Free Republic

Afghan and Pakistani troops briefly exchanged fire along their shared border on Thursday, both nations said, on the same day talks to find a lasting peace restarted in Istanbul. Each nation blamed the other for starting the exchange of gunfire near Spin Boldak, an Afghan border town towards the south of their 2,600-km (1,600-mile) frontier. There were no reports of casualties, and spokespeople for both sides said they remained committed to a ceasefire and continued dialogue in Istanbul. Militaries from the South Asian neighbors previously clashed last month, with dozens killed in the worst such violence since the Taliban returned...

Looks like china is getting its own Apollo 13 mission... The Daily Mail has the details: Three astronauts already in space for six months are now stranded in orbit after their craft may have been damaged by dangerous debris floating around Earth. China's Manned Spaceflight Agency (CMSA) has revealed that crew from its Shenzhou 20 mission will need to stay on board the Chinese station Tiangong. The team of astronauts scheduled to relieve the first group had already taken off and were on their way to swap out with them, but the astronauts aboard the space station discovered a potentially...

A phrase Zohran Mamdani used in 2021 made the rounds in media reports and social media after the 33-year-old won the Democratic primary in the New York City mayoral race. A self-described democratic socialist, Mamdani used the phrase "seizing the means of production" during a live streamed conference of the Young Democratic Socialists of America in February 2021. A White House spokesperson highlighted Mamdani’s use of the phrase in an email to PolitiFact July 1, days after we published our June 26 fact-check of President Donald Trump who called Mamdani "communist" in a Truth Social post. The White House didn’t...

An attendee at President Donald Trump's drug pricing event on Thursday collapsed. A man identified as Novo Nordisk executive Gordon Findlay fainted just feet away from the president, who was seated at the Resolute Desk. The health scare led to the event being postponed, with White House aides quickly telling reporters that they needed to leave the Oval Office. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who serves as Trump's Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, jumped into action, guiding Findlay to the floor and then offering him medical attention. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt didn't identify Findlay by name...

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó emphasized the visit as the beginning of a new chapter in relations between the two countries, a stark contrast to what he called the “hostile” approach of the previous liberal U.S. administration. “With President Trump’s victory, the golden age of Hungarian-American bilateral relations began,” declared FM Szijjártó. Reflecting on the Biden years, he recalled a period defined by punitive measures against Hungary, including the suspension of the visa waiver program, political sanctions, and the halting of the Paks nuclear expansion. These actions, he said, were driven by political revenge rather than strategic reasoning. In contrast, the...

MGP, one of the largest whiskey distilleries in the U.S., saw a significant decline in sales in the third quarter of 2025, according to its press release on October 29. Consolidated sales decreased by 19 percent to $130.9 million and net income fell by 35 percent to $15.4 million. Indiana-based MGP produces bourbon and rye whiskey for other brands and for its in-house brand, Ross & Squibb. Sales for its contract distilling line, Distilling Solutions, plummeted 43 percent to $40.9 million and Branded Spirits’ sales were down by three percent to $60.7 million from the previous year. Just the revenue...

Beloved prayer warrior FReepers, I'd like to update you on what has transpired since the last I posted on my husband's health journey since his violent MI and accompanying CHF in April of this year. John has been doing quite well, but has been having issues with stomach pain and currently also a possible inguinal hernia I'm seriously encouraging him to get looked at. Hopefully it's just muscle strain but with his heart history it could be a red flag of something more ugly like a femoral artery involvement. Or an angry set of lymph nodes or maybe just a...

Nov. 5 (UPI) -- A diaper-wearing sheep's journey aboard a high-speed train in Poland is going viral after video was captured by a lawmaker who was not amused by the spectacle. Mariusz Krystian, a member of parliament for the conservative Law and Justice Party, posted video he captured aboard a PKP Intercity train on the Pendolino line between the cities of Krakow and Warsaw. The video shows a sheep, dressed in a diaper, walking through the train's aisle in between seats. "I am currently on a train to Warsaw. And I wonder, is this still a passenger train, or a...

Believe or not, there exists a rather poorly financed Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, devoted to documenting evils of Communism. Not very surprisingly, they do not get too much money, mostly from the real victims. https://victimsofcommunism.org In my mind they should get like 100x more money than BLM ACLU or SPLC. They are actually nonpolitical, some Democrats (Lantos) were members. So "freedom loving" "immigrant concerned" Soros, antifa and ACLU should chip in, but they do not! I am wondering, when will NYC qualify for membership? When will the refugees from Mamdani terror be able to claim a seat at the...

Leaders in the Texas House and Senate have formed a new joint committee to investigate the deadly July 4 flooding in the Hill Country, which claimed more than 130 lives and devastated communities along the Guadalupe River. The 10-member panel, made up of five Texas state representatives and five state senators, will “identify ways to strengthen the state’s preparedness and response to flooding and other natural disasters,” according to House Speaker Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock. …Those measures were part of a broader flood package the Texas Legislature passed this summer that set aside nearly $300 million for flood preparedness...

