Free Republic

MIDDLE EAST — The region rejoiced and the world marvelled as peace broke out in the Middle East and lasted a record 27 minutes. The normal pace of life in the violent, war-torn region was oddly broken up on Tuesday after a ceasefire occurred between Israel and Iran. The ceasefire went into effect shortly after the United States bombed Iran's heavily guarded nuclear site, but experts are quick to point out that the ceasefire had nothing to do with that. "I didn't know what to do at first," said Yaakov Peretz in Israel. "Normally at this time I am in...

The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog group revealed even more damage from the US airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear sites after taking a closer look — including possible chemical contamination at one facility. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said Tuesday that the latest satellite images from the Fordow and Natanz facilities showed additional damage, beyond what the agency found in the first-pass review of the sites. At Fordow, the mountain fortress just south of Tehran, officials identified additional strikes at the road leading up to the facility, as well as one of the entrances. The US...

Outspoken progressive Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas dropped her bid Tuesday to become the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee after it became clear she lacked the votes. “It was clear by the numbers that my style of leadership is not exactly what they were looking for, and so I didn’t think that it was fair for me to then push forward and try to rebuke that,” the lefty pol told reporters. Democrats later anointed Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) to become their ranking member on the Oversight panel, replacing late Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who died last month....

BEIRUT — President Trump excoriated both Israel and Iran over what he said were violations of the surprise ceasefire between the two nations and that was set to begin Tuesday morning, underscoring the tenuousness of a deal meant to bring a denouement to the fiercest confrontation in the belligerents’ decades-long enmity.“We have two countries that have been fighting for so hard and so long they don’t know what the f—they are doing,” said Trump in an enraged briefing to journalists ahead of his trip to the NATO summit.The details of the ceasefire — which was brokered by Trump and Qatar’s...

Trump is heading to NATO for a trip lasting barely a day. It’s the pattern of his second term — attend international meetings, but don’t stay long.President Donald Trump left last week’s G-7 gathering in Canada a day early. This week he is scheduled to arrive at a NATO summit in The Hague for an abbreviated trip, arriving Tuesday and returning to the White House by Wednesday. Later this year, he may skip the G-20 in South Africa altogether. Trump has a long history of brushing off global summits — and, sometimes, physically brushing off the leaders who attend them....

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki erupted on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 17 and 18), unleashing gigantic ash plumes and showering villages with volcanic debris. A volcano in Indonesia sent gigantic ash plumes into the sky during two eruptions on Tuesday (June 17) and Wednesday (June 18). Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki first erupted at 5:35 p.m. local time (5:35 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, unleashing a mushroom-shaped ash cloud measuring more than 6 miles (10 kilometers) high, Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said in a translated statement. The cloud was visible up to 95 miles (150 km) from the volcano and showered nearby...

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to clarify its order allowing migrants to be deported to third countries after a federal judge in Boston said that eight migrants being held in the African country of Djibouti are protected from immediate removal. In an order Monday, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy said the eight men in Djibouti remain protected from immediate removal despite the Supreme Court's ruling, referencing another order he had issued last month that was separate from the one put on hold by the Supreme Court...The Supreme Court's order on Monday allows the Trump administration to...

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Friday further blocked the Trump administration's attempt to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students while giving those students additional legal protections. U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs issued the preliminary injunction after having granted a temporary restraining order against the federal government this month. The injunction holds that the administration is blocked from yanking Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, which was based on a May 22 revocation notice the Department of Homeland Security sent to Harvard administrators. In her decision, Burroughs directed the government to “immediately” prepare guidance to alert...

WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance said Monday he believed Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is buried beneath three nuclear facilities bombed by the US over the weekend — though other officials and experts fear that the theocratic regime may have moved and stashed the nuclear fuel just before the attack. “Our goal was to bury the uranium, and I do think the uranium is buried, but our goal was to eliminate the enrichment and eliminate their ability to convert that enriched fuel into a nuclear weapon,” Vance told Fox News “Special Report” host Bret Baier when asked if the US...

A House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing came to a brief halt Tuesday as the Republican chair asked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to retract his accusations that a Democratic member’s stance on vaccines was influenced by campaign contributions from pharmaceutical companies. Kennedy appeared before the subcommittee to defend the Trump administration’s budget request, which includes steep cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, used his time to blast the firings at HHS and the apparent lack of transparency...

Federal prosecutors say Judge Hannah C. Dugan helped the man evade immigration agents who were waiting in a Milwaukee courthouse to arrest him. Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, became an inadvertent figure in the debate over immigration enforcement when federal prosecutors charged a Milwaukee judge this spring with obstruction and said she had helped him evade immigration officials.On Monday, a plea agreement was made public in the immigration case against Mr. Flores-Ruiz. The documents, signed on June 20, say he has agreed to plead guilty to entering the United States illegally after being removed from the country in...

