Free Republic

More than 15 million people compete for space in Turkey's largest city, which straddles Europe and Asia on either side of the Bosphorus, much like a house cat perched half on the sofa, half on the coffee table. That's the appropriate visual, because there are an estimated quarter of a million stray kitties living here, too. Cats are woven into the very fabric and history of the city, as ubiquitous as the rugs for sale on every corner. This is a city shared; a city that purrs incessantly with love and life. "Istanbul cats are, on the whole, neither pets...

Nigel Farage will today pledge to deport 400,000 people who have been granted asylum in the UK, to reverse what Reform is calling “an invasion of Britain”. The historic promise, set to form a centrepiece of Reform’s general election campaign, will provoke a furious reaction from left-wingers and human rights campaigners. But Reform UK leader Mr Farage and his home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, will argue that people who came to the UK illegally, or overstayed their visa, must not be allowed to remain. The party has already said that nobody who breaks immigration rules in the future will be...

When the FBI's official crime stats come out later this year, we're likely to learn that 2025 saw a record-setting decline in homicides nationwide, and that the overall homicide rate is the lowest it's been since the FBI started keeping track in 1960. [snip] Still, there are some outliers, and one of them is Denver, Colorado. Last year Denver saw a 48% decrease in homicides, with Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas pointing to "a mix of faster police response, medical intervention, and long-term prevention strategies." This year, though, homicides are trending in the wrong direction. [snip] Last year, Democrats in...

GASTON, S.C. — Several agencies assisted in shutting down a large event in Lexington County on Saturday night after several people were trampled by horses, and members of a large crowd reportedly threw beer cans at first responders.Gaston Police Chief Stephen Watkins said police received reports of an emergency call around 8:30 p.m. Saturday to 491 S. Main St., where there were reports of people injured by horses at a rodeo event.Officers arrived at the scene with Lexington County Emergency Services and the Lexington County Fire Service, where they found several people had been trampled by stampeding horses that were...

On June 14, 2023, the United States Marshals Service listed Joshua Smiley on the “15 Most Wanted” list. He was the 26 year-old male suspect in an August 2021 shooting death of a man in Mobile, Alabama. On June 20, 2023, about a week after Joshua Smiley was put on the most wanted list, he was peacefully apprehended in Avon, Indiana - a suburb of Indianapolis. It was no big deal. They found him in just a couple of days, called him out, he came out and was arrested with no issues. It was a success. So why did the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI and Justice Department are scrambling to rebuild a depleted workforce after a wave of departures over the past year, with leaders easing hiring requirements and accelerating recruitment in ways that some current and former officials see as a lowering of long-accepted standards.The FBI has used social media campaigns to attract applicants, offered abbreviated training for candidates from other federal agencies and relaxed requirements for support staff seeking to become agents, according to people familiar with the changes and internal communications seen by The Associated Press. At the same time, the Justice Department has opened the...

Former President Barack Obama said in a YouTube interview posted Feb. 14 he wants to meet Pope Leo XIV. Left-leaning political YouTuber and podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen asked who the former president most wanted to meet at the end of a wide-ranging Q&A that began with the topic of a controversial racist social media post that portrayed him and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, as apes. Obama answered that he wanted to meet the pope, “and I hope I get an opportunity sometime in the future.” Obama, whose second term ended in 2017 when President Donald Trump entered...

A Chinese man studying at a Scottish university has been arrested after taking photographs of planes at a US air base. Tianrui Liang, who is studying aeronautical engineering at the University of Glasgow, has been charged with taking unauthorised images at Offutt Air Force Base, which is home to the US Strategic Command. The 21-year-old was arrested at JFK Airport in New York on April 7, after being spotted photographing a plane famed for its ability to withstand a nuclear attack. An eyewitness at the Nebraska base had alerted authorities to a man in a vehicle holding a camera with...

Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has cheated death so many times he’s like a cat with nine lives, only in his case, it’s probably ninety-nine. A show in Sacramento in December 1965 proved almost fatal for Richards. While he was singing, Richards, 82, didn’t realize his mic was ungrounded. “The strings of his guitar touching the metal stand shorted out the amp and sent a strong surge of electricity” through his body, writes Bob Spitz in the upcoming book “The Rolling Stones: The Biography.” A photographer who was there remembers that Richards was “unconscious for a long time,” and when...

