Free Republic

Last week, Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be helping Iran "a bit". But Iran's successful hitting of US military bases and energy infrastructure in the Gulf suggests that Russian help is much more than what Trump described as "a bit". Russia is reported to have provided Iran with the precise locations of US warships and aircraft operating in the Middle East. Russia's Kanopus-V satellite gives Iran round-the-clock images of American assets and other targets in the region. An important target reportedly provided by Moscow to Tehran was the precise location of a US military base in Kuwait,...

On Sunday, I wrote about how Code Pink and a bunch of other worthless commies went to Cuba after they put together the "Nuestra América Convoy," which describes itself as a humanitarian group but is really just some sort of anti-Trump, pro-Cuban regime operation. Cuba's "president," Miguel Díaz-Canel, rolled out the red carpet at a convention center, and then the group stayed in a five-star well-lit hotel. I say "well-lit' because no one else on the island has power, yet oddly this hotel and convention center do. The convoy also threw themselves a little concert — again, with plenty of...

Actor Robert De Niro is upset that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to raise his property taxes. "I understand that the City needs more revenue to deliver all the services he promised when he ran for the office of mayor, but I helped get this guy elected," De Niro complained. "Now he wants to take more from me than any mayor in history and he won't even have a sit down meeting with me. Where's the gratitude I'm owed?" So far, Mamdani has refused the face-to-face meeting De Niro has requested, saying "this is not a mobster movie...

The left will always live in the 1960s. The latest episode of the story is another group of socialists travelling to Cuba to show their support for the Cuban revolution. These people love revolutions, don’t they? What they don’t love are the victims of those revolutions. This is the story: The Democratic Socialists of America announced that 20 DSA members will join an international group of humanitarians, the so-called Nuestra América Convoy, which says it is delivering critical aid to Cuba amid an economic and energy crisis caused by America’s blockade of fuel, flights, and other essential supplies... It has...

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Thursday he will sign an executive order to create the Office of Community Safety (OCS), a step toward his vision of public safety that prioritizes support and prevention rather than policing and penalization. The office, housed within the mayor’s office, will oversee multiple existing public safety programs and signify a major step in building out Mamdani's $1.1 billion Department of Community Safety. The announcement comes after Mamdani pledged to revise the city's police response in non-criminal emergencies, including mental health crises.

Pope Leo XIV made a plea on March 18 for countries to offer their citizens universal healthcare, calling it a “moral imperative” that people have access to the health services they need. Previous popes have called for countries to offer universal healthcare, but calling an issue a “moral imperative” is an unusually strong term for a pope to use, indicating that something is required by Catholic teaching. “Universal health coverage is... a moral imperative for societies that wish to call themselves just,” the Pope said in a meeting with participants in a healthcare conference organised by the World Health Organization...

Democrats have kept the Department of Homeland Security shuttered since mid-February because they were outraged that two Americans were killed by ICE agents while interfering with their work. Since then, terrorists have claimed four American lives – a number that could have been significantly higher had fortune not prevailed. So, where are the protests over these deaths? “What’s happening in Minnesota is appalling — and unacceptable in any American city,” is how Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer justified his party’s decision to force the DHS closure. Democrats are insisting on a raft of ICE “reforms,” but their goal is simply...

As Havana quietly opens talks with Washington amid deepening shortages and unrest, Brussels sticks to a long-failed policy of dialogue. General view of a street in Havana on March 16, 2026. YAMIL LAGE / AFP Cuba is edging toward a breaking point—and, for the first time in years, even its leadership seems to know it. After months of rolling blackouts, empty shelves, and growing street protests, Havana has quietly opened talks with Donald Trump’s administration. The goal is simple: ease the crushing economic pressure without loosening its grip on power. Whether that balancing act is still possible is another question....

Cuban citizen Pedro Quiala Carmenate says "there's no food, there's no electricity and there's no medical care. Now that Trump has liberated the people of Venezuela from the brutal rule of Nicolas Maduro, we are hoping he will liberate Cuba from President Miguel Diaz-Canel's Communist tyranny." Founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba José Daniel Ferrer asserted "the majority of Cubans want the Americans to intervene because they are living through the worst period of the 67-year dictatorship. As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we're also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to...

They're spraying 'Viva Trump' in public places in Havana. Historians will tell you that rising expectations create conditions for revolutions. Which brings us to Cuba, where the locals are rioting to demand the end of 65 years of stone-cold communism. According to Fox News: Protesters attacked a Communist Party headquarters in Cuba overnight, ransacking the building and attempting to set it on fire, while video from the scene appeared to capture gunfire and a man on the ground outside, according to footage obtained by Fox News Digital. Cuban state media later denied that anyone had been struck by police gunfire...

