Free Republic

On August 7, 2025, American Eagle unveiled Sydney Sweeney's jeans ad campaign in Times Square. The campaign features Sweeney in denim attire, promoting the brand's latest collection. This high-profile display underscores Sweeney's rising influence in fashion and pop culture.

While Congress vacations, Trump dominates the media spotlight.August 1 began this administration’s second full six months. August 31 marks Iran’s deadline for abandoning its nuclear ambitions. In between those dates, tariffs are pouring in, Ukrainian peace is on the front burner, sowing division within BRICS proceeds nicely, 80-year-old Marshall Plan policies are being dismantled, and Nixon’s opening to China is being reversed. Then comes September, when Congress returns. Among August’s consequential developments and proposals are the first negative net immigration in decades, exclusion of illegal aliens from census counts to permanently cripple Democrats, and targeting Venezuela for regime change. These...

The intellectually honest political watcher knows that overall Ukraine represents the largest international money laundering operation to shift wealth from taxpayers to the politically connected institutions, since COVID-19. The money is the motive to continue the conflict.With President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin scheduled to meet in Alaska for a summit to negotiate a ceasefire, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz quickly organizes a meeting between EU leaders and the U.K to figure out how the keep the war going.As the industrial capital of the EU, Germany has a lot at stake given the nature of their contracting economy. The EU military...

The number of small-boat migrants who have reached Britain since Labour came to power is poised to hit 50,000. The Home Office confirmed 435 arrived on Saturday – bringing the total since the General Election to 49,516. Hundreds more arrived at Dover on Sunday, with official figures due to be released on Monday. It means more than 1,000 migrants have come to the UK since the Government's 'one in, one out' deal with France became operational last Wednesday. The 50,000 milestone is likely to be hit in the coming days amid weather conditions for crossing the Channel. Shadow Home Secretary...

Ukraine fears that the Kremlin will try to convince President Trump at U.S.-Russian talks in Alaska that Ukraine, not Russia, is the obstacle to peace.With President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin preparing to meet in Alaska on Friday, ending the Russian leader’s years of diplomatic isolation with the West, Ukraine’s sidelined leaders warned that the Kremlin would try to “deceive America” as Mr. Trump pushed to end the war.Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is determined to demonstrate that his country is not the obstacle to peace by emphasizing Kyiv’s willingness to accept an unconditional cease-fire, an idea that Russia has...

Democrats in Washington, D.C., have once again shown their true colors by launching an angry demonstration to oppose President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce crime in the nation's capital. Instead of supporting policies that make neighborhoods safer for hardworking families, left-wing activists and politicians chose to rally against common-sense law enforcement measures that keep their own communities safe. On Monday, following President Trump’s announcement that he would federalize the D.C. Metropolitan Police and National Guard to bolster security in the city, Democrats held a protest condemning the move, accusing the president of attempting to incite violence. "The president is trying...

The ship will be ceremonially commissioned in August in Juneau, Alaska, which is the vessel’s homeport. Until then, the icebreaker and two others will be berthed in Seattle, Washington, until infrastructure improvements are made at the ships’ homeport. ... The U.S. Coast Guard’s newest polar icebreaker is officially operational, which the agency says will bolster its Arctic operations. The 360-foot-long icebreaker departed from its assembly port in Pascagoula, Mississippi and was headed to Seattle, where it will be based until renovations are completed at its homeport in Juneau, Alaska. ... The USCGC Storis will join the USCGC Polar Star and...

Yes, while perhaps a dinosaur by today’s digital standards, dial-up is still around. But AOL says it’s officially pulling the plug for its service on Sept. 30. “AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet,” AOL wrote in a brief update on its support site — noting that dial-up and associated software “optimized for older operating systems” will soon be unavailable on AOL plans. AOL, formerly America Online, introduced many households to the world wide web for the first time when its dial-up service launched decades ago, rising to prominence particularly in the 90s...

