Free Republic

The northern border shares something in common with the southern border of the United States - it is understaffed and Border Patrol agents are stretched thin. Despite a lack of proper support, agents at the northern border continue to apprehend a record number of illegal border crossers. In the busiest northern border sector of Swanton, Border Patrol agents made history by apprehending the greatest number of illegal border crossers in sector history of 1,109 in March, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. While the numbers are significantly lower than those apprehended at the southwest border, they are out...

The economy is experiencing a golden moment thanks to exports and tourism after cleaning up its accounts. But the country has paid a price in migration of qualified workers and reduction of public services. Ten years after the departure of the “men in black” — the international managers of the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank who cleaned up Portugal’s accounts with a machete, the country has emerged as the most diligent student in southern Europe. In 2023, for the first time, public debt fell below 100% of GDP (it stood at 98.7%) and there was a...

If Donald Trump wins a second term in the White House in November, NATO may fall apart, a recent wargame found. As a presidential candidate, Trump has threatened to quit NATO unless European allies contribute more, and should he carry it out Europe may decide to go it alone on defense, the game suggests. "A US policy of frustrating NATO has the potential to cause the alliance to collapse, with the EU as a candidate for eventually replacing NATO's ultimate function — defending Europe from Russia," wrote Finley Grimble, the British defense expert who designed and ran the game. The...

A top Biden official said Monday the U.S. does not believe Israel’s “total victory” over the militant group Hamas is “likely or possible.” Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell spoke about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas during the NATO Youth Summit in Miami just days after the Biden administration paused certain arms shipments to Israel. “I think in some respects, we are struggling over what the theory of victory is. Sometimes when we listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talked about mostly the idea of some sort of sweeping victory on the battlefield, total victory,” Campbell said. “I...

An American soldier was detained on charges of criminal misconduct in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok last week while on leave after finishing his tour of duty in South Korea, officials said Monday. US Army spokesperson Cynthia Smith said that the soldier, whose name was withheld, was detained Thursday, and that the US Army notified his family of his detention. The soldier was on leave in Russia following the completion of his tour of service in South Korea, a US official told Yonhap News Agency. He was in the process of returning to the United States for his...

Do Democrats have contempt for Americans who aren’t part of the richest 1% or don’t live in cities on the coast? This query comes after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) made an outrageous comment during a recent Oxford Union debate, calling those who may see themselves as part of the populist movement just “poor souls who are looking for some answers.” “We’ve given [answers] to them, but they’re blocked by some of their views on guns. They have the three Gs: guns, gays, God,” huffed the the 84-year-old Pelosi. “That would be a woman’s right to choose — and...

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said during a press briefing at the White House on Monday that the Biden administration rejects the idea that there is a genocide “happening in Gaza.” While speaking to reporters during a press briefing, Sullivan outlined the Biden administration’s view regarding the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas and clarified that the United States supports Israel in defeating Hamas and believes Israel has a responsibility “to protect innocent civilians,” rejecting the idea that “what is happening in Gaza is a genocide.”

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has vowed to lead the charge against the “mission creep” of the World Health Organization (WHO), joining a campaign to “take back control” from the globalist institution as it pushes for an international Pandemic Treaty.Vowing to take on the “billion-dollar global health empire”, Nigel Farage said he has joined the Action on World Health (AWH) campaign group to reduce the scope of the W.H.O., calling for its £5.5 billion budget to be dramatically cut and to fight against the implementation of the controversial pandemic treaty being imposed.“The W.H.O. is proposing a pandemic treaty that would be...

U.S. military aid is reaching Ukraine as that nation's military strives to blunt Russian attacks in the Kharkiv region, said Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary. The Russian attacks on Kharkiv — Ukraine's second-largest city — were not unexpected, Singh said today, and Ukrainian service members are fighting furiously to blunt the Russian incursions. U.S. systems are again reaching Ukrainian service members after Congress approved a budget supplemental aid package on April 24. President Joe Biden announced a $1 billion assistance package at that time to meet Ukraine's critical security needs. On Friday, the United States announced another tranche of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia's defense minister reshuffle was a further indication of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "desperation to sustain" his invasion of Ukraine, U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Monday. Putin tapped a civilian economist as his surprise new defense minister on Sunday in an attempt to gird Russia for economic war by trying to better utilize the defense budget and harness greater innovation to win in Ukraine.

A billboard in a western Jerusalem neighborhood that once thanked U.S. President Joe Biden for his support has been changed to criticize Biden for pressuring Israel not to pursue Hamas terrorists and win the war in Gaza. As Breitbart News noted in October, shortly after the outbreak of war: On Emek Refaim — a street in the heart of the old German Colony, an area popular with Americans — a billboard thanking President Joe Biden for his support was the only face in sight Friday evening. Families gathered quietly for the Sabbath meal; some walked through the streets, the mothers...

