Free Republic

Japan’s coast guard dispatched patrol ships and aircraft to search for a sightseeing boat that went missing with 26 people on board after reporting it was sinking off the northern island of Hokkaido on Saturday, public broadcaster NHK said. Authorities lost contact with the crew of the Kazu 1 boat after the crew reported water was flooding into the stern of the vessel and it had started to sink, NHK said. The crew also said those on board were wearing life jackets and the boat was keeling [listing?] at a 30-degree angle, NHK said. There were 24 passengers, including two...

Putin's regime has been accused of 'covering-up' the scale of the death toll at a top secret Russian weapons research facility after a local journalist claimed that at least 25 were killed in the deadly blaze - not 'up to seven' like Kremlin-backed media insists. A criminal probe has been launched after video showed an inferno ripping through the Second Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in Tver, where Moscow's Iskander missiles are designed, on Thursday. Four military scientists were forced to jump out of windows from the burning building, with state media variously...

"Establishing control over southern Ukraine would also give the Russian army access to Transdniestria, where facts of oppression of the Russian-speaking population have also been observed," Minnekayev said. Transdniestria is the de-facto breakaway region of Moldova that is not internationally recognized but has pro-Russian leaders and about 1,500 Russian troops stationed there. Before the Russian military retreated from the capital city Kyiv, Moscow claimed that "the first stage" of the attack had been completed, and it is now focusing efforts on the "liberation" of two regions in the east to bring them under the control of pro-Russian leaders in the...

Trump Rally coverage is already underway live at RSBN link. Many ways to see Trump coverage, RSBN and RAV (Real America's Voice) will cover Trump's remarks at 7 pm Eastern. https://americasvoice.news/

Americans have renounced beef! Everyone’s eating plants! The vegan trend is supposedly so huge these days, we are in the midst of an identity crisis, The New York Times claimed recently. “When it comes to America’s legacy of Manifest Destiny, there’s perhaps no meal more symbolic than a bleeding steak. So who are we now that we’re consuming less red meat?” the paper of record blathered. The only problem is that such claims are 100% baloney. Although US consumption of beef fell from about 80 pounds annually per capita in the 1970s and early ’80s to a low of 54...

BERLIN (AP) — Twitter says it will no longer allow advertisers on its site who deny the scientific consensus on climate change, echoing a policy already in place at Google. “Ads shouldn’t detract from important conversations about the climate crisis,” the company said in a statement outlining its new policy Friday. The announcement coinciding with Earth Day came hours before the European Union agreed upon a deal requiring big tech companies to vet their sites more closely for hate speech, disinformation and other harmful content. Twitter said it would provide more information in the coming months on how it plans...

Nigeria has been rolling out 11-digit electronic national identity cards for almost a decade, which record an individual's personal and biometric data, including fingerprints and photo. The National Identity Number (NIN) is required to open a bank account, apply for a driver's license, vote, get health insurance, and file tax returns. In 2020, Nigeria's telecommunications regulator said every active mobile phone number must be linked to the user's NIN. It repeatedly extended the deadline until March 31 this year. The government said outgoing calls were being barred from April 4 from any mobile phone numbers that had not complied. Millions...

S officials visiting the strategic Solomon Islands on Friday warned of serious repercussions if China were to establish a permanent military presence there after the Pacific nation signed a defence pact with Beijing. A White House delegation in the capital Honiara delivered the stern warning on the same day that China's ambassador attended an event with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare -- a sign of the importance both nations are according to the small island state. The United States and Australia -- the Pacific nation's traditional allies -- are deeply suspicious of the defence deal, fearing it may give China a...

During a town hall meeting in New York, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) warned that the events that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021 were a “trial run.” “If we lose the House, this is no joke, Jan. 6 was a trial run. Now, a lot of people don’t seem to understand that. It was a trial run,” the New York progressive said this week. “And they’re going to come back and they win the House – here’s the thing, the technicality of what happened on Jan. 6, the only reason it wasn’t worse was because Democrats had the House and they...

A big fad in Democratic circles is to hold events devoted to discussing the threat of "disinformation" in America. Former top Obama adviser David Axelrod, who now runs the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics, recently held a conference on "disinformation and the erosion of democracy." His old boss, former President Barack Obama, stopped by. But now Obama has taken center stage for himself on the disinformation issue with a speech Thursday at Stanford University, in the heart of the nation's tech industry. Obama's speech is important, in part because it will likely be influential among powerful tech executives. It...

