Free Republic

The Western European NATO allies of the United States appear to be celebrating what they mistakenly believe is the discomfort the Americans and Israelis are now encountering in the Iran war. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has unctuously announced that this war is not a NATO responsibility since NATO is a defensive alliance. He has at least had the decency to recognise that “The United States and Israel are doing the world’s dirty work for it.” President Trump has made it clear that he does not need the assistance of any other country in clearing the Hormuz Strait, but he considers...

Serbia has sharply condemned Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, for what it described as “unacceptable interference in internal affairs,” after she criticized the Balkan country’s military cooperation with Israel. The diplomatic dispute follows Albanese’s visit to Belgrade this week, during which she accused Serbian authorities of collaborating “without shame” with Israel, claiming Serbia is among its strongest allies and that Serbian weapons are being used in Gaza. “We consider the statements made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Mrs. Albanese, to be unbalanced and activist in nature, and as such inappropriate to the mandate she...

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Leading ⁠nations ⁠in Europe ⁠said in a joint statement ​with Japan on Thursday they would ‌take steps to stabilise ‌energy markets and were ⁠ready ⁠to join "appropriate efforts" to ensure safe passage ​through the Strait of Hormuz. The statement from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the ​Netherlands and Japan, condemned attacks by ⁠Iran and ⁠called on it ⁠to ​halt its actions immediately. It also said ​they would ⁠work with certain energy producing nations to increase output and stabilise markets. "We express our readiness ⁠to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe ⁠passage through the Strait," the...

[Catholic Caucus] PHOTOS: Dutch Cardinal Eijk celebrates first public Traditional Latin MassCardinal Eijk’s Pontifical High Mass is particularly significant because the Latin Mass is rare in the Netherlands and it comes despite Vatican officials’ hostility to the traditional liturgy.6, 2026 - 5:24 pm EDTTue Mar 17, 2026 - 7:05 am EDT Listen to this article4 minOSS, Netherlands (LifeSiteNews) — Dutch Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk, the metropolitan archbishop of Utrecht, celebrated his first public Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) at the historic Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday.The packed March 15 Laetare Sunday Mass, viewable at the link...

A special report by the National Center for Combating Antisemitism in Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry on Monday morning revealed the existence of a new militant organization called "Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya" (Ashab Al-Yamim). The group has claimed responsibility for a series of coordinated attacks against Jewish institutions in Europe in recent days. According to the report, the organization is behind an explosion near a synagogue in Liège, Belgium, an attack on a Jewish site in Greece, the arson of a synagogue in Rotterdam, and the detonation of an explosive device outside a Jewish school in Amsterdam. Although most of the...

14 March 2026, 8:50 am Share 1 The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right claims responsibility for this morning’s attack on a Jewish school in Amsterdam, publishing a video that appears to show the detonation of an incendiary device. The newly formed extremist group has also been linked to several other antisemitic attacks in recent days, including a similar explosion yesterday outside a synagogue in Rotterdam that caused a brief fire and damage to the building, in which four suspects were arrested by Dutch police.

Dutch police have arrested a man carrying a gun in his hand luggage as he checked in for departure at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, a police spokeswoman said. The weapon was found during standard safety checks on Wednesday, the spokeswoman said, adding Schiphol's police had started an investigation and questioned the man. The spokeswoman would not comment on a statement by airline Air Malta, which said the detainee was a Maltese man who was due to board a flight to Malta. "At this moment we won't give further details," she said. Air Malta said that after the discovery of the revolver,...

CDC Update: Tularemia Outbreak in Prairie Dogs in Texas Tuesday, August 06, 2002 4:15 PM Eastern US http://www.videonewswire.com/CDC/080602/event.html?id=7237

A Dutch cheese has claimed top honours at one of the world’s most respected dairy competitions, winning the title of World Champion Cheese 2026 in a field of thousands of international entries. Beemster Royaal Grand Cru, a rich, cow’s‑milk cheese produced by CONO Kaasmakers in Westbeemster, The Netherlands, was named the best cheese in the world at the World Championship Cheese Contest in Madison, Wisconsin, this week. With an outstanding score of 98.68 out of 100, the cheese topped a competitive field of 3,375 entries from 25 countries and 34 U.S. states. The World Championship Cheese Contest, organised by the...

Millions of acres of farmland across the country are privately owned, but a small share of it is foreign-owned land sitting idle in many areas. That’s according to new U.S. Department of Agriculture data which shows just how much of the nation’s agricultural land is owned by other countries. The USDA‘s online portal reveals that more than 45 million acres of land are owned by foreign countries, with an original purchase value of over $38 billion. Our neighbor to the north, Canada, has the most agricultural acreage in the United States, at 15.35 million acres. John Hewlett, a farm and...

