Free Republic

Smirking in defiance, a woman ‘member’ of Mexico’s fearsome Jalisco cartel poses for her mugshot after being seized in swoops in Florida that have netted 64lbs of fentanyl. Suspected drug courier Alejandrina Diaz, 30, was arrested with seven other members of both the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels who allegedly trafficked the killer drug into the US and across the country. All eight were seized in Florida’s Polk County, Georgia and Arizona after six complex undercover sting operations in which detectives learned of shipments from unwitting members and played along before setting their traps. Three other women ‘cartel members’ were among...

When I was a little girl, my mother used to call me her “Mississippi Masala.” A term of endearment and, as I would later come to find out, a reference: the nickname almost perfectly encapsulated my particular diasporic experience. My Pakistani parents moved to the United States in the 1990s, settling down in Mobile, Alabama—a town that is just about as south as you can get before plunging into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. People are shocked when my birthplace is revealed. To many, a Muslim South Asian family has no place in the flattened conception of...

There’s a war brewing on the right, and this one isn’t in the desert; it’s on the airwaves and social media. On one side is Steve Bannon, a populist voice leading the America First base. On the other side is Mark Levin, beating the war drums like a man possessed, lashing out at anyone who dares suggest we stay out of another endless Middle East bloodfest. Watch: MANY VIDEO CLIPS AT LINK.................... Levin’s been beating the war drum since the moment this conflict hit the radar. Mark Levin: TIME IS NOT ON OUR SIDE Iran yet again dragging its feet,...

Zohran Mamdani is the firm favorite to win the 2025 New York mayoral race after he declared victory over Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, according to the betting website Polymarket. As of 6 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Mamdani had a 73.6 percent chance of winning the election in November. He was followed by incumbent Mayor Eric Adams on 19.4 percent, and Cuomo on 4.9 percent. Newsweek contacted Mamdani, Cuomo and Adams for comment outside of regular workings hours.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California will take over as the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, signaling a shift toward younger leadership among his party. The ranking member position opened earlier this year when Virginia Rep. Gerald E. Connolly announced he would step down after his esophageal cancer returned. He died last month. Garcia sounded a conciliatory note after the Tuesday vote, praising the “incredible members” of the committee and its “incredible staff.” “We’re going to uplift their work and do everything we can to hold this administration accountable and focus on the corruption of Donald...

Daily Readings from the USCCB“Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.” Matthew 7:16–17“So by their fruits you will know them.” This is how our Gospel passage for today concludes. It offers us an exceptionally practical way by which you can discern the working of God in your own life and in the life of others. When you look at your own life, what good fruit, born for the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God, do you see? Some people may find little...

On June 25, Korea commemorates the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. On this day of 1950, the war broke out by North Korea’s invasion across the 38th parallel. The Korean War was not fought by Koreans alone. Over 1.9 million soldiers from 22 United Nations member states fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the Republic of Korea in defense of freedom and democracy. Though more than 70 years have passed since the signing of the Armistice Agreement in 1953, the Korean Peninsula remains divided. As we remember the Korean War today, let us not forget the sacrifices of Korean...

Ahh, summertime: A season for kicking back, relaxing, grilling and barbecuing. And also a time for these horrific monsters: Credit: Joe Boggs via WCMH But what ARE these horrific lumps?! From one local report in Ohio: Caterpillars that are camouflage experts and known to cause damage to a variety of plants are now hatching in Ohio. Joe Boggs, an assistant professor with Ohio State University Extension, is warning residents to be on the lookout for bagworms, which are the caterpillars of bagworm moths. The insects create a bag around themselves using silk and pieces of their host plant, which camouflages...

[Catholic Caucus] His Own University is Now Against Him: Andrea Grillo, Francis' Liturgist and the Father of Traditionis Custodes, Hates the Eucharist and Must Have His Imprint ErasedAndrea Grillo: has any man done more to rekindle the liturgical wars?The detestable Italian professor was introduced by some malevolent Vatican spirit to Francis and created the document that would later be signed by the late pope as "Traditionis custodes", whose aim is explicitly to destroy the Traditional Latin Mass in the long term.But it seems Grillo has at last bitten more than he can chew (or at least at last because it...

United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that "it is possible" Russian President Vladimir Putin might have "territorial ambitions" beyond Ukraine. "I know one thing. He would like to settle. He would like to get out of this thing. It's a mess for him. He called the other day [and] said: Can I help you with Iran? I said no, you can help me with Russia," Trump told reporters while attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) summit. The US head of state remarked that he believes Putin is a "misguided" person, adding that he thought the settlement between...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in a video address on June 24, 2025. (Screen capture/GPO) In a video statement on Tuesday summing up the war against Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel “achieved a historic victory” that would “abide for generations” following the US-brokered ceasefire to end the 12-day conflict. He said Israel removed “two existential threats — the threat of destruction via nuclear weapons and the threat of destruction via 20,000 ballistic missiles” that Iran was moving to build. Israel would have faced destruction in the near future “if we hadn’t acted now.”

