Free Republic

"If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the U.S. military overnight struck a Tren de Aragua drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean, killing six "narco-terrorists." "At the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea," Hegseth posted on X. "The vessel was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit...

The Trump administration has agreed to cancel student debt under programs it had partially blocked, reopening a path to student loan forgiveness for millions of borrowers. The outcome is the result of an agreement reached on Friday between the U.S. Department of Education and the American Federation of Teachers, a union. In the agreement, the Trump administration said it will again process student loan forgiveness for eligible borrowers in two income-driven repayment plans — the original Income-Contingent Repayment plan and the Pay as You Earn plan — as long as those programs remain in effect. President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful...

A federal appeals court ruled on Oct. 20 that President Donald Trump may deploy National Guard troops to deal with violence directed against federal immigration facilities in Portland while the case works its way through the lower courts.

Trump posts wild AI video showing him flying fighter jet, dropping sewage on No Kings protesters President Trump took a massive dump on his adversaries. The president posted a wild AI-generated video of himself late Saturday as a fighter pilot wearing a crown on his head, unloading sewage on “No Kings” protesters. With “Danger Zone,” the iconic “Top Gun” theme song, blaring in the background, Trump’s fighter jet was shown dropping masses of manure on demonstrators over what appeared to be New York City.

The leader of Canada’s most populous province called for economic retaliation on the U.S. after auto company Stellantis said it was moving planned production of its Jeep Compass from Canada to the U.S. Ontario Premier Doug Ford blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for the company’s decision this week to shift production of the SUV from Brampton, Ontario, to Illinois as part of plan to invest $13 billion to expand its manufacturing capacity in the United States. The comments come as Canada is negotiating to reduce tariffs. Trump has been urging the Big 3 American automakers to move production to the...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday the U.S. will host a new Qatari air force facility in Idaho, where pilots will train to fly F-15s. Hegseth said the Trump administration has signed the letter greenlighting the building of a Qatar Emiri air force contingent at the Mountain Home Air Force Base located in southwestern Idaho. Qatar Emiri air force is the air arm of Qatar’s armed forces. “Location will be host to a contingent of Qatari F-15s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability,” Hegeseth said Friday. “It’s just another example of our partnership.”Mountain Home Air Force...

An Indian man living in the United States has gone viral for his candid take on the new H1B visa rule and how it pushed him to rethink his definition of “home” and “success.” In a video shared on Instagram, the man said, “I actually think this new H1B visa rule is an amazing thing for people like me.” He explained that he decided to move back to India about a year ago and was grappling with doubts about his decision, until the recent change in visa policy gave him “clarity.” “About a year ago, I made the decision to...

After US President Donald Trump enhanced the application fee for H-1B visas to $1,00,000, many American firms have started advertising technical jobs exclusively for US citizens. Roles such as software developers, process engineers, project managers, and UI/UX designers, once largely filled by H-1B visa holders, are now being listed with a clear note: “Open to US citizens only.” Industry experts said that the new fee has made hiring foreign talent “financially unviable” for most companies, especially small and mid-sized ones. The move, which came into effect last month, is imposed on companies hiring new H-1B applicants. The $1,00,000-fee caused widespread...

“I have never seen anything like this in 30 years,” says Mrinalini Batra, a higher studies counsellor who has helped dozens of Indian students find their way into America’s most prestigious universities. Batra is referring to a slew of measures enacted by the US President Donald Trump administration in recent months, from time-limiting foreign student visas and hiking H1B visa fees to demanding a 15% cap on international students at US universities. Taken together, the measures seem to mark a concerted effort to restrict the number of foreign students entering America. -snip- “The US is just not an option for...

The number of international students arriving in the U.S. in August fell by 19 percent this year compared with last year — the largest decline on record outside of the pandemic. The decline is occurring as the Trump administration has delayed visa processing, instituted travel bans or restrictions for 19 countries, threatened to deport international students for pro-Palestinian speech, and heightened the vetting of student visa applicants. -snip- The United States hosts the most international students of any country: about 1.3 million doctorate, master’s, bachelor’s and associate students, according to recent government data. Over 70 percent are from Asia, and...

