Free Republic

Leaked U.K. diplomatic cables critical of President Trump have led Britain’s ambassador, Sir Kim Darroch, to announce his departure from Washington earlier than expected. But the story is not yet concluded. According to one current and one former U.S. government official speaking on the condition of anonymity, Darroch repeatedly leaked classified U.S. intelligence information, including highly classified information, to a journalist for a U.S.-based media outlet. The sources are consolidated by the reaction my related inquiries have received from other government officials. These leaks are unrelated to the diplomatic cables which sparked Trump's anger and Darroch's departure. Still, one source...

The transgender conquest of women’s sports continued over the weekend as a New Zealand weightlifter took home multiple gold medals at the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa. Laurel Hubbard won two gold medals and a silver in the three heavyweight categories, for women weighing more than 87 kilograms, or 192 pounds, finishing first in the snatch-lift and combined categories and second in the clean-and-jerk.

NEW ZEALAND: Muslim outraged at seeing burger chain frying bacon on the same grill as its alleged halal-certified beef patties JULY 15, 2019 BY BARENAKEDISLAM A Muslim burger lover has lashed out at the popular Better Burger fast food chain after discovering one of its stores cooked bacon on the same grill as its halal-certified meat. When he confronted the chef about the matter, he was informed one of the grills wasn’t working. Daily Mail (h/t Sara S) ‘I took it on face value, so we decided to go to another Better Burger because surely all of the stores wouldn’t...

An ancient tree that contains a record of a reversal of Earth's magnetic field has been discovered in New Zealand. The tree -- an Agathis australis, better known as its M&Ccedilori name kauri -- was found in Ngawha, on New Zealand's North Island, during excavation work for the expansion of a geothermal power plant, stuff.nz reports. The tree, which had been buried in 26 feet of soil, measures eight feet in diameter and 65 feet in length. Carbon dating revealed it lived for 1,500 years, between 41,000 and 42,500 years ago... The lifespan of the kauri tree covers a point...

New Zealand’s gun “buy-back” scheme for prohibited firearms has been facing some problems.Following the Christchurch mosque shootings where 51 individuals were killed by an Australian man using semi-automatic rifles and shotguns on March 15, 2019, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern amended the country’s gun laws in April to ban most military-style semi-automatics, magazines that hold more than five rounds of ammunition, and gun parts, such as special sights and silencers.In June 2019, Prime Minister Ardern set aside more than $208 million New Zealand dollars to compensate owners, for up to 95 percent of the original cost, of newly...

Kiwis are standing by their guns. Citizens of New Zealand are reportedly resisting the sweeping ban on semi-automatic firearms thrust upon them by an emotional parliament last April. The Washington Post’s article is predictably poorly-titled: “New Zealand is trying to buy back the military-style weapons it banned in April. It’s not so easy.” Firstly, no entity can buy “back” something which it never owned before. The government has never owned these firearms which it seeks to steal from their rightful owners. They are merely offering a bribe to those who comply. Secondly, none of the guns are “military-style.” Being black...

Twitter has blocked John Lott’s account because of a post about the New Zealand mosque killer, and won’t explain its decision

On 27 April, before he burst into a San Diego synagogue and opened fire, killing one worshipper and injuring three more, the gunman said goodbye to the community that radicalised him. “It’s been real dudes,” he posted on the far-right politics board, /pol/, on the image-posting site 8chan. “I’ve only been lurking for a year and a half, yet what I’ve learned here is priceless.” The story was familiar. Six weeks earlier, a 28-year-old had killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Before starting his attack, he, too, had posted on 8chan’s /pol/ board. “It’s been a...

After the terrorist attack on radical Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, the far left government of Jacinda Ardern pushed through new, radical gun laws. The laws had the full support of nearly all media in the anglosphere. The laws were pushed through, as usual, by people who knew almost nothing of firearms or firearms technology. They were pushed through based on emotion and one political act of terrorism. The perpetrator accurately predicted this to be a consequence of his actions. It appeared the laws would be somewhat less severe than those pushed through in somewhat similar circumstances in Australia, in...

New Zealand’s government recently erased Israel from the map in a “factsheet” on Palestine marred by numerous factual inaccuracies and minimal nuance, provoking outcry from Jewish and Israeli voices. The “factsheet” labels all territory currently governed by Israel as Palestine. It also calls Palestine as a “state,” which is not consistent with the New Zealand government’s official view. The document also includes numerous inaccuracies and one-sided information about Israel, Palestine, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Israeli Institute of New Zealand took the time to systematically break down all the errors in the "factsheet":

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — A Christchurch businessman who shared a video of worshippers being slaughtered at a New Zealand mosque was sentenced on Tuesday to 21 months in prison. Philip Arps had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing the video, which was livestreamed on Facebook by a gunman on March 15 as he began killing 51 people at two mosques.

