Free Republic

Iran has released a video purportedly showing armed, masked commandos seizing two cargo vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. The propaganda clip was pumped out by state media Wednesday after the regime boasted it had seized the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca and Liberia-flagged Epaminondas vessels, just hours after the cease-fire was extended. The armed soldiers then climbed up the stairs to the ship’s top decks. The IRGC has accused the two vessels of operating without the required permit and tampering with their navigation systems. Personnel on the Epaminondas reported damage to its bridge after Iranian soldiers opened fire and hurled grenades...

Ilhan Omar is claiming the $30 million “error” on her congressional financial disclosures was a simple mistake — but lawmakers aren’t buying it. They point to the Democratic firebrand and her current husband’s curious history of making money conveniently appear and disappear when it suits them, at least on paper. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said Omar could be hit with felony charges if she is found to have lied about the cash. Minnesota Rep. Omar’s financial disclosures for 2024, filed last year, initially valued her husband Tim Mynett’s businesses at between $6 million and $30 million. This...

President Trump’s executive order to fast-track the rebuilding of Los Angeles after the wildfires has resulted in almost 2,000 permits approved since it was signed in January, The Post can exclusively reveal. Trump’s order let state and local rules be preempted when it came to obtaining permits and allowed builders to “self-certify” that they have complied with “substantive health, safety and building standards.” The result of the administration’s take over was the approval of thousands of permits for people to begin the rebuilding process of homes and businesses ravaged by the January 2025 Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires, two of...

California Governor Gavin Newsom covertly spent $1 billion importing 400,000 migrants from poor countries to serve the state’s Democratic political machine and elite-dominated economy, according to data provided by the Manhattan Institute in New York. “Since Newsom took office, California has granted massive contracts for migrant-related services: more than $250 million to Catholic Charities; $85 million to Jewish Family Services; $12 million to Centro Legal de la Raza; $23 million to the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area; and more,” according to an article by Christopher Rufe in City Journal. The funding is in addition to California’s share of the...

WASHINGTON—White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday said the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a “criminal organization,” according to a grand jury indictment, and that the allegations the Department of Justice (DOJ) has brought against it should be front-page news nationwide. Leavitt responded to Breitbart News’s question about the White House’s reaction to the SPLC indictment and the DOJ’s allegations. “Yeah, I saw the indictment yesterday. I saw the acting attorney general and FBI director do a press conference on it. It was quite shocking to me to learn of the egregious violations of the law the Southern...

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has been funded by big name businesses and philanthropists including George Soros, JPMorgan, ex-Apple CEO Tim Cook and George Clooney. The group — indicted Tuesday for allegedly funneling millions to the hate groups it says it is ideologically against — also holds over $786 million in assets, yet still solicits donations. In fact, it took in $106 million in donated cash 2024, according to its latest available financial disclosures, yet still ran “urgent” appeals for “emergency” cash. Over the years, donations have been made by big name donors, many of whom pledged to the...

MOSCOW, April 22 (Reuters) - The veteran leader of Russia's Communist Party has warned parliament that the ​country's faltering economy risks stoking a 1917-style revolution and that the government needs to take urgent measures to correct ‌its course. Gennady Zyuganov, 81, issued his warning to a plenary session of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, ahead of a parliamentary election due in September, according to a recording of his speech posted on the Duma's official website. "We’re doing everything we can to support (President Vladimir) Putin and his ​strategy and policies, but you (the government) are not listening,"...

NSTITUTE, W.Va. — A chemical leak at a West Virginia silver recovery business on Wednesday killed two people and sent about 30 others to hospitals, including one in serious condition, authorities said. The leak occurred at the Catalyst Refiners plant in Institute as workers were preparing to shut down at least part of the facility, Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman said. A chemical gas reaction occurred at the plant involving nitric acid and another substance, Sigman said at a news briefing. He added that there was "a violent reaction of the chemicals and it instantaneously overreacted." "Starting...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. 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. (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God...

Tensions are continuing to rise inside the House GOP Conference as Republican leaders race to land a backup plan in the coming hours to reauthorize a controversial spy powers program. Speaker Mike Johnson said in an interview Wednesday afternoon that he’s “targeting tomorrow” for release of an updated proposal for extending Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. “It’s coming along well.” It comes as Senate Majority Leader John Thune warned Wednesday that the House would need to file the bill by the end of this week to give his chamber time to act on the legislation ahead of...

