Free Republic

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leads Saturday prayers at Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia mosque before entering the election battle of his political life against a powerful secular rival. The 69-year-old will be emulating a ritual that Ottoman Sultans performed before they led their men off to war as he braces for Sunday's parliamentary and presidential ballot. Erdogan has never faced a more energised or united opposition than the one spearheaded by retired civil servant Kemal Kilicdaroglu and his disparate alliance of six parties. The Turkish leader excelled at splitting his rivals and forging unlikely unions while winning one national election...

Former President Obama argued in a new interview that gun ownership shouldn’t be a partisan or ideological issue, amid renewed discussions of gun safety legislation in the wake of several recent mass shootings. “I think somehow — and there are a lot of historical reasons for this — gun ownership in this country became an ideological and a partisan issue in ways that it shouldn’t be,” Obama said in an interview with “CBS Mornings” co-host Nate Burleson set to air next Tuesday.

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – A Christian college student was killed in northern Uganda on April 14 for sharing about Christ with Muslims, a fellow student said. Jeremiah Mwanga, a second-year student at the Uganda Christian School of Professionals in Lira, Northern Region, was killed in his room at the school in Gwangabara cell, Boroboro ward, East Division in Lira. He was 24. Mwanga was a native of Kapchorwa District, in eastern Uganda, where the Muslim student at the school charged with killing him also lived. “Jeremiah complained about messages from one of the students threatening to kill him...

A Florida couple has had their wedding upended after an Orange County hotel — set to take in migrants from New York City — abruptly canceled the rooms she booked for her guests, she told The Post. “We felt discarded, disappointed and angry that they just tossed us aside to make an extra dollar for the hotel. It’s just not right,” Deanna Mifsud, 35, fumed.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) told SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Saturday former President Donald Trump’s town hall on CNN was a “home run” for him and “solidified” him being the GOP frontrunner.“The town hall itself… was just a home run for Trump,” the Trump-endorsed Buckeye State Republican told the host, Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle.“He was funny. He was substantive on the issues. He sort of showed why he’s not like other politicians, you know, he’s willing to sort of poke fun at the political system,” Vance added. “It’s shaping up to where this primary looks like a runaway for...

In a first, the world’s two most prominent religious leaders are expected to deliver a joint speech on peace at the UN Security Council at a time when wars and conflicts are raging across the world.CAIRO — The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, have received an official invitation from the United Nations Security Council to each deliver a historic speech during its meeting in June in New York, Al-Monitor has learned. An Egyptian clerical source told Al-Monitor that the ‎speeches of the prominent religious leaders will be delivered before...

Doctors have reported the first U.S. cases of ringworm caused by an emerging and highly drug-resistant fungus. Super-ringworm is on the loose in New York City. In a report this week, doctors and health officials have detailed the first known U.S. cases of the itchy infection caused by a contagious and emerging fungal germ—one highly resistant to many existing drugs. The fungus was first identified in South Asia, but it’s possible that it’s now circulating locally in the area.… … while ringworm can be very contagious through direct contact, it’s usually mild and treatable with over-the-counter antifungals. But a newly...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly been denied the opportunity to address audiences at the highly touted Eurovision Contest Finale this weekend. Organizers have rejected a request from Zelensky's office to make a video address to the audiences as it would breach the "non-political" nature of the event. The decision was taken by the European Broadcasting Union, a grouping of national public broadcasters that runs the Eurovision. Later, a spokesperson from the Ukrainian president's office claimed that Kyiv made no such request.

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

Same-sex 'married' chief minister punishes facility for refusing abortionCANBERRA, Australia (ChurchMilitant.com) - The archbishop of Canberra is fighting back after the government of the Australian Capital Territory announced measures to seize the Calvary Public Hospital run by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary. "I am deeply troubled about the situation and its implications," Abp. Christopher Prowse wrote on Thursday in a letter to the faithful of the archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, slamming the "shocking news" of the state's decision to "compulsorily acquire" the hospital. Prowse warned that "this extraordinary and completely unnecessary government intervention could set the...

Explanation: Our fair planet sports a curved, sunlit crescent against the black backdrop of space in this stunning photograph. From the unfamiliar perspective, the Earth is small and, like a telescopic image of a distant planet, the entire horizon is completely within the field of view. Enjoyed by crews on board the International Space Station, only much closer views of the planet are possible from low Earth orbit. Orbiting the planet once every 90 minutes, a spectacle of clouds, oceans, and continents scrolls beneath them with the partial arc of the planet's edge in the distance. But this digitally restored...

