Free Republic

Gun violence in New York City has spiked along with the mercury, with shootings up more than 50% last week compared to the same time last year — indicating that the Big Apple could be in for a bloody summer. A total of 23 shootings were reported across the five boroughs in the week starting April 21, according to new NYPD statistics — an increase of 53% from the 15 shootings tallied over the same period in 2024. Temperatures in Gotham hit a high of 82 degrees last Tuesday, making it the second-warmest day in April, according to Accuweather. Last...

As a powerful storm takes shape just east of the Rockies by the middle of the week, AccuWeather meteorologists are forecasting a vast eruption of severe weather, including the potential for tornadoes, Friday and Saturday in the zone from the Great Plains to the Mississippi Valley. Should the storm develop to its full potential, it could be one of the strongest on record for the region in terms of low pressure. The more intense the storm, the greater the amount of energy will be available for severe weather, rain, snow and winds in general. Even a more moderate, typical storm...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston stated that an incident where there was a suspected gang member who ICE said assaulted ICE agents after he was released from Denver’s custody is the first time he knows of that there’s been a problem with how the city interacts with ICE when they have people in custody that ICE wants access to and “If there are procedures we can adjust to make it safer, we’re open to that. But this has been a procedure that’s worked for a long, long time. We’ve never had an issue until this...

AFP — UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington next week to discuss a “wide range of issues”, a British government spokesperson confirmed on Monday. Starmer is seeking to foster ties with Trump in a delicate balancing act of maintaining good relations with both the new US administration and the European Union, which Britain left five years ago. He is also hoping the UK can act as a bridge between Europe and the United States over the war in Ukraine, stressing that Britain could have “a unique role” in helping to secure any ceasefire...

According to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the United States repatriated 5,282 migrants to Mexico during the first seven days following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. During a Thursday morning press briefing, Sheinbaum told reporters that less than 4,500 returnees were Mexican nationals. Sheinbaum, the country’s first female president, spoke to reporters from Mexico’s National Palace about several immigration issues. She provided statistics regarding repatriations to Mexico during the first week after President Trump took office. According to Sheinbaum, nearly 500 migrants were repatriated to Mexico on January 28; however, she did not provide the number of migrants not of Mexican origin....

An NYU study using Fitbit data suggests that modest weekly physical activity may reduce atrial fibrillation risk by up to 65%, underscoring the heart health benefits of regular exercise. A new study reveals that adding an extra hour of physical activity each week can reduce the risk of developing the most common type of irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) by 11%. Led by researchers at NYU Langone Health, the investigation focused on atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heart’s upper two chambers beat rapidly and irregularly instead of at a consistent pace. If left untreated, this can lead to stroke, heart...

NBC News warned that Americans would face a delay in the presidential election results as “Nevada will take a week to count all their votes.” “So, she wins North Carolina, we could be living here in Nevada waiting and waiting and waiting,” NBC News’s Chuck Todd said. “And, if you remember, Nevada will take a week to count all their votes.” Todd added that “more ballots” would come in.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is slated to hold a hearing Thursday morning regarding a standard 32-hour work week. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday introduced a bill to establish a standard four-day workweek in the United States without any reduction in pay. The bill, over a four-year period, would lower the threshold required for overtime pay from 40 hours to 32 hours. It would require overtime pay at a rate of 1.5 times a worker’s regular salary for work days longer than 8 hours, and it would require overtime pay at double a worker’s regular...

More than three years into the pandemic, hundreds of Americans are still dying from COVID-19 every week. For the week ending Dec. 9, the last week of complete data, there were 1,614 deaths from COVID, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The last four weeks of complete data show an average of 1,488 weekly deaths. By comparison, there were 163 weekly deaths from the flu for the week ending Dec. 9, according to CDC data.

