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Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told Congress the Iran conflict has cost "about $30 billion," six days after his own agency asked lawmakers for $67.1 billion to cover the same conflict's costs.Neither Vought nor lawmakers reconciled the two figures during the June 30 hearing, even as Congress weighs a request that works out to about $412 for each of the nation's estimated 162.8 million individual income tax filers, according to IRS data. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., asked Vought during the hearing how much the conflict, formally called Operation Epic Fury, has cost. "We've spent about $30 billion,"...

Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has appealed to nearly 40 partner countries to urgently transfer Patriot missiles from their stockpiles in July in exchange for future deliveries already contracted for Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said on July 2. The appeal comes after Russia launched one of its largest-ever aerial assaults against Kyiv overnight on July 2, killing at least 22 people and overwhelming Ukraine's air defenses with dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles alongside hundreds of drones. According to the Defense Ministry, Ukraine has already signed contracts for hundreds of PAC-2 Patriot missiles with German support, but deliveries are not expected...

That leads us to Illinois Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez. The circumstances of her birth are an example as to how this ruling is going to turn out when looking to the next generation of public officials. In an article on Ramirez from January 2023, CNN noted her mother crossed the Rio Grande River when she was pregnant. Ramirez would be born into a family of Guatemalan immigrants on June 2, 1983, in Chicago, Illinois. In other words, her mother was an illegal alien and had a baby here that became a citizen anyway. Now serving in Congress, you would imagine...

Iran’s shadowy Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief emerged from hiding for the first time in months as he mourned alongside the casket of the assassinated former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi – who has been sanctioned by the US and has alleged ties to terrorism abroad – was seen Thursday with his hands on Khamenei’s coffin as Tehran prepared to hold the days-long funeral for the late tyrant, according to photos published online by Iranian state media. Vahidi broke cover when he attended the meeting for Khamenei’s funeral as well as a small service before Iran begins...

As New York baked under another summer heat wave, parts of the Riverdale neighborhood in the Bronx, home to a large Jewish community, lost power after Con Edison shut off electricity to protect its equipment.Con Edison announced the outages Thursday, saying it temporarily cut power to some customers in Riverdale to reduce strain on the electrical grid and speed up service restoration. The utility directed affected residents to report outages and seek relief at city cooling centers.

PITT COUNTY, N.C. (WNCT) – The Mt. Olive Pickle Company says it decided to withdraw from the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., after a Confederate flag was included in an exhibit. The company told Nexstar’s WNCT that they were invited to participate in the North Carolina exhibit. “We are proud of our North Carolina roots, and we agreed to be a part of an exhibit, as presented to us, that would represent the best of our great state,” the company, based in Mount Olive, North Carolina, said in a statement... The Confederate flag appeared in a video that...

WATCH: James Talarico Says Bill Banning ‘Gender-Affirming Health Care to Trans Children’ Is ‘Christofascism’ download june 24, 2026, reused 7/2/26AP Photo/Eric Gay Mariane Angela2 Jul 2026574 2:17 Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico was caught on video describing a “Christofascism movement” as he criticized legislation restricting gender-affirming care for transgender minors and the state’s abortion law.

After months of speculation and predictions, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding day is here. The couple is expected to welcome around 1,000 guests at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Friday to celebrate their marriage, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the security planning. Festivities kicked off with a rehearsal dinner Thursday night, also at MSG, with about 100 family and friends on the guest list. The couple's big day will include the typical wedding rundown of a cocktail hour, ceremony and then reception, with the celebration expected to stretch into the early hours, the sources...

For generations, the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was viewed as little more than a dream held by a small number of deeply religious Jews. It was discussed in prophecy conferences, debated by theologians, and dismissed by many as politically impossible.Not anymore.Something remarkable is happening inside Israel.A new poll commissioned by Temple Mount Heritage Foundation and conducted by the Direct Polls Institute, shows that 55 percent of Israeli Jews now support rebuilding the Third Temple on the Temple Mount. That statistic alone represents a dramatic cultural shift. But perhaps even more astonishing is another development: reports indicate that...

