Free Republic

While driving in the central Israeli city of Rosh Ha’ayin in late June, eight months after being freed from captivity in the Gaza Strip, former hostage Rom Braslavski received a phone call from a military officer. “We wanted to update you that Abu Yousef, Talal Abd al-Aal, was eliminated,” the officer said to Braslavski, referring to a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander who held and abused him during his two years in captivity by the terror group. “You can’t be serious,” Braslavski replied. “I’m very serious. You have no idea how happy I am, how excited I am, for you,” the...

For years Americans were blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure, including electronic voting machines and ballot-counting systems. We are releasing a series of previously-classified U.S. Intelligence Community Assessments and other reports proving that our government has long known these machines are extremely exposed to attack. As one assessment states: “We judge that U.S. adversaries, including at a minimum Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, as well as non-state groups, have the capability to compromise U.S. election infrastructure.” The documents also state: “We assess that centralized election-related data repositories, such as voter registration databases, pollbooks, and official...

A Clinton-appointed federal judge in Florida has died just days after he controversially released a Cuban plane hijacker who was awaiting deportation. Judge John E. Steele, 77, passed away, according to a law clerk for Chief Judge Marcia Morales Howard of the Middle District of Florida — where Steele served. A legal source in Miami also confirmed Steele’s sudden death. The circumstances of his passing were not immediately clear. Steele came under criticism for his July 8 ruling to release Cuban plane hijacker Maikel Guerra Morales from ICE custody.

Vice President JD Vance ruled out on Wednesday the possibility of the United States conducting a ground invasion of Iran as hostilities with the Middle Eastern country resume.The vice president said that if there is going to be regime change in Iran, then it would have to come from the Iranian people and not outside forces like the United States. “If the Iranian people want to rise up and change their government, that’s up to them,” Vance said during an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “But we’re not going to send 150,000 ground troops in order to accomplish a...

JD Vance has claimed he is the target of an Israeli-funded propaganda campaign over his Iran peace push, and that Jeffrey Epstein had ties to the 'highest levels' of Mossad.The vice president made the explosive allegations during a nearly three-hour sit-down with podcaster Joe Rogan. Vance pointed to a Time magazine report he said proved American influencers were being paid to attack the Iran deal. The report notes that money has flowed through a former Trump campaign operative and is bankrolled by elements of the Israeli government.‘My response to that is, well, go to hell,' Vance said of those taking...

(July 16, 2026 / JNS) The Knesset opened the plenum session on Wednesday with a minute of silence to commemorate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who passed away on July 11 following a sudden illness. “In honor of one of the greatest friends the State of Israel has ever had, members of the Knesset from both sides of the aisle will now rise for a moment of silence to pay our respects to the legendary Sen. Lindsey Graham, may his memory be a blessing,” said Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana in the opening remarks of the session.

I have very bad news for everyone who opposes killing people. France’s National Assembly passed their euthanasia bill by a vote of 291 to 241 on Wednesday, July 15. We reported on June 30 that France’s National Assembly voted to pass the euthanasia bill by a vote of 295 to 232. France’s Senate has defeated the euthanasia bill three times after the previous votes. This final vote will not go to the Senate for a vote as the National Assembly can pass legislation into law even when they are not able to reach agreement with the Senate. The issue might...

President Donald Trump thanked Iran for a 'gesture of Goodwill' after an American woman who was 'wrongly detained' in 2024 was released from the country – while also taking a shot at the former President Biden. Trump showed gratitude for the gesture in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, adding that the woman was now outside the country and in 'good condition'. 'Iran has allowed an American Citizen, who was wrongfully detained in December of 2024 under the "presidency" of Sleepy Joe Biden, to leave the Country,' wrote the president. 'She is now safely outside of Iran, and in...

Vice President JD Vance asserted in a bombshell interview with Joe Rogan that some in the Israeli government want to derail US negotiations with Iran to keep the war going “indefinitely” — and he acknowledged the Trump administration “screwed up” the release of the Epstein files. “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt there have been people within the Israeli government who are trying to shift us away from [negotiations] because they want to continue the military campaign,” Vance told the popular podcaster during an episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” released Wednesday. “There are some people within their...

The world that we’re looking at today is radically different than that of just five years ago, radically different in the sense that it is much more in the interest of the United States. And I know that seems controversial because [President Donald] Trump is written off as someone who is too fluid and volatile... It’s more important to see what he’s done. Let’s go through the world abroad as it is today systematically. Look at Latin America. Five years ago, the Chinese were controlling, through their surrogate companies, the entry and exit to Panama. Russia and China were the...

