Free Republic

More than 50 officials from seven southeastern states convened Thursday to sign a data-sharing agreement with the Department of Justice aimed at rooting out fraud. Across the seven states, officials have uncovered roughly $350 million in alleged fraud, according to information shared with the Daily Caller. Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed Thursday, the states will give the DOJ access to “publicly available corporate registration and public benefits payment data held by these state agencies.” It is data officials said will help the department spot fraud patterns faster. Colin McDonald, assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s National Fraud...

-- snip -- Francesca Hong: At 18, I had a mental breakdown. I didn't actually walk at my high school graduation because I had been hospitalized for a week at a child psychiatric hospital. I just felt like nothing had meaning anymore. It was a numbness that took over, and a pain that I couldn't describe. I couldn't feel anymore, and that scared the hell out of me. And I found myself self-harming to feel something. Marsh: Were you cutting yourself? Hong: It was cutting. I was diagnosed with bipolar disease. I was taking SSRIs and I'd overdosed on lithium....

The region prepares for another escalation after President Trump threatened new strikesIran fired a drone barrage into Kuwait on Saturday, hitting a U.S. ally following President Trump’s vow to intensify military strikes in a rapidly expanding Middle East war.Kuwait said it shot down the Iranian volley, but the renewed fire added more tension to a region bracing for more conflict. Trump ordered the military to launch a fresh attack on Iran to bring Tehran to the negotiating table, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.AdvertisementU.S. embassies in the Middle East told Americans to consider departing the region. Airlines are extending flight...

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) recently updated his Congressional colleagues on his health, according to one who said he believed the longtime Kentucky politician will come back to work on Capitol Hill. The confident prediction from Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) comes just days before an Aug. 3 deadline for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) to call a special election to fill McConnell’s seat. Marshall and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) told independent journalist Nicholas Ballasy McConnell had reached out to his colleagues recently, with Ernst pointing to a letter the 84-year-old sent to the Senate physician. While it’s unclear what the letter...

President Donald Trump lashed out at Jeannine Pirro after the U.S. Attorney in Washington D.C. dropped criminal charges against an American Olympian who had been accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Trump blasted Pirro in a Truth Social post Saturday: I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area. There...

CEUTA, Spain (AP) — Spain announced it was installing a 500-meter-long (1,600-foot) containment barrier on the sea border between its North African territory of Ceuta and neighboring Morocco after between 50,000 and 60,000 migrants breached the frontier earlier this week. The death toll has climbed to 67, including some who drowned and others who were killed in a stampede to cross a breakwater barrier, the Spanish government said Saturday. A handful of exhausted migrants who swam to Ceuta’s urban Tarajal beach Saturday morning were met by soldiers who escorted them back across the border. Spain’s interior ministry says the majority...

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani defended publishing the names and addresses of the 30,000 property owners who will have to pay the Pied-à-Terre tax, saying "these people are not really residents of the city. They don't occupy these properties on a full-time basis. They are not eligible to vote in our city's elections. Their possession of these properties is for occasional visits. It's a luxury expenditure. In short, they don't really need these houses or condos. Those who are homeless have a right to know who is withholding homes that they need so they can take action to try...

Iranian hackers are likely behind a widening cyberattack campaign against US water systems that has reached at least seven states, including more than 30 systems in Minnesota alone, and likely extends further, a cybersecurity expert told JNS on Friday. “The working assumption is that it is Iranian threat actors,” Annie Fixler, director of the cyber and technology innovation center at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS. “The kind of behavior matches what we’ve seen out of Iran. The kind of targets and the systems that we’re talking about match.” Fixler cautioned that no actor has publicly claimed responsibility....

China is leading as a global innovator in humanoid robotics, according to a new LexisNexis patent analysis. The report analyzed more than 26,000 patent families to identify the countries and companies that are leading innovation in humanoid robotics. China claimed the top five spots. In total, Chinese companies occupy six of the 10 spots for the most innovative humanoid robotics startups in the world, according to the report. Shanghai-based Fourier and AgiBot ranked first and second, followed by Shenzhen-based LimX Dynamics and Pudu Robotics, and Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics. Shenzhen’s Leju Robotics also made the top 10, ranking ninth.

This video features Prophet Lovey Elias, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity, discussing his perspective on Islamic ideology, historical narratives, and the perceived passivity of Western Christians. He argues that Islam is a rigid ideology rather than just a faith and calls for a more proactive stance from those concerned about societal and religious shifts.

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Cupich says Latin Mass divisions weaken the Church. His own record raises questionsCardinal Blase Cupich says public disputes over the Traditional Latin Mass weaken the Church’s credibility on global issues. Our analysis examines whether his own record matches his appeal for unityCardinal Blase Cupich has warned that public divisions over the Traditional Latin Mass and other internal disputes risk undermining the Catholic Church’s credibility in addressing global challenges.In an interview with the German Catholic news portal Katholisch.de, the Archbishop of Chicago said debates surrounding the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass and other contentious issues should not...

