Free Republic 1st Qtr 2026 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $21,890
27%  
Woo hoo!! And now only $790 to reach 28%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless.

Foreign Affairs (News/Activism)

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • Defence Secretary pledges tens of thousands of more artillery shells for Ukraine

    02/13/2026 8:54:06 AM PST · by delta7 · 22 replies
    Gov.UK ^ | 20 Sep 25 | Gov.UK
    .....To date, the UK has supplied more than 12,000 anti-tank weapons, 300,000 rounds of artillery ammunition, thousands of air defence missiles, self-propelled artillery, and more than 200,000 pieces of non-lethal equipment, including extreme cold weather clothing, mine detection equipment, and industrial strength generators....
  • Trans-Atlantic tensions in focus as annual Munich security gathering opens

    02/13/2026 1:40:21 AM PST · by McGruff · 5 replies
    ABC News ^ | Feb 13, 2026 | The Associated Press
    An annual gathering of top international security figures that last year set the tone for a growing rift between the United States and Europe opens Friday, bringing together many top European officials with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others. The Munich Security Conference opens with a speech by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of 15 heads of state or government from European Union countries whom organizers expect to attend. The many other expected guests at the conference that runs until Sunday include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In keeping with the conference's tradition,...
  • Japan Seizes Chinese Fishing Vessel, Arrests Captain

    02/12/2026 10:53:55 PM PST · by nickcarraway · 21 replies
    The vessel's captain was ordered to stop for an inspection, but failed to comply and fled, Japan's fisheries agency said.Japan seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its skipper, authorities said on Friday (Feb 13), an incident that could deepen a spat between the Asian giants. The episode on Thursday off southern Japan came three months after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take Taiwan by force. "The vessel's captain was ordered to stop for an inspection by a fisheries inspector, but the vessel failed to comply and fled," Japan's fisheries agency...
  • Trump’s Taiwan Pact Reshapes Supply Chains and Global Power

    02/12/2026 7:45:06 PM PST · by SeekAndFind · 8 replies
    PJ Media ^ | 02/12/2026 | David Manney
    Tariffs Fall and Investment SurgesTrade shapes power structures, and when two economies tighten bonds, the ripple spreads far beyond shipping lanes and customs desks. On Feb. 12, 2026, the Trump administration finalized a sweeping trade agreement with Taiwan that cuts tariffs, boosts American exports, and pours hundreds of billions into U.S. industry.Taiwan agreed to eliminate or sharply reduce tariffs on nearly all American goods, as duties on U.S. beef, dairy, and corn were reduced immediately to 0%. Pork belly tariffs fell from 40% to 10%, and ham fell from 32% to 10%. Taiwan also removed non-tariff barriers on motor vehicles,...
  • 80.70 billion cubic metres gas deposit confirmed in Jaljale, Dailekh (Nepal)

    02/12/2026 5:03:04 PM PST · by Uncle Miltie · 15 replies
    The Rising Nepal ^ | 2/12/26 | TRN Online
    Mineral gas deposit of 80.70 billion cubic metres has been confirmed at Bhairabi Rural Municipality-1 of Dailekh district. This is confirmed in the final exploration report submitted to the Government of Nepal by the Chinese Company, China Geological Survey. Spokesperson at the Department of Mines and Geology Dharma Raj Khadka stated that the storage data was released after a comprehensive study by the Chinese team. In the preliminary report made public earlier, it was estimated that there could be 1.12 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the area. He said further testing and the final study have proved larger...
  • The Left’s Long Game in Latin America

    02/12/2026 2:43:01 PM PST · by EnderWiggin1970 · 21 replies
    The American Mind ^ | 2/12/26 | Benjamin Braddock
    Their revolution could soon be coming to an end. January 3, 2026. Caracas. 2:47 AM. The helicopters had come in low over the Caribbean, running dark. The Delta Force operators on board were well-rehearsed. By 3:29 AM, it was over. Thirty-two Cuban bodyguards lay dead in the compound. Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were in flex cuffs, hustled onto a transport aircraft bound for New York. At Mar-a-Lago, President Trump watched the operation unfold in real time with his national security team. It was January 3—exactly 36 years to the day since American forces had extracted military dictator Manuel...
  • Interest-free home loans and €250 per child: Can France boost its falling birth rate?

