https://meenews.co/post/6a443a30c2ca79de2362553f Tim Burchett, UFO whistleblower recount ominous government warnings after demanding UFO transparency te 2026-06-30T21:50:40.528Z Tim Burchett, UFO whistleblower recount ominous government warnings after demanding UFO transparency Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., revealed the chilling warning he received from someone connected to the Trump administration after pushing for UFO disclosure during a new episode of "Hang Out with Sean Hannity." "It was another Saturday. I was sitting at the house, and I got a call from, I’ll just say, a friend of the administration," the congressman said. "He said I had kicked a hornet’s nest. They said, ‘You need to get bodies around you.’ And I’m in East Tennessee. I’ve got bodies around me. There are enough good ol’ boys out there… We have kicked a virtual hornet’s nest, and these people don’t want this stuff out." UFO disclosure activist Luis Elizondo told "Hang Out with Sean Hannity" he received a similar threat, claiming there were discussions to "eliminate" him during a classified congressional briefing. NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON DARES GOVERNMENT TO 'JUST SHOW THE ALIEN,' AS DISCLOSURE FERVOR CONTINUES TO GROW Elizondo said he received two separate calls from staffers who had just gotten out of the briefing who were worried about him and whistleblower David Grusch. 🔍 Got a story tip? Email nora.moriarty@fox.com "He says, ‘I was in a meeting where government officials had told myself and other staff… that there was a plan at one point, a discussion, to eliminate you and Grusch,’" Elizondo told host Sean Hannity. STRING OF SCIENTIST DEATHS, VANISHINGS FUELS EXPERT TALKS OF SHADOW OPS AND SILENCED SECRETS: 'VERY SERIOUS' "I received another call from a different staffer. The first thing he said was, ‘Lou, are you okay?" I said, ‘Yeah, I'm fine. Why?’ He’s like, ‘You really need to watch yourself because there were discussions involving you and Grusch. Some people were very upset with what you guys did,’" he added. Burchett went on to claim the U.S. government limits Americans' access to government information by transferring classified UFO documents to private companies. "We've come to find out they turn it over to a private entity, like one of our missile defense contractors. There’s probably five or six of them," the congressman said. PENTAGON FILES REVEAL AGENTS' REPORTS OF 'ORBS LAUNCHING ORBS' NEAR SENSITIVE US SECURITY SITE "What they do is they give it to these corporations so that you and I can't get to it through FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act," he continued. "I can FOIA Ford Motor Company, but they don't have to answer me." The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows citizens to request access to federal agency records as a way to ensure government transparency. By transferring UFO documents to private entities, Burchett argued the government can prevent the public from accessing the information. 📲 More stories at @newswithnora on X The congressman claimed there is sworn testimony indicating the U.S. government is in possession of alien bodies. Elizondo said there are "a lot" of reasons why organizations may want to keep information about extraterrestrial life hidden from the American people. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE As for President Donald Trump, Burchett said he was told in a secure environment that the commander-in-chief was on a "need-to-know" basis when it came to alien life. "Someone is making a unilateral decision in our government not to inform the president," Elizondo added. Hannity’s full interview with Burchett and Elizondo, where they delve deeper into the U.S. government’s knowledge of alien life, is available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4437d7c2ca79de2362501f Shelter-in-place order lifted after freight train derailment sparks hazmat concerns in Pennsylvania te 2026-06-30T21:40:39.900Z Shelter-in-place order lifted after freight train derailment sparks hazmat concerns in Pennsylvania Officials said no hazardous material leaks were found after a freight train derailment Tuesday afternoon in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, and that earlier shelter-in-place and evacuation orders have been lifted. "Hazmat personnel have deemed the area safe," the Bensalem Police Department said in a statement. "There is no threat to the public.  All residents may return to their homes and businesses." About 16 freight cars derailed around 2:15 p.m. between Street Road and the Neshaminy Falls train station, according to local outlets NBC10 and 6abc. BYSTANDER VIDEO CAPTURES NORFOLK SOUTHERN TRAIN T-BONING SEPTIC TRUCK AT VIRGINIA RAILROAD CROSSING Authorities initially worked to determine what the cars were carrying amid concerns that some may have contained hazardous materials. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said no injuries had been reported and that his office was coordinating with local officials, first responders and the Department of Transportation. TWO-TRAIN CRASH LEAVES AT LEAST 1 DEAD, 89 INJURED AS EMERGENCY CREWS RUSH TO CHAOTIC SCENE "This was a freight derailment and did not occur on commuter rail lines," Fitzpatrick wrote on X. "Local officials have reported several cars involved, which may contain hazardous materials." A one-mile shelter-in-place order was initially issued, with residents urged to stay indoors, bring pets inside, close windows, doors and vents, and turn off heating and air conditioning systems. DEATH OF GREAT-GRANDMOTHER BRUTALLY KILLED ON TRAIN TRIGGERS FEDERAL ACTION People outside the area were asked to avoid the scene and keep nearby roads clear for emergency crews. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The incident comes more than three years after the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment raised national concerns over rail safety and the transport of hazardous materials. Bucks County Emergency Management and the Bensalem Township Police Department could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a443593c2ca79de23624faa Serena Williams drops Wimbledon comeback match to 20-year-old Maya Joint after four-year absence te 2026-06-30T21:30:59.636Z Serena Williams drops Wimbledon comeback match to 20-year-old Maya Joint after four-year absence Serena Williams fought hard but ultimately lost in her first singles match since 2022 on Tuesday at Wimbledon, falling to 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3, in the first round on Centre Court. There's a common axiom in sports that "Father Time is undefeated" and that rang true in London on Tuesday night. Williams, 44, had not played a singles match since the 2022 U.S. Open, when she lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round in what many believed would be the final match of her legendary career. Instead, nearly four years later, she walked back onto the grass at the All England Club. And not just any court. Centre Court. CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE The same court where Williams won seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles, an Olympic gold medal and authored some of the most dominant moments of the modern women's tennis era. This one, obviously, was different. Williams entered Wimbledon as a wild card and with far more questions than expectations. How much tennis did she still have in her legs? Could her serve still carry her through pressure games? Could one of the greatest competitors in sports history summon enough of the old Serena to make this more than a ceremonial comeback? For a while, the answer looked complicated. Joint, the 87th-ranked women's player in the world, came out sharp and took the opening set 6-3. After the set got to 3-3, with each player holding each of her first three serves, Joint won the next three games, breaking Serena once to take the first set. It was a reminder that nostalgia does not win tennis matches, especially at Wimbledon, where the grass can punish even small dips in movement and timing. But Williams’ fought back in the second set. Despite being broken in the first game and falling down 3-1, Williams eventually forced a tiebreak. The 20-year-old Australian had match point with a 6-5 lead in the tiebreak, but Williams won the next three points to square the match. Williams came out strong in the third set, getting the first break to take a 2-1 lead. But that's when it seemed that Williams' age started to become a bigger factor. Her daughters, Olympia and Adira, were in attendance, along with her husband Alexis Ohanian and sister Venus Williams. Venus is also scheduled to team with Serena in doubles at Wimbledon, giving the tournament another Williams sisters moment after years of uncertainty over whether fans would ever see that again. Williams has spent most of the past four years away from the tour after saying in 2022 that she was "evolving away" from tennis. She never fully closed the door, though. SERENA WILLIAMS OPENS UP ABOUT 31-POUND WEIGHT LOSS USING GLP-1 MEDICATION: ‘SOMETHING I SUFFERED WITH’ She won Wimbledon singles titles in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016. She reached four other Wimbledon finals. She and Venus also built one of the great doubles partnerships in tennis history, including six Wimbledon women’s doubles titles together. So when Williams accepted a wild card into the singles draw, it immediately became one of the biggest stories of the tournament. That’s the power of Serena. Even after nearly four years without a singles match, even at 44, even with no real evidence that she could contend at a Grand Slam again, her presence changed the feel of the draw. Unfortunately for Williams, she did not get the storybook result Tuesday, but this was never going to be judged like an ordinary first-round loss. Not really. Yes, Williams is out of the singles draw after losing to a woman less than half her age. But the fact that she even took the court is a story in and of itself. Now comes the obvious question. Was this just a Wimbledon one-off, or was it the first step toward one more run in New York? The U.S. Open main draw begins Aug. 30, and if Williams wants another singles swing this summer, Flushing Meadows would be the obvious place to do it. That’s where she played her last singles match before this comeback. That’s where American tennis fans believed they said goodbye to her in 2022. Maybe they did. Maybe they didn’t. Either way, Serena Williams taking the court at a Grand Slam tournament is good for tennis, particularly in the United States. And if Tuesday was any indication, plenty of people would show up to watch her try it again. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a443580c2ca79de23624fa1 Jim Banks, GOP lawmakers rally behind DOJ probe into alleged CCP-linked funding network te 2026-06-30T21:30:40.188Z Jim Banks, GOP lawmakers rally behind DOJ probe into alleged CCP-linked funding network FIRST ON FOX: Top members of Congress are supporting a federal grand jury investigation into alleged financial crimes committed by Neville Roy Singham, tied to his funding of socialist, communist and Marxist organizations. According to a Fox News Digital investigation, Singham has funneled $278 million into the broad network of nonprofits since 2017. As reported, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche authorized a grand jury in Manhattan to issue subpoenas as part of a probe of Singham's financial network. The investigation was launched by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York, one of the country's most powerful districts for federal prosecutions. Singham hasn’t responded to repeated requests for comment that Fox News Digital has sent him over the past several months. "Neville Singham is a traitor to our country. He has ties to the CCP," Sen. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, told Fox News Digital. "He is an American citizen, but all of his loyalties lie with the Chinese Communist Party. And when you begin to untangle the web of his massive fortune and his philanthropic activities, the money that he sends to left-wing groups in America, and not just groups that espouse ideologies, but espouse violence." DOJ LAUNCHES GRAND JURY PROBE INTO MARXIST MOGUL NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM'S FUNDING OF LEFTIST GROUPS Last April, Banks sounded the alarm about the Singham network, calling on former Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate CodePink, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has received funds from Singham. Co-founded by Singham’s wife, Jodie Evans, CodePink hasn’t responded to repeated requests for comment. Neither has Evans. Earlier this year, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to New York City for a meeting with Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon, and sources told Fox News Digital that Bessent gave a blunt ultimatum to Solomon. Bessent told Solomon that Goldman Sachs could face scrutiny for alleged conspiracy in the funneling of the Singham money and urged Solomon to cooperate with federal investigators. PROBE INTO 'SUBVERSIVE' ANTI-AI SINGHAM NETWORK IS 'ENORMOUS,' FORMER TREASURY ADVISOR SAYS A person familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital that the discussion wasn't contentious and that Solomon readily agreed to pledge his cooperation with the Justice Department investigation. A spokesperson for the bank said "all distributions from Mr. Singham’s donor-advised fund were made to legal nonprofits, as determined by the IRS. There have been no distributions from the account since August 2023, and it was closed in early 2024." Banks serves on the Senate Banking Committee, which is responsible for bank oversight and regulation. The Indiana senator explained that Goldman’s cooperation is welcome news, but that Wall Street should be more cautious about working with individuals tied to "our biggest enemy." "It sounds like Goldman wants to put this to bed," Banks explained. "They want to do their part to help the investigation. But Wall Street should know that you can't get away with helping our biggest enemy. You can't get away with helping the Chinese Communist Party through money funneled through tech billionaires like Neville Singham. You will be held accountable for that." FIRST ON FOX: POWERFUL HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS CHAIR THROWS HAMMER DOWN ON 'FOREIGN-ALIGNED INFLUENCE NETWORK' In his letter to Bondi, Banks also raised concerns about CodePink potentially violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The law requires individuals or entities acting as agents of foreign principals to register as foreign agents and publicly disclose their finances and relationships. "CodePink has clearly become an agent of CCP influence in the United States. Despite activities and funding so blatant that even the New York Times acknowledged the organization’s activities ‘usually require’ groups to register under FARA, Code Pink has not registered with the DOJ," the letter read. A number of lawmakers weighed in on news of the DOJ’s recent grand jury probe of Singham’s finances, including Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas), who is running for chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Fallon recently announced his run with Fox News Digital and said at the time that holding accountable nonprofits aligned with the CCP and tied to Singham would be one of his priorities if he secured the chairmanship. "Far-left NGOs are the means by which U.S. adversaries like communist China work to undermine our country," Fallon told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. "Groups like CodePink, which Singham has funded, openly spew CCP propaganda. Their objective is to spark division, resentment and unrest." "My colleagues and I on the House Oversight Committee have been committed to dismantling the dark network of communist NGOs, which is why we sent a letter to the DOJ earlier this year urging them to expose these groups for what they really are. We cannot stop until we put an end to the communist threat facing our Republic here at home." House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., who launched an investigation into the Singham nonprofit network last year, took to social media to say the grand jury investigation is overdue. "It’s about time he is brought to justice and he is held accountable for his ties to the CCP," Smith said on X. For years, critics like Smith have alleged that Singham has used the generous tax status awarded to tax-exempt nonprofit organizations to fund left-wing chaos in streets across the country. A Fox News Digital investigation uncovered a video that showed Singham calling for a "new world order' promoted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party during the "Global South Academic Forum," in Beijing last year. Singham has funneled millions into a network of nonprofits that regularly mobilize agitators for demonstrations across the country, including anti-ICE protests and anti-Israel protests. His financial contributions, which were routed through Goldman Sachs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund For Wealth Management Inc., include an estimated $22.44 million to People's Forum Inc., a hub for far-left activity in Manhattan, and at least $223 million and other forms of support into a global network of organizations. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44333bc2ca79de23624f3a Los Angeles Clippers finally give up on Kawhi Leonard, send former Finals MVP back to Toronto Raptors te 2026-06-30T21:20:59.222Z Los Angeles Clippers finally give up on Kawhi Leonard, send former Finals MVP back to Toronto Raptors The Kawhi Leonard era is over in Los Angeles. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Clippers are finalizing a blockbuster trade that will send the two-time Finals MVP back to the Toronto Raptors, closing the book on an era defined by lofty expectations and limited postseason success. The Raptors will part with forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick, two future first-round picks, a first-round pick swap and two second-round picks. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! The deal represents a major swing for Toronto and a reset for Los Angeles. Leonard returns to the country where he led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship, while the Clippers move on from an era that never produced an NBA Finals appearance despite owner Steve Ballmer's massive investment in the franchise. CLIPPERS' KAWHI LEONARD RECEIVED PAYMENT FROM 'NO-SHOW JOB' DAYS AFTER INVESTMENT BY MINORITY OWNER: REPORT When the Clippers acquired Leonard in 2019, they were expected to become title contenders. Instead, the next seven seasons were defined by injuries and postseason frustration. The Clippers won just three playoff series during Leonard's tenure. Chronic knee injuries and repeated playoff absences prevented the franchise from reaching its potential, culminating in Tuesday's huge trade. The gamble shows Toronto is looking to catch lightning in a bottle for a second time. Leonard remains under contract through 2027 and is set to earn more than $50 million next season. According to reports, he also hopes to sign a two-year, $126.1 million extension that would allow him to finish his career in Canada. At the very least, pairing Leonard with the ascending Scottie Barnes makes the Raptors one of the Eastern Conference's most intriguing contenders. Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a443327c2ca79de23624f31 California couple says moving company doubled their price and is now holding belongings 'for ransom': report te 2026-06-30T21:20:39.773Z California couple says moving company doubled their price and is now holding belongings 'for ransom': report A couple looking to leave California said their moving company is holding their belongings hostage after allegedly doubling the agreed-upon price. Roughly one month has passed since John Nelson and his wife, who were relocating from Oceanside to North Carolina, encountered what they described as a troubling experience at the end of May, according to CBS 8. The couple initially signed a contract with a moving broker for just over $16,000 for a full-service move and paid a $7,000 deposit upfront, the outlet reported.  However, on moving day, the company allegedly increased the cost to $32,000, claiming the couple had more belongings than originally estimated. CALIFORNIANS FLEEING TO RED STATES ARE DRIVING UP HOME PRICES AND RENTS IN THEIR NEW CITIES, DATA SHOWS While Nelson ultimately agreed to move forward to avoid losing his deposit, he later alleged that the company attempted to charge another round of additional fees upon delivery. According to the couple, the company attempted to deliver their belongings on June 3 — one week before the date Nelson said they would be available to receive them, CBS 8 reported. The failed delivery attempt allegedly led the contractors to issue an additional redelivery fee, according to the report. AMERICAN DRIVERS WARNED ABOUT RED FLAGS TO AVOID ‘PREDATORY TOWING’ TARGETING MOTORISTS ACROSS US "They’ve got $30,000 and they’ve got our stuff… and they’re basically holding it for ransom," Nelson said.  "When you move, it’s an exciting thing...you never expect for somebody to take your stuff and not deliver it," he added. SOPHISTICATED PORCH PIRATE RING HACKED SHIPMENT TRACKING INFO TO STEAL HUNDREDS OF PHONES, PROSECUTOR SAYS Nelson also claimed the initial delivery attempt may have been staged to pressure the couple into paying additional charges, alleging that the moving truck captured on video did not appear to be the same vehicle used to load their belongings.  "I think they just pulled up an empty truck to stage a charade," he said.  "As far as I’m concerned, they’ve got stolen property that’s crossed state lines," Nelson added.  Nelson and his wife reportedly filed police reports in both Oceanside and their new city in North Carolina. Complaints were also filed with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), a dispute-resolution service that helps consumers address issues with companies, the outlet said.  According to CBS 8, the broker has received 280 complaints with the BBB over the past three years.  The broker reportedly disputed the couple’s claims but said it was working to find a resolution. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4430e4c2ca79de23624ecc Raskin tells Lawler to 'get the hell out' during contentious hearing te 2026-06-30T21:11:00.693Z Raskin tells Lawler to 'get the hell out' during contentious hearing A tense hearing on sanctuary city policies devolved Tuesday into a shouting match between Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who accused each other of not caring about the deaths of Americans at the hands of illegal immigrants or anti-ICE protesters killed by federal agents. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on sanctuary policies, Lawler scolded some of his colleagues, accusing them of apathy regarding the deaths of Laken Riley and Sheridan Gorman—two women allegedly killed by illegal immigrants in separate incidents. However, he noted their voicing of outrage over the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two anti-ICE agitators who were shot and killed by federal agents while allegedly interfering in law enforcement operations in Minnesota earlier this year. "So while some of my colleagues may not want to hear the truth, the same outrage you feel about Renee Good and Alex Pretti, you should feel about Sheridan Gorman and Laken Riley and every Angel family in this country," Lawler said. GRIEVING PARENTS OF SLAIN STUDENT SHERIDAN GORMAN SPEAK OUT: 'WE CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO ANOTHER FAMILY' "I do feel that outrage. You do not," Raskin shouted in response. "You do not, because if you did, you would not support sanctuary jurisdictions. You should be ashamed of yourself. You should be ashamed of yourself, Jamie. You're a disgrace," Lawler replied. RASKIN ACTS CLUELESS WHEN PRESSED ON DEMOCRATS' ANTI-TRUMP RHETORIC FOLLOWING WHCD SHOOTING "Do you feel the outrage of Renee Good and Alex Pretti?" Raskin asked. "You don't belong on this committee. You should get the hell out of here!" Lawler noted that he wrote a Jan. 27 New York Times op-ed about Good and Pretti's deaths. "The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis this month were tragic and preventable. No matter where you stand on immigration enforcement, the shootings show that what the country has been doing is not working," Lawler wrote in the piece. "Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection are conducting forceful operations in American communities," he added. "They should reassess their current tactics." Raskin has voiced strong support for sanctuary policies, which shield illegal aliens—even those arrested and convicted of crimes—from federal immigration authorities. He has frequently defended sanctuary policies against federal overreach, emphasizing that compelling local police to enforce federal immigration law is unconstitutional. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4430bdc2ca79de23624ebe Takeaways From a Transformative Supreme Court Term te 2026-06-30T21:10:21.291Z Takeaways From a Transformative Supreme Court Term The justices rejected some of President Trump’s signature initiatives, but delivered lasting, long-sought conservative wins. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442ef2c2ca79de23624e83 DAVID BLACKMON: Solar Doesn’t Use Much Farmland — Until You Define What ‘Much’ Really Means te 2026-06-30T21:02:42.081Z DAVID BLACKMON: Solar Doesn’t Use Much Farmland — Until You Define What ‘Much’ Really Means By David Blackmon | I have to admit that I laughed out loud – almost spewing coffee on my keyboard – Friday morning when I read this headline from a competing platform’s energy-related newsletter: “SOLAR DOESN’T USE MUCH FARMLAND: Solar occupies less than 1% of farmland in the U.S., according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.” To paraphrase from former President Bill Clinton’s grand jury testimony, that depends on what the meaning of “much” is. Curious about the subject, I decided to research the question, accessing a wealth of public information easily available to anyone, including those in the solar industry. The answer I found might surprise the folks at the Solar Energy Industries Association. Or maybe it wouldn’t, which might explain why they choose to couch the answer in such a misleading way. The salient question: How many acres make up 1% of U.S. farmlands? The easily discovered answer: Approximately 8.74 million acres (using the latest 2025 figure of ~874 million acres total), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to the USDA’s most recent data, the 2025 total land in farms is 873.95 million acres (down slightly from prior years). Earlier years were a bit higher (e.g., ~900 million in 2017), but the total has been gradually declining. One percent of 873.95 million acres = 8.74 million acres. Farmland here generally refers to “land in farms” per USDA definitions (including cropland, pasture, woodland, etc., on farms). Figures can vary slightly by source or definition (e.g., cropland-only vs. all agricultural land), but the ~874 million acre range is the standard benchmark from official USDA reports. Now, for some context. The King Ranch in South Texas is arguably the largest and most celebrated big farming and ranching operation in U.S. history. Established in 1854 by pioneering rancher Richard King, the ranch at its peak consisted of 1.2 million acres. Thus, the solar power industry itself admits that its wind arrays currently occupy an area of fertile farmlands that is roughly 8 times the size of the biggest farming and ranching operation in United States history. That is a stunning number, yet the authors of that referenced newsletter characterize it as being “not much.” Being a guy who grew up in a farming and ranching family, that sure seems like “much” to me. It also most likely seems like “much” to experts whose own studies find that placing solar arrays atop farmlands robs the land of crucial nutrients and renders it more vulnerable to erosion. Disturbingly, unless radical changes are quickly made, the industry plans to cover up many more King Ranch-sized swaths of fertile land in the coming years. A 2024 report by the Institute for Energy Research finds that, despite these warnings by experts in the field, the vast majority of new solar projects are targeting farmland to house their industrial projects in the coming years. “The target for solar operations is increasingly in the Midwest, where government handouts to solar allow them to pay more to rent land than the farmers providing food for the nation,” the report says, adding, “Farmland preservation groups believe 83 percent of new solar installations will come from farm and ranch lands with half of these installations on the richest land for food and crops.” Fortunately, the big federal subsidies which drove the recent huge solar expansion are scheduled to begin expiring in July. But with hundreds of new solar projects already in the queue, millions more acres of fertile farmlands will be removed from the food system in the years to come even as a fertilizer shortage threatens to disrupt global food supplies. All to create unreliable, unpredictable, intermittent electricity for a few hours a day that could be provided by an array of more reliable power sources which occupy a fraction of the land, none of which intentionally target farmlands as their homes. It’s a completely irrational misallocation of hundreds of billions of dollars in capital brought to us directly by the Biden autopen presidency and its Orwellian Inflation Reduction Act. You could never make this stuff up if it weren’t already happening before your very eyes. Watch it and weep. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation. David Blackmon is a contributor to The Daily Caller News Foundation, an energy writer, and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications. The post DAVID BLACKMON: Solar Doesn’t Use Much Farmland — Until You Define What ‘Much’ Really Means first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442ec7c2ca79de23624e75 Arizona’s largest egg producer agrees to $1M settlement over price fixing te 2026-06-30T21:01:59.580Z Arizona’s largest egg producer agrees to $1M settlement over price fixing Key Points: Hickman’s Egg Ranch settles price-fixing complaints with $1 million fine and 3.25 million egg donation Federal court lawsuit says Hickman’s and others manipulated egg prices through information sharing on Urner Barry Hickman’s and other companies will donate 53 million eggs to food banks Hickman’s Egg Ranch, Arizona’s largest egg producer, has agreed to a $1 million civil penalty and a 3.25 million egg donation under a proposed federal and multi-state settlement over complaints that it conspired to keep prices artificially high. The civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys general from 17 states says Hickman’s Egg Ranch exchanged information with other companies through coordinated bids, calls and text messages that allowed them not only to coordinate egg prices but to drive them up through “manipulation.” Prosecutors say Hickman’s and two other major producers, Cal-Maine Foods and Versova Holdings, used Urner Barry Publications — a market-reporting company whose daily egg price quotations are widely used in supply contracts — to influence the benchmark prices that grocery stores, restaurants and other buyers pay for eggs nationwide. And the U.S. Department of Justice says egg price quotations fell from record highs after Hickman’s and the other companies learned of the investigation and were instructed to preserve the documents, following a period in which coordinated bidding had helped push those benchmark prices up. A representative of MTQ USA said everything in the federal complaint occurred before the international company acquired the family-owned operation last year. “This settlement fully resolves the allegations against Hickman’s Egg Ranch related to that period,” said Nikki Richardson. “We are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations and to conducting business with the highest standards of integrity.” What enabled the alleged price-fixing scheme for egg producers, according to the federal court complaint, was Urner Barry Publications, a firm that reports market pricing for eggs. Hickman’s and the other companies have contracts with retailers that set prices based on those Urner Barry quotations. But federal prosecutors said Hickman’s and others coordinated as far back as 2022 to “hold” prices, “meaning they worked together to stop prices from declining.” And an executive from Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the nation’s largest egg producer and another defendant in the case, texted Glenn Hickman, who is the CEO, stating, “we are bidding up. Let’s hold it today.” There also were regularly scheduled calls among Hickman’s and other companies where they discussed Urner Barry’s price quotations. There was another instance where federal prosecutors said the companies submitted dozens of bids to Urner Barry, resulting in that operation increasing its price data for white, large shell eggs across all regions of the country. That resulted in Hickman’s and the others submitting data showing there were higher bid prices, resulting in Urner Barry, relying on that information, reporting that egg prices were “hitting records.” Under the terms of the proposed settlement signed by an attorney for Hickman’s, the company agrees not to communicate, discuss or negotiate, whether directly or indirectly, with any competitors about the prices or bids it is or will make and the timing of those bids. It also must designate an antitrust compliance officer and adopt an antitrust compliance program to monitor and report any potential violations. The company has also agreed to produce twice-a-year reports for the next five years certifying it has not engaged in prohibited communications. Then there’s the agreement to provide 3.25 million eggs to food banks or related nonprofit organizations in states where Hickman’s currently does business over the next 18 months. And the deal makes it clear that these can’t just be eggs the company cannot sell. “Eggs provided in the egg donation must be unspoiled, non-expired, and non-damaged medium or large white Grade A eggs, with at least 20 days of shelf life,” the agreement says. It also says the eggs “must be at least of a quality identical to that of eggs sold by Hickman’s to its grocery store or food service customers.” Those deliveries are required to be at Hickman’s expense, with the company forbidden to charge any fee for shipping, freight, handling or service fees associated with the donations. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said the settlement will help Arizonans who have already been hit with higher prices for household staples by inflation and illegal tariffs, noting that some of the egg price increases were the result of illegal price-fixing by major producers. And the deal says that eggs that Hickman’s had previously donated or promised to food banks will not count toward the total “and Hickman’s will make any such previously planned donations as planned.” Overall, all the defendants will donate about 53 million eggs, with 30 million from Cal-Maine and 20 million from Versova Holdings, on top of the 3.25 million Hickman’s has agreed to provide. The $1 million payment from Hickman’s — $3.3 million from all the affected egg producers — will be divided among the 17 states that joined with the federal government in filing suit, with the decision about how to divide up the cash left by those states. Hickman’s, founded in 1944, was sold last year to MTQ USA in the wake of the avian flu that resulted in the company having to destroy six million laying eggs at two farms west of Phoenix and lay off hundreds of workers. In a prepared statement, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who joined in the federal and multi-state lawsuit, said residents have already been beset by higher prices for household supplies because of inflation and illegal tariffs and rising inflation. “But now we know that some price increases, like those affecting eggs, were the result of illegal price-fixing by major egg producers,” she said. “This settlement holds these companies accountable, ends their illegal conduct, and helps Arizonans who need it most.” The Department of Justice, in its own statement, said the deal will prevent the companies from engaging in “coordinated manipulation” in the future. “No product more quintessentially represents affordability than the price Americans pay for eggs,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “These actions prove this department’s continued commitment to protecting competition and providing real relief for everyday Americans’ pocketbooks.” The agreement with Hickman’s and others is not a done deal. While the attorneys for the companies have agreed, by law it is only a proposed settlement and must be published and opened to written public comments for 60 days. After that, a federal judge in Iowa, where the case was filed, can enter a final judgment if the court finds the settlement is in the public interest under federal antitrust law. The post Arizona’s largest egg producer agrees to $1M settlement over price fixing first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442eb3c2ca79de23624e4f Blue Jackets head coach says he's as shocked as anyone about Zach Werenski wanting out of Columbus te 2026-06-30T21:01:39.610Z Blue Jackets head coach says he's as shocked as anyone about Zach Werenski wanting out of Columbus NHL free agency gets underway on Wednesday, but this has been a weird offseason in that there seems to be more talk about players who have asked for trades than we are about players about to hit the open market. One of the most shocking of these is Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, who told GM Don Waddell he wants out just weeks after locking up the Norris Trophy as the top blueliner in the NHL. In fact, it was such a surprise that even his head coach was blindsided by the request. "I’m as shocked as anyone that these came up," Bowness said, per The Athletic. "I mean, at the end of the year meetings, we looked each other in the eye and had great meetings and gave each other a hug leaving, and all that. "So everything was good. So when all of this broke, I was shocked and caught off-guard like everyone else." Werenski — whose current deal runs through 2027-28 — wasn't the only player who wanted out. Forward Kirill Marchenko also told the team he wants a change of scenery. Still, it was a major surprise. Sure, the end of the Blue Jackets' season was an unmitigated disaster, and that final stretch of the season is why they whiffed on the postseason. It happens, and they owned it. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! But the rest of the season looked pretty promising, and the fiery post-regular-season message from Bowness probably should've had players fired up. Maybe not, for at least two of them. And, while it's never a good look to have a player wanting out like this, especially after they win a Norris Trophy, at least that accolade increases Werenski's trade value. If the Jackets can strike a deal, they should be getting a pretty hefty haul in return, because a D-man of Werenski's caliber is not always easy to come by. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442ea0c2ca79de23624e46 Evel Knievel's most legendary stunts retold in exclusive new Fox Nation documentary te 2026-06-30T21:01:20.155Z Evel Knievel's most legendary stunts retold in exclusive new Fox Nation documentary When it comes to death-defying stunts, Evel Knievel was one of a kind. The trailblazing motorcycle-riding daredevil defied the odds during the 1960s and 1970s, becoming an American icon. This summer, longtime fans and curious viewers alike can uncover the infamy and inspiration behind the legend. "Evel: America's Daredevil" is a brand-new documentary streaming exclusively on Fox Nation. Hosted by sportswriter Mike O'Hara, the show chronicles Knievel's ascension to stardom, starting with his Montana childhood and working in the copper mines. From there, the show highlights his historic motorcycle stunt career — including his infamous attempts to jump the Caesars Palace fountains in Las Vegas and the Snake River Canyon in Idaho.  TOM CRUISE PERFORMED UNFORGETTABLE OLYMPICS STUNT WITHOUT PAY, INSISTED ON NO STUNT DOUBLE As shown in the special, Knievel himself scoffed at the idea that fear of his stunts would ever hold him back. When a reporter once asked whether he expected to die during one of his otherworldly feats, he replied, "I'm Evel Knievel, honey. I'm not supposed to be afraid." The special features iconic interviews from Knievel's heyday, and expert analysis from Fox News personalities, television executives, and even exclusive commentary from the stuntman's granddaughter, Krysten.  "Evel was the most recognizable guy on two wheels," comedian Adam Carolla said in the special. FANATICS SPORTSBOOK LAUNCHES PROGRAM TO IDENTIFY, PUNISH SPORTS BETTORS WHO THREATEN ATHLETES ON SOCIAL MEDIA Olympic athlete and motocross competitor Colby Raha praised Knievel as vastly influential to a generation of children, explaining that while adults watched the stunts, it was younger Americans that fueled his popularity. "They see the superhero thing, and they're inspired — just a great role model," he said. Fox News host Jesse Watters emphasized Knievel's ability to rally the nation around his jaw-dropping feats, praising his persistence in attempting new tricks despite often crashing and sustaining severe injuries.  "Getting the whole country's attention on you for an absolutely ludicrous jump, and many of the times crashing, but then doing it again and again—that's resilience," Watters said. "That's the American spirit. Get knocked down, get right back up." FLYING MOTORCYCLE ZOOMS AT 124 MPH WITHOUT TOUCHING THE GROUND The riveting new Fox Nation special is not the only way to relive Knievel's legend this summer. The Evel Knievel Experience in Las Vegas is now open, offering an immersive, unique attraction to show visitors some of the stuntman's full story and the most famous motorcycles, jumpsuits, and other artifacts that defined his extraordinary life. "We all wanted to be Evel Knievel," FOX Business host Dagen McDowell said. "It was America, it was daring, and it was fun as hell." CLICK HERE TO JOIN FOX NATION FOX Nation programs are viewable on demand and from your mobile device app but only for FOX Nation subscribers. Go to FOX Nation to start a free trial and watch the extensive library from your favorite FOX Nation personalities. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442e8cc2ca79de23624e3d Jordan Spieth says gambling is fueling rowdy golf crowds and wants the sport to address it soon te 2026-06-30T21:01:00.697Z Jordan Spieth says gambling is fueling rowdy golf crowds and wants the sport to address it soon It's safe to say that Jordan Spieth wants sports fandom to go back to the way it used to be. Ahead of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Illinois, Spieth was asked if he felt golf crowds were getting rowdier in the wake of Wyndham Clark's treatment at the U.S. Open, and Spieth blamed a lot of it on gambling. "I do think that betting in golf is something that's going to have to be tackled here soon," Spieth said, unprovoked. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM "I don't know how much of, say, the Wyndham scenario was the fact that it was enticing to bet the field versus Wyndham on Sunday in a legalized betting state, and you could have had people out there that are essentially, you know, have $100 to $10,000, depending on who it is, on the field versus somebody else. "In golf it's tricky because you could actually impact the outcome if you wanted to. It may not last very long, but you could impact a shot if you wanted to. I don't know of another sport that you could impact as a fan like you can golf. So I don't know how much that's having to do with it, if it's different than it used to be." XANDER SCHAUFFELE DISCUSSES 'PASSIONATE' NEW YORK GOLF FANS AFTER RYDER CUP, WYNDHAM CLARK VITRIOL Spieth said that fan vitriol is not "a crazy new thing," but most of it now "has to do with betting, and that is in the last five years." It should be known that Spieth was once an ambassador for FanDuel. Clark's jeers came at Shinnecock Hills in the Hamptons, roughly 60 miles away from Bethpage Black, where fans became the subject of controversy during the Ryder Cup. It prompted Golf Channel's Eamon Lynch to call Long Island fans a "stain" on golf who did not deserve another major golf event in their area. Sports gambling has been legalized in 39 states since 2018 — only Nevada had allowed it prior. Thirty-two of those states, including Illinois, allow online betting. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442e65c2ca79de23624e28 Flouting Trump policy, federal judges are freeing immigrants from mandatory detention te 2026-06-30T21:00:21.284Z Flouting Trump policy, federal judges are freeing immigrants from mandatory detention Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442c6ec2ca79de23624dd8 Advocacy groups sue to kick GOP’s controversial last-minute referrals off the ballot te 2026-06-30T20:51:58.256Z Advocacy groups sue to kick GOP’s controversial last-minute referrals off the ballot Photo by Getty Images To avoid the governor’s veto stamp and enshrine their policies in the Arizona Constitution, Republican lawmakers sent some of their most controversial proposals to voters. Now they’re facing down lawsuits as advocacy groups fight to keep the issues off of the November ballot.  Republicans put 10 measures on this year’s ballot, giving voters a chance to weigh in on a range of topics. One targets trans students, barring them from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity and prohibiting trans girls from joining the sports teams that reflect who they are. Another aims to erase diversity, equity and inclusion or intersectionality from the state’s hiring practices. Both are the subject of lawsuits from a political action committee that says they are contrary to the Arizonans’ values. In total, five of the 10 ballot measures Republicans hope voters will approve in the fall are facing legal challenges.  GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE Will of the People, a political action committee formed to oppose the GOP-backed ballot measures, filed lawsuits against the proposals that critics say discriminate against trans students and would make it more difficult for public institutions to be inclusive. On the landing page of the group’s website, it refers to the ballot propositions as “deceptive” and denounces the one that restricts the ability of trans girls to play on sports teams consistent with their gender identity as a “blanket discrimination.”  The lawsuit against the so-called “Protect Girls’ Sports Act”  is set to go to trial on July 16. Attorney Jim Barton, who is representing the committee, wrote that the ballot referral should be thrown out because it is misleading and violates the Arizona Constitution. The state constitution establishes guidelines for ballot measures. Those guidelines include the single subject requirement, which mandates that a proposition put before voters cover only one subject to avoid confusing voters or forcing them to support something they would otherwise oppose because they approve of part of it.  Barton argued that the so-called “Protect Girls’ Sports Act” unfairly mischaracterizes what it’s about to convince voters to support it and also spans more than one subject. The proposal regulates school sports and also restricts what facilities, like locker rooms, bathrooms and showers, students can use.  “(The) title is misleading to the point of fraud and creates a significant danger of electorate confusion and unfairness,” Barton wrote.  Barton is also representing the Will of the People committee in its effort to strike the anti-DEI measure from the November ballot. The proposal forbids preferential treatment or discrimination against someone based on race or ethnicity. It also prohibits public institutions from requiring employees or students to undergo training programs that promote DEI or commit to upholding those principles. In the lawsuit against the proposal, Barton pointed out that the Arizona Constitution already prohibits discrimination or preferential treatment based on race or ethnicity. Barton warned that the proposition instead infringes on free speech protections.  “The absolute bar on trainings, policies, and procedures that are designed or implemented with reference to race or ethnicity is both a content-based and viewpoint-based restriction on speech and therefore violates the First Amendment,” he wrote.  The case is scheduled for a trial on July 16.  The “Fast Election Results Act” would require all voters, including those who vote by mail, to provide proof of a government-issued ID, beginning in 2028. The proposal doesn’t address how Arizonans who vote by mail would do that, however. Arizona law already requires voters to show some form of government-issued ID when registering to vote in state and local elections. Randy Keating, who sits on the Tempe City Council, filed a lawsuit against the push to overhaul Arizona’s elections, arguing that it violates the state’s single-subject rule because it addresses multiple election processes. Legal challenges against proposals headed for the ballot are often based on the single subject rule, because objections to the content of the proposal usually can’t be debated until voters have a chance to weigh in.   “The Act’s title suggests it is devoted to faster election results, but its provisions are in fact reforms to far flung areas of law: voter qualifications, voter ID requirements, ballot tabulation, the Legislature’s ability to pass election laws and – perhaps most perplexingly – campaign finance,” attorney Roy Herrera wrote.  Republican lawmakers also approved two ballot measures in reaction to the push from public education advocates to reform private school vouchers. The Arizona Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, is one of several advocacy groups backing the “Protect Education Act.” The citizens initiative would regulate the state’s universal school voucher program, including imposing a $150,000 income cap.  Republicans, who have long resisted efforts to regulate the program, put together a ballot measure during the last hours of the legislative session dubbed the “Military Families College Savings and Scholarship Protection Act” that would forbid the state from “confiscating” voucher money from the children of military families. A clause in the proposal would also void the “Protect Education Act,” and make future reforms virtually impossible.  The campaign behind the voucher reform proposal has filed a lawsuit against the GOP ballot measure, arguing that it shouldn’t be sent to voters because it covers more than one subject and misleads voters.  “Behind the banner of protecting the children of military families, the Legislature has buried a sweeping and unrelated structural demand: a provision that…would void in their entirety any future law or voter-approved initiative the Legislature dislikes,” reads the lawsuit. “The result is a single, take-it-or-leave-it ballot question.”  In what teachers have denounced as a thinly-veiled attempt to punish the public education community for supporting voucher reform, Republicans also green lit a proposal that would make it harder for the state’s largest teachers union to organize. The ballot measure would forbid teachers from speaking about union activities during school hours, prohibit the use of school resources to advance union goals, including printing flyers or gathering in classrooms, and bars school districts from deducting union membership fees from employee paychecks — even though doing so is done at the employee’s own request.  The Arizona Education Association and multiple local chapters of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees filed a lawsuit against the GOP ballot measure. While the proposal targets unions in public education, critics say it could also loop other public sector unions, like those that represent police officers and firefighters. The lawsuit argues that the ballot measure should be thrown out because it affects more groups than it purports to regulate, violating the single subject rule in the state constitution. Barton, who is also representing the group of unions, pointed out that the ballot measure focuses on school districts, which leaves out much of its actual impact. “A reasonable elector reading a title limited to ‘school districts’ and ‘labor organization use of public resources,’ where public resources are also defined to only include funds directed toward school districts, would not expect…a sweeping prohibition on collective bargaining binding the State and every county, city, town and special district in Arizona, not only with respect to school district employees, but all public employees,” Barton wrote.   YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT ***UPDATE: This story has been updated with the July 16 trial date for the Protect Girls’ Sports Act challenge. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442c5ac2ca79de23624dba Kate Gosselin defends herself against son Collin as he prepares to release shocking new memoir te 2026-06-30T20:51:38.286Z Kate Gosselin defends herself against son Collin as he prepares to release shocking new memoir Kate Gosselin is defending herself in the comments section of her social media posts. The 51-year-old former reality TV star responded to comments on her recent TikTok posts referencing claims her 22-year-old son, Collin, made against her, alleging she "forced" him and his seven siblings apart and "pitted them against each other" as they were growing up. He recently announced his upcoming memoir, titled, "In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood." Gosselin has consistently denied all allegations made against her by Collin, doubling down in the comments section of her TikTok videos. "If you are 100% certain that the accusations against you are lies, my suggestion would be to take him to court and sue him for defamation!" one fan asked. She responded, ""I can’t bc I’m a public figure. Rules are different unfortunately. Or I def would!" KATE GOSSELIN’S LAWYER SAYS SHE DIDN’T ‘INTENTIONALLY’ HARM KIDS AFTER SON COLLIN ACCUSES HER OF ABUSE She continued defending herself in the comments, responding to another with, "Malice is one of the hardest things to prove. I tried :(. The rules are different for ppl in the public eye." Gosselin also shared that she "consulted a high power LA attorney" in the past "when other ppl were putting crazy stuff out there," and that is what they told her. "The courts don’t honor it if you’re in the public eye :(" she added. She later responded to another comment, saying, "Sadly, Only parents who have a mentally ill child understand! It’s so tough and I’m learning that ppl have NO ability to understand unless they’ve been through it themselves." In response to his mom's statements, Collin doubled down on his allegations of abuse, taking to his Instagram stories to share she allegedly used to hit him. "Never forget the fact that my mom would write in her diary how she 'had to pray to God to stop hitting me' (this was while I was 2 years old by the way)," he alleged. "And this is why using my voice to put these things in the light is so important." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Collin first spoke out against his mother in 2022, telling Entertainment Tonight that he was estranged from his mother and that the estrangement began after she sent him to live at the Fairmount Behavioral Health System – a psychiatric hospital located in Philadelphia – without telling anyone in the family, when he was 12 years old. While Gosselin claimed she sent him to the facility because he was diagnosed with a behavior disorder, and she couldn't meet his needs, however, during an episode of Vice's "Dark Side of the 2000s" in 2023, Collin alleged he was sent there so that he couldn't tell people about her "abusive" behavior towards him, adding she sent him "somewhere where [he] wouldn't be able to put the secrets out." After spending two years in the facility, Collin left to go live with his father, who has been divorced from Gosselin since 2009, after his father filed for and was awarded full custody of him in December 2018. Aside from Hannah, who also chose to live with their father, Collin is estranged from his siblings, in addition to being estranged from his mother. LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS The 22-year-old's tell-all memoir is set to release in October. Collin posted a cover of the book — which features him as a child with his mom covering his mouth with her hand — writing, "For a long time, I wasn’t sure I’d ever tell this story." "Growing up, millions of people watched my life on television. People felt like they knew me. They knew my family. They watched me grow up. But there was so much they never saw," he said. "For years, I kept those experiences to myself. Some because I was afraid. Some because I didn’t think anyone would believe me. And some because I just wasn’t ready." Collin added, "Writing this book forced me to revisit some of the hardest moments of my life, but it also gave me something I’ve been searching for for a long time: my voice. This isn’t the story people think they know. It’s the story I’ve lived." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442c46c2ca79de23624db1 Wave of attacks on Iran's IRGC raises questions about renewed Kurdish insurgency te 2026-06-30T20:51:18.831Z Wave of attacks on Iran's IRGC raises questions about renewed Kurdish insurgency Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is facing a new round of violence in the country’s Kurdish-majority west, raising questions about whether a long-simmering Kurdish insurgency is entering a more active phase as fragile talks between Iran and Washington continue, experts say. The flare-up matters beyond Iran’s borderlands because Kurdish opposition groups were recently viewed as a potential pressure point against Iran during the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran — and now some Kurdish voices fear they could be left exposed as Washington and Tehran return to fragile diplomacy.  In recent days, Iranian security forces have been killed in several reported attacks and clashes across western and northwestern Iran. Four Iranian security personnel reportedly were killed and several others injured in two separate armed attacks Tuesday, reported The Jerusalem Post, in an analysis by Seth J. Frantzman, citing Iraq’s Shafaq News.  IRANIAN REGIME CRITIC WARNS TRUMP DEAL COULD BE 'LIFELINE' FOR REGIME, CLAIMS PEOPLE ARE 'NERVOUS' Two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members were reportedly killed and two others wounded in what it called an "armed terrorist attack" in Paveh, Iran, a border city in Kermanshah Province, reported Tasnim News, an Iranian outlet close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.  In Baneh, Iran, gunmen attacked a police checkpoint, killing two police officers and injuring three other people, including a three-year-old girl, The Jerusalem Post reported. Clashes had spread to Iran's Paveh, Marivan and Mahabad, the outlet reported, citing Rojhelat.Info, a Kurdish-focused media account.  The Paveh, Iran, attack was claimed by a little-known armed group called Xore Heva, or "Sun of Hope," which said it carried out the attack in retaliation for Iran’s crackdown on protests sparked by the 2022 death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old died after being detained by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s mandatory hijab rules, The National reported. The Kurds are one of the largest stateless ethnic groups in the Middle East, with communities spread across Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.  In Iran, many Kurds live in the country’s mountainous west and northwest, where Kurdish opposition groups have long accused Iran of political repression, executions, forced assimilation and military crackdowns.  Iranian authorities, in turn, view armed Kurdish factions as separatist or terrorist threats, especially groups such as PJAK, which has clashed for years with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps along Iran’s western border. The fight is not simply ethnic: It is also political, rooted in Kurdish demands for rights and autonomy, Iran’s fear of separatism and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s role in suppressing dissent in border regions. Jino Victoria Doabi, Head of International Relation at Hiwa, a Kurdish-led human rights organization, told Fox News Digital the latest clashes could appear to mark more than isolated exchanges. "It looks like this could be an escalation," Doabi said, referring to the spread of reported clashes.  She said the initial attack appeared to be framed by Kurdish forces as retaliation, but argued the geographic spread suggested the confrontation may continue. IRANIAN REGIME CRITIC WARNS TRUMP DEAL COULD BE 'LIFELINE' FOR REGIME, CLAIMS PEOPLE ARE 'NERVOUS' Doabi said Kurdish anger is being driven not only by the latest casualties, but by a broader sense that Iran has been able to target Kurdish areas and opposition groups systemically without consequence. "The Kurdish people in Iran are very dissatisfied that the IRGC can attack Kurdish parties and Kurdish fighters and no one reacts," Doabi said. The violence comes as Iran is moving forward with a memorandum of understanding with Washington that has drawn criticism from Iranian opposition circles. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had approved the U.S.–Iran memorandum after receiving assurances that Iran’s rights would be protected, IranWire reported Tuesday.  Iranian officials have described the deal as having the support of top officials, even as critics inside Iran have attacked negotiators over the arrangement, IranWire also reported.  Doabi said Kurdish parties are deeply skeptical of any memorandum of understanding or negotiated arrangement with Iran, arguing that many Kurds believe such a deal would only strengthen the regime. "Kurdish parties do not believe that making a deal with this regime can help the people in Iran," Doabi said. "Their position is that a deal would only strengthen the regime." IRANIAN REGIME CRITIC WARNS TRUMP DEAL COULD BE 'LIFELINE' FOR REGIME, CLAIMS PEOPLE ARE 'NERVOUS' She added that many Kurds in Iran are "very angry" over the idea of any agreement with Iran, citing decades of repression, arrests and killings in Kurdish areas. "It is going to be very dangerous for people in Iran, and especially in Kurdistan, Azerbaijan and Baluchistan," Doabi said, "because that is where much of the resistance and activism is." The Kurdish groups now under scrutiny include the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan, known as PJAK, and its armed wing, the East Kurdistan Defense Units, or YRK.  IranWire reported earlier in June that YRK accused the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of launching artillery and mortar attacks against its positions near Marivan, Iran, beginning June 8, prompting what YRK described as a defensive response. Iranian official outlets had not responded to YRK’s casualty claims at the time, according to IranWire. That regional sensitivity was on display earlier in 2026, when reports emerged that Kurdish opposition groups could open a front against Iran during the U.S.–Israeli war with Iran.  Israel had been backing plans by Iranian Kurdish militias to seize border areas inside Iran, Reuters reported in March, though the outlet said the fighters would likely need U.S. and Israeli backing to make a significant move. Five long-standing Iranian dissident groups, including PJAK, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Freedom Party, had formed an alliance, Reuters also reported.  During the war, Trump told Reuters that he would be "all for it" if the Kurds wanted to move against Iran and said their objective should be "to win." But Reuters reported that Kurdish commanders were frustrated by a lack of clear U.S. or Israeli strategy and that Iran’s threats helped keep Kurdish forces from launching an incursion. Regional reports later claimed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan persuaded Trump to abandon a plan to arm Iranian opposition groups and Iraqi Kurdish groups against Tehran. Israeli media reported June 6 that Erdogan pressed Trump to scrap the proposal after details were allegedly leaked to Turkey by White House officials. The latest violence does not prove that a coordinated insurgency is underway. But the reported spread of clashes across multiple Kurdish areas, the involvement claimed by Kurdish militant factions and Kurdish opposition to ongoing U.S.–Iran talks suggest that Iran’s western borderlands could become a new pressure point for Tehran at a moment when the regime is trying to preserve both internal control and fragile diplomatic momentum. Fox News Digital has reached out to Iranian officials and Kurdish representatives for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442c33c2ca79de23624da8 USPS worker arrested after alleged mass shooting threat against Texas Pride event, FBI says te 2026-06-30T20:50:59.373Z USPS worker arrested after alleged mass shooting threat against Texas Pride event, FBI says A United States Postal Service (USPS) employee was arrested Sunday after threatening on social media to commit a mass shooting at a Pride parade in Texas, the FBI announced on Monday. Michael Thompson, who resides in Clovis, New Mexico, was taken into custody after authorities received a tip regarding a threat to conduct a mass casualty attack at a Pride event in Lubbock, Texas. "This weekend’s arrest out of Lubbock, Texas, is the best of this FBI and our law enforcement partners in action—yet again stopping a potentially deadly attack thanks to brilliant execution from our teams and partners," said FBI Director Kash Patel. "Our agents, intel teams, and state and local partners out of Texas acted decisively and stopped him before he could act." Thompson admitted to making and subsequently deleting the social media posts, authorities said. He also identified himself as a USPS employee. Fox News Digital has reached out to the USPS for comment. FORMER NORTH CAROLINA POLICE OFFICER ACCUSED OF THREATENING MASS SHOOTING AT NEW ORLEANS FESTIVAL Authorities said they recovered four firearms from Thompson's residence. He is legally prohibited from owning firearms due to a prior felony domestic violence conviction, according to the FBI. Thompson is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm as well as transmitting threatening interstate communications. "More lives saved thanks to good cops being cops," Patel added. 2 TEENS SHOT NEAR NYC’S STONEWALL INN AFTER PRIDE MARCH: POLICE Investigators continued to interview Thompson on Monday, and he was expected to make his initial court appearance later that day. Lubbock hosted its LubbockPRIDE festival over the weekend without incident, according to local reports. "Yesterday was filled with so much love, fun, and community, and we couldn’t have asked for a better celebration," organizers wrote on Facebook following the event. "Thank you to everyone who came out and made it so special!" In a separate incident in Brunswick, Georgia, a man was arrested earlier this month after police said he threatened to attack attendees at a local LGBTQ+ Pride event. Christopher Waller, 25, was charged with making terroristic threats stemming from comments posted in a local Facebook group on June 9. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442c1fc2ca79de23624d9f American soccer is repeating the same mistakes the WNBA continues to make with Caitlin Clark te 2026-06-30T20:50:39.925Z American soccer is repeating the same mistakes the WNBA continues to make with Caitlin Clark When the United States men's national team takes the field for its Round of 32 match at the World Cup on Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the country should be having one of those rare, uncomplicated sports moments. The flags are out, the bars are packed and the casual fans are in. This is what American soccer has wanted forever, right? UNITED STATES SHATTERS WORLD CUP VIEWERSHIP RECORD IN FIRST MATCH VS PARAGUAY IN LOS ANGELES It begged for more people treating a USMNT game like a national event instead of something only for soccer diehards who have spent years insisting everyone else just doesn't understand "the beautiful game." Well, congratulations. America cares. And some of American soccer's gatekeepers don't seem very happy about it. Sound familiar? It should, because the WNBA is going through the same thing with Caitlin Clark. For years, the WNBA asked the country for more attention, more coverage, more respect and more casual sports fans. Then Clark showed up and delivered all of it almost overnight. She brought Iowa fans, men, women, families and gamblers. She made the WNBA a topic on sports debate shows and news programs. She helped convince people who had never watched a WNBA regular-season game in their entire lives to give the league a chance. Essentially, she brought the mainstream. And a lot of people started acting like someone had opened the wrong door. That included players in the league, team owners, coaches and media members. Hell, just this week talking head Emmanuel Acho actually said out loud that the WNBA "would be better off without Caitlin Clark." There have been a lot of terrible takes about Clark's impact on the league. That one was, without question, the worst. But Acho's comments sound a lot like what we're hearing from some members of the soccer media. It's not that the WNBA and the USMNT are the same. Obviously, they aren't. However, both exposed the same gatekeeping instinct from certain types of people. For years, the WNBA and members of the American soccer media claimed they wanted, and deserved, growth. But that's not the whole truth. What they really want is approved growth. Growth from the right people, with the right politics and using the right language. The WNBA wanted new fans until Clark brought the "wrong" fans. Now American soccer is learning what happens when the "wrong" Americans show up for the World Cup. The USMNT's first knockout game should be a dream moment for the sport in this country. Not only is Team USA into the second stage of soccer's biggest event, but the Americans are favored to advance to the Round of 16. And this is all happening on U.S. soil. This is the kind of moment that turns casual fans into real fans. Just look at the impact Team USA hockey’s Olympic gold medal had on the sport in the United States. The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs boasted some of its best television ratings in history. Yet, the same people who begged for this opportunity for years suddenly want to police the moment. The Guardian made that very clear with its ridiculous piece on Fox's World Cup coverage, framing Thierry Henry vs. Alexi Lalas as "the World Cup's most compelling battle," while calling Henry a "French aristocrat" and Lalas an "all-American idiot." The article labeled Lalas a "MAGA hack" and argued that Fox's loud, patriotic, American approach to covering the tournament clashed with what soccer supposedly is in the United States. EX-USWNT STAR CARLI LLOYD CALLS OUT ALEXI LALAS CRITICS, SAYS BACKLASH STEMS FROM CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL VIEWS And what is soccer in the United States, according to The Guardian? A sport for "migrants, urban liberals" and people "too scrawny" for other American sports. Translation: soccer belongs to them. Not to you. Not to the casual fan or the Fox viewer. And certainly not to the American who hears the national anthem and feels pride in the country instead of disgust. And The Guardian wasn't alone. USA Today columnist Nancy Armour wrote before the tournament that the United States had "already lost" the World Cup because of its "greed and hostility." MS NOW turned a Department of Homeland Security post celebrating the USMNT into another immigration and nationalism lecture. The Athletic asked who, exactly, this World Cup is for. This is the same attitude the WNBA exposed during the Caitlin Clark explosion. The league wanted relevance. It wanted to be discussed like a major American sport. Clark brought exactly that. And suddenly everyone discovered that major American sports discourse is loud, tribal and impossible to control. Were there bad actors in the Clark conversation? Of course. Every fan base has idiots and every popular athlete attracts trolls. There are always going to be people who say dumb things online and should probably touch a little more grass. Nobody has to defend that. But too many media members and league-adjacent voices took the worst people online and tried to use them to discredit the entire new audience. Clark fans weren't just passionate. They were toxic. Now American soccer is facing a version of the same test. The USMNT's World Cup run is bringing in people who don't usually watch soccer. Some of them won't know all the rules. Some of them won't know most of the players. They'll just know the United States is playing and they'll want the United States to win. That's enough. Or at least it should be. But gatekeepers hate that because it means they lose control of the room. The Independent ran an article with the headline, "Are you rooting against the US at the World Cup? You’re not alone." It included this line: "Sports have a way of fueling nationalistic passions, and I fully expect plenty of people who don’t care much about soccer to channel their patriotic sentiments into the tournament." See what we mean? The sport no longer belongs only to the people who were there when nobody else cared. The league no longer belongs only to the (very few) fans who watched before Clark arrived. The national team no longer belongs only to the people who understand "soccer culture." That's what mainstream popularity does: gives everyone a "seat at the table." Isn't that what the left is always asking for in every other context? The NFL doesn't get to choose its fans. Neither does college football, the NBA or Major League Baseball. If American soccer wants to be mainstream, it doesn't get to choose either. Neither does the WNBA. The Caitlin Clark boom should have been treated as a victory for the WNBA. She proved there was an audience for women's basketball when the right star came along. She proved people would watch, buy merchandise and care enough to argue. THIS IS THE USA'S ROADMAP TO WINNING THE WORLD CUP NOW THAT THEY'VE MADE THE KNOCKOUT ROUND American soccer should see the USMNT's World Cup moment the same way. If casual fans are showing up for group stage games, good. If people are chanting "USA!" too much, good. If they call it soccer, good. If they watch Fox News or vote Republican, good. That means the sport reached people outside the bubble. Isn't that what everyone said they wanted? Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4429cbc2ca79de23624d38 4 Warning Signs for Graham Platner. And 4 for Susan Collins Too. te 2026-06-30T20:40:43.213Z 4 Warning Signs for Graham Platner. And 4 for Susan Collins Too. The Maine race, which both parties see as key to winning control of the Senate, is extremely close, a Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll found. Both candidates have reasons for concern. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4429b4c2ca79de23624d14 The DeepMind trio who built a poker AI, are now making money for quant hedge funds te 2026-06-30T20:40:20.181Z The DeepMind trio who built a poker AI, are now making money for quant hedge funds EquiLibre Technologies, a Prague-based AI lab founded by three ex-DeepMind researchers is now valued at more than $500 million. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442785c2ca79de23624ca7 Kansas college student drowns after jumping into 'breathtaking' destination with deadly track record te 2026-06-30T20:31:01.027Z Kansas college student drowns after jumping into 'breathtaking' destination with deadly track record A 21-year-old Wichita State University student drowned after jumping into a popular Oregon swimming hole where authorities say the water is cold enough to cause immediate physical shock. Kenny Truong, of Wichita, Kansas, was visiting Tamolitch Falls, which is commonly known as Blue Pool, with friends Friday evening when he jumped into the water and was unable to get out, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office said. Dispatchers received a 911 call at 8:47 p.m. on June 26 reporting that a man had gone into the pool, located off Highway 126, and was struggling. "Witnesses describe him struggling as he swam toward shore, before submerging," Linn County Undersheriff Micah Smith said in a release. "Despite the best efforts of those at Tamolitch Falls who tried to help him, and the first responders who arrived in response to the 911 call, Kenny did not survive." NPS INVESTIGATES AFTER 23-YEAR-OLD REPORTEDLY SWEPT OVER NOTORIOUS YOSEMITE WATERFALL The Linn County Sheriff’s Office, Lane County Sheriff’s Office and Upper McKenzie Rural Fire responded to the remote area Friday evening. "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Kenny Truong, 21, of Kansas, during what is an unimaginable time," Smith said. FAMOUS LANDMARKS SLASH VISITING HOURS AS DEADLY HEAT WAVE THREATENS TOURISTS Truong was a finance major at the W. Frank Barton School of Business and a member-at-large of the Cummings Student Managed Investment Fund, Wichita State University confirmed to Fox News Digital. RESCUERS FREE CLIMBER TRAPPED BENEATH 16,000-POUND BOULDER ON OREGON'S MOUNT HOOD IN COMPLEX OPERATION Blue Pool, known for its striking turquoise water and cliffside views, is a major draw for hikers and visitors across the Pacific Northwest, but officials warned it can be deadly. "It is also a place that has taken lives before and will take lives again if visitors do not understand what they are facing," Smith said. Authorities said the cliffs surrounding the pool rise between 10 and 60 feet, while the water averages just 37 degrees. The area also has minimal to no cellphone service, and rescue efforts can be complicated by the remote terrain. "When something goes wrong at Blue Pool — or on the trail leading into the falls — it can take up to several hours from the moment of injury to reach a hospital," the sheriff’s office said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE U.S. NEWS GET BREAKING NEWS ALERTS A GoFundMe organized by Carter Nguyen remembered Truong as a deeply loved friend with "fire in him" who pushed others to become "the brightest, best, fullest" versions of themselves. "Kenny wasn’t just my best friend; he was my brother," Nguyen wrote. "He had a way of making everyone around him feel seen, feel loved, and feel like they were capable of more than they ever believed on their own." GOT A TIP? "Every room he walked into got a little brighter just because he was in it," Nguyen wrote. "That’s not something you can fake; that was just Kenny." The sheriff’s office urged visitors to understand the risks before entering the water at Tamolitch Falls, watch out for the people they arrive with and call 911 immediately if someone is in distress. Officials said visitors with questions about current conditions should contact the McKenzie River Ranger Station. FOLLOW US ON X Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442771c2ca79de23624c9e Tennessee university to pay professor $1.9M after calling Charlie Kirk a 'disgusting psychopath' te 2026-06-30T20:30:41.579Z Tennessee university to pay professor $1.9M after calling Charlie Kirk a 'disgusting psychopath' A University of Tennessee professor will receive $1.9 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the school of violating her constitutional rights after officials sought to discipline her over social media posts criticizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Knox News reported Monday that the University of Tennessee System Board of Trustees approved a $1.9 million settlement for former professor Tamar Shirinian after she called Kirk, who was assassinated September 10 during his "American Comeback Tour" at Utah Valley University, a "disgusting psychopath." Shirinian was put on administrative leave following a social media post where she had said in part, "The world is better off without him in it," and added, "His kids are better off living in a world without a disgusting psychopath like him and his wife, well, she’s a sick f--- for marrying him so I dont [sic] care about her feelings." ALLEGED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN TYLER ROBINSON'S ROOMMATE AND LOVER RECEIVED LIMITED IMMUNITY: PROSECUTORS She later apologized and said it was "insensitive" and "uncharacteristic of me as a person." Shirinian was fired on Feb. 11. She will not be reinstated, Knox News reported. In the February letter to Shirinian informing her that she had been fired, UT Chancellor Donde Plowman wrote, "Your words celebrated a gruesome murder, which horrifically took place on a college campus similar to our own, and then went on to callously demean the grief and loss felt by the widow and young children of the victim while also mocking any grief felt by others who sympathized with the surviving family." ALLEGED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN TYLER ROBINSON'S ROOMMATE AND LOVER RECEIVED LIMITED IMMUNITY: PROSECUTORS "My client is pleased that the parties reached a resolution," Robb Bigelow, Shirinian's attorney, said in an email to Knox News. "Litigation is always difficult, and we're grateful to everyone on both sides who worked diligently to bring this matter to a close. "We believe the resolution reflects the seriousness of the issues while allowing everyone to move forward," Bigelow said. "We wish the University nothing but success in the future." In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for The University of Tennessee System said, "We do not have a comment outside of what was publicly said in the board meeting yesterday. A link to that meeting can be found here." ALLEGED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN TYLER ROBINSON'S ROOMMATE AND LOVER RECEIVED LIMITED IMMUNITY: PROSECUTORS Fox News Digital reached out to Bigelow for comment and attempted to reach Shirinian. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442553c2ca79de23624c65 Arizona high court revives ‘dark money’ free speech fight te 2026-06-30T20:21:39.139Z Arizona high court revives ‘dark money’ free speech fight Key Points: Arizona Supreme Court rejects constitutional challenge to 2022 voter-approved law Law requires groups to disclose donors for election influence The law includes an “opt-out” option for donors who want to remain anonymous Arizona’s Supreme Court has largely upheld the state’s voter-approved crackdown on “dark money,” keeping in place one of the nation’s most sweeping donor-disclosure laws while sending a narrow free-speech challenge back to a lower court. The court dismissed most of the claims against the 2022 donor-disclosure law but allowed one as-applied free-speech claim to move forward in trial court. In a divided 4-3 opinion written by Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer, the court rejected arguments that the “dark money” law is unconstitutional on its face or that it violates privacy rights in the state constitution. The “Voters Right to Know” Act, approved by more than 70% of voters in 2022, is aimed at ending anonymous big-money spending in Arizona elections and is widely described as one of the most comprehensive transparency laws in the country. The law requires any organization that spends more than $50,000 on a statewide race – or half that on other contests – to publicly disclose anyone who has given at least $5,000 to their cause. It also says those groups have to trace the money back to the original source, a requirement aimed at preventing wealthy ‘dark money’ donors from obscuring their identities through intermediary nonprofits. All claims in the case, including the one the Supreme Court has now revived, had previously been rejected by a trial court judge and by the Arizona Court of Appeals.  The Center for Arizona Policy and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club brought the case, along with two unnamed donors who say they could face harassment or retaliation if their identities are disclosed. They first argued that it was unconstitutional for the state to impose a blanket requirement for political groups to publicly disclose what they are spending and where the money is coming from. Timmer said that argument fails, citing provisions in the state’s original constitution directing legislators to enact laws requiring “general publicity” for campaign contributions and laws to secure the purity of elections and guard against abuses of the elective franchise. That leaves a narrower question: whether the donor-disclosure requirements in Proposition 211 burden the state constitutional right to “speak freely” for these specific groups and donors, who say their supporters could be deterred out of fear of harassment and retaliation. Taken as true at this early stage, Timmer wrote, those allegations are “minimally sufficient” to make a threshold showing that the Act’s disclosure provisions impose a concrete, non-speculative burden on their expressive activities, and the groups are entitled to try to prove that in trial court.  A statement issued by the Goldwater Institute, whose lawyers argued just that, called the revival of the challenge a victory for free speech rights. It said that the court recognized that nonprofit and donor plaintiffs do not surrender their privacy rights simply because they contribute money to causes they believe in. “This is an important victory for every Arizonan who believes people should be free to support the causes they care about without fear of government-compelled disclosure,” Goldwater senior attorney Scott Freeman said. “The Arizona Supreme Court recognized that our state constitution independently protects free speech and that citizens are entitled to prove that compelled donor disclosure violates those protections.” The challenge is far from over. The plaintiffs now have to persuade a trial court judge that the harms they say disclosure causes to their donors’ speech and association are significant enough to overcome Arizona’s long-standing interest in giving voters the right to know who is trying to influence an election. That concept has been part of state law since before Arizona became a state in 1912, Timmer pointed out in a detailed 50-page opinion that delved into the history and reach of the constitution’s “Speak Freely Clause,” “Privacy Clause” and those laws requiring election funding disclosure in Arizona.  Those disclosure requirements included pre-statehood laws requiring political parties to disclose all funding and funding sources within 30 days of an election and the constitution itself, approved by state voters in 1911, which contained directives about disclosure, she wrote in rejecting free speech claims generally in the context of disclosure laws. “Arizonans at statehood also understood that the Arizona Constitution itself required the Legislature to enact certain laws, even when doing so might incidentally restrain or compel expression,” Timmer wrote. “Most notably, the Constitution directs the Legislature to enact laws ‘providing for a general publicity’ of contributions to campaign committees and candidates, and ‘to secure the purity of elections and guard against abuses of the elective franchise.’ ” In reviving the once-rejected challenge, Timmer wrote that funding campaigns is not a private matter as a matter of law. But she said that at this early stage of the litigation the two groups and two unnamed donors who joined their lawsuit have a right to have those claims heard. “Taken as true at this early stage, these allegations are minimally sufficient to make a threshold showing that the Act’s disclosure provisions impose a concrete, non-speculative burden on CAP’s and FEC’s expressive activities,” Timmer’s opinion said. Terry Goddard, the former Arizona attorney general who was one of the main backers of Proposition 211, said the high court rejected almost all of the challengers’ constitutional arguments.  “Any kind of thought that this was somehow automatically unconstitutional is completely resolved in our favor,” Goddard told Capitol Media Services. And he contends that the groups that sued will have a hard time proving that donors’ speech will actually be affected by pressure from opponents, considering that a century of disclosure laws hadn’t led to that result. “It’s a fact that in Arizona, for 114 years, we’ve had disclosure requirements for people who make campaign contributions,” Goddard said. “And in that 114 years, there hasn’t been a single recorded incident of anybody being harassed or intimidated or somehow deferred in their action because of their contribution that was disclosed.” In effect, Proposition 211 closes gaps that have opened in the past couple of decades when wealthy “dark money” donors took advantage of disclosure loopholes to hide their backing of candidates or issues.  “Prop 211 is not new in the area of disclosure,” Goddard added. “What it did do was it went after those very small groups of very wealthy people who wanted to stay anonymous, wanted to hide their identity,” Goddard said. “So I think we’ve made a big step here against giving them special privileges through this decision.” In addition to the case decided Monday, two other challenges to Proposition 211 are ongoing in the courts. One is a challenge brought by Republican House Speaker Steve Montenegro and GOP Senate President Warren Petersen. In February, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Greg Como ruled that a provision of Proposition 211 that says the Legislature does not have the right to interfere with the Citizens Clean Election Commission’s administration and enforcement of the Voters Right to Know Act was unconstitutional because it violated the separation of powers. But Como rejected efforts by Petersen and Montenegro to get the whole law gutted because of that and said it remains in effect without that provision.  The second is a federal constitutional challenge brought by Americans for Prosperity, a libertarian leaning conservative group founded by the wealthy industrialists Charles and David Koch in 2004, that is heavily involved in funding conservative causes and candidates. In that case, U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver ruled that there’s nothing inherently unconstitutional about requiring the disclosure of donors to groups that spend money to influence elections. The post Arizona high court revives ‘dark money’ free speech fight first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44253fc2ca79de23624c3f Lucky traveler wins $3.3M jackpot on 'Wheel of Fortune' slot machine at Harry Reid International Airport te 2026-06-30T20:21:19.170Z Lucky traveler wins $3.3M jackpot on 'Wheel of Fortune' slot machine at Harry Reid International Airport For most airline passengers, a layover means a rushed cup of coffee or a frantic search for an available charging station.  But for one lucky traveler this weekend, a brief stop at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) turned into a life-changing event. Airport officials took to social media on Monday to announce that a passenger, identified by game manufacturer IGT as "Anthony," hit a jaw-dropping $3.3 million jackpot while playing a "Wheel of Fortune" slot machine. "Congratulations to a lucky traveler who hit a $3.3 million jackpot on the Wheel of Fortune slot machine over the weekend in C Gates at LAS Airport," the post read. MAD SCRAMBLE UNDERWAY NEAR VEGAS TO SAVE CASINO RESORT GHOST TOWN FROM TOTAL COLLAPSE The massive win occurred in the airport's C Gates after the traveler placed a $10 bet, marking an unforgettable trip to the Entertainment Capital of the World. While airport slot machines are known for having tighter payouts than the mega-resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, LAS has a history of minting unexpected millionaires. The airport is one of only two commercial aviation hubs in the United States to feature terminal gambling (the other is Reno-Tahoe International Airport). STUNNING VACATION HOT SPOT TURNS INTO OVERCROWDED NIGHTMARE AS TOURISTS FLOOD STREETS Michael Gaughan’s Airport Slot Concession operates over 1,400 machines across the terminals, according to local reports, generating tens of millions in annual revenue that helps lower operating costs for airlines — ultimately keeping airfares more competitive. The multimillion-dollar windfall by "Anthony" is just the latest in a string of recent high-profile terminal jackpots. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER In May 2025, another traveler pocketed a cool $1.8 million on a $5 bet on a "Wheel of Fortune" machine in the D Gates. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES Before that, the airport celebrated a $1.4 million jackpot won by a visitor from San Diego and a $1.3 million win in 2023. While "Anthony" will have to account for a 24% federal tax withholding on his $3.3 million prize, Nevada does not tax personal income or gambling winnings. "Congratulations on your incredible win, and thanks for making LAS part of your lucky journey," airport officials wrote on social media. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44252bc2ca79de23624c36 LeBron James thanks Lakers ahead of free agency departure for 24th NBA season: 'Hope I made a few proud' te 2026-06-30T20:20:59.714Z LeBron James thanks Lakers ahead of free agency departure for 24th NBA season: 'Hope I made a few proud' A fourth chapter is on the horizon for LeBron James. The soon-to-be 42-year-old will truly test free agency for a third time this offseason after he and the Los Angeles Lakers confirmed that he will leave the team after eight seasons. ESPN initially reported that James informed the Lakers on Tuesday that he would be departing the team for his unprecedented 24th NBA season. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Following the reports, the Lakers offered a statement thanking James, and it does not seem as though the two parties are ending their relationship on bad terms. "LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in history. We will always be thankful for his eight years with the Lakers – including the title he led us to in 2020 under the toughest imaginable circumstances and the countless records he broke in purple and gold," Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said. "We wish him all the best in the future, both on the court and off. He will always be a cherished part of the Lakers family." James reposted the Lakers' statement and shared his own sentiments. LEBRON JAMES TELLS LOS ANGELES LAKERS HE WILL LEAVE IN FREE AGENCY AFTER EIGHT SEASONS: REPORT "No, THANK YOU! Truly a honor to wear the (purple and gold) while trying to continuing the greatness & legacies that came before me!" he said. "Hope I made a few proud during my stint." During his tenure with the Lakers, James won his fourth NBA championship, extended his record All-Star streak to 22 years and became the NBA's all-time leading scorer — yet another record he continues to extend. The Lakers reportedly wanted James back, but the four-time MVP was all set — even with his son, Bronny, on the team. The Jameses became the first father-son duo to not only be teammates in the NBA, but also to be active at the same time. It is worth noting that Bronny's salary of more than $2.3 million became fully guaranteed on Monday. James joined the Lakers in 2018 after a second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers in which he finally brought a championship to the Ohio city after 52 years. James averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds last season, helping the Lakers win a playoff series while Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were nursing injuries. The Golden State Warriors are currently the favorites to land James, which would turn a rivalry between him and Stephen Curry into one of the most star-powered dynamic duos in sports history. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442504c2ca79de23624c2a C.I.A. Reorganization Prioritizes Cyberoperations te 2026-06-30T20:20:20.811Z C.I.A. Reorganization Prioritizes Cyberoperations John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, said that the agency would take “smart risks,” but that people would have oversight of artificial intelligence. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44230dc2ca79de23624bcc WATCH: Maryland Dems defend ‘big tent’ party as New York socialist surge fuels Dem divide te 2026-06-30T20:11:57.997Z WATCH: Maryland Dems defend ‘big tent’ party as New York socialist surge fuels Dem divide Maryland Democrats rejected the idea that New York's socialist surge in primary victories signals a broader Democratic divide, insisting the races are a reflection of individual districts rather than a national shift as the party looks ahead to the midterm elections. "We have a big tent party, that's what it says," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said when asked what New York’s election results mean for Democrats. "This is a democracy," he continued. "You're going to have lots of perspectives. It's up to the voters to decide, and they did." AOC ISSUES WARNING TO HER FELLOW DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS IN THE WAKE OF SOCIALISTS WINNING BIG IN NYC The comments come after three far-left candidates won New York Democratic primaries, including two who defeated sitting Democratic incumbents, fueling debate over whether the victories signal growing influence and intraparty division heading into November’s midterms. "I’m all about new leadership," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told Fox News Digital when asked about New York’s election results. Several Maryland Democrats argued the results reflected the unique politics of individual New York districts rather than a broader ideological shift within the Democratic Party. "I think it's very reflective of the district," former U.S. Capitol Police Officer and former Maryland congressional candidate Harry Dunn said. He continued, "I think we've got to be careful applying what happened in New York to everywhere around the country." WATCH: KELLYANNE CONWAY INSISTS SOCIALIST PRIMARY VICTORIES DON'T REFLECT AMERICAN VALUES NATIONWIDE Other Maryland Democrats stressed the need to respect voters’ choices in their own districts, even when they disagree with the candidates who won. "I don't agree with all the things they've said," Rep. Johnny Olszewski, D-Md., said about the socialist candidates in New York. "I don't agree with all their positions, but I respect what the voters have done in New York. That's not reflective of the entire country." "Every district determines who they want," Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., said. "We may not like it. Some people didn't want me in. So you have to respect what a district, a congressional district, does. It's still the rule of the people." But as the party strives to regain control in Congress, some moderate Democrats have sought to distance themselves from socialism and the party’s leftward push. Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville condemned some of the radical views of the newly nominated Democratic candidates, particularly Darializa Avila Chevalier — a member of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — who ousted five-term Democrat Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y. "She has attacked interracial relationships and the American flag. Lady, I ain't in the same party as you. I'm sorry," Carville said in an episode of his podcast, Politics War Room. He continued, "Everybody's always said, 'No, no, we're a coalition. We're a big tent. And there's some – there's just some s--- that I can't be in the same tent with." JAMES CARVILLE SAYS SOCIALIST DEMOCRAT SHOULDN'T BE IN THE PARTY, CALLS HER VIEWS 'A BRIDGE TOO FAR' "I'm a capitalist, not a socialist," Rep. Thomas Suozzi, D-N.Y., previously told Fox News Digital regarding his views on the New York Democratic candidates. "And I believe in safety, not lawlessness. And I'm proud of America. I'm not ashamed of America." Raskin, however, defended the progressivism within his party, arguing the new wave of socialism the Democratic Party is seeing is not consistent with traditional values held by socialists. "When people say they're socialists today, I don't think that they believe in dialectical materialism and dictatorship of the proletariat and classical Marxian socialism," Raskin said. "I think what they believe is much greater equality and reduction of all the class differences that have grown up under Trump and the plutocrats." Republicans have increasingly pointed to the Democratic Party's move toward socialist principles as a crux in campaigning to hold both their control of the Senate and razor-thin majority in the House. Most Democratic lawmakers seem to be urging their party to focus on gaining control in Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, regardless of their feelings toward some of the ideology fueling new candidates within the party. "In a perfect world, everybody should come together — Democratic socialists, moderates," Dunn said. "Everybody should come together and work together to represent everybody and not just the people who elected them." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4422fac2ca79de23624bc3 South Korean soccer team gets booed during their early morning return from disastrous World Cup te 2026-06-30T20:11:38.541Z South Korean soccer team gets booed during their early morning return from disastrous World Cup It's pretty early in the week, but even if things are already going sideways for you, I can promise you you're still probably having a better week than the South Korean soccer team that just arrived home from the World Cup. Let's say that they were not received like conquering heroes. In fact, it was more like whatever the opposite of that is. I'm not sure too many people had the South Koreans going the distance in this year's tournament, but they were certainly expected to get out of the group stage. However, the Koreans finished third in Group A thanks to losses against Mexico and South Africa, with a 2-1 win over Czechia keeping their World Cup from being a complete disaster. However, with three points and a -1 goal differential, the South Koreans were not one of the eight-best third-place teams, which meant an early return flight back home. WATCH THE WORLD CUP FINAL ON FOX ONE But, not before the coach resigned and the nation's president called for an investigation into the World Cup failure and the hiring process for the national team coach. So, that couldn't have been a fun flight knowing what was waiting for them. In fact, the team flew in at 4 a.m., hoping to avoid protesters, and, well... that probably seemed like a good idea, but it sure didn't work. FAN CELEBRATES MEXICO ADVANCING IN THE WORLD CUP BY DUNKING HIS HEAD INTO A COTTON CANDY MACHINE Oh man. All I could think about watching this was how I can't imagine anything that would make me so mad that I would go out to the airport just to give them a piece of my mind. FOX ONE’S NEW WORLD CUP VIEWING EXPERIENCE And even if there was something that got me that mad, the chance of me going out to do that at 4 a.m. is virtually zero. So, these fans are about as mad as you'll ever see any fans, and it goes to show how intense the World Cup truly is. But, the worst part for the South Koreans and their fans is that it will be a long four years before the next World Cup gets underway. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4422e7c2ca79de23624bba Nearly 100 monkeys escape enclosure, invade neighborhoods as officials scramble to recapture them te 2026-06-30T20:11:19.083Z Nearly 100 monkeys escape enclosure, invade neighborhoods as officials scramble to recapture them Nearly 100 monkeys ran loose through neighborhoods in central Thailand after escaping from a government-run enclosure overnight, prompting authorities to launch a large-scale effort to capture the animals. Officials said nearly 100 monkeys broke through part of an enclosure at the Lopburi Municipality Animal Nursery. The monkeys were being housed under the care of local authorities after being transferred from Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Workers were able to prevent more than 1,000 other monkeys at the facility from escaping. MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER, RELEASED AFTER ALLEGEDLY FORCING TODDLER INTO CROCODILE ENCLOSURE AT ZOO Provincial officials, wildlife authorities and municipal workers searched nearby residential areas Tuesday after the escape. Authorities used food-baited cages to lure some of the escaped monkeys back into custody. Other monkeys, including some of the larger and more dominant macaques, had to be subdued with tranquilizer darts before they could be captured. Crews repaired the damaged enclosure while officials continued efforts to recapture the escaped monkeys. MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER, RELEASED AFTER ALLEGEDLY FORCING TODDLER INTO CROCODILE ENCLOSURE AT ZOO Lopburi Gov. Weeraphong Ritrod said the damaged enclosure had been repaired and reinforced to help prevent additional escapes. He said officials also plan to build a more secure, double-layer enclosure designed to keep dominant monkeys from breaking out in the future. The governor said the province is also preparing to establish a foundation to help support food costs and improve the monkeys' welfare. FLORIDA WOMAN MAULED TO DEATH BY DOGS THAT HAD ALLEGEDLY TERRORIZED NEIGHBORHOOD, OWNER CHARGED IN KILLING Mayor Chamroen Salacheep said the monkeys may have escaped because of hunger, extreme heat, overcrowding or their natural instinct to roam. He also apologized to residents affected by the incident and encouraged anyone whose property was damaged to report it so authorities could assess the damage and determine what assistance may be available. Lopburi has long been known for its large population of free-roaming macaques. The monkeys have also caused problems for residents and businesses because of property damage and aggressive behavior. Authorities have worked in recent years to reduce the monkey population through sterilization programs and by relocating some animals to dedicated enclosures. Fox News Digital reached out to the Lopburi Municipality and Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4422d3c2ca79de23624bb1 RILEY GAINES: Supreme Court hands women an important win, but the fight isn’t over te 2026-06-30T20:10:59.630Z RILEY GAINES: Supreme Court hands women an important win, but the fight isn’t over The Supreme Court has handed women a massive victory by upholding reality and federal law with a favorable ruling on two landmark cases in a single opinion. Women’s sports CAN be just for women. The phrasing there is important and I’ll explain why in a moment. In a landmark decision addressing laws in Idaho and West Virginia, the Court upheld state protections reserving women's sports for women. The Court held that state laws reserving girls’ and women’s sports for biological females do not violate Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause. In other words, "sex" means biological sex — not a subjective identity that changes from person to person. DEMOCRATS REVOLT OVER 'BIOLOGICAL' WORDING IN WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM BILL That shouldn't be controversial. Until just a few years ago, it wasn't. The timing couldn't be more fitting. Just days after the 54th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that opened doors for generations of female athletes, the Supreme Court affirmed that states may preserve the very category Title IX was designed to protect. There was one important divide. The Court split 6-3 on whether these laws violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The three dissenting justices (all Democrat-appointed women) would have held that laws protecting women's sports unlawfully discriminate. The irony speaks for itself. In short, the Supreme Court held that states are free to reserve women's sports for women because the sexes are not similarly situated when it comes to athletic competition. The Court acknowledged what every parent, coach, athlete, and frankly every kindergartener already knows: men and women are biologically different, and those differences matter in sports. If your first reaction is, "how did we ever get here?" you're not alone. I ask myself that question almost daily. For nearly 250 years, America had no trouble understanding what words like "man," "woman," "male," "female," and "sex" meant. Then came the cultural insanity of the last several years, when institutions, corporations, universities, governing bodies, and even courts began pretending that objective reality was somehow up for debate. We reached a point where a sitting Supreme Court justice famously said she couldn't define what a woman is because she "wasn't a biologist." When we've reached the point where the judge on the highest court in the country can't answer a question every child can answer, it becomes difficult to be surprised by anything. Thankfully, today's decision moves us back toward common sense. But let's be clear about what this ruling does and what it doesn't. What does this ruling mean? I hate to bring you down just as I built you up, but this decision isn’t as strong as we’d like it to be. And by "we", I mean those of us who believe girls, regardless of where they live, should never have to fear being met with a large man staring her down on the other side of the volleyball net. While we should certainly celebrate the win, the ruling just means having a sports category solely for women isn’t unconstitutional. Until 2020, this wouldn’t have been considered progress or worth celebrating because it was the standard position to take. The ruling does not mean states have to make the women’s category exclusive to real women, it just means it’s not illegal if they do. That distinction matters. May — not must. Basically, this ruling doesn’t reach the 23 states that have not passed some sort of state law banning men from competing in women’s sports. Fairness and safety in sports for girls depends on your zipcode. Where do we go from here? President Trump deserves credit for making this issue impossible to ignore. He campaigned on protecting women's sports, signed an executive order shortly after taking office, and hasn’t been shy talking about it since. You’ve all seen the videos of him imitating the male weightlifter…If the President of the United States ever becomes too much for him, he could always be a comedian. But executive orders aren't permanent. The next president can revoke them with the stroke of a pen. That's why Congress must act. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act passed the House but has stalled in the Senate. If lawmakers truly believe women deserve equal opportunity, fairness, and safety, they should codify these protections into federal law rather than leaving them dependent on whichever administration occupies the White House. We need states to act through legislation or ballot measures. We need real enforcement mechanisms. We need a culture willing to push back. Despite the positive ruling, the fight continues. What happens to states like California or Washington state who will inevitably continue to act in defiance because they have crippling Trump Derangement Syndrome? Those states will continue to suffer from the very real, diagnosable disease they contracted in 2016: TDS. The usual bad actors will keep being the villains in the story. They will continue to put the feelings of boys before the physical safety of girls. Chew on that for a second. I hope the Department of Justice and the Department of Education aggressively enforce existing federal law against institutions that continue violating the rights of women and girls. Unfortunately, legal challenges take time, and activist states will almost certainly seek injunctions and other delays. Accountability will also have to come elsewhere. History shows institutions change course when ignoring reality becomes too expensive. Parents, athletes, donors, consumers, and voters all have leverage. Universities, athletic associations, corporations, and governing bodies should understand there are real consequences for sacrificing women's rights in service of political ideology. Most importantly, individual athletes should continue standing up for themselves. When schools or athletic organizations violate the rights of girls, litigation should remain on the table. Every successful lawsuit makes it more expensive to discriminate against female athletes and harder for institutions to pretend there isn't a problem. It must be expensive for the people who knowingly and willingly put girls in harm's way for the sake of ideology. They believe they’re giving a middle finger to President Trump when they defy his Executive Order and Title IX, but they’re not. They’re giving a middle finger to all the girls and women in their state. Will the trans issue continue to be an issue in 2026 and 2028? Will Democrats keep leaning into their extremism? I’m no political strategist (although, at this rate, I do believe I could advise the Democrats better than their current advisors if the goal is success), but I have no reason to believe the issue won’t be front and center again the next election cycle. This is the hill Democrats have chosen to die on. We won the Presidency, maintained control in the House, and gained control in the Senate. It was the red-wave I had expected largely thanks to how radical the Democrats had become on the culture issues. As a person who understands cause and effect, I thought the Democrats would slowly begin to recant from their voting record and previous positions. The other side has only become more radical. The extremism isn’t limited to just the gender ideology issue either. Look at the candidates they’ve put forward since the 2024 election. James Talarico believes God is non-binary and there are 6 genders for crying out loud. As long as they continue insisting biological sex doesn't matter in sports, Republicans shouldn't stop asking the question. Every candidate seeking public office should have to answer something incredibly simple: Should girls compete against boys? If their answer is some form of "yes", deflection, or a refusal to engage, then that should be disqualifying to any common sense American. If you can’t emphatically say men can't become women, why should I believe a single word that comes out of your mouth on any topic? You’ve already proven yourself detached from reality. What’s still at stake? This ruling isn’t the finish line like we want it to be; it’s really just the starting line. Title IX, once again, means something. Now we work to make sure every state recognizes its significance for all Americans, but specifically for women and girls. This case was never only about sports. Sports simply revealed the broader question our country has been wrestling with for years: does biological sex still matter under the law? Today's decision says yes. That's an enormous victory, but until every girl in every state has the same protections, the work remains unfinished. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION For me, this isn't an abstract legal debate. It's about my daughter. I want her to know that if she earns a championship, it's because she beat the best women, not because adults redefined what a woman is. I want her to know that if she's told she has equal opportunity, those words actually mean something. I want her generation to inherit a country that doesn't require courage to acknowledge obvious biological reality. That's what's still at stake. Today, the Supreme Court took an important step toward restoring that reality. Now it's up to the rest of us to finish the job. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4422c0c2ca79de23624ba8 Brooke Fletcher makes White Sox history, Taylor Swift's fake castle & OnlyFans models have PR firms now te 2026-06-30T20:10:40.194Z Brooke Fletcher makes White Sox history, Taylor Swift's fake castle & OnlyFans models have PR firms now We've made it, folks. To the halfway point of 2026. Incredible, right? It feels like just yesterday I was ringing in the New Year — watching drunk Anderson Cooper on my TV and sipping champagne with my dog. The dog wasn't sipping champagne, of course, but you know what I mean. CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE And now we're in the last day of June. It's hotter than the devil's buttcrack outside, the air smells like campfires and bug spray, and some of you are enjoying your last few days with all 10 of your fingers. That's right, it's Fourth of July week, baby. America 250. Physically, I'm writing Nightcaps at my dining room table. Mentally, I'm four Miller Lites deep and sucking on a glizzy with my rear end firmly planted in an inner tube. A glizzy is a hot dog, by the way. Don't be a pervert. Although "sucking on" is an appalling way to refer to consuming a hot dog. Don't blame me. Blame John Mellencamp. It's been one hell of a week for me. If you recall, this time last week I was on my way to New York City to visit Fox HQ. I don't have any wild stories for you from the Big Apple because I spent most of my time doing super duper important work stuff. But it was really rad to meet many of the faces I see in Zoom boxes in actual human form. Good people there at the New York office. And I did have a couple hours of free time. So, naturally, I went to the Top of the Rock. Touristy, sure. But I'm a sucker for a view. Immediately when I got home from New York, I dumped out my suitcase and re-packed it to go to Athens, Tennessee. What the hell is in Athens, Tennessee? I'm so glad you asked. See, I'm a member of a book club here in my humble Nashville suburb. We read a lot of novels, and we meet at a brewery every two weeks to talk about them. This past weekend, 15 of us went on a retreat to a gorgeous house with a saltwater pool and a water slide. In Athens, Tennessee! Let me tell you something. I am feeling refreshed as heck — despite all the charcuterie and booze I inhaled over those three days. Sometimes — after a stressful week of work travel — you just need a little girl power. So log off and grab a margarita slushie. Let's do some Nightcaps. Speaking of girl power, did you see what Brooke Fletcher did last week? Brooke is a White Sox reporter for CHSN. When regular color analyst Steve Stone fell ill, she had to take over. And she became the first female TV analyst in White Sox history. If you're unfamiliar with Brooke's work, she is incredibly talented and deserving of this opportunity. Don't you go throwing any DEI accusations around because I will pull receipts faster than Dianna Russini pulled up her text messages to get out of that speeding ticket. But Brooke also happens to be the daughter of former White Sox shortstop Scott Fletcher. And over the weekend, her dad surprised her with a souvenir from her night in the booth. Brooke's crying. Scott's crying. I'm crying. You're crying. What a moment! And now onto something significantly less heartwarming. I know, you're tired of hearing (reading?) me gripe about it. And since the wedding is (allegedly) on Friday, there's an end in sight. KYLIE JENNER INSPIRES KNICKS LINGERIE, SWIFT-KELCE MSG WEDDING RUMORS & GERMAN DISCOVERS WAFFLE HOUSE But I simply refuse to believe Taylor Swift is actually choosing to have her wedding at Madison Square Garden. Yuck. Ew. Blech. The tackiness, the sticky folding chairs, the ugly basketball arena aesthetic. There's no way this billionaire pop star — who has endless options and an unlimited budget — is really getting married at MSG, right? You have to be kidding me. I refuse to believe they are actually getting married at MSG. This has to be a red herring to send the paparazzi elsewhere so that they can have their actual wedding somewhere majestic and private and beautiful. And then. As if things couldn't get any worse. I see this. They're building a CASTLE. Taylor, my sister in Christ. You have the money to go to Europe and rent out an actual castle. Please tell me this is just some sort of elaborate setup for a fan club party. Look, I know it's not my wedding. My wedding was perfect (minus the weather and the chemical burns). So I shouldn't be so invested in what Taylor Swift and dopey Travis Kelce are doing about their wedding venue. But something about this circus just offends me on a spiritual level. Let's open the mailbag. 📩 Email: amber.harding@outkick.com (Send your thoughts, stories, tips, rants and photos of your dog.) 🐦 Twitter/X: @TheAmberHarding 📸 Instagram: @amberharding Folks, I s--- you not. One of the more annoying things about being a reporter is that your inbox is constantly flooded with PR pitches. Some of them are relevant. Most of them are not. A good majority of the emails I get are just people who want me to shill some sort of random household item you can order on Amazon. But this... this was a first. Yes, friends, that is an official PR pitch from an agency that solely represents OnlyFans models and other "adult" creators. Complete with quotes and a Google Drive folder full of approved photos. Unbelievable stuff. I have, of course, redacted the model's name. No free promotions from me, young lady! But — out of curiosity — I did go to her Instagram profile and saw that a guy I briefly dated back in 2019 follows her. Probably just for her expert insight on soccer fans. Definitely not for her enormous fake boobs. What a world we live in. I love it when y'all email me or comment on my social media. I really do. Even if you're (respectfully) giving me a hard time about something I wrote, it's fun to hear from you. But every once in a while, someone goes above and beyond to tell me just what a jackass they think I am. Like this sweet 72-year-old lady Jeri, for example, who landed in my Instagram DM requests yesterday -- fuming over an article I wrote about Caitlin Clark. Jeri Wrote: "Typical Faux News story dissing Caitlin Clark. God, you people are amazing. Lost souls who hate America. All you need is blonde hair to complete the clueless ensemble." That is certainly ...a take. I cannot fathom how a person can look at Fox News or OutKick and think to themselves, "Wow, these people really hate America and Caitlin Clark." CAITLIN CLARK. We post stories singing Caitlin's praises every single day of the week and twice on Sunday. Jeri, what do you mean?! And so I asked her exactly that. Turns out, it was an article I wrote yesterday about click-me artist Emmanuel Acho claiming that the WNBA would be "better off" without Caitlin. That really got Jeri's knickers in a twist. I, obviously, reported what Acho said and then explained why what he said was complete buffoonery. It was a pro-Caitlin Clark article. Hence my confusion. Jeri Elaborated: "I think your article was a very mixed message. On purpose? Who knows. Most of it was spent giving credit to the dissers, with a few sentences at the end in support. Faux news distorts everything it touches. I am a middle of the road person. I honestly hate the crap that comes from faux news." Why Jeri spends so much time scanning a website she hates, I do not know. I wonder if she's seeing this column, too. But methinks we can chalk this one up to a reading comprehension problem on her part. Also, there's nothing wrong with blondes. Caitlin R. Writes: OK, last one on this, but did you see what Luke posted??? 😂 Amber: Last month, Luke Bryan released one of the most embarrassing songs in country music history. Golf. Fish. Hunt. Drink. Do the hokey pokey. Turn yourself around. I don't know, it's a blur to me. But I pointed out in Nightcaps how God awful terrible this song was. I was certainly not the only one to point it out. His comments were full of people just absolutely s---ing on this song. And, at first, Luke got defensive. I was adamant that this was absolutely the wrong way to handle things. His only recourse was to completely lean in. Make jokes about the absurdity of this song. Sell camo T-Shirts with "CLIMB TREE" in big, bold letters. Own it. Glad to see he's finally taking my advice. I'm so much smarter than Jeri gives me credit for. OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column set to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44207bc2ca79de23624b4a America's top party college hit by another sex attack weeks after brutal campus rape case te 2026-06-30T20:00:59.831Z America's top party college hit by another sex attack weeks after brutal campus rape case Another sexual assault suspect is being sought at America's top party school. The University of California Santa Barbara police have issued a second campus-wide warning in less than two months after a woman reported being stalked and groped in broad daylight, as detectives continue searching for the suspect in the brutal rape and strangulation of an 18-year-old freshman reported in May. According to a campus-wide Timely Warning, the latest incident unfolded around 11:30 a.m. on June 24 as the victim walked along a paved access road on UCSB's West Campus. Police said a man riding a bicycle passed the victim before circling back multiple times over the next 15 minutes. MAN FOUND WITH ZIP TIES AND DUCT TAPE CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING FIVE WOMEN ON UCLA CAMPUS IN UNDER AN HOUR During the first two encounters, he stopped to ask questions. On the third pass, investigators said he approached the victim from behind, groped her and fled toward nearby Tierra De Fortuna Park. 🚨 Know something about crime or public safety in your area? 📩 stepheny.price@fox.com 📸 @fndstephprice 🎥 @StephenyPrice Your tip could become our next story. The suspect is described as a Hispanic or Middle Eastern man, about 35 years old, approximately 5-foot-8 with a thin build, shaved head, brown eyes and scruffy facial hair. He was wearing a gray tank top or cut-off T-shirt, shorts and a black backpack while riding a bicycle. Police said he was not known to the victim. MAN FOUND WITH ZIP TIES AND DUCT TAPE CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING FIVE WOMEN ON UCLA CAMPUS IN UNDER AN HOUR The warning is the second issued by UCSB police since May, when an 18-year-old freshman reported she was raped and strangled after meeting a man at a Sigma Pi fraternity party before returning to her dorm at Tropicana Gardens in Isla Vista. LAWYERS FIGHTING SJSU OVER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL RESPOND TO FEDERAL TITLE IX PROBE FINDINGS That investigation remains unsolved. Days after the attack, the survivor's family, through attorney Tyrone Maho, publicly appealed for witnesses to come forward, saying anyone who attended the Sigma Pi fraternity party or was near Tropicana Gardens on the night of May 9 could hold critical information. FOLLOW US ON X The family also urged the chancellor to ask the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office to take over the investigation, arguing the attacker remained "a potential threat to our community," while expressing gratitude for the work already done by UC Santa Barbara police. The May attack prompted a candlelight vigil, where students gathered to support the survivor and voice concerns about campus safety. CLICK HERE FOR MORE U.S. NEWS UC Santa Barbara has been ranked the nation's top party school by Niche for the past two years. Campus crime data also show the university has recorded more than 100 reported rapes between 2022 and 2024, according to its Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports. The reports also show increases in other reported crimes in recent years, including weapons arrests and burglaries. GET BREAKING NEWS ALERTS In a statement previously provided to Fox News Digital following the May attack, UC Santa Barbara police said federal law limits what officials can disclose about active investigations but emphasized that reports of crimes on university property are fully investigated by sworn officers. The department said it has remained in direct contact with the survivor's family and works closely with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's Office when appropriate. GOT A TIP? Investigators are asking anyone with information about the June 24 incident to contact the UC Santa Barbara Police Department. Fox News Digital reached out to the UCSB Police Department for comment. Fox News Digital's Kelsie Cairns contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a442054c2ca79de23624b3f States Sue Trump Administration Over Medicaid Work Requirements te 2026-06-30T20:00:20.414Z States Sue Trump Administration Over Medicaid Work Requirements The lawsuit argues that new federal rules went beyond what Congress enacted and broke from guidance that the federal government previewed to states. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441c1bc2ca79de23624a81 City of Flagstaff starts neighborhood repaving work te 2026-06-30T19:42:19.841Z City of Flagstaff starts neighborhood repaving work Asphalt removal and paving will take place in multiple neighborhoods beginning this week and continuing into July. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441c07c2ca79de23624a78 Animal Welfare: What the HCH/CHA merger means for animal care in Flagstaff going forward te 2026-06-30T19:41:59.874Z Animal Welfare: What the HCH/CHA merger means for animal care in Flagstaff going forward How can you help and support this expanded city/county shelter? Adopt, volunteer, foster and/or donate! Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441bf3c2ca79de23624a50 Hazmat crews rush to Pennsylvania train derailment as residents told to shelter in place te 2026-06-30T19:41:39.392Z Hazmat crews rush to Pennsylvania train derailment as residents told to shelter in place Emergency crews are responding to a freight train derailment in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, officials said Tuesday afternoon. Bensalem Police, Fire, EMS and hazmat teams were called to the area between Street Road and Neshaminy Falls Train Station after reports that 5 to 10 freight cars had derailed, according to the Bensalem Township Police Department. BYSTANDER VIDEO CAPTURES NORFOLK SOUTHERN TRAIN T-BONING SEPTIC TRUCK AT VIRGINIA RAILROAD CROSSING Officials said they are working to determine what the train cars were carrying. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "Residents in the area are urged to stay away and shelter in place until we have an update," the Bensalem Township Police Department said. This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441bccc2ca79de23624a41 House G.O.P. Revolt Blocks Pentagon Bill te 2026-06-30T19:41:00.485Z House G.O.P. Revolt Blocks Pentagon Bill Ultraconservative lawmakers refused to back a critical procedural measure as they pressed for action on voting legislation championed by President Trump. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441bb9c2ca79de23624a38 55% of Americans support birthright citizenship. te 2026-06-30T19:40:41.025Z 55% of Americans support birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court decision puts the court in line with the views of a majority of Americans. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441ba5c2ca79de23624a2f Trans Sports Ruling Puts Pressure on States Without Bans te 2026-06-30T19:40:21.577Z Trans Sports Ruling Puts Pressure on States Without Bans Almost half of states do not prohibit trans girls and women from competing. The Supreme Court ruling doesn’t force them to, but lawmakers and voters could change that. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4419b6c2ca79de236249f5 Lighting up Independence Day skies: Fireworks shows along the Colorado River te 2026-06-30T19:32:06.312Z Lighting up Independence Day skies: Fireworks shows along the Colorado River BULLHEAD CITY — Adding sparkle to the Fourth of July, fireworks shows are on tap to celebrate Independence Day throughout the Tri-state. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4419a2c2ca79de236249ec Davis Dam displays America 250 banner for July 4 te 2026-06-30T19:31:46.346Z Davis Dam displays America 250 banner for July 4 BULLHEAD CITY — The south face of Davis Dam will display a 75-foot by 25-foot banner for the July 4, America250 holiday. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44198ec2ca79de236249e3 Findlay's All American Tailgate Party celebrates America's 250th birthday te 2026-06-30T19:31:26.382Z Findlay's All American Tailgate Party celebrates America's 250th birthday BULLHEAD CITY - Bullhead City scores with Findlay's All American Tailgate Party to celebrate America's 250th birthday. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441790c2ca79de23624958 EXCLUSIVE: Hawley launches investigation into postal service over dumped mail, millions in executive bonuses te 2026-06-30T19:22:56.434Z EXCLUSIVE: Hawley launches investigation into postal service over dumped mail, millions in executive bonuses FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is opening a congressional investigation into the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), demanding internal records on dumped mail, potential criminal wrongdoing and millions in executive bonuses as his standoff with Postmaster General David Steiner intensifies. In a scathing letter Tuesday on behalf of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, Hawley said the probe comes after Steiner failed to answer questions at a recent committee hearing about thousands of pieces of dumped mail discovered in St. Louis in April. Following the hearing, Steiner sent a letter to Hawley deflecting responsibility for the dumped mail to an active Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation, while lecturing the senator on his lack of Southern "decorum." Hawley, who took to X on June 24 to demand Steiner resign if he doesn't return his bonus money, noted that it was "unbelievable" that Steiner was unaware of the highly publicized mail dumping incident. DOGE LAWMAKERS LOOK TO DEFUND BIDEN'S ANEMIC-PACED $3B EV POSTAL TRUCK 'BOONDOGGLE' In his letter Tuesday, Hawley requested all internal USPS communications regarding the St. Louis mail dumping and requested the exact date Steiner was first informed. The senator also asked if any postal employees have been referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal prosecution under federal statutes regarding the theft, delay or destruction of mail, and clarification on whether postal workers have been falsifying scanning data to artificially inflate delivery metrics. DHS APPROVES PLAN TO VERIFY VOTER CITIZENSHIP, MONITOR MAIL BALLOTS AS TRUMP PUSH INTENSIFIES Taking aim at the millions in "non-salary compensation" paid to USPS executives over the last decade, Hawley is seeking a complete, itemized statement of all compensation paid to Steiner since his appointment, along with "scorecards" used to justify the bonuses. "You seem to operate under the misapprehension that you are entitled to some kind of special deference," Hawley wrote. "In fact, it’s the people of Missouri that are entitled to something: you doing your job." According to the letter, an audit of the St. Louis distribution center revealed the "worst case of failed on-time delivery" the inspector general had seen in field operations reviews, while a Kansas City audit found 100,000 delayed pieces of mail over just three days. The USPS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44177cc2ca79de2362494f Congress eyes rare bipartisan housing win with or without Trump's help te 2026-06-30T19:22:36.986Z Congress eyes rare bipartisan housing win with or without Trump's help The House has officially shipped a colossal bipartisan housing package to President Donald Trump, and lawmakers are hoping that, at the very least, he doesn’t veto it. Trump was supposed to sign the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act last week, but his last-minute decision to ghost the signing ceremony with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., put into question whether the bill was dead. His refusal to sign the bill, which passed with overwhelmingly bipartisan support in both chambers, was to leverage the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which doesn’t currently have the votes to succeed in the Senate. WARREN TELLS TRUMP TO 'SIGN THE DAMN BILL' AS BIPARTISAN HOUSING PACKAGE REMAINS STALLED IN WASHINGTON Trump appears to be in no hurry to sign the bill, despite Republicans who are hungry for a win in the affordability fight ahead of the midterm elections. "It's so unimportant … compared to the SAVE America Act," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. "I think the SAVE America Act is exactly what it says. It's saving America from crooked elections." "Here's what I would like to sign, much more than a bill that — big deal, it's a yawn," he continued. "Some people say it's wonderful. To me, compared to the SAVE America Act, just about everything is a big yawn." GOP INFIGHTING OVER TRUMP'S VOTER ID BILL ERUPTS AS TOP SENATOR CALLS STRATEGY 'FANTASY' It's legislation that is loaded with nearly 60 provisions from both sides of the aisle in both chambers that's designed to make it easier for homes to be built and for younger Americans to buy their first home. It also includes a ban on hedge funds buying up housing stock that Trump pushed Congress to include during the State of the Union earlier this year. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., one of the architects behind the bill in the upper chamber alongside Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., charged that Congress handed the bill to Trump "on a silver platter." "When you ask me what happens next, if he cared about the American people, he'd have already signed the damned thing, and we'd be underway," Warren said on WCVB's "On the Record" on Sunday. But Trump doesn’t have to put his signature on the bill for it to become law. IRATE REPUBLICANS ACCUSE TRUMP OF HANDING DEMOCRATS A WIN AFTER BLOWING UP HOUSING PACKAGE The Constitution grants presidents the ability to veto a bill within 10 days of it being transferred over to the White House. In that scenario, Congress could override a veto of the housing package. It’s happened before under the Trump administration. In early 2021, Congress overrode Trump’s veto of the annual National Defense Authorization Act — a massive Pentagon funding authorization package that some House Republicans are trying to use as a vehicle to pass the SAVE America Act. But during that 10-day period, if Trump doesn’t sign the bill, it would automatically become law. That’s unless Congress completely adjourns, in which case a "pocket veto" could happen. The Senate is currently in recess and the House is scheduled to leave town by week's end, but neither count as a full adjournment. Johnson, who spent the last few days meeting with Trump at the White House about the housing bill and the SAVE America Act, said: "I hope he does sign it." "If he doesn't, it's still law," Johnson said. "We'll still celebrate it, but he's trying to make a point, and I think he's making it very effectively. And the fact that you all ask me every three steps down the hallway illustrates that he has achieved the desired objective, and that is to make SAVE America the number one thing, because if we don't get that right, everybody's concerned about what happens next." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441769c2ca79de23624946 We were forced to compete against a male. The Supreme Court had our backs te 2026-06-30T19:22:17.524Z We were forced to compete against a male. The Supreme Court had our backs The U.S. Supreme Court just moved us much closer to leveling the playing field. In a decision that defends justice and biological reality, the court upheld laws in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Idaho (Little v. Hecox) that preserve fairness and safety for female athletes by keeping men out of women’s sports. The ruling effectively upholds the laws of 27 states; now the other 23 states need to act. By affirming the clear meaning of the law and common sense, the Supreme Court’s decision also affirmed state governments’ ability to recognize the inherent biological differences between men and women. In doing so, the justices have thrown legal cold water on years of cultural and political pressure to deny that reality—efforts that have led thousands of girls and young women like us into senseless defeat, discouragement, and, for some, even physical danger. SUPREME COURT MAKES RULING ON TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN'S SPORTS We didn’t compete to win "participation" trophies. And we didn’t train to lose before we even stepped up to the starting line. So we’re deeply grateful that now, by supporting states’ legal authority to keep men out of women’s sports, the court has reasserted decades-long efforts to promote women’s athletics as separate from men’s sports. The court validated fair competition rather than an increasingly destructive laboratory for social experimentation. Most Americans will appreciate this. They know men can’t become women. They know differences between the sexes run deep and can’t be erased with drugs and surgeries that do terrible damage to those who undergo them. As Justice Clarence Thomas explained in his concurring opinion today, "Men and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe that they are." The impact of this forcible "fairness" has done damage to countless girls and women nationwide: damaging their chances for greater athletic and, through scholarships, academic success; discarding years of hard work, training, and sacrifice; in some cases, doing them serious physical harm; and, in many more, draining away the purest joys of athletic competition. LAWYERS FIGHTING SJSU OVER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL RESPOND TO FEDERAL TITLE IX PROBE FINDINGS We know. Both of us were forced to compete against a male in Idaho track and field and cross-country events; as a result, we both fell significantly in our respective athletic rankings. Other women—including Adaleia Cross, who competed on the same team and in the same events as B.P.J., were among the approximately 400 female athletes in West Virginia displaced across a three-year period by a single male athlete competing in their events. That same male athlete was given access to girls’ locker and shower areas and allegedly repeatedly sexually harassed Adaleia and other girls. The unwillingness of school officials to properly address Adaleia’s complaints is a story echoed in other schools all over the country, where women and girls have been compelled to forfeit personal privacy, physical safety, and athletic success in deference to a dangerous cultural trend and an ironclad political agenda. EMERGENCY ACTION SEEKS TO PREVENT ERASURE OF 'MOTHER' AND 'FATHER' IN CODE OF LARGEST US TOWN That is another reason why this week’s legal victory is so important. Twenty-three states still aren’t protecting women’s sports. This week’s decision affirms for officials and concerned citizens in all those states the legal protection and moral incentive to change that—to restore to this generation of young women their right to equal opportunity, personal safety, and the lifelong benefits of fair athletic competition. We would first like to thank God for His strength and hand in this effort. We’re also thankful for all those who have stood for truth. We are grateful to West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey and Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador for having the courage to stand up for every girl in their states. And to our attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom, who worked alongside them and fought so hard for us: Thank you. We couldn’t have done this without you. We're also thankful for every parent, coach, and community member who showed up—at school board meetings, in statehouses, and online—and refused to stay quiet. And to the women athletes who used their own platforms to speak out: Riley Gaines, Wendy Enderle, Stephanie Turner, and countless others. We see you, and we’re grateful you had our backs. But particularly, this week, we give thanks for a decision that gives us justice and points our nation back to common sense … to reality … to the truth. Over the last few years, so many people have worked tirelessly to promote the lie that men can become women—that one sex should step aside and let another one destroy all that so many women struggled for so long to make possible: equality, fairness, and opportunity. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION The girls and women athletes of this country have paid a terrible price for those lies and that destruction. But this decision is the beginning of the end of all that—a great, long step back toward justice and common sense. There are more long steps to come, but they will be easier now. The playing field isn’t level yet—but it’s a lot closer than it was. Editor's note: Former Idaho State University track athletes Madison Kenyon and Mary Kate Marshall are parties to the women’s sports cases that the U.S. Supreme Court decided on June 30. Mary Kate Marshall is a former track athlete at Idaho State University. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441756c2ca79de2362493d America's national parks could add years to your life — here's how they boost health te 2026-06-30T19:21:58.067Z America's national parks could add years to your life — here's how they boost health As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, many Americans are taking extra notice of all the things the country has to offer. One such case is our access to vast wilderness. Today, the nation's national parks are bustling tourist attractions, but they may also serve as vital resources for public health, experts say. The most immediate health boost comes from physical movement. HIKERS FACE URGENT GRAND CANYON HEAT WARNING AFTER TEEN’S DEATH ON POPULAR TRAIL Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that regular physical activity is crucial for reducing obesity, improving sleep quality and lowering the risk of chronic illnesses. The nation's public lands include parks, trails and open spaces that encourage outdoor recreation and physical activity. A review by the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) found that implementing park, trail and greenway infrastructure directly increases physical activity across communities. AMERICA'S LIFESPAN HAS DOUBLED SINCE 1776 — EXPERTS REVEAL WHAT CHANGED When people walk, hike or bike through national parks, they are actively lowering their blood pressure, boosting immune function and reducing overall mortality, data shows. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER Beyond physical fitness, national parks may contribute to documented mental health benefits. Previous research has demonstrated that direct exposure to nature significantly reduces physiological stress, lowers heart rates and decreases levels of stress hormones, like cortisol. This research also shows that natural environments boost attention span, combat mental fatigue and improve cognitive performance. CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES Parks also act as natural venues for mindfulness and social connection. Research shows that practicing mindfulness in quiet outdoor spaces lowers stress and mitigates feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Additionally, because parks protect cultural and historical resources, they can inspire lifelong learning. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ According to the data, engaging in educational activities and lifelong learning preserves brain function, improves memory and helps stave off age-related cognitive decline. The National Park Service was established in 1916 to conserve the nation's natural and historic resources for future generations, according to the organization. Today, that mission has expanded, as parks are recognized not only for their scenic and cultural value, but also the opportunities they provide for recreation and physical activity. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441742c2ca79de23624934 San Francisco home with history of squatters under contract for $1.3 million te 2026-06-30T19:21:38.611Z San Francisco home with history of squatters under contract for $1.3 million A San Francisco home with a long history of squatters has hit the market for 1.3 million and, despite its severe neglect, already has a buyer. Located on Yukon Street near the city's historic Castro neighborhood, the abandoned 2,100-square-foot home has been occupied by a rotating group of squatters over the past five years, according to the San Francisco Standard. Neighbors say police have repeatedly been called over the years for drugs, noise and other disturbances. Property listing photos show boarded-up doors, shattered windows and interior walls covered in graffiti. According to local reports, the property is littered with hypodermic needles and squatters left a poop bucket on the top-floor deck. SPENCER PRATT SAYS HIS POLICY WILL FORCE HOMELESS OUT OF LA AND INTO CITIES LIKE SEATTLE The vacant property also lacks running water and electricity, NBC Bay Area reported. Despite its condition, listing agents Zara and James Rowbotham said the home has had "nonstop" showings. The property is already listed as under contract on the Vanguard Properties website. The home's rapid sale underscores how properties in dilapidated condition can fetch millions of dollars in San Francisco's limited real estate market. "If this were a single-family, it would have gone in a minute," Zara Rowbotham told the SF Standard. "It could have reached something like $2 million." BIDEN'S ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION SURGE CAUSED HIGHER RENT AND HOME PRICES, FED STUDY FINDS The listing's surprising success comes amid a rise in squatting incidents in California and across the nation in recent years. According to a New York Times report, a 2024 survey found that 76 percent of California property owners considered squatting a major issue, with 70 percent of respondents saying they had been victimized by squatters or personally knew someone who had been. In response, several states have passed aggressive legislation allowing law enforcement to immediately arrest unauthorized occupants and bypass traditional court backlogs. California, however, remains a strict outlier. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Under California law, property owners must go through a lengthy civil eviction process to remove squatters. In the Golden State, squatters are also allowed to legally claim ownership of a property if they occupy it and pay its property taxes for five continuous years. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44171bc2ca79de23624926 Amy Coney Barrett Faces Right-Wing Ire Over Recent Rulings te 2026-06-30T19:20:59.698Z Amy Coney Barrett Faces Right-Wing Ire Over Recent Rulings Justice Barrett sided with Chief Justice Roberts and the liberal minority to uphold birthright citizenship and mail-in voting practices. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441708c2ca79de23624914 Supreme Court sides with GOP states on anti-trans sports ban te 2026-06-30T19:20:40.243Z Supreme Court sides with GOP states on anti-trans sports ban Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4416f4c2ca79de236248f7 Realta Fusion generates electricity directly from a fusion reaction, an apparent first te 2026-06-30T19:20:20.282Z Realta Fusion generates electricity directly from a fusion reaction, an apparent first Realta Fusion showed it could generate electricity from a fusion reaction, no steam turbine required. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441511c2ca79de236248b7 North Carolina cold case heats up with stepmother accused of killing missing teen te 2026-06-30T19:12:17.448Z North Carolina cold case heats up with stepmother accused of killing missing teen More than 11 years after an 18-year-old North Carolina woman mysteriously disappeared on her way to work, authorities say the case has finally cracked open. Sara Nicole Graham's stepmother, Connie Graham, is now charged with first-degree murder, while two of her sons are accused of helping cover up the crime, according to the Robeson County Sheriff's Office. The arrests mark a dramatic turn in a case that baffled investigators for more than a decade and left Graham's family searching for answers as her body remained missing. COLD CASE CRACKED AS ILLINOIS SUSPECT CHARGED IN BRUTAL 1993 KILLING OF MOTHER FOUND SLAIN IN FIELD Connie Graham, of Fairmont, was arrested Thursday on charges of first-degree murder, altering, stealing or destroying criminal evidence and two counts of felony conspiracy. Her sons, Bobby Matthew McLellan and Luke Locklear, both of Lumberton, were also arrested. McLellan is charged with accessory after the fact, felony conspiracy and evidence tampering, while Locklear is charged with felony conspiracy and evidence tampering. 🔍 Have information the public should know? 📩 stepheny.price@fox.com 📸 @fndstephprice 🎥 @StephenyPrice Whether it's a developing case, concerning trend, or something you think deserves attention, your information could help lead our next story or investigation. Connie Graham was denied bond during her first court appearance. McLellan and Locklear are each being held on $1 million secured bonds. Sara Graham vanished on Feb. 4, 2015, after leaving her home around 6:30 a.m. for her shift at a Walmart in nearby Pembroke. She never made it to work. INVESTIGATORS REVISIT FLORIDA SERIAL KILLER CASE AS SEARCH RESUMES FOR POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL VICTIMS Later that day, deputies found her van abandoned in a field near Interstate 95, but Graham had seemingly vanished without a trace. The mystery lingered for years. Earlier this month, a Robeson County judge legally declared Graham dead after she had been missing for more than seven years, clearing the way for prosecutors to move forward as a homicide case. MYSTERY OF REMAINS FOUND INSIDE SLEEPING BAG IN OLYMPIC PARK SOLVED AFTER 26 YEARS Even now, investigators have not recovered her body. Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said the investigation never went cold, despite the years that passed without an arrest. "While some may have believed this case had gone cold, the reality is a case like this never leaves the minds of the investigators assigned to it," Wilkins said. FOLLOW US ON X "When I took office in 2018, one of my first priorities was to get justice for Sara, and that doesn't end with the criminal charges today. We will not stop until we find her." Wilkins said he hopes the arrests bring "some measure of comfort" to Graham's loved ones after more than a decade of unanswered questions. "While nothing can undo the loss felt by so many, we hope these arrests provide some measure of comfort," he said. "The pursuit of justice never stopped, Sara was never forgotten, and those responsible, no matter how hard they tried, did not outrun the pursuit of justice." CLICK HERE FOR MORE U.S. NEWS Authorities have not revealed what evidence led investigators to arrest Graham's stepmother and stepbrothers, saying they cannot disclose key details while the case moves through the courts. Sara Graham's mother, Catherine Armenta, told WPDE through her attorney that the past 11 years have been "tremendously difficult." GET BREAKING NEWS ALERTS "Not a day goes by that my other children and I don't think about Sara. We miss her terribly," Armenta said, according to the station. GOT A TIP? Armenta said the family's decision to have Sara legally declared dead earlier this month was "incredibly painful" but necessary after more than a decade without answers. She also thanked the Robeson County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and prosecutors for continuing to pursue the case and renewed the family's plea for anyone with information about Sara's disappearance to come forward. The FBI is still offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the recovery of Sara Graham's body. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Robeson County Sheriff's Office for any additional updates or comment as the investigation continues. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4414fdc2ca79de236248ae MS NOW guest admits 'great trepidation' about celebrating America's 250th, claims country is being destroyed te 2026-06-30T19:11:57.996Z MS NOW guest admits 'great trepidation' about celebrating America's 250th, claims country is being destroyed MS NOW guest Eddie Glaude, an author and professor at Princeton, said Tuesday that he felt "great trepidation" about celebrating America's 250th anniversary because he felt the country is being "destroyed," and questioned what they were celebrating. "Well, I've been struggling with what are we actually celebrating," Glaude told the hosts of "Morning Joe," adding, "I'm thinking about Donald Trump, kind of, in so many ways, blending his own kind of cult of personality with the celebration of the nation, and wondering what exactly are we celebrating? Is it a storybook version of America?" "This idea that, you know, we are a beacon of freedom and that our perfection was secured in our salvation, or are we looking at the way in which our ideals don't match up to our practices, our current practices?" he continued. "And so I'm really going into July 4, grappling with whether or not the ugly ghosts of our country have us by the nape of the neck, Mika." Co-host Mika Brzezinski asked Glaude if he still had hope in the country. DAVID MARCUS: AS THE NATION BICKERS, SMALL-TOWN AMERICA STILL LOVES A PARADE "I don't know, you know, how can I put this, that the country that made my life possible is being destroyed right in front of me," he said. Glaude argued that people who imagine the country as a "White Republic" were actively trying to make it so, and that diversity was no longer seen as a strength. "I believe, in this 250th, we have to make a choice," he said. "America, in many ways, has to leave behind [this] guaranteed innocence, Willie. And confront who we actually are so that we can release ourselves into being otherwise. Otherwise, we're not going to make it to the other side of this madness, it seems to me."  "So I'm barreling towards July 4 with great trepidation, but hoping that the great diversity of this country will make itself known, and we can beat back some of these ugly forces," he added. "Because remember, JD Vance doesn't believe that the creed defines who we are. He believes in something more sinister. That there's something more fundamental about who we are as Americans that we need to reject, I think, outright," Glaude said. MS NOW's Mike Barnicle told Glaude that he still sings the "Star Spangled Banner" at sporting events and still enjoyed seeing the American flag fly on a sunny day, but also says a slave owner wrote the words, "All men are created equal." "And I also know that we're a country that we fail to remember what Lincoln once said. We cannot escape history. And we cannot escape our own history, but we can improve it, I think," he said. "And we can celebrate it without thinking that we are carrying a millstone around our neck because of the political activities that have taken place in the last, certainly the last six or seven years." WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST: IT WILL BE 'HARDER' TO CELEBRATE AMERICA'S 250TH BIRTHDAY Barnicle went on to ask Glaude if he saw optimism "at the end of this July 4 rainbow." "No, Mike, I don't. And it comes about I think that that orientation follows from my own formation. I don't think I've ever teared up around patriotism, I don't ever think I've found joy in singing the ‘Star Spangled Banner.’ It has something to do with the tradition out of which I've come," he responded. He added he's had to live the "contradiction of America itself, even as we have struggled for its promise." He said he had a "blue-soaked hope" that the world is ugly and that the U.S. has a burdensome past that has it by the throat, but that he had some faith in human beings. MS NOW host Ali Velshi is among those who have expressed feeling unease about celebrating the 250th anniversary of America, as well as far-left journalist Joy Reid and MS NOW host Al Sharpton, who expressed uncertainty about the 4th of July, specifically for Black Americans. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE "They're going to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country July 4, but that's not our celebration," Sharpton said at the National Action Network’s 35th Anniversary National Convention in April. He continued, "We were slaves then, and they celebrate signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776. We were not even emancipated until 1863. So I don't know what everybody is getting ready for a celebration [for]. You know that it seems crazy for me to have on the birthday hat at your birthday party. That ain't my party." Reid said during a podcast conversation earlier this month, "I can promise you, Black folks, we will take that day off, we will barbecue because we [are] off, but nobody Black I know is really excited about the 4th of July." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4414d7c2ca79de23624899 Woman Wading in Central Florida River Is Fatally Bitten by Alligator te 2026-06-30T19:11:19.081Z Woman Wading in Central Florida River Is Fatally Bitten by Alligator The woman, 31, was kneeling in the shallow part of a river in Seminole County, in Central Florida, when an alligator bit her, the authorities said. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4414c3c2ca79de23624890 Trump Urges Congress to Take Up Birthright Citizenship. Here’s Why It’s Unlikely. te 2026-06-30T19:10:59.624Z Trump Urges Congress to Take Up Birthright Citizenship. Here’s Why It’s Unlikely. The president lost his case in the Supreme Court, but mere legislation would not be enough. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4414b0c2ca79de2362487e No, your drinking water isn’t contaminated by abortion pills te 2026-06-30T19:10:40.167Z No, your drinking water isn’t contaminated by abortion pills Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44149cc2ca79de23624861 Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite te 2026-06-30T19:10:20.211Z Google introduces a faster, cheaper image generator with Nano Banana 2 Lite Google is updating its image generator to make it faster and cheaper, making it a more useful tool for creators looking to make AI content. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4412b9c2ca79de23624828 Bigfoot is a Neanderthal-Human hybrid, according to the man who claims to have found remains te 2026-06-30T19:02:17.905Z Bigfoot is a Neanderthal-Human hybrid, according to the man who claims to have found remains The mystery of Bigfoot has been solved, if you believe Snake the Bigfoot Hunter. He's been labeled a hoaxer and scammer by some, but that has done nothing to slow him down. After finding what he claims are remains in the Adirondack Mountains in October 2024 and putting the body on display at last year's The Great New York State Fair, he now says he has the DNA results. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! Folks like veteran Bigfoot researcher Matthew Moneymaker from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization sounded the alarms after Snake's announcement that he was putting the remains on display. "A newcomer hoaxer/scammer going by the name Charles 'Snake' Stuart is claiming to have a bigfoot corpse that he will exhibit at New York State Fair in August 2025," Moneymaker wrote on BFRO's Facebook page last July. "No, he doesn't actually have bigfoot remains. It's just a cheesey fake dead bigfoot, perhaps a little bit better than Tom Biscardi's famous fake dead bigfoot." GROUP OF TEENAGE CAMPERS STALKED BY A GROUP OF SASQUATCHES IN IDAHO OVER MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND Dack, the nickname Snake aka Charles Stuart has given the 8-foot-tall, 300-pound Bigfoot, had DNA testing performed on him at Cornell University, according to Snake. I told you those labels did nothing to slow him down. Snake told Click On Detroit in a recent interview that the results of the supposed DNA testing at Cornell's Veterinary DNA Lab found that "the body has 58.5% Neanderthal and 41.5% human DNA." He has plans to show his groundbreaking discovery to as many people as he can. He knows he'll face those who don't believe in his discovery. Those who will tell him the famous Patterson-Gimlin film isn't real. Save your breath. Snake knows that one was "an obvious hoax," because Bigfoot is not a great ape as has been claimed over the years. He has the DNA results to prove that the creature is a Neanderthal-Human hybrid. Is this the answer to the mystery we've all been sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for? Or is it just another Bigfoot hoax? Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4412a6c2ca79de2362481f Lawmakers press Eli Lilly for China drug trials tied to military-linked hospitals te 2026-06-30T19:01:58.452Z Lawmakers press Eli Lilly for China drug trials tied to military-linked hospitals FIRST ON FOX: House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar is launching an investigation into pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly's clinical trial operations in China, demanding records related to research conducted at Chinese military-affiliated hospitals and facilities in Xinjiang. In a Tuesday letter obtained by Fox News Digital, Moolenaar, R-Mich., demanded that Eli Lilly provide detailed information about its clinical trial operations in China, including how the company ensures ethical standards, protects sensitive biotechnology and intellectual property, and veterans research conducted at hospitals linked to the People's Liberation Army and in Xinjiang, where the Chinese government has been accused of widespread human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. The committee says publicly available records indicate Lilly has sponsored or collaborated on more than 220 clinical studies in China since 2003, including at least 11 trials involving hospitals in Xinjiang, China, and at least 16 involving Chinese military medical centers. Several remain active today, the letter says.  The inquiry marks an escalation in congressional scrutiny of U.S. pharmaceutical companies' growing ties to China as lawmakers warn that clinical research conducted at Chinese military-affiliated hospitals and in Xinjiang, China, could pose national security, intellectual property and human rights risks. The committee is seeking records from Lilly as it expands its investments and research partnerships in China. CHINA’S GRIP ON RARE-EARTH MAGNETS COULD CRUSH US DRONE INDUSTRY BEFORE IT GROWS Moolenaar stressed that the committee has "no evidence that Lilly has engaged in illegal activity or wrongdoing," but argued that conducting clinical trials in China — particularly in Xinjiang, China, and at military-affiliated hospitals, hospitals affiliated with China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), which the committee argues could gain access to valuable biotechnology research and clinical trial data generated through collaborations with U.S. companies. "The United States is engaged in a fierce biotechnology competition with the People's Republic of China," Moolenaar wrote, arguing that biotechnology has become a strategic arena in U.S.-China competition with implications for national security, economic competitiveness and the protection of Americans' medical data. He pointed to China's latest five-year plan, which identifies biotechnology as a national priority and calls for expanded use of artificial intelligence across the sector. Moolenaar said China has transformed itself into one of the world's fastest and least expensive places to conduct early-stage human drug trials through regulatory reforms, state subsidies and rapid patient enrollment. The committee argues that speed has made China increasingly attractive for global drug development while also raising concerns about ethics, data security and intellectual property. GABBARD SAYS DECLASSIFIED BIOLAB RECORDS VALIDATE CONCERNS PREVIOUSLY DISMISSED AS MISINFORMATION The inquiry comes as Lilly has continued expanding its presence in China.  Earlier in 2026, the company announced a roughly $3 billion investment to expand manufacturing and local supply in the country, bringing its total investment in China to nearly $6 billion. Lilly also has deepened its research ties with Chinese biotechnology companies, announcing an up to $8.8 billion oncology and immunology collaboration with Innovent Biologics in February and an agreement worth up to about $3 billion with Haisco Pharmaceutical Group earlier ni June. Both partnerships are referenced in Moolenaar's letter as examples of the company's expanding relationships with Chinese drugmakers. The chairman also questioned whether China's clinical trial system adequately protects participants' rights. He cited research suggesting many participants misunderstand the experimental nature of drug studies or mistakenly believe treatments have already been proven effective, raising concerns about whether informed consent is being properly obtained. The letter separately raises concerns about trials conducted in Xinjiang, pointing to reports from the United Nations, the State Department and human rights organizations documenting allegations of forced medical testing, DNA collection and other abuses targeting Uyghurs. Moolenaar argued those conditions warrant heightened scrutiny over whether clinical trial participants in the region are volunteering freely. The committee also argues that research conducted at hospitals affiliated with the People's Liberation Army raises questions about whether sensitive biotechnology research and proprietary data developed through clinical trials could ultimately benefit China's military biotechnology programs. Moolenaar gave Lilly until July 17 to provide documents detailing its due diligence procedures, inspections of clinical trial sites, agreements with Chinese companies, and safeguards for protecting sensitive data and intellectual property. "Lilly has received the letter from the House Select Committee on China. We are reviewing the letter closely," a company spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441292c2ca79de23624816 PAYTON MCNABB: Girls deserve fair competition, and the Supreme Court just agreed te 2026-06-30T19:01:38.995Z PAYTON MCNABB: Girls deserve fair competition, and the Supreme Court just agreed After years of what seems like walking through hell and back, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Idaho and West Virginia in two critical cases that defend laws protecting women’s sports and spaces. Today, I feel something that I haven’t felt in a long time when it comes to the protection of women’s sports and spaces: relief. Personally, I have witnessed male athletes dressed in makeup and sports bras allowed to hold trophies after humiliating the hardworking female athletes for whom they were intended. I watched my athletic career disappear before my eyes due to a life-altering injury that was 100% preventable. I watched as roster spots and championships got ripped out from underneath more-than-deserving women. I watched girls who trained their entire lives lose opportunities to boys. LAWYERS FIGHTING SJSU OVER VOLLEYBALL SCANDAL RESPOND TO FEDERAL TITLE IX PROBE FINDINGS As a former athlete, I know what it means to pour your heart into the sport you love. Every athlete does. We are well acquainted with the early mornings, exhausting practices, injuries, sacrifices, and countless hours that nobody sees. We know what it feels like to chase a goal for years with little to no guarantee of success. That’s why this issue hits so close to home for nearly 70% of Americans. When I was in high school, I suffered a traumatic brain injury in a volleyball match due to a male playing on the girls’ team. His spike was harder, faster, stronger than any girl I have ever been across the net from. Years later, I have not recovered from this injury, and it will genuinely affect me for the rest of my life. For most athletes, we already have the pressure of making the team. We stress about form, speed, agility, and technique before tryouts. We live with the potential that there may be another girl who’s better than us, so we won’t make the cut. This alone makes athletics enough of a strain, physically and mentally — yet for thousands of us, it’s a strain we are glad to bear. Then, policies that allow males to take female spots on the team throw yet another wrench into the plan. It not only lessens the chance for girls and women to chase their dreams, but it cheapens the spot in the first place. What makes today so meaningful is not simply the legal outcome. It is the recognition that women and girls should not have to apologize for wanting a category that exists specifically for us. Women’s sports were not created because women needed a participation trophy—they were created because female athletes deserve to compete on the highest level of their sport and win on fair grounds. That principle should have never become controversial. WATCH: HEARING ERUPTS AFTER DEM CHAIR TRIES TO SIDESTEP GOP TRANSGENDER SPORTS BILLS: ‘THEY’RE PETRIFIED’ It somehow has. For years, the political establishment and woke ideology abandoned the very women that they claimed to protect. Organizations that once championed women suddenly seemed afraid to acknowledge biological reality, and began giving awards and brand deals to men pretending to be women, at the expense of well-deserving female athletes. Brave women, coaches, parents, and athletes began speaking up and speaking the truth, even when it was unpopular. That began the change evident in today’s Supreme Court opinion. Change rarely happens when the powerful speak out — it’s when the high-school athletes and college sports coaches of this country decide to step up and say what everyone is thinking. That’s when change happens. Today’s decision is a reminder that truth does not disappear simply because someone believes a delusion. Reality does not change because people are uncomfortable discussing hard topics. Compassion and inclusion are traits that are ultimately good, but when people twist them to fit a comfortable lie, it can become incredibly messy. Genuine empathy and diversity cannot require women to lose the protections and categories that generations before us fought to create. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many people who have spoken out with me, first and foremost my parents, who stood by my side through my recovery and when I was at my darkest point. I feel overwhelmingly blessed by my community and fellow advocates who never backed down in the face of adversity. In fact, I believe it’s a full circle moment. In athletics, you never back down from the daunting competitor — you fight, you hustle, and you work harder than ever before to win. And today, we finally did. As I think about the next generation of girls, I feel hopeful. I think about the young athlete waking up before school to train. I think about the girl dreaming about a scholarship, a championship, or simply the chance to compete on a team with other girls who share her passion. She deserves the protections and opportunities that the Supreme Court has now upheld. Women’s sports are always worth protecting. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44127fc2ca79de2362480d France expected to cruise past Sweden in World Cup Round of 32 as betting odds heavily favor them te 2026-06-30T19:01:19.539Z France expected to cruise past Sweden in World Cup Round of 32 as betting odds heavily favor them I'm watching the Norway and Ivory Coast World Cup game at the moment, and I started looking into the great matchups that await us with the World Cup Round of 32 tonight. We've already gotten some very good games and some big surprises in the first two days. Germany lost in penalty kicks to Paraguay, and Morocco won the same way against the Netherlands. One of my favorite tweets that I've seen about the World Cup this season is from someone making suggestions about how to make soccer better. Someone reposted about how it is the biggest sport in the world, and you don't need to change things just to accommodate people who watch occasionally. It is an instance where both sides are correct. However, watching two penalty kick outcomes yesterday, I couldn't believe any game ever would end without them. It just makes watching the game better. Maybe we will get lucky and have some more today. France vs. Sweden This is one of a handful of games this round where people already seem to think the winner is predetermined. There are a number of ways to bet on soccer -- there is the moneyline, which includes the 90 minutes, and then up to another 30 minutes of extra time. If it goes to penalty kicks, this would be a draw. The total does not include penalty kicks either. France is a -340 moneyline favorite. The draw is at +500, so that should give you a good idea of how most expect this game to go. France is a true favorite to win the World Cup, so it would be a big shock to even see this go to penalties. France should win this game 2-0 or 3-1. There is one clear play here: give me France -1.5 on the spread at -125. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! Another look here would be to play the goalscorer props. Kylian Mbappe is a heavy price to pay for him to score, but I actually think he struggles to get there here as I think Sweden will double-team him. I think his counterpart, Ousmane Dembele, will be the one scoring for France. He has four goals, just like Mbappe, and should have an easier chance to score. At +100, I think Dembele will be a good choice for an anytime goalscorer. That would not include penalty kicks in the unlikely event they happen in this game. CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE Mexico vs. Ecuador This one will be rowdy. There is a reason that home-field or home-court advantage is such a big thing in sports and betting, and Mexico will have it tonight. This game will be played in Mexico City, Mexico. This is a fairly even match, but with the home-field advantage on their side, it is hard to think Ecuador will pull off the upset. In Mexico's three games, they beat Saudi Arabia, Korea and Czechia. They haven't allowed a goal in any of their three games. Ecuador has been all over the map. They lost to the Ivory Coast, then played to a draw with Curacao and beat what ended up being a disappointing Germany team. In three games, there have been a total of four goals. This should be a good matchup and a conservative matchup. I think the draw and penalty kicks are a likely outcome for this game. At +185, it is worth a look. You could bet both Mexico to win and a draw and get a little bit of profit. It really wouldn't be much, but risking 200 would return either 230 or 285. You would need to dodge Ecuador winning, though. I am going to officially back Mexico to win. I think they will be more aggressive, and I think they are going to have the crowd with them. Give me Mexico on the moneyline. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024 Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44126cc2ca79de23624804 Venezuelan nationals charged in $529K ATM jackpotting scheme at I-95 rest stops, feds say te 2026-06-30T19:01:00.083Z Venezuelan nationals charged in $529K ATM jackpotting scheme at I-95 rest stops, feds say Four Venezuelan nationals are accused of turning Connecticut rest-stop ATMs into cash-spewing machines in a "jackpotting" scheme that netted more than $529,000 in less than two weeks, federal prosecutors said. The alleged crew hit ATMs along Interstate 95 and at other Connecticut locations between Aug. 8 and Aug. 18, 2025, using specialized hardware and malware to force the machines to dispense their cash, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. Prosecutors allege that Euclides Moreno Itanare, 28, of Raleigh, North Carolina; Willian Ricardo Flores, 49, of the Bronx, New York; Alberto Jose Freites Arvilla, 41, of Queens, New York; and Luis Jose Freites Arvilla, 38, of Lynn, Massachusetts were arrested June 25 and charged with interstate transportation of stolen property and conspiracy. All four are citizens of Venezuela, prosecutors said. VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS WHO ENTERED US ILLEGALLY PLEAD GUILTY TO GUNNING DOWN TWO UNARMED AMERICANS Federal authorities said the men targeted ATMs in Milford and Ansonia, as well as I-95 rest stops in Fairfield, Branford, Madison and Darien. GLOBAL SCAM CRACKDOWN LEADS TO 276 ARRESTS In one alleged haul, the crew stole $136,000 from an ATM at the I-95 northbound rest stop in Fairfield, according to prosecutors. Other alleged thefts included $84,000 from an I-95 southbound rest stop in Madison, $66,400 from an I-95 northbound rest stop in Branford and multiple hits in Darien totaling more than $177,000. CLICK HERE FOR MORE U.S. NEWS Prosecutors said the alleged scheme followed a similar pattern each time: one suspect acted as a lookout while another opened the ATM’s hood and accessed its internal components. Over the next several hours, the men allegedly took turns walking up to the compromised ATM and collecting cash as it was dispensed. The suspects sometimes changed clothes to avoid drawing attention when returning to the same machine multiple times, according to court documents. Investigators said the case was built in part on surveillance footage, phone records, Google and Apple account records, and photos allegedly recovered from the suspects’ devices. According to the criminal complaint reviewed by Fox News Digital, one suspect’s Apple account contained photos of victimized ATMs before and during the thefts, images of cash in a vehicle and black plastic bags, and photos allegedly showing suspects counting money in New York hours after a Connecticut rest-stop theft. FOLLOW US ON X READ THE CRIMINAL COMPLAINT – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: One attempted hit at a Cumberland Farms ATM in Ansonia was blocked because a software patch protected the machine from that type of theft, prosecutors said. GET BREAKING NEWS ALERTS All four men are currently detained. If convicted, the stolen-property charge carries up to 10 years in federal prison, while the conspiracy charge carries up to five years. Fox News Digital has reached out to attorneys for Flores, Luis Arvilla and Alberto Arvilla. The FBI is investigating the case with assistance from Connecticut State Police, the Raleigh Police Department and the New York City Police Department. Officials said the investigation remains ongoing as authorities look into whether the same alleged crew can be tied to other ATM thefts. SEND US A TIP "Jackpotting" incidents are on the rise in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI. In a report issued in February, federal investigators said that of 1,900 ATM jackpotting incidents reported since 2020, over 700 of them with more than $20 million in losses occurred in 2025 alone. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441244c2ca79de236247f9 Supreme Court to Weigh Constitutional Protection for AR-15 Rifles te 2026-06-30T19:00:20.756Z Supreme Court to Weigh Constitutional Protection for AR-15 Rifles Two cases to be heard in the fall challenge legality of state and local bans on the weapons, which are popular with gun owners and have been used in mass shootings. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a441017c2ca79de2362477e 'George Washington was not the first president.' What?! te 2026-06-30T18:51:03.091Z 'George Washington was not the first president.' What?! Who was the first president? I know, you are going to say George Washington. Nope. Wrong. It was President John Hanson. Who? SECRETS OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLEFIELDS EMERGE 250 YEARS AFTER AMERICA'S FOUNDING "There's no question about it. Chronologically, he certainly was," says Hanson descendant Peter Michael. "For a nation to be a nation, it has to have a government and a head of state. So the first thing the newly seated government did was elect a head of state. And it was John Hanson." Really? The hidden story of John Hanson is told in the second episode of "Crazy American History with Eric Shawn," now streaming on Fox Nation. Michael is the author of "Remembering John Hanson, A Biography of the First President of the Original United States Government." AS AMERICA TURNS 250, A RARE 1790 EXCHANGE BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND BISHOP CARROLL TAKES ON NEW RELEVANCE And he says even George Washington would have agreed with him that Hanson was number one. "He said so as president and later. He said so throughout the rest of his life, John Hanson was the first president," says Michael. He points out that Hanson had a Cabinet, including a secretary of war, secretary of foreign affairs and postmaster general. It was Hanson who sent Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay and Henry Laurens to Paris in 1782 to negotiate the British surrender in the Revolutionary War. In addition, the first national bank, census and U.S. coinage were created during Hanson's tenure. Hanson also established Thanksgiving, issuing the proclamation on March 19, 1782. OBAMA TAKES NEW SWIPE AT FOUNDING FATHERS AHEAD OF AMERICA’S 250TH BIRTHDAY: 'DEEP FLAW' Hanson was elected by the delegates of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation as president of the United States, in Congress on Nov. 5, 1781. "Every other president since Hanson inherited a functioning government, but he inherited a blank slate, and he had to be a government builder, which he was. So he started appointing his cabinet, including some big names, and then some of the more minor offices, like Postmaster General, and put together a government in his one-year term. That's all he had. At the end of his year, we had a functioning government. And a functioning nation." So, why hasn't Hanson gotten any credit? Have we really been wrong all these centuries? Should Washington, D.C. be renamed, Hanson, D.C? Should the $1 bill swap out the image of George...for John? Find out more about the contention that our first, first president was John Hanson in the new Fox Nation series "Crazy American History with Eric Shawn," now streaming on Fox Nation. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440ff0c2ca79de23624769 School voucher special session deal is likely dead in the water te 2026-06-30T18:50:24.188Z School voucher special session deal is likely dead in the water Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440de2c2ca79de236246f4 Ex-Yankee Mark Teixeira unloads on MLB for trying to 'silence' Christian faith te 2026-06-30T18:41:38.646Z Ex-Yankee Mark Teixeira unloads on MLB for trying to 'silence' Christian faith Former New York Yankees star and Texas congressional candidate Mark Teixeira called Major League Baseball’s handling of a Pride Night dispute a "total disaster" aimed at silencing Christian athletes. Speaking on the "Fox News Rundown" podcast, the 2009 World Series champion and current congressional candidate argued that sports should not cross the line into being political. "We live in a Christian culture where people are trying to silence us," Teixeira told Fox News’s Jacqui Heinrich. "And we're not [going to] let the San Francisco Giants or any outside group, silence our faith." BUSTER POSEY MYSTERIOUSLY YANKED FROM RADIO INTERVIEW AS PRIDE NIGHT CONTROVERSY DRAGS ON, CEO MAKES IT WORSE The controversy stemmed from the Giants’ annual "Pride Night" celebration earlier this month. Several players protested the event by writing Bible verses onto the rainbow-colored Pride caps or declining to wear the caps altogether. In a statement reported by The Athletic, an MLB spokesperson said, "The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations." Teixeira argued that requiring players to wear the hats would force them to support something they may not believe in, calling the situation a "PR disaster." FIVE GLARING REASONS WHY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL SHOULD IMMEDIATELY STOP CELEBRATING PRIDE NIGHT | JON ROOT "Yep, total disaster, PR disaster for the league, PR disaster for The Giants. You know, these players were just expressing their Christianity. They were forced to do something that they didn't want to do," he said. TIM SHEEHY EXPOSES A 'SCARY' SHIPBUILDING COLLAPSE THAT LEAVES THE US VULNERABLE TO CHINA "I played in the major leagues for 14 years. We play 162 games a year, we don't have these conversations. We don't take political stances," Teixeira said. "It's a hard job playing baseball and bringing something like a pride night and forcing players to wear a cap. Whether that was the rule or not, that's what it looked like." Some players have spoken about their decision to include Bible verses, including starting pitcher Landen Roupp, who said the message was intended to represent "God’s covenant," not hatred toward anyone. MLB COMMISSIONER TELLS SEN. HAWLEY GIANTS PLAYERS WON’T BE DISCIPLINED OVER BIBLE VERSES ON PRIDE NIGHT HATS The Giants apologized to the LGBTQ+ community for the incident, writing in a statement that they were "sorry" for the "pain and anger" experienced by its members.  GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, however, defended the players’ rights to religious expression. Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred told Hawley that the players who wrote the Bible verses will not face fines or be disciplined over the incident. In a letter posted by Hawley on June 22, Manfred said the players were issued a "routine oral warning" after the incident. He also said the warning came before they learned the players had not been properly told it was optional to wear the pride caps, writing: "My office issued a routine oral warning about the uniform policy violation – unfortunately it was issued before we became aware of the Giants’ lapse in communication. The players were neither fined nor disciplined, nor will they ever be." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440dcfc2ca79de236246eb Dems join Republicans to crush Tlaib's war powers resolution in lopsided House vote te 2026-06-30T18:41:19.189Z Dems join Republicans to crush Tlaib's war powers resolution in lopsided House vote The House of Representatives rejected a measure from Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., targeting U.S. military involvement in Lebanon.  Tlaib’s measure failed in a bipartisan vote of 189-235 on Tuesday, with 22 Democrats joining nearly all Republicans against it.  The resolution would have specifically barred U.S. forces from engaging in "any hostilities" in the country, despite the U.S. military not joining Israel's war in Lebanon and conducting few operations there.  Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a leading critic of Israel, was among the Republicans who supported the measure. DEMOCRATS SPLIT OVER TLAIB'S LEBANON MEASURE AS REPUBLICANS SEIZE ON HEZBOLLAH OMISSION The Squad member’s measure was a concurrent resolution, which is largely symbolic and not sent to President Donald Trump's desk for a veto if passed. Tlaib, Congress’ sole Palestinian American, is a fierce opponent of Israel and has accused the Jewish state of pursuing "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza and Lebanon. Her sharp criticism of Israel’s war in Lebanon has spurred GOP attacks that she is providing cover for Iran-backed Hezbollah. The resolution did not mention the terrorist group, which has been engaged in a military conflict with Israel since early March around the outbreak of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Tuesday’s vote came after Tlaib previously forced a vote on a more expansive Lebanon war powers resolution earlier this month that critics argued would have required U.S. military personnel protecting embassy staff to leave the country. Opponents also charged that the measure would have restricted any assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces, which is fighting Hezbollah. REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: TLAIB FORCES RARE HOUSE PROCEDURE AFTER REPUBLICAN ACCUSES HER OF DEFENDING TERRORISTS Tlaib tailored her second resolution to clarify that it exempted protection of diplomatic personnel and cooperation with Lebanon’s military. Republicans questioned the timing of the resolution since the U.S. is not at war in Lebanon. "There are not U.S. combat forces conducting operations or engaged in hostilities in Lebanon," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., said during debate on the House floor. "They are training the Lebanese Armed Forces. "Why are they training?" Mast continued. "Because there’s probably at least 40,000 — probably more — Hezbollah terrorists spread across the South of Lebanon that are actively engaged in targeting Israel and have been doing so for many years." House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., countered that the resolution would keep the United States "out of another forever war that is not in our national interest." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440da8c2ca79de236246d6 U.S. Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump order te 2026-06-30T18:40:40.277Z U.S. Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump order Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440d94c2ca79de236246b9 Clicks shows off its BlackBerry-inspired phone in a new hands-on video te 2026-06-30T18:40:20.319Z Clicks shows off its BlackBerry-inspired phone in a new hands-on video A new video shows the final production version of the upcoming Clicks Communicator, a BlackBerry-like smartphone that runs modern apps. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440b77c2ca79de23624680 Kathie Lee Gifford admits she 'wanted to die' after misdiagnosis and multiple surgeries for chronic pain te 2026-06-30T18:31:19.133Z Kathie Lee Gifford admits she 'wanted to die' after misdiagnosis and multiple surgeries for chronic pain After a year marked by multiple surgeries, chronic pain and moments when she questioned whether she could keep going, Kathie Lee Gifford says she's finally getting her life back. The TV veteran is opening up about the "debilitating" health battle that once left her praying to "go home." "I wanted to die a few times," Gifford told People. "I wasn't going to hurt myself. I wasn't going to kill myself. I just didn't want to be here — as blessed as I am." Gifford also revealed that her pain was initially attributed to the wrong condition, saying she spent nearly a year being treated for a spinal issue before doctors discovered the real source of her discomfort. FORMER 'DWTS' HOST SAMANTHA HARRIS SURVIVED BREAST CANCER TWICE AFTER DOCTORS DISMISSED HER SYMPTOMS "Thank God, I finally had the hip surgery. I had been misdiagnosed. And for a year they kept trying to treat my spine. And I said, 'I have no pain in my spine. It's in my hip. I don't know how you missed that on an X-ray.'" The former "Today" host said the extent of the damage became clear only after her operation. "The doctor, wonderful doctor here in Tennessee, in my post-op, the next day, he said, ‘Kathie, how were you existing? How were you existing with the most excruciating pain?’ He said, ‘That’s one of the worst hips I’ve ever seen. In fact, you didn’t have one' … he said all it was was ashes, arthritic ash and little, teeny bone spurs.’" The 72-year-old opened up about her difficult recovery, revealing how one medical setback quickly snowballed. "I feel like Mr. Potato Head! One thing falls off and then another," she said. What began with a total hip replacement turned into an even longer recovery after Gifford fractured her hip and required another surgery. She later broke her arm after rolling onto it while sleeping, suffered another broken bone after a fall on uneven pavement and eventually underwent cataract surgery after noticing problems with her depth perception. Even as her body struggled, Gifford noted her sense of humor never disappeared. "I'm a tough broad," she said. LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS The physical pain, however, dramatically changed her day-to-day life, preventing her from playing with her five young grandchildren and making her reluctant to appear in public. "I couldn't carry them, I couldn't love on them, I couldn't run and play with them," she said. "All I could do was sit there and sing and write silly songs with them." The emotional burden of living with constant pain became overwhelming, Gifford admitted. "I've had emotional pain many times in my life, but never this chronic physical pain where you literally want to go home to Jesus." Gifford explained the experience reminded her of conversations with her late husband, Frank Gifford, who often worried about meeting fans' expectations as his health declined. "I remember Frank saying to me before he passed, 'When I go somewhere, I know what people are expecting from me. I want to be Frank Gifford when I go out,'" she recalled. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER "I want to be Kathie Lee, the person they expect," she explained. "I don't want to disappoint people. But when you're in pain, it's so debilitating, and everything's a grimace. I've had emotional pain many times in my life, but never this chronic physical pain where you literally want to go home to Jesus. At her lowest point, Gifford said she repeatedly prayed, "Lord, if this is all you have left for me, I want to go home." Now, after multiple surgeries, stem cell therapy and physical therapy six days a week, Gifford says she's finally reclaiming her life. She now runs "all over the place" with her grandchildren — a milestone she once feared might never come again. "They're all fantastic," she said. "I'm hoping, Lord willing, that I have many, many years with them." The television personality has embraced a busy new chapter as a grandmother, welcoming five grandchildren in just three years: Cody's children, Frank, 4; Ford, 2; and Faith, 10 months; as well as Cassidy's children, Finn, 3, and Rosie, 13 months. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440b63c2ca79de23624677 House conservatives derail GOP agenda in SAVE America Act showdown te 2026-06-30T18:30:59.671Z House conservatives derail GOP agenda in SAVE America Act showdown The House floor remained effectively shut down Tuesday after more than a dozen House conservatives continued their blockade in protest of the stalled SAVE America Act. The group of holdouts, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., blocked a procedural vote, effectively freezing legislative business for the foreseeable future, after forcing GOP leaders to punt several votes last week. The hardball tactics have forced the chamber into legislative paralysis as House Speaker Mike Johnson, races to advance several legislative priorities before the July 4 recess. Lawmakers voted 198-224 against advancing a spate of legislative items — including a must-pass defense bill that will be paired with the SAVE America Act — with 14 Republicans voting "no." 'AS LONG AS IT TAKES': TRUMP ALLIES FREEZE HOUSE FLOOR TO PRESSURE SENATE ON VOTER ID BILL With such slim margins, Johnson could afford to lose just a handful of defections. The conservative rebels continued their floor blockade in apparent defiance of President Donald Trump, who urged the cohort to stop "grandstanding" in a Truth Social post last week. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also called their hardball tactics "self-defeating" for Republicans’ agenda. "It doesn't make any sense," Johnson told reporters Monday. "We have to move forward with legislation and that's what I'll be telling them all."   He was seen having a tense conversation with Luna and several holdouts shortly before the failed vote. In a likely attempt to appease conservative hardliners, Johnson used a rare procedural maneuver this week to revive the Trump-backed election measure, which has sat in limbo in the Senate chamber for months amid widespread opposition from Democrats.  GOP leaders proposed merging the SAVE America Act with an annual defense policy bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, when sending the legislation over to the Senate. The House already passed that version of the SAVE America Act, but Johnson argued the upper chamber would be more likely to pass the measure if paired with a traditionally bipartisan bill. "Let's just have the full bill that's still sitting there and has been transmitted to the Senate, let's send it again, but put it as part of something that we hope and believe will be a bipartisan vote in both chambers, and that Democrats in the Senate will understand," Johnson said during a leadership press conference on Tuesday.  The GOP holdouts have repeatedly demanded that leadership attempt to jam the upper chamber with the election measure as Trump insists it's his top legislative priority. They largely withheld their support for Johnson’s proposal prior to the vote, arguing it would not force Senate action on the SAVE America Act. HOUSE GOP'S SAVE ACT RESCUE PLAN HITS RESISTANCE FROM CONSERVATIVE HOLDOUTS Luna said she wanted the SAVE America Act to be attached to the NDAA as an amendment or have a vote on an amendment to attach voter identification proof of citizenship requirements to the defense policy bill. "IF IT IS NOT DONE THIS WAY, IT WILL EASILY BE TAKEN OUT," Luna wrote on social media shortly before the vote.  Though both Trump and Johnson sharply criticized the floor blockade, Luna disputed that her approach was derailing Republicans’ agenda. "To, you know, say that we're holding up the process. This is legislating," the Florida lawmaker told reporters Monday, standing next to Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who has also joined the SAVE protest. "If people elected us to just come up here and vote in line with what the party wants, then it would be a whole lot different."  The upper chamber is also considering its own version of the NDAA that does not include the election measure. Tuesday’s procedural vote also advanced fiscal year 2027 funding for the State Department and other foreign operations and a GOP-authored measure commemorating the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, among other measures. Some conservatives, including Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, threatened to withhold their support during the test vote over a stalled border security package they want to put to a chamber-wide vote. Johnson promised conservatives a vote on the legislation before the July 4 recess, but that deadline appears likely to pass without a floor vote. Republicans have also yet to release the bill text.  "There's no consensus," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters Tuesday. "At the end of the day, we've got to have consensus before we can move forward." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440b50c2ca79de2362466e 'Save Women's Sports' legal defense and trans athlete's attorneys speak out after landmark SCOTUS ruling te 2026-06-30T18:30:40.224Z 'Save Women's Sports' legal defense and trans athlete's attorneys speak out after landmark SCOTUS ruling The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to uphold state laws protecting women's sports from trans athletes sent shockwaves across the nation on Tuesday. The attorneys who fought on both sides of the case have now spoken out in response. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that represented trans athletes in West Virginia and Idaho, expressed "heartbreak" over the ruling. "This is a heartbreaking ruling for our clients and transgender girls like them who’ve asked for nothing more than the same opportunities afforded to their peers." ACLU senior counsel Joshua Block said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "The reality is that the equality of transgender women and girls takes nothing away from, and in fact promotes, the equality of all women and girls. We will continue to advance the fundamental principle that all young people deserve equal opportunity to thrive and succeed." CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Lambda Legal, a firm that also provided counsel to the trans athletes, also condemned the ruling, vowing to fight back. "This ruling is deeply harmful for transgender women and girls who only asked for the ability to participate in sports with their peers," Lambda Legal senior attorney Sasha Burchert added. "Countless studies have demonstrated the myriad benefits that come with participation in team sports. Now, one population, transgender youth and collegians, are targeted for specific and baseless discrimination. We will not be deterred and will continue to fight back to secure the equal participation that all youth, including transgender youth, deserve." Meanwhile, the attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the attorneys general from Idaho and West Virginia praised and celebrated the court's ruling, while expressing disagreement with the three liberal justices who dissented and the attorneys who represent the trans athletes. Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel for ADF, told Fox News Digital in a post-ruling interview that the decision was a long-awaited correction after years of female athletes being forced to compete against biological males. "When we reject truth, the harm is real, widespread and devastating," Campbell said in the interview. "Across the country, girls have been losing medals, roster spots, titles, opportunities and privacy." SUPREME COURT MAKES RULING ON TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN'S SPORTS "But this decision changes all that," Campbell added in the interview. "It makes clear that states are free to protect women and girls and ensure that their sports remain for them." Campbell struck a similar tone during a press conference with the attorneys general, calling the ruling "a resounding victory for every girl told to sit down, stay quiet and get comfortable with males taking their roster spots, medals, records and scholarships." "The Supreme Court’s decision today affirms that states may enact common-sense laws protecting fairness, safety and equal opportunities for women and girls," Campbell said during the press conference. Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador told Fox News Digital in a separate interview that the case was personal to him even before he became attorney general, citing his daughter’s experience playing high school volleyball. "This is one of the reasons I ran for attorney general," Labrador said in the interview, "because I thought our state deserved an attorney general that would defend the laws of the state and would defend common sense." Labrador also said he had thought about what would have happened to his daughter’s own athletic opportunities "if there would have been several male athletes ahead of her." IDAHO AG SAYS SUPREME COURT TRANSGENDER SPORTS CASE DEFIES 'COMMON SENSE' During the press conference, Labrador said Idaho "led the nation" by becoming the first state to pass a law protecting women’s sports and "never wavered" in defending it. "Today’s decision is a victory for common sense, fairness and the countless girls and women who dedicate themselves to athletics," Labrador said during the press conference. "The Supreme Court has now confirmed that states can preserve fair competition and protect the opportunities that generations of women fought to secure." West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey told Fox News Digital in an interview that the hardest part of the litigation was hearing from girls and families in his state while the law was blocked. "There was this, what I knew to be an injustice happening in real time, and my hands were really tied by the rule of law and the decision by the Fourth Circuit," McCuskey said in the interview. "Listening to these girls and talking to these girls and believing in these girls, but having to wait… was very, very difficult." That, McCuskey said, made the ruling "vindicating," because "I know they won’t have to go through that again." During the press conference, McCuskey credited the legal teams and the female athletes who joined the fight. WOMEN INVOLVED IN SUPREME COURT CASES OVER TRANS ATHLETES OPEN UP ON FIGHTING HISTORIC LEGAL BATTLE "Without the bravery of those young women, I don’t think we’re standing here today," McCuskey said during the press conference. "This is a victory that has many, many fathers. And there is no more important group of people than these young women who courageously stood up." The ruling came in two consolidated cases, West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox. The court held that Title IX allows schools to provide separate women’s and men’s sports teams defined by biological sex, and that West Virginia and Idaho did not violate the Equal Protection Clause by limiting girls’ and women’s sports to biological females. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. The court’s liberal bloc — Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — dissented on the Equal Protection issue, while agreeing in part that the Title IX claim failed in a seemingly unanimous 9-0 agreement. The Supreme Court’s opinion noted that 27 states have enacted laws maintaining women’s and girls’ sports for biological females, and that the cases before the court concerned West Virginia’s 2021 Save Women’s Sports Act and Idaho’s 2020 Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. ADF represented female athletes who intervened in the cases, including Idaho State athletes Madison Kenyon and Mary Kate Marshall in the Idaho case and former West Virginia State soccer player Lainey Armistead in the West Virginia case, according to ADF case materials. The ACLU had argued that West Virginia’s law violated the Constitution and Title IX as applied to B.P.J., a transgender student who sought to compete in cross-country and track and field. Campbell told Fox News Digital in the interview that he believed the dissenters were wrong on the constitutional question, but he emphasized that the Title IX portion of the decision was a major defeat for the challengers. "The justices that dissented only did so on the constitutional question," Campbell said in the interview. "It’s really important to recognize that every single justice on the Supreme Court recognized that Title IX allows states to protect women’s sports." "On the equal protection issue, the majority of the court said that the 14th Amendment allows states to protect women’s sports, and the dissenting justices had a different view," Campbell added. McCuskey, responding in the interview to the statements from the ACLU and Lambda Legal, said he expected the groups to "respect the process and the rule of law" the same way conservatives did in cases they lost. "Nine of nine justices decided that these laws did not violate Title IX, and six of nine justices decided that this law did not violate the Equal Protection Clause," McCuskey said in the interview. "Sometimes in this world you lose, and in this instance they did, and the real winners here are the young women and girls who are going to be provided a safe and fair place to play going forward." Labrador, when asked in the interview about the response from the other side, said he felt sympathy for children dealing with gender identity issues, but said the case was ultimately about biological girls. "The reality is that biological girls were protected today, and that’s what this case was about," Labrador said in the interview. "That’s what Title IX is about. That’s what the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution is about, and I think it was the right decision." The majority opinion leaned heavily on fairness and safety, saying sports are "generally zero sum" and that every roster spot, medal, starting position and scholarship can come at the expense of another athlete. The court concluded that states may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ teams based on biological sex, and that the Constitution does not require schools to make case-by-case exceptions for certain biological males who identify as female. Sotomayor, writing for the liberal justices, accused the majority of cutting the litigation short and argued that unresolved factual questions should have been returned to the lower courts. She wrote that the majority "inflicts a hardship on those it disfavors without giving them the fair and full opportunity the Constitution requires to litigate their contentions." Campbell said in the interview that the ruling should now put pressure on the remaining states that have not passed similar laws. "So at this point, what’s important to consider from a national perspective is that 27 states have protected women’s sports, but 23 states haven’t," Campbell said. "This decision is a wake-up call for those other 23 states to also protect women and girls on the playing field." During the press conference, McCuskey also called on Congress to act. 'SAVE WOMEN'S SPORTS' 2025 CULTURE WAR TIMELINE — THE YEAR THE TIDES TURNED "We are very, very hopeful that Congress specifically will step up, read this decision and say it’s time for a national policy on this issue," McCuskey said. "This is common sense. Nine justices agree with it on Title IX and six justices agree with this on equal protection." Campbell told Fox News Digital in the interview that ADF is already looking beyond Idaho and West Virginia. "We’re considering all options," Campbell said. "We’re certainly evaluating whenever we see injustice on the playing field, and if there are opportunities to bring lawsuits in other venues, we will strongly consider that." The ruling also raised immediate questions about whether the court’s reasoning could affect future cases involving locker rooms, bathrooms and other sex-separated spaces. Labrador said during the press conference that "there’s a lot of language in this decision" that could apply to locker rooms and bathrooms, while McCuskey said the opinion would "instruct" future cases involving whether women should have sex-specific spaces to change, sleep and get dressed. For supporters of the ruling, Tuesday’s decision was a sweeping victory for the women’s sports movement. For opponents, it was a setback that could fuel the next wave of litigation. Neither side sounded ready to stand down. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440922c2ca79de23624613 Democratic congressman warns of 'dangerous' socialist agenda after far-left primary wins te 2026-06-30T18:21:22.346Z Democratic congressman warns of 'dangerous' socialist agenda after far-left primary wins A high-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee blasted the rise of democratic socialism on Tuesday following last week's primary election wins in New York, calling the far-left sweep "dangerous" while poking holes in the party’s campaign platform. Speaking with CNN’s John Berman, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., weighed in on the primary election victories of two Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members, Darializa Avila Chevalier and State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, and former DSA member Brad Lander. All three candidates were endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. "Well, there's two big things that are going on here that need to be separated," Smith told "CNN News Central," adding, "On the one hand, there is a real desire within the Democratic Party, within the broader coalition that we put together. They want to see us fight [President Donald] Trump more effectively. They want us to go after income inequality more aggressively, and they want new, younger faces." "When you look at some of these democratic socialists that are running, their ideology is vastly more radical than that," Smith said as he later turned to discuss the far-left primary wins. "You see that in expressing support for communism, in expressing support for open borders [and] defunding the police — a fundamental attack on America itself and the premises behind it." AOC ISSUES WARNING TO HER FELLOW DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS IN THE WAKE OF SOCIALISTS WINNING BIG IN NYC He added that the platform on which socialist candidates are promising to voters is inherently "dangerous" to the country and not a solid foundation on which to run a campaign. "It’s dangerous that people come in and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to fight Trump. I’m new. I’m going to get after income inequality,’" Smith continued. "But they’re pushing ideas and agendas that are not popular in this country — and frankly, not good policy on immigration enforcement, criminal justice, and the basic concept of personal responsibility, accountability and economic opportunity." "So it is a significant challenge for our coalition, no doubt about it," he added. MAMDANI-BACKED CLAIRE VALDEZ FACES BACKLASH OVER PAST ‘ABOLISH PRECHECK,’ AIRLINE NATIONALIZATION CALLS Berman then asked Smith who exactly is at risk of danger with the rise in the far-left, socialist agenda. "It’s bad policy," Smith said. "I think not having any immigration enforcement creates problems. It's also going to make it difficult for us to have an election — not actually funding the police and having a criminal justice system creates less security." He went on to point to the lapses in feasibility of carrying out such policies. "I also think that if you take personal responsibility and accountability out of it, and just say, ‘We’re going to give free stuff to everybody,’ then you have a problem making that work from a funding standpoint," Smith continued. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Smith concluded his argument against the rise of Democratic socialism by holding firm on the party’s key principles — while insisting the policies backed by socialist candidates are simply unable to win elections. "Look, it's work hard, play by the rules, get ahead," Smith said. "We need more opportunity, but the agenda, as you just described, of some of these folks is pretty radical, and I don't think good policy." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44090ec2ca79de2362460a JONATHAN TURLEY: Birthright citizenship ruling leaves conservatives with only one path te 2026-06-30T18:21:02.889Z JONATHAN TURLEY: Birthright citizenship ruling leaves conservatives with only one path Today, Folarin Balogun secured a spot on the American soccer team for the World Cup...for a second time. That may be the most positive spin I can offer to those upset by today's 5-4 decision in favor of birthright citizenship. Balogun, one of the stars on our team, was born to Nigerian parents visiting the United States and then raised in England. According to the Supreme Court, he is — and was always intended to be — a citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment. SUPREME COURT RULES ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER ELECTION DAY It is a conclusion that divided the court 5-4, but, as in soccer, a one-point win is as good as a nine-point win. Roberts wrote for the majority that "The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land.' We keep that promise today." The victory for birthright citizenship was due to the joining of Chief Justice John Roberts (who authored the decision) and Justice Amy Coney Barrett with the three liberal justices. They found the language and history of the amendment to be clear and, relying on prior rulings dating back decades, concluded that birth alone in this country is enough to confer citizenship — even if born to a tourist or someone briefly on our soil. It is a view that is rejected by the vast majority of countries, which rightfully view birthright citizenship as bonkers, including some which followed the practice and then rescinded it. The United States remains one of the outliers in maintaining this ill-considered practice. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissent, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, effectively arguing that this is the invention of the Court, which refused to reconsider its lazy prior analysis. That included the Court's 1898 ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which expanded birthright citizenship beyond what the Reconstruction Congress had ever "contemplated." He noted that the Court could have resolved the case on narrower grounds consistent with the 14th Amendment: "Wong Kim Ark addressed only the citizenship of a child born to parents who were lawfully and permanently domiciled in the United States." The 5-4 decision unleashed another furious broadside on social media against Barrett, particularly after she authored the 5-4 decision on mail-in ballots again, this time with Roberts and her liberal colleagues. Barrett hit a nerve as one of the three Trump appointees, whom many hoped would be more in the vein of Alito or Thomas. Instead, she often writes with Roberts. The attacks on Barrett ignored that there are good-faith arguments on both sides of the birthright citizenship case. They also ignore that she regularly voted with the conservatives and for positions of the administration. For example, she voted to support states in requiring transgender athletes to compete with their biological sex. She previously was the most vocal justice in rejecting transgender status as a protected class akin to race or religion. President Trump has lashed out at his nominees over their adverse rulings. However, they remain one of his most impressive and positive legacies. President Trump said that he wanted independent and principled conservatives. He got them in Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. They are all extraordinary jurists who have dramatically elevated the Court's intellectual discussions. When I testified at Gorsuch's confirmation in the Senate, I told the senators that they were wrong to pigeonhole the nominee: he would go wherever his convictions took him. That has proven to be the case, and it is a great credit to Trump that he selected such independent minds. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION On birthright citizenship, the matter now rests not with the court, but the country. We have never truly had a national debate over the practice. The basis and future of birthright citizenship have remained matters almost exclusively for the courts. We must now decide whether to pursue such a debate as a constitutional amendment. While Congress can pass legislation cracking down on birth tourism, there is only so much that such laws can do in questioning why particular births occurred in the United States, such as the birth of Balogun. I can think of no more appropriate debate to have as we celebrate our 250th anniversary than what it means to be a citizen of this unique republic. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JONATHAN TURLEY Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4408e4c2ca79de236245e1 Nvidia competitor Etched hits $5B valuation, $1B in sales for AI chip te 2026-06-30T18:20:20.399Z Nvidia competitor Etched hits $5B valuation, $1B in sales for AI chip Nvidia AI chip competitor Etched says it has already booked $1 billion under contract for the inference systems powered by its chip. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4406c7c2ca79de236245a7 Americans are giving up multivitamins for a different daily health habit, study finds te 2026-06-30T18:11:19.119Z Americans are giving up multivitamins for a different daily health habit, study finds Americans are popping more supplements – and fewer multivitamins – than ever before, a new study found. Research published in JAMA Network Open, led by researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, looked at 25 years of U.S. dietary supplement use data from 1999 to 2023. This included more than 63,000 adults over the age of 20 who reported their supplement usage. AGING COULD SLOW DOWN WITH ONE COMMON DAILY HABIT: 'LIVE LONGER AND BETTER' When tracking patterns over time, the analysis revealed that overall supplement use increased from 51% of U.S. adults to 60%. The largest rise – from 62% to 78% – was identified in adults 65 and older. Supplement use was found to be more common in women, people with a higher income or education, and those with insurance. During the same period, multivitamin use decreased from 35% to 31%, while intake of vitamins and minerals outside of multivitamins increased. Some of the largest increases in intake were seen in vitamin D, zinc, magnesium, vitamin B12 and turmeric. Other emerging supplements include ashwagandha, elderberry, collagen, hyaluronic acid, probiotics and prebiotics, according to the research. 'WILD WEST' PEPTIDE CRAZE SURGES BEYOND GLP-1S AS FDA FACES PRESSURE TO EASE ACCESS The later post-pandemic period saw an influx of immune support-based products, like zinc and vitamin D (outside of multivitamins). The rise in supplement use aligns with the longevity movement, as more people seek products tailored to specific health goals, such as immune support, inflammation, gut health, skin health and joint health. The study only shows that people are taking more supplements, but does not prove that they're effective for these uses, the researchers noted. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Los Angeles-based registered dietitian nutritionist Ilana Muhlstein gave her take on the emerging supplement movement. "I love that people are getting more educated and more intentional – I just wish they were being advised by more doctors and dietitians and less by ‘wellness influencers’ who are likely not doing the due diligence on the quality and efficacy of the supplements they’re promoting," she said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES Muhlstein expressed concern that all-in-one-multivitamin use has "slipped," despite the rise in GLP-1 weight-loss medications. "A multivitamin is where I think people should start as the foundation to help bridge nutrient gaps, especially for people on a GLP-1 who are eating about 15% to 30% less, and therefore likely consuming 15% to 30% less vitamins and minerals," she said. "I recommend that everyone on a GLP-1 medication [should] take a multivitamin daily." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER A daily probiotic, magnesium and vitamin D3 are also "smart for many of us," the nutritionist added. She also recommends elderberry as an effective supplement for boosting the immune system when fighting a cold. Collagen has also been shown to benefit the skin and joints, which Muhlstein said is "worth considering as we get older." "My real concern is the unregulated market," she cautioned. "I can’t tell you how many calls I’ve received over the years of people pitching me new supplements ... because the margins are high and the market is huge." "That’s why I’m extremely picky about what I take and what I recommend to my family and clients." TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ Muhlstein warned against taking a supplement that hasn't gone through third-party testing for safety and quality. "The best ones go further and test for pesticides, arsenic and heavy metals, especially for protein powders," she said. "If a product has many ingredients, I like to see that they do testing on each individual ingredient." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4406b3c2ca79de2362459e ABC has no business on public airwaves because it operates 'like a partisan cable network,’ watchdog tells FCC te 2026-06-30T18:10:59.662Z ABC has no business on public airwaves because it operates 'like a partisan cable network,’ watchdog tells FCC The Media Research Center (MRC) has continued its crusade against Disney, declaring Monday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should not renew ABC’s licenses because it operates like a "partisan cable network." FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in April that eight ABC-owned stations must prove they have been operating in the public interest as part of an ongoing look at Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI] practices. The MRC called ABC "a political operation that peddles falsehoods, suppresses actual journalism, and justifies political violence" in a petition to the FCC.  "We finally have an FCC willing to hold Disney and ABC accountable. Broadcast licenses are a privilege, not an entitlement. In exchange for free use of the public airwaves, broadcasters agree to serve the public interest," MRC President David Bozell told Fox News Digital. "If ABC wants to operate like a partisan cable network, it should give up the benefits reserved for broadcast licensees," Bozell continued. "No one is above the law, and ABC should not have its broadcast licenses renewed." ABC LAUNCHES ON-AIR CAMPAIGN ENCOURAGING VIEWERS TO SUPPORT ‘THE VIEW’ IN BATTLE WITH TRUMP’S FCC The Disney-owned ABC affiliates’ licenses were originally scheduled to be renewed between 2028 and 2031, but Trump’s FCC expedited the process. The stations are KFSN-TV in Fresno, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, KGO-TV in San Francisco, WLS-TV in Chicago, WABC-TV in New York, WTVD in Durham, North Carolina, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia and KTRK-TV in Houston. The 27-page petition, first reported by The New York Post and obtained by Fox News Digital, said the "MRC has reviewed nearly 50,000 hours of ABC programming over 38 years, and has produced hundreds of studies detailing ABC’s systemic bias, dishonesty, and partisan activism."  ABC is home to entertainment programs like "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" along with news offerings including "Good Morning America," "The View" and "World News Tonight." Bozell, along with other supporters and MRC colleagues, laid out examples of the alleged bias, including criticism of ABC’s 2024 presidential debate and "The View" prominently featuring liberal guests.  "As unethical as its motives may be, ABC has First Amendment rights. But it does not have a right to use public spectrum to do so. It has numerous, non-public spectrum avenues to express whatever opinions it wishes," the petition said.  ABC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. FCC LAUNCHING PROBE INTO ABC'S 'THE VIEW' AMID CRACKDOWN ON EQUAL TIME FOR CANDIDATES ABC launched ads in those markets that declared, "The FCC is questioning our commitment to viewers by threatening to take us off the air," and urged viewers to speak up and help.  ABC wants viewers to offer public comment through the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System online and enter the corresponding docket number along with their submission. There have been over 100,000 public comments in support of ABC. The FCC is also investigating ABC's "The View" amid the agency's crackdown on equal time for political candidates after Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico appeared on the daytime gabfest. Disney’s ABC believes "The View" is bona fide news and, therefore, exempt from the equal time rule.    Bozell has emerged as a thorn in Disney’s side since taking control of the conservative watchdog last year and recently penned an 18-page letter arguing "The View" is not based on newsworthiness but rather is used for "partisan purposes" such as advancing a preferred candidate.  "ABC claims that its daytime television program The View is a ‘bona fide news interview program’ and thus should be exempt from Congress’s equal opportunity rules. This claim is belied by the facts," Bozell wrote to FCC division chief Maria Mullarkey in a letter that was first obtained by Fox News Digital.  ABC FIRES BACK AT FCC PROBE OF 'THE VIEW,' CALLS OUT AGENCY'S 'CHILLING EFFECT ON FIRST AMENDMENT' "While The View may once have qualified for an exemption, the evidence shows that it has for years operated for political purposes and is therefore not entitled to an exemption to the law," he added. "The View is a political operation of the Democratic Party, not a bona fide news interview program." Bozell said the MRC "has the documentation to demonstrate that The View is a partisan political operation that advocates for Democrats and their party, against President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans, and for the political priorities of the left," and can prove that ABC "misrepresented its program in its petition to the FCC" by improperly citing First Amendment case law, and trivializing the actual harms of censorship through false outrage at the Commission’s legitimate questions. "In support of its petition, MRC will be submitting 2,473 separate pieces of evidence documenting The View’s pervasive bias and, at times, willful electioneering as exhibits to this comment," Bozell wrote. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44068cc2ca79de2362456f Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 5 as a cheaper way to run agents te 2026-06-30T18:10:20.246Z Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 5 as a cheaper way to run agents Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 5 brings stronger agentic capabilities, lower pricing, and improved safety, positioning the model as a cheaper alternative to Opus, GPT-5.5, and Gemini Pro. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440499c2ca79de236244dc Supreme Court lambasted over 'destructive' and 'outrageous' birthright citizenship decision te 2026-06-30T18:02:01.799Z Supreme Court lambasted over 'destructive' and 'outrageous' birthright citizenship decision The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision upholding birthright citizenship as the law of the land enraged critics, who warned it will open the floodgates for third-world and pro-Communist "birth tourism" at a time when immigration enforcement is cracking down on illegal entry. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett joined Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and the court's three liberals in the 6-3 majority in Trump v. Barbara, while the court's three remaining conservatives dissented. The case, brought by an immigrant in New Hampshire under the pseudonym Barbara for her own protection from retaliation, challenged President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to exempt birthright citizenship from the Fourteenth Amendment, which was crafted to ensure formerly enslaved people obtained American citizenship. SUPREME COURT'S LATEST IMMIGRATION RULING WILL CAUSE AMERICANS TO 'DIE AND SUFFER' ATTORNEY WARNS White House advisor Stephen Miller called the ruling "one of the most destructive and outrageous decisions in the long history of the Supreme Court." "American citizenship is not the birthright of the world. It belongs only and solely to Americans. No provision of the Constitution can be read to require our national self-obliteration," he said. "The constant diluting of our citizenship. Everyone can vote. Everyone’s a citizen. Everyone gets Medicaid. Everyone qualifies for food stamps," said Daniel Turner, president of the pro-domestic energy group Power the Future. LOS ANGELES PROPOSAL TO ALLOW NONCITIZENS TO VOTE IN LOCAL ELECTIONS SPARKS ONLINE BACKLASH "You’re American. So is the Mexican who arrived 11 minutes ago or the Chinese spy who paid for birth tourism: Because ‘equity’." Turner’s take echoed a common refrain among those long concerned that such a ruling would result in an influx of illegal immigrants having babies on American soil before returning to their home countries, allowing their children to vote in U.S. elections once they turn 18. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., wasted no time proposing legislation to address the ruling after Kavanaugh wrote in his concurring opinion that Trump’s order didn’t violate the Constitution but did violate a federal law crafted in the spirit of the Fourteenth Amendment. TRUMP'S SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE SENATE DESPITE REPUBLICAN REVOLT "The Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship decision is wrong, dangerous, and disastrous for American sovereignty and the American people," Schmitt said in a statement. "If we can't fix it with ordinary legislation, then we must do what the Constitution commands in moments of national crisis: We must amend the Constitution and restore American citizenship." "We must again put ‘We the People’ first. The Supreme Court’s decision constitutionalizing unlimited birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens and temporarily present aliens is wrong—and disastrous for our sovereignty and the future of our republic." Schmitt said America is already reaping the fruits of birthright citizenship in light of "foreign communists essentially taking over New York City politics." Mayor Zohran Mamdani, for one, was born in Uganda, moved to New York with his family as a child and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Schmitt said his constitutional amendment — which would be the first in nearly 40 years if ratified — would fix the loophole the court created. "Today is a sad day in the history of our republic," he said. Rep. Clay Fuller, R-Ga., who recently succeeded former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, said on X that the Supreme Court put the future of illegal immigrants over real American children. "We cannot continue to support this invasion taking place. Congress must act before it's too late," he said, adding that he is introducing HR 172 – a Constitutional amendment likely to correspond with Schmitt’s Senate version. Former law professor John Eastman, who previously advised Trump on election law matters, said Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch’s dissents were "strong, and in my view, correct." Meanwhile, Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet tweeted that a willingness to overturn the case is the "new litmus test for every new Supreme Court justice." "The Court has utterly and completely failed America. The dissent of Justice Thomas will prove prescient: 'I'm not sure that today's decision will stand the test of time.'" In the run-up to the decision, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis correctly predicted on X that Thomas and Alito would be featured dissenting against a "bad ruling." When informed of the ruling during a news conference on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Mike Johnson audibly grumbled before stating that the majority justices put forth what one "could say [is] a textualist originalist view." "However, I do think that this has been grossly abused in recent years." Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts agreed, adding in a statement that the ruling is a "tremendous betrayal of the Republic." "The Justices in the majority have inflamed the all-out assault on our sovereignty and cheapened the sacred value of American citizenship. Universal birthright citizenship erases any uniquely American birthright—a distortion that was never the meaning or intention of the 14th Amendment. It is time for a constitutional amendment to correct this gross injustice." SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER The ruling did have its celebrants, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif. Padilla said in a statement that the Constitution "could not be clearer" that if someone is born in the U.S. they are a citizen — "period." "While there is nothing surprising about Donald Trump’s efforts to erode birthright citizenship and disregard laws he doesn’t like, today’s decision reaffirms over a century of legal precedent protecting this fundamental constitutional right," Padilla said. The senator added that the ruling is personal for him as the son of Mexican immigrants. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul concurred, saying in a statement that as the granddaughter of Irish immigrants, she was "heartened" by the court. "The Statue of Liberty stands proudly in our harbor, and New York will always stand with those seeking the promise of America," Hochul said. Schmitt and Fuller’s amendment would require approval by two-thirds of both the House and Senate, or by a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of the states. The convention method has never been used to ratify any of the Constitution’s 27 amendments. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440486c2ca79de236244d3 Mamdani-backed socialist in hot seat again over deleted posts praising communism, Marxism: 'Crazypants' te 2026-06-30T18:01:42.338Z Mamdani-backed socialist in hot seat again over deleted posts praising communism, Marxism: 'Crazypants' Socialist New York congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier is facing criticism over a deleted social media account that featured posts where she expressed support for communism, Marxist principles, and reverence for Soviet figures.  Avila Chevalier, backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), operated the Twitter account Darializabonet until it was deleted in June 2022. The account, according to CNN, called Karl Marx a "must read", complained that libraries didn’t provide enough Marxist literature, and quoted convicted cop killer Assata Shakur.  "I just cannot get over the fact that the universe has foisted upon us the perfect illustration of literally every failing of capitalism and people are still like we can’t be communists cuz there won’t be enough types of soup," a post retweeted by Avila Chevalier said. Avila Chevalier, who has already faced criticism over deleted posts calling to abolish the police and discussing wiping her hands on an American flag, was widely slammed by conservatives and moderates both online and on television over the new CNN report. MAMDANI STANDS BY FELLOW SOCIALIST CANDIDATE DESPITE RESURFACED FAR-LEFT, ANTI-AMERICAN POSTS "Our party has become an orgy of socialism," Sen. John Fetterman said during a Fox News appearance and also posted on X, "Will Democrats continue to defend Crazypants or pretend, ‘Oh, I wasn’t really paying attention?’" "It cannot be overstated just how radical Darializa Avila Chevalier is," UPenn student Eyal Yakoby posted on X.  "Funny, I was told repeatedly on live TV that socialism and communism are totally different and in no way, shape, or form are these Democratic Socialists the same as communists," CNN political commentator Scott Jennings posted on X. MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALIST PRIMARY WINNER FOUNDED GROUP WHOSE GOAL IS TO ‘ERADICATE' WESTERN CIVILIZATION "‘Democratic Socialist’ is to the Communist what ‘National Socialist’ was to the Nazi," reality TV star and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt posted on X. "The enemy is inside the gates," Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy posted on X. "Socialism/communism have killed more people than every other -’ism’ combined. Add in radical Islamism and you have an apocalyptic combination." "These people are the vanguard of an America-hating wave of progressive lunatics." Fox News Digital reached out to Avila Chevalier for comment.  AvilaChevalier, despite her history of anti-American rhetoric, defeated the incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York's 13th Congressional District Democratic primary on Tuesday. She is widely expected to defeat her Republican opponent in November in one of the bluest cities in the United States. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440472c2ca79de236244ca Celebrate America 250 with this $10 hat FOX readers can't stop buying te 2026-06-30T18:01:22.895Z Celebrate America 250 with this $10 hat FOX readers can't stop buying This FOX News reader-favorite hat lets you celebrate America's 250th anniversary in style. It has everything from the American flag to bold patriotic designs engraved on the front and is actually super comfortable. More than 300 shoppers bought it in the past month, making it a standout pick for the Fourth of July. Grab yours for just $10 on Amazon. READ MORE: America 250 gear on Amazon: Save up to 60% on hats, garden flags and more The adjustable baseball hat features some of the country's most recognizable symbols, including the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell and a bald eagle, all set against a navy background that pairs easily with your favorite patriotic outfits. An embroidered American flag on the side also adds a classic finishing touch. READ MORE: Don't let the heat ruin your Fourth of July plans — 13 products to help you stay cool It's easy to see why this America 250 commemorative hat has earned mostly 5-star reviews on Amazon. The printed design stands up to regular wear, while the adjustable metal clasp keeps the fit secure and comfortable. "This hat can handle more than it should," one reviewer wrote, adding that it's "well-made and very sturdy." Other shoppers were just as impressed, especially considering the $10 price tag. One reviewer said the "stitching is tight, everything is straight and colors are vibrant." If you're an Amazon Prime member, you can get this hat sent to your door ASAP. You can join or start a 30-day free trial to start your shopping today. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a44045fc2ca79de236244c1 Mississippi district attorney Jody Owens resigns after pleading guilty in federal bribery case: report te 2026-06-30T18:01:03.426Z Mississippi district attorney Jody Owens resigns after pleading guilty in federal bribery case: report Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens resigned on Monday after pleading guilty in a sprawling federal bribery case in Mississippi. Owens pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson, according to a report by local outlet WAPT. An October 2024 indictment initially charged Owens with conspiracy, federal program bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements, according to the report. The case stemmed from a 2022 FBI undercover operation where agents posed as real estate developers interested in building a convention center hotel in downtown Jackson, the outlet reported.  JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, MAYOR FACING FEDERAL BRIBERY CHARGES TRAILS CHALLENGER IN MAYORAL ELECTION RESULTS Federal prosecutors allegedthat  Owens accepted at least $115,000 in cash, along with promises of future financial perks, in exchange for using his influence to push the project through city government channels, according to WAPT. Undercover recordings allegedly captured Owens detailing how public officials could be bribed and how the illicit funds could be laundered through businesses and campaign donations, the outlet reported. RESIGNATION IS THE NEW ESCAPE HATCH AS LAWMAKERS FACE EXPULSION In the wake of his guilty plea, Owens took to Facebook on Monday to announce his official resignation, which takes effect July 1. Calling it "one of the most difficult decisions" he has ever made, Owens wrote that while it "hurts beyond measure" to leave a position he loves, it was the best choice for his family and the district attorney's office.  "Serving as your District Attorney has been the privilege and honor of a lifetime," Owens wrote in the post.  "To everyone who has supported, encouraged, and prayed for Michelle, our children, and me over these past two years, thank you.… As we begin this next chapter, I ask only that you continue to keep our family in your prayers," he added. A conspiracy conviction carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, along with a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. Owens’ sentencing date has been set for Oct. 15. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi and Hinds County District Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a440434c2ca79de23624492 Acti puts AI agents directly into your smartphone keyboard te 2026-06-30T18:00:20.499Z Acti puts AI agents directly into your smartphone keyboard Startup Acti is betting the smartphone keyboard is the next home for AI assistants. Its new keyboard for iOS and Android works across apps and lets users create custom AI-powered shortcuts using natural language. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4401ccc2ca79de2362442d US Supreme Court upholds transgender athlete bans in Idaho, West Virginia te 2026-06-30T17:50:04.423Z US Supreme Court upholds transgender athlete bans in Idaho, West Virginia The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 29, 2024. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Nerwsroom) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday kept in place state laws banning transgender athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams. The decision stems from challenges to bans in Idaho and West Virginia and marks a major setback for transgender rights across the country. The opinion also came as President Donald Trump’s administration has pursued a broad anti-trans agenda that has extended beyond athletics. The nation’s highest court found, 6-3, that the bans in Idaho and West Virginia do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment — a key question in both cases before the court.  The court was unanimous that Title IX, a landmark 1972 law that mandated sports teams be equally provided to male and female students, does not block bans like the ones in Idaho and West Virginia. Becky Pepper-Jackson attends the Lambda Legal Liberty Awards on June 8, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Lambda Legal ) The majority opinion, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, rejected the argument from Becky Pepper-Jackson, the transgender West Virginia girl in the case, that excluding trans girls from boys’ teams ran afoul of a 1974 amendment to Title IX that schools set “reasonable” provisions about sports participation. West Virginia’s law — similar to those imposed by 27 other states, the International Olympic Committee, the NCAA and other sports bodies — was at least reasonable, Kavanaugh said. “Whether biological males may participate on women’s and girls’ sports teams may be a debated policy question,” he wrote. “But the legal question for Title IX purposes is whether West Virginia may limit women’s and girls’ sports teams to biological females. As a matter of text and history, West Virginia may do so.” Liberals would impose more scrutiny The court’s three liberal justices agreed that Title IX did not prevent laws such as West Virginia’s and Idaho’s. But they disagreed on the equal protection issue, and would have remanded the case back to the West Virginia federal trial court for further fact-finding. “In not taking this modest step, the majority badly errs in two ways,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Demonstrators rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, as justices heard two cases on state bans of trans athletes. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) There is an “unresolved factual dispute” about if transgender and cisgender girls “are similarly situated,” Sotomayor said. And the majority invoked “scientific uncertainty” to give too much deference to West Virginia. Both matters could have been resolved at lower courts, Sotomayor wrote. “None of this is to suggest what the eventual outcome of this litigation would have been, or even should have been, had the majority allowed the courts below to make the missing factual determinations and had those courts correctly applied heightened scrutiny with the benefit of those facts,” she said. “The point, rather, is that this Court’s equal protection precedents require a very different approach.” Idaho law The Idaho case contested the Gem State’s 2020 law categorically banning trans athletes from competing on women’s and girls’ sports teams. Lindsay Hecox sued over the ban in 2020, just months before the law — the first of its kind in the nation — was set to take effect.  Hecox wanted to try out for the women’s track and cross-country teams at Boise State University, but the Idaho law would have prevented her from doing so because she is transgender.  An Idaho federal court halted the law from taking effect later in 2020. A federal appeals court upheld the ruling in 2023 but later adjusted its scope in 2024 to only apply to Hecox, not other athletes. In July 2024, Idaho appealed to the Supreme Court. Hecox later asked both an Idaho federal court and the Supreme Court to drop the case.  Though a federal judge in Idaho rejected that attempt in October, the Supreme Court deferred the request until after oral arguments were heard back in January.  Idaho Republicans cheer Several of Idaho’s leading elected officials, all Republicans, issued statements praising Tuesday’s ruling. Gov. Brad Little noted in an emailed statement that the Idaho law was the first of its kind at the state level. “We are leading the nation in supporting generations of women and men who fought hard to uphold Title IX protections and keep girls and women safe,” he said. “I want to thank the Idaho Legislature and Representative Barbara Ehardt in particular for her leadership on this issue of great importance to female athletes across Idaho and the nation. This is a historic moment for common sense!” Ehardt,who sponsored Idaho’s ban in the state Legislature called the decision the end of an “amazing journey.”  “I said from the very beginning that it would end up at the Supreme Court, and when it did, I was privileged enough to sit in that courtroom and listen,” Ehardt said. “I expected my legislation, and thus Title IX, to be upheld as it should be. Opportunities for girls and women should never be confused with male feelings!” West Virginia law The case in West Virginia surrounded a 2021 Mountain State law that also bans trans athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.   Pepper-Jackson wanted to try out for the girls’ cross-country team when starting middle school, but would have been prevented from doing so under the state law because she is transgender.  In 2021, Pepper-Jackson’s mother sued on her behalf. A federal appeals court in 2024 barred the state from enforcing the ban, which prompted West Virginia to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in.  Trump’s anti-trans agenda Meanwhile, the Trump administration has sought at the federal level to prohibit trans athletes’ participation in women’s sports teams aligning with their gender identity, including through an executive order Trump signed last year. That executive order made it the policy of the United States to “rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, which results in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy.” The NCAA promptly changed its policy to comply with the order, limiting “competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only.” Trump has signed other executive orders targeting trans people, including orders that make it the “policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” restrict access to gender-affirming care for kids and aim to bar openly transgender service members from the U.S. military. Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, to commend the justices. “BIG WIN: The United States Supreme Court  just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS,” he wrote. “Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!!” Other reaction Reaction poured in Tuesday from lawmakers and other officials, both in favor and against the court’s ruling. Many who endorsed the decision, including U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, made some version of the declaration that “women’s sports are for women.” “Unfortunately, radical gender ideology bolstered by policies pushed under the Biden-Harris administration chipped away at Title IX protections. As a result, the very female athletes the law was meant to empower were sidelined in the name of ‘equality,’” Walberg, a Michigan Republican, said in a statement. He added that he was “grateful” to the justices and said his committee’s Republicans “will always stand with women athletes.” U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito made a similar statement in a social media post “Girls’ sports are for girls. It’s common sense,” the West Virginia Republican said. “I’m thankful SCOTUS has upheld West Virginia’s law protecting female athletes.” Critics of the ruling vowed to continue efforts to create protections for trans people. League of Women Voters CEO Celina Stewar said the decision “sends a dangerous message that some students are less worthy of dignity, opportunity, and belonging.”  “Policies that intentionally target and marginalize young people simply for who they are weaken our democracy and violate the values of fairness and inclusion that define who we are as a nation,” she said. “The League stands in solidarity with all affected students, and we remain committed to ensuring that equality  becomes a lived reality for everyone.” U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat who co-chairs the Democratic Women’s Caucus, said in a post to social media the decision centered on “whether LGBTQ+ rights are civil rights protected by federal law.” “The answer is YES—and we will keep fighting until it is clear this is the law of the land!” she added. And leaders in blue states that do not have laws like the ones upheld Tuesday said they would not be affected. “Today’s ruling, while predictable, is yet another disturbing affront to personal liberties by providing states with a license to discriminate,” Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said. “The Court was clear that this decision had no bearing with respect to a state’s choice to include transgender athletes and as such, will not implicate the Department of Justice’s case against Maine.” Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4401cbc2ca79de23624405 What to Know About the Supreme Court’s Birthright Citizenship Order te 2026-06-30T17:50:03.526Z What to Know About the Supreme Court’s Birthright Citizenship Order The decision ends one of the most aggressive parts of Trump’s immigration agenda. But hundreds of other restrictions have taken effect. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43ff72c2ca79de23624397 Texas Rangers get the nod over Cleveland Guardians in tonight's MLB betting pick despite road struggles te 2026-06-30T17:40:02.966Z Texas Rangers get the nod over Cleveland Guardians in tonight's MLB betting pick despite road struggles I finally got off the slide last night and now have won three of the past four MLB games that I've played. I did catch a little bit of luck yesterday as the Diamondbacks scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. In fairness, they were winning until the top of the fifth. It was nice to be on the right side of it either way. Tonight, we head to the American League and look for a win. If you're familiar with Greek mythology at all, you've probably heard about Sisyphus. For those who don't know, he was a guy who was condemned by the Greek gods to push a huge boulder up the hill, only for it to roll back down every time it got to the top. That's how I feel about the Texas Rangers. Every time they get close to looking like a winning team, they have a setback and go back under .500. They are over for the moment at 42-41, and perhaps, this is the time they get the boulder over and keep moving forward. However, I think they are what they are - an average team that needs to find a way to get on a roll. Starting pitching really hasn't been the problem for the Rangers. It has been more about a lack of consistent offense. Today, they send out Jacob deGrom to do his work. We know that deGrom's arm was blessed by the gods early in his career, but even now, he is still turning in solid outings. He is 6-5 for the season with a 3.55 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. He has struggled on the road this year with a 4.60 road ERA. What is crazy is that he has three games where he allowed six earned runs. He faced Cleveland earlier this month and allowed no runs in six innings of work. I'm not sure I have a mythological comparison for the Cleveland Guardians. All I can say about this team is that every year, they seem to be one of the better teams in baseball and find a way to win despite not having top-tier talent. Perhaps that is a lesson in roster construction for the rest of the league. The Guardians are three games over .500, and they are one game back of the White Sox, so you can once again count on them having a say on who wins the division. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! What the Guardians have always done a very good job of is finding reliable starting pitching. Tonight, they have Tanner Bibee taking the hill. Bibee is 2-8 for the season with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He is doing slightly better at home than on the road. However, he has allowed more homers at home than on the road. And, he has allowed identical earned runs on the road as at home this season; he just has one more start at home and roughly five more innings. Bibee also faced the Rangers earlier this month and turned in his best start of the year. He went eight scoreless innings and allowed three hits. Bibee has good numbers against Rangers hitters in his career, with just 11 hits allowed in 56 at-bats. Jake Burger might be worth a look at for total bases or a homer, as he is 2-for-5 with two homers against him. I'm not sure I'll get involved in the player prop market for this game, though. The play here is to take the Rangers. Call it a bit of a hunch, but if I'm backing either of these pitchers to replicate the performance from earlier in the month, I'm taking deGrom. He has struggled a bit on the road, but part of that is from the really bad games. Otherwise, he is pitching fairly well. Give me the Rangers on the moneyline tonight. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024 Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43ff72c2ca79de2362438e Air Force reveals B-2's hidden ship killer capability as China threat grows te 2026-06-30T17:40:02.643Z Air Force reveals B-2's hidden ship killer capability as China threat grows The Air Force revealed Monday that its flagship B-2 Spirit stealth bomber can now strike enemy warships with the long range anti-ship missile (LRASM), publicly unveiling the capability after a live-fire exercise in the Western Pacific. The stealth bomber launched a long-range anti-ship missile during Exercise Valiant Shield 26, a U.S.-led multinational exercise involving American and allied forces across the Western Pacific, in a sinking exercise north of the Mariana Islands. The announcement comes as the Pentagon increasingly focuses on preparing for a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific, where China's rapidly expanding navy would present one of the U.S. military's biggest challenges. Publicly demonstrating the B-2's new maritime strike capability also serves as a signal that the stealth bomber could play a key role in holding high-value naval targets at risk. "The B-2's impressive performance underscores the U.S. military’s commitment to adaptability and flexibility in the face of emerging security challenges," Gen. Kevin B. Schneider, commander of Pacific Air Forces, said in a statement. TRUMP PLAN FOR FOREIGN SHIPBUILDERS COULD CREATE 540,000 JOBS AND EXPAND US FLEET "By prioritizing counter-maritime strike operations, we can maintain a decisive edge over adversaries, protect our national interests and ensure the free and open Pacific that underpin our global security." Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for details, but confirmed to The War Zone that the B-2 fired the anti-ship missile at a decommissioned amphibious warfare ship known as the USS Juneau during the exercise. U.S. and partner-nation forces battered the decommissioned warship, which entered service in 1969, with coordinated air, surface and subsurface strikes June 27 and June 28, sending it to the bottom of the Philippine Sea more than 200 nautical miles off the coast of Guam, according to a Navy release. A Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine delivered the final blow with a torpedo. TIM SHEEHY EXPOSES A 'SCARY' SHIPBUILDING COLLAPSE THAT LEAVES THE US VULNERABLE TO CHINA China continues to expand the world's largest navy and fields an array of long-range anti-ship missiles aimed at keeping U.S. forces at bay in the Western Pacific. The People's Liberation Army Navy will grow from more than 370 battle force ships to roughly 435 by 2030, according to Pentagon projections. U.S. Navy currently operates about 291 battle force ships. But Beijing has yet to field its long-awaited H-20 stealth bomber, leaving the U.S. with an operational capability China has not yet publicly demonstrated: pairing a stealth bomber with a long-range anti-ship cruise missile capable of striking high-value naval targets in heavily defended airspace. While long range anti-ship missile already is carried by the Air Force's B-1B Lancer and the Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, integrating the missile onto the B-2 gives the Air Force a stealth platform capable of carrying the weapon. The B-2 Spirit is the Air Force's only operational stealth bomber, designed to penetrate sophisticated enemy air defenses while carrying both conventional and nuclear weapons. Most recently, B-2s flew from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to strike Iranian nuclear facilities during Operation Midnight Hammer, dropping 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs in the weapon's first combat use. The demonstration could also foreshadow future missions for the B-21 Raider, the Air Force's next-generation stealth bomber, which eventually will replace the B-2. While the Air Force has not disclosed which anti-ship weapons the B-21 will carry, officials say it is being designed to employ a broad mix of stand-off and direct-attack conventional munitions.  EUROPE'S $116B FIGHTER JET 'FAILURE' RAISES FRESH DOUBTS ABOUT ABILITY TO DEFEND ITSELF WITHOUT US The B-21 is expected to begin entering operational service in 2027. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43ff72c2ca79de23624385 Jackson accuses Thomas of echoing infamously racist court decision in birthright citizenship clash te 2026-06-30T17:40:02.270Z Jackson accuses Thomas of echoing infamously racist court decision in birthright citizenship clash Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday accused Justice Clarence Thomas of echoing "one of Dred Scott’s core tenets" by opposing the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold birthright citizenship.  In Jackson’s concurrence with the majority’s opinion in Trump v. Barbara, she argued that the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause was historically intended to apply to all people born in the United States, including children of illegal immigrants, contrary to Thomas’s position that the amendment was ratified specifically to provide slaves freed after the Civil War with citizenship. "Freed Blacks fought for the shared humanity of all people. And the Great Emancipator eventually foresaw that the only path forward that could prevent a return — in any form — to slavery and race-based subordination was to link the fates of all," Jackson wrote. "Of course, the ultimate irony is that for all the talk about the detestable Dred Scott decision, the Government and [Thomas] propose a return to its core tenet. Their bottom line is that, for certain people, being born on American soil will not suffice to confer citizenship." By invoking "Dred Scott," Jackson is referencing an 1857 Supreme Court decision in which the majority held that people of African descent "are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word 'citizens' in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States." CHINA EXPLOITING 'BIRTH TOURISM' TO GAIN LONG-TERM POLITICAL INFLUENCE IN US, AUTHOR WARNS According to Thomas, however, Jackson’s universalist characterization of the historical context surrounding the 14th Amendment was unfounded. "After the Civil War, the Reconstruction Congress overruled Dred Scott, first with the Civil Rights Act of 1866, then with the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment," Thomas wrote. "Both the Civil Rights Act and the Citizenship Clause guaranteed citizenship to persons born and domiciled in the United States regardless of their race. Neither guaranteed citizenship to persons who were not domiciled in the United States." LAWYER WHO BEAT HAWAII GUN LAW CALLS STATE’S RELIANCE ON BLACK CODE ‘DISGRACEFUL’ Thomas went on to describe the distinction he believes is drawn between Black Americans and foreigners residing in the country. "Blacks were entitled to citizenship because they were Americans. They had no other homeland, owed no allegiance to any foreign power, and were subject to no other authority," the justice went on. "The same could not be said for the children of foreign temporary visitors. Foreign temporary visitors were attached to their home country, lacked similar bonds to this country, and would not be called upon in time of war." SUPREME COURT'S SHOWDOWN ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP DECISION COULD RESHAPE AMERICA Thomas argued that citizenship under the 14th Amendment requires birth in the United States as well as "domicile," a legal concept he defines as both one’s physical home and one's permanent allegiance to the country. Children of foreign temporary visitors, per Thomas, do not qualify because, although subject to U.S. laws while here, they remain tied to another sovereign and are not fully "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States in the constitutional sense. Jackson fired back at this line of reasoning, calling it "myopic." "Despite his longstanding endorsement of a ‘colorblind’ Constitution, Justice Thomas now surprisingly suggests that the Citizenship Clause was a race-conscious remedial measure, relating only to ‘freed slaves such as Dred Scott,’" she wrote. "It is for this reason, he says, that ‘children who were born in the United States but [to parents] not domiciled here’ are not entitled to claim birthright citizenship. But that narrow vision of the Fourteenth Amendment bears little relationship to the history of its ratification. Even worse, Justice Thomas’s telling elides the entire point of the Second Founding." "The Reconstruction Amendments were an anticaste, antisubordination reset for the Nation, not a mere spot treatment for the dark stain of slavery," Jackson asserted. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43ff71c2ca79de23624377 ‘Heartbreaking’ Ruling Leaves Trans Advocates Crestfallen te 2026-06-30T17:40:01.234Z ‘Heartbreaking’ Ruling Leaves Trans Advocates Crestfallen The ruling upholding two state laws blocking transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports was the latest in a series of defeats. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43fd1cc2ca79de23624339 ‘Breathing oven air’: 32 years after Lake Havasu City became America’s hottest city te 2026-06-30T17:30:04.840Z ‘Breathing oven air’: 32 years after Lake Havasu City became America’s hottest city This week marks 32 years since the record-breaking 128-degree temperature was recorded at a fire station in Lake Havasu City. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43fd1cc2ca79de23624330 🚧 Havasu Tip List | How 'blind person area' signage works te 2026-06-30T17:30:04.467Z 🚧 Havasu Tip List | How 'blind person area' signage works Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43fd1bc2ca79de23624307 Wisconsin Badgers just added the perfect jersey sponsorship if there is such a thing te 2026-06-30T17:30:03.464Z Wisconsin Badgers just added the perfect jersey sponsorship if there is such a thing One of the most controversial things to happen in sports over the last five to seven years or so is the introduction of jersey ads. Sure, they've been around in Europe and in the minor leagues forever, but now major league teams and even colleges are adding them. But now and then, someone comes up with a perfect jersey ad, and that's what the Wisconsin Badgers have done. It seems borderline sacrilegious to throw a corporate sponsorship on the Badgers' iconic cardinal red and white getups. Especially one that doesn't share those colors. CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE But they may have found a solution: Butter burger-flippin', Concrete Mixer-slingin' fast-food chain, Culver's. I feel like a significant portion of the Badgers fanbase was very angry when they heard they were slapping ads on their uniforms, but that subsided at least 20%, if not completely, when they saw it was Culver's. They love Culver's there. And I think this might be the answer to these jersey sponsorships. I don't totally hate the way they look, because I think they become part of the uniform. Think about motorsports, where the sponsor is the paint scheme or livery. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! But I think you can convince even more of the haters if you bring in a sponsor that has some ties to the region, and that's what Wisconsin has done. More schools will be adding sponsors, so hopefully they will follow suit. Get a Texas school to partner with Buc-ee's or a Philly-area school to throw a Wawa patch on their uniforms (of course, it doesn't have to stay limited to regional convenience store chains, but there's a lot of pride in those). Is it still fun to see corporate logos slapped on iconic uniforms? No. But you've got to bring in that money somehow if you want to throw a competitive roster on the field. And if that means slapping a burger chain's logo on the shoulder, go for it. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43fac3c2ca79de2362429d Obama blames splintered media for preventing superstar Democrat from rising up te 2026-06-30T17:20:03.526Z Obama blames splintered media for preventing superstar Democrat from rising up Former President Barack Obama blamed a splintered media landscape for the lack of a second Obama-like political figure emerging on the national stage during an interview on Tuesday. NBC "Today" co-host Craig Melvin talked to the former president about the new Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on his "Glass Half Full" podcast and told him, "You’ve always represented a lot of different communities, but there has always been this singularity to your story. Earlier this week, one of your former aides was talking on one of these cable shows and said Democrats should stop looking for Obama 2.0. Not gonna happen." "Do you think in the current climate that someone like you with your background and your story, do you think that you could break through now the same way you did back in ’07, ’08?" Melvin asked Obama.  "I do think it’s harder because of the nature of your business, the media, it’s more splintered," Obama said. OBAMA CHOOSES SUPPORTER STEPHEN COLBERT FOR DEBUT INTERVIEW AT CONTROVERSIAL PRESIDENTIAL CENTER "I hadn’t even been elected yet to the U.S. Senate," he continued. "I had won the primary. I’d won the nomination — Democratic nomination to be the senator of Illinois, but nobody really knew who I was except outside of Illinois. And when I gave that speech at the convention, suddenly I’m a national figure because all the networks covered it. And if you’re on the cover of Time magazine or Newsweek back then, suddenly everybody knows who you are because we all shared one culture." Obama said that people "who are just as gifted or in some cases more gifted" than him were not breaking through because of a splintered media. He suggested the country was in a transition period. "So I think we’re in a transition period where there are a lot of Barack and Michelle Obamas out there doing cool stuff, but politics hasn’t quite given them the platform yet. Media hasn’t shined a spotlight on them yet. If we can help focus on the great work they’re doing, then that’s one of our core missions," he said. OBAMA REMAINS DEM HEADLINER WHILE PRESIDENT WITH MOST VOTES EVER FADES INTO BACKGROUND: 'IT WAS ALL A DREAM' Obama said during the dedication of his presidential center in Chicago earlier this month that America’s Founders fell "terribly short" of the Declaration of Independence’s promise, while casting the nation’s story as one of generations coming together to make the union "more perfect." "The success of this experiment was never a given," Obama said in his speech, referring to the nation's founding ahead of America celebrating its 250th anniversary on the 4th of July. "In forming our union, the founders fell terribly short of the Declaration's promise, leaving slavery intact, allowing states to restrict the franchise to white men who owned property," he said. "But in drafting a Constitution and a Bill of Rights, they did have the foresight, the genius, to provide us with a framework that allows each generation to make our union more perfect." CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE The 44th president devoted much of his speech to outlining the work he believes America still has ahead, echoing themes he has emphasized in past appearances on the campaign trail and during his time in the White House. Fox News' Ashley J. DiMella contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43fac3c2ca79de23624294 Amazon Prime Video NFL analyst defends streaming services broadcasting but understands fan frustration te 2026-06-30T17:20:03.227Z Amazon Prime Video NFL analyst defends streaming services broadcasting but understands fan frustration It is no secret that it's much harder to find a primetime NFL game thanks to streaming services taking over. Amazon Prime Video, Peacock and Netflix each have scored exclusive rights to specific games, and that may just be the tip of the iceberg. The new way of watching sports, which is also more expensive than ever, was recently called into question during a hearing regarding the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Andrew Whitworth is one of the faces of Amazon Prime Video's NFL coverage, and while he believes in not "put[ting] the genie back in the bottle," he also understands fans' frustrations. "I get it. I get that fans are trying to figure out the landscape of how they want to watch this or that or anything else," Whitworth told Fox News Digital about the new "road we've gone down." However, Whitworth also believes that watching sports is hardly any different from finding one's favorite movies or television shows that are stretched across certain services. "It's always the most complicated thing ever when I'm like, 'Oh, I heard I should watch this show.' And I'm like, 'Well, where is that on?' And so it's that journey you go on to figure out what service has this TV show that you want to watch that somebody told you about or whatever," Whitworth said. "I think that's just kind of where this stuff is at this time. I don't think I have a great answer for what a fan or somebody should do other than that's kind of the world we live in... BROADCASTERS URGE CONGRESS TO REEXAMINE SPORTS BROADCASTING ACT AS GAMES SHIFT TO STREAMING PAYWALLS "I think sports is right along with where entertainment is, and right now a lot of that is you go to these specific places to watch these specific things. I think it's just kind of the world we're in right now. I think it's all starting to figure itself out. And I'm sure, as with anything else in the world, we'll find ways to simplify it and make it easier. But right now it feels like everyone's establishing themselves and where they fit in the industry. Then I think, over time, we'll start to see the process get simpler." If one were to strictly stream all NFL games throughout the 2025 season on Sunday Ticket, Netflix, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN Unlimited and NFL+, it would have cost a minimum of $575, and for others (prior Sunday Ticket watchers) nearly $800. The sports leagues have cashed in on the pivot to streaming, with the NFL landing $1 billion a year to air "Thursday Night Football" on Amazon as an example. The Sports Broadcasting Act exemption passed in 1961 applies only to broadcast television. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other media, including cable, satellite and streaming. The Sports Broadcasting Act includes a rule allowing blackouts of local games, which still applies to out-of-market packages sold by the leagues. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X , and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43fac2c2ca79de2362428b Stephen Miller blasts Barrett, Roberts for caving to the 'radical left' in SCOTUS mail-in voting ruling te 2026-06-30T17:20:02.841Z Stephen Miller blasts Barrett, Roberts for caving to the 'radical left' in SCOTUS mail-in voting ruling White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller called out Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and John Roberts Monday, accusing the two of "cav[ing] to the radical left" by ruling in favor of a Mississippi law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted even if they are received after Election Day.  "Justice Roberts and Justice Barrett decided to cave to the radical left. [Justice] Alito was so clear in his wording about what Election Day means. Nobody could read the statute, could read that opinion, could read what Alito wrote and come to any other conclusion," he told "The Ingraham Angle." "It's Election Day, not election week, not election month, not election months. So this was really a travesty, and it underscores why we have to keep fighting to pass the SAVE America Act." SUPREME COURT RULES ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER ELECTION DAY Miller's remarks came after Roberts and Barrett sided with liberal justices in a 5-4 ruling Monday, holding that Election Day, in the context of federal law, set a deadline for when voters must make a choice regarding their preferred candidate but said that relevant laws have no standard for when ballots must be received to be considered valid.  Trump-appointed Barrett authored the majority opinion ruling in favor of the law. She was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. TRUMP'S SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE SENATE DESPITE REPUBLICAN REVOLT Justice Samuel Alito penned the dissent, warning the decision could erode already-fragile trust among many in the nation's electoral systems. Miller argued Monday that the American people elected Republican majorities in Congress hoping to see the SAVE Act passed, echoing other conservatives who have cited the Supreme Court's recent ruling as evidence that more ballot box protections are needed. "80 million Americans elected a Republican Senate majority, and they elected a Republican Congress to deliver on this fundamental priority," he said. "It must get done." Fox News' Robert Schmad and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43fac2c2ca79de23624282 Save up to 70% on camping gear, luggage and more on REI's 4th of July deals te 2026-06-30T17:20:02.511Z Save up to 70% on camping gear, luggage and more on REI's 4th of July deals REI's 4th of July Deals include discounts of up to 70% on camping, hiking and other outdoor gear. Shop everything from six-person tents and camp stoves to waterproof Keen sandals and Patagonia backpacks. This sale ends on July 6, so shop now while these deals last. Save on popular brands like Nike, Hoka and Patagonia. Darn Tough women’s no-show running socks: $6.83 (57% off) Nike Swoosh support bra: $28.93 (31% off) Teva universal sandals: $41.73 (30% off) UPF shirt: $48.93 (30% off) Darn Tough men’s hiking socks: $18.93 (27% off) Original price: $130 Keen's Newport sandals combine the protection of a hiking shoe with the breathability of a sandal. Built for both land and water, they feature a quick-adjust bungee lacing system that slips on easily while helping keep your feet secure on uneven terrain. Original price: $155 The Hoka Clifton 10 is designed for running, but works just as well as an everyday walking shoe. A lightweight build and breathable knit upper help keep feet comfortable, while the durable outsole is built to handle frequent wear. READ MORE: Shopping for America 250? Here's what's actually made in the USA — and what's imported Original price: $64.95 Swiftland's running shorts feature a breathable mesh liner and high-rise waistband that stays in place during workouts. The lightweight design makes them a comfortable option for runs, walks and other warm-weather activities. Original price: $75 These water-repellent shorts transition easily from the beach to everyday wear. Quick-drying fabric and built-in drainage in the side and rear pockets help prevent water from pooling after swimming or other water activities. READ MORE: American-owned clothing brands for effortless red, white and blue style Gear up for camping season with deals on tents, cooking systems and chairs. Petzl Tikka headlamp: $14.73 (57% off) JetBoil cooking system: $107.93 (40% off) Ultra-Sil dry bag: $16.93 (28% off) Coleman camping coffee maker: $109.73 (26% off) Original price: $329 The Campwell six-person tent offers a spacious cabin-style design with nearly vertical walls that provide extra headroom. It's currently 50% off, making it a great time to upgrade your camping setup. Original price: $275 Cook breakfast and dinner on the same stove with the Coleman Cascade, which pairs a cast iron grill on one side with a cast iron griddle on the other. Built-in wind guards help shield the burners from gusts for more consistent cooking outdoors. READ MORE: Brands still making cookware and kitchen tools in the U.S. — from skillets to spatulas Original price: $89.95 The Flexlite camp chair packs down small without sacrificing comfort at camp. Its lightweight frame supports up to 250 pounds, while the durable fabric is built to handle repeated use on the trail. Original price: $579 Get out on the water with this inflatable paddleboard, now 30% off. It inflates quickly and packs down into a compact bag, so there's no need for a roof rack or extra storage space. Travel anywhere with these duffels, backpacks and more. The North Face Base Camp day pack: $63.83 (50% off) Patagonia Terravia Sacoche crossbody bag: $28.83 (41% off) The North Face Glen Canyon sling bag: $40.73 (25% off) Osprey Daylite carry-on: $186.73 (25% off) Original price: $125 This duffel bag easily transitions from road trips to camping weekends with a spacious, organized interior. A dedicated laptop compartment adds extra protection, while the shoulder straps convert it into a backpack for hands-free carrying. READ MORE: The Great American Road Trip: 8 places to travel (and stay) to celebrate America 250 this summer Original price: $59 Built for camping and outdoor adventures, these gear cubes feature a durable, water-repellent exterior and compression straps to maximize packing space. They're a practical way to organize clothing, gear and other essentials. Original price: $149 The Patagonia Black Hole backpack is currently half off, bringing this popular hiking pack below $100. Its 25-liter capacity provides plenty of room for day hikes, while the padded laptop sleeve and front stash pocket add everyday versatility. For more Deals, visit www.foxnews.com/deals Original price: $39.95 Carry your everyday essentials without the bulk of a backpack with this compact sling bag. The water-repellent exterior protects your belongings, while padded construction keeps it comfortable during hikes, walks and daily errands. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can get these items sent to your door ASAP. You can join or start a 30-day free trial to start your shopping today. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f9bec2ca79de23624245 Oatman Sidewalk Egg Fry offers sizzling July 4 competition te 2026-06-30T17:15:42.773Z Oatman Sidewalk Egg Fry offers sizzling July 4 competition OATMAN — Bring your team to Oatman on Saturday, July 4 for the annual Sidewalk Egg Fry. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f9aac2ca79de2362423c Beat the heat with a pool party on Independence Day te 2026-06-30T17:15:22.793Z Beat the heat with a pool party on Independence Day BULLHEAD CITY — Parks and Recreation is hosting a free Independence Day Pool Party. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f996c2ca79de2362422d States can ban transgender athletes from girls sports, Supreme Court says te 2026-06-30T17:15:02.320Z States can ban transgender athletes from girls sports, Supreme Court says WASHINGTON – In 2022, Lia Thomas won the women’s 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The victory, the first Division I title for a transgender athlete, sparked a national debate. Four years later, the Supreme Court agreed with states that have sought to bar athletes born male from competing against girls and women. The ruling Tuesday was 6-3. “Separate sports teams for biological males and biological females are reasonable,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the conservative majority. “Given the inherent physical differences between the sexes, allowing only biological females to play on women’s and girls’ teams can reduce the risk of physical injury and ensure fair competition.” The court heard more than three-and-a-half hours of oral arguments in January on the issue, in a pair of cases from Idaho and West Virginia involving transgender athletes’ participation in sports. The ruling has implications nationwide. Arizona is one of 27 states with laws intended to block transgender athletes from participating in sports, under the Save Women’s Sports Act signed by former Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022.  Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing a dissenting opinion for the three liberal justices, chastised the majority for allowing states to bar all transgender athletes without exception, “even if the facts show that they do not” as individuals enjoy an athletic advantage. “The ban is absolute,” she added, meaning that a transgender athlete “cannot practice on girls’ teams, even if she would not take anyone’s spot in an eventual competition, even if everyone who tries out for the team makes it, and even if having the chance to participate could aid immensely in treating (that child’s) gender dysphoria.” Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the ruling a “tremendous victory,” saying it “affirms the common sense right of states to prohibit men from competing in women’s sports, safeguard the integrity of female spaces, and ensure no woman faces discrimination on the basis of sex.” Advocates for transgender athletes had feared this outcome. “Transgender girls just want to play school sports with their friends and we all know what it feels like to be excluded from something growing up,” said Rachel Berg, senior staff attorney for the National Center for LGBTQ Rights. The center represents a transgender girl identified in court as Jane Doe in Doe v. Horne, a lawsuit against the Arizona Interscholastic Association, which sought to enforce the 2022 law barring her from competition. Doe runs cross-country and track and plays soccer and flag football. At age 7, she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria. In 2023, at age 11, she started taking the puberty-blocking medication Supprelin. Lower courts found that the treatment meant Doe would not experience a rise in testosterone levels and would therefore have no physiological advantages over female competitors. In July 2023, a federal court in Arizona issued an injunction blocking the enforcement of the Arizona law and allowing Doe to continue participating in sports. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles cases in nine Western states, including Arizona and Idaho, upheld the injunction in September 2024. The Supreme Court’s ruling opens the way for enforcement of the law Ducey signed, banning transgender athletes from playing sports in Arizona. “The two States here – along with 25 other States, the IOC, the USOPC, and the NCAA – have concluded at this time that women and girls should be allowed to compete … on an equal playing field, without fear of physical injury from biological males or being forced to compete against biological males,” Kavanaugh wrote in the majority opinion. “Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex. The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America,” he wrote. Two weeks into his second term, President Donald Trump ordered McMahon to use Title IX – a provision of a 1972 law that bans sex discrimination in federally funded education programs – to crack down on schools that allow transgender girls and women to participate in girls’ sports. The Arizona Interscholastic Association, citing the Trump executive order, has used Title IX to ban transgender athletes from competition. Under the 2023 appeals court injunction, Doe and another plaintiff, known in court filings as Megan Roe, are allowed to compete in Arizona. “These laws are part of the pattern and are part of the strategy and desire of those on the right to essentially deny the existence of – and erase from public life – transgender individuals,” said Scott McCoy, deputy legal director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, and a former Utah state senator, the first openly gay man elected to that post. Groups that want to ban transgender athletes from competition assert that regardless of treatment, biological sex doesn’t change and people born male have an unfair advantage over girls on the playing field. “The science and common sense shows us testosterone suppression does not erase the advantages that males have over females,” said Suzanne Beecher, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom. “That’s the reason that we have separate categories in sports in the first place.” In the West Virginia case, a student named Becky Pepper Jackson, known as BPJ in court filings, started taking puberty blockers in 2020 before she started middle school. BPJ recently took first place in girls shot put at the state championship, throwing more than 2 feet farther than the runner-up. “This just illustrates the very real advantages that males have over females and the real harms that come when we deny this biological reality,” Beecher said. One year ago, the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law banning the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy in a 6-3 ruling. The text of the law says the ban “encourages minors to appreciate their sex, particularly as they go through puberty.” In the ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected assertions that such a ban “enforces a government preference that people conform to expectations about their sex.” Advocates for transgender athletes call efforts to exclude these athletes narrow-minded. “It takes a lot of guts to put yourself in front of the public like that,” said Val Pizzo, a rugby player for the Baltimore Flamingos Rugby Football Club, Maryland’s first LGBTQ rugby team. “But if you can achieve more inclusion for trans athletes, it makes such a huge difference in the lives of a lot of people.” The debate over transgender athletes has been highly charged, though it involves a small fraction of students. “In the public testimony before the Arizona Legislature, the AIA testified that only between 10 to 15 transgender people – boys or girls – had played school sports in Arizona in the last decade,” Berg said. “So of all the 100,000-plus school athletes in Arizona, we’re talking about maybe one a year at most.” One of Trump’s second-term campaign priorities was to reverse Biden-era Title IX policies at the Department of Education. The Trump order narrows enforcement to discrimination based on sex but not gender identity.  In a June 23 letter to McMahon, three dozen members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus in the House, including Tucson Rep. Adelita Grijalva, said they were “outraged” at the way her department’s Office of Civil Rights has wielded Title IX.  OCR has not settled a single case of sexual harassment or sexual violence during McMahon’s tenure, they noted, even as it used the provision to undermine the rights of transgender athletes. “Your failure to enforce Title IX protections for millions of women and girls is deliberate and indefensible,” the lawmakers wrote. “We urge you to cease baseless investigations and demonstrate immediate progress in effectively resolving all pending OCR cases to deliver real enforceable legal protection for students facing discrimination based on their sex.” Under pressure from the Trump administration, including threats to cut federal research funding, Thomas’ university, the University of Pennsylvania, agreed to remove her records and apologize to female athletes she had competed against. The two cases before the Supreme Court – Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. – challenged state restrictions on the grounds that transgender athletes have protection under Title IX and the 14th Amendment.  Berg asserted that the 9th Circuit got it right: “A blanket ban on transgender girls playing school sports … regardless of their medical history, regardless of their age, regardless of the sport that they’re playing, regardless of any other factors” would violate those athletes’ Equal Protection rights. “The state has not provided any reason that’s rational to exclude these girls from girls’ teams,” she said. The Idaho case involved a track and field athlete named Lindsay Hecox, now 24, who wanted to compete at Boise State University. State officials didn’t want her to compete, and in 2020, the Legislature enacted the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, a ban on transgender athletes competing under anything but their gender at birth. Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, signed it. A federal court blocked enforcement, and the 9th Circuit upheld the lower court. Hecox began testosterone suppression and estrogen treatments in her first year at Boise State. House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., lauded the ruling, saying the justices “stood up for fairness, common sense, and the integrity of women’s sports.” “Women’s sports are for women. Unfortunately, radical gender ideology bolstered by policies pushed under the Biden-Harris administration chipped away at Title IX protections,” he said. The post States can ban transgender athletes from girls sports, Supreme Court says appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f988c2ca79de2362421f States can ban transgender athletes from girls sports, Supreme Court says te 2026-06-30T17:14:48.388Z States can ban transgender athletes from girls sports, Supreme Court says WASHINGTON – In 2022, Lia Thomas won the women’s 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The victory, the first Division I title for a transgender athlete, sparked a national debate. Four years later, the Supreme Court agreed with states that have sought to bar athletes born male from competing against girls and women. The ruling Tuesday was 6-3. “Separate sports teams for biological males and biological females are reasonable,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the conservative majority. “Given the inherent physical differences between the sexes, allowing only biological females to play on women’s and girls’ teams can reduce the risk of physical injury and ensure fair competition.” The court heard more than three-and-a-half hours of oral arguments in January on the issue, in a pair of cases from Idaho and West Virginia involving transgender athletes’ participation in sports. The ruling has implications nationwide. Arizona is one of 27 states with laws intended to block transgender athletes from participating in sports, under the Save Women’s Sports Act signed by former Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022.  Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing a dissenting opinion for the three liberal justices, chastised the majority for allowing states to bar all transgender athletes without exception, “even if the facts show that they do not” as individuals enjoy an athletic advantage. “The ban is absolute,” she added, meaning that a transgender athlete “cannot practice on girls’ teams, even if she would not take anyone’s spot in an eventual competition, even if everyone who tries out for the team makes it, and even if having the chance to participate could aid immensely in treating (that child’s) gender dysphoria.” Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the ruling a “tremendous victory,” saying it “affirms the common sense right of states to prohibit men from competing in women’s sports, safeguard the integrity of female spaces, and ensure no woman faces discrimination on the basis of sex.” Advocates for transgender athletes had feared this outcome. “Transgender girls just want to play school sports with their friends and we all know what it feels like to be excluded from something growing up,” said Rachel Berg, senior staff attorney for the National Center for LGBTQ Rights. The center represents a transgender girl identified in court as Jane Doe in Doe v. Horne, a lawsuit against the Arizona Interscholastic Association, which sought to enforce the 2022 law barring her from competition. Doe runs cross-country and track and plays soccer and flag football. At age 7, she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria. In 2023, at age 11, she started taking the puberty-blocking medication Supprelin. Lower courts found that the treatment meant Doe would not experience a rise in testosterone levels and would therefore have no physiological advantages over female competitors. In July 2023, a federal court in Arizona issued an injunction blocking the enforcement of the Arizona law and allowing Doe to continue participating in sports. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles cases in nine Western states, including Arizona and Idaho, upheld the injunction in September 2024. The Supreme Court’s ruling opens the way for enforcement of the law Ducey signed, banning transgender athletes from playing sports in Arizona. “The two States here – along with 25 other States, the IOC, the USOPC, and the NCAA – have concluded at this time that women and girls should be allowed to compete … on an equal playing field, without fear of physical injury from biological males or being forced to compete against biological males,” Kavanaugh wrote in the majority opinion. “Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex. The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America,” he wrote. Two weeks into his second term, President Donald Trump ordered McMahon to use Title IX – a provision of a 1972 law that bans sex discrimination in federally funded education programs – to crack down on schools that allow transgender girls and women to participate in girls’ sports. The Arizona Interscholastic Association, citing the Trump executive order, has used Title IX to ban transgender athletes from competition. Under the 2023 appeals court injunction, Doe and another plaintiff, known in court filings as Megan Roe, are allowed to compete in Arizona. “These laws are part of the pattern and are part of the strategy and desire of those on the right to essentially deny the existence of – and erase from public life – transgender individuals,” said Scott McCoy, deputy legal director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, and a former Utah state senator, the first openly gay man elected to that post. Groups that want to ban transgender athletes from competition assert that regardless of treatment, biological sex doesn’t change and people born male have an unfair advantage over girls on the playing field. “The science and common sense shows us testosterone suppression does not erase the advantages that males have over females,” said Suzanne Beecher, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom. “That’s the reason that we have separate categories in sports in the first place.” In the West Virginia case, a student named Becky Pepper Jackson, known as BPJ in court filings, started taking puberty blockers in 2020 before she started middle school. BPJ recently took first place in girls shot put at the state championship, throwing more than 2 feet farther than the runner-up. “This just illustrates the very real advantages that males have over females and the real harms that come when we deny this biological reality,” Beecher said. One year ago, the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law banning the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy in a 6-3 ruling. The text of the law says the ban “encourages minors to appreciate their sex, particularly as they go through puberty.” In the ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected assertions that such a ban “enforces a government preference that people conform to expectations about their sex.” Advocates for transgender athletes call efforts to exclude these athletes narrow-minded. “It takes a lot of guts to put yourself in front of the public like that,” said Val Pizzo, a rugby player for the Baltimore Flamingos Rugby Football Club, Maryland’s first LGBTQ rugby team. “But if you can achieve more inclusion for trans athletes, it makes such a huge difference in the lives of a lot of people.” The debate over transgender athletes has been highly charged, though it involves a small fraction of students. “In the public testimony before the Arizona Legislature, the AIA testified that only between 10 to 15 transgender people – boys or girls – had played school sports in Arizona in the last decade,” Berg said. “So of all the 100,000-plus school athletes in Arizona, we’re talking about maybe one a year at most.” One of Trump’s second-term campaign priorities was to reverse Biden-era Title IX policies at the Department of Education. The Trump order narrows enforcement to discrimination based on sex but not gender identity.  In a June 23 letter to McMahon, three dozen members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus in the House, including Tucson Rep. Adelita Grijalva, said they were “outraged” at the way her department’s Office of Civil Rights has wielded Title IX.  OCR has not settled a single case of sexual harassment or sexual violence during McMahon’s tenure, they noted, even as it used the provision to undermine the rights of transgender athletes. “Your failure to enforce Title IX protections for millions of women and girls is deliberate and indefensible,” the lawmakers wrote. “We urge you to cease baseless investigations and demonstrate immediate progress in effectively resolving all pending OCR cases to deliver real enforceable legal protection for students facing discrimination based on their sex.” Under pressure from the Trump administration, including threats to cut federal research funding, Thomas’ university, the University of Pennsylvania, agreed to remove her records and apologize to female athletes she had competed against. The two cases before the Supreme Court – Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. – challenged state restrictions on the grounds that transgender athletes have protection under Title IX and the 14th Amendment.  Berg asserted that the 9th Circuit got it right: “A blanket ban on transgender girls playing school sports … regardless of their medical history, regardless of their age, regardless of the sport that they’re playing, regardless of any other factors” would violate those athletes’ Equal Protection rights. “The state has not provided any reason that’s rational to exclude these girls from girls’ teams,” she said. The Idaho case involved a track and field athlete named Lindsay Hecox, now 24, who wanted to compete at Boise State University. State officials didn’t want her to compete, and in 2020, the Legislature enacted the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, a ban on transgender athletes competing under anything but their gender at birth. Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, signed it. A federal court blocked enforcement, and the 9th Circuit upheld the lower court. Hecox began testosterone suppression and estrogen treatments in her first year at Boise State. House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., lauded the ruling, saying the justices “stood up for fairness, common sense, and the integrity of women’s sports.” “Women’s sports are for women. Unfortunately, radical gender ideology bolstered by policies pushed under the Biden-Harris administration chipped away at Title IX protections,” he said. The post States can ban transgender athletes from girls sports, Supreme Court says appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f982c2ca79de23624216 Born in the USA? Supreme Court says you’re a citizen, rejecting Trump effort to rewrite 14th Amendment te 2026-06-30T17:14:42.858Z Born in the USA? Supreme Court says you’re a citizen, rejecting Trump effort to rewrite 14th Amendment WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to end automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to parents in the country illegally or temporarily. The decision affirming the traditional interpretation of birthright citizenship was 6-3.  “Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. Trump v. Barbara scrutinized Executive Order 14160, signed by Trump hours into his second term. The order sought to end automatic U.S. citizenship for any newborn without at least one parent who holds citizenship or legal permanent residency.  Every lower court that considered the order struck it down, and skepticism was widespread among the justices during oral arguments April 1.  Trump’s order reinterpreted the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, which granted citizenship to people born in the U.S. and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” But his focus on parentage didn’t fly with the high court. “If Congress intended to limit American citizenship to the children of those domiciled in the United States, nothing in the succinct language of the Citizenship Clause conveyed that design. Words appearing frequently in the Executive Order –`mother,’ ‘father,’ ‘lawful,’ ‘temporary’ – are absent from the Clause. For a simple reason: they did not matter,” Roberts wrote. Congress crafted the Citizenship Clause to overrule the infamous 1857 Dred Scott ruling, which held that Black people whose ancestors were brought to the U.S. as slaves did not have automatic citizenship. “For them, blood, not soil, was made the rule,” Roberts wrote of Dred Scott in Tuesday’s ruling. ‘Scant evidence’ In 1952, Congress codified the precise language of the 14th Amendment in the Immigration and Nationality Act. That gave the Supreme Court another path for rebuffing the president. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion that supported the decision to overturn Trump’s executive order, wrote that in his view, the order did not violate the 14th Amendment but did violate the 1952 law. Either way, the Trump administration asserted, the provision had been misinterpreted for over a century. