Free Republic

The Queen has officially welcomed Meghan Markle to the royal family following her wedding to grandson Prince Harry. Earlier today the monarch bestowed the couple with the royal titles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Following the announcement the Queen attended the ceremony at St George's Chapel in Windsor on Saturday.

A US bishop stole the show with his fiery address at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding. The Most Reverend Michael Curry has been praised for his passionate speech which touched upon slavery, the Old Testament and even quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Many of social media were delighted to see the American reverend 'shake up' the traditional royal proceedings. The preacher also provoked a few chuckles in the chapel - and even Harry and Meghan couldn't help but giggle at one point.

Reactions from Capitol Hill are pouring in after reports that at least eight people were killed in a shooting at a Texas high school early Friday — with President Trump adding "early reports not looking good." A suspected shooter was taken into custody after allegedly opening fire inside a first-period art class at Santa Fe High School, located about 30 miles southeast of Houston, KRIV-TV reports. Trump addressed the school shooting shortly after news broke that there were multiple casualties. "We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely...

SANTA FE, Texas - A spokesman for police confirmed Friday that they are investigating an active-shooter situation at Santa Fe High School. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured. KPRC2 has crews headed to the scene.

John McCain’s fade in recent polls, combined with a barrage of negative news coverage during the financial crisis, has leading Republican activists around the country worrying about his prospects and urging his campaign to become much more aggressive against Barack Obama in the remaining month before Election Day. A flurry of new polls shows Barack Obama gaining in several battleground states – most notably Florida, Pennsylvania and swing states throughout the West. Officials worry early voting, which is under way in important states such as Ohio, is likely to favor Obama in this toxic political climate.

While bemoaning during Friday’s Deadline: White House about the lack of decency and civility in light of White House staffer Kelly Sadler’s ugly comment about Republican Senator John McCain (AZ), MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace joked to White House correspondent Kristen Welker about choking White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. If that wasn’t enough, MSNBC contributor John Heilemann hailed White House reporters for doing “valiant work” in press briefings exposing the White House’s lies and Wallace’s fellow McCain/Palin campaign aide Steve Schmidt ruled that Sanders is worse than Baghdad Bob.

John McCain is at odds with many of his top advisers over launching a renewed attack on Barack Obama's ties to his long-time pastor and mentor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, according to campaign sources. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and several top campaign officials see a sharp attack on Wright as the best — and perhaps last — chance to rattle Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill. ) and force voters to rethink their support of him. But McCain continues to overrule them, fearing a Wright attack would smack of desperation and racism, the officials said.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz — a Democratic candidate for governor and a fixture in state and local politics for nearly a quarter-century — died Thursday morning of cardiac arrest, officials said. Kamenetz, 60, was awakened by chest pains around 2 a.m. Thursday, county officials said. Kamenetz and his wife, Jill, drove less than two miles from their Owings Mills home to the Chestnut Ridge Volunteer Fire Company where the county executive called 911 from the parking lot. Chestnut Ridge medical personnel escorted Kamenetz and his wife into the station. As Kamenetz was explaining his symptoms, he lost consciousness. Fire...

Rutgers University recently debuted a program to teach students and staff about the illegal immigrant community, and at least one administrator wants to make the workshop mandatory. The “DREAM Zone” program, a three-hour interactive event that originated at New York University, expanded to Rutgers in April, according to The Daily Targum.

Headline only

The Bill and Controversy The Kansas legislature just passed a bill that will protect Catholic Charities’ right to provide adoptions pursuant to Catholic teaching. Catholic Charities is now permitted to continue to arrange adoptions for traditionally married men and women in Kansas. This is a very important religious issue to Catholics, who believe that each member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer... (LBGTQ) community is sacred and worthy of love, respect and civil rights, but that their activities are not in line with God's plan for children and the family. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: Chastity and...

