Free Republic

The first statement made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her annual State of the European Union address on Wednesday was not verbal, but visual. Clad in bright blue and yellow alongside other senior politicians, she showed support for Ukraine's battle with Russia, making clear even before the speech began that the war would top the agenda. With Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska in Strasbourg for the occasion, von der Leyen pledged Europe's "unshakeable" commitment to Kyiv, sending a defiant message to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. "Putin will fail and Europe will prevail," the chief...

On Monday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich outlined how President Joe Biden’s policies were hurting the Democrats ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. Gingrich told FNC’s “Fox & Friends” that there was not “any messaging” the Biden administration could utilize to help them positively spin the president’s cognitive ability, the continued push for masking, inflation and rising crime rates across major cities.

Fully vaccinated people are much less likely to die with Covid-19 than those who aren't, or have had only one dose, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. Out of more than 51,000 Covid deaths in England between January and July 2021, only 256 occurred after two doses. They were mostly people at very high risk from illness from Covid-19. The figures show the high degree of protection from the vaccines against illness and death, the ONS said.

Former President Donald Trump was booed by his own supporters during a rally in Cullman, Alabama Saturday night after he encouraged the crowd to get vaccinated against COVID-19. "I believe totally in your freedoms, I do, you gotta do what you gotta do, but I recommend take the vaccines. I did it. It's good," he said, drawing loud boos from the crowd of supporters. "That's okay, that's alright," Trump continued, brushing off the disapproval. "But I happen to take the vaccine. If it doesn't work, you'll be the first to know. But it is working. You do have your freedoms,...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Healthy and in their 30s, Christina and Josh Tidmore figured they were low-risk for COVID-19. With conflicting viewpoints about whether to get vaccinated against the virus filling their social media feeds and social circles, they decided to wait. On July 20, Josh came home from work with a slight cough initially thought to be sinus trouble. On Aug. 11, he died of COVID-19 at a north Alabama hospital as Christina Tidmore witnessed a doctor and her team frantically try to resuscitate her husband. “She would say, ’I need a pulse. ’I would hear, ‘no pulse,’ “Christina...

In power so long she has been dubbed Germany's "eternal chancellor", Angela Merkel marks 15 years at the helm of Europe's top economic power Sunday with her popularity and public trust scaling new heights as her remaining time in office ticks down. With the coronavirus raging around the world, the pandemic has played to her strengths as a crisis manager with a head for science-based solutions. Merkel, 66, has said she will step down as chancellor when her current mandate runs out in 2021, and leave politics altogether. Assuming she finishes out her fourth term, she will tie Helmut Kohl's...