Free Republic

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The time is now. Now to push the momentum of this tournament. Now to raise the level of the U.S. men's national team program. Now to reward the American fans who have dreamed of a team and a month and a chance just like this one. Now to make history. "This group," Gio Reyna said, "deserves something special." It does. The old sports adage that success is when preparation and opportunity meet has never felt more meaningful for an American men's team: The U.S. has its most talented roster of players. Its most successful coach. A...

Russia is grinding its way into Kostiantynivka, a key stronghold in Ukraine's eastern "fortress belt" long coveted by the Kremlin, even as its gains across the rest of the 1,200-km front line have largely stalled. Fighting has begun to seep into the city ​itself. Small groups of Russian soldiers are attempting to infiltrate its outskirts, senior Ukrainian commanders said last week, suggesting close-quarters assaults could follow. Kostiantynivka is the southernmost of four key ‌settlements forming a defensive line central to Ukraine's effort to hold the heavily industrialised Donetsk region. The push towards it underscores Moscow's enduring manpower advantage, even as...

Researchers at Binghamton have studied how wars, such as in Ukraine, have led to better landmine detection and don't require internet connections.Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Researchers at Binghamton University used AI technology to discover a new way to detect plastic landmines in vast war zones—and it doesn't even require an internet connection. The research, Deep Learning and Multiview-Based Detection of Scatterable PFM-1 Landmines: Performance, Out-of-Sample Evaluation, and Field Readiness, recently appeared in the journal Geomatics and examined the prevalence of small landmines encased in plastic to deter metal detectors and other geophysical techniques like asground-penetrating...

Zhang Yadi, 23, also known as Tara, is supposed to be studying at a prestigious university in the UK.Instead she is believed to be in detention in China.In one of her last posts on the social media platform "X", she wished the Dalai Lama a happy 90th birthday. She had also helped edit an online Chinese language platform promoting Tibetan rights while studying in France.Her words of support for Tibetans, posted while abroad, are believed to have put her in prison. Beijing views the exiled spiritual leader as a separatist and what it calls the Tibet Autonomous Region, which it...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Wednesday taking aim at California’s ban on Glock pistols the day it was slated to take effect.Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB1127 into law in October 2025, making California the first state to ban the popular pistol. The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California,

Semafor reported on Project 2029’s "Kids Over Clicks" proposal, which outlines Democrats' plans to regulate social media and AI companies. Democrats are gearing up for the 2028 election and preparing a list of policy priorities—dubbed "Project 2029"—should they retake the White House. The first Project 2029 proposal is not about affordability, healthcare, or foreign policy. No, the Democrats' first proposal concerns children's online safety: the issue fueling lawmakers' bipartisan push to impose greater government control over the internet. Semafor's Nicholas Wu first reported on the "Kids Over Clicks" proposal on Monday. The proposal, Wu wrote, advocates for "narrowing protections under...

The Department of Justice on Wednesday sued the Commonwealth of Virginia over its recently approved assault weapons ban, asserting that the Second Amendment barred such restrictions.Virginia is one of a handful of states that have enacted such restrictions on the commonly owned semiautomatic rifles.

LONGVIEW, Texas — Three women have been arrested in connection with an assault investigation stemming from an incident at a Longview nightclub in the early morning hours of June 21. Arrest documents obtained by WFAA are shedding new information about a woman being allegedly assaulted in the parking lot. Ciarrianne Fuller, 21, of Longview, Dejae Brown, 21, of Pittsburg, and Alana Mumphrey, 21, of Longview, are all charged with assault causing bodily injury in connection with an alleged assault at Whiskey J's, located at 300 TX-63 Spur in Longview. According to an arrest affidavit, a person working security for Whiskey...

Air Force Major Jason Watson was arrested on the Capitol Steps Wednesday after taking part in a protest that called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Watson, an active member of the Air Force, delivered a speech ahead of his arrest. He listed several perceived crimes committed by the president and vice president. "Our Constitution binds us all together as Americans. Like countless veterans before me, military members serving now, I've devoted my life in service to our Democratic Republic," Watson said. "Always doing my best to honor my oath and protect America against...

"As of today, no country has the ability to mount attacks in space. We must be the leading country in the world with this capability," said Katz.Israel is developing space lasers to carry out attacks above the Earth, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday.“One of the central goals that the prime minister and I set is that we are recruiting the best minds,” he said in a briefing with military reporters. “As of today, no country has the ability to mount attacks in space. We must be the leading country in the world with this capability.”“If we achieve this, it...

