Free Republic

A new law being considered in Iraq could lead to girls as young as eight getting married and wives having to submit to sex at their husband's every request. The controversial proposals have provoked outrage from activists both within Iraq and around the globe, who see it as a huge step backwards for women's rights. The measure, aimed at creating different laws for Iraq's majority Shiite population, could further fray the country's divisions amid some of the worst sectarian bloodshed since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The ghastly video shows how barbaric the Syrian civil war can be. A man, said to be a well-known rebel fighter, carves into the body of a government soldier and cuts out his heart and liver. "I swear to God we will eat your hearts out, you soldiers of Bashar. You dogs. God is greater!" the man says. "Heroes of Baba Amr ... we will take out their hearts to eat them." He then puts the heart in his mouth and takes a bite. Opinion: Is Obama failing on moral leadership? A group loyal to President Bashar al-Assad posted the...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday he would seek to have the Palestinians' U.N. status upgraded to a sovereign country and cautioned that Israeli settlement expansion meant time was running out for a two-state solution. "Despite all the complexities of the prevailing reality and all the frustrations that abound, we say before the international community there is still a chance—maybe the last—to save the two-state solution and to salvage peace," Abbas told the U.N. General Assembly. But he warned the 193-nation assembly that Israel was "promising the Palestinian people a new catastrophe" if it continues with its current Jewish...

Editor's note: President Barack Obama will address the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday at around 10:00 a.m. You can follow along here as we live blog his speech or watch it live on CNN.com. [Updated at 10:22 a.m. ET] President Barack Obama began his address to the U.N. General Assembly by speaking about Ambassador Chris Stevens who was killed in the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya. "He came to love and respect the people of North Africa and the Middle East, and he would carry that commitment throughout his life," Obama said. "As a diplomat, he worked...

No More Hawaii Islam Days By Sam Slom, 12/29/2009 10:28:53 AM Okay, I don’t know about you, but I’ve had it. The latest airline bomb attempt by a radical Islamic terrorist flying to Detroit is the last straw. And the response by President Barack Hussein Obama vacationing in Hawaii today, and Secretary of Homeland Defense Janet Napolitani\o is a disgrace and embarassing. Daily, the evidence mounts that our intelligence and security is clueless. Despite spending more billions, inconveniencing American travelers more, the system and the process are flawed. At the center of the failure is the continuation of giving Muslims...