Faculty at a Massachusetts high school have canceled "USA Day" from its spirit week activities this year because they wanted to "avoid politics," local outlets reported this week. In a letter to the school community, Wellesley High School principal Jamie Chisum explained that school staff canceled the patriotic-themed day to avoid a topic that had become "politicized." "USA Day" was slated to be held on the last day of the high school’s festive week, allowing kids to dress up in their patriotic gear and celebrate America. The theme was replaced by "Fitness Friday," though students were still invited to wear...

I never thought the day would come when I, a die-hard Reagan Republican, would credit a Democratic president for being Reaganesque. Amazingly, it has. Don’t look now, but Joe Biden has been leading with moral authority in the struggle against violent authoritarianism and illiberalism at home and abroad. While Donald Trump criticized the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden met with Bibi and declared America’s support for Israel to be “rock solid and unwavering.” And while Republican support for providing U.S. aid to Ukraine has eroded, Biden has steadfastly supported them in their plight against a brutal Russian invasion.

President Biden was spotted soaking up the sun Saturday during a beach outing that came after a tough four-day workweek. The commander-in-chief caught some rays at the beach near his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Biden, 80, sported blue swim trunks adorned with sea turtles and a white polo shirt as he sunk his toes in the sand alongside First Lady Jill Biden.

Warning lights continue to flash bright red for California’s cannabis industry as companies struggle to pay their bills, legal cannabis sales continue to drop and pot tax revenue falls for the seventh straight quarter. The latest tax figures released by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, or CDTFA, showed that cannabis excise taxes fell a whopping 18.8% in the first quarter of 2023. That’s the seventh quarter in a row in which excise tax collections have fallen for the industry. The falling tax revenue is the latest domino to fall in what appears to be a long-brewing economic...

It’s Climate Week in New York City — happening alongside the UN General Assembly — and it comes on the heels of a record-smashing hot summer in the northern hemisphere and ahead of what could be a dangerously under-heated winter in Europe. It’s a moment when China has seen its most severe heatwave on record, the war in Ukraine reinforced Western Europe’s over-dependence on natural gas and flooding in Pakistan was labeled a “climate catastrophe” requiring “massive support.” And all of this just months after the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) raised an alarm bell on the inadequacy...

NewsNation) — There’s some good news when it comes to the price of gas, but it may take a while for drivers to see it. Gasoline futures hit an all-time high on June 8 and have fallen steadily ever since — the price of crude oil has dropped 10 percent since last Monday. Yet while companies are now paying 28 cents per gallon less, the nationwide average has increased by a penny since actual prices began to fall.

During Monday’s broadcast of FNC’s “Fox & Friends,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich weighed in on Democrats reportedly questioning if President Joe Biden should run again in 2024. With former President Donald Trump’s decision about running in 2024 still looming, Gingrich said that “every week that goes by, Donald Trump’s presidency looks better.” He pointed to the record-high inflation, the border crisis and gas prices, saying people preferred Trump’s policies.

More than 22,000 people in the United States have died from the Chinese coronavirus during President Joe Biden’s second week in office. An estimated 22,032 people in the U.S. have died due to complications from the coronavirus during Biden’s second week in the White House, according to statistics provided by Johns Hopkins University.

New weekly jobless claims fell by 89,000 to 803,000 in the week that ended December 19, the Department of Labor said Wednesday. The prior week’s initial claims number was revised up to 892,000 from the initial estimate of 885,000.

The United States saw its deadliest week since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — with a 44 percent rise in fatalities compared to the week prior, according to new data. A total of 15,966 Americans died from the coronavirus in the seven-day period between Dec. 3 and Dec. 9, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project, which has been releasing a weekly analysis since March 12.

RUSH: Devin Nunes had a good point. Devin Nunes was on Fox last night. He was on with Hannity. Hannity played him a sound bite of me from yesterday’s program. This is what I said a few times on the program yesterday. RUSH ARCHIVE: I really think that the model for what’s gonna happen this week is the Kavanaugh hearings. It was a never-ending parade for about a week and a half. As every person they brought forth to try to destroy Kavanaugh failed, there was another one waiting in the wings. And I will guarantee you that it is...