Free Republic

Four years since Covid-19 lockdown curbs forced Burger & Lobster to close its restaurants, the purveyor of gourmet patties and crustacean rolls is still battling with its insurance company to recover some of the resulting losses. Alongside more than 20 other businesses including the owners of Hawksmoor steakhouses and Newcastle Falcons rugby club, the chain has brought a claim against Allianz in London’s High Court after the insurer declined to pay out on its business interruption policy, a type of cover designed to compensate for lost revenues. The case is one of dozens being fought between insurers and UK policyholders...

Jan explains that Collin, loved to paint and draw and that he was very talented. "He was 13 pounds when he died. That's nothing is it for a seven-year-old?" Jan asks. The question goes unanswered as a momentary silence fills the room. Colin was born with haemophilia. The treatment for his blood clotting disorder included a product called Factor VIII. What his parents didn't know was that the Factor VIII was made in America using blood farmed from prisoners, drug addicts and sex workers. Jan can recall all the fine details of that day clearly. Especially the cold, matter-of-fact way...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Gray News) – Two newborns were surrendered to the first Safe Haven Baby Box in Little Rock, Arkansas, before it was even blessed. “In just the last few weeks, we have had two instances of parents who have surrendered their newborn babies at our fire stations because they believed they had no other choice, for whatever the reason,” Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said. The City of Little Rock Fire Department hosted a public dedication ceremony of the Safe Haven Baby Box Wednesday afternoon, where a pastor from Calvary Baptist Church blessed the box. The church funded the...

NATO allies are inching closer to sending troops into Ukraine to train Ukrainian forces, a move that would be another blurring of a previous red line and could draw the United States and Europe more directly into the war. (snip) So far the United States has said no, but Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that a NATO deployment of trainers appeared inevitable. “We’ll get there eventually, over time,” he said. (snip) As a part of NATO, the United States would be obligated under the alliance’s treaty to aid in...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday issued a full pardon for a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder in the shooting death of an armed protester during a 2020 Black Lives Matter march. The move by Abbott came minutes after a unanimous recommendation by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles that Daniel Perry be pardoned and have his firearms rights restored. Under Texas law, the governor cannot issue a pardon without a recommendation from the board, which the governor appoints. "The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles conducted an exhaustive review of U.S. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry’s personal...

At long last, National Institutes of Health (NIH) principal deputy director Lawrence Tabak admitted to Congress Thursday that US taxpayers funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China in the months and years before the COVID-19 pandemic. “Dr. Tabak,” asked Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, “did NIH fund gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology through [Manhattan-based nonprofit] EcoHealth [Alliance]?” “It depends on your definition of gain-of-function research,” Tabak answered. “If you’re speaking about the generic term, yes, we did.”

Menendez’s statement about his wife was released just after opening statements were completed and the presentation of evidence began at his trial in Manhattan federal court. The trial’s first witness was an FBI agent, Aristotelis Kougemitros, who described leading a June 2022 raid on the couple’s Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home. He testified that two 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) gold bars, 11 1-ounce gold bars and $486,461 in cash were among valuables found in the home, along with cellphones and jewelry. In all, 52 items were seized. At first, Kougemitros said, the FBI had directed agents to photograph any cash that was...

Sir Keir Starmer has set out what Labour would do first if it wins this year's general election. The Labour leader unveiled a pledge card with six key policies, including delivering "economic stability" and providing 40,000 more hospital appointments each week. Some of the pledges are more modest in scale than the five "national missions" Sir Keir announced last year. But he said they were the "first steps" towards Labour's bigger plans. Sir Keir's five missions include making the UK the fastest-growing major economy by the end of a first Labour term in government and achieving net zero carbon emissions...

The World Health Organization has accused Nigel Farage of spreading misinformation after he launched a campaign to block an international treaty designed to improve global pandemic preparedness. WHO member states are negotiating a deal to shore up cooperation against new pathogens. If adopted, the legally binding treaty would commit countries to helping each other in the event of a pandemic, increase research and sharing of data, and promote fair access to vaccines. But populist figures including Farage and a number of Tory MPs are lobbying the UK government to block the deal, claiming that it will give the WHO power...

