Free Republic

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV tapped Bishop Ronald A. Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to lead the influential Archdiocese of New York, replacing Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who led New York's 2.8 million Catholics for 16 years.

Nearly 30 years ago I wrote a short article for the Human Rights Defender about the ‘right’ to own guns. In those days there wasn’t much to say. Even in the gun-crazy United States of America (USA), the courts had consistently ruled that the vaunted Second Amendment to the Constitution was no obstacle to regulation of firearms; its power was psychological and political, rather than legal. My article was prompted by the emergence of rights rhetoric from the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA), part of the Australian pro-gun lobby, which had formed an alliance with the US National Rifle...

The European Union on Thursday handed Ukraine a long list of reforms needed to join the bloc, determined to push the process forward despite the ongoing war and objections from EU member Hungary. Top EU officials and diplomats meeting in Lviv, in western Ukraine, said a list of demands covering roughly half of the required reforms would allow progress while formal negotiations remain blocked by Budapest. EU membership has become the central goal for Ukraine’s effort to anchor itself to the West as NATO prospects stall. Here’s a look at the main challenges on Ukraine’s road to the European Union....

A US defense website claims to have seen a leaked document unveiling a dramatic US proposal to prise four countries away from the European Union as part of a bold new 'Make Europe Great Again' strategy. The secret file, reported by Defense One, supposedly claims Trump intends to pull Austria, Italy, Hungary and Poland away from the EU and closer in to Washington's circle of influence - a move that would rip through the continent's political landscape. The document is also said to call for the US to back parties and movements that 'seek sovereignty and preservation/restoration of traditional European...

Teams from two Islamic countries playing in one of America’s wokest cities on the anniversary of Stonewall – what could go wrong?FIFA looks set to face its first major scandal of the 2026 World Cup – if you don’t count the exorbitant cost of the tickets, that is. The Egyptian FA has made a formal request for the cancellation of an LGBTQ+ celebration planned to take place at their Group G game against Iran on June 26 in Seattle. The game roughly coincides with the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots of 1969. The Seattle Pride match committee are planning to...

A new US National Security Strategy (NSS) has accused Europe of economic, political and cultural deterioration, sending shockwaves through Brussels but delighting the continent's populist parties. The controversial strategy, signed by US President Donald Trump, warns that Europe is on the brink of 'civilisational erasure' due to decades of decline, and condemns its practice of 'censorship' and 'mass migration' that will render the continent 'unrecognisable in 20 years or less'. The report crystallises in stark terms the growing fracture between the EU and its most important ally, the United States, threatening to torpedo a relationship that has defined global politics...

U.S. President Donald Trump’s new national security strategy appears to blow up some of the key principles behind 80 years of European collective defence, challenging the foundation of the continent’s relationship with the country. But on whether the White House will — or even can — follow through on many of its more radical or transformative demands, many European capitals will likely need more convincing. In a blistering attack, Trump’s new policy portrays Europe’s governments as weak and ineffective. Migration has destroyed the continent’s self-confidence, it claims, accusing the European Union of contributing to a loss of national sovereignty, weakened...

We spent a lot of time hearing about "foreign election interference" after President Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016. Democrats said Russian collusion and meddling won the election for Trump and posed a grave threat to our democracy. But as we're fond of saying, it's (D)ifferent when Democrats do it. Last year, during the presidential election, members of the U.K. Labour Party came to the U.S. to campaign for Kamala Harris. Politico reported that the Labour government was "scared" of the election's outcome and feared Donald Trump would win a second term; when American voters objected to this interference, Prime...

Sir Keir Starmer has enlisted the help of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron in his battle against Nigel Farage's Reform UK. The Prime Minister revealed the trio of 'centrist' politicians recently discussed how to take on 'populists' such as Mr Farage. The leaders of the UK, Germany and France met for dinner in Berlin last month to discuss European security, Ukraine and the Middle East. But Sir Keir has now said their talks also focused on their shared domestic challenges and battles with both far-Right parties and hard-Left parties. Mr Merz is continuing to face a...

The minority Liberal government has struck a deal with Bloc Québécois to “eliminate long-standing Criminal Code safeguards for freedom of expression and religious freedom in exchange for the Bloc supporting Bill C-9,” according to the National Post. Currently, the law exempts hateful or antisemitic speech if it based in good faith on the interpretation of a religious text, but that immunity is set to be removed. Additionally, the Liberals are expected to back off plans to eliminate the need for a provincial attorney general’s sign-off to pursue a hate-propaganda prosecution. The removal of the religious exception clause is being driven...

