Free Republic

Russia has delivered more than 13 tons of emergency medical supplies to Iran via Azerbaijan, as the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel intensifies. The aid package, consisting primarily of medicines and essential hospital equipment, was dispatched on the direct orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin to address urgent healthcare shortages following weeks of heavy bombardment. The humanitarian shipment was transported by a specialised Il-76 aircraft from Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry to Azerbaijan, from where it was transferred to the Iranian Red Crescent Society for final delivery. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the aid was...

Republican candidate for governor in Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy, trails Democrat Amy Acton by 10 points, a new poll from EMC Research, Inc., shows on Thursday. Newsweek reached out to political analysts via email for comment. Why It Matters Ohio has not elected a Democratic governor since 2006. Ramaswamy, a wealthy entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, comes with name recognition while Acton, a physician and former state health director, shows solid numbers with key groups in recent surveys. Ramaswamy, a supporter of President Donald Trump, was tapped to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk in Trump's second term....

According to a statement released by the University of New Hampshire, Meghan Howey and Michael Palace of the University of New Hampshire compared temperature data collected by Landsat 8 satellite thermal sensor between 2014 and 2024 and the locations of burial mounds built between A.D. 1200 and 1600 in what is now Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The researchers discovered that the Anishinaabeg, who lived in the Great Lakes area, built burial mounds near more circular-shaped lakes that warmed later in spring and cooled later in fall. Placement of the mounds may therefore have been associated with a longer maize growing season,...

In 2020, 65% of Virginia's voters approved a Congressional district map that resulted in the state electing six Democrats and five Republicans--a 55% to 45% split--to represent the state in Washington, DC. The Democrat majority in the state legislature is presenting a new map that is expected to result in the state electing ten Democrats and one Republican--a 91% to 9% split--to represent the state in Washington. The ballot language asks voters: "Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia's...

A California appeals court backed a child who wrote “any life” and innocently drew the thumbprints of her friends under “Black Lives Matter” in a picture at school, which she was later punished for. A lower court previously backed the child’s school principal, Jesus Becerra, who worked at Viejo Elementary School in Mission Viejo, California.

Senate Democrats have filed legislation that would stop the U.S. from going to war with Cuba without congressional approval as President Trump has threatened a “takeover” of the country. Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) and Adam Schiff (Calif.) on Thursday filed the war powers resolution, which could receive a vote by the end of the month. The resolution comes as Trump has said the U.S. could carry out a “friendly” or “not friendly takeover” of Cuba, predicting the collapse of the 67-year communist rule under pressure from the U.S. “Only Congress has the power to declare war...

Massive crowds in Tehran burned US and Israeli flags during Al-Quds Day demonstrations supporting the Palestinian cause.

A 22-year-old convicted murderer was arrested after he cut off his GPS monitoring device while attending classes at an Orange County community college, authorities said. Jose Angel Aguilar, 22, was serving time at a juvenile facility for a murder he committed in 2021 when he was 17, according to the Orange County Probation Department. On Feb. 2, the juvenile court granted Aguilar a weekly release to attend classes at Santiago Canyon College.

The last time I wrote about Havana Syndrome was back in January of 2025. US Intelligence Agencies had officially determined in 2023 that Havana Syndrome was not the result of an attack by a state actor. Advertisement Five of those agencies determined it was “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for the symptoms, either as the result of purposeful actions — such as a directed energy weapon — or as the byproduct of some other activity, including electronic surveillance that unintentionally could have made people sick, the officials said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe...

Demonizing the Jews is one of the oldest tricks in the bag. In the early Middle Ages, the accusations against the Jews of Europe started to erupt, and in the first quarter of the 21st century, they haven't stopped. Justin Martyr accused us of being Christ killers in "Dialogue with Tripho", as early as A.D. 160. John Chrysostom, might very well be the poster child for early Christian antisemitism. In his work Adversus Judaeos (387), he describes the Jews as "lucious, rapacious, greedy, destroyers, demon-possessed and assassins of Christ." Then came the ritual murder libel of 1141 when Jews were...

