Free Republic

PARIS (AP) — French authorities on Friday raised preliminary terrorism charges against an 18-year-old accused of a plot targeting spectators attending soccer games at the upcoming Paris Olympics. The interior minister said it was the first such thwarted plot targeting the Games, which start in eight weeks as France is on its highest threat alert level. The man is accused of planning a ‘’violent action’’ on behalf of the Islamic State group’s jihadist ideology, the national counterterrorism prosecutor’s office said in a statement Friday. The man, who was not identified, is behind held in custody pending further investigation. Interior Minister...

New Caledonia must not become the “Wild West” declared Emmanuel Macron last week during his flying visit to the Pacific island. For two weeks the indigenous people, the Kanaks, have been in revolt against a voting reform they believe will marginalize them. The French president’s visit achieved little. Not long after Macron’s departure an insurgent was shot dead by police. Seven people have been killed in the unrest and the material damage is estimated at more than one billion euros. It is not only France’s overseas territory that is in danger of resembling the Wild West. Mayhem has become a...

France has a long history of citizens butting heads with the government, and it looks like they're starting to run out of ways for how that can manifest itself. That's because right now, people are upset with a $1.5 billion plan to clean up the River Seine ahead of the Paris Olympics so that it can be used for long-distance swimming events like in 1900. So, how are they planning on protesting? Well, if you guessed an organized effort to all rip deuces in the Seine on the day that the President of France and Mayor of Paris said they'd...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected calls from French leader Emmanuel Macron for a truce with Russia during the Paris Olympics and criticised the West for seeking a swift end to the war. The ancient tradition stretching back to Ancient Greece of a truce during the games will likely not be observed during this year’s Olympics in Paris, which will be held from July 26th to August 11th in the French capital.

There’ll be no lovemaking in the City of Love. “Anti-sex” beds have arrived in Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games, with their materials and small size allegedly aimed at deterring athletes from getting kinky during the competition. The beds’ twin size means there’s no room for the competitors to sidle up together. The beds are manufactured by Airweave, which also made the products for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. According to Inside the Games, sustainability is cited as the primary reason why Olympic officials opted for the beds this year. The mattresses and cardboard frames are 100%...

Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel is throwing his financial muscle behind an “Olympics on steroids” — whose organizer boasts that athletes will dope “out in the open and honestly.” Thiel, who made his fortune as an early investor in tech startups like PayPal and Facebook, is backing the Enhanced Games, which will actively encourage athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs. The venture — aimed at aiding research into nutritional supplements and biohacks that push the boundaries of human performance — is the brainchild of Dr. Aron D’Souza, a lawyer by training who famously conceived Thiel’s lawsuit against Gawker Media. He plans...

In 1980 in Cleveland, Walsh was fatally shot in the cross fire of an attempted robbery. The subsequent autopsy revealed that Walsh had a chromosomal disorder known as mosaicism that left her with sexually ambiguous genitalia. Despite the gender confusion caused by the disorder, Walsh had lived her entire life as a woman.

Pagan ‘prayer’ to Zeus, Apollo offered at 2024 Olympics torch lighting ceremonyA ‘high priestess’ prayed to Zeus and Apollo at a Greek pagan temple during the Paris Olympics’ torch lighting ceremony earlier this month, prompting backlash from Christians online.OLYMPIA, Greece (LifeSiteNews) — In less than 100 days, the summer Olympics will kick off in Paris, which, like every leading global city, a growing number of non-Christian foreigners now call home. God forbid there should be a terrorist attack or a Catholic church that goes up in flames. Earlier this month, the games’ first ceremony, the torch lighting ritual, was held...

FRENCH president Emmanuel Macron has admitted the Olympics opening ceremony could be cut back amid fears of an ISIS attack. He revealed today that the sporting celebration might be shifted from the River Seine to the national stadium following the death cult's slew of vile threats. Instead of teams sailing down the Seine on barges, Macron stated July's showpiece event could be "limited to the Trocadéro" or "even moved to the Stade de France" as a "precaution". "We will analyse this in real time," Macron said, adding that it was dependent on the scale of the security threat. The move...

A new published report from international researchers marshals every line of evidence in defense of fairness in women’s sports.The International Olympic Committee (IOC) developed its 2021 framework on sex and “gender” around the concepts of fairness, inclusion, and non-discrimination. This framework leaves it to each sport’s governing body “to determine how an athlete may be at a disproportionate advantage against their peers.” However, they admonish sports organizations against “targeted testing … aimed at determining [athletes’] sex, gender identity and/or sex variations.” Instead, it’s up to each sport to “[provide] confidence that no athlete within a category has an unfair and...

