Free Republic

President Donald Trump on Monday said it was "highly unlikely" he would extend the ceasefire with Iran past Wednesday evening if Tehran did not reach agreement to end the conflict.The ceasefire with Iran is set to expire this week and hostilities could resume after talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, failed to result in a permanent agreement. Trump told Bloomberg on Monday that it was "highly unlikely" he would seek to renew or extend the ceasefire. The U.S. has sought a commitment from Iran to never possess a nuclear weapon, an end to its funding of proxy groups in the region, and...

Russia’s foreign minister delivered a prosecution of the American-led world order from Turkey’s annual diplomacy forum over the weekend. Sergey Lavrov called NATO an “aggressive bloc” and the rules-based international system a slogan that “never existed.” He said the war the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran was “a plan to control the oil through the Strait of Hormuz.” Hours earlier, NATO’s deputy secretary-general told the same forum that Europeans and Canadians must now take primary responsibility for their own defense. Radmila Shekerinska said alliance credibility depends on action, not words. The three-day Antalya Diplomacy Forum, with an estimated 6,400...

Labour could lose nearly 1,600 council seats at the local elections even on a good night, new research suggests. In a best-case scenario, Labour could still lose 1,597 council seats across England and nearly 2,000 seats in the worst-case – in a set of local election results that could seal Keir Starmer’s fate as PM. Labour currently has 2,196 councillors across the seats up for election, meaning a good result for the party would still leave the party’s number of locally elected representatives dwindling in the hundreds. Labour is also on track to come third in both the Scottish and...

A survey in Spain found some 80.5 percent of individuals aged 17–25 reject the socialist government’s mass amnesty plans for half a million illegal migrants, the digital newspaper El Español reported on Sunday. The survey was conducted by the polling and research firm SocioMétrica for El Español between April 15 and 18 — the same week that the socialist government led by Prime Minster Pedro Sánchez began its mass amnesty process to benefit 500,000 illegal migrants in Spain with legal residence and work permits. The Spanish government launched the highly criticized amnesty process despite a fierce rejection from the nation’s...

President Trump told The Post he “will not be rushed” to end the Iran war on its 52nd day — and lashed out at Democrats and Republicans trying to force him to end the conflict. “How bad is it that when you are in the middle of negotiations and you have got the Iranians in a perfect position, including being militarily defeated, and you have Democrats and some Republicans asking to settle it now?” Trump said in a phone interview. “As a negotiator — and I am a great negotiator — how bad is it when you have people from...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Israel never talked me into the war with Iran, the results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did. I watch and read the FAKE NEWS Pundits and Polls in total disbelief. 90% of what they say are lies and made up stories, and the polls are rigged, much as the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged. Just like the results in Venezuela, which the media doesn’t like talking about, the results in Iran will be amazing - And if Iran’s new leaders (Regime Change!) are smart, Iran...

Vice President JD Vance said April 18 he was "grateful" to Pope Leo XIV after the Pontiff pushed back on a media "narrative" casting him and President Donald Trump as adversaries. Pope Leo says his remarks on war predated the president’s criticismSpeaking to reporters aboard the papal plane while flying from Cameroon to Angola, Pope Leo XIV addressed the dispute with the president that has drawn widespread media attention."There's been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president...

...Wars are easy to start but rather harder to stop - and, as Washington should have learned in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, when they do eventually stop, it's not in any place that would have seemed remotely plausible back when you started. In Kabul, you hand the Taliban back more territory than they'd held twenty years earlier; in Baghdad, you invest a fortune in blood and treasure to create a highly functional client state of Iran; in Damascus, you buy a new suit for the al-Qaeda honcho's blood-soaked deputy you let talk his way out of Abu Ghraib, and then...

Since Ukraine’s population has shrunk dramatically, the army’s number one problem is no longer the lack of weapons, such as ballistic missiles and air defense systems, but the lack of soldiers to operate them, writes Világgazdaság. The competent authorities in Kyiv, however, must bring the army size required by Commander-in-Chief Zelensky (800,000 active soldiers), and since the number of men eligible for military service (between the ages of 18 and 60) is slowly running out, the Ukrainian leadership is now trying to fill the gaps by conscripting women. As of early 2024, approximately 5 million men are considered to be...

Iran is considering attending peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, following moves by Islamabad to end a U.S. blockade ​of Iran's ports, a major hurdle for Iran to rejoin peace efforts. However, the official stressed that no decision had been made. With a two-week ceasefire set to expire, a senior ‌Iranian official said Tehran was "positively reviewing" its participation but no final decision had been made. The comments conveyed a clear change of tone from earlier statements ruling out attendance and pledging to retaliate for U.S. aggression. The Iranian official...

