Free Republic

Democratic presidential front-runner Bernie Sanders, in refusing to speak at one of the largest annual pro-Israel gatherings, claimed he’s concerned about, “the platform AIPAC provides for leaders who express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights.” But last year, he happily spoke at an Islamic conference that featured a parade of anti-Semitic speakers who have denied Israel’s legitimacy. As part of an effort to reassure his anti-Israel base, Sanders announced on Sunday his intention to boycott the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference, which features a number of speakers from both parties touting the need for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship....

Moscow, February 25, Interfax - Alexander Shchipkov, first deputy chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church's Department for Church, Society and Media Relations, has objected to plans to ban the consecration of certain types of weapons, including weapons of mass destruction. The Russian Orthodox Church's Inter-Council Presence has drawn up a draft document proposing that the consecration of any types of weapons whose use may cause the deaths of "an indefinite number of people," including "indiscriminate weapons and weapons of mass destruction," be banned. "An essential motive of the text of this document, in fact, separates a warrior from his weapon...

Milan, Italy, Feb 24, 2020 / 06:54 am (CNA).- Several Catholic dioceses in northern Italy have suspended Mass and other activities this week to help contain the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus. The northern regions of Italy saw a dramatic uptick in coronavirus cases over the weekend, prompting some regions to suspend all events or gatherings of any form, in public or private. In response to the outbreak, dioceses in the area have taken various measures, including cancelling Masses and asking Catholics to receive the Eucharist only in the hand. Italian officials have also imposed quarantine...

From the r/The_Donald subreddit "(Former, as of minutes ago, top mod of the last few years here) First they changed upvote algorithms to keep us from reaching the masses. Next, they outright censored us from /all. Then, they quarantined us, to make it difficult to even see our words, much less spread them. Then, one by one, they added new rules to stifle what would could even say behind the quarantine. Users were sitewide banned, automod size increased to prevent you from speaking freely. Still not enough, they decided to start banning us for even liking content we see, things...

When ISIS took over the Nineveh plains in northern Iraq in 2014, terrorized Christian residents fled in fear of their lives. Six years later, despite liberation from ISIS, many Christians have not returned home and are leaving Iraq altogether - prompting concern that Christianity’s 2,000 year presence in the country could be under threat. A 1987 government census listed 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, but following the outbreak of war, ISIS, and continuing political instability in the country, Christians now number around 200,000, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. As numbers decrease “rapidly,” Iraqi Christian Maryam...

Given estimates made by health officials, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told senators on Tuesday that America could need 270 million more face masks to fight the new coronavirus at home. On Monday, President Donald Trump's administration requested $2.5 billion in funding for the domestic response to the new coronavirus outbreak that now includes 57 cases in the U.S. The request came under fire for being an inadequate amount of money to develop a vaccine, fund quarantine measures and secure enough preventative supplies, including masks.

CINCINNATI – New Prospect Baptist Church has one of the largest black congregations in Cincinnati. On any weekend, you’ll find weddings, funerals and three Sunday services. On Feb. 8, you would have found 179 women firing .22-caliber handguns in the church basement. The church had opened its doors to what state officials believe is one of the largest women-only, concealed-carry certification classes in the state. Over and over, the women cited the same reason for taking the class. They were tired of being scared — of guns, of being alone in a home, of walking in some neighborhoods. Karen...

As of January 21st, China’s Communist Party confirmed 473 cases of the Coronavirus, mostly concentrated in Mainland China, Wuhan Provence, but the world doubted the accuracy of what was reported, particularly since the method for counting confirmed cases keeps changing. The most current confirmed cases are 79,498 with total deaths reported at 2,621. Even as China says the spread is slowing, globally the spread is picking up. Particularly troubling is what is happening in Italy, with 3 reported cases last week and 219 and 5 deaths reported today. At this writing, 33 countries have reported cases and this pandemic is...

Not long after CDC officials urged Americans to prepare for coronavirus outbreaks that will almost certainly begin to spread nationwide, Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency for the city of San Francisco.