On July 8, 2026,Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave presents to the other leaders of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member nations. The gifts were given at the meeting in Turkey. The present appears to be a rare Gümüsay .357 revolver, which was made by the Turkish company MKE about 30 years ago. Giving presents to NATO leaders is not unusual. Giving firearms to leaders of other countries was not unusual before WWI. Over a hundred years of demonization of civilian ownership of firearms has made it unusual. The revolver came in a presentation box which seems to have a...

A 61-year-old man was partially pulled through a cabin window after it dislodged on a Ryanair Boeing 737 shortly after take-off from the Greek city of Thessaloniki. His wife and nearby passengers managed to pull him back inside as the plane descended. Svetlana Maksimovic says her husband's face has been "completely disfigured" and that he is struggling to recover in hospital Svetlana Maksimovic and her husband, Ljubisa Karovic, had just settled into a Ryanair flight last week when they heard a deafening bang. Seconds later Ms Maksimovic turned to see her 61-year-old husband being sucked through a dislodged cabin window....

Riyadh strikes Yemeni airport (Sana’a) after Trump backs military action against Houthis The strike on Monday (13 July) damaged the runway and prevented an Iranian airliner from landing in the Yemeni capital, which is controlled by the Houthis, a pro-Tehran proxy militia... ...Two US officials told Axios that Donald Trump gave Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia his support for the military action... ...The incident breaks a four-year truce between Riyadh and the Shia militia, which followed a decade-long war that killed approximately 377,000 people, according to United Nations estimates, most of which were caused by starvation and...

Donald Trump has unleashed a fresh barrage on Iran in a bid to smash Tehran's power to wreak havoc in the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command struck Iranian missile and radar sites along the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, hours before American forces were due to reimpose a naval blockade on the country's ports and coastline. 'The blockade goes into effect at 4 p.m. ET,' Central Command said. Tehran hit back within hours, unleashing its own salvo of missiles at American bases and allied targets across the region. One Iranian rocket was plastered with a sticker carrying a Biblical message...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mick Jagger briefly waded into Louisiana politics, taking a verbal jab at the state’s conservative governor, as The Rolling Stones performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The band had finished “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” during Thursday evening’s set when Jagger began talking about inclusion, according to New Orleans news outlets. “We want to include him too,” Jagger said of Gov. Jeff Landry. “Even if he wants to take us back to the Stone Age.” Jagger didn’t mention specific policies. Landry is a Republican who was endorsed by former President Donald...

President Trump on Tuesday warned the US will pummel Iran until “I say it’s enough” and that “energy targets” are next in his ramped-up war effort. “I’ll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we’ll hit energy targets,” Trump told Fox News reporter Trey Yingst in an interview on the stepped-up military operation. “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight. We’re going to hit them very hard tomorrow night. We’re going to hit them very hard the night after, and then next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants,” Trump said....

Video to watch. Another source, same information: https://nypost.com/2026/07/14/us-news/trump-says-us-will-knock-out-irans-power-plants-and-bridges-next-week-unless-regime-makes-a-deal/

en. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy Captain and former astronaut, earned the ire of the Pentagon last week for raising concerns over U.S. weapons stockpiles that have been depleted by the Iran War. Citing a Department of Defense (DOD) briefing he had received, Kelly told CBS’s “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan it could take “years” to replenish stockpiles of Tomahawks, Patriots, and other long-range munitions that have been deployed in the U.S. and Israel’s attack on Iran—a reality that could leave the U.S. vulnerable around the world. Those comments prompted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to launch an investigation into...

US President Donald Trump urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call last week to begin withdrawing Israeli troops from southern Syria and Lebanon, Barak Ravid of Channel 12 and Axios reported Tuesday, citing American and Israeli officials.According to the report on the Thursday call, Trump warned that Israel’s military presence in Syrian territory is creating tensions that could lead to an escalation, telling Netanyahu, “They don’t want you there. You should redeploy.” He reportedly made a similar request regarding Lebanon......Netanyahu was said to push back, citing Israel’s security needs.

German director Uwe Boll’s new hit movie Citizen Vigilante, in which (spoiler alert!) actor Armie Hammer shoots dead an entire family of Muslim immigrants in retaliation for one of their number’s brutal rape of a native white woman somewhere in continental Europe, has been controversial for many reasons: its violence, its alleged “racism,” and its supposed potential to inspire copycat crimes. An issue that should be causing far more controversy than the mere fictional vigilante violence depicted on-screen, however, may be the potential for real-life vigilante violence occurring off-screen, performed by Europe’s millions of imported Muslims. All over the continent...