Free Republic

Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy walk together. Photograph: Marco M Mantovani/PA London and Moscow’s rivalry stretches back to the imperial era, but the Ukraine war has brought relations to a new lowIn recent years, Britain has become the villain of choice in Moscow’s eyes. It has been accused of plotting drone strikes on Russian airfields, blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline, directing “terrorist” raids inside Russia, and even abetting last year’s gruesome Islamic State concert attack in Moscow. This week, a new charge was added to the pile: Russian authorities claimed that British intelligence had tried and failed to lure...

Cudde quotes 'Spider-Man,' says SSNs could counter China beyond North Korea U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Daryl Cudde stated that if South Korea proceeds with constructing a nuclear-powered submarine (SSN), “it is a natural prediction that the submarine will be utilized to deter China.” In an interview with domestic and foreign journalists held in Seoul on the 14th, Admiral Cudde responded to the question, “Do you believe South Korea’s SSN will play a role in deterring China?” by saying, “The U.S. defines China as a ‘pacing threat’ and expects to collaborate with allies to achieve common goals related...

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday the U.S. “may be having some discussions” with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a potential diplomatic avenue as the U.S. further builds up its military presence near the South American country with the arrival of its most advanced aircraft carrier. Trump didn’t offer details about the possible discussions with Maduro, but he said “Venezuela would like to talk.”The U.S. military has been carrying out a series of strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs. The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships, announced by the Navy in...

A Russian victory in Pokrovsk will have a negligible impact on frontline dynamics but a far-reaching impact in Zelensky’s nation After nearly 17 months of attritional combat, Russia is on the verge of capturing the Donetsk battleground of Pokrovsk. By leveraging the dense fog engulfing the city, the Ukrainian military estimates that between 300-500 Russian troops have entered Pokrovsk. Even more ominously, Russia is creating a troop “cauldron” to militarily encircle Pokrovsk and the neighbouring city of Myrnohrad.As Russia inches towards this much-anticipated battlefield success, the mood in Kyiv is sombre. President Volodymyr Zelensky recently conceded that the situation in...

President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release files involving the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal. “We have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on social media shortly after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a weekend in Florida. Trump's statement followed a fierce fight within the GOP over the files, including an increasingly nasty split with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had long been...

The world’s biggest aircraft carrier and largest warship ever built entered the Caribbean Sea on Nov. 16. U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth deployed the USS Gerald R. Ford to the region as an effort to carry out the Trump administration’s plan to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and dismantle criminal networks that “exploit our shared borders and maritime domains,” according to a Navy statement. The carrier’s arrival is considered to be an escalating pressure tactic against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who the United States does not recognize as the legitimate Venezuelan leader based on evidence that he stole last year’s...

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said Sunday the Trump administration is holding “discussions” on extending subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “There are discussions around extending the subsidies, if we deal with the fraud, waste and abuse that, right now, is paralyzing the system,” Oz told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

President Donald Trump indicated Sunday that he plans to meet with New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and said they’ll “work something out,” in what could be a detente for the Republican president and Democratic political star who have cast each other as political foils. Representatives for Mamdani did not have an immediate comment Sunday night on the president’s remarks, but a spokesperson pointed to the mayor-elect’s remarks last week when he said he planned to reach out to the White House “because this is a relationship that will be critical to the success of the city.” Trump expressed a...

As corporation awaits possible action by president’s lawyers, US news organisations offer different lessons about whether to fight or fold At best, the video editing is sloppy. At worst the cuts are a deliberate attempt to harm Donald Trump’s chances of winning the 2024 election.A legal complaint in a US court followed, in tandem with a demand for a massive payout to make matters right.This scenario will be painfully familiar to the BBC but it actually played out months ago at CBS, its sister network in the US. The broadcaster eventually agreed to pay $16m (£12.1m) to make its Trump...

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! ~ Hall of Heroes ~ Thomas R Norris Info from here. Thomas Rolland Norris (born January 14, 1944) is a retired United States Navy SEAL who received the Medal of Honor for his ground rescue with the assistance of Petty Officer Third Class Nguyen Van Kiet of two downed pilots in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam on April 10, 1972 – April 13, 1972. At the time of the action, Lieutenant...

