Free Republic

WASHINGTON—There are constants to life in the nation’s capital: sweltering summers, political dysfunction and, for much of the last 50 years, giant pandas. Later this year, though, the three pandas living in the National Zoo will be sent to China, which has the rights to pandas in captivity all over the world. Their departure will leave Washington without at least one of the rotund, cuddly-looking bears for only the second time since Richard Nixon’s breakthrough with Beijing in 1972. The breakdown in U.S.-China relations is bamboozling many in the city. Norma Valentini, a 52-year-old registered nurse who grew up in...

TS Ophelia is poised to make landfall along the NC Coast Saturday morning. Mash graphics to enlarge. All images and links are self-updatingNHC Public Advisories NHC Discussions Local Statements Tropical Tidbits

President Biden issued an executive order Wednesday appointing a federal disaster coordinator to oversee long-term recovery efforts following the fiery derailment of a Norfolk Southern train that released toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, in February. The executive order, arriving more than seven months after the accident devastated the small Ohio town near the Pennsylvania state line, will direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to name a coordinator to oversee a comprehensive assessment of any unmet needs that haven’t been addressed by Norfolk Southern and would qualify for federal assistance. This order stops short of a federal disaster declaration, which...

The already frosty relationship between President Biden and his attorney general, Merrick Garland, is now in a deep freeze. Respect and admiration among White House aides for Garland, a longtime federal appeals-court judge chosen to underscore the independence of the Justice Department, has shifted for some into resignation and distrust. [Snip] Some Biden aides have said they see Garland’s handling of the inquiries into the Biden family as driven less by a dispassionate pursuit of justice than by a punctilious desire to give the appearance that sensitive investigations are walled off from political pressure, people familiar with the matter say....

Hurricane Lee is moving toward New England. Currently Category 2, Hurricane Lee is a large storm. Mash the graphics below to enlarge. All links and images are self-updating. Mash image to enlarge Public Advisories NHC Discussion NHC Local Advisories Buoy Data Tropical Tidbits

A fugitive who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison just days after being sentenced to life without parole in the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend was captured early Wednesday, Pennsylvania State Police said. Details on the capture have not yet been revealed. Police have scheduled a press conference for 9:30 a.m. The end of the 14-day manhunt for 34-year-old Danelo Cavalcante came as a relief to residents of Pocopson Township, Pennsylvania, who had been advised by officials to stay alert. Several schools within the area also briefly canceled classes amid the search for the convicted murderer. Officials said Tuesday that Cavalcante...

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday that she will run for reelection in 2024 for her San Francisco-area House seat, ending speculation about her political future after she decided last year she would step down as the leader of the House Democratic caucus. Pelosi, 83, told aides she planned to run for another term next year, according to an aide to the former speaker who spoke on the condition of anonymity to confirm the decision. [Snip]

Walmart is paying some new store workers less than it would have three months ago, a sign that employers are seeking to cut labor costs as the once-hot market for hourly staff cools. The country’s largest private employer changed its wage structure for hourly workers in mid-July. [Snip] The wage-structure change comes after Walmart and other large employers have for years steadily raised wages and added benefits to attract workers in a tight labor market. The retailer’s latest move suggests that the stresses companies are facing in trying to find employees are easing and that they need to find ways...

WALTERBORO, S.C. — Lawyers for convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh filed a motion Tuesday seeking a new trial, alleging they had uncovered evidence of jury tampering. Rebecca Hill, the Colleton County clerk of court, "tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaugh's testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense," attorneys Richard "Dick" Harpootlian and Jim Griffin claim in the motion. Harpootlian said at...

Tropical Depression 10 has formed between the Yucatan Peninsula and the Western Tip of Cuba. Governor DeSantis issued a state of emergency for 33 Florida counties in advance of the system. Mash graphics to enlarge. All graphics and links are self-updating NHC Public AdvisoriesNHC Discussions

Rudy Giuliani intends to turn himself in Wednesday on charges alleging he and others attempted to thwart the 2020 election results in Georgia, according to a source close to Giuliani who is familiar with the arrangement. A lawyer for Giuliani expects to meet with the Fulton District Attorney earlier Wednesday to establish bond conditions, the source said. After the bond is set, Giuliani will surrender at the same Atlanta jail where two of the 19 defendants charged in the case turned themselves in Tuesday. Giuliani will be accompanied by former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, the source said....

