Free Republic

This writer is done with the way International Women's Day has become a token corporate holiday in Singapore. Instead of gimmicky sales and events that feature only corporate leaders, organisations that observe IWD should spotlight a wider range of women and celebrate their stories more genuinely.When I first got to know of International Women’s Day (IWD), I was in secondary school. It felt so amazing to know there was a day meant to celebrate women, shed light on the complex issues they faced daily, and support women from all walks of life in various ways. Lately, however, that rose-tinted view...

President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for more sanctions against Russia after massive air strikes pounded Ukraine for a second straight night, killing at least 20 people, even amid reports his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is ready to make a deal Moscow, meanwhile, claimed it’s retaken three towns in Kursk, Russia, with some reports saying Ukrainian troops in the region are surrounded.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a number of new initiatives to bolster defence in a speech in Warsaw, as European powers appear set to comply with U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands that the continent pay for its own protection rather than relying on America. Speaking before the Sjem parliament, Prime Minister Tusk declared Friday: “Hope is no substitute for strategy. Hope is a beautiful feeling, but in politics, it is often adjacent to naivety or illusion… Today, Europe is beginning to understand that since the United States expects much greater outlays, determination and courage from us, it must be...

President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods, coming on the heels of his taunting threats to make the country the 51st U.S. state, are eroding the inherent politeness of Americans’ northern neighbors and rallying them around their own flag. Canadians are removing American liquor and California wines from their store shelves. They’re pulling back on future visits to the U.S. They’re pushing “Buy Canadian” to counter higher costs and spite Trump. And they are uncharacteristically brandishing unvarnished anger over what they see as a betrayal by a longtime friend. “I will never visit America again,” Angela Qin, a university student,...

Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib has been selected to be the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, President Donald Trump announced on Friday. Ghalib endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign in September. The two met in person in September during one of Trump’s campaign visits to Michigan. Ghalib, an immigrant from Yemen, became the city’s first Muslim mayor when he was elected in 2021. While in office, the city made headlines banning pride flags from being flown on city property, which is something that didn't sit well with some liberal voters in the city. The city of Hamtramck is known for its large immigrant population....

FOLSOM, Calif. — A California State Prison, Sacramento inmate is accused of stabbing and killing his cellmate on Friday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said. It comes less than two weeks after the two men are accused of working together to kill another inmate.

Weapons manufacturers across Europe are rushing to secure contracts after EU countries announced plans to dramatically increase defence spending. Share prices of European arms companies had already risen sharply following the US decision to suspend military aid to Ukraine. ... Von der Leyen suggests the EU could raise "close to" €650 billion over four years, which would be added to a €150 billion loan to member states for defence investment, totalling €800 billion. European arms manufacturers view this as a golden opportunity to compete against their US rivals.

His candidacy must, however, also be approved by the Central Electoral BureauBUCHAREST, March 8. /TASS/. The Romanian Constitutional Court said it rejected motions to void the registration of Calin Georgescu as a candidate in the May 4 presidential election. "At a March 8, 2025 session, the Constitutional Court considered four protests within the scope of its powers in connection with the observance of the procedure for the election of the Romanian president," the court said in a statement. "After deliberation, the Constitutional Court unanimously rejected the formulated protests as unfounded, as they do not meet the procedural conditions that are...

The U.S. Forest Service manages 78% of the land in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Yet, a hiring freeze on seasonal workers and recent firings of key staff have gutted an already-stretched-thin agency, putting on hold critical work in water quality, environmental restoration and forest fuels reduction projects while also diminishing the forest service’s capacity to manage the millions of visitors who come to Lake Tahoe every year — especially on the Fourth of July. Eleven people who work at the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit lost their jobs last month in the so-called “Valentine’s Day Massacre” led by Elon Musk’s...

The Blue Moon brewery and restaurant in the River North Art District area of downtown Denver announced Thursday that it plans to close its doors this month. Blue Moon Brewing Company was founded in Denver in 1995. According to the website, its first Belgian-style wheat ale was brewed in the SandLot Brewery at Coors Field. Colorado lost 41 breweries in 2024, beer sales down more than national average The brewery at 3750 Chestnut Pl. opened in 2016 and allowed Blue Moon to create and experiment with new and unique ingredients, the website said. Blue Moon Rino serves beers that can...

