Free Republic

Saudi authorities have permitted the use of lethal force to clear land for a futuristic desert city being built by dozens of Western companies, an ex-intelligence officer has told the BBC. Col Rabih Alenezi says he was ordered to evict villagers from a tribe in the Gulf state to make way for The Line, part of the Neom eco-project. One of them was subsequently shot and killed for protesting against eviction. The Saudi government and Neom management refused to comment. Neom, Saudi Arabia's $500bn (£399bn) eco-region, is part of its Saudi Vision 2030 strategy which aims to diversify the kingdom's...

A well known New York City real estate lawyer has reportedly prompted the state of New York to investigate Judge Arthur Engoron after he claimed to have given the judge unsolicited advice. Engoron ordered former President Donald Trump in March to pay a $454 million judgement after 30 lenders turned him away. Trump - who frequently referred to Engoron as 'crazed' and 'corrupt' - posted $175 million in bond before a deadline to avoid asset seizure as he appeals the ruling.

President Joe Biden stubbornly refused to admit Americans' struggles with inflation might cost him the election in a rare interview Wednesday. A growing economy could inspire confidence in Biden's leadership ahead of the election, but the issue of persistent inflation could ruin that. Biden, who was in Wisconsin to tout his record on the economy and to announce an investment by Microsoft to build a factory, defended his handling of inflation.

AstraZeneca formally admits that its COVID-19 vaccine can cause rare side effect The admission is confirmed by AstraZeneca in legal documents responding to a group action claim launched by Leigh Day partner Sarah Moore under section 2 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 against the pharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca. It is expected that the claims could be worth millions of pounds. Fifty-one claimants represented by Sarah are pursuing the claim due to injuries allegedly caused by the Vaxzevria Astra Zeneca COVID-19 Vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca UK Limited (AZUK). Twelve of the claimants are acting on the behalf of a loved one...

Ireland, Spain and a number of other EU member states are considering 21 May as the date on which they will jointly recognize the State of Palestine, RTÉ News understands. Two sources have said that 21 May is being looked at. A third source said contacts between Dublin and Madrid, as well as between Slovenia and Malta, have been intensifying with a view to the countries jointly recognizing Palestinian statehood. […] Currently, eight EU member states recognize the State of Palestine, the most recent being Sweden in 2014. Ireland has been in ongoing discussions with “like-minded” states for a number...

In 2010, Kennedy, now 70, experienced severe memory loss and mental fog, he said in a deposition two years later. According to the Times, he consulted top neurologists familiar with the medical history of his uncle, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, who had died of brain cancer in 2009. A New York doctor, after reviewing a scan of his brain, told him that his health issues could be “caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” Kennedy said in the 2012 deposition, which concerned a divorce from his second wife,...

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said he has concerns about Sharia law being “forced upon the American people” during remarks on the House floor Tuesday. “Well, I’ve got some pretty strong concerns about Sharia law,” Roy said while discussing his broader worries about border security and foreign aid. “And whether that’ll be forced upon the American people.” In the remarks, Roy referenced a “massive Muslim takeover of the United Kingdom” and said he had “pretty strong concerns about people who wanna see Israel’s destruction, who were happy about Oct. 7, who were elected in the United Kingdom.” “Some might say that...

This is a conversation that comes up in Washinton every few years before it fades away without anything being done about it. The clock is ticking for the Social Security system. It's still solvent for the moment, but at the current rate of retirement for senior citizens and the shrinking number of young people entering the workforce, the program will begin running short of cash in roughly nine years. (Possibly a bit longer if the economy strengthens.) The math is fairly straightforward and it obviously needs to be fixed, but thus far, as NPR's Scott Horsley reports, a politically palatable...

Atheist zealots have managed to shut down a Christian club at an elementary school in rural Florida. The school dismantled the group after an atheist organization sent a letter whining about the existence of the religious club. Hamilton County Elementary School shut down its chapter of the North Central Florida Fellowship of Christian Athletes, according to the Christian Post. The move came after the Freedom From Religion Foundation, an organization known for attacking Christians in various areas of American society, wrote a letter accusing the school of violating the U.S. Constitution.FFRF, which touts itself as the largest atheist legal group...

On Wednesday, a UNWatch report revealed that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency staff have been stealing humanitarian aid materials meant for Gazan civilians, and reselling the materials at a profit. UNRWA staff are stealing aid and selling it for profit, while those who report it face reprisals, according to numerous reports published by Palestinians in an UNRWA-related chatroom.The posts expose a deep frustration by employees that senior UNRWA employees are engaged in the abuses, and that the agency is doing nothing about it. This comes amid a recent call by UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillipe Lazzarini for countries to increase...