Richard White has won the special election in Rowan County for the vacant 99th district Kentucky House Seat. White will replace longtime Representative Rocky Adkins, who resigned his seat when appointed as Senior Advisor to Governor Rocky Adkins. With 100% of precincts reporting White won with 4,750 votes to Redwine’s 3,731. Redwine won Rowan County, 2,549 votes to White's 2,040 votes White has won in Lewis County by a vote of 2,056 to 394. Redwine won Elliott county 788 to 654. If current totals are certified, White will take up the seat in the House immediately. Both men also are...

Tuesday was another day in another city, another time to reintroduce himself to his home state and maybe capture some votes along the way. It hasn't been this way for Jeff Sessions since the beginning, this constant touring of Alabama soliciting support after Alabama elected him four times to serve as their senator in Washington. And now it seems Sessions, after 20 years in the Senate, is back at the beginning.

Earlier today Dr. Nancy Messonnier, an official in the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), held a conference call with media and pushed a panic narrative around the Coronvirus that ran counter to the Trump administration. What makes the statements by Dr. Messonnier even more interesting is the fact she is the only sister of former DOJ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Dr. Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (link) told reporters on the call: “We are asking the American public to work with us to prepare for the expectation that this could be bad.”...

Seven Democratic candidates for president will meet on the debate stage in Charleston, South Carolina, in a debate hosted by CBS News. It's the last time the candidates will face off before Saturday's critical South Carolina primary — and the last one before voters in 16 states and territories go to the polls on Super Tuesday, March 3. "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell and "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King will moderate the debate, joined in questioning by "Face the Nation" moderator and senior foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan, chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett and "60...

A key juror from Roger Stone’s trial was questioned in court on Tuesday over allegations that she prejudiced the jury that convicted the longtime GOP political operative, with the juror also facing public attacks from President Trump on Twitter. In a lengthy hearing in a court in Washington, D.C., Judge Amy Berman Jackson brought in the juror, Tomeka Hart, to answer to accusations that she provided misleading answers about her political bias — a claim that Stone says justifies a new trial. Hart said she stood by the answers she gave during jury selection, in which she said she could...

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said on the nationally syndicated radio morning show “The Breakfast Club” that President Donald Trump is “scared” of her.

MAGNOLIA, Del.- Saint Thomas More Academy, a small Catholic high school in Kent County that has been struggling with declining enrollment, is closing its doors at the end of this academic year. The news was announced on Friday to families of students at STMA in a letter from Father James Lentini, the pastor of Church of the Holy Cross in Dover.

Clinton and her husband were friends with him and she accepted donations from him to her campaign. On Tuesday, she said of that: 'Well, it's true. He contributed to every Democrat's campaign. 'He contributed to Barack Obama's campaign and John Kerry's campaign and Al Gore's campaign and everybody's campaign.

WASHINGTON - While congressional Democrats share in their party's overriding goal of defeating President Donald Trump in November, there is growing concern that their efforts to retain a somewhat fragile House majority and hopes of winning control of the Senate could be hampered with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at the top of the ticket. Democrats worry that Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, and his policies are too liberal for the broader electorate they need to win in states and districts that Trump won in 2016. In particular, they are concerned that having Sanders at the top of the ticket could...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has strengthened his lead in the 2020 Democratic presidential race and surpassed former Vice President Joe Biden in support from African American voters, according to a new poll. The Reuters/Ipsos survey released Tuesday found Sanders's lead stretching into the double digits for the first time, with the senator holding an 11-point advantage in the race and a 3-point edge over Biden among black voters. Overall, 26 percent of surveyed Democrats and Independents said they would vote for Sanders, a self-identified democratic socialist, while Biden and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D) tied in a...

WASHINGTON — Top officials in the Trump administration struggled on Tuesday morning to justify their response to the growing threat of the coronavirus, which has sickened at least 80,423 people around the world and killed at least 2,712. Having spread well beyond its origin in the city of Wuhan in China, COVID-19, as the disease caused by the virus is known, now appears poised to become a pandemic. Although there have been no recorded fatalities in the United States yet, skeptical members of the U.S. Senate made clear to administration officials that they did not have confidence in their response....