Free Republic

The story of Helias Doundoulakis is like a great war movie. It is the story of the Greek spy who helped Greece and the United States win the war against the Nazis. A true hero, the Greek American worked as a spy during World War II and helped in the liberation of Crete and the eventual victory of the United States against Germany’s Nazi regime. Furthermore, the story of Helias Doundoulakis is also the fascinating story of America’s first national intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Helias Doundoulakis was born in Canton, Ohio to Greek immigrants Demetrios Doundoulakis...

Mehek Cooke@MehekCookeTrump just turned the Abraham Accords into an accountability trap for the Gulf states and Iran walked right into it.Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey have never held Iran accountable is due to exposure. They share a neighborhood. They can't sanction, shame, or confront Iran while having zero security architecture binding them to the West or to each other.The Abraham Accords change that math entirely. Once Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey are signatories, they aren't just recognizing Israel they are locking themselves into a collective security posture.A breach of the Iran deal becomes their problem...

Explanation: What are these strange space globs? Situated in rich star fields and glowing hydrogen gas, these opaque clouds of interstellar dust and gas are so large they might be able to form stars. Their home is known as IC 2944, a bright stellar nursery located about 7,600 light years away toward the constellation of the Centaur (Centaurus). The largest of these dark globules, first spotted by A. D. Thackeray in 1950 using a telescope in South Africa, is likely two separate but overlapping clouds, each more than one light-year wide. Along with other data, the featured Hubble palette image...

SNIP Exhibit A: Graham Platner, the Dems’ hard-left Senate candidate in Maine who cosplays a rugged working-class oyster farmer. He has been given the superstar treatment by the likes of the New York Times and Time in airbrushed cover stories praising him as a “rough-hewn, gravelly voiced … flawed everyman” whose numerous scandals — sporting a Nazi tattoo for 18 years, excusing rape, masturbating in porta-potties, mocking a Purple Heart recipient — are proof of his authenticity and “redemption arc.” SNIP Platner wears his hyper masculinity like a fat suit. It’s hiding something he doesn’t want us to see. Everything...

A film buff found a lost 1968 British TV movie about vampires that sparked a legend that it was so terrifying, it was marked for destruction, a preservation group announced. “No Such Thing as a Vampire” — one of six episodes from the short-lived 1960s BBC anthology series “Late Night Horror” — has been missing for more than half a century after it scarred viewers and caused an uproar that prompted the network to not only kill the show. SNIP The newly rediscovered horror film will screen publicly for the first time since 1969 at Europe’s “Grindfest” horror festival this...

This week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke before the 2026 CAP IDEAS Conference that was hosted by the Center for American Progress, saying "first, as a guarantee, we are taking back control of the United States House of Representatives in November. As I speak, we have thousands of people in the field registering as many new voters as we can. People like 64-year-old Californian Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong who has been registering homeless skid row folks for the last 20 years. She lets them use her home address so the mail-in ballots the state sends to every registered...

The political landscape of Cyprus is facing a major shakeup following Sunday’s legislative elections. Results show significant gains for the far-right, a strong showing by anti-corruption newcomers, and a victory for a prominent social media influencer. Just over 500,000 voters cast ballots to fill 56 parliamentary seats in an election widely viewed as a crucial indicator of political trends ahead of the 2028 presidential race. Traditional leaders hold on, but centrists collapse in Cyprus elections While the island’s two dominant parties maintained their top positions, centrist parties aligned with incumbent President Nicos Christodoulides suffered devastating losses. DISY (Right-wing): Retained first...

Chehel Sotun is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Isfahan, Iran. The palace was completed in 1647 during the Safavid era. It is known for its twenty columns, wall paintings, mirror work, and wooden decorations. In the course of the recent conflict, the Governor's Office building located several hundred meters from the palace was struck. No direct hit occurred on the palace itself. However, shockwaves from the nearby strike caused observable damage to the structure.

As parades make their way down city streets and burgers are flipped on thousands of grills across the nation, let’s take a moment to remember the lives of the nation’s most recently fallen heroes — the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty during Operation Epic Fury. Since the beginning of the strikes launched against Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, 13 service members have died in combat. Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Waukee, Iowa Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Spotsylvania, Virginia, Master Sgt. Nicole Amor,...

