Free Republic

Jeremy Hunt will approve final compensation for the victims of the contaminated blood scandal this week after a Sunday Times campaign for justice was backed across the political divide. The chancellor is preparing to unveil a package worth at least £10 billion ($12 billion) for those affected by the deadliest man-made disaster in postwar Britain. Tens of thousands of people were treated with disease-ridden blood products from the United States in the 1970s and 80s. The prime minister is expected to make an official apology on Monday, acknowledging the failings of the state and the suffering caused, following the publication...

Surprising no one, the staunchly conservative Arkansas Supreme Court unanimously upheld four 2021 state laws that make voting in Arkansas less pleasant, less convenient and less likely to count. In an opinion issued Thursday, the seven-member court overturned former Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen’s 2022 ruling that the four laws at issue hindered the fundamental right to vote and were therefore unconstitutional. [snip] The 2021 laws the state Supreme Court upheld Thursday are: Act 973, which shortens the window to turn in absentee ballots, moving the deadline from the Monday before Election Day to the Friday before. Act 736,...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Gray News) – Two newborns were surrendered to the first Safe Haven Baby Box in Little Rock, Arkansas, before it was even blessed. “In just the last few weeks, we have had two instances of parents who have surrendered their newborn babies at our fire stations because they believed they had no other choice, for whatever the reason,” Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said. The City of Little Rock Fire Department hosted a public dedication ceremony of the Safe Haven Baby Box Wednesday afternoon, where a pastor from Calvary Baptist Church blessed the box. The church funded the...

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) endorsed Donald Trump for president Wednesday, the latest high-profile endorsement for Trump leading up to the January 15 Iowa caucus. “When Donald Trump was president, America was safe, strong, and prosperous,” Cotton told Fox News Digital. “With Joe Biden as president, everything has gone to hell: families can’t afford groceries, our border is wide open to a full-blown invasion, and our enemies are starting wars everywhere. “I endorse President Trump and I look forward to working with him to win back the White House and the Senate so we can help hardworking Arkansans suffering from Joe...

Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa is miffed that Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas did not call her or other Republican leaders to notify them of his intentions to run for the third ranking position in GOP leadership, a post she might want to move up to in the scramble for open roles after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced he would give up the top job in November. To move to the number three job, Cotton would have to leapfrog Ernst and GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia who currently hold the number four and five positions respectively....

The leading Asian American caucus in Congress has accused Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) of “racist” questioning of TikTok’s CEO at a congressional hearing this week. In a hearing Wednesday, leaders from across big tech were summoned to testify on the issue of online child safety. In addition to TikTok, executives from Meta, X, Snap and Discord were accused by lawmakers of failing to protect children from online abuse and exploitation. In the hearing, Cotton repeatedly asked TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about possible ties to China. Chew repeatedly responded that he is Singaporean. When Cotton asked if Chew had ever...

When terror supporters attack , the Left calls it speech, but when people fight back, it's suddenly violence.When terror supporters attack you, the Left calls it speech, but when Sen. Tom Cotton suggests fighting back, the Left calls it violence.Once again leftists took to the streets in a coordinated campaign in support of Hamas and Iran, blocking roads, burning American flags, and endorsing the murder of Americans and Jews.Beyond their political views, the Hamas supporters blocked traffic, forcibly stranding motorists, and preventing school buses and ambulances from moving forward. Similar assaults on public roadways have endangered the lives of patients...

Sen. Tom Cotton on Tuesday doubled down on comments urging people delayed by traffic stemming from pro-Palestinian demonstrations to "forcibly remove" some protesters who are blocking streets. "Absolutely, I support people, if they’re blocked by traffic, by pro-Hamas vigilantes in the street, they should get out of their cars, they should move them to the side of the road, and they should let traffic continue," Cotton, R-Ark., told NBC News on Tuesday. Asked whether he was calling for violence against protesters, Cotton said he wasn't. "I’m saying that if people are trying to get to work or pick up their...

A group of influential Republican senators has sent a letter to International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan, warning him not to issue international arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, and threatening him with “severe sanctions” if he does so. In a terse, one-page letter obtained exclusively by Zeteo, and signed by 12 GOP senators, including Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Florida’s Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz of Texas, Khan is informed that any attempt by the ICC to hold Netanyahu and his colleagues to account for their actions in Gaza will be interpreted...

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued an executive order on Thursday directing state schools to defy the Biden administration’s expansion of Title IX protections to include students identifying as transgender. The Republican governor’s order, signed on Thursday, asserts the state’s commitment to preserving the traditional understanding of sex as an “immutable characteristic of the human body” firmly “rooted in biology and the created order.” “The government should celebrate, not erase, sex differences by providing proper protections for them,” the order reads. It also states that the Biden administration “has rejected reality and chosen to appease their left-wing base over students’...