Despite the fact that most Americans support mask requirements on shared transportation, a federal judge struck down President Biden's mask mandate for people on airplanes and other modes of travel on April 18. Several aircraft carriers have dropped their mask mandates as a result. But if you still feel compelled to mask up before your next flight or subway ride, you may be wondering if one-way masking is effective. First, let's discuss why masks are a useful form of protection against COVID-19. "Masks help to decrease transmission of COVID-19 by limiting the distance that respiratory droplets can travel and spread...

Joe Biden had met repeatedly with Hunter Biden’s business partner Eric Schwerin while VP, even sharing financial recordsA couple of weeks ago we learned that Joe Biden was sharing his financial expenses and accounts with Hunter Biden through Hunter Biden’s business partner, Eric Schwerin. Schwerin had access to then Vice-President Joe Biden’s financial accounts and records, while at the same time aiding Hunter Biden in their corrupt business dealings overseas.Today, we learn that Shwerin made at least 19 visits to the White House, among other official locations, from 2009 to 2015, while Biden was VP. He even had a sitdown...

On Saturday, April 26, 2020, Robert Stewart Jr., a 33-year-old contractor from Virginia, invited an investigative reporter to take a trip on his private jet. “I’m talking with you against the advice of my attorney,” Stewart laughed, before bringing J. David McSwane aboard a luxury Legacy 450 Flexjet, which he’d rented to deliver six million N95 masks during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the standoff between Russian troops and Ukrainian fighters holed up in Mariupol, the world’s attention remains focused on this ghastly war 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — or so it seems. CNN has rarely cut away from the war to cover other stories. It has 75 people in Ukraine. Fox News is having a ratings spike due to Ukraine coverage — up 26 percent in viewership over the same month last year. How long will the media stay focused, given that the war could drag on for many months?

A 3-month-old baby was among six people Saturday killed when Russia fired cruise missiles at the Black Sea port city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said. Andriy Yermak, chief of staff for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a Telegram post that two missile strikes from Russian troops struck a residential area in the city "Nothing is sacred," Yermak wrote. "Evil will be punished.

Randi Weingarten, union boss of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), said that parental rights bills such as the one recently signed into law in Florida are “the way in which wars start.” “This notion – we’ve been very lucky in America, and we in some ways live in a bubble for a long time,” the president of the nation’s largest teachers’ union said. “This is propaganda. This is misinformation. This is the way in which wars start. This is the way in which hatred starts.”

In light of the Milwaukee Public School (MPS) decision to keep the mask mandate, "indefinitely," Tea Party Patriots Action (TPPA) Honorary Chairman Jenny Beth Martin issued a statement. "Understanding body language and nonverbal cues are an essential part of child development for communication. This absurd policy will cause irreparable harm to these kids’ development as the rest of America’s kids develop normally. Why? So adults can feel less afraid? Since when do we use children as a shield to protect adults? This is government-imposed child abuse and it must end," she said. Martin had also condemned mask mandates in a...

Moldova's Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's ambassador to the country on Friday to express "deep concern" over recent comments made by a Russian general that suggested the Kremlin is targeting its territory. Why it matters: Maj. Gen. Rustam Minnekayev said Friday that Russia seeks full control of southern Ukraine to give it another "another way out to Transnistria," referring to the unrecognized breakaway state internationally recognized as part of Moldova. Minnekayev also claimed that the Moldovan government was oppressing the Russian-speaking population in Transnistria, echoing a claim that the Kremlin has used in its attempt to justify its unprovoked invasion of...

This was confirmed by the Ukrainian presidential adviser Aleksey Arestovich and, as he explained, there were dozens of Russian soldiers on the site. Two generals were reportedly killed in the operation

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a dramatic shift in American public opinion: 70% of Americans now consider Russia an enemy of the United States, up from 41% in January. And on this topic, Democrats and Republicans largely agree, with 72% of Democrats and 69% of Republicans describing Russia as an enemy. A new Pew Research Center survey, conducted March 21-27, finds that just 7% of U.S. adults have an overall favorable opinion of Russia. Only 6% express confidence in its leader, President Vladimir Putin. In contrast, 72% have confidence in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.