Free Republic

Europe is dealing with a full-blown sexual health crisis as cases of gonorrhea and syphilis skyrocket to unprecedented levels, shocking new data show. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) revealed the continent is in the grips of a dirty STI explosion not seen in over a decade. Gonorrhea cases across Europe hiked a staggering 303% since 2015, clocking in at 106,331 painful infections, while syphilis cases more than doubled over the same period, topping more than 45,550 cases. Spain ranks as Europe’s hotspot, racking up 37,169 gonorrhea cases and 11,556 syphilis infections in 2024, according to the...

Reason number 999,999,999 why migration is a bad idea. You can’t expect everybody to understand or cater to your religion or your customs. And what happened on a deportation flight from Ireland to Pakistan is a perfect example of that kind of cultural miscommunication. Several Muslim migrants, described as “high risk,” were being removed from the country after previous offenses and bad behavior. During the flight, they were served a full Irish breakfast, which included pork sausage. Irish Times: Catering on deportation flights was changed after pork sausages were included as part of an Irish breakfast served on a forced...

The biggest issue for the Irish community in the United States is a current “sense of vulnerability”, Minister of State for Diaspora Neale Richmond has said. Speaking to RTÉ News during a visit to the US, he said that both those who live legally in the US and those who are undocumented are worried about their own immigration status and that of their neighbors. When asked about increased efforts to arrest and detain migrants, he said people are scared. “They’re not necessarily seeing ICE in their neighborhoods. They’re not necessarily feeling under immediate threat. But between media reports, between the...

A Minnesota county prosecutor on Monday announced charges against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in the nonfatal shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Trump administration’s crackdown in the state. The officer, Christian Castro, is charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said at a news conference. A warrant was issued for his arrest. “Mr. Castro is an ICE agent, but his federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his criminal conduct in...

California Democratic gubernatorial front-runner Xavier Becerra went viral yesterday for saying to a local Los Angeles television (KTLA) reporter, after she asked a hard question, “By the way, this is a profile piece, this is not a gotcha piece, right?” Reporter Annie Rose Ramos responded, appropriately, “These questions are fair. It’s in order to learn about you as a candidate.” Progressives responded by criticizing Becerra’s messaging. A progressive Pod Save America co-host and former Obama spokesman, posted on X, “Politicians and candidates…let your staff have these whiny conversations! Or at least don’t do it on camera!” Former Obama strategist David...

A Catholic diocese in New Mexico is challenging an effort by the Trump administration to seize part of its southern border property through eminent domain for the construction of a border security wall. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces filed a complaint against the federal government over plans to acquire roughly 14 acres of diocesan land for border security purposes. Filed last week, the lawsuit argues that the proposed land seizure would interfere with access to Mount Cristo Rey, a popular pilgrimage site featuring a 29-foot-tall statue of Jesus Christ overlooking the border region. Located near the borders of...

Rubio is like the baseball team that scraps for every run and creates openings while Vance seems to be waiting for President Trump to hit a three-run homer to bring him in. Rubio is clearly leading Trump among Latinos, winning converts for him in a way Vance is failing to do. He has used his position as secretary of state to polish his image. Rubio has a charisma edge while Vance seems to be a stolid follower in Trump's wake.

Ask yourself a question: Why are Democrats so opposed to deporting the millions of illegal migrants who flooded into the country during the Biden administration? They know that illegal immigration propelled Donald Trump to the presidency in 2016. They saw how, after winning back the White House in 2020, Joe Biden’s catastrophic open border policies paved the way for Trump’s return in 2024. And they surely must see the polls showing that Americans overwhelmingly support securing the border and deporting illegal migrants — particularly those with criminal records — even if they disapprove of the way Trump has carried out...

The federal government last week revealed it intended to use eminent domain to wrest a 1.3-mile stretch of New Mexico borderland from the Catholic diocese for a border barrier, but church officials in federal court filings Friday argued that doing so would violate their religious freedom. The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol first announced last summer that it intended to build a border wall along the southern skirt of Mount Cristo Rey in Sunland Park, which the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces owns. Officials told Source NM at the time that site “was a major human smuggling infiltration site...

The Trump administration has moved to seize more than 14 acres of land owned by the Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces to expand border‑wall infrastructure near Mount Cristo Rey in southern New Mexico, according to court documents reported by KVIA. The effort puts federal border‑security construction on a collision course with religious‑freedom protections tied to one of the region’s most significant Catholic pilgrimage sites. If approved by a judge, the action could disrupt annual pilgrimages and set a legal test for using eminent domain against religious institutions along the U.S.-Mexico border. The civil case was filed at the request of...

