Free Republic

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin ​will not attack a NATO country, and he played down media ‌reports that CIA Director John Ratcliffe warned Russian officials against such an attack earlier in the week. "He's not going to attack a NATO territory," Trump said of the Russian leader while speaking to reporters ​in the Oval Office. Earlier in the day, Trump told Axios in a ​phone interview that there would be no such attack, and that Ratcliffe, who ⁠flew to Russia on Tuesday to meet briefly with intelligence counterparts, had not ​been dispatched to...

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America.” The move comes amid the president’s repeated threats and taunts that he would do so amid his escalating trade war with Canada. “This is official, effective immediately,” Trump said after signing the order in the Oval Office. The president said he’d “filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else” for the name change. “We notified all of the various people that we have to notify. So we’ve done everything that you have to do, and this is official, effective immediately,” he said. The order says...

WASHINGTON — A purported deal between Iran and Oman to control the Strait of Hormuz and share revenue from fees is “not even close to done” and would be meaningless so long as President Trump’s blockade of Iran remains in effect, a US official told The Post. A spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed Wednesday that the two nations had agreed to terms to control the shipping bottleneck — but The Post’s source said that ill-defined terms are still believed to lack full approval from Iran’s leadership. “The deals don’t mean anything unless we approve it. It...

Hundreds of police officers from across England have been drafted in to restore order in Middlesbrough amid fears the town is on the brink of descending into a gang war. Violence, believed to be linked to five young men who were killed in a wrong-way crash on the A66 on Saturday, has spiralled across Teesside. This afternoon, armed police swarmed a house on the Bankfield estate in Eston after a 39-year-old man was injured in a stabbing. A house was also rammed by a vehicle this morning in South Bank. The suspected knife attack took place just down the road...

After completing final assembly, the aircraft recently made its way to Aircraft Final Finishes, where it will receive its paint and finishes, including the stealth coating that helps reduce its radar signature.

A bipartisan six-member delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana on August 25, two days after Kazakhstan elected the first members of its new unicameral Kurultai. Tokayev called the timing symbolic and proposed closer dialogue between Congress and the new legislature. The delegation was led by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith and included Greg Murphy, Carol Miller, Ronny Jackson, Wesley Bell, and Ed Case. Smith said President Donald Trump had called him at 2 a.m., several hours before the meeting. Trump sent his regards, expressed appreciation for his relationship with...

Colombia is ushering in a new era of conservative immigration policies after its citizens elected a Right-wing president to replace the country’s previous far-Left leader. Newly elected Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella said Sunday that he would commence immigration raids across the country as early as this week, according to the Associated Press. The conservative Latin American leader, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, said national immigration authorities, with the help of the Colombian police, will begin the operation by targeting illegal immigrants who are “committing crimes” before nabbing those who lack immigration status, according to the AP....

Iran has been invited to join the Mecca Agreement for Mutual Defense, the new security alliance established by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan earlier this month, Al Mayadeen reported on Saturday, citing a senior Iranian official. The invitation has not yet been officially confirmed by Iran's Foreign Ministry or by any of the three countries that are parties to the agreement. Mehdi Rahimi, head of the Iranian parliament's Khaneh Mellat news agency, told the channel that "Iran has received an invitation to join the Mecca Agreement, and the matter is under review." Rahimi added that countries in the region "are...

A 20-year-old Chinese researcher dressed in a red crayfish costume has become a symbol of Beijing’s ambition. At a scientific conference in Paris last fall, he explained that he was working on an important project. His plans would enable his country’s astronauts to prepare spicy crayfish soup, a Chinese favorite, on Mars. “That’s what we’re competing with. The vibe is good in Beijing,” Drew Endy, associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, said in evidence to a Senate hearing last month. The hearing examined whether the US is losing its innovation advantage to China. Concerned senators saw the big red...

Iranian operatives plotted to assassinate Yair Netanyahu while the Israeli prime minister's son lived in South Florida, Newsmax reported Wednesday, introducing a startling new element to Benjamin Netanyahu's recent admission that Tehran sought to kill one of his children, with an Iranian reconnaissance team apparently already deployed. Speaking to Israel's Channel 14 on Monday, the premier disclosed the assassination attempt but refused to clarify if Avner or Yair was the intended mark. Netanyahu said, "There is something here that is unbelievable," before observing, "Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to murder him, tried to murder one of my...

