Free Republic

Austria will put a lockdown in place for the unvaccinated in two regions where COVID-19 cases are surging starting on Monday, Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg stated during a press conference Friday. Unvaccinated people in the Austrian regions of Upper Austria and in Salzburg will only be permitted to leave home for specific reasons, such as grocery shopping or doctor's appointments, per ABC News. Schallenberg said he and other leaders in Austria will reconvene Sunday to finalize the measures and their implementation...

The two major political elements in play over the past year are closely intertwined. Those are the new left-wing blatancy, in which the American Left scarcely attempts to hide its actual agenda anymore, and the vast number of enemies the left is lining up against itself throughout American society. In hindsight, this makes perfect sense. How could the Left hope to maintain the support of the mass of Americans once its actual goals and methods became evident? In the past, leftists made a serious effort to shield their true agenda from scrutiny using a wide range of methods – wrapping...

AMexican activist leading a caravan of over 1,000 Central American migrants announced that his group expects to meet up with a caravan that's 10 times larger, Border Report writes. The two aim to converge and then proceed toward the U.S.-Mexico border. The organizer, Irineo Mujica, said that the caravans expect to meet in Veracruz on November 18. From there, they will head toward the Arizona-Mexico border. This deviates from the original plan to end this journey—which started near the border of Guatemala—in Mexico City. "We are not going to Mexico City, we are now going the northern border....

Prince Harry wore a classic black tuxedo to the event, pairing the look with his own poppy flower pin, four medals and the cross for Knight Commander of Royal Victorian Order around his bow tie. The prince presented the inaugural Intrepid Valor Awards to five service members and military families. Prince Harry served 10 years in the British army and did two tours in Afghanistan, which has made the prince passionate about helping veterans and soldiers. Throughout his life and time as a senior member of the royal family, Prince Harry regularly worked with veterans and has done charitable work...

A New York judge dismissed a lawsuit Friday filed by former President Donald Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, against the Trump Organization. In a ruling more than two years after Cohen filed the lawsuit in 2019 in New York City , alleging Trump's business did not pay his legal bills up to a promised amount, Judge Joel Cohen determined that the blame was misplaced. "Mr. Cohen's legal fees arise out of his (sometimes unlawful) service to Mr. Trump personally, to Mr. Trump's campaign, and to the Trump Foundation," Joel Cohen wrote in his ruling, according to the Associated Press . "But...

Prosecutors at the Kenosha shooter trial have admitted that 'a reasonable jury or juror' could acquit Kyle Rittenhouse on the most serious charges that he faces. Assistant District Attorney James Kraus made the extraordinary admission as he pressed for 'a multitude of lesser charges' to be put before the jury when they are sent out to deliberate Monday. Rittenhouse has been charged with First Degree Reckless Intentional Homicide in the death of Joseph Rosembaum, First Degree Intentional Homicide in the death of Anthony Huber and First Degree Attempted Intentional Homicide in the shooting of Gaige Grosskreutz. These are the most...

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that opponents are using rising prices as a 'political cudgel,' as the administration continues to try to retool its rhetoric after a new report showed consumers were getting hammered by price increases. 'It's become a political cudgel, and it shouldn't be,' said Psaki, speaking at her first White House press briefing since testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month. 'It's impacting ... millions of Americans, no matter their political party, and that's certainly of concern to the president,' she continued. She noted that 'everyone from the Federal Reserve to Wall Street agree...

A school board in Oregon that recently banned teachers from displaying symbols including those supporting gay pride and Black Lives Matter has abruptly fired the superintendent, apparently for failing to enforce the new policy. Superintendent Joe Morelock was fired in a 4-3 vote by the conservative majority of the Newberg School Board on Tuesday night, learning his fate during a public meeting over Zoom. The conservatives who sealed Morelock's fate refused to comment on their vote. An earlier meeting had been held in private, but topics discussed have not been released.

Feminist activists and leaders from around the globe ascended the stage at COP26 to say there is no climate justice without addressing gender equity and human rights for women. Wearing red masks in solidarity with their Indigenous sisters, climate activists spanning the Global South talked to a packed venue about the successes, struggles and what real climate justice must look like during a public event hosted Monday evening by the Women and Gender Constituency, a stakeholder group with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Moderator and international human rights lawyer Kavita Naidu launched the panel by acknowledging...

Senator Joe Manchin has said that he doesn't know whether he will run for reelection when his term expires in 2024, as the moderate Democrat faces harsh criticism within his own party over his reluctance to back President Joe Biden's $1.85 trillion spending plan. 'I have no idea,' Manchin told West Virginia podcast Talkline on Friday when asked if he would run again in 2024. 'I'll make a decision after the 2022 election, November.' 'I wouldn't make a decision yet, I wouldn't make it now,' he added. 'Right now I'm trying to do everything I can to try to find...

