Free Republic

Sir Keir Starmer has set out what Labour would do first if it wins this year's general election. The Labour leader unveiled a pledge card with six key policies, including delivering "economic stability" and providing 40,000 more hospital appointments each week. Some of the pledges are more modest in scale than the five "national missions" Sir Keir announced last year. But he said they were the "first steps" towards Labour's bigger plans. Sir Keir's five missions include making the UK the fastest-growing major economy by the end of a first Labour term in government and achieving net zero carbon emissions...

A Swastika scrawled by a pupil in a classroom has raised parents' fears that children are being brainwashed into anti-Semitism by pro-Palestinian activists. The crude graffiti at a Brighton comprehensive was last night being investigated by police. The image, in marker pen on the back of a plastic chair, has been visible at Patcham High School for several weeks. Alarmed parents alerted the headteacher over the weekend to the 'frightening' development. A family with children at the school, said: 'Pupils have been targeted by pro-Palestinian activists in our area. They are making massive efforts to radicalise British children into anti-Semitic...

A Swastika scrawled by a pupil in a classroom has raised parents' fears that children are being brainwashed into anti-Semitism by pro-Palestinian activists. The crude graffiti at a Brighton comprehensive was last night being investigated by police. The image, in marker pen on the back of a plastic chair, has been visible at Patcham High School for several weeks. Alarmed parents alerted the headteacher over the weekend to the 'frightening' development. A family with children at the school, said: 'Pupils have been targeted by pro-Palestinian activists in our area. They are making massive efforts to radicalise British children into anti-Semitic...

The Biden administration informally notified congressional committees Tuesday that it planned to move forward with more than $1 billion in weapons deals for Israel, said U.S. officials familiar with the matter, a major transfer of lethal aid that comes a week after the White House paused a single shipment of bombs because of concerns that a planned assault in southern Gaza could cause immense civilian casualties. The arms deals allow for the potential transfer of $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of...

The Mayor of Wildwood, New Jersey, Ernie Troiano, Jr., told Newsmax on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump's Saturday rally was well received by the oceanfront community and Wildwood would "love to have him come back." On Saturday, Trump spoke before an enthusiastic crowd in the deep blue state of New Jersey. While estimates vary on the official numbers, Troiano said it was easily larger than the 40,000 they get at many music festivals. Trump made sure to praise his hosts on Saturday telling the crowd, "Millions of people in so-called blue states are joining our movement based on love,...

King Charles III marked another first in his reign this week, unveiling the first official portrait of himself since his coronation last year. Charles and his wife Queen Camilla were on hand Tuesday as the king's portrait was unveiled at Buckingham Palace. The portrait, which stands over 6 feet tall, was painted over the course of three years by Jonathan Yeo, a U.K.-based artist, according to the palace. The painting features a striking red background and shows Charles wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards, of which he was made Regimental Colonel in 1975, according to the palace.

Authorities in China were expected on Monday to release a citizen journalist jailed for four years after she documented the early phases of the coronavirus outbreak from the central city of Wuhan in 2020. Zhang Zhan, 40, had travelled to Wuhan in early 2020 from Shanghai where she was based, posting first-hand accounts ... After several months of reporting that included videos.. she was detained in May 2020. She went on hunger strike in late June, court documents seen by Reuters said, prompting police to strap her hands and force-feed her with a tube, her lawyers said at the time....

Former president tells 100,000 supporters people from mental institutions are being let into US Donald Trump praised “the late great Hannibal Lecter” as a “wonderful man” at a rare campaign rally while complaining that the Biden administration was admitting migrants from insane asylums into the US. During a 90-minute speech in front of an estimated 100,000 supporters in Wildwood, New Jersey – a record for a political rally in the state – the former president baffled his crowd by recalling the 1991 horror films. “He oftentimes would have a friend for dinner,” he said. “But Hannibal Lecter. Congratulations, the late...

In a foreboding sign of the future that likely awaits the United Kingdom, Muslim activists have issued a series of 18 demands to the Labour Party after dozens of local council seats were won by candidates who ran on the single issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the left-wing Labour Party was the clear victor of Thursday’s local elections in Britain, it saw many races in typical strongholds flip to independent candidates bringing their sectarian message to the Muslim community. Such was the scale of the defections, that Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said in a statement to British...

A UK ban on selling arms to Israel would only strengthen Hamas, the foreign secretary has told the BBC. Lord Cameron said while he would not support a major ground offensive in the Gazan city of Rafah, the UK would not copy US plans to stop some arms sales.

