Free Republic

A Salvadoran human rights organization says at least 500 people have died in state custody since President Nayib Bukele launched his anti-gang offensive four years ago, with the vast majority having no ties to criminal groups. Socorro Jurídico Humanitario released the findings Friday as the state of emergency that underpins the crackdown reached its fourth anniversary. The group, which works with families of detainees, based its tally on testimonies, medical records and other unofficial sources. It said 94 percent of those who died were not gang members. The state of emergency began March 27, 2022, after a spike in gang...

Three alleged members of MS-13 hunted humans across California and Nevada during a murder spree to boost their standing in the gang, a court has heard. Joel Vargas-Escobar, David Arturo Perez-Manchame and Jose Luis Reynaldo Reyes-Castillo, face charges including murder, attempted murder and kidnapping in aid of racketeering, and weapons charges in connection with the brutal killing of 11 people from 2017 to 2018 in California and Nevada. In the Lloyd D. George courthouse in Vegas on Monday, the jury was told the three alleged Salvadoran gangsters looked for people they could mutilate and abduct most nights. They went out...

Donald Trump plans to give a primetime address on the war in Iran on Wednesday evening, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced. “Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran,” Leavitt wrote on X. Earlier, Trump told reporters that the war could end in “two or three weeks.” “We will be leaving very soon,” Trump said. Iran has put a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, but Trump said that “if France or some other country wants to get oil or gas, they’ll go up through the strait...

US President Donald Trump has asked European allies for a lot lately – the use of military bases, the potential relocation of missile defense systems and generally stronger support for US military action against Iran. Many responses have been lukewarm, with allies offering limited defensive support but also repeatedly calling for de-escalation. But increasingly, White House requests have been met with a firm “no.” Or nie, non, rifiuto. This week, Italy denied a US request for aircraft to land at a military base in Sicily, according to state broadcaster RAI on Tuesday. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has perhaps been...

[HONG KONG/TOKYO] TCL Electronics Holdings agreed to buy a majority stake in Sony Group’s global home entertainment business as the Chinese company seeks to expand overseas. TCL will pay 75.4 billion yen (S$610 million) for a 51 per cent stake in a new joint venture that will hold Sony’s home entertainment business including Bravia televisions, according to a statement on Tuesday (Mar 31), which confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report. Sony will retain a 49 per cent stake in the business, which also include research and development, design, manufacturing and product sales, as well as home audio equipment. As part...

Stocks rose on Tuesday following new reports that gave investors hope that the U.S.-Iran war could soon come to an end. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1,125.37 points, or 2.49%, and closed at 46,341.51. The move came after an unconfirmed report said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was open to ending the war with guarantees. The S&P 500 gained 2.91% to end at 6,528.52, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 3.83% to 21,590.63. All three indexes posted their best day since May. To be sure, Pezeshkian made similar remarks earlier this month, saying in a post on X that the...

U.S. conservatives have long pointed to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as proof that a Western leader can crack down on immigration, defy global institutions and wage war on “woke” liberalism – and still win elections. But as Hungary heads toward an April 12 parliamentary election, some of Orban’s most enthusiastic admirers in the U.S., including President Donald Trump, are confronting a once‑unthinkable prospect: after 16 years in power, Europe’s champion of “illiberal democracy” could be voted out of office. Defeat for Orban would reverberate well beyond Hungary, casting doubt on the durability of a political system – marked by...

The U.S. has deployed B-52 Stratofortress bombers to the skies over Iran for the first time since Operation Epic Fury began, Pentagon officials say. Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine made the announcement Tuesday morning during a press conference alongside War Secretary Pete Hegseth. Caine said the U.S. and Israel have dismantled Iran's air fighting capability to such an extent that the lumbering bombers can now operate safely in the region. "Given the increase in air superiority, we've successfully started to conduct the first overland B-52 missions, which allow us, as we've said before, to continue to get on top...

The United States is resuming operations at its embassy in Caracas after a seven-year hiatus, citing a “new chapter” in diplomatic ties with Venezuela, the State Department said Monday. The reopening “will strengthen our ability to engage directly with Venezuela’s interim government, civil society, and the private sector,” the department said in a statement, calling it a “key milestone” in implementing President Donald Trump’s plan for Venezuela since the U.S. military captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. Ambassador Laura F. Dogu, the top U.S. diplomat in Venezuela who arrived in Caracas in January, will lead the effort to reestablish...

Donald Trump said he was willing to end the Iran war without a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The US president, with no concrete signs of a diplomatic breakthrough, suggested that if negotiations collapsed, he would “obliterate” Iran’s energy and water facilities, but leave the vital waterway under Iranian control. He wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business’, we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by...

