Free Republic

Kyrgyzstan has taken down a huge statue of the revolutionary Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, which was thought to be the tallest in Central Asia. First erected when Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union, the 23m-tall monument towered over the city of Osh for 50 years before it was quietly removed this week. Photos emerged on Saturday showing the communist revolutionary - who features prominently in Soviet iconography - lying on his back on the ground, having been lowered by crane. A statement from City Hall in Osh - the landlocked nation's second-largest city after the capital, Bishkek - said...

A Riverside County inmate sentenced to death was allegedly murdered in a state prison by another inmate, which led to a large mob attack on Friday morning, officials say.

Ukraine’s extraordinary attack deep inside Russia has, at a stroke, rewritten the rules of modern war. On Sunday a swarm of small drones, each costing under $500, rose over four Russian airfields deep inside Siberia and the Arctic and destroyed over forty strategic bombers reportedly worth over $7 billion. Thanks to meticulous planning, sophisticated military imagination and an underdog’s boldness of vision, Kyiv’s forces have landed a stunning blow on their far stronger opponent, opening a new chapter in the history of human conflict. The question that will be haunting Putin is – what’s next? Ukraine’s famously stone-faced chief of...

FOUR Russian airfields housing Putin's nuke bombers have reportedly been blitzed in an extraordinary drone strike - wiping out at least 40 aircraft. Ukrainian drones - reportedly launched from lorries inside Russia - targeted airbases in Belaya, Diaghilevo, Olenya and Ivanovo as part of a daring operation codenamed "Spiderweb".

Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia has died at the age of 75 after a battle with esophageal cancer, his family said Wednesday.

In the last two and a half years, eight sitting members of the House or Senate have died in office. Every time, it's been a Democrat. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, died on Wednesday at 75, after a battle with esophageal cancer. He's the third House Democrat to die in the last three months. If Democrats had gained a narrow 1 or 2-seat majority in 2024, they would have lost it by now.

When U.S. President Donald Trump decided to seek a second term in the White House, Doris Davis and Susie Bartlett - an interracial lesbian couple living in New York City - made a life-changing decision. If he won, they would move abroad. The couple said they had been willing to give Trump a go during his first term, but they'd watched in alarm as he returned to office and ended a range of policies aimed at promoting racial equity and rights for LGBTQ+ people. "We love this country, but we don't love what it has become," Davis, a 69-year-old educational...

Michael Gloss, the son of the Deputy Director of the CIA, passed away in April 2024 during battles on the side of Russia in Ukraine. After signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense, his involvement was reported by the Russian investigative portal "Important Stories" on April 25.

Pictures show the CIA deputy director's son who - unbeknownst to his mother and father - was fighting for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. Michael Gloss, 21, was killed in the war in April last year, but details of the story have only emerged now after an investigation by Russian independent news outlet iStories. Photos showing him wearing camouflage and hanging out with soldiers have emerged. His mother, Julianne Gallina Gloss, is the Central Intelligence Agency's deputy director for digital innovation. His father, Larry Gloss, is a US Navy veteran who participated in Operation Desert Storm and the Iraq War. In...

The Brief -State Senator Bill Ramos has died suddenly. -His wife, Councilmember Sarah Perry, announced his passing on Sunday. -Tributes continue to pour in from local leaders. His wife, King County Councilmember Sarah Perry, issued a statement on the state senator's passing, reading, in part: "I am devastated to share that Bill passed away suddenly on the evening of April 19. He was doing what he loved – running on one of the many trails near our Issaquah home. For Bill, these runs were a way to relieve stress during a busy legislative session, a way to stay active –...

Former United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice bucked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s intelligence following weeks of scrutiny over leaks at the Pentagon amid massive spending reductions at the Department of Defense (DOD). Rice, who previously served as national security adviser in the Obama administration, questioned Hegseth’s proven ability to lead on an international level in conversation with “No Lie With BTC” podcast host Brian Taylor Cohen. “Well, if you’re a white male Christian cisgender macho MAGA man, you can be as dumb as a rock and be deemed qualified to serve as secretary of Defense. That’s apparently what we’ve learned from...

