Free Republic

Washington said that the competitiveness fund included in the budget would “impede” partnership with the US because of provisions favouring “made in Europe” products. In a document sent to EU legislators and seen by Euronews, the US has threatened the EU with retaliation if it does not scrap European preference provisions in its multiannual budget. EU member states are currently discussing the EU’s long-term budget (2028-2034), which includes a €402 billion fund dedicated to competitiveness that favours the production of key goods within the EU, including in defence. The measure would potentially exclude foreign firms from EU financing to protect...

Speaking at an event titled "Harnessing American Power" last month, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum expressed dismay at what he saw as a new wave of local opposition to data centers in America.What's more, he claimed, not everything was as it seemed."It's not organic and local, some of this is foreign-sourced dark money," he told the crowd.He isn't alone in his suspicions. Over on the podcast All-In, which is hosted by a group of tech multimillionaires who call each other "besties," there was also talk of foreign influence, specifically from China.

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV has named the homosexual activist Michael Saporito, 64, Bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey Leo XIV has named the homosexual activist Michael Saporito, 64, Bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey (September 15).Monsignor Saporito, 64, is currently auxiliary bishop of Newark.Institutional Connection to McCarrickA native of Newark, Saporito entered the McCarrick seminary in 1987. In 1992, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick ordained Saporito to the priesthood.In 1999, homosexual McCarrick elevated the young Rev Saporito as assistant director of vocations.Founded Homosexual Ministry in ParishDuring Saporito’s tenure as pastor of St. Joseph Church in Maplewood (2004–2011), the parish employed an openly homosexual man...

Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the president’s comments, which came after the justices blocked his bid to impose new restrictions on mail ballotsWASHINGTON—President Trump’s hot-and-cold views on his own Supreme Court appointees took a new turn Tuesday when he said the three justices he installed were unrecognizable to him, a statement that Attorney General Todd Blanche later defended. The president said in a Truth Social post that “these are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves,” a reference to Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett...

These days one reads fewer stories proclaiming the turning of the tide in the Russia-Ukraine war. There are also fewer tweets from Donald Trump threatening Iran with imminent destruction. Now that the noise has receded, it is a good time to listen. I am not hearing of a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive. What I am hearing instead is the thud of Russian jackboots marching deeper into the parts of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine that Vladimir Putin does not yet control. Meanwhile, in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula, the Houthis have taken control of the strategic port city of...

Fool's Ball, Week Two, Pigskin Pickem ThreadYour home for all things Fool's Ball! In Memoriam Danny Lee (BENDER2)

For Americans who follow the Russian-Ukrainian war, the past few months must look very strange. In the first half of summer, the story from Kyiv – and the many western media outlets that repeated it – was that Ukraine was winning. Then, not long after the NATO summit in July, Kyiv announced it lacked the interceptors to prevent a winter disaster. The country needed 300 missiles to survive, we were told. Even if these 300 missiles arrive, they are unlikely to protect a country as large as Ukraine from the sheer volume of Russian ballistic attacks and glide-bomb strikes. Now...

America's homebuyers had hoped the worst was over - but a steady stream of bad news is once again pushing the cost of mortgage credit higher. Mortgage rates were expected to ease in 2026, giving buyers who had spent years locked out by punishing borrowing costs a reason to come back to the market. Instead, the lending market data provider Bankrate estimates that the average 30-year mortgage rate has climbed back toward 7 percent, and investors have grown increasingly worried that the Federal Reserve may keep rates higher for longer - or even raise them again. According to Nick Panize,...

WASHINGTON — A new report by the Pentagon’s Inspector General has outlined the costs of Operation Epic Fury. Among them: “hundreds” of buildings and “dozens” of aircraft left damaged or destroyed, over 400 servicemembers wounded and the expenditure of $22 billion in munitions that has left “strategic inventory shortfalls” for the US military. The report, released today, provides the clearest accounting of the materiel damage that has occurred to US military assets since the start of the conflict with Iran. The report only covers from the launch of military activities on Feb. 28 to June 30, meaning that damage totals...

