Free Republic

New York judges will be booted from the bench at age 76, the state’s highest court ruled Thursday rejected the notion that it constitutes age discrimination. The Court of Appeals shot down a bid by three elderly jurists challenging an 1869 law that sets the mandatory retirement age at 76, saying it violates their rights under the state’s Equal Rights Amendment. Judges are forced to “retire” at age 70 but can stay on the bench for another six years by getting recertified every two years. New York’s constitution originally required judges to retire at 60 when it was enacted in...

Freedom in the United States has always arrived in stages, declared in one space and denied or delayed in another. Such was the reality for formerly enslaved Texans who learned of their emancipation in 1865, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation and the same year he issued his “40 acres and a mule” promise. Indeed, Juneteenth is as old as the call for reparations. Flashforward to 2021, and the bill that established Juneteenth as a national holiday and H.R. 40, the proposal to establish a commission to study reparations, reached Congress. The former...

For me, the path into the teaching profession – and my local teacher union – was not a typical one. Neither was my exit. When I started my journey into education, I never thought I’d be expelled from a union for asking for basic records to which I’m legally entitled. Thankfully, the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission ruled I’d been wrongfully expelled. The union filed an appeal just before the deadline, but the Commission’s clear ruling confirmed what should have been obvious from the start: that my expulsion was unlawful. As a licensed attorney, I had worked for a local...

A major meat supplier is shuttering two US plant locations, and experts say it’s bad news for carnivores. JBS USA, a meat-processing company that supplies Costco and BJ’s, as well as grocers such as Food Lion, Weis Markets, WinCo, and Stop & Shop, announced this week that it is closing its operations in Philadelphia and Memphis, eliminating a total of 2,000 jobs. “These decisions are never easy because they directly affect our team members and the communities where we operate,” said Wesley Batista Filho, CEO of JBS USA. “We are deeply grateful to the team members at these facilities for...

19 June 2026 Friday of week 11 in Ordinary Time St Romald, Romaldkirk, UKReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(II).First reading2 Kings 11:1-4,9-18,20Saved from the massacre, the true king is anointed by the high priestWhen Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah learned that her son was dead, she promptly did away with all those of royal stock. But Jehosheba, daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, secretly took away Jehoash, her brother’s son, from among the sons of the king who were being murdered, and put him with his nurse in the sleeping quarters; in this way she hid...

Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Andy Burnham's decisive victory in the Makerfield by-election has raised the possibility that the Labour politician could challenge U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the party's leadership and become the country's new leader.

Gavin Newsom steered millions of dollars in donations to charities and non-profits connected to his wife, election donation data shows. Huge donations from business leaders and corporations were allegedly used to curry favor with the California Governor, in so-called 'behest payments' that can avert limits on campaign contributions or gifts. Across California, over $555 million in charitably contributions were made at the request of all California lawmakers over the past 15 years, much of it under Newsom's watch, per the East Bay Times. Per reported data from the Fair Political Practices Commission, the total 'behest payments' made at Newsom's request...

A man has reportedly been ARRESTED for CUTTING President Trump's new American flag blue sealant and RIPPING it off the Lincoln Reflecting Pool Wow. Leftists are SABOTAGING beauty! They WANT the Reflecting Pool to look filthy. Utter DISGRACE.

A possible price leak for the upcoming Slate electric truck has created a surprising amount of buzz online. Enthusiasts digging through the Slate Truck website found a hidden reference to a starting price of $24,950. Neither the company nor its representatives have confirmed the figure, but that has not stopped people from talking about it, much like they did when Torque News first covered Slate's bare bones design philosophy. This is a developing story because now we are expecting what will come next from Slate about its EV truck's price leak after this price leak. What is interesting is that...

The Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Alamo (Texas) announced that (Border Wall) construction on the levee will begin next week... ...Activists have been fighting to protect the refuge from a border wall since President Donald Trump’s first term in office. At the time, activists were able to successfully convince members of Congress to exempt Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, along with the National Butterfly Center, La Lomita, and Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park from border wall construction... ...(but now) there’s a $1.14 billion contract received by Spencer Construction to wall off Santa Ana and La Lomita and the National...