BANSKA BYSTRICA - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in a life-threatening condition after he was shot in an assassination attempt when leaving a government meeting on May 15, a government minister said.The gunman shot Mr Fico, 59, five times, initially leaving the prime minister in critical condition and undergoing surgery hours later on the evening of May 15.“I was very shocked ... fortunately as far as I know the operation went well - and I guess in the end he will survive ... he’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment,” Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and...

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have both accepted an invitation from CNN to debate on June 27, a historically early showdown that will set the tone for the final months of the 2024 campaign.

"Today, based on evidence uncovered in @COVIDSelect's recent report, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services commenced formal debarment proceedings against EcoHealth Alliance. EcoHealth will now face an immediate, government-wide suspension of taxpayer funds — including a hold on all active grants," read a tweet issued by the Subcommittee on May 15. Senator @RandPaul (R, KY), who has been the most ardent member of Congress demanding answers for the pandemic since its outbreak, celebrated the news with a tweet of his own. Paul wrote, "Finally, the Biden Admin. agrees to ban Peter Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance, who financed the...

Hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in San Jose, California arrested Filippo Molinari, an Italian immigrant who sold subscriptions to L’Italia, a popular newspaper in his Italian American community. While held in custody, Molinari asked why he was being detained, only to be told that his arrest was “by order of the President.” A few days later, FBI agents forced Molinari and approximately 500 other “enemy aliens”—including more Italian nationals as well as Japanese and German immigrants from California—onto a train bound for an internment center in Missoula, Montana. Later, Molinari recalled how cold...

Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) surprise appearance at a Manhattan courthouse to support former President Trump, and his qualified answer about supporting the results of the 2024 election, show he’s challenging Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) as the Senate front-runner to be Trump’s running mate in the fall. GOP senators and strategists say it’s hard to predict whom Trump will choose, but they say Scott and Vance are viewed as the two most likely choices within the Senate GOP conference. Vance and Scott are stepping up their efforts to grab Trump’s attention by staying close to his orbit and showing off their...

Opening statements in Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) federal bribery and obstruction trial are set to begin Wednesday in Manhattan. Federal prosecutors have alleged Menendez and his wife Nadine accepted “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes in exchange for the senator’s political power, which they said enriched several New Jersey businessmen, as well as the governments of Egypt and Qatar. The bribes were allegedly paid in the form of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments, a Mercedes-Benz convertible and other lavish gifts. Jury selection began in the case Tuesday. Judge Sidney H. Stein said seemed optimistic that it could wrap up...

In London, 'Nura' from Eritrea, has been warned she could be sent to Rwanda. She said she wouldn't have come to the UK if she had known.

Brexiteer Nigel Farage said he has a “firm job offer” on the table related to Donald Trump’s U.S. re-election campaign. In an interview with U.K. broadcaster Talk, former Brexit Party leader Farage — who has repeatedly flirted with a new gig stateside — said he’s been offered the chance to “indirectly” help the Republican candidate’s fresh bid for the White House. “I do actually have a very firm job offer on the table from America, which is very, very tempting,” Farage told Talk presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer. “It’s a confidential offer, obviously, but it would be very heavily involved with the...

Google unleashes AI in search, raising hopes for better results and fears about less web traffic, a shift promising to quicken the quest for information while also potentially disrupting the flow of money-making internet traffic.

King Charles III marked another first in his reign this week, unveiling the first official portrait of himself since his coronation last year. Charles and his wife Queen Camilla were on hand Tuesday as the king's portrait was unveiled at Buckingham Palace. The portrait, which stands over 6 feet tall, was painted over the course of three years by Jonathan Yeo, a U.K.-based artist, according to the palace. The painting features a striking red background and shows Charles wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards, of which he was made Regimental Colonel in 1975, according to the palace.

President Joe Biden’s mediocre polling numbers and a difficult Senate map contribute to a somber mood for Democrats less than six months before Election Day. But there’s reason for Democratic optimism in one key Senate race, even as legal issues make one House member look more vulnerable while a GOP member’s status is in flux. With the complexities of a potential independent run for reelection by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Arizona emerging as one of the country’s top battlegrounds, the Arizona Senate race had been rated as a Toss-up for months. But Inside Elections has now changed the rating of...