Free Republic

TALLINN/ANTALYA, Turkey, May 15 (Reuters) - Estonia said on Thursday that Moscow had briefly sent a fighter jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea during an attempt to stop a Russian-bound oil tanker thought to be part of a "shadow fleet" defying Western sanctions on Moscow. Russia, which regards sanctions as a malign attempt to crush its economy, says all its ships have free passage in the Baltic and any attempt to stop them is dangerous. Estonia's navy said the unflagged Jaguar ship, which went onto a UK sanctions list last week, refused to cooperate when asked to stop...

Rep. Abe Hamadeh said ranked-choice voting is pushed by corporate interests and confuses voters.. Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., is joining forces with a fellow freshman lawmaker to renew efforts in Congress to outlaw ranked-choice voting nationwide. Hamadeh and Rep. Nick Begich, R-Alaska, recently introduced the Preventing Ranked Choice Corruption Act that would amend the Help America Vote Act to ban ranked-choice voting. The bill pairs Begich, whose state uses ranked-choice voting, with Hamadeh, whose state has chronically dealt with issues of election integrity, and voter trust in ballot counting. "Ranked-choice voting destroys 'one person, one vote' in our country and...

On May 15, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the federal government’s efforts to be able to generally implement President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship – the guarantee of citizenship to virtually everyone born in the United States. The dispute is one of the relatively rare proceedings that came to the justices as an emergency appeal – on the so-called “shadow docket” – only to be set for oral arguments. Though the dispute comes to the justices through challenges to Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship, the primary issue before the court on Thursday is whether lower-court...

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the jihadist terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), praised President Donald Trump in an address on Wednesday for taking the “courageous and historic” step of lifting sanctions on his country. Sharaa delivered a speech to the Syrian people following an in-person meeting with President Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where President Trump concluded the first of three stops in a Middle East tour on Wednesday. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who first met Sharaa shortly after HTS toppled the half-century-old Assad family regime in Damascus, arranged and presided over the meeting. The...

TULSA, OKLA. (KTUL) — The Tulsa City Council will begin its meeting next week with a Hindu mantra prayer, despite a recent policy change to replace opening prayers with moments of silence for reflection. This decision follows a controversial pagan prayer at a council meeting last November, which prompted the council to vote in January for the change. A Tulsa City Councilor explained that the Hindu prayer is permitted because the individual signed up before the deadline to switch to moments of silence and reflection, which is at the end of this month. The pagan prayer last year drew attention...

Trump's first 100 days mark a chaotic counterrevolution, tackling crises long ignored—and infuriating the very forces that allowed them to fester. Pundits are confused about what to make of the first 100 days of the second Trump administration. Supporters talk of “flooding the zone,” believing Trump is making so many changes so quickly that his opposition is reduced to deer-in-the-headlights infancy. They must be right when the nation suffers daily Democratic pottymouth videos, vandalism of Teslas, infantile meltdowns at congressional witnesses, rioting against federal agents to protect illegal alien felons, protesting on behalf of women beaters, M-13 gangbangers, human traffickers,...

For so many years now, the American intelligence community has been methodically hijacked by left-wing operatives working from the inside to sabotage political dissidents and cover up regime corruption. The left didn’t just politicize intelligence; they fully and totally weaponized it. And while the damage they’ve done to public trust and constitutional order could take decades to undo, someone has to start the cleanup… And Tulsi Gabbard just did. As Trump’s acting Director of National Intelligence, Gabbard is taking a flamethrower to one of the worst corners of the intelligence swamp: the National Intelligence Council. And according to senior officials,...

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would skip Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul and downplayed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision not to attend. Speaking in Doha, Trump said the Russia-Ukraine war "has to stop." The president lamented the lives lost and money spent on the war effort. "We spent $350 billion there – just handed. Nobody even knows where the money is. There’s no accounting. There’s no one. It’s just give him money," Trump said, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "I have to hand it to him. I think he’s the greatest salesman, maybe in history. Every time...

A district attorney in Colorado has given probation and community service to an illegal alien teenager who killed a young woman in an automobile accident. The accident occurred in Aurora last July when the 15-year-old, a Colombian national, was illegally driving at 90 mph in an area with a 45 mph speed limit. The victim, Kaitlyn Weaver, was coming home from work when the car plowed into her vehicle, effectively killing her instantly. She officially died two days later when her family took her off life support.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed Wednesday to spend $1 billion per year on the state’s failing high-speed rail project through cap-and-trade programs, even as his budget drowned in massive deficits. As Breitbart News reported, the governor’s revised budget plan sought cuts to a variety of programs to make up a $12 billion deficit. He even proposed cutting off new enrollees for “free” health care to illegal aliens. But high-speed rail — a program that is decades late and $100 billion over budget without a single station being built — will continue to be funded, as Newsom continues to embrace...

