Free Republic

GOP senators request criminal investigation of Trump dossier author © Greg Nash Two Republican senators are asking the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into Christopher Steele, the author of a controversial research opposition dossier on President Trump. Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray asking that they investigate if the former MI6 agent lied to federal authorities. "I don’t take lightly making a referral for criminal investigation. But, as I would with any credible evidence of a crime unearthed in the course...

Theresa May has apologised for delays to NHS operations, saying she knows it's "difficult", "frustrating" and "disappointing". The Prime Minister had previously denied the NHS was in crisis saying it was “better prepared for this winter than ever before”. The NHS was forced to enact emergency measures after hospitals failed to keep up with the high demand. This included cancelling an estimated 55,000 operations such as hip replacements were axed until February. Jeremy Corbyn said it was not 'good enough' when the 'Tory Government has caused this crisis'. He tweeted: "Nurses, doctors and patients are pleading with her to properly...

Hospitals’ inability to keep up with the demand for care on Tuesday night prompted NHS England to tell them to take unprecedented measures to try and stabilise the service. They included cancelling outpatient appointments and day case surgery, extending an existing ban on non-urgent surgery until the end of the month and deploying consultants in A&E units to assess if patients really are a medical emergency. Amid growing evidence of chaos as the NHS’s winter crisis bites, hospitals are being forced to create makeshift wards for patients, growing numbers are declaring a black alert – an official admission that they...

There is no way to evaluate the trustworthiness of anonymous sources and unpublished documents, so why try?At this point, it’s safe to say the publicly available reports muddle the Mueller investigation so much that the only thing we “know” is all sides have more than enough circumstantial evidence to justify their pre-existing hopes and dreams. Left-wing partisans would have you believe that Mueller has the goods on Trump, and that conservative critiques of Mueller’s team or the Clinton campaign’s role in creating the so-called Steele dossier are nothing more than bad-faith attempts to discredit the investigation and undermine faith in...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Justin G. Liverman, 24, of Morehead City, North Carolina, pleaded guilty today for his role in a harassment scheme that targeted senior U.S. government officials. Liverman’s plea admits guilt to a conspiracy to commit unauthorized computer intrusions, identity theft, and telephone harassment. According to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, beginning in November 2015, Liverman conspired to attempt to intimidate and harass U.S. officials and their families by gaining unauthorized access to victims’ online accounts, among other things. For example, Liverman publicly posted online documents and personal information unlawfully obtained from a victim’s personal...

Parts of London are being labelled ‘no-go zones’ for delivery drivers because of the volume of acid and knife attacks. Hackney, Camden, Stoke Newington, Bethnal Green, Stratford and Elephant & Castle were also listed among the danger zones. London has a higher number of acid attacks per person than any city in the world. According to The Sun, delivery drivers are now slashing their hours and refusing to operate in parts of the capital – gangs are targeting them for their mopeds, holding them up at knife point or spraying acid in their faces. It’s absolutely shocking that in Britain’s...

A family of Somali refugees are living in a £2.2m mansion which is thought to be one of Britain’s most expensive council houses. Muriidi Abati, 57 who earns £7 an hour and his wife Marhan Mohamed, 44, have lived in the Georgian townhouse with their 7 children for 15 years. They are paying only £90pw to Islington Council. Critics have said it was “ridiculous,” refugees given “a home for millionaires” while many others live in squalor. Refugees can qualify as a priority for housing if local a council deems them “vulnerable,” although this is not listed as a “special reason”...

Advocates of universal basic income believe that the unconditional offer of a regular, though tiny, sum of money could help many get back on their feet, and even encourage them to invest in new business ideas. However, people from both sides of the political aisle have engaged with the proposal, which would cost money upfront but could deliver important savings by replacing unemployment benefits...

Church of England schools have announced they plan to hand out forms allowing students and teachers to report homophobic and transgender bullying. The Daily Mail reports that the forms will be given to 5,000 schools in efforts to allow students to report teachers or any other adults who are perceived to be bullying. A template form gives school staff 11 boxes in which to identify the kind of bullying they say they have seen or suffered -- and identify the perpetrator. Options available include "gender identity - transphobic;" "gender - sexist bullying;" "sexual orientation - homophobic;" "sexual orientation - biphobic,"...

Her Majesty The Queen has delivered her regular Christmas address to the United Kingdom and her Commonwealth allies, reflecting on the radical Islamic terrorism that tore through London and Manchester this year. Speaking from Buckingham Palace, Her Majesty began by reflecting on her own past 60 years of delivering speeches to the nation at Christmas, and the technological advancements she has witnessed since.

