Free Republic

A Washington, D.C., judge who released on bail a teenager accused of firing over two dozen rounds at a car full of people along a busy street has a social media presence filled with progressive activism and a financial link to progressive mega donor George Soros. Lloyd U. Nolan, Jr., a magistrate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, is in the spotlight this week after he ordered that 18-year-old Amonte Moody be released from custody before his trial despite accusations he sprayed a D.C. neighborhood with shots from an AR-15 while targeting a car carrying four...

Howard University has canceled their nursing graduation ceremony after family members began smashing windows and pounding on doors after being locked out due to the venue reaching full capacity. Parents and family members of College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences students crammed into the Cramton Auditorium in Washington, DC, on Thursday; however, some did not enter the building before the keynote speech abruptly ended the ceremony.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg was detained by Swedish police in Malmö on Saturday for attending a pro-Palestinian protest outside the Eurovision venue. Thunberg, who was wearing a keffiyeh, was escorted away from the event by the cops, according to footage from the incident. Police said in a statement that they had “handled a number of unauthorized public gatherings” and taken several people into custody, but it was not immediately clear if Thunberg was among them or faced any charges. “I’m here to show we think it is outrageous and inexcusable for Eurovision to let Israel participate while committing a genocide,”...

Hundreds of Left-wing activists have stormed Tesla’s Berlin gigafactory after overwhelming local police. Protesters wearing blue baseball caps and face coverings broke through lines of police who failed to stop them despite using pepper spray. Local reports said there had been several arrests, while injured protesters and police officers were treated by paramedics. The protesters reached the gates of the facility but did not gain access to the factory. Tesla told German media that staff were asked to work from home on Friday, with production already down following a public holiday on Thursday. Activists have staged frequent protests at Tesla’s...

Northwestern University near Chicago has rewarded anti-Israel protesters by striking a heavily criticized deal reached between the two groups that has now come under congressional scrutiny, critics have said. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, sent a letter to Northwestern University leaders on Friday, demanding answers on an agreement reached with anti-Israel agitators to end an illegal encampment on campus. Under the agreement, the university said it will cover the full cost of attendance for five Palestinian students who attend the school for the duration of their undergraduate careers. The agreement also provides...

Two Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested after damaging the case around the Magna Carta at the British Library. Reverend Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, 85, a retired biology teacher, targeted the glass enclosure around the historic document on Friday. The pair then held up a sign reading "The Government is breaking the law" before gluing themselves to the display, footage posted online shows. The British Library said security had "intervened to prevent further damage". The Metropolitan Police said two people had been taken into custody having been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage. The British Library...

The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a chaotic build-up towards Saturday's grand final. The Dutch entry has been disqualified, another has withdrawn from rehearsals and a third has broken rules with an on-stage speech, calling for peace. And two former contestants have pulled out of announcing the jury scores for their countries. The drama is unfolding minute by minute against a backdrop of protests over Israel's participation in the show. Thousands of pro-Palestinian marchers have gathered in Malmö, Sweden, where the contest is being held on Saturday. Some chanted "Eurovision, united by genocide," reflecting the strength of feeling over the...

A serial 'dine and dash' couple who bailed on bills worth hundreds of pounds in restaurants across south Wales have pleaded guilty. Bernard McDonagh, 41, and Ann McDonagh, 39, both from Port Talbot, just east of Swansea, pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud when they appeared at Swansea Magistrates' Court today. A judge heard how they bailed on bills at several locations across Wales and were charged by police last month. The court heard the main aggravating factor in the case was the “presence of children” when multiple offences were carried out and that 41-year-old Bernard McDonagh had antecedent...

A powerful solar storm will make the northern lights visible to most of America — including the New York City area — Friday night, but you’ll need to get out of the city if you want a chance at seeing the auroras. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has upgraded the looming geomagnetic solar storm to a level 4, which is capable of disrupting America’s electrical grid and making the northern lights visible as far south as Alabama. The key to witnessing the natural phenomena will depend on the amount of cloud coverage and light population, making upstate New...

The US government says Israel may have breached humanitarian law in Gaza using American weapons. In a delayed report, the state department says it is "reasonable to assess" that US-supplied arms have been used in ways "inconsistent" with Israel's obligations. But it says Israel has had to confront an "extraordinary military challenge" fighting Hamas in Gaza. The report, ordered by the White House, was submitted to Congress on Friday. While the report was a clear rebuke of some Israeli operations in Gaza, it stopped short of definitively saying that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign had breached international law. And...