A state district court judge in Missoula on Tuesday ruled that a 2023 state law banning many gender transition-related medical services for transgender minors is unconstitutional, prohibiting its enforcement. The 59-page ruling from district court Judge Jason Marks found that Senate Bill 99, backed by Republicans largely along party lines during the legislative session two years ago, violates the Montana Constitution’s rights to privacy, equal protection and free speech. The law had been temporarily enjoined before it was scheduled to take effect. The Montana Supreme Court upheld that block in 2024. The court found that plaintiffs, including transgender teen Phoebe...

Tal Shahar Carmon, a friend of the late Tze’ela Gez, shared Thursday morning on Kan Reshet Bet the heartbreaking account of Hananel Gez’s conversation with his children following the murder of their mother in a terror attack near Bruchin. “These were unbearably difficult moments,” she said. “Their father communicated it to them in an incredible way, allowing each child to respond in their own manner.” “He told them that he and their mother were on their way to bring their new baby into the world, and that on the way, a terrorist shot at their mother. He explained that he...

Leah covered yesterday how United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer avowed to secure the country’s borders. “A one nation experiment in open borders, conducted on a country that voted for control,” Starmer said on Monday. “Well, no more. Today, this Labour government is shutting down the lab. The experiment is over. We will deliver what you asked for time and again, and we will take back control of our borders” "Every area of the immigration system — work, family, and study — will be tightened up so we have more control,’’ Starmer said. “We will create a system that is...

Michigan Army National Guard member was inspired by Islamic State. The FBI has arrested a former member of the Michigan Army National Guard who prosecutors said was inspired by Islamic State to plan a mass shooting at a military base outside Detroit. Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, 19 years old, spent months plotting to attack the facility with the help of two people he believed were ISIS supporters, but who were actually undercover agents, according to a criminal complaint. Agents arrested Said just before he allegedly intended to attack on Tuesday, when he launched a drone over the base to conduct aerial...

"The murder of Tzeela Gez, on her way to give birth at the hospital, is a spine-chilling, horrific act of terror that shakes us to the core," Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated. The scene at a shooting terror attack in Samaria on May 14, 2025. Credit: Magen David Adom). (May 14, 2025 / JNS) The Israeli military is hunting for a terrorist who shot and killed Tzeela Gez and injured her husband, as the Israeli couple drove to the delivery room near the small community of Bruchin, in Samaria. Gez’s baby was delivered in hospital, Ynet reported. The infant is...

A manuscript once considered an unofficial copy of the Magna Carta is now believed to be a genuine version and ''one of the world's most valuable documents'', according to UK academics. Harvard Law School paid $27.50 (then about £7) for it in 1946 and for years it has remained tucked away in its library, its true identity unknown. But two medieval history professors have concluded it is an extraordinarily rare and lost original Magna Carta from 1300, in the reign of King Edward I, that could be worth millions. ''This is a fantastic discovery," said Prof David Carpenter from King's...

The monarch also had a 'frightening' health update.King Charles still plans to meet with US President Donald Trump. The monarch previously expressed interest in meeting him shortly after he was inaugurated. Prince Charles wrote a letter to President Trump with the intent of another state dinner. After it was shared by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump shared the contents of the letter: “Quite apart from this presenting an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, it would also offer a valuable chance to plan a historic second state visit to the United Kingdom. As you...

President Donald Trump on Thursday will visit a U.S. installation at the center of American involvement in the Middle East... Trump plans to address troops at Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base, which was a major staging ground during the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and supported the recent U.S. air campaign against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis. The president has held up Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar as models for economic development in a region plagued by conflict as he works to entice Iran to come to terms with his administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program. The...

The South Carolina Supreme Court today unanimously upheld the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection Act that protects the lives of unborn children when a heartbeat is detected, usually by six weeks gestational age. The 27-page opinion upheld that of 5th Circuit Court Judge Daniel Coble who ruled in May of 2024 in favor of the Heartbeat Act noting that it was the will of the General Assembly to establish the fetal heartbeat at six weeks of gestation. With limited exceptions, including protections for the mother’s life and health, the Fetal Heartbeat Act protects unborn children when the fetal heartbeat can be...

A Michigan Court of Claims judge has struck down several pro-life laws designed to protect unborn babies and ensure women’s safety, ruling them unconstitutional under the state’s 2022 pro-abortion amendment. The decision, handed down Tuesday by Judge Sima Patel, eliminates a 24-hour waiting period, informed consent requirements, and restrictions on non-physicians performing abortions, prompting outcry from pro-life advocates who argue these measures safeguard both mothers and their unborn children. The overturned laws, which included a mandatory 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, were intended to give women time to reflect on their decision and receive critical information about fetal development...