Free Republic

Slowly but steadily this summer, Russian troops are forging through Ukraine’s outgunned and undermanned defenses in a relentless onslaught, prompting the West to push for new weapons and strategies to shore up Kyiv. Russia took advantage of its edge in firepower amid delays in U.S. aid to scale up attacks in several areas along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front. Relatively small units are probing Ukrainian defenses for weak spots, potentially setting the stage for a more ambitious push. Meanwhile, Russia has made incremental but steady advances in the Donetsk region, including around the strategic hilltop town of Chasiv Yar, a gateway...

Washington — In a blockbuster decision Friday, the Supreme Court overruled a 40-year-old decision that directed federal courts to defer to agencies' interpretation of unclear laws enacted by Congress. The landmark ruling from the court, which divided 6-3 along ideological lines, curtails the regulatory power of federal agencies and is expected to restrict the government's ability to impose regulations on areas like the environment, health care and the workplace. The decision marks a major victory for the conservative legal movement, which has long called for dismantling the framework that arose out of the 1984 ruling in a case known...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Thursday that an order barring an anti-abortion protester from coming close to a Planned Parenthood nurse violated his First Amendment free speech rights and must be overturned. The court, controlled 4-3 by liberals, ruled unanimously in ordering that the injunction be dismissed. A Trempealeu County judge in 2020 barred Brian Aish from being near nurse Nancy Kindschy who sometimes worked in a small family planning clinic in the western Wisconsin city of Blair. Kindschy said Aish threatened her by saying bad things would happen to her or her family if she didn't quit her...

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Mall of America now has a new way to keep shoppers safe. A new high-tech layer of security has been added after gun-related incidents in recent years. Signs let you know you're coming face to face with new facial recognition technology. "Very mixed feelings about this because it could be useful and not so useful sometimes," said Melva Bargiela, a long-time Minnesota resident who is now living in Spain. Cameras with the ability to map faces have been installed to give shoppers peace of mind while detecting potential threats. "I think they're watching us all the...

Tokyo — Japanese health supplement maker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said Friday it was probing 76 more deaths possibly linked to its tablets containing red yeast rice, meant to lower cholesterol. It deepens a scandal that erupted earlier this year when the company said it was looking into five deaths potentially linked to the over-the-counter products after dozens of customers reported kidney problems... Fermented with a mould culture, red yeast rice, or "benikoji," has been used in food, alcoholic drinks and folk medicines for centuries around East Asia. "Even if the direct cause of hospitalisation or death was not kidney-related disease,...

Paris — Voters in France go to the polls Sunday for the first of two rounds of an election to select 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. The snap elections were called by President Emmanuel Macron on June 9 after his ruling Renaissance party performed poorly in elections for the European Parliament, which governs the 27-nation European Union snip... Opinion polls ahead of the first round showed the far-right grouping of parties led by Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) firmly in the lead, predicted to win 36% of the vote. Polls indicate the far-right...

Muted microphones and no live studio audience were among the debate guidelines.The nation watched as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump squared up Thursday evening in the first presidential debate of the 2024 general election. While this debate wasn't the first time the two candidates contended over issues ranging from immigration and the economy to abortion access -- this presidential debate saw the two candidates forced to follow the rules. Ahead of the debate, held in a studio at CNN's Atlanta headquarters, both campaigns agreed to a set of guidelines established by CNN, which included muted microphones, no...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, once rumored to be a candidate for president in 2024, assumed the role of top White House attack dog after President Joe Biden stumbled through Thursday night’s presidential debate. exp-customer-logo Republicans were quick to claim victory after the party’s presumptive nominee, former President Donald Trump, went head-to-head with Biden during the year’s first presidential debate on CNN. Though Trump, 78, is only three years younger than Biden, he was far more energetic during the 90-minute matchup. The president, his voice noticeably raspy, struggled to land coherent blows, even on questions dealing with abortion and the Jan....

Americans in upper-income groups are concerned about their ability to pay bills, with more than 15 percent of this demographic taking up additional jobs over the past year, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.As of April 2024, 32.5 percent of respondents earning over $150,000 annually were worried about making ends meet over the next six months, up from 21.7 percent in April of last year, the June survey showed.This percentage is higher than for those in the income groups of $100,000 to $149,999, $70,000 to $99,999, and $40,000 to $69,999. Only individuals who earned less...

Financial markets generally show no clear direction these days. Accordingly, relatively small movements cause market noise. A few examples happened in the currency market where non-U.S. dollar exchange rates depreciated. While Euro depreciation had its back story of extreme right-wing parties rising in election polls, Japanese Yen depreciation had its story of the central bank (Bank of Japan) not managing market expectations well, Chinese Yuan depreciation had its story of bad outlook, the ultimate result was a strong U.S. dollar, against all.Many views have listed so many reasons that the U.S. dollar should decline, if not collapse. However, the “cruel”...

