Free Republic

ROME - As the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus in Europe continued to grow, the French Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes announced that pilgrims were still welcome, but the pools the sick bathe in hoping for healing would be closed temporarily. “Our first concern will always be the safety and health of the pilgrims and the shrine’s working community,” said a note posted Feb. 28 on the shrine’s website. “As a precaution, the pools have been closed until further notice.” In the center of Rome, the French Church of St. Louis, home of three famous Caravaggio...

Turkish forces have targeted the Syrian regime’s military repeatedly over the last several days..Erdogan blamed Assad for the strike, which U.S. officials said was likely coordinated with the Russian military. Russian military officials aren’t ready to allow Erdogan to target Assad’s military, which relies on Russia for air support. “In this situation, the Russian troops’ command can’t guarantee security of flights of Turkish aircraft in the skies over Syria,” Russian Rear Adm. Oleg Zhuravlev, one of the top commanders for Russia’s operations in Syria... Erdogan and Putin are expected to meet Thursday in Moscow to discuss the crisis and a...

Moscow, March 2, Interfax - Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin told reporters on Monday about the wording of a president-submitted constitutional amendment that includes a reference to God. "The Russian Federation, which has a millennia-long history and safeguards the memory of the forefathers who passed the ideals and faith in God to us, as well as the continuity of the development of the Russian state, shall be recognized as historically developed state unity," Volodin said. One of the amendments submitted by the Russian president on Monday in the run-up to the second reading of the bill on changes to...

Traditionalists fear hierarchy will use epidemic scare to kill Latin Mass ROME (ChurchMilitant.com) - The former archbishop of Milan has dismissed the idea that divine punishment for human sin could be a factor behind the coronavirus epidemic, which has spooked churches into shutting their doors in the dioceses of Northern Italy. "Divine punishment does not exist. It is an incorrect view of Christianity," Cdl. Angelo Scola told La Repubblica, when asked if Christianity supported the vision of a divine punishment behind the coronavirus. "Of course, God knows and predicts events but does not determine them," Scola told the leftwing Italian...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Monday's election "the biggest win of my life" in his victory speech at Expo Tel Aviv that started at 2:20am Tuesday. He added "we plowed the country from north to south. There is nothing like the citizens of Israel. Israeli citizens trust us because they know that we have brought the best decade in Israeli history." Netanyahu was greeted by cheers calling him "Bibi, king of Israel." "The victory is even sweeter, because it was against all odds and we were eulogized," he told the crowd. "We turned the lemons into lemonade."

This is no way to lick the coronavirus. Shocking footage has emerged of Iranians tempting fate by licking the doors and a burial mound at the Fatima Masumeh Shrine in Qom, the epicenter of the Islamic Republic’s COVID-19 outbreak. Journalist Masih Alinejad shared video of the disturbing practice, noting that officials have refused to shut down the religious shrines — while the death toll in the country stands at 66, with more than 1,500 infected.

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is dropping charges against one of the two suspects arrested in connection to a shocking viral video that shows an Asian man being robbed.

**SNIP** It’s a dilemma more American retirees can relate to: While most borrowers are 18 to 39 years old, people over 60 are the fastest-growing segment of the population with student loan debt, according to a report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In all, more than 2.8 million Americans over 60 are contending with student debt, a number that has quadrupled from 700,000 in 2005, according to the bureau. The cost is swelling, too: Between 2012 and 2017, for those age 60 and older, the average amount of student loan debt almost doubled, ballooning to $23,500 from $12,100. The...

Whom better to have as president during the coronavirus epidemic but a renowned germaphobe, the “build-the-wall” guy who refuses to kowtow to China? It’s a unique set of characteristics showing that President Trump understood early the need for decisive measures such as travel restrictions on China, which he imposed in January. Yet for that sensible decision — in defiance of the World Health Organization — he was criticized by Democrats such as Joe Biden as xenophobic, and by China as racist. “This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia — hysterical xenophobia — and fearmongering,” said...

Even the Big Apple’s most beloved Chinese restaurants are in critical condition as the coronavirus keeps customers at bay. Restaurant owners, the people who work for them and city lawmakers say business at Chinese-owned establishments has plummeted by as much as 60 percent as the global pandemic spreads. Some restaurants in Queens have closed, possibly for good, sources said. “It’s been terrible for business,” said Thomas Lo, a co-owner of Spy C Cuisine of Forest Hills, Queens, which opened in 2018 and garnered a coveted spot in this year’s Michelin Guide. “We’ve had a steady increase in business since we...

