Free Republic

CHINESE police will help to stop Channel crossings under a deal signed between Sir Keir Starmer and Xi Jinping today. The two leaders will ink an intelligence-sharing agreement to halt the supply routes of gear for smuggling gangs. More than 60 per cent of all small boat engines last year were manufactured in China, with other parts also sourced there. UK and Chinese authorities will pool information to disrupt the operations in the latest move to get a grip on illegal immigration. Sir Keir trumpeted the deal as he became the first British PM in eight years to visit China....

Ireland has joined 10 other European countries calling for Israel to halt demolitions of the headquarters belonging to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in east Jerusalem by Israeli authorities. Earlier this month, Israeli bulldozers began demolishing the compound, having effectively banned the organization from operating in the country in January 2026. The joint letter was signed by Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee and the foreign ministers of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain and the UK. It described the demolition as an unprecedented act which marked the “latest unacceptable move” to undermine a UN...

Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, two of the most powerful military leaders in China, are now officially in custody. Rumors have buzzed in the Chinese diaspora for days, but the speed still comes as a shock; usually there’s a far longer gap between the detention of leaders and the official announcement of their fate. The crux of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) political language is not what it says, but when it says it—and to whom. People’s Liberation Army (PLA) mouthpieces have accused Zhang and Liu of having “seriously trampled on and undermined the system of ultimate responsibility resting with the...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued with Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul Wednesday over whether the U.S.’ capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was an “act of war.” Paul expressed disagreement with Rubio by stating that if any country captured the U.S. president in the same kind of operation carried out in Venezuela, he would declare war. President Donald Trump’s administration, including Rubio, have repeatedly stated that Maduro’s arrest was simply a “law enforcement action” and not an act of war against Venezuela. Trump said that the move brought Maduro to “justice” and that the U.S. acted within its constitutional...

Donald Trump has warned Iran that "time is running out" to negotiate a deal on its nuclear programme following the steady build-up of US military forces in the Gulf. The US president said a "massive Armada" was "moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose" towards Iran, referring to a large US naval force. In response, Iran's mission to the UN said Tehran "stands ready for dialogue based on mutual respect and interests", but if pushed, it wrote in all capitals, it would defend itself and "respond like never before". Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and has...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A court on Wednesday ordered the Dutch government to draw up a plan to protect residents on the tiny Caribbean island of Bonaire from the devastating effects of climate change — a sweeping victory for the islanders. The Hague District Court, in a stunning rebuke of Dutch authorities, also ruled that the government discriminated against the island’s 20,000 inhabitants by not taking “timely and appropriate measures” to protect them from climate change before it’s too late. “The island already suffers from flooding due to tropical storms and extreme rainfall, and according to several researchers, this...

Iran said about 40 Iranian citizens will be returned from the United States to Iran on Sunday, after being held for months in US immigration detention centers. The acting head of Iran’s Interests Section in Washington told state news agency IRNA that the group will depart from Mesa Airport in Arizona, make a brief stop in Egypt and return to Iran via Kuwait. Abolfazl Mehrabadi added the office coordinated with US immigration authorities to issue return travel documents for the detainees. The flight is the third to repatriate Iranian asylum seekers and others whose immigration cases were halted and who...

Sir Keir Starmer led a legal case that opened the door to hundreds of British soldiers being pursued for alleged war crimes, The Telegraph can disclose. The now Prime Minister worked free of charge alongside his close ally, Lord Hermer, now the Attorney General, and the now disgraced solicitor Phil Shiner on a human rights claim in 2007 that reshaped the law governing troops in war zones. Court documents unearthed by The Telegraph reveal Sir Keir was a lead barrister on the claim, which ultimately led the Ministry of Defence to order fresh inquiries into deaths in Iraq. It triggered...

India and the European Union have finalized a trade deal to remove tariffs on more than 90% of goods traded between the two...In 2025, India's bilateral trade in goods with the EU stood at $136.54 billion...New Delhi's exports to Europe were $75.85 billion and imports were $60.68 billion...

U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration January 27, 2026 Press Release Number: CB26-20 JAN. 27, 2026 — Population growth in the United States has slowed significantly with an increase of only 1.8 million, or 0.5%, between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, according to the new Vintage 2025 population estimates released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This was the nation’s slowest population growth since the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the population grew by a historically low 0.2% in 2021. The slowdown also comes after a sizeable uptick of growth...

