Free Republic

"...the New York City Health Department warns that “progress toward ending the HIV epidemic in New York City has slowed at a time when federal funding for HIV testing, treatment and prevention is under significant threat.” ... "...,the health department reports that 1,791 people were newly diagnosed in 2024. This marks a 5.4% increase from 2023. In total, the surveillance data show that 136,034 people report living with HIV. Of those, 68,600 have AIDS. (New York City’s population is nearly 8.5 million.)"

President Donald Trump was sued on Friday by preservationists asking a federal court to halt his White House ballroom project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is asking the U.S. District Court to block Trump's White House ballroom project, which already has involved razing the East Wing, until it goes through comprehensive design reviews, environmental assessments, public comments and congressional debate and ratification.

"Residents in the Pacific Northwest of the US and western Canada are bracing for potentially life-threatening floods as several days of heavy rain have swollen a number of rivers and tributaries. On Thursday, the National Water Center reported heavy flooding along the Skagit and Snohomish rivers in the state of Washington that is expected to continue through Friday. In Canada, major highways to Vancouver have been closed because of flooding, debris and the risk of avalanches. There are evacuation orders in place for thousands of people in the US and Canada, and authorities have warned more rain is on the...

After the 2024 humiliation, the left is back. It could hurt the party in 2026. Kim Strassel speaks with law professor Jonathan Turley about why the charges were dismissed against James Comey and Letitia James and how Donald Trump is separately using the legal system to the executive branch’s benefit. What could get in the way of a coming 2026 Democratic wave, given history and the current public mood? Nothing but the Democratic Party itself, which is sitting placidly by as the progressives who lost them last year’s election mobilize to take over even more of the party. Bernie Sanders...

The Trump administration announced plans Wednesday to add another militarized zone to the southern border — this time in California — as part of a major shift that has thrust troops into border enforcement with Mexico like never before. The Department of Interior said it would transfer jurisdiction along most of California's border with Mexico to the Navy to reinforce "the historic role public lands have played in safeguarding national sovereignty." The Interior Department described the newest national defense area in California as a high-traffic zone for unlawful crossings by immigrants. But Border Patrol arrests along the southern U.S. border...

With climate change steadily dismantling the icy habitat essential to their existence, new research suggests polar bears are rapidly rewiring their own genetics in a bid to survive. The species is being forced to adapt to the harsher reality of a warming Arctic, in what scientists believe is the first documented case of rising temperatures driving genetic change in a mammal. Researchers from the University of East Anglia in Britain say these findings, published Friday in the journal Mobile DNA, offer a rare glimmer of hope for the species. "Polar bears are still sadly expected to go extinct this century,...

Maryland will launch a study to analyze the economic impacts of climate change to determine the costs associated with storm damage and health outcomes. The move is part of the Moore-Miller administration's strategic approach to investing in a clean energy economy and modernizing the state's energy infrastructure. "While the federal government has spent the past year rolling back climate protections and driving up energy costs, Maryland is taking a responsible step toward understanding the true price tag of climate change," Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement. "This study will give us a clear, data-driven look at the real burden...

$79 BILLION TAX DOLLARS Stolen from PPP by Applicants who used Barbie Dolls as IDs

The current political buzz term is affordability crisis. Every day, political pundits and politicians talk about the affordability crisis because they know it represents an existential threat to the American dream.The affordability crisis faced by tens of millions of Americans is more than a political slogan; it is a visceral struggle that causes chronic stress and anxiety, breeds hopelessness and apathy, begets envy and rage, and sows disillusionment and nihilism.In other words, the affordability crisis that is making it impossible for hard-working Americans to get ahead is untenable. If it is not solved holistically, it will likely foster social chaos...

According to the plan of the European Commission, this step is the first phase in further expropriation of Russian assetsBRUSSELS, December 12. /TASS/. The Council of the European Union made the decision on the indefinite freeze of Russian sovereign assets, the Danish presidency in the EU Council said. "EU governments agree to indefinitely freeze Russian Central Bank assets held in Euro," the presidency said. According to the plan of the European Commission, this step is the first phase in further expropriation of Russian assets.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration has delayed a decision on whether to extend federal protections to monarch butterflies indefinitely despite years of warnings from conservationists that populations are shrinking. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced during the waning days of then-President Joe Biden’s term in December 2024 that the agency planned to add the beloved backyard pollinator to the threatened species list by the end of 2025, calling the insect “iconic” and “cherished across North America.” But the Trump administration quietly listed the effort as a “long-term action” in a September report on the status of...