WASHINGTON — Former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas lamented the delay in immigration enforcement actions until the final year of President Biden’s term — despite having testified to Congress several times while in office that the US border was “secure.” In an appearance Tuesday at Politico’s Security Summit, Mayorkas discussed aspects of the “broken” immigration system in America, acknowledging that a “low bar” for those expressing “credible fear of persecution” allowed too many migrants into the country during the Biden administration. More than 8 million entered by the start of the 46th president’s final year in office — before Biden...

🚨 HOLY SMOKES. ICE has just announced a jaw-dropping fraud bust, saying 10,000 FOREIGN students are involved in the federal government's Optional Practical Training There are EMPTY BUILDINGS where HUNDREDS of students should be "working" as part of their ability to be in America — run by foreign-linked groups that send money out of the country! Locked doors, hundreds of students sharing the SAME ADDRESS, and "employers" sharing the same unleased addresses There is a widespread "phantom employee" fraud going on. This is insane. Many of the so-called "employers" have major red flags, such as facing lawsuits, no employment records,...

A one-year-old baby is in a St. Louis County, Missouri, hospital with brain bleeding after being brutally beaten and tortured by two suspected illegal aliens, who allegedly recorded the abuse. Antonio Belli-Espejo, 27 years old, and Irais Martinez Santos, 26 years old, have been arrested and charged with one count of felony child abuse each after a one-year-old baby was found unresponsive in an Overland, Missouri, apartment. When first responders arrived at the scene, the baby was unconscious and began having a seizure. The child was rushed to a nearby children’s hospital and is suffering from brain bleeding. Belli-Espejo and...

The Greek government has warned that there are over half a million migrants waiting in Libya to cross the Mediterranean and land in Europe, sparking concerns of another migrant crisis. Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris said this week that Athens estimates there are approximately 550,000 migrants waiting in Libya, the African hub, for the opportunity to cross to Europe. Among the policies enacted by Athens to stem the tide of illegals has been the erection of a 41-kilometre (25-mile) wall along the Turkish border, which has previously been weaponised by the Islamist Erdogan government in Ankara. Pelvris said that Athens...

LAREDO, Texas - Multiple people have been found dead inside a Union Pacific cargo train at a railyard in Laredo. According to the Laredo Police Department, the train was found just after 2:30 p.m. near mile marker 13, near 12100 Jim Young Way. The exact number of people deceased is not yet known. Temperatures in Laredo were in the upper 90's on Sunday when the discovery was made.

Nearly three quarters of Irish people believe the EU should seek greater independence from the United States, an island-wide poll on attitudes to the European Union has suggested.With just weeks to go before Ireland assumes the EU presidency, support for the European Union remains high at 82%, although down from the peak of 93% in 2019 during the Brexit negotiations. The poll was conducted in the north and south simultaneously towards the end of March by Amárach Research on behalf of European Movement Ireland, based on a representative sample of 1,200 adults in both jurisdictions. The poll shows that at...

Court documents show Mohamed Sabry Soliman, who faces possibility of life in prison, plans to take different approach in state case after pleading not guilty in federal one. FORT COLLINS, Colorado — A man accused of killing one person and injuring a dozen more in a firebomb attack on Colorado demonstrators showing support for Israeli hostages in Gaza plans to plead guilty this week to murder and other charges, according to court documents. Mohamed Sabry Soliman faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole in the June 1 attack in downtown Boulder, according to the documents...

Florida detectives are pursuing a group of teenagers whose late-night joyride across a local golf course left the pristine landscape scarred by deep tire tracks and thousands of dollars in property damage. It happened around 7:17 p.m. on Saturday, April 18, at the Weston Hills Golf Course, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO). Deputies responding to reports of suspicious activity arrived to find evidence of significant damage to the course’s greens. A witness at the scene told deputies that several juveniles had been riding motorized bikes and a golf cart across the course. The scale of the disruption was...

Estibaliz Kortazar, a far-left Spanish activist, did what good comrades do, she opened her home to a North African migrant. Once he got what he wanted, the man started sexually harassing her, insulting her, and beating her. Then he threw her out, changed the locks, and took over the house. She called the police for help. Their response? “We can’t do anything without a court order.” Now she’s sleeping at relatives’ houses, seeing a psychologist after a nervous breakdown, and has launched a petition to fast-track the legal process and get her home back.

Sen. John Fetterman sounded the alarm Friday about the leftward drift of his own party, warning that a “small Communist takeover” is underway in Maine as Graham Platner closes in on the Democratic Senate nomination. Appearing on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said the rise of Mr. Platner — an oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran who wrote in a 2021 Reddit post, “I got older and became a communist” — exemplified the Democratic Party’s inability to resist its worst impulses. “There is kind of a small Communist takeover in Maine,” Mr. Fetterman said. “Platner, he’s already...