Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Now that the festivities are over, it is time for the masters of the media to stop asking inane questions of the new folks in town -- such as, "How do you like your new office?" -- and for the Obama administration to get down to work on a clear and present danger. Notwithstanding the "day one" and "first week" coverage, the most pressing issue confronting the American people isn't closing "Gitmo" or the always ephemeral "Mideast peace process" in the aftermath of Gaza or even "fixing the economy." Item No. 1 ought to be preventing the world's...

Rhode Island’s Democratic-controlled state House on Friday approved legislation that would ban the sale and manufacturing of many semiautomatic rifles commonly referred to as assault weapons. The proposal now heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. Dan McKee, who said in a post on the social platform X on Friday evening that he plans to sign the bill into law. If that happens, Rhode Island will join 10 states that have some sort of prohibition on high-powered firearms that were once banned nationwide and are now largely the weapon of choice among those responsible for most of the country’s devastating...

PARIS/JERUSALEM, June 16 (Reuters) - France shut down the main Israeli company stands at the Paris Airshow on Monday for refusing to remove attack weapons from display, sparking a furious response from Israel and inflaming tensions between the traditional allies. Stands including those of Elbit Systems (ESLT.TA), opens new tab, Rafael, IAI and Uvision were blocked off with black partitions before the start of the world's biggest aviation trade fair. Smaller Israeli stands, which didn't have hardware on display, and an Israeli Ministry of Defence stand, remained open. France, a long-time Israeli ally, has gradually hardened its position on the...

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he was not a “big fan” of Saturday’s parade celebrating the 250th birthday of the Army. Host Kristen Welker said, “Let’s turn to what we witnessed in Washington, D.C., the Nation’s Capitol on Saturday, a military parade celebrating the 250th birthday of the Army here in Washington yesterday. You expressed some doubt ahead of the parade. President Trump was to showcase the army’s military might, and even to inspire a new generation to sign up for military service. Senator, what do you say about that argument? Could the...

The FBI has identified the protestor filmed hurling cinder blocks at law enforcement vehicles during the anti-ICE riots, and Pam Bondi warns he and others will be hunted down. The suspect, who has so far only been named as 'Reyes', has been added to the bureau's most wanted list after a $50,000 reward was announced for information leading to the suspect's arrest and conviction. 'That guy has just been identified, and they are doing a search warrant on his house as we speak,' Bondi told Fox News. The brute was photographed wearing a green and orange Los Angeles Lakers cap...

For decades, the bedrock rationale for NATO’s existence has been the formidable conventional and nuclear threat Russia posed. However, recent geopolitical realities necessitate a critical re-evaluation of this foundational premise.Russia, the very reason for NATO’s enduring vigilance, increasingly reveals itself as a waning power. Its protracted and costly war against Ukraine has demonstrably exposed severe limitations in military capability, logistical resilience, and strategic foresight. Despite its historical might and nuclear arsenal, Russia has failed to decisively defeat a significantly smaller neighbor after years of brutal conflict.This protracted stalemate suggests that Moscow’s capacity for conventional expansion is severely diminished, and its...

Despite efforts by the United Nations to impose isolating sanctions on North Korea in response to the country's continued development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, trade between Russia and North Korea soared more than 85 percent in the first four months of the year.

Massive security breach reveals over two million sensitive documents exposing Russia’s entire nuclear weapons modernization plan and underground tunnels.A catastrophic security breach has exposed Russia’s nuclear weapons infrastructure blueprints, revealing extensive modernization and expansion efforts at multiple strategic missile sites.Over two million sensitive documents containing architectural plans, security system details, and internal layouts of nuclear facilities were discovered in publicly accessible databases.The leaked information includes details of the Avangard hypersonic missile system sites and underground tunnels, representing what experts call “a huge breach of security.” • • Western materials from companies like Knauf were used in modernizing Soviet-era nuclear facilities,...

North Korea continues to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs despite UN Security Council sanctions and high-level diplomatic efforts. The country’s ballistic missile testing, military parades, and policy statements suggest that North Korea is continuing to build a nuclear warfighting capability designed to evade regional ballistic missile defenses.North Korea has tested a nuclear explosive device six times since 2006. Each test produced underground blasts progressively higher in magnitude and estimated yield. North Korea conducted its most recent test on September 3, 2017. A North Korean press release stated it had tested a hydrogen bomb (or two-stage thermonuclear warhead) that...

(AFP) — Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday that Germany along with Ukraine’s other key Western backers had lifted range restrictions on weapons they send to Kyiv to fight against Russia. Merz, who took office early this month, also vowed that “we will do everything in our power to continue supporting Ukraine, including militarily”, in close coordination with other supporters. “There are no longer any range restrictions on weapons delivered to Ukraine — neither by the British nor by the French nor by us nor by the Americans,” he said. “This means that Ukraine can now defend itself, for example, by...