A Washington grand jury has indicted former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., on charges he made false statements during a campaign finance probe, months after a federal appeals court threw out his 2022 conviction on similar charges in California. The indictment, released Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, accuses Fortenberry of making false statements to investigators during a July 2019 interview in the District of Columbia and during a March 2019 interview at his residence in Lincoln, Neb. Both interviews were connected to an investigation into illegal political campaign contributions from a foreign national to Fortenberry’s...

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The Norwegian national made almost £300,000 ($375k) from a website that amassed 22,841 users who would pay to watch unnecessary surgical procedures. The mastermind behind an extreme body modification ring that carried out "grisly and gruesome" procedures including castrations has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years. Warning: The following article contains graphic details of extreme physical mutilationMarius Gustavson, 46, ran a "lucrative business" sharing images of "dangerous, unnecessary and life-changing surgeries" carried out by people with no medical qualifications, the Old Bailey heard.

The effects of a “snow drought” are still plaguing parts of the West, after a stretch of warm, dry weather last month accelerated the season’s snowmelt, federal meteorologists reported. While California’s Sierra Nevada has received sufficient snow this season to escape such a designation, the same cannot be said for areas in the northern Rocky Mountains and Washington State, according to an update issued Wednesday. In those areas, which are enduring “the most severe snow drought,” snowpack at many lower elevations has melted one to four weeks early, per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Integrated...

A union representing custodians at Columbia University says it is gearing up to sue the Ivy League school for its response to the anti-Israel protests, in which its members allegedly were targeted by "spoiled" and "bratty" agitators who temporarily took over a campus building. TWU International President John Samuelsen told ‘Fox & Friends’ on Thursday that his rank and file is "particularly incensed at Columbia for not protecting the workers and particularly pissed at those particular protesters that tried to hold our workers in the building" during the occupation of Hamilton Hall early last week. "Everybody in the building, the...

A known gang member with a long violent criminal history accused of shooting a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy could have been kept behind bars if not for soft-on-crime policies by the region's top prosecutor, his election opponent said. Raymundo Duran, 47, who allegedly shot Deputy Samuel Aispuro in the back at a stop light while he was sitting on his marked sheriff's department motorcycle on April 22 in West Covina, California, has been involved in a number of violent crimes, including two felony assaults that he committed while serving an 11-year sentence for manslaughter, according to court records. Aispuro,...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is doubling down on legal action against El Paso migrant aid organization Annunciation House, which he’s accused of shielding illegal immigrants from law enforcement, The Post has exclusively learned.Paxton claims to have evidence of the nongovernmental organization engaging in “criminal conduct” and requested a temporary injunction Wednesday to stop Annunciation House from allegedly shielding illegal migrants from law enforcement.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has become the subject of much bemusement among his Senate GOP colleagues as he has taken a detour from his role as a conservative rabble-rouser to playing the lead on reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Texas senator, long-known for stirring up trouble for leadership, has suddenly gone in the reverse as he has prodded Republicans against gumming up the works for the last must-pass bill in Congress for months. But the irony is not lost on lawmakers who have watched Cruz’s mischief up close and personal, especially on government spending battles throughout the years....

Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose successful maneuvering to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year plunged House Republicans into chaos — and made the Florida Republican deeply unpopular among his GOP colleagues — is facing a primary challenger in his re-election bid. Retired Navy aviator Aaron Dimmock filed to run against Gaetz just ahead of the deadline on Friday. According to The New York Times, the treasurer for Dimmock's campaign committee also works for American Patriots PAC, a McCarthy-aligned group that in 2022 helped elect Republicans who were aligned with the then-speaker's agenda. Gaetz called Dimmock a “BLM supporting DEI instructor” and...

Saudi authorities have permitted the use of lethal force to clear land for a futuristic desert city being built by dozens of Western companies, an ex-intelligence officer has told the BBC. Col Rabih Alenezi says he was ordered to evict villagers from a tribe in the Gulf state to make way for The Line, part of the Neom eco-project. One of them was subsequently shot and killed for protesting against eviction. The Saudi government and Neom management refused to comment. Neom, Saudi Arabia's $500bn (£399bn) eco-region, is part of its Saudi Vision 2030 strategy which aims to diversify the kingdom's...