Free Republic

For more than a decade, an elderly Chinatown resident purportedly had no access to electricity, water and gas. With bags of sundries piled high within his one-room rental flat, his nights were spent along the stretch of corridor outside the unit. His circumstances were shared online on Dec 23 by non-profit platform Keeping Hope Alive, which assisted in decluttering the flat. The volunteer group's Facebook post noted how time seemed to have stopped 10 years ago for the man in his 80s, who had a 2015 calendar hung on a wall. With water supply cut off, the man, surnamed Wong,...

Recorded at a time when Frank Sinatra considered retiring, ‘My Way’ has become a timeless anthem for the generations that followed.Frank Sinatra‘s recording of “My Way” has spent longer on the UK singles chart than any other song – an amazing 124 weeks. That’s almost twice as long as its nearest rival, which you might be surprised to know is “Amazing Grace” by Judy Collins. It’s a timeless anthem that, even in a digital world where songs can be streamed endlessly at the touch of a button, will never be superseded, no matter the prevailing trends. Sinatra recorded the song...

The Department of Health and Human Services is freezing all childcare payments to all states, an official for Donald Trump’s administration told ABC News in a report published Wednesday. States’ funds will be released “only when states prove they are being spent legitimately”. The report came a day after Jim O’Neill, the HHS deputy secretary, and Alex Adams, an HHS assistant secretary who oversees the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), appeared in a Tuesday evening video message. O’Neill declared that the department had “activated our defend-the-spend system for all ACF childcare payments across America” and would now require “justification,...

Mmm dd, 2025 7th day within the octave of Christmas (optional commemoration of Saint Silvester I, Pope)Main altar in the parish church of Saint Sylvester Pope in Kanfanar, CroatiaReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).First reading1 John 2:18-21You have been anointed by the Holy OneChildren, these are the last days;you were told that an Antichrist must come,and now several antichrists have already appeared;we know from this that these are the last days.Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number, but they had never really belonged;if they had belonged, they would have stayed with us;but they left us,...

Built by a small Italian team, the bot exploded in popularity.Turns out robots can trade, too. A new AI trading bot reportedly flipped a $3,200 investment into $14,158 in just one week, with the receipts to prove it, according to verified trading records and third-party data from MyFxBook. The story doesn’t end with the initial success. Starting from July 2025, with a $1,000 investment, the bot once again stunned traders. By December 2025, it earned a profit of $5,600 — an astonishing 560% gain over the 5-months period. Skepticism was expected... and honestly, deserved. Sure, there are glowing reviews online...

Even though Rob Reiner directed some of Hollywood's most beloved movies before his gruesome murder, he had only helmed two films since 2017, and pal Bill Maher shared the devastating reason why, RadarOnline.com can reveal. "The discussions we had in recent years were a lot about him not being able to get funding," Maher, 69, shared on his Club Random podcast about how Reiner couldn't get studios to cough up the money for new projects. Maher gushed over Reiner's 'charisma' and 'presence' on his podcast. Reiner's impressive directing resume included such beloved hits as The Princess Bride, Stand by Me,...

The daughter of Jill Biden's ex-husband, Bill Stevenson, has called the death of her mother a "murder investigation," RadarOnline.com can report. Christina Vettori is mourning the sudden loss of Linda Stevenson, whose body was discovered after an alleged domestic dispute. Linda Stevenson's Death Investigation As Radar reported, cops were called to the Stevensons' Delaware home Sunday after an alleged domestic violence call. When they arrived, they found Bill's wife unresponsive. Audio from a 911 call suggested the 64-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest, but Linda's daughter apparently has her doubts. "It's still a murder investigation," Vettori, 45, told the Daily Mail...

Jill and Joe Biden's alleged affair scandal has resurfaced after the former first lady's ex-husband Bill Stevenson's wife Linda was pronounced dead following a "domestic dispute" call, RadarOnline.com can reveal. New Castle County Police confirmed officers were dispatched to the Stevenson's home around 11:15 P.M. on Sunday, December 28, and found Linda unresponsive in the living room. Despite officers administering life-saving efforts, she was pronounced dead at age 64. The death investigation has since been handed over to detectives with the Criminal Investigations Unit. No charges have been filed in the case at this time. While a political campaign ad...

SummaryLocal leaders have criticized National Guard deployment Policy has faced legal challenges Trump says federal forces will 'come back' if crime rises WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his administration was removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland but he added in his social media post that federal forces will "come back" if crime rates go up.Local leaders in those cities and Democrats have said the deployments, which have faced legal challenges, were unnecessary. They have accused the Trump administration of federal overreach and of exaggerating isolated episodes of violence at...

