Free Republic

Moscow puts subsidiaries of German and Italian firms under the control of a Gazprom division, sparking annoyance from Italy and the EU. In a move that is likely to increase tension between Russia and Western Europe, the Kremlin has unexpectedly announced the "temporary external management" of Russian subsidiaries of Italian water heating company Ariston and German appliance maker BSH Hausgeraete. The subsidiaries, Ariston Thermo Rus, and BSH Household Appliances, now come under the management of Gazprom's Household Systems and are now completely under Russia's control. The Executive Order, signed by President Vladimir Putin, which was revealed on Friday and backdated...

Auditors have slammed a homelessness nonprofit in San Francisco for being 'careless and irresponsible' with $240 million of taxpayer money, in the latest scandal to rock California's bloated charity housing sector. HomeRise, one of the city's main providers of homeless housing, 'misused' funds, lacked financial controls and engaged in other practices that 'heightened the risk of fraud,' says a damning city report. It's the latest in a slew of revelations about waste in California's so-called 'homelessness industrial complex' — a gravy train of funders, officials, and shelter owners more keen on swallowing public funds than solving the problem.

Hopefully, this cash can be resurrected. In a heist of Biblical proportions, thieves pilfered about $30 million cash from a Los Angeles-area vault on Easter Sunday – and no one even noticed the empty vault until the next morning. The burglary took place Sunday night at the GardaWorld facility in Sylmar, which handles cash for several businesses in the area, sources told Eyewitness News. The thieves were so stealthy that the safe showed no signs of a break-in from the outside – and the operators of the business were none the wiser until they opened it on Monday, the Los...

Somalia's government said it had suspended and detained several members of an elite, U.S.-trained commando unit for stealing rations donated by the United States, adding that it was taking over responsibility for provisioning the force. The Danab unit has been a key pillar of U.S.-backed efforts to combat the al Qaeda-linked militant group al Shabaab. The United States agreed in February to spend more than $100 million to build up to five military bases for Danab. Somalia's defense ministry said in a statement late on Thursday that it had notified international partners of the theft and would share the outcome...

A trend sweeping America is for people to break into unoccupied homes and resist eviction by claiming "squatter's rights." Some states, notably New York, explicitly facilitate this crime by declaring that a trespasser who can rebuff the owner's efforts to remove him for 30 days qualifies for "tenants rights." In an effort to ensure that intruders don't inflict these same crimes on Arizona home owners, the legislature passed a bipartisan bill (SB 1129) that would have permitted a homeowner to request law enforcement to immediately remove a squatter from his or her property. This bill was vetoed by Gov. Katie...

The Seattle Police Department released video of a purse theft and assault and the arrest of a 13-year-old male suspect on Wednesday. The incident happened April 6 in the Westwood Village shopping center in West Seattle. The video shows someone grabbing a woman’s purse inside the Rite Aid pharmacy entrance and running outside. The woman ran after the suspect and confronted him. You can see him dropping her purse, spilling its contents onto the ground. The woman says at that point, the suspect grabbed her shirt and threw her to the ground. She says as she got back up and...

Hello to the city, goodbye to your luggage. That was Senatorial candidate Adam Schiff’s rude introduction to San Francisco’s vexing reputation for car burglaries Thursday when thieves swiped the bags from his car while it sat in a downtown parking garage. The heist meant the Democratic congressman got stuck at a fancy dinner party in his shirt sleeves and a hiking vest while everyone else sat in suits. Not quite the look the man from Burbank was aiming for as he rose to thank powerhouse attorney Joe Cotchett for his support in his bid to replace the late Dianne Feinstein...

A Home Depot in New Rochelle, New York, is taking drastic measures to ensure shoppers are safe from “aggressive” migrants and thieves. The store now has two guards wearing MSA security hats and bulletproof vests patrolling the parking lot, the New York Post said Sunday. But that is not all. The guards had a German shepherd with them.

Often the Joe Biden administration has claimed that COVID-19 attacked families and workers through no fault of their own, and what was needed was its progressive spending agenda, specifically helping "people of color, immigrants, and low-wage workers." In reality, however, Biden's spending, "billions and counting – has gone to unrelated causes and the administration’s COVID relief program continues to fleece American taxpayers," according to a report from government watchdog Judicial Watch. The organization reported that, "Fraud and corruption are so rampant in the U.S. government’s mammoth pandemic relief program that the Justice Department created a special COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task...

