Free Republic

America’s war on Iran has revealed much about its allies. Israel is as steadfast as ever, as secretary of war Pete Hegseth pointed out on Monday. Australia and Canada have also made clear their unequivocal support for the military action. In Europe, however, the response has been lackluster. Hegseth regretted the faintheartedness of “traditional partners who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, humming and hawing about the use of force.” ... The timidity of Europeans towards regime change in Iran is in stark contrast to their aggressive attitude towards regime change in Russia. Last year Von der Leyen called...

Estimates suggest that at least 370-400 people have safely sought refuge in Azerbaijan after crossing the Astara border checkpoint. Some 100 of those were Azerbaijani nationals with the rest being expats from 19 different countries. The Astara Border Crossing between Iran and Azerbaijan has seen increased traffic over the last few days by foreign nations, as many continue to seek an exit from Tehran amid continued US and Israeli attacks. The increased crossing traffic comes after the Azerbaijani government announced on Saturday that it would open the crossing to enable its nationals trapped in Iran to safely evacuate, as well...

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot held a call on Monday with his ​Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to discuss ‌the Iran war and both agreed to work on de-escalation, Barrot's office said in a statement. Both ministers ​committed to seeking a political solution ​that would guarantee collective security and take ⁠into account the aspirations of the ​Iranian people, the statement said. Barrot "reiterated the Iranian ​regime's responsibility for the ongoing escalation, after it unjustifiably attacked several countries in the region," the statement ​said. He also criticised the Iranian regime for ​refusing to respect the resolutions from the United Nations' ‌Security ⁠Council...

Britain, France and Germany have announced coordinated cooperation with the United States and its allies regarding the escalating confrontation with Iran, signalling a widening international involvement in the crisis. In a joint statement issued on Sunday evening, the three European powers said they had agreed to work alongside Washington and partner states and were examining defensive measures aimed at neutralising Iran’s missile capabilities.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth warned that some traditional U.S. allies are "hemming and hawing about the use of force" as Washington presses forward with its campaign against Iran, raising fresh questions about NATO cohesion at a moment of escalation.Spain has refused U.S. permission to use certain bases for strikes on Iran, calling for de-escalation and adherence to international law. Turkey has criticized the operation and warned of broader regional destabilization, while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was "saddened" by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death and denied that Turkish territory was used in the campaign. In a statement released on...

Sir Keir Starmer has told MPs that the government "does not believe in regime change from the skies", putting him at odds with President Trump over the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran. In his first statement to Parliament since the strikes, Sir Keir defended his decision not to permit the use of UK bases for the initial wave of attacks. "President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest," he told MPs.

France is to boost its nuclear arsenal and extend the deterrent to cover other European countries, in a major development of its nuclear defence policy. In a speech in Brittany, President Emmanuel Macron explained the changes as the response to an increasingly unstable strategic environment. "The next 50 years will be an era of nuclear weapons," he said. Speaking to naval officers in front of a nuclear submarine at the Ile Longue base near the port of Brest, he said the number of French nuclear warheads would be increased from their current level of around 300. He announced the launch...

Is there any better evidence that the Europeans are as hidebound, bureaucratic, and ridiculous as we think they are than this statement from European Union Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran's mullah regime? Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen Following the ongoing situation in Iran, I am convening a special Security College on Monday. For regional security and stability, it is of the utmost importance that there is no further escalation through Iran’s unjustified attacks on partners in the region. 9:44 AM · Feb 28, 2026 Don't let the bombing of Iran, the...

France's official reaction to the Iran War is one of opposition to Iran's nuclear program and its human rights record... On Friday the European Commission unilaterally and provisionally implementing the MERCOSUR trade deal vehemently opposed by French farmers. The deal will allow France to be flooded with agricultural products from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay... A tweaking of the French cabinet this week the departure of the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati... A diplomatic standoff this week between French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and US Ambassador Charles Kushner. The row over US government social media posting in the name...

French President Emmanuel Macron called President Trump’s attack on Iran “dangerous” and urged both sides to go back to the negotiation table. “The ongoing escalation is dangerous for all,” he said in a statement posted on social media. “It must stop. The Iranian regime must understand that it now has no other option but to engage in good faith in negotiations to end its nuclear and ballistic programs, as well as its regional destabilization activities. This is absolutely necessary for the security of all in the Middle East.” He also called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security...

Winemakers are pulling the cork on California. Another giant in the world-famous wine growing region is shutting down and slashing staff, making it the fourth since the start of 2026. Jackson Family Wines has stopped production at its Carneros Hill facility in Sonoma’s Carneros region, laying off more than a dozen employees, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed with California authorities on Feb. 12. *** Jackson Family Wines is known as one of the top US wine producers, the sixth-largest wine company in the country. *** It owns the Kendall-Jackson label and about 40 other brands, producing...

