Free Republic

Turkey’s incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared victory Sunday in his country’s runoff election, extending his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade. With nearly 99% of ballot boxes opened, unofficial results from competing news agencies showed Erdogan with 52% of the vote, compared with 48% for his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday applauded the debt limit deal forged by House Republicans and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) with President Joe Biden. Gingrich took to social media to set out his thoughts on what he hailed as a “dramatic victory.” He said: The Debt limit deal is a dramatic victory for Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans. Before they passed their history changing bill no one would have believed it possible to cut spending, reestablish work requirements, reform permitting for energy and infrastructure and more

Former President Donald Trump steamrolled CNN’s Kaitlan Collins during Wednesday’s Town Hall event in New Hampshire, dismissing her politically biased and outdated questions, effectively reducing her role as the moderator by speaking directly to the audience about the “gotcha” topics a visibly irritated Collins continually posed throughout the night. The highly anticipated town hall event, teased by Trump, proved to bode well for the former president, despite Collins’ attempt to begin the town hall event with a series of contentious topics and arguably outdated leftist narratives — from the 2020 election results to January 6 to accusations in the E....

Ukraine will now celebrate “Europe Day” on Russia’s “Victory Day,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Monday. The Kyiv leader decreed that Ukraine will celebrate Europe Day May 9, the same day Russia celebrates the end of World War II. “Now, as 80 years ago, Ukraine is fighting against total evil. Now, just like 80 years ago, Ukraine is fighting for the future – its own and that of the whole of Europe, the whole free world. Now, as 80 years ago, we rely on the common strength of free nations and know that together with them we will always be...

Several Russian cities have announced they will scale back this year's Victory Day celebrations. Russian authorities have cited security reasons and attacks from pro-Ukrainian forces for the changes. Explosions and fires have occurred in Russia in recent weeks. But some have argued that the reduced events show the Kremlin is nervous about celebrations turning into shows of dissent against its invasion of Ukraine. Great pomp and shows of military might are the usual hallmarks of Victory Day, which marks the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany on 9 May 1945. One of the day's most recognisable events is the Immortal...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) claimed victory Tuesday over oil companies with the signing of a law that caps their profits and punishes price gouging — though there is little evidence they are engaged in the practice. California gas prices are usually the highest in the nation, a fact that became painfully clear during nationwide price surges last summer. But as been widely documented, including by the New York Times, that has to do with state taxes and with climate change regulations. One oil company CEO responded last year to claims of price gouging by noting that California has a...

(AFP) – President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed Friday to do everything to defeat Russia this year, as the first Leopard tanks arrived in Ukraine on the anniversary of the start of Europe’s largest conflict since World War II. Street protests against the Russian invasion were held in many European capitals to mark the anniversary, and fresh Western sanctions targeted Russia’s banks, military industry and semiconductor access.

On Wednesday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin responded to questions on what would constitute a victory in the Ukraine-Russia war and whether the U.S. would urge Ukraine to end the war, even if the borders were restored to where they were before the start of the war by stating that “Ukraine’s going to decide what victory’s going to look like,” and “we’re going to focus on what’s in front of us right now and put them in the best possible position to continue to be successful.” Host Ari Shapiro asked, [relevant exchange begins around 5:30]...

A Philadelphia jury has found pro-life father Mark Houck not guilty on both counts in the case of the bogus charges the Biden administration filed against him. Houck is facing bogus charges that he violated the federal FACE law when he was helping women outside an abortion center. An abortion business escort accosted and bullied his son and Houck stepped in to stop it – and, in doing so, the older abortion center volunteer fell down. Houck could have faced over a decade in prison if he was found guilty. But a jury today reached a not guilty verdict –...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned home to Ukraine on Friday, following his visit to the United States earlier this week. “I am in my office,” Zelensky said in a video posted to Telegram early Friday. “We are working toward victory.” Zelensky traveled to the U.S. on Wednesday to meet with President Biden and American lawmakers and speak before a join meeting of Congress. It was his first known trip outside of Ukraine since Russia invaded nearly 10 months ago. President Biden reiterated his support for Ukraine following a meeting with Zelensky at the White House on Wednesday, vowing to stand...

