Free Republic

Many commentators are already claiming that the war with Iran is ‘spiralling out of control.’ I try not to be uncharitable: I am a Catholic, after all, and the Church tells me it is a sin. But if I were tempted, I should say that the only thing spiralling out of control is cliché. Iran said it would hit out wildly if it were attacked. It also made clear that direct attacks on the leadership of the Islamic Republic would be treated as an existential threat. So why anyone is now surprised that Iranian missiles are hitting targets, some clearly...

EU Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné on Wednesday presented a strategy shutting Beijing out of EU public funding by introducing a European preference in strategic sectors. Countries which limit access to their own markets through local content rules would also be cut off. The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled its long-awaited industrial plan, rolling out a “European Preference” that shuts China out of European public funding and tightens the screws on Beijing’s future investments in the European Union. The move comes after 200,000 European jobs were wiped out in energy-intensive industries and the automotive sector since 2024, with 600,000 losses projected this...

For those who have tons more knowledge than me of the Navy and militaria - Watching the videos of our Navy ships launching missiles, I note each ship is flying a larger than normal American flag up on their top most mast. Some one told me once that when a ship is at war, the flag is flown as high as possible as a warning signal to other ships in the area "This ship is at war, stand clear!" Is that what I am seeing? Thanks

Trump called Britain "uncooperative" from the Oval Office, then replaced Lloyd's of London as the insurer of the Strait of Hormuz — breaking 300 years of Crown control over global energy in one day. The UK has been officially removed from the status of a close ally of America.

Costa Rica authorities handed over a Syrian national to the United States after his arrest last year on charges of running a human smuggling operation. The man, known by the last name Maklad, led a group that moved migrants from Egypt, Venezuela, and Guatemala through New Mexico between 2022 and 2025, according to Osvaldo Ramírez, who heads Interpol operations at the Judicial Investigation Agency. Officers captured the 39-year-old in May 2025 as he crossed into the country from Nicaragua. Ramírez shared details in a video briefing, confirming the transfer went smoothly. Maklad escaped the U.S. after agents there broke up...

Senate Republicans closed ranks Wednesday, handing President Donald Trump a win on his use of force in Iran, despite lingering questions about America’s involvement in the Middle East. The Senate shot down a resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., aimed at limiting Trump’s military actions in Iran on Wednesday, following days of speculation about whether Republicans would cross the aisle — as they have done before — to reprimand the president. The administration pushed hard to lobby support for Operation Epic Fury, holding several briefings with Congress to make its case. It appeared to work, at least for now, convincing...

President Trump said the Texas Republican Senate candidate that does not get his endorsement should drop out of the race, announcing on Wednesday that he will throw his weight behind the race “soon.” In a lengthy TruthSocial post, Trump argued that the GOP primary race in the Lone Star State “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer.” “IT MUST STOP NOW! We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively! Both John [Cornyn] and Ken [Paxton]...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Can You See Me Now?” Sgt. Trevor Nicholas Tate, 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division, provides roadside security during exercise Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center-Alaska 23-02 in the Yukon Training Area, Alaska. (Army photo/John Pennell) Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. This is how you handle terrorists! Students with the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program from Tolleson High School, Arizona,...

WASHINGTON — The United States expects to have "complete" control of Iranian airspace in the coming hours, the White House said on Wednesday, the fifth day of U.S.-Israeli operations against the Islamic republic. "We expect to have complete and total dominance over Iranian airspace in the coming hours," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. ...

Sen. Steve Daines of Montana has decided not to run for reelection, adding to the growing list of Republicans in Congress who want out. Daines did not give a specific reason for his retirement, but said he had wrestled with the decision for months. He called his time in Congress "the greatest honor of my professional career." "It is time for a new leaders like Tim Sheehy to spearhead the fight for Montana in the United States Senate," he said in a statement Wednesday, referring to the state's junior senator. Daines began his career in Congress in 2013, serving one...

A father accused of killing the man who allegedly raped and abducted his teenage daughter has won the Republican primary for county sheriff in Arkansas - despite him awaiting trial for murder. Aaron Spencer, 37, secured 53.5 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s Republican primary for Lonoke County sheriff, defeating longtime incumbent John Staley, who received 26.5 percent. The result puts Spencer in the unusual position of potentially becoming the top law enforcement officer in the same county that charged him with murder. Spencer has been accused of fatally shooting Michael Fosler, 67, in October 2024 after discovering the man...

Embattled Texas GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales admitted Wednesday to having had an affair with a married staffer who later committed suicide, calling the affair a "lapse in judgment." The confession comes the same day Florida GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna introduced a censure resolution against Gonzales and the House Ethics Committee opened a probe into the allegations. Gonzales, who advanced to a runoff in his reelection bid Tuesday, told conservative talk show host Joe Pags in an interview that he “made a mistake” by having the affair and accepts "full responsibility." “I take full responsibility for those actions. Since then,...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters on Wednesday that “everybody in America” should watch how their representatives vote on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill expected to come to the floor on Thursday. “You better watch that board. And everybody in America better watch that board. Anybody who votes to block funding for the homeland, it is shameful,” Johnson said. “I don’t know how to describe it. It speaks to a long record of Democrats’ deliberate efforts to undermine America’s safety and the essential operations of DHS.” Democrats have demanded that the White House significantly reform its immigration...

Each year on March 31, the world observes Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) to raise awareness about transgender people. It is a day to celebrate the lives and contributions of trans people, while also drawing attention to the disproportionate levels of poverty, discrimination, and violence the community faces compared to cisgender (non-transgender) people.

Police in Cleveland, Ohio, are asking the public for tips after two young Black girls were found dead inside separate suitcases buried in shallow graves on Monday. Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said during a news conference that the girls, believed to be between the ages of 8 and 13 and 10 and 14, were found Monday evening. The discovery was made Monday evening after a man walking his dog near East 162nd Street and Midland Avenue, in a field near Ginn Academy, found a partially buried suitcase and called police. Police responded and located a shallow grave and found...

Companies in the U.S. that paid tariffs invalidated by the Supreme Court in February are legally entitled to refunds, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York said that U.S. importers were "entitled to benefit" from the high court's February 20 decision that President Trump lacked the authority to impose sweeping tariffs last year under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Eaton was ruling specifically on a case brought by Atmus Filtration, a Nashville, Tennessee, company that makes filters and other filtration products, claiming a right to a...

The House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein voted to subpoena U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify on her handling of Justice Department files on the disgraced financier. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee voted 24 to 19 Wednesday to issue the subpoena. A Justice Department spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the vote. Republican Nancy Mace of South Carolina proposed the subpoena and it passed the over the objection of the panel’s chairman, James Comer of Kentucky. Mace said the subpoena would require a taped, closed-door deposition under oath and a time had not yet been set...

Just before the closure of candidate filing in Montana, incumbent U.S. Sen. Steve Daines withdrew from his re-election campaign for a third term. U.S. Attorney for Montana Kurt Alme filed for office at 4:52 p.m. and Daines endorsed Alme in a statement shortly after.

Iran built the most comprehensive civilian surveillance network in the Middle East. Cameras on every street. Facial recognition at universities. License plate readers that automatically fined women for removing their hijab in their own cars. A mobile app called Nazer that let citizens report uncovered women. Drones at beaches. The infrastructure that killed Mahsa Amini in September 2022 and crushed the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising that followed. Israel hacked nearly all of it.

Iranian weapon debris, blown to pieces or mechanically crippled, keeps dropping from the Middle East sky. For that, we can thank heat-seeking satellites, military-grade malware and radar-jamming software, all made in America. New technology laser weaponry has also been deployed against Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury, The Post has learned.