Free Republic

At today's Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) questioned DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas about the alleged killer of Laken Riley. YouTube Video 7:44 seconds long

Emergency 911 phone service has been restored in some of the areas hit by outages on Wednesday night. At least six cities in four different states across the United States reported experiencing 911 call outages earlier in the evening, according to officials. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said service had been restored in the city just before 9:15 p.m. PT. "9-1-1 phone service has been restored," the LVMPD wrote in a post on X. "All of the individuals who called during the outage have been called back and provided assistance. Non-emergency calls are also working. As always, please do...

U.S. Bancorp (USB.N), opens new tab cut its forecast for full-year interest income and reported a 22% fall in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, as higher deposit costs and a larger corpus of rainy-day funds to cover potential defaults continue to weigh on the sector. Shares of U.S. Bancorp fell 4% in morning trading. It was among the top losers on the broader regional banking index (.KRX), opens new tab. Lenders in the U.S. have been offering higher interest rates in recent months to retain deposits as customers are increasingly seeking better returns by placing their money in higher-yielding alternatives. U.S....

NYC Now has a $4.4 billion shoplifting economy. Theft is so rampant, retailers are forced to make tough choices... Cash takes a serious look at stores starting to flee the big apple. The fall of a once great city. And one shining mall in the city is now completely vacant due in most part to shoplifting and violent crime.

The government of Canada has upgraded its travel advisories to Israel and the West Bank, instructing Canadians to avoid all travel amid escalating tensions(opens in a new tab) in the region. Previously, the federal government had advised Canadians to "avoid non-essential travel" to Israel and certain areas of the West Bank. "With a heightened risk of attacks on Israeli territory, the regional security situation remains highly volatile & could escalate without notice," Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said in a post Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter. With a heightened risk of attacks on Israeli territory, the regional security...

TOKYO -- The global wheat market has been hit by Chinese buyers canceling major shipments, seemingly in an attempt to secure better prices and bolster the country's food security. Benchmark Chicago wheat futures are trading at about $5.50 per bushel, up slightly from a three-and-a-half-year low marked in mid-March but down about 10% from the beginning of the year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month said 504,000 tonnes of wheat sales to China had been canceled. The figure is equivalent to about half the total U.S. wheat shipments to China in 2022 and the largest cancellation on record going...

The source of the potentially deadly radioactive leak is currently unknown, with authorities scrambling to cordon off the area A Russian city has announced a state of emergency following a mysterious radiation leak. High radiation levels had been found near a pylon just over a mile away from Khabarovsk, just over the Chinese border, earlier today, according to reports. Authorities have cordoned off the affected area, but the source of the potentially deadly radioactive leak is unknown and has not yet been made public. It was decided to introduce a state of emergency in Khabarovsk to carry out work faster."...

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake shook the coast of the northeastern United States on Friday morning. The earthquake was felt from Boston down to Baltimore, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Many incoming flights at major airports in and around New York City were being diverted from landing, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in a tweet said, “My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day.”

Ripple, the enterprise-focused blockchain service and creator of the XRP Ledger, is introducing its own stablecoin pegged to the price of the U.S. dollar. "The stablecoin market is over $150 billion today and is forecasted to exceed $2.8 trillion by 2028," Ripple said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. "There’s clear demand for stablecoins that deliver trust, stability and utility." The company said the token, which it plans to release "later this year," will be "100% backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. government Treasuries and other cash equivalents." The stablecoin will be deployed onto Ripple's institution-focused XRP Ledger along...

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A human case of avian influenza A(H5N1), also known as bird flu, has been confirmed in Texas, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reported Monday The person had direct contact with dairy cattle presumed to be infected with avian influenza, the department said. Their only reported symptom was eye inflammation, and they’re now being treated with the antiviral drug oseltamivir (commonly known by the brand name Tamiflu). DSHS did not specify where the person lives or where they contracted the virus, however, officials last week confirmed an illness that impacted dairies in the Texas Panhandle was...