[Catholic Caucus] The Unexplained Shift in Pope Leo XIV’s January ConsistoryWhy was a traditional format replaced at the last minute—and by whom?ROME, 15 April 2026 — The Vatican announced this week that Pope Leo XIV will convene his second extraordinary consistory of cardinals on June 26-27, but are these meetings being organized with genuine openness, or are they structured to steer toward a predetermined outcome?An extraordinary consistory, from the Latin consistorium (“standing together”), is among the principal ways cardinals assist the Roman Pontiff through collegial action. Convened at the pope’s discretion, these formal assemblies bring together the College of Cardinals...

Five people were wounded in a mass shooting near the University of Iowa campus after a large brawl that broke out early Sunday, police confirmed — as they shared a photo of five “persons of interest” in the carnage.

The gunman accused of shooting eight young children dead in Shreveport, Louisiana on Sunday morning has been identified as Shamar Elkins. Elkins, 31, opened fire at a home in Shreveport during a domestic disturbance, former Caddo Parish Constable Patrick Young told the Daily Mail. The suspect, who was fatally shot by police during a vehicle chase, is accused of killing eight children, with the youngest being just 18 months old, the Shreveport Police Department said

On his Facebook page, Elkins shared a picture of him with his eldest daughter as she ate a burger Saturday, hours before his rampage. “Lol!!!! Took my oldest on a lil 1 on 1 date had to catch her down bad ugh ugh,” the killer wrote, along with a string of laughing emojis. Two weeks ago, Elkins shared a picture of himself posing with seven children as he described taking them to church for an Easter service. “Happy Easter had a wonderful time at church for the first time with all my kids what a blessed day,” he wrote in...

In one of the most unfortunate moral and strategic inversions in recent times, Democrats today seem to believe what is good for our national security is bad for the Democratic Party.Republicans have generally supported Democratic presidents in wartime: Kosovo 1999, Libya 2011, Yemen 2024 — all commenced without congressional authorization.Democrats have done mostly the same for Republican presidents: Iraq 1991 and 2003, Afghanistan 2001.But with Donald Trump and Iran, things are different: Democrats are in uniform, rageful opposition. They hector the president daily even amid combat operations, much to the delight of the Iranian mullahs, who avidly consume US media...

The Madison is a neo-Western television series created by Taylor Sheridan for Paramount+. The series follows the Clyburn family, originally from New York City, who relocate to the Madison River valley of southwest Montana for emotional recovery following a major life-changing tragedy that both shocks and permanently changes the family.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, as a Democrat, there was this extraordinary vote this past week in the Senate. Forty Senate Democrats tried to block a U.S. weapons sale to Israel, and that adds to this growing rift we have seen between your party and Benjamin Netanyahu. Do you think Democrats are going to come to regret this break in the alliance? HOCHSTEIN: So I hope that it's not a break in the alliance. I think this, what it really demonstrates is for the last several years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has sacrificed Israel's interest in the United States....

THE 2026 World Cup is shaping up to be expensive for fans. Depending on what stadium your ticket is for — if you even got one due to exorbitant prices — transit and lodging costs are cripplingly high. This year’s World Cup was marketed as a tournament to get Americans excited about soccer and be a place where all fans could come and watch their countries compete. Instead, it has become a bidding war with both Fifa and local governments setting incredibly high prices. The cheapest tickets for less favorable games start at around $140 for a seat, but can...

Thugs waving Palestinian flags blocked traffic, took over the street, lit a fire, and performed car stunts in the family-oriented neighborhood of Middle Village, Queens, NY, last night. This is Mamdani’s NYC. Queens, NY has one of the highest concentrations of Muslims in New York City.

WASHINGTON — The US seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship after “blowing a hole” in its engine room when it tried to break past the Navy blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump revealed Sunday. The USS Spruance destroyer intercepted Iran’s Touska cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, taking custody of the ship after it refused warnings to stop, according to the president. “Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named TOUSKA, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our Naval Blockade, and it did not go well for them,” Trump...

An Iranian-flagged cargo ship was intercepted in the Gulf of Oman after it tried to get past the naval blockade imposed by the US near the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said on Monday. A tanker sits anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Qeshm Island, Iran. (AP/Representative image) A tanker sits anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Qeshm Island, Iran. (AP/Representative image) The President said that that USS Spruance, a guided missile destroyer gave the vessel a “fair warning” to stop but when the Iranian crew didn't listen, the ship stopped...