Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia's defense minister reshuffle was a further indication of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "desperation to sustain" his invasion of Ukraine, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Monday. Putin tapped a civilian economist as his surprise new defense minister on Sunday in an attempt to gird Russia for economic war by trying to better utilize the defense budget and harness greater innovation to win in Ukraine.

A billboard in a western Jerusalem neighborhood that once thanked U.S. President Joe Biden for his support has been changed to criticize Biden for pressuring Israel not to pursue Hamas terrorists and win the war in Gaza. As Breitbart News noted in October, shortly after the outbreak of war: On Emek Refaim — a street in the heart of the old German Colony, an area popular with Americans — a billboard thanking President Joe Biden for his support was the only face in sight Friday evening. Families gathered quietly for the Sabbath meal; some walked through the streets, the mothers...

A First Communion service in Louisiana erupted in panic when a 16-year-old armed with a rifle attempted to storm the church through a back door. But parishioners spotted the teen and swarmed him — holding him outside until police arrived and arrested him. The terrifying scene unfolded at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Abbeville — which was full of parents with young children who were there for the rite of passage in the church. The incident was streamed live on the church’s website Saturday morning as Fr. Nicholas G. Dupré led the faithful in prayer from the altar. In...

Iranian member of Parliament Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani said in an interview this weekend that he believed his country had successfully developed a nuclear weapon, contrary to international law, but would not admit to it. Ardestani claimed that Iran would still claim to be abiding by the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement brokered by American President Barack Obama that dramatically reduced sanctions on Tehran in exchange for promises not to expand its nuclear development. Iran has consistently violated the nuclear deal for years; President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 but the other four countries...

Voters by a wide margin seek action against National Public Radio (NPR) after a whistleblower last month came forward and accused the station of liberal-biased news coverage, a poll shows. Fully 44 percent of respondents to a DailyMail.com/TIPP survey said the broadcaster should lose its taxpayer cashflows over its political leaning. Another 26 percent of more than 1,400 US adults said it should keep its government support; and 31 percent said they were not sure.

California Governor Gavin Newsom was called out by a reporter after he continued to dodge questions about blowing the state's $24 billion spending on the homeless. The Golden State's budget deficit is at least $45 billion, a shortfall so large it prompted Newsom to propose painful spending cuts impacting immigrants, kindergarteners and low-income parents seeking child care in a state often lauded for having the world's fifth-largest economy. California spent $24 billion tackling homelessness over five years but didn't track if the money was helping the state's growing number of unhoused people, a damning report says.

Former President Donald Trump is leading President Joe Biden in five of six key battleground states new polling found, as the Democrat has lost support among the nonwhite and young voters who formed his winning coalition four years ago. On Monday, The New York Times, Siena College and The Philadelphia Inquirer released the latest series of battleground polls, with the numbers largely unchanged since the last set of polls were published in November. Biden didn't get a boost from the stock market climbing 25 percent or from ads his campaign has run in the six key states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan,...

Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki falsely claimed that President Joe Biden did not look at his watch during the ceremony at Dover for the 13 soldiers killed during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Psaki wrote in her new book Say More Lessons from Work, the White House, and the World that 'the president looked at his watch only after the ceremony had ended. Moments later, he and the First Lady headed toward their car.' She wrote in her book that claims to the contrary were 'misinformation.'

DENVER (KDVR) — Each year, U.S. News and World Report releases a report ranking each state on several factors. In the most recent report, Colorado made a top 10 list — for most dangerous states. On Thursday, U.S. News and World Report released the “10 Most Dangerous States in America” list. Each of the 50 states was judged on violent crimes and property crime rates. Colorado was recognized as the third most dangerous state, largely in part because of its property crime rate. The report pulled violent and property crime numbers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Data Explorer....

In today’s edition of Getting What You Vote For, the dummies in California are about to get hit with a 50 cent per gallon gas tax. Remember, California voters have handed the Democrat party full power over the former Golden State. Democrats run everything from the governorship on down. Democrats not only hold majorities in the state legislature, they hold veto-proof majorities. In other words… Republicans are powerless in California. And so… According to Triple-A, the average cost of a gallon of gas in California today is $5.29. That’s nearly $1.70 more than the national average. In some parts of...