All 44 crew members from two oil tankers that came under attack in the Sea of Oman south of the Iranian coast have been rescued.... The Associated Press reports that the two vessels were carrying Japan related cargo and the attacks come as Japan's Prime Minister was visiting Iran to discuss tensions..... President Trump tweeted just before 230 pm Eastern time Thursday his appreciation to Mr. Abe for talking to the Iranians but said that when it comes to making a deal: "They are not ready, and neither are we!". Meanwhile the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif says this regarding...

The figures are in for New Zealand's 'voluntary' gun 'amnesty' and well, anyone who understands gun ownership shouldn't be surprised. In a nation with 150,000 gun permits and an estimated 1.5 million guns in circulation, the number of actual military-style weapons turned in is ... 530. Obviously, not everyone in New Zealand is onboard with the country's hastily thrown together new law to expropriate weapons in the name of protection from mass shootings. What that utterly miserable '530' figure shows is mass resistance, in response to the complete stupidity of blaming a mass shooting on the gun, not the foreign terrorist using the gun. That's what New...

Tourist board criticised for new regulations, which also prohibit solo ascents with the aim of reducing the number of accidentsSolo climbers, blind people and double amputees have been banned from climbing Everest under new rules the Nepalese tourism ministry believes will reduce the number of deaths on the mountain. The changes have provoked criticism from the US ambassador to Nepal and a former Gurkha soldier planning to scale the peak after losing both legs in Afghanistan. The new rules have been under discussion for a month and were implemented this week, Nepalese officials told the Himalayan Times. British cancer patient...

Sharp unrescuable, says Chinese mountaineer Updated: 2006-05-28 09:14 Chinese female mountaineer Luo Lili regretted David Sharp's death in the Mount Qomolangma but said the British climber was at a nearly unrescuable height. "Mountaineers all know the height above 7,000m is very dangerous and usually deemed as an unrescuable height," said Luo on Saturday, who just returned from a May 15 scaling of the world highest peak. Sharp, 34, ran out of oxygen and died in a snow cave just 300 meters from the summit on his way down the Himalayan mountain. Dozens of people had walked right past him, unwilling...

Mark Inglis, an amputee who conquered Mount Everest on artificial legs last week, yesterday defended his party's decision to carry on to the summit despite coming across a dying climber. As his team climbed through the "death zone," the area above 26,000 feet where the body begins to shut down, they passed David Sharp, 34, a stricken British climber who later died. His body remained on the mountain. Mr. Inglis, 47, a New Zealander, said: "At 28,000 feet it's hard to stay alive yourself. He was in a very poor condition, near death. We talked about [what to do for...

Dying Brit climber 'too big' to rescue off Everest By MICHAEL FIELD The New Zealand mountaineer who ordered climbers to leave a dying Briton near the summit of Mt Everest says it was impossible to carry the big man off the peak. Double amputee Mark Inglis was one of four New Zealanders in a group of 40 who walked past dying David Sharp during their descent of Everest on May 15. Most of them were part of a Discovery Channel film crew, which included Queenstown cameraman Mark Whetu. The crew filmed the dying British mountaineer in his last conscious moments...

New figures show gun owners are holding back on handing in their firearms, because they’re waiting to hear how much the Government will pay for them Figures released to Newstalk ZB by the New Zealand Police showed that, as of Sunday night, only 530 guns had been handed in since the ban on semi-automatic guns was finalised in early April. There are around 250,000 licenced firearm holders in New Zealand and it’s estimated as many as 300,000 guns could now be illegal. It comes as gun owners are waiting on any details around compensation for their guns.

An Australian teenager who broke an egg on a controversial far-right senator's head says he has given almost A$100,000 (£55,000; $69,000) to survivors of the Christchurch mosque attacks. Will Connolly egged Fraser Anning in March - prompting people to flood him with donations to pay his legal costs. Mr Anning had caused fury a day earlier when he said, on the day of the shootings, Muslim migration was to blame for them.

On last night's episode of The Ezra Levant Show, I went over Justin Trudeau's trip to Paris where he signed Canada on to an agreement called The Christchurch Call. In short, because there was a mass murder in Christchurch, New Zealand, everyone else in the world must change how they use the internet. The Call doesn't address terrorism as much as it addresses the people who talk about terrorism online. And without any debates or witnesses, Trudeau along with dozens of leaders and Silicon Valley tech companies agreed to follow some new criteria to restrict speech. WATCH and I'll explain....