Free Republic

A senior official in Communist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration tried to hold an official meeting with the Iranian regime’s ambassador to the United Nations. Commissioner Ana María Archila, head of the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, had scheduled the meeting for July 7 at 11 a.m. at 2 United Nations Plaza with Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s permanent representative to the UN. Two other senior officials from the office were also set to attend, according to calendar invitation screenshots reviewed by City Journal and confirmed by multiple sources, including a State Department official. The meeting was called off only...

While disagreeing on most else, teacher unions and conservative education policy reformers share views on cellphone bans, AI guardrails in K-12 public schools. ================================================================== Teachers unions and education reformers are historically longtime rivals – frequently bumping heads over policies surrounding school choice, parents' rights, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices in K-12 schools. There's one issue, however, upon which these groups agree – that technology, creeping first via phones and now Artificial Intelligence, is interfering with student learning. "Social media and student personal device use have become a constant presence in our schools,” said Becky Pringle, president of the National...

Tetanus may sound like a disease from another era, but experts are warning that it remains a serious threat. Two recent reports from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found hundreds of tetanus cases and dozens of deaths over 15 years, along with four cases in children in 2024 alone. At the same time, vaccination rates have declined, worrying experts that more people could become vulnerable to this potentially deadly but preventable infection. To help us understand what tetanus is, why it remains dangerous and how people can protect themselves, I spoke with CNN wellness expert Dr. Leana...

On June 17, crews with Las Vegas Fire and Rescue responded to reports of a woman in labor inside one of the city's flood control channels. When firefighter paramedic Eric Paul reached the scene, he was immediately handed a newborn who wasn't breathing. "A bystander said, 'Help him,'" Paul recalled. "The cord was still attached. The placenta was still attached. He wasn't responding initially." Working in the challenging conditions of the tunnel, Paul quickly cleared the baby's airway, stimulated him, and clamped the umbilical cord so he could better assess the infant. Moments later came the outcome everyone was hoping...

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer who was the oldest woman to launch into space, has died. She was 87.Funk died Wednesday at her apartment in an assisted living facility in the Dallas and Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas, Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O’Dell said Thursday. O’Dell, who described herself as Funk’s caregiver, said she was by Funk’s side. Funk had fallen a couple of times recently and had an infection in her leg.“It took its toll,” O’Dell said in a phone interview. Funk was one of 13 female pilots who went through the same tests...

U.S. — According to sources, the Democrat Party quietly revised their process for vetting prospective candidates by first asking them if they've ever raped anyone. Following the surprise implosion of would-be senator Graham Platner, Democrats reportedly added a new question to the typical questionnaire they give every prospective candidate: Have you ever raped anyone? "Forgetting to ask about the rape thing is really coming back to bite us," said Ken Martin, head of the Democratic National Committee. "It always catches us off guard. I really think adding a brief screening to see if potential candidates have committed felonious sexual assault...

Los Angeles Unified is facing “severe” signs of insolvency, with county officials projecting a $231-million cash shortfall by late 2027. County education authorities have appointed a fiscal expert and have given the school board 45 days to fix its budget or risk outside control. Costly union contracts, stalled cuts and steep enrollment declines helped drive the troubles. The Los Angeles Unified School District faces “severe” indications that it will be insolvent by November 2027 — falling $231 million into the red and unable to make payroll — county analysts have concluded, setting up a 45-day deadline for the school board...

Dramatic new bodycam footage captured the moment heroic NYPD cops plucked a distraught woman off steel cables high above the Brooklyn Bridge, saving her from sure death. “I just wanna talk,” one cop is heard telling the woman after she climbed high atop the East River span shortly before 7:40 p.m. on Wednesday. “What’s happening today? “I wanna help you, that’s why I’m up here right now,” the officer said. “I genuinely care, I do. It’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem, it really is. I don’t know what you’re going through but I want to understand. We have...

Trillionaire Elon Musk aims to have rockets blast off from Earth before the end of 2026, sending the first materials to the moon and Mars to start building colonies. The world’s first trillionaire is then planning to send robots to prepare the infrastructure needed for humans to survive. Musk said recently he has shifted Space X’s focus as it is closer and “much faster to complete a moon city,” with a timeline of getting it established in the next 10 years. However, he is optimistic he can also start sending material to the red planet within seven years too. This...

KEY TAKEAWAYS Silver Enables the Design: A 5-micrometer silver-carbon layer suppresses dendrites and allows Samsung's compact "anode-less" architecture. Performance Leap: The technology targets 900 Wh/L, 600-mile range, and 9-minute fast charging, roughly double current lithium-ion density. 2027 Timeline: Mass production is targeted for 2027, signaling a potential new role for silver in the EV supply chain. ‍ The electric vehicle (EV) industry is approaching a generational transition. While current lithium-ion technology has enabled the first wave of mass adoption, manufacturers are actively seeking solutions to persistent challenges regarding energy density, charging speed, and safety. Among the leading candidates for the...

