Free Republic

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected calls from French leader Emmanuel Macron for a truce with Russia during the Paris Olympics and criticised the West for seeking a swift end to the war. The ancient tradition stretching back to Ancient Greece of a truce during the games will likely not be observed during this year’s Olympics in Paris, which will be held from July 26th to August 11th in the French capital.

CBS New Polls conducted by YouGov May 5-16. AZ (1193 LV): Trump 52, Biden 47; FL (1181 LV): Trump 54, Biden 45

Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that President Joe Biden was trying to have “both sides” on the Israel–Hamas war. Anchor Jake Tapper said, “You’ve become famous or infamous depending on your point of view for your stalwart support of Israel since the October 7 attacks, especially, but before then as well, Israel recovered the body of yet another hostage yesterday. That’s for hostage bodies recovered this week. The U.S. is assessing that Israel has amassed enough troops to launch a full-scale ground operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite President Biden’s...

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi has been involved in a helicopter crash hours after posing for pictures with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and rescuers are frantically trying to reach the site. The aircraft was traveling in Iran's East Azerbaijan province near Jolfa, around 375 miles northwest of Tehran, when it suffered a 'hard landing', according to Iranian state television. Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, but had been hampered by the poor weather conditions in the area. There had been heavy rain and fog reported with some wind. The helicopter was one of a convoy of three and foreign minister...

Back when there were still two Germanys, one a parliamentary democracy aligned with the West and one a Soviet satellite surveillance state, I had trouble remembering which was the Federal Republic and which the Democratic Republic—until I realized that the one calling itself democratic wasn’t. Even today, North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The least democratic regimes in the world pretend to be the most democratic. Then as now, Marxists and those who have learned from them often justify abuse of language by redefining the key term. Words come to mean their opposite. To the...

The United Nations confirmed Saturday that 800,000 Palestinians have left the town of Rafah, in southern Gaza, as Israel begins its attack on Hamas battalions there. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the controversial United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), announced the number of evacuees — and warned of the risks they face. The number of evacuees far exceeds the estimates that were discussed in advance of the Israeli operation, which began on May 6, amid U.S. opposition. The Biden administration warned that an attack on Rafah could cause civilian casualties there.

Senior officials from the Biden administration held indirect talks last week with the Iranian regime in the Gulf state of Oman to avoid “escalation” in the region — even as Iran’s proxies continue to attack Israel and global shipping. The effort is one of few diplomatic meetings between the U.S. and Iran, and recalls the secret meetings between President Barack Obama’s envoys and the Iranian regime in Oman in 2013 that set the stage for the Iran nuclear deal.

Iranian media report that a helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi encountered an accident in East Azerbaijan Province and some of his companions in the helicopter "managed to make contact with the center." Meanwhile, IRIB News Agency wrote, "Rescue teams are continuing their efforts to reach the crash site."

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Investigators are working to find out if charges will be filed against a man accused of shooting two customers over a waitress' stolen phone on Saturday. The Houston Police Department said the incident unfolded at a sports bar along Lyons Avenue and Boyles in the Denver Harbor area. Just before 2 a.m., a waitress reportedly noticed her phone had been stolen from behind the bar where two men were drinking together. Police said a manager looked at surveillance video showing one of the two customers at the bar had taken the phone. That's when the woman...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state television reported, without immediately elaborating. Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Courts in England are reportedly looking to scrap the requirement for barristers to wear traditional wigs amid claims that they discriminate against lawyers with “Afro-Caribbean hair”. The iconic manner of dress in English courtrooms may become wokism’s latest scalp as demands have been made to abandon the requirement of barristers to wear wigs in front of the court because they are “culturally insensitive”, The Telegraph reports.

Jeremy Hunt will approve final compensation for the victims of the contaminated blood scandal this week after a Sunday Times campaign for justice was backed across the political divide. The chancellor is preparing to unveil a package worth at least £10 billion ($12 billion) for those affected by the deadliest man-made disaster in postwar Britain. Tens of thousands of people were treated with disease-ridden blood products from the United States in the 1970s and 80s. The prime minister is expected to make an official apology on Monday, acknowledging the failings of the state and the suffering caused, following the publication...

