Free Republic

Evelyn Farkas, Arizona State University McCain Institute Executive Director, discusses whether or not she sees President Trump and President Zelenskiy meeting again to get things back on track, and signals agreeing on the Minerals Deal could potentially put the heated exchanges behind them. Farkas also shares her thoughts on if the Minerals Deal is enough of a security guarantee for Ukraine, and if President Zelenskiy disrespected the Oval Office. She speaks with Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu on Bloomberg's "Balance of Power." --------

The Orbán administration has said that the country 'should not tolerate' the public event this year. NGOs and human rights activists in Hungary have condemned the government's proposed clampdown on this year's Pride march in Budapest. In a speech last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hinted that his administration would crack down on the event, saying it would be "a waste of time and money" for its organisers to make their usual preparations. Then on Thursday, Gergely Gullyás, the Hungarian minister who runs Orbán's office, spoke more explicitly. “There will be no Pride in the public form in which...

A new study suggests that those sleepless nights and stressful mornings might actually be keeping your mind young and sharp. Researchers analyzed the brain scans of 19,964 women and 17,607 men from the UK and found that people who had children showed slower cognitive decline as they aged compared to those with fewer or no kids. “The regions that decrease in functional connectivity as individuals age are the regions associated with increased connectivity when individuals have had children,” said lead study author Avram Holmes, a psychiatry professor at the Rutgers Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research. That the results...

People are opinionated about microwave popcorn brands, and in this instance, I am people. Throwing a trifolded bag in the microwave for a few minutes brings back childhood memories of sleepovers, Blockbuster rentals, and jamming out on my Walkman. I want steaming popcorn that is equal parts buttery, salty, and crunchy—if it doesn’t leave my fingertips slicked with grease, I’m not interested. Nowadays, popcorn is still a top-tier snack in my eyes, though I’ve started dressing it up a bit more for variety. Otherwise, my criteria for a great bag of microwave popcorn has largely stayed the same. And so...

On Tuesday (2/18), the all-Democrat New Mexico Supreme Court issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the judicial system. The Court framed its stance as a necessity for upholding justice, citing its duty to “eliminate barriers” and ensure “equal access” for all individuals, regardless of race, gender, or other demographic factors. While these ideals may sound noble, the actual implementation of DEI initiatives has proven to be deeply flawed, often undermining the very principles of equal justice and meritocracy that courts should uphold. The core principle of the American legal system is that justice should...

A new study published in PLOS One found that men and women misjudge what the opposite sex finds attractive. A research team in the United Kingdom asked 144 people — with an average age of 22 — to adjust a 3D model of a man’s or a woman’s face to match their appearance to find out what they believed the other gender finds the most attractive for both short- and long-term relationships. Sharp, bold features like chiseled jawlines are often described as more masculine, while soft, delicate features like full lips are characterized as more feminine — and everyone’s rushing...

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World-famous snowboarder Luke “The Dingo” Trembath has tragically died suddenly, .. TMZ reported Friday that Trembath was just 38 years old when he passed away unexpectedly. Social media has been flooded with posts in response to the news of his sudden death. However, Trembath’s cause of death has not been revealed. ... He was traveling all around the world with Team Australia by age 13.

Iran has said it will carry out another military operation against Israel, according to state media agencies.Brigadier General Ali Fazli of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), said that a third operation against Israel, known as "True Promise III," will be carried out "on schedule."...On April 13, 2024, Iran launched a large-scale missile attack on Israeli targets, "True Promise I," marking Iran's first direct military engagement with Israel in decades. The strikes followed the April 1 Israeli bombing of Iran's diplomatic mission in Syria, which killed several Iranian officials and military officers.Iran expanded its operations with a second round of...

...CEO and Co-Founder of the Christian prayer app Hallow, took to X (formerly Twitter)...announcing that the European Union (EU) would no longer allow its citizens access to the app. Jones explained that “over-regulation” targeting all religious apps would make it impossible for Hallow to be available in the EU. This news comes shortly after China removed Hallow from its app store in July 2024. In his post, Jones expressed his heartbreak over the news as Hallow was in the works of expanding its content to Polish, French, Italian, and German audiences. Since its launch in December 2018, Hallow has seen...

