Free Republic

Germany will reduce the number of staff at its Kabul embassy to the “absolute minimum,” Foreign Minister Heiko Mass said Friday as Taliban forces set their sights on the Afghan capital. The announcement came as more German lawmakers appeal for quick action to get staff out of Afghanistan. Senior Christian Democratic Union (CDU) lawmaker Norbert Röttgen urged the German authorities to “not abandon a single local employee” in danger of “torture and death.” It also comes as the German Federation of Journalists asked for Afghan journalists to be granted residence. After the Taliban took the second and third largest cities...

Total vaccination numbers in the U.S. are at the highest they have been in more than a month as companies, organizations and, most recently, cities have begun announcing vaccine mandates. At the same time, Covid cases have also climbed around the country, driven by the highly contagious delta variant. White House chief of staff Ronald Klain said in a post on Twitter Friday that Covid vaccinations had reached their highest 24-hour total since before July 4, with 918,000 doses administered and 576,000 newly vaccinated, up from 821,000 and 565,000 respectively last Friday. This comes in a week that has seen...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Federal prosecutors filed a motion in response to Joshua Duggar’s attorney’s request for additional information in the child porn case, they are asking for the judge to deny that motion. In late July, the defense filed a “motion to compel” requesting more discovery information from the state regarding two of the Little Rock police officers involved in the investigation. Duggar’s attorney Justin Gelfand accused prosecutors of withholding material. On page 2, of the 19-page court filing, Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Gerald Faulkner stated that the search warrant for Wholesale Motorcars, 14969 Wildcat...

For nearly three years, ABC10's Fire - Power - Money team has been at the forefront covering California's wildfire crisis, the danger of PG&E's power lines, and how the company avoids accountability. Now, ABC10’s award-winning investigative series reveals how California’s state government, under Governor Gavin Newsom, responded to PG&E’s deadly crimes by giving the company rewards and protection.

CNN - Sen. Rand Paul just got temporarily kicked off YouTube for an inaccurate tirade against masks. Sen. Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, has been airing ads that urge people to go out and get the vaccine. The two Kentucky Republicans now perfectly exemplify the national divide over how to handle a deadly virus that is still ravaging the country -- and they couldn't be more diametrically opposed. McConnell has been one of the most consistent voices in the GOP when it comes to promoting health precautions, while Paul has become the face of the Republican resistance to Covid restrictions. Of course,...

The first news tonight is from Australia where its Saturday with dire pronouncements about the latest positive tests for COVID in New South Wales and four reported COVID deaths including at least one vaccinated person. Its been announced that the New South Wales Police are launching a special operation called: "Operation Stay At Home" in the Greater Sydney area starting Sunday at Midnight. 500 Australian Defense Force personnel will support the operation New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller saying movement in Greater Sydney was "still way too high". Those 500 Australian soldiers joining the 300 already backing up police...

The co-founder of fact-checking website Snopes has apologized for plagiarizing more than 50 articles and writing under a fake name. David Mikkelson, a computer science graduate who founded the site in 1994, blamed the behavior on a lack of journalistic training. 'I didn't come from a journalism background,' he said. 'I wasn't used to doing news aggregation. A number of times I crossed the line to where it was copyright infringement. I own that.' Following an investigation by BuzzFeed News, he is no longer allowed to publish articles on the page - although he retains his position as chief executive....

For the first time, the man who was seen on surveillance video being viciously beaten and robbed while visiting Seattle, is speaking out. The 22-year-old said he's angry and frustrated knowing the attacker is still on the loose. The man was visiting Seattle from Los Angeles when he was randomly attacked July 31 in a Mount Baker parking lot. The vicious and barbaric attack captured on chilling surveillance video has the freelance photographer known as Caliber Visuals still bearing the emotional and physical scars. “It makes me mad," Visuals said. "It makes me frustrated. It kind of makes me sad....

First Lady Jill Biden on Friday was seen publicly for the first time since undergoing foot surgery, wearing a walking boot while she joined her husband, President Joe Biden, as the couple boarded Marine One en route to Camp David for the weekend. Wearing a white dress and a sneaker on her right foot, Dr. Biden, 70, donned a medical boot on her left, supporting herself with a crutch under her right arm. President Biden, 78, could be seen assisting her as she walked ahead of him to board the aircraft. The outing was the first time Dr. Biden has...

OCOEE, Fla. – Central Florida hospitals and clinics are providing a COVID-19 treatment that the governor said could help cut down on hospitalizations across the state. GuideWell Emergency Doctors is one of the health care providers administering monoclonal antibodies. Dr. Laura Gallegos works at the Ocoee urgent care center. She said it’s been a rough few week at the facility as physicians are caring for an uptick in COVID patients. “It’s kinda astonishing how quickly the cases skyrocketed,” Gallegos said. Gallegos and the medical staff at the clinic are working hard to keep COVID patients from going to the hospital....