Police are recommending murder charges after two of three robbers were killed by their intended victims on Monday, but it's the third accused robber who's facing prosecution, not the individuals who acted in self-defense. [snip] “They acted in self defense,” said Gulfport Lt. Jason DuCré. But the third man involved in the attempted robbery was arrested and charged in the killings in Gulfport of Temi Lawal, 18, of Moss Point, and Lorenzo Stennis, 21, of Pascagoula. Lawrence Corley IV, 17, of Gautier is charged with two counts of capital murder. On Monday night, Gulfport PD officers arrived at a residence...

The Talk Shows May 19th, 2024 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:FACE THE NATION (CBS): Margaret Brennan anchors: Sens. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Oksana Markarova, Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S.; former Defense Secretary Robert Gates; and Chris Krebs, Trump administration Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in the United States Department of Homeland Security.FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Anchor Shannon Bream: eps. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass.; Will Scharf, a lawyer for Donald Trump. Panel: Jonathan Turley, who holds the Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law at The George...

Legal challenges by conservative lawmakers and activists against guaranteed basic income programs are heating up nationwide. And one of their arguments is surprising: Some say the programs are discriminatory because they are not universal. Numerous cities and counties are experimenting with guaranteed basic incomes to support their most vulnerable populations. They typically offer no-strings-attached monthly payments between $500 and $1,000 to specific groups, like new moms, Black women, or trans people, all of them low-income residents. Guaranteed basic income programs differ from their idealistic cousin — a universal basic income. UBI, made famous by Andrew Yang during the 2016 presidential...

Former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke, once a powerful Democrat, was found guilty of 13 out of 14 corruption charges, including racketeering, bribery, and extortion. The case highlighted high-level corruption in Chicago’s city government, involving political favors for money. The trial also implicated other officials and revealed widespread corruption in Illinois, leading to numerous convictions. “This case was about bribery and extortion occurring at the highest level of Chicago city government,” U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual said. “Burke has his hand out for money. He tied the giving of official action by him to the giving of money to him.” “Alderman Burke...

Washington DC's woke Mayor Muriel Bowser will travel on a taxpayer-funded jaunt to Las Vegas with her team just hours from now. It comes just weeks after the Democrat faced backlash for attending the lavish Masters golf tournament that cost $5,000 per person, Bowser personally revealed. The mayor will travel with a team of 14 on an 'economic mission' to the International Council of Shopping Centers at the Wynn Las Vegas on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, according to her public calendar.

A Colorado university’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate violates the U.S. Constitution, a federal court has ruled. The Sept. 1, 2021, mandate “clearly violates the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause as interpreted by our precedents,” a majority of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit said in the May 7 decision. While the mandate was later updated, the newer version also violates the Constitution, the judges said. The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2021 required COVID-19 vaccination of all students and employees. It initially offered religious exemptions to anyone who checked a box, but later said...

The former Republican governor of Ohio has said he believes there could be a secret plot underway that would see the Democrats replace Biden as the party's presidential candidate before November's election. John Kasich, whose own half-hearted bid for the presidency in 2016 ended in failure, said he believes poor polling data coupled with Biden's poor performance at public speaking events has given Democrats a reason to look for alternative candidate. Kasich, 72, made the assertions on Democrat-leaning MSNBC on Friday night.

Haifa University appointed Professor Mona Maron as rector on Thursday, making her the first Israeli Arab to be appointed to the position in an Israeli university. A world-renowned researcher in the field of neuroscience and post-trauma, Maron will replace Prof. Gur Alroey, who in October will become the university president. “I am grateful for the trust I received from the members of the university senate and look forward to taking up the position. First and foremost, the University of Haifa is a home for me. A home that welcomed me into its ranks more than 30 years ago, as an...