Qatar and the UK have signed a contract for the provision of 24 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft for the Qatari Air Force. This deal takes the total number of countries who will operate Typhoon to nine (UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and now Qatar). The deal marks the conclusion of a significant period of expansion for the Qatari Air Force, which is replacing its 12 old Mirage 2000s with 96 new jets (a mixed fleet of Eurofighter Typhoon, F-15 and Rafale). This is an astonishingly large rate of expansion for a numerically small air force, which already...

Andrew Matthews—PA Wire/PA Images There are an endless number of opinions regarding the relevancy, operational feasibility, and overall opportunity cost of the UK's two new Queen Elizabeth class supercarriers, and the ship's capabilities are always part of this debate as well. But one thing seems glaringly clear—these massive vessels are woefully lacking when it comes to their ability to defend themselves from an anti-ship missile barrage. These mighty ships displace 70,000 tons, will deploy with over 1,500 souls onboard, and will carry dozens of aircraft that collectively cost billions of dollars, yet they are only equipped with three Mk15 Phalanx...

British diplomat Rebecca Dykes, working at the UK embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, was found dead along the side of a road early Saturday morning. Authorities are saying Dykes was murdered after finding her dead body tossed to the side of a major roadway over the weekend. It is believed Dykes had been at a party on Friday night and left by herself around midnight. The woman’s body was found alongside the Metn highway. Forensics suggests she died at 4:00 am Saturday morning. British ambassador Hugo Shorter issued the following statement.  The whole embassy is deeply shocked, saddened by this news. My thoughts...

RUSH: Nikki Haley, our U.N. ambassador, had the tweet of the year. Nikki Haley tweeted the following: “At the U.N. we’re always asked to do more & give more,” meaning America. The U.N., we, the United States. We’re always asked to do more and give more. “So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American ppl, abt where to locate OUR embassy, we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us. On Thurs there’ll be a vote criticizing our choice. The U.S. will be taking names.” That is her tweet about the vote today at the U.N....

The United Nations general assembly has delivered a stinging rebuke to Donald Trump, voting by a huge majority to reject his unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The vote came after a redoubling of threats by Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, who said that Washington would remember which countries “disrespected” America by voting against it. Despite the warning, 128 members voted on Thursday in favour of the resolution supporting the long-standing international consensus that the status of Jerusalem – which is claimed as a capital by both Israel and the Palestinians – can only be settled...

Full title: Charlie Gard's parents visit US vice president Mike Pence after setting up £1.3m charity to help other children with rare disease like their son The parents of Charlie Gard, whose legal battle to secure treatment for their terminally ill son captured the attention of the world, have met with Vice-President Mike Pence. Connie Yates and Chris Gard met the Vice-President at the White House and he said after he said it was an 'honor' to have met the couple.... His parents, fought a lengthy and emotional legal battle to take their severely ill baby son to the US...

FOLKESTONE, KENT, UK — A grieving woman plans to pay tribute to her late mother — by seasoning her Christmas meal with her ashes, and then eating them. Debra Parsons, 41, will sprinkle the cremains of her mother, Doreen Brown, on the turkey and dessert. “We will have a place laid for her and a picture of her on the table so she can be with us on the very special day,” Parsons says. The mother-of-two from Kent was left distraught when her mother died in May. She told The Mirror that consuming the ashes is “the only thing that...

A man has been arrested and the National Police Air Service helicopter was dispatched to the base. The incident reportedly started at the base’s main gate. Police describe the event as “a significant incident.”

Dozens of adult migrants posed as children to get into Britain, a former Border Force chief admitted last night. After the Jungle refugee camp in Calais closed last year, 750 “vulnerable minors” were granted sanctuary in the UK as part of a deal struck with France. Concern was raised at the time that a number of them appeared to be over 18. Tony Smith, former director-general of the UK Border Force, said: “I am not confident all the vulnerable minors brought over from Calais were children. In fact, I am confident some of them were not and were actually adult...

Cooking, cleaning mums will be banned in advertisements across the UK from next year, following a study which claimed traditional gender roles are “harmful and outdated”. The decision to tighten regulation was announced by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) this week, after a report published in summer identified gender stereotypes in adverts as a driver of inequality between men and women. “Wherever they appear or are reinforced, gender stereotypes can lead to mental, physical and social harm which can limit the potential of groups and individuals,” the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) alleged in its study. Depictions deemed problematic include...