Free Republic

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov resigned on Tuesday in the wake of a major procurement scandal that has rocked the country’s political establishment. Shapovalov, who oversaw logistical support for the army, tendered his resignation following a scandal involving the purchase of military rations at inflated prices. Other senior figures from the Ukrainian government resigned or were dismissed this week........

Several senior Ukrainian officials have resigned as President Volodymyr Zelensky begins a shake-up of personnel across his government. A top adviser, four deputy ministers and five regional governors left their posts on Tuesday. Their departures come as Ukraine launches a broad anti-corruption drive.

Former President Donald Trump warned Republicans not to vote for any cuts to social security or medicare as lawmakers spar over the debt ceiling.“Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from medicare or social security to help pay for Joe Biden’s reckless spending spree, which is more reckless than anybody’s ever done or had in the history of our country,” Trump began at the start of his latest campaign video, released Friday.He emphasized that Biden and the Democrats have “wasted trillions on left-wing lunacy” and that they have “thrown open our treasury and our borders to...

Researchers have found that a class of older antipsychotic drugs could be a promising new therapeutic option for people with type 2 diabetes, helping fill a need among patients who aren't able to take other currently available treatments. "There is a need to find new therapies," says John Ussher. The drug metformin is one of the most common therapeutics for type 2 diabetes, but about 15 percent of patients aren't able to take it. Another type of commonly used drug class (insulin secretagogues) to treat diabetes isn't as effective for later-stage patients, who also need a different option. "For the...

The U.S. and Israel kicked off a massive combined weeklong military exercise Jan. 23, the largest since Israel was moved to U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility in 2021. U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine the exercise, dubbed Juniper Oak, was notable in both size and scope. CENTCOM said everything from space assets, a carrier strike group, strategic bombers, stealth fighters, electronic warfare aircraft, Special Operations forces, and crews operating HIMARS precision artillery launchers would drill in a “combined joint all-domain exercise.” The exercise will run from Jan. 23-27 and involve 180,000 pounds of live munitions and 6,400...

The owner of a GMC Hummer EV SUV wanted to find out how long it would take to fully charge the vehicle. So he plugged it into an ordinary home electrical outlet. The $87,000 electric vehicle took five days to reach full capacity, which is said to provide up to 329 miles of travel before needing to refill. While a normal person might view this as a bit inconvenient, high-ranking members of the Biden Administration see a "silver lining." Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm pointed out that "an overlooked advantage of the difficulty charging an electric vehicle is it encourages...

Don Lemon hosted a segment on today's CNN This Morning to discuss Ron DeSantis's decision to uphold the Florida State Department of Education's decision to deny the College Board the opportunity to run a pilot AP (Advanced Placement) course on African American Studies pushing themes like "Intersectionality and Activism." At one point, CNN's Audie Cornish said "I don't know where he wants to draw the line. Slavery was political at one point."Responded Lemon: "So, slavery became illegal. Now it's going to be illegal to teach slavery in schools. It seems really odd." Get the rest of the story and view...

In March 2022, hundreds of students at Yale Law School disrupted a panel with Kristen Waggoner, a conservative lawyer who has argued religious liberty cases before the Supreme Court, arguing that her presence was a "slap in the face" to "queer students." Yale's response to the incident left the school with egg on its face: Though the protest clearly violated Yale's free speech policies, which do not allow protesters to disrupt speakers, not a single student was disciplined. Now Waggoner is returning to Yale Law for another talk. And this time, administrators aren't leaving anything to chance, banning press and...

As students recover from a ‘hangover from virtual high school,’ some Pittsburgh-area universities are responding with shorter tests and looser policies around attendance and deadlines. Some instructors lower expectations for students’ mental health and as a response to generational differences, but others say that continuing remote learning habits does a disservice to students. ... Recent interviews with students and instructors in the Pittsburgh area reveal that some colleges and universities responded to the pandemic by lowering expectations. A PublicS ource article described a “hangover from virtual high school” at Point Park University, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), and other Pittsburgh...

