Free Republic

China did not send any delegation to Pope Francis’ funeral, a fact that carries heavy potential consequences and implications in light of the late pope’s efforts to engage with the communist country, according to one Catholic anthropologist. The country’s decision to not send anyone to the April 26 funeral was akin to “a slap to Pope Francis,” wrote Michael Chambon in an April 28 op-ed for Union of Catholic Asia (UCA) News. “From the very beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis showed particular attention to China,” Chambon wrote. He pointed to how Pope Francis often expressed his love for the...

Hours after Harvard University faced the Trump administration in court for the first time in its push to restore more than $2 billion in blocked federal funding, the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college made a symbolic bow to White House demands, renaming its diversity, equity and inclusion office. The change was announced Monday in an email to the campus community from the head of what had been the Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. It nods to a sweeping effort by President Donald Trump to eliminate DEI practices – designed to advance racial, gender, class and other representation in...

The Trump administration this week summarily dismissed more than 400 scientists and other experts who had begun to write the latest National Climate Assessment report, informing them by email that the scope of the report was being reevaluated. The report, mandated by Congress, is prepared every four years under a 1990 law. It details the latest science on climate change, and also reports on progress in addressing global warming. Scientists said they fear the Trump administration could seek to shut down the effort or enlist other authors to write a very different report that seeks to attack climate science —...

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the largest sex abuse settlement in U.S. history on Tuesday, agreeing to pay $4 billion to victims abused as children in county-run juvenile facilities and foster homes.The vote is the culmination of years of fighting by victims, who argued that no one had paid the price for the rampant sexual abuse they said they suffered in county custody. The settlement includes nearly 7,000 claims, most of which involve alleged abuse from the 1980s through the 2000s.“I never would have imagined persons hired to be the safety net and care for the...

As collections resume after five years, disaster looms for delinquent borrowers.At the outset of the covid-19 pandemic, federal student-loan borrowers won what appeared to be a reprieve. That five-year pause on payments and interest accumulation is now shaping up to be a curse in disguise. Last week, the Trump administration drew criticism for announcing that the Education Department would resume involuntary collections next month. But the squeeze delinquent borrowers will soon feel is an inevitable consequence of the suspension, exacerbated by the Biden administration’s prolonged refusal to let payments resume.That’s because nonpayment ballooned after the pause functionally ended last October,...

To hear the Democrats say it, the country is in chaos, the economy is collapsing, and it’s all Trump’s fault. But nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the Trump administration marked its first 100 days with impressive economic achievements, as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent detailed in Tuesday's briefing. Leavitt revealed strong job growth numbers, announcing, "345,000 jobs have already been added since the start of President Trump's term. Last month's jobs report saw nearly 100,000 more jobs than economists predicted." "It was the fourth highest month for private payroll growth in the...

Since President Donald J. Trump took office 100 days ago, it has been a nonstop deluge of hoaxes and lies from Democrats and their allies in the Fake News suffering from terminal cases of Trump Derangement Syndrome.In no particular order, here are some of the most egregious hoaxes peddled by the usual suspects so far in President Trump’s second term:HOAX: Fake News CNN attempted to “fact check” President Trump’s claim that the Biden Administration spent millions on “making mice transgender.”FACT: After their so-called “fact check” was thoroughly debunked, they were forced to update it in disgrace and admit the claim...

Following her arrest for assisting a criminal illegal alien attempting to avoid capture, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended Judge Hannah Dugan from all judicial proceedings.MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended a judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, saying Tuesday that it is in the public interest to relieve her of her duties as she faces two federal charges.[…] In its two-page order, the state Supreme Court said it was acting on its own initiative and not responding to a request from anyone. Liberal justices control the court 4-3.[…] She is set to appear...

The Trump administration on Tuesday fired former second gentleman Doug Emhoff from the board that oversees the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, as the president aims to install more “steadfast” Israel supporters at the institution. Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris, was among several Biden administration appointments to the board removed by President Trump. “Today, I was informed of my removal from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council,” Emhoff said in a statement posted on X. “Let me be clear: Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized. To turn one of the worst atrocities...

The New Thing embraced by Democrats and the Regime Media, and the squishes on the political right, is that President Trump is somehow responsible for the liberals winning Monday’s national elections in … Canada.It was the tariffs, they say.It was Trump trolling Canada as our 51st state, they say.It was Trump teasing former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau,” as in governor of America’s 51st state, they say.First off, no Normal Person cares about what happens in Canada. Who cares how Canada votes? If Canadians want another four-year term of socialist failure, they should get it. Good on them....

