Free Republic

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte sought to calm tensions with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, using a mix ​of flattery and gentle pushback to argue that instances of allies' reluctance to support the U.S. war with Iran were limited to "isolated cases." Trump, a longtime NATO critic who has called the alliance a "paper tiger," has been angered by allies' refusal to support the U.S. in the Middle East conflict or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz after a U.S.-Israeli attack on ​Iran on February 28 disrupted the major oil shipping route. During the Oval Office meeting,...

A Russian military commander has appealed directly to Vladimir Putin to threaten an armed uprising with help from top military brass if the country isn’t told the “truth” about the war. In an Instagram video that quickly racked up millions of views Thursday, Alexander Lunin addressed the Russian president to warn of “very serious consequences” if his demands were ignored. The 39-year-old father of two went on to say he’d been asked to “deliver a message” to Putin by unnamed military officials and members of the security services. They told him to demand a meeting with Putin at the Kremlin...

On Thursday, elements of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted a commercial cargo vessel flying the Singapore flag within the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Citing two senior American officials, The Wall Street Journal reported that the assault inflicted significant damage on the ship’s bridge, though no injuries or fatalities were reported. Concurrently, a regulatory Iranian state body known as the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) issued a strict warning regarding maritime lanes on Thursday. The agency, which holds an official mandate to supervise and govern transit through the chokepoint, announced that any vessels traveling via routes outside its designated framework...

Iran's Revolutionary Guards attacked a Singapore-flagged commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News, posing a challenge to President Trump's efforts to reopen the critical shipping corridor. The ship's bridge was damaged after it was struck on its starboard side by an "unknown projectile" off the coast of Dahit, Oman, according to an advisory from the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre. The advisory said no casualties or environmental impact were reported. After the strike, the United Nations' International Maritime Organization temporarily paused a days-old plan to evacuate many of the vessels stranded...

The German far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), could be closing in on power at the state level for the first time since the Nazi regime's defeat in World War II 81 years ago. Polling suggests the party is far ahead of its rivals in Saxony‑Anhalt and, crucially, within striking distance of an outright majority that would defeat mainstream parties' traditional Brandmauer—or "firewall"—against a far-right government. Germany's electoral system of proportional representation means that most governments at the national and regional level are coalitions. The "firewall" is an agreement of non‑cooperation in which mainstream parties do not govern with, or...

Ten years following the landmark vote, the EU's former Brexit negotiator said the bloc's door is open to the UK, but that London "cannot cherry-pick" EU policies. Former European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told Euronews that it is up to the United Kingdom to decide whether it would want to rejoin the bloc, but that Brussels has made its conditions clear. His comments come ten years after the UK voted to leave the EU by 52% to 48%, and at a time when polling shows a clear majority of the British public, across party lines, views doing so as...

Almost one in four Europeans support far-Right parties, new research shows, with the figure doubling in the last decade. The rise in far-Right support was particularly present between 2023 and 2025, according to the research. Europe's far-Right has indeed scored some recent successes. France's National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, gained ground in municipal elections earlier this year, while Alternative for Germany (AfD) is performing increasingly well in polls. The populist leader of the Czech Republic, Orban ally Andrej Babis, returned as prime minister last year. Austria's far-Right Freedom Party advanced from 16 per cent to 29 per cent...

The man accused of bribing a top Eric Adams adviser in a $120,000 scheme has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Yan Po Zhu, 51, also known as Andy Zhu, and Frank Carone, a lawyer and Adams’ former chief of staff, were arrested this week along with three others on fraud and money laundering charges. Zhu — who allegedly made payments to Carone in exchange for a contract to house migrants at his Queens hotel in 2022, per court documents — donated $100,000 to American Changle Association in 2018 and has long associated with suspected CCP agent Linda Sun....

France detained a Russia-linked oil tanker off the coast of Sicily earlier this week, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, June 25. "On Tuesday, the French navy boarded the oil tanker Deliver as it was passing off the coast of Sicily in breach of the law of the sea," Macron posted on X.

From the Iranian negotiations, a strong pattern has emerged: anything the U.S. says that they’ve agreed to, they deny. This has happened repeatedly, to the point where we have to ask ourselves why they reject our statements? Are our government officials misunderstanding them? Do Trump and Vance purposely misstate what has been agreed to? Or does Iran think that their defiance and disagreement give a picture of strength and victory for their side? To demonstrate the frequency of these denials, let’s take them one at a time:Vance confirmed yesterday in a press statement that the United States had agreed to...

