Free Republic

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine, claiming it’s intended to protect civilians.

The United States military has carried out a drone strike against an alleged ISIS-K "planner" following a suicide bombing in Kabul that killed 13 American soldiers and at least 70 Afghans. "U.S. military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner," U.S. Central Command Spokesman Captain Bill Urban told Fox News on Friday. "The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties."

This story was updated at 2:38 p.m. to include bond information.CARROLLTON — The Denton County Sheriff’s Office and other Texas agencies have arrested and charged a Carrollton mayoral candidate with 109 felonies related to voter fraud, according to a news release. Zul Mirza Mohamed was arrested Tuesday in Carrollton after investigators obtained a search warrant for his residence. Mohamed is currently sitting in the Denton County Jail, charged with 25 counts of unlawful possession of a ballot/ballot envelope without request of the voter — a second-degree felony — and 84 counts of fraudulent use of a mail ballot application —...

By Katie Hall Posted at 10:29 PM Updated at 11:07 PM At least one person was shot in downtown Austin on Saturday night in the midst of a protest, and medics are searching for additional victims, according to Austin-Travis County EMS. The shooting happened around 9:50 p.m. at Sixth Street and Congress Avenue, and the public should avoid the area, EMS officials said. Callers reported that multiple people were injured, EMS officials said. The person who was shot has life-threatening injuries, and medics have taken that person to the hospital, EMS officials said. A protester, who filmed the scene via...

Translated from Arabic by Microsoft #عاجل- United States: A raid targeting ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and killing him

Social media platforms had a bit of a meltdown on Wednesday. Facebook (FB), Instagram, WhatsApp and Twitter were all experiencing various issues. Users reported bugs, such as images not loading on Instagram and problems with Twitter direct messages, including the app showing notifications for unread DMs that weren't there when users checked their inbox. Facebook says it's resolved outage issues and denies attack "We're currently having some issues with DM delivery and notifications. We're working on a fix and will follow up as soon as we have an update for you. Apologies for the inconvenience," Twitter (TWTR) said in a...

Police have dramatically changed their account of how the Las Vegas massacre began on Oct. 1, revealing Monday that the gunman shot a hotel security guard six minutes before opening fire on a country music concert — raising new questions about why police weren’t able to pinpoint the gunman’s location sooner. Officials had previously said that gunman Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nev., shot Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos after Paddock had unleashed his deadly volley at the Route 91 Harvest festival, an assault that began at 10:05 p.m. and left 58 people dead, with hundreds more injured. They...

Fidel Castro has died at the age of 90, Cuban state television announced on Saturday, ending an era for the country and Latin America. Live Fidel Castro: world reacts to death of Cuban leader – live updates Brother Raul Castro announces on Cuban state television that controversial revolutionary leader has died at age of 90 Read more The revolutionary icon, one of the world’s best-known and most controversial leaders, survived countless US assassination attempts and premature obituaries, but in the end proved mortal after suffering a long battle with illness. The announcement was long expected, given the former president’s age...

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died of apparent natural causes Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, the San Antonio-Express News reported. Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa, the paper reported. According to a report, Scalia, an associate justice, arrived at the ranch on Friday and attended a private party with about 40 people. When he did not appear for breakfast, a person associated with the ranch went to his room and found a body. The U.S. Marshal Service, the Presidio County sheriff and the...

Denton’s 7-month-old ban on hydraulic fracturing fell early Wednesday morning in what city leaders dubbed a “strategic repeal.” Several City Council members said repealing the ban could help neutralize a pair of lawsuits against the city that were on the move again. Council member Greg Johnson called the option the least of three bad choices. Only Council member Keely Briggs voted against the ordinance to repeal, which passed 6-1. The Texas General Land Office and the Texas Oil and Gas Association amended their lawsuits against Denton's ban late Monday. They both cited House Bill 40 as the basis not only...

There's the Full Story of the McKinney Pool Fiasco

I have been going down to OWS on occasion over the past few weeks. Earlier this week, I was there and tried to video the occupier's general assembly. They did not want that to happen. They want world-wide attention, but censored my filming????? Secrets????

Alan Keyes Tells Us Why He Questions Obama's PresidencyThe Constitution requires that, to be president, one must be a natural born citizen of the United States. Conservative Alan Keyes-who ran against President-elect Barack Obama in the 2004 race for the Illinois Senate, and in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign (Keyes ran on the American Independent Party ticket)-is challenging whether that is the case for our new president. In November, Keyes filed a lawsuit against Obama, the California secretary of state, and others, to stop California from giving its electoral votes to Obama until a birth certificate is produced proving that...

Dear Mr. Bush: Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag. Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?...

<p>The high school principal who accused a Catholic priest of molesting him as a young man has died in an apparent suicide, police and school officials said.</p> <p>Service High School Principal Pat Podvin was found dead Wednesday at his home, Anchorage School District spokesman Roger Fiedler and police spokesman Ron McGee said.</p>

By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Members of a support group of September 11 widows, from left, Mindy Kleinberg, Krisiten Breitweiser, Patricia Casazza and Lorie Van Auken, appear in this May 16, 2002, photo in New Jersey. A year after rescue workers completed their search for body parts at the World Trade Center site, Casazza and about 1,300 families are still waiting for the remains of their loved ones to come home. NEW YORK (May 30, 10:27 a.m. ADT) - John Casazza's widow would wear a locket around her neck with a speck of his remains - if they were ever...

A man stabbed four students this morning at an Anchorage elementary school. The incident took place in the Mt View Elementary School parking lot this morning about 8 am. Police soon arrived and the suspect retreated inside the school with one of the injured students. School employees detained the man who was then apprehended after the police were forced to use "rubber-coated" bullets to subdue him. The four injured students and the suspect were taken to local hospitals, where two of the students are undergoing surgery.

Dear China, We're sorry that your fighter pilots are so incompetent that they are unable to successfully maneuver a jet around large objects without hitting them. As a token of our regret, here's a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000. We're sorry that your front-line fighters lack the responsiveness necessary to outmaneuver a 35-year old prop-driven aircraft. Perhaps you'd like to consider purchasing some surplus 1950's era Lockheed Starfighters from Taiwan. They are no longer in need of them, as they have just purchased a bunch of shiny new F-16s. We're sorry that there is such a shortage of qualified ...

GOP blasts election board double standard Palm Beach rejected hand count over 11-vote margin 8 weeks ago By Jon E. Dougherty © 2000 WorldNetDaily.com A Republican congressman has called attention to what he says is a double standard being employed by the Palm Beach County canvassing board because it rejected a hand count in a close state primary just eight weeks ago. According to Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., Palm Beach canvassing officials -- led by elections supervisor Theresa LaPore -- refused to allow a recount requested by Beverly Green, a candidate for a seat in the Florida House, after a ...