Free Republic

While all US coastlines are vulnerable to landfalling hurricanes, history shows us there are hurricane “hot spots” — where storms most frequently come ashore. While it’s impossible to say where hurricanes are going to make landfall with any sort of certainty weeks and months in advance, the FOX Forecast Center says it’s important to know what areas of the country are most vulnerable historically. To help with this, researchers at the National Hurricane Center have put together data to show the frequency at which a hurricane passes within 50 nautical miles (nm) of a given point along the Atlantic and...

Former FBI Director James Comey said Sunday he thinks imprisoning former President Trump is “obviously doable,” despite some logistic hurdles. In an interview on “Inside with Jen Psaki” on Sunday, Comey was asked about some of the public’s concerns about the logistical challenges that may arise if law enforcement institutions try to imprison Trump — who was convicted this past week on 34 felony counts of falsifying false business records to cover up a scheme to conceal potentially damaging information before the 2016 presidential election.

CLAIM: The Biden campaign is repeating a lie that former President Donald Trump tear-gassed peaceful protesters gathered outside of the White House in Lafayette Square for a photo-op. VERDICT: FALSE. This has been debunked countless times and has been proven false. The inspector general of the U.S. Department of Interior released a report in June 2021 that exonerated Trump from claims that he had tear-gassed peaceful protesters gathered in Lafayette Square in June 2020 to walk through the park to have a photo-op at St. John’s Episcopal Church.

The Trump verdict last Thursday overshadowed a far more disturbing portent for New York: yet another daytime attack in the heart of Times Square, the second in a month, this time a machete assault outside a McDonald’s at 45th and Broadway. New York’s failure to control crime — regular crime, not Trump crime — is slowing its tourism recovery, as new statistics from Broadway’s theater industry show. Like New York overall, Broadway is having a slow rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A masked maniac tried to disrupt Sunday’s Israel Day Parade, taunting marchers and supports with a vile sign reading, “Kill Hostages Now.” The protester, wearing a black mask, black shirt and wearing a Palestinian flag as a cape, was part of a group of anti-Israel demonstrators who faced off with pro-Israeli New Yorkers near the parade route. This year’s Israel Day Parade in New York features numerous family members of hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas and taken to Gaza on Oct. 7.

Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) said on this week’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Saturday Show” that Republican men and women didn’t have “the courage or the patriotism to stand up for democracy.” Host Jonathan Capehart said, “I’m starting with you, because you predicted years ago, you said I’m counting on Stormy. Your reaction to Thursday’s incredible verdict?” Waters said, “It’s a sad day. I’m still shocked and amazed that his supporters would follow him with the lies and the distortions that he continues to give to the American people. He says it is rigged. He says, if they can do this...

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd said this weekend that her sister is backing former President Trump’s reelection bid following the guilty verdict in the New York hush money criminal trial. In a column published Saturday, Dowd said after the guilty verdict, she called her brother and her sister — both of whom, she said, are Republicans who had hoped for a Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley victory — to gauge whether Trump’s conviction had been a final straw for them. Dowd said she was surprised to hear that her sister was swayed in the other direction. “I wasn’t going...

A 14-year-old boy was fatally shot at a Brooklyn public-housing project Sunday morning, police said. The victim, who has not been identified, was found with a gunshot wound to the chest after cops responded to a 911 call at the Howard Houses in Brownsville shortly before 10:30 a.m., the NYPD said. The teen was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, cops said.

Governor Wes Moore (D-MD) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that it was “deeply offensive” to claim former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in the New York business document trial will help him with black voters. Host George Stephanopoulos said, “There’s a debate going on in circles about how to take on the former president, how central to make the fact that he is now a convicted felon. Where do you stand on that?”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in the New York business document trial was a “validation of the American judicial system.” Guest host Peter Alexander said, “I want to start by asking you about this historic verdict. President Biden opened his remarks on Friday by saying it is irresponsible for anyone to say the verdict was rigged just because they do not like it. This is eight years old, and there are questions about the validity of legal theory, untested legal theory to prosecute it. Would...

