Free Republic

A 62-year-old Mexican national, deported from the United States in 2017 but allegedly gained illegal re-entry, was taken into custody this week after being suspected of embezzling $7 million from his employer, authorities said. Alexander G. Ramos of Newport Beach was charged on Thursday, May 22, with fraud, a felony that carries a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Ramos was being held without bail. According to an affidavit filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ramos was employed in the victim company’s risk-management department from 2017 until his termination...

The Trump Administration has frozen billions in federal grants to Harvard University, threatened its tax-exempt status, and sought to dictate its curriculum and hiring. Now the government seems bent on destroying the school for the offense of fighting back. And for what purpose? That’s how we read the Department of Homeland Security’s move Thursday to bar foreign students from attending the world-renowned institution. That’s 6,800 students, or a quarter of Harvard’s student body, whose futures are suddenly in disarray. It’s also a short-sighted attack on one of America’s great competitive strengths: Its ability to attract the world’s best and brightest....

If chutzpah could take human form, it would strongly resemble CNN’s Jake Tapper. The recent spectacle of Tapper making the rounds on the interview circuit to promote his latest book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” co-authored with Alex Thompson, has such a wolf-in-the-henhouse feel to it that both the interview tour and the five-years-too-late investigation into former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline simply must involve sinister, ulterior motives. Sure enough, in an interview posted to the social media platform X Friday, Tapper revealed those motives. ... “This applies to Donald Trump,...

Antisemitism is increasing on university campuses — and throughout the world. But let’s be clear: Donald Trump and the right wing are not fighting antisemitism. They are exploiting it. And they are deliberately doing so, using Jewish people as pawns in a broader war on education.

When astronomers announced last month they might have discovered the most promising hints of alien life yet on a distant planet, the rare good news raised hopes humanity could soon learn we are not alone in the universe. But several recent studies looking into the same data have found that there is not enough evidence to support such lofty claims, with one scientist accusing the astronomers of "jumping the gun". Two of Madhusudhan's former students, Luis Welbanks of Arizona State University and Matthew Nixon of Maryland University, were among the researchers who have since re-analysed the data behind the announcement....

In a motion filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the Trump DOJ is moving to dissolve the ‘Flores Consent Decree.’ Attorney General Pam Bondi maintains the decree is incentivizing illegal immigration at the southern border. The Flores decree has governed the detention and release of migrant children since 1997. The motion, filed by the DOJ and jointed by HHS and the Department of Homeland Security, asks a federal court in southern California to dissolve the decree. However, the motion to terminate the Flores decree will be heard at a July 18 hearing before US District Judge Dolly Gee in...

Anthropic’s latest artificial intelligence model, Claude Opus 4, tried to blackmail engineers in internal tests by threatening to expose personal details if it were shut down, according to a newly released safety report that evaluated the model’s behavior under extreme simulated conditions. In a fictional scenario crafted by Anthropic researchers, the AI was given access to emails implying that it was soon to be decommissioned and replaced by a newer version. One of the emails revealed that the engineer overseeing the replacement was having an extramarital affair. The AI then threatened to expose the engineer’s affair if the shutdown proceeded—a...

Rather than honoring the military men and women who gave their lives defending their fellow Americans’ right to live in freedom, two-time failed Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is calling on her supporters to bash President Donald Trump and his One Big Beautiful Bill that passed the House this week when they get together with friends and neighbors at Memorial Day gatherings this weekend:

HUMILIATED KIM Jong-un has vowed to hunt down the traitors responsible for the disgraceful launch of his new warship - and they face potential execution. North Korean state media said a group of "relevant experts" were being gathered for a probe to find those responsible - after Kim branded the spectacle a "criminal act". New satellite images showed the extent of the damages, with the not-so-menacing destroyer lying on its side and blue sheets covering it up. Part of the vessel, thought to be built with help from Russian despot Vladimir Putin, still appeared to be on the shipway while...

China is the original riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. A country striving for modernity but feudal in its treatment of its citizens, Beijing's economic identity is a combination of Communist orthodoxy and crony capitalism. As you might expect, the two don't work well together. On the outside of the riddle, China is booming, the people are subservient and happy, and the government is looking to the future with confidence. This is the picture the Chinese Communists paint for the world to see. The reality is much different. China is being crushed by debt, has become dependent on...

CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis says that China represents an “existential threat” to the United States and that the agency’s top priority is outpacing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a high-stakes technological arms race that spans semiconductors, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence.“China is the existential threat to American security in a way we really have never confronted before,” Ellis told Axios in an interview published on May 21, adding that a key CIA objective is to help U.S. companies maintain a “decisive technological advantage” to counter the CCP’s malign actions against the homeland.In separate remarks, including an interview at the...

