Free Republic

European negotiators agreed late on Tuesday to implement the controversial trade agreement concluded last summer with the US. However, the deal — signed in the Scottish city of Turnberry — remains fragile as long as US President Donald Trump continues to use tariffs as a tool of political pressure. Diplomats and MEPs reached an agreement late on Tuesday to implement the contentious EU-US agreement, which eliminates duties on most US industrial goods imported into Europe. The negotiations concluded two weeks after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on EU cars if Europeans did not implement the agreement...

Russia's ambassador to the United Nations said on Tuesday Moscow had information that Ukraine planned to launch military drones from Latvia and other Baltic states, warning that ​membership in NATO would not protect those countries from retaliation. The ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, ‌speaking during a UN Security Council meeting on security in Ukraine, said Kyiv had already dispatched Ukrainian drone forces to Latvia and Russian intelligence could determine the launch sites for such aircraft. "The foreign intelligence of Russia ​did say that the coordinates of decision-making centers in Latvia are well known, and membership ​in NATO will not protect you from...

The Senate advanced a resolution to limit President Trump's war powers in Iran on Tuesday, marking a breakthrough for Democrats after seven failed attempts. Senators approved a motion to discharge the resolution from committee in a 50 to 47 vote. Four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — joined the bulk of Democrats in favor of advancing the resolution. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the sole Democrat to oppose. The vote marked the first time Cassidy supported advancing a war powers resolution. It came days...

The US vice-president, JD Vance, has urged anti-immigration activists in the UK to “keep on going” after tens of thousands gathered for a rally in London. Vance appeared to align himself with those who attended a march on Saturday where the far-right activist Tommy Robinson told supporters to prepare for the “battle of Britain”. Organisers claimed that millions had attended his “unite the kingdom” event, but police estimated the number of demonstrators to be far lower, at about 60,000. The campaign group Hope Not Hate nevertheless said the scale of Robinson’s movement remained “deeply worrying”. Addressing reporters at the White...

Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that President Donald Trump is still hoping that negotiations with Iran will result in an agreement on ending Tehran's nuclear enrichment program. However, Trump remains "locked and loaded," should the negotiations fails."It takes two to tango," Vance said at a raucous White House press briefing in which he was a substitute press secretary. "We are not going to have a deal that allows the Iranians to have a nuclear weapon." Vance said that he believes the Iranians want to make a deal, and the president has directed diplomacy efforts to negotiation in "good faith."...

Donald Trump was for the Iran war before he was against it. His latest post on social media about the conflict indicated that he is once more calling off a sweeping military action, this time at the behest of his Gulf allies who are apparently quaking at the thought of a renewed conflict. Trump’s initial sentence was quite a mouthful: I have been asked by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to hold...

At least 131 people are believed to have died and 531 infected in the outbreak, according to health authorities in central Africa. An American missionary was among those who tested positive for the deadly disease. VIDEO AT LINK.......... The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in central Africa rose sharply Tuesday, with the head of the World Health Organization expressing concern over the “scale and speed of the epidemic.” At least 131 people are believed to have died and 531 suspected to have been infected in the latest outbreak, according to the Congolese Health Ministry. An American missionary was among...

In recent days, President Trump’s face has started popping up around New Delhi. His portrait, splashed across the red, white and blue of American flag, from the back of dozens of rickshaws buzzing all over the Indian capital. “Happy Birthday America!” the words read. “250 years old.” The campaign was launched last month by Sergio Gor, the U.S. ambassador to India, who has established a flair for spectacle since he arrived at his post in January. The U.S. Embassy announced the rollout on social media last month, saying “Freedom is on the move … literally!” Dozens, possibly hundreds, of...

INTRODUCTION On April 29, 2026, Sen. Bernie Sanders convened a 75-minute panel in the US Capitol on “the existential threat of AI.” Two of the four panelists were Chinese government affiliates: Zeng Yi, Dean of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance, and Xue Lan, a Tsinghua University professor who chairs China’s national AI governance expert committee and serves as a Counsellor of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. From a US Senate platform, Xue called the US-China AI race “an inaccurate narrative” and argued for “safe zones” of cooperation on AI safety. The event was...

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said Monday that his country has no "aggressive plans or intentions" to attack any country including the United States – following a news report that the Communist-run island nation has acquired over 300 drones with possible plans to use them to attack American military vessels, the U.S. military base at Guantanomo Bay, Cuba, and possibly Key West, Florida. According to Axios, which based its report on classified intelligence that was shared by a U.S. official, the findings could become a pretext for U.S. military action against Cuba. The official said that the proximity of the...

shootings, stolen vehicles, and related violent crimes that occurred across Austin between Saturday, May 16, 2026, and Sunday, May 17, 2026. The three suspects in custody are: Cristian Fajardo Mondragon, 17 years of age bccbac24 a439 534e 2870 6dcf131d8a57 Hispanic male, 16 years of age Hispanic male, 15 years of age Because two of the suspects are juveniles under Texas law, APD is limited in what information can be publicly released regarding their identities, booking information, and detention status. The 17-year-old suspect, Cristian Mondragon-Fajardo, has reached the age of criminal responsibility under Texas law and may be publicly identified in...

