Free Republic

An audacious Ukrainian drone attack against multiple airbases across Russia is a humiliating security breach for Vladimir Putin that will doubtless trigger a furious response. Pro-Kremlin bloggers have described the drone assault - which Ukrainian security sources said hit more than 40 Russian warplanes - as "Russia's Pearl Harbor" in reference to the Japanese attack against the US in 1941 that prompted Washington to enter the Second World War. The Ukrainian operation - which used small drones smuggled into Russia, hidden in mobile sheds and launched off the back of trucks - also demonstrated how technology and imagination have transformed...

In a revealing moment on CBS News’ “Eye on Politics,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) gave what may be one of the most revealing defenses yet of the Biden administration’s handling of President Biden’s cognitive decline—and ended up admitting far more than she may have intended. When asked by CBS’s Jack Fink about Republican allegations that Democrats and the White House had misled the public about Biden’s obvious mental deterioration, Crockett pivoted—hard. Instead of directly addressing the evidence millions of Americans had witnessed, she accused Republicans of crafting an “ecosystem of lies,” while conceding Democrats had, in fact, hurt themselves politically....

President Donald Trump ordered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to decide on applications for new nuclear plants within 18 months.Trump's order could help launch small modular reactors in the U.S. by late 2030, GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said.The reactors are viewed as the future by many in the industry.President Donald Trump's executive orders on nuclear power could lead to the deployment of small modular reactors in the U.S. by late 2030, GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said Wednesday.Trump on Friday ordered the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to decide on applications to construct and operate new nuclear plants within 18 months. The...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating a "targeted terror attack" Sunday afternoon near Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado. At about 4:30 p.m., the Boulder Police Department said it was responding to a report of an attack near the mall with reports of several victims. "We are aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado," FBI Director Kash Patel wrote in a statement on X. "Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available." Witnesses who spoke with CBS said the suspect...

[Catholic Caucus] Santa Marta is too expensive: Pope Leo returns to the Apostolic PalaceThe first steps taken by Pope Leo XIV at the helm of the Church are largely satisfying the expectations of the cardinals who elected him. The eminent prelates were looking for a good shepherd, but even more so they trusted that the new pontiff would be able to restore balance to a form of government that, under Pope Francis, had taken on authoritarian tendencies and destabilized the clergy and the faithful with numerous acts considered overly bold.Leone has first of all reestablished—with kindness but firmness—the dignity proper...

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused the Trump administration of “clearly trying to intimidate Democrats” after federal agents handcuffed one of Rep. Jerry Nadler’s aides in his Manhattan office. The Department of Homeland Security stormed into Nadler’s (D-NY) Big Apple office last week and alleged that his staff was “harboring rioters.” Jeffries (D-NY) largely refrained from delving too much into the specifics of the altercation, but slammed the administration. “I think the administration is clearly trying to intimidate Democrats, in the same way that they’re trying to intimidate the country,” Jeffries told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. Jeffries...

[Catholic Caucus] An Apostolic Church or a "Synodality" Church?Caminante WandererArgentina, May 29. 2025Saint Charles Borromeo and one of the Diocesan Synods he presided in MilanOne of the most pressing and certainly most complex issues that Pope Leo will have to resolve is that of the famous synodality. He is a canonist and a man of government and he knows, therefore, that continuing along the path of a synodal church that Francis had irresponsibly opened would lead to a catastrophe. For those of us who are laymen in theology and canon law, I recommend this article ["The Pope and the Prefectress"]...

MEMPHIS — For decades, this storied American city has watched companies come but mostly go, its vacant storefronts and blighted buildings a reminder of its days as a thriving manufacturing hub and the painful decline that followed as those jobs vanished.As Paul Young, the city’s mayor, puts it, Memphis has been “the city people forgot about.”Then last summer, Memphis landed what Young and local business leaders called the city’s largest corporate investment in a generation — a “transformative” development for a place that has struggled to convince outsiders of its continued potential.The project was something every city dreams of, Young...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s intelligence chief is exploring ways to revamp his routine intelligence briefing in order to build his trust in the material and make it more aligned with how he likes to consume information, according to five people with direct knowledge of the discussions. As part of that effort, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard has solicited ideas from current and former intelligence officials about steps she could take to tailor the briefing, known as the President’s Daily Brief, or PDB, to Trump’s policy interests and habits. One idea that’s been discussed is possibly creating a video version...

