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A sprawling global web of gangsters targeted in a massive federal takedown used California as its cash register to rake in millions of dollars through extortion schemes, contract killings, and drug and gun trafficking, authorities revealed. Local and federal officials on Tuesday arrested 11 accused members of transnational, India-based gangs and their affiliates in the Golden State as part of a case dubbed “Operation Hard Ball.” Los Angeles’ top federal prosecutor, Bill Essayli, described the gangs as the most powerful you’ve never heard of, allegedly reaping millions of dollars in illegal profits from drug deals, extortion, weapons sales and theft....

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Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Restore Britain have all ruled out contesting the Clacton by-election triggered by the resignation of Nigel Farage. The Reform UK leader said that, having announced his resignation, he would re-fight the Essex seat in what he billed as a "people versus the establishment" by-election. Facing increasing scrutiny over his finances and a parliamentary investigation, Farage said the "people of Clacton should be the judge of my actions". Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the by-election "shouldn't be happening" and accused Farage of throwing a "political tantrum" as a distraction. "Nobody is...

Case was funded by 'orgy-loving racist' Max Mosley and actor Hugh Grant, says Dacre.Former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre has given his reaction to an “overwhelming” High Court privacy trial victory versus Prince Harry saying the case was a “conspiracy” to destroy the paper. “Prince Harry wrote a sad book which boasted about his killing of 25 Taliban, his drug-taking and, in cringe-making detail, how he lost his virginity. There isn’t a laundry in the cosmos big enough to wash all the dirty linen he has aired about his own family. For him to complain about HIS privacy being invaded...

University of California, Riverside associate professor Brandon Robinson argued that a sexual identity label like "gay" or "lesbian" "harms trans people" and called for abolishing sexual identities altogether. While promoting the book "Trans Pleasure: On Gender Liberation and Sexual Freedom," Robinson, a member of the Gender & Sexuality Studies Department, spoke with UC Riverside about gender identities on Friday. Robinson, who uses they/them pronouns, explained the importance of moving beyond "gender essentialism" from sexual identities, which the professor claims can be built around gender "stereotypes." "If being 'gay' means being a man attracted to men, it assumes 'man' is a...

President Trump said Wednesday that he believes his memorandum of understanding with Iran is dead after he ordered overnight airstrikes on 80 targets after Iranian forces attacked three commercial ships. “I don’t like them at all. And frankly, I think we wasted a lot of time with them, I think we should just do our business,” Trump said in his first public remarks after ordering the airstrikes. When asked by a reporter if the preliminary peace deal, which Trump signed June 17, was dead, Trump replied: “To me, i think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore....

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Daily Readings from the USCCBJesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these… Matthew 10:1–2Imagine being one of the Twelve. When each of them first encountered our Lord, he could never have imagined what would unfold. Eleven of them would become the foundation upon which the Messiah built His Church. Their words and actions have been recorded and proclaimed throughout the world and will continue to be until the end of time. By God’s will, they preached...

Yesterday, Graham Platner denied allegations made by Jenny Racicot of rape, but then announced that he would take some time to mull over his options. At the time, Platner had already cancelled his upcoming events before the July 13 deadline to withdraw his nomination as the Democrat candidate for US Senate from Maine. His withdrawal from the race appeared imminent, so much so that Polymarket actually shut down the betting pool on it.Well, it has been 24 hours since then, and ... all is quiet on the Totenkopf Front. Platner has lost almost every endorser in the race, and the...

Why are DSA members allowed to run as Democrats? “A Republic If You Can Keep It!” These words of Benjamin Franklin, in response to the question, “what kind of government was the United States to have, a republic or a democracy?” are exceedingly prescient today, for we are surrounded, infected, and infested by enemies within and without. The four enemies I will focus on today (there are many more than four) are progressivism, the democratic socialists of America, radical Islam, and America’s four horsemen of the apocalypse (hedonism, nihilism, materialism, and narcissism). First, progressivism. Just in time for our 250th...

The pups have been named Hazel and Toffee by their caregiversDiscovery Cove has welcomed two baby Asian small-clawed otter pups. The two female pups were born May 16 at the Orlando attraction, marking the first litter for their parents, Butternut and Bing, Discovery Cove said. The pups have been named Hazel and Toffee by their caregivers. Animal care specialists said both pups are doing well and are being cared for by their parents and the zoological team. Discovery Cove said Bing, the pups’ father, has been especially involved. Before the pups were born, animal care specialists said he brought food...

Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said his team was the victim of an "injustice" in its 3-2 World Cup round-of-16 defeat against Argentina, suggesting FIFA wanted Lionel Messi to "stay in the running" at the competition. Reigning world champions Argentina fought back from down 2-0 to win the game following a stunning late intervention by Messi, who created one goal and scored another. But Egypt were furious at having a goal disallowed following a VAR review and then a subsequent failure to check on an apparent foul by Alexis Mac Allister in the immediate buildup to Enzo Fernández's stoppage-time winner. And...

The Maine Democratic Senate ticket is in total chaos after Troy Jackson, the leading replacement for scandal-ridden candidate Graham Platner, was hit with assault allegations. Jackson, a DSA-affiliated Maine politician, was accused of physical assault earlier today by the political organization Progressive Victory. The group works with left-wing politicians and influencers to organize grassroots support for leftist causes. “Troy Jackson in a heated disagreement struck a female colleague with a bottle he threw at her. There are many witnesses and it appears this is a widespread open secret within Maine politics and not an isolated incident,” said Progressive Victory in...

If they were visible to the naked eye, these structures would be huge in the sky. Image Credit: UCLan/Stellarium ========================================================================= The cosmological principle states that, on the largest scales, the universe is uniform and isotropic. In other words, it should look broadly the same no matter where you are or which direction you look. You would not expect to find a single enormous structure in one particular region of the sky. Finding two in relatively close proximity is even more surprising. Five years ago, researchers discovered the Giant Arc, a vast crescent of galaxies stretching 3.3 billion light years across...

Egypt manager Hossam Hassan restrained by security in Atlanta after confronting a fan with an Israeli flag, days after waving a PLO flag on the pitch. ...Egypt's national soccer team manager, Hossam Hassan, confronted a fan waving an Israeli flag in the stands in Atlanta on Tuesday, following his team's World Cup defeat to Argentina. After the final whistle, Hassan was heading down to the dressing rooms when he spotted the fan with the Israeli flag in the stands. He attempted to lunge at him but was restrained by stadium security forces on the scene. Hassan and his brother, who...

The Chinese Tianwen-2 mission has captured the first imagery of a space object that some astronomers are calling Earth’s “quasi-moon.” The object was captured in images released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), after its Tianwen-2 spacecraft reached the tiny asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa. Initially discovered in 2016, the asteroid became the target of a sample return mission launched by China on 28 May 2025. Officially the CNSA’s second mission under its Planetary Exploration of China Program, Tianwen-2 aims to return close to 100 grams of samples from the surface of the small object. Earth’s Mysterious Quasi-Moons Quasi-moons are the...

After several years of a lean and pricey housing market, real estate agents are starting to see more balance. In the second quarter of the year, 44% of real estate agents surveyed in CNBC’s Housing Market Survey said they were seeing a balanced market between buyer and seller. That share is up from 30% in the third quarter of last year, when CNBC began its quarterly survey. “It certainly feels like, depending on the home, depending on the neighborhood, depending on the condition and the price point, that both the buyer and the seller do have a little bit of...

Walmart is lowering prices on thousands of products, including beef, Coca-Cola and laundry detergent, saying the cuts are aimed at reducing the costs of seasonal summer items. The largest U.S. retailer on Monday said the price cuts will be available in its stores and in Sam's Club locations, on Walmart.com, SamsClub.com, and through the Walmart and Sam's Club apps. The reductions apply to groceries and other household items, such as grills, sunscreen and lawn mowers. President Trump praised Walmart for the reductions and sought to claim credit for the decision. "I have just been informed that one of the biggest,...

The temporary organization behind the Department of Government Efficiency reached its scheduled termination date Saturday, July 4, 2026. President Donald Trump's executive order last year creating the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization set a July 4, 2026, termination date for that temporary organization. "A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence," Trump said when he announced the initiative. DOGE claims it saved $215 billion, including by slashing duplicative software licenses, canceling diversity, equity and inclusion grants and terminating leases for underused office space....

The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday it will cancel its authorization of Iranian oil sales following a series of attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. The decision comes after Iran launched multiple attacks on tankers transiting the critical waterway this week, despite having promised safe passages to commercial ships under an interim deal to reopen Hormuz. The Trump administration had previously waived U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil as part of that agreement. The Office of Foreign Assets Control is ending the license that had allowed the production, delivery and sale of Iranian oil, which was set to run...