Free Republic

US stocks retreated on Monday as investors grappled with the fallout from the Supreme Court's rebuff of President Trump's most sweeping tariffs, which has thrown major trade deals into doubt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) led the way down, losing roughly 1.3%, or over 600 points. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) both fell roughly 0.6%, coming off a volatile but winning session on Friday. Growing uncertainty about the global trade landscape is unsettling markets amid debate about Trump's next moves and reaction from countries that have signed US trade pacts. The Supreme Court's...

Ukraine has regained control of 400 square kilometres of territory, including eight settlements, along a section of the southern frontline since the end of January, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said. Syrskyi's statement on Monday did not make clear how much of the newly secured territory had previously been under Russian control and how much lay in "grey zone" areas not firmly held by either side. The rare battlefield gains in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region stand in contrast to the broader trend of slow and costly Russian advances across the frontlines over the past two and a half years, as the...

The Vermont Department for Children and Families has changed its guidance regarding whether prospective foster parents must affirm the gender identity of LGBTQ+ youths before being licensed as part of two legal settlements reached last week. Under the new guidance, issued February 18, the state agency will no longer be able to deny or revoke foster-parent licensure based on an applicants’ refusal to “affirm, endorse or adopt any particular views regarding gender identity, sexual orientation or related ideological concepts,” according to the settlements filed in federal court late last week. The changes come in response to two lawsuits — Wuoti...

A first-grade teacher in Nashville, Tennessee, claims that he was threatened with termination and reassigned to a new position after requesting religious accommodations to avoid reading books to children that promote same-sex marriage, which would have conflicted with his beliefs about marriage and sexuality. Eric Rivera is a devout Christian who taught first-grade students at KIPP Antioch College Prep Elementary School, according to a Wednesday statement from the First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit public interest law firm. KIPP is a public charter school that operates under the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission.

Once again, the Radical Left’s favorite Squad member is substituting actual policy knowledge with absolute theatrical melodrama. As The Gateway Pundit reported, AOC delivered one of the most humiliating performances by a U.S. politician in modern history at the Munich Security Conference. She made a host of mind-boggling gaffes in response to simple questions while botching basic geography. In one instance, a moderator at the event asked AOC if the US should commit troops to defend against China, and she turned into a stuttering mess. “Um, you know, I think that, uh, this is such a, uh, you know, I...

Apparently, it's panic time for Democrats in their one-party blue state of California. The Los Angeles Times reports that they are facing armageddon in the upcoming governor's race, whose "jungle" primary is in June. According to the Los Angeles Times: SAN FRANCISCO — Leaders of the California Democratic Party, along with liberal activists and loyal power brokers, are openly expressing fear that their crowded field of candidates running for governor may splinter the vote and open the door to a surprise Republican victory in November.SNIP The bottom line here is that Democrats wouldn't have this problem at all if they...

Text messages obtained by Juliegrace Brufke of 24sight News appear to confirm that Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) had an inappropriate relationship with Regina Santos-Aviles, a former staffer who committed suicide by self-immolation last September. Another former Gonzales staffer who described himself as Santos-Aviles’s “best friend” recently told the San Antonio Express-News that Santos-Aviles had admitted the affair to him, and that she had been battling depression ever since her husband found out about the relationship, causing the congressman to “abruptly cut her off.” He also produced text messages in which Sant0s-Aviles admitted to the affair. Gonzales denied the affair in...

Litigation brought by a key figure in the Russiagate scandal has quietly reached the Supreme Court, giving the nation’s nine justices a chance to weigh in on an investigation that has become a symbol of law-enforcement and intelligence abuses during the Obama-Biden era. Carter Page, an energy consultant who briefly served as a foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, became the subject of an FBI counterintelligence investigation into possible Russian election interference known as Crossfire Hurricane. In 2020, Page filed a federal lawsuit seeking damages from then-FBI Director James Comey and other former officials, including former Deputy...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) traveled to the Munich Security Conference with big ambitions and came home with a reputation problem. The trip was supposed to bolster her foreign policy credentials ahead of a future Senate or presidential run. Instead, it turned into a masterclass in unpreparedness, and now she's doing damage control in the worst way possible: a tearful late-night Instagram rant. In the video, an emotional AOC, appearing to hold back tears, pushed back against critics who saw her faceplant in Munich, convinced she has no idea what she's talking about. Her defense? It’s not her, it’s you, who’s...

China has seeded the West with thousands of agents pushing propaganda, engaging in espionage, fomenting protests, and silencing domestic dissent. In 2023, the FBI arrested two Chinese-Americans, Lu Jianwang and Chen Jinping, for operating a Chinese police station in Manhattan. Chen pleaded guilty and faces up to five years in prison for acting as a Chinese agent, while Lu, who has connections to Chinese authorities, pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. He faces 20 years for obstruction of justice. According to the Department of Justice (DoJ), the police station was established to monitor and intimidate Chinese dissidents in the...