If asked to picture an award-winning vineyard, your mind may well wander to a traditional wine-growing region such as Rioja in Spain, Napa Valley in California, Tuscany in Italy or Burgundy in France. It seems unlikely that you would begin with the sweeping plains and granite hills of Texas, but that may be about to change. The past few decades have seen an explosion in the Lone Star State’s wine production, with the number of Texan wineries soaring from around 20 in the 1980s to roughly 450 today, according to industry body Texas Wine Growers. This has been coupled with...

Vineyards in Northern California began planting thousands of acres of new vines in 2016, and with more efficient harvesting methods, it has led to more bountiful harvests of grapes. Having more grapes to make wine sounds good, but if there’s not enough demand to support increased production, the surplus grapes go to waste. Jeff Bitter, president of Allied Grape Growers, told CNN that it’s possible for surplus grapes to make it to the secondary market, where they’re used for brandy or as grape concentrate. But that market doesn’t typically provide sustainable returns for growers. “The main cause of oversupply today...

BEAUNE, FRANCE — Is it time for Burgundy lovers to panic? Are the prices of these most exquisite and expressive wines about to spiral into the stratosphere, propelled by a burgeoning generation of Burgundy fans from China? In short, is Burgundy about to go the way of Bordeaux? Those fears were weighing on many people’s minds last weekend — at least, those who spend euros, dollars, pounds or yen, rather than renminbi — at the biggest annual wine party in Burgundy, three days of not-always-fine dining and drinking that surround the Hospices de Beaune charity auction. At the auction, the...

The US ambassador in Paris has once again drawn the ire of the French government. The French Foreign Minister summoned him to appear this evening, but Ambassador Charles Kushner failed to show up without explanation. According to Foreign Minister Barrot, Kushner doesn't understand what the role of ambassador entails. He therefore denies Kushner the right to directly contact members of the French government. Death of right-wing extremist Charles Kushner is the father of Jared Kushner, a son-in-law of the US president. On February 20, he wrote on X about the violent death of French right-wing extremist Quentin Deranque in Lyon:...

Brunel contemplated flipping on Epstein. We often hear analysts, politicians or victims complaining that Ghislaine Maxwell ended up being the only member of the Jeffrey Epstein trafficking ring to face justice. But this complaint, while it has merit, is not completely accurate, because it ignores the sordid saga of French modeling agent and alleged serial rapist Jean-Luc Brunel. Late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre said he ‘raped [her] repeatedly in New York and on Epstein’s island’. From her 2015 testimony: ‘He was another of Epstein’s powerful friends who had many contacts with young girls throughout the world. In fact, his only...

France will summon U.S. Ambassador Charles Kusher to protest comments made by the Trump administration over the death of a far-right activist, the foreign affairs minister said on Sunday. Jean-Noel Barrot was reacting to a statement by the U.S. State Department's Counterterrorism Bureau, which stated that "reports, corroborated by the French Minister of the Interior, that Quentin Deranque was killed by left-wing militants, should concern us all." The State Department said in its post on X that "violent radical leftism is on the rise and its role in Quentin Deranque's death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety. We...

In this video, Paul Joseph Watson discusses the beating death of Quentin Derangue by Antifa while defending a group of Conservative women protesting mass immigration in Lyon, France. The video is 5 minutes long. Also, here is a short X video of French men protesting Antifa and the murder of Quentin Derangue. BREAKING: Hundreds of nationalists are outside an Antifa bar tonight chanting revenge for Quentin. France is about to erupt!

it’s been a while since we had a good, old fashioned “cats with stats” around here and seems like high time we remedied that, so here is some data that happened to strike me: michael arouet, whose data and analysis i quite like, posted this yesterday: being a data-driven sort of feline, this seemed a bit of an unfair comparison to me as it pits an urban area against a whole country and as such has the potential to embed a great deal of bias. seeking to eliminate this potential objection to the data and to make a more apples...

What is the Nemesis identity collective? What are his struggles? An update on this small group, after the death of Quentin, a 23-year-old student who participated in the supervision of a Nemesis action in Lyon, according to its founder Alice Cordier. Quentin, a mathematics student, died on Saturday after an attack on the sidelines of a conference of LFI MEP Rima Hassan in Lyon, against which members of Nemesis were demonstrating. However, his parents indicated through their lawyer that he was "neither a security guard nor a member of any security service". Alice Cordier (not her real name), 28, founded...