Free Republic

Two congressional Democrats seeking to win “toss-up” Senate contests in states won by President Donald Trump are co-sponsoring legislation that would eliminate female-only spaces and infringe on the right of girls and women to compete against only members of their own sex in sports. Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff and Democratic Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens, who voted against legislation to bar biological males from women’s sports earlier this year, are backing the Equality Act, a bill that would make “gender identity” a protected class under federal anti-discrimination law. The candidates’ decision to support the far-reaching legislation comes as Republicans accuse...

Karim Khan was accused of serious sexual crimes by an assistant less than 3 weeks before his surprise announcement of the cancelation of a fact-finding trip to Israel and the seeking of warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, raising concerns the warrants are meant to protect him. The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that it would file arrest warrants against Israeli leaders less than three weeks after ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan was accused of sexual assault, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the report, Khan responded to the international pressure to criminalize Israel's response to the October 7 massacre...

“‘They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full’” (Matthew 6:5). In Jesus’ time, the synagogues were the likeliest and most appropriate places for sincere public praying. Devout Jews also offered many prayers on street corners, if that’s where they were at the appointed hour of prayer. But the word Jesus uses here indicates a major street, and therefore a major street corner where a bigger crowd would likely be. By inference the hypocrites were at...

The FBI has just launched a formal criminal investigation into the mortgage fraud allegations against NY Attorney General Letitia James.

“May peace be with you.”That was the first sentence uttered by Pope Leo XIV after he was introduced Thursday as the new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. From the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the first American pontiff then reminded the audience that those were also the first words Jesus spoke after His resurrection.“This is the peace of the risen Christ,” the man born Robert Francis Prevost continued, “an unarmed and disarming peace, humble and persevering.”My eyes and heart welled with pride as I listened to his short speech — as a Catholic, yes, but especially as an...

VATICAN CITY — Two-and-a-half years ago, Pope Francis was trying to fill a big job. For decades, that position — heading the powerful office that helps vet and select bishops — had gone to consummate Vatican insiders. But Francis had staked his papacy on expanding the boundaries of the Catholic Church. And he had his eye on a surprise contender: an American-born missionary operating in the coastal plains of Peru, some 6,000 miles from Rome.“You know that I am very happy in Peru,” the missionary, then-Bishop Robert Prevost, recalled telling Francis. “But if you ask me to take on a...

It’s a fool’s game to try to predict President Trump’s audacious new moves. Tommy Vietor was the latest to learn this. He posted that it was “really scary” that hostilities between India and Pakistan were escalating and that Trump was “completely asleep at the wheel.” Twelve hours later Trump announced he’d mediated a peace deal between the two countries. In Lebanon he has acted to substantially cut off Hezb’allah’s supply and revenue sources, making it more likely that country’s civilian government will be able to reassert control and enhance the peace of the area. BEIRUT—Lebanon’s only commercial airport sits in...

CREDIT: NASA, ESA, STScI, Yuhan Yao (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) ************************************************************** A traveling black hole stalking the cosmos for stellar prey recently revealed itself to NASA telescopes in a tidal disruption event (TDE), shredding and swallowing a star in a radioactive burst. With its brilliant flash, the TDE AT2024tvd lit up several observatories, including NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and the NRAO Very Large Array. The TDE event took place 600 million light-years from Earth, allowing astronomers a new glimpse at black hole physics to be published in a future issue of The Astrophysical Journal...

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The Trump administration is bringing a small number of white South Africans to the United States as refugees next week in what it says is the start of a larger relocation effort for a minority group who are being persecuted by their Black-led government because of their race.The South Africans’ applications are being fast-tracked by the U.S. after President Donald Trump announced the relocation program in February. The Trump administration has taken an anti-migrant stance, suspending refugee programs and halting arrivals from other parts of the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan and most countries in...

During the Biden debacle, his administration denied that they had lost 300,000 children who came into the country unaccompanied, and they provided the addresses where these children were, while denying they were being trafficked. There is only one problem with that. The addresses they provided to the Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), were fake. They were just made up by Biden’s White House or by those claiming the children whom the Biden administration did not properly vet. And now the Trump administration is working diligently to find these missing and trafficked children. Breanna Morello:...