Although CENTCOM said that the "exercise is designed to enhance asset and personnel dispersal capability," military parties have used such drills in the past as cover for launching a surprise attack... ...During the (multi-day) training event, CENTCOM said that US forces "will deploy teams to multiple contingency locations and validate rapid set-up, launch and recovery procedures with small, efficient support packages. AFCENT will conduct all activities with host-nation approval and in close coordination with civil and military aviation authorities, emphasizing safety, precision and respect for sovereignty."

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday he told U.S. President Donald Trump that he meant what he said in his speech at Davos, and told him Canada plans to diversify away from the United States with a dozen new trade deals. Carney rolled his eyes and rejected U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s contention to Fox News that he aggressively walked back his comments at the World Economic Forum during a phone call with Trump on Monday. “To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos,” Carney said to reporters as...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump shifted toward a more conciliatory approach with Democratic leaders in Minnesota on Monday, a sudden change in tack following an outcry over the second fatal shooting by federal agents in the state this month during the administration's nationwide crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The about-face comes after Saturday’s shooting death of Alex Pretti by federal agents raised doubts — including from some Republicans — over how the Trump administration has gone about aggressively deporting migrants and confronting protesters opposed to the policy.

Xi Jinping has offered Europe new trade partnerships and promised to uphold the “values” of the United Nations. The move is an apparent attempt to capitalise on the continent’s growing rift with the United States. On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer became the latest leader to travel to Beijing after Mark Carney and Petteri Orpo, the prime ministers of Canada and Finland. In a meeting with Mr Orpo on Tuesday, the Chinese president said China and Europe were “partners, not adversaries” and invited Finnish companies to “swim in the vast ocean of the Chinese market”. He also appeared to snub Donald...

In Tehran, the capital of Iran, security forces opened fire at protesters from the roof of a police station. In Karaj, they fired live rounds into a march, shooting one person in the head. In Isfahan, young men barricaded themselves in an alley as gunfire and explosions rang out. Scattered protests had percolated since late December, starting with a strike in Tehran’s bazaar and fueled by a plunging economy. But by early January, Iranians had revolted en masse, and the security forces began to crack down with deadly force. It was not just the protests unnerving the regime. President Trump...

President Trump is sidestepping thumb-twiddling California Democrats with an executive order aimed at fast-tracking the rebuilding of Los Angeles a year after devastating wildfires torched entire city blocks and left thousands homeless. “I want to see if we can take over the city and state and just give the people their permits they want to build,” Trump told The California Post Friday in an exclusive Oval Office interview where he signed the seven-page order. Trump pointed the finger at California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for the painfully slow rebuilding of homes ravaged by the January...

As the Trump Administration prepares for the U.S. to co-host the World Cup this summer, easing travel rules for sporting events amid otherwise tightening immigration policy, some members of the global soccer community are saying: “Stay away from the U.S.A.!” That particular phrasing came from Mark Pieth, a Swiss attorney who chaired the Independent Governance Committee’s oversight of FIFA reform between 2011 and 2013, in an interview with Swiss newspaper Der Bund last week. But calls for a boycott of the world’s biggest international soccer competition have gained traction among other prominent soccer figures, lawmakers, and fans. The U.S. is...

The distinctive black-and-white animals, loaned out as part of China's "panda diplomacy", have symbolised friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since they normalised diplomatic ties in 1972.Two popular pandas are set to leave Tokyo for China on Tuesday (Jan 27), leaving Japan without any of the beloved bears for the first time in 50 years as ties between the Asian neighbours fray. Panda twins Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao were transported by truck out of Ueno Zoological Gardens, their birthplace, disappointing many Japanese fans who have grown attached to the furry four-year-olds. "Although I can't see them, I came to share...

"Donald Trump is very important to NATO and very committed to NATO", Secretary General Mark Rutte said in remarks at the European Parliament on Monday as many MEPs worry about the president of the United States' aggressive rhetoric against Europe. Whereas Trump's threats to control Greenland have been defined as "the end of NATO" by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Rutte said he believes that US President "deserves to be defended" and "is doing a lot of good stuff" for the NATO alliance. "The 2% [of the GDP spending target on defence] reached by all NATO countries at the end...

Oh, Xi Jinping Pooh is not going to be very happy with Mark Carney, the globalist squish Prime Minister of Canada. It wasn't a week ago that the two of them were bestest broskis and the rest of the Western Hemisphere was going, 'You out your mind, dude? Or just having a Newsom moment?'Even the Washington Post took a step back.DUDEWashington Post Editorial Board "But there is a fine line between “pragmatism” and naiveté which Carney has already started to blur. Carney and Xi did not simply agree to new trading parameters. They put on a show.Frustrations with one American...