Free Republic

"...Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was no deal yet to secure the release of some 240 hostages held by Hamas “as of now,” and dismissed “a lot of incorrect reports” in recent days about imminent agreements to free at least some of the hostages. In a lengthy Saturday evening press conference, Netanyahu said that if a deal emerges, the Israeli public will be updated....."

EXCLUSIVE: Furious Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired all of his regional chiefs within the country's military recruitment offices after uncovering numerous cases of abuse of power among them.Zelensky's chiefs bought 'luxury cars and Spanish villas' while soldiers died on frontline EXCLUSIVE: Furious Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired all of his regional chiefs within the country's military recruitment offices after uncovering numerous cases of abuse of power among them Ukraine’s regional army chiefs bought luxury cars and properties in Spain while their countrymen died on the frontlines, a former advisor to the Ukrainian Parliament has exclusively told Daily Express US. This...

"KYIV, May 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Sunday that its forces were still advancing around the edges of Bakhmut, aiming to encircle the ruined eastern city after Moscow congratulated the Wagner private army and Russian troops for capturing it. Russia said on Saturday it had completely taken Bakhmut, which, if confirmed, would mark an end to the longest and bloodiest battle of the 15-month war. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his regular troops and the Wagner group. On Sunday, however, a top Ukrainian general said Kyiv's forces still controlled what he accepted was an "insignificant" part of Bakhmut, although...

"KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Bakhmut was “only in our hearts,” hours after Russia’s defense ministry reported that forces of the Wagner private army, with the support of Russian troops, had seized the city in eastern Ukraine. Speaking alongside U.S. President Joe Biden at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Zelenskyy said the Russians had destroyed “everything.” “You have to understand that there is nothing,” he said. “For today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts,” he said. “There is nothing in this place.”......"

"I declare on behalf of the Wagner fighters, on behalf of the Wagner command, that on May 10, 2023, we are obliged to transfer positions in the settlement of Bakhmut to units of the defence ministry and withdraw the remains of Wagner to logistics camps to lick our wounds," Prigozhin said in a statement....."

A text message sent by Tucker Carlson that set off a panic at the highest levels of Fox on the eve of its billion-dollar defamation trial showed its most popular host sharing his private, inflammatory views about violence and race. The discovery of the message contributed to a chain of events that ultimately led to Mr. Carlson’s firing. In the message, sent to one of his producers in the hours after violent Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Carlson described how he had recently watched a video of a group of men — Trump supporters, he...

The homeowner who allegedly shot a black teen in the head after he mistakenly rang his doorbell in Kansas City was hit with two felony counts on Monday as prosecutors said he could spend the rest of his life in jail. Andrew D. Lester, 85, was charged with assault in the first degree and armed criminal action for the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in a crime that had a “racial component,” according to the Clay County Prosecutor Office. Lester was not immediately arrested on Monday evening. A bond of $200,000 was set for the suspect.......

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott promised Saturday to pardon a US Army sergeant a day after he was convicted of shooting a protester to death during a Black Lives Matter rally. The Republican said Sgt. Daniel Perry, 35, was acting in his own defense when he repeatedly fired his handgun on 28-year-old Garrett Foster as he marched in the July 25, 2020 Austin demonstration. “Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” Abbott said in a statement. The governor blamed the Friday conviction on the...

".....Dershowitz went on to suggest that Trump’s case will likely not be dismissed, saying that “I don’t think that if you had the best lawyers in the history of the world, Abraham Lincoln and John Marshall, a New York City judge would dismiss this case because that New York City judge’s life would be over.”.... .....However, he added that the case would “be reversed on appeal,” and it “will never be affirmed all the way up to the Supreme Court.”..."

Democrats say Michelle Obama has the "it" factor that could maybe beat Donald Trump in 2024. While Democratic leaders are publicly rallying behind Joe Biden to be their guy for the 2024 presidential election, behind the scenes Democrats are still mulling the best leader for the party who could win a stand-off against former President Donald Trump in 2024......"

See twitter link above and post below.

Even though he was fired for cause, Pete Arredondo, the Texas school district police chief terminated for his actions on the day of a schoolhouse massacre last year, won an appeal to remove a blemish from his discharge file, according to a state think tank that studied his case file. The decision does not enable Arredondo to get his job in Uvalde back, but it clears his record in the event he seeks employment at another agency. "The whole point of this … discharge system is to be a red flag for hiring agencies," said Luis Soberon, a policy adviser...

Link to REDACTED PUBLIC VERSION motion for summary judgement by Fox News of Dominion's suit against them. PDF file 169 pages.

SAN FRANCISCO - The body camera footage of the attack of Paul Pelosi in his San Francisco home was released on Friday – the first time the public has been able to witness the home invasion that left the former House Speaker's 82-year-old husband with a fractured skull......

"...Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff announced a 2024 Senate bid on Thursday, launching a campaign for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat in what is shaping up to be a competitive Democratic primary....."

".....“The last 10 years I do a lot of things to protect the human rights and other people. But in this moment, I understood that my mission to help other people created a very high risk to my family,” Osechkin told CNN from France, where he’s lived since 2015 after he fled Russia and claimed asylum. He now has full-time police protection. He’s become the champion of a growing number of high-level Russian officials defecting to the West, emboldened and disgruntled by the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. He says ex-generals and intelligence agents are among their number...."

After weeks of discussion, the Biden administration is preparing to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, according to three senior U.S. officials.......

"....Germany is set to send its sought-after Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine to help bolster the country’s war effort, Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday evening, attributing to unnamed sources. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to deliver the battle tanks following “months of debate,” according to the German news outlet’s exclusive report.....

The "Doomsday Clock" symbolizing the perils to humanity moved Tuesday to its closest ever to midnight amid the Ukraine war, nuclear tensions and the climate crisis. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which describes the clock as a "metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation," edged its hands from 100 seconds to midnight to 90 seconds to midnight.......

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The German government will not object if Poland decides to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, Germany’s top diplomat said Sunday, indicating movement on supplying weapons that Kyiv has described as essential to its ability to fend off an intensified Russian offensive.......