Free Republic

AFP — UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington next week to discuss a “wide range of issues”, a British government spokesperson confirmed on Monday. Starmer is seeking to foster ties with Trump in a delicate balancing act of maintaining good relations with both the new US administration and the European Union, which Britain left five years ago. He is also hoping the UK can act as a bridge between Europe and the United States over the war in Ukraine, stressing that Britain could have “a unique role” in helping to secure any ceasefire...

Montana State Auditor Troy Downing won the contested Republican primary to replace the retiring Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), who announced earlier this year he would not run for reelection in the solidly Republican seat. Downing won the race for Montana’s 2nd Congressional District with 37.9% of the vote with 4% of ballots tallied. The Associated Press called the race in Downing’s favor at 9:27 p.m. local time.

Just. Wow. We've heard so much about Joe Biden's plagiarism during his time in law school, but seeing it in a thread from someone who personally witnessed it? All sorts of WOW. Check this out. My first assignment as a junior editor at the Harvard Journal on Legislation (1999-2000) was to cite check an article submitted by one Sen. Joseph R. Biden. I was shocked by the plagiarism I discovered. 🧵 https://t.co/0CSqJBZR7E — Roger Severino (@RogerSeverino_) September 4, 2023 Shocked by the plagiarism he found. Oh keep going, it gets better. Worse? Cite checking involves formatting case citations under highly...

Allison has been gone for a mere two weeks and the country has descended into what she calls a ‘post apocalyptic mad max wasteland’. Can things come back from the brink or will co-pilot Halligan have to step in as the next Chancellor? Anything could happen! In the wake of Suella Braverman’s departure as Home Secretary, our co-pilots reflect on the circumstances surrounding her resignation, and delve into Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s early days in his new post. The first revered stowaway on the rocket this week is Lord David Frost, who shares his opinion on the current fractions in our...

London -- British-Indian prime ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak on Wednesday pledged a crackdown on Islamist extremism, the UK's most “significant terror threat”, with a widened government definition of extremism and strengthening existing terrorism legislation. The 42-year-old former Chancellor, who is seen closing the gap with opponent Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the race to 10 Downing Street, also vowed to weed out organisations that promote extremism in the UK and refocus the “failing”. Prevent programme, a government tool intended to tackle Islamist extremism. “There is no more important duty for a Prime Minister than keeping our country and our people...

Downing Street has warned of a “challenging” Winter ahead, suggesting that restrictions in reserve such as domestic vaccine passports could be imposed if the number of cases gets too high. While Professor Neil Ferguson has said that a Plan B may need to be implemented if Covid cases increase. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said on Monday said that they are expecting an increase in Chinese coronavirus in the coming months and will be keeping a “close watch” on the figures, with Government adviser Professor Andrew Hayward claiming there was “huge potential for the NHS to come under a lot...

MIAMI, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The jailed whistleblower in a landmark tax evasion case against UBS AG is accusing a top U.S. Justice Department lawyer of "criminal conduct" for thwarting his efforts to cooperate with investigations of the Swiss bank by federal regulators and the U.S. Senate. Bradley Birkenfeld, who was instrumental in exposing widespread tax evasion by wealthy American clients of UBS, detailed the alleged misconduct involving the Justice Department's Kevin Downing in a telephone interview on Thursday. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. The 45-year-old former UBS banker spoke to Reuters from the federal prison in Pennsylvania...

Downing Street has dismissed an American offer of help in resolving Britain's dispute with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. "We don't think that's necessary," the Prime Minister's spokesman said after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated Washington's readiness to step in if required "We welcome the support of the Secretary of State in terms of ensuring that we continue to keep diplomatic channels open but there is no need for that (direct involvement).".

Brig. Gen. Terryl Schwalier was stunned when he read the account of the June 25, 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia that appeared in my recent book, Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran. I was writing many years after the fact, drawing on sources from inside Iranian intelligence but also on published U.S. government reports. It was those U.S. reports that prompted General Schwalier to contact me a few months ago. “You paint a picture of significant government awareness that “Iran was up to something” in the months prior to the Khobar Towers attack,” he wrote...

A Muslim fundamentalist leader today told of his vision of Britain under Sharia law.Anjem Choudary said he wanted the “flag of Allah” flying over Downing Street, all women wearing burkas and caning for drunkenness. He is the leader of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah, founded as a successor to the banned fundamentalist sect al-Muhajiroun, which was led by now-exiled preacher Omar Bakri Muhammad. The self-proclaimed Sharia judge admitted his followers had organised protests against British soldiers in Luton this week, waving placards which called them “murderers” for their conduct in Iraq. Mr Choudary, a 41-year-old lawyer, said he was proud to...

