Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the country was dismissed regarding its concern about NATO expansion. "We emphasized that the security of one nation or a group of nations cannot come at the expense of another's security. This principle is enshrined in international agreements that all parties have ratified," Putin said. "Yet, in practice, what transpired?" Putin continued. "One NATO expansion after another. We were consistently reassured, 'there's nothing to fear; it doesn't pose a threat to you.' When we expressed our concerns, asserting that we believed it did threaten us, what was the response? Nothing at all. We...

Andrew Cuomo is staying on the New York City mayoral election ballot — a move that prompted critics to slam the ex-gov as a “spoiler” candidate. Sources confirmed that Cuomo will not decline to run on an independent ballot line, ahead of a Friday deadline to pull his name from the November ticket. Cuomo’s defiant stance comes as he hemorrhages union support after his stunning loss to socialist contender Zohran Mamdani in Tuesday’s Democratic primary – and amid widespread consternation that he’ll give the Queens assemblyman an easier path to Gracie Mansion. “Cuomo’s name in the race is fantastic for...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Senate Republicans to expect to see the legislative text of the budget reconciliation package on Friday evening and then to vote at noon Saturday to begin debate on President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” Several GOP senators, however, refused to say whether they would vote to proceed to the bill, including Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he’s a hard “no” on the legislation because it includes a provision to raise the debt limit by $5 trillion.

CompaniesStellantis NVVolkswagen AG BERLIN/BEIJING, June 27 (Reuters) - The threat of mass shutdowns across the automotive supply chain is fading as Chinese rare earth magnets begin to flow, though automakers and suppliers say production plans still face uncertainties and a continued risk of shortages. European suppliers have received enough licences to avoid the widespread disruptions predicted earlier this month but hundreds of permits remain pending, said Nils Poel, head of market affairs at supplier association CLEPA. The rate of issuance is "accelerating" and has risen to 60% from 25%, he said, but cases where the end users are based in...

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda on Friday signed a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. to help end the decades-long deadly fighting in eastern Congo while helping the U.S. government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “an important moment after 30 years of war.” Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump said at a news conference that he was able to broker a deal for “one of the worst wars anyone’s ever seen.” “I was able to get them together and sell it,” Trump said. “And not only...

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a press briefing today (27) in Moscow, following his visit to Belarus for the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Minsk. There was plenty of recrimination for the collective West, but respect and even a certain amount of praise for US President Donald J. Trump’s courage and efforts for peace. Here’s a summary of what Putin said, according to a report by Sputnik: “Russia is ready for the third round of negotiations with Ukraine. The date is being discussed by the heads of the delegations. The proposals from Ukraine and Russia for ending the conflict are...

Environmental groups Friday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt construction and operation of a detention center for undocumented immigrants that has been dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” saying it threatens ecologically sensitive areas and species in the surrounding Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve. The lawsuit, filed by the group Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, alleges that federal and state agencies have violated laws that, in part, require evaluating potential environmental impacts before such a project can move forward. “The hasty transformation of the site into a mass detention facility, which includes the installation of housing...

It would take an act of God for this man to be reelected, and if he is to be believed, there just might be one. New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ reelection campaign stepped out of the shadows on Thursday, with a kickoff rally that crowded the steps of City Hall. The show of support for the recently embattled incumbent mayor came not from establishment Democrats or major unions who backed him in 2021, but the faith leaders who have stood by him through unprecedented turmoil over the past year… Adams, who has leaned on his faith in good times...

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed a peace deal in Washington aimed at ending decades of devastating conflict between the two neighbours, and potentially granting the US lucrative mineral access.

"Great cities fall to the sound of cheering crowds." Ami Kozak on "X" The Democratic Party put another bullet in its head this week with the election of the charming, affable jihadi communist Zohran Mamdani. Is “communist” too harsh a label? (He styles himself, softly, a “socialist.”) Yet his campaign platform looks like a template from the venerable Soviet Council of Ministers circa 1957: Free Everything: housing, buses and subways, college, child-care, government food stores. . . with a cherry-on-top of replacing police with social workers in high crime areas — because rapists and car-jackers would quit their rowdy ways...