    02/12/2026 10:00:35 AM PST · by nickcarraway · 13 replies
    Euronews ^ | 12/02/2026 | Sophia Khatsenkova
    A parliamentary committee has unveiled a plan to tackle France’s collapsing birth rate. But with experts and the public sceptical, the proposals are proving deeply divisive. Lucie remembers feeling uneasy when she heard that the French government was planning to send a letter to adults aged 29 and over about infertility. The letter is still being drafted, its contents have not been made public but the initiative has already sparked strong criticism, even from abroad. "I found the approach extremely awkward and it's not the right way at all to raise awareness," she tells Euronews. At 27, Lucie is in...
  • North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un chooses teen daughter as heir, says Seoul

    02/12/2026 9:00:00 AM PST · by SeekAndFind · 70 replies
    BBC NEWS ^ | 02/12/26 | Jake Kwon
    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has selected his teenage daughter as his heir, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday. Kim Ju Ae - who is believed to be 13 - has in recent months been pictured beside her father in high-profile events like a visit to Beijing in September, her first known trip abroad. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it took a "range of circumstances" into account including her increasingly prominent public presence at official events" in making this assessment. The NIS also said it would keep close tabs on whether she will attend the North's...
  • Pentagon orders second carrier strike group to prepare to deploy to Middle East: report

    02/12/2026 8:39:40 AM PST · by thegagline · 66 replies
    The New York Post ^ | 11/12/2026 | Victor Nava
    The Pentagon has reportedly ordered a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare to deploy to the Middle East in support of potential military action against Iran. President Trump has not yet given the carrier group the greenlight to deploy, but an order could be issued “in a matter of hours,” the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night, citing US officials. The deployment would likely come from the US East Coast, and one carrier is being prepped to head out to sea in two weeks, an official told the publication. The USS George H.W. Bush is currently conducting training exercises...
  • Study finds climate change set the stage for devastating wildfires in Argentina and Chile

    02/12/2026 4:42:14 AM PST · by Oldeconomybuyer · 44 replies
    The Associated Press ^ | February 12, 2026 | BY ISABEL DEBRE
    BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Human-caused climate change had an important impact on the recent ferocious wildfires that engulfed parts of Chile and Argentina’s Patagonia region, making the extremely high-risk conditions that led to widespread burning up to three times more likely than in a world without global warming, a team of researchers warned on Wednesday. The hot, dry and gusty weather that fed last month’s deadly wildfires in central and southern Chile was made around 200% more likely by human-made greenhouse gas emissions while the high-fire-risk conditions that fueled the blazes still racing through southern Argentina were made 150%...
  • Canada built a bridge. Now Trump wants half

    02/11/2026 5:50:12 PM PST · by MinorityRepublican · 67 replies
    CNN ^ | Feb 10, 2026 | Zachary Wolf
    President Donald Trump spent years promising to make Mexico pay for a wall at the US southern border. Mexico did not. In a strange twist, Trump is now threatening to block the opening of a bridge at the northern border that Canada actually already paid for. This is either next-level negotiation or a misunderstanding of the facts, or both, but an ultimatum Trump made on social media is the latest in a string of erratic moves that have confused his fellow world leaders. The Gordie Howe International Bridge is basically completed Trump should have previously known that the brand-new Gordie...
  • Police identify 18-year-old as suspect in Tumbler Ridge shooting

    02/11/2026 4:21:50 PM PST · by E. Pluribus Unum · 38 replies
    BBC ^ | Feb 11, 2026 | Ana Faguy
    An 18-year-old has been named as the suspect in a shooting that killed eight people and injured dozens more in British Columbia, Canada.Police said Jesse Van Rootselaar was found dead at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot injury. The motive for the attack is not yet known.Six people were killed and at least 25 others were injured at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School. Two others - the suspect's mother, 39, and step-brother, 11 - were found dead at a nearby home. Authorities said Van Rootselaar was born a biological male but identified as a woman. "I can say that Jesse was...
  • Pentagon-FAA dispute over lasers to thwart cartel drones led to El Paso airspace closure, AP sources say

    02/11/2026 1:41:22 PM PST · by CedarDave · 27 replies
    The Albuquerque Journal ^ | February 11, 2026 | Seung Min Kim, AP
    WASHINGTON — The sudden and surprising airspace closure over El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday stemmed from the Pentagon's plans to test a laser for use in shooting down drones used by Mexican drug cartels, according to three people familiar with the situation who were granted anonymity to share sensitive details. That caused friction with the Federal Aviation Administration, which wanted to ensure commercial air safety and the two agencies sought to coordinate, according to two of the people. Despite a meeting scheduled later this month to discuss the issue, the Pentagon wanted to go ahead and test the laser, prompting...
  • US-Canada bridge spat deepens as White House says Trump could amend a permit for the project