As an outbreak of a new coronavirus causes some U.S. customers to fill up shopping carts and thin out store shelves, industry groups and experts say grocers can tamp down on “panic buying” by planning ahead and trying to stay stocked. Grocery stores, including Costco stores, have seen a spike in sales of household items like hand sanitizer, face masks and cases of bottled water in recent weeks. Sales of shelf-stable grocery items, including fruit snacks, dried beans and pretzels, are on the rise, too, according to late-February data from Nielsen. At U.S. stores, sales of fruit snacks were up...

This Sunset Park family is growing by leaps and bounds! Lindsay and Dane Demchak were all set to throw a birthday party Saturday for their son Omri, who was born Feb. 29, 2016, the last Leap Year. But that soiree was put on hold when the 31-year-old stay-at-home mom unexpectedly gave birth Saturday morning, four days early, to a 7-pound, 2-ounce baby girl at Coney Island Hospital in Brooklyn. “We’re the double Leap Year family!” a beaming Lindsay Demchak boasted from her hospital bed as she cradled a swaddled Scout on her right arm. “We don’t believe in superstition. We...

Classic film fans will have something unique to celebrate this March, which will see the return of the original King Kong to theaters for a nationwide, one-day engagement for the first time since 1956. The 1933 film will screen at more than 600 theaters nationwide on Sunday, March 15 via Fathom Events, with tickets available now, as part of Turner Classic Movies’ Big Screen Classics series. The press release for the screening points out that the last time King Kong was re-released, back in 1956, “Dwight D. Eisenhower was President, the average movie ticket cost 59 cents, and not a...

Four teenagers were injured when an 18-year-old driver intentionally ran them over as they were walking on the sidewalk in Burlingame, California. Two of the victims suffered serious injuries and were taken to Stanford Hospital, while the other two teens were taken to a different hospital with less severe injuries.

Four years ago, candidate Donald Trump’s pitch to African Americans heading to voting booths was simple: “What do you have to lose?” While he captured just 8 percent of the black vote in 2016, recent polls suggest things could be different this time around. In November, an Emerson poll reported a 34.5 percent approval rating among black voters, and a January Gallup poll reported a 14 percent increase in satisfaction over race relations among Americans. “We’ve had this wild surge of new testimonials coming in the past few weeks, largely in the black community,” said Brandon Straka, founder of #WalkAway,...

Good luck deposing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She’s as slippery as an eel and twice as devious. She’ll figure out a way to circumvent the truth. It’s her greatest skill set. Clinton and her lawyers have spent months inventing one excuse after another for why she shouldn’t have to answer questions in a deposition about her unauthorized and unsecured computer system. She used a clandestine server to handle all of her electronic communications as secretary of state, including the transfer and dissemination of thousands of classified and top-secret documents.There is no doubt that Clinton’s unprotected email apparatus jeopardized...

Before Shanee Markovitz and Tani Kay get married this May, the couple gathered their close friends together recently to celebrate … their prenup. “I want my friends to see this as a huge part of our wedding. It’s as important as every other piece, if not more,” says Markovitz, 20. “We’re going to announce it at our wedding and put it in our programs, too.” While many prenuptial agreements are kept hush-hush and often seen as unromantic, for this couple — who have been together since they were high-school sophomores — it’s a sign of liberation. And not everyone is...

WASHINGTON — As Democrats begin to coalesce around Joe Biden as the moderate alternative to Bernie Sanders, there appears to be a quiet hand behind the rapid movement: former President Barack Obama. Obama spoke with his former vice president after he handily won the South Carolina primary on Saturday, and with Pete Buttigieg on Sunday when he dropped out of the Democratic race, according to people familiar with the calls. Buttigieg will travel from South Bend, Indiana to Dallas Monday and endorse Biden, multiple people familiar with the plan tell NBC News People close to Obama said the former president...

    ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Travis Air Force Base, CaliforniaTravis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force air base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command (AMC), located three miles east of the central business district of Fairfield, in Solano County, California, United States. Situated at the southwestern edge of the Sacramento Valley and known as the "Gateway to the Pacific," Travis Air Force Base handles more cargo and passenger traffic through its airport than any other military air terminal in the United States. The base has a long and proud history...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu succeeded in winning 60 seats for his bloc of right-wing and religious parties in Monday’s election, one less than he needed for a majority in the Knesset, according to exit polls on the three television networks. The first polls indicated that Netanyahu’s Likud won 36-37 seats. Its allies in Shas, UTJ and Yamina won 9, 7-8 and 6-7 respectively. The polls showed Blue and White with 33 seats, its ally Labor-Gesher-Meretz 6-7, the Joint List 14-15 and Yisrael Beytenu 6-8. When Channel 13 updated its numbers at around 1 a.m. Israel time, Gantz gained one seat...