It takes a lot of gumption to go on television and repeatedly lie to more than 300 million Americans. I honestly don’t know how Joe Biden does it. I suppose that after you have been lying for your entire career, lying comes as naturally as breathing does. Sadly, there are still millions of Americans that are falling for his lies after all this time. Biden would like for us all to believe that the economy is “booming”, that the southern border is under control, that our communities are safe, and that Ukraine is going to win their war against Russia....

WASHINGTON — The U.S. response to the Covid-19 pandemic got politically messy. A Friday Supreme Court ruling could frustrate government responses to public health emergencies even further. The Supreme Court struck down a long-standing legal doctrine that directed judges to defer to reasonable federal agency interpretations of ambiguous or technically challenging aspects of the law. The loss of the so-called Chevron doctrine calls into question every federal agency’s interpretation of a statute, so the ruling affects the regulations of all federal agencies. ... There were other cases in which Chevron didn’t come up but that involved agencies making legal justification...

Mr. Pompeo is keenly aware that today’s Democratic Party is the chosen vessel for a bold strain of Western Marxism that has been rising in America since former President Barack Obama’s time. He knows what’s at stake in this election if the far left continues to march through our institutions, media and corporations. Graduating first in his class at West Point, Mr. Pompeo has lived the U.S. Military Academy motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.” He is appalled by the “woke” military. From the sobering intelligence he’s seen, he understands the importance of restoring America’s military capabilities and projecting them smartly to...

After a brief leak of the decision documents yesterday on the Court’s website, the Supreme Court of the United States today formally issued its guidance in the Moyle v. United States and Idaho v. United States cases by choosing to return them to a lower court. The ruling lifts a stay on an injunction limiting enforcement of Idaho’s Defense of Life Act previously put in place by a federal district court order. This means Idaho hospitals receiving Medicaid funding must allow abortions to be committed as “stabilizing care” in compliance with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). However,...

The Supreme Court decided on Friday that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors, even in West Coast areas where shelter space is lacking. The case is the most significant to come before the high court in decades on the issue and comes as a rising number of people in the US are without a permanent place to live. In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the high court reversed a ruling by a San Francisco-based appeals court that found outdoor sleeping bans amount to cruel and unusual punishment. The majority found that the 8th Amendment prohibition does...

Abortion is no longer “between a woman and her doctor” in Michigan, where a judge blocked enforcement of three of the state’s pro-life laws on the basis that they now contradict a state amendment that created a constitutional ‘right’ to abortion. On Tuesday, Judge Sima Patel of the Court of Claims placed a preliminary injunction on the state’s 24-hour-waiting period for abortion, as well as a requirement that only physicians can commit abortions. She also blocked a portion of a law that requires abortion businesses to give their clients information about adoption and depictions of the fetus. The injunctions were...

President Joe Biden’s dismal showing at the CNN presidential debate against former President Donald Trump resonated around the world, with foreign diplomats expressing shock and concern while raising questions about the implications for a consequential US election that could upend the foreign policy status-quo should Trump be elected again. “Hard to watch” is how multiple foreign diplomats described Thursday night’s debate between Biden and Trump to CNN. The overwhelming sentiment among more than half a dozen diplomats from Europe, the Middle East and Asia whom CNN spoke to was that it was “a bad night for Biden,” as one European...

President Joe Biden blasted former President Donald Trump at a rally over his “one-man crime wave” and let out a laugh as supporters chanted “Lock him up!” The big story to emerge from CNN’s debate Thursday night was the panic after deadly early stumbles from Biden set the tone for debate coverage — though his performance improved as the debate went on. Brutal quotes from some Democrats and calls for Biden to drop out from his supporters in the media ensued. But it was a peppy and optimistic Biden who showed up to a debate watch party with First Lady...

#BREAKING: Chaotic scenes are unfolding as Pro-Palestine protesters have stormed through the James A. Farley Post Office Building, trying to reach a President Biden campaign event #Manhattan | #NewYork Currently chaotic scenes are unfolding as tensions escalate in Manhattan, New York. As Hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters are storming through the James A. Farley Post Office Building, clashing with New York law enforcement officers in riot gear as they are attempting to reach a President Biden campaign event, leading to a volatile clashes taking place. Dozens of arrests have already been made as protesters light smoke bombs and throw various items,...

A Washington state man found guilty of murder for his role in the 2022 death of a police officer who was mistakenly shot by a sheriff’s deputy was sentenced Friday to 29 years in prison. A Clark County Superior Court judge sentenced Julio Segura of Yakima in the death of Vancouver police officer Donald Sahota, The Columbian reported. More than a dozen people gave statements about Sahota in court before the sentencing. A Clark County jury last month convicted Segura, 23, of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and eluding police. He was acquitted of attempted...