Dear FRiends, As you may have noticed, FR's Memorial Wall hasn't been updated in quite a while, since 2022. In that time, we've lost at least fifteen Freepers (probably more). These are friends who not only deserve a place of honor on the Wall but need a place where they can be "found" and remembered. To that end, we suggest the following update to the Wall (posted in the comments below). The tedious html work is already finished!All a moderator--or anyone with access--would have to do is copy-n-paste the updated html into the existing Wall's code, somewhere after the most...

Until last year, for some 46 years, Iran enjoyed a North Korea-like reputation in the heart of the Middle East: always unpredictable, reckless, dangerous, inevitably to be nuclear, self-destructive, and nihilistic. All that said, was it really ever all that formidable? The mullahs came into power after the removal of the Shah and, subsequently, the interim secular socialists. They did so by taking American hostages, murdering opponents, executing former supporters, and transforming the most secular and modern of the Middle East Muslim nations into the most medieval that routinely hung homosexuals, adulterers, and almost anyone who questioned the authority of...

On This Day

Iran's leadership and its triad of threats: nuclear ambiguity, surging missiles, and drone swarms – the very real hegemonic danger that extended far beyond the Middle East.For years, the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—the Iran nuclear deal—was sold as a historic diplomatic achievement that blocked Iran's path to a nuclear weapon for a generation. Supporters praised it as pragmatic restraint. Critics, including myself, saw it for what it really was: a temporary pause that let Iran preserve its nuclear infrastructure, accelerate its military capabilities, and wait out the sunset clauses.The deal was never designed to be permanent. Many...

Shapiro faces lawsuit over $830K property after allegedly using state police to bar neighbors from their own land

For around 15 years, many American leaders — including all three presidents in that period — believed that the country was too deeply entangled in trying to reorder the societies of the Middle East. They felt the more pressing challenges included rebuilding America’s industrial base and confronting the rise of China. Yet here America is, once again, fighting a war to reorder a society in the greater Middle East. And like in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, this war seems unlikely to turn out quite as its proponents may hope. Why does this keep happening? To understand the present, look at...

A California man was federally charged after allegedly attacking two Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers and seriously injuring a Dallas police officer at Dallas Love Field Airport, officials said. Idress Vinay Solomon, 33, of Oakland, California, faces up to 20 years in prison after being accused of assaulting a federal officer and inflicting bodily injury. According to a federal complaint filed Wednesday, Solomon had a ticket for a Southwest Airlines flight to Oakland International Airport March 10. Prosecutors said Solomon approached the airport security checkpoint without identification and was directed by a TSA officer to a different lane to be...

When General Eisenhower launched the D-Day offensive in June 1944, did he announce to the American People, and hence to the World including the German enemy, what the plan was in terms of what, where, when and how? Did he tell everyone at which beach we would attack and at what time with what forces, and specify how long he expected it would take to achieve victory? Of course not! Did critics in the United States demand that he do so? Naturally not. Only a fool would spill those sorts of beans ahead of time. Why then are so many...

A spate of fires and disasters has befallen the city's historic architecture over the years, raising questions about whether these are freak accidents or a symptom of wider issues. "Each time these collapses or fires happen, the same conversations happen and everyone agrees it's terrible and we should do something about it," says Matt Loader, co-founder of architecture firm Loader Monteith. "Then 18 months later it happens again somewhere. "Our Victorian city is disappearing, a piece at a time." Demolition of the remains of the Union Street building began on Friday. Niall Murphy, director of Glasgow City Heritage Trust, told...

The Denver International Airport (DEN) has taken to X to ask the public to fork over gift cards to TSA workers amidst the federal government shutdown, which has been tied to a fight over funding in the Department of Homeland Security. As the shutdown (which began on February 14) bleeds into another week, airport security staff are not getting paid — though according to Reuters, around 50 have continued to toil away anyway. The March 11 post reads, “! DONATIONS NEEDED ! Support the dedicated TSA employees working without pay by donating $10 and $20 grocery store and gas gift...