CHICAGO (AP) — Baltazar Enriquez starts most mornings with street patrols, leaving his home in Chicago’s Little Village on foot or by car to find immigration agents that have repeatedly targeted his largely Mexican neighborhood.Wearing an orange whistle around his neck, the activist broadcasts his plans on Facebook.“We don’t know if they’re going to come back. All we know is we’ve got to get ready,” he tells thousands of followers. “Give us any tips if you see any suspicious cars.”Moments later, his phone buzzes.As an unprecedented immigration crackdown enters a third month, a growing number of Chicago residents are fighting...

Democratic socialist candidate Rae Huang launched her campaign for Los Angeles mayor against Democratic incumbent Karen Bass. "I am excited and very humbled to announce that I am running for Mayor of Los Angeles, the second largest city in our nation," Huang wrote on her Instagram account Saturday. "After over 20 years of leaning into my call to serve God through social justice work and organizing, this path has led me in these uncertain times to take the unusual path to continue my calling by running for Mayor to finally see through the changes the LA social justice movement and...

The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, centers around a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots to be counted up to five days after an election as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. The U.S. Supreme Court has agree to take up a case that could have an effect on the 2026 midterm elections. The case, Watson v. Republican National Committee, centers around a Mississippi law that allows mail-in ballots to be counted up to five days after an election as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. The Mississippi law was enacted in 2020 due...

First comes the warning, that disembodied voice over the tannoy: "Your attention please. Air siren in the city. Please move to the shelter on the minus second floor." Then comes the mosquito-like whine of the incoming Russian drones, massing in their hundreds just above the clouds. It's followed immediately by the rattle of anti-aircraft fire, the distant thud of explosions, then finally the ominous klaxon call of ambulance and fire sirens. This is the grim reality of night time in Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine. These are attack drones that explode on impact. Drones are now an integral part...

​The ultraconservative lawyer, José Antonio Kast, is in pole position to become Chile’s next leader after advancing to the second round of the South American country’s presidential election where he will face the Communist party candidate Jeannette Jara. With more than 70% of votes counted, Kast had secured about 24% of the vote in Sunday’s first round vote, having campaigned on hard-line promises to crack down on crime and immigration, while making a Donald Trump-style pledge to “put Chileans first”. Jara won slightly more support, with about 26% of votes going to the former labor minister for Chile’s outgoing centre-left...

Ashley Sharp reports.

PRESIDENT TRUMP DEFENDS @TuckerCarlson : “I think he’s good!”“He’s said good things about me over the years…”“Look, you can’t tell him who to interview!”47 then DESTROYED a Bloomberg “reporter” who interrupted 🤣“Will you let me finish my statement? You are the WORST! I don’t know why they even have you.”

It was the moment that marked an extraordinary new partnership between the descendants of a genocidal regime and its victims. At the G7 summit in June, Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, was challenged by a reporter about Israel’s ferocious bombardment of Tehran in the Israel-Iran war, as it raged on 6,000 miles away. “Das ist die Drecksarbeit, die Israel macht, für uns alle,” Mr Merz replied, with a stony glare at his interviewer: “Israel is doing the dirty work for all of us.” To German ears, it was an unusually blunt and bellicose remark for a post-war chancellor. But it...

BERLIN (AP) — Poland’s foreign minister said Sunday that an “offensive” auction of Holocaust artifacts has been canceled in Germany, relaying information from his German counterpart, following complaints from Holocaust survivors. Radoslaw Sikorski made the comments on the X platform, saying he and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul “agreed that such a scandal must be prevented.” The top Polish diplomat thanked Wadephul for the information that the auction was canceled. Earlier, a Holocaust survivors group called on the German auction house Felzmann to cancel Monday’s sale of hundreds of Holocaust artifacts, including letters written by prisoners and other documents that...

Embattled UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is channelling his inner Donald Trump as he tries to stop the relentless flow of small boats carrying immigrants across the English Channel from sinking his Labour government. A package of harsh measures to be officially unveiled on Monday would make Starmer the human rights lawyer blanch. But Starmer the prime minister has little choice but to get tough if he is to stop the votes flowing to the insurgent Nigel Farage. The new measures are modelled on those adopted by Denmark’s centre-left government, which has managed to cut the flow of irregular immigrants...