Free Republic

An American who worked as an editor and commentator for state-run media in China, Thomas Pauken II, pleaded guilty Thursday to working as an unregistered agent for the Chinese government in the U.S. During a roughly 40-minute hearing in Alexandria, Virginia, Pauken, 51, told U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema he was unaware of the legal requirement to register before acting for a foreign government, but he also said he understood that his lack of knowledge was not a defense to the charge.

Krystal and Saagar discuss Spencer Pratt slipping in the LA Mayoral results as Trump claims it's rigged. VIDEO

LONOKE COUNTY, Ark. — A judge on Thursday dismissed the murder case against candidate for Lonoke County Sheriff Aaron Spencer. Spencer had been charged in 2024 with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Michael Fosler. According to case filings, Spencer shot Fosler after spotting the man driving his daughter. Fosler, at the time, was released on bond after being accused of raping Spencer’s underage daughter in July of 2024. The case was presided over by Special Circuit Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. In the order dismissing the case for due process violation. Wilson cited filings by Spencer’s lawyers, the...

Finnish President Alexander Stubb has outlined his vision for a much larger European Union, saying the 27-nation bloc needs to "think big" and seize the moment to project power on the global stage. Speaking at an energy conference in the Finnish capital on Wednesday, Stubb said the EU should push to increase its membership to 40 states and named the U.K., Canada, Turkey, Norway and Iceland as potential candidates to join. His comments come as the Trump administration's actions, alongside Russia's war with Ukraine, prompt some countries to reconsider the benefits of EU membership. Stubb told the Eurelectric Power Summit...

A screen displaying the band's mascot dressed as Uncle Sam reportedly prompted the crowd chant in Tampa, FloridaSNIP During the band's show in Tampa, Florida, over the weekend, a screen reportedly displayed the Black Crowes' mascot dressed as Uncle Sam, prompting members of the crowd to break into "U.S.A." chants, according to TMZ. Singer Chris Robinson allegedly responded, "Thanks for the geography lesson," before adding, "I don't know what you have to be so proud of right now." The response drew boos from the crowd and prompted some concertgoers to walk out before the show ended. In videos circulating online,...

A new analysis links high use of the weed killer glyphosate to elevated rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), particularly in the Midwest, reinforcing years of research linking cancer to the weed killer made popular by Monsanto.. A map of the hotspots shows clusters of NHL rates particularly high in many parts of Iowa, the nation’s top corn-growing state... Iowa has the second-highest rate of cancer in the nation and is only one of three states where cancer is rising, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The questions and problems relating to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) have been the subject of a largely fruitless debate for over fifty years and have now culminated in the announced episcopal consecrations, which have not yet been approved by the Holy See. The discussion has been fueled by emotion—often quite literally cum ira et studio—and is frequently conducted by individuals who lack direct familiarity with the relevant documents or personal experience of the SSPX. In many cases, their knowledge is superficial and shaped by preconceived judgments. As a result, the debate often resembles a dialogue of...

A Dangerous Foreign Islamist Network Today Operates Openly in Educational Institutions Across Texas, Propelled by Regime-Aligned Activist Groups and Wealthy Khomeinist Mosques June 3, 2026. Sam Westrop. Texas Public Policy Foundation. Children at the Islamic Education Center in Houston perform a song pledging allegiance to Iran’s Supreme Leader. Photo: IEC Houston A Texas Islamist network working to radicalize Shia Muslim students at educational institutions across the state, including Texas public universities, is made up of agents and proxies for the murderous Iranian regime. In March, the Iranian regime and its proxies across the world organized “Al-Quds Day,” a global annual...

The developer behind one of Manhattan’s most recognizable skyscrapers has delivered a surprisingly blunt verdict on the project that helped redefine Billionaires’ Row. Kevin Maloney, founder of Property Markets Group and co-developer of the ultra-slender 111 W. 57th St., praised the tower’s striking design while acknowledging the financial pain it caused. “From an architectural point of view, it’s a marvel,” Maloney said Tuesday during a panel discussion at the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference in Miami. Then, he admitted: “Financially, it was a disaster.” The candid assessment came just weeks after the building’s crown jewel, a four-story penthouse...

Thursday on CNN International’s “Connect the World,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), who claims the ability to end Todd Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General with a “no” vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Blanche must condemn those involved in the January 6 to get his vote.