Alberta’s push for independence reached a major milestone Monday after organizers announced they have surpassed the 177,000 signatures required to trigger a provincial referendum. The petition’s success means Albertans are now on track to vote on independence on October 19, marking a historic moment in the province’s political landscape. SNIP

Italy has denied the use of an airbase in Sicily to US military planes carrying weapons for the war in Iran after the US did not follow the required authorisation procedure. A source at the Italian defence ministry confirmed a report in Corriere della Sera that “some US bombers” had been due to land at Sigonella – one of seven US navy bases in Italy – before heading to the Middle East, but that use of the base had been denied because the US sought authorisation to land only while the aircraft were already en route to Sicily. The source...

Not an entertainer or talk show celebrity, Postol has banks of lecture slides showing nuke-war damage, missiles & drones in eye-glazing technical detail. Take-away: if a cheap but accurate drone hits your apartment even with a reinforced safe-room, the building will collapse, so you'd better huddle in a shelter. But the destruction of radars means you have no warning. Your life is completely disrupted. While U.S. Defense Industries (Lockheed-Martin, General Dynamics,TRW, etc.) have been getting fat pedalling us decades of useless, expensive whiz-bang systems that never worked but make fantastic Congressional pork: lean-mean Ukrainians, Russians, Chinese & Iranians have been...

Military victories are decided on the battlefield—but in modern America, they are too often lost in the politics that follow. The rare quick and total victory over an enemy at little cost often ensures unquestioned political support in modern consensual societies. In most cases, however, especially in the Western world, ongoing military success or failure is adjudicated through the lens of politics—in a way sometimes at odds with the reality of the battlefield. Politicians answer to the people. The best do not drift with the prevailing winds. On the other hand, all must face elections, secure legislative support, and ultimately...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers at a cabinet meeting today that new alliances are being formed with leaders of Arab countries who “are talking about fighting together on our side,” the Hebrew-language Maariv daily reports. “In the past, I had secret conversations with Arab leaders,” Netanyahu reportedly said. “I told them, ‘As soon as Iran can, it will conquer you and overthrow your kingdoms.’ Back then, they didn’t really internalize things. Today they understand.” Yesterday, Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter said on a podcast that Gulf countries are asking Israel for help. “Some of our allies have become even...

US President Donald Trump says countries "like the United Kingdom" who can't get jet fuel because of the restrictions around the Strait of Hormuz should “build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT". In a post on Truth Social, he writes countries will “have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us," addressing countries "which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran". "Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done," the post adds, ending with:...

Four years after the liberation of Bucha, the town remains a central reference point for understanding the nature of the war in Ukraine and the limits of current diplomatic efforts. The events that followed the withdrawal of Russian forces in March 2022, when hundreds of civilians were found dead across the Kyiv suburb and the wider region, continue to shape how Ukraine defines both security and peace. Bucha has become more than a historical episode. It functions as a political and moral benchmark in discussions about any future settlement. Ukrainian authorities report over 400 civilian deaths in the town itself...

President Trump shared jaw-dropping video footage Monday of a massive explosion in Iran reportedly caused by a US airstrike on a large ammunition depot in Isfahan. A “high volume” of 2,000-pound bunker buster bombs was used in the strike posted by Trump on Truth Social, a US official told the Wall Street Journal. The footage that caught the president’s eye is one of several videos of fiery blasts that have taken place in Isfahan, the country’s third-most populous city and the location of the majority of Tehran’s 60% enriched uranium as well as a sprawling “missile city”.

RIGA, Latvia — Sindija Brakovska is 18 years old and dreams of becoming a hairstylist or a dance teacher. She studies at the Riga Technical School of Tourism and Creative Industry, a vocational school centered on hospitality, tourism and fashion. “I love girly stuff,” the tall Latvian tells me. On this March morning, roughly two dozen girls between 16 and 18 are sitting in the classroom with Brakovska. Some of the girls look shy. Others sprawl with the studied boredom of teenagers everywhere. Top: A soldier walks in a classroom with students on both sides Bottom left: Close up a...

The most recent Harvard-Harris poll had some intriguing elements, and you have to think the Democrats aren't going to like them. We've seen constant doom posting from them and from the liberal media about Operation Epic Fury. If you believed what they're spewing out, you would think that we were losing badly and President Donald Trump had given up, when the reality is that we've been having unparalleled military success. Yes, there's more than just military success involved, but they're largely ignoring that. Indeed, if Iran is influenced by what they say, they may be quite deluded and make bad...