Free Republic

A week after Iran killed American troops in Jordan, crossing President Donald Trump's red line for restarting all-out war, the U.S. military didn't launch airstrikes on the regime.Friday came and went without an announcement from U.S. Central Command about a new attack, breaking a nearly two-week streak.Sources told Axios that Trump received plans from the military yesterday to conduct strikes in Iran but didn't give a green light and instead ordered them to hold off.U.S. forces are still preparing for major combat operations to potentially resume, but Trump hasn't issued orders to move in that direction, the report added.The White...

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke (D) was indicted on bribery charges on Friday following a monthslong state investigation into a campaign finance scandal. Luke was accused of accepting campaign finance contributions in 2022 while she was a state lawmaker in exchange for securing funding for COVID-19 testing sites. A Hawaii grand jury returned a 12-count indictment charging Luke with criminal conspiracy to commit bribery and falsifying candidate committee reports among other charges, according to the state’s Department of the Attorney General. The Hill has reached out to Luke’s office for comment. The charges stem from allegations that Luke accepted at...

Just hours before Maine Democrats are scheduled to meet in Bangor to select a replacement nominee for the U.S. Senate, a Republican state lawmaker is asking Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to determine whether former Senate President Troy Jackson is legally eligible to receive the nomination at all...

German authorities on Saturday canceled a popular pride festival after numerous people were injured and one killed when a white van rammed the festivities in Berlin. "We are currently deployed with numerous police forces as well as rescue units from the Berlin Fire Department in the Großer Tiergarten," Berlin Police said in a translated X post, after telling festivalgoers to leave the area. Police said the injured were being treated by rescue personnel.

A Georgia teenager who was “like a nephew” to Grammy-winning rapper 21 Savage reportedly shot his little sister by accident before taking his own life, according to local news station 11Alive. Seven Shirley, 14, died by suicide after allegedly shooting his 12-year-old sister, Lyric, in the neck Wednesday afternoon in a heartbreaking accident at a home in Stockbridge, southeast of Atlanta, grieving relatives told the outlet.“Just that fast that boy had made the decision to kill himself,” Seven’s grandmother, Sharon Smith, told the news outlet through tears. Seven Shirley and sister Lyric’s family are devastated at the horrific tragedy. 11...

TEHRAN, Juy 25--RIA Novosti. The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea, the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry reported. "The Iranian Foreign Ministry strongly condemns Ukraine's attack on an Iranian merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea on the morning of Saturday July 25. The attack resulted in an explosion on the vessel, killing one sailor and injuring another. This attack is a violation of Article 2, paragraph 4, of the UN Charter and an act of aggression that could further fan the flames of war" the ministry said in a post on its Telegram channel. The...

Hundreds of lefty demonstrators marched through downtown Madison, Wisconsin, spewing anti-cop venom, stopping traffic and harassing diners as they protested the killing of Corey Ruiz, a career criminal who allegedly stabbed a police officer with a knife before being shot. Nearly 500 people marched from the intersection of Williamson Street and South Baldwin Street — where the 38-year-old was shot three times on Wednesday during a struggle with several police officers — to the Madison Police Department headquarters on Friday. Video showed some demonstrators stopping traffic and confronting at a female motorist who insisted she was an “ally” during a...

Several Jewish Michigan Democrats admitted Tuesday they or people they know will be backing Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in the upcoming election if Abdul El-Sayed becomes the Democratic nominee. Ahead of the Aug. 4 primary election, Jewish donors spoke with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) about the possibility of El-Sayed, who has been an outspoken critic of Israel, becoming the party's nominee for the Michigan Senate seat. JTA reported that several prominent Jewish fundraisers have already begun to see Rogers as a "hedge" and are planning to raise funds for him against El-Sayed.

Air Force Master Sergeant Logan Ireland told Military.com that a federal court's dismissal of a Justice Department motion is a "meaningful victory" for him and 17 other airmen embroiled in a lawsuit against the U.S. government.Ireland is at the center of the lawsuit, Ireland v. US, along with 17 other transgender service members from the U.S. Air Force and Space Force amid claims that they all received retirement orders prior to having those orders revoked without explanation. The personnel, who each have dedicated more than 15 years of their lives to service to the United States' benefit, filed litigation to...

Maine has a "sore loser" law that says a candidate that runs for one office and loses cannot run for another office in the same cycle. After Graham Platner dropped out, Maine Dems are poised to nominate Troy Jackson. But Jackson ran for Governor (and lost the primary). Eligible?

