Free Republic

Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on track to become the strongest party in an eastern ​state election in September, a poll showed on ‌Thursday, raising the prospect of the far-right party leading a regional government for the first time. The infratest dimap survey showed ​support for the AfD climbing to 41% in ​the state of Saxony Anhalt, up 2 points ⁠from the last poll, and well ahead of ​Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU at 26%. The Social ​Democrats, Merz's junior partners in the federal coalition, trailed at 7%. Although support for the AfD has long been strongest in former...

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🚨NEW: State of the Parties at 11AM Seats declared: 4762/4992 ➡️ REF: 1444 (+1442) 🌹 LAB: 997 (-1406) 🔸 LDM: 834 (+151) 🌳 CON: 773 (-557) 🌍 GRN: 515 (+375) ⚪️ OTH: 199 (+27)

I want to tell you the story of a young woman who you have probably never heard of. Her name is Mary Anne. She was born on a remote island in Scotland, where life was harsh and unforgiving. On May 2, 1930, when she was 18 years old, she got on a boat headed for Ellis Island to start a new life. She arrived here 11 days later. She wasn't chasing fame, riches, or power. She came for the unique opportunity that America offered. Her sister was already here and had found a job as a maid. So, Mary Anne...

As Hezbollah’s grip weakens and war fatigue deepens, a growing number of Lebanese are beginning to see peace with Israel not as betrayal but as necessity For Hanin Ghaddar, returning to Lebanon would mean more than just going home. It would signal that something once unthinkable may finally be within reach: a country loosening itself from Iran’s grip and edging, however cautiously, toward peace with Israel. A veteran Lebanese journalist from a Shi’ite family in a village in southern Lebanon, Ghaddar was targeted by Hezbollah and forced to leave her homeland in 2016. And despite growing up with her country...

“Some immigrants come and believe they can function in isolation, refusing to adapt. I suggest they must assimilate. Adapt to the culture they wish to live in,” State Rep. Carla Cunningham argued. “All cultures are not equal.” The African-American elected official took a stand for “The Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act” which enabled federal immigration law enforcement to arrest over 1,100 illegal alien criminals including MS-13 gang members, drug offenders and the killer of Amber Paris: a 15-year-old girl. After her vote, Rep. Cunningham, who is black, was accused of racism, and of being a secret Republican, despite her longtime...

The union representing thousands of baristas at Starbucks has bailed on its attempt to bring employees at the Pike Place Market coffeehouse into its fold. ... The coffeehouse’s baristas filed for union election on April 3, according to Workers United. At the time, barista Nailah Diaz pointed to “unfair treatment and operational issues without the support needed to succeed.” Not every employee at the Pike Place store agreed. Barista Derika Muna, 27, told The Seattle Times on Tuesday that she unknowingly went to a union organizing meeting at the behest of a co-worker, believing it to be a casual meetup...

In Barnsley, south Yorkshire, 50 years of Labour rule ended on Friday with Reform UK taking control. Voters in the area said they wanted to see change, with one saying Labour had abandoned the working class. For others, a dislike for Keir Starmer was their main motivation when casting their vote. BBC's UK editor Ed Thomas reports from Barnsley.

This silly bartender would make a great professor for Communism 101. AOC will never be anything more than an airheaded bartender with dung for brains. It doesn’t matter if other dung-for-brains morons with the power of the vote were to ever elect her as president; she is, and always will be, a preeminent example of a failed education system and the worst that America has to offer: [X post at source article] Sure, someone with a mind like AOC literally can’t earn a billion dollars, but some people can. Ignoring government cronyism and the fake free market (we have too...

In case of any doubt about Norway’s commitment to maintain – and expand – its production of gas and oil offshore, the energy minister, Terje Aasland, has a pithy response: “We will develop, not dismantle, activity on our continental shelf.” This week, to the alarm of environmental campaigners, he announced that three gasfields off the country’s southern coast would reopen by the end of 2028 – nearly three decades after they closed – to meet a shortfall caused by the impact of the war in Ukraine and disruption to supplies from the Middle East. The decision will help keep gas...

The man who ran security at 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Games — where a bomber killed two and wounded more than 100 — warns that Iranian “sleeper cells” are likely plotting attacks during next month’s World Cup, as federal officials race to secure the 39-day competition. “I’m fairly confident there are Iranian sleeper cells or surrogate sleeper cells, and this would be an incredible opportunity for sleeper cells to attack,” Former LAPD Deputy Chief Bill Rathburn told The Post. His comments came after the feds warned about Iranian “prepositioned sleeper assets” in the US while the...

