Free Republic

The trial of two Iranians and six others, who tried to smuggle 2.2 tons of cocaine to the island, exposed networks spanning the Middle East and Venezuela. JNS Staff. July 9, 2025 / JNS) An Irish court on July 4 sentenced two Iranian nationals in connection with a transnational drug trafficking operation involving more than 2.2 tons of cocaine, as authorities investigate suspected links to Hezbollah and the Iranian regime, Irish media reported. The men—Soheil Jelveh, 51, a former captain of the cargo vessel MV Matthew, and Saied Hassani, 39, a senior officer with significant maritime experience—received sentences of 17.5...

Far-right MEPs heckled EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen while she called them names in Strasbourg on Monday (7 July), in a failed bid to oust her from her post. The level of shouting and jeering during von der Leyen's speech saw EU Parliament president Roberta Metsola intervene three times to call for quiet. The debate was a small moment of triumph for populist MEPs after a Romanian right-winger, Gheorghe Piperea, tabled a motion of censure against the commission on grounds of von der Leyen's allegedly improper SMS-es with US vaccine-maker Pfizer during Covid. The motion, to be voted...

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has called on the Government to immediately intervene to bring 18 children from Gaza to Ireland for vital medical treatment. Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin has insisted there will be no delay in getting the children to hospitals here amid indications that the medical evacuation will not take place until the autumn. Ms. McDonald warned there is every chance these children will be killed while the Government is engaged in what she termed “bureaucratic wrangling”. “The only humanitarian approach is to get these children out now,” she said. She told the Dáil (parliament) that...

Donald Trump told a private gathering of donors last year that he once sought to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from attacking Ukraine by threatening to “bomb the sh*t out of Moscow” in retaliation, according to audio provided to CNN. “With Putin I said, ‘If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb the sh*t out of Moscow. I’m telling you I have no choice,’” Trump said during one 2024 fundraiser, according to the audio. “And then [Putin] goes, like, ‘I don’t believe you.’ But he believed me 10%.” The remarks, which came as Trump made his case for a...

Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) praised President Trump on Tuesday for announcing that he would send additional weapons to Ukraine and blasted “isolationists and restrainers” at the Department of Defense (DOD), possibly taking aim at the Pentagon’s No. 3-ranking official. “I’m glad that President Trump wants to resume deliveries of lethal capabilities to Ukraine. America’s policy of providing lethal support to Ukraine began during his first term, and likely helped deter earlier Russian escalation,” McConnell said in a statement. “This time, the president will need to reject calls from the isolationists and restrainers within his administration to limit...

According to the portal, the new US administration does not consider Europe to be a partner, but as a "political battleground"BRUSSELS, July 8. /TASS/. The US is taking steps to carry out a "regime change" in the EU, trying to rig elections to put far-right forces in power to "turn Europe and allies like Canada and Mexico into US vassals," said Caroline de Gruyter in a column she contributed to the Brussels portal EUobserver. EUobserver previously always expressed the interests of the globalist European elite, which prevails among the supranational officials of the EU and NATO, as well as their...

The West is failing to catch up to Russia's production of the most basic unit of war for the past half-millennium — gunpowder. The modern propellants and explosives that power war have largely been offshored. While Western manufacturers are churning out shell casings, they are short on the materials to fill them with. A dearth of ammunition from NATO allies has long hampered Ukraine, but is more recently alarming the Western alliance. "Putin's war machine is speeding up, not slowing down," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said at a June 9 speech in London. "In terms of ammunition, Russia produces...

A comprehensive carcinogenicity study on the world's most used herbicide, glyphosate, involving scientists from Europe and the U.S., has found that low doses of the controversial weed killer cause multiple types of cancer in rats. In this long-term study, glyphosate alone and two commercial glyphosate-based formulations, Roundup BioFlow used in the EU and Ranger Pro used in the U.S., were administered to rats via drinking water beginning in prenatal life, at doses of 0.5, 5, and 50 mg/kg body weight/day for 2 years. These doses are currently considered safe by regulatory agencies and correspond to the EU Acceptable Daily Intake...

The country that invented “flight shaming”, a concept championed by climate activist Greta Thunberg, has scrapped its air tax in a bid to boost its ailing economy. As of July 1, Sweden has dropped the levy of 76–517 kroner (£5.50–£37.40) per passenger per flight, an eco measure introduced by the centre-left government in 2018. The U-turn will be seen as a disaster by environmentalists, and it exposes a tension at the core of the aviation versus climate debate. When jumbo jets disappear emissions drop, but other things begin to dwindle too: regional growth, connectivity and – it appears in Sweden...