The response has been so overwhelmingly hostile that McDonald’s were forced to pull the advert after just three days – and their folly has cost them a fortune.Be afraid, be very afraid. That’s what we’d been told in the advertising and commercial production industry. AI is coming for your job. It’ll be faster than you, more creative than you and certainly more cost-effective than you. Well, if the McDonald’s new – but swiftly deleted – Christmas ad was anything to go by, we haven’t, for the moment, got too much to worry about. The completely AI ad was produced for...

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday shared a video of himself rallying troops at Kupyansk, a city Russia claimed to have taken control of. In the video, the city limit sign for Kupyansk is visible in the background, with intermittent explosions audible. The Kremlin claimed to have captured the city in late November and invited journalists to visit it alongside Russian troops. Zelensky rallied troops and said battlefield gains could influence ongoing peace talks.

The FDA is drawing up plans to put a 'black box' warning on Covid vaccines, the agency's most serious warning over potential side effects, reports suggest. The move was revealed to CNN by two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. A black box warning, which appears at the top of prescribing information, is placed on drugs or vaccines to highlight major risks such as serious side effects or restrictions. Sources did not specify what the warning would contain, or whether it would apply to only...

Since January 2025, over 250 attorneys—roughly 70%—have left, been reassigned, or accepted deferred resignation offers from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, signaling an unprecedented weakening of the agency responsible for enforcing federal civil rights law. This mass exodus follows the appointment of Trump ally Harmeet Dhillon, who has refocused the division’s priorities toward conservative causes such as voter fraud investigations and curbing transgender rights, while sidelining traditional civil rights enforcement in areas like housing discrimination, education, and police oversight. Entire sections, including Voting Rights and Title VI enforcement, have been reduced to fewer than five attorneys—or none...

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened Friday to yank $73 million in federal highway funding meant for New York after an audit found more than half of the Empire State’s commercial trucking licenses were issued to foreign-born drivers in the US illegally. “What New York does is if an applicant comes in and they have a work authorization — for 30 days, 60 days, one year — New York automatically issues them an eight-year commercial driver’s license,” Duffy said during a press conference at DOT headquarters in DC Friday. “That’s contrary to the law.” “But we also found that...

Cannabis stocks jumped on Friday as the White House prepared to significantly ease federal restrictions on marijuana. President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order as soon as Monday that would allow for reclassification of weed, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC. Such a move would allow cannabis companies to fall under different tax regulations and encourage investment.Cannabis stocks took a leg up in Friday’s midday trading following CNBC’s report. The Washington Post first reported on Thursday that Trump was expected to use an executive order to instruct federal agencies to reclassify marijuana as a less...

Representative Delia Ramirez, an Illinois Democrat, demanded on Thursday that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem either resign or face impeachment. The congresswoman requested that House Judiciary chairman Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, carry out an investigation into Noem’s leadership of DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agencies spearheading the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy. “Under Secretary Kristi Noem’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has done irreversible harm to our constituents, trampling the rights of all people and disregarding...

The kanji 熊 (kuma), meaning “bear,” came out on top in popular voting for the kanji of the year for 2025. Powerful wild animals encroaching into human settlements were an irresistible image propelling the character past 米 (kome, “rice”) in a closely contested race.

SCRANTON, Pa. (WNEP) - Two women were killed and another was hospitalized from a machete attack in Pennsylvania. Police in Scranton said they are still investigating the machete attack at the Hotel Jermyn apartments on Tuesday night. Two women and a service dog were killed, plus a third woman was critically wounded and in the hospital. “The vast majority of this incident, the vast majority is all on video surveillance and it is horrific to watch,” Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher said. “The offender and victims were residents of the Jermyn Hotel, and the motive and reasons for his...