Free Republic

A 10-story residential building in Belgorod, Russia, was struck overnight by a Ukrainian missile, a local governor said. "The Belgorod city and the Belgorod district came under a massive attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said in a post on Telegram. The Ukrainian Tochka-U missile that struck the building was among several that Ukraine launched overnight, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement. Ukrainian military officials did not immediately comment on the claims, which could not immediately be verified.

Iranian lawmaker Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani claimed on Friday that Iran possesses nuclear weapons, despite the country’s formal policy under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). This statement came shortly after the UN’s atomic watchdog highlighted Iran’s capacity to produce multiple nuclear bombs, Fox News reported. Speaking to Rouydad 24, a local media outlet, Ardestani contradicted the official line that Iran adheres to the JCPOA, which aims to prevent the nation from developing nuclear arms in exchange for economic sanctions relief. “In my opinion, we have achieved nuclear weapons, but we do not announce it. It means our policy is...

News 5 has learned more about a deadly shooting that happened at a May Day celebration in the quiet community of Stockton. About 1,000 people attended a May Day event Saturday night in an open field on Upper Bryant’s Landing Road, according to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office. “According to witnesses, the event was peaceful until an argument took place, which led to at least one subject shooting multiple rounds into the large crowd,” a BCSO spokesperson said. Eighteen people were shot, three of whom died from their injuries, according to the BCSO. “We do believe that there may have...

Dozens of graduating students walked out of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) on Saturday after Gov. Glenn Youngkin took the stage to deliver a commencement address. Video of the Saturday morning incident shows throngs of graduates getting up from their seats and leaving the Greater Richmond Convention Center as the Republican governor began talking. A few could be heard cheering the students on. The governor, who also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the commencement ceremony, kicked off his speech with a shout-out to all the mothers ahead of Mother’s Day. He did not acknowledge those leaving and carried...

A streamer on YouTube left broadcasted herself smoking cannabis while driving, before running over a pedestrian in Los Angeles. The woman, who goes by ‘VP‘ on the popular video-sharing platform, frequently live streams, with viewers on Reddit describing her own channel as showcasing consistent drug use and “peeing in alleys.” However, things took a serious turn after VP hit a pedestrian while driving in Los Angeles, the sound of a loud bump heard on stream as the camera rattled. Prior to the hit, she had been smoking cannabis and discussing whether or not she was getting back with an ex-boyfriend....

Trump: Is there anything better than a Trump rally? These liberal singers, they actually vote for me. You know, like Bruce Springsteen. We have a much bigger crowd than Bruce Springsteen. Right? pic.twitter.com/avB1njR58v — Acyn (@Acyn) May 11, 2024 A spokesperson for the city of Wildwood backed Trump’s claim. Lisa Fagan told The Associated Press she estimated the crowd had to be between 80,000 and 100,000 people, based on her observations of smaller events which took place in the same space. But footage from the rally made those stats fairly hard to believe. While Trump fans packed the rafters behind...

There have been some unsettling developments in the Gaza Strip this weekend, suggesting a situation that many analysts had previously warned us about. Israel has been portraying the assault on Rafah as essentially being the "last stand" for Hamas, where the IDF would take out the terrorist group's four remaining battalions of fighters. But yesterday, fighting broke out in Jabaliya and Gaza City in the northern part of the Strip that Israel had cleared months ago. The IDF was attacked in multiple locations. Some of the attackers may have been Hamas fighters that were missed in the original clearing efforts...

Actor Steve Buscemi is OK after he was punched in the face by a man on a New York City street, his publicist said Sunday. The 66-year-old star of “Fargo” and “Boardwalk Empire” was assaulted late Wednesday morning in Manhattan and taken to a nearby hospital with bruising, swelling and bleeding to his left eye.

UPDATE (4:33 p.m.): News 5 has learned more about a deadly shooting that happened at a May Day celebration in the quiet community of Stockton. About 1,000 people attended a May Day event Saturday night in an open field on Upper Bryant’s Landing Road, according to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office. “According to witnesses, the event was peaceful until an argument took place, which led to at least one subject shooting multiple rounds into the large crowd,” a BCSO spokesperson said. Eighteen people were shot, three of whom died from their injuries, according to the BCSO. “We do believe that...

The pro-Hamas protests appear to be migrating off of college campuses as summer arrives and moving out into more public areas. That was the case in Florida yesterday when a group calling itself "Queers for Palestine" decided to park their cars on the Interstate 4 exit for Disney World and begin demonstrating with signs. This disruption immediately began backing up traffic for miles. The protesters were chanting "free Palestine" and claiming that Disney "supports genocide." The blockaded commuters were having none of it and the police were quickly called to the scene. Some motorists exited their vehicles and confronted the...

