Free Republic

*The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the “unlawful deportation” of Ukrainian children to a network of camps inside Russia. The warrant was based on a report by the Yale HRL center, which is funded by the US State Department. *US journalist Jeremy Loffredo visited one of Russian government-sponsored camps in question. At The Donbas Express, located just outside of Moscow, Loffredo met youth from war-torn regions who were flourishing thanks to free music instruction, and grateful to be in a secure environment. This article features his exclusive video report. *A...

Being a caffeine addict doesn't come cheap in Singapore. Especially when your choice of coffee is a soy milk latte or a cold brew black at a hip cafe. Kopi is the obvious alternative — the fact that it often doesn't cause as much damage to the wallet is a big plus. However, a local coffee-drinker, who goes by JM, argued that downing a cup of kopi daily would still add up to a cost of "more than $40 — 50 every month". As a frustrated consumer, he took up the challenge of bringing a better coffee experience to people...

Nashville is a city infused by religion, music and history, so when a tragedy like the school shooting at The Covenant School March 25 happens there, connections ripple across well-known names and places. And in this case, also across some unknown history that makes things complicated to comprehend. The Covenant School is affiliated with Covenant Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian Church in America congregation situated in the tony south side of Nashville — just down the road from Bluebird Café, one of the city’s best-known live-music venues. The Covenant School is a small, private Christian school, enrolling about 200 students in...

Neil Diamond says he’s only recently learned to accept his Parkinson’s disease. His diagnosis in 2018 prompted an immediate cancellation of a planned tour, and the announcement that no more road trips would take place. He’s performed briefly on a handful of occasions since then, but in a new interview with CBS Sunday Morning to be aired tomorrow (April 2), he explained he’d been in denial for at least two years. “I don't like it,” Diamond, 82, said. “But… this is me; this is what I have to accept. And I’m willing to do it. And, okay, so this is...

Washington | Australian shipbuilder Austal could be barred from bidding on future US government contracts after current and former executives at the company’s American arm were charged with misleading shareholders and investors. Austal, which is 19 per cent owned by Australia’s richest man, Andrew Forrest, builds ships for the US Navy and is working on parts of the nuclear-powered Virginia class submarines that Australia will purchase under the AUKUS agreement.

U2 guitarist the Edge said bandmate Bono had been right to become a high-profile political activist, even though it sometimes caused problems for the Irish group. In a recent interview with Mojo, Edge said the two aspects of U2’s reputation had become “so intermingled” that it would be “very hard to imagine one without the other.” He continued: “There’s obviously been challenging moments, particularly when Bono was making great strides in America and realized his superpower was being able to work both sides of the aisle and persuade politicians from different parts of the spectrum to work together. “But that...

When Donald Trump walks into Justice Juan Merchan's courtroom on Tuesday (Apr 4) to face criminal charges, it will be a first for a former US president but familiar territory for the veteran judge who serves on Manhattan's criminal court. Merchan last year oversaw a criminal trial of the Trump Organization that ended with the real estate company convicted by a jury of tax fraud and hit with fines, while one of its longtime executives, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty and was sent to jail. Trump is expected to be arraigned before Merchan on Tuesday following a grand jury investigation into...

Trade between India and Malaysia is now able to be settled with Indian Rupees, the India Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced in a statement Saturday. This move strikes a blow to the hegemony US dollar. “This initiative by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is aimed at facilitating the growth of global trade and to support the interests of the global trading community in Indian Rupees (INR),” the statement from the MEA reads.

A Florida man used a popular chatbot app to land an airplane after both pilots became incapacitated, local media has reported. According to witness statements, the feat is “nothing short of a miracle” and has made them “really think about the future of AI”. What happened? Global View News Florida first broke the story. According to the report, the incident took place onboard a Floridian Skyways Boeing 737, flying from San Juan Airport (SJU) to Tampa International Airport (TPA), on April 1, 2023. While approaching TPA, the pilot notified flight control that he felt dizzy and that the first officer...

