Free Republic

War Secretary Pete Hegseth had harsh words for NATO allies during an address to his European counterparts on Thursday, announcing a six-month review of U.S. force deployment on the continent. Hegseth said the review's outcome will depend on how quickly European nations act to support themselves militarily. "This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe," he told NATO officials in Brussels. Hegseth also lashed out at European countries for refusing to assist U.S. forces in...

As of the latest available information, the Obama Presidential Center campus in Chicago has not yet displayed the American flag outside. Multiple reports from June 2026 note that while the center is designed to reflect American values and history, there is currently no visible American flag on display, and some visitors have not even spotted flagpoles on the property The center, which opened to the public on June 19, 2026, is a 19.3‑acre campus combining a museum, library, community spaces, and a Chicago Public Library branch Wikipedia+1. It is intended to be a public space that embodies American heritage, but...

The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted and disabled a vessel carrying 25 Chinese migrants who were allegedly attempting to enter the United States illegally by sea, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The encounter occurred June 10 off the coast of Florida after the vessel failed to comply with Coast Guard orders to stop approximately one mile south of Key Biscayne, DHS said Wednesday. According to the department, Coast Guard personnel opened fire on the vessel to disable it after its operators refused commands to halt. No injuries were reported during the incident. Federal officials said the boat was attempting...

Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling issued formal letters to the governors of 53 U.S. states and territories today, demanding immediate action to combat FRAUD WASTE ABUSE in the unemployment insurance program. The department announced its intent to crack down on rampant FRAUD and end mismanagement, improper payments, and CORRUPTION within the UI program. Acting Secretary Sonderling notified states that, in partnership with the IG, the department will use every available enforcement tool—including withholding administrative funds from states for the first time in history—to ensure compliance in protecting UI system integrity and safeguarding taxpayer dollars. “We are officially putting...

The right has reached a verdict on President Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran, and the verdict is rage…. They are probably right about Iran. They are wrong about the document and they are very wrong about what it will mean if and when Iran cheats. The deal is so clearly beneficial for Iran that if they do not abide by it, then the world will know they are so deranged that actions taken against them will be completely justifiable…. The trap is baited with the one thing Tehran cannot resist, the appearance of having won, and it springs on...

The European Parliament on Wednesday approved more stringent migration measures that grant member states wider-ranging powers to deport failed asylum-seekers. EU lawmakers approved the changes to EU policy with 418 in favor to 218 against and 30 abstentions. The measures highlight the growth in anti-immigration sentiment across the EU, while also fuelling the rise of the far-right.

Cost to taxpayers for Obama Center keep piling up Illinois taxpayers may be on the hook for millions in unpaid contractor fees for the Obama Presidential Center as the foundation's promised $420 million "safety net" fund to prevent a taxpayer bailout has yet to materialize and many black-owned contractors are being left unpaid. Meanwhile, multiple contractors are now saying that the Obama Center hasn't paid them for millions of dollars for their work. And some are wondering if taxpayers will be forced to pay up, according to Fox News. Some of these subcontractors say they are locked in payment disputes...

People are still asking Hillary Clinton what she thinks about things largely because, like Genghis Khan and Keanu Reeves, she has name recognition, even if she doesn’t have anything else. David Remnick, the editor who destroyed the New Yorker, asked Hillary Clinton at the 92nd Street Y (unless you’re a New Yorker, you won’t get it anyway) if Biden made a mistake by running. Political pot meet Clinton kettle. Asked by Remnick whether Biden made a “terrible mistake” by running in 2024, Clinton responded, “He made a terrible mistake. He made a terrible mistake for himself, his legacy and for...

La Reconquista is no longer just rhetoric, but a contested network of consulates, NGOs, and advocacy groups reshaping the U.S. Southwest immigration debate. The support network includes NGOs and Mexican consulates. This is Part II of a two-part series analyzing the La Reconquista movement. It calls for the cultural, demographic, or political “reclamation” of the U.S. Southwest, which Mexico lost after the Mexican-American War. Part I discussed the movement’s origins and history, ideological core, and its organization in the U.S. This part covers the movement and Mexican consulates in the U.S., Reconquista goals and tactics employed, the movement’s ties to...

New York waited for a Knicks championship for more than half a century. On Thursday, the drought ends in tons of confetti and a trip down the Canyon of Heroes for what may be the largest parade in the city’s history. The Knicks, NBA champions for the first time since 1973, will roll up Broadway in their first-ever ticker-tape parade in front of an audience that could number in the millions. By 7:30 a.m., the NYPD announced that viewing pens were full and nobody else would be allowed into the area. Police also said no trains would be stopping south...