Former White House adviser Susan Rice said Friday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that President Donald Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was a “setup.” Rice said, “Obviously it is a very sad day and an embarrassment for the United States on the world stage. But let’s step back and analyze what’s happened here I think there’s no question that this was a setup. You heard Donald Trump say at the end of that clip you played, this is great television. This was a setup. I mean, excuse me, Vladimir Zelensky was compelled to agree to a horrible deal...

A former top staffer in the Biden White House told Puck News on Wednesday that the Biden-Harris administration was “gaslighting” Americans by dismissing concerns over polling showing that former President Joe Biden was not receiving support from voters in his own party during his reelection bid. Michael LaRosa, who served as a longtime press secretary to former first lady Jill Biden, also admitted to Puck News that Biden’s age was an “issue,” and claimed that Biden’s staff was “scared to death” of the former president participating in unrehearsed or unscripted interviews. Though most Americans and several Democrats repeatedly raised concerns...

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said Friday on MSNBC’s “Chris Jansing Reports” that President Donald Trump’s Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was an “utter mess” that “makes us look weak.” Kelly said, “What a complete and utter mess. And this is a gift to Putin. And make no mistake, and I hope the American people get this, that this makes us look weak and it’s not normal behavior.” He continued, “The United States. Chris we are a superpower. Our power is our military, our economy, our diplomatic corps, our professionalism. This was not professional. We don’t gain anything...

Former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe was fired from his high school football coaching job following his anti-Make America Great Again speech at a California city council meeting earlier in February. The 43-year-old Kluwe, who was arrested and charged with disturbance of an assembly after the Feb. 18 incident, revealed to TMZ that Edison High School served him termination papers on Wednesday. During the Huntington Beach council meeting, he ranted about a library plaque and what he called “propaganda” references to the MAGA movement. “I’m bummed that I won’t get to work with the kids anymore,” Kluwe told TMZ on Friday....

The FBI is reportedly returning boxes of personal items back to President Donald Trump that were seized during the Mar-a-Lago raid, according to The Daily Wire. “The FBI is giving the president his property back that was taken during the unlawful and illegal raids," White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told the outlet. "We are taking possession of the boxes today and loading them onto Air Force 1.” It is not clear what items were taken, but it comes after the FBI raided the president's Florida home in 2022. The raid was in response to allegations that Trump had failed...

Blake Lively has hired a PR crisis manager with deep government ties as her legal battle with Justin Baldoni escalates. The actress, who is suing and being sued by her “It Ends With Us” director and co-star, is quietly working with Nick Shapiro, the CIA’s former deputy chief of staff and senior advisor to former director John Brennan. Shapiro is not without controversy. He was one of a group of 51 former senior intelligence officials who signed the widely cited and subsequently criticized 2020 open letter stating that the Hunter Biden laptop “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian...

The couple was found during a welfare check with no signs of how they died.Actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, both tested negative for carbon monoxide, authorities revealed Friday, amid an investigation after they were both mysteriously found dead alongside one of their dogs at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office Adan Mendoza said he believes that carbon monoxide is ruled out as a possible cause of death. Hackman is believed to have died on Feb. 17, Mendoza also said Friday, noting that was the date of the last recorded...

The Trump administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine in the aftermath of Friday’s contentious meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance in the Oval Office, The Washington Post reported. At stake is roughly $5.5 billion of radars, vehicles, ammunition and missiles that are currently awaiting shipment to Ukraine as part of the presidential drawdown authority (PDA), the Post reported. Trump considers Zelenskyy’s remarks in front of the American media as intransigence, according to the report. In a post to Truth Social afterward, Trump said Zelenskyy “disrespected the...

"We believe that the country should not tolerate Pride marching through the city center,' Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff Gergely Gulyás announced.BUDAPEST, Hungary (LifeSiteNews) – The Hungarian government announced that it will not allow an LGBT “pride” parade to take place in 2025, citing the protection of children. Politico reported that Gergely Gulyás, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, declared at a weekly press conference that “there will be no Pride in the public form in which we have known it in recent decades. We believe that the country should not tolerate Pride marching through the city...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied wrongdoing Friday night in his first public remarks since a major Oval Office argument with President Trump that cast the future of his country’s conflict with Russia into doubt. “I’m not sure that we did something bad,” Zelensky told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier when asked if he owed Trump an apology for clashing with him and Vice President JD Vance — before saying moments later that “of course” the relationship between the men can be mended. “I respect the president and I respect the American people,” the 47-year-old leader said in the...