Free Republic

Russia has invited Palestinian groups to Moscow, which could bring together Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and other terrorist groups. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said over the weekend that Russia invited Palestinian factions to meet in Moscow at some point in late February, the latest Russian move to increase its influence in a post-October 7 world. Moscow hosted a Hamas delegation already in October, as Hamas sought to do outreach to Moscow. -snip- According to Russian state media TASS, Moscow invited up to 14 Palestinian groups to attend, including those belonging to the Palestine Liberation Organization, as well as...

A top adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been relieved of duty following the discovery of several anti-Israel social media posts. U.S. Army Col. Nathan McCormack was removed from his advisory role on Israel-related matters following the discovery of the posts. According to his LinkedIn profile, McCormack served as the Levant and Egypt branch chief within the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s J5 planning directorate. He reportedly posted several inflammatory comments on his X account, including calling Israel a “death cult” and referring to its government as “Netanyahu and his Judeo-supremacist cronies,” according to the Jewish News Syndicate. A...

Israel recently learned from its agents inside Iran — presumably native informants working with Mossad — that Iran’s nuclear scientists had successfully completed tests of their design of a nuclear weapon. This meant that Iran was potentially only weeks away from being able to produce such a weapon, and that intolerable threat had to be dealt with without delay. More on Israel’s discovery that prompted the attack, can be found here: “Israel found Iran carried out key tests for nuke design ahead of strikes — report,” Times of Israel, June 15, 2025: Israel recently learned from its agents inside Iran...

A former Coast Guard Lieutenant and sharpshooter who self-identifies as Antifa was arrested for threatening to kill President Trump, according to CBS News. CBS News reported: A former Coast Guard lieutenant and sharpshooter has been arrested for allegedly making threats to kill President Trump. A 19-page Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit lists out scores of alleged social media threats by Peter Stinson, who served 33 years in the U.S. Coast Guard through 2021, and also served as a Federal Emergency Management Agency instructor. The social media posts quoted in charging documents, which span from 2020 to 2025, include online statements...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday called the April 1 Israeli strike on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Damascus that left at least 13 people dead, including a high-ranking general, a “political killing,” Anadolu Agency reports. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Lavrov condemned the Israeli attack in a phone talk with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. “Any attacks on diplomatic and consular facilities, the inviolability of which is guaranteed by the relevant Vienna Conventions, are categorically unacceptable, as well as political killings,” he said. Seven Iranian military advisers are said to have been killed in the...

Iran's stern warning that the United States must "bear responsibility" for an Israeli airstrike on its consulate in Damascus, despite U.S. claims of non-involvement, marks a tense moment in international relations. This incident, which resulted in the deaths of senior Iranian military commanders, exacerbates already strained U.S.-Iran relations and highlights the complex geopolitical dynamics in the Middle East. Iran's vow for revenge introduces a precarious element to the situation, especially against the backdrop of concerns about sleeper terror cells within the U.S. The presence of these cells, believed by many to be a consequence of lax border security policies, poses...

Three defendants transferred from the DRC to the U.S. and one other arrested in Utah after Armed Coup Attack to overthrow the DRC governmentNote: View the criminal complaint.A criminal complaint was unsealed today in the District of Utah charging Marcel Malanga, 22, Tyler Thompson, 22, Benjamin Zalman-Polun, 37, and Joseph Peter Moesser, 67, all U.S. citizens, with conspiring to provide material support and resources, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to bomb places of government facilities, and conspiracy to kill or kidnap persons in a foreign country, among other offenses.Malanga, Thompson, and Polun are expected to make their...

An ex-CIA analyst was sentenced to more than three years in prison Wednesday for leaking top secret documents about Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran last year. Asif William Rahman, 34, had pleaded guilty in January to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information after he was arrested for absconding with records from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency last October that indicated Israel was planning to launch airstrikes in response to a massive Iranian missile attack. Rahman, who had been a CIA employee since 2016 and had access to top secret documents, leaked the stolen information on social...

The Stanford Internet Observatory, a small but prominent research group studying abuse on social media platforms, looks to be in crisis, according to a report by Platformer. Some key staff have departed recently, including founding director Alex Stamos and research director Renée DiResta, Platformer reports. A handful of staff have left recently after not having their contracts renewed, and other members have been told to look for other jobs. Platformer describes the turmoil as a “dismantling” of the research group. Stanford Internet Observatory research centers on some of the most pressing types of abuse online, including threats to democracy and...

