Free Republic

Civil rights groups are calling for the collapsed Baltimore bridge to be renamed when it's rebuilt, citing accusations of racism against national anthem author Francis Scott Key. Leaders argued that the The Star-Spangled Banner author -who the collapsed bridge was named after - was a slave owner who wrote lyrics that scholars have said 'demeaned black people.' They have asked for the bridge to be renamed after late congressman Parren J Mitchel, the first black man from Maryland elected to the US House of Representatives.

An international court in France on Tuesday ruled Switzerland’s failure to adequately tackle the climate crisis was in violation of human rights, in a landmark climate judgment that could have a ripple effect across the globe. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France delivered its ruling in a case brought by more than 2,000 Swiss women, the majority of whom are in their 70s, against Switzerland’s government. They argued that climate change-fueled heat waves undermined their health and quality of life, and put them at risk of dying. The court ruled that the Swiss government had violated...

Graphic bodycam footage released Tuesday revealed the chaos that unfolded when plainclothes Chicago cops fired nearly 100 gunshots during a traffic stop last month, killing one young man and leaving another injured. Dexter Reed, 26, was killed during a March 21 traffic stop in Humboldt Park after officers in an unmarked cop car pulled him over for allegedly failing to wear a seatbelt. The chaotic footage shows Reed rolling down the window of his SUV and then raising it before refusing to exit his vehicle as five officers scream commands and draw their weapons. Preliminary evidence showed Reed had fired...

Argentine President Javier Milei blamed politics for being unable to fulfill his campaign promise of dollarizing the country's economy, suggesting that such a move could have led to his impeachment. "It's not that it wouldn't have been unfeasible to do that in technical terms, but we did infer that in political terms, politics was going to play dirty," Milei said during an interview with Bloomberg last week. During the interview, Milei spoke of the challenges he faces as the leader of the South American country, including a "bankrupt" central bank and a "fiscal, monetary, and currency disaster of extravagant proportions."...

Tucker Carlson has sparked ire among several conservative commentators after interviewing a Palestinian pastor, who discussed how the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has affected Christians in the region. -snip- “This is mendacious hit piece that shows Tucker's generally well-hidden hand. The Christian population of Bethlehem all but disappeared after the PLO took over in 1996 due to Islamic persecution. The only Christian population in the Middle East that is growing is the Christian community in Israel. The Christian community in Gaza disappeared after Hamas took over in 2005.” -snip- Darrell C. Scott, a pastor and vocal supporter of former President Donald...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) challenged his Republican colleague, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), to a debate regarding his “Ukraine first policy.”In an opinion article in the Courier-Journal, Paul slammed McConnell for vowing to go after the “isolationist movement” in the Republican Party, specifically in terms of monetary support for Ukraine. While McConnell had announced in February that he plans to step down as Senate minority leader at the end of the current term, he has said that he has plans to remain in the U.S. Senate.“Mitch McConnell has pledged to fight ‘GOP isolationism’ in the remainder of his career,” Paul wrote....

Jordanian authorities have clamped down on participants in the daily protests against the Israeli war on Gaza, amid accusations that Hamas has a role in igniting them. Thousands have been protesting daily in Ramadan in front of the Israeli embassy in the capital, Amman, demanding its closure and an end to normalisation with Israel in response to its atrocities in Gaza. The protests continued even though the embassy has no diplomatic mission, following the departure of Israel's ambassador in October and Jordan's recalling of its ambassador in protest of the Israeli war on Gaza. Jordanian authorities have been caught off...

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is stepping up his pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to put the Senate-passed foreign aid bill up for a vote in the House, warning Wednesday that “starving” Ukraine of military support is “strategic and moral malpractice.” McConnell told a radio host in Louisville recently that despite plans to retire from Senate leadership, he intends to stay in the Senate through the end of his term in 2027 in order to fight back “against the isolationist movement in my own party.” On Wednesday, he did that by taking shots at President Biden for not...

The six former Mississippi law enforcement officers who tortured and abused two Black men in a racist attack were sentenced on Wednesday to 15 to 45 years in prison on state charges. The men — former Rankin County Sheriff’s deputies Brett Morris McAlpin, 53; Christian Dedmon, 29; Jeffrey Middleton, 46; Hunter Elward, 31; and Daniel Opdyke, 28' and a former police officer from the city of Richland, Joshua Hartfield, 32 — had pleaded guilty to state charges in August. McAlpin, Middleton, and Opdyke were sentenced to serve 20 years; Dedmon to 25 years; Elward to 45 years; and Hartfield to...

