Free Republic

State leaders have announced that sport fishing for salmon will reopen on the Central Coast starting April 11, with commercial fishing set to begin the following month, marking a significant moment for commercial fishermen who have been unable to fish for salmon since 2022. "It's the news that everybody's been waiting for," said Blake Anderson, Santa Cruz Harbormaster, expressing the anticipation surrounding the reopening of salmon season. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed that recreational fishing will commence on April 11, while commercial fishing is scheduled to kick off in May. The Santa Cruz Harbor is preparing for...

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned the U.K. that it needs to get tougher on irregular migration to protect the country’s borders. Orbán admitted border control was “not the nicest job” but essential to ensure only those permitted could enter a country. Speaking to the right-wing broadcaster GB News, the Hungarian leader was insistent that only a hard-line approach deters people from crossing irregularly. The U.K. government has struggled to combat irregular small boat crossings across the English Channel. Between 2018 and 2025, around 193,000 people were detected crossing, with the yearly peak hitting 46,000 in 2022. Asked for his...

Missiles caused 'extensive damage' in Qatar hours after Iran threatened to wage a 'full scale economic war' by attacking energy facilities across the Middle East. Video showed huge explosions in Ras Laffan - the world's biggest natural gas plant - as well as Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh.Energy sites in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were evacuated after Tehran warned it would hit them with strikes in 'the coming hours'. Abu Dhabi authorities suspended operations at two of its sites, the Habshan gas facility and at the Bab oil field, after being hit with fallen debris from successful...

A Russian ship damaged by explosions has been drifting uncontrollably in the Mediterranean Sea for a fortnight, remaining a potential source of a major environmental accident. Rescuers and environmentalists warn: the situation off the coast of Malta is rapidly becoming more complicated. The Russian gas carrier Arctic Metagaz, damaged by a series of explosions, has been drifting uncontrollably in the Mediterranean Sea for nearly two weeks, causing growing alarm among coastal states and environmental activists. Moscow claims that the vessel, which belongs to an authorised "shadow fleet", was attacked by Ukrainian maritime drones. Kiev has not commented on these claims....

Whoopi Goldberg cheerfully confessed she bar hops as a way to fulfill her sexual needs. On Wednesday’s episode of “The View,” Goldberg noted, “A woman wrote an article in Cosmopolitan, admitting that she fantasizes about being single even though she’s in a very happy longterm relationship.” “She writes that sometimes, she finds herself missing the days of casual flings and bar-hopping,” Goldberg continued as the audience giggled. The “Ghost” actress then turned to her co-hosts for a reaction, to which Joy Behar responded, “Do you miss those days?” Goldberg quipped, “I am single,” adding, “Yeah, I bar hop, I go...

Authorities have rolled out incentives to boost marriages and births, but shifting attitudes and economic pressures among young Chinese pose deeper challenges.The past year has been both challenging and fulfilling for music teachers Huang Zhen Hui and Liang Ren Jia. Not only did they set up their own music school in Shanghai, they also got married after dating for seven years. Initially, the couple were worried their parents might oppose their relationship due to the 1,000km-long distance between their hometowns. Huang is from Shandong province and Liang is from Zhejiang province. But both families gave their blessings, and they tied...

According to Moody’s Analytics, the likelihood of a recession within the next 12 months was already sitting at 49% before the escalation of the Iran conflict. With oil prices now surging and economic data weakening, that probability is expected to move above 50%. For investors, that shift matters. Once recession odds cross that threshold, markets tend to reprice risk quickly and often aggressively.A Fragile Economy Meets an Energy ShockMoody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi pointed to a combination of weakening economic data and rising energy costs as the main drivers behind the rising recession risk.“Behind the recent jump are primarily...

A new report says Ireland’s economic model is in urgent need of reform to sustain high living standards. The study, by University of Galway Professor Alan Ahearne, said Ireland has some of the highest productivity rates in world, but this is being driven by foreign multinationals, not domestic firms. The research was funded by Irish brothers, John and Patrick Collison, who founded global payments company Stripe, which is valued at more than €135 billion. […] Mr. Ahearne’s study said over the past 50 years, real income per person, adjusted for inflation, had tripled, rising from about €17,500 in 1970 to...

Influencer faces legal action for alleged lewd act in central LondonBonnie Blue charged with outraging public decency in Westminster. Screengrab from YouTube video 'BONNIE BLUE IS PREGNANT'/Bonnie Blue Adult content creator Bonnie Blue has been charged with outraging public decency following an alleged incident in Westminster in December 2025. The 26-year-old influencer, whose legal name is Tia Billinger, is accused of performing a lewd act in a public space in central London. The Metropolitan Police confirmed that Billinger was charged via postal requisition on 16 March 2026 and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 22 April....