Parkland student survivor Cameron Kasky appeared on CNN this morning to respond to President Trump‘s big speech to the NRA. The speech touched on a lot of topics––including Russia and John Kerry‘s bicycle injury––but it was a very pro-NRA speech. It was somewhat of a shift from comments the President made in that bipartisan meeting with lawmakers weeks ago talking about things like taking guns away from people and dealing with due process later. In response to this, Kasky said today, “He’s a professional liar who will say anything to appease whatever crowd he’s at. If he’s in front of...

New Jersey is taking steps to join a dozen states in the nation that give driver licenses to undocumented immigrants. Gov. Phil Murphy supports it and legislation has been introduced in both chambers of the Legislature. But more than that, the state's Motor Vehicle Commission is preparing for the measure. The head of the MVC, Sue Fulton, told lawmakers this week the office has reached out to other states that offer licenses to undocumented immigrants to learn up on the requirements. "We are aware of the governor's intent on this matter, and we're leaning forward in terms of learning more,"...

DAVENPORT, Iowa — An Iowa state audit of Davenport’s special education program has found the district in “systemic non-compliance” with several parts of the federal law that governs the education of students with disabilities. The Iowa Department of Education told the district to work with a national expert to deal with a disproportionate number of students of color identified for special education services, as well as a disproportionate number of minority special education students subjected to disciplinary actions.

LYNCHBURG — GOP U.S. Senate candidate Nick Freitas in a debate on Thursday called out rival Corey Stewart’s campaign for making ethnic jokes about his name. Stewart responded that if a little name-calling got under Freitas’ skin, he would be thrashed by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine should he be the GOP nominee in the general election. The scrap came toward the end of a lively debate at Liberty University featuring Stewart, Freitas and minister E.W. Jackson of Chesapeake, who are competing in the June 12 primary. The candidates discussed foreign policy, defended President Donald Trump and the tax cut he...

Texas Republican leaders have decided once again not to allow the party’s biggest LGBT group — the Log Cabin Republicans — to operate a booth at the state convention. It’s not the first time that’s happened, and it’s in line with the party platform on LGBT issues. But it also pits the party’s social conservatives against its live-and-let-live conservatives and its older voters against its younger ones.

Two African-American women are suing a popular Harlem eatery, alleging they felt “violated” after an employee racially profiled and falsely accused them of dining and dashing. Tara Fitzgibbon visited the Angel of Harlem restaurant on Frederick Douglass Blvd. near W. 122nd St. for the first time on Feb. 10 with her friend Tamara Young. As they ordered drinks, a manager came up behind them and gruffly accused them of racking up a tab during a previous visit.

Democrats are hoping to continue their recent momentum in special elections Tuesday when voters outside of Phoenix head to the polls to fill a vacancy created when Republican Rep. Trent Franks resigned in December amid sexual harassment allegations. Democrats don't think they will win the race that pits Hiral Tipirneni, a physician, against Republican Debbie Lesko, a former state senator. And Arizona's 8th Congressional District has all the hallmarks of a place Republican should easily win: Voters in the predominantly senior and white district, where there are around 78,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, backed President Donald Trump by 21...

WASHINGTON -- A majority of New Jersey voters support U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez for re-election, giving him a 21-point lead over Republican challenger Bob Hugin in a Monmouth University poll released Thursday. Menendez, D-N.J., received 53 percent to 32 percent for the former Celgene Corp. executive. It is the second survey putting Menendez up by double digits following the Justice Department's decision not to retry him on federal corruption charges. He led Hugin, 49 percent to 32 percent, in a Quinnipiac University poll released last month. "The current state of the race does speak to what is perhaps the incumbent's...

Washington (CNN)On Wednesday, the Republican governor of Missouri asked for a temporary restraining order against the Republican attorney general of Missouri, who is also the leading candidate to represent the GOP against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) in the fall. The governor, Eric Greitens, made the move to keep the AG, Josh Hawley, from pursuing an investigation into the possibility that he broke the law when he used a fundraising list from a non-profit to collect funds for his political campaigns.