Free Republic

Germany is willing to become a “guarantor state” for a potential peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, a government spokesman said on Wednesday. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the issue in their recent phone calls, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told a news conference in Berlin. “Germany, like several other countries, is of course ready to act as a security guarantor for Ukraine,” he stressed, but added that the matter could be subject to further deliberations as many details were still not clear. During peace negotiations in Istanbul on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials signaled readiness to negotiate a...

Thin blue line patches worn by on-duty Calgary police officers will need to be replaced with a symbol that better reflects the values of Calgarians, following a decision by the Calgary Police Commission. The decision is aimed at ending the use of the controversial patch that has mixed meanings, while still ensuring there is a way for officers to visually honour each other and those who have lost their lives in the line of duty. ...the thin blue line also has a contentious history with roots in division, colonialism and racism, most recently being prominently displayed at counter protests against...

A second attempt to refloat the Ever Forward will take place this evening using seven tugboats, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson has confirmed to gCaptain. The refloating effort is expected to take place during the next high tide at around 6 p.m eastern time.

Calling for the Arrest of these Thugs got me in Trouble on TikTok

Men are reportedly being asked whether they are pregnant before being given radiotherapy. Cancer patients and those having X-rays and MRI scans are being asked the question, even if they are not women because the word 'female' has been replaced by 'individuals' for medical procedures. In Liverpool, the Walton Centre NHS Trust now asks 'all patients under the age of 60, regardless of how you may identify your gender' whether they could be having a baby. It is understood to be one of a handful of trusts to have expanded the questioning despite it not being a national policy at...

For many living in Shanghai, the city’s tough quarantine measures are proving to be unbearable as they struggle to cope with life without enough basic necessities such as food and medication. Wan Wenying, 56, a resident of Shanghai’s Baoshan district, told The Epoch Times on March 29 that she was short on food after local officials refused to help her. “Our building was sealed off yesterday but our residential compound has been sealed off for four days,” Wan said, adding that residents in her building had been required to take nucleic acid tests to see if they were infected with...

The war between Russia and Ukraine is four weeks old. Speculation about possible landing operations has always existed, as Russia has reinforced its Black Sea Fleet with additional landing assets and the amphibious task force has been present in the Black Sea since the beginning of the war. The possibility of a Russian amphibious operation has been on the table since the escalation of tensions between Ukraine and Russia. There have been strong indications pointing to a future landing operation, such as the deployment of additional landing ships to the Black Sea, the conduct of naval exercises based on amphibious...

... TMZ cites witnesses as saying that the athlete who threw the punch was not involved in the race. He was reportedly standing on the track, and the runner in first place — who ultimately got punched — told him to move out of the way. During the next lap, instead of moving, the athlete reportedly further impeded the first-place runner, who pushed him over. In apparent retaliation, the athlete in the black chased him down and socked him in the head. It was not immediately known if any criminal complaints were made over the incident. Running Magazine reported that...

California’s first-in-the-nation task force to identify reparations for African Americans voted Tuesday to limit eligibility to those who can trace their lineage. After more than six hours of debate Tuesday, California’s reparations task force voted that only Black Californians who can prove a direct lineage to enslaved ancestors will be eligible for the statewide — and first-in-the nation — initiative to address the harms and enduring legacy of slavery. The nine-member task force voted 5-4 in favor of defining eligibility for reparations based on lineage “determined by an individual being an African American descendant of a chattel enslaved person or...

DOHA, Qatar—This tiny Persian Gulf kingdom is emerging as one of Europe’s best hopes for weaning itself off Russian natural gas, in another sign of how the war in Ukraine is changing the world’s energy relationships. Germany, France, Belgium and Italy are in talks with Qatar to buy liquefied natural gas on a long-term basis, said Qatari and European officials. Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck flew to Qatar this month to announce an energy partnership and a commitment to build his country’s first-ever terminal to receive shipments of liquefied natural gas from Qatar and other gas producers. ... Qatar is...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday decried criticism of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, dismissing Democratic-led calls for the jurist to resign or recuse himself from January 6, 2021-related cases as an "inappropriate pressure campaign." The Kentucky Republican — who voted to confirm Thomas to Supreme Court in 1991 and played a leading role in installing three conservative jurists to the court during President Donald Trump's tenure — rejected the concerns as a "coordinated effort to nullify" the justice's presence on the court