Rome is living these days in an atmosphere of unreality. The sentiment conveyed in the Eternal City, in the midst of the pre-conclave period, is a mixture of bewilderment, discretion, and silence. Francis was gone with a speed that no one expected - not even his own allies - and the sectors most in favor of his pontificate seem to have dissolved away without the capacity of reaction. There are no meetings, no strategy, no slogans. The pontificate is over and “Franciscanism”, if it ever existed as a solid body, has imploded. The College of Cardinals, for its part, presents...

As Big Abortion offloads its medical responsibility onto women who purchase the abortion pill, those women are expected to function as their own doctor, nurse, and pathologist in so-called “self-managed” mail-order abortions. Additionally, in an apparent deceptive scheme to hide adverse abortion pill outcomes, abortion profiteers also advise women experiencing serious complications to present to the emergency room (ER) and lie about the cause of those complications. This, of course, helps no one but the industry itself. When things go wrong, women do not end up at the door of the prescriber, who is clear of any responsibility for the...

New Mexico Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez is facing sharp criticism after touting his vote against the Laken Riley Act and attacking President Donald Trump’s immigration policies during an April 16 town hall event. At the meeting, Vasquez proudly announced his opposition to the legislation, which was signed into law by Trump on January 29. “I did. I voted against [the bill],” Vasquez declared to cheers from the audience. He added, “Because due process is a fundamental part of who we are as Americans,” attempting to frame his opposition as a defense of constitutional rights — despite the clear public safety...

The Wisconsin state Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a Milwaukee judge who has been accused of allegedly helping an illegal migrant evade an immigration arrest. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested by the FBI late last week on obstruction charges, after she allegedly helped Eduardo Flores Ruiz evade arrest by "intentionally [misdirecting] federal agents away from the subject." FBI Director Kash Patel said at the time that Flores Ruiz was also arrested. The state Supreme Court said that the suspension was in the best interest of the public, because Dugan has been charged with two federal crimes, according...

Chloe Fineman's table for two came with a side of drama. Recounting the incident alongside her sister Emma, Fineman said the two were having "the best day of our lives" before trying to find a place to eat and reluctantly settling on Sant Ambroeus, an Italian restaurant located in the "food desert known as Madison Avenue." Fineman recalled a cordial server leading them to a table right away. "There's several empty tables and I sit down, and then I look up and it's Pilaf little mouse, the celebrity dog of Demi Moore," Fineman said. "And I see Demi Moore and...

On behalf of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, we are very saddened to announce the passing of the Center’s founder, David Horowitz. After a lengthy battle with cancer, David passed yesterday at the age of 86. The Freedom Center’s founder and guiding force was a relentless conservative warrior who survived a previous brush with death (chronicled in his book Mortality and Faith), confrontations with the Black Panthers, campus radicals, government investigations, death threats, and hate campaigns, some led by his former friends and allies, without ever considering giving up or letting up. Nothing short of the end that comes for...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said his country deserves respect from the US and will only enter trade and security talks with President Donald Trump "on our terms". Speaking exclusively to the BBC as the polls were closing, Carney said he would only visit Washington when there was a "serious discussion to be had" that respected Canada's sovereignty. Carney and Trump have since spoken and agreed to meet in the near future, according to the Canadian prime minister's office. "The leaders agreed on the importance of Canada and the US working together – as independent, sovereign nations – for...

New study reveals an adverse event rate 22 times higher than the FDA-approved drug label reports. (Washington, DC): In a first-of-its-kind study, “The Abortion Pill Harms Women”, the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) reveals that serious adverse events from mifepristone are approximately 22 times more frequent than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently recognizes. The study shows that, following a mifepristone abortion, 10.93 percent of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event. That is, over one in ten patients experience at least one serious adverse event. The study, authored by Jamie Bryan Hall,...

A Grammy Award-winning rock star left White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stunned with his question about free speech and political asylum during Monday’s briefing. Winston Marshall, the former banjoist with British folk group Mumford & Sons, called on President Trump to grant asylum to his fellow countrymen and -women who faced prosecutions over “hate speech” in the UK. Marshall, who left the band in 2021, claimed that people in his country faced “extensive prison sentences for tweets, social media posts and general free speech issues,” before ramping up to his question.

A man who reportedly has a warrant for deportation has climbed a tree to escape authorities. He’s been up there for hours as officers wait below. News4 has been streaming the incident on Facebook. According to a statement from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s San Antonio office, ICE, in coordination with the Texas Department of Public Safety, attempted to serve a criminal warrant on a man described as a “criminal alien" on Tuesday. ICE officials said Raul Ical, a 29-year-old Guatemalan national, was stopped during a traffic stop involving the vehicle in which Ical was a passenger. Ical exited...