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WASHINGTON — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin is hitting the brakes on $2.3 billion left in spending from the Biden administration’s electric school bus program — following backlash over New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s mandate and as the vehicles have been breaking down in the cold and failing to be produced in a timely manner to districts. Zeldin made the decision to review the taxpayer-funded program after $2.7 billion was already “frivolously wasted” under former President Joe Biden on thousands of electric buses, according to an agency spokesperson, working out to a price tag of roughly $318,452.45 per vehicle...

Residents of Staten Island have discussed renewed calls for secession from New York City after newly elected mayor Zohran Mamdani visited the borough. Mamdani, 34, was sworn in as New York's youngest mayor in more than a century on New Year's Day - its first Muslim, South Asian, and African-born leader. He ran on a Democratic socialist platform that included raising the minimum wage to $30 by 2030, raising the city's corporate tax to 11.5 percent, city-run grocery stores, fare-free buses, and freezing rent on rent-stabilized apartments. Citizens and lawmakers of Staten Island, a staunch Republican enclave in the otherwise...

As of January 1, 2026, city workers in Portland, Oregon, can now clock out for up to 40 hours a year — without losing pay or benefits — to deal with immigration-related legal matters for themselves or for family members. Eligible employees may use this leave for activities such as:Obtaining legal support or meeting with immigration or criminal defense attorneys • Attending interviews or tests related to naturalization or citizenship • Appearing at state or federal criminal court proceedings • Deportation hearings • Matters involving “unlawful detention” related to immigration status. For the first 40 hours each year, this leave...

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“Britain and France on Saturday conducted an airstrike on an underground facility in the mountains north of Palmyra, Syria, which ISIS terrorists "likely" used to store weapons and explosives, the British Defense Ministry confirmed in a statement. Western aircraft have been conducting patrols to stop a resurgence of the terror group, the ministry noted. Our aircraft used Paveway IV guided bombs to target a number of access tunnels down to the facility," the ministry added, noting that initial indications are that the target was successfully engaged, and that no civilians were put at risk by the strikes.“

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Monday after the U.S. attacked Venezuela and deposed its long-serving autocratic President Nicolas Maduro, a move that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres views as setting "a dangerous precedent."Colombia, backed by Russia and China, requested the meeting of the 15-member council, diplomats said. The U.N. Security Council has met twice - in October and December - over the escalating tensions between the United States and Venezuela.U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Washington would run Venezuela "until such time as we can do a safe,...

Conclusions: Through a close examination of the Antioch incident and the Hagar‑Sarah allegory, we have traced Paul’s Jewish logic. He employs midrashic typology, scriptural allegory, and covenantal reasoning to demonstrate that the blessing promised to Abraham reaches the nations through faith in the singular “Seed,” Christ. The Law, a holy and good gift to Israel, functioned as a guardian until the Promise arrived. To require Gentiles to undergo proselyte conversion is, in Paul’s metaphor, to force them back into a state of minority and slavery—a temporary, supervised status from which Christ has set all believers free. Paul’s gospel thus affirms...

Far-left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani publicly pouted after the United States captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. U.S. forces snatched Maduro in a daring raid that was announced Saturday by President Donald Trump. “I was briefed this morning on the U.S. military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, as well as their planned imprisonment in federal custody here in New York City,” Mamdani posted on X. “Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law,” he claimed. “This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those...

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the administration’s decision not to brief senior congressional leaders ahead of the U.S. strike in Venezuela, arguing that advance notice would have jeopardized the operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Speaking Saturday at a press conference carried by Newsmax, Rubio said the mission was "trigger-based," unfolding only when specific conditions were met after days of monitoring. He said it was not the type of operation that allowed for advance congressional notification, stressing that the action was fundamentally a law-enforcement mission, the arrest of "two indicted...

A daycare owner in Washington state has said that he is "flabbergasted" by the amount of money alleged Somali fraudsters in the daycare industry are getting in comparison to the subsidies his daycare and others in the industry usually receive on a normal basis. According to Center Square, the outlet went to a number of Washington-based daycare centers run by Somalis, and only one of the daycares had any children inside. “Anyone who's in the industry is, like, flabbergasted,” said daycare owner David McMullan. “How are they getting that money and we're not?” McMullan, who is also the chair of...

Millions of people around the world, most of all in Venezuela, are celebrating the downfall of the dictator Nicolás Maduro. President Donald Trump’s decision to capture him on Saturday was one of the boldest moves a president has made in years, and the operation was an unquestionable tactical success. The next step is ensuring that this triumph sets Venezuela up for stability and prosperity rather than more of the same, or worse. What happened in Caracas was a clear reminder that America’s military, intelligence and cyber capabilities are second to none. More than 150 aircraft supported the Army’s Delta force...