Canon 47 Concerning the Donatists it seemed good that we should hold counsel with our brethren and fellow priests Siricius and Simplician concerning those infants alone who are baptized by Donatists: lest what they did not do of their own will, when they should be converted to the Church of God with a salutary determination, the error of their parents might prevent their promotion to the ministry of the holy altar. But when these things had been begun, Honoratus and Urbanus, bishops of Mauritania Sitifensis, said: When some time ago we were sent to your holiness, we laid aside what...

YORK, Pa. — The York Revolution announced it has canceled its scheduled Thursday game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs after several players refused to wear the team's planned Pride Night jerseys. In a statement issued late Wednesday, the club said the decision was made with “great disappointment” and that tickets for the June 18 game will be treated as a rainout and may be redeemed for any future 2026 regular-season home game, subject to availability. "Unfortunately, several of our players have refused to wear the scheduled Pride Night jersey and the club decided that hosting the event is more...

The Supreme Court will be releasing Opinions from the October 2025 this morning at 10:00.Scotusblog will be liveblogging the release and we will be following along.There are 20 decisions pending for this term and we expect all opinions will be released by June 30th. You can find a list of the cases at October 2025 cases. Note: The word "held" after the case name indicates the Opinion has already been released. The word "Issues" indicates the questions to be resolved by the Court.You can find the Opinions on this term's previously decided cases at October 2025 Opinions. Today's opinions will...

According to a report in La Brújula Verde, a second intact Etruscan tomb has been discovered in central Italy's San Giuliano necropolis by a team of researchers led by Davide Zori of the San Giuliano Archaeological Research Project (SGARP) and Baylor University. More than 600 tombs have been identified in the area, but most of them have been looted since the Roman conquest of the region in the third century B.C. The slab closing this tomb had remained in its original position, with no signs of tampering. The remains of at least two individuals have been found inside the tomb,...

When I first voted in an Israeli election as an 18-year-old student 30 years ago last Friday, I remember experiencing some culture shock. I was raised in America, where there were only two political parties. Here, I could choose among more than 20 parties... That culture shock was even greater since I come from Chicago, where there was actually only one party, the Democratic Party... The novelties of Israeli elections make them hard to explain in the United States, but our democracy is a key selling point that enables Americans to relate to us. Here are 10 possible election scenarios,...

Canada’s House rejected a final attempt to stop Bill C-9, which threatens to criminalize quoting the Bible, including on homosexuality.OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A final attempt to stop Bill C-9 was defeated, meaning that the bill, which threatens to criminalize quoting parts of the Bible, including on homosexuality, has officially passed Canada’s Parliament and will soon become law.On Wednesday, June 17, a majority of MPs voted down an attempt by Conservative MP Andrew Lawton to stop Bill C-9 “once and for all.”“The Liberals and Bloc Québécois voted down my motion to withdraw the divisive and toxic Bill C-9 to stand...

Moscow has come under the largest Ukrainian attack since the start of the full-scale war, with close to 200 drones hitting targets around the Russian capital and setting columns of thick smoke billowing high into the sky. Seventeen people were wounded in the Moscow region, according to local governor Andrei Vorobyov. Almost 1,000 drones and four Ukrainian cruise missiles were intercepted and destroyed across the country in 24 hours, Russia's defence ministry was quoted as saying. An oil depot was struck in the southern Rostov region, where one person was killed. Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had once again hit the...

I have often noted that the climate scam and the associated forced energy transition would of necessity go away at some point because the proposals being advocated to “save the planet” could never possibly work. But the open question has always been, when that happens, what will it look like? Would all the big enviro groups like the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club all go on national TV one night and admit that the whole thing was a fake scare from the beginning? In the real world, that’s not how these things...

...Republicans last week introduced legislation they say will improve the care that veterans receive from the federal government, though Democrats and federal employee unions warn the measure will actually degrade veterans’ benefits and employees’ rights. The Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (H.R. 9237 and S. 4744) is a package of more than 60 bills relating to the Veterans Affairs Department. Included is the Major Richard Star Act (H.R. 2102), a bill that would grant full military retirement pay to veterans who were forced to retire early due to a combat injury, as well as a provision to increase benefits...

This isn't the kind of news liberals generally see fit to print. The New York Times Magazine this week published a mammoth look at the last days of life for sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, apparently aimed at establishing firmly whether the official finding that Epstein committed suicide actually holds water On that front, the effort is a failure, but the notoriously liberal publication did manage to cement one fact -- and it's not the kind of fact its liberal readership craves when it comes to President Donald Trump. Jeffrey Epstein was obsessed with trying to take down Trump before suicide,...