Reagan Gray, 26, is accused of sexually abusing a 15 year old boy and sending him naked photos 'on a daily basis' - the abuse started in the autumn of 2020 at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock.A 26 year-old teacher has been accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy and inundating him with explicit images. The accused, Reagan Gray, who was a volunteer at one of Arkansas' largest churches, claimed she limited their sexual activity to oral interactions so he could "stay pure".It is alleged that Gray, working from Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, initiated the abuse in...

In a recent episode of The Purple Principle, a podcast that examines democracy and polarization from a nonpartisan lens, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said that while he was skeptical of ranked choice voting at first, he now sees it as a meaningful solution to elect candidates with the broadest appeal. "I resisted ranked choice and different initiatives that would weaken the two political parties," he said. "Now I don't see it as weakening the parties as much as forcing the candidates to say, 'We've got to appeal to a broad swath of the American electorate." Many voters may not...

The true scale of the number of medical trials using infected blood products on children in the 1970s and 80s has been revealed by documents seen by BBC News. They reveal a secret world of unsafe clinical testing involving children in the UK, as doctors placed research goals ahead of patients' needs. They continued for more than 15 years, involved hundreds of people, and infected most with hepatitis C and HIV. One surviving patient told the BBC he was treated like a "guinea pig". The trials involved children with blood clotting disorders, when families had often not consented to them...

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — UPDATE: Two Kroger customers are being charged with battery after a disagreement led to a shooting inside the grocery store on Wednesday evening. According to a report by the Little Rock Police Department, the incident began at 9 p.m when 48-year-old Yusuf Muhammad began harassing 43-year-old Shearee Jones in the checkout aisle. Witnesses stated that Muhammad was visibly aggressive towards Jones and that she asked him to stop. The report says that he continued after this and assaulted her, leaving an abrasion. In response, Jones brandished a firearm and struck Muhammad with multiple rounds. The report...

The executive director of the Little Rock airport who was shot by federal agents serving a search warrant at his home earlier this week has died. A statement from the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport announced the death of Bryan Malinowski at noon Thursday. The statement from Bill Walker, chair of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission, noted that under Malinowski’s leadership the airport saw “significant growth and success” and offered condolences to Malinowski’s family. “With a heavy heart, we announce the passing of our executive director Bryan Malinowski. Bryan was a 16-year employee of the airport. Under his...

Bryan Malinowski, who was involved in a shootout with federal agents Tuesday, was also involved in a legal fight with a neighbor over the placement of a mailbox, claiming it was placed illegally on his property. A judge would go on to side with Malinowski’s neighbor, years before the 53-year-old director of Little Rock's Clinton National Airport was involved in the Tuesday shooting with agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In August 2018, Malinowski sued Eric and Victoria Pinter, who lived next to a property he owned. He said the year before they “without consultation or...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The affidavit detailing the ATF case against the Little Rock airport executive who was shot and killed by federal agents serving a search warrant at his home was released Thursday. In the heavily redacted warrant affidavit, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives claims that Bryan Malinowski purchased numerous firearms that he resold without a firearm dealer’s license. Bryan Malinowski, the Little Rock airport executive shot by ATF agents, dies from injuries According to the warrant, Malinowski purchased more than 150 guns between May 2021 and Feb. 27, 2024, which he then resold.

The executive director of an Arkansas airport bearing the names of former President Bill Clinton and former first lady and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was shot Tuesday, when federal agents attempted to serve a search warrant. Arkansas State Police said the shooting occurred at 6 a.m. local time at a home on Durance Court in Little Rock, while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was serving a search warrant at the home of airport Executive Director Bryan Malinowski.

Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday that the state would ban the use of “X” on driver’s licenses and that state IDs must identify the individual as either male or female, according to an announcement first shared with The Daily Wire. “This policy is just common sense,” Sanders told The Daily Wire. “Only women give birth, men shouldn’t play women’s sports, and there are only two genders. As long as I’m Governor, Arkansas state government will not endorse nonsense.” “This change announced today reflects a commonsense approach that ensures a license or ID issued by the State of...

SALINE COUNTY, Ark. – Deputies said an armed burglary suspect was shot by a Saline County man returning home Tuesday when he saw the suspect draw a weapon as he left the man’s house. Officials with the Saline County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a call of shots fired at the home in the 10000 block of East Sardis Road. When they arrived, the deputies said they found the homeowner, who told them he had called 911. The man said he saw the suspect coming out of his house pointing a firearm at him. The homeowner then said he...