Free Republic

Nasry “Tito” Asfura, the conservative candidate in Honduras endorsed by President Trump, was declared the winner of the country’s presidential election on Wednesday after a weeks-long vote count. Asfura, the 67-year-old former mayor of the Central American country’s capital city of Tegucigalpa, edged out Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla in a 40.27% to 39.53% vote, according to electoral authorities. Rixi Moncada of the left-wing incumbent LIBRE Party finished with only 19.19% of the vote. “Honduras: I am prepared to govern,” Asfura wrote on X. “I will not fail you.” Trump publicly backed Asfura last month ahead of the Nov. 30...

A South Carolina man accused of drunk driving and stealing a patrol car vowed to take his case to President Donald Trump during a fiery spat at his bond hearing. William Waters allegedly stole the patrol car from the QuikTrip gas station in Spartanburg County on Saturday night while suffering from an apparent mental health crisis. Waters, 34, appeared before a judge on Monday, facing charges of grand larceny, failure to stop for blue lights and driving while under the influence. As the judge read the charges out, the suspect repeatedly interrupted, accused the judge of lying and refused to...

President Donald Trump’s revamp of the H-1B white-collar outsourcing program has prompted cautious approval from advocates for American professionals and college graduates. “It does not end H-1Bs, but it fundamentally reshapes who benefits from them,” said Hany Girgis, a tech-training CEO. Employers and their lawyers are expected to file lawsuits against the new rules, which somewhat shift the distribution of new H-1B workers towards employers who offer higher wages. That shift will modestly pressure companies to hire young American graduates — but will not restrict the huge inflow of foreign workers via other programs, including the “cap-exempt” H-1B, J-1, L-1,...

A former university football player who sexually assaulted two women has been sentenced to just two years in prison because he is black and was feeling intense pressure around the time of the attacks, the judge said. Omogbolahan Jegede, 25, had choked one of the women almost into unconsciousness. “It should be noted that but, for the contents of the Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA), the pre-sentence report and all the mitigating factors surrounding Omogbolahan (Teddy) Jegede, this sentence would have been much higher,” Justice Frank Hoskins said in his Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision on Wednesday.

A Delaware judge on Monday rejected JPMorgan’s request to halt ongoing payments tied to Charlie Javice’s legal defense, ordering the bank to continue complying with an existing fee-advancement order while its appeal proceeds. Javice and her lawyers spent $530 on gummy bears, more than $3,000 on first-class airline tickets, a $581 dinner that included a $161 seafood tower and $25,800 on hotel upgrades — then billed the costs as part of the staggering legal tab she wants JPMorgan Chase to pay, the bank alleged in court filings. According to the filings, the expenses included a $284 car ride covering just...

The Trump administration has barred five Europeans from entering the U.S., accusing them of pressuring American tech companies to censor or suppress American speech online. The individuals—Thierry Breton, Imran Ahmed, Josephine Ballon, Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, and Clare Melford—are all leading figures in European efforts to regulate harmful or illegal content on social media platforms. The five were barred under a May policy targeting foreign nationals deemed responsible for suppressing speech protected under U.S. law.

WASHINGTON — The Democratic Party’s principal fundraising committee saw donations slump in the second-to-last month of the year, recording just a $12 million campaign war chest and almost $16 million still in debt due to a loan taken out the previous month, Federal Election Commission filings show. The fundraising doldrums come amid party infighting over whether to release a 2024 autopsy report on the failed Biden-Harris campaign and pressure ahead of the critical 2026 midterms, in which Democrats want to retake Congress. The Democratic National Committee listed a little more than $12.6 million cash on hand, $10.7 million raised, and...

Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel, Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, and Chairman of The Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors, Mark Wilf, have sent a strongly worded letter to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following the deadly terrorist attack at the Sydney Jewish community’s Hanukkah celebrations. In the letter, the leaders of The Jewish Agency called on the government of Australia to act decisively to eradicate antisemitism through education, legislation, and law enforcement. They expressed their deep condolences to the Jewish community in Australia and to the Australian people, emphasizing that their hearts are with the...

A group of Western and allied states issued a joint statement condemning the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new communities in Judea and Samaria, stating that the move was "part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank." The statement, issued by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom, described the decision as a unilateral action and claimed that such steps "not only violate international law but also risk fueling instability." According to the statement, the decision risks undermining "the implementation of the Comprehensive...

A Georgia Superior Court judge has granted a state election board access to Fulton County’s 2020 presidential ballots and documents. The Republican-led Georgia Election Board last year reopened an investigation into how the county handled the 2020 election, FOX5 in Atlanta reported. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Tuesday that the board will need to cover the costs of the ballots and documents.