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued before the high court that the amendment was only intended to grant citizenship to children whose parents are in the U.S. lawfully, and that the 1952 law was similarly misinterpreted. Wong Kim Ark’s Departure Statement, Nov. 5, 1894 National Archives, San Francisco, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (from the National Archives) At oral arguments, several justices challenged the assertion, noting that the Citizenship Clause focuses on where the child is born, not the parents’ immigration status.  “There is scant evidence for this dramatically revisionist view,” Roberts wrote for the court Tuesday. Roberts was joined by the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, along with Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Kavanaugh provided the sixth vote. In a dissent joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, Justice Clarence Thomas called it “extraordinary” to allow citizenship for “the children of foreign temporary visitors and illegal aliens.” He warned that the version of birthright citizenship affirmed by the court has “encouraged ‘birth tourism’ – the practice of traveling here with temporary authorization solely to give birth and obtain citizenship for one’s children, then returning to raise them in another country. Today, ‘birth tourism companies’ reportedly collect large fees from wealthy foreigners to facilitate their trips to give birth in the United States.” Trump attended the oral argument, a first for a sitting president, signaling the priority he puts on the issue. “We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!” he wrote on Truth Social beforehand.  1898 precedent The Supreme Court seemed to settle the issue of birthright citizenship in 1898, when it ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that a man born in San Francisco – to Chinese immigrant parents who had not been naturalized – was a U.S. citizen. Sauer argued that unrestricted birthright citizenship acts as a magnet or “pull factor” for illegal immigration and has contributed to so-called birth tourism, in which foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth to secure lifelong citizenship for their child. The argument closely mirrored assertions from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump immigration policies, who has called birthright citizenship a “scam” allowing immigrants to obtain “unlimited welfare.” No American is entitled to unlimited welfare. But to the extent the government provides benefits, every baby born in the U.S. is as eligible as any other, regardless of parentage.  Alito, in a separate dissent, called the ruling “a serious mistake.” He depicted the traditional interpretation of birthright citizenship upheld Tuesday as an outlier: “Other than Canada, the United States will be the only affluent nation where birth alone is enough to establish citizenship,” he wrote. Worldwide, 32 nations confer citizenship automatically to anyone born on their soil. Conservatives have also at times raised the specter of “terror babies” who grow up with no allegiance to the U.S. but, thanks to their lifelong citizenship, can come and go at will on behalf of adversaries. Up to a quarter of a million babies born in the U.S. each year would have been denied citizenship under the rules Trump sought – about 7% of all births nationwide in 2024. In Arizona, ending automatic citizenship at birth would have excluded about 3,400 babies born in 2022, the state told a federal court shortly after Trump issued the order. “Tens of thousands” of people who are essentially stateless would be born each year under Trump’s order, said Leon Rodriguez, who served as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under President Barack Obama. “The way the Constitution has been interpreted going back to the Civil War is that if you are born in the United States and you are neither the child of an enemy combatant or a diplomat, then you are presumed to be a U.S. citizen,” he said by phone, adding, ”Many different parts of our legal system, including the immigration system itself (are) built on that assumption.” Arizona was one of 22 states that challenged Trump’s order. The ruling, Attorney General Kris Mayes said, “upheld the soul of this nation.” A Reuters/IPSOS poll from April found that 64% of adults disapprove of Trump’s order, including 91% of Democrats, though 64% of Republicans approve.  The post Born in the USA? Supreme Court says you’re a citizen, rejecting Trump effort to rewrite 14th Amendment appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f974c2ca79de2362420d Born in the USA? Supreme Court says you’re a citizen, rejecting Trump effort to rewrite 14th Amendment te 2026-06-30T17:14:28.932Z Born in the USA? Supreme Court says you’re a citizen, rejecting Trump effort to rewrite 14th Amendment WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to end automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to parents in the country illegally or temporarily. The decision affirming the traditional interpretation of birthright citizenship was 6-3.  “Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. Trump v. Barbara scrutinized Executive Order 14160, signed by Trump hours into his second term. The order sought to end automatic U.S. citizenship for any newborn without at least one parent who holds citizenship or legal permanent residency.  Every lower court that considered the order struck it down, and skepticism was widespread among the justices during oral arguments April 1.  Trump’s order reinterpreted the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, which granted citizenship to people born in the U.S. and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” But his focus on parentage didn’t fly with the high court. “If Congress intended to limit American citizenship to the children of those domiciled in the United States, nothing in the succinct language of the Citizenship Clause conveyed that design. Words appearing frequently in the Executive Order –`mother,’ ‘father,’ ‘lawful,’ ‘temporary’ – are absent from the Clause. For a simple reason: they did not matter,” Roberts wrote. Congress crafted the Citizenship Clause to overrule the infamous 1857 Dred Scott ruling, which held that Black people whose ancestors were brought to the U.S. as slaves did not have automatic citizenship. “For them, blood, not soil, was made the rule,” Roberts wrote of Dred Scott in Tuesday’s ruling. ‘Scant evidence’ In 1952, Congress codified the precise language of the 14th Amendment in the Immigration and Nationality Act. That gave the Supreme Court another path for rebuffing the president. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion that supported the decision to overturn Trump’s executive order, wrote that in his view, the order did not violate the 14th Amendment but did violate the 1952 law. Either way, the Trump administration asserted, the provision had been misinterpreted for over a century. U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued before the high court that the amendment was only intended to grant citizenship to children whose parents are in the U.S. lawfully, and that the 1952 law was similarly misinterpreted. Wong Kim Ark’s Departure Statement, Nov. 5, 1894 National Archives, San Francisco, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (from the National Archives) At oral arguments, several justices challenged the assertion, noting that the Citizenship Clause focuses on where the child is born, not the parents’ immigration status.  “There is scant evidence for this dramatically revisionist view,” Roberts wrote for the court Tuesday. Roberts was joined by the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, along with Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Kavanaugh provided the sixth vote. In a dissent joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, Justice Clarence Thomas called it “extraordinary” to allow citizenship for “the children of foreign temporary visitors and illegal aliens.” He warned that the version of birthright citizenship affirmed by the court has “encouraged ‘birth tourism’ – the practice of traveling here with temporary authorization solely to give birth and obtain citizenship for one’s children, then returning to raise them in another country. Today, ‘birth tourism companies’ reportedly collect large fees from wealthy foreigners to facilitate their trips to give birth in the United States.” Trump attended the oral argument, a first for a sitting president, signaling the priority he puts on the issue. “We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!” he wrote on Truth Social beforehand.  1898 precedent The Supreme Court seemed to settle the issue of birthright citizenship in 1898, when it ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that a man born in San Francisco – to Chinese immigrant parents who had not been naturalized – was a U.S. citizen. Sauer argued that unrestricted birthright citizenship acts as a magnet or “pull factor” for illegal immigration and has contributed to so-called birth tourism, in which foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth to secure lifelong citizenship for their child. The argument closely mirrored assertions from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump immigration policies, who has called birthright citizenship a “scam” allowing immigrants to obtain “unlimited welfare.” No American is entitled to unlimited welfare. But to the extent the government provides benefits, every baby born in the U.S. is as eligible as any other, regardless of parentage.  Alito, in a separate dissent, called the ruling “a serious mistake.” He depicted the traditional interpretation of birthright citizenship upheld Tuesday as an outlier: “Other than Canada, the United States will be the only affluent nation where birth alone is enough to establish citizenship,” he wrote. Worldwide, 32 nations confer citizenship automatically to anyone born on their soil. Conservatives have also at times raised the specter of “terror babies” who grow up with no allegiance to the U.S. but, thanks to their lifelong citizenship, can come and go at will on behalf of adversaries. Up to a quarter of a million babies born in the U.S. each year would have been denied citizenship under the rules Trump sought – about 7% of all births nationwide in 2024. In Arizona, ending automatic citizenship at birth would have excluded about 3,400 babies born in 2022, the state told a federal court shortly after Trump issued the order. “Tens of thousands” of people who are essentially stateless would be born each year under Trump’s order, said Leon Rodriguez, who served as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under President Barack Obama. “The way the Constitution has been interpreted going back to the Civil War is that if you are born in the United States and you are neither the child of an enemy combatant or a diplomat, then you are presumed to be a U.S. citizen,” he said by phone, adding, ”Many different parts of our legal system, including the immigration system itself (are) built on that assumption.” Arizona was one of 22 states that challenged Trump’s order. The ruling, Attorney General Kris Mayes said, “upheld the soul of this nation.” A Reuters/IPSOS poll from April found that 64% of adults disapprove of Trump’s order, including 91% of Democrats, though 64% of Republicans approve.  The post Born in the USA? Supreme Court says you’re a citizen, rejecting Trump effort to rewrite 14th Amendment appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f959c2ca79de236241fc DAR marks 250th signing of the Declaration te 2026-06-30T17:14:01.908Z DAR marks 250th signing of the Declaration The Oak Creek Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with a weeklong exhibit at Community Library Sedona and costumed public readings of the Declaration at two locations in Sed Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f94cc2ca79de236241ef DAR marks 250th signing of the Declaration te 2026-06-30T17:13:48.998Z DAR marks 250th signing of the Declaration The Oak Creek Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with a weeklong exhibit at Community Library Sedona and costumed public readings of the Declaration at two locations in Sed Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f92fc2ca79de236241dc Flouting Trump policy, federal judges are freeing immigrants from mandatory detention te 2026-06-30T17:13:19.400Z Flouting Trump policy, federal judges are freeing immigrants from mandatory detention A detainee stands silhouetted in a window of the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, N.J., on May 28, 2026. Many federal judges are freeing immigrants held under a mandatory detention policy. (Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor) Gilberto Pacheco was driving to work for a construction job in California when he was pulled over in what court papers called a “traffic stop” in January. He was not accused of any crime, not even a traffic infraction, but he was imprisoned without bond for months because he arrived illegally in the United States more than 30 years ago from Mexico. Cases like that of Pacheco, who has applied for legal status through three U.S. citizen children, are what the Supreme Court has to consider when it rules next year on the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy.  Justices are expected to hear the case as soon as October after the U.S. solicitor general requested the court to resolve conflicting rulings on the matter from appeals courts.  The Trump administration’s policy requires detention without bond for anyone who crossed a border illegally, and has been used to pressure immigrants into voluntary departure to escape sometimes squalid conditions. For now, plenty of U.S. district judges are questioning the idea that immigrants should be incarcerated indefinitely at the whim of the executive branch.  Stateline reviewed every immigrant habeas petition case decided in a single day — June 16 — across the country, in order to sample judicial opinion. A habeas case is a request from an immigration prisoner for a judge to review the legality of his imprisonment and order a bond hearing or release.  Of the cases that were decided that day, judges released detainees immediately or ordered bond hearings 142 times, and denied them only 36 times. Many of the judges, even Republican appointees, argued that unlimited detention was unconstitutional. One of those judges was U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison, who heard Pacheco’s case. After being picked up in California, Pacheco was held in Houston, and filed a habeas case in Texas.  Ellison ruled that it was a violation of Pacheco’s civil rights to detain him for months. He ordered Pacheco to be freed immediately. “Given the severity of this ongoing unconstitutional deprivation of liberty, the Court concludes that immediate release from custody is required,” Ellison wrote.  Quotation Fortunately, federal judges uphold the Constitution and will grant such a writ, leading to direct release. Aside from this, there are virtually no other ways to obtain release. – Xin Tian, California immigration attorney He wrote that he recognized that the Trump policy applied to Pacheco, and that it was upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which governs Texas, but said that he was releasing the man anyway.  “The Due Process clause does not permit the government to ‘detain any noncitizen, no matter how long they have actually lived in the United States, for any length of time, without any individualized justification [merely because] that person initially entered the country without lawful admission,’” Ellison wrote, partially quoting a 2003 Supreme Court ruling.  Ellison is a Democratic appointee from the Bill Clinton administration, but judges from both parties, including Trump nominees, ordered bond hearings for immigrants and found the Trump policy unconstitutional. They included judges in states where appeals courts had already upheld the policy.  Many judges are going beyond bond hearings and ordering release directly, as Ellison did. In some situations the judges are holding the legal cases open to make sure releases are made or bond hearings are fair.  Few immigrants get bond hearings because of the policy, making court challenges their only recourse, said Xin Tian, an attorney representing an immigrant who was released June 16 in a California case. His client’s case was among those reviewed by Stateline. “The individual’s only recourse for release is to seek a writ of habeas corpus,” Tian wrote in an email to Stateline. “Fortunately, federal judges uphold the Constitution and will grant such a writ, leading to direct release. Aside from this, there are virtually no other ways to obtain release.” A Trump appointee in Texas, U.S. District Judge Jason K. Pulliam, ordered five releases in one day, calling the detentions “unlawful” and ordering immediate release during court proceedings. In each case, he wrote that the detainee “has no known criminal history, had been complying with the terms of a prior release, and there is no indication of flight risk or danger to the community.”   He acknowledged in court papers that he made the rulings despite the fact that an appeals court ruling for the Fifth Circuit — affecting Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi — had concluded mandatory detention was legal in those cases. A President Joe Biden appointee in Utah, U.S. District Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen, was one of the rare judges to agree with the Trump administration’s policy, according to Stateline’s review.  McIff Allen denied a petition for a bond hearing by a man from Venezuela who had arrived in Texas in 2024 to seek asylum. He had scheduled an appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection through an official mobile app, then settled in Florida.  His immigration case was still pending when the Trump administration revoked his parole and arrested him in May. The man was “not entitled to immediate release or a bond hearing,” McIff Allen ruled, acknowledging that “some district courts have determined the issue differently.”  The detention was legal under a Trump administration policy that interprets immigration law to mean all immigrants who arrived illegally can be treated as if they’re at the border “seeking admission” to the country.  Stateline found only seven cases where judges favorably cited the administration’s policy of mandatory detention when denying a habeas case. Besides the ruling from a Biden appointee in Utah, there were six involving Trump judicial appointees: four in New York and one each in Puerto Rico and Texas.  U.S. District Judge Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach, a Trump appointee, denied release to Marcelo Jerez, a Dominican Republic native living in Puerto Rico with a U.S. citizen wife and sick 1-year-old child who required his help with monitoring and care.   “The crux of this case has been the subject of myriad lawsuits throughout the nation and dutiful judges have reached divergent answers,” Arias-Marxuach wrote.  But relatively few judges in the Stateline review considered the mandatory detention policy valid: Four of the other six cases for the day that did so, other than the Utah case, were denied by a single judge, Trump appointee Judge John L. Sinatra in New York’s Western District court. Sinatra wrote in one of the cases, for a Venezuelan man who had been allowed into the country in 2024 on parole, that such people should be treated as if they were still at the border “seeking admission,” and face mandatory detention, and should not get the constitutional rights of someone already in the United States with legal status. “How could it be otherwise? If he were not seeking admission he would have given up and departed already,” Sinatra wrote in his decision.  David Wilson, a Minnesota immigration attorney who serves on an immigration court committee for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said that criminal records among immigration detainees are a bone of contention among judges. There’s widespread disagreement over whether they should be detained indefinitely without bond, he said, even if a U.S. citizen in the same circumstance would be freed on bond in a criminal court.  “This kind of lingering question is, how long is too long for people with criminal records? Some circuits have come along and said, ‘There is not too long because your criminal activity is what it is, you’re just stuck, if you want to end this stop fighting your case,’” Wilson said.  Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org. This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Arizona Mirror, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f923c2ca79de236241cd Flouting Trump policy, federal judges are freeing immigrants from mandatory detention te 2026-06-30T17:13:07.012Z Flouting Trump policy, federal judges are freeing immigrants from mandatory detention A detainee stands silhouetted in a window of the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, N.J., on May 28, 2026. Many federal judges are freeing immigrants held under a mandatory detention policy. (Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor) Gilberto Pacheco was driving to work for a construction job in California when he was pulled over in what court papers called a “traffic stop” in January. He was not accused of any crime, not even a traffic infraction, but he was imprisoned without bond for months because he arrived illegally in the United States more than 30 years ago from Mexico. Cases like that of Pacheco, who has applied for legal status through three U.S. citizen children, are what the Supreme Court has to consider when it rules next year on the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy.  Justices are expected to hear the case as soon as October after the U.S. solicitor general requested the court to resolve conflicting rulings on the matter from appeals courts.  The Trump administration’s policy requires detention without bond for anyone who crossed a border illegally, and has been used to pressure immigrants into voluntary departure to escape sometimes squalid conditions. For now, plenty of U.S. district judges are questioning the idea that immigrants should be incarcerated indefinitely at the whim of the executive branch.  Stateline reviewed every immigrant habeas petition case decided in a single day — June 16 — across the country, in order to sample judicial opinion. A habeas case is a request from an immigration prisoner for a judge to review the legality of his imprisonment and order a bond hearing or release.  Of the cases that were decided that day, judges released detainees immediately or ordered bond hearings 142 times, and denied them only 36 times. Many of the judges, even Republican appointees, argued that unlimited detention was unconstitutional. One of those judges was U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison, who heard Pacheco’s case. After being picked up in California, Pacheco was held in Houston, and filed a habeas case in Texas.  Ellison ruled that it was a violation of Pacheco’s civil rights to detain him for months. He ordered Pacheco to be freed immediately. “Given the severity of this ongoing unconstitutional deprivation of liberty, the Court concludes that immediate release from custody is required,” Ellison wrote.  Quotation Fortunately, federal judges uphold the Constitution and will grant such a writ, leading to direct release. Aside from this, there are virtually no other ways to obtain release. – Xin Tian, California immigration attorney He wrote that he recognized that the Trump policy applied to Pacheco, and that it was upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which governs Texas, but said that he was releasing the man anyway.  “The Due Process clause does not permit the government to ‘detain any noncitizen, no matter how long they have actually lived in the United States, for any length of time, without any individualized justification [merely because] that person initially entered the country without lawful admission,’” Ellison wrote, partially quoting a 2003 Supreme Court ruling.  Ellison is a Democratic appointee from the Bill Clinton administration, but judges from both parties, including Trump nominees, ordered bond hearings for immigrants and found the Trump policy unconstitutional. They included judges in states where appeals courts had already upheld the policy.  Many judges are going beyond bond hearings and ordering release directly, as Ellison did. In some situations the judges are holding the legal cases open to make sure releases are made or bond hearings are fair.  Few immigrants get bond hearings because of the policy, making court challenges their only recourse, said Xin Tian, an attorney representing an immigrant who was released June 16 in a California case. His client’s case was among those reviewed by Stateline. “The individual’s only recourse for release is to seek a writ of habeas corpus,” Tian wrote in an email to Stateline. “Fortunately, federal judges uphold the Constitution and will grant such a writ, leading to direct release. Aside from this, there are virtually no other ways to obtain release.” A Trump appointee in Texas, U.S. District Judge Jason K. Pulliam, ordered five releases in one day, calling the detentions “unlawful” and ordering immediate release during court proceedings. In each case, he wrote that the detainee “has no known criminal history, had been complying with the terms of a prior release, and there is no indication of flight risk or danger to the community.”   He acknowledged in court papers that he made the rulings despite the fact that an appeals court ruling for the Fifth Circuit — affecting Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi — had concluded mandatory detention was legal in those cases. A President Joe Biden appointee in Utah, U.S. District Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen, was one of the rare judges to agree with the Trump administration’s policy, according to Stateline’s review.  McIff Allen denied a petition for a bond hearing by a man from Venezuela who had arrived in Texas in 2024 to seek asylum. He had scheduled an appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection through an official mobile app, then settled in Florida.  His immigration case was still pending when the Trump administration revoked his parole and arrested him in May. The man was “not entitled to immediate release or a bond hearing,” McIff Allen ruled, acknowledging that “some district courts have determined the issue differently.”  The detention was legal under a Trump administration policy that interprets immigration law to mean all immigrants who arrived illegally can be treated as if they’re at the border “seeking admission” to the country.  Stateline found only seven cases where judges favorably cited the administration’s policy of mandatory detention when denying a habeas case. Besides the ruling from a Biden appointee in Utah, there were six involving Trump judicial appointees: four in New York and one each in Puerto Rico and Texas.  U.S. District Judge Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach, a Trump appointee, denied release to Marcelo Jerez, a Dominican Republic native living in Puerto Rico with a U.S. citizen wife and sick 1-year-old child who required his help with monitoring and care.   “The crux of this case has been the subject of myriad lawsuits throughout the nation and dutiful judges have reached divergent answers,” Arias-Marxuach wrote.  But relatively few judges in the Stateline review considered the mandatory detention policy valid: Four of the other six cases for the day that did so, other than the Utah case, were denied by a single judge, Trump appointee Judge John L. Sinatra in New York’s Western District court. Sinatra wrote in one of the cases, for a Venezuelan man who had been allowed into the country in 2024 on parole, that such people should be treated as if they were still at the border “seeking admission,” and face mandatory detention, and should not get the constitutional rights of someone already in the United States with legal status. “How could it be otherwise? If he were not seeking admission he would have given up and departed already,” Sinatra wrote in his decision.  David Wilson, a Minnesota immigration attorney who serves on an immigration court committee for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said that criminal records among immigration detainees are a bone of contention among judges. There’s widespread disagreement over whether they should be detained indefinitely without bond, he said, even if a U.S. citizen in the same circumstance would be freed on bond in a criminal court.  “This kind of lingering question is, how long is too long for people with criminal records? Some circuits have come along and said, ‘There is not too long because your criminal activity is what it is, you’re just stuck, if you want to end this stop fighting your case,’” Wilson said.  Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at thenderson@stateline.org. This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Arizona Mirror, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f91bc2ca79de236241c4 US Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump order te 2026-06-30T17:12:59.949Z US Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump order Protesters held a rally on protecting birthright citizenship outside the U.S. Supreme Court as President Donald Trump attended oral arguments on April 1, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday struck down President Donald Trump’s attempt to redefine the constitutional right to birthright citizenship. In the decision, a majority of the justices upheld the country’s long understanding of automatic citizenship by birth on American soil, regardless of the immigration status of a newborn’s parents. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., found the president’s executive order violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights—to freely participate in our political community,” Roberts wrote. “The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’ We keep that promise today.” While six of the justices agreed — Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — that the president’s executive order was unlawful, conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil M. Gorsuch dissented.  Only five of the justices agreed that the 14th Amendment extends citizenship to the children of immigrants, with Kavanaugh partially dissenting along with Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch.  Kavanaugh argued that Trump’s executive order did not violate the 14th Amendment, but instead violated federal statute. He added in his dissent that Congress could “enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country. But Congress has not yet done so.” The White House did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment, but a day before the decision, Trump said in the Oval Office that he would accept the Supreme Court’s ruling.  “It’s up to them, but in terms of for the good of the country, it’d be great if they … didn’t allow it,” Trump, who in a highly unusual move for a president attended the oral arguments on the case, said of birthright citizenship.  After the ruling, the president called on Congress, which is controlled by Republicans, to pass legislation to codify his executive order into law, dismissing the need for a constitutional amendment.  However, a constitutional amendment would be needed, not legislative law, because a majority of the justices still found that any change to birthright citizenship violated the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Utah’s GOP Sen. Mike Lee, who previously clerked for Alito, noted that “we’re going to need a constitutional amendment.”  The opinion is a major blow to Trump, who has sought to redefine who is American as part of his broader immigration agenda.  But it also follows two decisions from the high court that vastly expanded the president’s authority over immigration policy by allowing him to limit asylum seeker claims at the Southern border and strip legal protections for 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians.   Tuesday’s decision is based on one of the first executive orders that the president signed on the first day of his second term. It aimed to deny citizenship to children born to parents who either do not have legal status, or hold temporary legal visas.  Experts warned if the order were to take effect, it could create an entire class of stateless people and cause chaos for hospitals and local governments. Case brought by expectant parents The case, Trump v. Barbara, was brought by expectant mothers who feared their children would not be American citizens because of their immigration status. During oral arguments in April, a majority of the justices seemed skeptical of the Trump administration’s arguments, presented by Solicitor General D. John Sauer.  Before the justices, Sauer argued that the citizenship clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which is the basis for birthright citizenship, was meant to apply to newly freed African American slaves after the Civil War, not to children of immigrants.  Most legal scholars and historians disagree with that interpretation and have argued the Supreme Court in the 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark already settled the idea that automatic citizenship was granted to children born on U.S. soil. Ark was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents. When he left California, he was denied entry back into the United States after visiting relatives in China.  Officials at the time argued that because Ark’s parents were Chinese citizens in the United States on temporary visas at the time of his birth, and therefore were not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S., he was not a citizen.  Ark took the issue to the Supreme Court. In 1898, the high court affirmed that he, along with any child born on U.S. soil, were guaranteed citizenship, and rejected the argument that the 14th Amendment only applied to newly freed African American slaves. American Civil Liberties Union lead attorney Cecillia Wang, who argued before the justices, said that when the federal government tried to strip Ark of his citizenship, “largely on the same grounds (the Trump administration) raised today,” the Supreme Court at that time rejected those efforts and upheld the 14th Amendment. “This Court held that the 14th Amendment embodies the English common law rule (that) virtually everyone born on U.S. soil is subject to its jurisdiction and is a citizen,” Wang, who is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, said. Her parents were in the U.S. on student visas when she was born in Oregon, meaning that if Trump’s executive order were in effect at that time, she would have been denied U.S. citizenship. Roberts agreed that the Supreme Court made the correct decision in 1898 about Ark’s case. “What the Court held in Wong Kim Ark was simple: the Citizenship Clause incorporated the common law and granted citizenship to nearly all children born in the United States,” he wrote. “Not surprisingly, then, in the 128 years since, we have repeatedly understood the rule of Wong Kim Ark to guarantee citizenship to all children born in the United States and subject to its power.”  “We see no reason to depart from that view today,” he continued.  14th Amendment argument During April’s oral arguments, Sauer made that case that the phrase in the 14th Amendment “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means that children born to parents without legal status or temporary visitors are not “subject to the jurisdiction of the United States” and are instead subject to the laws of their home country.  The 14th Amendment reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Roberts rejected Sauer’s position, and wrote that the Trump administration’s “[a]rguments for limiting birthright citizenship to those domiciled in the United States fail.” “Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause,” he wrote. “Under the Constitution, they are citizens at birth.” The 14th Amendment was passed to rectify the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, in which justices ruled that neither free or enslaved Black people could have citizenship or rights. The amendment was also meant to give African Americans citizenship while also denying citizenship to the mass migration of Chinese laborers not born on U.S. soil.  The “jurisdiction” language in the amendment, tribal scholars have said, was aimed to exempt Indigenous people who resided in Native nations — part of their tribal governments — from birthright citizenship, along with the children born to foreign diplomats.    Congress in 1924 specifically passed the Indian Citizenship Act to grant birthright citizenship to Indigenous people, regardless of their residence in Native nations.  Because of this, tribal scholars have explained the language “subject to the jurisdiction” was never meant to apply to immigrants and their home country, and instead refers to the political alliance of tribes. Congress reacts Following Tuesday’s decision, Democrats praised the decision. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in a statement that “despite Trump’s best efforts to bully them, the Supreme Court just reaffirmed that if you are born in America, you belong in America.” “No matter how much President Trump tries to steal citizenship from people that the Constitution has said have earned it and reverse the grand American tradition of welcoming newcomers to our nation, the Supreme Court confirmed today that those born in America are American,” he said. Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus — the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus — issued a joint statement that the high court’s ruling was a rejection of “Trump’s dangerous and exclusionary vision of America.” “We are American, we belong here, and we will continue to defend birthright citizenship for generations to come,” said New York Reps. Adriano Espaillat of the CHC; Grace Meng of the CAPAC; and Yvette Clarke of the CBC.  Wang, of the ACLU, who argued the case before the Supreme Court, said in a statement that Tuesday’s decision reaffirmed a core American principle.  “If you are born here, you are a citizen,” she said. “A president cannot change the Constitution by executive fiat.” An immigration advocacy group that has also challenged the Trump administration’s efforts to redefine birthright citizenship, We Are CASA, said the decision was a victory for immigrant families.  “The Trump administration’s attempt to deny citizenship to United States-born children, threaten generations of children with legal uncertainty, and overturn more than a century of settled constitutional law has failed,” said Shana Khader, the deputy legal director at We Are CASA. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f90fc2ca79de236241bb US Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump order te 2026-06-30T17:12:47.557Z US Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump order Protesters held a rally on protecting birthright citizenship outside the U.S. Supreme Court as President Donald Trump attended oral arguments on April 1, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday struck down President Donald Trump’s attempt to redefine the constitutional right to birthright citizenship. In the decision, a majority of the justices upheld the country’s long understanding of automatic citizenship by birth on American soil, regardless of the immigration status of a newborn’s parents. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., found the president’s executive order violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights—to freely participate in our political community,” Roberts wrote. “The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’ We keep that promise today.” While six of the justices agreed — Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — that the president’s executive order was unlawful, conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil M. Gorsuch dissented.  Only five of the justices agreed that the 14th Amendment extends citizenship to the children of immigrants, with Kavanaugh partially dissenting along with Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch.  Kavanaugh argued that Trump’s executive order did not violate the 14th Amendment, but instead violated federal statute. He added in his dissent that Congress could “enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country. But Congress has not yet done so.” The White House did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment, but a day before the decision, Trump said in the Oval Office that he would accept the Supreme Court’s ruling.  “It’s up to them, but in terms of for the good of the country, it’d be great if they … didn’t allow it,” Trump, who in a highly unusual move for a president attended the oral arguments on the case, said of birthright citizenship.  After the ruling, the president called on Congress, which is controlled by Republicans, to pass legislation to codify his executive order into law, dismissing the need for a constitutional amendment.  However, a constitutional amendment would be needed, not legislative law, because a majority of the justices still found that any change to birthright citizenship violated the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Utah’s GOP Sen. Mike Lee, who previously clerked for Alito, noted that “we’re going to need a constitutional amendment.”  The opinion is a major blow to Trump, who has sought to redefine who is American as part of his broader immigration agenda.  But it also follows two decisions from the high court that vastly expanded the president’s authority over immigration policy by allowing him to limit asylum seeker claims at the Southern border and strip legal protections for 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians.   Tuesday’s decision is based on one of the first executive orders that the president signed on the first day of his second term. It aimed to deny citizenship to children born to parents who either do not have legal status, or hold temporary legal visas.  Experts warned if the order were to take effect, it could create an entire class of stateless people and cause chaos for hospitals and local governments. Case brought by expectant parents The case, Trump v. Barbara, was brought by expectant mothers who feared their children would not be American citizens because of their immigration status. During oral arguments in April, a majority of the justices seemed skeptical of the Trump administration’s arguments, presented by Solicitor General D. John Sauer.  Before the justices, Sauer argued that the citizenship clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which is the basis for birthright citizenship, was meant to apply to newly freed African American slaves after the Civil War, not to children of immigrants.  Most legal scholars and historians disagree with that interpretation and have argued the Supreme Court in the 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark already settled the idea that automatic citizenship was granted to children born on U.S. soil. Ark was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents. When he left California, he was denied entry back into the United States after visiting relatives in China.  Officials at the time argued that because Ark’s parents were Chinese citizens in the United States on temporary visas at the time of his birth, and therefore were not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S., he was not a citizen.  Ark took the issue to the Supreme Court. In 1898, the high court affirmed that he, along with any child born on U.S. soil, were guaranteed citizenship, and rejected the argument that the 14th Amendment only applied to newly freed African American slaves. American Civil Liberties Union lead attorney Cecillia Wang, who argued before the justices, said that when the federal government tried to strip Ark of his citizenship, “largely on the same grounds (the Trump administration) raised today,” the Supreme Court at that time rejected those efforts and upheld the 14th Amendment. “This Court held that the 14th Amendment embodies the English common law rule (that) virtually everyone born on U.S. soil is subject to its jurisdiction and is a citizen,” Wang, who is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, said. Her parents were in the U.S. on student visas when she was born in Oregon, meaning that if Trump’s executive order were in effect at that time, she would have been denied U.S. citizenship. Roberts agreed that the Supreme Court made the correct decision in 1898 about Ark’s case. “What the Court held in Wong Kim Ark was simple: the Citizenship Clause incorporated the common law and granted citizenship to nearly all children born in the United States,” he wrote. “Not surprisingly, then, in the 128 years since, we have repeatedly understood the rule of Wong Kim Ark to guarantee citizenship to all children born in the United States and subject to its power.”  “We see no reason to depart from that view today,” he continued.  14th Amendment argument During April’s oral arguments, Sauer made that case that the phrase in the 14th Amendment “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means that children born to parents without legal status or temporary visitors are not “subject to the jurisdiction of the United States” and are instead subject to the laws of their home country.  The 14th Amendment reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Roberts rejected Sauer’s position, and wrote that the Trump administration’s “[a]rguments for limiting birthright citizenship to those domiciled in the United States fail.” “Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause,” he wrote. “Under the Constitution, they are citizens at birth.” The 14th Amendment was passed to rectify the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, in which justices ruled that neither free or enslaved Black people could have citizenship or rights. The amendment was also meant to give African Americans citizenship while also denying citizenship to the mass migration of Chinese laborers not born on U.S. soil.  The “jurisdiction” language in the amendment, tribal scholars have said, was aimed to exempt Indigenous people who resided in Native nations — part of their tribal governments — from birthright citizenship, along with the children born to foreign diplomats.    Congress in 1924 specifically passed the Indian Citizenship Act to grant birthright citizenship to Indigenous people, regardless of their residence in Native nations.  Because of this, tribal scholars have explained the language “subject to the jurisdiction” was never meant to apply to immigrants and their home country, and instead refers to the political alliance of tribes. Congress reacts Following Tuesday’s decision, Democrats praised the decision. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in a statement that “despite Trump’s best efforts to bully them, the Supreme Court just reaffirmed that if you are born in America, you belong in America.” “No matter how much President Trump tries to steal citizenship from people that the Constitution has said have earned it and reverse the grand American tradition of welcoming newcomers to our nation, the Supreme Court confirmed today that those born in America are American,” he said. Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus — the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus — issued a joint statement that the high court’s ruling was a rejection of “Trump’s dangerous and exclusionary vision of America.” “We are American, we belong here, and we will continue to defend birthright citizenship for generations to come,” said New York Reps. Adriano Espaillat of the CHC; Grace Meng of the CAPAC; and Yvette Clarke of the CBC.  Wang, of the ACLU, who argued the case before the Supreme Court, said in a statement that Tuesday’s decision reaffirmed a core American principle.  “If you are born here, you are a citizen,” she said. “A president cannot change the Constitution by executive fiat.” An immigration advocacy group that has also challenged the Trump administration’s efforts to redefine birthright citizenship, We Are CASA, said the decision was a victory for immigrant families.  “The Trump administration’s attempt to deny citizenship to United States-born children, threaten generations of children with legal uncertainty, and overturn more than a century of settled constitutional law has failed,” said Shana Khader, the deputy legal director at We Are CASA. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f907c2ca79de236241b2 Dave Portnoy left 'stunned' by NYC socialist victories, says the American Dream is under siege te 2026-06-30T17:12:39.977Z Dave Portnoy left 'stunned' by NYC socialist victories, says the American Dream is under siege Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy had an answer Monday about whether he is weighing a potential mayoral run in the Big Apple: "Maybe."  Speaking with Fox News Digital following a 92NY event promoting his new book, the New England native debated whether he’d be the best candidate to take on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose socialist brand is rising in the Democratic Party. "Depends what day you ask me," Portnoy told Fox News Digital. "I don’t know that I could win, but somebody’s got to take that guy and beat him."  "So I don’t know," he added. "Maybe I’m the guy to do it. Depends on how much more he keeps pissing me off." DAVE PORTNOY CELEBRATES NOT LIVING IN NYC AFTER DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MAMDANI'S MAYORAL WIN The comments came following a panel promoting Portnoy’s new book, "Cancel Me If You Can," in which the Barstool founder left no stone unturned when it came to topics of discussion — including touching on the recent sweep by three far-left socialists in New York City’s primary elections last week.  "I don't want to say, ‘We don't do politics,’ and then I jump into politics," Portnoy said during the panel, in response to a question submitted by Fox News Digital. "And I can't stay out of it, because it is blowing in my mind what's going on [in New York City] right now."  Portnoy went on to blast previous comments from Mamdani-backed candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier that have resurfaced in light of her primary win. DEM SOCIALIST'S NYC PRIMARY UPSET SIGNALS 'GENERATIONAL' SHIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY, STRATEGISTS SAY  "That lady, Chevalier, just got elected," Portnoy said. "The things she has said are unbelievable."  "She said all Arab men [and] Black men shouldn’t date ugly colonizers," he continued. "She said no prisons, no quarters, no jails. She started a group at Columbia that’s goal was to overthrow Western society — she just got elected." Although Chevalier has not been elected to office, her victory is effectively a certainty in her deep-blue district after winning the Democratic nomination. He also pointed to resurfaced remarks made by Mamdani-backed Aber Kawas, who won her primary race in New York State Senate District 12, in which she appeared to suggest the United States deserved the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. MAMDANI'S FAILURE TO WALK BACK THESE POSITIONS COULD CAUSE RECKONING IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 'FIVE-ALARM WARNING' "[Kawas], who just got elected, said America deserved 9/11," Portnoy said. "Like that to me, is just — I can’t even wrap my brain around it."  "I don’t know if it’s scary or if I should be scared or like, [if] I gotta get into politics," he added. "I am stunned by some of the things that are happening now."  Kawas’ previous comments stemmed from a 2017 episode of the Asian American Writers' Association podcast titled "Islamophobia beyond 9/11 with Aber Kawas," in which she said, "The system of capitalism and racism and White supremacy… and Islamophobia have all been used to colonize lands, to take resources from other people and so this is a long trajectory, and we're just seeing the manifestations of that continuation with 9/11." NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI DEFENDS PAST TWEETS, SAYS CUOMO ATTACKING ‘MYTHICAL VERSION’ OF HIM The socialist candidate later walked back her comments days after her win, telling Fox News Digital, "I’ve always been outspoken about the wrongful scapegoating of Muslim Americans, both before and after 9/11, and in this interview I was speaking about the harmful notion that Muslims should have to apologize for an act of violence they have nothing to do with."  The pizza critic known as "El Presidente" took aim at Mamdani, blasting the sitting mayor’s socialist agenda while refusing to confirm whether a mayoral run was off the table.  WATCH: DAVE PORTNOY DISCUSSES WHETHER HE'D RUN FOR POLITICAL OFFIC "I’d want to go right for Mamdani," Portnoy told the audience at 92NY, in response to Fox News Digital’s question. RAPPING, ACTING CAMEO AMONG FRINGE ACTIVITIES LINING MAMDANI'S THIN WORK RESUME "Unlike Mamdani, who’s never had a job, I’ve had a real job," he added. "And I’ve actually done a lot of good when I wasn’t doing it to run for office. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do."  "I don’t know if I could win this city with a Democrat, but [Mamdani] has said what he wanted to do before he got elected. And I trust what people say before they’re running, and he said some pretty crazy things about what he wants to do."  Portnoy lamented that he believes entrepreneurship — a fundamental principle of the American Dream — has been demonized by far-left candidates throughout Democratic cities in the country. MAHER DEFENDS CAPITALISM AS BETTER THAN 'REVERSE,' CALLS OUT MAMDANI'S SOCIALIST BELIEFS "To me, I think Barstool is the American Dream. I really do," Portnoy said. "It’s like, you work your a-- off, you build a company, you employ 400 to 450 people who enjoy it. I’ve become wealthy beyond my reach. It kind of is the American Dream."  "I don’t like when I hear that people should be ashamed for being successful — that bothers me greatly," the Barstool founder continued, earning a round of applause. "A lot of things [Mamdani] says really do bother me." CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani's office for comment.  Speaking to the audience in response to Fox News Digital’s question, Portnoy paraphrased a famous line from philosopher Plato to emphasize his belief that Americans should run for office if they are unhappy with the politicians elected to represent them. "If you don’t do your job in public service, then you’re doomed to be ruled by people dumber than you," Portnoy said.  Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f8fbc2ca79de236241a9 Dave Portnoy left 'stunned' by NYC socialist victories, says the American Dream is under siege te 2026-06-30T17:12:27.586Z Dave Portnoy left 'stunned' by NYC socialist victories, says the American Dream is under siege Barstool Sports owner Dave Portnoy had an answer Monday about whether he is weighing a potential mayoral run in the Big Apple: "Maybe."  Speaking with Fox News Digital following a 92NY event promoting his new book, the New England native debated whether he’d be the best candidate to take on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose socialist brand is rising in the Democratic Party. "Depends what day you ask me," Portnoy told Fox News Digital. "I don’t know that I could win, but somebody’s got to take that guy and beat him."  "So I don’t know," he added. "Maybe I’m the guy to do it. Depends on how much more he keeps pissing me off." DAVE PORTNOY CELEBRATES NOT LIVING IN NYC AFTER DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST MAMDANI'S MAYORAL WIN The comments came following a panel promoting Portnoy’s new book, "Cancel Me If You Can," in which the Barstool founder left no stone unturned when it came to topics of discussion — including touching on the recent sweep by three far-left socialists in New York City’s primary elections last week.  "I don't want to say, ‘We don't do politics,’ and then I jump into politics," Portnoy said during the panel, in response to a question submitted by Fox News Digital. "And I can't stay out of it, because it is blowing in my mind what's going on [in New York City] right now."  Portnoy went on to blast previous comments from Mamdani-backed candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier that have resurfaced in light of her primary win. DEM SOCIALIST'S NYC PRIMARY UPSET SIGNALS 'GENERATIONAL' SHIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY, STRATEGISTS SAY  "That lady, Chevalier, just got elected," Portnoy said. "The things she has said are unbelievable."  "She said all Arab men [and] Black men shouldn’t date ugly colonizers," he continued. "She said no prisons, no quarters, no jails. She started a group at Columbia that’s goal was to overthrow Western society — she just got elected." Although Chevalier has not been elected to office, her victory is effectively a certainty in her deep-blue district after winning the Democratic nomination. He also pointed to resurfaced remarks made by Mamdani-backed Aber Kawas, who won her primary race in New York State Senate District 12, in which she appeared to suggest the United States deserved the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. MAMDANI'S FAILURE TO WALK BACK THESE POSITIONS COULD CAUSE RECKONING IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY: 'FIVE-ALARM WARNING' "[Kawas], who just got elected, said America deserved 9/11," Portnoy said. "Like that to me, is just — I can’t even wrap my brain around it."  "I don’t know if it’s scary or if I should be scared or like, [if] I gotta get into politics," he added. "I am stunned by some of the things that are happening now."  Kawas’ previous comments stemmed from a 2017 episode of the Asian American Writers' Association podcast titled "Islamophobia beyond 9/11 with Aber Kawas," in which she said, "The system of capitalism and racism and White supremacy… and Islamophobia have all been used to colonize lands, to take resources from other people and so this is a long trajectory, and we're just seeing the manifestations of that continuation with 9/11." NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI DEFENDS PAST TWEETS, SAYS CUOMO ATTACKING ‘MYTHICAL VERSION’ OF HIM The socialist candidate later walked back her comments days after her win, telling Fox News Digital, "I’ve always been outspoken about the wrongful scapegoating of Muslim Americans, both before and after 9/11, and in this interview I was speaking about the harmful notion that Muslims should have to apologize for an act of violence they have nothing to do with."  The pizza critic known as "El Presidente" took aim at Mamdani, blasting the sitting mayor’s socialist agenda while refusing to confirm whether a mayoral run was off the table.  WATCH: DAVE PORTNOY DISCUSSES WHETHER HE'D RUN FOR POLITICAL OFFIC "I’d want to go right for Mamdani," Portnoy told the audience at 92NY, in response to Fox News Digital’s question. RAPPING, ACTING CAMEO AMONG FRINGE ACTIVITIES LINING MAMDANI'S THIN WORK RESUME "Unlike Mamdani, who’s never had a job, I’ve had a real job," he added. "And I’ve actually done a lot of good when I wasn’t doing it to run for office. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do."  "I don’t know if I could win this city with a Democrat, but [Mamdani] has said what he wanted to do before he got elected. And I trust what people say before they’re running, and he said some pretty crazy things about what he wants to do."  Portnoy lamented that he believes entrepreneurship — a fundamental principle of the American Dream — has been demonized by far-left candidates throughout Democratic cities in the country. MAHER DEFENDS CAPITALISM AS BETTER THAN 'REVERSE,' CALLS OUT MAMDANI'S SOCIALIST BELIEFS "To me, I think Barstool is the American Dream. I really do," Portnoy said. "It’s like, you work your a-- off, you build a company, you employ 400 to 450 people who enjoy it. I’ve become wealthy beyond my reach. It kind of is the American Dream."  "I don’t like when I hear that people should be ashamed for being successful — that bothers me greatly," the Barstool founder continued, earning a round of applause. "A lot of things [Mamdani] says really do bother me." CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani's office for comment.  Speaking to the audience in response to Fox News Digital’s question, Portnoy paraphrased a famous line from philosopher Plato to emphasize his belief that Americans should run for office if they are unhappy with the politicians elected to represent them. "If you don’t do your job in public service, then you’re doomed to be ruled by people dumber than you," Portnoy said.  Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f8f4c2ca79de236241a0 WATCH: Fights break out at Russian gas stations as Putin admits fuel shortages te 2026-06-30T17:12:20.533Z WATCH: Fights break out at Russian gas stations as Putin admits fuel shortages Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly acknowledged that Ukrainian long-range strikes are creating fuel supply problems inside Russia, as videos obtained by Fox News Digital show long lines, angry motorists and fights erupting at filling stations across several Russian regions. Speaking at a meeting with government ministers and other officials after a wave of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, Putin said on Sunday that strikes on "critical infrastructure" and energy facilities were creating "problems," including shortages affecting motorists, businesses and agricultural producers, but said Russia was dealing with them, according to Reuters.  The remarks marked a rare admission from the Kremlin that Ukraine’s long-range campaign is having an impact beyond the battlefield. UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORT For Ukraine, the fuel crisis is evidence that its long-range strike campaign is doing more than damaging individual facilities. The attacks are forcing Moscow to manage visible problems at home, exposing a vulnerability in a country whose global power has long rested on its energy sector.  Ukraine increasingly has used long-range drones to target Russian oil refineries, depots and supply routes hundreds of miles from its border. Ukraine hit two Russian oil refineries overnight, Reuters reported Sunday, including one in Krasnodar, Russia, and another in Yaroslavl, Russia, as Kyiv continues targeting infrastructure linked to Moscow’s war effort. Fuel shortages have spread across Russia, including occupied Crimea, southern Russia, Siberia and Moscow. Moscow also is weighing emergency measures, including temporarily allowing the production and import of lower-quality fuel, according to a draft government document reported by the Kommersant daily newspaper. Maxim Katz, a Russian opposition figure and former Moscow municipal deputy, told Fox News Digital that the fuel shortages are real and increasingly difficult for Russians to ignore. "There are fuel problems in Russia right now — real ones," Katz told Fox News Digital. "I’m getting a lot of reports, and I can see it too: It’s hard. You can’t find fuel, or you have to stand in line. In some cities, you have to spend half a day looking for fuel, and then they give you only a little, and you have to get back in line again." Katz said the shortages appear tied directly to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refining capacity. "They are bombing the refineries very effectively," he said. "Putin doesn’t have a way to defend them. Right now, it looks like there is no way to defend them, and that is a major pressure point on Putin." Videos obtained by Fox News Digital from East2West news agency show scenes of frustration at Russian filling stations, where drivers are seen waiting in long queues and arguing as shortages bite. In one video, two women appear to argue over a place in line, with one insisting, "I was in the queue," before the confrontation escalates into shouting and threats. 'PURE HELL' IN MOSCOW AS UKRAINIAN DRONES STRIKE MAJOR REFINERY SUPPLYING CAPITAL'S FUEL MARKET In Serov, Russia, police were called after a male driver was seen shouting obscenities at several women before punching one of them, according to a video.  In Ryazan, Russia, video shows a fight breaking out near a forecourt as drivers waited for fuel. In Irkutsk, Russia, a man is seen leaning into the open window of a hatchback and repeatedly hitting another motorist. One woman, identified only as Tanya, 29, told east2west she waited 13 hours in Siberia to get half a tank of fuel and blamed Putin’s war for the chaos. "He should stop this senseless conflict and let us live normally," she told the outlet.  'PURE HELL' IN MOSCOW AS UKRAINIAN DRONES STRIKE MAJOR REFINERY SUPPLYING CAPITAL'S FUEL MARKET Katz said the fuel disruption comes alongside deeper economic pressure caused by the Russia–Ukraine war, including high domestic borrowing, steep interest rates and a budget increasingly built around military spending. "The whole economy is now built on war," Katz said. "War does not produce anything. Nothing comes back from it. So what remains is a big hole." He said Russia is not yet on the verge of collapse, but the strain is "growing and growing," with economic officials warning that spending may need to be cut as the budget deficit becomes harder to close. This assessment was also confirmed to Fox News Digital by a European intelligence source, who said the economic pressure is effectively working. Fox News Digital reached out to Russian and Ukrainian spokespeople for comment.  Reuters contributed to this story. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f8e8c2ca79de23624197 WATCH: Fights break out at Russian gas stations as Putin admits fuel shortages te 2026-06-30T17:12:08.131Z WATCH: Fights break out at Russian gas stations as Putin admits fuel shortages Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly acknowledged that Ukrainian long-range strikes are creating fuel supply problems inside Russia, as videos obtained by Fox News Digital show long lines, angry motorists and fights erupting at filling stations across several Russian regions. Speaking at a meeting with government ministers and other officials after a wave of Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, Putin said on Sunday that strikes on "critical infrastructure" and energy facilities were creating "problems," including shortages affecting motorists, businesses and agricultural producers, but said Russia was dealing with them, according to Reuters.  The remarks marked a rare admission from the Kremlin that Ukraine’s long-range campaign is having an impact beyond the battlefield. UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORT For Ukraine, the fuel crisis is evidence that its long-range strike campaign is doing more than damaging individual facilities. The attacks are forcing Moscow to manage visible problems at home, exposing a vulnerability in a country whose global power has long rested on its energy sector.  Ukraine increasingly has used long-range drones to target Russian oil refineries, depots and supply routes hundreds of miles from its border. Ukraine hit two Russian oil refineries overnight, Reuters reported Sunday, including one in Krasnodar, Russia, and another in Yaroslavl, Russia, as Kyiv continues targeting infrastructure linked to Moscow’s war effort. Fuel shortages have spread across Russia, including occupied Crimea, southern Russia, Siberia and Moscow. Moscow also is weighing emergency measures, including temporarily allowing the production and import of lower-quality fuel, according to a draft government document reported by the Kommersant daily newspaper. Maxim Katz, a Russian opposition figure and former Moscow municipal deputy, told Fox News Digital that the fuel shortages are real and increasingly difficult for Russians to ignore. "There are fuel problems in Russia right now — real ones," Katz told Fox News Digital. "I’m getting a lot of reports, and I can see it too: It’s hard. You can’t find fuel, or you have to stand in line. In some cities, you have to spend half a day looking for fuel, and then they give you only a little, and you have to get back in line again." Katz said the shortages appear tied directly to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refining capacity. "They are bombing the refineries very effectively," he said. "Putin doesn’t have a way to defend them. Right now, it looks like there is no way to defend them, and that is a major pressure point on Putin." Videos obtained by Fox News Digital from East2West news agency show scenes of frustration at Russian filling stations, where drivers are seen waiting in long queues and arguing as shortages bite. In one video, two women appear to argue over a place in line, with one insisting, "I was in the queue," before the confrontation escalates into shouting and threats. 'PURE HELL' IN MOSCOW AS UKRAINIAN DRONES STRIKE MAJOR REFINERY SUPPLYING CAPITAL'S FUEL MARKET In Serov, Russia, police were called after a male driver was seen shouting obscenities at several women before punching one of them, according to a video.  In Ryazan, Russia, video shows a fight breaking out near a forecourt as drivers waited for fuel. In Irkutsk, Russia, a man is seen leaning into the open window of a hatchback and repeatedly hitting another motorist. One woman, identified only as Tanya, 29, told east2west she waited 13 hours in Siberia to get half a tank of fuel and blamed Putin’s war for the chaos. "He should stop this senseless conflict and let us live normally," she told the outlet.  'PURE HELL' IN MOSCOW AS UKRAINIAN DRONES STRIKE MAJOR REFINERY SUPPLYING CAPITAL'S FUEL MARKET Katz said the fuel disruption comes alongside deeper economic pressure caused by the Russia–Ukraine war, including high domestic borrowing, steep interest rates and a budget increasingly built around military spending. "The whole economy is now built on war," Katz said. "War does not produce anything. Nothing comes back from it. So what remains is a big hole." He said Russia is not yet on the verge of collapse, but the strain is "growing and growing," with economic officials warning that spending may need to be cut as the budget deficit becomes harder to close. This assessment was also confirmed to Fox News Digital by a European intelligence source, who said the economic pressure is effectively working. Fox News Digital reached out to Russian and Ukrainian spokespeople for comment.  Reuters contributed to this story. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f8e1c2ca79de2362418e Trump suffers major Supreme Court defeat as justices uphold birthright citizenship te 2026-06-30T17:12:01.063Z Trump suffers major Supreme Court defeat as justices uphold birthright citizenship The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump's bid to restrict birthright citizenship, preserving the long-standing constitutional interpretation that most children born in the United States are automatically U.S. citizens, including children born to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present in the country. The ruling is a major setback for Trump, who made curbing birthright citizenship a key part of his immigration agenda. "Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are 'subject to the jurisdiction' of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause," the court said.  "The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land.' We keep that promise today."  LIVE UPDATES: SUPREME COURT TO UNVEIL BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, TRANSGENDDER ATHLETES DECISIONS ON TERM'S FINAL DAY The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to affirm a district court ruling blocking Trump's executive order, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the court's three liberal justices. Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred in judgment.  The court found that a person's citizenship status is not dependent on their parents', citing the 14th Amendment. Roberts wrote that the Court's 1898 ruling in Wong Kim Ark had settled the issue. The majority said the Citizenship Clause was adopted to reverse the Supreme Court's Dred Scott ruling, which denied citizenship to Black Americans, and to ensure that citizenship is determined by birth on U.S. soil. While Kavanaugh agreed that Trump's executive order could not take effect, he reached that conclusion on different legal grounds than the majority in a concurring opinion.  Kavanaugh argued that Trump's executive order violated current federal law; however, he said the Constitution would allow Congress to pass legislation restricting birthright citizenship for children born to parents who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily. SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN LIMIT ON PARTY CAMPAIGN SPENDING IN COORDINATION WITH CANDIDATES "Congress could—consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment — amend or otherwise enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country. But Congress has not yet done so," Kavanaugh ruled. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, authored a 91-page dissent, arguing that the majority misinterpreted the 14th Amendment. He wrote that the 14th Amendment does not guarantee birthright citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily. Thomas argued that the Court's 1898 ruling in Wong Kim Ark expanded birthright citizenship beyond what the Reconstruction Congress had ever "contemplated." "Wong Kim Ark addressed only the citizenship of a child born to parents who were lawfully and permanently domiciled in the United States," Thomas wrote. Justice Samuel Alito wrote a separate dissent, calling the Court's ruling a "serious mistake." He suggested the Court failed to consider the rise of "birth tourism," in which foreigners come to the United States solely to give birth, and argued that it could have serious national security implications. "Suppose that a person's only connection to this country is that he was born here to a mother who was present just long enough to give birth and then quickly return to her native country," Alito wrote. "Suppose that country is a strategic adversary or enemy of the United States. Suppose the child never visited the United States while grown and was inculcated with hatred of this country." TRUMP'S FIRING POWER FACES TWIN SUPREME COURT TESTS, BUT ONE AGENCY MAY GET SPECIAL TREATMENT Alito pointed out that this hypothetical person can now enter and leave the United States without any restrictions. "Even if he plots to harm this country, he cannot be deprived of his status as a citizen, at least under current precedent," Alito continued. The Supreme Court's ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of families challenging President Donald Trump's executive order, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship." Trump said the order was intended to curb illegal immigration, arguing that granting automatic U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the country acts as a "magnet for illegal immigration." The order sought to deny automatic U.S. citizenship to certain children born in the United States to parents who were in the country unlawfully or temporarily. The lawsuit, led by a Honduran woman identified only as "Barbara" to protect her identity, argued that the policy violated the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause and was therefore unconstitutional. The ACLU and other immigrant rights groups argued that the Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship to nearly all children born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents' immigration status, and that the president could not alter that constitutional guarantee through executive action. The Supreme Court ultimately agreed, striking down the order. "The court’s decision reaffirms a fundamental American promise — if you are born here, you are a citizen," said ACLU National Legal Director Cecillia Wang, who argued the case before the Supreme Court. "A president cannot change the Constitution by executive fiat. Our brave clients and our legal team stand with millions of people around our country who spoke up for one of our most cherished rights. The Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship stands strong." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f8d4c2ca79de23624185 Trump suffers major Supreme Court defeat as justices uphold birthright citizenship te 2026-06-30T17:11:48.676Z Trump suffers major Supreme Court defeat as justices uphold birthright citizenship The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump's bid to restrict birthright citizenship, preserving the long-standing constitutional interpretation that most children born in the United States are automatically U.S. citizens, including children born to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present in the country. The ruling is a major setback for Trump, who made curbing birthright citizenship a key part of his immigration agenda. "Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are 'subject to the jurisdiction' of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause," the court said.  "The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land.' We keep that promise today."  LIVE UPDATES: SUPREME COURT TO UNVEIL BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, TRANSGENDDER ATHLETES DECISIONS ON TERM'S FINAL DAY The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to affirm a district court ruling blocking Trump's executive order, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the court's three liberal justices. Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred in judgment.  The court found that a person's citizenship status is not dependent on their parents', citing the 14th Amendment. Roberts wrote that the Court's 1898 ruling in Wong Kim Ark had settled the issue. The majority said the Citizenship Clause was adopted to reverse the Supreme Court's Dred Scott ruling, which denied citizenship to Black Americans, and to ensure that citizenship is determined by birth on U.S. soil. While Kavanaugh agreed that Trump's executive order could not take effect, he reached that conclusion on different legal grounds than the majority in a concurring opinion.  Kavanaugh argued that Trump's executive order violated current federal law; however, he said the Constitution would allow Congress to pass legislation restricting birthright citizenship for children born to parents who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily. SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN LIMIT ON PARTY CAMPAIGN SPENDING IN COORDINATION WITH CANDIDATES "Congress could—consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment — amend or otherwise enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country. But Congress has not yet done so," Kavanaugh ruled. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, authored a 91-page dissent, arguing that the majority misinterpreted the 14th Amendment. He wrote that the 14th Amendment does not guarantee birthright citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily. Thomas argued that the Court's 1898 ruling in Wong Kim Ark expanded birthright citizenship beyond what the Reconstruction Congress had ever "contemplated." "Wong Kim Ark addressed only the citizenship of a child born to parents who were lawfully and permanently domiciled in the United States," Thomas wrote. Justice Samuel Alito wrote a separate dissent, calling the Court's ruling a "serious mistake." He suggested the Court failed to consider the rise of "birth tourism," in which foreigners come to the United States solely to give birth, and argued that it could have serious national security implications. "Suppose that a person's only connection to this country is that he was born here to a mother who was present just long enough to give birth and then quickly return to her native country," Alito wrote. "Suppose that country is a strategic adversary or enemy of the United States. Suppose the child never visited the United States while grown and was inculcated with hatred of this country." TRUMP'S FIRING POWER FACES TWIN SUPREME COURT TESTS, BUT ONE AGENCY MAY GET SPECIAL TREATMENT Alito pointed out that this hypothetical person can now enter and leave the United States without any restrictions. "Even if he plots to harm this country, he cannot be deprived of his status as a citizen, at least under current precedent," Alito continued. The Supreme Court's ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of families challenging President Donald Trump's executive order, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship." Trump said the order was intended to curb illegal immigration, arguing that granting automatic U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the country acts as a "magnet for illegal immigration." The order sought to deny automatic U.S. citizenship to certain children born in the United States to parents who were in the country unlawfully or temporarily. The lawsuit, led by a Honduran woman identified only as "Barbara" to protect her identity, argued that the policy violated the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause and was therefore unconstitutional. The ACLU and other immigrant rights groups argued that the Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship to nearly all children born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents' immigration status, and that the president could not alter that constitutional guarantee through executive action. The Supreme Court ultimately agreed, striking down the order. "The court’s decision reaffirms a fundamental American promise — if you are born here, you are a citizen," said ACLU National Legal Director Cecillia Wang, who argued the case before the Supreme Court. "A president cannot change the Constitution by executive fiat. Our brave clients and our legal team stand with millions of people around our country who spoke up for one of our most cherished rights. The Constitution’s guarantee of birthright citizenship stands strong." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f8cdc2ca79de2362417c UAP whistleblower Luis Elizondo details congressional staffer's warning of a plot to 'eliminate' him te 2026-06-30T17:11:41.609Z UAP whistleblower Luis Elizondo details congressional staffer's warning of a plot to 'eliminate' him A whistleblower's brush with death, a congressman's dive into one of America's biggest mysteries and chilling warnings for their safety have taken center stage on the latest episode of the "Hang Out With Sean Hannity" podcast. Former Pentagon official and UFO whistleblower Luis Elizondo recalled a startling warning he received from a congressional staffer regarding him and fellow whistleblower David Grusch. "There was a plan to eliminate you," Elizondo said, recounting the warning. UFO WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS BILLIONS IN SECRET SPENDING HIDDEN FROM CONGRESS According to Elizondo, the "inebriated" staffer had left a classified briefing on Capitol Hill where government officials had disclosed the information just prior to the call. Though no details were provided regarding how the plan had been formulated or exactly what it entailed, he indicated he was prepared for such a faceoff. "It's the reason why I have five German shepherds, and I'm heavily armed," he said. A call from another staffer immediately followed, offering another ominous warning related to the news. EX-PENTAGON OFFICIAL SAYS UAP FILES REVEAL 'TREASURE TROVE' OF INTELLIGENCE DATING BACK TO THE 1940S "[The] first thing he says, 'Lou, are you okay?' I said, 'Yeah, I'm fine, why?' He's like, 'Well, you need to really watch yourself. Because there was discussions involving you and Grusch, that some people were very upset with what you guys did,'" he recounted. Both Elizondo and Grusch were former intelligence officials who helped spearhead calls to disclose classified information regarding UFOs or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). Their calls have been met with some resistance, he says, including the alleged plan. Tennessee GOP Rep. Tim Burchett, also appearing on the podcast, similarly touched on the dangers of pressing for transparency, "I was sitting at the house and I got a call from... a friend of the administration. It told me that I'd kicked a hornet's nest, and it said, you need to get bodies around you," he recalled. "I'm in East Tennessee, I've got bodies around me. There's enough good old boys out there..." he continued. "Lou will tell you we have kicked a virtual hornet's nest, and these people don't want this stuff out, and I have my own theories about that as well. I'm sure Lou does, too." The full "Hang Out With Sean Hannity" episode with Elizondo and Burchett is available now on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f8c1c2ca79de23624173 UAP whistleblower Luis Elizondo details congressional staffer's warning of a plot to 'eliminate' him te 2026-06-30T17:11:29.219Z UAP whistleblower Luis Elizondo details congressional staffer's warning of a plot to 'eliminate' him A whistleblower's brush with death, a congressman's dive into one of America's biggest mysteries and chilling warnings for their safety have taken center stage on the latest episode of the "Hang Out With Sean Hannity" podcast. Former Pentagon official and UFO whistleblower Luis Elizondo recalled a startling warning he received from a congressional staffer regarding him and fellow whistleblower David Grusch. "There was a plan to eliminate you," Elizondo said, recounting the warning. UFO WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS BILLIONS IN SECRET SPENDING HIDDEN FROM CONGRESS According to Elizondo, the "inebriated" staffer had left a classified briefing on Capitol Hill where government officials had disclosed the information just prior to the call. Though no details were provided regarding how the plan had been formulated or exactly what it entailed, he indicated he was prepared for such a faceoff. "It's the reason why I have five German shepherds, and I'm heavily armed," he said. A call from another staffer immediately followed, offering another ominous warning related to the news. EX-PENTAGON OFFICIAL SAYS UAP FILES REVEAL 'TREASURE TROVE' OF INTELLIGENCE DATING BACK TO THE 1940S "[The] first thing he says, 'Lou, are you okay?' I said, 'Yeah, I'm fine, why?' He's like, 'Well, you need to really watch yourself. Because there was discussions involving you and Grusch, that some people were very upset with what you guys did,'" he recounted. Both Elizondo and Grusch were former intelligence officials who helped spearhead calls to disclose classified information regarding UFOs or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). Their calls have been met with some resistance, he says, including the alleged plan. Tennessee GOP Rep. Tim Burchett, also appearing on the podcast, similarly touched on the dangers of pressing for transparency, "I was sitting at the house and I got a call from... a friend of the administration. It told me that I'd kicked a hornet's nest, and it said, you need to get bodies around you," he recalled. "I'm in East Tennessee, I've got bodies around me. There's enough good old boys out there..." he continued. "Lou will tell you we have kicked a virtual hornet's nest, and these people don't want this stuff out, and I have my own theories about that as well. I'm sure Lou does, too." The full "Hang Out With Sean Hannity" episode with Elizondo and Burchett is available now on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f8bac2ca79de23624161 Supreme Court strikes down limit on party campaign spending in coordination with candidates te 2026-06-30T17:11:22.158Z Supreme Court strikes down limit on party campaign spending in coordination with candidates The Supreme Court struck down a longstanding federal campaign spending limit, ruling that political parties can now spend unlimited amounts in coordination with their federal candidates, as long as they otherwise comply with campaign finance laws. The 6-3 vote in the case National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission saw all the conservative justices in the majority, ruling against the restriction in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). "In short, constitutional text, history, and precedent establish that the political-party coordinated-expenditure limits violate the First Amendment," Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the majority opinion. "Importantly, by holding FECA’s political-party coordinated-expenditure restrictions unconstitutional, the Court’s decision today treats all political parties equally." Then-Senator JD Vance, R-Ohio, was among those who brought the original lawsuit to remove the spending limits in 2022, along with the Republican senatorial and congressional committees. TRUMP SUFFERS MAJOR SUPREME COURT DEFEAT AS JUSTICES UPHOLD BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP Democrats had called on the Court to uphold the law, even though there is wide agreement that the spending limits have hurt political parties in an era of unlimited spending by other organizations. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Kagan wrote in her dissenting opinion that "today, the Court rewrites the rules, to allow circumvention of the contribution limits." "The majority invalidates Congress’s restriction of coordinated expenditures, thus enabling a party to serve as an alternative checking account for a campaign," Kagan wrote. SUPREME COURT MAKES RULING ON TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN'S SPORTS The limits on party spending stem from a desire to prevent large donors from skirting caps on individual contributions to a candidate by directing unlimited sums to the party, with the understanding that the money will be spent on behalf of the candidate. The Supreme Court had previously upheld the limits in 2001. The ruling comes ahead of the November midterm elections, as President Donald Trump and Republicans work to maintain the the GOP's congressional majorities. Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears, along with The Associated Press contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f8adc2ca79de23624158 Supreme Court strikes down limit on party campaign spending in coordination with candidates te 2026-06-30T17:11:09.761Z Supreme Court strikes down limit on party campaign spending in coordination with candidates The Supreme Court struck down a longstanding federal campaign spending limit, ruling that political parties can now spend unlimited amounts in coordination with their federal candidates, as long as they otherwise comply with campaign finance laws. The 6-3 vote in the case National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission saw all the conservative justices in the majority, ruling against the restriction in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). "In short, constitutional text, history, and precedent establish that the political-party coordinated-expenditure limits violate the First Amendment," Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the majority opinion. "Importantly, by holding FECA’s political-party coordinated-expenditure restrictions unconstitutional, the Court’s decision today treats all political parties equally." Then-Senator JD Vance, R-Ohio, was among those who brought the original lawsuit to remove the spending limits in 2022, along with the Republican senatorial and congressional committees. TRUMP SUFFERS MAJOR SUPREME COURT DEFEAT AS JUSTICES UPHOLD BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP Democrats had called on the Court to uphold the law, even though there is wide agreement that the spending limits have hurt political parties in an era of unlimited spending by other organizations. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Kagan wrote in her dissenting opinion that "today, the Court rewrites the rules, to allow circumvention of the contribution limits." "The majority invalidates Congress’s restriction of coordinated expenditures, thus enabling a party to serve as an alternative checking account for a campaign," Kagan wrote. SUPREME COURT MAKES RULING ON TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN'S SPORTS The limits on party spending stem from a desire to prevent large donors from skirting caps on individual contributions to a candidate by directing unlimited sums to the party, with the understanding that the money will be spent on behalf of the candidate. The Supreme Court had previously upheld the limits in 2001. The ruling comes ahead of the November midterm elections, as President Donald Trump and Republicans work to maintain the the GOP's congressional majorities. Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears, along with The Associated Press contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f89ac2ca79de23624139 Caitlin Clark's teammate called 'wildly unprofessional' for airing true thoughts on Mercury te 2026-06-30T17:10:50.305Z Caitlin Clark's teammate called 'wildly unprofessional' for airing true thoughts on Mercury Sophie Cunningham is throwing more fuel onto the WNBA fire. Caitlin Clark's sidekick is never one to hide from anything, and on the latest episode of her "Show Me Something" podcast, she did not shy away from her true feelings about her former team. Cunningham once played for the Phoenix Mercury, but last week the Mercury was Public Enemy No. 1 after Alyssa Thomas' hard foul on Caitlin Clark. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM The foul went uncalled before the WNBA reviewed the play, upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2, and suspended Thomas. But the Mercury also poked fun at the incident in a since-deleted social media post. Continuously having Clark's back, Cunningham said "no one" likes the Mercury. "I know people in their own organization — no one likes their team this year. They say that they're the unfriendliest group," Cunningham said. "So we're not the only ones who feel that way. Internal people feel that way too." That, however, drew the ire of USA TODAY WNBA reporter Meaghan L. Hall, who said Cunningham should keep her comments to herself. REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER RIPS WNBA’S ‘THUG TREATMENT’ OF CAITLIN CLARK AFTER LATEST ON-COURT CONTROVERSY "Goodness gracious. I — 1) This is wildly unprofessional," she began in an X post. "2) How is this helping with the points at everything current discourse? 3) There is not any scenario that exists where a player should be saying this about any organization." Cunningham spent six seasons with the Mercury before joining the Indiana Fever last year. She was named in a lawsuit last year that claimed she had a sexual relationship with Phoenix Suns and Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein, which she denied. The Fever and Mercury will face off again on July 9, but Clark's status remains in question due to a lingering back issue. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f890c2ca79de2362410e Anthropic’s Claude Science bets on workflow, not a new model, to win over scientists te 2026-06-30T17:10:40.681Z Anthropic’s Claude Science bets on workflow, not a new model, to win over scientists Anthropic's Claude Science is a workbench that gives scientists one environment to do computational research, saving them from the need to bounce between databases, pipelines, and tools. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f886c2ca79de23624105 Republicans declare war on 'organized theft' with government fraud crackdown te 2026-06-30T17:10:30.852Z Republicans declare war on 'organized theft' with government fraud crackdown FIRST ON FOX: A cohort of Senate Republicans are launching an anti-fraud task force to mirror the efforts of the Trump administration in its multibillion-dollar fraud crusade. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is leading the group of nine Senate Republicans in their formation of the Anti-Fraud Task Force, a group that will examine fraud, waste and abuse across federal programs, identify vulnerabilities in those programs and ensure that the buck stops where the flow of funding begins: Congress. "The fraud epidemic burdening our country is one of the most pressing issues facing Americans today," Schmitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "It’s organized theft on a national scale, and the Americans paying the price are the ones swinging the hammer and driving the trucking, working their tails off to make ends meet." TRUMP SAYS ANTI-FRAUD EFFORTS ARE UNCOVERING BILLIONS IN WASTE, CLAIMS SAVINGS COULD BALANCE BUDGET "Our Task Force will go after the fraud rings and bad actors exploiting our systems and robbing Americans," he continued. "Following President Trump's lead, we’re declaring war on fraud." Schmitt has recruited Sens. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Katie Britt, R-Ala., Ashley Moody, R-Fla., Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis. SENATE REPUBLICAN PUSHES OVERHAUL TO CUT RED TAPE AND SPEED UP AMERICAN ENERGY PROJECTS Johnson contended that depending on the database you accessed — like the Government Accountability Office or LexisNexis — the amount of federal government fraud fluctuated between $250 billion and $1 trillion per year. "It’s nearly impossible to recover those funds through prosecutions, so we must focus on preventing the money from getting to the fraudsters in the first place," Johnson said. Schmitt’s task force is meant to align with the Trump administration’s anti-fraud efforts led by Vice President JD Vance, whom President Donald Trump tapped to be his anti-fraud czar, that were launched earlier this year. SENATE REPUBLICAN EXPANDS CHILDCARE FRAUD CRACKDOWN TO MORE BLUE STATES Vance’s operation hit the ground running in April and identified nearly $6.3 billion in government contracts believed to be tied to potentially fraudulent businesses. Those findings showed nearly 400 businesses would be required to prove they had legitimate operations and physical addresses. In May, the task force withheld $1.4 billion in federal funding from home health and hospice providers nationwide. Schmitt’s effort isn’t the only one in the Senate, either. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has been ramping up anti-fraud efforts since the beginning of the year in the wake of the Minnesota fraud scandal. Cassidy launched an anti-fraud task force cracking down on abuses in Minnesota that has since expanded to other blue states, including New York, Michigan and Oregon. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f87cc2ca79de236240fc Threads adds new features to Live Chats as it expands access te 2026-06-30T17:10:20.713Z Threads adds new features to Live Chats as it expands access The updates include translations, new tools for hosts, and more. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f873c2ca79de236240f3 Trump reacts to Supreme Court ruling on trans athletes te 2026-06-30T17:10:11.394Z Trump reacts to Supreme Court ruling on trans athletes President Donald Trump called the Supreme Court's Tuesday ruling on transgender athletes a "big win."  The justices ruled in favor of West Virginia and Idaho on Thursday, 6-3, against trans athletes who sued to gain access to girls' sports.  ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! "BIG WIN: The United States Supreme Court just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS. Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!!" Trump posted to Truth Social. As Trump celebrated the ruling, the Supreme Court said it was up to the states to make the decision on trans athletes in women's sports. Justice Sotomayor filed an opinion concurring with the judgment in part and dissenting in part, which Justices Kagan and Jackson joined. Jackson filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part. Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex. The states were backed by the law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), while the trans athletes were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Cooley Legal. Now, more than half of the states in the U.S. are empowered to enforce the protection of women's sports without fear of a legal challenge. However, there are still 23 states that don't have any such laws, and some of those have laws to protect trans athletes in girls' sports. Trump signed the "No Men In Women's Sports" executive order on Feb. 5, 2025, prompting more restrictions on trans athletes and states to abide by Trump's order. On the flip side, it also welcomed a highly-publicized spat shortly after the order was signed between Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills. Trump continuously threatened to halt federal funding to states who did not abide by his executive order. Trump froze funds to Maine, but a federal judge ruled that the funds had to be unfrozen. But now, those states are protected by law. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Education Secretary Linda McMahon released a statement later. "Today’s ruling affirms the common sense right of states to prohibit men from competing in women’s sports, safeguard the integrity of female spaces, and ensure no woman faces discrimination on the basis of sex," she said. "For years, ideologues distorted Title IX to advance a radical transgender agenda, subjecting women to immeasurable harm.  "The Trump Administration has fought to restore Title IX’s protections for women and girls since Day One. Today’s ruling cements those reforms and builds on decades of work to secure equal educational opportunities for women and girls. This is a tremendous victory, and we look forward to ensuring that every educational institution in America abides by the law of the land." Surveys have shown that roughly 80% of Americans do not believe biological males should compete against girls and women. Fox News' Jackson Thompson and Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f85fc2ca79de236240e3 Supreme Court financial disclosures reveal concert tickets from Bad Bunny's label, millions in book payments te 2026-06-30T17:09:51.940Z Supreme Court financial disclosures reveal concert tickets from Bad Bunny's label, millions in book payments One Supreme Court justice accepted more than $4,300 in concert tickets from Bad Bunny's record label during a private trip to Puerto Rico last year, while several other justices collected millions in book deals and other outside income, according to financial disclosures. The annual reports released on Monday cover activity in 2025 for eight of the nine justices. Justice Samuel Alito received a 90-day extension to file his disclosure. Justice Sonia Sotomayor reported receiving concert tickets valued at $4,333 from Puerto Rican record label Rimas Entertainment, stating the company "provided tickets for a concert for me and guests while I was on a private trip to Puerto Rico in August 2025." Sotomayor's disclosure did not identify which concert she attended. Rimas Entertainment represents several artists, including global music star Bad Bunny, who was holding a residency with more than 30 shows in San Juan during that period. ALITO BLASTS LATEST SCOTUS BALLOT RULING AS INVITATION TO 'VOTER FRAUD' RISKS The disclosures also showed four justices earned more than $2 million combined in book payments during the year. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reported receiving a $1.18 million book advance from Penguin Random House for her memoir, "Lovely One," published in 2024. The payment came after she disclosed nearly $2.07 million in book advance income from the same publisher the previous year. Jackson also reported receiving a painting valued at $2,500 from Chicago artists Paul Branton and Kristen Williams. The portrait, titled "Worthy," is displayed in her Supreme Court chambers. Sotomayor disclosed $88,100 in royalties from Penguin for her children's books, "Turning Pages" and "Just Ask!" Her filing noted those figures reflected earnings after her literary agent's commission and that the publisher spent $7,473 to support sales of her book "Just Shine!" Justice Amy Coney Barrett reported earning $849,071 in royalties tied to her 2025 book, "Listening to the Law." FEDERAL JUDGE WHO HAD SEX IN CHAMBERS APOLOGIZES TO FORMER CLERK AS IMPEACHMENT PUSH RAMPS UP Justice Neil Gorsuch disclosed $300,361 in book royalties, primarily from HarperCollins, which recently published the children's book he co-authored, "Heroes of 1776: The Story of the Declaration of Independence." Several justices also reported income from teaching positions. Barrett and Justice Brett Kavanaugh each earned $33,285 for teaching at the University of Notre Dame Law School, where both serve as adjunct professors. Chief Justice John Roberts reported receiving $25,000 from New England Law after teaching a two-week course in Galway, Ireland. Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed $18,000 in teaching income from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, while Gorsuch reported $30,380 for teaching at George Mason University. The financial disclosure reports have come under increasing public scrutiny in recent years after revelations that some justices failed to disclose luxury travel and certain real estate transactions, prompting calls from lawmakers and ethics advocates for greater transparency and stricter oversight of the Supreme Court. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f84cc2ca79de236240da Dem senator faces DOJ probe after allegations of spending campaign funds on luxury lifestyle te 2026-06-30T17:09:32.483Z Dem senator faces DOJ probe after allegations of spending campaign funds on luxury lifestyle An embattled Democrat Senator from Arizona is facing a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation after allegedly using campaign donations to fund lavish vacations with his family. A source familiar with the investigation confirmed to Fox News Digital that Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., is subject to the probe for potential violations of campaign finance laws. A week ago, Politico reported that Gallego used campaign money on family trips to Miami, Saint Barthélemy, Disneyland, Disney World and Chicago. He also used funds to attend the 2023 Super Bowl in Arizona, but the senator insisted that the tickets were a legitimate campaign fundraising expense. The report last week also said that the senator, who was just cleared Monday by the Senate Ethics Committee after a complaint about the alleged campaign finance violations and suspected sexual misconduct, also used $18,000 in funds from his leadership PAC to reimburse himself for childcare costs. SWALWELL FRIEND GALLEGO DEFENDS CAMPAIGN-FUNDED SUPER BOWL, MIAMI TRIPS: ‘GO WHERE THE MONEY IS’ Gallego brushed off the allegations in the Politico story. "This is not breaking news," he reportedly told the outlet. "With the rising costs of child care and the burden it has on the budgets of American families, Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the White House alike regularly travel with their wives and children, as is permitted by the FEC." Monday afternoon, after the ethics complaints were dismissed, Gallego said they were merely "right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists," according to NPR. DOJ OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO ERIC SWALWELL OVER SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS Less than a day after he was cleared by Congress, the DOJ investigation was revealed. Fox News Digital reached out to Gallego's office for comment. Gallego was close friends with disgraced former Democratic lawmaker Eric Swalwell of California, who was forced to resign from Congress following a wave of sexual misconduct allegations against him, including claims of rape and sexual assault.  Swalwell admitted to making "mistakes," but denied the allegations of criminal behavior. The former congressman, who was running for governor of California at the time of his undoing, attended the 2023 Super Bowl with Gallego. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f839c2ca79de236240d1 GOP congressman reveals mystery illness that sidelined him from Congress for nearly four months te 2026-06-30T17:09:13.032Z GOP congressman reveals mystery illness that sidelined him from Congress for nearly four months Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., delivered an emotional speech Tuesday revealing for the first time the medical condition that kept him away from the House and campaign stops for nearly four months.  Kean said he was given a diagnosis of depression after entering the hospital for "some testing." He said the illness took him months to heal from and left him under doctors' care during a prolonged stay in the hospital.  "I'm grateful that I accepted help, because today I stand before you stronger, healthier and excited to return to the work that I love," Kean said on the House floor. Tuesday's speech came after Kean, 57, returned to Washington this week after being absent since early March. A spokesperson for the New Jersey Republican said earlier this month that Kean would return for the June 30 session.  REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN WILL END MONTHS-LONG ABSENCE FROM DC AFTER MISSING 135 ROLL CALL VOTES During his recovery, he missed 140 roll call votes, amounting to a 100% absence rate, according to the website GovTrack. Throughout his absence, Kean's office suggested he would return to work shortly but pushed back the timeline on several occasions. In his speech, Kean said the reason was that he didn't understand how long it would take him to fully recover. "When I said I hoped to return in a matter of weeks, I believed it," Kean said. "Those were the best estimates that the doctors could provide. But as the over 48 million of my fellow Americans being treated for this illness have come to discover, there is no timeline for healing." The two-term lawmaker kept the nature of his condition private while recovering, but promised transparency upon his return. His silence appeared to extend to House Republican leadership, who said they were in the dark about Kean’s ailment when questioned by reporters on several occasions. His return will pad Republicans' razor-thin majority as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., aims to clear a must-pass defense bill through the House chamber this week. Johnson said Tuesday that he expected Kean to receive a lot of empathy for his condition upon its reveal, adding that he had encouraged the New Jersey lawmaker to be transparent during his absence. "It's not an uncommon kind of condition and ailment that he's been fighting, and I think people resonate with that," the speaker said. Kean previously told The New Jersey Globe that the medical issue did not impact his cognitive ability and that he was not dealing with any chronic problems that could affect his decision to seek a third House term. Even while away from the Capitol, Kean's office continued to post on social media, draft legislation and introduce his remarks into the congressional record. MISSING GOP CONGRESSMAN REVEALS HE'S 'MORE ENERGIZED THAN EVER' TO RETURN TO WASHINGTON Kean’s return to work comes as he is facing a serious re-election threat from former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, a Democrat running with establishment support.  Bennett is expected to emphasize her national security credentials — a similar playbook that Gov. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., deployed during her rise to the governorship.  The suburban swing seat is one of the most competitive House districts in the country and Democrats are expected to aggressively seek Kean’s defeat. The GOP incumbent is endorsed by President Donald Trump and did not face a challenger during the May primary. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates Kean’s re-election bid as a "toss-up." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f825c2ca79de236240c8 Crocodile attack horror unfolds as couple tries to save victim: ‘We felt so helpless’ te 2026-06-30T17:08:53.571Z Crocodile attack horror unfolds as couple tries to save victim: ‘We felt so helpless’ A California couple who tried to rescue a tourist during a deadly crocodile attack is warning travelers about dangerous swimming conditions in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The attack occurred around 6:30 p.m. local time on Friday, June 26, the Jalisco State Police (JSP) confirmed to Fox News Digital. Jamie Yetter and her fiancé, Chris Bury, saw the attack unfold while they were swimming nearby. They attempted to help the victim, who was identified as Irving Mauricio, 28, of Mexico City. EXTREME DEATH MADE FATAL CAVE DIVE PERILOUS AT LUXURY HONEYMOON DESTINATION "We were at the pool when we heard some screams down at the water … We thought he was just stuck in the rip current," Bury told Fox News Digital. Yetter and Bury, of Orange County, were both on swim teams and are used to pulling people out of rip currents, she said.  When Bury got in the water, people warned him there was a crocodile.  "I saw that [the victim] was kind of struggling," he recalled. "There was … no one around that could help save him." OLDER TRAVELERS WHO SKIP KEY STEP BEFORE POPULAR VACATION ACTIVITY COULD BE RISKING THEIR HEALTH Bury, 48, quickly grabbed a kayak, but there were no oars.  "I laid on my stomach and paddled with my hands to get out there," he recounted. Meanwhile, Yetter and her daughter were on the beach and watched the incident unfold. "Every time the man would resurface, [he] was deeper and deeper into the ocean," she said. Yetter, 42, wanted to run into the water and help, but she worried there could be other crocodiles in the water, she said. UP CLOSE AND SCARY: JUVENILE GREAT WHITE SHARK EMERGES OFF COAST AFTER WINTER MIGRATION "It was so gruesome and graphic. I saw [him] being taken under by the crocodile over and over," Yetter recounted. She said the 12-foot crocodile was "massive," noting "his head was as long as my torso, his tail thicker than my legs." "It was absolutely horrible. We felt so helpless," she said. A search and location operation was implemented in coordination with the Secretariat of the Navy (SEMAR), the Directorate of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Puerto Vallarta, and the State Unit of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Jalisco, the Jalisco State Police told Fox News Digital. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER The search operation lasted through the night, and the victim's body was discovered at approximately 7 a.m. Saturday, the police confirmed.  The crocodile was also captured. The victim's mother, Claudia Mauricio, expressed her grief in a message posted online. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ "I only ask God that on the day I leave this world, I may find you again and that you may greet me with that beautiful smile you always had for me," she said. "You will always live in my heart." The police confirmed to Fox News Digital that the beach was not closed after the incident. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES It is an open beach for tourists, and it typically remains open, the police said. In the areas near the mouths of the rivers and the estuary, there is permanent signage with warnings and restrictive cordoning, the police noted. There has been increased discussion about crocodiles in the region since July 2025, when lifeguards captured a 12-foot crocodile on a southern Puerto Vallarta beach, according to Mexico News Daily. Local experts estimated last year that the Puerto Vallarta region — especially around Boca de Tomatlán and Boca Negra — has around 200 to 250 American crocodiles, the news outlet reported. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f812c2ca79de236240bf GOP infighting over Trump's voter ID bill erupts as top senator calls strategy 'fantasy' te 2026-06-30T17:08:34.115Z GOP infighting over Trump's voter ID bill erupts as top senator calls strategy 'fantasy' Senate Republicans are taking closed-door conversations online to snipe at one another over stalled voter ID and citizenship verification legislation.  President Donald Trump wants Republicans to pass the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, but the political reality in the Senate, albeit through extreme measures that don't have unified support among the Senate GOP, makes passage unlikely.  Still, that has not stopped Trump, supporters online, and key proponents of the legislation in the Senate from pushing the message that the SAVE America Act can pass, but only if Republicans have the guts to do it. That avenue would be through the "talking filibuster," which proponents say would grind down Democrats’ resistance and ultimately lead to the SAVE America Act passing at a simple majority threshold. 'IT'S A MESS': GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP'S AGENDA Opponents warn that doing so would dominate the Senate’s most valuable commodity — floor time — and allow Democrats to control the tempo of the upper chamber. And, there’s fear that Republicans wouldn’t stay unified to kill Democratic amendments on a variety of issues.  Those dueling positions have caused clashes typically kept behind closed doors in the Senate to manifest on social media, notably between Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and John Cornyn, R-Texas.  "There is not [a] single instance in the history of the United States Senate where a ‘talking filibuster’ has resulted in a favorable outcome for the proponent," Cornyn said on X while sharing a memo that included numerous "issues" with launching a talking filibuster. Among those were the arguments that it would make campaigning more difficult because of attendance requirements, that it would allow Democrats to force unlimited votes on politically tough amendments on "issues that divide" Republicans, and that Democrats could drag out the process so long that the SAVE America Act might not be implemented before the election. Lee shot back that Cornyn’s memo "perfectly illustrates why the talking filibuster is necessary — not why we should avoid it like the plague or pretend it doesn’t exist." SEN LEE DARES DEMOCRATS TO REVIVE TALKING FILIBUSTER OVER SAVE ACT, SLAMMING CRITICISM AS ‘PARANOID FANTASY' "The procedural hurdles you list (including the two-speech rule, quorum, calendar drag, and opportunity costs) are real," Lee said. "But they’re also manageable—and in many instances can even be used to strengthen our negotiating position—if Republicans actually use the rules instead of surrendering to them." "The alternative — walking away from the SAVE America Act — has far higher costs: another election without proof of citizenship, more erosion of public confidence, and Democrats continuing to weaponize the same procedures against us," he continued.  Cornyn’s response: "fantasy." Meanwhile, the House is facing its own SAVE America Act dispute, which has threatened to blow up the perennial, must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., demanded that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., include the legislation in the colossal NDAA package.  He relented, but it will be the same version of the voter ID bill that the House already passed and that the Senate has been unable to move. And during negotiations over the NDAA in the coming weeks and months, the Senate can easily strip the measure out to ensure that the Pentagon authorization bill passes.  The House will take its first step on that plan Tuesday afternoon.  Most Senate Republicans support the original SAVE America Act, which includes voter ID, citizenship verification to register to vote, giving the Department of Homeland Security access to voter rolls, and other policies.  But Trump wants his version of the SAVE America Act, which tacks on tight restrictions on mail-in ballots, halts biological men from participating in women’s sports and bans transgender surgeries on minors, which does not have 50 votes of support among the Senate GOP.  TRUMP HEADS TO CAPITOL HILL FOR PIVOTAL MEETING AS SENATE GOP DIVISIONS DEEPEN That version of the bill has also not passed through the House. The Supreme Court's decision on Monday to allow mail-in ballots that arrive late to still be counted has again stoked Trump’s interest in the legislation and directed his ire toward the Senate. "In a time when there is a powerful Communist Movement taking place in our Country, one more dangerous than World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, or September 11th, all Dumocrats, and our five Republican Senate Hold Outs, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy, and Mitch McConnell must vote to SAVE OUR COUNTRY," Trump said on Truth Social. "There can be no more excuses!"  Notably, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has never voted against the SAVE America Act in its many different variations in the Senate, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, supports the original version of the bill that passed the House. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f7fec2ca79de236240b6 Amazon's Fourth of July sale: Save up to 80% on tech, clothing, generators and more te 2026-06-30T17:08:14.658Z Amazon's Fourth of July sale: Save up to 80% on tech, clothing, generators and more America is celebrating its 250th anniversary this Fourth of July, and retailers are matching the milestone with some of their biggest summer discounts. Standout deals include Apple AirPods for $99, a reader-favorite Shark vacuum at 50% off and a commemorative America 250 baseball cap, plus savings on everything from grills and robot vacuums to kitchen appliances. Levi's men's 505 regular fit jeans: $32.99 (56% off) HeyDude Wendy slip-in loafers: $29.74 (54% off) Portable tire inflator: $21.99 (45% off) Mini chainsaw: $29.99 (40% off) UPF protection shirt: $14.99 (25% off) Stock up on blenders, coffee makers and grills while deals last. Keurig K-Elite K-Cup pod coffee maker: $94 (55% off) HexClad 10-inch hybrid frying pan: $132 (22% off) Iceman by Chefman Slush-Ease: $275.39 (21% off) Ninja FlexFlame grill and smoker: $999.99 (17% off) Original price: $649.95 Save $231 on the Vitamix Ascent X3, a high-performance blender built for everything from smoothies and frozen desserts to hot soups. Discounts this deep on Vitamix blenders are uncommon, making this a notable deal while supplies last. Original price: $219.99 The Keurig K-Duo brews both K-Cup pods and ground coffee, giving you more flexibility for your morning routine. It also includes settings for hot and iced coffee, with a stronger brew mode designed to reduce dilution over ice. A drip-minimizing glass carafe and warming plate help keep coffee hot after brewing. Original price: $219.99 Ninja's Kitchen System includes multiple blending containers for everything from smoothies to chopping herbs and vegetables, helping reduce the need for separate appliances. The powerful motor and blade assembly are designed to handle tougher ingredients like ice and nuts with ease. READ MORE: 18 brands still making cookware and kitchen tools in the U.S. — from skillets to spatulas Original price: $299.99 The Charbroil Performance grill offers enough cooking space to prepare up to 17 burgers at once, making it a solid option for family cookouts and backyard gatherings. An electronic ignition system starts the grill with the push of a button, so there's no need for a lighter. Find coolers, patio furniture and other outdoor gear for less. Best Choice Products solar LED patio umbrella: $44.99 (57% off) Coleman 54-quart steel cooler: $149.99 (25% off) Wicker swivel rocker chairs: $618.99 (21% off) Ninja Foodi air fryer: $199.99 (20% off) Coleman Ice Chest wheeled cooler: $59.99 (20% off) Original price: $34.99 Add a warm glow to your backyard with these solar-powered string lights. They automatically turn on at night after charging during the day, and the included remote lets you switch between three different lighting modes to match the occasion. Original price: $129.99 Watch Fourth of July fireworks from the comfort of this Adirondack chair, now just $100. The classic design adds a timeless touch to any patio or backyard, and it folds flat for easier storage when the season ends. Original price: $289.99 The Igloo Trailmate is built for beach days, tailgates and camping trips, with oversized all-terrain wheels and an elevated design that rolls more easily over uneven ground. It also includes a removable serving tray for drinks and snacks, plus built-in holders for fishing rods and other gear. Original price: $249.99 Take the edge off hot summer days with this portable misting fan, which delivers cooling airflow and mist for patios, backyards and outdoor gatherings. The versatile design converts from a pedestal fan to a tabletop model in seconds, and the rechargeable battery provides up to 24 hours of runtime on a single charge. READ MORE: Shopping for America 250? Here's what's actually made in the USA — and what's imported Vacuums, pillows and cleaning products are heavily discounted right now. Lefant LiDAR Robot vacuum and mop: $129.99 (50% off) Dryer vent cleaner: $7.99 (43% off) Chenille bath rug: $9.37 (37% off) Pain relief cooling pillow: $39.98 (33% off) Original price: $199.99 Unlike battery-powered models, the corded Shark Rocket provides continuous power for uninterrupted cleaning. Weighing less than nine pounds, it's easy to carry from room to room, and the included upholstery tool helps remove pet hair from furniture and other soft surfaces. Original price: $599 The Shark Matrix Clean robot vacuum uses a grid-style cleaning pattern to cover floors thoroughly from edge to edge. After each cleaning cycle, it automatically empties into a self-emptying dock that can hold debris for up to 60 days. The self-cleaning brushroll is designed to reduce hair wrap and minimize maintenance. Original price: $79.99 Save $20 on this two-pack of hotel-style pillows. The no-shit fill is designed to help the pillows maintain their shape overnight, while the 250-thread-count cover provides a soft, smooth feel. Original price: $27.99 Keep shower essentials organized and off the ledge with this five-piece shower caddy set. The adhesive installation requires no drilling, and each shelf is designed to hold bottles, soap and other bathroom essentials while supporting up to 40 pounds. Get ready for your next trip with carry-ons, toiletry bags, neck pillows and more. Travel neck pillow: $15.86 (28% off) Bagsmart travel duffle: $29.99 (19% off) Luggage scale: $7.99 (11% off) Original price: $219.99 Save $104 on this scratch-resistant Samsonite suitcase. The distinctive color makes it easier to spot at baggage claim, while 360-degree spinner wheels help you maneuver smoothly through busy airports. Original price: $22.99 Bagsmart's hanging toiletry bag keeps skincare, toiletries and other travel essentials neatly organized with multiple compartments. The built-in hook lets you hang it on a towel rack or bathroom door for easy access without taking up valuable counter space. READ MORE: Celebrate America's 250th with these patriotic keepsakes and collectibles, from $16 Original price: $39.99 Keep your suitcase organized with this 10-piece packing cube set. Multiple cube sizes, a shoe bag and a hanging toiletry case make it easier to separate clothing, shoes and travel essentials while maximizing luggage space. Save hundreds on outlet extenders, AirPods and more. Blink Outdoor 4 cameras, 5-pack: $104.99 (65% off) Beats Solo 4 wireless headphones: $149.95 (25% off) Travel power strip: $16.99 (19% off) Apple AirTag, 4-pack: $89 (10% off) Original price: $12.96 Turn one wall outlet into nine with this outlet extender, which includes five AC outlets and four USB ports. It also features built-in surge protection to help safeguard connected devices from power spikes. Original price: $129 Apple's AirPods 4 are available for less than $100 for the Fourth of July. The updated design provides a more secure fit, while the dust-, sweat- and water-resistant construction is built for everyday use. Improved audio quality makes them a solid choice for music, podcasts and calls.  Original price: $359 These Bose QuietComfort headphones have dropped to their lowest price yet. Plush ear cushions provide lasting comfort during extended listening sessions, and up to 24 hours of battery life keep the music going throughout the day. Power outages are common in the summer, so grab these discounted options now. Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus: $1,799 (36% off) Pulsar 7,250-watt dual-fuel generator: $998 (23% off) PowerSmart 3600-watt portable inverter generator: $365.49 (21% off) DuroMax 15,000-watt tri-fuel generator: $2,499 (17% off) Original price: $829 The Jackery Explorer 1,000 v2 powers appliances like fridges, electric pots and AC units, but takes up a fraction of the space of other generators. It has multiple charging ports, including USB-C, USB-A, a DC car port and three AC outlets. Activate emergency charging and get back to full battery in just one hour. Original price: $499.99 Prepare for potential power outages and emergencies with the Anker SOLIX C1000. It has 11 charging ports that combine to offer 1,800 watts of power and fully recharges in less than an hour. Use the app to adjust charging speeds and track your energy usage. Original price: $3,699 The EF EcoFlow Delta Pro 3 provides up to 4,000 watts of power for backup use during outages or off-grid living. It supports charging through standard AC power or compatible solar panels, and the connected app makes it easy to monitor and manage the system from your phone. Popular brands on sale include Eddie Bauer, Carhartt and Hanes. Button-up pajama set: $19.99 (44% off) Eddie Bauer men's Rainier pants: $42 (40% off) Carhartt men's Iconic K87 T-shirt: $13.68 (32% off) Under Armour men's golf polo: $27.82 (30% off) READ MORE: American-owned clothing brands for effortless red, white and blue style Original price: $19.99 Celebrate America's 250th anniversary with this commemorative hat, now 30% off. The front features patriotic symbols including a bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty and the American flag, making it a standout choice for Fourth of July festivities. Original price: $28 Made with cotton sourced from American farms, this Hanes zip-up hoodie is a lightweight layer for cool summer evenings. An adjustable drawstring hood and roomy front pockets add everyday comfort and convenience. Original price: $24.98 With summer in full swing, this $10 polo is a wardrobe staple. Reviewers say it fits true to size, and the quick-drying fabric makes it a practical choice for everything from golf outings to backyard barbecues. Original price: $39.99 At 80% off, this wireless sports bra is one of the biggest discounts in the roundup. The stretchy fabric provides a barely-there feel, while the wide straps offer comfortable support for everyday wear and low-impact workouts. Practice more self-care with these beauty products. Oral-B Rechargeable electric toothbrush: $99.99 (23% off) Dyson Airwrap i.d. multi-styler: $519 (20% off) Minoxidil for men hair regrowth treatment: $63.96 (20% off) Manscaped The Beard Hedger trimmer: $84.99 (15% off) Original price: $109.96 The Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean 5300 offers an affordable way to upgrade to an electric toothbrush. It includes a pressure sensor to help prevent overly aggressive brushing, along with multiple cleaning modes for everyday care and gum health. READ MORE: 4 veteran-owned beard care brands worth trying, plus expert grooming tips Original price: $249.99 The Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex is designed to speed up your styling routine with high-speed airflow and multiple styling positions. Its rotating nozzle adjusts to different angles for added flexibility while drying and styling. Original price: $9.99 Refresh tired-looking eyes with these under-eye patches, which contain a cooling, hydrating treatment. The patches are designed to help hydrate the under-eye area and leave skin looking smoother. For more Deals, visit www.foxnews.com/deals Original price: $49.99 The GE smart scale tracks up to 14 body metrics beyond weight, including body fat, muscle mass and bone mass. Measurement sync to the companion app to monitor changes over time. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can get these items sent to your door ASAP. You can join or start a 30-day free trial to start your shopping today. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f7ebc2ca79de236240ad Xander Schauffele discusses 'passionate' New York golf fans after Ryder Cup, Wyndham Clark vitriol te 2026-06-30T17:07:55.202Z Xander Schauffele discusses 'passionate' New York golf fans after Ryder Cup, Wyndham Clark vitriol Just months after New York golf fans were the subject of controversy for how they behaved at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, they hardly slowed their roll as the PGA Tour returned there. The U.S. Open took place at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club near the Hamptons this past weekend, and on championship Sunday, Wyndham Clark was public enemy No. 1. Clark had to go through boos and jeers en route to his second U.S. Open title, which are extremely unusual sounds at golf tournaments. Perhaps one particular reason for facing somewhat of a road-game crowd was the fact that he was paired with Scottie Scheffler, who is a U.S. Open victory away from winning the career Grand Slam. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM On the other hand, one could argue Clark has brought it upon himself — he was banned from Oakmont Country Club after destroying a locker and has had other on-course outbursts and cheating controversies. "I sort of heard some things about, I try to turn some golf on. I saw I think I saw his 18th hole, I got back to the house and watched him play come up 18. But yeah, I did hear, you know, he's getting some flack. It's a tricky thing," Xander Schauffele told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. But Clark was all class after the victory in his post-round media availability and in a heartfelt social media post, and Schauffele took notice. "I thought he handled it incredibly well and, like he even mentioned in his interview, he kind of used that as fuel to play even better and sort of prove it to himself more than anyone else," Schauffele said. RORY MCILROY DISCUSSES BETHPAGE BLACK FANS, WHETHER HE'D WANT RYDER CUP BACK IN NEW YORK Schauffele even mentioned that the boos Clark heard in Canada for wearing a Jack Hughes jersey were "more lighthearted than what was happening to him in New York," which begs the question of whether players want to, and should, still go to the New York area. The ruckus caused Golf Channel's Eamon Lynch to call Long Island golf fans a "stain" on the game who "don't deserve" to have major championships in the area. It doesn't need repeating what Rory McIlroy and Team Europe went through last September at Bethpage Black. But Schauffele, whose father even admitted he would not go to last year's Ryder Cup because of what he accurately predicted, would not go that far. "I've always enjoyed playing anywhere near New York or in the Northeast. My experiences have been good. I mean, I know the Ryder Cup got a little spicy and there's obviously anticipation that, you know, fans are pretty, I like to call passionate. So, it is what it is. "I'm sure if you ask 100 different people, you're going to get different answers. But for the most part, you know, I try to get them on my side as soon as possible." The PGA Championship will be at Bethpage Black in 2033, and Shinnecock Hills will again host the U.S. Open in 2036. Other upcoming PGA events in the New York metro area include next year's BMW Championship at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, the 2028 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, and the 2029 PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f7d7c2ca79de236240a4 NPR retracts false report claiming Justice Samuel Alito is retiring from the Supreme Court te 2026-06-30T17:07:35.747Z NPR retracts false report claiming Justice Samuel Alito is retiring from the Supreme Court NPR retracted a story on Tuesday after falsely reporting that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito had retired.  NPR published a story headlined, "Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, retires," that would have rocked the Supreme Court. However, NPR quickly retracted the story and replaced it with an editor’s note.  "Earlier today we erroneously published a story saying that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring. He has not announced his retirement and we have retracted the story," NPR wrote.  NPR top editor Thomas Evans said the reporter has reached out to apologize to Justice Alito.  ALITO NOT EXPECTED TO RETIRE THIS TERM, COOLING SUPREME COURT VACANCY SPECULATION: SOURCES "Due to a misunderstanding, NPR’s Supreme Court and Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg incorrectly reported that Justice Samuel Alito had retired. Neither Justice Alito nor the Supreme Court Public Information Office has announced his retirement," Evans told Fox News Digital. "As soon as the error was realized, the story was retracted and removed from NPR’s website and an on-air correction was broadcast. We regret the error and any confusion this may have caused," Evans continued. "This afternoon, Mrs. Totenberg will appear on ‘All Things Considered’ to explain what happened. She has reached out to Justice Alito to apologize." The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Fox News Digital. Courthouse News reporter Kelsey Reichmann posted a comment from SCOTUS public information officer declaring the NPR report to be "inaccurate."  Rumors about Alito, 76, potentially retiring have grown because of his age, his two-decade tenure on the bench and speculation that he may want to make sure a conservative successor is confirmed by the current Republican-led Senate before the upcoming midterm elections. Former President George W. Bush nominated him for the nation's highest court in 2005.  In April, a source told Fox News Digital that Alito "is not stepping down this term and is in the process of hiring the rest of his clerks for the next term." Two other sources have told Fox News that Alito is not retiring this term, which lasts until the Supreme Court's new year kicks off in October. TRUMP YANKS FEDERAL FUNDING FROM NPR IN MOVE CONSERVATIVE ADVOCATES SAID WAS LONG OVERDUE President Donald Trump recently told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo he is "prepared" to appoint up to three Supreme Court justices if vacancies arise. Trump added he has a shortlist of nominees in mind, though he did not mention any names. During that interview, Trump said he thinks Alito, who has sided with him on most high-profile cases, is "in very good physical health" and called him "one of the great justices of our time." In 2025, Trump’s rescissions package included over $1 billion in cuts from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the government-backed funding arm for NPR and PBS. The clawback package teed up cuts to "woke" spending on foreign aid programs and public media, as Republicans finally yanked federal money from NPR in a move advocates said was long overdue. JONATHAN TURLEY: SUPREME COURT HANDS TRUMP A BORDER VICTORY LIBERALS CAN'T SPIN Once Trump returned to the White House, stripping public media of federal funding began to emerge as a realistic possibility after longtime NPR editor Uri Berliner spoke out about the public radio outlet in 2024 with a Free Press essay. Berliner, who detailed the "absence of viewpoint diversity" at the organization, criticized NPR’s coverage of Russiagate, the COVID lab leak theory and Hunter Biden’s scandalous laptop, among other issues. Once Trump signed the rescissions package into law, Republicans celebrated it as a victory for cutting off the flow of U.S. taxpayer dollars to what they called "woke" initiatives. NPR has continued to operate, relying on benefactors, member donations, and corporate sponsorship. This is a developing story, more to come. Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita, Alec Schemmel and Ashley Oliver contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f7c4c2ca79de2362409b Shock poll: Talarico ties Paxton in Texas Senate race, threatening GOP stronghold te 2026-06-30T17:07:16.289Z Shock poll: Talarico ties Paxton in Texas Senate race, threatening GOP stronghold It's been nearly four decades since a Democrat won a U.S. Senate election in reliably red Texas. But a new poll suggests that Democrats have a good shot this year of breaking their long losing streak. Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico and Republican nominee Ken Paxton, the longtime state attorney general, are tied at 47% support among likely voters in Texas, according to a New York Times/Siena survey released on Tuesday. Paxton, who defeated longtime GOP incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in last month's Republican nomination runoff election just days after landing the backing of President Donald Trump, is facing off against Talarico, a state representative considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, in a midterm race that is among a handful that will likely determine if the Republicans hold their slim Senate majority. MAGA TRIUMPH: PAXTON TOPS CORNYN IN BATTLE FOR GOP SENATE NOMINATION The poll points to some troubling signs for Paxton, who has faced a slew of scandals and legal problems that have battered him over the past decade. In 2023, the Texas House of Representatives voted to impeach Paxton, but he was eventually acquitted of all charges by the state Senate. And Paxton is dealing with a messy divorce, with his wife Angela, a state senator, citing "biblical grounds" based on "recent discoveries" in filing last year to end their marriage. According to the poll, fewer than four in 10 respondents said Paxton has good character or the right kind of moral values. And half said Paxton, a MAGA firebrand and one of the leaders of the legal effort to overturn Trump's 2020 presidential election loss, is too extreme. Also problematic for Paxton is that his support, at 47%, is below the 50% of respondents who said they preferred Republicans to control the Senate next year. The poll also shows Talarico winning the support of 61% of Hispanic — voters less than two years after Trump carried the Hispanic vote in Texas in the last presidential election — and leading the 63-year-old Paxton by 27 points among independents. THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE'S MAJORITY And the survey spotlights a massive gender gap, with Talarico winning female votes by 18 points and Paxton ahead among male voters by the same margin. Talarico, a 37-year-old former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who topped progressive firebrand and vocal Trump critic Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the March Democratic Senate primary, has emerged as the top Democratic fundraiser in Senate races, hauling in a massive $27 million in the first three months of this year. But Republicans have repeatedly targeted Talarico, spotlighting his past controversial comments, including suggesting that "God is nonbinary" or that there are six biological sexes. TRUMP ROASTS DEM CANDIDATE AS UNELECTABLE FOR CARDINAL SIN IN TEXAS In his victory speech last month, Paxton mocked the Democratic nominee as "tofu Talarico," "six-gender Jimmy," "James Talafreako" and "low-T Talarico."  And he said in a Fox News Digital interview after winning the nomination: "James Talarico doesn't belong in Texas. We cannot let him be the center of the state of Texas. He fits in California. He does not fit here." The poll suggests the Democratic Party brand may impede Talarico, with a majority of respondents seeing Democrats as too far to the left. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB And following a divisive primary with Crockett, who is Black, the poll indicates that 12% of Black voters have a negative opinion of Talarico, who is White. But likely helping Talarico is the economy. Sixty percent of those questioned gave a thumbs down to how Trump was handling cost-of-living issues, which will do Paxton no favors. It's no surprise: Talarico is highlighting economic concerns over soaring prices, saying in a new ad as he walks out of a grocery store that "too many Texans feel like they’re drowning." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f7b0c2ca79de23624092 Appeals court revives lawsuit by Alaska Airlines flight attendants fired after opposing Pride message te 2026-06-30T17:06:56.840Z Appeals court revives lawsuit by Alaska Airlines flight attendants fired after opposing Pride message A federal appeals court revived a lawsuit brought by two former Alaska Airlines flight attendants who say they were fired after expressing religious objections to the airline's support for the Equality Act, allowing their religious discrimination claims to proceed. The Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday there is sufficient evidence for a jury to determine whether Lacey Smith and Marli Brown were fired because of their religious beliefs, reviving the lawsuit they filed against the airline. "We are grateful the court recognized the clear evidence of religious discrimination against Marli and Lacey by both Alaska Airlines and the flight attendants’ union," Stephanie Taub, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, who argued before the Court back in August 2025, said in a statement. JUDGE AWARDED $640K AFTER REFUSING TO OFFICIATE SAME-SEX WEDDINGS "The Ninth Circuit’s decision today reinforces that federal civil rights laws protect people of faith from discrimination by their employer or their union," Taub added. "You cannot be fired because your employer does not like your religious beliefs." In early 2021, Alaska Airlines said it would support the proposed Equality Act on an online internal employee network. The Equality Act, which was introduced by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sought to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in employment, housing, and other capacities under federal civil rights law. It passed the House in February 2021. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL FACES BACKLASH FOR ITS STANCE ON CHRISTIANS WRITING BIBLE VERSES ON PRIDE CAPS The airline asked employees to comment in an online forum for employees, and Smith asked a question, writing, "As a company, do you think it’s possible to regulate morality?" In the same forum, Brown shared a comment conveying her sincere religious beliefs that the Equality Act would adversely affect women, girls, and people of faith. Following their comments on the online forum, Smith and Brown were investigated and fired from their jobs, with Alaska Airlines saying that the comments from Smith and Brown were "discriminatory," "hateful" and "offensive." DOJ CRACKING DOWN ON MLB FOR POTENTIAL RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION AFTER PRIDE NIGHT CAPS CONTROVERSY In a statement to Fox News Digital, Smith said, "Even though the lawsuit is between Alaska and myself, the win in the Ninth Circuit is for a nation of people who have also been facing religious discrimination in the workplace." Brown told Fox News Digital, "When I read the decision from the Ninth Circuit, I was overwhelmed with gratefulness. I’m hopeful that with this favorable ruling, no one else will have to go through anything like what I’ve been through." Fox News Digital reached out to Alaska Airlines for comment. Fox News’ Joshua Nelson contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f79dc2ca79de23624089 117 dead dogs found at animal rescue, many with gunshot wounds as investigators probe for answers te 2026-06-30T17:06:37.378Z 117 dead dogs found at animal rescue, many with gunshot wounds as investigators probe for answers Deputies uncovered the remains of more than 100 dogs, many of them with gunshot wounds, during a search of an animal rescue under investigation for alleged abuse and fraud. While executing a search warrant, deputies with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office made the gruesome discovery at Miranda's Rescue in Fortuna, California on Thursday. In what Sheriff William Honsal dubbed as a "horrific scene," investigators uncovered 117 "canine remains," skulls, "hundreds of bones, and six loose microchips" at various dig sites on the property, according to a release. 'DEEPLY DISTURBING' ANIMAL CRUELTY OPERATION INVOLVING BABY MONKEYS BUSTED BY ICE INVESTIGATION The search warrant authorized investigators to search the grounds and buildings associated with Miranda’s Rescue and Shannon Miranda for evidence related to alleged animal cruelty and fraud, including excavating open fields where investigators believed deceased dogs were buried in mass graves. 📩 Send me a story idea: kelsie.cairns@fox.com 📸 Instagram: kelsiecairns_tv 🎥 Facebook: Kelsie Cairns Dozens of the unearthed dog bodies appeared to be in varying states of decomposition. X-ray results revealed several dogs showed evidence of bullet fragments, deputies say. FOLLOW US ON X Investigators also discovered an area inside a barn on the property where they believe the dogs were killed. More than 600 dog collars were recovered from that same location. RIDGLAN FARMS RESCUE BEAGLES FIND NEW LIFE HELPING VETERANS OVERCOME WAR TRAUMA WITH PAWS OF WAR Currently, no charges have been filed. However, the sheriff's office said, "If there is sufficient evidence to support violations of animal cruelty, fraud, or other applicable laws, the case will be submitted to the prosecution team for review and consideration of criminal charges." GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL In a recent public statement posted to the rescue's website, founder Shannon Miranda said in part: "Allegations made without a full understanding of the circumstances can harm not only my reputation but also the future of an organization that has served this community for decades. At Miranda’s Rescue, our mission is to save as many animals as we safely can—always balancing compassion for animals with our responsibility to protect families, children, other pets, and the public." Fox News Digital has reached out to Miranda for comment. CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWS The investigation is ongoing. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f789c2ca79de23624080 Internet tries to dunk on German super fan Freddy after discovering he's been to America before te 2026-06-30T17:06:17.930Z Internet tries to dunk on German super fan Freddy after discovering he's been to America before With Germany's unceremonious exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the hands of Paraguay on Monday evening, it means the four-time world champions, as well as their rabid fans, are heading across the pond and back to Deutschland. Though apparently, not all of their fans are heading back home for the rest of the summer. German superfan Freddy, the viral sensation who has been documenting his romp through the United States, booked his stay in America through the end of the tournament (love the confidence), so he will be hanging out in the good old U-S-of-A for another month. Not everyone is happy about this apparently, as large portions of cynics and haters on social media are apparently ready to say auf wiedersehen to Freddy. INTERNET FALLS IN LOVE WITH GERMAN SOCCER FAN DISCOVERING AMERICAN SOUTH AHEAD OF 2026 WORLD CUP It's true what Harvey Dent once said, "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." What's even worse is some other fans on the internet have done some digging on Freddy's X account and have found instances of him in the United States before this year's World Cup trip and even disparaging the country he has come to love. I'll address the "never been to America" claim first. I went back and looked through Freddy's posts pretty extensively (in addition to having covered his initial trip to America back at the beginning of the month), and unless I missed something, he never once said that this was his first time in the country. FREDDY, THE VIRAL WORLD CUP TOURIST, LINKS UP WITH COUNTRY SINGER ELLA LANGLEY AND THE INTERNET LOVES IT People keep pointing to his posts back in 2023 about having been to a concert in the States, but going to a venue in a major city like New York or Los Angeles and staying there for a few days before flying home is a lot different than renting a car and driving through all the small towns throughout America. Freddy experienced the real beauty of our country, not just the coastal elite cities, which is why the second post needs addressing too. There have been a ton of people who have unearthed posts from Freddy speaking ill of the United States, and honestly, this just drives home what I and several others have been saying. REPUBLICAN LEADERS EMBRACE VIRAL WORLD CUP FANS THEY SAY ARE DISCOVERING THE 'REAL AMERICA' Freddy's preconceived notions of America were likely on full display in all of those "hate posts," but he clearly gave the country a second chance and even fell in love with it in the process. He got to see the absolute best that small-town America had to offer during his trip here, and it looks like he's changed his tune. That's the funny thing about these losers on the internet who have nothing better to do but try and scrub through every moment of someone's internet life in hopes of finding a "gotcha" moment. TNA WRESTLING INVITES VIRAL WORLD CUP FAN TO SLAMMIVERSARY: 'THIS WILL BE FUN!' They don't think people have the capacity to change their thoughts, opinions, and biases. FOX ONE’S NEW WORLD CUP VIEWING EXPERIENCE Maybe there was a time in his life when Freddy hated America, or at least what he thought was America, but that has obviously changed. I hope Freddy had a blast while he experienced America at its finest, and I'm appreciative he let us all come along for the journey. WATCH THE WORLD CUP FINAL ON FOX ONE Unfortunately, the downside to that is having to deal with the droves of internet trolls, but I'm sure he didn't let that put a damper on an otherwise awesome World Cup trip. Come back anytime, Freddy, and danke schön. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f776c2ca79de23624077 The trick to smoother streaming at home and on the road te 2026-06-30T17:05:58.466Z The trick to smoother streaming at home and on the road Ever settle in for movie night, hit play, and thirty seconds later, the picture dissolves into a blurry mess of pixels? You restart the app. You restart the router. You're paying for a fast internet plan, so what gives? Before you spend forty minutes on hold with your provider, there's something you should know: the problem might not be your connection speed at all. It m ight be your internet provider putting the brakes on certain types of traffic. The good news is that one tool may help, especially when your provider is slowing down streaming traffic that it can recognize. Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report TRAVEL MISTAKE PUTS PHONE, LAPTOP AND STREAMING ACCOUNTS AT RISK Internet service providers handle enormous amounts of traffic. When their networks get congested, they look for ways to manage the load. One of the handiest tools in their bag is a technique called bandwidth throttling. It means deliberately slowing down certain types of traffic to ease the pressure on their infrastructure. Streaming video is one of the first things they may target because it eats up a lot of bandwidth fast. Here's the part that most people don't realize: your ISP can often see what kind of traffic you're sending and receiving. When they detect a steady stream of traffic flowing from a streaming platform, they may put a speed limit on that traffic specifically, even while your overall connection seems fine. You won't always get a warning, but you will notice a dip in video quality. That's why you can load a webpage in a blink but still have to sit through buffer wheels before your show even gets going. The issue may not be your speed. It may be what your ISP does with it once they know how you're using it. Travelers can run into an additional wrinkle. Hotel networks and public connections are often shared across dozens or hundreds of people at once. When everyone is streaming, browsing and video calling at the same time, the network slows to a crawl and your video quality pays the price. What worked fine at home suddenly stutters and stalls on the road. A VPN, or virtual private network, is usually thought of as a privacy and security tool, but it may also help with some throttling problems. It runs quietly in the background while you stream. When you connect to the internet through a VPN, your traffic gets encrypted before it leaves your device. Your ISP can still see that you're using data, but it can no longer easily see what kind. Streaming traffic looks like encrypted data passing through, which means there's no obvious streaming target to throttle. The result can be a more consistent connection, fewer interruptions and less of that infuriating mid-episode quality drop. And there's an extra benefit for travelers: Your traffic is encrypted on hotel, airport and café Wi-Fi. That can help protect what you're doing online, though it won't magically fix a network that's overloaded. A good VPN can help keep your connection more stable across the unpredictable variety of networks you encounter while traveling, not to mention help protect you from public Wi-Fi hackers. Just keep in mind that some streaming services may limit or block VPN connections, so you may need to switch servers or check the service's rules. NETFLIX CO-CEO CLARIFIES STREAMING GIANT’S LIVE SPORTS STRATEGY AMID NFL LINEUP EXPANSION, FEDERAL SCRUTINY There's no shortage of VPN options out there, but for streaming, a few things matter more than others. Speed is king when it comes to video. A VPN that encrypts your traffic but slows your connection defeats the whole purpose. Look for a provider with a large network of fast servers and a proven track record with high-definition and 4K content. Device support matters too. Your streaming life doesn't live on just one screen. It's also on your phone, your smart TV, your tablet and your laptop. A good VPN covers all of them under one subscription and will let you run it on multiple devices simultaneously. Our top VPN pick checks all these boxes and is more than fast enough for high-quality streaming. For the best VPN software, see my expert review of the best VPNs for browsing the web privately on your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com Before blaming throttling, test your speed with the VPN on and off, restart your router, move closer to Wi-Fi, use a 5 GHz or 6 GHz network when available and try Ethernet for your main TV. If everything else is fast but streaming keeps dropping quality, throttling becomes a more likely suspect. Pair a VPN with these tips, and buffering becomes a rare event instead of a nightly battle. Turn on your VPN first, then launch your streaming service. It'll save you the hassle of reconnecting in the middle of the episode. In general, the closer the server, the lower the lag. A server in your home city usually delivers the best balance of speed and stability. If streaming still struggles with a VPN running, an outdated router might be your weakest link. A dual-band or Wi-Fi 6 model makes a noticeable difference on busy home networks. Looking to upgrade your home setup? Check out our guide to the Top 5 routers for best security in 2026 at Cyberguy.com Most major streaming apps let you save content for offline playback. Load up a few episodes on your home connection before a long trip, and you might not need to stream at all for the first leg of your journey. INSTANTLY UPGRADE YOUR STREAMING: AT HOME AND WHEN TRAVELING Buffering isn't something you have to accept, and your internet plan may not be the issue. Your provider could be managing your traffic when it recognizes what you're watching. A reliable VPN can make it that much harder, whether you're on your couch or in a hotel room across the country. Remember: the trick to smoother streaming isn't always paying for faster speed. It's making sure the speed you're already paying for actually reaches your device. Are you using a VPN for streaming, or have you found another workaround that does the job? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f763c2ca79de2362406e Postal worker and mom of two killed while delivering mail, leaving kids orphaned after husband's death: cops te 2026-06-30T17:05:39.011Z Postal worker and mom of two killed while delivering mail, leaving kids orphaned after husband's death: cops A mother of two and longtime postal worker was killed while delivering mail Tuesday in North Carolina, officials said, leaving her children orphaned just months after their father died in a December car accident. Brandi Reynolds, who was a postal deliver driver for the United States Postal Service, was shot and killed on Friday just before 4:16 p.m. in Hayes, North Carolina, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. William Craig Durham was arrested after allegedly killing Reynolds and is charged with kidnapping and murder. Authorities found Reynolds dead when they arrived to the scene. LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST Reynolds was employed as a rural mail carrier for the USPS, according to The Wilkes Record. She was delivering mail when Durham allegedly shot and killed her, according to the Charlotte Observer. SUSPECT CHARGED IN FATAL STABBING OF POSTAL WORKER IN NYC DELI OVER SPOT IN LINE HAS HISTORY OF KNIFE VIOLENCE Authorities alleged in an arrest report obtained by the Charlotte Observer that Durham restrained Reynolds and removed "the victim from one place to another without the consent of the victim." LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? FIND MORE ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB Reynolds' husband Brent Reynolds passed away after he was in a car accident in December. The couple have two kids, who will now be without parents. In a Facebook post from February, Reynolds wrote in a caption of a picture with her two kids: "The reason I get up every morning. Love these babies. They are what makes life worth living." She frequently posted pictures with her kids and husband on social media. In one post about her child, Reynolds wrote: "I couldn’t deny this baby if I tried. Love her so much and man do i wish i could slow time down and keep her little forever." Officials haven't revealed any relationship between Reynolds and Durham. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f74fc2ca79de23624065 Trump admin backs Bolivia state of emergency as leftist ex-leader's loyalists fracture nation te 2026-06-30T17:05:19.555Z Trump admin backs Bolivia state of emergency as leftist ex-leader's loyalists fracture nation The conservative, pro-U.S. government of President Rogrigo Paz is being challenged in the streets by radical elements led by a former socialist president recently forcing the new Bolivian government to introduce a state of emergency. The landlocked mineral-rich nation is facing one of its deepest political crises in decades as economic turmoil, nationwide protests and a battle over the country’s future threaten to reshape the balance of power in South America. The unrest comes after years of political divisions following the tenure of socialist President Evo Morales, whose Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) dominated Bolivian politics for nearly two decades. Internal fractures, economic decline and public frustration have weakened the movement and opened a new chapter of uncertainty. US, SHIELD OF THE AMERICAS CONDEMN 'ONGOING EFFORTS' TO OVERTHROW BOLIVIA'S ELECTED PRESIDENT AMID UNREST The Trump administration recently signaled strong backing for the Paz government while condemning efforts to destabilize the country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States "Will not allow criminals and drug traffickers to overthrow democratically elected leaders in our hemisphere" and reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to Bolivia’s "stability, security, and a better future for all Bolivians." Speaking on background, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that, "The United States strongly supports President Rodrigo Paz's decision on June 20 to declare a State of Exception to restore order and ensure the free flow of food, medicine, and essential supplies to the Bolivian people.  We are glad that the blockades in Bolivia have ended and the government has restored order." Bolivia’s crisis has been driven by Morales and his supporters furious at the Paz reforms. Protests and road blockades have disrupted transportation, caused shortages and increased pressure on the Paz government. José Luis Lupo, chief of staff and minister of the presidency of Bolivia told Fox News Digital: "After more than 50 days of blockades that severely disrupted the supply of food, fuel, and medicines, paralyzing much of the country's economic activity and straining its democratic stability, I am convinced that Bolivia now faces a unique opportunity to transform a deep crisis into the starting point for a new phase of national reconstruction." He noted that "for weeks, we sought agreements with various sectors because we believe that, in a democracy, every avenue for mutual understanding must be exhausted before resorting to extraordinary measures." He said the state of emergency [state of exception] "was the constitutional last resort to restore freedom of movement, protect critical infrastructure and ensure that Bolivians could once again access essential goods. It was not a measure intended to restrict rights, but rather to protect lives, preserve democracy and restore freedom of movement to millions of citizens." PETE HEGSETH WARNS NARCO-TERRORISTS AS US BACKS BOLIVIA'S GOVERNMENT AMID COUP WARNINGS The turmoil has also had consequences beyond Bolivia’s borders. The country holds some of the world’s largest lithium resources, a key mineral for electric vehicles, batteries and advanced technology supply chains. Competition for influence in resource-rich Latin America has become increasingly important for Washington as China and other global powers expand their presence in the region. Bolivia’s political crisis reflects a broader trend across Latin America, where voters in the last few election cycles have elected conservatives who challenged the left’s business-as-usual politics and in doing so have taken the continent in a rightward direction. The socialist Morales remains an influential figure and continues to command support among rural and indigenous groups, keeping Bolivia’s political divisions alive even as the country searches for a path out of the crisis. Mauricio Ríos García, manager of Crusoe Research and editor of FRACTAL Index in Bolivia, told Fox News Digital, "The 50-day blockades have caused estimated losses of $2.5 billion and the closure of around 13,000 companies. Once the blockades end, a rebound in demand combined with excess liquidity is expected to drive inflation higher." Ríos said, "The government is nearing an IMF agreement that would likely include a new devaluation (exchange rate unification) and other adjustments in exchange for financing of around $3.3–5 billion. This marks growing dependence on the IMF and the United States, while the gradualist approach has left the economy with very little room for maneuver and risks further instability. "Expectations for Bolivia’s economy in the second half of the year have been revised downward. Blockades and deeper structural problems rooted in the government’s gradualist fiscal and monetary policies have worsened the difficult inheritance from the previous administration," he concluded. COLOMBIA'S 'EL TIGRE' SECURES PRESIDENCY AS LEFTIST RIVAL FINALLY CONCEDES DEFEAT For Washington, Bolivia’s future represents more than a domestic political dispute. The outcome could influence America’s strategic position in the Western Hemisphere, the future of critical minerals, and whether Latin America’s recent political shift continues moving away from the left-wing movements that dominated parts of the region during the last two decades. "I am convinced that stability will only endure if it is accompanied by inclusion. There can be no peace where neglect and inequality persist. That is why we are driving a development agenda for historically marginalized regions, particularly the provinces of La Paz, focused on infrastructure, basic services, productive development and the participation of the communities themselves," Lupo said. And as the barricades have lessened, Lupo, chief of staff and minister of the presidency of Bolivia, says, "A different phase is now beginning. I believe the country needs a broad political and social agreement involving the government, parliamentary forces, the regions, the productive sector, and civil society. Bolivia needs to pass reforms that provide legal certainty, promote investment, and modernize strategic sectors such as hydrocarbons, mining, lithium, renewable energy and the justice system. Such consensus is essential to restoring confidence, stabilizing the economy and generating sustainable growth. "I hope to see Bolivia definitively replace confrontation with dialogue, strengthen its institutions, and build a more robust economy characterized by clear rules, democratic stability and greater opportunities for all," Lupo concluded. The Trump administration had increased emergency humanitarian assistance to help address food and medical shortages caused by weeks of unrest, underscoring U.S. concerns that prolonged instability could have broader implications for regional security and democracy. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f73cc2ca79de2362405c Brooke Slusser calls Supreme Court transgender ruling the ‘biggest win’ yet for female athletes te 2026-06-30T17:05:00.097Z Brooke Slusser calls Supreme Court transgender ruling the ‘biggest win’ yet for female athletes Former San Jose State volleyball player Brooke Slusser called Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of states protecting women’s sports the "biggest win" female athletes have had yet. Slusser appeared on Fox News’ "The Faulkner Focus" after the high court ruled 6-3 in favor of West Virginia and Idaho in two landmark transgender athlete cases. The ruling upheld state laws requiring student-athletes to compete on sports teams that correspond with their biological sex at birth rather than their gender identity. CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE For Slusser, who became one of the most prominent voices in the fight to protect women’s sports after speaking out about a transgender player on her volleyball team in 2024, the decision was deeply personal. "I mean, it’s amazing," Slusser told Harris Faulkner. "It’s the biggest win we’ve had yet, so I couldn’t be happier. We couldn’t ask for more right now." Slusser filed a lawsuit last year over her experience at SJSU, where she said she was not told that teammate Blaire Fleming was transgender despite sharing team spaces, including hotel rooms, locker rooms and living quarters. "I found out from other student-athletes at the university, so it wasn’t even the institution itself that informed us, which makes it even worse," Slusser said. "My whole team had to find out on their own through other student-athletes." Slusser said the issue was not limited to competition. She argued that female athletes were deprived of the ability to make informed decisions about their own privacy and comfort in intimate spaces. "It’s taking away the student-athlete’s choice to choose which safe spaces they’re in," she said. "You’re going into locker rooms, or for my situation, my living space, and being told these are all women, thinking I’m comfortable doing whatever I need to be doing, changing and getting dressed where I want to. And then I found out the whole time that I’ve been sharing hotel rooms, locker rooms, my living space with a man." Slusser continued, "They’re stripping me of my choice to basically choose where I want to get ready and who I am getting ready around. That’s the biggest issue. It’s not even just about safety in the sport as well, it’s about everything else that goes into it." SUPREME COURT MAKES RULING ON TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN'S SPORTS The SJSU volleyball controversy became one of the most high-profile examples in the debate over trans-identifying athletes in women’s sports. Multiple Mountain West teams forfeited matches against San Jose State during that season amid concerns about Fleming’s participation. Slusser told Faulkner that even as Fleming’s teammate, she still had concerns about the physical differences in practice. "I just had to practice with him. I wasn’t even playing against him in a real game," Slusser said. "So the bare minimum, at least I got to know his tendencies so I could keep myself a little bit safer. But even then, I’m still getting slammed in my body. I had bruises on my legs from getting hit with a ball." She added that opponents were put in an even worse position because they didn’t have the same familiarity before stepping on the court. "These other teams don’t know what they’re walking into," Slusser said. "That’s even worse than what I had to go through going into practice every single day, trying to keep myself safe." The Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox gives states the authority to maintain separate women’s and girls’ sports categories based on biological sex. The decision is a major victory for advocates who have argued that Title IX was designed to protect female athletes, not force them to compete against biological males. Slusser said San Jose State failed its female athletes by prioritizing Fleming over the rest of the roster. "The fact that they allowed these student-athletes that were men pretending to be women be protected under those Title IX rules that were meant for women to be protected in is the biggest fault that happened," Slusser said. "My institution itself, SJSU, they decided to protect a man and not worry about the 18 other women that should have been protected as well." Slusser also referenced former high school volleyball player Payton McNabb, who suffered serious injuries after being hit in the face by a spike from a transgender opponent in 2022. "This could ruin people’s lives, not even just in athletics, but overall," Slusser said. "Payton McNabb will never be the same from what happened to her, and that’s what we’re trying to stop." For Slusser and other women who have fought this battle publicly, Tuesday’s ruling marks a legal victory that’s been a long time coming. And for the states that passed laws protecting women’s sports, the Supreme Court has now made clear they have the constitutional authority to enforce them. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f728c2ca79de23624053 LeBron James tells Los Angeles Lakers he will leave in free agency after eight seasons: report te 2026-06-30T17:04:40.650Z LeBron James tells Los Angeles Lakers he will leave in free agency after eight seasons: report LeBron James will be in a new destination when his 24th NBA season commences. The NBA's all-time leading scorer reportedly told the Los Angeles Lakers that he would leave the team in free agency after eight seasons with the organization. James joined the Lakers in 2018 after a second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers in which he finally brought a championship to the Ohio city. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM With Los Angeles, James won the 2020 NBA title, his fourth, and passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most points scored in NBA history -- he is at 43,440 and counting. This past season James, who will turn 42 in December, scored 20.9 points per game, the lowest mark of his career, but still managed 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds per contest. The Golden State Warriors are reportedly looking to pair James with Stephen Curry, which would turn one of the NBA's greatest rivalries into two of the game's greatest stars fighting for their fifth title together. The Cavaliers could also be in the mix, but Draymond Green already reportedly opted out of a deal to eventually take even less money with Golden State to make room for James. Meanwhile, Los Angeles will now fully be Luka Doncic's team. The Lakers acquired him in a blockbuster deal with the Dallas Mavericks last year that is widely regarded as one of the most lopsided trades in the history of the league. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! The Lakers reportedly wanted James back, but the four-time MVP was all set -- even with his son, Bronny, on the team. The Jameses became the first father-son duo to not only be teammates in the NBA but also to be active at the same time. If it is Golden State, it would be the fourth team for James. He and Curry teamed up in the 2024 Olympics to bring gold back to the United States for the fifth time in a row. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f701c2ca79de23624048 The 1952 Law That Was Central to the Birthright Citizenship Case te 2026-06-30T17:04:01.739Z The 1952 Law That Was Central to the Birthright Citizenship Case When Congress passed a sweeping immigration reform measure after World War II, it included language that mirrored the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause — and perhaps even took it a step further. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f6eec2ca79de2362403f The Supreme Court Just Gave the G.O.P. a New Midterm Edge te 2026-06-30T17:03:42.273Z The Supreme Court Just Gave the G.O.P. a New Midterm Edge The decision, which allows parties to spend more in coordination with candidates, is likely to further expand the power of big money in American politics. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f6dac2ca79de23624036 In dissents, justices decried the ruling as a ‘serious mistake’ that would aid ‘birth tourists.’ te 2026-06-30T17:03:22.822Z In dissents, justices decried the ruling as a ‘serious mistake’ that would aid ‘birth tourists.’ Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f6c6c2ca79de23624021 U of A secures $3.74 million to strengthen Arizona's preparedness for New World screwworm te 2026-06-30T17:03:02.854Z U of A secures $3.74 million to strengthen Arizona's preparedness for New World screwworm U of A secures $3.74 million to strengthen Arizona's preparedness for New World screwworm nprevenas Mon, 29 Jun 2026 - 16:46 U of A secures $3.74 million to strengthen Arizona's preparedness for New World screwworm Today The University o Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f6b2c2ca79de2362400d Lumo, Proton’s privacy-focused AI chatbot, gets an upgrade te 2026-06-30T17:02:42.883Z Lumo, Proton’s privacy-focused AI chatbot, gets an upgrade Proton's Lumo 2.0 is dropping this week, giving users a broader variety of capabilities. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f69fc2ca79de23624004 Your brand deserves its own stage — Side Events at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 te 2026-06-30T17:02:23.431Z Your brand deserves its own stage — Side Events at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 From October 10-16, host a Side Event and command the room during the week of TechCrunch Disrupt 2026. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f68bc2ca79de23623ffb Amazon launches new $1 billion FDE org, following OpenAI and Anthropic te 2026-06-30T17:02:03.974Z Amazon launches new $1 billion FDE org, following OpenAI and Anthropic Engineers on the new team will embed within companies to deploy purpose-built agents, focusing on fast deployments and customer self-sufficiency. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f678c2ca79de23623ff2 Podcasting platform Riverside enters the newsletter publishing game te 2026-06-30T17:01:44.005Z Podcasting platform Riverside enters the newsletter publishing game Users will be able use AI to create newsletters based on their recordings. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f663c2ca79de23623fe9 Arcturus could halve the grid’s electrical losses using its nano-infused copper te 2026-06-30T17:01:23.542Z Arcturus could halve the grid’s electrical losses using its nano-infused copper Stealthy startup Arcturus uses lasers to infuse carbon nanomaterials into copper, dramatically improving its ability to conduct electricity. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f650c2ca79de23623fe0 X now offers an MCP server to make its platform easier for AI tools to use te 2026-06-30T17:01:04.080Z X now offers an MCP server to make its platform easier for AI tools to use X has launched a hosted MCP server, making it easier for developers to connect AI applications with the company’s API. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f63cc2ca79de23623fd7 Tesla starts testing Cybercab without pedals or a steering wheel in Austin te 2026-06-30T17:00:44.613Z Tesla starts testing Cybercab without pedals or a steering wheel in Austin The company may finally be ready to try to deliver on Elon Musk's years-long promise of launching a robotaxi network of its own. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43f626c2ca79de23623fce Blue Origin still doesn’t know why its New Glenn rocket blew up last month te 2026-06-30T17:00:22.452Z Blue Origin still doesn’t know why its New Glenn rocket blew up last month But the company is still claiming that New Glenn will return to flight this year. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b9d4197238567836bc75 FLL All-Stars Roundup: 10s win district title, Majors rolls on, 11s open with shutout, Juniors face elimination te 2026-06-30T12:43:00.530Z FLL All-Stars Roundup: 10s win district title, Majors rolls on, 11s open with shutout, Juniors face elimination All four Flagstaff Little League All-Star teams were in action over the weekend. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b9c0197238567836bc6c Flagstaff softball Juniors All-Stars falter in two-team district tournament te 2026-06-30T12:42:40.570Z Flagstaff softball Juniors All-Stars falter in two-team district tournament The FGSLL Juniors All-Stars took two losses hosting the District 1 Tournament against Mountain Pines Little League over the weekend. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b9ac197238567836bc63 FGSLL All-Stars Roundup: 10s reach title game, Majors stay alive te 2026-06-30T12:42:20.596Z FGSLL All-Stars Roundup: 10s reach title game, Majors stay alive The FGSLL All-Star 10s will take on Winslow in the district championship on Monday. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b998197238567836bc5a HCH Pet of the Week: Diesel te 2026-06-30T12:42:00.627Z HCH Pet of the Week: Diesel Meet Diesel, a handsome 3.5-year-old Shepherd mix who's been patiently waiting for his forever family for far too long. This playful, loyal boy is ready to find a home where he can be someone's best friend and adventure buddy. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b984197238567836bc51 HCH Pet of the Week: Axle te 2026-06-30T12:41:40.657Z HCH Pet of the Week: Axle Axle is waiting at the shelter to meet YOU! Visit us and see if this scruffy, handsome fella could be a great new partner for you. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b970197238567836bc48 Pride-oriented blood drive to take place at Flagstaff DoubleTree te 2026-06-30T12:41:20.692Z Pride-oriented blood drive to take place at Flagstaff DoubleTree A Pride-oriented blood drive is scheduled to take place Wednesday, July 1, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Flagstaff. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b95c197238567836bc36 Flagstaff Event Almanac for June 30 te 2026-06-30T12:41:00.725Z Flagstaff Event Almanac for June 30 June 30 Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b948197238567836bc0e Pope Leo pleads with breakaway Catholic group not to commit 'sin of extreme gravity' te 2026-06-30T12:40:40.250Z Pope Leo pleads with breakaway Catholic group not to commit 'sin of extreme gravity' Pope Leo XIV issued an extraordinary last-minute plea Tuesday to a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group to abandon plans to consecrate four bishops without Vatican approval, warning the move was a "sin of extreme gravity" and could deepen a decades-old split with the Church. In a letter addressed to the Rev. Davide Pagliarani, leader of the Society of St. Pius X, Leo urged the group to reconsider before Wednesday's planned ceremony in Econe, Switzerland, saying it would place the bishops involved outside the Church’s communion. "I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!" the pope wrote. POPE LEO SENDS UNMISTAKABLE MESSAGE ON IMMIGRANTS DURING VISIT HONORING AMERICA'S FIRST SAINT Under church law, consecrating bishops without papal approval is considered a schismatic act and carries automatic excommunication for both the bishops being ordained and the bishop performing the ceremony. "I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit, and in some cases, even valid reception of the sacraments," Leo wrote. The dispute marks the first major challenge of Leo's pontificate. Since becoming pope, the American-born pontiff has emphasized healing divisions within the Church, including tensions with traditionalist Catholics who favor the old Latin Mass. POPE LEO XIV JOKES YOUNG SPANIARDS WOULD PICK BAD BUNNY OVER HIM DURING MADRID VISIT THIS WEEKEND The Society of St. Pius X was founded after the Second Vatican Council, rejecting many of the church's reforms, including allowing Mass to be celebrated in local languages instead of Latin. The group has long argued that it is preserving authentic Catholic teaching. The society defended its decision to consecrate four new bishops, saying there is a "state of necessity" requiring it to provide bishops for its faithful. The planned ceremony echoes a similar confrontation in 1988, when the group's founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without papal approval. The Vatican responded by excommunicating Lefebvre and the newly ordained bishops, though those excommunications were lifted in 2009 as part of an effort to restore relations. Despite years of dialogue with the Vatican, the SSPX remains outside the church's formal structure. The society has continued to expand in recent decades, reporting hundreds of priests, seminarians and religious members across dozens of countries, making it one of the largest traditionalist movements operating outside the Catholic Church's official authority. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b81e197238567836bbdb Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Market Future Scope, Emerging Trends and Revenue Growth by 2031 | Expert Review te 2026-06-30T12:35:42.402Z Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Market Future Scope, Emerging Trends and Revenue Growth by 2031 | Expert Review The pressure sensitive adhesives market is expanding steadily, fueled by growing demand from packaging, automotive, healthcare, electronics, and construction industries. Leading companies are investing in sustainable formulations, high-performance products, and capacity expansion to strengthen their Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b80a197238567836bbd2 As Chronic Back Pain Continues to Affect Millions, Injury 2 Wellness Centers Highlights Non-Surgical Treatment Options for Georgia Residents te 2026-06-30T12:35:22.437Z As Chronic Back Pain Continues to Affect Millions, Injury 2 Wellness Centers Highlights Non-Surgical Treatment Options for Georgia Residents Healthcare providers encourage early, conservative care to help patients improve mobility, reduce pain, and avoid unnecessary invasive procedures. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7f5197238567836bbc1 Trump deal gives Iran $100s of billions more than Obama nuclear pact he slammed, in return for far less te 2026-06-30T12:35:01.448Z Trump deal gives Iran $100s of billions more than Obama nuclear pact he slammed, in return for far less Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has offered Iran hundreds of billions of dollars more than it received under President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement – the one Trump condemned as “the worst deal in history.” The memorandum of understanding released June 17 provides $300 billion for Iran’s economic development and recovery, eases sanctions and unfreezes up to $24 billion in Iranian funds. The deal also implies that Iran will soon be able to charge ships for passing through the Strait of Hormuz, effectively recognizing control of the strategic chokepoint that didn’t exist before the war. By comparison, Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action released about $50 billion in frozen Iranian assets, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.  Under a separate deal that coincided with the JCPOA, the U.S. delivered pallets stacked with $400 million in Swiss francs and other currency, a source of particular Republican outrage; the sum was transferred in cash due to sanctions that precluded a wire transfer. Trump’s $300 billion package for Iran makes the JCPOA “look like a pittance,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA in 2018, calling it “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”  The MOU he signed June 17 in France establishes a framework to end the war he initiated four months earlier and to guide negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.  Unlike the JCPOA, the MOU doesn’t tie the funds to an agreement on nuclear enrichment or weapons development. Without such assurances, analysts and former officials said it’s hard to see much in the deal other than unprecedented concessions by the U.S. – certainly not the “unconditional surrender” Trump promised to squeeze from Iran. President Donald Trump oversees Operation Epic Fury at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 28, 2026. (White House photo by Daniel Torok) The JCPOA that Trump scrapped included concrete agreements on nuclear material and weapons, rules for monitoring and penalties for non-compliance. “A lot has been sacrificed up front just to get the Strait of Hormuz open again,” said Daniel Schneiderman, who served in the State and Defense departments. He now directs global policy programs at the University of Pennsylvania Washington. Wicker emphasized that he supported Trump’s decision to attack Iran. But he condemned lifting sanctions and unfreezing assets, warning that Iran will use such funds to pursue its anti-American goals. “I am concerned that the memorandum of understanding negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the President’s goals,” he said in a June 18 statement. Tolls in the Strait of Hormuz Roughly 7.9% of global maritime trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz, including 20% of the world’s supply of oil and natural gas. In March, Iran declared the waterway closed, began attacking ships attempting to pass through it and laid mines. The moves made insurance for vessels transiting the strait prohibitively expensive. Iran spent decades incorporating a strait blockage into its war planning. Western powers were also well aware of the likelihood. When Trump attacked, Iran tested the strategy for the first time. Closing the strait sent global energy markets into a tailspin. By late March, the average price per gallon of gas in the U.S. climbed from $3 to $4.56. Although Trump has asserted that the strait will remain toll-free, Iran has already taken steps to implement fees. One mechanism: mandatory insurance policies. Before the ceasefire, Iran charged $2 million per tanker or $1 per barrel of oil for the few ships it allowed to pass. At pre-war shipping levels, that would top $7.7 billion a year in revenue. Schneiderman called it “significant and extraordinary” for Trump to grant Iran the right to charge tolls.  The legality, however, is dubious. The strait is just 20 miles wide at its narrowest point but international law requires free passage in international waters. Sanctions relief and economic development One big target of criticism in the MOU is the $300 billion economic development plan.  Trump and aides say the U.S. will not contribute funding, but will organize it with regional partners that will contribute or catalyze private investment.  That fund has no equivalent in the JCPOA. The MOU adopts the JCPOA strategy of economic benefits in exchange for cooperation on elimination of nuclear weapons. But key provisions go far beyond the Obama deal’s rewards. Under the JCPOA, the U.S. rolled back most sanctions against Iran, including on its economy and oil exports. Sanctions related to terrorism, human rights abuses and arms remained in place. In exchange, Iran agreed to restrict nuclear enrichment to levels sufficient only for civilian uses and to submit to international inspections. Trump’s MOU, by contrast, calls for the U.S. to “terminate all types of sanctions” against Iran on a schedule to be negotiated later. The U.S. agreed to immediately issue waivers to allow Iran to export oil at market rate for 60 days – a boon worth up to $3 billion by some estimates. Frozen assets Tehran says the West is holding $24 billion of its assets.  The Wall Street Journal reported June 19 that the U.S. and Qatar were working to unfreeze $6 billion of that initially – to be used only for food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies. The Trump administration has highlighted that Iran can only unlock the full benefits offered under the MOU if it meets certain conditions. Officials have described the approach as pay for performance. “Fundamentally, that money is not going to be unfrozen unless we continue to see progress, and that will obviously be a big part of the negotiation in the days to come,” Vice President JD Vance told reporters Monday in Switzerland after talks with Iranian negotiators. The JCPOA also unfroze funds incrementally as Iran met certain targets. The deal was fully implemented in 2016 after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had made the promised changes to its nuclear program. Trump killed that deal, and Iran resumed its nuclear program. In 2019, Iran accelerated uranium enrichment. Two years later, it suspended implementation of its monitoring agreement with the IAEA. By 2025, it was rapidly increasing its supply of nuclear material. The MOU provides economic incentives upfront, with no agreement on limits to Iran’s nuclear program. “This was a pretty lopsided deal,” said Bob Einhorn, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former State Department official who helped lead early JCPOA negotiations until 2013. “The benefits to Iran were spelled out pretty clearly – some immediate benefits and some eventual benefits – but the benefits to the United States were amorphous, put off until future negotiations.” Bankrolling aid or terrorism? At a campaign rally in September 2015 in Washington, Trump condemned the JCPOA and called its negotiators “very, very stupid people.” He cited an inflated figure of $150 billion that Iran stood to receive and argued that the unfrozen assets would be used to menace Israel and to pursue other anti-American aims. “They rip us off, they take our money, they make us look like fools, and now they’re back to being who they really are,” he said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then a Florida senator, warned at the time that the JCPOA would let Iran buy missiles and boost its terror affiliates. “Flush with cash and arms, Iran will have even more opportunity to expand its influence across the Middle East and threaten its neighbors,” he wrote in September 2015. Rubio and Vance, then an Ohio senator, co-sponsored a bill in 2023 that stated “funds released to Iran for so-called humanitarian purposes cannot be reliably prevented from funding future terrorist attacks.” Trump, Vance and Rubio are now doing precisely what they argued against, critics say. Vance said that unfrozen funds could only purchase American soy, corn and wheat for Iranian civilians. He called it “a classic Trump deal.” Iranian officials disputed that, saying they have agreed to no such limitations. Skeptics of the MOU point out that if Iran has more funds to buy food, it also has more funds to rebuild its military and, potentially, to finance global terror – the exact critique Trump leveled against the JCPOA. “The MOU says, basically, these unfrozen funds can be used just as Iran pleases with no restriction,” Einhorn said. “They have a green light if they wanted to use some of those funds for supporting their Axis of Resistance, their proxies or for their military programs.” “One can hope that the U.S. team will do a better job negotiating the final deal than it did negotiating the MOU,” he added. “I’m not confident that’s going to be the case.” The post Trump deal gives Iran $100s of billions more than Obama nuclear pact he slammed, in return for far less appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7f4197238567836bbb9 Trump deal gives Iran $100s of billions more than Obama nuclear pact he slammed, in return for far less te 2026-06-30T12:35:00.418Z Trump deal gives Iran $100s of billions more than Obama nuclear pact he slammed, in return for far less Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has offered Iran hundreds of billions of dollars more than it received under President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement – the one Trump condemned as “the worst deal in history.” The memorandum of understanding released June 17 provides $300 billion for Iran’s economic development and recovery, eases sanctions and unfreezes up to $24 billion in Iranian funds. The deal also implies that Iran will soon be able to charge ships for passing through the Strait of Hormuz, effectively recognizing control of the strategic chokepoint that didn’t exist before the war. By comparison, Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action released about $50 billion in frozen Iranian assets, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.  Under a separate deal that coincided with the JCPOA, the U.S. delivered pallets stacked with $400 million in Swiss francs and other currency, a source of particular Republican outrage; the sum was transferred in cash due to sanctions that precluded a wire transfer. Trump’s $300 billion package for Iran makes the JCPOA “look like a pittance,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA in 2018, calling it “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”  The MOU he signed June 17 in France establishes a framework to end the war he initiated four months earlier and to guide negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.  Unlike the JCPOA, the MOU doesn’t tie the funds to an agreement on nuclear enrichment or weapons development. Without such assurances, analysts and former officials said it’s hard to see much in the deal other than unprecedented concessions by the U.S. – certainly not the “unconditional surrender” Trump promised to squeeze from Iran. President Donald Trump oversees Operation Epic Fury at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 28, 2026. (White House photo by Daniel Torok) The JCPOA that Trump scrapped included concrete agreements on nuclear material and weapons, rules for monitoring and penalties for non-compliance. “A lot has been sacrificed up front just to get the Strait of Hormuz open again,” said Daniel Schneiderman, who served in the State and Defense departments. He now directs global policy programs at the University of Pennsylvania Washington. Wicker emphasized that he supported Trump’s decision to attack Iran. But he condemned lifting sanctions and unfreezing assets, warning that Iran will use such funds to pursue its anti-American goals. “I am concerned that the memorandum of understanding negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the President’s goals,” he said in a June 18 statement. Tolls in the Strait of Hormuz Roughly 7.9% of global maritime trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz, including 20% of the world’s supply of oil and natural gas. In March, Iran declared the waterway closed, began attacking ships attempting to pass through it and laid mines. The moves made insurance for vessels transiting the strait prohibitively expensive. Iran spent decades incorporating a strait blockage into its war planning. Western powers were also well aware of the likelihood. When Trump attacked, Iran tested the strategy for the first time. Closing the strait sent global energy markets into a tailspin. By late March, the average price per gallon of gas in the U.S. climbed from $3 to $4.56. Although Trump has asserted that the strait will remain toll-free, Iran has already taken steps to implement fees. One mechanism: mandatory insurance policies. Before the ceasefire, Iran charged $2 million per tanker or $1 per barrel of oil for the few ships it allowed to pass. At pre-war shipping levels, that would top $7.7 billion a year in revenue. Schneiderman called it “significant and extraordinary” for Trump to grant Iran the right to charge tolls.  The legality, however, is dubious. The strait is just 20 miles wide at its narrowest point but international law requires free passage in international waters. Sanctions relief and economic development One big target of criticism in the MOU is the $300 billion economic development plan.  Trump and aides say the U.S. will not contribute funding, but will organize it with regional partners that will contribute or catalyze private investment.  That fund has no equivalent in the JCPOA. The MOU adopts the JCPOA strategy of economic benefits in exchange for cooperation on elimination of nuclear weapons. But key provisions go far beyond the Obama deal’s rewards. Under the JCPOA, the U.S. rolled back most sanctions against Iran, including on its economy and oil exports. Sanctions related to terrorism, human rights abuses and arms remained in place. In exchange, Iran agreed to restrict nuclear enrichment to levels sufficient only for civilian uses and to submit to international inspections. Trump’s MOU, by contrast, calls for the U.S. to “terminate all types of sanctions” against Iran on a schedule to be negotiated later. The U.S. agreed to immediately issue waivers to allow Iran to export oil at market rate for 60 days – a boon worth up to $3 billion by some estimates. Frozen assets Tehran says the West is holding $24 billion of its assets.  The Wall Street Journal reported June 19 that the U.S. and Qatar were working to unfreeze $6 billion of that initially – to be used only for food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies. The Trump administration has highlighted that Iran can only unlock the full benefits offered under the MOU if it meets certain conditions. Officials have described the approach as pay for performance. “Fundamentally, that money is not going to be unfrozen unless we continue to see progress, and that will obviously be a big part of the negotiation in the days to come,” Vice President JD Vance told reporters Monday in Switzerland after talks with Iranian negotiators. The JCPOA also unfroze funds incrementally as Iran met certain targets. The deal was fully implemented in 2016 after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had made the promised changes to its nuclear program. Trump killed that deal, and Iran resumed its nuclear program. In 2019, Iran accelerated uranium enrichment. Two years later, it suspended implementation of its monitoring agreement with the IAEA. By 2025, it was rapidly increasing its supply of nuclear material. The MOU provides economic incentives upfront, with no agreement on limits to Iran’s nuclear program. “This was a pretty lopsided deal,” said Bob Einhorn, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former State Department official who helped lead early JCPOA negotiations until 2013. “The benefits to Iran were spelled out pretty clearly – some immediate benefits and some eventual benefits – but the benefits to the United States were amorphous, put off until future negotiations.” Bankrolling aid or terrorism? At a campaign rally in September 2015 in Washington, Trump condemned the JCPOA and called its negotiators “very, very stupid people.” He cited an inflated figure of $150 billion that Iran stood to receive and argued that the unfrozen assets would be used to menace Israel and to pursue other anti-American aims. “They rip us off, they take our money, they make us look like fools, and now they’re back to being who they really are,” he said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then a Florida senator, warned at the time that the JCPOA would let Iran buy missiles and boost its terror affiliates. “Flush with cash and arms, Iran will have even more opportunity to expand its influence across the Middle East and threaten its neighbors,” he wrote in September 2015. Rubio and Vance, then an Ohio senator, co-sponsored a bill in 2023 that stated “funds released to Iran for so-called humanitarian purposes cannot be reliably prevented from funding future terrorist attacks.” Trump, Vance and Rubio are now doing precisely what they argued against, critics say. Vance said that unfrozen funds could only purchase American soy, corn and wheat for Iranian civilians. He called it “a classic Trump deal.” Iranian officials disputed that, saying they have agreed to no such limitations. Skeptics of the MOU point out that if Iran has more funds to buy food, it also has more funds to rebuild its military and, potentially, to finance global terror – the exact critique Trump leveled against the JCPOA. “The MOU says, basically, these unfrozen funds can be used just as Iran pleases with no restriction,” Einhorn said. “They have a green light if they wanted to use some of those funds for supporting their Axis of Resistance, their proxies or for their military programs.” “One can hope that the U.S. team will do a better job negotiating the final deal than it did negotiating the MOU,” he added. “I’m not confident that’s going to be the case.” The post Trump deal gives Iran $100s of billions more than Obama nuclear pact he slammed, in return for far less appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7f2197238567836bbb1 Trump deal gives Iran $100s of billions more than Obama nuclear pact he slammed, in return for far less te 2026-06-30T12:34:58.740Z Trump deal gives Iran $100s of billions more than Obama nuclear pact he slammed, in return for far less Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has offered Iran hundreds of billions of dollars more than it received under President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement – the one Trump condemned as “the worst deal in history.” The memorandum of understanding released June 17 provides $300 billion for Iran’s economic development and recovery, eases sanctions and unfreezes up to $24 billion in Iranian funds. The deal also implies that Iran will soon be able to charge ships for passing through the Strait of Hormuz, effectively recognizing control of the strategic chokepoint that didn’t exist before the war. By comparison, Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action released about $50 billion in frozen Iranian assets, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.  Under a separate deal that coincided with the JCPOA, the U.S. delivered pallets stacked with $400 million in Swiss francs and other currency, a source of particular Republican outrage; the sum was transferred in cash due to sanctions that precluded a wire transfer. Trump’s $300 billion package for Iran makes the JCPOA “look like a pittance,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. Trump withdrew the U.S. from the JCPOA in 2018, calling it “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”  The MOU he signed June 17 in France establishes a framework to end the war he initiated four months earlier and to guide negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.  Unlike the JCPOA, the MOU doesn’t tie the funds to an agreement on nuclear enrichment or weapons development. Without such assurances, analysts and former officials said it’s hard to see much in the deal other than unprecedented concessions by the U.S. – certainly not the “unconditional surrender” Trump promised to squeeze from Iran. President Donald Trump oversees Operation Epic Fury at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 28, 2026. (White House photo by Daniel Torok) The JCPOA that Trump scrapped included concrete agreements on nuclear material and weapons, rules for monitoring and penalties for non-compliance. “A lot has been sacrificed up front just to get the Strait of Hormuz open again,” said Daniel Schneiderman, who served in the State and Defense departments. He now directs global policy programs at the University of Pennsylvania Washington. Wicker emphasized that he supported Trump’s decision to attack Iran. But he condemned lifting sanctions and unfreezing assets, warning that Iran will use such funds to pursue its anti-American goals. “I am concerned that the memorandum of understanding negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the President’s goals,” he said in a June 18 statement. Tolls in the Strait of Hormuz Roughly 7.9% of global maritime trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz, including 20% of the world’s supply of oil and natural gas. In March, Iran declared the waterway closed, began attacking ships attempting to pass through it and laid mines. The moves made insurance for vessels transiting the strait prohibitively expensive. Iran spent decades incorporating a strait blockage into its war planning. Western powers were also well aware of the likelihood. When Trump attacked, Iran tested the strategy for the first time. Closing the strait sent global energy markets into a tailspin. By late March, the average price per gallon of gas in the U.S. climbed from $3 to $4.56. Although Trump has asserted that the strait will remain toll-free, Iran has already taken steps to implement fees. One mechanism: mandatory insurance policies. Before the ceasefire, Iran charged $2 million per tanker or $1 per barrel of oil for the few ships it allowed to pass. At pre-war shipping levels, that would top $7.7 billion a year in revenue. Schneiderman called it “significant and extraordinary” for Trump to grant Iran the right to charge tolls.  The legality, however, is dubious. The strait is just 20 miles wide at its narrowest point but international law requires free passage in international waters. Sanctions relief and economic development One big target of criticism in the MOU is the $300 billion economic development plan.  Trump and aides say the U.S. will not contribute funding, but will organize it with regional partners that will contribute or catalyze private investment.  That fund has no equivalent in the JCPOA. The MOU adopts the JCPOA strategy of economic benefits in exchange for cooperation on elimination of nuclear weapons. But key provisions go far beyond the Obama deal’s rewards. Under the JCPOA, the U.S. rolled back most sanctions against Iran, including on its economy and oil exports. Sanctions related to terrorism, human rights abuses and arms remained in place. In exchange, Iran agreed to restrict nuclear enrichment to levels sufficient only for civilian uses and to submit to international inspections. Trump’s MOU, by contrast, calls for the U.S. to “terminate all types of sanctions” against Iran on a schedule to be negotiated later. The U.S. agreed to immediately issue waivers to allow Iran to export oil at market rate for 60 days – a boon worth up to $3 billion by some estimates. Frozen assets Tehran says the West is holding $24 billion of its assets.  The Wall Street Journal reported June 19 that the U.S. and Qatar were working to unfreeze $6 billion of that initially – to be used only for food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies. The Trump administration has highlighted that Iran can only unlock the full benefits offered under the MOU if it meets certain conditions. Officials have described the approach as pay for performance. “Fundamentally, that money is not going to be unfrozen unless we continue to see progress, and that will obviously be a big part of the negotiation in the days to come,” Vice President JD Vance told reporters Monday in Switzerland after talks with Iranian negotiators. The JCPOA also unfroze funds incrementally as Iran met certain targets. The deal was fully implemented in 2016 after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had made the promised changes to its nuclear program. Trump killed that deal, and Iran resumed its nuclear program. In 2019, Iran accelerated uranium enrichment. Two years later, it suspended implementation of its monitoring agreement with the IAEA. By 2025, it was rapidly increasing its supply of nuclear material. The MOU provides economic incentives upfront, with no agreement on limits to Iran’s nuclear program. “This was a pretty lopsided deal,” said Bob Einhorn, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former State Department official who helped lead early JCPOA negotiations until 2013. “The benefits to Iran were spelled out pretty clearly – some immediate benefits and some eventual benefits – but the benefits to the United States were amorphous, put off until future negotiations.” Bankrolling aid or terrorism? At a campaign rally in September 2015 in Washington, Trump condemned the JCPOA and called its negotiators “very, very stupid people.” He cited an inflated figure of $150 billion that Iran stood to receive and argued that the unfrozen assets would be used to menace Israel and to pursue other anti-American aims. “They rip us off, they take our money, they make us look like fools, and now they’re back to being who they really are,” he said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then a Florida senator, warned at the time that the JCPOA would let Iran buy missiles and boost its terror affiliates. “Flush with cash and arms, Iran will have even more opportunity to expand its influence across the Middle East and threaten its neighbors,” he wrote in September 2015. Rubio and Vance, then an Ohio senator, co-sponsored a bill in 2023 that stated “funds released to Iran for so-called humanitarian purposes cannot be reliably prevented from funding future terrorist attacks.” Trump, Vance and Rubio are now doing precisely what they argued against, critics say. Vance said that unfrozen funds could only purchase American soy, corn and wheat for Iranian civilians. He called it “a classic Trump deal.” Iranian officials disputed that, saying they have agreed to no such limitations. Skeptics of the MOU point out that if Iran has more funds to buy food, it also has more funds to rebuild its military and, potentially, to finance global terror – the exact critique Trump leveled against the JCPOA. “The MOU says, basically, these unfrozen funds can be used just as Iran pleases with no restriction,” Einhorn said. “They have a green light if they wanted to use some of those funds for supporting their Axis of Resistance, their proxies or for their military programs.” “One can hope that the U.S. team will do a better job negotiating the final deal than it did negotiating the MOU,” he added. “I’m not confident that’s going to be the case.” The post Trump deal gives Iran $100s of billions more than Obama nuclear pact he slammed, in return for far less appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7e1197238567836bba8 Full circle: Valley product Koa Peat returns to Phoenix as Suns’ first-round draft pick te 2026-06-30T12:34:41.986Z Full circle: Valley product Koa Peat returns to Phoenix as Suns’ first-round draft pick Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. PHOENIX – Former Arizona high school basketball star Koa Peat was just 10 when the Suns drafted Devin Booker. As a young fan, he attended the first game of the 2021 NBA Finals between the Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks.  “I remember those days seeing the team compete and seeing the team win,” Peat said at his introductory news conference on Friday at the Suns’ practice facility. “Seeing the crowd be involved with the team was super special and this is a super special place to be.” Five years later, Peat will have the chance to play in front of that very same crowd. The Suns selected the Gilbert Perry High School graduate and University of Arizona standout with the last pick (No. 30) of the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft on June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.  “We’re so excited about this opportunity to bring this young man into our franchise,” Suns GM Brian Gregory said. “Winning is really important. You have to continue to bring in guys that know what winning’s all about.”  It’s a full-circle moment for Peat and his family. His father, Todd, is a former NFL offensive lineman who played with the Phoenix Cardinals in the ’80s.  “His family has built an amazing athletic legacy here in the Valley and throughout the country,” Gregory said. “They’re ingrained in the Valley which is a unique situation for us and one that we’re very excited about. This community already has an unbelievable bond with Koa.”  Peat’s resume so far in his young career is filled with nothing but winning. During his four seasons at Perry, Peat led the school to state championships in each one, while simultaneously capturing four gold medals with Team USA at the FIBA World Cup.  “When he has a goal or a dream like being in the NBA, nothing is going to stop him,” said Sam Duane Jr., Peat’s high school coach. “He sacrificed a lot growing up. You have to give credit for the work that he’s put in to make himself the player he is.”   Following his decorated high school career, Peat signed to play for coach Tommy Lloyd at the University of Arizona. He helped guide the Wildcats to one of their best seasons in program history as they won 36 games this past season en route to their first Final Four appearance since 2001.  “Koa’s value is a lot higher than the number he got picked at,” Lloyd said. “If you’re basing this draft on impact on winning, Koa to me is a guy that’s a top-10 type pick.”  Peat’s presence at both Arizona and Perry was felt mostly in the paint. The Wildcats sported one of college basketball’s most physical frontcourts, thanks in large part to the 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward’s services.  “He’s gifted with his body,” Duane Jr. said. “He probably plays with more force than any player I’ve ever had. Some of his dunks in practice, the ball would go through, hit the floor and bounce almost back up to the rim.” The Suns entered the 2026 NBA Draft without a first-round pick but acquired the 30th selection in a four-team deal involving the Lakers, Knicks and Mavericks. The organization was determined to land Peat according to Lloyd.  “They started to work trades for Koa a lot earlier than the 30th pick,” Lloyd said. “They really wanted him. Koa ended up in a situation where they want to rebuild with tough, hardworking, blue-collar kinda guys, and he fits that billing.”  Gregory said Peat reflects the type of culture the Suns are trying to establish.  “His work ethic, his character, his ability and desire to continue to improve,” Gregory said. “All of those things are important for where we’re at and where we want to get to.”  Before the draft, speculation swirled regarding Peat’s potential landing spot. Many analysts initially believed Peat could be a lottery pick, but a shaky combine performance fueled concerns about his shooting and readiness for the league. It’s believed Peat turned down a hefty NIL deal to return to Arizona.  “I’m all about development. I’m 19 years old so there’s a lot I can grow into and get better at,” Peat said. “Talking with BG and coach about their player development, that’s the number one thing they harp on. I’m gonna come in here and work hard every day and try to get better as a young player.”  Gregory believes Peat’s physicality and unique skill set will address on-court issues the team had a year ago.  “The two key areas for us are defensive pressure and offensive rebounding,” Gregory said. “It’s an area that he’s really good at right now and he’s only going to get better at.” Peat will jockey for minutes in the Suns’ frontcourt after the recent acquisition of Miles Bridges from the Charlotte Hornets.   The post Full circle: Valley product Koa Peat returns to Phoenix as Suns’ first-round draft pick appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7e0197238567836bb9f Full circle: Valley product Koa Peat returns to Phoenix as Suns’ first-round draft pick te 2026-06-30T12:34:40.965Z Full circle: Valley product Koa Peat returns to Phoenix as Suns’ first-round draft pick Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. PHOENIX – Former Arizona high school basketball star Koa Peat was just 10 when the Suns drafted Devin Booker. As a young fan, he attended the first game of the 2021 NBA Finals between the Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks.  “I remember those days seeing the team compete and seeing the team win,” Peat said at his introductory news conference on Friday at the Suns’ practice facility. “Seeing the crowd be involved with the team was super special and this is a super special place to be.” Five years later, Peat will have the chance to play in front of that very same crowd. The Suns selected the Gilbert Perry High School graduate and University of Arizona standout with the last pick (No. 30) of the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft on June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.  “We’re so excited about this opportunity to bring this young man into our franchise,” Suns GM Brian Gregory said. “Winning is really important. You have to continue to bring in guys that know what winning’s all about.”  It’s a full-circle moment for Peat and his family. His father, Todd, is a former NFL offensive lineman who played with the Phoenix Cardinals in the ’80s.  “His family has built an amazing athletic legacy here in the Valley and throughout the country,” Gregory said. “They’re ingrained in the Valley which is a unique situation for us and one that we’re very excited about. This community already has an unbelievable bond with Koa.”  Peat’s resume so far in his young career is filled with nothing but winning. During his four seasons at Perry, Peat led the school to state championships in each one, while simultaneously capturing four gold medals with Team USA at the FIBA World Cup.  “When he has a goal or a dream like being in the NBA, nothing is going to stop him,” said Sam Duane Jr., Peat’s high school coach. “He sacrificed a lot growing up. You have to give credit for the work that he’s put in to make himself the player he is.”   Following his decorated high school career, Peat signed to play for coach Tommy Lloyd at the University of Arizona. He helped guide the Wildcats to one of their best seasons in program history as they won 36 games this past season en route to their first Final Four appearance since 2001.  “Koa’s value is a lot higher than the number he got picked at,” Lloyd said. “If you’re basing this draft on impact on winning, Koa to me is a guy that’s a top-10 type pick.”  Peat’s presence at both Arizona and Perry was felt mostly in the paint. The Wildcats sported one of college basketball’s most physical frontcourts, thanks in large part to the 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward’s services.  “He’s gifted with his body,” Duane Jr. said. “He probably plays with more force than any player I’ve ever had. Some of his dunks in practice, the ball would go through, hit the floor and bounce almost back up to the rim.” The Suns entered the 2026 NBA Draft without a first-round pick but acquired the 30th selection in a four-team deal involving the Lakers, Knicks and Mavericks. The organization was determined to land Peat according to Lloyd.  “They started to work trades for Koa a lot earlier than the 30th pick,” Lloyd said. “They really wanted him. Koa ended up in a situation where they want to rebuild with tough, hardworking, blue-collar kinda guys, and he fits that billing.”  Gregory said Peat reflects the type of culture the Suns are trying to establish.  “His work ethic, his character, his ability and desire to continue to improve,” Gregory said. “All of those things are important for where we’re at and where we want to get to.”  Before the draft, speculation swirled regarding Peat’s potential landing spot. Many analysts initially believed Peat could be a lottery pick, but a shaky combine performance fueled concerns about his shooting and readiness for the league. It’s believed Peat turned down a hefty NIL deal to return to Arizona.  “I’m all about development. I’m 19 years old so there’s a lot I can grow into and get better at,” Peat said. “Talking with BG and coach about their player development, that’s the number one thing they harp on. I’m gonna come in here and work hard every day and try to get better as a young player.”  Gregory believes Peat’s physicality and unique skill set will address on-court issues the team had a year ago.  “The two key areas for us are defensive pressure and offensive rebounding,” Gregory said. “It’s an area that he’s really good at right now and he’s only going to get better at.” Peat will jockey for minutes in the Suns’ frontcourt after the recent acquisition of Miles Bridges from the Charlotte Hornets.   The post Full circle: Valley product Koa Peat returns to Phoenix as Suns’ first-round draft pick appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7df197238567836bb96 Full circle: Valley product Koa Peat returns to Phoenix as Suns’ first-round draft pick te 2026-06-30T12:34:39.285Z Full circle: Valley product Koa Peat returns to Phoenix as Suns’ first-round draft pick Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. PHOENIX – Former Arizona high school basketball star Koa Peat was just 10 when the Suns drafted Devin Booker. As a young fan, he attended the first game of the 2021 NBA Finals between the Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks.  “I remember those days seeing the team compete and seeing the team win,” Peat said at his introductory news conference on Friday at the Suns’ practice facility. “Seeing the crowd be involved with the team was super special and this is a super special place to be.” Five years later, Peat will have the chance to play in front of that very same crowd. The Suns selected the Gilbert Perry High School graduate and University of Arizona standout with the last pick (No. 30) of the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft on June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.  “We’re so excited about this opportunity to bring this young man into our franchise,” Suns GM Brian Gregory said. “Winning is really important. You have to continue to bring in guys that know what winning’s all about.”  It’s a full-circle moment for Peat and his family. His father, Todd, is a former NFL offensive lineman who played with the Phoenix Cardinals in the ’80s.  “His family has built an amazing athletic legacy here in the Valley and throughout the country,” Gregory said. “They’re ingrained in the Valley which is a unique situation for us and one that we’re very excited about. This community already has an unbelievable bond with Koa.”  Peat’s resume so far in his young career is filled with nothing but winning. During his four seasons at Perry, Peat led the school to state championships in each one, while simultaneously capturing four gold medals with Team USA at the FIBA World Cup.  “When he has a goal or a dream like being in the NBA, nothing is going to stop him,” said Sam Duane Jr., Peat’s high school coach. “He sacrificed a lot growing up. You have to give credit for the work that he’s put in to make himself the player he is.”   Following his decorated high school career, Peat signed to play for coach Tommy Lloyd at the University of Arizona. He helped guide the Wildcats to one of their best seasons in program history as they won 36 games this past season en route to their first Final Four appearance since 2001.  “Koa’s value is a lot higher than the number he got picked at,” Lloyd said. “If you’re basing this draft on impact on winning, Koa to me is a guy that’s a top-10 type pick.”  Peat’s presence at both Arizona and Perry was felt mostly in the paint. The Wildcats sported one of college basketball’s most physical frontcourts, thanks in large part to the 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward’s services.  “He’s gifted with his body,” Duane Jr. said. “He probably plays with more force than any player I’ve ever had. Some of his dunks in practice, the ball would go through, hit the floor and bounce almost back up to the rim.” The Suns entered the 2026 NBA Draft without a first-round pick but acquired the 30th selection in a four-team deal involving the Lakers, Knicks and Mavericks. The organization was determined to land Peat according to Lloyd.  “They started to work trades for Koa a lot earlier than the 30th pick,” Lloyd said. “They really wanted him. Koa ended up in a situation where they want to rebuild with tough, hardworking, blue-collar kinda guys, and he fits that billing.”  Gregory said Peat reflects the type of culture the Suns are trying to establish.  “His work ethic, his character, his ability and desire to continue to improve,” Gregory said. “All of those things are important for where we’re at and where we want to get to.”  Before the draft, speculation swirled regarding Peat’s potential landing spot. Many analysts initially believed Peat could be a lottery pick, but a shaky combine performance fueled concerns about his shooting and readiness for the league. It’s believed Peat turned down a hefty NIL deal to return to Arizona.  “I’m all about development. I’m 19 years old so there’s a lot I can grow into and get better at,” Peat said. “Talking with BG and coach about their player development, that’s the number one thing they harp on. I’m gonna come in here and work hard every day and try to get better as a young player.”  Gregory believes Peat’s physicality and unique skill set will address on-court issues the team had a year ago.  “The two key areas for us are defensive pressure and offensive rebounding,” Gregory said. “It’s an area that he’s really good at right now and he’s only going to get better at.” Peat will jockey for minutes in the Suns’ frontcourt after the recent acquisition of Miles Bridges from the Charlotte Hornets.   The post Full circle: Valley product Koa Peat returns to Phoenix as Suns’ first-round draft pick appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7ce197238567836bb8d Senate ethics panel dismisses misconduct complaint against Ruben Gallego te 2026-06-30T12:34:22.530Z Senate ethics panel dismisses misconduct complaint against Ruben Gallego Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. WASHINGTON – The Senate Ethics Committee has dismissed misconduct allegations against Sen. Ruben Gallego, finding no evidence that the Arizona Democrat engaged in sexual misconduct or misused campaign funds. The committee informed him on Friday, according to a letter released Monday by Gallego’s office that read, in part, that its investigation “did not find evidence that your actions violated Federal law, Senate Rules or related standards of conduct.”  Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., a staunch Trump supporter who has accused several lawmakers of misconduct, had leveled the accusations. Luna claimed in April that four women had endured “multiple and uncomfortably/inappropriate advances/comments/touching, etc. from Senator Gallego.” The senator also faced scrutiny over his close friendship with former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who was forced out of the California governor’s race earlier this year after accusations by multiple women of sexual assault or misconduct.  Swalwell resigned April 13 under pressure from Luna and others. Gallego initially resisted calls for his resignation but eventually joined the chorus. “It is time Congress has a good house cleaning,” Luna posted on X two days before Swalwell resigned. “The dismissal by the Ethics Committee reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies,” Gallego said in a statement issued by his office. “I look forward to an apology from Rep. Luna for weaponizing the ethics process while refusing to investigate historic corruption that’s making life harder for families.”  IRS records show that Gallego created a legal defense fund on May 26. In a scathing attack posted Monday on X, Luna warned Gallego that he would likely need that defense fund in the future. “There are plenty of people who know about your antics,” she wrote. “Once a creep always a creep, and you’re gonna need it.” She also rejected his characterization of her accusations. “These are not conspiracy theories. You’re a gross example of representation. Need I mention you leaving your pregnant wife during your Campaign for Senate?” Luna posted. Gallego did file for divorce from Kate Gallego, now the mayor of Phoenix, when she was nine months pregnant. But that was in December 2016, weeks after he won his second House term. The records were unsealed in October 2024, just before he won his Senate seat. Luna has targeted members of her own party, too. In February, she demanded the resignation of Tony Gonzales, a moderate Texas Republican, after allegations surfaced that he had coerced a staff member into a sexual relationship.  