A government watchdog group is urging lawmakers to crack down on foreign money flowing into U.S. nonprofits that influence American politics and public policy, according to letters exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.Americans for Public Trust (APT) is sending letters to all 50 governors and officials on six congressional committees directing them to its newly launched FollowForeignMoney.org database, which has cataloged a running total of more than $5 billion flowing from foreign governments, foreign nationals and foreign charities into U.S.-based nonprofits .... The group is calling on state and federal officials to examine whether existing laws adequately prevent...

The mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and three other terrorists being held in Guantánamo Bay will finally stand trial in 2028, a military judge ruled Wednesday. The ruling from Lt. Col. Michael Schrama came just two weeks before the 25th anniversary of the world-altering attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the head plotter, and three of his alleged co-conspirators have been held at the Cuba military base since 2003 in the long-delayed case.

Prime Minister Mark Carney will give a speech to the European Parliament next month in Strasbourg, France, his office confirmed Wednesday. While there, Carney will also meet with European Parliament members to "strengthen Canada’s ties with the European Union to the benefit of both our peoples," according to a statement. The day before he is set to speak, the prime minister will attend the State of the European Union address. The annual speech by the European Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, is seen as one of the most important political events of the year in Europe. Carney has been...

The Khaybar slogan invokes a seventh-century assault on Jews; police are investigating a potential racially aggravated public-order offense. A man wears a T-shirt featuring a Jihadist slogan in London, U.K. on Aug. 14, 2026. Photo courtesy of the CAA. (Aug. 26, 2026 / JNS) Police in London on Monday said they were looking for a man who was seen in northern London this month wearing a shirt with an English-language transliteration of the Arabic-language slogan “Khaybar Khaybar yaa Yahud.” Officers received a report that a man had been seen in a supermarket in Williamson Road, Haringey wearing a T-shirt with...

Six months of war between the US and Iran has decimated Qatar's natural gas economy. The Gulf state saw its liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports crash by 96%. Shipping interruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the destruction of gas facilities have severely restricted its primary export income. Qatar shed nearly $24bn in gas revenues, Reuters data reported. This severe revenue shortfall equals roughly five months of national income. Qatar suffered the most severe impact, even though energy supply issues also paralysed neighbouring markets including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait. The shipping data highlights a massive disruption. Doha...

At least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others kidnapped when armed men attacked a once-peaceful community near Haiti’s capital earlier this week, the United Nations said Tuesday. It is believed to be one of the largest mass kidnappings in Haiti in recent years, and one gang leader is threatening to kill the hostages if authorities kill any gang members as they try to secure the community nestled in the hills above Port-au-Prince. Sunday’s attack on Kenscoff pierced the belief that security in the troubled Caribbean country was improving. “This is a major political and security test, for...

In a tradition dating back more than 300 years, towering pyres have been lit every July in Northern Ireland to mark the Battle of the Boyne, which effectively cemented Protestant rule. They’re held in loyalist neighborhoods – communities that strongly support the union with the United Kingdom – and often carry a political message, with effigies of the pope, the Republic of Ireland’s flag and other symbols of Catholicism and Irish nationalism being burned in the past. But this year, in the village of Moygashel, County Tyrone, the flames found a new target. A replica mosque, with a figure holding...

A teenage Muslim schoolgirl in India has been denied the right to wear her hijab to school after a High Court ruled she had failed to prove that wearing the headscarf constitutes an “essential religious practice” of Islam. The ruling was issued by the Allahabad High Court in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and has renewed debate over religious freedom, Muslim women’s rights and school dress codes in India. According to a consensus of Islamic scholars, hijab is obligatory on Muslim females once they reach puberty. The case was brought by Sukaina Rizvi, who is 15 or 16,...

A Palestinian boy reacts next to a burning Israeli vehicle that Palestinian gunmen brought to Gaza after they infiltrated areas of southern Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa). A working plan is being discussed to facilitate the departure of Palestinian families from Gaza and their reunification with relatives in Europe, according to reports from well-sourced security channels. Though European Union officials and member states have consistently rejected mass resettlement schemes for Gazans, the reported proposal, which began taking shape around two months ago, envisions an initial framework starting in early 2027 to transfer...

China warned that it would “take all necessary measures” and retaliate against the US if any of its companies are included in the Trump administration’s new secondary sanctions targeting Iran.Companies based in Hong Kong and mainland China were among the entities targeted by the US after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced “Operation Economic Outcast” on Monday to further isolate Iran. The US, however, stopped short of listing large Chinese financial institutions, with Beijing — Iran’s largest oil buyer — warning that it will do whatever it takes to protect its economic interests. *** “China has made clear on many occasions...