https://freerepublic.com/tag/news-forum/ en-us Tue, 7 Jul 2026 02:58:59 GMT Focus Forum 15 https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386973/posts Beijing — As Sen. Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized, his wife, former U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, has reportedly been making public appearances overseas. On June 12, just two days before the senator was admitted to the hospital, Shanghai Jia Tong University said Chao made a stop there, marking her 12th visit in 45 years. During the visit, Chao and her father were said to have donated several historical photos to the university's Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Memorial Hall, which is named in honor of her mother. wlky.com https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386973/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2026 02:58:59 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386965/posts An appeals court panel has revived a lawsuit from two counselors challenging a Missouri city’s ban on counseling minors away from a transgender or homosexual identity. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a per curiam ruling last Thursday reversing a district court ruling against counselors Wyatt Bury and Pamela Eisenreich, citing the Supreme Court’s 8-1 ruling in Chiles v. Salazarin March. The case involves ordinances of Kansas City and Jackson County that restrict so-called LGBT conversion therapy for minors while allowing therapy for minors that affirm LGBT identity. In Chiles v. Salazar, the Supreme... The Christian Post https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386965/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2026 01:25:56 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386962/posts A federal judge in Ohio has ordered the Trump administration to resume processing certain immigration benefit applications, delivering the latest legal setback to a broader effort by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to freeze or delay immigration cases. U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley granted a preliminary injunction Monday in a case brought by 25 foreign nationals who said their applications for work authorization, green cards and other immigration benefits had been stalled under USCIS and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies tied to countries covered by President Donald Trump's travel restrictions. The decision could affect immigrants seeking green... Newsweek https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386962/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2026 01:07:53 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386961/posts Pope Leo welcomes migrants to Europe while Vatican keeps fortress-like bordersA viral video shows Pope Leo XIV welcoming a large group of African migrants in Sicily, but Vatican City bans illegal immigration with huge fines and jail time. Images of Pope Leo XIV welcoming African migrants to Europe has sparked outrage, as some accuse the Pontiff of encouraging the weakening of western nations while maintaining Vatican City as an impenetrable fortress that threatens illegal migrants with huge fines and lengthy prison sentences. In a widely viewed video posted by EWTN, the Pope can be seen greeting a large group of... LifeSite News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386961/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2026 01:07:50 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386960/posts ~The FReeper Canteen Presents~ Road Trip: Cannon Air Force Base, New MexicoCannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately 7 miles southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The population of the Cannon AFB CDP was 2,245 as of the 2010 census. The host unit at Cannon is the 27th Special Operations Wing (27 SOW), which activated on 1 October 2007, and is assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).The 27 SOW plans and executes specialized and contingency operations using advanced aircraft,... Serving The Best Troops, Families, And Veterans In The World!! https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386960/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2026 00:56:04 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386959/posts Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s debt-fuelled spending not seen since Germany reunification. Germany plans to borrow more than €800bn by 2030, breaking with decades of fiscal restraint to bring defence spending to levels not seen since the cold war. Next year alone, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government plans to raise more than €200bn from markets, 12.5 per cent more than this year, the finance ministry said on Monday. Between 2027 and 2030, Germany is expected to borrow about €838bn, according to projections. The budget marks a sharp break with the country’s deep-rooted aversion to debt and with Merz’s own party line on fiscal... FT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386959/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2026 00:36:41 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386958/posts 🚨A well-placed source told us that Graham Platner is dropping out of the Maine Senate race this week. Note that Platner has yet to release his Q2 fundraising totals, a sign he may have underperformed expectations. 12:41 PM · Jul 6, 2026 · 645.2K Views Twitter / X /DC_Reporter https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386958/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2026 00:34:59 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386956/posts Under the agreement, Gaza will be led by the NCAG, which describes itself as a “transitional, technocratic, and apolitical Palestinian committee” on its website. It is led by Palestinian official Ali Shaath from Cairo, Egypt. ============================================================== Hamas announced Monday that it has dissolved its government in Gaza as it prepares to transfer power to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which was established under a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal. The militant group did not state whether it actually intends to disarm itself, which was also required under the ceasefire, but described the decision as evidence of its commitment to... Just The News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386956/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2026 00:20:16 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386955/posts The Iran war exposed a long-simmering feud within the world’s most powerful oil