Rights group ADF International has condemned Turkey’s rejection of a European Parliament resolution on the expulsion of foreign Christians, with critics calling the policy an “attack on Christians” and urging authorities to respect due process and religious freedom. The European Parliament resolution focused on cases involving at least 300 foreign Christian pastors, missionaries and their families who were deported or denied re-entry under administrative measures known as the N 82 and G 87 security codes.

Rights group ADF International has condemned Turkey’s rejection of a European Parliament resolution on the expulsion of foreign Christians, with critics calling the policy an “attack on Christians” and urging authorities to respect due process and religious freedom. The European Parliament resolution focused on cases involving at least 300 foreign Christian pastors, missionaries and their families who were deported or denied re-entry under administrative measures known as the N 82 and G 87 security codes.

Something appears to be laughably missing in Politico's Saturday story about the June nonpartisan gubernatorial primary in California. Namely the front runner is a Republican, Steve Hilton, and another Republican is very possibly the second place candidate, both of whom would be facing each other in the November general election for governor.Is it a mere coincidence that Politico writers Blake Jones and Lindsey Holden completely ignored them because they happen to have the taboo (R) by their names which are completely AWOL in "Why Swalwell and Steyer are surging in California governor’s race"?The focus of the story (to the complete...

The company responsible for the technical backbone of the controversial CBP One app - responsible for the mass, streamlined entry of illegal aliens into the U.S. under Joe Biden - is foreign-owned with ties to the British government and U.S. employees donating to Democratic candidates. Given the sizable damage CBP One inflicted on the U.S., these conflicts of interest demonstrate a partisan bias and concerning foreign ties. ...

A 6-3 Supreme Court majority on Friday struck down President Trump’s sweeping emergency tariffs (Learning Resources v. Trump) in a monumental vindication of the Constitution’s separation of powers. You might call it the real tariff Liberation Day. It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Court’s decision for the law and the economy. Had Mr. Trump prevailed, future Presidents could have used emergency powers to bypass Congress and impose border taxes with little constraint. As Chief Justice John Roberts explains in the majority opinion, “Recognizing the taxing power’s unique importance, and having just fought a revolution motivated in large part...

"If you tolerate the intolerable, you’re communicating that it’s okay to mistreat you." —Aimee Terese on X. Hillary and Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE) at MunichDid you think the American zeitgeist — our collective spirit plus our thinking — could not get crazier? Gird your loins. It’s getting worse by the hour. The Jeffrey Epstein files suggest that people will do anything and that people will believe anything. Pizza, hot dogs, white sharks. . . boys, girls, babies, teens, Russian ---res. . . celebrities by the score. . . billionaires. . . cannibal orgies. . . vivisection parlors. . . adrenochrome....

More junior colleges are offering four-year bachelor’s degrees in addition to two-year associate’s degrees, and traditional universities hate the competition. But while students and policymakers should welcome new options, junior colleges (also known as community colleges) have obstacles to overcome as they attempt to create reliable alternatives to four-year institutions. Over the last two decades, lawmakers in at least 24 states have adopted provisions allowing community colleges to expand their degree offerings to include four-year bachelor’s programs. Customarily, community colleges offer high-school graduates who are not prepared for four-year degree programs the chance to earn two-year associate’s degrees and offer...

The Bible presents Israel as having twelve tribes from both northern Israel and southern Judah. In older northern lists, however, the southern tribes do not appear, and the full list seems to have developed in Judah, after the destruction of Israel. Moreover, the idea that the tribes are descended from Jacob developed even later. The depiction of the twelve tribes comprising Israel is central to Genesis through Kings. Nineteen of the roughly twenty-six complete or nearly complete lists of the tribes in biblical literature appear in these books.[1] Until the 1980s, most scholars assumed that the descriptions of this twelve-tribe...

The BBC has apologised after a guest with Tourette's syndrome shouted a racial slur when two black actors were on stage at the Bafta Film Awards. John Davidson, whose life story inspired the film I Swear, shouted the N-word as Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented the first prize of Sunday's ceremony, which was broadcast on BBC One. A BBC spokesman said: "Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the Bafta Film Awards 2026. "This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and was not intentional. We apologise for any offence caused...

One of the first tasks that a new Mayor has in New York City after taking office is to present a budget. Given that an annual New York City budget is well north of $100 billion, you would think that this is a serious undertaking. But our new Mayor is the 34-year-old play-acting college socialist Zohran Mamdani. How does he handle the task? Mamdani kicked the process of with a press conference at City Hall on January 28. Here is a transcript and video of his remarks. Excerpt: I want to speak directly to New Yorkers, who have for too...