Free Republic

BRUSSELS, June 11 (Reuters) - The world experienced its second-warmest May since records began this year, a month in which climate change fuelled a record-breaking heatwave in Greenland, scientists said on Wednesday. Last month was Earth's second-warmest May on record - exceeded only by May 2024 - rounding out the northern hemisphere's second-hottest March-May spring on record, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly bulletin

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who was deported from Israel after taking part in a flotilla which sought to break Israel’s naval blockade to Gaza, landed in Paris on Tuesday evening, before later returning to her country. Speaking to reporters upon her arrival and quoted by The Associated Press, Thunberg called for more actions to support aid efforts for Gaza, while leveling accusations at Israel over its treatment of Palestinian Arabs. Thunberg called for the release of the other activists who were detained aboard the Madleen flotilla, and said that the conditions the activists aboard the ship faced “are absolutely nothing...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has found himself in the center of the internet’s spotlight after squaring off with President Donald Trump on social media over the deployment of military troops to counter protesters in Los Angeles. While police deployed tear gas and shot at protesters in Los Angeles with rubber bullets on Monday, Newsom shared a screenshot on TikTok of a Washington Post headline reporting that California would sue Trump over the National Guard’s presence, paired with a trending sound sampled from the movie “Mean Girls.” The video was captioned “We will not stand while Donald Trump illegally federalizes...

Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The Beat,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said that President Donald Trump “is overreaching his power, overstepping his authority, and trashing our constitution” by sending the National Guard to Los Angeles. Booker said, “This is about the rule of law, and it needs to be followed by everyone. we are a nation of law, not a nation governed by the whims of a president. and I’ve looked very closely at the statute, Article 10 of the Federal Code, Section 12 406 says it very, very clearly that the president shall, has to, must it says it shall go...

Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that Greta Thunberg and the activists aboard the Gaza flotilla were brought to a screening of the film documenting the October 7 massacre atrocities upon their arrival in Israel, but refused to continue watching after seeing what it entailed. "The antisemitic flotilla members close their eyes to the truth and have once again proven that they prefer the murderers over the victims, continuing to ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas against Jewish and Israeli women, adults, and children,"...

Sadiq Khan dropped a major hint about his future political ambitions this morning, refusing to deny he has his eye on No. 10 Downing Street. Speaking to American news outlet CNBC, the London Mayor suggested he could do a better job as PM than his mayoral predecessor Boris Johnson. Asked whether he wants a fourth term in City Hall, “I'm enjoying being the mayor of London. I think I've got the greatest job in the world. Is only about a year ago where I won that historic record breaking mandate, so let’s wait and see.” Asked whether he could “see...

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,...

Elon Musk’s blowup with President Trump may have doomed Washington’s most potent partnership, but the billionaire’s signature cost-cutting project has become deeply embedded in Mr. Trump’s administration and could be there to stay.At the Department of Energy, for example, a former member of the Department of Government Efficiency is now serving as the chief of staff.At the Interior Department, DOGE members have been converted into federal employees and embedded into the agency, said a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation. And at the Environmental Protection Agency, where a spokeswoman said...

Donald Trump warned Elon Musk on Saturday that he faces “very serious consequences” if he funds Democratic candidates following the pair’s epic public bust-up this week. The warning, delivered in an interview with NBC News scheduled to broadcast on Sunday, follows days of feuding and threats after Musk called Republicans’ budget legislation an “abomination”. Trump told interviewer Kristen Welker his relationship with the tech mogul was over and warned Musk against choosing to fund Democrats after spending close to $300m in support of Trump’s re-election last year. “If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump told...

Musk and Gor disliked each other since before Trump reclaimed power on Jan. 20 — with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO describing Gor as “sleazy” during the transition and questioning his staffing picks. But the world’s richest man had the president’s ear and friendship through last week. Simmering behind the scenes was a grudge nursed by Gor over a March 6 Cabinet meeting, during which Musk “humiliated” him by slamming the pace of staffing the administration, said the sources, each of whom have interacted closely with Gor. “He was bragging to other people that he was going to get one...

