Free Republic

Ukraine's attacks on annexed Crimea are chasing President Vladimir Putin's Black Sea Fleet away from the peninsula, and Kyiv's efforts in the region have been the most successful aspect of its counteroffensive, according to a former commander of U.S. Army Europe. Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges spoke with Newsweek after Ukraine's airforce struck the eastern Crimean port of Feodosia on Tuesday with cruise missiles, damaging Russia's Novocherkassk landing ship and leaving large numbers of sailors unaccounted for. It marked the latest strike by Ukraine on Crimea, the peninsula which Putin annexed in 2014 and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pledged...

Do You Dare Even Look? — Forecast 2024“I’ve also lost patience with the Sharia of the political left taking over the entire system.” — David Collum Historians of the future, flash-frying peccary testicles and mesquite pods over their campfires, will wonder at how the archetypal Shining City on a Hill of America’s storied yesteryear got transformed into the roach motel that our country has become on the threshold of 2024 CE. Will they be as stupidly bewildered as, in our time, the faculty at Harvard, the editors of The New York Times, or the directorate of the CDC? Or will...

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows unilaterally ruled that former President Donald Trump is unqualified to appear on the 2024 primary ballot despite lacking a law degree and substituting YouTube videos for due process. Bellows, who previously worked as Executive Director of the Maine Chapter of the ACLU but is not an attorney and did not attend law school, made the legal conclusion in her ruling that “the declaration on [Trump’s] candidate consent form is false because he is not qualified to hold the office of the President under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment.” The secretary of state, a...

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) issued a warning to states moving to keep former President Trump off the presidential ballot, saying the House of Representatives has the final say over whether electors from those states are certified on Jan. 6, 2025. “Maine, Colorado, and other states that might try to bureaucratically deny ballot access to any Republican nominee should remember the U.S. House of Representatives is the ultimate arbiter of whether to certify electors from those states,” Massie posted Friday on X, formerly Twitter. Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X, replied to Massie’s tweet about certification: “Interesting.” Trump was declared ineligible...

Friday, during an appearance on FBN’s “Mornings with Maria,” Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL) likened the trend of states removing former President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot using Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to efforts in 2020 that changed election law and procedures in the name of COVID mitigation.Once again, liberal activists are imposing their Far Left agenda on the American people. The Constitution is clear, and the voters should be able to freely choose their candidate without this ridiculous election interference.https://t.co/NRgjhyHHay— Jerry Carl (@CarlForAlabama) December 29, 2023“You know, I watched that yesterday, and I made a small...

Authorities have identified two suspects who attacked a Chipotle employee in South Carolina after being told that extra chicken would raise the price of their meal. Jamel Bernard Williams, 36, and Kayla Nicole Pyle, 34, both of Charlotte, have been accused of attacking a 20-year-old female Chipotle employee on December 10. Williams has been charged with assault and first-degree battery and Pyle with assault and second-degree battery. According to the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office, Pyle came into the fast food restaurant to place an order and reportedly asked for extra chicken. The unidentified employee told the customer that the extra...

The Biden administration is importing millions of third world immigrants to live here illegally, and at same time telling them that white people are the source of their problems. How’s that going to work out in the end? (Click link for video)

Michael Cohen, a former personal lawyer to Donald Trump, said in court papers unsealed Friday that he had accidentally given his lawyers fictitious legal citations generated by an artificial intelligence program — an admission that could undermine his credibility when he testifies against his former boss. The fake citations were used by Cohen’s lawyer, David Schwartz, in a motion submitted to federal Judge Jesse M. Furman, the New York Times reported Friday. Cohen had asked the judge in the motion for an early end to the court’s supervision of his case, after serving prison time and complying with the conditions...

Republican candidate Abe Hamadeh has filed a quo warranto lawsuit against current Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. Hamadeh announced the filing of this lawsuit with a message on X, formerly Twitter, saying “Arizonans deserve JUSTICE.” The legal action aims to question the legitimacy of Kris Mayes’ occupancy of the office of Attorney General, citing concerns of usurpation and unlawful exercise of power. The legal dispute between Hamadeh and Mayes around the 2022 Arizona Attorney General election has been intricate and ongoing. Hamadeh narrowly lost to Democrat Mayes by 280 votes. Republican candidate Abe Hamadeh has filed a quo warranto lawsuit...

The well-known Ukrainian politician Andriy Derkach, who was the first to provide evidence of international corruption and influence peddling by Joe Biden in Ukraine, has given his first exclusive interview after a long media pause related to security issues. Despite the pause in communication with the media, Derkach used all this time to continue his investigative work and collect new evidence. The full version of the interview will be available at 13:00 on January 10, 2024 on the X/Twitter of American journalist Simone Mangiante (https://twitter.com/SimonaMangiante), who managed to communicate with the “Ground Zero of Biden’s corruption in Ukraine” – Andriy...