In a memorable exchange during a Republican primary debate in January 2016, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas needled the upstart candidate Donald Trump, saying he was not a true conservative and adding, “Not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan.” Mr. Trump was ready with a retort. “Conservatives actually do come out of Manhattan,” he replied, “including William F. Buckley.” It was obvious why Mr. Trump would invoke William F. Buckley Jr. — the author, columnist, magazine editor, TV debater and political candidate who died at 82 in 2008 (and who did work for decades in Manhattan). Mr. Buckley...

President Trump meets with Miss America 2025 Abbie Stockard - May 29, 2025

Initial exit polls for the Polish presidential election put the race at a dead heat, with the neo-liberal establishment candidate leading his conservative upstart opponent by a fraction of a percentage point. UPDATE 2200: While the race is still too close to call, the votes from the Polish diaspora community in the United States have been fully counted. According to Gazeta Wyborcza, PiS conservative candidate Karol Nawrocki won 28,070 votes in America, or 56.65 per cent, compared to 21,479 votes, or 43.35 per cent, for liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski. The original story continues as follows… Polish voters went to...

Pro-Trump conservative Karol Nawrocki now holds a wafer-thin lead over the pro-EU liberal mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, in Poland’s presidential election, according to a late exit poll released after voting stations closed on Sunday in an election that is still too close to call.

BOULDER: Colorado police are responding to what they called an attack at Boulder's Pearl Street Mall that left multiple people injured. There are some unverified claims online that a man attacked some pro-Israeli protesters in Boulder and was arrested, nothing confirmed yet however

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Raleigh pastor is facing decades behind bars after pleading guilty to receiving more than $400,000 of fraudulent government-funded COVID-19 loans. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 45-year-old Mitchell Summerfield was found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 loan funds. According to court documents, Summerfield was the pastor of the Word of God Fellowship Church in Raleigh and owned various other businesses, including Winning Ways, KHS Investments, and Vision and Destiny. In 2018, Summerfield stepped into the role of lead pastor at...

Ukrainian special forces operatives launched simultaneous attacks on four Russian strategic bomber bases and the home port of the Russian Northern Fleet early Sunday. The attack was reportedly a year-and-a-half in the making and involved a novel means of delivery and the first use of autonomous drone swarms.This is what we know as of this writing.The targets were:Olenya Air Base in the Murmansk Region Belaya Air Base in the Irkutsk Region Ivanovo Air Base in the Ivanovo Region Dyagilevo Air Base in the Ryazan Region Severomorsk (Main Administrative Base of the Russian Northern Fleet) in the Murmansk Region

The Russian delegation arrived in Istanbul to participate in negotiations with the Ukrainian side, which are scheduled to take place on June 2, News.Az informs via TASS. "The negotiating team has arrived in Istanbul," the agency's source said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian delegation led by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky is ready to present a memorandum to Ukraine on all aspects of overcoming the root causes of the crisis in Istanbul on June 2.

April 30 marked 50 years since the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam war. Vietnam’s closest partners, including China, Cambodia, and Laos, sent representatives to the commemorations held in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. Notably missing from the main parade were representatives from the United States, who were reportedly instructed by Washington not to attend. The United States’ absence from the events, in addition to recent cuts to programs related to war legacy issues, muddles its relationship with Vietnam. To maintain momentum in the deepening relationship with Vietnam, the United States must prioritize war reconciliation efforts,...

On this week’s broadcast of “CBS Sunday Morning,” former President Bill Clinton rejected claims of President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline. Reporter Tracy Smith asked, “Speaking of aging there is there is this book that came out talking about Joe Biden and the people around him seeing that he had cognitive and physical decline. Did you ever have a moment with him where you thought maybe he was unfit to run for president?” Clinton said, “No.” Smith repeated, “No.” Clinton continued, “I thought he was a good president. The only concern I thought he had to deal with was, could anybody...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday hailed the Security Service of Ukraine's operation, in which Ukrainian drones targeted over 40 Russian warplanes at several airbases in Russia, stressing that it achieved an "absolutely brilliant result." "One year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to effective execution," Zelensky said in a post on X, emphasizing that it was Kiev's longest-range operation. He went on to say that such Ukrainian actions "will undoubtedly be in history books." "We are doing everything to make Russia feel the need to end this war. Russia started this war, Russia must end...