Berlin police arrested over 420 people on New Year’s Eve amid widespread violence and attacks on emergency responders. The arrests came after the city deployed 3,200 officers for the New Year’s Eve operation, and police logged 2,340 additional incidents beyond the major “Silvester” deployment, according to a statement from the State Administration for the Interior and Sport. Berlin’s fire brigade responded to 1,830 calls throughout the night. (RELATED: Famous Church Burns As Netherlands Police Face Unprecedented Violence On New Year’s Eve). The chaos in Germany’s capital mirrored scenes across Europe, where attacks on first responders and property damage strained public...

We need to revisit institutionalizing the mentally ill before more victims are hurt, or worse, murderedI truly feel sorry that Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered in cold blood by their own son. It doesn’t matter to me that I did not agree with Reiner’s politics. Besides being a severe drug addict, Reiner’s son had been in drug rehab some 18 times in his life. It makes one wonder if the therapy protocols were any good or if he was, in fact, incorrigible. I was surprised that Reiner and his wife practiced tough love to some extent as they...

In 2000, a landmark study claimed to set the record straight on glyphosate, a contentious weedkiller used on hundreds of millions of acres of farmland. The paper found that the chemical, the active ingredient in Roundup, wasn’t a human health risk despite evidence of a cancer link. Last month, the study was retracted by the scientific journal that published it a quarter century ago, setting off a crisis of confidence in the science behind a weedkiller that has become the backbone of American food production. - snip - The 2000 paper, a scientific review conducted by three independent scientists, was...

The accomplishments of a stunning year can’t be captured in just 10 items.Summary In a January 2026 Washington Post opinion column, conservative columnist Marc A. Thiessen praised President Donald Trump's first year in his second term as extraordinarily consequential, expanding his usual top-10 list to 20 achievements.Key highlights include: Took military action to halt Iran’s nuclear program (“Operation Midnight Hammer”). Pressured NATO allies to meet and raise defense-spending commitments. Expanded U.S. support for Ukraine, funded largely by European allies. Achieved what the author calls a strong peacemaking record abroad. Ordered strikes against Islamist militants targeting Christians in Nigeria. Eliminated dozens...

The White House has told companies they must rebuild Venezuela's crude-pumping infrastructure if they want compensation for assets seized by Caracas. American oil companies have long hoped to recover the assets that Venezuela’s authoritarian regime ripped from them decades ago. Now the Trump administration is offering to help them achieve that aim — with one major condition. Administration officials have told oil executives in recent weeks that if they want compensation for their rigs, pipelines and other seized property, then they must be prepared to go back into Venezuela now and invest heavily in reviving its shattered petroleum industry, two...

Venezuelans in South Florida poured into the streets of Doral early Saturday, celebrating what many called a historic turning point for their country after President Nicolas Maduro was removed from power, according to President Donald Trump. Celebrations erupted outside El Arepazo restaurant, a longtime gathering spot for the Venezuelan community, where people hugged, sang and waved flags as the sun came up. Chants of "Libertad" echoed through the area as crowds sang both the U.S. and Venezuelan national anthems, marking a moment many said they had waited decades to see.

Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has arrived in the United States after being seized from his Caracas compound by US Army Delta Force soldiers. A white FBI Boeing 757 landed at Stewart Air National Guard Base in upstate New York after 4:30pm Saturday afternoon. Cops subsequently boarded the plane to take Maduro into custody. Hours earlier, footage emerged that is believed to show him being frog-marched onto a separate plane in Puerto Rico. That video is unverified and appears to show Maduro and his wife Cilia being taken onto a different plane. The pair are believed to have had one...

President Trump told the nation the US would now take over running Venezuela, after strongman Nicolas Maduro was captured “in the dead of night.” “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort as he provided new details on the stunning military operation... “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to,” the president said. “We had boots on the ground last night, at a very high level, actually.” Later, Trump added, “We’re going to have [a]...

I'm probably one of the most antiwar posters on Free Republic. I hate every bit of what we're doing in the Mideast and Europe. Deploying troops to Syria and Gaza, funding and aiding the Ukraine s**thole. Constantly warring with other nations on behalf of our (lol) "allies." It's all folly, even evil. This is hitting different. Venezuelan Communist criminals confiscated -literally stole - American oil fields, private property that belonged to Americans and American companies. Nobody has been held to account until now. Maduro is a criminal dictator who fk'd with our electoral and immigration systems in a major way....