A recent poll showing a decline in traditional American values confirms what conservatives have been saying: the character of America is changing. The percentage of those polled who said patriotism is important dropped from 70 percent 25 years ago, to 38 percent today. While 59 percent said having children was important 25 years ago, now just 30 percent do. And the importance of religion dropped from 62 percent to 39 percent now calling it important. The poll, released in March 2023, was conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago and funded by the Wall Street...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Roche’s Rescript: Tightening the Noose on the BishopsCardinal Roche’s Rescript: Tightening the Noose on the Bishops (Brian M. McCall) As this issue goes to press, credible rumors still swirl about claiming that the Pope will issue a document, likely an Apostolic Constitution, further strangling the ability of bishops to encourage or even permit the Traditional Latin Mass and sacramental rites. Although we will not know the full depths of the next persecution if and until it is published, events have been on a fairly clear trajectory since July 2021. … The year and a half following the...

See how well ChatGPT handled the remainder of the Monty Python Challenge

Fr. Murray slams Vatican cardinal for rejecting Church teaching on sodomy: ‘He should resign’‘If he doesn't believe the teaching, he should resign his office and leave,’ Fr. Murray said about Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, who has repeatedly attacked Catholic teaching on homosexuality.Fr. Gerald Murray delivered a scathing rebuke of Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, for disputing Catholic teaching on the priesthood and homosexuality, saying the Vatican cardinal and papal adviser should “resign” if he does not accept the doctrine of the Church.On EWTN’s The World Over on Thursday, Fr. Murray, a canon lawyer and priest of the Archdiocese of New York, blasted...

A Florida man spent years wondering why colleagues and coworkers questioned his alcohol consumption. He said he hadn't been drinking — especially with him working as a teacher and basketball coach — but was called into the principal's office on and off for several years. Mark Mongiardo, 40, told TODAY he worked more than 12 hours a day and credited his exhaustion and behavior changes to that. "I thought that there was something wrong with me. I wasn’t exactly sure what," Mongiardo, 40, of Florida, told TODAY.com. "I just thought I was tired all the time. My wife has on...

On Friday French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne meeting local union leaders in the town of Nevers. Next week she will receive national trade union leaders at her official residence in Paris (Hotel Matignon). The government trying to find some agreement with union leaders that keeps the retirement age raised to 64 as imposed by President Emmanuel Macron's use of his Article 49.3 powers. The government willing to talk about any and all issues beyond pension reform but union leaders at the national level unified. Ahead of the latest mass protests and strikes last Tuesday a government narrative that demonstrations were...

Former Attorney General Bill Barr called Democrat District Attorney of New York Alvin Bragg’s indictment of former President Donald Trump on Thursday an “abomination.” “Based on the news reports if they’re accurate, this is an abomination,” Barr said Friday on Fox Business. “It’s the epitome of the abuse of prosecutorial power to bring a case that would not be brought against anyone else. They are going after the man, not a crime. And the legal theory, frankly, is pathetically weak.”

Former President Donald Trump surged to a 26-point lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) after news that Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury, according to the latest Yahoo News/YouGov poll.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump focuses on the alleged role he played in paying porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money.The Yahoo News/YouGov poll was one of the first polls conducted after news broke of Trump’s indictment. In that poll, 57 percent of respondents chose Trump in a head-to-head hypothetical matchup against DeSantis, who received 31 percent support. Trump surged ten points from...

Buying a home is a huge financial undertaking. And it's important to err on the side of being conservative when taking on a mortgage loan. In fact, a good rule of thumb is to make sure your total predictable monthly housing costs don't exceed 30% of your take-home pay. But recent data from Today's Homeowner reveals that many homeowners aren't sticking to that guidance at all. Some homeowners are in over their heads On a national level, U.S. homeowners spend an average of 28.4% of their pre-tax income on mortgage payments. And homeowners in 21 states and Washington, D.C. spend...

Social Security will be insolvent even sooner than previously expected, with automatic benefit cuts now projected to occur in 2033, according to a new report released Friday by the program's trustees. The new projections underscore the limited time that's available for policy makers to deal with the fiscal problems that are quickly rotting away America's old-age entitlement program. The more quickly approaching insolvency date also draws a stark contrast with leaders of both major political parties—including President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R–Calif.)—who have all, at times, promised not to touch Social Security during...

Democrat Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi is calling for a quick conviction of Trump so that we can all see what he's being charged with. "Just like we do with our spending bills, we should convict Donald Trump of these charges right away so that we can see what's in them," said Pelosi. "Trump has many pages of charges that are probably horrible and we just don't have time to read them all. Doing it this way is much more efficient!" Pelosi's statement was then interrupted by her teeth getting stuck in an ice cream bar she was eating. Sources speculate the...