Former US president Barack Obama is to be interviewed live on stage for two events in Dublin and London. The 63-year-old, who became the first black US president when he took office in 2009, will be interviewed by TV historian David Olusoga at London’s The O2 on Wednesday 24 September. He will then be interviewed by journalist Fintan O’Toole at Dublin’s 3Arena on Friday 26 September. An Evening with President Barack Obama will see the former president speak about his experiences in the role and the future for the US. …

The Irish government is reportedly set to reject demands from the European Union to implement hate speech legislation after Dublin abandoned plans to do so last year. In September of last year, the Irish government scrapped plans to criminalize so-called hate speech in its Criminal Justice Bill, which would have allowed the state to send someone to prison for up to five years for “incitement to hatred against persons on account of their protected characteristics”. The move to abandon the controversial section of the bill came as Justice Minister Helen McEntee admitted that it did “not have a consensus” among...

Muslim leaders from across Europe met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem to promote a message of peace on Monday. In a statement, Herzog said: President Isaac Herzog met this morning, Monday, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, with a delegation of Imams and Muslim community leaders from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The delegation, led by ELNET, brought together leading Muslim figures who came to Israel to promote a message of peace, coexistence and partnership between Muslims and Jews, and between Israel and the Muslim world. The President stressed the importance of the delegation,...

DUBLIN - Irish Nationalists hold a counterprotest on the same day and time as the Islamic Muharram procession outside the GPO in Dublin. Victoria Byrne of the Irish Freedom Party also gave a speech. This was a peaceful protest and took place along O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland.

An anti-abortion Rally for Life is taking place in Dublin city center today, calling for the Government to establish an “urgent task force” on what organizers call “spiraling abortion rates”. Around 2,000 people attended the event, which began at 1:30 pm at Parnell Square. The demonstration traveled down O’Connell Street and is to conclude with speeches at Custom House Quay. The rally, according to organizers, is hoped to “kickstart a national campaign” to bring about reform to abortion laws, which were changed in 2019 after a 2018 referendum was passed by 66.4% to 33.6%. …

“Germany is considering purchasing up to 2,500 armored fighting vehicles and as many as 1,000 battle tanks as part of a joint European effort to create new NATO brigades to deter Russia, according to people familiar with the matter. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has asked Germany to contribute as many as seven combat brigades to the alliance within the next decade. The fighting vehicles and tanks, if approved, would equip these forces, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.” “The order under consideration by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and the Bundeswehr’s top generals would include as...

The quintessential ice cream flavour is under threat, and many other dessert staples along with it, according to climate change researchers at the University of Costa Rica and Belgium's KU Leuven university. Increasing climate extremes are changing the habitats of wild vanilla species — primarily found in the tropical regions of Central America — and their mainly animal pollinators, the researchers say. This, in turn, is putting global production of vanilla at risk. In some regions, the plants may find more favourable conditions, but the insects that pollinate them may no longer find suitable habitats, according to the study published...

The Prime Minister of Qatar has received the 2024 Tipperary International Peace Prize. At a ceremony, His Excellency Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani accepted the award on behalf of his country, which the organizers say has emerged as a “significant mediator” in international diplomacy, notably for its role in brokering the recent ceasefire between Israel and Iran. He said his country was a “steady voice for peace” in the world and said he was accepting the award with “deep humility and immense gratitude”. He said it was profoundly meaningful to be in Ireland, which he said was...

A convicted sex offender from Britain was arrested in France after he was accused of trying to stage a mock wedding with a 9-year-old girl at Disneyland Paris. According to the BBC, 39-year-old Jacky Jhaj reportedly set up the ceremony on Saturday, June 21, and paid Disneyland Paris to coordinate. There were around 100 people paid as extras in the staged ceremony that cost around $151,000, so it could be filmed privately. French prosecutors say the girl arrived in France two days before the ceremony and was not harmed physically or sexually, and she was not forced into the role...

Irish lawmaker Ivana Bacik held up a meme depicting Vice President JD Vance, in her country's parliament on Tuesday following reports a 21-year-old Norwegian tourist was refused access to the U.S. because he had the image on his phone. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denied this allegation, saying the tourist, Mads Mikkelsen, was refused entry "for his admitted drug use." Newsweek contacted Vance for comment on Thursday via email outside of regular office hours.

HOVELTE, Denmark (AP) — Peering across a dense stretch of woodland outside of Denmark’s capital with camouflage paint smeared across her face, 20-year-old Katrine scans the horizon for approaching threats. After nearly four months of military training, the young soldier and the rest of her unit spent early June completing their final exercises near the Danish army’s barracks in Hovelte, 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Copenhagen. Katrine and other female soldiers, all of whom spoke to The Associated Press on June 11 on the condition that only their first names be used because of operational security, volunteered for military...