Free Republic

This week French President Emmanuel Macron distanced himself from US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace and seized an oil tanker of Russia's 'shadow fleet' demonstrating notions of French independence and power. The decision on not joining the "Board of Peace" by Mr. Macron explained in terms of respecting 'international law' over 'arbitrary action'. There was concern not fully expressed that the "Board of Peace" was really a mechanism to go around the United Nations in Gaza and other places like Ukraine... At one point US President Donald Trump published texts Mr. Macron sent him in an apparent effort to...

Bowel habits aren't exactly dinner-table talk. But they reflect how quickly the gut moves things along, and when that goes wrong, people can experience constipation, diarrhea, or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). A study reports DNA clues to intestinal motility and spotlights vitamin B1 (thiamine) biology as an unexpected pathway for follow-up research. A team coordinated by Mauro D'Amato used a large-scale genetics approach to search for common DNA differences associated with stool frequency. They studied questionnaire and genetic data from 268,606 people of European and East Asian ancestry and used computational analyses to pinpoint which genes and mechanisms are most...

In a disturbing incident amid ongoing anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officer had his finger bitten off by a rioter, according to a post from Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security. McLaughlin shared graphic photos on X, showing the injured officer sitting in a vehicle, his uniform caked in mud, as a gloved hand tends to his mangled finger. One image shows the severed fingertip, bloodied and raw, and another shows it preserved in a small plastic container, presumably for medical evaluation. McLaughlin confirmed that the officer will lose the finger. Additional...

Abnormal clumps of proteins like α-synuclein, amyloid beta and tau are associated with neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, but a waste removal mechanism called the glymphatic pathway can clear these proteins and other metabolic byproducts from the brain. Now, a team is exploring whether intentionally raising and lowering blood levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) through rhythmic CO2 exposure or controlled breathing might boost the glymphatic system's effectiveness and improve brain health. Sephira Ryman, Ph.D. led studies to evaluate how intermittent breathing of CO2 could be used to dilate and constrict brain arteries and drive the movement of cerebrospinal...

Overuse of antibiotics has accelerated the development of bacterial resistance to conventional drugs, a global health crisis projected to result in more than 10 million deaths annually by 2050. The multidrug-resistant bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa accounts for approximately one-fifth of hospital-acquired pneumonia cases and is associated with severe illness and increased mortality. Nitric oxide is a therapeutic gas that researchers helped establish as a life-saving therapy for hundreds of thousands of newborns with congenital heart disease. Nearly 30 years later, investigators report that high-dose inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) demonstrates potential antimicrobial activity in preclinical models and is safe and feasible in...

A British nurse investigated for “misgendering” a trans-identified paedophile has had the disciplinary case against her dropped. The case was closed by hospital officials after months of internal proceedings and public controversy.Jennifer Melle, 40, who worked at St. Helier Hospital in Surrey, southern England, for 12 years with a previously clean record, had the disciplinary case against her closed, according to the U.K.-based group Christian Concern.The hospital’s move followed pressure from politicians across party lines, including a petition and a letter signed by eight Members of Parliament urging the Trust to halt its action against Melle.She had been facing a...

U.S. President Donald Trump says Canadian goods exported to the United States would be hit with 100 percent tariffs if Canada makes a deal with China.“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken. China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on the morning of Jan. 24.“If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced just one day after the U.S. officially withdrew from the World Health Organization (WHO) that his state would become the first to join the organization’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, in a seeming rebuke of the Trump administration’s withdrawal from international collaborations. Newsom traveled this week to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he was scheduled to speak at an event but was canceled at the last moment. During his trip, he met with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “As President Trump withdraws the United States from the World Health Organization,...

Nutrition experts are calling for dietary fiber to be officially recognized internationally as an essential nutrient—the first "new" essential nutrient in more than 50 years. Andrew Reynolds says increasing our dietary fiber intakes would deliver greater health benefits than increasing any other essential nutrient, given that our current fiber intakes are below World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. "The disease burden associated with diabetes, heart disease and colorectal cancer would be expected to be appreciably reduced by such a dietary change." Their argument is supported by more than 100 years of research into its chemistry, physical properties, physiology, and metabolic effects...

On Tuesday of this week, ICE approached an immigrant from Ecuador who it was targeting for deportation. What happened next has become a story of great contention with activists and Democratic officials claiming a 5-year-old child was used as bait and then kidnapped while ICE officials are telling a very different story.The boy's name is Liam Conejo Ramos and this photo of him has been circulating online. Here it's being spread by DNC Chair Ken Martin.ICE detained a 5-year-old child in Minnesota to use as "bait."An innocent child.America, let this sink in. This is what the government is doing right...

