Free Republic

More Iranian militia types are in the news, sad to say. Even worse, they're not doing their thing on their home turf - they're in the export business. Breaking News: An Iran-backed militia commander was arrested and charged with plotting to attack Jewish sites in the U.S., including one in New York. Prosecutors say he is a leader of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia with ties to Iran. https://t.co/5FyiNgseXk— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 15, 2026Iran-backed Iraqi terrorists Kata’ib Hezbollah are reportedly seeking negotiations with the Iraqi government for the release of kidnapped American journalist Shelly Kittleson.The group is...

-The UK government will introduce legislation banning new North Sea oil and gas exploration licences as part of its Energy Independence Bill. -Critics argue the policy will increase Britain’s reliance on imported fossil fuels while damaging Scotland’s oil and gas industry. -Rising oil prices and disruptions tied to the Iran conflict have intensified political pressure on Labour to reconsider the ban. The government will make it illegal to grant new oil and gas licences in the North Sea, the King said at the state opening of Parliament, in a sign ministers are refusing to buckle in the face of a...

Military officials indicate Gaza City airstrike eliminated terror group’s chief; former hostages hail reports of death of the man responsible for their abduction and captivity.Israel said that it had targeted Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip and the head of the terror group’s military wing, in an airstrike in Gaza City on Friday. While there was no immediate confirmation that he was killed, news of the strike prompted a joyous response from several of the hostages he had personally held and many hailed the apparent death of the last of the major architects of the...

During his Thursday evening interview with Sean Hannity, President Donald Trump admitted that the U.S. went to war with Iran for Israel, as well as for the Gulf state allies.“We’re doing it to help Israel, and to help Saudi Arabia, and to help Qatar and UAE, and you know, Kuwait, and other countries, Bahrain,” Trump said.TRUMP ADMITS WAR ON IRAN IS NOT FOR AMERICA "We're doing it to help Israel—and to help Saudi Arabia, and to help Qatar and UAE, and you know, Kuwait, and other countries, Bahrain." pic.twitter.com/oMQtGUxQUq— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) May 15, 2026The State Department has already confirmed...

Following a third round of talks between Lebanon and Israel held Thursday and Friday in Washington, the United States said the ceasefire between the two sides has been extended and that separate security discussions will be launched later this month. “The April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in an X post following the talks. The two sides will reconvene political talks on June 2 and June 3, Pigott said.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement on Friday that attributed 246 suspected infections and 65 deaths to a new Ebola outbreak in the remote Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Africa CDC said it was convening an emergency meeting with health officials from the DRC, Uganda, South Sudan, and other global partners to coordinate a response to the outbreak, including cross-border surveillance of the possible spread of the deadly disease. The statement said most of the infections to date have been reported from two areas within the Ituri province, Mongwalu and...

The French Senate on Tuesday rejected a bill to legalize assisted suicide for the second time, voting down Article 2 of the legislation — which established a right to the procedure — by 151 votes to 118. The upper chamber overwhelmingly approved a separate measure to improve access to palliative care, passing it 325-18 without amendment. The bill, which has twice passed the more left-leaning National Assembly, would allow adults with an incurable or terminal illness to request lethal medication they could self-administer or have a medical professional administer if they are unable. However, as experience has shown when other...

Pete Hegseth’s last-minute decision to cancel the deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland caught Pentagon staff and European allies by surprise — the latest example of an abrupt personnel move from the Defense secretary that blindsided both sides of the Atlantic. It wasn’t clear exactly why Hegseth issued the order, according to three defense officials familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed anger and frustration with European allies for their failure to help with the Iran war, although Trump has labeled Poland a “model ally” for its high defense spending. The decision was even more surprising because...

US President Donald Trump has indicated that an agreement with China for 200 Boeing commercial aircraft could rise to 750, if the planemaker does a “good job”. President Trump was speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he left China following an official state visit to meet with President Xi in Beijing. The US president first announced that he had secured an order from China for 200 Boeing aircraft on May 14, 2026, but his latest comments went much further. Speaking on May 15, 2026, President Trump said: “We made a lot of great trade deals, including over 200...

Given that we spent over a trillion dollars in Iraq and maybe more in Afghanistan, and Joe Biden left $50 billion in equipment in the latter, the idea that you would spend less than $30 billion and have a chance to overthrow the worst government in the world—one that’s caused most of the problems we’ve had in the Middle East—is a bargain, if it works, and I think it will, argues Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.”