A tough, voter-approved gun control law in Oregon sees high-capacity magazines prohibited from being sold and transferred. New gun buyers must also obtain permits, criminal background checks, fingerprints, and go through training courses. A number of lawsuits have been filed challenging the measure, which was narrowly approved by voters last month. The outcome of this measure is being carefully watched. It is one of the first sweeping gun restrictions since the New York law limiting gun ownership outside the home was struck down by the Supreme Court in June. An earlier decision blocking Thursday’s implementation of the law remains temporarily...

Michelle Obama says six years after Donald Trump’s White House win, his victory “still hurts.” “It felt like something more something much uglier than a simple political defeat,” Obama said in a clip from the audio version of her forthcoming book, “The Light we Carry,” published Monday by NPR. The part-self-help book, part-memoir is poised to be released on Tuesday. “I couldn’t help but return to the choice our country had made to replace Barack Obama with Donald Trump. What were we to take from that?” Obama said. “Barack and I always tried to operate on the principles of hope...

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House, declared early Wednesday morning that the GOP would flip the chamber – even though final results were not yet tallied – and now faces an angry caucus and the possibility of ​his becoming speaker in jeopardy. “When you wake up tomorrow, we will be in the majority and Nancy Pelosi will be in the minority,” McCarthy said in a speech to supporters shortly after midnight. “We are expanding this party. The American people are ready for a majority that will offer a new direction that will put America back on track,”...

Conspiracy theorists celebrated this week after the arrest of the CEO of an election software company, who they accused of flipping the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. But is their rejoicing actually valid? The fiasco began on Monday after the New York Times released an article centered around a small elections company in Michigan that had become the target of unfounded voter fraud claims. The company, known as Konnech, had been accused of not only having secret ties to China but of giving the Chinese Communist Party backdoor access to personal data on roughly two million poll workers in...

Ukraine is reportedly on the precipice of a major victory, with its counter-offensive around the eastern city of Kharkiv (Kharkov) unexpectedly putting the Russian army on the back foot. According to British intelligence, Russian forces appear to have been “taken by surprise” by the Ukrainians, who have reportedly advanced “up to 50 kilometres (31 miles) into previously Russian-held territory on a narrow front.”

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese court ruled Monday that the country’s ban on same-sex marriage does not violate the constitution, and rejected demands for compensation by three couples who said their right to free union and equality has been violated. The Osaka District Court ruling is the second decision on the issue, and disagrees with a ruling last year by a Sapporo court that found the ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional. It underscores how divisive the issue remains in Japan, the only member of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations that does not recognize same-sex unions. In its ruling,...

“But what of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men who returned to the country to fight the Russians?” I objected.“They will find out that it is unpleasant to fight the Russians, as their grandfathers did during the Second World War. A few tens of thousands of them will be killed, and others will rot for some time in Russian prison camps as the Russians encircle and annihilate the main body of the Ukrainian army in the Donbass. Then they will join their families in Poland or Germany.”“But surely the Americans won’t stand for this!,” I protested.“About the Americans do...

<p>Cao is a refugee from Vietnam and an immigrant to the United States, according to his campaign website.</p><p>He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School before attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. Cao served in the Navy for 25 years.</p>

Former President Trump is urging celebrity physician Mehmet Oz to declare victory in Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate primary even as the race remains too close to call. In a post on Truth Social, the social media platform Trump founded last year, the former president said Oz should proclaim himself the winner of the contest, arguing that doing so would make it “much harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they ‘just happened to find.’” Oz, whom Trump endorsed last month, is deadlocked with former hedge fund CEO David McCormick in the Republican Senate primary, with fewer than 3,000 votes...

The White House signaled optimism after French President Emmanuel Macron secured his re-election victory over Marine Le Pen, despite his approval rating of 36 percent. “President Macron appears to have secured a double-digit victory over LePen, at a time when his approval rating is 36 percent,” mused President Joe Biden’s chief of staff Ronald Klain wrote on social media, calling it an “interesting observation” while sharing Macron’s polling numbers from Morning Consult.