cartel, boiling over this spring when it contended with the biggest oil supply shock in history. Now OPEC faces a fight for its existence. The Strait of Hormuz has started to reopen, and some OPEC nations are clamoring to ramp up oil production The ultimate decider will be Saudi Arabia Unlike Iraq and Kuwait, the Saudis don’t need production to ramp up . The country was able to keep its oil business afloat by bypassing the strait with pipelines that shipped oil to a port in Yanbu... CNN https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386955/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2026 00:19:33 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386947/posts Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (SBS) carried out a large-scale overnight strike on July 6, hitting 47 Russian military targets, including two fuel tankers transporting gasoline to temporarily occupied Crimea, two S-400 Triumf air defense launchers, an oil depot in Kerch, and a Nebo-U radar system. SBS Commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi on June 6 described the operation as one of the most significant recent strikes against Russian military infrastructure. According to Brovdi, among the most significant targets were two tankers from Russia's so-called shadow fleet operating in the Sea of Azov. The vessels were transporting fuel from the area of Taganrog... United24Media https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386947/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 23:22:37 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386943/posts Conservative activist Laura Loomer and journalist Desiree Townsend both claimed Monday that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been declared “brain dead,” citing unnamed sources.Loomer wrote on X that, according to a senior source she said was close to the White House, McConnell had been declared brain dead and was not expected to recover.“High level source close to the White House tells me Mitch McConnell is officially brain dead. He’s not coming back,” Loomer posted. breitbart https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386943/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 22:45:41 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386941/posts Speculation is swirling on social media about the future of Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner after several of his events were canceled over the weekend shortly before an explosive report on Monday afternoon contained an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. Maine resident Jenny Racicot, 41, told Politico over the course of three interviews that Platner forced her to have sex five years ago against her will, a claim that Platner denied in the story. Additionally, the report says that a man Raciot dated afterward confirmed she had told him about the incident, which was also... Fox News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386941/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 22:28:45 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386938/posts July 6 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Monday that Walmart would lower prices on many products, including ground beef, after a request from his administration. The retailer said ​customers would save on items including meat, produce and soda at its Walmart ‌and Sam's Club stores this summer. Record-high beef prices have strained the wallets of U.S. consumers who also paid much higher gasoline prices after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February. ​Prices for steaks and hamburger meat soared after a persistent drought burned pasture ​lands and hiked costs of cattle feed, forcing U.S. ranchers... Reuters https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386938/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 22:07:45 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386937/posts A SLEEK superyacht cuts through crystal-clear water, like something from a Bond movie, and you wonder which high-rollers might be living it up on board. But this promo video, complete with dreamy music wafting on the air, is not for luxury holidays. Very far from it. Instead, The Sun can today reveal a British-Albanian gang is busy smuggling hardened criminals across the Channel into the UK on such vessels — and many have previously served jail time here then been deported. It arouses less suspicion than the countless rubber dinghies crossing daily from France, and yachts docking at small marinas... The Sun https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386937/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 21:47:48 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386935/posts Toyota Motor said it is investing $3.6 billion to move production of the Tacoma midsize pickup truck from Mexico to Texas. The San Antonio plant currently produces the Toyota Tundra full-size pickup truck, including a hybrid variant, and the Toyota Sequoia SUV hybrid. The automaker said last year that it plans to invest up to $10 billion more than previously expected by 2030 in the United States. Toyota Motor on Monday announced that it is investing $3.6 billion to move production of the Tacoma midsize pickup truck from a plant in Mexico to its San Antonio, Texas, manufacturing campus. The... CNBC https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386935/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 21:38:01 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386934/posts From Judge Steven Merryday (M.D. Fla.) today in Trump v. N.Y. Times Co. (for the Complaint in the underlying case, which involves various statements about Trump's early life and business career, "A public figure, perhaps the world's most prominent public figure, whose actions and remarks routinely generate immediate global news coverage, sues a newspaper, perhaps the world's most prominent English-language newspaper, along with the world's largest trade book publisher and three authors. The plaintiff initiates in the Middle District of Florida an action for defamation arising from two articles and a book, researched, written, and edited in New York but... Reason https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386934/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 21:31:31 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386931/posts A Florida lawyer who describes himself as Donald Trump’s boyhood “best friend” is pushing the president to declare a national emergency to enable him to take control of November’s midterms, according to a report. Peter Ticktin, 80, is a long-time believer in the claim that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from