The Trump administration is probing more than 120 biological laboratories funded by U.S. taxpayers in 30-plus countries in a bid to end potentially dangerous experiments within gain-of-function research, federal officials confirmed Wednesday. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard ordered the investigation following a months-long review of U.S. holdings and files on the Washington-funded biolabs operating overseas, including to uncover specific locations as part of President Donald Trump's executive order in May 2025 to ban all federal funding for gain-of-function research in China or other nations without proper oversight. "The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the catastrophic global impact research on dangerous pathogens...

The FBI is offering a $200,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension and prosecution of Monica Witt, a former U.S. service member and counterintelligence agent.Witt was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia in February 2019 on charges of espionage, including transmitting national defense information to the government of Iran.Witt, a former active-duty U.S. Air Force intelligence specialist and special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, served in the military between 1997 and 2008 before working as a U.S. government contractor until 2010. FBI Washington Field Office Announces $200,000 Reward for Information...

HAVANA (AP) — CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials including Raúl Castro’s grandson during a high-level visit to the island Thursday, Cuban and U.S. officials said. Ratcliffe met with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services, and discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and security issues. A CIA official confirmed the meetings to the AP. Ratcliffe was there “to personally deliver President Donald Trump’s message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes,’' the CIA official said....

"They're looking to explore Alaska" is the latest word on how Communist China might reduce its dependence on uncertain Persian Gulf oil imports, according to a Fox News report on Thursday. As you must know by now, President Donald Trump and his impressive entourage are in Beijing for a two-day summit with Chinese Communist Party boss Xi Jinping, which always makes for great TV. I grew up watching presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush meet with an accelerating array of Soviet party bosses, usually so that they could agree that neither side would build more nuclear missiles...

The U.S. is taking steps to indict Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former president of Cuba and brother of Fidel, in connection with the downing of planes 30 years ago, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The potential indictment — which would need to be approved by a grand jury — is expected to focus on Cuba's deadly 1996 shootdown of planes operated by humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. The plan comes as the U.S. heaps pressure on the Cuban government. The Trump administration has threatened heavy tariffs on any country...

A new report revealed that Iran has seized a ship laden with weapons and is taking it back to Iran. The so-called “floating armory” was based in the Gulf of Oman, according to Vanguard, a maritime risk management company. The ship is “bound for Iranian territorial waters,” Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations group said, according to the BBC. The BBC said the Honduras-flagged Hui Chuan had told Vanguard it was operating as a floating armory, designed to store weapons that would be needed by security companies that protect ships from piracy. The BBC said the ship was last documented to be...

A new estimate from the Congressional Budget Office suggests that the cost of building and maintaining the proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system could reach roughly $1.2 trillion over two decades, far exceeding the $185 billion figure previously cited by Pentagon leadership. The ambitious program aims to significantly expand existing U.S. missile defense infrastructure. Plans include bolstering ground-based interceptors, upgrading sensor networks and enhancing command systems, while also introducing a major space-based component designed to identify, monitor and potentially intercept threats from orbit. This orbital layer would rely on a large network of satellites, including systems capable of engaging incoming...

Key Points Cuban Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy told state media the island nation has run out of fuel oil and diesel. Protests broke out in Havana on Wednesday as blackouts in the capital continued. The Trump administration, which has effectively blocked oil shipments to Cuba since January, has offered assistance in exchange for political reform. =========================================================== Cuba has run out of oil and diesel, its energy minister said on Wednesday, as an ongoing U.S. blockade starves the island nation of fuel. “The sum of the different types of fuel: crude oil, fuel oil, of which we have...

Russia pummeled Ukraine’s capital with hundreds of drones and missiles early Thursday, the latest in a string of deadly Russian strikes this week. The attacks suggested that President Vladimir V. Putin had little intention of de-escalating his war, after he declared recently that he believed it was “coming to a close.” Explosions shook Kyiv, the capital, over several hours Thursday morning as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept and shoot down the drones and missiles, some of which evaded overwhelmed air-defense systems. The attack included cruise and ballistic missiles that Moscow often stockpiles for mass bombardments. As the sun rose, rescue...

MOSCOW, May 14 (Reuters) - Russia is establishing a "full-fledged partnership" with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban and is encouraging ‌other countries in the region to expand cooperation ‌with Kabul, a senior Russian security official was quoted on Thursday ​as saying. Russia last year became the first country to formally recognise the Islamist Taliban government that seized power in August 2021 as U.S.-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal ‌from Afghanistan after ⁠20 years of war. Interfax news agency quoted Russian official Sergei Shoigu as saying cooperation ⁠with Kabul was important for the security and development of the region. Shoigu, who is secretary...