Free Republic

Western media are reporting that CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow, Russia, to warn his Russian counterpart Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), about striking back against Baltic states. {CITATION} However, that’s only half of the story.Director Ratcliffe wasn’t simply telling Naryshkin not to hit back; he was telling Naryshkin that European NATO provocations against the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad (between Poland and Lithuania) were not ‘fully’ sanctioned by the United States. {CITATION Aug 18}EU NATO members have been conducting provocative military operations and psychological warfare via NATO exercises all around Kaliningrad. They have been getting...

MOSCOW, Aug ‌27 (Reuters) - Russia warned on ​Thursday that it ​could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine in response to Ukrainian attacks on targets inside Russia using long-range British cruise missiles. The warning, delivered by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova at a news briefing ‌in Moscow, has been made before but without such rhetorical force or urgency. Zakharova said that London was ⁠just "one step away" from becoming legally complicit — in Moscow's eyes — for what she called "terrorism" against Russian civilians and warned of "inevitable catastrophic consequences" unless Britain changed course. Her ‌reference to...

A government watchdog group is urging lawmakers to crack down on foreign money flowing into U.S. nonprofits that influence American politics and public policy, according to letters exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.Americans for Public Trust (APT) is sending letters to all 50 governors and officials on six congressional committees directing them to its newly launched FollowForeignMoney.org database, which has cataloged a running total of more than $5 billion flowing from foreign governments, foreign nationals and foreign charities into U.S.-based nonprofits .... The group is calling on state and federal officials to examine whether existing laws adequately prevent...

Prime Minister Mark Carney will give a speech to the European Parliament next month in Strasbourg, France, his office confirmed Wednesday. While there, Carney will also meet with European Parliament members to "strengthen Canada’s ties with the European Union to the benefit of both our peoples," according to a statement. The day before he is set to speak, the prime minister will attend the State of the European Union address. The annual speech by the European Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, is seen as one of the most important political events of the year in Europe. Carney has been...

Former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg supports the idea of Ukraine extending general mobilization to include women, he said in an interview with Naspravdi MAX YouTube channel on Aug. 24. In the interview, Kellogg said he considers women’s military service an important part of civic duty.

It’s life, Jim – but very much not as we know it. In fact, when it comes to the latest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the life forms in question are less flesh-and-blood and more fabric-and-felt – as the series becomes the latest sci-fi show to embrace the magic of puppetry. Level-Five Transporter Accident follows in a longstanding Trek tradition that sees crew members undergo unfortunate transformations while beaming up to the ship. This time, the crew suffers an even greater indignity: thanks to a spot of boldly sewing from the legendary Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the Enterprise...

United Methodist Church Pastor Adam Hamilton catapulted onto the national stage after his Democratic primary win last month in the race to represent Kansas in the U.S. Senate. Hamilton, who secured the Democratic nomination to run against incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, says he's reaching out to conservative Evangelical voters as part of his “Leading From the Middle” statewide tour. The founding pastor of Resurrection Church in Leawood, Hamilton has positioned himself as an alternative to Marshall, who also identifies as a Christian and was elected to the Senate in 2020. In a 2014 interview with Jonathan Merritt to promote...

Ukraine on Sunday launched one of its largest aerial attacks on Russia since the start of the war, firing hundreds of drones and killing at least six people. A separate attack sparked a fire at a warehouse owned by the Russian online retail giant Wildberries in the town of Podolsk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine has just a tenth of interceptor missiles it needs from the US to defend itself from Russia’s increased ballistic missile attacks. CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports from Kyiv.

Pope Leo XIV says he is "following with concern the alarmnig situation in Ceuta," and prays to God for a solution of "peace, stability and justice". At least 72 people died during a mass influx of migrants into Spain's Ceuta enclave in recent days, when tens of thousands of people mostly swam around the border post from Morocco.