Last week, I wrote about what I believe is one of the most significant developments in Bitcoin’s history — and possibly one of the most underappreciated risks in modern finance. The Trump administration has now formally approved a framework that allows Bitcoin to be offered as an investment option in select 401(k) retirement plans, while at the same time stablecoins are making up an increasingly larger bid for U.S. Treasuries, both of which are weaving crypto the furthest it’s ever been to the U.S. economy. That’s not just “more adoption.” It’s the infiltration of Bitcoin into the cornerstone of American...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Some law enforcement officers are continuing to charge people under a Florida law that bans people living in the U.S. illegally from entering the state, even though a federal judge has halted enforcement of the law while it’s challenged in court. Two more people were arrested and charged under the law in July, according to a report Florida’s attorney general is required to file as punishment for defying the judge’s ruling.Both men were arrested by a sheriff’s officer in Sarasota County, located on the state’s southwest coast. The charges came months after U.S. District Judge Kathleen...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he was nominating economist E.J. Antoni as the new Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, ten days after firing the statistics agency's previous leader after a weak scorecard of the U.S. job market, accusing her without evidence of manipulating the figures. Antoni is currently the chief economist at the influential U.S. conservative think tank Heritage Foundation. "Our Economy is booming, and E.J. will ensure that the Numbers released are HONEST and ACCURATE," Trump said on Truth Social.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump took unprecedented steps toward federalizing Washington, D.C. on Monday, saying it’s needed to fight crime even as city leaders pointed to data showing violence is down. He took command of the police department and deployed the National Guard under laws and Constitutional powers that give the federal government more sway over the nation’s capital than other cities. Its historically majority Black population wasn’t electing its own city council and mayor until 1973, when Republican President Richard Nixon signed the Home Rule Act. The measure still left significant power to the president and Congress, though...

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said Monday it is true that the city underwent a “crime spike” following the COVID-19 pandemic, but argued a “huge decrease” in crime has occurred since. President Donald Trump announced Monday he is federalizing the district’s Metropolitan Police Department to address a “public safety emergency,” with the MPD under the control of Attorney General Pam Bondi. In her press conference, Bowser said that she believes the president’s view of Washington is “shaped by his COVID-era experience” during his first term. “And it is true that those were more challenging times related to some issues. It...

President Donald Trump said his administration is going to look at deploying the U.S. military to other American cities, including Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, at a press conference where he announced that he was taking federal control of the police department in Washington, D.C., and deploying 800 National Guard troops there to crack down on crime. Speaking from the White House briefing room in an extended and rambling press conference while flanked by members of his Cabinet, Trump declared the move “Liberation Day in D.C.” and said he was seeking to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed,...

Disgraced Prince Andrew may “never set foot” on US soil again, sources say, as lawmakers press for him to provide testimony under oath about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Duke of York, once branded “Air Miles Andy” for his relentless jet-set lifestyle, has not been to North America for more than a decade. Now, according to senior sources, he is “too terrified” to even contemplate the trip. Andrew’s fear of flying to the States came as he was portrayed as a “serial sex addict” and shameless abuser of privilege in an incendiary new biography that claims the Queen knew...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “can’t tolerate” going “after his customers” ahead of an Alaska meeting between Putin and President Trump. “Putin could give a damn about sanctions. He evades them. He could give a damn about how many Russians die. The one thing that he can’t tolerate and live with, if we go after his customers,” Graham told NBC News’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.” “The whole goal is to crush his customers, India, and China, and Brazil. That if you keep buying Putin’s oil and prop up his war machine, you...

A Los Angeles woman who flaunted luxury goods and wads of cash on social media has been sentenced to federal prison for stealing credit cards and cashing other people’s checks to fund her lavish lifestyle. On Monday, Mary Ann Magdamit, 31, of Carson, admitted to conspiring to commit bank fraud while working as a U.S. Postal Service worker in Torrance. From 2022 until July 2025, she stole mail containing checks, debit and credit cards, and personal identifying information, and then activated the stolen cards to make luxury purchases and take international trips to tropical locales. ... Magdamit remains in federal...

Sir Keir Starmer today warned Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted 'as far as you can throw him'. The US President is set to meet the Russian leader in Alaska later this week for peace talks over Ukraine. Mr Trump has signalled he thinks Ukraine might need to cede territory in order to end the three year-long conflict. But the US President is under pressure to consult with Kyiv and other European capitals prior to the talks on what he might offer Mr Putin. The Prime Minister's official spokesman on Monday reiterated the UK's support for Ukraine and...

A Russian navy tugboat, the Kapitan Ushakov, sank on August 9, 2025, at a shipyard in St. Petersburg. It was expected to be delivered to the Northern fleet. The Project 23470 began listing to starboard on August 8. The sinking of the ship occurred at a time when it was in the final stages of outfitting and about to be completed at the Baltic shipyard in St. Petersburg. The shipyard team made efforts throughout the night to stabilise the vessel, but failed ultimately. By the morning of August 9, the tugboat flipped and capsized on the seabed near the dock....

Black vacationers on Martha’s Vineyard often describe visiting the island in August as a kind of family reunion. If your family happens to include Michelle Obama, that is. “This is a special place for us, because, as you all know, this is where we come to enjoy being us,” Ms. Obama said Saturday afternoon at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, where she joined her older brother, Craig Robinson, for a live recording of their podcast, “IMO,” which she likened to a kitchen table. The brother-sister duo were speaking with the actress Natasha Rothwell, whom they repeatedly referred to...