LANSING, Mich. (News 10) — The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that police can no longer use the smell of marijuana as the sole justification for a warrantless vehicle search. In a 5-2 decision in No. 165764, People of Michigan v Devante Kyran Jennings,, the court found that odor alone does not establish probable cause that a criminal amount of cannabis is present in a vehicle. Read more about the case and find the court’s opinion here. What changed after legalization Since Michigan voters approved a change to state law in 2018, possessing less than five ounces of marijuana is...

I’ve got some fantastic news. We don’t need to worry about that Fort Knox gold audit anymore. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent assured us all the gold is there. His comments came during an interview on Fox News. Host Jesse Watters asked the Treasury Secretary point-blank, “Have you visited Fort Knox?” "I haven't. People on my staff have. The treasurer has been to Fort Knox, and I'm happy to say all gold is present and accounted for." There you have it. The fox guarding the henhouse says the hens are all accounted for. Case closed! Or maybe not. Consider this: would...

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the clerical regime in Tehran and its proxies have committed a range of attacks against Americans. This memorandum provides select documentation of these assaults. While the list is not comprehensive, it demonstrates that Tehran continues to pose a threat to U.S. forces in the Middle East, the American homeland, and Americans residing across the globe. November 1979-January 1981: Iranian students — with the backing of Tehran — take 66 Americans hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. April 1983: A suicide car bombing kills 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut....

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Russia is preparing to bring an additional 30,000 North Korean troops into its war against Ukraine, a move that would dramatically expand Pyongyang's direct involvement in the conflict if confirmed. "We also see Russia's cooperation with North Korea. Russia wants to bring in another 30,000 North Korean troops," Zelensky said in his nightly video address, according to Reuters. He added that preparations to receive the troops had been underway since June in Russia's Voronezh region. The claim comes nearly two years after North Korea first sent troops to support Moscow under a growing...

GS1, the non-profit that controls barcode standards for virtually every major retailer on earth, is pushing a first-of-its-kind global transition to 2D barcodes -- and the deadline is 2027. The technical upgrade is straightforward enough. The catch is that until checkout systems catch up, brands have to carry both barcodes simultaneously. That's a packaging redesign problem, a timing problem, and -- because 2D barcodes are essentially live URLs -- a software problem. One that a fast-growing ecosystem of platforms and compliance providers is already lining up to solve. We got into this story by trying to buy a barcode for...

Barry Levinson's 1982 film Diner is set in Baltimore at the end of 1959, in the final days of what had been a momentous year, and just before what would be a pivotal decade. The year had begun with the success of the Cuban revolution and its recognition by both the US and Soviet governments, and Barry Gordy's founding of Motown. Pope John XXIII announced the Second Vatican Council and Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash in Iowa. Later in the year China abolished the Tibetan government and replaced the Dalai Lama, NASA...

A new deal that would see the United States invest in Saudi Arabia‘s civilian nuclear capabilities has sparked concerns within Israel that the Kingdom could ultimately weaponize its program amid deepening unrest in the Middle East. Israel has never publicly confirmed nor denied the existence of its own nuclear arsenal, though it has long been attested to by former top figures in both Israel and the U.S. Last year, as U.S.-Saudi discussions of potential nuclear collaboration picked up steam shortly before the 12-Day War between Israel and Iran, current and former Israeli officials told Newsweek such a move could spark...

What brings Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander, Republican Rep. Mike Lawler and the majority of New York’s downstate congressional delegation together? A niche labor protest over the Trump administration’s attempt to move federal workers out of New York City. The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 98, representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New York District and North Atlantic Division employees, rallied outside 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan on Thursday, protesting the proposed relocation of their offices to New Jersey. New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Lander were among those who joined in person,...

ISTANBUL—The conflict between the U.S. and Iran is escalating just as the two warring parties are running up against the limits of what they can achieve through military force.The conflict widened this week after Iranian-allied militants in Yemen began striking ships transiting a key Red Sea chokepoint, helping drive oil prices above $100 a barrel for the first time in two months on Thursday.The U.S., meanwhile, has escalated its bombing campaign in Iran in recent days, striking throughout the country during the most intense period of fighting since President Trump and Israel began bombing Iran in late February.Trump and other...

Yemen's Houthi rebels claim to have attacked the port city of Jazan, Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles. Saudi authorities have not confirmed the strike, but a Saudi civil defense alert was issued for Jazan on early Saturday and bystander videos purporting to show fire damage are circulating on social media. NASA FIRMS fire monitoring data shows five substantial thermal anomalies - infrared signatures not present in previous time periods - located in the eastern half of the Jazan refinery, all within the last 3-6 hours. FIRMS infrared detections may stem from natural or routine events, like flaring, but the new...