Free Republic

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Police are investigating after a fight broke out during a kindergarten school graduation ceremony. Philadelphia police responded to the Mastery John Wister Elementary at Wakefield and Bringhurst streets in the city's Germantown section just after 10:15 a.m. on Monday. Officials say there was a disturbance over seating arrangements between two parents. Police say one of the parents allegedly struck the other parent -- a 31-year-old pregnant woman -- multiple times in the head and is also accused of slamming the victim against the wall. Witnesses say they saw the woman bleeding before medics took her away in...

WASHINGTON - On Thursday, the United States filed a complaint against the State of New York, challenging state policies that blocked immigration officials from arresting individuals at or near New York courthouses. Specifically, the complaint challenges a law, called the Protect Our Courts Act, that purposefully shields dangerous aliens from being lawfully detained at or on their way to or from a courthouse and imposes criminal liability for violations of the shield. This law and accompanying polices violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution because they obstruct the execution of federal immigration authorities.“Lawless sanctuary city policies are the root...

Putin holds phone call with Trump Statements from Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov: 🔸The call lasted 50 minutes 🔸The conversation was useful, with the two leaders discussing the escalating situation in the Middle East. 🔸Putin informed Trump about his recent phone contacts with the president of Iran and the prime minister of Israel. 🔸Putin reminded Trump of Russia’s proposal to seek mutually acceptable agreements on the Iranian nuclear issue. 🔸Trump assessed the situation in the Middle East as highly alarming. 🔸The presidents did not rule out a return to the negotiating track on the Iranian nuclear program. 🔸Putin also informed Trump...

Four men, including a government contracting officer for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and three owners and presidents of companies, have pleaded guilty for their roles in a decade-long bribery scheme involving at least 14 prime contracts worth over $550 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars.Roderick Watson, 57, of Woodstock, Maryland, who worked as a USAID contracting officer, pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official;Walter Barnes, 46, of Potomac, Maryland, who was the owner and president of PM Consulting Group LLC doing business as Vistant (Vistant), a certified small business under the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)...

A Minnesota lawmaker was killed and another wounded early Saturday in what authorities believe were targeted attacks at the homes of Democratic state officials. State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed when a gunman impersonating a police officer arrived at their Brooklyn Park home at around 3.35 am, Governor Tim Walz revealed during a press briefing. 'We're here today because an unspeakable tragedy has unfolded,' Walz said. 'State Representative Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, was assassinated, and her husband Mark was also killed.' State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot multiple times at their...

Iranian media on Saturday reported fire breaking out after Israel bombed infrastructure at the South Pars gas field in southern Bushehr province. Developing

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Adults living in the U.S. illegally will be excluded from a state-run health care program under an overall budget deal that the closely divided Minnesota Legislature convened to pass in a special session Monday. Repealing a 2023 state law that made those immigrants eligible for the MinnesotaCare program for the working poor was a priority for Republicans in the negotiations that produced the budget agreement. The Legislature is split 101-100, with the House tied and Democrats holding just a one-seat majority in the Senate, and the health care compromise was a bitter pill for Democrats...

14 June 2025 Saturday of week 10 in Ordinary Time Saint Elisha Deir Mar Lichaa historic maronite monastery, Qadisha valley, Qannoubine, LebanonReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: C(I).First reading2 Corinthians 5:14-21From now onwards we do not judge anyone by the standards of the fleshThe love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that if one man has died for all, then all men should be dead; and the reason he died for all was so that living men should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for them. From now onwards,...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon Orders Seminarians to "Never" Celebrate Mass in the Roman RiteAccording to PaixLiturgique.fr (12 June), the destruction of the Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France, is making good progress.In November 2023, Pope Francis transferred Monsignor François Touvet from Châlons-en-Champagne, a dried-up diocese in northern France, to Fréjus-Toulon, which was then a vibrant and fertile diocese.Monsignor Touvet promised not to act against the diocesan bishop, Dominique Rey. However, Touvet often does the opposite of what he says. If he is caught, he denies it and starts again.Many testify to his desire to remain ambiguous and to keep the faithful,...

Dramatic footage has caught the extraordinary moment the wing of a £15million Russian warplane fell off in the middle of a Ukraine attack mission. The attack jet crashed after flying in a pair over Ukraine's Donetsk region, with the pilot miraculously cheating death by ejecting before his aircraft fell to the ground. The doomed Su-25 warplane is seen on the video turning and falling out of the sky, crashing into a field. At first it appeared it had been shot down, with Ukrainian media claiming it had possibly been the victim of 'friendly fire' by an unguided missile from its...