The share of people becoming undocumented immigrants in the United States not by illegally crossing a border, but by overstaying their visas was almost 40 percent of estimated new undocumented immigrants in the fiscal year 2023.While an estimated 860,000 new undocumented arrivals were created due to illegal border crossings that year, more than 510,000 people overstayed their visas. This fact has in the past called into question the effectiveness of sealing off borders to curb illegal immigration. During the first Trump term, when the construction of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border took central stage, the number of overstayers even...

The Texas Legislature passed a resolution May 20 to install a statue of the Virgin Mary bearing the unborn Christ child at the state Capitol. Senate Concurrent Resolution 19, now awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature, describes the “Texas Life Monument” as “a mother with an unborn child cradled in a world-shaped womb.” However, the piece, created by renowned Catholic sculptor Timothy Schmalz, is unmistakably Marian. Schmalz, known for spiritually evocative public art, confirmed the statue depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary and the unborn Jesus. “People are afraid to have children these days,” Schmalz told The Austin Chronicle. “Well, this is...

Democratic Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signed a bill May 20 legalizing assisted suicide in the state, supporting deadly legislation that the previous governor had vetoed. The state’s House Bill 140 makes it legal for adults given six months or fewer to live — a prognosis that is not always accurate — to request deadly drugs from their physicians to kill themselves. The legislation had previously failed in September 2024 when the state’s then-Governor John Carney, a Catholic, vetoed it. When he vetoed it, Carney said he is “fundamentally and morally opposed to state law enabling someone, even under tragic and...

A former diplomat from the Biden administration is raising serious concerns about a slogan widely used in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, stating there is “no question” that “Free Palestine” is often a call for violence. Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt’s remarks challenge the narrative pushed by many on the left that the phrase is purely symbolic or peaceful. “I think there’s no question, whatever its initial intent and whatever people were saying initially or meant it, it has become a call for violence, and not violence against Israelis, which is wrong, but violence against Jews," Lipstadt told CNN's "Inside Politics" host Dana Bash. Her...

In a nation that has long been synonymous with working hard and showing unswerving loyalty to an employer, more and more Japanese people are "quiet quitting" their jobs. A growing number of Japanese are choosing to clock in at work exactly on time and leave as soon as they can. For 26-year-old Issei, the answer is straightforward: He wants more time to pursue the things he enjoys. "I don't hate my job and I know I have to work to pay my rent and bills, but I would much rather be meeting up with my friends, traveling or listening to...

Bernard Arnault, the head of luxury giant LVMH, has strongly criticised the European Union for its slow and shaky start in trade talks with the United States. Speaking at a French parliamentary hearing, Arnault said the EU’s handling of negotiations aimed at reducing US tariffs had begun badly. He warned that delays and weak strategy could hurt major European industries, especially luxury goods. LVMH, the company Arnault leads, owns famous brands such as Louis Vuitton and Hennessy. The United States is LVMH’s biggest market. That’s why Arnault is deeply concerned about the 20% “reciprocal” tariffs introduced by President Donald Trump...

Planned Parenthood is raising alarm over California Governor Gavin Newsom’s “shocking” and “cruel” budget proposal, which it claims will reduce its annual budget in the state by one-third. The proposal would move $500 million from a fund designated for “family planning and women’s health care” to help offset the state’s $12 billion budget deficit. KEY TAKEAWAYS: A $12 billion budget shortfall in California led to a proposed half billion-dollar funding redistribution away from Proposition 56 (funding family planning/reproductive healthcare) toward Proposition 35 (a Medi-Cal expansion). Planned Parenthood claims the move will “immensely harm patients in California” by creating “even more...

Iranian and US negotiators closed on Friday a fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome with “some but not conclusive progress”, mediator Oman said, after a public disagreement over Tehran’s uranium enrichment. The talks, which began in April, are the highest-level contact between the foes since the United States quit a landmark 2015 nuclear accord during President Donald Trump’s first term. Since returning to office, Trump has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, backing talks but warning of military action if diplomacy fails. “The fifth round of Iran-US talks have concluded today in Rome with some but not conclusive...

The Trump administration has launched an operation to terminate the immigration court cases of certain migrants, in order to arrest them and place them in a fast-tracked deportation process instead, government officials and attorneys told CBS News. Lawyers and advocates this week reported arrests of migrants outside of immigration courthouses across the U.S., saying teams of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had detained individuals whose cases in front of immigration judges had just been terminated at the request of the government. Two Department of Homeland Security officials told CBS News that ICE is conducting an operation to expedite the deportation...