 1997 and 2016, researchers at an excavation near Ashkelon in Israel examined the remains of more than one hundred humans, remains that dated from the 12th to 6th centuries before Christ. The researchers hoped to find human DNA in order to answer an old question: Who were the Philistines? Where did they come from? As it turns out, the Philistines were exactly who the Bible says they were, and they came from where the Bible says they did. Amos 9 speaks of God bringing up the Philistines from Caphtor, just as he brought Israel out of Egypt. Deuteronomy 2...

A British teenager was remanded in custody in Cyprus on Tuesday after she was arrested last week on suspicion of falsely accusing 12 Israeli tourists of gang rape. The 19-year-old was indicted the Famagusta District Court in Paralimni in southeast Cyprus Tuesday, and now faces "public mischief". If found guilty, she could potentially face a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of around 1,700 euros ($1,900). The young woman, who was not named..... Her lawyer, Andreas Pittadjis, said she is expected to enter a plea when she appears again on August 7. He asked the court...

Homosexuality is usually a problem transferred to a foetus, when a pregnant woman has anal sex and enjoys it, the Bishop of Morphou Neophytos said during a recent speech, LGBTI rights group ACCEPT said on Thursday. During his speech in June to a group of people in Akaki, the bishop said Saint Porfyrios made mention of the issue in his writings. “It is a problem, which is usually transmitted by parents to the child,” the bishop said. He added that it occurs when the couple has sex while the woman is pregnant, and the sex is “unnatural,” as he characterised...

The United States imposing sanctions on four top generals from the country of Myanmar (formerly Burma). Those generals and their families banned from entering the USA because of the conflict in the predominately Buddhist country with the Rohingya Muslims. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blaming the generals for what are considered harsh policies against the Rohingya Muslim minority in the country. The Myanmar government views the conflict a a fight with Islamic terrorism. A "partial preliminary injunction" from a federal judge against ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond in Oregon Tuesday.... The US House voting 240-187 to condemn President Trump for...

In recent years, Hezbollah has stepped up its activities beyond Lebanon’s borders. This uptick has been clearest in the Middle East—in Iraq, Yemen, and especially Syria—but plots have also been thwarted in South America, Asia, Europe, and now, possibly, the United States. Reports of Hezbollah activity in North America are not new, though such reporting tends to focus on the group’s fundraising, money laundering, procurement, or other logistical activities from Vancouver to Miami. But last month, the criminal prosecution and conviction in New York of the Hezbollah operative Ali Kourani revealed disturbing new information about the extent of Hezbollah’s operations...

Archaeologists have discovered the wreck of a Roman-era ship off the east coast of Cyprus. In a statement, Cyprus’ Department of Antiquities explained that the wreck is the first undisturbed Roman shipwreck found in the Mediterranean island nation’s waters. The ship is loaded with amphorae, or large ancient jars, which are likely from Syria and ancient Cilicia on modern-day Turkey's southeastern coast. Analysis of the shipwreck will shed new light on seaborne trade between Cyprus and the rest of the Roman provinces of the eastern Mediterranean, officials explained in the statement. The wreck was found near the resort town of...

The discovery of more major natural gas fields in Israel since 2009 has transformed the Jewish state from an energy-dependent country into an energy supplier Polish state-controlled energy company PGNiG is considering the purchase of Israeli natural gas as it seeks to reduce its dependence on key Russian supplier, Gazprom. “We want to be the company at the crossroads of North-South and East-West... we need something to the south,” PGNiG chief executive Piotr Wozniak told Reuters last week. “So we are looking at all those places to the south of Poland very carefully... So yes, we are interested in Israel,”...

The revelations of the so-called Panama Papers that are roiling the world’s political and financial elites this week include important facts about Team Clinton. This unprecedented trove of documents purloined from a shady Panama law firm that arranged tax havens, and perhaps money laundering, for the globe’s super-rich includes juicy insights into how Russia’s elite hides its ill-gotten wealth. Almost lost among the many revelations is the fact that Russia’s biggest bank uses The Podesta Group as its lobbyist in Washington, D.C. Though hardly a household name, this firm is well known inside the Beltway, not least because its CEO...

A team of marine archaeologists has uncovered a 3,600-year-old shipwreck in the Mediterranean, just off the coast of Antalya, Turkey. The ship, believed to have been a merchant vessel sailing from Cyprus, may be the oldest ever discovered, according to Haaretz... Based on its position and the large cargo of copper ingots found inside and around the wreck, it is likely to have been a trading ship, ferrying goods from Cyprus to the Aegean region. Although the ship is in very poor condition, and the hull has been almost completely destroyed, the bulk of the ship, together with its precious...

Russia which kept Damascus standing during the civil war in Syria reaps the fruits of the efforts, receiving privileges in the region. During civil war the Syrian government resisted standing thanks to support of Russia. After the help rendered to Damascus both military, and material, Russia began to receive a response payment. The Minister of Transport of Syria Ali Hammud said that Russian company JSC "Stroytransgaz" takes control of the largest port of the country in Tartus for a period of 49 years was transferred. It is reported that the Russian company which received port will enclose investments in the...

ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party on Sunday was facing defeat in local elections in the Turkish capital, Ankara, and possibly even Istanbul, its largest city, a result that shook the nation as Mr. Erdogan suffered the first major electoral setback of his decade and a half in power.The municipal balloting around the country came nine months after national elections that extended Mr. Erdogan’s hold on power. It was closely watched as a barometer of his standing with voters after Turkey’s economy fell into recession and he assumed sweeping new executive powers.Mr. Erdogan claimed victory over all in the...

Nestoros said the CMP regularly raised the matter of a mass grave in Adana. He added that they also knew of a mass grave in the area of Kyrenia’s Botanical Gardens from information provided by a Greek Cypriot survivor. Plus, the CMP had testimony that bodies had been collected in the area. Under the headline “Buried Alive,” Afrika reported on Thursday that Greek Cypriots taken prisoner were brutally murdered and buried near a river. The information came from a man who claimed he was at the Kyrenia harbour working when he overheard two Turkish soldiers talking about it. At the...

There has been no official mosque in Athens since Greece was liberated from the Ottoman Empire in 1821, though historical mosques survive as museums. However, nearly two decades of debate and planning are set to culminate in the opening of a new mosque in April, reports TASS. The mosque is being built on the territory of the former central parking lot of the Greek navy in the Athenian district of Votanikos. The imam will be elected by the administrative council and appointed by the Ministry of Education. Sermons will be mainly in Greek, though perhaps sometimes in English, the Secretary...