Free Republic

Viral footage raises questions about police conduct in Birmingham incidentBirmingham police handcuff young man after he is allegedly assaulted by a group of men. (Representative image) Pexels/Tima Miroshnichenko West Midlands Police are facing scrutiny after viral bodycam footage appeared to show officers handcuffing an allegedly intoxicated man while those accused of assaulting him were allowed to leave the scene. The incident took place on Broad Street in Birmingham at around 1:30am on Sunday, 21 June. In the video, the man, identified as 20-year-old Cody Harper, is seen arguing with a group of Black men and one white man. One...

Donald Trump Jr. appeared on FOX News fter attending the preliminary hearing for accused Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson. Trump Jr. spoke about the hearing and his efforts to preserve Kirk's legacy. "The impact that Charlie had on so many Americans on so many youth is, you know, frankly generational," Trump Jr. said. "It could have been so much more, but it was important to be there and to see the actual facts laid out, Bill, because there was so much stuff that, you know, amidst the noise and the internet chatter that was laid out that, you know, I...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has found an unusual way to keep this week’s NATO summit in Ankara in the headlines—by presenting fellow alliance leaders with personalized revolvers, leaving several governments to figure out how to legally transport, store, or dispose of the unusual diplomatic gifts. The presentation, intended to showcase Turkey’s growing defense manufacturing sector, quickly evolved into a logistical puzzle as visiting delegations confronted strict firearms regulations in their home countries. Each guest reportedly received a Turkish-made .357 Magnum revolver, engraved with the recipient’s name and displayed in a wooden presentation case alongside a cleaning kit, certificate, and...

Michael Davies: A “First Responder” of Catholic TraditionAs a 25-year-old who had just entered the seminary, I lacked the proper vocabulary to articulate my dissatisfaction with Catholic liturgical life as I experienced it. I was born in 1965, the last year of the Second Vatican Council, and so had lived my Catholic faith and discerned a priestly vocation entirely under the new rite of the Mass established by Pope Paul VI after Vatican II. Yet I had come to see, in how the liturgy was typically celebrated, serious problems that (as I later learned) derived from its departures, in ways...

Sailors whose medical conditions prevent daily shaving now have up to 12 months of treatment options before the Navy evaluates them for continued service and, in some cases, administrative separation.A safety argument has ensued around facial hair, with the service saying it can break the seal on the masks that keep a crew breathing through fire or gas. Behind this argument sits a study the Navy has kept close to the vest.NAVADMIN 162/26, released July 7 under the signature of Vice Adm. Jeffrey J. Czerewko, The order reverses the Navy’s 2022 policy, which prohibited separation solely because PFB treatment had...

A chaotic fan fight broke out during the Giants-Rockies game at Oracle Park on July 9, turning a lower-level seating section into a messy scene that quickly spread across multiple rows. The fan video shows several fans already tangled up, with punches thrown and people shoving near the stairs. The situation escalated when a man wearing a black Raiders No. 52 jersey jumped into the scrum and appeared to strike multiple women, including people who were already knocked down or being pulled away. Other fans tried to separate the group, including a man in a white Giants jersey, but the...

After this week, anyone who still believes the online conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of Charlie Kirk possesses either a dangerously low IQ or an irreparably broken moral compass. That’s because the pre-trial hearing now in progress for Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Kirk in front of hundreds of students at Utah Valley University, is collapsing the madness in real time. During his short life, the founder of Turning Point USA engaged in good-faith debates with young people on a wide variety of topics, and he did so in a cheery and civil manner. Agree with him or...

Trump administration exposes institution's progressive biasThe nation’s largest group of scholars says a taxpayer-funded family museum must include an exhibit that features a sadomasochistic crotch harness, pages from a 6-year-old girl’s diary that depict her yearning to grow a penis, video clips of drag queens and a magazine promoting female masturbation.The Organization of American Historians also supports exhibits that describe “Mickey Mouse as a vestige of long-standing traditions of blackface minstrelsy,” the ukulele as “a product of U.S. imperialism” and Wild West shows as turning the “subjugation of Indigenous people into theater.”Those are just a few of the displays...

YouTube's recommendation recipe might be getting a rather unexpected new ingredient.TL;DR -The UK is considering rules that would make trusted broadcasters, such as the BBC, easier to find on YouTube and TikTok during major news events and emergencies. -YouTube warns the proposal could force it to recommend certain news channels over creators’ videos, potentially reducing creators’ reach and making recommendations feel less personalized. -The proposal is still under consultation, with creators and the public able to submit feedback until August 31 before any final decision is made. YouTube’s recommendations are a big reason why many creators grow in the first...

"Only God can do that" Cain says of origin of hit songThere’s a deeper meaning to “Don’t Stop Believin’” — one that might not be widely evident to the some of the fans who hear the Journey anthem played at sporting events and on classic rock radio. The song, which was released on Journey’s seventh studio album “Escape” in 1981, is actually a song based on Christian faith and dealing directly with the Holy Spirit, says the song’s co-author Jonathan Cain. Cain says that, if one really thinks about it, the song is actually about the Holy Spirit. “We don’t...