The archdiocese has formed a 17-member commission to research its ties to slavery going back hundreds of yearsIn recent years, a growing awareness of injustice and calls for reform have led to a racial reckoning, with businesses, corporations, nonprofit organizations and institutions across the country reassessing their own complicity with racism in its various forms. The Archdiocese of Baltimore is continuing to undergo its own self-assessment of the issue, and has formed a 17-member commission to research its ties to slavery going back hundreds of years. "This important commission is being formed to continue the archdiocese's journey to racial justice,"...

Update from Ukraine | Ukraine pushes Wagner in Bakhmut | Prygozhyn is Panicking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UggwyVW2peA ****NEW SUMMARY Military MAPS & COMMENTS here: Invasion Day 444 – Summary May 13 , 2023 Jerome News The summary of the situation of Russian re-invasion to Ukraine covering the last 48 hours, as of 2023 – 22:00 (Kyiv time). https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-444-summary/ *** Greatly appreciate the viewer controlled Map magnification tool to use on each Front map!

It happened a week ago today in Paris. A rally of a "Far-Right" group in Paris that got no attention till after the fact but by Monday it became a big story in the Mainstream Media. Was it a staged event like the ones here in the US of the so-called "Patriot Front"? Accounts Minister Gabriel Attal suggested last Tuesday that some of those protesting last weekend were associated with the National Rally of Marine Le Pen. Earlier in the week Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin director local prefects of police to ban "far right" protests... Meanwhile on Friday a festive...

It’s not that government can’t clamp down on people when it wants to. The J6 prisoners’ treatment proves that abundantly. It’s that when it wants to, it’s not driven by the imperative of justice but the incentive of politics. A prime example is the Jordan Neely/Daniel Penny affair.Neely, 30, the violent, deranged man who died while or after being restrained on a New York City subway May 1, had a voluminous rap sheet of 42 arrests. On the list are the kidnapping of a seven-year-old girl and multiple assaults, one of which was a 2021 attack on an elderly woman...

Gary Cooper died relatively young at sixty years of age, six days after his birthday, on the 13th May, in 1961. This was nine years after a sensational understated starring performance in High Noon, the immortal anthem to individual moral courage in the face of criminal danger. When Frank Miller, a criminal who had vowed to kill Kane, is headed back to town on the midday train on Kane's wedding day, Kane tries and fails to rally the support of the terrified towns people. Marshall Kane tells his predecessor: "I'm having trouble getting deputies." Former Marshall Martin Howe explains in...

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Saturday vetoed a bill banning abortions after the first trimester, teeing up an override vote by the GOP supermajority legislature. The Democrat decried the legislation, which he vetoed at a rally in downtown Raleigh, as a “complicated and confusing monster bill” that makes patients “navigate a wicked obstacle course just to get care.” “Standing in the way of progress right now is this Republican supermajority legislature that only took 48 hours to turn the clock back 50 years on women’s health,” Cooper said. “Let’s be clear: This bill has nothing to do with making...

It's no secret that commercial real estate is in bad shape across the globe..."It's Going To Be Ugly": Commercial Real Estate Predictions Turn DireMorgan Stanley Slides As Credit Loss Provisions Surge Due To Commercial Real Estate ExposureState Of Commercial Real Estate: Sharp Spike In Office Delinquency Rates ComingCRE Crisis Crosses Atlantic: Sweden's Largest Commercial Landlord SBB Implodes After Getting Junked, Halting DividendEuropean Commercial Real Estate Values May Fall Up To 40%: CitiThings are so bad, in fact, that 26 Empire State Buildings could fit into New York City's empty office space, as occupancy in the city is hovering around 50%...

We’ve heard from just about every progressive that there were plenty of things that Daniel Penny could have done that didn’t involve keeping Jordan Neely in a chokehold. He could have asked, “How can I help you?” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called it murder, but in an interview said the general tactic for subway riders in distress was to “avoid eye contact, look down between their shoes, and wait for the moment to pass.” But what if the moment doesn’t pass?Rolling Stone political reporter Asawin Suebsaeng works for an outlet that gave a rape hoaxer a national platform. He, too, says...

The most circulated newspaper in Europe killed a major corruption story to please Joe Biden. A new report details how editors at Bild, the outlet in question, canned an extensive investigative piece on Albanian PM Edi Rama because he and the US president are friends and political allies.Per The Washington Examiner, Albania has become a narco-state over the last decade under Rama, and Bild was getting ready to expose him further.So, who is Rama? He’s the far-left leader of Albania’s Socialist Party. Accusations against him range from drug trafficking to money laundering, to extortion and vote buying.A few days ago,...