The wife of Jill Biden’s first husband was found dead inside her home Monday, as police officers were responding to a report of a domestic dispute, the New Castle County Police announced. The incident first unfolded sometime around 11 p.m. at the home of Linda Stevenson — the wife of Jill Biden’s ex-husband, Bill Stevenson — inside the deceased’s Wilmington, Delaware home, according to a press release from the New Castle County Police. The Delaware Division of Forensic Science will conduct an autopsy in an effort to determine the manner and cause of death, authorities noted. No charges have been...

Years before Minnesota welfare fraud captured the nation’s attention, a Somali-American leader of one massive scheme expanded his assets beyond the North Star State, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, a Somali-born naturalized U.S. citizen, used some of his ill-gotten gains to buy property throughout the Twin Cities and Kentucky before the DOJ prosecuted him for using the nonprofit Feeding Our Future to defraud the government of $300 million in COVID-19 relief meant for hungry children, leading to a 28-year prison sentence in August. There are at least 1,687 people of Somali descent living in Kentucky....

President Donald Trump envisions a central role for Turkey in Gaza. At the October 2025 Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit, Trump named Turkey as one of four guarantors of the ceasefire, along with Egypt, Qatar, and the United States. In addition, the Trump administration sees Turkey as an important player in Gaza’s reconstruction and stabilization, including by participating in the proposed International Stabilization Force (ISF) there. This envisioned role for Ankara is the result of a strategic convergence between Washington’s desire to delegate the burden of overseeing the Gaza ceasefire to capable regional actors and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s willingness...

Business class comes with Champagne, lie-flat seats and an unspoken sense of calm. What it does not guarantee is immunity from crime. A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 months in jail after attempting to steal another passenger’s carry-on bag mid-flight on a Singapore Airlines service from Dubai to Singapore. Liu Ming boarded the August flight with intent. Prosecutors told the court he deliberately targeted business class passengers, assuming premium cabins meant premium valuables. He was seated only a few rows away from an Azerbaijani couple whose overhead luggage contained items worth more than S$100,000, roughly A$116,000. The timing...

In the suitability for prime minister polls, former prime minister Naftali Bennett continues to emerge as the principal challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a direct head-to-head matchup, Channel 12 places Bennett within one percentage point of Netanyahu. In the multi-candidate Channel 14 poll, Bennett ranks second, holding a 12-point lead over the next closest challenger. The dominant topic this week was the fallout from revelations of betrayal within Netanyahu’s office, following reports that senior advisers received funds from Qatar. A Maariv poll shows that 60% of respondents with an opinion do not believe Netanyahu’s claim that he was...

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday released the 255-page transcript and video of the deposition of former special counsel Jack Smith’s deposition before the committee that took place earlier in the month. During his opening statements, Smith said he and his team "developed powerful evidence that showed that President Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in January of 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a ballroom and a bathroom. He then repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents." He later added, "I made my decisions in the...

(The Center Square) – Daycare centers that receive hundreds of thousands in taxpayer subsides did not appear to have any children when The Center Square visited the facilities this week and were either openly hostile or told journalists that they were hoping to have children in their care, but did not have an application available or anyone to talk with about enrolling a child. The focus on Washington's taxpayer subsidized daycares comes at the time federal authorities are conducting what they call a "massive" investigation into fraud in Somali-run facilities in Minnesota. According to fiscal.wa.gov, a home-based daycare on 6th...

🥳🥂 HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026 🥂🥳 The Year of Accountability!

When Congress returns next week, lawmakers will have less than a month to pass the remaining nine appropriations bills funding federal agencies in fiscal year 2026. Already, however, there are signs of further delay, with two Republican senators pledging to vote against the bill for Labor and Health and Human Services due to its inclusion of $5.69 billion for refugee assistance services. The amount is less than the $6.3 billion that HHS’s Administration of Children and Families, which runs various refugee and asylee support programs, received in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. But it is still three times higher than...

YouTuber Nick Shirley said on “PBD Podcast” on Wednesday that people have been telling him he will be assassinated like Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk after his viral video on alleged Somali fraud. Shirley’s Friday video showed him finding that multiple supposed Minnesota Somali-run daycare centers, including one that reportedly obtained $4 million in taxpayer funds, lacked children. On the podcast, Shirley detailed threats he has received, along with how his family has been affected. “They’re saying, ‘You’re going to be Kirked … you’ll be the next Kirk.’ And it’s just like, are you kidding me? I hate...

Major cities are erupting. IRGC are uncharacteristically restrained, and even retreating in some cities. Theory that they're scared that Israel and/or the US might intervene if they are overly violent. Other theory that they're short-handed and don't have the man-power, due to IRGC members defecting to Reza's camp. They have thus far only killed two people. In the middle of a water shortage, they tried using a water cannon, and nobody ran. They stood their ground, and maybe the pressure was insufficient to bowl over a crowd, which has the shrill voices of women prominent in their chanting. International Community...