Sir Keir Starmer has appointed former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a special envoy on global finance, as he attempts to shore up his position after his party suffered heavy election losses. Downing Street said the prime minister had also hired former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman as an adviser on tackling violence against women and girls. Brown and Harman, two influential and respected figures in the party, met Sir Keir in Downing Street before their roles were announced. The prime minister's authority is tottering after Friday's dire election results piled pressure on him, with some Labour MPs calling...

Excavations from 2015 to 2021 on the ancient site of Motza, just west of Jerusalem, revealed a sprawling settlement with some surprisingly advanced technology. The site dates back to 7100–6700 BCE during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) period...There is evidence of the use of calcitic lime plaster, or calcium carbonate-based plaster, in construction as far back as 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. It later became a dominant, durable building material used by civilizations like the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. The earliest evidence of its use appeared in the Fertile Crescent, or modern day Jordan and Turkey. The material is produced...

Great Britain, traditionally considered the anchor of western civilization, is facing an incomprehensibly tragic fate, determined to replace its people and commit cultural suicide. Great Britain once commanded respect worldwide as the irreplaceable anchor of Western civilization. Its institutions—rooted in the Magna Carta’s covenant of liberties, the common law’s impartiality, the Enlightenment’s rational skepticism, and the parliamentary democracy that exported freedom across continents—embodied the West’s highest aspirations: individual autonomy, secular governance, equality before the law, and the unyielding defense of conscience. Yet these foundations are now being dismantled. In earlier times, this would have taken a military invasion or revolution....

Patient Zero in the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak has been identified as ornithologist Leo Schilperoord, whose passion for birds may have cost him his life. The 70-year-old man and his wife, Mirjam Schilperoord, 69, were on a five-month trip to South America. They first landed in Argentina on Nov. 27, and traveling through Chile, Uruguay and then back to Argentina in late March, where they went on a fateful birdwatching adventure. The couple — from Haulerwijk, a small village of 3,000 people in the Netherlands — were identified in obituaries published in their monthly village magazine. They co-authored a study...

President Donald Trump said Friday night that the United States military could decide to relocate the troops that are currently stationed in Germany and move them to Poland. The president touted his friendship with the country's leader, President Karol Nawrocki, who assumed office last year. The Pentagon previously indicated that the U.S. would move 5,000 troops from Germany in the next six to 12 months. “Well, Poland would like that," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We have a great relationship with Poland. I have a great relationship with the president. I endorsed him, and he won. He came...

Super El Niño 2026, often being referred to as the Godzilla El Niño, is shaping up to be one of the most important climate events of the decade, with early signals pointing to a powerful shift in global weather systems. As La Niña collapses and ocean temperatures rise, this transition is already influencing atmospheric patterns across the Pacific. The result is a growing concern about extreme weather 2026 and how it could reshape seasonal conditions worldwide. The El Niño global impact is expected to extend far beyond the Pacific, affecting rainfall, temperatures, and storm activity across continents. From rising heat...

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, in partnership with WHO and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, conducted Catastrophic Contagion, a pandemic tabletop exercise at the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on October 23, 2022. The extraordinary group of participants consisted of 10 current and former Health Ministers and senior public health officials from Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria, Angola, Liberia, Singapore, India, Germany, as well as Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The exercise simulated a series of WHO emergency health advisory board meetings addressing a fictional pandemic set in the near future. Participants...

Judge Tony Graf on Friday rejected a request from Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin to ban cameras in the courtroom during the duration of the trial. The judge also pushed Kirk’s assassin Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing to July 6. Judge Tony Graf Jr. pushed accused Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson’s preliminary hearing into July and rejected a bid to ban cameras from the courtroom, marking significant pretrial developments in the high-profile case. Graf moved the preliminary hearing to July 6 through July 10, and denied Robinson’s motion to ban cameras and electronic media from the courtroom, allowing continued media coverage as...

Sir Keir Starmer has again insisted he will not quit despite calls from dozens of Labour MPs in the wake of the party's local election mauling. The Prime Minister warned that if he left No 10 it would "plunge the country into chaos". Speaking in south London today, Sir Keir said: “I’m not going to walk away from this; that would plunge the country into chaos. But that doesn’t mean we don’t need to respond. It doesn’t mean we don’t need to rebuild. It doesn’t mean that we don’t need to set out the path ahead. That’s what I’m going...