Free Republic

American Pope Leo interrupts vacation at Castle Gandolfo for urgent political message that defies Trump's agenda Pope Leo urged the faithful around the world to combat climate change during his prayer for the Texas flood victims in another thinly-veiled jab at President Donald Trump. 'We live in a world that is burning, both because of global warming and armed conflicts,' the American-born pontiff said Wednesday as he led a small, outdoor mass in Castel Gandolfo - an Italian hill town about an hour's drive from Rome, where the Holy Father is currently on holiday. Leo, who offered up prayers for...

Donald Trump has frequently poured scorn on those who served in the US military. Even though he avoided serving after obtaining a note from a friendly doctor who said he had bone spurs, he famously mocked late Republican John McCain, the 2008 presidential candidate and a prisoner-of-war, saying he preferred people who did not get captured. He would later stun his chief of staff, former Marine General John Kelly, during a visit to France for the centennial anniversary of the end of the First World War, when he allegedly claimed those who gave their lives were “suckers” and “losers”. Now,...

President Donald Trump gave Europe three weeks to sign off on terms for Ukraine's "surrender" to Russia, a member of the European Parliament (MEP) claimed. Observers of the 3-year-old war have worried that Trump may strike a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that pressures Ukraine to abandon its aspirations to join NATO and cede its currently occupied territories, effectively capitulating to Moscow's demands. Ukraine says it has been excluded from high-stakes negotiations that will shape its future. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Finland's Mika Aaltola of the European People's Party claimed that the U.S. "has given us...

What is a good way of reducing plane crashes? Obviously do not fire air safety experts and instil paranoia in those who remain. Yet that is what Elon Musk is doing to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), three weeks after America’s deadliest air collision in years. His team is moving fast to break things, as though Washington were an app. Other than China’s cultural revolution, history offers few parallels to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) assault on the state. Musk’s declared aim is to slash US deficits by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse. His model is the...

“Clear a path!” shouted the big shots of TV news as they tried to squeeze their way through reporters packed like sardines into the White House briefing room to get to their front-row seats. Tempers frayed, foreheads perspired and necks strained similar to those of passengers itching to get off a plane.The first press briefing of a new administration is always a standing-room-only event. This time, it was the second Donald Trump administration and the debut of Karoline Leavitt, who pointed out that she is the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary. The 27-year-old beats the record...

Donald Trump may only be president for another four years, but the impacts of his administration on public health could be catastrophic for a long time to come. While we don’t know exactly what will happen, there’s no doubt the next four years could see attempts to curtail the authority and autonomy of federal health agencies like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)— something that the President-elect tried during his first term. However, despite Trump’s bravado around letting RFK Jr “go wild” and “do what he wants” on health,...

As America closes in on a major election, mistrust is brewing around the mysterious government entity that’s now denounced in scary-sounding terms — “the deep state” and “the swamp.” What do those words even mean? Who exactly do they describe? We went on a road trip to find out. As we met the Americans who are being dismissed as public enemies, we discovered that they are … us. They like Taylor Swift. They dance bachata. They go to bed at night watching “Star Trek” reruns. They go to work and do their jobs: saving us from Armageddon. Sure, our tax...

A British journalist has been detained since Wednesday at Ben-Gurion International Airport after security forces denied her entry into the country on the grounds that she is a left-wing activist who could not be objective in her portrayal of local events and who could unknowingly assist violent organizations. The journalist, 26-year-old Eva Jasiewicd, was interrogated for seven hours Wednesday by Defense Ministry officials. The questioning resulted in a ministry decision to deport her from Israel, possibly as soon as Friday morning. Jasiewicd told her interrogators that she had arrived in Israel to work for a British magazine associated with the...