Free Republic

The Republican-led Senate on Wednesday rejected the latest Democratic attempt to halt President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, turning aside a resolution that would require the U.S. to withdraw forces from the conflict until Congress authorizes further action. The 47-52 vote was the fourth time this year that the Senate has voted to cede its war powers to the president in a conflict that Democrats say is illegal and unjustified. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against it. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted with Democrats. Republicans say they will keep faith in Trump’s wartime...

“We’re very close to making a deal with Iran,” Trump said, adding that negotiators may meet again “over the weekend.” Pakistan, which has been mediating between the two sides, is expected to host the next round of talks. Trump said he would consider traveling there if an agreement is reached. “I would go to Pakistan,” Trump said. “If a deal is signed in Islamabad, I might go. They want me.” The ceasefire between the sides, which began last Tuesday, is set to expire next week, though Trump suggested it may not need to be extended.

In a little over a year in office, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has achieved a series of military triumphs that have not, perhaps, been equaled since World War II: the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, and the air campaign against Iran’s regime. These missions have been flawlessly executed by Hegseth’s department, so naturally the Democrats want to impeach him.The first articles of impeachment were filed in January by Michigan Congressman Shri Thanedar, but got little attention. A new, expanded set of articles was filed today. You can read the document here. Axios describes the...

"Oh, to be in England, now that April's there," Robert Browning wrote nearly two centuries ago in Home Thoughts from Abroad, but this April, Britons might pine for the riches of... Mississippi?Yes, Mississippi, if they take just a brief gander at the new Institute of Economic Affairs report on the comparative wealth between Britain, American states, and Britons' sad delusions about where they stand. According to the IEA, ask the typical Brit where his country ranks, income-wise, if it were a state. And the typical answer is "Seventh place."Not quite, old chap. The sad fact is that if Britain were...

Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail pending his war crime trial, despite claims by the prosecution that the former soldier had been “on the cusp of moving overseas” and that he might try to interfere with witnesses. The decision by Judge Greg Grogin at a bail hearing in Sydney on Friday means Mr Roberts-Smith is likely to be freed from Silverwater Correctional Complex later this afternoon. Judge Greg Grogin said the court needed to be satisfied before bail could be granted, that there were exceptional circumstances which exist to justify bail. “There is a presumption of innocence in, in place...

U.S. Conservatives were down in the dumps about Viktor Orbán's loss in the parliamentary election in Hungary. As Beege wrote last night, perhaps that sentiment was a bit premature, based more on the European Union's desire to replace Orbán than any real reason to worry about his successor, Péter Magyar. Magyar, after all, was not some socialist opponent of Orbán, but until recently his right-hand man. He defected from Orbán over what appear to be legitimate concerns about massive corruption in the Orbán regime, rather than over policy differences with the political platform of Orbán's party, Fidesz. The European Union...

On Thursday, President Donald Trump was boarding Air Force One on his way to Nevada, then Arizona, to tout the Working Families Tax Cuts and the gains by average Americans because of them. During his typical impromptu press scrum before boarding, the president dropped some bombshells: the biggest breakthrough: Iran has agreed to give up its enriched uranium.Trump said: Very important is that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and they've agreed to that. Iran's agreed to that, and they've agreed to it very powerfully. They've agreed to give us back the nuclear dust, which is way underground because...

Ben Roberts-Smith was taking his teenage daughters on a shopping day trip to Sydney when he was arrested getting off a Qantas flight and charged with war crimes. The Victoria Cross recipient had flown from Queensland to NSW with his 15-year-old twins and partner Sarah Matulin on the morning of April 7 and all four were holding return tickets to Brisbane. Roberts-Smith, who will apply for bail today in Downing Centre Local Court, had treated his girls to an Easter school holidays expedition and none of the group had checked any luggage. Federal authorities knew the 47-year-old was making the...

President Trump claimed Thursday that the US and Iran have a “good” chance of finalizing a peace deal in the coming days after the Islamic Republic agreed to two major demands put forward by the White House — and teased that he may go to Pakistan himself to seal the agreement. “It’s very important that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, and they’ve agreed to that,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a two-day western trip. Trump then claimed that Iran “agreed to give us back the nuclear dust that’s way underground because of the...