Xfinity internet users may want a refund and a new service provider after reports of an October security breach involving customer data were recently made public. This includes “names, contact information, last four digits of social security numbers, dates of birth and/or secret questions and answers” of some customers, according to Xfinity. Users are urged to monitor their credit reports and potential fraud or identity theft using the three major credit agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Some customers received an email about the “data security incident” at around 5 am on December 29. CBS News reports,

"Aggressive statements calling for an even more violent military confrontation lead to serious conseuqences..." Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov issuing a statement following Joe Biden's... An Iranian-affiliated group in Syria claiming a new attack on a US base... The Yemeni (Houthi) forces warning the US against any military... The commander of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio relieved... The US sending an emergency shipment of 155 millimeter shells to Israel... Republican US Congressman Thomas Massie with a warning to those states removing President Trump... South Africa filing a complaint against Israel at the International Court of Criminal...

Scholars have in fact long debated whether or not the painting is a Raphael original... a new method of analysis based on an AI algorithm has sided with those who think at least some of the strokes were at the hand of another artist.Researchers from the UK and US developed a custom analysis algorithm based on the works that we know are the result of the Italian master's brushwork...Machine learning processes typically need to be trained on a vast pool of examples, something which isn't always available when it comes to a sole artist's life work. In this case, the...

An Egyptian investigative journalist who exposed the acquisition of a luxury villa by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy’s mother-in-law in El-Gouna has been found dead, according to a report on Friday by El Mostaqbal. The independent journalist, Mohammed Al-Alawi, reported on the purchase of the villa for $4.85 million in August by Olga Kiyashko, leaking alleged documents as proof of his claims. The report raised questions of corruption and misappropriation of US financial aid to Ukraine by the Zelenskyy family. Al-Alawi’s body was discovered in the Red Sea city of Hurghada, with fractures and bruises found on the body. The cause...

Russia-Ukraine War: The attack killed one person and wounded four others, the governor of Belgorod said, adding the city's water supply system was damaged. Moscow: A Ukrainian strike on a residential building in the Russian city of Belgorod left one person dead, the regional governor said late Friday. The attack killed one person and wounded four others, the governor of Belgorod said, adding the city's water supply system was damaged. Belgorod region borders northeast Ukraine and the city is 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Kharkiv, which was heavily hit by Russian forces on Friday morning according to Ukrainian authorities.

The Cincinnati Cyclones recently came under fire after a video posted to the minor league hockey team's social media account appeared to reference the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The Cyclones play in the ECHL and are an affiliate of the New York Rangers. In a since-deleted video posted to X, formerly Twitter, Cyclones player Justin Vaive wore the team's red throwback jersey as he stood on the ice soaked in red light.

In a brazen act of aggression, Ukrainian drones launched an attack on the Kremniy El microelectronics plant in Bryansk, Russia. The incident, which occurred at approximately 1624 EST, has once again raised tensions between the two neighboring countries. Eyewitnesses captured shocking footage of the Ukrainian drones infiltrating Russian airspace and triggering the activation of Russian air defenses in Bryansk proper. The swift response by Governor Bogomaz and his team prevented further casualties and material damages. Governor Bogomaz affirmed that three drones had been successfully shot down, safeguarding the local population and infrastructure. However, despite the governor’s reassurances, local Russian media...

NEW YORK -- The NYPD and FBI are preparing to secure Times Square for the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected at Sunday's New Year's Eve celebration. Police will set up a perimeter from Sixth Avenue to Eighth and from 41st Street to 57th. Officers will check people entering the zone, in part to make sure they're not bringing backpacks, duffel bags or alcohol. The NYPD is also preparing for protests like the one near the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting in November. "Those who want to peacefully protest, they have the right to do so. But you're not going...

conflict with Russia if the Kremlin succeeds in its war against Ukraine. Biden's statement follows Russia's massive aerial attack across Ukraine on Friday. Kyiv air force officials said that about 110 missiles struck Ukraine, hitting hospitals, residential buildings and a shopping center. At least 31 citizens were killed in the attack and another 120 wounded, according to Ukraine officials cited by Reuters.

DES MOINES, Iowa — There's less than three weeks until the Iowa caucuses, and GOP presidential candidates are blitzing through Iowa. Recently, Ron DeSantis made multiple stops across the state and brought along some Iowa leaders who have endorsed him. So far, DeSantis has completed a 99-county tour, also known as a full Grassley, and has made more than 154 stops across Iowa. His campaign tells Iowa's News Now he's garnered support from more than 30,000 Iowans who plan to caucus for him. They have more than 1,000 caucus captains who will be speaking in favor of him at precincts...