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Two West Haven bars will be closed Friday as part of city efforts to mitigate risks ahead of the celebratory Fourth of July weekend, according to West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer.Patrone Beach Bar and Pizza at Captain Thomas Boulevard and Bar 93 at Campbell Avenue will be closed as part of risk reduction efforts for the large-scale weekend, Borer said. The mayor and chief pulled police call records for the past year and found that while most places in the area within a .25 mile radius of the shoreline had one or no incidents logged,...

An anonymous victim of Jeffrey Epstein who has accused President Trump of sexually assaulting her is reportedly living in fear of retaliation.

Presumptive Democratic congresswoman and Zohran Mamdani-backed socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier, 32, is dating Mamdani's chief legal counsel, 48-year-old Ramzi Kassem, who is best known for defending al Qaeda terrorists, including a "close associate" of Osama bin Laden. Chevalier confirmed the relationship in a statement shared with City & State. "Ramzi Kassem and I met outside an ICE detention facility, both working to free someone unjustly held," she said. "Over the years, as we collaborated on different projects, our professional acquaintance became a friendship, which grew into a romantic relationship. I'm deeply grateful for such a loving, supportive partner – he's...

Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was on a flight to return home when the plane was abruptly forced to return after Washington allegedly withdrew its support, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been in exile since December, was apparently warned through “intermediaries” that if she pushed forth with her bid to go home to the earthquake-devastated country, she could derail President Donald Trump‘s strategy for Venezuela, according to the outlet. That would add more delays to the country’s elections, sources told the paper. Machado made the $35,000 trip last week...

July Fourth, 2026 marks America’s 250th anniversary. Americans will be out and about at parades, fireworks displays, and other patriotic observances. President Trump will be at Mt. Rushmore, where fireworks, long prohibited, are making a comeback. Barbecue grills will blaze, we’ll eat too much, and love every minute of it, thankful for being born American and thereby winning life’s lottery in a nation of equal opportunity, where even an African American can become a trillionaire. Sadly, so many who bristle at being American will hold their own anti-American events. Some will commit acts of vandalism and violence, acts of mindless...

A Ukrainian woman has been identified as the main suspect for a parcel bombing in Monaco that seriously wounded a sanctioned Ukrainian multi-millionaire and two others. An Interpol Red Notice has been issued for Anastasiia Berezovska, 39, who speaks German and is wanted for attempted murder, placing an explosive device on a public road with criminal intent, and criminal conspiracy. Police are looking into identifying any possible accomplices as they continue to search for the named suspect. The suspect, pictured on CCTV cameras wearing a dark bucket hat, was then seen fleeing towards the French commune of Beausoleil.

Dick Van Dyke was seen leaning on a walker as he enjoyed a rare outing with wife of 14 years Arlene Silver in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The 100-year-old Hollywood legend, who married the makeup artist back in 2012, enjoyed the lowkey daytime excursion as the pair also stopped by a Starbucks drive-thru to pick up tasty drinks. Van Dyke kept it casual wearing a pair of dark blue sweatpants as well as a short-sleeved white shirt. The Mary Poppins star was spotted strolling next to his wife as they made their way down a sidewalk. He was also seen...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem🇮🇱 (7/3/26)[Prayer]Personalities1 Samuel 3:1-11 3 And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. 2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; 3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; 4 That the Lord called Samuel: and...

The Democratic Socialists are right: This is no time for half measures. If the United States is to thrive for another 250 years, we must commit ourselves to a profoundly radical vision of the future. Our present divisions, strains, and discontents are so severe, they demand nothing less than a revolutionary response – one that reimagines our relationship to each other and our government. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.Though proclaimed...

Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico was caught on video describing a “Christofascism movement” as he criticized legislation restricting gender-affirming care for transgender minors and the state’s abortion law.

On Wednesday, the largest traditional Catholic order of priests in the world, the Society of Saint Pius X, consecrated four bishops without a papal mandate. The Vatican’s response was swift and brutal. Today, it announced that not only have the four new bishops and the two consecrators been excommunicated but, shockingly, so will all the priests and faithful who continue to adhere to the Society’s work – an edict that will likely affect more than a million Catholics worldwide. This comes across as startlingly harsh, especially as the penalty of excommunication for consecrating bishops without a mandate has only existed...