Gov. Tim Walz is akin to the leader of a “drug cartel,” according to a Minnesota state lawmaker who filed articles of impeachment against the embattled Democrat — and warns other pols in the scandal state could be next. Republican state Rep. Mike Wiener drafted the paperwork to boot lefty Walz in November and filed the docs on Jan. 12, alleging the former vice presidential candidate failed in his fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers as a $9 billion Somali social services scandal unfolded under his nose. “This is almost like a drug cartel. You’ve got various levels that are all taking...

Did you know that in most of America, police can take your property, even if you did nothing wrong? They don't have to charge you with a crime. They don't have to take you to court. They can just say they suspect you of a crime. Then they can grab your money, your car, and sometimes, even your house! It's legal because of something called "civil asset forfeiture." My new video shows how police abuse such laws to take things from innocent people. Restaurant owner Mandrel Stuart was stopped by police in Virginia when driving. Stuart thought, at worst, he'd...

Word out of Iran has been scarce over the last few days. The regime has engaged in hideous repression of the uprising Iranian people, and the internet, and thus the flow of information out of the country has all but ceased. That's disconcerting, but in a bit of interesting news, there are now reports that the Supreme Leader himself, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that savage barbarian theocrat out of another century, has gone underground. Perhaps out of fear of American airstrikes?The 86-year-old supreme leader has moved to a fortified shelter in Tehran connected to a series of elaborate underground tunnels...

Chinese dictator Xi Jinping has removed China’s most senior general and the chief of combat planning and operations amid allegations of corruption and “violation of party discipline.” An editorial in the People’s Liberation Army Daily accuses the men of having “undermined Xi’s authority, abetted political and corruption problems that impaired the party’s leadership over the armed forces, and damaged efforts to develop combat effectiveness.” General Zhang Youxia, the senior of the two vice chairmen overseeing China’s approximate equivalent of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Central Military Commission, and a longtime Xi ally, was abruptly removed from his post...

EXAMPLE The most valuable gift you can give another is a good example. "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you." (John: 13:15) In his autobiography, Armand Hammer, known as much for his humanitarian efforts as for being chairman and CEO of Occidental Petroleum, an advisor to presidents from Roosevelt to Reagan, and an industrialist, reveals the roots of his giving spirit: "My father had become a prominent and greatly loved figure in the area. . .It was an almost ecstatic experience for me to ride with him when he...

🚨BOMBSHELL HOLLYWOOD SHAKEUP: Jennifer Lawrence just got her ass FIRED and booted from Mel Gibson's new movie after throwing a full-blown, screaming anti-Trump meltdown on set! 🔗 t.me/+PrBHPIUGPXs3M… She couldn't keep her woke mouth shut, ranting and crying about politics like a deranged Karen while everyone else tried to actually work. Gibson didn't hold back: "I like Jen, but we're here to make a damn film, not to cry about social issues and politics." No mercy, no second chances — Gibson's strict no-woke rule means even massive A-list star power gets you instantly replaced when you start the drama. Lawrence...

In a scathing column at Unherd last month, Anglican priest Giles Fraser took aim at one of the most controversial men in England: Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson. Robinson, after a recent stint in prison from November 2024 to May 2025 for contempt of court, now identifies as Christian. This was Robinson’s fifth stint in jail, mostly for activities related to his anti-Islam activism, which has defined his public life since founding the English Defence League in 2009 (he left the group in 2013, stating that it had become too extreme). Fraser’s missive was a scathing rebuke of...

Transgender patients of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles secured a win this week after the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to end its efforts to obtain personal and medical information of more than 3,000 young patients.

Brief summary of the video: The YouTube video (from WCCO - CBS Minnesota, uploaded January 24, 2026) is a ~7-minute clip of a press conference by U.S. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. He discusses a fatal shooting that morning in south Minneapolis during a targeted DHS operation involving Border Patrol agents. Key points from Bovino's statements: The suspect was identified as Jose Werta Chuma (described as an undocumented immigrant with prior criminal history including domestic assault and disorderly conduct). During the operation, the man allegedly approached agents armed with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and extra loaded magazines. Agents attempted to...

Minnesota’s alleged fraud scandal continues with the blue state now "on the clock" to comply with federal officials. "We asked Minnesota for evidence that child care funding goes to legitimate providers," Jim O’Neill, deputy secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), wrote in an X post video alongside HHS Assistant Secretary Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Alex Adams. "Six weeks later, they still have not sent this information." The ACF sent a "preliminary notice of non-compliance" to the state, according to O’Neill. "We are no longer asking, we are demanding," Adams said. "Since Minnesota refused to...