Free Republic

Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, Belarus’s autocratic president and Russia’s closest ally, has taken steps to soften his country’s isolation from the West.

Next-generation obesity drugs will work differently from Ozempic and Wegovy — aiming to deliver greater weight loss with fewer side effects. For Kristian Cook, every pizza box he opened was another door closed on the path to overcoming obesity. “I had massive cravings for pizza,” he says. “That was my biggest downfall.” At 114 kilograms and juggling a daily regimen of medications for high cholesterol, hypertension and gout, the New Zealander resolved to take action. In late 2022, at the age of 46, Cook joined a clinical trial that set out to test a combination of the weight-loss drug semaglutide...

Explanation: What can a space rock tell us about life on Earth? NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft made a careful approach to the near-Earth asteroid 101955 Bennu in October of 2020 to collect surface samples. In September 2023, the robotic spaceship returned these samples to Earth. A recent analysis has shown, surprisingly, that the samples contained 14 out of the 20 known amino acids that are the essential building blocks of life. The presence of the amino acids re-introduces a big question: Could life have originated in space? However, the protein building blocks themselves held another surprise -- they contained an even...

The crash happened around 10:40 a.m., the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department confirmed, with the jet landing in the water off Shelter Island. A Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft crashed on Wednesday morning.

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration can continue efforts to withhold tens of millions of dollars meant to cover hotel costs for migrants in New York City.U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island ruled that the government's bid to withhold Federal Emergency Management Agency money sent to New York to house migrants was not subject to an order, still in effect, that's aimed at preventing a sweeping Trump administration pause on federal funding.“Because the Defendants are seeking to terminate funding ‘on the basis of the applicable authorizing statutes, regulations, and terms,’” McConnell said,...

Elon Musk announced on Tuesday that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was looking into a limestone mine in Pennsylvania, where the cost-cutting organization says federal employee retirements are processed manually using a system that could take months. Musk told reporters about the mine on Tuesday during an appearance with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, as the president prepared to sign an executive order concerning the billionaire’s work leading DOGE. "And then we're told this is actually, I think, a great anecdote, because we're told the most number of people that could retire possibly in a month is...

An asteroid has a small chance of hitting Earth less than eight years from now, and astronomers are enlisting the help of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to study it. Characterized as a potential "city-killer," the asteroid was first detected in December and its odds of impacting our planet have increased slightly since then, according to the European Space Agency. The space rock is formally named 2024 YR4. Scientists say it currently carries a 2% risk of making contact with Earth when it eventually reaches this part of the solar system on Dec. 22, 2032. Although the asteroid will most...

House Republicans on Wednesday released a blueprint they intend to use to advance President Trump’s legislative agenda, breaking through an impasse that had stymied the conference for days. The rollout of the budget resolution comes one day before the House Budget Committee is scheduled to debate and advance the resolution, the first step in the budget reconciliation process. The panel is set to consider the measure Thursday at 10 a.m. EST. * * *

This morning, President Trump revealed he's rolling back efficiency standards on plumbing and light bulbs. You may feel like the lightbulb has been through a roller coaster of regulation changes ... and you're right.

The Senate voted largely along party lines Wednesday to confirm Tulsi Gabbard to serve as the director of national intelligence, the nation’s top intelligence official, despite strong objections from Democrats and initial misgivings from Republicans who questioned her experience and judgment. The 52-48 vote caps two months of deliberations in the Senate over whether Gabbard, a former House Democrat from Hawaii, is qualified to lead the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies and prepare President Trump’s daily intelligence brief. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was the only GOP “no” vote.

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell is speaking out against President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff plans, warning that starting trade wars with U.S. economic partners could force higher costs on American families and businesses. Trump’s “aggressive proposals leave big, lingering concerns for American industry and workers,” the senator from Kentucky wrote in an op-ed Wednesday in Louisville’s Courier-Journal. The op-ed is a rare example of a senior Republican in Congress who is willing to publicly criticize the president’s economic strategy. Trump, who has called tariff his “favorite word,” recently slapped broad import duties on Canada, Mexico and China, plus additional tariffs on...