Lefty tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti spent $10 million of his own cash to succeed fill Nancy Pelosi’s shoes in Congress for San Francisco, only to majorly flop and miss out on a spot in the general election. As of Wednesday morning, the former aide to socialist Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez received just 15% of the vote count with half of the total votes in. That’s far behind Democrats state Sen. Scott Wiener, who is the oft-leather-clad frontrunner at 41%, and Pelosi-endorsed San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan at around 29%. Wiener and Chan will advance to face off in November, the Associated...

This prom season, some of the biggest celebrations across the country are taking place before the official dance even begins. In the Philadelphia area, some parents say they are spending thousands for this special moment. Prom send-offs -- when friends and family members gather to celebrate high school students before they leave for prom -- are now events of their own. Wanda Matos, who organized an elaborate send-off for her daughter Madison Matos in Philadelphia this year, also said she views prom send-offs as celebrations of hard work

California voters frustrated by the routine failures of state and local leadership look set to send Spencer Pratt and Steve Hilton to runoff elections for mayor and governor after the first few ballot drops. In a major rebuke of Democratic rule in both Los Angeles and the state, both Pratt and Hilton held their positions steady Wednesday night. Hilton remained in the lead for the governor’s race with 27.6% of the vote and Xavier Becerra was in second place with 25.6% with 56% of the ballots counted. Pratt remained in second place with 29.91% of the vote behind incumbent Mayor...

Men are deliberately being fed harmful and misogynistic content online, and Sadiq Khan is no exception. At SXSW festival yesterday, the Mayor of London warned of the growing ‘manosphere’ targeting young men in the capital, amplified by social media.

I like to picture him shrieking, but Scott Pelley almost certainly delivered the line with confidence. “She’s murdering ’60 Minutes,’” Pelley said of his insurgent new boss, Bari Weiss. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that. She has no qualifications for her job.” The assertion came in what turned out to be a very-not-public grilling Pelley gave his other new boss, Nick Bilton, the executive producer Weiss hired to run 60 Minutes. “You have slender qualifications for this job. The changes that she’s made at the ‘Evening News’...

The gap between what was promised and what was built is the defining political fact of modern California I moved to California in 1990. The economy was on an upswing. Teachers, firefighters, and nurses could still afford to buy a house. Thirty-five years later, after uninterrupted progressive governance, the median home sale price in Los Angeles County sits at roughly $910,000. Gas averages over $6.15 a gallon statewide—not because of some distant conflict, but because California’s regulatory apparatus drove its own refineries out of business. Net domestic out-migration hit 288,600 in 2025; the sixth consecutive year California led the nation...

SAN DIEGO — A 21-year-old Arizona man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of his pregnant ex-girlfriend in San Diego, prosecutors said. Trevon Williams faces charges including first-degree murder, attempted murder of a fetus, and possession of a machine gun with an extended magazine in connection with the May 29 killing of 17-year-old Jariah Edwards. Family members of the victim broke down in tears during the emotional court hearing at the Central Courthouse downtown. Prosecutors say Williams and Edwards had "an on and off relationship filled with domestic violence and threats of violence on...

The Mossad armed Kurdish militias with weapons seized during the war from the terrorist organizations Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The move to arm the militias was carried out as part of a broader plan intended to bring about the toppling of the regime in Iran. As part of the assistance, the Kurdish militias received financial support, vehicles, and were supplied with light weapons, anti-tank missiles, grenades, and mortar shells. The American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was also actively involved in the security plan to arm the Kurds. Despite cooperation between the intelligence agencies, the joint...

New York Democrats have passed a bill that would strip the word “mother” from state law and replace it with the biologically bogus term “gestating parent.” It’s a move critics say erases the unique identity and irreplaceable role of motherhood in the lives of children. The legislation, Senate Bill 9316, would also change “father” to “non-gestating parent,” turn “paternity” cases into “parentage” proceedings, and replace “putative father” with “alleged parent” throughout New York’s child custody, family court, domestic relations and education laws. The more than 15,000-word bill was sponsored by Sen. Luis Sepulveda, D-Bronx, and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Westchester. It...

Explanation: What is happening inside this unusual nebula? Planetary nebula Tc 1, captured here in exquisite detail by the James Webb Space Telescope, is the celestial site where buckyballs were first identified in 2010. Buckminsterfullerene — as buckyballs are officially called — is a molecule with 60 carbon atoms (C60) arranged in the shape of a soccer ball. The molecule is named for architect Buckminster Fuller because of its resemblance to the geodesic dome he helped popularize. Webb’s new data reveal where the C60 molecules live in this nebula, and the geometry is striking: they populate a thin spherical shell...