Free Republic

Venezuela’s National Assembly on Thursday unanimously approved a long-awaited amnesty law that could free hundreds of political prisoners jailed for being government detractors. But the law excludes those who have been prosecuted or convicted of promoting military action against the country — which could include opposition leaders like Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who has been accused by the ruling party of calling for international intervention like the one that ousted former president Nicolas Maduro. The bill was signed by interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who pushed for the legislation under pressure from Washington, after she rose to power...

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said on Monday it was following up with “high interest and concern” on the maritime coordinates and map recently submitted by Iraq to the United Nations. The ministry said in a statement that the coordinates and map included infringement on areas adjacent to the Saudi-Kuwaiti divided zone, where both countries share natural resources in the area according to previous agreements between them. For more Saudi news, visit our dedicated page. The ministry added that the Kingdom rejects “claims” that any other side has the right to the divided submerged area between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It...

Saint of the Day – 21 February – St Peter Mavimenus (Died c737) Martyr and probably the Bishop of Damascus. The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Damascus, St Peter Mavinemus, who was killed by some Arabs who visited him in his sickness because he said to them “Whoever does not embrace the Christian and Catholic Faith is lost, like your false prophet, Mahomet.” Peter was Martyred in Damascus (in modern Syria) by the Muslims who, visiting him when he was on a sickbed, had openly said to them : “Whoever does not embrace the Christian and Catholic Faith is lost,...

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U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he is going to dispatch a hospital ship to Greenland, autonomous Danish territory that Trump has said he wants to acquire. Danish officials responded by saying the health care systems in Denmark and Greenland are more than adequate. “Working with the fantastic Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people who are sick, and not being taken care of there. It’s on the way!!!” Trump said in a post on social media alongside an illustration of the U.S....

A video compilation of a man setting fire to a person on a public street using a flamethrower has sparked shock online. The incident occurred on Feb 2 in Yangzhou, China, reported Hong Kong news portal HK01. Footage posted on social media platform X shows the man continuously shooting a stream of fire with a makeshift flamethrower at what appears to be a person keeled over at a row of roadside shrubs. Another clip shows the person lying face down on the shrubs as small flames licked along their upper body. In a third video, a crowd of onlookers as...

Archaeologists have excavated a tomb more than 1,000 years old containing human remains along with gold objects and ceramic vessels at El Caño in central Panama. The site sits in Natá district of Coclé province, about 200 kilometers southwest of Panama City. Excavations have taken place there for two decades. Julia Mayo, the archaeologist leading the project, talked today about the discovery. The remains are surrounded by gold objects and ceramic vessels decorated with traditional imagery. These indicate the buried people held high status. “The person with the gold is the highest-status person in the group,” Mayo said. The principal...

Please join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media.1 Timothy 2:1-2 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.Religion Forum threads labeled “Prayer” are closed to debate of any kind.

India has delayed plans to send a trade delegation to Washington this week, chiefly because of uncertainty after the US Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, a source in its trade ministry said on Sunday (Feb 22). One of the first concrete reactions among Asian nations to the decision, it follows Trump's move on Saturday to levy a temporary tariff of 15 per cent, the maximum allowed by law, on US imports from all countries, following the court's rejection. "The decision to defer the visit was taken after discussions between officials of the two countries," said...

Our northern neighbors are shell-shocked: they are even poorer than Alabamians. This follows a tough week for Canada, which has struggled at the Winter Olympics and has faced constant pressure from Donald Trump. In fact, it's the headline used on social media that's become the main source of mockery—"Out of nowhere, Canada became poorer than Alabama. How is that possible?”In December, Tommy Battle’s dream came true. The five-term Mayor of Huntsville is Alabama to the bone, born in Birmingham and a graduate of the state university in Tuscaloosa, but for the past 18 years he’s tried to distance his city...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is proposing an “overhaul” of the asylum process, according to a Friday announcement.The proposed 220-page rule, which is likely to face legal challenges, aims to reduce the number of immigrants filing fraudulent asylum claims for work authorizations in order to better focus on security checks.It also intends to cut back processing times and the massive backlog of pending claims, according to a statement.If finalized, the rule would be among the most sweeping changes to the asylum system and work authorization process in decades.“We are proposing an overhaul of the asylum system to enforce the...