Summary. Blackouts exacerbated by US oil blockade Violent protests very rare in Cuba Cuba says it has opened talks with US. HAVANA, March 14 (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters attacked a Communist Party office in central Cuba early on Saturday, a state-run newspaper reported, in ​a rare outburst of public dissent triggered by blackouts exacerbated by a U.S. oil blockade. A rally against power cuts and food shortages began peacefully in the ‌city of Moron late on Friday then turned violent in the early hours of Saturday morning, Invasor newspaper said.

When anti-regime protests spread like wildfire throughout Iran in mid-October of 2022, the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was quick to lay the blame on the usual foreign suspects. “I say explicitly that these riots and this insecurity were a design by the U.S. and the occupying, fake Zionist regime and those who are paid by them,” he told a class of cadets at a police college in Tehran. He suggested that the ultimate goal of the U.S. and Israel was regime change in Iran. This elicited a response on Twitter from Iranian rapper Hichkas, who defended foreign support for...

As someone who looks at culture and politics regularly, I often write about problems and, on occasion, proffer solutions. Sometimes the solutions are relatively straightforward and obvious, like suggesting to the GOP that if they don’t pass the SAVE Act and bring about something resembling honest elections, they’re going to get their asses handed to them in November. Others, I recognize, are far more complex than my 30,000-foot take on the issue. This is most certainly the case when I suggested the government should get out of the wealth redistribution business. Knowing that there are thousands of programs handing out...

t's not easy being a Cuban agent of subversion in the Western hemisphere these days. Not only is Cuba out of money and falling apart, the glory days of the medical missionaries and the embassy wine parties with the elites abroad while the locals suffer back home are now all drying up. According to the Associated Press: QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador declared Cuba’s ambassador, Basilio Antonio Gutiérrez, and his diplomatic staff “persona non grata” on Wednesday and gave them 48 hours to leave the South American country. Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the...

3 SOLDIERS DIED TODAY. NOT FOR OIL. NOT FOR LAND. FOR THE CHILDREN. March 1, 2026. 11:47 AM. The Pentagon confirmed: 3 American service members killed in action. 5 more wounded. The first casualties of Operation Epic Fury. The media will use their deaths to question the war. We will use their sacrifice to tell you WHY this war is being fought. ⚡ WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LAST 24 HOURS While every camera on Earth pointed at Tehran — the real operation happened in silence. — Interpol arrested 7 people across 4 European countries. France. Germany. Austria. Belgium. All connected...

Canada said on Monday it plans to provide assistance to Cuba while the island grapples with fuel shortages after Washington moved to choke off Cuba's oil supplies. Washington has escalated a pressure campaign against the Communist-run island and long-time U.S. foe in recent weeks. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has moved to block all oil from reaching Cuba, including that from ally Venezuela, pushing up prices for food and transportation and prompting severe fuel shortages and hours of blackouts. "We are preparing a plan to assist. We are not prepared at this point to provide any further details of an...

China has seeded the West with thousands of agents pushing propaganda, engaging in espionage, fomenting protests, and silencing domestic dissent. In 2023, the FBI arrested two Chinese-Americans, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, for operating a Chinese police station in Manhattan. Chen pleaded guilty and faces up to five years in prison for acting as a Chinese agent, while Lu, who has connections to Chinese authorities, pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. He faces 20 years for obstruction of justice. According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), the police station was established to monitor and intimidate Chinese dissidents in the...

If people have property when they die, who should inherit it? You can't take it with you. Increased inequality reduces government's concern for the general welfare. The public owns all natural resources in common and no one deserves more than an equal share of their fruits. The Alaskan oil dividend could be a model here. Inheritance reform would not eliminate billionaires; it would only eliminate hereditary billionaires.

Marco Rubio considers it an "overused term" while Friedrich Merz thinks it "no longer exists". But while the US Secretary of State and German chancellor may not believe in the relevance of the rules-based international order, the concept — and its potential collapse — has been at the forefront of global geopolitics of late. The phrase caught the global attention in January after a rare speech, from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in which a world leader tackled the often unspoken concept head on. "We knew the story of the rules-based international order was partially false, that the strongest would...

“But let’s not miss the fact that we have coordinated, well-funded, and I think insurgencies or terrorist organizations, however you want to call it, literally trying to prevent legal laws from being enforced in the United States.”U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott testifying before Congress on February 10, 2026. The man speaks truth.The mainstream media continues to push the narrative that all we are seeing are “peaceful protests”. Most conservative commentators remain content to ridicule participants in the ongoing anti – ICE actions around the country and dismiss them with derogatory comments and sarcasm. No one, it...