Free Republic

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was caught on camera bolting from local reporters who wanted to ask him about the recent arrest of an alleged cop killer. Johnson was at a National Day of Prayer service Thursday in the Windy City, with his chauffeured car waiting in an alley, according to reports. Local reporters darted after the mayor, hollering for him to wait and to comment about the arrest of Xavier Tate Jr., who allegedly killed Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca in a carjacking last month, according to video.

A Brooklyn high school principal lashed out at parents who ripped her decision to boot students out of the classroom the day after 2,000 migrants moved in for a night. “How dare someone say that I don’t care about kids,” roared James Madison High School principal Jodie Cohen on a Zoom call Tuesday at parents seething that she “sold the kids out” by having them go remote the day after the migrants were evacuated from Floyd Bennett Field because of a torrential rain storm.

Ukrainian forces ramped up their attacks on Russian-held territory in the south while holding off Moscow’s assaults on the eastern town of Avdiivka, according to military experts and officials. The Ukrainian military broke through the enemy lines after intensified assaults across the Dnipro River, near the southern city of Kherson. “Ukrainian actions appear to be larger than previously observed tactical raids,” the think tank Institute for the Study of War said in a report. In the town of Avdiivka, just nine miles from the Moscow-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv’s forces managed to repel and hold their ground...

Far-left members of the City Council want to make Big Apple landlords do their work for them — or face five-figure fines. A new bill would require property owners to provide tenants with contact information for all elected officials representing their respective neighborhoods. Under the bill, introduced last week by Brooklyn Councilwoman Jennifer Gutiérrez, landlords would be required to supply new and existing tenants with hard-copy notices listing the names, office addresses and phone contacts for all federal, state and city pols representing their neighborhoods.

A Nashville lawyer found a novel way to beat student loans: a lawsuit. In subsequent tweets, Manookian shared the basic steps others could follow to get their student debt wiped through the legal system. “This isn’t about loan forgiveness,” Manookian told The Post. “It’s about holding these companies to the very same contract that they insist debtors comply with.” Manookian, who attended Vanderbilt University Law School, told The Post he took out two loans from JP Morgan and Bank One for $60,000 to pay for his education, chipping away at his students loan debt for “upwards of a decade.” A...

An overwhelming majority of Americans think it is vital to US interests that Ukraine beats back Russia’s invasion, while over half think providing military aid to the cause is worth it, a new survey shows. A Reagan Institute survey on national security issues found that 76% percent of Americans believe Kyiv’s victory is important to the United States, with a staggering number of Democrats (86%) and Republicans (71%) sharing this sentiment. Fewer Americans, however, are as excited about propping up Ukraine’s wartime efforts, with 59% believing that Washington should continue to provide weapons and additional support. The most common justification...

Ukraine is ramping up for its highly anticipated spring offensive, powered by a huge arsenal of tanks and other weapons being delivered by Western allies, along with newly organized brigades. “The frontline is priority number one. We are also actively preparing new brigades and units that will show themselves at the front,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address. “Everyone in Ukraine must understand that the main task of the state is the de-occupation of our territories, the return of our lands and our people from Russian captivity.”

A UN official claimed Russia is using rape as its “military strategy” in Ukraine — providing soldiers with drugs to sexually assault civilians. “When you hear women testify about Russian soldiers equipped with Viagra, it’s clearly a military strategy,” Pramila Patten, UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, told the AFP. Patten added that the UN has verified “more than a hundred cases” of rape or sexual assault since the invasion began in February. Victims have largely included girls and women, but boys and men have been raped, too. In September, the head of the organization’s Independent International Commission...