Free Republic

As riots engulfed Los Angeles and mobs vandalized public buildings, incinerated vehicles, and assaulted law enforcement officers, California governor Gavin Newsom was enjoying a swanky wine-tasting party in Napa Valley. The wine-tasting was held on the afternoon of June 7, 2025, at the Odette Estate Winery, which Newsom co-founded in 2011. Dubbed “Vineyard Vibes,” the event was a fundraiser for the PlumpJack Foundation, founded by Newsom’s sister, and featured “contemporary yet sophisticated” wines, live jazz music, and locally made pizza and smash burgers. ... A source who photographed Newsom at the event expressed shock that the governor was in attendance,...

Iran has warned the US to brace for retaliation after Donald Trump’s administration joined Israel in its war against Tehran, tearing up his isolationist foreign policy and launching the most consequential intervention in a conflict in a generation.Almost a day after US strikes targeting three key Iranian nuclear sites, Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, told France’s Emmanuel Macron: “The Americans must receive a response to their aggression,” signalling a potential Iranian reprisal that could drag the US into a new, protracted conflict in the Middle East.Trump insisted the airstrikes were a limited intervention, urged Tehran to negotiate an end to its...

NATO members are rushing to show President Donald Trump they’re shoveling money into defense — some with a dose of creative math — as Russia’s battle with Ukraine grinds on and war threatens to consume the Middle East. The group’s summit this week in The Hague, which Trump plans to attend, will attempt to set a deadline for members to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense. Trump has complained about European defense budgets since his first term, claiming the U.S. gets ripped off by countries that rely on Washington for a security blanket. The way allies approach this at...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Sunday signaled a willingness to renew talks with Iran and avoid a prolonged war in the aftermath of a surprise attack on three of the country’s nuclear sites as U.S. officials assessed Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and the threat of retaliation against American interests.The coordinated messaging by President Donald Trump’s vice president, Pentagon chief, top military adviser and secretary of state suggested a confidence that any fallout would be manageable and that Iran’s lack of military capabilities would ultimately force it back to the bargaining table.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a news conference...

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow on Sunday for critical diplomatic consultations with Russian officials, as tensions continue to escalate in the region following recent U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. According to Iran’s official news agency IRNA, Araghchi is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials to discuss regional and international developments in light of the ongoing conflict. The visit comes on the tenth day of the Israel-Iran war and follows what Tehran has described as coordinated U.S. and Israeli military aggression. The Iranian foreign ministry emphasized the importance of dialogue with...

President denounces GOP lawmaker's opposition to Iran strike as disloyal and harmful. US President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, sharply criticizing him for opposing recent US military action in Iran.

A top adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been relieved of duty following the discovery of several anti-Israel social media posts. U.S. Army Col. Nathan McCormack was removed from his advisory role on Israel-related matters following the discovery of the posts. According to his LinkedIn profile, McCormack served as the Levant and Egypt branch chief within the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s J5 planning directorate. He reportedly posted several inflammatory comments on his X account, including calling Israel a “death cult” and referring to its government as “Netanyahu and his Judeo-supremacist cronies,” according to the Jewish News Syndicate. A...

At least 20 worshippers have been killed and 52 injured in a suicide bomb attack at a Christian church in Syria. The bomber opened fire as people were praying inside Mar Elias Church, in the Dweila neighbourhood of Damascus, before detonating his vest. Some children are thought to be among the wounded, according to state media. Horrifying footage showed blood splattered over the shattered pews and masonry walls following the blast. Syria's interior ministry said a member of the Islamic State group was behind Sunday's attack. 'A suicide attacker affiliated with the Daesh (IS) terrorist group entered the Saint Elias...

VIDEOSome obsessions are harmful. Think Captain Ahab and his OBSESSION with a certain White Whale. However, other obsessions can be very positive. And in the case of Portugal, they can be congratulated for their OBSESSION with fresh squeezed orange juice. And don't just tell them that the orange juice is fresh squeezed, they have to VERIFY it with their own eyes.

Explanation: How were these unusual Martian spherules created? Thousands of unusual gray spherules made of iron and rock and dubbed blueberries were found embedded in and surrounding rocks near the landing site of the robot Opportunity rover on Mars in 2004. To help investigate their origin, Opportunity found a surface dubbed the Berry Bowl with an indentation that was rich in the Martian orbs. The Berry Bowl is pictured here, imaged during rover's 48th Martian day. The average size of a Martian blueberry rock is only about 4 millimeters across. By analyzing a circular patch in the rock surface to...

