Free Republic

Former SAS soldiers warn the prolonged war crimes investigation into Ben Roberts-Smith threatens to create life or death hesitation for troops in combat situations.The father of an Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan has questioned why a dedicated team of investigators has spent six years building a case against Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith while his son’s killer remains free.It comes as former SAS soldiers warn the Office of the Special Investigator’s (OSI) prolonged investigation into alleged war crimes is causing mental health issues to military families and creating life or death issues for soldiers in combat.Hugh Poate’s son Robert was...

Australia’s most decorated soldier Ben Roberts-Smith faces five war crimes murder charges, but a retired army Colonel and ADF legal expert claims prosecutors will struggle to secure a conviction.Prosecutors squaring up against the nation’s most decorated soldier will struggle to get a successful war crimes conviction regardless of the quality of the evidence, according to a retired colonel of the Australian Army Legal Corps.Bruce Levet, who served the Australian Army Legal Corps until 2022, told The Daily Telegraph he did not believe Victoria Cross recipient and former Special Air Service corporal Ben Roberts-Smith would be convicted of five counts of...

A genetic study of Neanderthal remains recovered from Denisova Cave in Siberia's Altai Mountains revealed that two individuals who lived 10,000 years apart belonged to closely related lineages linked to each other by a common ancestor, according to a Live Science report. The first individual, known as D17, was male and lived about 110,000 years ago. The second genome belonged to a female, known as D5, who lived about 120,000 years ago. "It is likely that Denisova Cave was part of a broader landscape used repeatedly by these Neanderthal populations over time, rather than a site occupied by a single...

U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) has fired back at fellow GOP Texas Congressman Brandon Gill over his remarks on the Dignity for Immigrants while Guarding our Nation to Ignite and Deliver the American Dream Act (DIGNIDAD). “The Dignity Act is mass amnesty and would constitute a terrible betrayal of our voters,” Rep. Gill claimed in a post on X. In response via X, Congresswoman Salazar wrote, “READ. THE. BILL. BEFORE. YOU. OPEN. YOUR. MOUTH.” “Calling the DIGNITY Act 'amnesty' isn’t just wrong. It’s a deliberate distortion and it exposes just how little you know about the bill,” Rep. Salazar...

Photo At first glance, watching the Criterion Collection‘s new 4K Blu-Ray release of 1976’s Network, it’s hard at first to match up the volcanic anger of Paddy Chayefsky’s writing with what we remember about the state of television in the mid-1970s. It all seems so quaint and nostalgic in retrospect — the news came in reassuringly small dabs of a half-hour of local info at 6 p.m., followed by a half-hour of national news at 6:30, rather than today’s competing 24-hour news channels on the cable dial. Weeknights ended with the urbane yet accessible and largely politically neutral Johnny Carson...

Aim To examine the prevalence of severe psychiatric morbidity among gender-referred adolescents, focusing on gender differences and outcomes related to medical gender reassignment. SNIP Conclusion Severe psychiatric morbidity is common among gender-referred adolescents and appears to be more prevalent in those referred after the recent surge in referrals. Psychiatric needs do not subside after medical gender reassignment. Summary Gender-referred adolescents show high psychiatric morbidity, yet gender differences and mental health trajectories after medical gender reassignment remain poorly understood. These adolescents had markedly higher psychiatric morbidity than controls before and after referral, with treatment needs often persisting and even intensifying after...

The FBI arrested Courtney Williams, 40, of Wagram, North Carolina yesterday and a federal grand jury indicted her today in connection with her alleged transmission of classified national defense information to individuals not authorized to receive it, including a journalist (the Journalist). Williams allegedly violated 18 U.S.C. § 793(d). “Clearance holders accept a solemn obligation to protect the classified information entrusted to them,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “That they do so is critical to the security of our Nation. When clearance holders violate that trust, the National Security Division will act swiftly to hold...

Davey Lopes, a four-time All-Star second baseman as part of the vaunted Dodgers infield of the 1970s and one of the greatest basestealers in history, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 80. Lopes played for the Dodgers, A’s, Cubs and Astros over a 16-year Major League career before coaching in the big leagues from 1988-2017, ultimately spending nearly a half-century career in baseball. He served as manager for the Brewers from 2000-02 and was the first-base coach and outfield/baserunning instructor for the 2008 Phillies club that won the World Series. He also coached for the Dodgers, Nationals, Orioles...

A Cincinnati man was arrested after standing outside a Franklin Township home with a knife, threatening to kill a man “in the name of Allah,” according to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office. Anthony Tyrone Jessie Long, 23, was taken into custody and charged with aggravated menacing and aggravated trespassing after deputies were called to a home just before 1:30 a.m. Sunday, April 5, on reports of a suspicious person, records from the sheriff’s office state. A woman told dispatchers that a man was walking around the front of the property and knocking on the door while holding a knife and...