Péter Magyar and the Tisza Party are dismantling democratic Hungary as we have known it since 1990. A large crowd attends a demonstration organised by the former government party-coalition Fidesz–KDNP (Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance and the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) to protest against the 17th amendment to Hungary’s constitution, in front of the Sándor Palace in Budapest on July 9, 2026. - ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP I belong to the generation that brought about genuine regime change in Hungary. I had the privilege of being part of the overthrow of the communist regime, when, in 1990, after decades...

Hungary's new prime minister says he's enacting the will of the people by doing everything in his power to oust his predecessor's allies. Parliament on Monday approved a constitutional amendment that will allow the government to fire President Tamas Sulyok, who Prime Minister Péter Magyar calls a "puppet" of former prime minister Viktor Orbán. It's part of a broader package of reform aimed at dismantling the political system Orbán left behind, and removing his allies from positions of power. Some human rights advocates have accused Magya of trampling over due process and rule-of-law in his rush to usher in Hungary's...

People living with HIV are about twice as likely as their HIV-negative peers to develop herpes zoster—better known as shingles—but vaccination can close the gap, according to a Canadian study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Insects are not typically considered food in Western society, and many would probably balk at the idea of chowing down an insect bar (though gym bros might be excited at the idea of a new low-fat source of protein). However, the participants in a recent study were actually more likely to prefer an insect protein bar over a cereal bar. “Insect-based food, a potential solution for the escalating global food demand, faces consumer acceptance challenges in some regions,” a team wrote in the Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics study. “This article aims to understand the physiological reactions to an...

There has been an increase in the number of new HIV cases in Ireland recently, with the number of new cases back to pre-COVID levels. HIV Ireland says that the country now has the second highest transmission rate per capita in Europe. A new report by the organization, which was developed with clinicians, researchers, advocates and people with lived experience from across Ireland and the UK, said that Ireland is unlikely to achieve its objective of ending new HIV transmission by 2030. […] Professor Yvonne Gilleece, a consultant in HIV medicine, has said that Ireland needs to increase testing rates...

On July 7, the European Parliament voted 414-224 to open a formal review of whether a small pan-European political alliance called Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) still qualifies for EU registration and EU funding. Brussels insists this is a routine compliance matter. It is not. It is the first time in the history of the EU’s party-financing regime that this mechanism has been aimed at a party of the populist right, and everyone involved knows exactly which national party it is really about: Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD). You would be forgiven for never having heard of ESN. It is...

Some of the UK’s top judges are hearing arguments over whether a Trinidad and Tobago court had the legal right to overturn a 2018 ruling to remove colonial-era homophobic laws that criminalise anal sex between consenting men. The country’s “buggery law”, often referred to as its “sodomy” law, was created in 1925 and was written into Trinidad and Tobago’s 1986 Sexual Offences Act. In 2017 a Trinidadian LGBTQ+ rights activist, Jason Jones, challenged the law, and in 2018 a high court ruled that it infringed upon his constitutional right to privacy and equality. Last year a court of appeal quashed...

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer proudly boasts having the "gayest" parliament in the world. To celebrate Pride Month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted a reception at 10 Downing Street for LGBTQ+ community leaders. A social media video from the event posted on Tuesday, local time, showed Starmer talking with attendees while a speaker jokingly referred to him as a "lesbian style icon".

"As NBC News reports, the account is called "ZnotluvuiSamez," and features the Ukrainian flag as its profile picture. The account made multiple big bets surrounding the Russo-Ukrainian war, including $409,000 on a contract that asks if "Putin out as President of Russia by December 31, 2026?" According to users' overall bets, there's currently a "11 percent chance" that Putin will be out by the end of the year. Of course, a massive bet is far from a guarantee that Putin will no longer be president, whether through an ouster or a decision to step down. For one, Putin isn't up...

Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has appealed to nearly 40 partner countries to urgently transfer Patriot missiles from their stockpiles in July in exchange for future deliveries already contracted for Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said on July 2. The appeal comes after Russia launched one of its largest-ever aerial assaults against Kyiv overnight on July 2, killing at least 22 people and overwhelming Ukraine's air defenses with dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles alongside hundreds of drones. According to the Defense Ministry, Ukraine has already signed contracts for hundreds of PAC-2 Patriot missiles with German support, but deliveries are not expected...