Free Republic

Seattle’s “Pride Match” for the Iran-Egypt game is unofficial and unlicensed. That’s entirely the point. SEATTLE — FIFA has not endorsed the Seattle host-city committee’s “Pride Match” designation, which will not be part of the official branding when Iran and Egypt meet tonight at Lumen Field. “I think they’ve always been aware of what we’re doing,” said Louise Chernin, who as chair of the organizing committee’s Pride Match Impact Council began planning for the day nearly a year and a half ago. Chernin began her match day at Rough & Tumble, a women’s sports bar in Ballard, a historically Scandinavian...

The neoconservative pundit Mark Levin posted on X on Thursday, “Here’s a novel idea: stop bullying our ally and cozying up to our enemy.” Megyn Kelly, the influential conservative podcaster, replied, “To which politician could he be talking? I guess we’ll just have to wonder.” Kelly was being tongue-in-cheek. There was no wondering. Levin was talking about J.D. Vance. He just didn’t want to name names. The vice president rocked Washington last Thursday—and infuriated neoconservatives—when he defended the Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) deal with Iran at a press briefing. “This does bother me,” Vance said. “You've seen people...

Chinese cars are increasingly driving a wedge between the US, Mexico and Canada ahead of a July 1 deadline to renew North America’s faltering free-trade pact, deepening a rift already torn open by Donald Trump’s tariffs. The US is the only major market Chinese cars have yet to conquer — but it remains firmly off-limits. Washington has in effect banned them to combat suspected surveillance technology amid fears the vehicles, heavily subsidised by Beijing, would kill off America’s domestic auto industry. By contrast, Mexico’s love affair with cheap Chinese cars has made it Beijing’s top car export destination and Canada...

(Translated by Google) Elar Bolaños submitted his resignation on June 23 claiming that his computer systems were altered with information that he did not generate. The institution did not admit the letter, separated him from office and initiated an investigation demanding evidence of his allegations. The National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) concluded the appointment of Elar Bolaños Llanos as secretary general, a position he held since September 2, 2020. The measure was officialized by the Chief Resolution N. ° 100-2026-JN/ONPE, issued June 23. However, it is now known that the decision was made after the resignation letter that the...

Iran launched a drone assault targeting Bahrain after overnight airstrikes by the United States. The attacks across the Persian Gulf show the danger of the Iran war again spinning out of control, even after Iran and the U.S. reached an interim deal to try and agree on a final accord to end the conflict. The U.S. had launched its airstrikes in response to an Iranian drone attack on a ship trying to get out of the strait on Thursday, continuing a string of attacks that have shaken the uneasy ceasefire in the war. That Iran targeted Bahrain likely was not...

The Supreme Court issued a rare public statement Friday after two Justices got into an unusually explosive argument. Conservative Justice Samuel Alito had a terse exchange with his colleague, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, following the release of a highly anticipated immigration decision - a rare win for Donald Trump - on Thursday. The exchange came after Alito delivered the majority opinion in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, which granted Trump a key 6-3 victory allowing federal immigration officers to turn away asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border. Sotomayor took the rare step of reading her dissent from the bench. The...

The Polish government has told its citizens to cash in on British benefits before returning home. Advice published on Powroty, a Polish government website for citizens living abroad who wish to return home, says "when leaving the UK, it is worth considering whether you are eligible for Jobseeker's Allowance". Post-Brexit arrangements allow European Union citizens who acquired settled status before December 2020 to transfer some benefit payments abroad when they move to an EU country, for up to three months. It means those returning to Europe can claim hundreds of pounds from the British taxpayer to support their job hunt,...

A street corner in the South African coastal city of Durban has become a bustling scene of desperation. Thousands of migrants crowd around colorful plastic sacks, boxes and trash bags carrying what belongings they could salvage before fleeing the country. Women tuck their babies under blankets. Vendors hawk solar-powered cellphone chargers and potato chips. Portable toilets, large green water tanks and makeshift showers fashioned from gray tarps are the only sanitation available. The people in this encampment, like the handful that have popped up around the country, have been stuck out here for days, sometimes weeks, after anti-immigration activists called...

President Trump threatened to scrap a just-finalized trade deal with the European Union on Friday, saying that any country that levies a digital services tax would be hit immediately with a 100 percent tariff on all exports to the United States. Mr. Trump seized on the fact that several European countries are discussing imposing such taxes. Those taxes would apply to the revenue that major U.S. tech firms earn in Europe. If they choose to proceed, the United States would “immediately" impose a 100 percent tariff on them, he said. “This TARIFF will supersede Trade Deals made with the Country,...

…While nearly 90% of US homes have air conditioning, in Europe it’s around 20%. As climate change drives more severe and prolonged heat waves, which arrive earlier and earlier, some are questioning why wealthy European countries have been seemingly reluctant to adopt air conditioning — especially as the heat takes an increasingly deadly toll. … “In Europe… we simply don’t have the tradition of air conditioning… because up to relatively recently, it hasn’t been a major need,” said Brian Motherway, head of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Inclusive Transitions … Buildings on the continent tend to be older, built...