Summary Saudi-Israel normalization stalled due to Gaza conflict Focus on $1 trillion investments, arms deals, and AI collaborations Trump’s visit aims to counter China’s rising clout in region WASHINGTON/DUBAI, May 11 (Reuters) - When U.S. President Donald Trump lands in Riyadh on Tuesday, he will be greeted with opulent ceremonies, gilded palaces and the prospect of $1 trillion in investments. But, the raging war in Gaza has denied him one goal he has long craved: Saudi-Israel normalisation.Behind the scenes, U.S. officials are quietly pressing Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza - one of Saudi Arabia's preconditions for...

SummaryRelief in border towns on Sunday morning as ceasefire holds Trump pledges increased trade and Kashmir solution Ceasefire reached after US diplomacy and pressure India and Pakistan blame each other for overnight violations AMRITSAR, India/ MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, May 11 (Reuters) - A fragile ceasefire was holding between India and Pakistan on Sunday, after hours of overnight fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours, as U.S. President Donald Trump said he will work to provide a solution regarding Kashmir.The arch rivals were involved in intense firing for four days, the worst in nearly three decades, with missiles and drones being fired at each...

India and Pakistan have seemingly pulled back from the brink again. But so much was new about the nuclear-armed enemies’ chaotic four-day clash, and so many of the underlying accelerants remain volatile, that there’s little to suggest that the truce represents any return to old patterns of restraint. A new generation of military technology fueled a dizzying aerial escalation. Waves of airstrikes and antiaircraft volleys with modern weapons set the stage. Soon they were joined by weaponized drones en masse for the first time along the old Line of Control in Kashmir — hundreds of them in the sky, probing...

Because this is a podcast, I'll provide a summary: Sowell says Robert Francis Prevost was elevated to Pope because he is an able administrator, a voice of calmness, and accumulated a cosmopolitan resume. His elevation to Pope followed another who presided over social activism and moral drift. Sowell says Pope Francis gained applause from secular institutions and the elite of the world, at the cost of shrinking congregations; and, the Cardinal-Electors chose Prevost for preservation rather than change.

While the questions have been abbreviated, his answers are included here in full.

Alberta’s threat to divorce Canada is getting more serious than ever. Premier Danielle Smith announced this week that the oil-rich province could hold its first-ever referendum on independence in 2026, as the area’s pro-51st state activists ramp up calls to ditch the Great White North in favor of the star-spangled banner. “Staying with Canada is finished,” Alberta resident Steve Harvey, 52, told The Post. “We’ve been an eagle locked up in a cage for decades because of Canada. It’s time that we’re set free.”

A Massachusetts police union is calling for charges against a City Councilmember who allegedly assaulted local and federal officers — and incited a caught-on-video chaotic protest of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest of an accused violent criminal. The aggressive protest saw as many as 25 neighbors wailing and chanting “no warrant!” and “not the mother!” — with the daughter of the apprehended Ferreira de Oliveira jumping in front of the unmarked ICE vehicle while holding her own infant in an attempt to stop the arrest, video showed. Etel Haxhiaj, who represents Worcester’s District 5, helped incite the mob into...

After a lull in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity on California’s Central Coast, a rash of raids has reportedly swept through San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties over the past week. One notable arrest over the weekend left two children unattended after a man was taken from a gas station by what appeared to be a group of ICE agents. 805 UndocuFund, a collaborative nonprofit group that brings together immigrant-serving Central Coast organizations, reported what appeared to be a planned ICE arrest at the Sinclair gas station at 1050 South Ventura Road in Oxnard. Juan Conches, a...

Larry Eugene Parks, 30, was found dead along Interstate 5 in Oregon in 1980. He remained a John Doe until he was identified using forensic genealogy last month.Notorious California serial killer Randy Kraft has been identified as the suspect in the murder of a man almost 45 years ago, police said Friday. Larry Eugene Parks, 30, was found dead along Interstate 5 on the morning of July 18, 1980, in Oregon, according to the Oregon State Police. An investigation into his death was opened, but Parks remained a John Doe until just last month, after an investigator from the sheriff’s...

Newsdump Alert: President Trump Says India And Pakistan Agree To A "Full And Immediate Ceasefire"... Saturday night Indian media outlets reporting that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire with shelling and air raids... Newsdump Alert: Trump Talks With Countries Supporting Ukraine Joins In Push For 30-Day Ceasefire Not Supported By Russia... Russian President Vladimir Putin Countering The Push For A Ceasefire With A Call For Direct Talks To Begin With Ukraine... Cold Hard Facts... Trump Close To Turkey, Turkey Close To Pakistan. One of those countries Qatar close to Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood fully supportive of Pakistan in the conflict...