Free Republic

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said Tuesday that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin sees an opportunity for the “first time in decades” for a U.S.-Russia relationship recalibration.“I think that … he sees the opportunity for the first time in decades, to recalibrate the relationship of the Russian Federation with the United States, and it’s clear,” Witkoff told radio hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby on their WABC show.“I’ve had four meetings with him, and not one of them was less than three hours,” he added. “And there was one that was close to five hours.”In the first few months...

Russia expects to open its first embassy in the Dominican Republic as Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov defined the Caribbean country as a “promising partner” on Wednesday during an official trip. Lavrov, who met behind closed doors with Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez, said Russia plans to strengthen its commercial and economic ties with the Dominican Republic, saying there are “mutual opportunities.” Meanwhile, Álvarez said a key conversation topic was “the profound political, security and humanitarian crisis affecting Haiti and how this impacts the Dominican Republic.” Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island of Hispaniola.

A federal judge on Wednesday barred the Department of Homeland Security from transferring illegal aliens to other agencies like the Department of Defense. US District Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee, said the Trump Administration’s DHS cannot transfer aliens to other agencies as a way to prevent them from receiving ‘due process.’ “[After] taking custody of an alien, Defendants may not cede custody or control in any manner that prevents an alien from receiving the due-process guarantees…” the judge wrote.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) broke ground Tuesday on its third factory in Arizona, widening the Trump administration’s push to yank critical chip production out of China’s shadow, according to the Department of Commerce. The new fab — backed by some $6.6 billion in CHIPS Act grants and part of a broader $100 billion expansion pledge TSMC made in March — is slated to provide thousands of local jobs and anchor a domestic supply chain for everything from smartphones to fighter jet avionics, according to a TSMC press release “It’s the key,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said of domestic...

Two Ukrainian women in South Florida on temporary visas were hit with federal charges after being accused of illegally voting in the last 2024 U.S. presidential election, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Svitlana Demydenko, 53, and her daughter, Yelyzaveta Demydenko, 22, purportedly handed in their 2024 presidential votes in Palm Beach, Florida, on October 31, 2024. “Svitlana and Yelyzaveta entered the United States in April 2021 on nonimmigrant visas. In August 2024, while living in Florida, Svitlana and Yelyzaveta registered to vote in federal elections using a system that requires certification of United States citizenship, which neither of...

CNN host Amber Ruffin said Wednesday on ABC’s “The View” that she felt “less welcome” under President Donald Trump while discussing being removed as the host of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Ruffin said, “They were, like, look, you were running your mouth in these streets, and now you can’t host the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and I was like, oh, no, you know, this is horrible. I was running my mouth, and I was being careless. Then, as the day went on, people were like your free speech has been revoked. How dare they. Then I was like, oh,...

Fifth-generation ranchers Charles and Heather Maude make their living raising cattle and hogs on the wide plains of western South Dakota. Since 1907, Charles’s family has been on the land where they now farm thousands of acres.

Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre lost his own seat in Parliament in Monday’s election, but he has not resigned as leader of the party and some prominent Conservatives have spoken up to defend his position. “There is no doubt that Pierre Poilievre and his team ran an incredible campaign,” former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday. Scheer noted that while the Conservatives came up short of forming a government, they won “the highest vote percentage in modern Conservative history” and “the most amount of total votes for our party,...

The United States and Ukraine are on the verge of signing a mineral deal after months of fraught and chaotic negotiations, although a last-minute snag still needs to be ironed out. Ukraine's prime minister said First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko was flying to Washington on Wednesday to sign the deal, which is central to Kyiv's efforts to mend ties with President Donald Trump and the White House as the U.S. president tries to secure a peace settlement in Russia's war in Ukraine. ... However, a snag arose as Svyrydenko’s plane headed to Washington, with U.S. officials reportedly demanding that...

Federal employees can once again wear political apparel to work. Trump's administration rescinded prior guidance that prohibited campaign or political clothing. Federal employees are still prohibited from engaging in political activities while on duty. On Wednesday, employees at the Social Security Administration received an email informing them of a change in guidance on wearing political apparel at work. The email, viewed by Business Insider, said that the Office of Special Counsel has returned to its previous policy that "does not prohibit wearing or displaying campaign or election-related items in the workplace after Election Day." The email went on to note...

Members of President Donald Trump‘s Cabinet applauded Elon Musk during Wednesday’s meeting after the president alluded to his imminent departure from the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk’s special government contract is set to expire next month, but he announced on a Tesla shareholders call last week that he would scale back his work with DOGE to one or two days a week until he departs. ...

