Free Republic

A woman suicide bomber from a Pakistan separatist group killed four people, including three Chinese nationals, in an attack on a minibus carrying staff from the Confucius Institute at Karachi University on Tuesday (Apr 26). The Baloch Liberation Army - one of several groups fighting for independence in Pakistan's biggest province - claimed responsibility, saying that it was the first suicide attack by a woman assailant. SNIP Closed-circuit television footage broadcast by local channels showed a woman standing near the gate of the institute, inside the Karachi University grounds, as the minibus pulls up.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova are set to unveil a Capitol photo exhibit of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pelosi’s office announced on Tuesday. “In partnership with the Embassy of Ukraine, images capturing the horror of the Russian invasion and the heroism of the Ukrainian people will be showcased in this exhibit for six weeks,” her office said in a release.

The propaganda continues to portray the war in Ukraine as that of an unprovoked Goliath out to decimate an innocent David unless we in the US and NATO contribute massive amounts of military equipment to Ukraine to defeat Russia. As is always the case with propaganda, this version of events is manipulated to bring an emotional response to the benefit of special interests. One group of special interests profiting massively on the war is the US military-industrial complex. Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes recently told a meeting of shareholders that, “Everything that ‘s being shipped into Ukraine today, of course, is...

In the last several weeks, farmers in the Northern Plains have been battered by blizzards, winter storms, high winds, and extreme flooding. These weather phenomena have delayed farmers from plantings in high-producing crop regions. Every week plantings are delayed, the harvest yield shrinks, and this comes at a precarious time as the global food supply chain is fracturing. Private weather forecasters and ag specialist BAMWX warned about delayed plantings across the Northern Plains to Midwest to the Ohio Valley. Some farmers might not be able to plant until at least May as widespread above-average moisture, and widespread well below average...

Lockdowns in China are ravaging global supply chains as shipping containers pile up at ports and factories close their doors. Beijing’s aggressive action to curb the spread of COVID-19 is likely to further fuel inflation in the U.S., where companies are struggling to get products from their Chinese suppliers.

What’s new: The newly obtained text of a draft constitution submitted to Pope Francis by the Order of Malta’s leadership would introduce dramatic new limits on the office of Grand Master, including term limits, the power of the Sovereign Council to override his decisions, and the requirement that the Grand Chancellor sign off on decrees of the Grand Master. What it means: The proposals are among competing options under consideration by Pope Francis, as he decides the order’s future. Critics of the proposed plan say that it would turn the 1,000-year-old religious order into an “international NGO,” by dividing its...

Peter Reinhart is standing in an uptown food hall in Charlotte, N.C., beaming. The master baker and spiritual force in the world of cheese pies is in his element. He's about to munch on one of his favorite local slices – a piece of "grandma-style" pie from Geno D's Pizza. "The best pizza that's ever been made in the history of the world is happening right now," Reinhart says, with clear satisfaction. He takes a minute to appreciate the snap of the crust and its interior creaminess before continuing. "Part of a quest for a fulfilling life is experiencing the...

CHICAGO - An employee of the city of Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) is accused of trying to illegally sell an MP-40 automatic machine gun while working his shift.

Authorities in Moldova are gathering Tuesday for an urgent security meeting following a series of blasts in a Russia-aligned separatist region, just days after one of Vladimir Putin’s generals suggested that country could be the next target of Moscow’s military aggression in eastern Europe. At least two blasts this morning targeted radio antennas that broadcast Russian programs in Maiac, a town around seven miles from Moldova’s border with Ukraine, according to officials in the Trans-Dniester region. They come a day after several explosions believed to be caused by rocket-propelled grenades were reported to have hit the Ministry of State Security...

Following the re-election of Emmanuel Macron as President of France, the president of the French Bishops’ Conference says voters made a reasonable choice but notes that the results show growing political divisions.Emmanuel Macron was re-elected as France’s President on Sunday with 58% of the vote, compared with 41% for his rival, Marine Le Pen. In his victory speech, President Macron promised to address the deep divisions within France laid bare by the election results. This concern over the growing divisions in the nation was also voiced by France’s Catholic Bishops in their reaction to the outcome. Macron has become the...