A federal judge on Friday once again blocked the Trump Administration from terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis. The termination was supposed to take effect on March 17, however, a federal judge previously halted the termination. On Friday, US District Judge Allison Burroughs, an Obama appointee, issued a new administrative stay after the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint and an emergency motion. There are more than 100,000 Somalis living in the US. An estimated 5,000 Somalis are eligible for Temporary Protected Status. The Justice Department responded to the judge’s order. “Judge Allison Burroughs just entered yet another order preventing...

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called for an urgent meeting of EU interior ministers after what he called some member states’ “selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction” to this week’s mass border crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, in north Africa. More than 50,000 people crossed into the territory from Morocco on Thursday and Friday, with at least 67 people dying in the attempt. Some drowned, while others were crushed as they tried to cross a breakwater barrier. Although more than 48,000 people had voluntarily returned to Morocco by 6pm on Friday, the influx triggered a political crisis for...

A man accused of killing one person and injuring another in an east Charlotte apartment complex shooting appeared before a Mecklenburg County judge Friday after initially refusing to leave his jail cell. David Simpson, 29, is facing charges for the Dunlavin Way shooting Wednesday. Simpson is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious harm, and possession of a firearm by a felon. A woman identified as Simpson's girlfriend, Shakema Scott, was also charged with accessory after the fact. The shooting happened outside an apartment complex around 1:45 a.m., according...

1 August 2026 Saint Alphonsus Mary de' Liguori, Bishop, Doctor on Saturday of week 17 in Ordinary Time Church of Saint Alphonsus of Liguori, Rome, Italy Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst readingJeremiah 26:11-16,24'This man has spoken to us in the name of the Lord'The priests and prophets addressed the officials and all the people, ‘This man deserves to die, since he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.’ Jeremiah, however, replied to the people as follows: ‘The Lord himself sent...

Jon De Lorraine @jon_delorraine Translated from French 🔴🇪🇺 IMMIGRATION 22 EU countries have signed the letter led by Italy and Denmark to strengthen external borders and accelerate expulsions. The five states that did not sign: ❌ 🇪🇸 Spain ❌ 🇫🇷 France ❌ 🇮🇪 Ireland ❌ 🇱🇺 Luxembourg ❌ 🇵🇹 Portugal The 22 states that signed: 🟢 🇩🇪 Germany 🟢 🇦🇹 Austria 🟢 🇧🇪 Belgium 🟢 🇩🇰 Denmark 🟢 🇪🇪 Estonia 🟢 🇫🇮 Finland 🟢 🇬🇷 Greece 🟢 🇭🇺 Hungary 🟢 🇮🇹 Italy 🟢 🇱🇻 Latvia 🟢 🇱🇹 Lithuania 🟢 🇲🇹 Malta 🟢 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🟢 🇵🇱 Poland 🟢 🇨🇿 Czech...

Whether Stephanie White likes it or not, she has to deal with the issues that her players have gotten involved in. One such issue is the backlash towards Sophie Cunningham, who commented in an ESPN profile that female athletes should be protected in sports where they “shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” Prior to the Indiana-Portland game on Friday, White was asked about her stance on this matter. The Fever head coach offered a disclaimer for her response. “I don’t know that I would say that I’m educated enough from a scientific standpoint. I don’t ever believe that exclusion...

WASHINGTON — A 15-year-old boy in Indiana was sentenced to a century in prison after he was convicted of shooting and killing 26-year-old Dayla Swain and injuring another woman outside a nightclub, according to the Madison County Prosecutor's Office. Jo'Majze Larry and his 19-year-old co-defendant Rashawn Samuels were both found guilty last month for the shooting that happened on Feb. 2, 2025, in Anderson, Ind., about an hour outside Indianapolis. Convicted on similar charges, the 19-year-old received the longer sentence of 125 years.

Announcement: http://ReplacementClock.org is now live! A year ago, I went looking for something like a Great Replacement Tracker — a site that aggregated all the demographic data for the West and could tell me how bad things really were. To my surprise, I couldn't find one. So six months ago, I started building it myself. Today, I'm announcing the first live version of the Great Replacement Clock. It tracks the European-descended share of the world's population and of 45 historically White countries. It consolidates historical figures and modeled projections into a single interactive timeline — sourced, auditable, and methodologically transparent....

This is one of the most beloved paintings in America, and it puts its finger on something we all pass through, first as the child, and one day as the parent left behind... The painting is Breaking Home Ties<, by Norman Rockwell, on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1954. A father and his teenage son sit side by side on the running board of a battered farm truck, waiting at a railway stop. A single track runs along the bottom of the picture. A ticket pokes from the boy's pocket. His suitcase is stacked with schoolbooks and...