Free Republic

Four Russian warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, will arrive in Havana next week, Cuban officials said Thursday, citing “historically friendly relations” between both nations and as tensions escalate over Western military support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Cuba’s foreign ministry said in a news release that the ships will be in Havana between June 12 and June 17, noting that none of them will carry any nuclear weapons and assuring their presence “does not represent a threat to the region.” ... The officials said that the Russian military presence was notable but not concerning. However, it's taking place...

After a double homicide shooting earlier this week, Swedish residents in Norrköping's district of Hageby can be searched or have their vehicles searched without the need for reasonable suspicion.. Swedish police have introduced the first “stop-and-frisk-zone” in the country’s history, giving officers the power to search any individual or vehicle without the need for reasonable suspicion. The draconian measure is in response to a double shooting on Monday evening in the Hageby residential district of Norrköping, a city southwest of Stockholm. Two men were pronounced dead at the scene. As of Wednesday, the authorities are introducing what is also known...

NATO is drawing up plans to send American troops to the frontlines of Europe in the event of an all-out conflict with Russia, it has been revealed. New 'land corridors' are being carved out to quickly funnel soldiers through central Europe without local bureaucratic impediments, allowing NATO forces to pounce in an instant should Putin's devastating war in Ukraine move further west. The plans are said to include contingencies in case of Russian bombardment, letting troops sweep into the Balkans via corridors in Italy, Greece and Turkey, or towards Russia's northern border via Scandinavia, officials told The Telegraph. Tensions have...

Ukraine last night claimed it successfully hit a missile system inside Russia using U.S. weapons. It said the country’s forces destroyed Russian missile launchers with a strike in the Belgorod region. Senior politician Yehor Chernev claimed Ukrainian forces used a High Mobility Rocket Artillery System, or HIMARS, The New York Times reported. It comes just days after the U.S. granted permission for Ukraine to fire American weapons into Russia.

NEW: In an internal memo to ICE— The ERO Executive Associate Director says that CBP and ERO will not question illegal immigrants who cross the southern border and are processed for expedited removal while the limitation is in effect regarding their fear of return... “If a noncitizen subject to the Presidential Proclamation is processed for expedited removal and manifests fear or an intention to apply for asylum or related protection while detained in ICE custody, the noncitizen must be referred to USCIS…” One source saying, “In other words nothing has changed…”

What is at stake in our ability to see the threat plainly? Nothing less than the preservation of our way of life.If you wonder why I—a woman of color, an African, a former Muslim, a former asylum seeker, and an immigrant—look at the antics of today’s anti-Israel, anti-American protesters with such fear and trembling, allow me to explain.I was born in Somalia in 1969. The country had achieved independence nine years before. But less than a month before I was born—on October 21, 1969—a junior member of the brand-new Somali armed forces seized power with the help of the Soviet...

...The study, partially funded by Klamath County, shows that the region's farms and ranches, worth over $368 million annually and employing over 3,000 people, are in jeopardy. The study highlights that this is due to water restrictions, which have already led to a loss of $12 million in income, with more at risk if restrictions continue. ...

The Iran-backed Palestinian Hamas terror organization released a video on Friday providing another indication that hostage Noa Argamani, a young Israeli woman abducted by Palestinians during the October 7 massacre, is still alive. The one-minute clip, which appears to contain an audio recording of the 26-year-old Israeli university student taken hostage from a music festival, urges Israelis to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, accusing it of abandoning those kidnapped by Hamas. Hamas released a psychological warfare video with the voice of hostage Noa Argamani. Even while Hamas broadcasts their war crime for the world to see, the International...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the Philippine president on Monday in a rare Asian trip to urge regional leaders to attend a Swiss-organized global peace summit on the war in Ukraine that he accuses Russia, with China’s help, of trying to undermine. Zelenskyy arrived unannounced and under heavy security in Manila late Sunday after speaking over the weekend at the Shangri-La defense forum in Singapore. He was given a red-carpet welcome with military honors Monday at the presidential palace before meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., after which he left the Philippines. Marcos pledged that his country would take...

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, took advantage of a major rally held today in Ankara, the Turkish capital, to continue his rampage attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Addressing an audience of thousands of supporters, Erdogan called Netanyahu derogatory names and called on the world to "stop the bloodthirsty thug Netanyahu." "We need to stop this barbarian, thug, and bloodthirsty Netanyahu, who is dragging our region and the entire world into disaster," Erdogan said. He then reiterated Turkey's commitment to the Palestinians and said that Turkey stands by the Palestinian people. "Turkey opposes the oppression, the massacre, and the...