Partial transcript... "Breaking News tonight. ICE Raids continue as Chihuahuas become the latest targets in what officials call a "Canine Compliance Operation." Earlier this morning, ICE Agents raided several homes in this neighborhood."

Israel Defense Forces has achieved full freedom of operation in the air space around Iran's capital Tehran, the IDF announced on Saturday. -snip- "We established aerial freedom of operation in western Iran, up to Tehran... Tehran is no longer immune—Iran's capital is now exposed to Israeli strikes," IDF spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a press conference. Driving the news: IDF officials said in a briefing with reporters that over the last 36 hours since Israel launched the war against Iran the Israeli air force has eliminated the Iranian air defenses that could threaten Israeli fighter jets on their...

D-Day update and thoughts on the ongoing Iran-Israel War - I was hoping it would be known as the One-Day War, but the sides seem to have resumed fire just now. Items to discuss: 1. Israeli assassination campaign 2. Israeli air campaign 3. Iranian missile campaign 1. Israeli targeted killings The Israelis kicked off their attack on Iran early yesterday morning (local time) with a series of targeted attacks aimed at assassinating senior leaders in the Iranian armed services as well as nuclear scientists. Alongside several scientists and Ali Shamkhani (a very prominent diplomat), three prominent figures in the Islamic...

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (FOX 9) - Two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses were shot by someone impersonating a police officer, sources confirmed to FOX 9. Sen. John Hoffman and Rep. Melissa Hortman, as well as their spouses, were shot in the overnight shootings in Champlin and Brooklyn Park, sources told FOX 9's Karen Scullin. Their conditions are not known as of this writing. Hortman, a Democrat from Brooklyn Park, represents District 34B. Hoffman, a Democrat from Champlin, represents Senate District 34.

Americans love to say they’re too busy to break a sweat — but a viral fitness trend is blowing that excuse out of the water. Enter “Japanese walking,” a simple, science-backed exercise routine that promises serious gains in just 30 minutes. “All movement is medicine, but if you’re short on time or want to get the most bang for your buck, this is for you,” strength training coach Eugene Teo said in a recent TikTok. It’s long been said that taking 10,000 steps per day is the key to better health, with research linking regular walking to improved cardiovascular fitness,...

[Catholic Caucus] Chartres pilgrimage proves young Catholics hunger for traditionWith banners raised and blisters endured, pilgrims on the Chartres pilgrimage proclaimed Jesus' kingship and the beauty of His Church’s ancient traditions.When the “Pilgrimage of Christendom,” as it was officially named at the start, made its first gruelling journey on foot from Paris to Chartres in 1983, it attracted more marchers than the organizers thought possible: some 500 pilgrims joined the pioneers, inspired by the example of the pilgrimage of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Poland, which was still under communist rule at the time.The founding “Centre Henri et André Charlier”...

... Right now, Israel believes Iran has about 2,000 missiles. "We cannot end this operation knowing that we will be in the same spot two years from now," the official said. "Everything is going as planned. Actually, better than planned." The official added: "We have lots of surprises. Not just the ones we already did. We have more surprises coming up." Forty Iranian air defense systems have been hit since the beginning of the operation, which is based on three goals -- targeting Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and removing the Iranian existential threat against Israel. During the initial...

...In a legal sense, it is not merely a "protest" to obstruct law enforcement. It’s a crime. It is not "protest" to throw bricks at ICE agents or police, or set cars on fire. But the broadcast coverage of this unrest sounded disturbingly like the excuse-making for the George Floyd riots of 2020, when violent mobs were described as a "racial reckoning." Once again, the TV networks used the mantra that the protests are "mostly peaceful," like it was a tiny sideshow, and Trump calling out the National Guard to quell the violence was treated as a provocation that worsened...

Political pundit Tucker Carlson doubled down on his criticism of Israel’s strikes against Iran, rebuking several media figures, including his former colleagues at Fox News, over what he described as their push for President Trump to engage in the region. “Who are the warmongers? They would include anyone who’s calling Donald Trump today to demand air strikes and other direct US military involvement in a war with Iran,” Carlson wrote in a post on the social media platform X. “On that list: Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Rupert Murdoch, Ike Perlmutter and Miriam Adelson. At some point they will all have...

Democrats are a mess. They have no message other than "Trump bad." They've made one stupid move after another, siding with human traffickers, drug smugglers, and CEO killers. Nothing is working, so they have resorted to theatrics led by one Alex Padilla. If I had to guess, I'd say this was planned in advance and that pretty much all Democrats were given a heads-up about it. Alex Padilla, the emotionally volatile lightweight senior Senator from California, pulled off one of the most stupid and obvious stunts we've seen in some time. He interrupted an official proceeding and appeared ready to...