President Donald Trump recently halted all future shipments of military aid to Ukraine after a heated meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last week exacerbated a chasm in US-Ukraine relations. Western allies anticipate that Ukraine could sustain its current fighting pace for several weeks before the stoppage in US assets would start to affect operations. With the pause likely to remain in place until Trump is satisfied with what he sees as Zelensky’s commitment to peace talks, CNN looks at what exactly was in the military aid sent by the United States so far, how...

Opponents of President Donald Trump’s USAID spending freeze will take cheer from the Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene this week. But there is less cause for celebration than they claim. The Justices’ decision to allow a trial judge’s order resuming spending to proceed is merely the first procedural skirmish in a larger constitutional battle that will return to the Court. In the meantime, Trump’s campaign to restore executive energy will still play out with the home field advantage created by the Constitution itself.

The United States, under President Donald Trump, is withdrawing from a pair of global programs it had once deemed crucial for curtailing fossil fuels and dealing with the consequences of climate change. In a letter obtained by The Washington Post, the United States said it is withdrawing from a board overseeing a fund for vulnerable countries hit by climate disasters. That “loss and damage” fund had stemmed from a hard-won diplomatic agreement reached in 2023. Separately, a treasury spokesperson said the United States is pulling out of a global climate finance program — known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership...

The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is perilously close to collapsing as both Israel and Hamas have both balked at entering negotiations over terms of an intended second phase of the deal. Meanwhile, food shortages in the territory have become acute and Palestinians living there are again struggling to feed their families. Mustafa Abu Shaaban, a blacksmith before the war, and his wife Rasha, try to create a semblance of normality for their kids. "Our life is hard – we just want to live like everyone else," Rasha told CBS News. But as the aid freeze starts to bite in...

A Florida election lawsuit has exposed a loophole in federal voter registration law that allows people to register to vote without providing a driver’s license or Social Security number for verification. A Republican congressional candidate is suing Florida election officials over “clone” voters found on voter rolls and questionable mail-in ballot requests, as the number of votes he lost by is less than the allegedly compromised vote-by-mail ballots. However, the lawsuit also reveals a loophole in both Florida law and federal law that allows people to register to vote without providing either a driver’s license number or Social Security number....

References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and the first women to pass Marine infantry training are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts marked for deletion as the Defense Department works to purge diversity, equity and inclusion content, according to a database obtained by The Associated Press. The database, which was confirmed by U.S. officials and published by AP, includes more than 26,000 images that have been flagged for removal across every military branch. But the eventual total could be much higher....

An expert on insurgency says an American military incursion into Canada would be a disaster — for the United States. A military move by President Donald Trump could eventually destroy America’s worldwide power, says Dr. Aisha Ahmad, an associate professor at the University of Toronto. Dr. Ahmad has studied insurgencies and visited many conflict zones for more than 20 years. She sees a pattern of resistance that repeats itself every time. Article content When a country gets invaded, a growing portion of the people fight back. Would Canadians do that? You bet we would, Ahmad says. Canadian “niceness” is a...

Ukraine’s opposition leaders have confirmed they have held discussions with members of Donald Trump’s entourage, but denied on Thursday they were part of a reported White House plot to remove Volodymyr Zelenskyy from power. The former president Petro Poroshenko said he had held talks with US representatives but added that he opposed Trump’s demands for wartime elections. Poroshenko, who lost to Zelenskyy in the 2019 presidential vote, said a poll should only be held once martial law ends. Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s former prime minister, said she also opposes elections while fighting continues. She said her team was “talking with all...

... Among the men who will determine whether the Catholic church will continue in the direction of pastoral service for all modeled by Francis, the first pope from South America — or whether it will swing back to a conservative interpretation focusing on church authority — are three influential American bishops tied to Chicago. Cardinal Blase Cupich, 75, was appointed archbishop of Chicago in 2014 by Francis and remains in the pope’s inner circle. Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, has served as Francis’ powerful bishopmaker at the Vatican since 2023, after stints leading the Order of Augustine’s Midwest ministry...

Homeless programs funded by the city of Los Angeles are essentially a black hole when it comes to oversight and the tracking of outcomes, a court-ordered, independent audit has found. The report, released on Thursday, was conducted by Alvarez & Marsal, a global consulting firm. It looked at four years of homeless services managed by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) from June 1, 2020, through June 30, 2024. A&M said it was stymied by information gaps and incomplete data that hindered its ability to gauge the results of approximately $2.3 billion in homeless spending over that time period....