Helsinki, Finland, Mar 30, 2022 / 05:05 am (CNA). The verdict in the closely watched trial of a Finnish Christian MP was announced on Wednesday. A court in Helsinki dismissed all charges against Päivi Räsänen, a physician and mother of five, and Juhana Pohjola, a bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland. The court said in a unanimous ruling on March 30 that “it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts.” The court said in a unanimous ruling on March 30 that “it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts.” It ordered...

Sean and the Sheep Pong

All 4,000 Navy members seeking a religious exemption to the abortion-tainted jab have been granted a temporary reprieve.FORT WORTH, Texas (LifeSiteNews) — A federal district court judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Navy from requiring 4,000 service members to take abortion-tainted COVID jabs. Judge Reed O’Connor issued a preliminary injunction on Monday against the Department of Defense (DOD) jab mandate. He previously stopped the DOD from enforcing it against dozens of Navy SEALs in a January 3 ruling. The ruling covers the 3,320 active-duty sailors and 864 reserve sailors who have religious objections to the COVID vaccines....

NINEVEH PLAINS, Iraq — The predominantly Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian region of Nineveh Plains remains immersed in turbulence due to political, military and social strife. Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian displaced persons therefore remain anxious to return home. Haifa Boutros, a Syriac IDP from Bartella, east of Mosul, stated to Irfaa Sawtak website: “We do not want to return to Nineveh because nothing encourages us to return, and we no longer have confidence after what we have experienced in 2014. We settled in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), and we do not know whether we will stay here or emigrate.” Distrust in the security situation and...

A Black Lives Matter activist and her husband both pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that they defrauded donors who gave to their nonprofit and spent most of the $1 million raised for their own personal gain. Monica Cannon-Grant, 41, and Clark Grant, 38, used the funds from the charity to pay for restaurant meals, vacations and trip to the nail salon, an 18-page indictment handed down by a federal grand jury earlier this month alleges. They're also accused of illegally collecting an estimated $100,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits and lying on a mortgage application. The couple founded nonprofit Violence...

Moscow, March 28, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church hopes that a new meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis will take place this year. "Preparations are being made for a meeting between the pope and the patriarch, which will take place this year. It will be an offline meeting," Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations, said on the program Church and the World on Rossiya-24 TV. According to earlier reports, the patriarch and the pope conducted a videoconference on the situation in Ukraine on March 16. Metropolitan Hilarion said the online meeting had to...

Flight tracking info suggests Putin may be in a hideaway near Surgut, in Siberia Defence minister Sergei Shoigu is believed to be in a bunker in Ufa, in the Urals Use of bunkers would be alarming as they suggest nuclear option is on the table New evidence has emerged Vladimir Putin and his highest ranking commanders are running the war in Ukraine from top secret nuclear bunkers. Movements of planes used by top Kremlin officials show Putin may be in a hideaway near Surgut, in western Siberia, it has been claimed. His defence minister Sergei Shoigu - who has been...

A lawsuit that aimed to stop the Obama Presidential Center from being built in Chicago’s historic Jackson Park has been dismissed by a federal judge. The crux of Protect Our Parks’ complaint is that under regulatory statutes, federal agencies should have considered relocating the proposed Obama center site entirely to avoid damage to the environment, according to the lawsuit. The city and Obama Foundation officials have said federal agencies closed the final review into the project because they determined the Obama center’s construction and nearby roadway fixes would not pose a “significant impact” on the environment - a finding the...

A high school runner was sucker-punched by an another competitor who ran into his lane during the race at a Florida track meet. Just as the pack was coming down the straight portion of the track in the 1,600-meter race, the attacker made a beeline for the runner from the infield at the Tohopekaliga Tiger Invitational in Kissimmee on Saturday. The teen, who was dressed in black running shorts and black T-shirt, appeared to come out of nowhere and caught the runner dressed in white-and-red by surprise. The stunned runner fell to the ground after leading the race. Before the...