Donald Trump's former spokeswoman at the State Department has taken House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff to task again for his promotion of a dossier used to discredit the former president. Morgan Ortagus was a guest host on The View on Tuesday, and grilled Schiff for his enthusiastic embrace of the discredited document. He dodged her questions, with Ortagus also since taking to Fox News, where she blamed Schiff's enthusiasm for the dossier's widespread coverage in liberal media outlets, and revealed her nerves at getting to confront him on the popular show.

A Washington Post columnist has sharply criticized CNN for failing to retract its claim that British ex-spy Christopher Steele's dossier is 'corroborated,' following a federal indictment that raised serious questions about the document. Media critic Erik Wemple issued the harsh rebuke in a column on Friday, calling on CNN to correct its longstanding claim that its reporting had verified substantial portions of the 2016 dossier alleging Donald Trump conspired with Russia. Last week, a federal indictment alleged that Russian-born analyst Igor Danchenko, a key source for the Steele dossier, fabricated conversations with one source, and used a Democratic political operative...

Vice-President Kamala Harris was video taped using a French accent when she spoke with scientists at the Institut Pasteur in Paris this week. She was widely mocked on social media for this affectation and professed herself "mystified by how cruelly I am being treated." "I thought it was polite to speak in the other person's language," Harris said wiping away a tear. "It's a show of respect. All the French scientists I spoke with seemed happy that I was using their tongue. They smiled and nodded. We were all speaking French. Their accents were the same as mine. We were...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday tossed out greenhouse gas emissions rules for heavy-duty truck trailers, ruling two government agencies had exceeded their authority. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2016 set rules for the first time requiring trailer manufacturers to adopt fuel-saving technologies like side skirts and automatic tire pressure systems. An industry group challenged the rule, which was put on hold by the court pending the review. The administration of then-President Barack Obama said it was important to regulate the fuel efficiency of the trailer portion of commercial...

One of the U.S. Air Force's Boeing B-52 bombers has been damaged after its wing clipped a fence while it was being moved around on an airbase in Louisiana. The bomber, also known as the Stratofortress, was being positioned in order to be put on display when the driver of a tow misjudged the distance between the plane's right wing and a metal perimeter fence. The fence appeared to have penetrated through the skin of the aircraft and punctured the right wing leaving a significant amount of structural damage and its starboard fuel tank ... [photos at link]

As the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse has progressed, Americans who hope for a successful conviction have begun to focus their attentions on the true villain of the piece: the 75-year-old presiding judge, Bruce Schroeder. Among the many accusations that have been leveled at Schroeder this week are that he is “biased,” that he is “prejudiced,” that he is a secret “conservative,” “right-winger,” or “Trumpist,” that he is a “a gun nut,” that he is a “a racist” or wannabe member of the Klan, that he is the “worst judge in town,” and that he is attempting to parlay this trial...

The judge presiding over Kyle Rittenhouse's homicide trial is receiving hundreds of emails threatening him and even his children. The Kenosha County Courthouse received threatening emails, letters, postcards, and faxes accusing Wisconsin Judge Bruce Schroeder of racism and asking him to resign in addition to warnings about Rittenhouse's safety if he is acquitted by a jury. There were also threats against the judge's children, according to the Daily Mail ... ...Schroeder noted earlier this week there were "thousands of communications" he and his staff have received in the course of the trial. He promised he would "deal with" the senders....

“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20).

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened Thursday to cut off a major pipeline transporting Russian gas through Belarus to the European Union if the EU imposes new sanctions, escalating what the EU calls Belarus' "hybrid attack" on the 27-member bloc Earlier this week, thousands of migrants from the Middle East moved through Belarus to the EU's Polish border, and now they are stuck in frigid weather between Polish border guards who won't let them in and Belarusian guards who won't let them return. "We are heating Europe," Lukashenko said Thursday. "They still threaten us that they will close the border. And...

Arraf is a co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, an anti-Israel group that was investigated by the FBI for possible ties to terrorists A Michigan activist who promoted the use of violence against Israelis announced that she will be running for Congress Huwaida Arraf will run for Michigan’s 10th congressional district as a Democrat, a seat currently held by Republican Rep. Lisa McClain. ...Arraf and fellow ISM co-founder Adam Shapiro penned an article that promoted using nonviolent resistance against Israelis in tandem with violence — regardless of their ties to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)....