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has been stripped of Poland's highest state honour, the Order of the White Eagle, over Kyiv's decision to name a military unit after controversial World War Two fighters. Polish President Karol Nawrocki branded Ukraine's decision late last month to name the unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) "outrageous", "incomprehensible" and "deeply disappointing". Many in Ukraine regard the UPA, which existed in the 1940s and 1950s, as heroes who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Soviet Red Army as well as Nazi Germany and Polish authorities. So for Ukrainians the title "Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army"...

Pope Leo XIV received participants in the first congress of the faithful of the Syro-Malankara Church residing in Europe in audience this Monday. During the meeting, held in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Pontiff highlighted the importance of preserving the spiritual and liturgical heritage of this Eastern Catholic Church and encouraged its faithful to remain united to their traditions and to their hierarchy. The Syro-Malankara Church is one of the Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome. It has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition of India linked to the preaching of the Apostle Saint Thomas and currently...

The 22-year-old son of Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand raised $30 million in investments to launch a derivatives exchange startup already valued at $300 million, according to a report. Gillibrand is one of the top pro-crypto U.S. Senators in Washington, D.C., influencing cryptocurrency and digital asset policy. She previously partnered with Republican Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis on “landmark legislation” to create a rules framework for stablecoins. Now her son, Theodore, is starting the American Perpetuals Exchange Corporation, or APEC, which will offer perpetual futures contracts that allow traders to wager on the future price of assets without owning them,...

US spy agencies have warned Donald Trump that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to torpedo his fragile peace deal with Iran to save his own political skin. Netanyahu, who faces a general election in the fall, is expected to escalate strikes on Iran's proxy terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon to shore up support at home An official familiar with the report told the Washington Post that Israel's leadership is frustrated with Trump's 14-point plan and what it sees as a capitulation to Tehran. The document states that Jerusalem fears the agreement will hobble its ability to defend itself...

A majority of Americans disapprove of how President Trump has handled the U.S. conflict with Iran, even as he touts a new agreement to end the war, according to polling data released Thursday. The Associated Press-NORC survey, which was conducted after the president called off threats to escalate the conflict and shortly before he officially signed a framework agreement with Iran, found that 65 percent of U.S. adults disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue. Democrats and independent Americans drove down his approval rating, while only 28 percent of Republican respondents cast a negative view on the president’s job performance...

Iranian singer Parastoo Ahmadi has reportedly been sentenced to 74 lashes after performing without a hijab in a livestreamed YouTube concert. The Guardian reported that Ahmadi and eight members of the production team, including musicians, were sentenced by a criminal court in Qom province.

It’s abundantly clear that religion stood at the center of the Civil War for both sides. Both North and South looked to God for meaning, and each side believed—that God was on its side... The new Confederate Constitution, adopted on February 8, 1861, officially declared its Christian identity, “invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God.” Southern leaders chose as their national motto Deo Vindice (“God will avenge”.) Confederate President Jefferson Davis proclaimed that the time had come “to recognize our dependence upon God … and supplicate his merciful protection.” This national acknowledgment of religious dependence, as the South frequently...

President Donald Trump told NBC News that he asked Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, after deadly Israeli attacks in Lebanon rattled planned Iran peace talks. Israel and militant group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire Friday, after a deadly escalation between the two in Lebanon looked set to derail Washington-Tehran peace talks in Switzerland. President Donald Trump told NBC News in a phone call Friday afternoon that he spoke with Israel and asked them to agree to a ceasefire. “It’s a positive,” he said, adding: “It’s a little icing on the cake.” He declined to specify whether he...

This video discusses a recent ruling by a federal judge in the District of Minnesota regarding the criminal case of Don Lemon and his co-defendants, who are charged in connection with an incident at a Christian church on January 18, 2026 (2:55). The judge, Douglas L. Mo, denied several motions filed by the defense, delivering a significant procedural defeat to Lemon and his co-accused (0:22, 2:05). Key rulings by Judge Mo include: Denial of access to grand jury materials: The defense sought to pierce the secrecy of the grand jury proceedings, alleging prosecutorial misconduct and misstatements of law. The court...

Four Israeli soldiers and dozens of people in Lebanon were killed during fighting, authorities said TEL AVIV—Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a renewed ceasefire Friday, U.S. and Israeli officials said, after fighting intensified between the two sides and threatened to derail peace talks between the U.S. and Iran.The overnight strikes marked one of the most serious escalations in Lebanon since a ceasefire in April, after the U.S. and Iran reached an agreement earlier in the week to stop the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Strikes had mostly subsided on Friday but some clashes continued after the fresh ceasefire...