New Hampshire has emerged as a surprise battleground for control of the Senate ahead of the midterms, complicating Democratic hopes of flipping the chamber. The nonpartisan election analysis site Cook Political Report changed its rating of the race to succeed retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) from “Lean Democratic” to “Toss Up.” The shift is a rare positive development for Republicans as evidence mounts that Democrats are positioned for major victories in the midterms, including polls showing a sizable advantage over Republicans. An August poll from the University of New Hampshire found Republican John E. Sununu leading four-term Rep. Chris Pappas...

Two distinct laws passed in Nazi Germany in September 1935 are known collectively as the Nuremberg Laws: the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. These laws embodied many of the racial theories underpinning Nazi ideology. They would provide the legal framework for the systematic persecution of Jews in Germany. Adolf Hitler announced the Nuremberg Laws on September 15, 1935. Germany’s parliament (the Reichstag), then made up entirely of Nazi representatives, passed the laws. Antisemitism was of central importance to the Nazi Party, so Hitler had called parliament into a special session...

Yemen is taking Houthi forces, Saudi Arabia is teaming up with Israel against Iran and Iran's proxy, and street clashes continue to spread to central and northern Iran.

A content creator says shaving her bikini line left her fighting for her life after an infected ingrown hair developed into sepsis. Christy Collins initially thought she had nothing more than a painful boil after noticing a small lump on her bikini line in August.

Arch Manning dug himself into a hole. The Longhorns quarterback is facing some heavy pressure following his reaction to the AI video of Steve Sarkisian slapping Holly Rowe that stemmed from a viral clip of the coach blowing off a postgame interview with the ESPN star after Texas' stunning comeback win over No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday. When asked whether he saw any AI edits after the game, Manning said: "I've seen a few AI edits and stuff, but that's about it. I saw AI edits of Sark's interview," which sparked laughter in the press conference room. "Have y'all...

Hundreds of Jews stood on the Temple Mount before dawn on the second day of Rosh Hashanah this year, and by the time they left, something had happened there that Rabbi Josh Wander believes had not happened in thousands of years: the shofar sounded on the Mount together with the silver Temple trumpets. Wander was there for both days of the holiday, and described what he saw in an interview with Rabbi Aharon Sokol on the podcast Parsha Inspired, an account independently corroborated by police statements and other eyewitnesses. A Shabbat exception, revived Any year Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat...

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced articles of impeachment Tuesday against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for high crimes and misdemeanors. This comes just days after reports surfaced about Congressional Democrats laying the groundwork for Hegseth’s impeachment if they retake the House of Representatives this November. “Mr. Speaker … I seek recognition to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the House. The form of the resolution is as follows,” Massie began.

There’s trouble brewing beneath the GLP-1 buzz. As Americans embrace blockbuster weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy in record numbers, providers are warning of a troubling ripple effect: patients sliding back into restrictive eating disorders — and others developing them for the first time. “I think there should be a button that you have to click saying ‘I am consciously making a choice that could really harm my health,’” Dr. Zoe Ross-Nash, a licensed clinical psychologist, told The Post. “Like on cigarette boxes, it says, ‘This could cause cancer.’ OK, well, this [drug] could cause an eating disorder.” The solemn...

The key to slowing deadly brain tumors could be right on our plates. Gliomas are a group of tumors that develop in the brain or spinal cord and can range from slow-growing — like the one Busy Philipps was diagnosed with this year — to highly aggressive, like the ones John McCain, Beau Biden and Sophie Kinsella had. New research from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health may have found a way to slow down the growth of these tumors — and it could come down to what people eat. A study published Tuesday found that high-grade...

Assisted suicide is legal in several countries, including Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, as well as parts of the US, although eligibility rules vary. UK lawmakers on Friday rejected legislation that would have allowed terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives. Following an impassioned four-hour debate in the House of Commons, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was rejected by 286 votes to 270. The outcome marked a notable reversal from last year, when an almost identical bill passed with a majority of 23 votes. The bill would have allowed...

A colonoscopy in February 2025 was meant to lead to a routine follow-up. Eighteen months on, a patient in Cádiz says that appointment still doesn’t exist, and neither does any record of the procedure that was supposed to trigger it. A colonoscopy, then months of silence In November 2024, a patient at Hospital Universitario de Puerto Real in Cádiz was referred to the Digestivo (digestive medicine) department, and a colonoscopy was prescribed. It was carried out on February 5, 2025, according to consumer group FACUA Cádiz. The patient then asked for the follow-up review about a week later, but more...