Free Republic

President Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Wednesday he would grant Kyiv a license to make its own critically needed Patriot air-defense missiles, joking: “This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough.” “One of the things I think we’re going to be talking about today, a little birdie told me this, about the fact that we’ll give them the right to make Patriots,” Trump said ahead of his closed-door sitdown with Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey. Patriot missiles have long been in short supply, but now are running critically low — forcing...

President Trump said the U.S. would likely launch more strikes against Iran Wednesday night, telling reporters at a NATO summit in Turkey "we hit them very hard last night," and "we're going to hit them hard again tonight." Earlier Wednesday Mr. Trump said, "as far as I'm concerned, it's over," when asked about the ceasefire with Iran. After an exchange of strikes by both countries, Mr. Trump called Iran's leaders "sick" and declared it "a waste of time dealing with them."

President Trump said Wednesday that he believes his memorandum of understanding with Iran is dead after he ordered overnight airstrikes on 80 targets after Iranian forces attacked three commercial ships. “I don’t like them at all. And frankly, I think we wasted a lot of time with them, I think we should just do our business,” Trump said in his first public remarks after ordering the airstrikes. When asked by a reporter if the preliminary peace deal, which Trump signed June 17, was dead, Trump replied: “To me, i think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore....

The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday it will cancel its authorization of Iranian oil sales following a series of attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The decision comes after Iran launched multiple attacks on tankers transiting the critical waterway this week, despite having promised safe passages to commercial ships under an interim deal to reopen Hormuz. The Trump administration had previously waived U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil as part of that agreement. The Office of Foreign Assets Control is ending the license that had allowed the production, delivery and sale of Iranian oil, which was set to run...

The U.S. Air Force used its largest aircraft to move $5 billion worth of illegal drugs from a storage facility in California to eventually be destroyed in the Midwest.

A long-awaited bill banning Israeli goods from the occupied territories in Palestine has passed the final stage in the Dáil without including services from the region. The Government-drafted Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) bill passed through its report and final stages in the Dáil (lower house) on Tuesday without a vote. It will now be sent to the Seanad (Senate) next week and, if it as likely is also passed by the Upper House, will be signed into law at that point. The bill is a renewed version of the original Occupied Territories...

n Germany, the trains have stopped running on time, bridges have been shut over safety fears, and the country’s largest carmaker, Volkswagen, is cutting a sixth of its workforce. The government’s response amounts to a shrug, dressed up as reform. It seems like Germany is on a bad streak – and the AfD looks set to reap the rewards. Take the railways, the infamous Deutsche Bahn. A few weeks ago, they ground to a total halt. Every train in the country stood still, because the radio system that lets drivers talk to signal boxes – a system that appears to...

President Donald Trump, during the first day of the NATO Summit in Ankara on Tuesday, said he will consider allowing Turkey to buy American F-35 fighter jets -- despite possessing Russian-made air defense systems, which his first administration sanctioned the country for six years ago. "It's a decision we're going to make," Trump said as he met Turkish President Recep Erdogan at Erdogan's presidential compound. "We have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey's been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal," Trump said. "So, it's something, certainly, we would consider. It's...

Three tankers were struck by projectiles Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz, the British military said, in the latest attacks targeting vessels moving through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf. One of the tankers was traveling off the coast of Oman and caught fire, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault. Two other tankers were also hit, including one that was struck by a drone. It was not immediately clear where they were at the...

OTTAWA, July 6 (Reuters) - Canada said on Monday it has selected Germany's TKMS to build up to 12 submarines ‌for its navy, deepening defense ties with Europe ahead of a centered on higher military spending. TKMS, majority-owned by German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE), opens new tab, beat out a competing offer from South Korea's Hanwha Ocean.

Anastasiia Berezovska was wanted over the explosion targeting Ukrainian-born oligarch Vadim Ermolaev, 58. According to sources in the investigation speaking to Ukrainian news outlet Pravda, police discovered the 39-year-old’s body in Kyiv, at around 11pm on Monday night. She had been shot. Berezovska was wanted on suspicion of attempted murder, placing an explosive device on a public road with criminal intent, and criminal conspiracy. Investigators said a device, concealed within a bag, was detonated remotely once the intended victims were in range near their apartment in Monaco. Two suspects were detained after her body was discovered, including a serving military...