PEORIA - Retired four-star Gen. Wayne Downing, the former commander of the country’s special forces and the president’s point man for counterterrorism in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, died Tuesday evening after a bout with meningitis, news outlets are reporting. MSNBC, whose newscasts Downing, 64, acted as a military advisor for, is reporting that he died after a brief bout with the bacterial infection. Peorian and Medal of Honor recipient, Hal Fritz said he heard from another Medal of Honor recipient that Downing had passed away. Fritz called Downing an unassuming man who never forgot his...

France and Israel are on a collision course in south Lebanon following incidents involving Israeli warplanes over- flying the positions of the French military contingent serving with the UN peacekeeping force there. In the most serious confrontation, French troops were said by sources in Paris to have been "just two seconds" from launching an anti- aircraft missile at two Israeli F-15 fighters carrying out mock low-level attack runs over one outpost.There is little entente cordial between Israel and French troops in south Lebanon, writes philip jacobson

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2006 – The Taliban made another false claim of shooting down a U.S. helicopter yesterday, while two coalition troops were killed, officials reported. The Taliban claim came as at least 65 insurgents were killed during recent firefights with coalition forces in Afghanistan. The Taliban falsely told the media June 24 that a U.S. helicopter was shot down yesterday in the Tarin Kowt area of Uruzgan Province. There's no truth to this claim, U.S. officials said, noting that all coalition helicopters are accounted for. This is the second fake claim of downing a U.S. helicopter the Taliban have...

Nightmare on Downing Street By George Jones (Filed: 06/05/2006) Tony Blair carried out his biggest and most brutal Cabinet reshuffle yesterday as he attempted to shore up his position after one of the worst ever local election performances in Labour's history. He signalled his determination to remain in Downing Street by promoting trusted and loyal ministers, sacking Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, and demoting six ministers, including Jack Straw and the disgraced John Prescott. It was a defiant rebuff for supporters of Gordon Brown who stepped up their demands for Mr Blair to quit after Labour was relegated to third...

Downing Street condemns cartoon protestors (Filed: 06/02/2006) Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, has promised that the Government will support any action by police against the demonstrators involved in protests outside the Danish embassy last week. Omar Khayam apologised for causing offence In an emergency Commons statement, Mr Clarke said the police and prosecuting authorities were carrying out "rigorous assessments" about the appropriate way to proceed in individual cases. "If the police conclude there have been breaches of the law and decide to take any action, we would, of course, support them," he told MPs It came after Downing Street condemned...

  Downing Street, Rovegate, and the Ongoing Deception in Iraq   July 23rd is the 3-year anniversary of the drafting of the Downing Street Minutes.  I am organizing a series of house parties on this date throughout the country in order to broaden public understanding of how Karl Rove and the Bush Administration have manipulated intelligence, deceived the American people, and misled our nation into war.    Given that we learned in the past few days that Karl Rove served as a source for Robert Novak in his column outing Ms. Plame, it is becoming increasingly clear that we need...

This is also posted at The Perspective (link above) This morning the city of London was struck by a series of bomb blasts that shut down its transit system. Let my voice join the chorus of Americans who not only offer prayers and condolences, but also pledge support and solidarity in the fight against the cowards who executed these attacks. This is war, not politics.

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday the "Downing Street memos" paint a distorted picture, and he insisted that the Iraq war was not predetermined by the United States. "People say the decision was already taken. The decision was not already taken," he said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. Blair added he was "a bit astonished" at the intensive U.S. media coverage about the leaked memos, which suggested the White House viewed the war with Iraq as inevitable.

Regarding the Downing Street "memo", which has liberal anti-American activists frenzied in their eagerness to destroy the Bush presidency, it must be noted that cherry picking is taking place. Note how this document is cited as supportive of their assertion that President Bush "fixed" intelligence YET IGNORES the fact that this same report CITES Saddam's WMD capability! Of course, it's also interesting to note how these leftists have seized upon the use of the word "fix" in the memo, yet fail to recognize its true context and usage. The Brits realized, if this memo happens to be authentic, that the...

Kerry cautious on probing `Downing Street Memo' By Noelle Straub Monday, June 20, 2005 - Updated: 10:36 AM EST WASHINGTON - Walking a tightrope on a politically charged issue, Sen. John F. Kerry vowed weeks ago to raise the controversial ``Downing Street Memo'' as an issue in Washington, but has since publicly held his tongue on the matter. Instead, Kerry has been enlisting other senators to sign onto a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee seeking answers about the memo, aides said. The memo contained minutes of a 2002 meeting in which British officials told Prime Minister Tony Blair they...