Free Republic

In the thirty years since I was born, fertility rates in my country, the United Kingdom, have not changed much. In 1993, the fertility rate was 1.8 births per woman. Thirty years later, it had dropped only slightly, to 1.6 births. Elsewhere, the change has been much more dramatic; fertility rates have dropped sharply and are now similar to those in the UK. You can see this in the chart, which shows the change in fertility rates from 1993 (in blue) to 2023 (in red). In Qatar and Iran, rates dropped from almost 4 births per woman to 1.7. Fertility...

Iran's supreme leader vowed to teach the United States "unforgettable lessons" on Saturday, as Washington reported its first military deaths since renewing its hostilities with the Islamic republic.A month after the foes signed a now-abandoned preliminary deal aimed at ending their war, Tehran struck infrastructure around the Gulf in retaliation for a week of intensifying US attacks, which Iran said had hit an airport, a railway station and bridges.Iran hit an oil facility in Kuwait as well as a power and water plant, authorities in the Gulf state said, while in Bahrain the army said air defences repelled a wave...

In its nationwide immigration crackdown, the Trump administration has charged hundreds of people with assaulting or impeding federal agents. President Trump has branded them “insurrectionists,” “animals” and “thugs,” part of a broader effort by his administration to cast protesters and immigrants as violent criminals.But a close examination of those cases reveals that in its rush to meet White House demands for deportations, federal law enforcement has engaged in extensive misconduct — ranging from attacking protesters to destroying evidence and misrepresenting facts in court.The New York Times found that the Trump administration has filed assault charges against more than 550 people...

A 23-year-old Airman assigned to Vandenberg Space Force Base died after the heavy equipment he was operating rolled down an embankment on base, military officials announced Friday. Airman 1st Class Cedric Eneluna was operating the equipment when the accident occurred Thursday, according to Vandenberg officials. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and no one else was injured. The Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Office has not yet determined his official cause of death. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation by a Department of the Air Force Safety Investigation Board, and base officials said additional details will be withheld...

18 July 2026 Saturday of week 15 in Ordinary Time Sanctuary of St Jadwiga – Trzebnica PolandReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(II).First readingMicah 2:1-5The plotters of evil will not escapeWoe to those who plot evil,who lie in bed planning mischief!No sooner is it dawn than they do it– their hands have the strength for it.Seizing the fields that they covet,they take over houses as well,owner and house they confiscate together,taking both man and inheritance.So the Lord says this:Now it is I who plotsuch mischief against this breedas your necks will not escape;nor will you be able to walk...

The widow of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy killed in last year’s deadly grenade explosion has filed a lawsuit against the county, the Sheriff’s Department and several officials, alleging the tragedy was the result of inadequate training, unsafe practices and leadership failures. The complaint, filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court by Nancy Lemus on behalf of herself, the estate of Deputy Victor Lemus and the couple’s two young daughters, names the County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Sheriff Robert Luna, Commander Thomas Giandomenico and others as defendants. Victor Lemus was one of three...

Iran can’t say it wasn’t warned: A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!

It’s been a tough go lately for the controversial British politician Nigel Farage. His party’s been dropping in the polls, and he’s under investigation for failing to report a gift from a billionaire of £5 million ($6.7 million). Last week, he resigned his seat in Parliament so that he could stand for reelection — aiming to win a vote of confidence from electors in a region that has long supported him. But the major parties are refusing to field candidates against him, turning his political gambit into a bit of a farce. A perennial candidate who likes to dress up...

AbstractBackground: Beginning in 2020–2021, embalmers in multiple countries reported observing large, tough, rubbery white or off-white fibrous structures in the veins and arteries of embalmed corpses, which they described as distinct from classic postmortem clots. Methods: We conducted four annual cross-sectional surveys (2022–2025) of active embalmers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand using SurveyMonkey. A dual distribution strategy (professional associations and direct emails to funeral homes) was used. Core questions assessed observation of unusual white fibrous structures and estimated percentage of corpses affected. Results: Across 808 total responses, the proportion of embalmers reporting observation of...

Christ Episcopal Church in Dayton, OH, is led by The Rev. Peter Homeyer. An “open and affirming” congregation, they spend much of their time focused on and promoting their aberrant sexual proclivities and affinity for all things LGBTQ. At CEC Dayton, one gets the distinct feeling that every month is Pride Month, and every day is Trans Day of Remembrance. During a recent sermon, on the fifth day after Pentecost, they decided to incorporate their love of all things gay into their communion service, using food dye to turn their communion bread “rainbow-colored” in order to celebrate Pride and be...