Iranian member of Parliament Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani said in an interview this weekend that he believed his country had successfully developed a nuclear weapon, contrary to international law, but would not admit to it. Ardestani claimed that Iran would still claim to be abiding by the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” (JCPOA), the 2015 agreement brokered by American President Barack Obama that dramatically reduced sanctions on Tehran in exchange for promises not to expand its nuclear development. Iran has consistently violated the nuclear deal for years; President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 but the other four countries...

The Biden Administration unveiled its second round of military aid to Ukraine for $400 million, following its $95 billion and $60 million for the country. The new package will consist a number of weapons, including: Patriot missile system munitions High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMAR) systems and ammunition Stinger anti-air missiles, 155mm artillery rounds Bradley Fighting Vehicles Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs) “As President Biden has made clear, the United States and the international coalition we have assembled will continue to stand with Ukraine in its defense of its freedom,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement....

As Townhall reported — and anyone not blinded by rabid anti-Israel and pro-Hamas hatred presumed — the number of women and children killed in the Gaza Strip since Hamas launched its massacre on October 7 is far less than the United Nations or its terrorist sources reported. The UN's Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) quite quietly and without an announcement matching the breathless outrage at and coverage of previously reported (and literally unbelievable) numbers, halved the number of women and children it previously claimed were killed in Gaza amid the war. The more than 14,000 children it said...

(Screenshot: Channel 12) US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew insisted Sunday evening that “fundamentally, nothing has changed in the basic relationship” between Israel and the US — despite the decision last week by US President Joe Biden’s administration to delay a shipment of high-payload bombs to Israel, and Biden’s declaration that he would not supply offensive weapons to Israel for a major IDF offensive affecting population centers in southern Gaza’s Rafah. Noting that military aid from Washington to Jerusalem has increased since war erupted in Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, Lew stressed in a Channel 12 interview that only...

Melinda French Gates announced on Monday that she is leaving the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation next month.Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Melinda, his ex-wife, had tried to continue working together on projects at foundation, one of the largest private philanthropies in the world, following their 2021 divorce.“After careful thought and reflection, I have decided to resign from my role as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. My last day of work at the foundation will be June 7,” French Gates wrote on X on Monday. “This is not a decision I came to lightly."Gates said that she...

Crowded enough for you at O.B., as the surfer dude haven of Ocean Beach is known in San Diego?Here come the illegals, making it even more crowded. Ocean Beach, California. Saturday, May 11, 2024 These are not Asylum seekers folks. Wake the Hell up. pic.twitter.com/6aZY9NuRo0 — Amy Reichert (@amyforsandiego) May 13, 2024 Yes, we've seen this phenomena already starting to happen now that San Diego has become the border crossing of choice for cartel-financed illegals into the U.S.Nobody knows who they are, where they're going, or what they're doing.But they are getting in, and what's more, nobody's doing anything about...

Defiant Columbia University graduates wore zip-tie handcuffs, brandished pro-Palestinian signs and even went as far as tearing up a diploma on stage during the Ivy League’s first commencement ceremonies last week. The protesting students were caught on camera storming across the platform on Friday to accept their degrees during ceremonies that were significantly pared after weeks of violent anti-Israel demonstrations on campus. In one of the most belligerent displays, Tarsis Salome, a Columbia social work graduate, charged forward with her zip-tied hands above her head as those in the audience cheered her on.

Onlookers at Ocean Beach in San Diego, California, stood by and watched as a boat sped onto the beach and unloaded what appeared to be a load of migrants being smuggled into the U.S. Events like this are becoming commonplace on Southern California beaches. Late last week, a cell phone video posted on social media captured the events as a boat landed on Ocean Beach in San Diego. An undetermined number of migrants disembarked from the beached boat and ran onshore in an effort to disappear into the neighboring community. The Invasion Continues! After last week’s startling revelation that boatloads...

EU member Estonia feels threatened by neighbour Russia. This year, the small NATO country will invest over 3% of its GDP to beef up its defence capabilities. It has also been hosting NATO exercises and training civilians in trench warfare, as EuronewsWitness reporter Hans von der Brelie discovered. Indrek Jurtšenko is a trained opera singer. But today he takes me to a military manoeuvre in the Estonian forests. Armed civilians, part of the “Estonian Defence League” (EDL), are war-gaming together with professional soldiers: “In our exercise there are 500 people from Estonia, Lithuania and France participating”, he says. The drill...