Elon Musk posted a poll on X on Thursday asking followers whether they support the idea of a new political party to take on the Republicans and Democrats. Why it matters: The richest man in the world is publicly feuding with the most powerful man in America, whom he spent record-setting sums to elect. We're about to find out what Musk is prepared to do about it. Driving the news: Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that he was "disappointed in Elon" for coming out against his "Big Beautiful Bill." Trump speculated it was because the bill...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday blasted the decision by the Trump administration to sanction four of its judges. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions in a statement, saying they target Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia. Two of the sanctioned judges authorized the arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant which the court issued last November. The others authorized an ICC investigation into abuses by US personnel in Afghanistan. The ICC said...

Stephen K. Bannon, one of Elon Musk’s most vocal critics, said he was advising the president to cancel all of the tech billionaire’s contracts and launch several investigations into the world’s richest man. “They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status, because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately,” Mr. Bannon, the former top aide to President Trump who is now an influential ally and informal adviser, said in an interview. ...Mr. Bannon said the Trump administration should also investigate Mr. Musk’s drug use,...

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today (Wednesday) rejected American pressure and proposals to end its nuclear weapons program, calling such proposals a violation of the principle of Iranian independence. "The leader of our revolution is a great man whose presence in the world is still tangible after thirty-odd years since his passing, and the impact of his revolution is clearly visible to people around the world,” Khamenei said at an event marking 36 years since the death of predecessor, the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ruhollah Khomeini. “The sharp decline in America's position in the world is due to...

Kamala Harris has triggered further speculation that she is not running for governor of California and has higher political ambitions. Rumors of a 2028 White House run started circulating after she delivered a lackluster three-minute virtual address to the Democratic state political convention that was politely received by the audience. In a steady, monotone voice, she spoke about the Trump administration’s recent actions against universities and praised activists efforts to fight the president’s agenda. “While this administration in Washington tries to divide us, we hear know that we are stronger when we stand together,” she said, a flashback to her...

MEMPHIS — For decades, this storied American city has watched companies come but mostly go, its vacant storefronts and blighted buildings a reminder of its days as a thriving manufacturing hub and the painful decline that followed as those jobs vanished.As Paul Young, the city’s mayor, puts it, Memphis has been “the city people forgot about.”Then last summer, Memphis landed what Young and local business leaders called the city’s largest corporate investment in a generation — a “transformative” development for a place that has struggled to convince outsiders of its continued potential.The project was something every city dreams of, Young...

For decades, the federal government has used data analysis to ferret out race and sex discrimination, winning court cases and reaching settlements in housing, education, policing and across American life. Now the Trump administration is working to unwind those same cases.In recent weeks, the Justice Department backed out of an agreement with an Atlanta bank accused of systematically discouraging Black and Latino home buyers from applying for loans. The Education Department terminated an agreement with a South Dakota school district where Native American students were disciplined at higher rates than their White peers. And federal prosecutors have dropped several racial...

Last year’s Democratic vice-presidential nominee has thrown himself into a robust atonement-and-explanation tour, though aides insist there is no grand strategy.Nearly seven months since his ticket lost the 2024 presidential election, Tim Walz is trying all at once to make amends for everything he thinks went wrong.He is going to Republican areas where Democrats lost ground. He is sitting for countless interviews after former Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign limited his media exposure. And as his party engages in collective finger-pointing, he is among the few Democrats admitting that they themselves made mistakes.“I know my job and I didn’t get...

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos said the scale of President Donald Trump’s personal “moneymaking” was staggering. Stephanopoulos said, “The scale is staggering. President Trump and his family are making hundreds of millions, potentially billions of dollars, as Trump and his administration take official actions that benefit contributors and investors. Just this week, we learned of pardons to tax cheats, including a man whose pardon was granted weeks after his mother attended a million-dollar-a-head fundraiser with the president.”

President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., he would be “playing right into the hands of the Democrats” if he votes against Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.” “If Senator Rand Paul votes against our Great, Big, Beautiful Bill, he is voting for, along with the Radical Left Democrats, a 68% Tax Increase and, perhaps even more importantly, a first time ever default on US Debt,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday afternoon. “Rand will be playing right into the hands of the Democrats, and the GREAT people of Kentucky will never forgive him! The GROWTH we are experiencing,...