Republican National Committee Co-Chair Lara Trump said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that GOP Maryland U.S. Senate candidate Larry Hogan did not deserve the respect of anyone in America. Guest host Kasie Hunt said, “Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan in Maryland. And again, I’m asking this in your capacity as one of the co-chairs of the entire Republican Party and he’s a popular former governor in Maryland. He wrote this ahead, right ahead of the verdict. He said, ‘Regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process.’ That is not the...

Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that New York Judge Juan Merchan should consider former President Donald Trump’s comments about being jailed while sentencing. Sunday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Trump said, “I think it would be tough for the public to take, you know at a certain point, there’s a breaking point.” Guest host Kasie Hunt said, “Considering that the sentencing is likely to occur, just days before the start of the convention and months before he’s to be the Republican nominee in November do you think it would be...

SINGAPORE (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused China on Sunday of helping Russia to disrupt an upcoming Swiss-organized peace conference on the war in Ukraine. Speaking at Asia’s premier security conference, Zelenskyy said that China is pressuring other countries and their leaders not to attend the upcoming talks. He did not say which ones. “Russia, using Chinese influence in the region, using Chinese diplomats also, does everything to disrupt the peace summit,” he said at a news conference at the Shangri-La defense forum. “Regrettably this is unfortunate that such a big independent powerful country as China is an instrument...

It’s the preeminent civil rights issue of our day: the protection of girls in women’s sports. Last month’s stolen victory by a male runner in the girls’ 400-meter dash at the Washington state championships underscores a heightened sense of urgency for current and future generations of female athletes. Lauren Matthew, West Valley School District’s top-seeded runner, is just the latest young woman to lose a title to a mediocre male claiming to be female. Naturally, the boy secured the championship by one second.

LONDON (AP) – Halla Tomasdottir, a businesswoman and investor, has won Iceland’s presidential election, topping a crowded field of candidates in which the top three finishers were women, the country’s national broadcast service reported. Tomasdottir was elected to the largely ceremonial post with 34.3% of the vote, defeating former Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, with 25.2%, and Halla Hrund Logadottir, with 15.5%, RUV said Sunday.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said he would “not attend” a speech given by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Republican and Democrat lawmakers invited Netanyahu to speak before a “Joint Meeting of Congress.” Sanders issued a press release on Saturday describing Netanyahu as a “war criminal” and stating that he “should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wrote a letter addressed to Netanyahu on Friday, inviting him to speak before a “Joint...

Severe weather will focus across the High Plains into Saturday night before expanding to the Upper Midwest by later Sunday, then reload over the High Plains and Rockies and advance into the Midwest again next week. AccuWeather meteorologists warn that more storms packing tornadoes and big hail will continue to pose risks to lives and property. Areas of severe thunderstorms will shift back and forth from near the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River into next week. May typically brings a strong surge in severe weather across the United States. However, storm activity this past month has propelled the tally...

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to speak before the United States Congress and Senate in a joint meeting. Johnson announced on Friday that he was “honored” to invite Netanyahu to “address a joint meeting of Congress.” In a letter addressed to Netanyahu, Johnson wrote that “last year” Congress had proudly hosted Israeli President Isaac Herzog to visit Washington, D.C., and that Netanyahu was invited to speak before a “Joint Meeting of Congress.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) joined an anti-Israel commentator this week in blaming the Abraham Accords peace deal and the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem for Hamas’s massive terror attack on Israel on October 7. “AOC” also agreed that Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights — which are not claimed by Palestinians, but were taken from Syria in a defensive war — was also “directly” responsible for October 7.

A Democratic congressman has publicly called on Gov. Hochul to pardon former President Donald Trump after he was found guilty this week of falsifying business records — for the sake of the nation. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) said a Trump conviction only helps his campaign. “Donald Trump is a serial liar, cheater, and philanderer, a six-time declarer of corporate bankruptcy, an instigator of insurrection, and a convicted felon who thrives on portraying himself as a victim. @GovKathyHochul should pardon him for the good of the country,” Phillips declared in a X post Friday.