The Justice Department said Wednesday that it's received a new tranche of records — more than 1 million documents — "potentially" related to Jeffrey Epstein's case, requiring additional time to process them before release. The DOJ said it "may take a few more weeks" to review the files produced by the FBI and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. "The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI have informed the Department of Justice that they have uncovered over a million more documents potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case," the Justice...

There will be no criminal charges filed against Hawaii Police Department Officer Sidra Brown, the handler of K-9 Archer, the narcotics detection dog that died Sept. 4 after being left unattended in a police vehicle in Kona. Archer was a 6-year-old narcotics detection dog. The Dept. of the Attorney General said, “After careful consideration of the evidence associated with this case, examination of the scene, and possible applicable law, our office has declined to prosecute this matter due to insufficient evidence of a crime.” Hawaii has both misdemeanor and felony charges for animal cruelty. First- degree animal cruelty is a...

Libertarian National Committee Chair Steven Nekhaila has issued a statement applauding President Donald Trump’s move to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance, calling the previous classification “nonsense” that was overdue for a change. In a December 18 statement shared by the Libertarian Party, Nekhaila said the move is a positive step that could expand medical access and scientific research, but added that broader cannabis reforms are still needed. The statement came in response to an executive order signed by Trump that same day directing federal agencies to accelerate efforts to reclassify marijuana under the...

Even more surprising than the blockbuster 4.3% economic growth rate recorded in the third quarter of 2025 was the fact that some 90% of the nation’s professional economists got it all wrong. These economic whiz-kids’ faulty forecast comes on the heels of their predictions last week that inflation was going to be above 3%. Instead, the actual number was 2.7%. Welcome to the gang that can’t shoot straight. Maybe it’s time for this cadre of Keynesian economists to send their PhDs back to the Ivy League schools they got them from, and just admit they have no idea what they’re...

New reports allege up to $76.5 BILLION OR MORE in fraudulent spending in California This makes Minnesota look like CHILD'S PLAY...and more is going to come out Rep. Kiley is confirming Slithering Gavin Newsom's California is the "fraud capital of America" "This latest report was issued by the state auditor - and that's a nonpartisan position - that state auditor now puts 8 state agencies on the high-risk list of agencies to watch out for for things like fraud and mismanagement as well as waste." "Here's a look at that 92 page report newly added to the high-risk list as...

GDP up 4.3%, murders down 20%, suicides and opiate deaths down too, life expectancy recovered and rising again, cancer survival up and disability down, bee populations coming back... It's been an incredible year. Merry Christmas everyone!

The U.S. Department of Justice sued Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Attorney General Kwame Raoul over the state’s new law aimed at limiting immigration enforcement in courthouses. The law, signed by Pritzker this month, bars immigration enforcement from courthouses and opens the door for easier legal action against federal agents over alleged civil rights infractions. It follows the Trump administration’s sweeping deportation campaign that has targeted the state, specifically the Chicago area, for months. The lawsuit claims that the law is unconstitutional and states have no regulatory authority over federal actions, such as immigration enforcement.

Bit by bit, a Turkish front is forming, more dangerous than Israel’s seven arenas since Oct. 7. Erdogan’s ideology and ambition require Israel to refocus on a higher strategic risk.Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s political and military leadership has claimed that seven different arenas threaten it. It seems that, bit by bit but consistently, an eighth menacing front is forming, one that in many ways is more dangerous than the others.This is the Turkish front. Turkey, which until about 23 years ago was one of Israel’s greatest friends, has become a real enemy since Erdogan rose to power.The main factors...

Avatar: Fire and Ash is another box office disappointment for Disney, which had hoped the film would provide a short-term boost. The previous sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, opened to more than $134 million domestically in 2022 and went on to earn nearly $685 million in the U.S., while Fire and Ash debuted with just $89 million. Adjusted for inflation, the decline is even more pronounced, signaling a sharp drop in audience interest and raising doubts about the franchise’s once-reliable box office pull. I stopped caring about the franchise after the original film. To be fair, audiences don’t help....

"Terrorism is our religion. Koran say terrorism is normal. We are proud, we say terrorism is proud". December 24, 2025 by Daniel Greenfield. The Muslim terror scene is heating up with another plot or two happening every week. What’s their motive? “Terrorism is our religion. Koran say terrorism is normal. We are proud, we say terrorism is proud.” The two Muslim terrorists in the UK were not subtle about their motives. Walid Saadaoui, a Tunisian, and Amar Hussein, an Iraqi, had big plans. “I want to kill as many as possible.” “I have an overwhelming urge. I feel sometimes I...