The radicalized son of a CIA director was killed last year while allegedly fighting for Russia in Ukraine, according to a new investigation. Michael Alexander Gloss, the 21-year-old son of the CIA’s Deputy Director for Digital Innovation Julianne Gallina Gloss and a Navy veteran father, was killed on the front lines after enlisting in the Russian army, according to a lengthy investigation by independent Russian outlet Important Stories. Gloss’ obituary said his “fiercely beautiful life … was taken from us during his travels overseas” on April 4, 2024, without detailing exactly how “With his noble heart and warrior spirit Michael...

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2026, ending his decadeslong career in Congress. The decision from Durbin, who is the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, will open up a leadership position in the chamber and is expected to set off a competitive primary for his seat in solidly blue Illinois.

0:00Introduction 1:10 What Would Happen if the US Went to War With Iran? 9:13 The Real Reason the US Invaded Iraq 15:38 The Military Power of Iran 22:25 The Global Coalition Iran Has Formed Because of the US 26:37 Is This Evil or Stupidity? 31:10 How Trump Exposed Regime Change Wars 41:37 Caldwell’s Experience in the Marine Corps 50:31 The Impact of the Iraq War on Veterans 1:00:59 How Caldwell Helped Pete Hegseth Become Secretary of Defense 1:08:21 The Real Reason Caldwell was Fired 1:11:30 Was Caldwell the Source of the Leaks? 1:22:09 How Caldwell Was Escorted Out 1:23:41 Who...

Francis didn’t change Catholic teaching, but he pushed a moral relativism in which theology and doctrine are negotiable.Pope Francis’ famous exhortation to Catholic youth just months after being elected the 266th pope of the Catholic Church in March 2013 was “Hagan lio!” — “make a mess!” Twelve years later, upon his death Easter Monday morning at age 88, it’s fair to say that Francis took his own advice, making a mess of his pontificate and leaving the Catholic Church in a state of confusion and disarray.When he ascended the throne of Saint Peter as the first Jesuit pope and first...

VATICAN CITY, — Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church for the past 12 years, has died at age 88. The head of the Catholic Church died Monday morning at 7:35 a.m. He had been the pope for 12 years, ascending to the head of the papacy on March 13, 2013.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has died...

Dubai -- US airstrikes targeting an oil port held by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed 74 people and wounded 171 others, the group said Friday, marking the single-deadliest known attack under President Donald Trump’s new campaign targeting the rebels. Assessing the toll of Trump’s campaign, which began March 15, has been incredibly difficult as the US military’s Central Command so far has not released any information on the campaign, its specific targets and how many people have been killed. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthi rebels strictly control access to areas attacked and don’t publish information on the strikes, many of which likely have...

Mexico City (AFP) – US President Donald Trump’s anti-woke and anti-migrant policies have convinced hordes of Americans to either move to, or stay put in, neighbouring Mexico. Americans have long been lured to Mexico by its weather, culture and lower cost of living. Now some of the US citizens heading south of the border say they have another reason: President Donald Trump. Discrimination, the erosion of civil rights, government cutbacks, polarising rhetoric and Trump's war on "woke" are among the motivations these new expats give for not wanting to live in the United States. Four Americans told AFP about why...

A pro-war Russian TV star has been killed on the front line just hours after sharing a social media post mocking Ukraine. Anna Prokofyeva, 35, died in the Demidovka border area of Belgorod, Russia, where Volodomyr Zelensky's forces have been making incursions. Her death was reported by other Kremlin-backed war correspondents and later by the state-run TV station Channel One, where she worked. Just a day before, she said she was "somewhere on the border with country 404", a reference to a common web page error - suggesting she believed Ukraine was a country that does not exist. Multiple other...