John Solomon @jsolomonReports Breaking: RFK Jr. clears key hurdle to becoming HHS secretary From justthenews.com 11:35 AM · Feb 12, 2025

Attorney General Pam Bondi personally removed newly-installed large framed photos from a wall in the Justice Department of former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Harris, and former Attorney General Garland, sources confirmed to Breitbart News. The removal of the images comes after President Donald Trump’s political opponents tried to imprison him, bankrupt him, assassinate him, remove him from the ballot, and make him politically irrelevant by introducing a partisan committee to investigate January 6. […] Holdover employees from Biden’s DOJ installed the images of the Democrats just three weeks after Trump took office, but Bondi, recently confirmed as Trump’s...

Frank Sanazi performing an extract from his Edinburgh Festival Fringe comedy show, Das Vegas Nights, on at the Voodoo Rooms at 10.30pm Transcript linked below video

Full GAO ReportGAO's summary: No area of the federal government is immune to fraud. We estimated that the federal government could lose between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud. Given the scope of this problem, a government-wide approach is required to address it. The Office of Management and Budget, working with agencies and the oversight community, should develop guidance to improve fraud-related data—providing a more uniform approach to what data is collected and how. Also, Treasury should identify methods to expand government-wide estimates of fraud—prioritizing higher-risk program areas.

Toxic RINO Senator Mitch McConnell on Wednesday voted ‘no’ on Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation vote. The Senate voted 52-48 to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the next Director of National Intelligence. McConnell was the lone RINO who voted against President Trump’s nominee. Recall that McConnell was also one of the three Senators to vote against Pete Hegseth’s confirmation as Defense Secretary. Shortly after the confirmation vote on Wednesday, McConnell went off on Tulsi Gabbard. McConnell said Tulsi Gabbard’s record proves she is “unworthy of the highest public trust.” Per Fox News’ Chad Pergram: [The Senate’s power of advice and consent is not...

At the end of last month, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) held its leadership elections. We’ve covered it in bits and pieces here at PJ Media. My friend and colleague Matt Margolis wrote about how every candidate for DNC chair agreed that racism and misogyny were factors in Kamala Harris’ defeat. MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart, who co-facilitated the forum, expressed his approval. Another friend and colleague, Robert Spencer, pointed out that new DNC Chair Ken Martin is on record saying that he wants to try Donald Trump for treason. Sigh. Robert also noted that the Democrats chose wormy, mouthy beta-male David...

WASHINGTON — Lawyers challenging President Donald Trump's aggressive use of executive power in the courts are turning to a familiar weapon in their armory: an obscure but routinely invoked federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act. While lawsuits challenging such provocative plans as ending birthright citizenship and dismantling federal agencies raise weighty constitutional issues, they also claim Trump failed to follow the correct procedures as required under the wonky 1946 statute. Trump fell afoul of the law in some high-profile cases that reached the Supreme Court during his first term, raising the possibility he could suffer the same fate this...

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) voted on Wednesday with Democrat colleagues against confirming Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence. McConnell’s vote underscores his repeated opposition to President Donald Trump and his America First policies. He previously voted against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s confirmation in January. McConnell was the only Republican to vote “no” on Trump’s nomination. Every Democrat voted “no.” Despite Democrat and McConnell’s opposition, the Senate confirmed Gabbard’s nomination by a vote of 52-48.

O'KEEFE INSIDE THE TREASURY: Policy Advisor at US Treasury Confesses He 'Knows a Few' Officials Who "Don't Do Their Jobs" and Are Defying @DOGE: "No One's Quitting Because Everyone's Dug in Their Feet;" Claims Layoffs Are Because "All He [Musk] Wants Is More Money" pic.twitter.com/BvHYGJpf18— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) February 12, 2025