Wealthy nations with the highest rate of immigration over the past 35 years reaped a large economic benefit and many could still absorb more ​workers, according to research to be presented at a top European Central Bank conference next week. Political tensions ‌over immigration have been on the rise in recent years as far-right, anti-immigrant parties have helped drive the issue to near the top of the political agenda while making headway in countries including the U.S., Germany and Britain. The study, which looked at data in dozens of rich ​countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, said...

A small single engine aircraft crashed into the tallest building in Beijing, China Friday. Flight data indicates that the plane likely did not suffer an engine failure when it flew into Beijing airspace, which is heavily restricted to aviation. These facts have led some to posit that the incident appears to be an act of terrorism.“So there is a lot pointing to the fact that this was not some kind of a failure,” host of The China Show Winston Sterzel said. “It looks like it was deliberately flown into the building.”The 108-story CITIC Tower, also called the China Zun...

The bar staff at the Sam Adams brewery in Boston have seen busy weekends. They had not seen anything like the Tartan Army. Over four days in June, kilted Scotland supporters drank the place through seventy kegs of America’s most patriotic lager, sang until their voices frayed, and turned a craft brewery taproom into a slice of Glasgow with better weather. … The numbers from Boston read like a tall tale. Seventy kegs of Sam Adams emptied in four days at the brewery alone, never mind the bars across the city that filled with tartan from morning until well past...

The U.S. military says it hit Iranian targets on Friday over Iran's drone attack on a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first American strikes on Iran since the two countries agreed to extend an already-rickety ceasefire last week. The strikes targeted Iranian missile and drone storage facilities and radar sites, U.S. Central Command said in a statement posted to social media, calling it a "powerful response" to Iran's "dangerous behavior." "The unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces clearly violated the ceasefire," CENTCOM said.

For those who cling to the insistence that President Trump is always playing 5D chess with his opponents, now would be a great time to explain to the rest of us what the strategy is behind his repeated recent moves to empower our existential Islamic enemies. First Trump prevented Israel from finishing the job with the savage terror group Hamas in Gaza, going so far as to promise to invest in developing the Palestinian territories into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Then, after vowing to rescue the Iranian people from the oppressive fundamentalist regime, Trump stopped short of finishing...

Numerous European Countries have been discussing the imminent implementation of a Digital Services Tax on American Companies. Some of these Countries are close to actually doing this. Please let this statement serve to represent that any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100% TARIFF on any and all Goods sent to the United States of America. This TARIFF will supersede Trade Deals made with the Country, whether implemented, signed, or not. Additionally, the 100% TARIFF will be immediately imposed, if they proceed. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP

Aforce of 10,000 inspectors is being recruited to weed out foreigners: door-to-door across the nation, they will check mines, factories and shops, rounding up those without papers for deportation. Oh, and the target will be black people! Trump madness? Marine le Pen? No, this is South Africa and a project launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa to expel millions of black migrants from across the rest of Africa who have jumped the border or overstayed their visa. It’s Africa’s answer to ICE, though you won’t find many people protesting: quite the opposite. Government and the police are desperate to demonstrate they’re...

A hospital said some of its MRI scanners were "not operational" due to the current high level of heat and humidity. Scans at Bedford South Wing Hospital are being postponed as the MRI machines cannot be safely operated, Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said. A spokesperson added: "This is as a result of the older cooling systems at our aging site not being able to achieve the required temperature and humidity levels." The trust is contacting patients affected by the delays and said it would reschedule appointments as soon as "the situation stabilises". "Our scanners at the Bedford North Wing...

As President Donald Trump moves this week to extricate himself from a conflict that a CBS News poll finds most Americans want ended now, the powerful donor-class networks that want endless war have rapidly moved to sabotage his efforts. It is no surprise which portions of the right have mounted an emergency campaign against Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance’s recent peace efforts. Israel Hayom—owned by the Trump mega-donor Miriam Adelson—published a blistering open letter accusing Trump of signing a “surrender agreement with a murderous and cruel terror regime.” The Wall Street Journal editorial board has been carping about the...

If the 2026 FIFA World Cup has taught international visitors anything, it's that Americans take air conditioning very, very seriously. Between the matches, sightseeing and cross-country road trips, European fans have discovered what may be the tournament's most unexpected MVP: aggressively chilled indoor spaces. According to TikTok, where #WorldCup has surpassed 8 million posts and #WorldCup2026 has reached nearly 2 million, videos marveling at America's devotion to air conditioning have become one of the tournament's defining off-field trends. Alongside clips about cowboy culture, Costco runs and late-night IHOP breakfasts, visitors are documenting a newfound appreciation for a country that apparently...