The Biden Administration unveiled its second round of military aid to Ukraine for $400 million, following its $95 billion and $60 million for the country. The new package will consist a number of weapons, including: Patriot missile system munitions High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMAR) systems and ammunition Stinger anti-air missiles, 155mm artillery rounds Bradley Fighting Vehicles Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) “As President Biden has made clear, the United States and the international coalition we have assembled will continue to stand with Ukraine in its defense of its freedom,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement....

We all know what tiny homes are, but have you ever heard of a skinny home? What originally began as plans to construct a single-family residence in Washington, DC, suddenly shrank when the city unexpectedly changed its zoning laws. “The developer bought the property, thinking it could be a four-story home that was 15 feet wide; but the city changed the zoning laws, so he had to build this skinny home in its place,” says listing agent Jennifer Young, of Keller Williams Chantilly Ventures. “It had to be scaled down to almost half the width. This home is now just...

Based on the latest available data and an enhanced version of a stress-tested methodology from a scholarly journal, a new study by Just Facts has found that about 10% to 27% of non-citizen adults in the U.S. are now illegally registered to vote. The U.S. Census recorded more than 19 million adult non-citizens living in the U.S. during 2022. Given their voter registration rates, this means that about two million to five million of them are illegally registered to vote. These figures are potentially high enough to overturn the will of the American people in major elections, including congressional seats...

Michael Cohen testified Monday he secretly recorded Donald Trump in the lead-up to the 2016 election, discussing plans to buy a Playboy model’s story about having an affair with the then-candidate. Cohen — who worked for Trump for more than a decade — told jurors in Manhattan Supreme Court that the Sept. 6, 2016, conversation, taped on the Voice Memos app on his iPhone, was the only time he surreptitiously recorded his former boss. “So, what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?” Trump could allegedly be heard saying on the nearly three-minute recording played in court by Assistant...

**SNIP** Police initially shut down the carnival in Chester County Saturday night after a group of juveniles created what officials described as an "unsafe environment" for those at the fair. Additional officers from agencies around the county were also called in to help with crowd control. While they didn't specify exactly what happened, police said the large crowd in the outer lot of the Exton Square Mall was creating a disturbance. **SNIP** Police are also investigating a fight that they say occurred inside the mall after the carnival was shut down. The department released surveillance footage captured by a business...

A new survey from the online magazine Intelligent found that a majority of students support the current protests on campus though admit they have little knowledge of the Israel-Hamas war and get most of their information on it from TikTok. Jimin Kim/SOPA Images/Shutterstock A majority of college students support the anti-Israel protests plaguing campuses across the country — and 15% of those surveyed who participated in one don’t believe Israel has a right to exist, a shocking new poll found.

One of Europe’s most notorious people-smugglers has been arrested in Iraq following a BBC investigation. Barzan Majeed was arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday morning, a senior government official said. For several years, he and his gang were heavily involved in the people-smuggling trade - in boats and lorries - across the English Channel. The BBC tracked down Majeed - also known as Scorpion - to the city of Sulaymaniya, where he said he had transported thousands of migrants across the channel. “Maybe a thousand, maybe 10,000. I don’t know, I didn’t count,” he said. A senior member of the...

States like California, New York, and Massachusetts have passed climate policies specifically intended to jump-start this battery industry. But this year, for the first time ever, the fastest-growing energy storage market appears to be Texas, a free-market-affirming red state that officially cares little about solving climate change. Nonetheless, the state’s low-regulation, business-friendly landscape has created ideal conditions to build batteries quickly and at scale, just like it previously incubated thriving wind and solar markets.

Louis Knuffke, a LifeSiteNews Washington D.C. correspondent, was interviewing Heather Idoni, 59, over the phone on May 13 when she disclosed that she had had 3 stents placed above her heart two weeks ago and was told to take daily doses of heart medicine. However, prison officials have not given her a single dose, she told Knuffke, and jail personnel have told her that their records say she has been given them every day. Idoni, who said she was suffering from fluttering of the heart, terminated the interview after saying she would request a trip to the hospital. Knuffke then...

Former President Donald Trump is making a “heavy move into Minnesota,” hoping to flip the state red after it has consistently voted blue in the presidential election since 1976. Trump is heading to the blue state this week, speaking at the Minnesota Republican Party’s Lincoln Reagan dinner. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), the Trump campaign’s state campaign chair, said the Minnesota GOP is “honored to welcome” Trump to the state: Honored to welcome the former and next President of the United States @realDonaldTrump to Minnesota! We are going to end the failed policies of the Biden Administration and get...