A Romanian national pleaded guilty on Monday to charges related to his role in a “swatting” ring that targeted dozens of public officials, including a former US president. Going by the aliases “Plank,” “Jonah” and “Cypher,” 26-year-old Thomasz Szabo took part in a years-long conspiracy to place bogus 911 calls, claiming emergencies were taking place at the homes of top government officials, and make bomb threats against government buildings and houses of worship, according to Justice Department. Szabo and a co-conspirator, 21-year-old Serbian national Nemanja Radovanovic, allegedly targeted about 100 people, including members of Congress, governors, cabinet-level executive branch officials...

Newly leaked test results prove that Olympic boxer Imane Khelif does have male chromosomes — after the International Olympic Committee dismissed the claims as “not legitimate” and let her compete in the Paris 2024 Games. Khelif – a 26-year-old who has long maintained she is female — was found to have male XY chromosomes in a 2023 test carried out by an accredited Indian doctor, newly obtained test results leaked by 3 Wire Sports show. “Chromosome analysis reveals male karyotype,” read the test results — referring to male chromosomes – which left Khelif barred from the 2023 women’s World Boxing...

A federal complaint unsealed on Tuesday in Brooklyn has charged Asif Merchant, also known as “Asif Raza Merchant,” a 46-year-old Pakistani national, with murder-for-hire in connection with a foiled assassination plot targeting a politician or U.S. government officials on American soil. The plot was thwarted by law enforcement before any attack could be executed. Merchant is currently in federal custody in New York, according to the press release. FBI investigators believe that the intended targets of the plot included Trump and other current and former U.S. government officials, according to a U.S. official briefed on the matter, per CNN. According...

A Pakistani national was arrested in Canada this week for allegedly plotting a mass shooting at a Jewish center in New York City on the anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas militants against Israeli civilians. Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to the terrorist organization ISIS, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). “The defendant is alleged to have planned a terrorist attack in New York City around October 7th of this year with the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS,...

Following the news that Trans Mountain Corporation will start filling the expanded pipeline in February, with first crude to be loaded from Vancouver in April, Canadian crude prices jumped to the narrowest discount to WTI since August 2023. U.S. refiners used to cheap Canadian crude will need to start budgeting more for the commodity from this spring. Canadian oil producers are preparing for the 890,000 bpd in takeaway capacity growth. ... U.S. refiners used to cheap Canadian oil might need to reach deeper into their pockets to keep buying it. The idea behind the Trans Mountain expansion was to turn...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) reacted to new reporting about then-President Joe Biden’s fitness by saying, “I don’t think it’s a new story that Joe Biden is a seasoned senior leader of our country, it was probably the most covered story of 2024, questions about his age.” Coons said, “I was surprised by what I saw the night of the debate. I hadn’t had a previous experience like that with President Biden. Ultimately, several weeks later, he decided to drop out. And, frankly, rather than looking back and re-litigating the timing...

The Democratic Party is finally saying the quiet part out loud: "Biden should not have run again." Revelations about President Joe Biden's cognitive decline and his administration's alleged cover-up have returned to the national conversation ahead of next week's release of CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios political correspondent Alex Thompson's book, "Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again." Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a 2024 presidential campaign surrogate for President Joe Biden, and considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, acknowledged on Wednesday that Biden should not have run for a second term. And...

Last week I wrote about the concerns of a pair of North Korea analysts that something had changed in the tone of the rhetoric emanating from Kim Jong Un. Of course North Korea has a long history of belligerent talk and threats against the US but something about this seemed different and more urgent. Kim said he was giving up on reunification with South Korea. Instead, South Korea would now be considered the North’s top enemy.But it’s more than just empty rhetoric. Sometime over the past few days Kim ordered a monument meant to symbolize hope for reunification torn down.Kim...

The small South Caucasus nation of Georgia has become a multi-billion dollar hub for the international used car market. The vehicles are mostly sourced from the US, and many appear to be ending up in Russia. Equivalent in size to more than 40 football pitches, it hosts thousands of vehicles up for sale. He says that his company has responded to “a lot of demand for Western-produced vehicles”. Today the firm has 600 employees.

The U.S. State Department has determined and certified Cuba as a "not fully cooperating country" (NFCC) for not helping with counterterrorism efforts after the island nation failed to turn over at least 11 fugitives in 2024 to U.S. custody. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce made the announcement on Tuesday that the certification, which falls under Section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act, will result in the prohibition on the sale or license for export of defense services to Cuba. "In 2024, the Cuban regime did not fully cooperate with the United States on counterterrorism," Bruce said in a statement....