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Merz said that Germany, France, Great Britain and the United States have lifted range restrictions on military supplies to Ukraine - Kyiv can attack positions throughout Russia with long-range weapons This opens the way to the supply of German Taurus cruise missiles

According to one 2025 nongovernmental estimate, Russia has around 1,718 deployed nuclear warheads based on a triad of strategic delivery vehicles roughly consisting of 330 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), 12 ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs) with 192 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and 58 strategic bombers. Russia has not exchanged official data with the United States about the structure of its strategic nuclear forces since 2023. Russian officials have stated, however, that Russia continues to abide by New START limits, thus maintaining rough parity with U.S. strategic nuclear forces. According to one 2025 nongovernmental estimate, the United States has around 1,770 deployed nuclear...

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) paid homage to the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and introduced “the ‘assault weapons’ ban of 2025” Wednesday morning. In an X post, Schiff explained that his legislation would “ban the sale, manufacture, import, and transfer of military-style ‘assault weapons.'” He claimed there have been “486 mass shootings involving ‘assault weapons'” since 2006, but did not provide any sources to substantiate the figures. He did reference Feinstein’s introduction of the first “assault weapons” ban over three decades ago, then claimed her ban “had a dramatic impact on mass shootings” during the ten years in which it...

A Florida gun nut has been indicted in New Jersey for allegedly boarding an Amtrak train with a “small arsenal of weapons,” including a slew of ammunition, handguns, and a booby-trapped rifle, authorities said. Jeffrey O. Kennerk of Fort Lauderdale was caught on a Virginia-bound Amtrak train with a slew of assault weapons, large-capacity ammunition magazines, handguns, and silencers, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office announced. “This defendant allegedly hauled a small arsenal of deadly weapons and ammunition through busy transit stations, and on a train filled with passengers,” Platkin said in a Wednesday statement. Transit police in Newark-Penn...

Half a million weapons obtained by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been lost, sold or smuggled to militant groups, sources have told the BBC - with the UN believing that some have fallen into the hands of al-Qaeda affiliates. The Taliban took control of around one million weapons and pieces of military equipment - which had mostly been funded by the US - when it regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, according to a former Afghan official who spoke to the BBC anonymously. As the Taliban advanced through Afghanistan in 2021, many Afghan soldiers surrendered or fled, abandoning their weapons...

Judge finds that Muslima arrested in New Mexico jihad compound has “mental disease,” unfit to stand trial DEC 1, 2019 9:00 AM BY ROBERT SPENCER Here we see the all-purpose “mental illness” deflection being used to aid a jihadi in evading responsibility for her crimes. It has happened many times before. What do you bet they all walk before this is over? Given the current political climate regarding jihad terrorism, this is quite possible, even likely. “Terrorism suspect hospitalized,” by John Miller, Taos News, October 24, 2019: A U.S. District Court judge in Albuquerque has ordered one of the five...

"BERLIN—President Trump’s embrace of Russia is causing Europeans to rethink their security and giving currency to an idea the U.S. has long sought to avoid: a nuclear-armed Germany. Friedrich Merz, who is poised to become Germany’s next chancellor, said Berlin should start talks about expanding the French and British nuclear deterrents to cover Europe, according to an interview the conservative politician did with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung weekly. .... On the nuclear side, researchers and some politicians say Berlin’s fastest route to rebuilding a deterrent could be to replicate its arrangement with the U.S. This could see French nuclear bombers...

The Trump administration has stopped financing new weapons sales to Ukraine and is considering freezing weapons shipments from U.S. stockpiles, moves that threaten Kyiv’s ability to fight at a critical time in its battle against Russian forces, current and former U.S. officials said. -snip- Secretary of State Marco Rubio in recent weeks signed a waiver to exempt Ukraine from the ban Trump imposed on foreign assistance, but senior State Department official Peter Marocco hasn’t sent a required letter to the Pentagon to allow the aid to flow to Kyiv, current officials said. Withholding the letter has resulted in a de...

Vladimir Putin unleashed a missile strike to 'sink' a cargo ship amid unconfirmed Russian claims it was carrying British weapons for use by Ukraine. Two Iskander-M ballistic missiles hit the Panama-flagged container ship MSC LEVANTE F - reportedly Swiss-owned - soon after it arrived in Odesa on March 1, after making a stop in Turkey. Two port workers were believed to have been wounded in the strike, which also damaged infrastructure, Ukrainian reports said. The report of the attack comes as British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer today hosts Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders to discuss the future of...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attempted to purchase weapons from Brazil for the Ukrainian military to continue the conflict with Russia, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated, APA reports citing TASS. He added that the Brazilian government will not sell arms to countries that seek to kill Russian citizens. "I remember that [German] Prime Minister Olaf Scholz visited us on January 30, 2023, and tried to buy Brazilian weapons to hand over to Ukraine," Lula da Silva said during a press conference with Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, broadcast on the Brazilian government's YouTube channel. "I will not sell...