Steyer could face $20,000 civil penalty per county ordinance if found to be in violationThe Globe received a scoop this morning that a complaint was filed by a Douglas County resident with the Vacation Home Rental (VHR) Advisory Board against billionaire climate investor Tom Steyer, owner of the Glenbrook mansion that the First Family is renting while on a nine-day vacation in Lake Tahoe. The complaint reportedly cites that Steyer does not have a VHR permit for his $18 million waterfront manse. If found to be in violation, Steyer could be subject to a $20,000 civil penalty per county ordinance....

An almost tropical depression has developed in the Gulf of Mexico. NHC Public AdvisoriesNHC Discussions

Major Hurricane Hilary is moving along the Eastern Pacific coastline toward the SW US. Tropical storm conditions are possible by late Sunday in portions of southern California where a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect. Heavy rainfall in association with Hilary is expected to impact the Southwestern United States through next Wednesday, peaking on Sunday and Monday. Meanwhile, the Atlantic tropical season is heating up. Click to enlarge images. All graphics and links are self-updatingNHC Public Advisory HilaryNHC Discussion Hilary

A federal judge revoked FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail and sent him to jail Friday, ending a monthslong battle between the Justice Department and the onetime crypto entrepreneur over his behavior while awaiting trial on fraud charges. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said at a hearing in New York that Bankman-Fried pushed the limits of his bail conditions repeatedly. “There is probable cause to believe that the defendant has attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice,” Kaplan said. The judge said he would allow Bankman-Fried’s lawyers to request that the defendant be allowed to spend time in his lawyers’...

ESCONDIDO, Calif. — The families of some of the 13 servicemembers who were killed in a deadly blast at the Kabul Airport in 2021 are seeking answers. Appearing alongside the families is senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48). "For almost two years, the Gold Star Families of the fallen in Afghanistan have waited for answers and accountability for the loss of their loved ones - and they have waited long enough," said Rep. Issa. "At every turn, they've been shut out and ignored by the Biden Administration that prefers to turn the page on...

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Friday and became the second Republican presidential candidate to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital, Kyiv. Christie met with Zelenskyy in the country's presidential palace after touring villages that have become battlefields since Russia invaded last year. During the meeting, he reiterated his support for continued U.S. aid to Ukraine and said the purpose of his visit was "so I could see it for myself" and report back to the American people what the allied country's needs are. "I feel the cruelty, and you feel...

Losses are going up on Ford’s electric vehicle business, but profit from its traditional internal combustion engine vehicles allowed it to beat Wall Street expectations. [Snip] The company was able to beat the estimates despite the fact that its losses before interest and taxes (EBIT) grew to $1.1 billion from its EV business, which the company calls its Model e division, up from the $722 million EBIT losses in the first quarter. And those losses are going to rise, at least in the short term. Ford said it expects a Model e EBIT loss of $4.5 billion for the full...

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s nearly two-year-old German shepherd Commander bit seven people in a four-month period after former first dog Major was ousted from the White House over similar aggressive behavior, according to internal Secret Service communications reviewed by The Post. The shocking spate of incidents involving Commander — none of them previously known — mirror attacks involving Major, who the White House says was given to family friends after biting many Secret Service members in 2021. In the most serious documented incident involving Commander, the White House physician’s office on Nov. 3, 2022, referred a bitten Secret Service uniformed...

The 2022 climate law unleashed a torrent of government subsidies to help the U.S. build clean-energy industries. The biggest beneficiaries so far are foreign companies. The Inflation Reduction Act has spurred nearly $110 billion in U.S. clean-energy projects since it passed almost a year ago, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows. Companies based overseas, largely from South Korea, Japan and China, are involved in projects accounting for more than 60% of that spending. Fifteen of the 20 largest such investments, nearly all in battery factories, involve foreign businesses, the Journal’s analysis shows. These overseas manufacturers will be able to claim...