Free Republic

The United Nations Security Council convened for an “emergency” meeting on Sunday in which several members condemned Iran for launching over 300 drones and missiles at Israel the day before. The members of the Council did not agree on any meaningful action in response to the unprecedented assault, which Israel almost entirely blocked with advanced missile defense systems. Israel’s representative condemned Iran as the “number-one global sponsor of terror” and demanded the Council act to restrain Tehran’s ability to “arm, fund, and train terror proxies across the globe.” Iran, meanwhile, argued that it “had no choice” but to bomb Israel...

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said on Sunday that the United States is looking to set an in-person meeting in the “next week or so” after a virtual meeting this past week. The meeting comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled an initial plan for an Israeli delegation to travel to the U.S. to meet with counterparts about the operation in Rafah. “We had a virtual meeting last week. We expect to have an in-person meeting with Israeli counterparts in the next week or so. We’re still narrowing down the schedule,” Kirby said in an interview...

Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate has become a major attraction for the world’s illiberal bigots. From Hitler-praising rapper Ye to white nationalist Nick Fuentes, the former president has shown no qualms about bringing bigots into his abode. He’s set to do so again this week, with Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán scheduled for a visit. And, frankly, I’m surprised that their little playdate isn’t raising more eyebrows. ...... In Orbán, Trump will be meeting with a leader who has proclaimed that Hungarians “are not a mixed race … and we do not want to become a mixed race.” Echoing Trump’s immigration rhetoric,...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will meet this week with high-dollar Republicans to try to cement their support for the newest political action committee supporting his presidential bid, his campaign manager, James Uthmeier, wrote in a memo on Monday morning. Back Down, the super PAC which has bankrolled much of DeSantis' sprawling ground work in early voting states like Iowa and has hosted the governor for dozens of events there. In a fraught moment earlier this month that was first reported by NBC News, two board members from Never Back Down nearly got into a physical fight during a private meeting...

President Joe Biden “stressed the importance” of supporting Ukraine during a meeting Wednesday with Chilean President Gabriel Boric, who is in Washington to attend a series of economic engagements and to expand Chile’s trade ties to America. The meeting between Biden and Boric in the White House marked the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. During remarks to journalists prior to their closed-door meeting, Boric described the objective of his visit of helping “strengthen our relationships” and noted the great benefits Chile has received from a 20-year-old free trade agreement with America.

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, the first time in nearly two years that the central bank paused rates over the course of two consecutive meetings. Since March 2022, the Fed has hiked the federal funds rate from near-zero percent to a range of 5.25 to 5.5 percent in an effort to curb rampant inflation. Price growth upeneded the economy in the wake of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which helped push volatile energy prices higher.

Senior officials at the Democratic National Committee are sounding the alarm that the committee is falling short of its own diversity goals. And they're warning that if current trends aren’t changed, the delegates heading to next summer’s convention will be too white when they gather next summer to officially renominate resident Joe Biden. “I keep looking at these diversity goals in big states like New York, like California. And, for some reason, whether it’s the African American community, Black community, the LGBTQ+ community, or Hispanic community, [the] numbers continue to decrease,” Donna Brazile told her colleagues at a recent committee...

Vice President Harris said that a meeting between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin would be a mistake, saying it would further isolate both countries. North Korea is considering supplying Moscow with artillery rounds and rockets in return for critical technology and food. The deal could be made later this month when Kim is planning to go to Moscow.

A California Reparations Task Force meeting got heated this week when several people began publicly denouncing the United States for its role in slavery, with one even calling for a “divorce.” The final meeting of the Reparations Task Force in Sacramento occurred a little over a month after the nine-member panel recommended that California state legislators pay black residents of the state up to $1.2 million in reparations for slavery and past discrimination. During the public speaking segment, people did not hold back their opinions. One man, named Reggie Romanie, believed the recommended $1.2 million would never be enough.

Massive brawl breaks out outside Glendale CA school board. (Credit: Sergio Olmos)A huge fight broke out outside the Glendale School Board meeting in Los Angeles as parents, many of them from the Armenian-American community, came to protest the school’s pride events. Naturally, the left-wing zealots—read “Antifa”—showed up in force, and as you will see, some serious punches were thrown on both sides. A heavy police presence attempted to stop the fighting, violently pulling apart combatants to prevent serious injury.Someone with a bullhorn shouts, “Do not engage! Step away. We are not here to fight!” Maybe that person wasn’t there to...

Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez (NJ) held a meeting in his Washington, DC, office in 2018 with a New Jersey businessman who is at the center of a federal corruption probe into the senator, the Wall Street Journal reported. Southern District of New York prosecutors are investigating Menendez as part of a corruption probe, which reportedly stems from facts similar to a 2015 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) case against Menendez and Democrat donor Salomon Melgen for conspiracy and bribery. According to the Wall Street Journal: The meeting, which hasn’t been previously reported, came months before the businessman, Wael Hana, secured...

A Memorial Day weekend town hall with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) devolved into pandemonium Friday night as the crowd booed and shouted insults while she attempted to discuss her policies on immigration, Ukraine funding, and the debt limit. The event took place in the Queens neighborhood of Corona and the venue appeared to be packed with constituents. Some in the stands held signs proclaiming, “America First,” and “Stop funding Ukraine.” AOC attempted to discuss the debt limit before being shouted down: “We should eliminate the debt limit in the United States because of the constitutional…” One man yelled “American citizens...

Here comes the panic. Bloomberg just reported that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen – who was singlehandedly responsible for stoking and restarting the bank crisis on Wednesday which until that day was easing back, with her comments that nobody in charge was even talking about a uniform deposit insurance, let alone working on one – will convene the heads of top US financial regulators Friday morning for a previously unscheduled meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The meeting will be closed to the public, the Treasury Department said in a statement. The Treasury didn’t say what time the meeting would...

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday that the period of turmoil in the financial sector following the failures of several large banks may be coming to an end. “The situation is stabilizing,” she said Tuesday at a conference of the American Bankers Association, the largest trade group for U.S. banks, in Washington, D.C. As evidence, Yellen cited increased lending to banks from the Federal Reserve, including from a new line of credit that was set up by the Fed and backstopped by taxpayer money. She also said that flights of deposits out of smaller banks to the banks that were...

The Chinese Foreign Ministry demanded on Wednesday that the government of the United States prevent any meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who is reportedly planning to stop through Los Angeles and New York in April, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). McCarthy confirmed on Tuesday that he planned to meet with Tsai during her stay in America, a stopover on her way to friendly Latin American states, and dismissed any pressure from Beijing not to do so. McCarthy also stated that meeting Tsai in America would not preclude any visit he might make to Taiwan in the future.

One nonprofit is now demanding the practice immediately cease in an effort to "protect the constitutional rights of students and parents." The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), a national advocacy group for atheists, agnostics and non-theists, works to protect the Establishment Clause. Despite local law allowing prayer at other council meetings, FFRF argues that GUSD is subjecting itself to both "unnecessary liability" and "potential financial strain" by adopting the practice in an educational setting.

California’s reparations task force met Friday and was told by one speaker that the suggested $223,000 per resident is not enough. Rev. Tony Pierce criticized the idea of limiting the cash payouts to Californians, saying there should be no residency requirements, Fox News reported Saturday. He said, “We have to encourage our people to come back to California! What better way to encourage our people to come back to California if we have no requirements? How will reparations be paid? Immediately!”

Share Tweet ... More Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), who is considering challenging former President Trump for the White House in 2024, called Trump’s recent dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes “very troubling” on Sunday. During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with co-anchor Dana Bash, Hutchinson criticized the former president after he acknowledged dining with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) slammed former President Trump’s “awful lack of judgement” for his meeting with Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist who has previously espoused antisemitic and racist rhetoric. Trump had dinner with Fuentes, a livestreamer who has previously denied the Holocaust, and the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, on Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla.

Guest research and opinion by Jeremy HarriganTo set the record straight, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting (“Winter Davos Forum”) is held in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, at the beginning of each calendar year, bringing together the world’s academics, politicians, business, and media participants from dozens of countries. But did you know: The WEF Annual Meeting of the New Champions (“Summer Davos Forum”) has been held each year in China going back to 2007, with Tianjin and Dalian taking turns to host. WEF also holds several regional summits each year in the region. Yes, if you thought a migration of WEF...