ICE is vastly expanding its enforcement powers by deputizing local police officers. Many of those picked up during traffic stops have no violent criminal record.Chelsea White and her husband were driving home from cleaning office buildings one May evening when they happened upon a Tennessee Highway Patrol checkpoint. It was a situation the couple feared — and had taken precautions to avoid. White rolled down the driver’s side window on the Ford Fusion with their company’s logo. She drove because her husband, Hilario Martínez García, 46, is undocumented and cannot obtain a license in Tennessee. One of the officers looked...

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East. It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. The three countries circulated the draft text, said diplomats, and asked members to share their comments by Monday evening. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass. The...

The B-2 stealth bombers used to attack the Fordow nuclear enrichment plant are equipped with toilets, microwaves and usually a cooler for snacks to make life more comfortable for the pilots who were stuck in the cockpit for the 37-hour trip from Missouri to Iran and back. The fleet of advanced American bombers — originally designed to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union — took off from the Whiteman Air Force Base outside Kansas City on Friday for an 18 hour ride across the world, refueling several times in mid-air, officials said. For such long trips to be bearable,...

BEIRUT (Sputnik) - A suicide bomber blew himself up in a church in the Dweila district of​​ Damascusm Syria, on Sunday. It's been confirmed that 8 people were killed and more than 20 injured as a result of the attack, a Sputnik correspondent reports. Women and children are said to be among the victims of the explosion. The terrorist who attacked the church was a member of the Islamic State terrorist organization (IS, banned in Russia), the Syrian Interior Ministry said on Sunday. "A militant belonging to the terrorist organization IS stormed the Church of St. Elijah in the Duweila...

I feel like people on the right have been hesitant to push their views, we’re all considerate and stuff. The gloves have to come off if we’re going to save our country. We’ve got to get mean and fight them like for like. I’m not saying, get out in the streets and block traffic, but we’ve all got to get more aggressive when we see radical left showing who they are and not a damn person standing up for what’s right. We just sit back and say well that’s not right, or there should be a law, while we watch...

She is one half of a Trump-world power couple. But she’s on Team Elon. It’s gotten complicated. It was the three-word gavel-bang heard across Washington — the conversation-ender meant to cow colleagues and cabinet secretaries, deployed daily by a slight woman with a big job: “Elon wants this.” For months, Katie Miller, the all-purpose operative for the world’s richest man, had been entrusted to help execute Elon Musk’s merry rampage through the federal government, conveying his priorities, his vision, his likes and dislikes with the tacit force of an executive order. When she spoke, Ms. Miller implied to Trump acolytes...

You just knew this was coming. Nancy Pelosi and Democrats are now attacking President Trump for destroying the Iranian regime’s nuclear sites with bunker-busting bombs. On Saturday night the United States military under the direction of President Donald J. Trump bombed three nuclear facilities in Iran in Operation Midnight Hammer. The US dropped 14 bunker busting bombs on Iran’s largest nuclear site in Fordow. It was the largest ever attack by B-2 stealth bombers by the United States. It was also the longest flight the bombers have made since 2001. The US strike involved more than 125 US aircraft. Following...

Trump Hits Iran Trump’s address to the nation was short and to the point. It's on! On June 21, 2025, just after 10 p.m. (EST), President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military conducted strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The operation marked a significant escalation in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, drawing the U. S. directly into the conflict. Key details of the attack President Trump stated goal was to destroy Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and halt the "nuclear threat posed by the world’s number one state sponsor of terror." The strikes hit three of Iran’s...

B-2 Spirit: US Most Feared Stealth Bomber Ever Made Welcome back to the Fluctus Channel. In this video, we delve into the fascinating world of U.S. stealth aircraft, tracing the evolution from the pioneering Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk to the iconic B-2 Spirit and culminating with the advanced Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.

The rapid dismantling of the global aid agency remains one of the most consequential outcomes of President Trump’s efforts to overhaul the federal government, showing his willingness to tear down institutions in defiance of the courts.It was the day of President Trump’s inauguration, and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s new director looked like he might pass out, as the color drained from his face. Jason Gray, U.S.A.I.D.’s chief information officer, who had been at the agency for only two years, had just learned he would be in charge, effective immediately. Mr. Gray wasn’t supposed to be the boss. The...