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, celebrated Palestinian terrorists in a flurry of resurfaced social media posts she made as a teenager and in her early 20s, a shocking new report said.

The Connection Between Zionism, Religious Liberty, and Anti-Catholic BigotryIs it now forbidden to question Zionism without being branded “antisemitic”? Drawing on the words of World Zionist leader Nahum Goldmann himself, this investigation exposes a growing effort to redefine dissent as hate—while tracing the deeper roots of the conflict to Vatican II, religious liberty, and a decades-long struggle over the soul of Catholic teaching. What emerges is a striking paradox: in the name of tolerance, Catholics are increasingly told which beliefs they are no longer allowed to hold.Over the past few years, Zionist political figures and pundits have increasingly instructed Americans...

Stimulated by little more than idle talk and unsubstantiated gos- sip, FBI surveillance of Chavez under the administrations of Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter contin- ued over ten years, occupying the attention of dozens of FBlagents in California, a half-dozen other states, and even Mexico. When all related materials are added in—including parallel and cooperative investigations with other intelligence agencies—the FBI dossier on) “ Chavez runs to over 1,500 pages, with new documents being disi closed regularly. Outlining J. Edgar Hoover’s campaign to uncover communist infiltration and control the farmworker movement, the file emerges as...

As Havana quietly opens talks with Washington amid deepening shortages and unrest, Brussels sticks to a long-failed policy of dialogue. General view of a street in Havana on March 16, 2026. YAMIL LAGE / AFP Cuba is edging toward a breaking point—and, for the first time in years, even its leadership seems to know it. After months of rolling blackouts, empty shelves, and growing street protests, Havana has quietly opened talks with Donald Trump’s administration. The goal is simple: ease the crushing economic pressure without loosening its grip on power. Whether that balancing act is still possible is another question....

A major shakeup of America’s immigration system is now on the table, as Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) rolls out legislation aimed at dismantling decades of globalist policy and restoring what he says should be a strictly “America First” standard. The proposal would represent one of the most sweeping immigration overhauls in modern U.S. history—targeting not just illegal immigration, but the very structure of the legal system itself. At the heart of the bill is a clear directive: immigration policy must serve the national interest—not foreign interests, not activist agendas, and not bureaucratic inertia. “All immigration to the United States shall...

California's jungle primary system has created a path for Republicans to flip the state in a nightmare scenario for Democrats, according to new polling that shows the Democratic field splintering while GOP candidates consolidate. The Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, conducted March 9-15, has Republican commentator Steve Hilton at 17 percent and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 16 percent, while the leading Democratic candidates are scattered below them. Representative Eric Swalwell and former Representative Katie Porter each sit at 13 percent, businessman Tom Steyer at 10 percent, and former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra at 5 percent. […] The...

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – A Fountain woman was arrested on Tuesday for the alleged murder of her boyfriend. 38-year-old Joseph Eiler was last seen alive early Thursday morning after he had a fight with his girlfriend, Ashley Averett. Saturday, Eiler’s dad and Averett reported him missing. During an initial interview with Averett on Monday, investigators reported that Averett said Joseph had left the home with an unknown friend after their argument on Thursday. Bay County Sheriff’s investigators say there were red flags from the beginning. For instance, Eiler had just started working at a local car dealership. “Seemed...

The Belgian capital commemorates the 2016 terrorist attack with testimonies from survivors and warnings about the challenges that remain unresolved a decade later. A man lights a candle as tribute to the victims of the Brussels terror attacks, in Trafalgar Square in central London on March 24, 2016. JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP.Ten years after jihadist bombings tore through Brussels, killing 32 people and injuring hundreds, survivors and officials gathered near Maelbeek station to mark an anniversary that remains unresolved for many of those who lived through it. The tribute took place just metres from the metro stop where one of...

“Even Tommy Robinson – I can hardly believe I'm saying this – has said today that if the shadow justice secretary had made these hateful comments two years ago, the Conservative Party would have kicked him out. Tommy Robinson isn't some sort of moral signpost. He was pointing out how much their party has changed. They're more inclined to his views, and he's right about that.”

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Bronco on the job!” Bronco, a puppy from Mutts With a Mission, poses for a photo aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) in Newport News, Virginia, March 28, 2023. George Washington is undergoing refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) at Newport News Shipyard. RCOH is a multi-year project performed only once during a carrier's 50-year service life that includes refueling the ship's two nuclear reactors, as well as significant repairs, upgrades, and modernization. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist Seaman August Clawson) Canteen Mission...

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration is considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East, as the U.S. military prepares for possible next steps in its campaign against Iran, said a U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter.The deployments could help provide Trump ‌with additional options as he weighs expanding U.S. operations, with the Iran war well into its third week.Those options include securing safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a ‌mission that would be accomplished primarily through air and naval forces, the sources said....