Free Republic

It is a plan seen as a way to "Trump-proof" aid for Ukraine. The proposals would give the Western alliance a more direct role in coordinating the supply of arms, ammunition and equipment to Kyiv as it fights Russia's invasion, diplomats say. Speaking before the meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the proposal aims to send the message to Russia that it cannot win the war. “What is obvious is that we need new and more money for Ukraine. And we need it over many years. And the whole idea of now discussing a framework, commitments and an institutionalized...

“We’re excited to be co-chairing the president’s new Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing, which builds on the FTC’s far-reaching work to promote competition and tackle unlawful business practices that are inflating costs for Americans,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters on a call Monday.

The Justice Department’s assertions this week that a longtime FBI informant was seeking to “spread misinformation” designed to hurt President Joe Biden after speaking to Russian intelligence operatives has put a new spotlight on an old debate: To what extent, if any, has the Russian government manufactured or amplified unproven allegations of corrupt Ukraine dealings by Joe and Hunter Biden? In a request to revoke his bail, prosecutors said that former informant Alexander Smirnov, charged last week with lying to the FBI in 2020 when he said Joe Biden had received a $5 million bribe, “is actively peddling new lies...

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/2e7fe5e0-2eb7-4ee3-be04-22f9ca856bd4 In 2016, only five countries met the target. Today Poland spends 3.9 per cent of GDP on defence, ahead of the US itself on 3.5 per cent. Other countries such as Spain trail behind, spending just above 1...

Buried at bottom: Credit card delinquency rates jumped across the board, the New York Fed and TransUnion found. Credit card delinquencies surged more than 50% in 2023, the New York Fed reported. According to TransUnion’s research, “serious delinquencies,” or those 90 days or more past due, reached the highest level since 2009. “Consumers are struggling with their payments,” Wise said, and “I think we will continue to see those delinquencies tick up.”

The more the merrier! New York City musician, Zeddy Will, 22, recently hosted a joint baby shower for his five pregnant baby mommas, one of his partners Lizzy Ashliegh claimed on TikTok. Ashleigh, 29, revealed the startling achievement by showing off the party invitations, which showed the shower being hosted in Queens on Jan. 14. The moms-to-be and Will posed for a joint photo on the invitation, which said: “Welcome little Zeddy Wills 1-5.”

The Biden administration on Thursday opened the door to seizing the patents of certain costly medications from drugmakers in a new push to slash high drug prices and promote more pharmaceutical competition. The administration unveiled a framework outlining the factors federal agencies should consider in deciding whether to use a controversial policy, known as march-in rights, to take patents for drugs developed with taxpayer funds and share them with other pharmaceutical companies if the public cannot “reasonably” access the medications. Doing so could lead to the development of lower-priced generic alternatives, which could cut into key drug companies’ profits and...

PHILADELPHIA (TND) — The Philadelphia City Council passed a ban Thursday on so-called "sheisties" in certain public spaces. The council's ban prohibit the use of ski masks and balaclavas in day cares, schools, parks, recreation centers, public transit and city buildings. Violators face a $250 fine, and those wearing the masks while committing a crime will assume a possible $2,000 fine. We must send a message that masks are of no discernible public or private good when they just create fear and anxiety," Councilman Anthony Phillips stated, according to FOX 29. Exceptions for religious freedom and "First Amendment activities" are...

Federal law since the early 1990s requires mandatory audits for all government agencies. The Pentagon didn’t begin auditing itself until 2018 and has only had incremental improvement yearly. This time around, 1,600 auditors combed through DOD’s $3.8 trillion in assets and $4 trillion in liabilities, conducting some 700 site visits. They found that half of DOD’s assets can’t be accounted for.

A senior Ukrainian military officer with deep ties to the country’s intelligence services played a central role in the bombing of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines last year, according to officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as other people knowledgeable about the details of the covert operation. The officer’s role provides the most direct evidence to date tying Ukraine’s military and security leadership to a controversial act of sabotage that has spawned multiple criminal investigations and that U.S. and Western officials have called a dangerous attack on Europe’s energy infrastructure.

Taylor has been charged criminally several times in the past. In 2021, Taylor was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon after he and another man were accused of shooting at a female driver while her two children were in the back seat. At least two rounds struck the vehicle. Earlier this year, a Nashville judge dismissed those charges, and Taylor was released after court-appointed doctors testified that he was incompetent to stand trial. Federal and state law prohibit the prosecution of mentally incompetent defendants. The May 19 court order explained that Taylor had developed pneumonia at...

The behind-the-scenes deliberations around the ads underscores how Trump’s legal problems have, if anything, helped — not hurt — his standing in the primary. With the first nominating contest less than three months away, a swath of Republican voters is making it clear they see Trump as the victim of the legal system, not a violator of it.

ALTIMORE — In the wake of a shooting that left five people injured during homecoming festivities, Morgan State University leaders announced Tuesday they plan to build a wall around most of the northeast Baltimore campus and station security personnel at entrances and exits. The wall would extend existing barriers by about 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) to encircle 90% of campus and effectively “eliminate unfettered access,” university President David Wilson said during a campus town hall. “We’re doing this, let me be clear, not to keep out our neighbors and our community writ large; we are doing it to keep out...

“It’s remarkable how Elon Musk has destroyed what was perhaps the best thing about Twitter: the ability to get relatively accurate and trustworthy data in real time when there’s a crisis,” Paul Bernal, an IT law professor at the University of East Anglia in England, wrote on X on Monday."

A North Carolina woman is suing Google after her husband died after driving off a collapsed bridge while following GPS directions, according to a lawsuit filed this week. Philip Paxson died after driving off "an unmarked, unbarricaded collapsed bridge" on the night of Sept. 30, 2022, in Hickory, his widow, Alicia Paxson, said in the suit filed in Wake County on Tuesday. Paxson was not aware the bridge had collapsed and was following GPS directions from Google, which had not been updated, the lawsuit says.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration plans to announce on Wednesday a new federal system to track heat-related illness nationwide and is considering additional measures amid pressure to do more to help Americans deal with crippling summer heat, according to White House officials. The new national dashboard, which will be overseen by the Health and Human Services Department, maps emergency services responding to heat-related illness calls across the country, officials said. The “EMS HeatTracker” is intended to help ensure sufficient medical aid gets to Americans who need it most during severe heat, officials said.

"The big picture: The song has become a conservative anthem, with former President Trump praising it as a "great new song" and urging his supporters to "support Jason all the way." By the numbers: The song hit No. 2 last week, but interest continued to surge. Billboard reports the song's streams increased 165% week-over-week, reaching 30.7 million and pushing it into the top spot. Catch up quick: The song was released to little fanfare in May but began to get attention — and rack up streams — after its music video was released July 14."

Country Music Television has pulled a music video for the song “Try That in a Small Town,” by the country music superstar Jason Aldean, which was filmed at the site of a lynching, amid accusations that its lyrics and message are offensive.

The overall rejection rate for credit applicants hit its highest level in five years in June. The rejection rate of 21.8% was the highest level since June 2018, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday (July 17) when releasing findings from its June Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE) Credit Access Survey. “The increase was broad-based across age groups and highest among those with credit scores below 680,” the New York Fed said. The rejection rate increased for credit card limit increase requests, credit cards, mortgage refinance applications, auto loans and mortgages, according to the findings. The rate increased...

He is being held at the Abington Police Department and will be arraigned by a judge. Speaking a press conference Thursday, Abington Police Chief Patrick Mallow held up Evans’ 28-page rap sheet which, he said, includes "numerous weapons offenses, possession of firearms, aggravated assault, terroristic threats.