An Indian tech manager in the United States has expressed his frustration after feeling unfairly judged and resented for stereotypes associated with Indian professionals in the industry. In an anonymous post on the workplace discussion platform Blind titled “I’m an Indian manager and I feel hated for things I didn’t do,” the user shared that he came to the US on an H1B visa, worked his way up from level L5 to L7, and has always believed in fairness and merit. The manager wrote that he has mentored colleagues from various backgrounds, hired based on talent, and never considered race,...

Authorities say 24-year-old was found with apparent self-inflicted gunshot woundWARNING: This story contains mention of suicide. Police in a Dallas suburb say 24-year-old Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland was found dead of an apparent suicide after evading authorities in his vehicle and fleeing the scene of an accident on foot. Frisco police said Thursday they are investigating the possible suicide. They said Kneeland didn't stop for Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in a chase that was joined by Frisco police on Wednesday night. Authorities lost sight of the vehicle before locating it crashed minutes later. During the search...

In a tiny town called Tappan, NY sits the country's most revolutionary (and oldest) restaurant. Step back in time without leaving the metro area: tucked away in Tappan, New York, just 40 minutes from Manhattan, sits The ’76 House — America’s oldest restaurant. Though today it’s known for its Sunday brunches, candlelit dinners, and live music by the fire, this Revolutionary-era tavern was once the stage for one of the nation’s most dramatic spy stories. During the height of the war, The ’76 House served as the makeshift prison of Major John André, the British officer who conspired with Benedict...

A convicted pedophile and repeat illegal alien from El Salvador brutally assaulted an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during an arrest in Houston, the Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday. Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez, 39, attacked an ICE agent with a metal coffee cup during his apprehension on Nov. 3, splitting the officer's lip and burning the side of his face, DHS said. The officer required 13 stitches for his injuries. Perez's criminal history reads like a rap sheet of horror: sexual assault of a child under 17, child fondling, multiple DUIs, and repeated illegal entries into the U.S. He...

A Thursday Oval Office event, where President Donald Trump announced price reductions for weight-loss drugs, was interrupted by a health emergency. One of the attendees, Novo Nordisk executive Gordon Findlay, appeared to faint live on air during the event.

NATIONAL SAXOPHONE DAY National Saxophone Day commemorates the birth of the woodwind's inventor, Adolphe Sax, on November 6th. The saxophone is one of the main instruments in jazz music. Born on November 6, 1814, Adolphe Sax invented many musical instruments including the saxophone. Sax constructed saxophones in several sizes in the early 1840s. On June 28, 1846, he received a 15-year patent for the instrument. The patent encompassed 14 different versions of the fundamental design, split into two categories of seven instruments each and ranging from sopranino to contrabass. After Sax’s patent expired in 1866, several saxophonists and instrument manufacturers...

Police in Port St. Lucie, Florida, were called to a bar after a disagreement over chickens led to shots being fired and several arrests. WPTV said it happened at about 2:48 a.m. on Nov. 4 in a bar’s parking lot after the business had closed for the night. “There was a conversation about how many, I kid you not, how many eggs a chicken can lay. And that conversation got a little heated, and as it went out into the parking lot, the conversation continued, and the shooter became agitated, became paranoid,” Sgt. Dominick Mesiti said. Three of the four...

Zohran Mamdani’s triumph has given socialists huge power in New York City. Now they must use it well—or see the ruling class crush them.Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor of New York City has thrust the US democratic socialist movement into the national spotlight. If Mamdani’s triumphant affordability platform—which includes plans to provide universal childcare by increasing taxes on high-income earners—is implemented, it could lead to a significant transfer of wealth from the wealthy elite to the working class and provide a blueprint for socialist leaders across the country. Equally, if Mamdani’s mission is stymied, the forces banking on his failure...

Democrats wield chaos as a strategy, overwhelming voters with nonstop turmoil that obscures blame and rallies key groups—leaving Republicans scrambling to counter before the clock runs out. We can draw a few conclusions from an off-year election, when iconic races in blue states went, as expected, overwhelmingly Democratic. Nevertheless, there is only a year left before the midterms. So Republicans must react to even these paltry results. 1) Democrats’ chaotic nihilism still works. The chaos strategy causes so much turmoil, noise, and negative media coverage that the confused voting public simply cannot sort it all out. The public wishes the...

https://babylonbee.com/news/mamdani-moves-mayors-office-under-childrens-hospital NEW YORK CITY, NY — In his first official act as mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani moved the mayor's office under a children's hospital. The mayor's office had been located at New York City Hall since 1812, but Mamdani was determined to relocate it when he learned it wasn't strategically positioned behind human shields. "This place doesn't meet our needs for a headquarters," he said, seemingly unaware that it was not American practice to line the walls with sick children. Voters were reportedly shocked to learn Mamdani had moved his office beneath a children's hospital, but were assured this was "perfectly...