Bungled link handed over sensitive docs, and when recipient didn't cooperate, police opted for cuffs iconDutch police have arrested a man for "computer hacking" after accidentally handing him their own sensitive files and then getting annoyed when he didn't hand them back. The Politie said on Monday that a 40-year-old man from Ridderkerk was arrested on Thursday after he wound up with confidential documents thanks to what officers acknowledge was their own cock-up. The chain of events reads less like a breach and more like an own goal. In connection with a separate investigation, the man contacted the police...

A set of internal documents published by the Republican members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee (Judiciary GOP) has sent shockwaves through Brussels. Released under the title The EU Censorship Files, Part II, the investigation presents documentary evidence of a sustained strategy by the European Commission to influence public debate on social media and digital platforms, pressuring major tech companies to censor lawful content, alter their internal rules, and restrict certain political viewpoints. https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/2018683758006665352 The revelations go far beyond an abstract debate over content moderation. According to the material made public, the Commission has directly or indirectly intervened in at...

The World Wildlife Fund, the posh flagship of the global environmentalist movement, has just released its biennial publication assessing “the state of the planet.” Entitled “Living Planet Report 2012,” the publication bemoans alleged catastrophic effects that humanity is inflicting upon the Earth, and calls for drastic curbs on civilization as a necessary corrective measure.According to the WWF, the human race is currently consuming at a rate that would be sustainable only if we had 1.5 Earths. Since we do not, overall human activity needs to be reduced by 33 percent to put mankind “in balance with the Earth’s biocapacity.”The...

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Jan. 21 that the issue of Greenland remaining part of Denmark did not come up during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.Rutte, in an interview with Fox News, was asked about Greenland’s sovereignty under a proposed framework Trump mentioned earlier in the day at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.“That issue did not come up anymore in my conversations,” Rutte said. “[Trump] is very much focused on what do we need to do to make sure that that huge Arctic region—where change is taking place at the moment, where the Chinese and...

The treasury secretary's comments come a day after President Donald Trump unveiled new tariffs against eight European nations who oppose Washington’s efforts to acquire Greenland.The Trump administration is intensifying its push to acquire Greenland, citing national security concerns as China and Russia expand their presence in the Arctic.Speaking Sunday on NBC News' "Meet the Press," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued that the U.S. must move to acquire Greenland — which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark — because Europe is too weak to protect it from potential threats.IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | 'Fundamental disagreement': Danish official cites ongoing...

Terrified Dutch students made to live side-by-side with 125 refugees to aid their 'integration' were subjected to years of sexual assault and violence, an investigation has reported. Stek Oost, located in the Watergraafsmeer district of Amsterdam, was sold to the Netherlands as the dream solution to the housing and refugee crisis. A total of 125 students and 125 refugees would live alongside each other, and were even encouraged to 'buddy up' so the migrants would adapt to life in the Netherlands more quickly. But students living there told Dutch investigative documentary programme Zembla they faced multiple sexual assaults, harassment, violence,...

According to an exclusive by The Daily Beast, a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower leaked personal information and sensitive details of roughly 4,500 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol employees, including agents.Sensitive details of around 4,500 ICE and Border Patrol employees—including almost 2,000 agents working in frontline enforcement—have allegedly been released by a Department of Homeland Security whistleblower following last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good.So, you could be a secretary, a stenographer, an interpreter, or an analyst, but you may now be a target of left-wing crazies who want anyone involved with ICE or Border Patrol...

The Viking Ship Museum in Denmark recently announced an unprecedented discovery in the Øresund Strait: the world’s largest and most advanced medieval cargo ship ever found. Hailed as “a milestone in maritime archaeology,” the discovery occurred while divers were investigating the seabed in the Sound, in anticipation of Copenhagen’s new Lynetteholm district, and stumbled upon a record-breaking cog buried beneath centuries of sand and silt. Found approximately 43 feet deep, the precious wreckage escaped destructive forces, resulting in an extraordinary state of preservation that provided archaeologists with a rare, close-up look at never-before-seen details. “It is extraordinary to have so...

Meanwhile, similar incidents of the police being targeted by fireworks were reported in Belgium and two youngsters died in an accident involving home-made explosives in Germany. At least two people were killed in the Netherlands in a string of violent incidents on New Year’s Eve that Dutch police are calling "unprecedented". In the southeastern city of Nijmegen, a 17-year-old was killed in an incident involving fireworks shortly after midnight but police have given no further details. And in the town of Aalsmeer south of the capital Amsterdam, a 38-year-old was killed in another incident involving fireworks which is still being...

The New Year festivities in the Netherlands left two people dead, saw 'unprecedented' violence against police and destroyed a 19th century Amsterdam church. A 17-year-old boy from Nijmegen and a 38-year-old man from Aalsmeer were killed in fireworks accidents. Three others were left seriously injured. One person has been arrested in connection to the teenager's death, but authorities have not yet revealed any information on the suspect's identity and an investigation is ongoing.