You’ve spent years building a body of work. Your methods, your frameworks, your unique perspective. So when you use AI to write new content in different formats, the last thing you want is for it to undermine everything you’ve created. But that’s exactly what happens when large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok insert their telltale phrases into your writing.Large language models change fast. The giveaway signs of ChatGPT-generated content from 2023 are mostly gone. Lengthy introductions, ethical consideration paragraphs, words like “delve” and “landscape” have been trained out or flagged by savvy users. Even the signs that...

More late-stage diagnoses add to higher cancer mortality burden for menKey Takeaways: -Men have a significantly higher likelihood of late-stage cancer diagnosis across 20 different tumor types. -The largest disparities involved tongue, thyroid, and salivary gland cancers. -The reasons for the disparity appear to be multifactorial, involving biological, social, and cultural determinants. Men had a higher likelihood than women for late-stage diagnosis of 20 different types of cancer, data from a national registry network showed. The analysis of 30 nonreproductive organ cancers showed men had higher odds ratios for regional or distant metastasis at diagnosis in two-thirds of the cancer...

A gin brand co-owned by Ryan Reynolds in Portland has closed a bar just four years after it opened. Aviation American Gin's Tasting Room and Visitor Center held its last tasting on June 28. 'Thank you for all the memories, Portland. Stay weird,' a sign hung on the door read, according to Willamette Week. The bar was opened in 2022 to promote Reynolds's gin brand. The actor once called the tasting room a 'Disneyland for adults.' The closure comes amid a sales slump for Diageo, the drinks giant that co-owns the brand with Reynolds. The London-based beverage giant was down...

I opened up duckduckgo which said my available space on my computer was low. My C drive is 459 GB. This A.M. it was 5.41 GB free of 459 GB. Now it's 2.59 GB free of 459 GB. Something's going on. I have and use CCleaner 7 and Malwarebytes. Windows Defender also. This computer never even reaches half full of the 459. I've also used disc cleanup. Ideas? thnx

2026 Inside Elections House Ratings 🔴 Republicans: 215 🔵 Democrats: 206 🟡 Tossup: 14 2026 Inside Elections Senate Ratings 🔴 Republicans: 52 🔵 Democrats: 45 🟡 Tossup: 3 Swing States: Maine: 🔴 Tilt R Ohio: 🔴 Tilt R Michigan: 🟡 Tossup North Carolina: 🟡 Tossup Georgia: 🟡 Tossup New Hampshire: 🔵 Tilt D

NASA's chief administrator confirmed that the space agency has taken images of objects which can only be described as UFOs. Jared Isaacman, who took the helm in December, said real imagery captured from space could not be explained away as a comet or other natural phenomenon. While he stopped short of calling it proof of alien life, he was confident that the ultimate conclusion would be that the universe is full of extraterrestrial life, which humans have not yet discovered. The NASA administrator told podcast host Jack Gordon: 'We have captured imagery, and this is what President Trump is very...

The Phoenix location is now the second-largest Catholic diocese in the country, trailing only the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, according to the 2025 Official Catholic Directory. 'Something holy is taking place, something historical, something that goes way back, and they're intrigued by that,' said Joyce Coronel, the Diocese of Phoenix manager told the outlet. She called the current wave of interest in the church 'enormous.' Data obtained by the outlet showed the Diocese had 512 adult baptisms in 2025, up 46.7 percent from 2022, 84.8 percent from 2023, and 24 percent from 2024. 'Adult baptisms have increased significantly over the...

The Washington Commanders are retiring Hall of Fame running back John Riggins' No. 44 -- more than 40 years after he scored a touchdown on one of the most famous runs in Super Bowl history. He becomes the seventh player in franchise history to have his number retired. He'll be honored during Washington's game vs. the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 8. Riggins played for Washington from 1976 to 1985 and remains the franchise's all-time leading rusher with 7,742 yards and is second with 85 touchdowns. His team-best 79 rushing touchdowns are 33 more than second place Clinton Portis. Riggins,...

K9 Police Service Dog (K9 PSD) Vethos of the Junction City Police Department (JCPD), who passed away while on duty on Monday, July 6, 2026, was found unresponsive in a K9-equipped patrol vehicle. Preliminary findings indicate the cause of death was heat exposure. The JCPD requested on Tuesday, July 7 that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) conduct an independent third-party investigation to determine all facts surrounding this incident. The JCPD has said they will cooperate fully with the investigation. K9 PSD Vethos’ handler has been put on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation per JCPD standard operating...

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (WLOX) — The body of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells was found in the water just off the northwestern tip of Horn Island Monday morning, according to Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter. Tuesday, Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd confirmed to WLOX News that the body found was Wells, according to dental records. The cause and manner of death haven’t been released. Investigators told ABC News they suspect that Wells drowned, but they are continuing the investigation. An autopsy was performed Tuesday by the state medical examiner, but officials say it could take “a couple weeks” to receive results,...