Free Republic

President Donald Trump insisted Russia and China are “not participating” in the Iran war. The president made the declaration Friday in a Truth Social post. The post included Trump claimed he is doing “very big favors” for Chinese President Xi Jingping: "President Xi, at our recent meeting in Beijing, China, told me that he would not, under any circumstances, give or sell Weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran — And that statement included Chinese Companies. Considering our relationship, I take him at his word and, besides, l am doing him very big favors, also. Likewise, President [Vladimir] Putin, despite...

In an obvious case of the pot calling the kettle black, Amy Acton, who is running for governor, is touting her endorsement by Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly known as NARAL Pro-Choice America, formerly known as National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, formerly known as National Abortion Rights Action League, and originally known as National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws), and labeling her opponent as “extreme.” I’ll concede that most Americans’ views are somewhere in the middle on the abortion issue, but I think we need to examine what exactly “extreme” means in this discussion. A consistent...

Democratic Senate contenders are dramatically out-raising their Republican peers, according to Federal Election Commission data — with Georgia’s Jon Ossoff and James Talarico in Texas leading the pack. Eight of the top 10 Senate candidate fundraiser this year are Democrats, whose top contestants have raked in $574 million, compared to the Republicans’ $336 million, per the FEC. Incumbent Sen. Ossoff (D-Ga.) is the biggest fundraiser on both sides, having raked in a jaw-dropping $77 million as of June 30, and has a staggering $42.5 million in cash on hand. He’s raised nearly $98 million as a Senate candidate, including the...

Most wildfires in Canada are impossible to fight. As smoke from forest fires in Canada have darkened skies south of the border, lawmakers in Michigan, Ohio and other U.S. states have accused the Canadian authorities of inaction and poor forest management. But most wildfires in Canada spread in such remote, vast areas that they cannot be fought effectively — and are often left to burn. Half of Canada’s wildfires, like the ones now burning in northern Ontario, burn in such areas — either unpopulated or dotted with small Indigenous communities, said Michael Flannigan, an expert on fire management at Thompson...

Billy the Kid continues to make headlines, 145 years after being gunned down in Fort Sumner. Thursday historians announced new evidence that he was Catholic — a detail that adds more layers of intrigue to one of the Wild West’s mythologized figures. Billy the Kid died July 14, 1881, after being shot by Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett. On the first day of the Wild West History Association Roundup, Allen Sanchez said certificates of Billy the Kid’s baptism and his parents’ marriage were located inside St. Peter’s Church in New York City. St. Peter’s is connected to the Sisters of...

Brian Poindexter had just finished wolfing down a Reuben sandwich in a deli outside Cleveland when he delivered a message that, coming from a Democratic House candidate in the year 2026, sounded almost provocative. “There’s nothing wrong with being masculine,” Poindexter told me. It’s okay, he said, to be “a manly man.” Poindexter’s own manliness credentials are fully in order. The 46-year-old started working in a machine shop as a teenager and spent years hauling furniture across the country before finding stability as a union ironworker. He drives a Ram Big Horn pickup truck and built, with his buddy turned...

Cincinnati — For Avondale resident Christopher Adams, going to the grocery store was a twice a week trip. After the store closed, that task may become a lot harder. The neighborhood of Avondale’s only sizable grocery store, The Country Meat Co. Marketplace, announced that it’s shutting its doors on Facebook in early July. It opened in February 2025, and when it closed the “now open” banner still hung above the door. Before the store opened, Avondale was considered a “food desert.” Many of its residents lived more than a mile away from a grocery store that could provide nutritious, fresh...

🚨 BREAKING: DOJ has just announced a criminal indictment against 8 people for plotting a massive violent terror attack against the White House while President Trump was there. Up to LIFE IN PRISON. NO MERCY. Maximum punishment! "This alleged plot was DISRUPTED before it could be carried out." The plot was meant for the Freedom 250 UFC White House event — which went on AS PLANNED because the plot was foiled. "The first count is a conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists by way of money, firearms, ammunition, body armor, explosives, drones, medical and communications equipment, as well as...

The heat was Frank-ly unbearable. A semi-truck leaked a whopping 40,000 pounds of sticky Frank’s RedHot sauce onto an Ohio highway amid a brutal heatwave last week. The truck carrying loads of the popular condiment began leaking while traveling north on Interstate 71 in Delaware County on Thursday, leaving a trail of the spicy sauce on the roadbed before its driver realized, the Columbus Dispatch reported. The driver eventually pulled into a truck stop as fire crews followed the trail of the bright-red mystery fluid to find its source. “Our crews were out on the highway trying to track it...

The city of Columbus, Ohio, home to one of the largest Somali populations in the United States, is facing backlash on social media over a now-deleted post celebrating the raising of the Somali flag."Happy Somali Independence Day!" The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department posted on X on Wednesday. "As we celebrate the unification of the Trust Territory of Somaliland and the State of Somaliland into the Somali Republic in 1960, City Hall will be raising the flag of Somalia. "The post was quickly picked up by conservatives on social media, with many wondering why the city of Columbus would celebrate...