Hamas has told negotiators it does not have 40 Israeli hostages that it can release as part of a temporary cease-fire deal with Israel, a source familiar with the talks confirmed to The Hill. The admission raises questions over how many of the remaining hostages kidnapped Oct. 7 are alive and who is holding them. Israel says 129 hostages out of more than 240 abducted that day — mostly Israelis and dual nationals — have yet to be released. The Biden administration is pushing a plan to have Israel and Hamas agree to a six to eight week cease-fire that...

I received an e-mail stating radical anti- Palestine activists were showing up at the Annual Capitol Township meeting. IT STATED:: As your elected Sangamon County Clerk, I am privileged to also serve as the Clerk of Capital Township. I am writing to make you aware of the annual township meeting next week and urge Capital Township Republicans to attend. A radical group of citizens is proposing an advisory ballot question that insults and threatens our country's longstanding friendship and alliance with Israel. The question asks, "Shall the United States federal government and subordinate divisions stop giving military funding to Israel,...

Scrabble has truly stood the test of time as one of the most popular board games in history, and we want to ensure the game continues to be inclusive for all players,” he said. “For anyone who’s ever thought, ‘word games aren’t for me’, or felt a little intimidated by the Classic game, Scrabble Together Mode is an ideal option.” Mattel said it conducted research among British board-gamers that shows that competitiveness is perceived as declining in younger generations. Of the 2,000 people surveyed, 35% believed baby boomers are the most competitive, followed by millennials on 31% and Gen-Z on...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will speak at a press conference in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. DeSantis will be joined by Florida Department of High Safety and Motor Vehicles Executive Director Dave Kerner at The Urban Stillhouse. You can watch the governor live on this page.

Imagine a Super Bowl referee bending the rules to give his favorite team the win. Few would call that fair. Yet that is precisely what the Left wants to do to America’s elections. From noncitizen voting to lawsuits inviting activist judges to rewrite our election laws, left-wing activists are taking every opportunity to change elections permanently for partisan gain. Their latest tactic is to undermine the basic principle of “one person, one vote” with a new scheme called ranked choice voting. As we speak, liberal special interests are leading a sophisticated national campaign to push ranked choice voting in nearly...

Norfolk Southern has agreed to a $600 million settlement to resolve class-action lawsuits filed after a freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, spilling toxic chemicals into the community. The company said in a news release Tuesday that the settlement "is another promise kept by Norfolk Southern to make it right for the people of East Palestine and the surrounding communities." "The agreement is designed to provide finality and flexibility for settlement class members. Individuals and businesses will be able to use compensation from the settlement in any manner they see fit to address potential adverse impacts from the derailment,"...

Are YOU living in a secret forever chemical hotspot? Interactive map shows parts of US where cancer-causing PFAS toxins are most common in drinking water - after Biden's new ban More than 70million Americans live in homes with PFAS-contaminated water PFAS have been linked to cancers, fertility complications, hormone disruption and liver damage READ MORE: How cancer-causing chemicals found in food packaging have seeped their way into animals Biden today announced a crackdown on forever chemicals in American drinking water that will force utility companies and local governments to strip the toxins from tap supplies. More than 70million Americans live...

An official with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) told an undercover journalist that members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were in attendance at the protests at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and also highlighted methods that intelligence agencies use to disempower political opponents. Gavin O’Blennis, a self-proclaimed Contracting Officer for the CIA and former member of the FBI, was caught on camera by an undercover journalist with Sound Investigations as he discussed January 6. O’Blennis claimed that former President Donald Trump incited a riot before going on to say that roughly 20 undercover FBI agents were...

Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Arizona on Friday just days after the state's Supreme Court ruled a 1864 law banning nearly all abortion could be enforced. Harris has been a leading figure in the Biden administration advocating for abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022. The White House announced she would be traveling to Tucson later this week shortly after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the 160-year-old law banning abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. The White House said the visit would be to 'continue her leadership in the fight for...

Americans looking for shelter from inflation are unlikely to find any at home. Inflation under the Biden administration has sent the costs of maintaining a household soaring. Rent, electricity, and garbage collection prices are all up nearly six percent. The price of rent and associated shelter costs have jumped more than five percent since March 2023: — Owners’ equivalent rent (the opportunity cost of not renting out the home you own): Up 5.9 percent since March 2023 / Up 0.4 percent since February 2024 — Water and sewer maintenance services: Up 5.1 percent since March 2023 / Up 0.5 percent...

Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab chief Elon Musk will visit India this month to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is expected to make an announcement on plans to invest and open a new factory in the country, two sources with direct knowledge said.The billionaire will meet Modi in the week of April 22 in New Delhi, and will separately make an announcement about his India plans, said the two sources, who declined to be named as the trip details are confidential.Reuters is first to report details of Musk's planned India visit. Modi's office and Tesla did not respond to...