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) issued a statement on Tuesday, declaring that the Islamic Republic’s firm and coordinated military response to the Zionist regime’s recent aggression ultimately forced the enemy—and its regional and Western supporters—to unilaterally halt their offensive operations. According to the statement, following the orders of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Iranian forces responded decisively and courageously to every act of hostility. The retaliatory operations included a powerful missile strike on the U.S. military base at Al-Udeid in Qatar and extensive attacks targeting positions across the occupied Palestinian territories. The...

So apparently Bengal Village in East London has the "hottest curry in London." It features 72 types of chilis, including the Carolina Reaper, scotch bonnet, bird's eye, naga and snake chilis, so it's pretty spicy stuff. They do a challenge with this dish -- a challenge which you have to sign a waiver to attempt. And if you can't tell by this next video, it's pretty intense. Watch: London’s hottest curry makes a man leave the restaurant and think about what he just ate @Bengal_Village pic.twitter.com/SvNWtZOOUq— UB1UB2 West London (Southall) (@UB1UB2) June 19, 2025I feel bad for the guy, but...

A Brazilian tourist who fell while hiking near the crater of an active volcano in Indonesia has been found dead, her family and rescuers said. Juliana Marins survived the initial fall from a cliff during an early morning group hike along a steep trail on Mount Rinjani, with rescuers reporting hearing her screams for help on Saturday. ... She was hiking up Indonesia's second-tallest volcano with five friends and a guide on Saturday at about 06:30 local time (23:30 GMT Friday), when authorities said she fell from "a cliff that surrounds the trail next to the volcano's crater". One group...

Russian TV presenters have urged Vladimir Putin to consider dropping nuclear bombs on a NATO country to "solve" the world's problems "at once". In a chilling diatribe hawkish presenter Vladimir Solovyov raged that Russia should move nuclear weapons into Iran, under Kremlin control, and even attack NATO member Poland with an atomic weapon. Speaking on Russian state TV, Solovyov said Russian should use tactical weapons against Ukraine and "just in case, also drop one into Poland", adding: "No one will say a word. They will impose sanctions, so what?". Under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) it...

The Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) new live daily show has drawn dwindling viewership and mockery in its first two weeks online. The “Democrats’ Daily Blueprint,” a 15-minute weekday show, launched June 9 as a bid to counter conservative media dominance — but after drawing about 9,000 views on its debut, many episodes have struggled to crack quadruple digits. Trump War Room’s single mocking tweet hit 83,000 views as of Tuesday, dwarfing the Blueprint’s entire combined viewership of about 21,000 across 12 episodes. “The launch of the Daily Blueprint is an exciting new step for the Democratic Party — it cements...

A Russian warship disguised itself using a fake ID signal while travelling through the English Channel with two sanctioned oil tankers, a BBC Verify investigation has found. The Boikiy - a corvette armed with guided missiles - broadcast the fake ID code as it passed through the Channel on Saturday. On tracking sites it wrongly appeared as ships which have previously used that ID. BBC Verify matched the ID to the Boikiy by using satellite imagery, tracking data and a video of it passing under a bridge in Denmark. It travelled alongside two vessels known to be part of Russia's...

Experts say it will take years for Tehran to replenish its missile supplies, but it can still terrorize Israel and others with cluster warheads and short-range rockets =============================================================== With the Iran-Israel conflict possibly brought to a halt by a US-brokered ceasefire on Tuesday, questions remain over the true condition of Iran’s missile arsenal after nearly two weeks of punishing exchanges. Iran’s missile salvos proved the destructive power of its long-range missiles, turning buildings into rubble and killing dozens, even as Israel has claimed to take out much of its stockpile and the means to launch. The ceasefire, confirmed by both...

VIDEOAh! 21st Century problems! And, boy, do the "problems" of the Liberal Pink Hat Lady ever illustrate that in a most hilarious way. See, the Liberal Pink Hat Lady purchased a ticket for a Beyoncé concert but later realized she could not enjoy herself there because of... Trump. In fact, she became absolutely convinced that Trump would make the concert absolutely miserable for her. Such is the amazing power of the President. However, as you shall see, the Liberal Pink Hat Lady is eventually relieved of her extreme anxiety because of a resolution to her problem.That was the good news...

President Trump on Tuesday emphatically dropped an f-bomb, on camera, expressing frustration that Israel and Iran appeared to be violating the ceasefire that he just celebrated going into effect. "We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing," Trump said to reporters as he left the White House.