Free Republic

○ 1 THE VIRUS WAS ENGINEERED IN A LABORATORY IN CHINA. Because the pathogen first emerged in Wuhan, China, President Donald Trump and others have claimed, without evidence, that it started in a lab there, and some conspiracy theorists believe it was engineered as a bioweapon. Why It’s False: U.S. intelligence agencies have categorically denied the possibility that the virus was engineered in a lab, stating that “the Intelligence Community ... concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified.” Chinese virologist Shi Zhengli—who studies bat coronaviruses and whose lab Trump and others...

I was born into a sternly Presbyterian culture. Politically, I’m more Orange than Donald Trump’s skin tone. But today I am on my knees giving thanks to the Pope. He has produced the most powerful political document of the year, taking on the greatest challenge of our times. His first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, deals with the changes which will be wrought to all our lives by artificial intelligence in the months and years ahead. AI will transform our economies and societies massively and irrevocably; it will change what it means to be human; it may even mark the end of...

Latin America is undergoing a political transformation. Seven countries in the region have recently or will soon hold elections: Bolivia, Honduras, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia and Brazil, in chronological order. In the four elections that have already taken place, the right wing triumphed; while in the remaining three, according to polls, conservative presidential candidates are highly likely to win.. This shift is namely due to three factors: the governance failures of the left-wing parties, new evidence of the close relationship between the left and organized crime, and the significant influence of the United States’ new National Security Strategy... The...

A drone struck a residential building in Romania’s city of Galati near the Ukrainian border, injuring two people and triggering a fire after impact, authorities said on Friday. The incident, which prompted the evacuation of dozens of residents, comes amid continued drone activity in the region linked to the war in Ukraine.

State employees are fighting back against Gov. Gavin Newsom ordering them off the couch and back into the office, arguing that by doing so thousands of additional cars will be on the road, hurting the state’s efforts to be carbon neutral. In a blistering exhaustion letter, the California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment (CASE) argued that any agency adopting Newsom’s Return-to-Office executive order (RTO) without first studying its environmental fallout is violating the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. The union blasted the mandate as a “discretionary project” under CEQA, which requires state and local...

A New York pastor is raising eyebrows after using provocative and crude language to blast New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani and the Democrats in a recent sermon. James David Manning, 79, is the longtime pastor of ATLAH World Missionary Church, formerly known as Bethelite Missionary Baptist Church. ATLAH stands for All The Land Anointed Holy, a moniker Manning has given to his home base of Harlem. No stranger to controversy, he is known for his vivid objections to homosexuality- having previously called for them to be stoned to death while claiming that sodomites like to hang out at Starbucks because...

Syria’s transitional government said on Tuesday it has recovered “remnants” of the secret chemical weapons program created by deposed dictator Bashar Assad and have arrested 18 suspects who were allegedly involved in the program. Assad was overthrown in December 2024 and sought refuge in Russia, one of the nations that propped up his rule during the long and brutal Syrian civil war. He was replaced by a “transitional government” run by an alliance of insurgents and jihadis and presided over by a former member of al-Qaeda named Ahmed al-Sharaa. The new Syrian government turned against Assad’s old patrons of Russia...

A new Los Angeles mayoral poll claiming there’s a dead heat between Mayor Karen Bass, Spencer Pratt and Nithya Raman is getting torched by longtime political insiders. The UC Berkeley and Los Angeles Times poll released Thursday showed Bass leading with 26% support among likely voters, with Raman close behind at 25% and Pratt surging to 22%. But several veteran Los Angeles political strategists told The California Post the poll misses large portions of the electorate and dramatically understates Pratt’s growing support. Among them is veteran strategist Rick Taylor, who has spent roughly 50 years inside Los Angeles politics and...

America’s biggest abortion business is closing down yet another center, saying it doesn’t get enough customers. Planned Parenthood’s Gainesville, Florida center will shut down next month due to declining patient volume, the abortion giant announced this week. The organization said the center will permanently close on June 26. The Gainesville Planned Parenthood Health Center doesn’t do abortions on site but sells the abortion pill and makes surgical abortion referrals. It also mutilates patients with trans drugs. The abortion group announced the closure on social media Wednesday. “While this was an incredibly difficult decision, it does not change our commitment to...

Nearly half of the physicians believe that patients have less trust in their treatment recommendations today than they did several years ago ...