A Covid outbreak that has partially shut one of the world’s busiest container ports is heightening concerns that the rapid spread of the delta variant will lead to a repeat of last year’s shipping nightmares. The Port of Los Angeles, which saw its volumes dip because of a June Covid outbreak at the Yantian port in China, is bracing for another potential decline because of the latest shutdown at the Ningbo-Zhoushan port in China, a spokesman said. Anton Posner, chief executive officer of supply-chain management company Mercury Resources, said that many companies chartering ships are already adding Covid contract clauses...

At an August 6 school board meeting in Hancock County, Dr. Dan Stock spoke out against mandatory COVID-19 vaccination and mask policies. While addressing board members during the public comment portion of the Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation meeting, the doctor made several claims about the COVID-19 virus and vaccines that are contrary to information and recommendations cited by the CDC and Indiana State Department of Health.Clips from the board meeting have gone viral, posted across mainstream and non-mainstream channels. On YouTube, the video from the entire school board meeting had more than 580,000 views, as of Aug. 11, and...

If Your Time is short Researchers say there is no conclusive evidence that the anti-parasite drug is an effective COVID-19 treatment.Ivermectin is not approved for COVID-19 prevention or treatment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has also gone a step further, recommending against its use for COVID-19.See the sources for this fact-checkA widely shared Facebook post claims that ivermectin, which has emerged as a controversial drug during the coronavirus pandemic, is effective in treating COVID-19."How long after the last day of fever with the Rona should I wait to return to work? I feel fine now...

The Tucson City Council voted Friday to require city employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. On Friday, in an emergency meeting, Mayor and Council in a 6-1 vote passed the ordinance that now requires employees to provide proof of at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot by Aug. 24. The measure includes a five-day suspension for city employees who do not comply; however, there are religious and medical exemptions to the ordinance.

<p>TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian government will soon require all air travelers and passengers on interprovincial trains to be vaccinated against COVID-19.</p><p>Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Friday that includes all commercial air travelers, passengers on trains between provinces and cruise ship passengers.</p>

Nanci Griffith, the Grammy-winning folk singer-songwriter from Texas whose literary songs like "Love at the Five and Dime" celebrated the South, has died. She was 68. Her management company, Gold Mountain Entertainment, said Griffith died Friday but did not provide a cause of death. SNIP Griffith worked closely with other folk singers, helping the early careers of artists like Lyle Lovett and Emmylou Harris. She had a high-pitched voice, and her singing was effortlessly smooth with a twangy Texas accent as she sang about Dust Bowl farmers and empty Woolworth general stores.

China is prepared to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan if it succeeds in toppling the Western-backed government in Kabul, U.S. News has learned, a prospect that undercuts the Biden administration's remaining source of leverage over the insurgent network as it continues its startling campaign to regain control... The move comes as the Taliban has been routing Afghan forces – as of Thursday afternoon it had overrun 10 major provincial capitals, including one near Kabul, sometimes uncontested, along with key territory that connects with China's border. And it also undermines U.S. attempts to try to pressure the...

Leah covered this development this morning. The Biden White House isn’t looking to enact a nationwide COVID vaccine mandate but will probably implement measures that pretty much make it impossible for anyone to do…anything without getting the shot. There is no mandate, but there is one seems to be the playbook here. The new action item is to mandate vaccination for interstate travel—all of this while COVID-infected illegals are shipped all over the country, but whatever, right? The Associated Press said that they’re not going to push it since it “would be too polarizing for the moment.” So, is this...

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow may be on her way out.Her show, the aptly named “The Rachel Maddow Show,” has been the top-rated show on MSNBC for a while and, as of April 2021, was in fourth place for all cable news shows behind Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” which came in at number one, “Hannity,” which was number two and “The Five” at number three, Ad Week reported.But now, the 48-year-old Maddow, whose net worth was estimated by Yahoo at $25 million, is strongly considering leaving MSNBC, The Daily Beast reported.According to six people familiar with the situation, Maddow, 48,...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday lifted New York state’s ban on residential evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, handing a victory to a group of small landlords that challenged a moratorium that had been slated to expire on Aug. 31. The justices granted an emergency request by the landlords to lift the ban on eviction proceedings while litigation over the dispute continues. The Court ruled 6 to 3 in the case. A lower court in June rejected landlords’ argument that the moratorium violated their rights to due process of law and free speech under the U.S. Constitution. Some landlords in...