The city of Columbus, Ohio, home to one of the largest Somali populations in the United States, is facing backlash on social media over a now-deleted post celebrating the raising of the Somali flag. "Happy Somali Independence Day!" The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department posted on X on Wednesday. "As we celebrate the unification of the Trust Territory of Somaliland and the State of Somaliland into the Somali Republic in 1960, City Hall will be raising the flag of Somalia. " The post was quickly picked up by conservatives on social media, with many wondering why the city of Columbus...

UPDATE 7/1/26 @ 1:14 p.m. VINTON COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) - It’s a case officials are calling “almost indescribable.” Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson released new information about a child neglect case in Vinton County Wednesday afternoon, along with Sheriff Ryan Cain and other investigators. Four people were arrested and charged after investigators searched a home in the Hamden area and discovered 16 children inside Tuesday. AG Wilson said seven of those children were taken to Columbus hospitals, and at least two of them were life-flighted. He said the children have limited communication skills, and some of them can’t communicate at...

The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding tells Iran that Hezbollah survives and Israel leaves. The Trilateral Framework says that Hezbollah disarms and that, until it does, Israel stays in Lebanon. The negotiations with Iran were led by Vice President JD Vance, who never wanted this war and made no secret of his wish to end it cheaply. He produced the Islamabad MOU, the paper Iran's regime wanted to hear. The Trilateral Framework was created by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has spent his career treating Iran's proxy network as a threat to be dismantled rather than soothed. Iran negotiated the...

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) shared that he would reintroduce former Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) “exact bill” that would not only eliminate birthright citizenship for the children of illegal migrants, but also clarify who can receive birthright citizenship. In a post on X, Moreno responded to another post from Fox News’s Bill Melugin, who shared that in 1993, Reid had introduced the Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993. Moreno stated that they would “see how today’s DC Democrats will vote when offered the ideas of the Democrat party that used to love” the U.S. “I will reintroduce this exact bill when I...

A band of conservative hardliners on Tuesday blocked a procedural rule that would have teed up debate and final votes on a slate of legislation, dealing a blow to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) as he aimed to advance the annual defense authorization bill this week. The lower chamber voted 198-224 to reject the rule, with 14 Republicans joining Democrats in opposing the measure due to objections about the SAVE America Act, the priorities of the House, and a niche pension issue. GOP Reps. Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Eric Burlison (Mo.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Randy Fine (Fla.), Andy Harris (Md.), Anna Paulina...

An incoming solar eruption could trigger visible northern lights across parts of the northern United States, offering millions a chance to witness one of nature's most spectacular nighttime displays. A cloud of charged particles launched by the Sun is expected to reach Earth overnight, creating conditions that could produce visible auroras across parts of the northern United States. According to NOAA, the incoming solar event may generate a G1 to G2 geomagnetic storm, giving skywatchers in as many as 19 states a chance to witness the Northern Lights if weather and space conditions align. While no widespread outbreak is expected,...

A detransitioner revealed that as a teenager he was encouraged to keep using puberty blockers by a pediatric urologist who was later arrested for possessing child pornography. In a declaration submitted in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) lawsuit against the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) on Wednesday, Jonni Skinner recounts the time Dr. Bryan Sack told him that hormone therapy was not to blame for his reddening urine. The detransitioner went on to note that years later, in February, “Dr. Sack was arraigned on six felony charges related to possession of ‘child sexually abusive material.'” Skinner maintains that...

The FBI thwarted a plot targeting Sunday's UFC event at the White House, and has taken multiple suspects into custody, according to the agency's head, Kash Patel. Part of the plan involved striking nearby buildings with explosive-laden drones, according to court documents unsealed on Tuesday. One suspect was arrested in Ohio last week, where investigators obtained access to encrypted messages involving other alleged plotters. He has been charged with conspiracy to commit an offence against the US and attempted murder of a federal officer, according to the documents. "Allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold," Patel said in a social media...

What began with a concerned mother calling police on her son ended in the thwarting of a terror plot involving drones and snipers aimed at members of U.S. Congress attending Sunday's UFC event at the White House, the government alleges in a criminal complaint filed against one of the plot's admitted leaders, an Ohio teen. Tycen Proper, 19, of Danville, Ohio, told federal investigators on June 11 he intended to "jump-start" a revolution in the U.S. with an attack on June 14 that would begin with drone bombings over the north side of the arena. Co-conspirators, the charging documents allege,...

The plot to attack the White House’s UFC Freedom 250 event Sunday involved at least 12 suspects across the US who adhered to an “accelerationist” ideology and hoped to bring down American capitalism, according to federal law enforcement sources. The FBI foiled their plans by infiltrating a Signal chat group planning the explosive attack — with a parent of one kid in the messaging platform reporting it to the police, sources told The Post. The suspects are in at least four states — California, Ohio, Missouri and Nebraska. They were plotting to gather in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to launch an explosive...