A Gen Xer who got $250,000 in student loans forgiven said he can now finally start saving for retirement — and consider his dream of studying in India

Lake Merritt is one of Oakland’s loveliest spots, especially during the evening golden hour when the “Necklace of Lights”comes to life around the lake. But over the last few weeks, the 126 ornate lampposts that anchor the lake’s signature circle of lights have been the target of vandalism. The city believes thieves are toppling and stealing the almost century-old lampposts and ripping out the wires from the boxes at the bases. It’s a local chapter of a story happening around the country as valuable metals inside the lampposts are harvested for later resale. Jean Walsh, a spokeswoman for the Oakland...

Police in Canada are promising a break-through in their long-running investigation into the country's biggest gold heist after four men were indicted in the US. More than $20 million worth of gold bars were stolen from an Air Canada cargo depot at Toronto Pearson Airport in April 2023, just minutes after they landed from Switzerland. Canadian police believe that the men arrested for a cross-border gun-smuggling ring were involved and will announce details at a press conference on Wednesday morning, a year to the day since the theft. Durante King-Mclean, 25, Prasath Paramalingam, 34, and Archit Grover, 36, all from...

NYC Now has a $4.4 billion shoplifting economy. Theft is so rampant, retailers are forced to make tough choices... Cash takes a serious look at stores starting to flee the big apple. The fall of a once great city. And one shining mall in the city is now completely vacant due in most part to shoplifting and violent crime.

Boat Boy is back at it — and they can’t even ship him home. The homeless migrant who was busted joyriding on a historic FDNY fireboat and then swiping a sailboat for another leisurely ride was released without bail Friday — only to immediately try to climb aboard an even bigger ship in Manhattan, according to sources, who said immigration officials’ hands are tied. “Welcome to New York,” said Eric Fischer, vice president of Friday’s ship, the Frying Pan. Juan Hernandez, 22, of Ecuador was set free by Judge Marva Brown on Friday morning after allegedly taking the former FDNY-owned...

OUTHAVEN, Miss. - A now-former Southaven police officer is being accused of working with criminals to steal an Infiniti late last year in DeSoto County. Tony Herring Jr. is charged with felony vehicle theft and conspiracy to commit vehicle theft, DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton confirmed Wednesday afternoon. However, Barton says that prosecutors believe Herring could be connected to more thefts. “We have reason to believe that it wasn’t necessarily a one-off crime,” .... Herring was arrested in Horn Lake, Mississippi, on Wednesday after an indictment out of DeSoto County. Barton’s newly-formed Public Corruption Unit brought the charges, bearing...

Gov. Ron DeSantis signs legislation hiking criminal penalties for retail thieves and "porch pirates" "We're not gonna put up with that [...] Your package is gonna be there, and if it's not, someone is gonna have hell to pay." "We will raise penalties [...] They are going to be deterred." "We are gonna hold people accountable."

The ultimate goal of Democrats and their far-left allies is to destroy property rights and replace capitalism with socialism.Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said last week that squatters have “no rights.” He should try to convince his Democrat colleagues and their far-left allies because their systemic effort to normalize property theft has led to the unprecedented squatter crisis in America. Their ultimate goal is to destroy property rights and replace capitalism with socialism.Squatting is a form of trespassing as squatters use properties without the owners’ permission or any legal documentation. Nor do squatters offer property owners financial compensation. Atlanta, Georgia, is...

Florida is taking a strong stand against retail theft and “porch piracy.” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed into law a bill that would crack down on criminals participating in shoplifting rings and engaging in other types of property crime. While doing so, he took some shots at California and New York for going easy on those committing these offenses. Amid widespread retail theft occurring across the nation, state and local governments are grappling with putting a stop to these operations while others are simply responding with a shrug. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, DeSantis announced...

Two suspected shoplifters were hit by a car while fleeing the scene in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday. One of the suspects was killed and the other was seriously injured when the vehicle hit the pair who allegedly shoplifted from the TJ Maxx store on North Fallbrook Avenue, Fox 11 reported. The driver involved in the incident remained at the scene of the crash and cooperated with law enforcement who were on the case. “One suspect died at the scene and the second was taken to the hospital for treatment of critical injuries. That person’s current condition is not known,”...

Conniving “burglary tourists” are coming from other parts of the world through a visa program and targeting luxurious homes in the US — with some even using ghillie suits as they wait for the perfect time to strike, one prosecutor told CNN. Police and prosecutors in different high-end communities are trying to keep up with international heist rings that come into the nation, loot pricey items from wealthy homeowners and sell the swiped goods with the money sent back to their home countries, mostly to South America. “They take advantage of the fact that most people don’t have window sensors...