France's President Emmanuel Macron escaped what may have been an attempted assassination Tuesday during a visit to Syria's capital. The French presidential palace, the Elysee, said in a statement that Macron was safe and would continue his visit to Damascus after two bombs exploded outside the hotel where he spent the night. Macron had left the hotel when the explosions took place Tuesday, and he was in the Syrian presidential palace for a meeting with his counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa and their respective delegations, according to the French presidency. State media cited an unnamed security official as saying the blasts were...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A tanker traveling off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz caught on fire early Tuesday morning after being struck by a projectile, the British military said.The attack was the latest targeting a vessel moving through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault. Tehran has repeatedly declared that only its approved route through the strait...

A fast-moving vegetation fire sparked near Camp Pendleton on Monday afternoon, prompting evacuations and smoke advisories. The fire, which has been dubbed the Pipeline Fire, was reported around 4:13 p.m. at Stuart Mesa Road and Hammond Drive, near Range 501 and Edson Range at Camp Pendleton, and has since spread to 180 acres, according to Cal Fire. Evacuation orders have been issued in nearby areas. Mandatory evacuations have been issued for areas 33 and 32. The area is also closed to public access. Crews also say that wind gusts are pushing the fire southeast, as they actively use aircraft to...

Beijing — As Sen. Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized, his wife, former U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, has reportedly been making public appearances overseas. On June 12, just two days before the senator was admitted to the hospital, Shanghai Jia Tong University said Chao made a stop there, marking her 12th visit in 45 years. During the visit, Chao and her father were said to have donated several historical photos to the university's Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Memorial Hall, which is named in honor of her mother.

A federal judge in Ohio has ordered the Trump administration to resume processing certain immigration benefit applications, delivering the latest legal setback to a broader effort by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to freeze or delay immigration cases. U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley granted a preliminary injunction Monday in a case brought by 25 foreign nationals who said their applications for work authorization, green cards and other immigration benefits had been stalled under USCIS and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies tied to countries covered by President Donald Trump's travel restrictions. The decision could affect immigrants seeking green...

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s debt-fuelled spending not seen since Germany reunification. Germany plans to borrow more than €800bn by 2030, breaking with decades of fiscal restraint to bring defence spending to levels not seen since the cold war. Next year alone, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government plans to raise more than €200bn from markets, 12.5 per cent more than this year, the finance ministry said on Monday. Between 2027 and 2030, Germany is expected to borrow about €838bn, according to projections. The budget marks a sharp break with the country’s deep-rooted aversion to debt and with Merz’s own party line on fiscal...

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) carried out a large-scale overnight strike on July 6, hitting 47 Russian military targets, including two fuel tankers transporting gasoline to temporarily occupied Crimea, two S-400 Triumf air defense launchers, an oil depot in Kerch, and a Nebo-U radar system. SBS Commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi on June 6 described the operation as one of the most significant recent strikes against Russian military infrastructure. According to Brovdi, among the most significant targets were two tankers from Russia's so-called shadow fleet operating in the Sea of Azov. The vessels were transporting fuel from the area of Taganrog...

A University of California, Berkeley professor killed in a violent custody dispute in Greece has left behind grieving family members and 11-year-old twin children, while his relatives now face a separate battle in California to remove alleged squatters from his East Bay home. Przemyslaw Jeziorski was shot and killed in Greece in July during a custody dispute that turned deadly. Authorities say the boyfriend of Jeziorski’s ex-wife later confessed to the killing. His ex-wife, Nadia Michelidaki, later died by suicide in a Greek prison in May.

HAVANA, July ⁠6 (Reuters) - ⁠Cuba's national ⁠electric grid collapsed ​on Monday at ‌midday, the country's ‌grid ⁠operator ⁠said, leaving around 10 million ​people on the Caribbean island ​nation without power. Cuba has ⁠for months ⁠suffered ⁠from hours-long, ​and more recently, days-long ​power ⁠outages linked in part to an ⁠ailing grid and a U.S. imposed oil ⁠blockade that has cut off the island's fuel supply.