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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's governor activated the National Guard on Tuesday to rush food, medicine and gasoline to the popular tourist islands of Vieques and Culebra following a major breakdown in transportation that critics say could have been avoided. The announcement came after cargo ferries that supply the two islands located some 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Puerto Rico recently broke down, cutting an important lifeline to the roughly 11,000 people who live there. In addition, tens of thousands of tourists visit the islands every year, and people have been posting pictures on social media...

Former state Del. Ron Villanueva plans to plead guilty later this month in connection with allegations he improperly helped two Virginia Beach companies secure special government contracts that had been set aside for women- and minority-owned small businesses. It is unclear what charge or charges are involved in the proposed plea agreement. A plea hearing is scheduled March 19 in U.S. District Court. Villanueva, a Virginia Beach resident who was voted out of office in 2017, and his attorney, Thomas Bondurant Jr., did not respond this morning to requests for comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Salsbury declined to comment. Villanueva...

Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman said Tuesday that there’s one longtime member of President Donald Trump’s inner circle who could reveal everything if called to testify. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews spoke with the former “Apprentice” contestant about the new investigation into Trump launched by House Democrats, who sent document requests to 81 people and entities close to the president. “Who do you think Trump fears most will be brought in?” Matthews asked. “One name: Rhona Graff,” Manigault Newman replied without hesitation, referring to Trump’s longtime personal secretary. “She knows everyone. She knows the role they play. She knows who...

President Donald Trump's two-hour speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference was filled with zingers that seem reasonably representative of what we can expect in the 2020 presidential election. "We believe in the American dream, not in the socialist nightmare." And perhaps more boldly, "We have people in Congress that hate our country." Overly hard-hitting? I don't think so. Given where the other side wants to take the country, this is no time for pulling punches. A few days earlier, on the other side of town, Trump's former personal attorney and operative Michael Cohen testified before the House Committee on...

He promised spring was right around the corner, but it appears that Punxsutawney Phil has lied. On Feb. 2, Phil announced to the awaiting crowd that there was going to be an early spring. It was one of a handful of times the weather prognosticating rodent didn’t see his shadow and the first since 2016. But the cheers of a soon-to-be spring have transitioned to the sounds of teeth chattering and shovels picking up snow. The Delaware County sheriff in Indiana says Phil is a wanted groundhog for crimes and acts against nature, WTHR reported.

David Axelrod, who served as senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, criticized House Democrats on Monday for their blanket demand for documents from more than 80 people associated with President Trump, warning it could play into the characterization of a witch hunt.

House Democrats will add language to resolution condemning anti-Semitism so that it also rejects anti-Muslim prejudice. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Tuesday the resolution is still being written. A Democratic aide said a vote is likely Thursday, a day later than initially planned, and said some language condemning anti-Muslim bias would also be added, without specifying what it would say. “There will be a vote this week, and you will see what it is when we are finished writing it,” Pelosi said Tuesday night.

The bill, under consideration by lawmakers, would place a five-year suspension on municipalities’ banning of plastic straws, pending a study from the Florida department of environmental protection. Calling the banning of plastic straws “government overreach”, the Florida state senator Travis Hutson also amended the bill to create a $25,000 fine for local governments that regulate the material and another ban on municipal regulation of sunscreens that harm coral reefs../

In his three addresses in February, the Iran Supreme Leader tried to convince regimes' authorities not to be afraid of the crises that affected his power. The Supreme Leader had probably not repeat it so often in such a short period of the time: "do not be afraid"! On February 8, he first told his soldiers, gathered to mark the 40th anniversary of the regime, "Do not be afraid of the enemy and do not let yourself be overwhelmed by fear". On February 25, he spoke to executive, judicial and legislative leaders emphasizing: "Don't get caught up in depression, boredom,...

It would have been a jarring image no matter the president. We're used to seeing the American flag handled in a number of ways. It can be hoisted, saluted, folded in honor of the fallen, even burned in protest. But it's not every day you see the leader of the free world hug the flag in front of a crowd of adoring followers. Enter President Donald Trump on Saturday at the annual gathering of conservatives known as the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He grabbed an unassuming Old Glory by its stand like a prom date, and gave it a...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico's governor activated the National Guard on Tuesday to rush food, medicine and gasoline to the popular tourist islands of Vieques and Culebra following a major breakdown in transportation that critics say could have been avoided. The announcement came after cargo ferries that supply the two islands located some 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Puerto Rico recently broke down, cutting an important lifeline to the roughly 11,000 people who live there...(snip) ...Just over five months ago, Rossello's administration rented four additional ferries and changed the departure point from Puerto Rico to the...

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine's U.S. senators are working with a bipartisan group of colleagues to call for an increased number of work visas to help small businesses find seasonal workers. Republican Susan Collins and independent Angus King are asking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to bump the number of H-2B visas...They want the department to increase the 66,000 cap on the visas to more than 135,000.

The president of the nation’s largest teachers’ union joined a man who identifies as a woman in teaching transgender ideology to an Arlington, Virginia, kindergarten class last week. Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association (NEA), joined with Sarah McBride, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), in reading the books I Am Jazz and Julián Is a Mermaid to young children at Ashlawn Elementary School.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday extended sanctions against Russia by another year, prolonging punitive measures that were first imposed over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. In Monday’s announcement, the Trump administration stressed the “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States” posed by Russia as the basis for renewing the sanctions.

Jack Dorsey is a computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur who is co-founder and CEO of Twitter, and founder and CEO of Square, a mobile payments company. Vijaya Gadde serves as the global lead for legal, policy, and trust and safety at Twitter. Tim Pool is an independent journalist. His work can currently be found at http://timcast.com

No matter how much she still tries to rally her cult, Hillary can never walk back her abominable insult towards the American people. It's written in stone amongst the scribes, among the electorate, and seared seared into our memories ... (excepting, of course, those who willfully have no memories)

MOBILE, Ala. (BP) -- Tim Smith, president of the University of Mobile since May 2016, has resigned, according to a news release issued by the university. Smith "cited personal reasons" for his resignation, the university's March 1 news release stated, providing no further information. A university spokesperson contacted by Baptist Press cited the news release as the only information being made available. Trustees announced after a March 1 meeting that interim leadership for the university was named and a nationwide search for a new president will begin. Current trustee chairman Fred Wilson was named interim president with David Conner becoming...

The chairman of the Russian Council of Muftis has predicted that almost a third of the country will be Muslim within 15 years. Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, the grand mufti for the religious group which represents Russia's Muslim community, claimed a record-number of Muslims attended mosques in the capital to celebrate Eid al-Adha last year. Speaking at a conference in Moscow, he insisted that the more than 320,000-strong show of those performing their prayers for the festival in the city was an indicator of the rising number of Muslims in the country. According to the predictions of experts, 30 per cent...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addressed the recent controversy about anti-Semitic tropes in a series of tweets early Wednesday morning, arguing that all forms of racism and bigotry serve classism and “white supremacy.” The freshman congresswoman did not directly address the controversy over Rep. Ilhan Omar’s statements about Israel — instead she pivoted to a criticism of Trump’s border wall and condemned bigotry in broad terms. “If we’re so concerned about implied tropes, why aren’t we concerned about this one?” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in her first tweet at midnight.