A volunteer staffer for Wisconsin Democrat Congressional candidate Katrina DeVille, posted a shocking series of videos planning a “trans jihad” and urging social media followers to “kill your local Republican.” Teha Delaruelle, a transgender male, posted a deranged video to social media calling on followers to “kill your local Republican” and claiming that they had only “one month” to do so. In another disturbing video, Delaruelle pledged to start a “trans jihad” against “the oppressor, the bigots, the animals that make up MAGA.” “For decades, everyone else, all of the marginalized in house minorities, we’ve had to be the ones...

The battle over what counts as money — and who gets to control it — just took a dramatic turn. China’s biggest banks are shutting down retail paper gold trading just as gold has pulled back sharply from record highs, signaling that the fight over gold is no longer only about price. It is about market structure, settlement power, and the future of money itself. In June, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China IDCBF -7.31% ▼ , one of the largest banks in the world, said it would stop offering intermediary services for individual precious-metals trading linked to the Shanghai...

California’s homicide rate fell to a record low in 2025 as every major statewide crime category declined from the previous year, according to new data released Wednesday by the California Department of Justice. The newly released statistics show California recorded its lowest homicide rate since statewide crime reporting began in 1966. Officials also reported year-over-year declines in robbery, violent crime, property crime and motor vehicle theft.

Russia’s top banker has called on Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, warning that the four-year-old conflict is dragging the country into economic collapse. German Gref, head of the state-controlled Sberbank, said ordinary Russians are increasingly feeling the economic effects of the war, which are being worsened by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s oil refineries. “I think we are all worried about the same thing. I don’t believe there is anyone in this country whose primary concern is anything other than an end to military hostilities as soon as possible,” Gref told state TV on Tuesday, as reported...

SNIP China wants the fighting in Eastern Europe to stop right now. Beijing is issuing a clear, uncompromising command to both Russia and Ukraine. The message came directly from the United Nations floor. Sun Lei serves as China’s deputy representative, and he delivered his remarks during a recent Security Council gathering. The Moscow Times reported that China is firmly demanding an immediate return to the negotiating table. Beijing claims it wants to guide the political process. Lei held nothing back when addressing the packed room. “We strongly urge you to end the conflict as soon as possible. We also strongly...

An outdated tax code forces dual-income couples to pay a premium. Two years ago, my fiancé and I attended the wedding of friends in Atlanta. At the reception, the newlyweds confided that they were not getting legally married. When we asked why, they gave a simple answer: taxes. ­ We laughed. Everyone knows marriage saves you money on taxes. Or so we thought.Then we got married. After filing our first joint return this year, we understood.The first surprise was that married couples must either both itemize or both take the standard deduction even if they file separately. My husband owns...

We are one step closer to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland becoming the Islamic Republic of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. King Charles III has a new description in his role as monarch to that end. In an annual review published for 2025-2026 reported by the U.K.’s Telegraph on Friday, the king was previously the “Head of Nation” and “Head of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith.” This year the language has changed, reading, “His Majesty is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and protects the space for Faith within the multi-faith...

Some CD4 T cells infected with HIV can take on the characteristics of CD8 cells, according to a study published in Science. The researchers found that this transformed population of induced CD8 cells can still harbor latent HIV and contributes to the viral reservoir, which has implications for functional cure strategies. Antiretroviral therapy can keep HIV suppressed indefinitely, but the virus inserts its genetic blueprints into host cells and establishes a long-lasting viral reservoir that is impervious to the drugs and usually invisible to the immune system, making a true cure nearly impossible.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pressed President Trump earlier to cripple Iran. But as Iran asserted its power, the prince urged a cease-fire, and is now pursuing his security priorities.President Trump and his military commanders were in a bind.They had announced the start of a new mission to help guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had effectively closed early in the war. U.S. naval and air power would ward off any Iranian attacks during a tentative cease-fire, the commanders said.But U.S. Central Command was caught by surprise when officials from Saudi Arabia said American forces could...

... She heard the word “retirement” and just assumed that it was Alito? The explanation is so shocking that social media has plenty of Alito retirement “Truthers” who contend the justice is planning to announce his retirement soon and Totenberg simply erred by reporting it too early; but that theory doesn’t make sense, because if that were the case, she would simply clarify her story. Some others wonder if this was Alito trying to sniff out the Supreme Court employee who leaked the Dobbs decision. (Back in April 2023, Alito sat down for an interview with the Wall Street Journal...