As federal officials began looking for potential threats to the United States after its actions in bombing Iran this week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Tuesday that it had arrested a Locust Fork man with an Islamic Republic of Iran Army identification card in a nationwide roundup. According to DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Ribvar Karimi on Sunday in Blount County's Locust Fork. Karimi reportedly served as an Iranian Army sniper from 2018 to 2021. At the time of his arrest, he was in possession of an Islamic Republic of Iran Army identification card. He...

President Donald Trump celebrated after the Supreme Court moved to block lower courts from issuing universal injunctions, something that had impacted his executive orders. The president held a news conference just over an hour after the ruling was issued and said the Supreme Court had stopped a "colossal abuse of power." "I was elected on a historic mandate, but in recent months, we've seen a handful of radical left judges effectively try to overrule the rightful powers of the president to stop the American people from getting the policies that they voted for in record numbers," Trump said on Friday....

Changes could be coming to Southwest Airlines over the next few years. While at an airport industry conference this week, Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan spoke about the future of the Dallas-based airline. His goal is to stop losing customers to competitors. "Whatever customers need in 2025, 2030, we won’t take any of that off the table," Jordan told CNBC. "We know we send customers to other airlines because there’s some things you might want that you can’t get on us. That includes things like lounges, like true premium, like flying long-haul international. I want to send fewer and fewer...

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a group of Maryland parents who sued a school board over its refusal to allow elementary school children to be taken out of classes with LGBTQ-themed storybooks. In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines Friday, the justices overturned a lower court ruling that found the parents needed to show that their kids were being coerced to act differently than their religious beliefs. The high court concluded that the parents “have shown that they are entitled to a preliminary injunction” because they “are likely to succeed in their challenge to the Board’s policies. “The...

A 15-year-old boy was arrested for the death of his friend and fellow gangbanger after the suspect’s gun went off while he was flashing it inside a Queens apartment Wednesday afternoon, police and sources said. Jamuri Mezar, 14, was shot and killed in his Jamaica home at the Norman Towers during what law enforcement sources described as an accidental discharge. The older teen brought a stolen 9mm gun to Mezar’s home and was showing it off when it fired, striking Mezar in the head, the sources said. Mezar was pronounced dead on scene, police said. His pal bolted from the...

The Manda-Hararo rift in the Afar region of Ethiopia. Credit: DavidMPyle / CC BY-SA 4.0 =================================================================== A steady underground pulse has been discovered beneath East Africa, where researchers believe a new ocean is gradually forming. The rhythmic movement was detected in the Afar region of Ethiopia, a geological hotspot where three giant sections of the Earth’s crust—the Arabian, Nubian, and Somalian plates—are slowly pulling apart. The site, known as the Afar Triple Junction, is one of few places on Earth where the process of continental breakup can be observed on land. As the plates drift in different directions, the ground...

Explanation: Big beautiful barred spiral galaxy Messier 109 is the 109th entry in Charles Messier's famous catalog of bright Nebulae and Star Clusters. You can find it just below the Big Dipper's bowl in the northern constellation Ursa Major. In fact, bright dipper star Phecda, Gamma Ursa Majoris, produces the glare at the upper right corner of this telescopic frame. M109's prominent central bar gives the galaxy the appearance of the Greek letter "theta", θ, a common mathematical symbol representing an angle. M109 spans a very small angle in planet Earth's sky though, about 7 arcminutes or 0.12 degrees. But...

Excellent written summary, plus Podcast - "The Insurrection Act allows presidents to deploy federal troops not only in cases of insurrection but also when federal law can't practicably be enforced through conventional means. The Posse Comitatus Act, which many point to as preventing such a use of troops, is not the obstacle many assume it is."

The small shark named Clavusodens mcginnisi, or “McGinnis’ nail tooth,” only measured 3-4 inches in length. A 4 inch long male and female Clavusodens hunting for early crustaceans on the sea floor that once covered much of central Kentucky during the Middle Mississippian period, 340 million years ago. NPS Illustration / Benji Paysnoe ================================================================ MAMMOTH CAVE, KY. – A new-to-science species of ancient shark has been discovered through an ongoing Paleontological Resource Inventory (PRI) at Mammoth Cave National Park. The new species of obruchevodid petalodont, called Clavusodens mcginnisi, was identified by researchers through fossil teeth collected from deep inside the...