As media hype falters and globalists posture, Trump’s campaign to secure the world’s chokepoints reshapes power—and leaves Iran and its allies with little leverage left. Possibly the most amusing fake news item Saturday morning came from The New York Times. Under the rubric “Iran War Live Updates,” a headline screamed, “Iran’s Military Says It Has Reimposed ‘Strict Control’ of Strait of Hormuz.” To which an inquiring mind wants to know, “What Iran military?” It’s gone, Kemo Sabe. The floating bits are at the bottom of the sea. The terrestrial bits have been crushed, blasted, pulverized, or incinerated. Ditto most of...

Businesses can begin filing for tariff refunds on Monday as the federal government starts unwinding billions of dollars in import duties imposed by the Trump administration under emergency powers, opening the door to what could be one of the largest repayments to importers in U.S. history.

Pro-Russian former President Rumen Radev has won Bulgaria’s parliamentary election by a landslide, ​official results showed on Monday, crushing long-dominant political forces and possibly pushing ⁠the EU and NATO member state closer to Moscow. The performance, exceeding opinion poll forecasts, is one ​of the strongest results for a single party in a generation and may end, for now, the chronic instability that led to eight elections in five years. Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria party had 44.7% of the vote after 97.52% of ballots were counted, suggesting it could rule alone, but he has not ruled out a coalition with a pro-European...

Lawyers for murder-accused Ben Roberts-Smith are considering an application to permanently halt proceedings because of concerns that he may not get a fair trial, as the decorated soldier condemned the “unnecessary spectacle” caused by police arresting him in front of his daughters at Sydney airport. In a statement delivered to reporters on Sunday, Mr Roberts-Smith vowed to fight five war crime charges brought against him, saying he had been targeted as part of a decade-long “campaign” painting his conduct in ­Afghanistan as improper. The Australian understands that while it could be years before Mr Roberts-Smith faces trial, his legal team,...

President Donald Trump announced Sunday afternoon that the United States Navy had captured and taken custody of an Iranian-flagged merchant vessel that had attempted to run the blockade established at the Strait of Hormuz.BREAKING: President Trump just announced the US military has SEIZED an Iranian cargo ship which attempted to GET PASSED America’s Naval blockadePresident Trump wasn’t bluffing.“It did not go well for them.The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and gave them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in...

In one of the most unfortunate moral and strategic inversions in recent times, Democrats today seem to believe what is good for our national security is bad for the Democratic Party.Republicans have generally supported Democratic presidents in wartime: Kosovo 1999, Libya 2011, Yemen 2024 — all commenced without congressional authorization.Democrats have done mostly the same for Republican presidents: Iraq 1991 and 2003, Afghanistan 2001.But with Donald Trump and Iran, things are different: Democrats are in uniform, rageful opposition. They hector the president daily even amid combat operations, much to the delight of the Iranian mullahs, who avidly consume US media...

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, as a Democrat, there was this extraordinary vote this past week in the Senate. Forty Senate Democrats tried to block a U.S. weapons sale to Israel, and that adds to this growing rift we have seen between your party and Benjamin Netanyahu. Do you think Democrats are going to come to regret this break in the alliance? HOCHSTEIN: So I hope that it's not a break in the alliance. I think this, what it really demonstrates is for the last several years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has sacrificed Israel's interest in the United States....

WASHINGTON — The US seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after “blowing a hole” in its engine room when it tried to break past the Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump revealed Sunday. The USS Spruance destroyer intercepted Iran’s Touska cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, taking custody of the ship after it refused warnings to stop, according to the president. “Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them,” Trump...

A group of employees from Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant returned to Russia via Armenia as part of an ongoing evacuation effort, according to the Russian Embassy in Armenia. On April 15, another 94 Russian citizens were evacuated through Armenian territory. They arrived in Armenia from Iran via the Norduz–Agarak border crossing and then departed for their homeland, the embassy said. Along with the Russian citizens, Belarusian nationals were also evacuated… “We thank the authorities of the Republic of Armenia for their prompt response and assistance in organizing the comfortable transit of Rosatom State Corporation employees,” the statement said. Earlier,...

President Trump posted 4/19/26, on True Social: “Whether people like Israel or not, they have proven to be a GREAT Ally of the United States of America. They are Courageous, Bold, Loyal, and Smart and, unlike others that have shown their true colors in a moment of conflict and stress, Israel fights hard, and knows how to WIN! President DJT” April 19, 2026 Donald J. Trump