Jury consultant Robert Hirschhorn told CNN on Monday that the prosecution’s lack of evidence in former President Donald Trump’s trial so far is a major issue that could lead to a “not guilty” verdict despite the likelihood of the jury being largely Democratic because of the Manhattan venue. Former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney testified on Monday, asserting that Trump never directed him to falsify documents under cross examination by the defense. McConney is yet another witness who has not proven direct involvement by the former president, with Hirschhorn saying even a Democratic jury is likely to acquit Trump if...

New Delhi -- Months after admitting in a UK court that its COVID-19 vaccine, which is being sold as Covishield in India, may have a potential rare blood clot side effect known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), pharma giant AstraZeneca has recalled the jab made in collaboration with Oxford University. The British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company faces lawsuits from more than 50 alleged victims and their families who claim fatalities or permanent brain injuries following vaccination during Covid pandemic. The company's COVID-19 vaccine is being sold as Vaxzevria in Europe. AstraZeneca had in February this year admitted in the court...

A high-profile New York real estate lawyer, whose law license was once suspended, said he approached the judge presiding over Donald Trump’s civil fraud case to offer unsolicited advice about a law at issue in the case. Attorney Adam Leitman Bailey made the claim during an interview with NBC New York, saying he spoke to Judge Arthur Engoron three weeks prior to the judge’s February decision to fine the former president $454 million for falsely inflating the value of his assets. The judge, through a court spokesman, denied impropriety and said he was “wholly uninfluenced” by Mr. Bailey. New York’s...

Dutch riot police broke up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) on Wednesday, battling demonstrators who had vowed to stay put until the institution severed all ties with Israel. Protesters on barricades made of desks, fences, wooden pallets and bricks used fire extinguishers to keep the police at bay, images on the local TV station AT5 showed. Police hit protesters with batons and used a shovel to knock down the barricades, breaking through in a matter of minutes. Hundreds of protesters on the narrow streets outside shouted "Shame on you!" as the police pushed them away from...

President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that after the end of the war, there will be a demographic "boom" in Ukraine. He said this during a meeting with students of Sumy State University. When asked by a student about government programs aimed at stimulating the birth rate, the Ukrainian leader replied that the number one issue is safety. "I think that the biggest incentive is safety, and what's next with the child, and what to do. And we need not only financial incentives, because finances, in my opinion, help, but they do not stimulate giving birth during the war," Zelensky said. The...

Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the sickening gang rape of a 14-year-old girl in a wooded area in Belgium by ten other minors. The girl, who remains unidentified for privacy reasons, was allegedly lured into a wooded area called Kabouterbos in Kortrijk, West Flanders (five miles from the French border), by her teenage boyfriend over the Easter school break. Upon enticing her into the forest, close to an area used by mountain bikers, the boyfriend is said to have attacked his young partner before allegedly allowing several other boys to sexually assault her as well. Reports said the group...

NEW State Department documents reviewed by @COVIDSelect suggest COVID-19 leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China and the CCP covered it up. These classified documents were previously released in an unclassified and highly redacted FOIA production to @USRightToKnow . Today, Chairman @RepBradWenstrup requested @StateDept rapidly declassify the documents and share the truth about the origins of COVID-19 with the American people👇

Two California teens who were forced to withdraw from an elite Catholic high school over accusations of blackface have been awarded $1 million and tuition reimbursement. A Santa Clara County jury sided with the teens, identified by the initials A.H. and H.H., on two claims concerning breach of oral contract and lack of due process. The boys sued Saint Francis High School in August 2020 after photos circulated of them sporting acne treatment masks. The controversy started when the boys were accused of performing blackface and were ultimately pressured into withdrawing from the prestigious Mountain View school. 'It was quite...

Don’t look now, but journalism might be back. In a rare uplifting press story, New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn seemed to lose patience with incessant demands that he elect Joe Biden instead of reporting news, directing an epic, And Justice For All-style “No, you’re out of order!” tirade against the White House and its lackeys. When Ben Smith at Semafor asked Kahn about former Obama official Dan Pfeiffer’s complaint that the Times does not “see their job as saving democracy or stopping an authoritarian from taking power,” Kahn went ballistic. “I don’t even know how it’s supposed to...

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it received a recording of a phone message left by an FBI special agent for someone at the Secret Service in the context of the raid on President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The August 11, 2022, recording says: Yes, hi, this is Special Agent [redacted] from FBI [unintelligible]. We met on Monday [the day of the raid]. We have a couple of specific follow-up asks of you, um, so give me a call so we can discuss that. My number is [redacted]. Again, my name is [redacted]. Thanks, bye. The recording...