Protests have continued this week in Cuba over one of the island’s worst ever economic and energy crises as food shortages and blackouts push the country toward the "verge of collapse." Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio took to X on Tuesday to say the disastrous situation was down to Cuba’s long-standing Marxist policies. "The reason Cuba is on the verge of collapse is because Marxism always leads to hunger, poverty and shortages," Rubio said The senator, an ardent critic of the Cuban regime, took to the social media platform to push back on accusations levied by the Cuban Deputy Foreign...

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has implemented a new response policy. Beginning March 11, officers will only respond to calls of in-progress emergencies, WPXI reported. The policy is part of Chief Larry Scirotto’s efforts to reduce the bureau’s call volume from about 200,000 calls to about 50,000 calls this year, according to the report. Calls for criminal mischief, theft, harassment and many others will be handled by the telephone reporting unit or by online reporting. “That allows our officers to be engaged in community in a way, now they’re at the YMCA instead of sitting on the 10th Street bypass...

Some Chinese-made cranes used at US ports contain communications equipment with no clear purpose or record of their installation, according to a new congressional investigation that will heighten US concerns that the cranes could be used for surveillance or sabotage. The investigation by the House Committee on Homeland Security and House select committee on China focused on the more than 200 Chinese-made cranes installed at US ports and related facilities. It comes amid heightened US-China tensions over national security and as the Coast Guard last month ordered the ports to better secure the Chinese-made cranes. House lawmakers found that the...

Cash Jordan delivers are cold, hard evaluation of events happening "underground," on the NYC Subway system. The impact crime is having on people and the financial viability of the massive public transportation system. YouTube Video Update

Many millennials are currently grasping in frustration at long-held American Dreams like homeownership, a steady job and an affordable cost of living. However, over the next twenty years, Millennials are poised to inherit some $90 trillion of assets and become the richest generation in history – but only the ones who already come from affluent families, potentially deepening wealth inequality further. Between now and 2044 in the US, the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers are expected to hand over the reins of their significant wealth to Millennials, according to The Wealth Report, a periodic report from global property consultant Knight...

Israeli press say AAE-1, Seacom/TGN, and Europe India Gateway (EIG) damaged by rebels; Seacom confirms issues but not cause Several subsea cables have reportedly been damaged off the coast of Yemen, with some press suggesting terrorist groups are to blame. One cable operator has confirmed damage to a cable in the region, but said it didn’t know the cause yet. Israeli press including the Jerusalem Post and Globes suggest four cables - AAE-1, Seacom, Europe India Gateway (EIG), and TGN systems - have been damaged in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen (though Seacom and TGN are actually...

Two sources briefed on the situation told ABC News that the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), among other agencies, are now urgently investigating to determine whether the AT&T outages are the result of a cyber attack or a hack, or simply some sort of technical malfunction. More than 73,000 AT&T customers reported outages on digital-service tracking site DownDetector. That's not a comprehensive number: It tracks only self-reported outages. Although outage reports fell a bit in the 5 am ET hour, they bounced back in the 7 am ET hour and continue to surge. Several local governments said AT&T's...

Basically he is highlighting what is already happening, that we are already under attack, and that NOBODY is coming to help you when it all finally goes down.

Faced with a nearly $20 million budget deficit, Baldwin Wallace University yesterday announced layoffs, program cuts and other measures it will undertake to bring its books into balance. "Like many universities across our country, both large and small, BW must always work to maintain a balanced budget," the university said in a release. "During the past two years we have operated with budget deficits, which we cannot continue to do. To address the operating deficit, we have looked at every area of the university over the past few months to ensure that we are operating as cost-effectively as possible. As...

Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin told a defence conference "there could be war in Sweden". His message was then backed up by military commander-in-chief Gen Micael Byden, who said all Swedes should prepare mentally for the possibility. (snip) Children's rights organisation Bris said that its national helpline did not usually receive calls about the possibility of war. But this week, it had seen an increase in worried calls from youngsters who had seen news reports or posts on TikTok talking about it. "This was well prepared, it wasn't something blurted out," Bris spokeswoman Maja Dahl told the BBC. "They should...