Donald Tusk emphasized that the European Union would not be able to impose anything on Warsaw on this issueMOSCOW, November 26. /TASS/. The European Union cannot impose its court decision on recognizing same-sex marriage on Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a cabinet meeting. "I would like to reassure everyone - the European Union will not be able to impose anything on us on this issue (an EU Court decision on recognition of same-sex marriages in other countries of the union - TASS)," Tusk said as broadcast on the social media of the office of the head of government. He...

You can tell a lot about someone’s feelings about the current political scene based on their visceral reaction to the scenes coming out of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral. To some, Cheney’s Friday memorial service at the National Cathedral hearkened back to a time of civility and bipartisan unity that preceded today’s intense political division. Others saw it as a reminder of the chumminess and clubiness of the swamp, which President Donald Trump was sent to drain.While the bitterly contested 2000 presidential election may have helped kick off this era of polarization, both Cheney and former President George W....

Finland’s former prime minister complained that she seems to be more known for infamous videos of her dancing than for her leadership. Sanna Marin became Finland’s youngest prime minister at just 34-years-old and quickly became a symbol of a new liberal movement in Europe. But two years into her term, videos of her gyrating in a lacy black tank top circled the internet and a separate video later emerged of her grinding in a club with a man that wasn’t her husband. Today, the ex-politician — who recently released a memoir and has 1 million Instagram followers — laments the...

A temporary glitch on X led to a credibility bloodbath for a variety of foreign propaganda accounts that were either posing as Americans or lying about their locations in other ways. Days prior, Head of Product Nikita Brier had announced a new feature revealing the origin and current location of users. When it rolled out, though, only account owners could view it. That all changed on Friday night, though. In what is assumed to have been a mistake, everyone's origins and current locations were made public for about an hour before disappearing. In one instance, it was revealed that one...

Right Angle News Network @Rightanglenews BREAKING - Waves of Democrat influencers are being exposed as foreigners under X’s new location update, including leftist X agitator Alex Cole, who claimed he voted for Kamala but has now been revealed to be Canadian.

In Berlin’s Charlottenburg district, there is an unusual library. The Library of Conservatism (Bibliothek des Konservatismus or BdK) was founded in 2012, based on Caspar von Schrenck-Notzing’s extensive private collection of right-wing and libertarian non-fiction books. Today, it has a catalogue of roughly 35,000 titles from German and European writers—including early prints from authors such as Roger Scruton, Edmund Burke, Ernst Jünger, and Carl Schmitt. Soon, though, none of these titles will be accessible to many German academics and researchers. Without any explanation, the BdK is being thrown out of the Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund (GBV), one of the largest library networks...

The world wants an American climate leader, and Gavin Newsom is happy to play the part — even if the country he represents isn’t quite ready to follow.BELÉM, Brazil — Gavin Newsom can’t get out of a meeting or a talk at the international climate talks here without being swarmed by reporters and diplomats eager for a quote, a handshake, a photo.On a tour Tuesday of a cultural center with Gov. Helder Barbalho, the leader of the Brazilian state hosting the talks, a passerby recognized them both. “There’s the governor,” he exclaimed. “And there’s the California governor.” Later in the...

🧵🚨 MAJOR BREAKING: International actors are involved in the State Department led color revolution 🚨🚨 This is not speculation; it’s straight from a recorded call. Ex-USAID employees describe how, before January 20, they moved internal groups off government systems and into encrypted Signal chats, then quickly linked with foreign partners and NGOs after the inauguration. This attempt at creating a color revolution isn't new news; this part was already reported in NOTUS earlier this year. But what's not reported is the international aspect. One participant explicitly frames it as "a global anti-authoritarian movement," connecting U.S. officials with "colleagues from around...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is not “afraid” of Donald Trump unlike other western leaders and dismissed reports that their last meeting in Washington was volatile, adding that he had good relations with the US president. He also said in an exclusive interview with the Guardian that King Charles had helped build relations with Trump and described the British monarch as “very supportive” of Ukraine. The Ukrainian president denied claims Trump had tossed maps of the battlefield aside in a stormy exchange in October at the White House, where he had arrived hoping to secure supplies of US Tomahawk cruise...

Since at least 1967, the organized American Jewish community, and virtually all US politicians, have treated Israel’s system of Jewish legal supremacy as nonnegotiable. Anti-Zionism has been beyond the pale. Mamdani’s victory suggests that we are witnessing a historic change. By bringing together anti-Zionists and liberal Zionists, Mamdani has forged a coalition that allows Americans who disagree in their ultimate vision for Palestine and Israel to work together to end unconditional US support for Israel. In the coming years, that coalition could change the Democratic Party, and American politics, as a whole. On its website, New York Jewish Agenda declares...