President Joe Biden agreed to cover more than $800,000 in bills racked up by his son — including legal fees tied to the winding down of his controversial overseas business dealings — ahead of the 2020 election, according to an email that surfaced Tuesday. The email — and an attached spreadsheet detailing the debts — call into question Biden’s repeated claim that he’s never discussed son Hunter Biden’s business with him.

In the immediate aftermath of January 6, 2021, investigators observed a phenomenon: police officers who responded to the day's violence at the Capitol could not always remember the assaults they suffered at the hands of a pro-Trump mob. But as he reviewed hours of body-worn camera footage, Metropolitan Police Detective Jonathan Lauderdale could see everything — the shouts, the shoves, the punches, the profanity. "Reviewing that over and over again was traumatic," Lauderdale said Tuesday, recalling the "complete chaos" of January 6, 2021, at the latest jury trial connected to the Capitol siege.

Ahead of his trip to Kyiv, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke at length with the Russian president, hoping to improve the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and encourage moves to end the war.

Wells Fargo has begun laying off an undisclosed number of its home lending employees, little more than a week after reporting mortgage origination volume had dropped 33% year over year, the bank confirmed Friday to Business Insider and American Banker. “The home lending displacements this week are the result of cyclical changes in the broader home lending environment,” the bank told the publications in a statement. “We are committed to retaining as many employees as possible and will do everything we can to help them identify other opportunities within Wells Fargo.” Anonymous posts on the discussion board The Layoff indicate...

Vice President Kamala Harris has been prescribed and has taken Paxlovid, an antiviral pill used to treat COVID-19. Harris’s press secretary Kirsten Allen tweeted the announcement about the vice president’s treatment on Tuesday. It came just hours after it was announced that Harris, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, tested positive for COVID-19.

(Singapore) A court has ruled in favour of a man who wants his 16-year-old daughter to be vaccinated, but who faces opposition from his unvaccinated ex-wife. However, the father of the teenager was ordered to pay his ex-wife court costs of S$2,000 as he allowed their daughter to get her first COVID-19 jab while court proceedings were ongoing. In a judgment obtained by CNA on Tuesday (Apr 26), District Judge Kenneth Yap gave full weight to the child's preference to be vaccinated, saying that she came to her decision in "an informed and reasoned manner".

MSNBC host Joy Reid said Tuesday on her show “The ReidOut” that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter is about bringing back a system like apartheid in 1980’s South Africa. Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971 and lived there until he moved to Canada at the age of 17.

Pope Francis canceled his engagements on Tuesday due to ongoing knee pain, the Holy See press office said. “Due to pain in his knee, and on medical advice, Pope Francis has interrupted the activities planned for today, including participation in the Council of Cardinals, a new session of which is underway these days,” the press office said on April 26. Francis, 85, has been suffering from pain in his right knee, causing him to take smaller roles in some liturgies and to remain seated more often. His agenda was cleared on April 22 for medical checkups, and he preached at,...

China has recorded the first human infection with the H3N8 strain of bird flu, the country's health authority said on Tuesday (April 26), but said the risk of it spreading among people was low. A four-year-old boy from central Henan province was found to have been infected with the variant after developing a fever and other symptoms on April 5. No close contacts were infected with the virus, the National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement.

Internal audio of Monday’s Twitter meeting leaked to Project Veritas reveals that leadership is fully cognizant of the free speech agenda that new owner Elon Musk wants to bring to the table. Leslie Berland is the CMO at Twitter, and she said: "Elon made it clear in public that a large part of the reason he bought the platform was because of our moderation policies and disagreements in how we deal with health. This puts Twitter service and Trust and Safety as well as anybody who cares about health on the platform in a very difficult position." CEO Parag Agrawal...