The Mexican army killed the boss of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho. The cartel is not happy about the fact, and major parts of the country have erupted in violence, requiring citizens and tourists to shelter in place as terrorists blow up cars, set fires, destroy businesses, and generally act like activists in Minnesota when they are unhappy about something. Maybe even worse. Multiple sources report dozens of coordinated narcobloqueos paralyzing key areas in Jalisco (including Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta), Tamaulipas, Nayarit, and Michoacán today.Cartel gunmen are torching trucks and cars to...

Japan's annual core consumer inflation hit a two-year low to match the central bank's 2 per cent target in January, data showed on Friday, suggesting weakening price pressure that could complicate its decision on how soon to raise interest rates. A separate index seen as a better indicator of underlying inflation also slowed but remained well above the Bank of Japan's target, suggesting that solid wage gains will keep the central bank on course to push up still-low borrowing costs. The data adds to recent mixed signs in the economy which barely grew in the final quarter of last year,...

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The left is engaged in an all-out attack on the policies of the Trump presidency. However, most of those attacks are not aimed at policies, per se; they are aimed at specific people and agencies. For instance, the nation remains in favor of getting rid of illegals, but, thanks to lies perpetrated by the left and their stenographers in the media, they are becoming dissatisfied with how Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are operating. Krisit Noem and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., are the targets of personal attacks. JD Vance has had his faith, his wife, and his marriage attacked. In...

Brunel contemplated flipping on Epstein. We often hear analysts, politicians or victims complaining that Ghislaine Maxwell ended up being the only member of the Jeffrey Epstein trafficking ring to face justice. But this complaint, while it has merit, is not completely accurate, because it ignores the sordid saga of French modeling agent and alleged serial rapist Jean-Luc Brunel. Late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre said he ‘raped [her] repeatedly in New York and on Epstein’s island’. From her 2015 testimony: ‘He was another of Epstein’s powerful friends who had many contacts with young girls throughout the world. In fact, his only...

A British expat has solved the mystery of a pirate ship that appeared off the Tokushima coast in forbidden Edo-era Japan (1603–1868) -- and reconnected the past to the present. Expat Brit solves pirate ship mystery -- NHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS | 4:33 NHK WORLD-JAPAN | 3.46M subscribers | 43,793 views | February 13, 2026

How's this for a somber retirement forecast: The typical American worker has less than $1,000 saved for retirement, according to a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS). "The data are clear: Outside of high earners, Americans are choosing survival over savings and hoping to catch up later," NIRS executive director Dan Doonan told Yahoo Finance. "Even for those approaching retirement age — 55-to-64-year-olds — the median amount saved for retirement is only $30,000. We're looking at a looming crisis. These aren't just statistics — they represent millions of families who are doing everything right but still...

A Reform government would move to give churches protected status to ensure they are not turned into mosques. The party’s new home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, plans to “restore Britain’s Christian heritage” by enacting mass deportations of illegal migrants and persuading British expats to return to the country. He said renewing Britain’s Christian faith was imperative to restoring “cultural meaning” among young people and men in particular. Mr Yusuf, a practicing Muslim, told The Telegraph his first move would be to grant immediate and automatic listed status to churches across the UK. This means alterations affecting their historic character would...

[Catholic Caucus] Worldwide Spiritual Bouquet for the Pope and the TLMWith the coming months set to prove pivotal for the Traditional Latin Mass and the cause of Catholic Tradition within the Church, Missae pro Missa hereby announces a new worldwide spiritual bouquet beginning Feb. 22, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter and First Sunday of Lent, to conclude on June 29, Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul, which follows the next Consistory of Cardinals called by Pope Leo XIV. The intention of this latest campaign is straightforward: for the Pope to recognize the full freedom of the TLM.As with...