JUST NOW: Jeff Bezos’ New Glenn rocket has EXPLODED into a MASSIVE fireball on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral in Florida It literally looks like a NUCLEAR BOMB went off. @ElonMusk responded: “Most unfortunate. Rockets are hard.” Insane to watch.

In A Nutshell A single octopus collected nearly a mile deep near the Galápagos Islands has been identified as a new species, Microeledone galapagensis, overturning a recent definition that placed its entire family exclusively in the cold Southern Ocean. Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand and vivid blue on top with a deep purple-to-maroon underside, the animal displays an unusual reversed color pattern that extends inside its body, a feature researchers think may help hide the glow of bioluminescent prey. Because the DNA samples were lost and no second specimen has been collected, the entire species...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is drawing renewed attention online after appearing at an Eid al-Adha celebration in New York City wearing a hijab alongside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Video from the Wednesday event in the Bronx — portions of which fall within Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional district — showed the congresswoman speaking onstage while wearing the Islamic head covering as Mamdani stood behind her in a kurta styled after an Arsenal soccer jersey. The appearance quickly circulated online given Ocasio-Cortez’s status as one of the Democratic Party’s most outspoken leftist figures and self-described feminists in Congress. Eid al-Adha is one...

Indonesian Catholics offer Muslims sacrificial animals for Eid festivalThe initiative stems from long-held interfaith harmony and mutual respect, says Jesuit priestCatholics in Indonesia have offered sacrificial animals to Muslims ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival as an expression of interfaith solidarity, local sources say.From the national capital Jakarta to Christian strongholds in eastern Indonesia, Catholic individuals and Church-based groups donated cows and goats to mostly needy Muslims ahead of the festival held on May 27.During the festival, millions of Muslims across the world slaughter animals and share meat with others, including relatives and poor people, as a mark of solidarity....

A wannabe spy convinced the CIA to give him $40 million in gold bars by claiming it was for “work-related expenses” — and it was just the latest in a lengthy career full of increasingly brazen lies, according to federal prosecutors. When the FBI raided his Virginia home on May 18, they found $2 million in greenbacks, 35 luxury watches — “many of which” were Rolexes — and more than 300 one-kilogram gold bars worth over $40 million. The investigation further uncovered that Rush has claimed 744 hours of military leave on his official timesheet since his discharge more than...

A former CIA officer in Virginia is accused of stealing tens of millions of dollars in gold bars and foreign currency from the very agency he worked for, according to an FBI affidavit and a source familiar with the matter. David Rush was arrested last week in Virginia on one charge of theft of public money. He has not yet entered a plea and remains behind bars pending a detention hearing in the case. The FBI alleges Rush became a senior executive government employee with top-secret clearance by lying repeatedly on applications about his military service and education, falsely saying...

Officials said there is no threat of an explosion or chemical leak.All evacuation orders tied to a failing chemical tank in Southern California that sparked fears of a catastrophic explosion have been lifted, local authorities announced Tuesday evening.The Orange County Fire Authority said in a social media post that officials have determined there is no threat of an explosion, fire or chemical leak and no risk to the public.On Monday, officials announced the evacuation zone was shrinking after the "worst-case scenario" of a catastrophic explosion had been averted. But about 16,000 people remained under evacuation orders.Earlier Tuesday, officials said the...

'The entire cabin got dead silent.' Apilot allegedly threatened to call authorities this month over a Wi-Fi name that was determined to be a potential security threat. The story came from a person who claimed to have been a passenger on a United Airlines flight that featured an awkward moment when the pilot addressed the travelers and issued a warning. The alleged passenger said the pilot came over the speaker "sounding extremely serious" and said the name of the Wi-Fi hot spot was being interpreted as a potential threat and security issue, Simply Flying reported. According to the witness, the...

Angelenos need leaders willing to stand up and speak out. Jane has never been afraid to do either

Tony Blair has accused Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting of putting Labour’s future at risk by abandoning the centre ground, warning that the party’s “almost infinite capacity for self-delusion” means it is likely to lose the next election. In a scathing 5,700-word attack on the prime minister and his would-be successors published on Tuesday night, Blair argued for the government to crack down on welfare spending, abandon restrictions on oil and gas and smooth relations with Donald Trump. His essay, a highly unusual intervention for a past Labour prime minister, is likely to draw a furious response from...