Free Republic

Despite media reports on a deal with Russia for the advanced fourth-generation fighter jets, they’re nowhere to be seen in Iran, despite Israel’s devastating air campaign. Russia’s much-vaunted Su-35 jets, fourth-generation aircraft that are, on paper at least, formidable, are nowhere to be seen in the skies above Iran despite the intense and ongoing Israeli air campaign. This is despite several reports over the previous two years that Iran would soon accept the Russian jets into service.

Iran-based cryptocurrency exchange Nobitex has reportedly suffered a major security breach, resulting in the theft of over $81 million in digital assets by a hacker group claiming ties to Israel. CoinTelegraph reports that the Iranian cryptocurrency exchange Nobitex has fallen victim to a devastating hack, resulting in the loss of more than $81 million in digital assets. The attack, disclosed in a Telegram post on Wednesday, drained funds across the Tron network and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible blockchains. According to noted crypto investigator ZachXBT, the attackers exploited the protocol using “vanity addresses,” which led to suspicious outflows from multiple Nobitex-linked...

In a decision that plunged the Supreme Court into yet another culture war feud, the justices on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee law banning all gender affirming care for minors. In the last few years, fully half the states have adopted similar bans, leaving the other half, so far, allowing gender affirming care in the form of at minimum, hormone treatments prior to a teenager turning 18. The vote was 6-to-3, along conservative/liberal lines.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee law prohibiting transgender drugs and surgeries for children, a major win for conservative activists and parent groups. The court ruled 6-3 in United States v. Skrmetti that Tennessee’s law does not violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti defended the law before the High Court in December, saying it was a matter of “protecting kids from the consequences of decisions that they cannot fully understand.”

Three years ago, the Chinese took advantage of a defect in US protocols to block land purchases near American military bases and almost acquired terrain near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. Now, Senate Banking Committee Republicans are championing a new bill titled the “Protect Our Bases Act,” which is intended to patch up that protocol glitch to ensure the Chinese can’t acquire land near sensitive US installations. “The Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to infiltrate and surveil all parts of the US national security apparatus requires vigilance from our national security agencies,” Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC), who is...

One of the most powerful figures at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has admitted she refused the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine while pregnant, even as her agency promoted it as “safe and effective” for all pregnant women. Dr. Sara Brenner’s explosive disclosure, made on May 15 at the MAHA Institute Round Table in Washington, D.C., is as revealing as it is troubling. Brenner, a preventive medicine physician, has worked at the FDA since 2019. As the FDA’s principal deputy commissioner — and briefly its acting commissioner — Brenner was at the center of decision-making. Prior to that, she was...

A Long Island community is rallying behind a beloved bagel shop manager who was detained by federal immigration agents outside his workplace. Fernando Mejia, the longtime manager of Schmear Bagel & Café in Port Washington, was taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Thursday, June 12, as he arrived to work, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched in his support. Mejia overstayed a visa 20 years ago, CBS News reports.Described as a “pillar” of the Port Washington community, Mejia is known for greeting customers with a smile, high-fiving local school kids, and even dressing up as...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says four “thugs” wearing masks tried to steal a vehicle from his Etobicoke home overnight, with police confirming the suspects have been arrested. Ford initially said his Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) detail thwarted the attempt at around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday. However, a spokesperson with the Toronto Police Service (TPS) told CityNews that their officers were involved and not the OPP. The TPS said its officers responded to the Lawrence Avenue West and Royal York Road area in Etobicoke and saw the suspects wearing masks in a vehicle approaching a driveway. “Officers initiated a vehicle stop...

British lawmakers have backed the most significant change to abortion law in decades, voting in favour of an amendment to decriminalise abortions up to the moment of birth. Under current British law, abortion is technically illegal. Still, it is decriminalised during the first 24 weeks of a pregnancy and in some limited cases beyond if the life of the mother is in danger. Over a quarter-million abortions take place legally in England and Wales under this system a year. However, on Tuesday afternoon, the MPs backed an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill by a margin of 379 MPs...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unintentionally explained why pro-lifers should support President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill. “Under the Republican bill, 200 Planned Parenthood centers would close,” Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, said at a pro-abortion press conference on Tuesday. “More than 90% of these closures would be in states where abortion is legal for the voters of the state.” In the budget reconciliation bill, the House GOP removed Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the country. The effort had been supported by dozens of pro-life legislators from around the country. The move...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Emergency workers pulled more bodies Wednesday from the rubble of a nine-story Kyiv apartment building demolished by a Russian missile, raising the death toll from the latest attack on the Ukrainian capital to 28. The building in Kyiv´s Solomianskyi district took a direct hit and collapsed during the deadliest Russian attack on Kyiv this year. Authorities said that 23 of those killed were inside the building. The remaining five died elsewhere in the city. Workers used cranes, excavators and their hands to clear more debris from the site, while sniffer dogs searched for buried victims. The...