Alex Saab made his initial court appearance after being deported over the weekend by acting President Delcy Rodríguez as part of a purge of insider businessmen who are believed to have enriched themselves through corrupt dealings with Maduro.A close ally of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was charged in federal court in Miami on Monday with bribing top officials to profit from lucrative government contracts. Alex Saab made his initial court appearance after being deported over the weekend by acting President Delcy Rodríguez as part of a purge of insider businessmen who are believed to have enriched themselves through corrupt...

The person was exposed as part of their work in Congo and developed symptoms over the weekend, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A person from the United States has tested positive for Ebola in connection with the deadly outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday. The person was exposed as part of their work in Congo, developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday, according to Dr. Satish Pillai, the CDC’s Ebola response incident manager. “CDC has been working hand in hand with...

On a scorching hot afternoon in Havana, the line outside the state bakery stretches down the block. Inside, the shelves are almost bare. A man in a faded baseball cap tells me he’s been waiting for two hours for bread that might not arrive. Across the street, a gleaming black SUV with tinted windows idles outside a hotel mostly reserved for foreigners. Its lobby is stocked with imported whiskey; the air-conditioning is turned up to Arctic levels. This is not an unusual juxtaposition in today’s Cuba. I walk through Central Havana with Antonio Rodríguez, a 60-year-old university history teacher who...

Sweden, together with the European Commission, will hold talks with the Taliban. The goal is to enable deportations to Afghanistan - but the announcement is being criticized. "A deal with extremists," says Annika Hirvonen (MP). Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M) tells TT that the Swedish government has been "very proactive" in the EU on securing deportations to Afghanistan. The issue of being able to carry out more criminal deportations, i.e. of people who have been convicted of crimes in Sweden or who pose a threat to Sweden's security, is one of my most important priorities, he says. According to Forssell,...

President Donald Trump said Monday that he is calling off an attack on Iran planned for Tuesday because regional leaders had urged him to allow negotiations to continue and that a “very acceptable” deal for the U.S. was at hand.Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates asked him “to hold off on our planned Military attack of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which was scheduled for tomorrow, in that serious negotiations are now taking place, and that, in their opinion, as Great Leaders and Allies, a Deal...

Iran has reportedly begun dumping oil into the Persian Gulf after running out of storage capacity for excess crude. Images allegedly showing oil residue in the waters around Kharg Island began circulating around 10 days ago, with more continuing to emerge as time has gone on. Some reports warn that the situation is rapidly becoming an environmental disaster, as Iran’s coastline has reportedly become heavily coated in oil, which is now said to be spreading to the shores of neighboring countries, including Kuwait.

PARIS, May 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury decided to extend ​its sanctions waiver ‌on Russian seaborne oil, which lapsed on Saturday, after ​several countries asked ​for more time to ⁠buy Russian oil, a ​source familiar with the ​plan said on Monday. The waiver will last another 30 ​days, the source said. The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here. The ​United States had issued the waiver ‌in ⁠a bid to ease oil supply shortages and high prices due to ​Iran's ​closure ⁠of the Strait of Hormuz amid ​a...

A police source told AFP on Tuesday that the judge had received threats and was killed in retaliation for the release of gang members. At least 16 judges or prosecutors have been killed in Ecuador since 2022, according to Human Rights Watch. Last October, a gunman on a motorbike killed a judge in Ecuador while he was walking his children to school. Around 70 percent of the drugs produced by Colombia and Peru, the world's largest and second-largest cocaine producers, respectively, are shipped through Ecuador. President Daniel Noboa, one of President Donald Trump's staunchest allies on the continent, has prioritized...

U.S. special envoy Jeff Landry, appointed by President Donald Trump last year to push for American control ​of Greenland, arrived in Nuuk on Sunday, local ‌media reported. Landry, the governor of Louisiana, has previously backed Trump's goal of making the vast Arctic territory a part of the United States. The ​ambition has been strongly opposed by both the Greenlandic ​and Danish governments, which have repeatedly said Greenland ⁠is not for sale. Footage from Nuuk published by public ​broadcaster DR showed Landry exit a plane. He is scheduled to ​attend the 'Future Greenland' business conference on May 19-20 and will be...