A prominent anti-Hamas activist was arrested for racism after eating a banana during a pro-Palestine protest. Niyak Ghorbani was accused of making a racist gesture with the banana while standing with counter protesters in central London last Saturday. The 38-year-old Iranian dissident, who has become a familiar figure for holding a “Hamas Are Terrorists” banner at counter protests, denies he was being racist and insists he was simply eating the fruit. He was referencing recent events on American campuses in which bananas were used to taunt pro-Palestinian protesters. Mr Gohrbani was handcuffed and led away by five officers after pro-Palestine...

It is rare for voters to change their minds soon after referendums. Experience from Canada to Scotland, from Norway to Switzerland, suggests rather that opinions tend to move in favour of a referendum result more than they swing against it. But Brexit seems to be an exception. Since the 52-48% vote in favour of leaving the European Union in June 2016, the majority view among Britons has shifted, and especially so in the past two years, towards the conclusion that the decision was wrong. One way to take the temperature is to visit two English towns called Richmond which voted...

A serial 'dine and dash' couple who bailed on bills worth hundreds of pounds in restaurants across south Wales have pleaded guilty. Bernard McDonagh, 41, and Ann McDonagh, 39, both from Port Talbot, just east of Swansea, pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud when they appeared at Swansea Magistrates' Court today. A judge heard how they bailed on bills at several locations across Wales and were charged by police last month. The court heard the main aggravating factor in the case was the “presence of children” when multiple offences were carried out and that 41-year-old Bernard McDonagh had antecedent...

The Norwegian national made almost £300,000 ($375k) from a website that amassed 22,841 users who would pay to watch unnecessary surgical procedures. The mastermind behind an extreme body modification ring that carried out "grisly and gruesome" procedures including castrations has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years. Warning: The following article contains graphic details of extreme physical mutilationMarius Gustavson, 46, ran a "lucrative business" sharing images of "dangerous, unnecessary and life-changing surgeries" carried out by people with no medical qualifications, the Old Bailey heard.

AstraZeneca formally admits that its COVID-19 vaccine can cause rare side effect The admission is confirmed by AstraZeneca in legal documents responding to a group action claim launched by Leigh Day partner Sarah Moore under section 2 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 against the pharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca. It is expected that the claims could be worth millions of pounds. Fifty-one claimants represented by Sarah are pursuing the claim due to injuries allegedly caused by the Vaxzevria Astra Zeneca COVID-19 Vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca UK Limited (AZUK). Twelve of the claimants are acting on the behalf of a loved one...

New Delhi -- Months after admitting in a UK court that its COVID-19 vaccine, which is being sold as Covishield in India, may have a potential rare blood clot side effect known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), pharma giant AstraZeneca has recalled the jab made in collaboration with Oxford University. The British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company faces lawsuits from more than 50 alleged victims and their families who claim fatalities or permanent brain injuries following vaccination during Covid pandemic. The company's COVID-19 vaccine is being sold as Vaxzevria in Europe. AstraZeneca had in February this year admitted in the court...

A woman who shouted and waved aggressively at a cyclist on the pavement (sidewalk), causing her to fall into the path of a car, has had her conviction for manslaughter overturned and walked free from court. CCTV showed Auriol Grey shout "get off the f****** pavement (sidewalk)" as Celia Ward approached her in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, in October 2020. The 77-year-old then veered off the 2.4m-wide path into the road. Mrs Ward, a grandmother, died after she was struck by a car. Grey, who has cerebral palsy and was described by her lawyer as "partially blind", was given a three-year jail...

Sir Keir Starmer has been told to apologise for 'greenlighting' Israel's 'genocide' in Gaza and allow Islamic prayer in all schools by a fringe group threatening to stand against Labour MPs at the general election. Muslim Vote has handed the opposition leader an extraordinary list of 18 'dangerous' demands that he must agree to carry out, or it plans to try to scupper his hopes of taking power. The little-known group has suggested it could target 55 MPs who have failed to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Russia warned Britain on Monday that if British weapons were used by Ukraine to strike Russian territory then Moscow could hit back at British military installations and equipment both inside Ukraine and elsewhere. Russia said British Ambassador Nigel Casey was summoned to the foreign ministry for a formal protest after Foreign Secretary David Cameron said last week that Ukraine had the right to use British weapons to strike Russia. Russia's foreign ministry said the Cameron remarks recognised that Britain was now de facto a part of the conflict and contradicted an earlier assurance that long-range weapons given to Ukraine would...

London -- A team of scientists from the world’s leading universities have developed a new all-in-one vaccine that they hope can protect humans against a broad range of coronaviruses, including ones that are yet to emerge. The research published in ‘Nature Nanotechnology’ on Monday is based on a new approach to vaccine development called “proactive vaccinology”, where scientists build a vaccine before the disease-causing pathogen even emerges, which has shown promising results in mice. The study by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK and Caltech in the US says the vaccine works by training the body’s immune...