    02/11/2026 10:44:50 AM PST · by nickcarraway · 16 replies
    Channel News Asia ^ | 11 Feb 2026
    The White House said the ownership structure of the Gordie Howe Bridge is "unacceptable" to the US president.The White House says President Donald Trump has the right to amend a permit for a new bridge between Canada and Michigan, prolonging the latest dispute between the US and its northern neighbour hours after its prime minister signalled there could be a detente. The Gordie Howe International Bridge, which would connect Ontario and Michigan and would be a vital economic artery between the two countries, is scheduled to open in early 2026. But Trump has now threatened to block the bridge from...
  • Russia says it will stick to New START’s nuclear arms limits as long as U.S. does

    02/11/2026 8:00:42 AM PST · by McGruff · 12 replies
    The Washington Times ^ | Feb 11, 2026 | Vladimir Isachenkov
    Moscow will observe the limits of the last nuclear arms pact with the United States that expired last week as long as it sees that Washington is doing the same, Russia’s top diplomat said Wednesday. The New START treaty expired Feb. 5, leaving no restrictions on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century and fueling fears of an unconstrained nuclear arms race. Russian President Vladimir Putin last year declared his readiness to stick to the treaty’s limits for another year if Washington followed suit, but U.S. President Trump has argued he wants...
  • In Cuba, people go without food and power as U.S. chokes oil supply and tourists flee

    02/10/2026 11:49:36 PM PST · by jerod · 51 replies
    CBC News ^ | Feb 10, 2026 | Natalie Stechyson
    U.S. is trying to throttle Cuba's economy until the regime collapses, says former ambassadorSome Cubans say everyday life on the Caribbean island has reached a breaking point amid a fuel shortage brought about by the U.S. squeezing the country’s oil supply. Meanwhile, Canadian airlines suspended service to the island and are ferrying tourists back home. "For me, any change for us will be better than what we are living through, because what we are experiencing is not humane," Isben Peralta told CBC News in a phone interview during a blackout. "Some of us who have a little business have a...
  • Canada’s Mark Carney Can’t Even Challenge American Hegemony Without American Help

    02/10/2026 9:55:15 AM PST · by SeekAndFind · 15 replies
    The Federalist ^ | 02/10/2026 | Chris Bray
    Sometimes a punchline arrives a few weeks after the joke.A little less than three weeks ago, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made the globalist media swoon by standing on a stage in Davos and declaring the sudden new limits of American power. For years, Carney said, American hegemony was a stabilizing force in the world, so other countries tolerated America’s many failures to live up to its declared ideals — in Carney’s words, “the gaps between rhetoric and reality.” But no more. In the age of a certain bad orange man, America has lost the trust of its erstwhile allies....
  • Orban declares Ukraine 'enemy' of Hungary

    02/10/2026 9:27:28 AM PST · by delta7 · 26 replies
    Kiev Independent ^ | 9 Feb 26 | Abbey Fenbury
    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared Ukraine an "enemy" of Hungary during a speech at a rally on Feb. 7, the independent regional outlet Index reported. Orban, widely seen as the Kremlin's closest ally in the European Union, has repeatedly lashed out at Kyiv and Brussels throughout Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. Speaking at a rally in the Hungarian city Szombathely on Feb. 7, Orban criticized Ukraine for demanding that the EU halt imports of cheap Russian energy. "Anyone who says this is an enemy of Hungary, so Ukraine is our enemy," he said. His remarks come shortly after the...
  • Liberal Tourism in Danger as Cuba Runs Out of Jet Fuel

    02/10/2026 6:25:07 AM PST · by dynachrome · 25 replies
    Front Page ^ | 2-10-26 | Daniel Greenfield
    The booming Cuba tourism that brought tens of thousands of American and Canadian liberals to Cuba where, if they were sufficiently famous they could meet with Fidel Castro (now somewhat more difficult) and if they weren’t, they could enjoy juicy bloody burgers, classic cars and sex with 9-year-old girls (Communist Cuba’s child sex tourism business in notorious) is now endangered by fuel shortages. Cuban authorities have notified international airlines that they won’t be able to refuel at the island’s airports, as the country’s energy crisis deepens following President Donald Trump’s steps to cut the island’s oil supply in a push...
  • Weird How Voting Rights for 500,000 Illegals Can't Buy You Love: Spanish Socialists Trounced in Regionals

    02/09/2026 9:58:45 PM PST · by SeekAndFind · 11 replies
    Hotair ^ | 02/09/2026 | Beege Welborn
    Regional elections were held in Spain's Aragón area yesterday, and they turned into a rout for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's party. Surging conservative parties either picked up seats or held theirs to be able to form coalitions to fend off the slumping ruling Socialists.Spain’s ruling Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) suffered a crushing setback in the snap regional elections in Aragón.In the ballot yesterday, it slumped to one of its worst historical performance, losing ground amid a surge by the right-wing Vox party.Provisional results from the Government of Aragón and the National Electoral Commission, with more than 98 per cent...