Free Republic

The decoration of a Falklands War landing craft in rainbow colours to celebrate Pride has sparked uproar among veterans, who called it “entirely inappropriate” and said, “Our Falklands dead will be turning in their graves.” The Telegraph has more. "Foxtrot 8, which landed Royal Marine and Parachute Regiment soldiers on the South Atlantic archipelago, has been coated in a rainbow vinyl wrap. Portsmouth Historic Quarter, which owns it, commissioned the decoration to mark the 25th anniversary of the ban on homosexuality within the Armed Forces being lifted. But the decoration has been criticised as disrespectful by veterans. A retired senior...

No trees have grown on the windswept Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean for tens of thousands of years — just shrubs and other low-lying vegetation. That's why a recent arboreal discovery nearly 20 feet... beneath the ground caught researchers' attention...Thomas and colleagues went to the site and began "picking up these big chunks of wood." The tree remains were so pristinely preserved they looked like driftwood, Thomas said. But knowing the history of the Falklands, the researchers knew the remnants couldn't be modern...The presence of the tree fossils suggests the island was once home to a temperate rainforest...

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps today took a swipe at the Argentina's newly elected president after the former 'tantric sex coach' vowed to 'reclaim' the Falkland Islands and said doing so was 'non-negotiable'. Shapps hit back and said the Falkland Islands 'are British' and that is 'non-negotiable' after Argentinian president-elect Javier Milei said the territory belongs to Argentina and vowed to 'get it back'. Milei, who uses a medium to communicate with his dead dog for advice on political matters, pulled off a massive upset by beating Argentina's Economy Minister Sergio Massa in Sunday's polarised presidential runoff. But during his presidential...

The right-wing former 'tantric sex coach' who has been elected president of Argentina believes the Falkland Islands belong to his nation and has vowed 'to get them back'. Javier Milei, who uses a medium to communicate with his dead dog for advice on political matters, pulled off a massive upset by beating Argentina's Economy Minister Sergio Massa in Sunday's polarised presidential runoff. But during his presidential campaign, Milei insisted that Britain returning the Falkland Islands was 'non-negotiable', adding that the territory, known as the Malvinas in Argentina, is Argentine. Milei, a right-wing economist known as 'el Loco' - or the...

The UK claim over the Falkland / Malvinas provides a legal case to back Jewish claims over Israel / Judea / Samaria Since there is no democracy in Israel there should be a referendum to restore the Jewish Kingdom of Judea By Ezequiel Doiny On August 6, 2023 Carolin Glick wrote in Arutz 7 " On Sept. 15, just two weeks before she heads for the exit, Hayut will take the unprecedented step of convening the entire court—all 15 justices—to adjudicate an even more outrageous petition regarding a Basic Law. That day, Hayut and her associate justices will hear arguments...

The irrational leaders of the EU fought long and hard to defend their reckless open-door immigration policies, even calling countries such as Hungary, which opposed those policies, “undemocratic.” Smears including “anti-immigrant,” “racist” and “Islamophobe” were also levied at anyone who protested against the invasion of mostly Muslim economic migrants who entered Europe illegally in droves. Now that open-door policies has proven (as everyone should have known) to be a failed experiment, as well as unsustainable, with Western countries in financial crisis and crime stats going through the roof, the EU is finally backpedaling. Four months ago, Germany deported only 5...

Brazil's minister of defense Jacques Wagner questioned Argentina's approach to China regarding military procurement, but discarded any conflict with Buenos Aires, since the country is a 'strategic and important partner' of Brazil. Apparently the issue was brought up by Jacques when he visited his counterpart Agustín Rossi in Buenos Aires last week. “However that was not the main issue of discussion or reason for my trip. I returned from Buenos Aires with assurances that Argentina gives leading priority to its association with Unasur”, said Jacques during a press conference following the opening of the Defense and Security show (LAAD) in...

Liz Truss has defended the Falklands as “part of the British family” after China backed Argentina’s claim over the South American islands. The Foreign Secretary tweeted that “China must respect the Falklands’ sovereignty” after Argentinian president, Alberto Fernandez, met with China’s President Xi on the fringes of the Beijing winter Olympics. According to a statement on London’s Chinese Embassy website, the two leaders spoke of their “deep friendship” and Argentina signed up to China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, a state-backed campaign for global influence. But they also signed an agreement in which China reasserted its support for Argentina’s claim...

When relationships end it might be because the spark has disappeared, or maybe you just can’t make time for one another. But can climate change cause break-ups? It might do, according to a new study which suggests albatrosses – some of the world’s most loyal creatures – are “divorcing” more. Research published in the Royal Society journal looked at 15,500 breeding pairs in the Falkland Islands over 15 years. Albatross divorce is basically just cheating, in human terms. It’s when one part of a couple mates with a different individual. Like humans, albatrosses also have an awkward growing-up phase, trying...

The 'special relationship' between the UK and the US is elusive. Trump's visit to Britain nailed the optics of an empire that was wilting under the weight of an 'unequal' relation Romance and nostalgia surrounding the grandeur of the British empire in the 19th and 20th century is predicated on "the empire on which the sun never sets." This pomposity was extended to include emerging America in the mid-19th century to posit the Anglophone domain, as noted by Alexander Campbell in 1852, "To Britain and America, god has granted the possession of the new world; and because the sun never...