Archaeologists have recently uncovered fragments of a life-size mural depicting the Greek Trojan War hero Achilles in the remains of a Roman home near Reims, France. The discovery, dating to the 2nd century CE, sheds new light on the cultural reach and artistic sophistication of ancient Roman Gaul. The mural, depicting the mythological tale of Achilles and Deidamia, was found on the western outskirts of what was once the Roman city of Durocortorum, now modern-day Reims. The discovery offers a rare glimpse into the tastes and traditions of the Roman elite who lived far from the empire’s major urban centers....

he Supreme Court likely sounded the death knell of state and local bans on so-called conversion therapy for minors, at least limited to talking, when eight justices blocked Colorado from punishing counselor Kaley Chiles for not affirming unwanted gender confusion in her young clients while letting her talk them into identifying as the opposite sex. Missouri's Kansas City and Jackson County are nonetheless trying to preserve their self-admitted "functionally identical" ordinances as long as possible, and in the city's case, validate an even further-reaching, all-ages public accommodation ordinance, in response to a challenge by licensed counselors Wyatt Bury and Pamela...

“Today, we remember George Floyd, who was murdered by a former Minneapolis police officer six years ago,” Frey said on X. “That moment changed our city forever. It forced Minneapolis to confront painful truths about race, policing, inequity, and trust — and demanded hard conversations and accountability. Since Floyd’s murder, our city has been challenged not just to say we’ve changed, but to prove it.“ This isn’t Frey’s first foray into pandering for support by propping up Floyd. Astute observers will remember that Frey performatively kneeled before Floyd’s golden casket while weeping back in 2020.

On a day when Americans traditionally pause to honor the brave service members who made the ultimate sacrifice, MS NOW opted for a different approach: publishing an opinion piece accusing the U.S. military of wrongdoing in the ongoing conflict with Iran. In her Memorial Day article entitled "The Pentagon can honor our military dead this Memorial Day by committing to fight the right way," retired Air Force Lt. Col. and MS NOW contributor Rachel E. VanLandingham argues that the best way for the Pentagon to honor fallen troops is by “owning the mistakes” that have killed Iranian civilians, restoring the...

25 May 2026 Mary, Mother of the Church on Monday of week 8 in Ordinary Time St. Bede Catholic Church - Kelly, Kansas Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).There is no choice between ferial and memorial readings today, because all readings are proper to the memorial.First readingGenesis 3:9-15,20The mother of all those who liveAfter Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’...

The risk of a catastrophic explosion at a damaged chemical tank in Southern California has been eliminated following a close overnight inspection that confirmed a crack in the tank relieved pressure and cooled the chemical, authorities said Monday. Officials said crews conducted tank temperature checks at night to reduce risks to firefighters, avoiding daytime operations when heat from the tank made conditions around it most dangerous. The overnight mission allowed crews to verify the crack and confirm temperatures were falling, Orange County Fire Authority division chief Craig Covey said Monday morning. Covey said the results of overnight evaluation of the...

Quote of the day by Michael Douglas: 'Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies and cuts through to the essence of the evolutionary spirit'

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of being too scared of his Left-wing backbenchers to implement his own immigration crackdown. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood warning her not to water down her own proposals, branding it "shocking" that the measures were not included in the legislative programme. Mr Philp said: "I can only conclude that the Government is too scared of its left-wing backbenchers to implement its own plans. Time is now of the essence, and the rules urgently need to be changed." He added: "Only very highly skilled migrants who have made...

On Sunday, President Donald Trump said the deal that they are working on will involve "no dust, no dollars" and will not be like the failed Iran deal of Barack Obama, that it will be a good deal, or there will be no deal. He clapped back at criticism from people he said didn't know the Now, Trump has dropped a big update to the deal — that ultimately, it could turn out to be a more far-reaching peace deal. He said negotiations were proceeding "nicely" with Iran. Trump announced on Truth Social that he had held a conference call...

Angry young men stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients at the heart of the latest outbreak of the disease in eastern Congo on Sunday evening, forcing the medical staff to scramble to evacuate the patients as gunfire rang out in the area. It was not immediately known if anyone was hurt in the attack on the Mongbwalu General Hospital but Dr. Richard Lokudu, the hospital’s medical director, told The Associated Press the attackers demanded that two bodies of their relatives be handed over to them. There was gunfire and the medics were trying to evacuate the patients and the staff,...

Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) appears to be moving toward a possible run for the White House, Axios reported Sunday. Although she has said she has not made a decision on the matter, Ocasio-Cortez has been on a national tour rallying voters and making endorsements in several races, the outlet said. The Axios article detailed some of her recent movements and plans: Addressed the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta with Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock. (Democrats note that Warnock, the church’s senior pastor, doesn’t always allow visiting politicians to speak at this church. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg didn’t speak...