Free Republic

Russia will restrict internet access across several regions, including Moscow, during its May 9 Victory Day celebrations this year, as the Kremlin imposes ever-tighter controls over its population. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that mobile internet restrictions would be in place in several regions while foreign leaders are in Moscow for the celebrations marking the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II. Peskov said the restrictions are because Russia has "dangerous neighbors." "These are not disruptions, but restrictions for obvious reasons," he said. "We want the glorious Victory Day to be celebrated at the appropriate level."

Chinese President Xi Jinping told Russia's Vladimir Putin on Thursday their two countries should be "friends of steel", as they pledged to raise cooperation to a new level and "decisively" counter the influence of the United States. At talks in the Kremlin, the two leaders cast themselves as defenders of a new world order no longer dominated by the U.S. In a lengthy joint statement, they said they would deepen relations in all areas, including military ties, and "strengthen coordination in order to decisively counter Washington's course of 'dual containment' of Russia and China". -snip- Xi, whose country is currently...

The leaders of Cuba, Mongolia and Venezuela arrived in Moscow Wednesday ahead of attending Russia's Victory Day celebrations. Victory Day, which is celebrated in Russia on May 9, has become the country’s most important secular holiday. -snip- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel are on the guest list which also includes Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Russia marks on Friday the 80th anniversary of the Soviet and allied victory over Nazi Germany, though there are fears that Ukraine may seek to disrupt the most hallowed celebration in the Russian calendar. -snip- The Kremlin's list of expected attendees includes the leaders of the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Also expected are the leaders of Bosnia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea–Bissau, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Palestinian Territories, Serbia, Slovakia, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia was doing everything necessary to ensure the security of upcoming events to mark the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War Two after a series of attempted Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow. The centerpiece of the commemorations - a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square - is due to be held on Friday and the Kremlin has said it is expecting 29 world leaders to attend, including Chinese President Xi Jinping. Moscow’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said earlier on Wednesday that Russian air defense forces had downed 14 Ukrainian drones...

Ukraine launched a devastating drone attack on Russia overnight as Vladimir Putin prepares to welcome foreign leaders to celebrate VE Day. The strikes hit Moscow and surrounding Russian regions ahead of a large military parade in the capital on Friday, May 9, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of WW2 in Europe. One target hit by Ukrainian drones was Kubinka military airfield in the west of the city, from which aircraft will launch in a scheduled Red Square flypast. The airfield holds Russian MiG-29 and Su-27 fighter jets as well as Putin’s aerobatic team and is often used for...

She can finally have some pride in her job! Former President Joe Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has landed a new gig out of the White House as a grand marshal of NYC Pride Parade. Jean-Pierre, who became the first openly gay spokesperson to hold press briefings for a US president, will be among those to head the Big Apple’s famed annual parade in June, CBS reported. “It goes back to that trail-blazing career that she’s had in politics and representing the community at the highest microphone that exists,” NYC Pride spokesperson Chris Piedmont said of Jean-Pierre. Jean-Pierre, 50 —...

Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday passed a law banning Pride events and allowing authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attendees, prompting those in the opposition to ignite smoke bombs in parliament. video at link.

SF Pride, the nonprofit that puts on the annual parade and two-day street fair, is facing financial difficulty after a handful of corporate sponsors have pulled their financial support. Suzanne Ford, its executive director, said she's looking for other companies and people to sponsor the annual pride celebration, concerned that more sponsors may pull out. Pride weekend is a highly anticipated annual celebration in San Francisco. "I like to watch the parade. Often do things with friends. Come here to the Castro and stroll around," said Ryan Jones, a San Francisco resident and co-owner of Hot Cookie, a popular shop...

Kingsley Wilson, appointed in January to be deputy press secretary at the Pentagon, last year tweeted a neo-Nazi talking point about Jewish lynching victim Leo Frank. The post came amid a flood of far-right social media content by the Trump administration appointee, who previously worked at an organization founded by the architect of Project 2025, the Christian conservative blueprint for a Trump White House. Many of Wilson’s posts, which remain online, reflect antisemitic conspiracy theories. The one about Frank has resurged in recent years. Frank was a factory manager in Georgia who was convicted on thin evidence of killing a...