Allegations of “social cleansing” have been made against organisers of the Paris Summer Olympic Games as homeless people, sex workers, and illegal migrants are being taken off the city’s streets and sent to regional France ahead of the event. Serge Grouard, the mayor of Orleans in central France, went public Monday with his complaints over the unannounced arrival of up to 500 homeless migrants in his town of 100,000 people, AFP reports. “It has been proved that every three weeks, a coach arrives in Orleans from Paris, with between 35-50 people on board,” he told reporters, adding it was to...

The athletes competing at the Paris Summer Games will have plenty of condoms, but they will not have air conditioning. “We designed these buildings so that they would be comfortable places to live in in the summer, in 2024 and later on, and we don’t need air conditioning in these buildings because we oriented the facades so that they wouldn’t get too much sun during the summer, and the facades, the insulation is really efficient,” said Yann Krysinski, who is directing the service of infrastructure for the Games. The buildings housing the athletes will apparently have some sort of cooling...

The athletes competing at the Paris Summer Games will have plenty of condoms, but they will not have air conditioning. “We designed these buildings so that they would be comfortable places to live in in the summer, in 2024 and later on, and we don’t need air conditioning in these buildings because we oriented the facades so that they wouldn’t get too much sun during the summer, and the facades, the insulation is really efficient,” said Yann Krysinski, who is directing the service of infrastructure for the Games. ... The decision to forego traditional air conditioning is borne of the...

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - France will propose a ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict for the duration of the Olympic Games in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron said, adding that Paris is ready to react if the conflict escalates, but will not initiate aggression. "We will ask for it," Macron said in an interview with Ukrainian TV channels when asked if he would offer Russia a ceasefire for the duration of the Olympics. The Paris Olympics will be held from July 26 to August 11. He also said he was ready to discuss proposals to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine with Russian...

Olympic athletes are going to be on the hot seat this summer in Paris. Not just metaphorically; the Paris Olympic Committee wants this Olympics to be the greenest ever (take that, Classical Greeks!), and one of the measures they have taken is to build the Olympic village without any air conditioning. There will be no air conditioning in athletes' rooms at #Paris2024, which pledged to host the ‘greenest ever’ Olympic Games. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo spoke to @Reuters about the city's plans to keep athletes cool https://t.co/Js9skXtWoF pic.twitter.com/uVBMusztdi— Reuters (@Reuters) March 14, 2024I think this is one virtue signal that...

The case is unlikely to be resolved in time for this summer's Olympic Games in Paris but could have massive ramifications in the years to come. (LifeSiteNews) – Gender-confused University of Pennsylvania swimmer William “Lia” Thomas is working with Canadian law firm Tyr behind the scenes to try to overturn the ban on males competing against females in the Olympics, according to a report in the UK’s Telegraph. Thomas, who “transitioned” to identifying as a female yet retains male genitalia and reportedly remained heterosexual (despite self-identifying as lesbian), has drawn headlines since 2022 for generating unease among his actual female...

“I grew up watching the Olympics and am thrilled to see the incredible athletes bring their A-game to Paris. It’s a celebration of skill, dedication, and the pursuit of greatness,” said Snoop Dogg in a statement. “We’re going to have some amazing competitions and, of course, I will be bringing that Snoop style to the mix. It’s going to be the most epic Olympics ever, so stay tuned, and keep it locked. Let’s elevate, celebrate, and make these games unforgettable, smoke the competition, and may the best shine like gold. Peace and Olympic LOVE, ya dig?”

Russian ‘sisters’ Tamara and Irina Press romped home to five gold medals and smashed lots of records. When gender testing came in, they retired. Rivals called them the ‘Press Brothers’.

Double-amputee Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius was granted parole Friday, 10 years after shooting his girlfriend through a toilet door at his home in South Africa in a killing that jolted the world. Department of Corrections spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said Pistorius would be released from prison on Jan. 5. Pistorius, who turned 37 this week, has been in jail since late 2014 for the Valentine’s Day 2013 killing of model Reeva Steenkamp, although he was released for a period of house arrest in 2015 while one of the numerous appeals in his case was heard....