China has created a list of US-made products that would be exempted from its 125 per cent tariffs and is quietly notifying companies about the policy, two people familiar with the matter said, as Beijing seeks to ease the impact of its trade war with Washington. China has already granted tariff exemptions on select products, including select pharmaceuticals, microchips and aircraft engines and was asking firms to identify critical goods they need levy-free, Reuters reported on Friday (Apr 25). However, the existence of a so-called 'whitelist' had not been previously reported. The quiet approach allows Beijing, which has repeatedly said...

New York state legislators got one step closer to legalizing assisted suicide for terminally ill people on Tuesday. The state Assembly, following nearly five hours of emotional debate, passed the controversial “Medical Aid in Dying Act” 81-67, with around 20 Democrats breaking ranks to oppose the controversial measure. “Each and every life has value,” Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh (R-Saratoga), one of the legislation’s opponents, said on the Assembly floor. “Progress may not be on a straight line and will look different to each of us, but this idea of giving up and dying is not excelsior, ever upward. It’s incredibly...

PUC Public Comment Hearing Info re: Xcel Energy JTS.. ... The PUC invites community members to provide comments regarding Xcel Energy’s Just Transition Plan (JTS), Proceeding 24A-0442E. The JTS is Xcel Energy’s next Electric Resource Plan to address the acquisition of new utility resources to meet future electricity needs on its system. The primary objectives of the JTS include fulfilling resource adequacy and providing reliable service; continuing progress on emissions reductions; and, delivering a just transition in communities where generation assets are retiring. Xcel Energy’s Unit 3 coal-fired facility in Pueblo will retire no later than Jan. 1, 2031, and...

With the closure of Hayden Station approaching, Routt County and Hayden are at a crossroads, facing not only the loss of a major economic engine, but also the challenge of ensuring a just transition for workers and the broader community. At the regular meeting of the Routt County commissioners on Tuesday, local residents and stakeholders gathered for an educational presentation hosted by the Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate, aimed to demystify the complex regulatory process and prepare the public for Thursday’s critical Public Utilities Commission hearing in Hayden.. Routt County and Hayden are seeking an $89 million unified settlement...

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) paid homage to the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and introduced “the ‘assault weapons’ ban of 2025” Wednesday morning. In an X post, Schiff explained that his legislation would “ban the sale, manufacture, import, and transfer of military-style ‘assault weapons.'” He claimed there have been “486 mass shootings involving ‘assault weapons'” since 2006, but did not provide any sources to substantiate the figures. He did reference Feinstein’s introduction of the first “assault weapons” ban over three decades ago, then claimed her ban “had a dramatic impact on mass shootings” during the ten years in which it...

United States District Court Judge Jennifer Thurston, appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California by former President Joe Biden, is blocking Border Patrol Agents across most of California from arresting suspected illegal aliens unless they have a warrant for their arrest. This week, Thurston issued a preliminary injunction that will prevent Border Patrol agents in California’s eastern district, the largest judicial district in the state, from carrying out arrests of suspected illegal aliens without a warrant and halting such arrests unless agents have a “reasonable suspicion” the suspect is an illegal alien. “Indeed, the evidence...

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have put Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on notice: Don't mess with the name Fort Cavazos. With support from President Donald Trump, Hegseth has begun reversing a Biden-era initiative to remove the names of Confederate figures from military installations. Hegseth has restored names with Confederate connotations to two Army bases, and he has vowed to continue. That has sparked fears that the Central Texas armored division base named for Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, the Army's first Hispanic four-star general, could be next. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is trying to get in front...

[Note: This article has been updated to include a new response from the office of Hakeem Jeffries.] HOUSE MINORITY LEADER Hakeem Jeffries was asked Monday whether Democrats should continue to advocate for the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and the other men wrongly shipped to El Salvador, by making the trip to the country to put a spotlight on the issue. “Our reaction is that Donald Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president in modern American history,” Jeffries responded. But while Jeffries may be publicly agnostic on El Salvador trips like the one Reps. Robert Garcia, Yassamin Ansari,...

A massive explosion at Iran’s largest commercial port killed several people and destroyed shiploads of ballistic missile fuel from China, news reports suggest. “A huge blast probably caused by the explosion of chemical materials killed at least 18 people and injured more than 700 on Saturday at Iran’s biggest port, Bandar Abbas,” Reuters reported, citing Iranian regime-run media. The exploding rocket fuel sent out a huge plume, unleashing a shock wave spanning several miles. “Iran’s official news channels aired footage of a vast black and orange cloud of smoke billowing up above the port in the aftermath of the blast,”...