..... The Israeli proposal which was transmitted by Qatar to Hamas, Biden revealed, includes three phases, the first of which “would last for six weeks ... [and] would include a full and complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza, release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.” Phase two would see the release of all remaining living hostages, including male soldiers, Israeli forces, with withdrawal from Gaza. “As long as Hamas lives up to its commitments, a temporary ceasefire would become,...

Six people were wounded in a knife attack at a far-right rally in Germany on Friday, including a prominent critic of Islam, drawing immediate condemnation from the nation's leaders. The attack, just days before EU-wide elections, comes amid a spike of politically motivated violence in Germany. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser raised the possibility that the assault could have been Islamist motivated. A man with a knife attacked and wounded several people on the market square in the city of Mannheim in southwest Germany at around 11:35 am (0935 GMT), police said in a statement. Five of those wounded were taking...

Russia has accused Nato and the US of "provoking a new level of tension" after the US and Germany became the latest allies to let Ukraine's military to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Nato countries, especially the US and several European countries, had "entered a new round of escalating tension and they are doing this deliberately", in remarks quoted by the Tass news agency. The UK and France had already signalled they were open to easing restrictions on Ukraine striking military sites on Russian territory, before US President Joe Biden said on...

The German government said Friday that Ukraine can use German-supplied weapons against Russian attacks from positions just over their joint border, in a significant policy change that came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden gave Kyiv a green light to strike back with American weapons at Russian military assets targeting the country’s second-largest city. A German government statement noted that, in recent weeks, Russia has prepared, coordinated and carried out attacks on Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, in particular from areas just over the border in Russia. "Together we are convinced that Ukraine has the right under international law to...

US President Joe Biden has given Ukraine permission to use American-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia, but only near the Kharkiv region, US officials say. One told BBC News his team had been directed to ensure Ukraine was able to use US weapons for "counter-fire purposes" to "hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them". Russian forces have made gains in the Kharkiv region in recent weeks after a surprise offensive in the area, close to the border with Russia. On Friday, Ukrainian officials said three people had been killed and 16 injured in Russian...

You may have missed the news, but last week an Army colonel – nice to see an Army colonel doing something besides sharing xis pronouns – at Fort Bragg, which communists now call “Fort Liberty,” caught a Chechen illegal alien lurking in his backyard taking pictures of his kids and smoked him like a fatty at a Cypress Hill concert. This colonel might have been from Delta Force, but he is definitely part of the special operations community, and you might well be wondering what some Chechen illegal alien was doing in his backyard. In fact, there were two of...

"It's locked up in an escrow I think. There's about $5.5 million that are locked up in an escrow seized by the Government of Ontario. They have a seizure order on it, as well as a forfeiture order on it.".. Freedom Convoy protestor Tamara Lich, who has attracted continued media attention for being part of what she calls “the longest mischief trial in history” along with friend Chris Barber, revealed in a recent interview that the Ontario government is still withholding funds sent by supporters of the 2022 protest to Give Send Go. Lich and Barber are charged with mischief,...

Western countries should let Ukraine strike military bases inside Russia with the sophisticated long-range weapons they are providing to Kyiv, French President Emmanuel Macron said, pressuring his allies in the most recent sign of a potentially significant policy shift that could help change the complexion of the war. The question of whether to allow Ukraine to hit targets on Russian soil with Western-supplied weaponry has been a delicate issue since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. Western leaders have mostly shrunk from taking the step because it runs the risk of provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin,...

With six months to go until the presidential election, America's NATO allies are planning to boost their defense spending ahead of the potential disruption of a second Donald Trump presidency. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is preparing a funding plan to try to insulate the 75-year-old military partnership from any changing political realities that might affect the alliance, according to Oana Lungescu, who until last year was the longtime lead NATO spokesperson for Stoltenberg. "It is important to have predictability both for allies and for Ukraine," Lungescu told CBS News. "This [plan] relieves the U.S. of some of its organizational...

Poland has signed a $735 million contract with the U.S. for the supply of JASSM-ER missiles, Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Tuesday. The country is spending heavily to bolster its armed forces since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Warsaw is spending around 4% of its gross domestic product on defense this year and last week announced an agreement with the U.S. The missiles have a range of around 621 miles, according to the defense ministry.