As many of its candidates notch electoral wins nationwide, the pre-eminent socialist political group in the U.S., the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), plans to roll out an updated platform that includes eliminating the Senate and replacing the president and the Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by Congress. According to a source familiar with the DSA’s planning, the organization plans to roll out an update next week to its long-term vision for a U.S. policy platform. The update includes eliminating the U.S. Senate and replacing the president and the Supreme Court with an executive branch and judiciary...

In Lviv, Ukraine, a crowd confronted several military recruitment officers on Wednesday, surrounding their vehicle and engaging in a physical altercation, after a man wanted for failing to comply with his military registration obligations was detained by the officers. The incident took place in the Sykhiv district, far from the front line and in one of the cities that has most clearly supported the Ukrainian national cause since the Russian invasion. Videos show dozens of people striking and jumping on the vehicle belonging to the Territorial Recruitment Centre, known as the TCC, and struggling with those who were inside. The...

Man arrested on suspicion of murder: What we know so far We've just heard from Devon and Cornwall Police, who said a 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after Anne Widdecombe's death. Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman spoke to the media at the force's Exeter HQ. Here are the key things we learnt: A 26-year-old white British male has been arrested on suspicion of murder It is "too early to say" if the suspect was known to Widdecombe There is "no evidence at this time" to suggest this is a politically-motivated crime and it is not being...

A Ryainair passenger was partially sucked out of a window on Friday morning. The plane took off from Thessaloniki, Greece, on Friday morning en route to Germany when a 61-year-old passenger was sucked out of a broken window. Passengers had to pull the man back into the plane. The passenger is currently hospitalized. Oxygen masks dropped down in the cabin as the plane returned to Greece and safely landed. “Ryanair flight from Thessaloniki to Memmingen on Friday morning (10 July) returned to Thessaloniki shortly after takeoff when a passenger window dislodged inflight. The aircraft landed normally and passengers returned to...

Portland Press Herald Trans student referendum will not be on Maine’s November ballot, high court rules The Supreme Judicial Court said the Secretary of State was right to invalidate more than 1,000 signatures improperly collected by out-of-state circulators. July 10, 2026 Riley Board, Staff Writer A ballot question seeking to limit transgender students’ rights in sports and access to school facilities will not appear on the November ballot, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled Friday. The citizens’ initiative, filed by a group called Protect Girls Sports, initially qualified for the ballot but later met a legal challenge over the signature...

The rules are clear: senators must disclose to the Senate reasons for an extended absence. Has Mitch McConnell done that? Is he even alive? ================================================================ He’s dead. No, he’s alive. He’s brain dead. He’s living in a Barstow Motel 6 under an assumed name with Elvis. The political and social media spheres have been buzzing for nearly a month about Sen. Addison Mitchell McConnell’s state of … existence. The 84-year-old Kentucky Republican reportedly was admitted to a D.C.-area hospital on June 14 after he suffered “cardiac arrest” at his Capitol Hill townhouse. And then he just seemed to disappear. “Have...

Los Angeles County Point Dume State Beach, Malibu -- One of the closest public beaches to the launch path, Point Dume offers wide-open views over the Pacific. Santa Monica Beach With an unobstructed view toward the northwest over the ocean, Santa Monica Beach is an easy option for Westside residents and remains accessible into the evening. Rocky Peak Park, Simi Valley Orange County Inspiration Point, Corona del Mar -- The bluff-top overlook provides sweeping ocean views and an excellent vantage point to watch the rocket climb after liftoff. Heisler Park, Laguna Beach The cliffside park’s paved pathways and west-facing coastline...

When a college professor suspected students were using AI, he made them take an in-person final. Scores fell 50% – for those who took it. As discussed by Nate Anderson in ArsTechnica (Suspecting AI cheating, Ivy League prof ordered an in-person final; scores fell 50%, available here), a blind economics professor at Brown University (Roberto Serrano) decided after a gunman attacked Brown’s campus and killed two people in December 2025 that his spring 2026 section of the quite difficult ECON 1170 would allow take-home exams for both the midterm and the final. Suddenly, the course received an influx of students....

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld an Illinois ban on semiautomatic weapons, keeping in place a law passed largely in response to a deadly Independence Day parade shooting. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturns a lower court decision that found the ban unconstitutional. The 2-1 appellate decision found that the Illinois law does not violate the Second Amendment, and its restrictions are "consistent with the principles that underpin our Nation's tradition of firearm regulation." "Whether to adopt them is thus a decision reposed in our elected representatives, and we reverse," the appeals...

President Donald Trump said on July 10 that he will not sign a housing bill passed by members of both parties in Congress. “I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.