April 15 (Reuters) - China has told Danish shipping group Maersk (MAERSKb.CO), opens new tab and Switzerland-based Mediterranean ​Shipping Company (MSC Shipping) to cease operating ports ‌on the Panama Canal, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. In a meeting with China's state planner last month, ​Maersk and MSC Shipping were told to ​withdraw from the Balboa and Cristóbal ports ⁠immediately, the report said, citing two people ​familiar with the talks. Maersk and MSC were told not to "engage ​in illegal activities that harm the interests of Chinese companies, ‌and ⁠to uphold commercial ethics and international rules," the report said. Panama...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a new law criminalizing antisemitism and making it punishable by up to eight years in prison. The new law – signed on Holocaust Remembrance Day – amends Article 161 of the Criminal Code on the violation of citizens’ equality based on their race, nationality, religious beliefs, or disability. This now features the words and “manifestations of antisemitism,” according to the draft law seen by The Jerusalem Post. Part one of the article relates to deliberate actions aimed at inciting hatred or manifestations of antisemitism and at humiliation of honor and dignity. Incitement to antisemitism...

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. “I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel. These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President JD Vance and...

President Donald Trump on April 14 directly addressed Pope Leo XIV in another Truth Social post, drawing attention to the Iranian regime’s reported killing of thousands of protesters in the past two months. “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable,” he wrote.Protests in Iran erupted in late December 2025 over economic hardships and quickly turned into broader anti-government demonstrations, Zeale News previously reported. Iranian security forces reportedly responded with live ammunition against the...

On Friday Nigel Farage sought to minimise his personal relationship with Trump. “I happen to know him, but that’s by the by,” said the Reform UK leader. Farage told the FT the bilateral partnership was “our most important relationship in the world . . . whether it’s [Joe] Biden in the White House or Trump.” Last year he said he hoped to become prime minister “quickly while Donald Trump is still in office.” Lord David Frost, the UK’s former Brexit negotiator, made an even more dramatic shift this week. The Conservative peer, who once welcomed Trump’s re-election as the “first...

Perhaps, and we'll get to an answer – or at least an argument for it – shortly. The better question created by the last two pontificates is this: Has the Catholic Church abandoned St. Thomas Aquinas' deeply considered and scripturally rooted "Just War Doctrine" in exchange for flabby and fashionable pacifism dressed up as Christianity? We can address both questions without indulging in ad hominems and invective, I assure you, even when public officials (such as President Trump) can't restrain their frustration enough to keep the debate on point. The second question matters more than the first, especially in a...

Israel has struck hard against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, and this time they made it personal; they didn't go after weapons caches or logistics, instead targeting Hezbollah's members and leaders directly, in an attack that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has done more damage than the famous 2024 pager attacks. That's serious stuff.Hezbollah, an Iran-backed terrorist group, saw its command structure across Lebanon come under what Israeli officials described as one of the most devastating blows of the war April 8.Nearly simultaneously, explosions tore through Beirut, Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley and southern Lebanon as roughly 50 Israeli aircraft struck more...

Files hidden in satellite TV broadcasts keep information flowing.On 8 January 2026, the Iranian government imposed a near-total communications shutdown. It was the country’s first full information blackout: For weeks, the internet was off across all provinces while services including the government-run intranet, VPNs, text messaging, mobile calls, and even landlines were severely throttled. It was an unprecedented lockdown that left more than 90 million people cut off not only from the world, but from one another. Since then, connectivity has never fully returned. Following U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in late February, Iran again imposed near-total restrictions, and people inside...

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of President Trump’s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship as we have known it. The court’s eventual opinion in the case, Trump v. Barbara, will almost certainly hinge on how the justices interpret the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, which says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” The court will probably also respond to the first words of the president’s March 19 brief, which asserts that...

Iran used the satellite to monitor major U.S. military sites. Satellite imagery was taken in March prior to drone and missile strikes on the sites. Iran secretly purchased a spy satellite from China in 2024, which it then used to target U.S. bases. According to the Financial Times, Earth Eye Co, a Chinese company, built and launched a TEE-01B satellite in 2024. After it was launched into space from China, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Aerospace Corp purchased the satellite, leaked Iranian military documents show. Iran used the satellite to monitor major U.S. military sites. Satellite imagery was taken in...

When Australian Army private Robert Poate was gunned down in 2012 by a rogue Afghan soldier inside what should have been a safe patrol base, within 20 minutes Ben Roberts-Smith was on the scene with his small SAS team. Too late to save Poate and the two other Australians murdered by Hekmatullah, the war hero was sent out to hunt the Afghan down. Elevated to the top of the Joint Priorities Effects List, this terrorist could be killed whether armed or not. If the war in Afghanistan taught our soldiers anything it was that the line between friend and foe...