The Supreme Court left unresolved whether states can give primacy to biological sex over gender identity, a question that has divided lower courts nationwide, in its blockbuster decision upholding Tennessee's ban on medicalized gender transitions for youth, though individual justices in the majority promoted their own conclusions in concurrences. The most powerful nine jurists in America will consider whether to fill in the gaps from U.S. v. Skrmetti this week when, for the third time, they review petitions by West Virginia and Idaho to overrule courts that struck down their "fairness in women's sports" laws that prevent males from participating...

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization held meetings on Wednesday, leaders from the bloc of Western nations agreed to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense, NATO announced. According to a NATO statement, nations will commit to spending at least 3.5% on core defense requirements. These nations will allocate an additional 1.5% of their GDP to protect infrastructure, networks, and civil preparedness. Nations will be expected to submit annual plans on defense spending. Nations have until 2035 to reach the 5% target. Previously, NATO leaders agreed to commit 2% of their national GDP to defense spending. However, according...

Red in Tooth & ClawRacism, Eugenics & Other Bad Ideas from the Intellectual Descendants of DarwinOn July 21, 1925, John Scopes was found guilty of teaching Darwinian evolution in a state-funded high school in Dayton, Tennessee. He was fined $100. Scopes had ostensibly lost his battle with the state. But the side he represented was winning the greater war. I don’t say that because Scopes’s verdict was later overturned on a technicality. My contention is that the ideology he helped unleash on the public has been the source of more human oppression, suffering, and death than anyone in that Dayton...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than a month after a devastating fire in the hourly parking garage at Jacksonville International Airport, the BMW believed to have sparked that fire has been removed from the garage. A spokesperson with the Jacksonville Aviation Authority confirmed that a photo shared with News4JAX showing a fire-damaged vehicle being lowered by crane onto a tow truck is the BMW in question. About 1,200 cars were parked in the garage at the time the fire started. Nearly 50 cars were damaged, and hundreds of them had to be left there initially until drivers were contacted and told...

New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a candidate in the 2025 New York City mayoral race, has sparked intense debate with a striking pledge: if elected mayor, he would order the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he set foot in the city. In a recent interview, Mamdani articulated a vision for New York City that aligns its actions with international law, even in the face of federal resistance and the United States’ non-signatory status to the International Criminal Court (ICC). When pressed by the interviewer on what he would do if Netanyahu visited New York City during...

For the past 100 years, Egyptologists thought that when the powerful female pharaoh Hatshepsut died, her nephew and successor went on a vendetta against her, purposefully smashing all her statues to erase her from public memory.Now, a new study finds that's not quite the case. Although many statues of Hatshepsut were intentionally broken, the reason behind their destruction has nothing to do with her gender or even blotting out her existence, an Egyptologist says. Rather, Hatshepsut's statues were broken to "deactivate" them and eliminate their supposed supernatural powers...After Hatshepsut died, many of her statues were intentionally broken, including at the...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court handed a victory to the Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday in a power struggle with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. The court, in a unanimous ruling where the four liberal justices joined with three conservatives, struck down Evers' partial veto of a Republican bill in a case that tested both the limits of his broad veto powers and the Legislature's ability to exert influence by controlling funding. The court also ruled that the Legislature can put money for certain state programs into an emergency fund under the control of its budget committee. Evers had argued such a move...

Today we wish June Lockhart, the veteran actress and television icon a Happy 100th Birthday! Naturally, we immediately think of June Lockhart for her roles as TV mothers. First there was Ruth Martin in Lassie, young Timmy’s (Jon Provost) Mom from 1958 to 1964. Ms. Lockhart replaced Cloris Leachman (who in turn replaced Jan Clayton). Then there was Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space, mother to Judy (Marta Kristen), Penny (Angela Cartwright) and Will (Bill Mumy) from 1965 to 1968. And, finally, Janet Craig, the surrogate Mom of sorts to Billie Jo (Meredith MacRae), Bobbie Jo (Lori Saunders) and Betty...

One of the copper market's biggest-ever squeezes is unfolding on the London Metal Exchange, as rapidly declining inventories push up spot prices. Spot copper traded at a $280-a-ton premium to three-month futures today, hitting the highest level seen since a record spike in 2021. The huge spot premium -- known as a backwardation -- signals a supply shortage, and it comes after a rapid drawdown in LME inventories over the past few months. Stockpiles in the LME’s warehouses serve as a buffer for manufacturers during periods of strong demand, while holders of short positions can also use them to close...