Britain has spent £78 million protecting the Falkland Islands with a new missile defense shield also used by Israel, Russia Today reported Thursday. The Falklands’ new Sky Sabre defense system is part of a £280-million renewal package for the islands announced by then-defense secretary Michael Fallon in 2015. The Sabre uses radar to track short-range rockets and can predict a missile’s path and blow it out of the sky before it reaches its target. The shield utilizes the same technology as Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system, which has shot down hundreds of rockets fired from Gaza. It will be fully...

The damage to HMS Sheffield after it was struck by an Exocet missile in May 1982. Photograph: PA/PA Archive/Press Association Ima The British public became fascinated by the Exocet missile after one sunk HMS Sheffield shortly after the outbreak of the Falklands war in 1982. Before long, the word Exocet was being used as a metaphor for anything that was suddenly and unstoppably destructive: a winning argument, for example, or a footballer’s shot on goal. Although Argentina possessed only five of the missiles, Margaret Thatcher’s war cabinet was also fascinated by them, because they knew a successful strike on...

Argentina has grounded all the fighter jets in its air force - meaning it is being defended by just a few dozen propeller fighters first built in the 1970s. Thirty-five years after the country's military invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, the economically beleaguered South American republic now has a worse air force than it did under dictator Leopoldo Galtieri in 1982. It was confirmed that all of its Lockheed Martin A-4AR Skyhawk jets - which are adaptations of the 1956 fighters it used in the Falklands War - had been grounded as the air force's working hours are cut...

Did a Planetary Society citizen scientist help find one of Earth’s biggest impact craters? About 66 million years ago, a 10-kilometer-wide hunk of rock smashed into Earth near what is now Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.The impact created a global dust cloud that snuffed out the sunlight, leading to the demise of 80 percent of Earth's plants and animals—including most of the dinosaurs. A 200-kilometer-wide crater buried near the city of Chicxulub is all that's left. It's ground zero for one of the world's most notable extinction events.But throughout Earth's history, there have actually been five major extinction events. The largest of...

The minefields laid in the Falkland Islands were intended to kill or maim British soldiers, but over the last 35 years they have become de facto nature reserves for penguins. For better or worse, however, the time has now come for their home to be demined, reports Matthew Teller.{snip}Fortunately, the landmines aren't a problem for the penguins - at least, not the little Magellanics and Gentoos of Yorke Bay. "They don't seem to be heavy enough to set them off," says Esther Bertram, chief executive officer of Falklands Conservation.

The US came very close to stepping in to help Argentina take the islands after they invaded in 1982. US security bosses were ready to offer Falkland Islanders the option of moving to British territory, with Scotland being touted as a potential new home, or being allowed to stay on the Islands. However, if they opted to stay they would automatically become Argentinian citizens. The option of moving abroad would have been sweetened with the promise of a $100,000 grant per person. The proposed plan, entitled ‘Solution to the Falkland Islands crisis’, was put together by Henry Rowen, the then...

The British Foreign Office has recently declassified documents that allegedly prove that Israel sold weapons to Argentina during the 1982 Falklands War between the Latin American nation and the UK. The British government's National Archives department released the files dated November 16, 1984, which include a memorandum from a senior British diplomat who provided details on the Israeli arms sales to Argentina, the London-based Telegraph reported Wednesday. “Israel was one of the few countries to supply Argentina with arms during the Falklands conflict and has continued to do so,” wrote C.W. Long, the UK Foreign Office's then head of the...

After nearly six decades in service, India’s majestic aircraft carrier INS Viraat will set sail for the last time from Mumbai to Kochi this week, powered by its own boilers before it is decommissioned. Once the ship berths itself with the Southern Naval Command on July 27 after sailing out from Mumbai on July 23, all valuable equipment on board like engines, radars, guns will be dismantled to prepare it for the decommissioning. The ship will then be towed back to Mumbai where it will be decommissioned. However, it is still not clear what will happen to the ship, which...

Recovering sovereignty of the Falkland Islands remains a “permanent and unrelinquished” objective of the Argentine people, the country’s foreign minister said Thursday, calling for negotiations over the dispute over the wind-swept archipelago to be resolved through negotiations. Britain, meanwhile, rejected any discussion over sovereignty despite a United Nations committee’s adopting a non-binding resolution calling for a negotiated solution. Susana Malcorra told the Special Committee on Decolonization that the concept of self-determination is not absolute and did not apply in the case of the Falklands because the current inhabitants had been placed there by Britain after they seized the islands in...

Although it was recently phased out by France and Spain, its two European operators, the Dassault Mirage F-1C fighter remains an effective fighter, but its in-flight refueling capability could be seen as a potential threat to UK sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. (French AF photo) PARIS --- Argentina is negotiating with France to purchase 12 Mirage F-1 combat aircraft, and possibly Mirage 2000s, as well as engines to equip the twenty Pucarás that are currently grounded, Argentine Defense Minister Julio Martinez told La Nacion. Passing through Paris, where he came to attend the Eurosatory armaments exhibition, Martinez was today received...