<p>The California Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a county sheriff who seized more than half a million 2025 election ballots to pause his probe into election fraud allegations while the judges review the legal challenge against it.</p><p>The order came after California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, last month asked the court to step in. A voting rights group is also challenging the ballot seizure.</p>

The White House warned Iran Wednesday to keep the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf open amid reports that it is closing the strait over Israeli military action in Lebanon.The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire Tuesday night but Iran claimed Wednesday that the U.S. must rein in Israel and end the fighting in Lebanon if it wants to maintain the ceasefire.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the alleged closure of the strait, based on reports from Iranian state media, is "completely unacceptable."

There are many, many, many rock 'n' roll songs about drinking — call it an occupational hazard. And if you narrow things down further, there's quite a lot of songs that have to do specifically with beer. In honor of National Beer Day (April 7), we've compiled a list of 25 songs either written about drinking beer or at the very least mentioning it. Cheers! 1. "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers," ZZ Top From: Tres Hombres (1973) "Beer drinkers and hell raisers, yeah / Baby, don't you want to come with me?" 2. "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," George...

Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is actually running for governor on her willingness to take flagrantly unconstitutional action. Bellows is touting her removal of Trump from the ballot, an effort that led to a unanimous Supreme Court swatting down Colorado and Maine. Bellows is virtually giddy recounting her efforts to stymie democracy and prevent voters from casting their ballots for the man who ultimately won the election. Democrats have been running this year on the pledges to launch a virtual roundup of Trump officials and supporters for investigations and impeachments. New York congressional candidate George Conway is pledging to...

Oregon is rolling out tablets to all state prisoners, a strategy officials say could help stem the influx of illicit substances into its prisons.Any mail an inmate receives will be digitally scanned and then sent directly to their tablet, eliminating any opportunities for hidden drugs to be unknowingly ferried to their cell, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections.Corrections officials have said these changes will happen gradually, adding that they are aiming to get the tablets in the hands of prisoners by September.There are roughly 12,000 people in state custody who may soon be able to watch movies, play games...

No shortage of surprises around here. President Donald Trump, less than half a day after announcing his intention to destroy “a whole civilization” if the Iranians didn’t reopen the Hormuz, declared via Truth Social that the Pakistanis had brokered a two-week ceasefire on the premise that the Iranian 10-point framework is a “workable basis” for a peace deal. This is a bit of a headscratcher to everyone who has actually seen the Iranian framework, which, among other things, asserts the Islamic Republic’s right to uranium enrichment, institutionalizes an Iranian-Omani toll system in the Hormuz, and demands immediate sanctions relief. The...

Cheryl Bartley, 48, was charged with one count of gross negligence manslaughter in relation to her role as a pastor during the baptism, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said. Bartley, of Erdington, will appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on 14 May. The BBC previously reported that the man was taking part in the ceremony carried out by Life Changing Ministries in a small pool in the property's garden. The baptism event was streamed live on the church's Facebook page, but the stream was cut during the event and the video later removed.

One of the most famous stories from the Gospels is the account of Jesus wisely saving a supposedly adulterous woman from being stoned to death. One of the most captivating moments in this passage is when Jesus writes in the sand, but we are left to wonder what he wrote and why, sparking centuries of curiosity and debate. This raises an intriguing question: what are some of the interpretations of this mysterious act? The story of Jesus writing in the sand First of all, it helps to understand exactly what happens in this story. It appears at the very beginning...

A year-long investigation by journalist John Carreyrou identifies Adam Back, a 55-year-old British computer scientist, as the man who created cryptocurrency under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous figure who introduced Bitcoin in 2008. Back is the CEO of Blockstream, one of the most influential companies in the Bitcoin industry, and the inventor of Hashcash, a computational anti-spam tool that Bitcoin’s mining process directly borrows from. Carreyrou’s investigation began after watching an HBO documentary in late 2024 that tried, and failed, to identify Bitcoin’s founder. Back appeared visibly uncomfortable when his name came up as a suspect. That reaction sparked...

A high-profile killing on a Charlotte light rail train has hit a legal pause after a court filing concluded the suspect is not currently fit to face trial. Decarlos Brown Jr., 35, has been deemed “incapable to proceed” on state murder charges tied to the death of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, per the New York Post. The finding comes from a motion filed April 7 following a mental health evaluation conducted late last year. According to WBTV, Brown was evaluated on Dec. 29 at Central Regional Hospital. The resulting report determined he is not competent to stand trial...

Keir Starmer: “We just reached a ceasefire”. We? WE!?? No, they reached a ceasefire. You had nothing to do with it.