Carroll Jarnagin was the Dallas attorney who wrote to J. Edgar Hoover on Dec. 3, 1963 an account of a claim to have overheard a conversation in the Carousel Club on Oct. 4, 1963, between Jack Ruby and Lee Harvey Oswald discussing a contract killing for hire of the governor of Texas to be carried out by Oswald on a parade route, shooting a rifle from the Carousel Lounge. (The FBI report on Jarnagin requested by FBI headquarters in response which has all the documents and interviews starts here: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=56992#relPageId=98&search=jarnagin.)

The 2025 Rose Parade

he pair of suspects arrested for allegedly plotting to “shoot up” a Fourth of July celebration in Richmond, Virginia — thwarted by an American citizen — are illegal aliens, court records state. On Wednesday, as Breitbart News reported, the Richmond Police Department announced the arrests of Guatemalan nationals 52-year-old illegal alien Julio Alvardo Dubon and 38-year-old illegal alien Rolman Balacarcel Ac for allegedly plotting a mass shooting at the city’s July 4th celebration. According to Police Chief Gerald Smith, Dubon and Ac’s plan was thwarted thanks to an American “hero citizen” who overheard a conversation about the plot and subsequently...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Police in Richmond, Virginia, said Wednesday that they thwarted a planned July 4 mass shooting after receiving a tip that led to the arrest of two men and the seizure of multiple guns — an announcement that came just two days after a deadly mass shooting on the holiday in a Chicago suburb. … Police initiated an investigation, along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FBI, which led to the arrests of two men on charges of being a non-U.S. citizen in possession of a firearm. Additional charges are possible, Smith said. Officers seized...

Altercation at club, not terror, allegedly. He rammed into a Christmas parade. Transcript linked below video.

Ten people have been injured and one person is reported to have been killed in Palm Springs, California, after a police officer riding a motorbike crashed into a crowd. Spectators had gathered for the 32nd annual Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade on Saturday night when a PSPD traffic officer performing a stunt lost control of his motorcycle. Footage shows the officer traveling at speed down the road within feet of where bystanders were watching the procession just after 6pm. The officer and bike plowed into the crowd on the parade route at Palm Canyon Drive and Amado Road. Eyewitnesses...

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KABC) -- At least 10 people were injured Saturday afternoon when a police officer crashed into a crowd at a holiday celebration in Palm Springs. It happened just after 6 p.m. at the Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade. According to a statement issued by the city, the crash happened along the parade route. Ten people, including the officer, were rushed to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, the city said. The officer reportedly lost control of his motorcycle while attempting a trick and severed his hand in the process, according to witnesses. The motorcycle continued moving...

A few hours before the city of Prattville’s annual Christmas parade was to start, a federal judge ordered the city to allow an LGBTQ pride group’s float to be included. Prattville Pride called the order “a powerful affirmation of the importance of visibility, representation, and inclusion for all members of our community,” in a Facebook post. “The Christmas parade is a cherished holiday tradition, and we are excited to celebrate alongside our neighbors and friends in the spirit of love, joy, and unity.” “While we celebrate this important step forward, we must also acknowledge the challenges and hateful rhetoric that...

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — A driver was pulled over and arrested Thursday in central El Paso after police said she ignored parade barricades. Video from a viewer shows what appears to be a confrontation between a woman climbing down from behind the wheel of a gray/silver SUV and a police officer on a patrol bike. The video shows the incident happened on the corner of Maple Street and Yandell Drive. As the video progresses it looks like several police officers had to be called to help restrain the woman. According to the El Paso Police Department, the woman was...

They’re parading straight into custody. Anti-Israel protesters tried to ruin the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the second year running Thursday, with cops quickly swarming in to gobble up roughly 25 arrests. The firebrands entered the parade route at West 55th Street and Fifth Avenue, stopping the Ronald McDonald balloon in its tracks around 9:25 a.m., police said — and drawing loud jeers from parade-goers screaming at the killjoys to move. Photos showed protesters sitting in the parade’s path, with some unfurling a large banner that read: “Don’t celebrate genocide!” “Get the hell out of here,” a parade-goer yelled amid...