A BRIT influencer is facing the death penalty after she was charged with the murder of a 26-year-old man in Dubai. Brooke George, 23, from Gravesend, Kent, travelled to the luxury Gulf city with the British man after developing a relationship online.

U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin, hand-picked by Joe Biden, just tossed the Trump administration’s lawsuit against four Democrat-run New Jersey sanctuary cities, handing illegal alien criminals another layer of protection. Judge Evelyn Padin dismissed the Department of Justice’s case against Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, and Hoboken without reaching the merits. She ruled the federal lawsuit had a “fundamental flaw” because it challenged only the cities’ sanctuary policies and did not also target New Jersey’s statewide Immigrant Trust Directive, the NY Times reported. Padin wrote that the city policies “do not operate in isolation” from the state directive that already restricts...

India’s oil imports from Russia are on track to hit a new record in June, as refiners continue to rely heavily on discounted Russian crude after supply disruptions in West Asia caused by the regional conflict. According to preliminary vessel-tracking data from commodity analytics firm Kpler, India imported an average of 2.6 million barrels of Russian oil per day in June so far. That accounts for 53.5% of the country’s total crude imports during the period. For the full month, Russian imports are expected to exceed 2.35 million barrels per day, which would be the highest monthly level ever recorded....

ICE Boston arrested Mario Hernandez Regalado, a criminal illegal alien El Salvador. His criminal history includes pending charges for two counts of homicide by motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, operating recklessly, and operation under the influence of alcohol.

Newly released satellite images show China has built a replica of a U.S. Navy destroyer at a remote missile-testing site in the Taklamakan Desert. The image, captured in May 2026 and released Wednesday, shows a structure resembling an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer at a test range in Xinjiang. The ship appears to mirror a destroyer currently used by the U.S. Seventh Fleet, which operates in the Western Pacific and waters surrounding Taiwan. Joseph Wu, co-founder of the Taiwan Defense Studies Initiative, first identified the structure. Debris from what appeared to be earlier missile tests was visible around the mock ship....

President Donald Trump said late Wednesday that two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela had caused what he described as "a devastating number of deaths" as officials continued assessing the extent of the disaster. Trump said the United States was prepared to assist with the ongoing response. "The U.S.A. stands ready, willing, and able to help!" Trump said. "I have instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly. We will be there for our new and great friends."

Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister 'all the Jews are sick of you' during a shouting match regarding peace in the Middle East, according to a new book about the President's second term. Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's 'Regime Change' details Trump's attempt to broker a Gaza peace deal between Israel and Hamas in September of 2025. The President was on the call with Netanyahu, son in law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff when they became frustrated with the prime minister following an Israeli strike on Qatar. That's when Trump unleashed, the book claims. 'Everybody's sick of you, Bibi....

A federal judge, appointed by former President Joe Biden, is blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from arresting illegal aliens at courthouses, a practice considered by law enforcement to be the safest way to apprehend those eligible for deportation. On Tuesday, Judge P. Casey Pitts, appointed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California by Biden in 2023, issued an order that will halt ICE’s ability to broadly arrest illegal aliens at courthouses across the United States. “Because the record before the Court demonstrates that ICE … failed to provide reasoned explanations for their actions,...

June 24 (UPI) -- The Israeli military has surrounded an underground base in southern Lebanon in which dozens of Hezbollah militants are trapped, Israeli officials said. The base is located under the village of Tebnit, in an area where fighting taken place despite an Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire, The New York Times reported. The standoff, if it escalates, could disrupt ongoing peace negotiations between the United States, which backs Israel, and Iran, which backs Hezbollah.Israeli officials said the trapped militants were running out of supplies. On Tuesday, Israeli troops killed at least two people in the area. Israel said those targeted were...

A strong earthquake struck Venezuela on Wednesday, near the capital Caracas, with witnesses reporting tremors in Colombia as well. The magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the area of Montalbán at a depth of 13.2km depth at 18:04 local time (23:04 BST), according to the US Geological Survey (USGC). People in Caracas were quick to evacuate during the earthquake, with one witness reporting that cracks appeared in their apartment and glass shattered, Reuters reported. Tsunami threats have been issued for Venezuela, Aruba and Bonaire, with advisory threats issued to Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands, according to the US Tsunami Warning...