The kids are “Nixonmaxxing.” More than half a century after Watergate, conservative youth are discovering the aesthetic, and adopting the attitude, of the late Richard Nixon. It’s a vibe. Videos that feature archival footage of the famously square 37th president over rap music from artists such as Drake and Biggie Smalls are going viral on Instagram and YouTube. Influencers sport ball caps, crew necks and fanny packs emblazoned with messages such as “Pretty Girls for Nixon” and “Nixon Now More Than Ever.” Hats stamped with “Nixonmaxxing” sold out in a matter of hours earlier this year. “Nixon hype edit was...

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Saturday called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "war criminal" and said he is looking into arresting him during an upcoming visit. In an interview with The New York Times, published Saturday, Mamdani said, "I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague. He’s a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court." Mamdani also said that he is in "active conversation" with NYC's legal officials on whether he may arrest a foreign leader, adding, "Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that’s what we...

The U.S. military on Saturday announced the first U.S. troop deaths due to direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war, saying two were killed and another was missing in an attack on a base in Jordan.They were killed Friday as the U.S. and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks, a statement said. Four other service members who were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals were later discharged. The dead were not identified. Since the war began, 16 U.S. service members have now been killed and over 430 wounded.Minutes earlier, Iran’s supreme leader had warned...

A terror group from Egypt told the FBI it was responsible for downing TWA Flight 800 and killing all 230 people aboard, according to newly surfaced FBI records featured in a new documentary marking the 30th anniversary of the tragedy. An explosive claim buried in a trove of newly obtained Freedom of Information Act documents is reviving decades-old questions about whether a missile or bomb brought down the Boeing 747-100 off Long Island on July 17, 1996. Among the records obtained by the transparency nonprofit Judicial Watch is a New York teletype dated two days after the crash, case file...

Transgender and intersex Maine Senate candidate Ashley Webb sent social media astir after citing her ability to write songs as a qualification during a debate Thursday. 'What qualifications do you have to serve in the US Senate?' a moderator asked the outsized underdog attempting to replace Graham Platner. 'I ran for office several times, didn't win, but I did run and then, I'm a songwriter and then I write my own books,' Webb responded, with a laugh. She went on to cite her 'transparency.' 'I wouldn't lie to people and I wouldn't deceive the people, like, we're being deceived right...

Francesca Hong is running for governor of Wisconsin, emphasizing affordability and opposition to US support for Israel. Her message is one the Republican Governors Association hopes to boost ahead of the Democratic primary next month: The opposing party unveiled an ad on Thursday dubbing her “too liberal” for Wisconsin. The ad is set to run in liberal parts of the state. The Republican calculus appears to be to make her appealing to a restive Democratic base that, in a number of races nationwide, has turned against the party establishment. That, in turn, could deliver the nomination to an unabashed left-winger...

Secret Service agents tasked with protecting the Vice President and his family appear to be airing grievances with the Vance family through media leaks. MSNow published a story about complaints within Vice President JD Vance’s security detail, citing “Secret Service sources,” people with knowledge of his travel, and the frustration of current and former agents. The story focused on a recently planned trip by the Vice President and his son to Joint Base Andrews for a golf lesson, and on agents’ apparent anger over the “inappropriate or even unprecedented use” of government resources. “[T]he Secret Service staff’s complaints about a...

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who recently lost his state’s primary due in part to President Donald Trump, ripped the president’s obsession with the 2020 elections as Republicans face an uphill battle in the November midterms. Trump spent Thursday night’s primetime address railing against foreign and “deep state” interference in past U.S. elections and presenting declassified documents that he said proved his point. Critics have claimed that Trump is gearing up to interfere in the midterms and usher Republicans to victory. At the yearly Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, Politico’s Jonathan Martin asked Cornyn, “Does that speech last night give you...

BREAKING: Two US service members KIA in Jordan after Iranian missile & drone attack and a third service member is missing in action

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a stay on Friday, temporarily lifting a lower court’s block on USPS’s mail-in ballot proposal, in a major win for President Donald Trump. On March 31, Trump issued an executive order, “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” which directs federal agencies to develop state-specific lists of voters who are confirmed U.S. citizens. A provision calls on USPS not to handle mail-in or absentee ballots from individuals, unless they appear on the state-specific, federally approved citizenship lists. Ahead of the midterm elections, Trump has been feverishly calling...