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9). Sin and falsehood hinder true peace. Just as righteousness and truth are the noble companions of peace, so sin and falsehood are its great hindrances. The prophet Jeremiah said, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately [evil]; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9). Jesus said, "Out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and...

Four hundred inquiries from American farmers poured in after a single interview. Not for a John Deere. Not for a Case IH. For a tractor built in Alberta with a remanufactured 1990s diesel engine and zero electronics. Ursa Ag, a small Canadian manufacturer, is assembling tractors powered by 12-valve Cummins engines — the same mechanically injected workhorses that powered combines and pickup trucks decades ago — and selling them for roughly half the price of comparable machines from established brands. The 150-horsepower model starts at $129,900 CAD, about $95,000 USD. The range-topping 260-hp version runs $199,900 CAD, around $146,000. Try...

Catholics are on course to outnumber Anglicans in Britain, with the growth spearheaded by younger churchgoers who outnumber their Anglican brethren by more than two to one, a report by the Bible Society reveals. A “quiet revival” in UK Catholicism appears to be occurring, especially among those age groups referred to as Generation Z and younger Millennials, reportsThe Times of London, while noting that Catholics are rapidly catching up with Anglican numbers across all age groups. It means that Catholicism could soon overtake Anglicanism to become the country’s largest denomination of worshippers for the first time since the English Reformation...

Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus said to the crowds: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.” John 6:44In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues His conversation with the crowd who sought Him out after performing the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. As the conversation continues, Jesus deepens His clarity about His relationship with the Father, His divine identity, the Father’s action in our lives, and the gift of Himself as the Bread of Life. The passage above reveals an essential spiritual principle...

This may bring to mind that elementary school Bible song: Father Abraham had many sons, Many sons had father Abraham, I am one of them and so are you, So let’s all praise the Lord! We’d then scream something about our right arms and left arms, and by the end of the song we all looked like we were marching in place... Well, the song serves it purpose — to expend energy. But what about it? Just who are the sons of Abraham? Can we modern, western children really be Abraham’s sons? It is no surprise that Abraham held such...

Some people reach their 80s with memories sharper than many 50-year-olds. Scientists now think they know why: Their brains never stopped growing new cells. Scientists studying a rare group of older people known as superagers—those aged 80 and over whose memory rivals someone 30 years younger—have found that their brains produce new neurons at twice the rate of typical older adults. “For most of the last century, the prevailing belief was that brain cells only die as you age—you were born with what you had, and that was that,” Jordan Weiss, professor at the Optimal Aging Institute at NYU Grossman...

Japan for the first time has deployed ground troops to the Balikatan exercise, a series of multidomain drills staged across the Philippine archipelago. Participation by about 1,000 Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Soldiers augments the annual training that began decades ago as a Philippines-United States exercise and now involves about 20 nations. Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) personnel previously attended Balikatan as observers and in noncombat roles focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR). They participated in a maritime drill in 2025. A reciprocal access agreement between Manila and Tokyo, which took effect in September 2025, allows JSDF and Armed...

The U.S. military, which has been responding to Iran’s loitering drone attacks, has finally adopted Ukraine’s air defense technology. As low-cost drones continued to damage high-value military assets, it is interpreted that the U.S. has deployed Ukraine’s combat-proven response system at key Middle Eastern bases. On the 22nd, Reuters reported, citing multiple sources, that the U.S. has deployed Ukraine’s command and control platform at Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia, a key military asset in the Middle East, to defend against Iranian drones.… Ukrainian military officers are reported to have visited the base over recent weeks to train U.S. forces...

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the agency overseeing Medicaid and Medicare, announced Tuesday that his agency’s anti-fraud effort will come to every state. During an interview at a Politico-hosted event, Oz said that every U.S. state can expect anti-fraud activities involving funds received through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS).“We are going to announce this week that all 50 states are going to be requested to give us a plan over the next 30 days of how they’re going to re-validate providers in high-risk areas in their states,” Oz said.Oz explained that it would involve proving whether individuals...

It's hard to say whether or not Trump is prepared to restart kinetic action against Iran, or continue his indefinite cease-fire...indefinitely. No doubt Trump likes it that way. While I hate that every time a security studies guy or gal talks about military action, they always quote Clausewitz or Sun Tzu, I have to say that Trump is the most Clausewitzian and Sun Tzu-style military leader we have had in a long while. By that I mean that Trump understands that war is an extension of politics, and that military success relies as much on deception as good tactics. I...