Sudden layoffs from jobs are tough to process and it gets worse when questions of employees remain unanswered. In one such case, an Indian employee detailed his sudden layoff from a US-based company in a Reddit post which has gone viral. According to the post, the employee was caught off guard by the termination, which took place on October 1, over a three-minute video call. “It was literally like any other day, woke up at 8:30, logged into work at 9 and saw a calendar invite for 11. It was a mandatory meeting with our COO for all India employees....

Roughly 42% of younger working Americans — spanning Gen Z, millennials and Gen X — report having no spare savings after covering their basic living expenses, according to the analysis, which surveyed about 3,600 workers and 1,500 retirees. Among those just getting by, about three-quarters said they are struggling to save for retirement, the survey found. The share of U.S. workers in this precarious financial position has grown significantly since 1997, when 31% lived paycheck to paycheck, according to Goldman. The investment bank projects that figure could climb to well over half of Americans by 2033 as essentials like housing...

Oct 3 (Reuters) - Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza proposal, and signalled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

Milwaukee Public Schools announced in September that it would stop hiring new international teachers to help fill desperately needed empty positions. The change comes after the Trump administration announced it is overhauling the H-1B visa program, which MPS uses to fill the jobs. The H-1B program is designed to help U.S. employers hire international applicants to work in specialized industries like tech, education and engineering. The visa is limited to about three years and can be renewed. Among the changes is a hike in the fee for new applications to $100,000. Previously, it cost an employer around $3,000 to hire...

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with 33-year-old Shreya Mishra Reddy, a technical program manager at Visa based in Austin. Business Insider has verified Reddy's employment, immigration status, and unsuccessful H-1B attempts. The following has been edited for length and clarity. I never dreamed of living in the US. I grew up in India and wanted to stay close to my parents. In December 2021, I moved to the States for a Master's program in engineering management at Duke University. After I graduated in 2022, I got a job at Visa as a technical program manager in 2023....

11 Colorado stores will stay open for Taylor Swift’s midnight album release by: Heather Willard Posted: Oct 2, 2025 DENVER (KDVR) — All the world’s a stage, and Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” is releasing at midnight Friday in select stores. The hype around Swift’s new album has grown to “new heights,” especially after she announced her engagement to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on his podcast New Heights. This is Swift’s 12th studio album, coming after her massively popular Eras Tour swept the globe, and her show in Denver was so large it could be...

The federal electric vehicle (EV) tax credit expires at midnight, ending a 17-year policy pillar that helped close the price gap with gasoline vehicles and turbocharged adoption; the immediate fallout is likely softer demand, leaner EV production, and a strategic pivot by legacy automakers toward hybrids and profitable ICE (internal combustion engine) nameplates, while stopgap leasing workarounds cushion some of the blow. The end of the subsidy is a structural shock already rippling upstream: Battery makers face a growing U.S. surplus and shelved factory plans, undermining stated reshoring ambitions and setting up a whipsaw risk of future shortages if capacity...

The FBI said Wednesday it had cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish group that tracks antisemitism, after Republicans criticized the group for including slain activist Charlie Kirk's organization in a glossary on extremism. In a social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau "won't partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs." The ADL did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear what sort of ties the FBI had with the ADL. Patel's announcement followed criticism of the ADL by conservatives, including billionaire Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr., over...

After US President Donald Trump and Congress failed to reach a funding deal by Wednesday's deadline, the government shutdown began. As a result, hundreds of thousands of federal employees face furloughs, and many offices will be closed. H-1B visas will also face a pause until the shutdown ends, says immigration attorney Nicole Gunara. She said that H-1B visa filings will not be processed until the Congress can agree on federal funding allocations.

OAN says government shutting down; Senate Democrats won't cave