First gay blessing in Italy, diocese of Italian bishops’ presidentFirst, the civil union at the registry office, then the blessing in church. It’s the first time a gay couple has been blessed in public in an Italian church. What’s more, it took place in Bologna which is the diocese of Cardinal Zuppi, the president of the Italian Bishops' Conference. An act which is in open violation of the Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which forbids such blessings. It’s a demonstration of the pharisaic hypocrisy of certain pastors who, instead of calling the sheep back, proudly...

A Kansas hunter was accidentally shot dead by a dog that stepped on a rifle in the back of the pickup they were in, according to officials. The victim — who has not been identified — was in the front passenger seat of the truck in Geuda Springs late Saturday with a dog in the back with the hunting gear, including a rifle. “The fired round struck the passenger who died of his injuries on scene.” It was not immediately clear if the dead man was the owner of the pickup or if someone else was with them in the...

Atomic scientists set the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight than ever before on Tuesday, saying threats of nuclear war, disease, and climate volatility have been exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, putting humanity at greater risk of annihilation. The Doomsday Clock, created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to illustrate how close humanity has come to the end of the world, moved its "time" in 2023 to 90 seconds to midnight, 10 seconds closer than it has been for the past three years. Midnight on this clock marks the theoretical point of annihilation. The clock's hands are moved closer...

A couple of weeks ago, the FAA Air Traffic Control system issued a nationwide ground stop for the first time since 9/11, today the NYSE halted trading on dozens of stocks that experienced will trading ranges at market opening. Both "Computer Glitches" were attributed to technical issues and had nothing to do with computer hacking according to sources at both organizations. I don't believe in coincidences, in the matter of a couple of weeks two major US systems go offline is not something to take lightly, if another system like the major banking or financial systems go offline it will...

A new study of domestic and hospital drinking water systems found Legionella in 41% of samples—with Flinders University researchers making a key connection between the pathogen's co-existence with a "host" microorganism in all samples tested. The study found Legionella bacteria "infect the amoeba host and then once inside these hosts are protected from disinfection strategies," says Harriet Whiley. Researchers tested for Legionella and its likely amoebae hosts in 140 samples of water or biofilm (the slime found on showerheads and end of faucets) to understand how the potentially dangerous bacterium colonizes and proliferates in both domestic and hospital plumbing and...

An ex-social worker must pay $3 million in damages per a defamation case involving a city leader, thanks to a judge in Arapahoe County, Colorado. Fox News reported Monday: Former Arapahoe County social worker Robin Niceta was arrested in May of last year and charged with a felony count of suspicion of attempting to influence a public servant and a misdemeanor count of making a false report about child abuse. The report claimed that Aurora Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky inappropriately touched her own toddler.

Who’s More Irrational — The Religious or the Irreligious?There are very few things conservatives, liberals and leftists agree on. But if they are irreligious, they all agree that religious Americans are more irrational than irreligious Americans.It is a secular axiom that secularism and secular people are rooted in reason, whereas religion and the religious are rooted in irrationality.Young Americans Need to Hear a New MessageThis is what almost every college professor believes and what almost every student in America is taught. Among the intelligentsia, it is an unquestioned fact. It helps explain why, after their first or second year at...

Jeff Zients, the incoming White House chief of staff, met multiple times in 2016 with President Biden's son Hunter Biden who is facing criminal and congressional probes into his past business dealings. According to emails obtained from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop and verified by Fox News Digital, Zients met with Hunter Biden twice in February 2016 and on another occasion in May 2016, just months before President Biden, the vice president at the time, was set to leave the White House. President Biden also attended the first two meetings which both took place at the U.S. Naval Observatory, where the...

The Russian navy is set to participate alongside the Chinese and South African navies in exercises set for February off South Africa, Russia’s state TASS has announced. Importantly, the Russian frigate named ‘Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov’ is armed with hypersonic cruise missiles, after it entered deployment in the Atlantic Ocean three weeks ago. The frigate Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov, via TASS. The Zircon hyperonics it is carrying are believed to be able to fly at nine times the speed of sound, with a range of over 620 miles. The ship...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville accountant is facing a first-degree felony charge of organized fraud after police say he embezzled between $3 million and $4 million from a trust and spent some of that money on exotic dancers. Richard Aboud, 80, was arrested on Jan. 5. He bonded out of the Duval County jail that same day. Investigators said he committed the fraud over the course of a decade.

A lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence discovered about a dozen documents marked as classified at Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.