In February of this year, Nassau County in Long Island, New York banned males from participating in girls' and women's sports. While many supported the move, protests broke out on the left and lawsuits were filed. On Friday, a judge on the state Supreme Court struck down the rule. This led to celebrations among trans activists, including New York Attorney General Letitia James. But those celebrations may turn out to be a bit premature. A closer reading of the ruling reveals that Judge Francis Ricigliano did not rule that the ban couldn't be enacted. Instead, he determined that the County...

The Republican Party is enjoying an 11-point swing their way against the Democrat Party as the number of Americans expressing affiliation with their party has increased. A Gallup poll conducted between April 1 and 22 showed that the Republican Party was enjoying a net average of 11 points in voters expressing affiliation with their party over the Democrats, compared to results in 2016.

A paralegal from Manhattan Attorney General Alvin Bragg’s office testified on Friday during former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial that some phone call records between Michael Cohen and Stephanie Clifford’s (a.k.a. Stormy Daniels) lawyer were deleted, raising questions about evidentiary integrity.In a bid to challenge some of the evidence being put forward in President Trump’s business records falsification trial in Manhattan, Trump attorney Emil Bove asked paralegal Jaden Jarmel-Schneider in court on May 10 about roughly three pages worth of records that the attorney claimed Mr. Bragg’s office had deleted.Mr. Jarmel-Schneider confirmed some deletions. He acknowledged that some phone...

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill on Friday that aimed to prevent companies of China and other “foreign adversaries” from acquiring real property near military installations in the state.Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly gives her inaugural address for her second four-year term on the south steps of the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan., on Jan. 9, 2023. (John Hanna/AP Photo)Senate Bill 172 aims to block individuals or companies from “countries of concern” from owning any interest in land located within a 100-mile radius of a military installation in Kansas.Under the bill, any foreign principal that owns or acquires any interest in...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday replaced Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in a Cabinet shakeup that comes as he begins his fifth term in office. In line with Russian law, the entire Russian Cabinet resigned Tuesday following Putin’s glittering inauguration in the Kremlin, and most members have been widely expected to keep their jobs, while Shoigu's fate had appeared uncertain. Putin signed a decree on Sunday appointing Shoigu as secretary of Russia's Security Council, the Kremlin said. The appointment was announced shortly after Putin proposed Andrei Belousov to become the country’s defense minister in place of Shoigu. The announcement...

Even for those of us who have long been critics of the “hush money” case against Donald Trump and its dubious legal theory, it has been surprising to see that the prosecutors had no more evidence than we previously knew about. The assumption was that no rational prosecutor would base a major criminal case almost entirely on the testimony of Michael Cohen, who was recently denounced by a judge as a serial perjurer peddling “perverse” theories in court. The calculus of Alvin Bragg is now obvious. He is counting on the jury convicting Trump regardless of the evidence. Which is...

President Biden wants to let the tax rate cuts that President Trump and Republicans passed without Democrat support, in 2017. Biden and others continue to intentionally lie that the tax cuts "cost" the government $2 trillion and increased the debt and deficit. That essentially was the prediction of Congressional Budget Office. The problem is predictions are not facts. Here are the facts that show that the government has collected a huge amount of additional revenues after the tax cuts were passed, and additional revenues do not cause increased debt. The problem is that the government is spending more. Individual income...

Pope Francis: World Nearing ‘Breaking Point’ from Climate ChangeClimate change has brought the world to the “breaking point,” Pope Francis asserted in his introduction to a 3-day climate summit to be held in the Vatican in May.A firm believer in the climate “crisis,” the pontiff wrote that he has “heartfelt concerns” for “our suffering planet,” contending that “the world in which we live is collapsing” because of humanity’s failure to adequately address the crisis.It is “indubitable” that the impact of climate change will increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many persons, he contends, adding that its effects are already...

By now, you all know that the turnout at President Donald Trump’s rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, was one for the record books. However, that didn’t occur in a vacuum. It is, instead, a portent of a tide strongly turning in his direction. That doesn’t mean Democrat shenanigans won’t cause trouble in November, but it does show a country ready to abandon Biden’s disastrous presidency. The estimates are that 80,000 to 100,000 people attended the rally, although, naturally, leftists are already quibbling with the numbers, just as they did on Trump’s inauguration. Ignore those quibbles. Let your eyes tell you...

Local nonprofit Black Surf Santa Cruz is preparing for its Liberation Paddle Out on June 22 at Cowell Beach from noon to 5 p.m. in conjunction with the city of Santa Cruz’s Juneteenth festivities. This is the organization’s fourth annual event and its second year as a certified California nonprofit institution. To decrease barriers to participation caused by lack of parking, this year’s paddle out includes free bus shuttle rides to Cowell’s parking lot. The organization will announce details for pick up as the event gets closer.