Protesters want to block the roads… but what happens when the cars don’t want to stop?

Iran is suffering blow after blow, and Russia, its most powerful supporter, is apparently not prepared to do much of anything about it. Not long ago, backing the West’s least-favorite power in the Middle East had its uses. In prosecuting his war of attrition in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has made confrontation with the West the organizing principle of his foreign policy. In that context, edging closer to Iran and its partners in the “Axis of Resistance” made sense. ........... A defenseless Iran will not respond well to Russian sticks, and in any case, Moscow is unlikely to take a punitive...

Dozens of abortion clinics are shutting down — not just in states with bans, but in places where abortion remains fully legal, AP News reported June 17. Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022, at least 105 clinics have closed nationwide, according to the report. Strikingly, 65 of those closures happened in states without new abortion limits. While pro-abortion activists scramble to adapt, pro-life leaders see the trend as confirmation that the abortion industry is increasingly unsustainable. From waning donations to rising logistical costs, clinics are facing mounting challenges. “We’re all collectively struggling,” Ramsie Monk, who works with clinics...

A Hammerhead Shark. Credit: FOX Weather via Jonathan Marlowe | The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel On May 18, 2025, a strange and surprising event unfolded at Splinter City Disc Golf Course in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when a hammerhead shark suddenly fell from the sky during a routine game of disc golf. The incident left players in complete disbelief as they witnessed what seemed like a scene straight out of a bizarre film. Jonathan Marlowe, who was playing at the time with friends, was at the 11th hole of the course when he looked up and noticed a bald...

This March, I reported that using advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology, scientists from Italy and Scotland claim to have discovered a vast subterranean complex stretching approximately 6500 feet beneath Egypt’s Giza Plateau. Now, these scientists claim they have located a “hidden city” or “vast underground city” discovered beneath Egypt’s Great Pyramids of Giza. According to a team of researchers from Italy and Scotland (led by Corrado Malanga from the University of Pisa and Filippo Biondi from the University of Strathclyde) advanced radar technology has revealed what they describe as a massive subterranean network connecting the pyramids of Khafre, Khufu,...

“Our democracy cannot very well function if individual judges issue extraordinary relief to every plaintiff who clamors to object to executive action,” U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil said in her ruling on Monday. “It is not the role of a district court judge to direct the policies of the Executive Branch first and ask questions later.” Those are the words many observers of the ongoing judicial coup have wanted to hear from a federal judge since the first wave of injunctions from tyrannical district court judges started coming down early in the Trump administration’s tenure, blocking the president elected...

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., filed a House resolution Tuesday looking to block U.S. involvement in the Middle East conflict between Iran and Israel. Massie's resolution features numerous Democrat co-sponsors, including progressive legislators like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y.; Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. If passed, the resolution would block President Donald Trump from engaging in "unauthorized hostilities" with Iran.

.. Meanwhile, recent reports describe the discovery of four mysterious black sarcophagi beneath Antarctica’s. These artifacts, unearthed by an international team of scientists from the United States, Russia, China, and India, have sparked widespread intrigue and speculation due to their unknown origins and design. According to Baku.ws, the discovery of the black sarcophagi is unlike any other found in Antarctica. These objects were not just typical archaeological artifacts; they appeared to have an advanced design, one that did not fit with any known human history. Upon opening one of the sarcophagi, the scientists encountered an even more puzzling find. Inside...

New York City could sleepwalk its way into electing a socialist mayor, thanks to ranked-choice voting. New York City — the city that never sleeps — may be two weeks away from sleepwalking its way into advancing an open socialist in the mayoral Democrat primary. Voters would have ranked-choice voting to thank for the assist. Zohran Mamdani, a New York state assembly member and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has promised everything from a rent freeze, free bus fare, and government-owned grocery stores. His socialist utopia would put the Empire State exodus on overdrive as productive taxpayers...