Free Republic

Usha Vance has been seen wearing an elegant black ensemble paired with a traditional veil as she attended Pope Leo XIV's inauguration mass. The second lady - who is Hindu - stood dotingly beside her Catholic convert husband, Vice President JD Vance, as they returned to the Vatican on Sunday. Usha, 39, supported her husband and the new American pontiff by clasping her hands in prayer during the service despite not sharing the same faith. She also showed respect through her black mantilla, a traditional Spanish veil symbolizing reverence, modesty and piety. Pope Leo, 69, warmly took hold of Vance's...

Like Doug Emhoff before her, another VP pick's spouse has left Biglaw thanks to politics. "Usha has informed us she has decided to leave the firm. Usha has been an excellent lawyer and colleague, and we thank her for her years of work and wish her the best in her future career."— A statement given by a Munger Tolles & Olson spokesperson to Bloomberg Law, concerning the recent departure of litigator Usha Chilukuri Vance, in the wake of her husband Sen. J.D. Vance’s selection as Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 election. Usha, a Yale Law graduate who clerked...

JERUSALEM – Israeli archaeologists have uncovered one of the earliest depictions of a menorah, the seven-branched candelabra that has come to symbolize Judaism, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Friday. The menorah was engraved in stone around 2,000 years ago and found in a synagogue recently discovered by the Sea of Galilee. Pottery, coins and tools found at the site indicate the synagogue dates to the period of the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem, where the actual menorah was kept, said archaeologist Dina Avshalom-Gorni of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

For the first time, the camp of the Sixth Roman Legion may have been located. Analyzing an enhanced high-resolution satellite photo, archaeologist Yotam Tepper of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in collaboration with the Jezreel Valley Regional Project, identified what he believes to be the camp’s square-shaped boundary. The team conducted ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic testing and subsequently carried out excavations at the site. They uncovered the base of a battery or wall, a moat surrounding the camp, water pipes, a covered sewage channel, coins, tiles and a shingle decorated with the legion’s symbol. These discoveries seem to support Tepper’s identification...

JERUSALEM — Israel’s Antiquities Authority says a hiker has found a rare, nearly 2,000-year-old gold coin. The authority said Monday that the ancient coin appears to be only the second of its kind to have been found. It said London’s British Museum possesses the other coin. The coin, from the year A.D. 107, bears the image of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. It was minted as part of a series of coins honoring Roman rulers.

Laurie Rimon spotted a gleam while on a hike in northern Israel with several friends. It turned out to be a gold coin so unusual, Israeli archaeologists say there is only one other one with the same symbols in the world. "It's extremely exciting," said Dr. Donald Ariel, an expert with the Israel Antiquities Authority, in comments released by the agency, which says the coin was struck by Roman Emperor Trajan in the year 107. "His gold coins are extremely rare." One side of the gold disc shows an image of Augustus, the founder of the Roman Empire more than...

Archeologists have uncovered part of an 1,800-year-old Roman road in northern Israel, built in the time of emperor Hadrian, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced.In a statement, the IAA said the road section, measuring some 8 meters (26 feet) wide and 25 meters (82 feet) long, was found near the village of Rumat al-Heib, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the city of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. It was discovered during development work on a walking trail.The IAA branded the road as “the Highway 6 of the ancient world,” referencing Israel’s major north-to-south highway.It said the road, which...