Trump by a vast voter fraud conspiracy told CNN in a new interview that the threat remains real. Newsbreak https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386931/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 21:16:34 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386922/posts A new Federal Reserve working paper found the record surge in illegal immigration during the Biden administration triggered higher home prices and rents. The findings arrive as immigration remains a polarizing political issue. Republicans argue former President Joe Biden’s border policies strained housing and public resources, while Democrats say immigration helped ease labor shortages and supported economic growth. The paper, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, combines immigration court records with government administrative data to measure how the unprecedented wave of illegal immigration between 2021 and 2024 affected local labor and housing markets. New York Post https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386922/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 20:00:17 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386920/posts Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Kyiv and Moscow's troops were still battling for the key eastern town of Kostyantynivka, which the Kremlin has claimed it has captured. Moscow earlier this week announced it had taken the outpost -- on the way to important hubs in the Donetsk region -- but Kyiv has denied that as a "lie", saying that it is defending the town. "Fighting is also continuing for Kostyantynivka, which (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin has already claimed as his own, but it is obvious that he will never dare to appear there," Zelensky said in his daily evening... France 24 https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386920/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 19:53:25 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386918/posts A University of California, Berkeley professor killed in a violent custody dispute in Greece has left behind grieving family members and 11-year-old twin children, while his relatives now face a separate battle in California to remove alleged squatters from his East Bay home. Przemyslaw Jeziorski was shot and killed in Greece in July during a custody dispute that turned deadly. Authorities say the boyfriend of Jeziorski’s ex-wife later confessed to the killing. His ex-wife, Nadia Michelidaki, later died by suicide in a Greek prison in May. New York Post https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386918/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 19:47:24 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386917/posts I am not in the habit of torturing my American friends with issues from my country of origin, Spain, unless it is to warn them of some danger that could very plausibly occur in other latitudes. We may be facing that very case. I had decided not to address the matter in these pages until I saw today how the American and British progressive press is lying viciously about what is actually happening in Spain. American Spectator https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386917/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 19:44:28 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386916/posts A woman who dated Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner says he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections, an allegation Platner denies. The woman, a 41-year-old Maine resident named Jenny Racicot, detailed the alleged incident to POLITICO in three interviews over the past two weeks. POLITICO also spoke with a man Racicot dated and confided in the years after the alleged incident, and reviewed documents, including emails between Racicot and her therapist and messages between Racicot and an acquaintance whom she warned against getting involved with Platner years before he ran... Politico https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386916/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 19:32:37 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386910/posts A truck driver with no legal right to be in the country, let alone behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler, killed Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael E. Pahira Jr. Wednesday morning while he was doing his job. Pahira, 44, had served with the Pennsylvania State Police since 2007, most recently as a motor carrier enforcement inspector. He was inspecting a semi-truck on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County when another truck ran off the road, slammed into his patrol car and the vehicle he was checking, then struck him directly. Both trucks erupted in flames. Pahira died at a local hospital a... PJ Media https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386910/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 18:30:48 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386909/posts To use language to obscure reality is to show ‘indifference regarding the truth’— to lie to the public and cease to treat our fellow citizens as equals.” —Justice Clarence Thomas Now that the grand 250th USA birthday party is over — the speeches, the shrieking warplanes, the dazzling fireworks, the speeches and strawberry shortcake — there is only one way this thing can go. What thing? The war for the soul of the nation. Some mysterious somebody is behind the surging “Democratic-Socialist” craze. Somebody is paying for it. It’s a last-ditch drive to marshal the disaffected, under-employed young voters, choking... https://www.kunstler.com/ https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386909/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 18:29:48 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386906/posts Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner has postponed a string of events Sunday and Monday as rumors circulate among Maine Democrats and over social media about another potentially damaging story to come about the oyster farmer’s past.Platner postponed a planned town hall in Augusta on Sunday after reportedly missing a Fourth of July parade in Machias. The Gorham Democrats on Monday morning said a town hall set for Monday was postponed because Platner was “not feeling well.” And a Sanford town hall previously listed on Mobilize was later taken down.The Platner campaign did not immediately respond to a request for... Bangor Daily News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4386906/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2026 18:24:58 GMT