Gonzales resigned April 14. Luna has also pushed for the resignation of two fellow Floridians, Republican Cory Mills and Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.  In November, Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted on federal fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors say she kept a $5 million overpayment from FEMA to her family’s business for a COVID-19 vaccine staffing contract, then diverted some of that to her campaign account through straw donors. On March 26, the House Ethics panel found that she violated House rules involving campaign finance and financial disclosures. She resigned April 21, shortly before the panel was to meet to recommend a punishment. Mills is the subject of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of financial and sexual misconduct. The post Senate ethics panel dismisses misconduct complaint against Ruben Gallego appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7cd197238567836bb84 Senate ethics panel dismisses misconduct complaint against Ruben Gallego te 2026-06-30T12:34:21.505Z Senate ethics panel dismisses misconduct complaint against Ruben Gallego Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. WASHINGTON – The Senate Ethics Committee has dismissed misconduct allegations against Sen. Ruben Gallego, finding no evidence that the Arizona Democrat engaged in sexual misconduct or misused campaign funds. The committee informed him on Friday, according to a letter released Monday by Gallego’s office that read, in part, that its investigation “did not find evidence that your actions violated Federal law, Senate Rules or related standards of conduct.”  Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., a staunch Trump supporter who has accused several lawmakers of misconduct, had leveled the accusations. Luna claimed in April that four women had endured “multiple and uncomfortably/inappropriate advances/comments/touching, etc. from Senator Gallego.” The senator also faced scrutiny over his close friendship with former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who was forced out of the California governor’s race earlier this year after accusations by multiple women of sexual assault or misconduct.  Swalwell resigned April 13 under pressure from Luna and others. Gallego initially resisted calls for his resignation but eventually joined the chorus. “It is time Congress has a good house cleaning,” Luna posted on X two days before Swalwell resigned. “The dismissal by the Ethics Committee reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies,” Gallego said in a statement issued by his office. “I look forward to an apology from Rep. Luna for weaponizing the ethics process while refusing to investigate historic corruption that’s making life harder for families.”  IRS records show that Gallego created a legal defense fund on May 26. In a scathing attack posted Monday on X, Luna warned Gallego that he would likely need that defense fund in the future. “There are plenty of people who know about your antics,” she wrote. “Once a creep always a creep, and you’re gonna need it.” She also rejected his characterization of her accusations. “These are not conspiracy theories. You’re a gross example of representation. Need I mention you leaving your pregnant wife during your Campaign for Senate?” Luna posted. Gallego did file for divorce from Kate Gallego, now the mayor of Phoenix, when she was nine months pregnant. But that was in December 2016, weeks after he won his second House term. The records were unsealed in October 2024, just before he won his Senate seat. Luna has targeted members of her own party, too. In February, she demanded the resignation of Tony Gonzales, a moderate Texas Republican, after allegations surfaced that he had coerced a staff member into a sexual relationship.  Gonzales resigned April 14. Luna has also pushed for the resignation of two fellow Floridians, Republican Cory Mills and Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.  In November, Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted on federal fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors say she kept a $5 million overpayment from FEMA to her family’s business for a COVID-19 vaccine staffing contract, then diverted some of that to her campaign account through straw donors. On March 26, the House Ethics panel found that she violated House rules involving campaign finance and financial disclosures. She resigned April 21, shortly before the panel was to meet to recommend a punishment. Mills is the subject of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of financial and sexual misconduct. The post Senate ethics panel dismisses misconduct complaint against Ruben Gallego appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7cb197238567836bb7b Senate ethics panel dismisses misconduct complaint against Ruben Gallego te 2026-06-30T12:34:19.829Z Senate ethics panel dismisses misconduct complaint against Ruben Gallego Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. WASHINGTON – The Senate Ethics Committee has dismissed misconduct allegations against Sen. Ruben Gallego, finding no evidence that the Arizona Democrat engaged in sexual misconduct or misused campaign funds. The committee informed him on Friday, according to a letter released Monday by Gallego’s office that read, in part, that its investigation “did not find evidence that your actions violated Federal law, Senate Rules or related standards of conduct.”  Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., a staunch Trump supporter who has accused several lawmakers of misconduct, had leveled the accusations. Luna claimed in April that four women had endured “multiple and uncomfortably/inappropriate advances/comments/touching, etc. from Senator Gallego.” The senator also faced scrutiny over his close friendship with former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who was forced out of the California governor’s race earlier this year after accusations by multiple women of sexual assault or misconduct.  Swalwell resigned April 13 under pressure from Luna and others. Gallego initially resisted calls for his resignation but eventually joined the chorus. “It is time Congress has a good house cleaning,” Luna posted on X two days before Swalwell resigned. “The dismissal by the Ethics Committee reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies,” Gallego said in a statement issued by his office. “I look forward to an apology from Rep. Luna for weaponizing the ethics process while refusing to investigate historic corruption that’s making life harder for families.”  IRS records show that Gallego created a legal defense fund on May 26. In a scathing attack posted Monday on X, Luna warned Gallego that he would likely need that defense fund in the future. “There are plenty of people who know about your antics,” she wrote. “Once a creep always a creep, and you’re gonna need it.” She also rejected his characterization of her accusations. “These are not conspiracy theories. You’re a gross example of representation. Need I mention you leaving your pregnant wife during your Campaign for Senate?” Luna posted. Gallego did file for divorce from Kate Gallego, now the mayor of Phoenix, when she was nine months pregnant. But that was in December 2016, weeks after he won his second House term. The records were unsealed in October 2024, just before he won his Senate seat. Luna has targeted members of her own party, too. In February, she demanded the resignation of Tony Gonzales, a moderate Texas Republican, after allegations surfaced that he had coerced a staff member into a sexual relationship.  Gonzales resigned April 14. Luna has also pushed for the resignation of two fellow Floridians, Republican Cory Mills and Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.  In November, Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted on federal fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors say she kept a $5 million overpayment from FEMA to her family’s business for a COVID-19 vaccine staffing contract, then diverted some of that to her campaign account through straw donors. On March 26, the House Ethics panel found that she violated House rules involving campaign finance and financial disclosures. She resigned April 21, shortly before the panel was to meet to recommend a punishment. Mills is the subject of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of financial and sexual misconduct. The post Senate ethics panel dismisses misconduct complaint against Ruben Gallego appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7bb197238567836bb72 USMNT’s dominant World Cup performances could turn USA into soccer-loving nation te 2026-06-30T12:34:03.075Z USMNT’s dominant World Cup performances could turn USA into soccer-loving nation Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. LOS ANGELES – The last time the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994, the team had not advanced to the knockout rounds in 60 years. “When I was 8 years old, my dad took us to watch USA vs. Colombia at the Rose Bowl where they won 2-1,” L.A. local Israel Guerrero said. That historic upset pushed the U.S. through the group stage for the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1930. When the Americans lost in the Round of 16 in 1934, there was no group stage. With the World Cup back in North America, fans are falling in love with the game. FIFA has helped create intimate fan experiences throughout the tournament’s various host cities, including one at Union Station in Los Angeles from June 25-28, when fans shared their early reactions to the USMNT’s performance. “The World Cup has sparked my interest ‘cause I love sports,” Californian Melanie Shaw said. “I’m actually a baseball fan, and the Olympics, but I started watching since it’s in America. I’m learning more about soccer just by watching the USA team, showing more of an appreciation to soccer.” The World Cup hype is so real that Nike is struggling to keep up with the demand, with recent reports showing that many top retailers ran out of jerseys before the knockouts even began. Additionally, ratings are through the roof. FOX Sports reported that 84.3 million Americans have watched the World Cup on FOX and FS1 through leg two of the group stage. Telemundo added that is has “5.5 million viewers to date, pacing at more than double FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.” Seasoned fans know this is an extraordinary time. The United States Men’s National Team finished first in its group at the World Cup for the first time since 2010. “I did not think, in my lifetime, that I would see a good American soccer team,” L.A. local Phreezy Naufaldy said.  Excitement can be felt throughout the nation. “I was in Seattle for the USA versus Australia game and everyone there was stunned by how comfortably we won that one,” Orange County Register reporter Benjamin Royer said. As dominant as the Stars and Stripes were in their first two matches, fans were upset that the team lost its final Group D match to Turkey. Coach Mauricio Pochettino encouraged them not to overreact. “The objective was to finish first and we are first,” he told reporters Thursday in his post-match press conference. “Now is the next stage, and it’s going to be a final, but we are ready.” Entering the knockout stage, the USMNT is inspiring the nation in more ways than one. Barbra McLendon and her son Ian show off their custom sign supporting the USMNT’s World Cup efforts at Men in Blazers Matchday Live! at the Union Station Fan Zone in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 25. (Photo by Matthew Badger/Cronkite News) Pochettino’s power Since taking charge in late 2024, Pochettino has actualized what fans always believed was possible for the USMNT. “Pochettino and the quality of the players, they’re at a completely different level than they’ve been anytime in the recent past,” Guerrero said. “Better than they’ve ever been.” The Argentine manager is bringing passion to a country largely devoid of soccer fandom. “I think Poch is a great manager, he’s expediting what these players can do,” said fan Joshua Di Fiore, who lives in Long Beach. “For example, putting (Antonee) Robinson and (Sergiño) Dest on the wings elevates their game instead of having them play back.” The U.S. Soccer Federation recently offered Pochettino a contract extension that would see him coaching the U.S. through the next World Cup in 2030. Fans are hopeful this could be the beginning of something beautiful. “He’s really good at pushing players for short periods of time, and with the national team, you’re not with the players for years at a time, you’re in spurts, so I think it could be a good thing,” Guerrero said. Not all fans agree, seeing as Pochettino has yet to defeat a European nation with the USMNT. “I’m a Gregg Berhalter defender, so I’ve been less than impressed with Pochettino as a coach until the World Cup,” Royer said, citing the USMNT’s previous coach. “I am a little surprised by everything that’s going on.” Matched up with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32, now is the opportunity for Pochettino to change that narrative. The American dream With the knockout bracket finalized, fans are keeping their expectations realistic. “I think the Round of 16 is the limit for this group,” Royer said “They’ve got a good draw, but I don’t trust this group to play to their potential. Maybe that’s just the pessimism of rooting for the United States Men’s National Team my entire life.” If the U.S. defeats Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, it will face the winner of Belgium and Senegal in the Round of 16. A win in that matchup would send the Americans to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. “If they don’t get (to the quarterfinals) it would be a disappointment,” Guerrero said. “Quarterfinals or bust.” The projected quarterfinal matchup would likely pit the USMNT against Spain, one of the tournament’s favorites. Spanish fans are certain they will spoil the USA’s Cinderella run. “It’s a pipe dream,” Spain fan Chris Aguilera said of U.S. hopes.  But the United States is a nation that never backs down from a challenge, proven decades ago by Mike Eruzione and the Miracle on Ice. Fans are hopeful Pochettino’s unit can create something similar. “I think they can get as far as the quarterfinals,” Di Fiore said. “But anything’s possible because they’ve played so well in these group games.” Growing the game Regardless of how the U.S. performs in the knockouts, it has already won the nation’s support.  “With players like Messi playing in MLS and the fact that we have the World Cup here, people are not just seeing this sport for what it is, but the culture of it,” Naufaldy said. “It’s not just putting the ball in the net. It’s so much more than that.” Soccer is growing exponentially, with statistics showing it has passed baseball in popularity. The USMNT’s opening match against Paraguay generated over 27 million viewers, the most-watched soccer game ever in the U.S. “I think it would be really fun if more people in the United States got involved,” local fan Barbra McLendon said. “I think soccer, unlike a lot of other sports, the fans have a role to play, the chanting, the singing.  “It’s not like other American sports where you just sit there and cheer when there’s a score, you’re supposed to be in it all the way.” That passion could take the U.S. to new heights as future generations watch star players they can idolize. “I love Pochettino, (Christian) Pulisic is already a legend, (Folarin) Balogun is awesome,” Naufaldy said. “It’s really exciting to be a fan of US soccer right now.” The post USMNT’s dominant World Cup performances could turn USA into soccer-loving nation appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7ba197238567836bb69 USMNT’s dominant World Cup performances could turn USA into soccer-loving nation te 2026-06-30T12:34:02.052Z USMNT’s dominant World Cup performances could turn USA into soccer-loving nation Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. LOS ANGELES – The last time the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994, the team had not advanced to the knockout rounds in 60 years. “When I was 8 years old, my dad took us to watch USA vs. Colombia at the Rose Bowl where they won 2-1,” L.A. local Israel Guerrero said. That historic upset pushed the U.S. through the group stage for the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1930. When the Americans lost in the Round of 16 in 1934, there was no group stage. With the World Cup back in North America, fans are falling in love with the game. FIFA has helped create intimate fan experiences throughout the tournament’s various host cities, including one at Union Station in Los Angeles from June 25-28, when fans shared their early reactions to the USMNT’s performance. “The World Cup has sparked my interest ‘cause I love sports,” Californian Melanie Shaw said. “I’m actually a baseball fan, and the Olympics, but I started watching since it’s in America. I’m learning more about soccer just by watching the USA team, showing more of an appreciation to soccer.” The World Cup hype is so real that Nike is struggling to keep up with the demand, with recent reports showing that many top retailers ran out of jerseys before the knockouts even began. Additionally, ratings are through the roof. FOX Sports reported that 84.3 million Americans have watched the World Cup on FOX and FS1 through leg two of the group stage. Telemundo added that is has “5.5 million viewers to date, pacing at more than double FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.” Seasoned fans know this is an extraordinary time. The United States Men’s National Team finished first in its group at the World Cup for the first time since 2010. “I did not think, in my lifetime, that I would see a good American soccer team,” L.A. local Phreezy Naufaldy said.  Excitement can be felt throughout the nation. “I was in Seattle for the USA versus Australia game and everyone there was stunned by how comfortably we won that one,” Orange County Register reporter Benjamin Royer said. As dominant as the Stars and Stripes were in their first two matches, fans were upset that the team lost its final Group D match to Turkey. Coach Mauricio Pochettino encouraged them not to overreact. “The objective was to finish first and we are first,” he told reporters Thursday in his post-match press conference. “Now is the next stage, and it’s going to be a final, but we are ready.” Entering the knockout stage, the USMNT is inspiring the nation in more ways than one. Barbra McLendon and her son Ian show off their custom sign supporting the USMNT’s World Cup efforts at Men in Blazers Matchday Live! at the Union Station Fan Zone in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 25. (Photo by Matthew Badger/Cronkite News) Pochettino’s power Since taking charge in late 2024, Pochettino has actualized what fans always believed was possible for the USMNT. “Pochettino and the quality of the players, they’re at a completely different level than they’ve been anytime in the recent past,” Guerrero said. “Better than they’ve ever been.” The Argentine manager is bringing passion to a country largely devoid of soccer fandom. “I think Poch is a great manager, he’s expediting what these players can do,” said fan Joshua Di Fiore, who lives in Long Beach. “For example, putting (Antonee) Robinson and (Sergiño) Dest on the wings elevates their game instead of having them play back.” The U.S. Soccer Federation recently offered Pochettino a contract extension that would see him coaching the U.S. through the next World Cup in 2030. Fans are hopeful this could be the beginning of something beautiful. “He’s really good at pushing players for short periods of time, and with the national team, you’re not with the players for years at a time, you’re in spurts, so I think it could be a good thing,” Guerrero said. Not all fans agree, seeing as Pochettino has yet to defeat a European nation with the USMNT. “I’m a Gregg Berhalter defender, so I’ve been less than impressed with Pochettino as a coach until the World Cup,” Royer said, citing the USMNT’s previous coach. “I am a little surprised by everything that’s going on.” Matched up with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32, now is the opportunity for Pochettino to change that narrative. The American dream With the knockout bracket finalized, fans are keeping their expectations realistic. “I think the Round of 16 is the limit for this group,” Royer said “They’ve got a good draw, but I don’t trust this group to play to their potential. Maybe that’s just the pessimism of rooting for the United States Men’s National Team my entire life.” If the U.S. defeats Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, it will face the winner of Belgium and Senegal in the Round of 16. A win in that matchup would send the Americans to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. “If they don’t get (to the quarterfinals) it would be a disappointment,” Guerrero said. “Quarterfinals or bust.” The projected quarterfinal matchup would likely pit the USMNT against Spain, one of the tournament’s favorites. Spanish fans are certain they will spoil the USA’s Cinderella run. “It’s a pipe dream,” Spain fan Chris Aguilera said of U.S. hopes.  But the United States is a nation that never backs down from a challenge, proven decades ago by Mike Eruzione and the Miracle on Ice. Fans are hopeful Pochettino’s unit can create something similar. “I think they can get as far as the quarterfinals,” Di Fiore said. “But anything’s possible because they’ve played so well in these group games.” Growing the game Regardless of how the U.S. performs in the knockouts, it has already won the nation’s support.  “With players like Messi playing in MLS and the fact that we have the World Cup here, people are not just seeing this sport for what it is, but the culture of it,” Naufaldy said. “It’s not just putting the ball in the net. It’s so much more than that.” Soccer is growing exponentially, with statistics showing it has passed baseball in popularity. The USMNT’s opening match against Paraguay generated over 27 million viewers, the most-watched soccer game ever in the U.S. “I think it would be really fun if more people in the United States got involved,” local fan Barbra McLendon said. “I think soccer, unlike a lot of other sports, the fans have a role to play, the chanting, the singing.  “It’s not like other American sports where you just sit there and cheer when there’s a score, you’re supposed to be in it all the way.” That passion could take the U.S. to new heights as future generations watch star players they can idolize. “I love Pochettino, (Christian) Pulisic is already a legend, (Folarin) Balogun is awesome,” Naufaldy said. “It’s really exciting to be a fan of US soccer right now.” The post USMNT’s dominant World Cup performances could turn USA into soccer-loving nation appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7b8197238567836bb60 USMNT’s dominant World Cup performances could turn USA into soccer-loving nation te 2026-06-30T12:34:00.379Z USMNT’s dominant World Cup performances could turn USA into soccer-loving nation Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. LOS ANGELES – The last time the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994, the team had not advanced to the knockout rounds in 60 years. “When I was 8 years old, my dad took us to watch USA vs. Colombia at the Rose Bowl where they won 2-1,” L.A. local Israel Guerrero said. That historic upset pushed the U.S. through the group stage for the first time since the inaugural World Cup in 1930. When the Americans lost in the Round of 16 in 1934, there was no group stage. With the World Cup back in North America, fans are falling in love with the game. FIFA has helped create intimate fan experiences throughout the tournament’s various host cities, including one at Union Station in Los Angeles from June 25-28, when fans shared their early reactions to the USMNT’s performance. “The World Cup has sparked my interest ‘cause I love sports,” Californian Melanie Shaw said. “I’m actually a baseball fan, and the Olympics, but I started watching since it’s in America. I’m learning more about soccer just by watching the USA team, showing more of an appreciation to soccer.” The World Cup hype is so real that Nike is struggling to keep up with the demand, with recent reports showing that many top retailers ran out of jerseys before the knockouts even began. Additionally, ratings are through the roof. FOX Sports reported that 84.3 million Americans have watched the World Cup on FOX and FS1 through leg two of the group stage. Telemundo added that is has “5.5 million viewers to date, pacing at more than double FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.” Seasoned fans know this is an extraordinary time. The United States Men’s National Team finished first in its group at the World Cup for the first time since 2010. “I did not think, in my lifetime, that I would see a good American soccer team,” L.A. local Phreezy Naufaldy said.  Excitement can be felt throughout the nation. “I was in Seattle for the USA versus Australia game and everyone there was stunned by how comfortably we won that one,” Orange County Register reporter Benjamin Royer said. As dominant as the Stars and Stripes were in their first two matches, fans were upset that the team lost its final Group D match to Turkey. Coach Mauricio Pochettino encouraged them not to overreact. “The objective was to finish first and we are first,” he told reporters Thursday in his post-match press conference. “Now is the next stage, and it’s going to be a final, but we are ready.” Entering the knockout stage, the USMNT is inspiring the nation in more ways than one. Barbra McLendon and her son Ian show off their custom sign supporting the USMNT’s World Cup efforts at Men in Blazers Matchday Live! at the Union Station Fan Zone in Los Angeles on Thursday, June 25. (Photo by Matthew Badger/Cronkite News) Pochettino’s power Since taking charge in late 2024, Pochettino has actualized what fans always believed was possible for the USMNT. “Pochettino and the quality of the players, they’re at a completely different level than they’ve been anytime in the recent past,” Guerrero said. “Better than they’ve ever been.” The Argentine manager is bringing passion to a country largely devoid of soccer fandom. “I think Poch is a great manager, he’s expediting what these players can do,” said fan Joshua Di Fiore, who lives in Long Beach. “For example, putting (Antonee) Robinson and (Sergiño) Dest on the wings elevates their game instead of having them play back.” The U.S. Soccer Federation recently offered Pochettino a contract extension that would see him coaching the U.S. through the next World Cup in 2030. Fans are hopeful this could be the beginning of something beautiful. “He’s really good at pushing players for short periods of time, and with the national team, you’re not with the players for years at a time, you’re in spurts, so I think it could be a good thing,” Guerrero said. Not all fans agree, seeing as Pochettino has yet to defeat a European nation with the USMNT. “I’m a Gregg Berhalter defender, so I’ve been less than impressed with Pochettino as a coach until the World Cup,” Royer said, citing the USMNT’s previous coach. “I am a little surprised by everything that’s going on.” Matched up with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Round of 32, now is the opportunity for Pochettino to change that narrative. The American dream With the knockout bracket finalized, fans are keeping their expectations realistic. “I think the Round of 16 is the limit for this group,” Royer said “They’ve got a good draw, but I don’t trust this group to play to their potential. Maybe that’s just the pessimism of rooting for the United States Men’s National Team my entire life.” If the U.S. defeats Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday, it will face the winner of Belgium and Senegal in the Round of 16. A win in that matchup would send the Americans to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. “If they don’t get (to the quarterfinals) it would be a disappointment,” Guerrero said. “Quarterfinals or bust.” The projected quarterfinal matchup would likely pit the USMNT against Spain, one of the tournament’s favorites. Spanish fans are certain they will spoil the USA’s Cinderella run. “It’s a pipe dream,” Spain fan Chris Aguilera said of U.S. hopes.  But the United States is a nation that never backs down from a challenge, proven decades ago by Mike Eruzione and the Miracle on Ice. Fans are hopeful Pochettino’s unit can create something similar. “I think they can get as far as the quarterfinals,” Di Fiore said. “But anything’s possible because they’ve played so well in these group games.” Growing the game Regardless of how the U.S. performs in the knockouts, it has already won the nation’s support.  “With players like Messi playing in MLS and the fact that we have the World Cup here, people are not just seeing this sport for what it is, but the culture of it,” Naufaldy said. “It’s not just putting the ball in the net. It’s so much more than that.” Soccer is growing exponentially, with statistics showing it has passed baseball in popularity. The USMNT’s opening match against Paraguay generated over 27 million viewers, the most-watched soccer game ever in the U.S. “I think it would be really fun if more people in the United States got involved,” local fan Barbra McLendon said. “I think soccer, unlike a lot of other sports, the fans have a role to play, the chanting, the singing.  “It’s not like other American sports where you just sit there and cheer when there’s a score, you’re supposed to be in it all the way.” That passion could take the U.S. to new heights as future generations watch star players they can idolize. “I love Pochettino, (Christian) Pulisic is already a legend, (Folarin) Balogun is awesome,” Naufaldy said. “It’s really exciting to be a fan of US soccer right now.” The post USMNT’s dominant World Cup performances could turn USA into soccer-loving nation appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7a7197238567836bb57 Phoenix kids are swapping screen time for stage time, thanks to a circus camp te 2026-06-30T12:33:43.621Z Phoenix kids are swapping screen time for stage time, thanks to a circus camp Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. PHOENIX — Rainbow colored hula hoops spun around campers’ waists as they laughed and practiced on the basketball court at Capitol Elementary School. Just steps away inside the school’s gymnasium, young participants balanced on giant exercise balls, walked on stilts, juggled and climbed aerial ropes hanging from the ceiling. While many children spend their summers scrolling through social media, watching TV or playing video games, these campers are choosing something different. They came to the Phoenix Youth Circus Arts program for hands-on learning and physical activity. Each week, a group of campers consists of new and returning students who take to the stage to perform for friends and family. Oliver Breecher practices juggling balls outside Capitol Elementary School’s gymnasium before his performance on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Among them is 13-year-old Oliver Breecher, a recent graduate of Madison Park Middle School. For Breecher, circus arts offer more than entertainment. Beneath the spinning hoops and aerial tricks, he sees lessons that reach far beyond camp.  “Swiping and tapping on your phone doesn’t really help me keep active,” he said. “Circus arts teach you the art of how to balance in life.” The chance to try something new also appeals to 10-year-old Isabelle Fernandez Carreno. During camp, she focused on practicing her stilt routine. She carefully balanced on one-and-a-half-foot tall wooden stilts as she tried to master one of the more unique activities of the camp. Isabelle Fernandez Carreno, left, puts on stilts backstage with the help of an instructor at the camp on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) “The stilts are awesome,” Carreno said. “It’s something that not a lot of people can do. Also, they make me look tall.” Show director Dave Davis, a former software engineer who took up juggling as a hobby, has been teaching at the camp for four years. Davis and the coaching staff work closely with campers each day to help them build their skills. They spend hours guiding students through activities like balancing on a rola bola, giant exercise balls, juggling and practicing aerial acrobatics.  Their support helps campers gain confidence as they learn new tricks. The camp has created an environment where students feel safe taking risks and discovering talents they may not have known they had. Show director Dave Davis leads campers through an interactive activity during a training session in the gymnasium of Capitol Elementary School on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) “Watching the students improve throughout the week is very rewarding,” Davis said. “They come in unsure of themselves but by the end they’re performing in front of an audience.” The lessons learned at camp, Davis said, can follow students long after summer ends. Whether in school, sports or future careers — growth begins when you keep going.  The weekly performances also give students a chance to step into the spotlight. Standing before a crowd, even for a few minutes, can build confidence that carries into adulthood. Davis helps a camper balance on a rola bola during her performance on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) “There will be people who get in front of meetings and have to make a presentation,” Davis said. “Knowing how to be in front of a crowd, it’s a wonderful skill to acquire in life.” Davis believes circus arts offer something many children are missing in today’s digital world: the feeling of working toward a goal and seeing results. “Every single kid today has a lot of screen time and I won’t say that is bad in itself,” Davis said. “But it is so much more satisfying to do something where you’re actually succeeding at something, not just watching pixels on a screen.” Isabelle Fernandez Carreno shows off her aerial silks routine during a camp showcase on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Campers juggle balls and balance on big exercise balls during their performance at the camp on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Campers balance on stilts backstage as they get ready to perform on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Stilts, first-time juggling and landing an aerial trick, none of it comes easy. Many campers spend hours trying to stay balanced on a giant exercise ball or working their way up to the aerial silks. Every new skill is achieved by practicing and not giving up.  “It’s fun to be tired. It’s fun to be exhausted. It’s fun to work hard,” Davis said. “It’s fun to have your muscles sore to a degree.” The post Phoenix kids are swapping screen time for stage time, thanks to a circus camp appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7a6197238567836bb4e Phoenix kids are swapping screen time for stage time, thanks to a circus camp te 2026-06-30T12:33:42.593Z Phoenix kids are swapping screen time for stage time, thanks to a circus camp Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. PHOENIX — Rainbow colored hula hoops spun around campers’ waists as they laughed and practiced on the basketball court at Capitol Elementary School. Just steps away inside the school’s gymnasium, young participants balanced on giant exercise balls, walked on stilts, juggled and climbed aerial ropes hanging from the ceiling. While many children spend their summers scrolling through social media, watching TV or playing video games, these campers are choosing something different. They came to the Phoenix Youth Circus Arts program for hands-on learning and physical activity. Each week, a group of campers consists of new and returning students who take to the stage to perform for friends and family. Oliver Breecher practices juggling balls outside Capitol Elementary School’s gymnasium before his performance on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Among them is 13-year-old Oliver Breecher, a recent graduate of Madison Park Middle School. For Breecher, circus arts offer more than entertainment. Beneath the spinning hoops and aerial tricks, he sees lessons that reach far beyond camp.  “Swiping and tapping on your phone doesn’t really help me keep active,” he said. “Circus arts teach you the art of how to balance in life.” The chance to try something new also appeals to 10-year-old Isabelle Fernandez Carreno. During camp, she focused on practicing her stilt routine. She carefully balanced on one-and-a-half-foot tall wooden stilts as she tried to master one of the more unique activities of the camp. Isabelle Fernandez Carreno, left, puts on stilts backstage with the help of an instructor at the camp on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) “The stilts are awesome,” Carreno said. “It’s something that not a lot of people can do. Also, they make me look tall.” Show director Dave Davis, a former software engineer who took up juggling as a hobby, has been teaching at the camp for four years. Davis and the coaching staff work closely with campers each day to help them build their skills. They spend hours guiding students through activities like balancing on a rola bola, giant exercise balls, juggling and practicing aerial acrobatics.  Their support helps campers gain confidence as they learn new tricks. The camp has created an environment where students feel safe taking risks and discovering talents they may not have known they had. Show director Dave Davis leads campers through an interactive activity during a training session in the gymnasium of Capitol Elementary School on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) “Watching the students improve throughout the week is very rewarding,” Davis said. “They come in unsure of themselves but by the end they’re performing in front of an audience.” The lessons learned at camp, Davis said, can follow students long after summer ends. Whether in school, sports or future careers — growth begins when you keep going.  The weekly performances also give students a chance to step into the spotlight. Standing before a crowd, even for a few minutes, can build confidence that carries into adulthood. Davis helps a camper balance on a rola bola during her performance on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) “There will be people who get in front of meetings and have to make a presentation,” Davis said. “Knowing how to be in front of a crowd, it’s a wonderful skill to acquire in life.” Davis believes circus arts offer something many children are missing in today’s digital world: the feeling of working toward a goal and seeing results. “Every single kid today has a lot of screen time and I won’t say that is bad in itself,” Davis said. “But it is so much more satisfying to do something where you’re actually succeeding at something, not just watching pixels on a screen.” Isabelle Fernandez Carreno shows off her aerial silks routine during a camp showcase on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Campers juggle balls and balance on big exercise balls during their performance at the camp on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Campers balance on stilts backstage as they get ready to perform on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Stilts, first-time juggling and landing an aerial trick, none of it comes easy. Many campers spend hours trying to stay balanced on a giant exercise ball or working their way up to the aerial silks. Every new skill is achieved by practicing and not giving up.  “It’s fun to be tired. It’s fun to be exhausted. It’s fun to work hard,” Davis said. “It’s fun to have your muscles sore to a degree.” The post Phoenix kids are swapping screen time for stage time, thanks to a circus camp appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b7a4197238567836bb45 Phoenix kids are swapping screen time for stage time, thanks to a circus camp te 2026-06-30T12:33:40.921Z Phoenix kids are swapping screen time for stage time, thanks to a circus camp Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. PHOENIX — Rainbow colored hula hoops spun around campers’ waists as they laughed and practiced on the basketball court at Capitol Elementary School. Just steps away inside the school’s gymnasium, young participants balanced on giant exercise balls, walked on stilts, juggled and climbed aerial ropes hanging from the ceiling. While many children spend their summers scrolling through social media, watching TV or playing video games, these campers are choosing something different. They came to the Phoenix Youth Circus Arts program for hands-on learning and physical activity. Each week, a group of campers consists of new and returning students who take to the stage to perform for friends and family. Oliver Breecher practices juggling balls outside Capitol Elementary School’s gymnasium before his performance on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Among them is 13-year-old Oliver Breecher, a recent graduate of Madison Park Middle School. For Breecher, circus arts offer more than entertainment. Beneath the spinning hoops and aerial tricks, he sees lessons that reach far beyond camp.  “Swiping and tapping on your phone doesn’t really help me keep active,” he said. “Circus arts teach you the art of how to balance in life.” The chance to try something new also appeals to 10-year-old Isabelle Fernandez Carreno. During camp, she focused on practicing her stilt routine. She carefully balanced on one-and-a-half-foot tall wooden stilts as she tried to master one of the more unique activities of the camp. Isabelle Fernandez Carreno, left, puts on stilts backstage with the help of an instructor at the camp on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) “The stilts are awesome,” Carreno said. “It’s something that not a lot of people can do. Also, they make me look tall.” Show director Dave Davis, a former software engineer who took up juggling as a hobby, has been teaching at the camp for four years. Davis and the coaching staff work closely with campers each day to help them build their skills. They spend hours guiding students through activities like balancing on a rola bola, giant exercise balls, juggling and practicing aerial acrobatics.  Their support helps campers gain confidence as they learn new tricks. The camp has created an environment where students feel safe taking risks and discovering talents they may not have known they had. Show director Dave Davis leads campers through an interactive activity during a training session in the gymnasium of Capitol Elementary School on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) “Watching the students improve throughout the week is very rewarding,” Davis said. “They come in unsure of themselves but by the end they’re performing in front of an audience.” The lessons learned at camp, Davis said, can follow students long after summer ends. Whether in school, sports or future careers — growth begins when you keep going.  The weekly performances also give students a chance to step into the spotlight. Standing before a crowd, even for a few minutes, can build confidence that carries into adulthood. Davis helps a camper balance on a rola bola during her performance on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) “There will be people who get in front of meetings and have to make a presentation,” Davis said. “Knowing how to be in front of a crowd, it’s a wonderful skill to acquire in life.” Davis believes circus arts offer something many children are missing in today’s digital world: the feeling of working toward a goal and seeing results. “Every single kid today has a lot of screen time and I won’t say that is bad in itself,” Davis said. “But it is so much more satisfying to do something where you’re actually succeeding at something, not just watching pixels on a screen.” Isabelle Fernandez Carreno shows off her aerial silks routine during a camp showcase on Friday, June 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Campers juggle balls and balance on big exercise balls during their performance at the camp on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Campers balance on stilts backstage as they get ready to perform on Friday, June 5, 2026. (Photo by Samad Khan/Cronkite News) Stilts, first-time juggling and landing an aerial trick, none of it comes easy. Many campers spend hours trying to stay balanced on a giant exercise ball or working their way up to the aerial silks. Every new skill is achieved by practicing and not giving up.  “It’s fun to be tired. It’s fun to be exhausted. It’s fun to work hard,” Davis said. “It’s fun to have your muscles sore to a degree.” The post Phoenix kids are swapping screen time for stage time, thanks to a circus camp appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b794197238567836bb3c London calling: ASU football prepares to ‘showcase’ university at Union Jack Classic te 2026-06-30T12:33:24.162Z London calling: ASU football prepares to ‘showcase’ university at Union Jack Classic Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. TEMPE – When Arizona State hired Kenny Dillingham in 2022, he said the Sun Devils would “play anybody anywhere, any time.” The university took him at his word and on Sept. 19, ASU will face Kansas in the inaugural Union Jack Classic at London’s Wembley Stadium. It’s a chance to start Big 12 Conference play with a winning record, not to mention extend the school’s global reach. The “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show will precede the FS1 game and give ASU another high profile stage. The 5 p.m. BST game translates to a 9 a.m. MST kickoff in Arizona. “Big noon kickoff in London at Wembley Stadium is a four-hour showcase of what’s going on at ASU, what’s going on within Sun Devil football and a great platform for coach (Kenny) Dillingham to talk about what we’re building here,” Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini said.   In addition to football, it gives Arizona State a chance to showcase what it has in store for building a presence in London. The university’s new campus in the city opens two days after the game. “The fact that ASU London is on the horizon, and we can introduce ASU at a deeper level across the pond, it’s pretty exciting, and it’s nice how this has come together,” Rossini said.  This will be the first U.S. college football game played at Wembley Stadium, but it joins a long list of international games played overseas. Over the last three college football seasons, there have been three international regular season games, all played in Dublin, Ireland. ASU versus Kansas will be the second modern Big 12 overseas game after last year saw Iowa State defeat Kansas State 24–21.  Going to London is not cheap. Playing a football game there isn’t either, but Rossini and university officials see the far-reaching benefits to the game.   “We look at it as a tremendous investment, tremendous opportunity, not only for the young people in our program, but at an overall universal level,” Rossini said. “What better way to start the first class of students at ASU London than being at the game with us?”  Sparky and his pitchfork will also be making the trip across the pond in an effort to spotlight the university and share U.S. culture to the world.  “The mascot aspect of U.S. sports is really unique, and that’s a fun thing to share globally as well,​​ all the content that will capture, you know, part of it is showcasing ASU,” Rossini said. ASU will fly across the pond on British Airways the day after the team returns from College Station after facing Texas A&M in a Week 2 matchup. The goal is to make it feel like a normal week and maintain a football rhythm that’s as familiar as possible for the athletes and coaches.  “ It was really important to coach Dillingham that we, knowing it’s going to be different, know it’s going to be a departure from how we normally travel,” Rossini said.  Dillingham appreciates the importance of the occasion, and despite his excitement for the opportunity, he knows he has a job to do.  “I want them to experience it right when we land,” Dillingham told DAZN. “Then let’s lock back in. We’ve got to go win a football game.” However, it won’t stop the Sun Devils and Sparky from having some fun and taking advantage of a trip overseas.  “They’re still college athletes, and experiences are what college is about,” Dillingham told DAZN. “I think this is one of the experiences they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.” Despite the main event being the game, Rossini remains grounded in what the role of a university is through the opportunities it provides.  “We’re still in a learning environment, we’re here to win a football game, but our focus is always bigger than just the sport,” he said. “It’s about preparing young people to enter the real world.” This will be year four of Kenny ‘Dillingham’s tenure as Arizona State’s coach. He has a 22–17 record and a Big 12 championship under his belt. He would love to start the season with a conference victory after last year’s 8-5 record and sixth-place conference record was widely seen as disappointing. With the overall success he has achieved and the goals he still has yet to accomplish, he said he remains focused on what is important through it all: the athletes.  “College is an experience in your life that you’re going to remember forever,” he told DAZN. “Hopefully, there are moments in that stadium where, 30 years from now, they can say, ‘I played there.'” The post London calling: ASU football prepares to ‘showcase’ university at Union Jack Classic appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b793197238567836bb33 London calling: ASU football prepares to ‘showcase’ university at Union Jack Classic te 2026-06-30T12:33:23.139Z London calling: ASU football prepares to ‘showcase’ university at Union Jack Classic Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. TEMPE – When Arizona State hired Kenny Dillingham in 2022, he said the Sun Devils would “play anybody anywhere, any time.” The university took him at his word and on Sept. 19, ASU will face Kansas in the inaugural Union Jack Classic at London’s Wembley Stadium. It’s a chance to start Big 12 Conference play with a winning record, not to mention extend the school’s global reach. The “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show will precede the FS1 game and give ASU another high profile stage. The 5 p.m. BST game translates to a 9 a.m. MST kickoff in Arizona. “Big noon kickoff in London at Wembley Stadium is a four-hour showcase of what’s going on at ASU, what’s going on within Sun Devil football and a great platform for coach (Kenny) Dillingham to talk about what we’re building here,” Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini said.   In addition to football, it gives Arizona State a chance to showcase what it has in store for building a presence in London. The university’s new campus in the city opens two days after the game. “The fact that ASU London is on the horizon, and we can introduce ASU at a deeper level across the pond, it’s pretty exciting, and it’s nice how this has come together,” Rossini said.  This will be the first U.S. college football game played at Wembley Stadium, but it joins a long list of international games played overseas. Over the last three college football seasons, there have been three international regular season games, all played in Dublin, Ireland. ASU versus Kansas will be the second modern Big 12 overseas game after last year saw Iowa State defeat Kansas State 24–21.  Going to London is not cheap. Playing a football game there isn’t either, but Rossini and university officials see the far-reaching benefits to the game.   “We look at it as a tremendous investment, tremendous opportunity, not only for the young people in our program, but at an overall universal level,” Rossini said. “What better way to start the first class of students at ASU London than being at the game with us?”  Sparky and his pitchfork will also be making the trip across the pond in an effort to spotlight the university and share U.S. culture to the world.  “The mascot aspect of U.S. sports is really unique, and that’s a fun thing to share globally as well,​​ all the content that will capture, you know, part of it is showcasing ASU,” Rossini said. ASU will fly across the pond on British Airways the day after the team returns from College Station after facing Texas A&M in a Week 2 matchup. The goal is to make it feel like a normal week and maintain a football rhythm that’s as familiar as possible for the athletes and coaches.  “ It was really important to coach Dillingham that we, knowing it’s going to be different, know it’s going to be a departure from how we normally travel,” Rossini said.  Dillingham appreciates the importance of the occasion, and despite his excitement for the opportunity, he knows he has a job to do.  “I want them to experience it right when we land,” Dillingham told DAZN. “Then let’s lock back in. We’ve got to go win a football game.” However, it won’t stop the Sun Devils and Sparky from having some fun and taking advantage of a trip overseas.  “They’re still college athletes, and experiences are what college is about,” Dillingham told DAZN. “I think this is one of the experiences they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.” Despite the main event being the game, Rossini remains grounded in what the role of a university is through the opportunities it provides.  “We’re still in a learning environment, we’re here to win a football game, but our focus is always bigger than just the sport,” he said. “It’s about preparing young people to enter the real world.” This will be year four of Kenny ‘Dillingham’s tenure as Arizona State’s coach. He has a 22–17 record and a Big 12 championship under his belt. He would love to start the season with a conference victory after last year’s 8-5 record and sixth-place conference record was widely seen as disappointing. With the overall success he has achieved and the goals he still has yet to accomplish, he said he remains focused on what is important through it all: the athletes.  “College is an experience in your life that you’re going to remember forever,” he told DAZN. “Hopefully, there are moments in that stadium where, 30 years from now, they can say, ‘I played there.'” The post London calling: ASU football prepares to ‘showcase’ university at Union Jack Classic appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b791197238567836bb2a London calling: ASU football prepares to ‘showcase’ university at Union Jack Classic te 2026-06-30T12:33:21.459Z London calling: ASU football prepares to ‘showcase’ university at Union Jack Classic Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact cronkitenews@asu.edu. TEMPE – When Arizona State hired Kenny Dillingham in 2022, he said the Sun Devils would “play anybody anywhere, any time.” The university took him at his word and on Sept. 19, ASU will face Kansas in the inaugural Union Jack Classic at London’s Wembley Stadium. It’s a chance to start Big 12 Conference play with a winning record, not to mention extend the school’s global reach. The “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show will precede the FS1 game and give ASU another high profile stage. The 5 p.m. BST game translates to a 9 a.m. MST kickoff in Arizona. “Big noon kickoff in London at Wembley Stadium is a four-hour showcase of what’s going on at ASU, what’s going on within Sun Devil football and a great platform for coach (Kenny) Dillingham to talk about what we’re building here,” Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini said.   In addition to football, it gives Arizona State a chance to showcase what it has in store for building a presence in London. The university’s new campus in the city opens two days after the game. “The fact that ASU London is on the horizon, and we can introduce ASU at a deeper level across the pond, it’s pretty exciting, and it’s nice how this has come together,” Rossini said.  This will be the first U.S. college football game played at Wembley Stadium, but it joins a long list of international games played overseas. Over the last three college football seasons, there have been three international regular season games, all played in Dublin, Ireland. ASU versus Kansas will be the second modern Big 12 overseas game after last year saw Iowa State defeat Kansas State 24–21.  Going to London is not cheap. Playing a football game there isn’t either, but Rossini and university officials see the far-reaching benefits to the game.   “We look at it as a tremendous investment, tremendous opportunity, not only for the young people in our program, but at an overall universal level,” Rossini said. “What better way to start the first class of students at ASU London than being at the game with us?”  Sparky and his pitchfork will also be making the trip across the pond in an effort to spotlight the university and share U.S. culture to the world.  “The mascot aspect of U.S. sports is really unique, and that’s a fun thing to share globally as well,​​ all the content that will capture, you know, part of it is showcasing ASU,” Rossini said. ASU will fly across the pond on British Airways the day after the team returns from College Station after facing Texas A&M in a Week 2 matchup. The goal is to make it feel like a normal week and maintain a football rhythm that’s as familiar as possible for the athletes and coaches.  “ It was really important to coach Dillingham that we, knowing it’s going to be different, know it’s going to be a departure from how we normally travel,” Rossini said.  Dillingham appreciates the importance of the occasion, and despite his excitement for the opportunity, he knows he has a job to do.  “I want them to experience it right when we land,” Dillingham told DAZN. “Then let’s lock back in. We’ve got to go win a football game.” However, it won’t stop the Sun Devils and Sparky from having some fun and taking advantage of a trip overseas.  “They’re still college athletes, and experiences are what college is about,” Dillingham told DAZN. “I think this is one of the experiences they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.” Despite the main event being the game, Rossini remains grounded in what the role of a university is through the opportunities it provides.  “We’re still in a learning environment, we’re here to win a football game, but our focus is always bigger than just the sport,” he said. “It’s about preparing young people to enter the real world.” This will be year four of Kenny ‘Dillingham’s tenure as Arizona State’s coach. He has a 22–17 record and a Big 12 championship under his belt. He would love to start the season with a conference victory after last year’s 8-5 record and sixth-place conference record was widely seen as disappointing. With the overall success he has achieved and the goals he still has yet to accomplish, he said he remains focused on what is important through it all: the athletes.  “College is an experience in your life that you’re going to remember forever,” he told DAZN. “Hopefully, there are moments in that stadium where, 30 years from now, they can say, ‘I played there.'” The post London calling: ASU football prepares to ‘showcase’ university at Union Jack Classic appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b780197238567836bb21 Supreme Court takes up GOP bid to revive Arizona proof of citizenship law that critics call voter suppression te 2026-06-30T12:33:04.709Z Supreme Court takes up GOP bid to revive Arizona proof of citizenship law that critics call voter suppression WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether Arizona can require proof of citizenship for voter registration, in a case being closely watched by voting rights advocates. In February 2025, a federal appeals court blocked enforcement of two Arizona laws enacted in 2022 that Democrats and others say are intended to deter Latino voters.  Republicans want to overturn that ruling, arguing that the Legislature is simply trying to ensure that noncitizens cannot cast ballots.  “It’s not racist to believe that only U.S. citizens should vote in America,” said Arizona Republican Party Chair Sergio Arellano in a statement after the high court announced Monday that it will hear oral arguments in the fall. “The 9th Circuit lives in its own fantasyland, but common sense is still alive and well at the U.S. Supreme Court.”  Voting rights advocates say the case, Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, could have enormous implications if the justices allow Arizona and other states to require proof of citizenship. Under federal law, people registering to vote check a box affirming they are citizens but don’t have to show any documents.  “Under the false pretense of combating noncitizen voting, despite overwhelming evidence that it is exceedingly rare, the Trump administration and its MAGA allies are advancing one of the most aggressive voter suppression efforts in modern history,” Hector Sanchez Barba, president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota, said in a statement Monday evening. Likening the proof of citizenship requirement to poll taxes and literacy tests, he added, “We have already seen eligible citizens wrongly removed from voter rolls and forced through burdensome bureaucratic hurdles to restore their voting rights. That is not election integrity – it’s disenfranchisement.” Critics say that the laws could prevent millions of eligible voters from casting ballots.  A study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that more than 9% of U.S. citizens of voting age do not have proof of citizenship readily available. That percentage is higher for citizens of color. “The RNC is proud to lead this effort,” said Chairman Joe Gruter in a statement Monday. “We will keep fighting nationwide to defend election integrity and ensure only eligible citizens can cast a ballot.” The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles appeals from Arizona and eight other Western states, ruled in Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes early last year that two election laws adopted by the Arizona Legislature violate the National Voter Registration Act. That federal law requires states to “accept and use” a federal voter registration form.  One of the new Arizona laws requires use of a state form that adds a requirement to provide proof of citizenship. Voters who insist on using the federal form would be allowed to cast ballots for president and Congress, but not in state and local elections. More than 19,000 Arizonans were registered as federal-only voters as of July 2023, according to court records.  The second Arizona law on hold by order of the 9th Circuit would allow county election officials to investigate a voter they have “reason to believe” is not a citizen. Critics call the provision discriminatory and say it has subjected naturalized citizens to an unequal verification process.  Arizona’s governor at the time, Republican Doug Ducey, signed the measures into law. In August 2024, the Supreme Court issued an order allowing the state’s proof of citizenship requirement to remain in effect while the case works through the courts.  “Arizona does need clarity from the Court on how to administer the citizenship requirements for voting,” Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, the state’s top election official, said in a statement Monday. “The current process is confusing to voters and results in some voter applications being totally rejected just because of which form they happened to use.”  In 2004, Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, which required proof of citizenship to register to vote and for voters to show identification at polling stations. The two 2022 laws the Supreme Court will review were approved amid a wave of similar measures by GOP-controlled states. Many of those were inspired by President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that widespread voting by noncitizens cost him the 2020 election.  In fact, the number of noncitizens on voting lists is very low and the number who actually cast a ballot in a federal election – which is illegal – is even lower. A review by the Department of Homeland Security found that out of 49.5 million voter registrations from roughly half the states that were compared against federal databases, about 10,000, or 0.2%, could have been noncitizens.  But state elections officials called that figure inflated, noting that many citizens were flagged incorrectly. Nor did that review turn up evidence of illegal voting.   In late May, Utah officials released the results of a yearlong review that cross-referenced voter rolls with a federal citizenship verification database. The review identified  27 noncitizens out of 2 million registered voters.  Trump has been demanding a proof of citizenship law at the federal level: the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which also includes a photo ID requirement at the polls. The bill is stalled in the Senate.  After the Supreme Court ruled Monday that states are allowed to count mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day – rejecting a GOP challenge 5-4 – Trump called the SAVE Act even more vital to avert cheating. The SAVE Act would eliminate federal-only voters in Arizona. Arizona only counts ballots that arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day, so Monday’s ruling does not affect Arizona’s elections. The post Supreme Court takes up GOP bid to revive Arizona proof of citizenship law that critics call voter suppression appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b77f197238567836bb18 Supreme Court takes up GOP bid to revive Arizona proof of citizenship law that critics call voter suppression te 2026-06-30T12:33:03.683Z Supreme Court takes up GOP bid to revive Arizona proof of citizenship law that critics call voter suppression WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether Arizona can require proof of citizenship for voter registration, in a case being closely watched by voting rights advocates. In February 2025, a federal appeals court blocked enforcement of two Arizona laws enacted in 2022 that Democrats and others say are intended to deter Latino voters.  Republicans want to overturn that ruling, arguing that the Legislature is simply trying to ensure that noncitizens cannot cast ballots.  “It’s not racist to believe that only U.S. citizens should vote in America,” said Arizona Republican Party Chair Sergio Arellano in a statement after the high court announced Monday that it will hear oral arguments in the fall. “The 9th Circuit lives in its own fantasyland, but common sense is still alive and well at the U.S. Supreme Court.”  Voting rights advocates say the case, Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, could have enormous implications if the justices allow Arizona and other states to require proof of citizenship. Under federal law, people registering to vote check a box affirming they are citizens but don’t have to show any documents.  “Under the false pretense of combating noncitizen voting, despite overwhelming evidence that it is exceedingly rare, the Trump administration and its MAGA allies are advancing one of the most aggressive voter suppression efforts in modern history,” Hector Sanchez Barba, president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota, said in a statement Monday evening. Likening the proof of citizenship requirement to poll taxes and literacy tests, he added, “We have already seen eligible citizens wrongly removed from voter rolls and forced through burdensome bureaucratic hurdles to restore their voting rights. That is not election integrity – it’s disenfranchisement.” Critics say that the laws could prevent millions of eligible voters from casting ballots.  A study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that more than 9% of U.S. citizens of voting age do not have proof of citizenship readily available. That percentage is higher for citizens of color. “The RNC is proud to lead this effort,” said Chairman Joe Gruter in a statement Monday. “We will keep fighting nationwide to defend election integrity and ensure only eligible citizens can cast a ballot.” The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles appeals from Arizona and eight other Western states, ruled in Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes early last year that two election laws adopted by the Arizona Legislature violate the National Voter Registration Act. That federal law requires states to “accept and use” a federal voter registration form.  One of the new Arizona laws requires use of a state form that adds a requirement to provide proof of citizenship. Voters who insist on using the federal form would be allowed to cast ballots for president and Congress, but not in state and local elections. More than 19,000 Arizonans were registered as federal-only voters as of July 2023, according to court records.  The second Arizona law on hold by order of the 9th Circuit would allow county election officials to investigate a voter they have “reason to believe” is not a citizen. Critics call the provision discriminatory and say it has subjected naturalized citizens to an unequal verification process.  Arizona’s governor at the time, Republican Doug Ducey, signed the measures into law. In August 2024, the Supreme Court issued an order allowing the state’s proof of citizenship requirement to remain in effect while the case works through the courts.  “Arizona does need clarity from the Court on how to administer the citizenship requirements for voting,” Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, the state’s top election official, said in a statement Monday. “The current process is confusing to voters and results in some voter applications being totally rejected just because of which form they happened to use.”  In 2004, Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, which required proof of citizenship to register to vote and for voters to show identification at polling stations. The two 2022 laws the Supreme Court will review were approved amid a wave of similar measures by GOP-controlled states. Many of those were inspired by President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that widespread voting by noncitizens cost him the 2020 election.  In fact, the number of noncitizens on voting lists is very low and the number who actually cast a ballot in a federal election – which is illegal – is even lower. A review by the Department of Homeland Security found that out of 49.5 million voter registrations from roughly half the states that were compared against federal databases, about 10,000, or 0.2%, could have been noncitizens.  But state elections officials called that figure inflated, noting that many citizens were flagged incorrectly. Nor did that review turn up evidence of illegal voting.   In late May, Utah officials released the results of a yearlong review that cross-referenced voter rolls with a federal citizenship verification database. The review identified  27 noncitizens out of 2 million registered voters.  Trump has been demanding a proof of citizenship law at the federal level: the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which also includes a photo ID requirement at the polls. The bill is stalled in the Senate.  After the Supreme Court ruled Monday that states are allowed to count mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day – rejecting a GOP challenge 5-4 – Trump called the SAVE Act even more vital to avert cheating. The SAVE Act would eliminate federal-only voters in Arizona. Arizona only counts ballots that arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day, so Monday’s ruling does not affect Arizona’s elections. The post Supreme Court takes up GOP bid to revive Arizona proof of citizenship law that critics call voter suppression appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b77e197238567836bb0f Supreme Court takes up GOP bid to revive Arizona proof of citizenship law that critics call voter suppression te 2026-06-30T12:33:02.005Z Supreme Court takes up GOP bid to revive Arizona proof of citizenship law that critics call voter suppression WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether Arizona can require proof of citizenship for voter registration, in a case being closely watched by voting rights advocates. In February 2025, a federal appeals court blocked enforcement of two Arizona laws enacted in 2022 that Democrats and others say are intended to deter Latino voters.  Republicans want to overturn that ruling, arguing that the Legislature is simply trying to ensure that noncitizens cannot cast ballots.  “It’s not racist to believe that only U.S. citizens should vote in America,” said Arizona Republican Party Chair Sergio Arellano in a statement after the high court announced Monday that it will hear oral arguments in the fall. “The 9th Circuit lives in its own fantasyland, but common sense is still alive and well at the U.S. Supreme Court.”  Voting rights advocates say the case, Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, could have enormous implications if the justices allow Arizona and other states to require proof of citizenship. Under federal law, people registering to vote check a box affirming they are citizens but don’t have to show any documents.  “Under the false pretense of combating noncitizen voting, despite overwhelming evidence that it is exceedingly rare, the Trump administration and its MAGA allies are advancing one of the most aggressive voter suppression efforts in modern history,” Hector Sanchez Barba, president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota, said in a statement Monday evening. Likening the proof of citizenship requirement to poll taxes and literacy tests, he added, “We have already seen eligible citizens wrongly removed from voter rolls and forced through burdensome bureaucratic hurdles to restore their voting rights. That is not election integrity – it’s disenfranchisement.” Critics say that the laws could prevent millions of eligible voters from casting ballots.  A study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that more than 9% of U.S. citizens of voting age do not have proof of citizenship readily available. That percentage is higher for citizens of color. “The RNC is proud to lead this effort,” said Chairman Joe Gruter in a statement Monday. “We will keep fighting nationwide to defend election integrity and ensure only eligible citizens can cast a ballot.” The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which handles appeals from Arizona and eight other Western states, ruled in Mi Familia Vota v. Fontes early last year that two election laws adopted by the Arizona Legislature violate the National Voter Registration Act. That federal law requires states to “accept and use” a federal voter registration form.  One of the new Arizona laws requires use of a state form that adds a requirement to provide proof of citizenship. Voters who insist on using the federal form would be allowed to cast ballots for president and Congress, but not in state and local elections. More than 19,000 Arizonans were registered as federal-only voters as of July 2023, according to court records.  The second Arizona law on hold by order of the 9th Circuit would allow county election officials to investigate a voter they have “reason to believe” is not a citizen. Critics call the provision discriminatory and say it has subjected naturalized citizens to an unequal verification process.  Arizona’s governor at the time, Republican Doug Ducey, signed the measures into law. In August 2024, the Supreme Court issued an order allowing the state’s proof of citizenship requirement to remain in effect while the case works through the courts.  “Arizona does need clarity from the Court on how to administer the citizenship requirements for voting,” Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, the state’s top election official, said in a statement Monday. “The current process is confusing to voters and results in some voter applications being totally rejected just because of which form they happened to use.”  In 2004, Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, which required proof of citizenship to register to vote and for voters to show identification at polling stations. The two 2022 laws the Supreme Court will review were approved amid a wave of similar measures by GOP-controlled states. Many of those were inspired by President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that widespread voting by noncitizens cost him the 2020 election.  In fact, the number of noncitizens on voting lists is very low and the number who actually cast a ballot in a federal election – which is illegal – is even lower. A review by the Department of Homeland Security found that out of 49.5 million voter registrations from roughly half the states that were compared against federal databases, about 10,000, or 0.2%, could have been noncitizens.  But state elections officials called that figure inflated, noting that many citizens were flagged incorrectly. Nor did that review turn up evidence of illegal voting.   In late May, Utah officials released the results of a yearlong review that cross-referenced voter rolls with a federal citizenship verification database. The review identified  27 noncitizens out of 2 million registered voters.  Trump has been demanding a proof of citizenship law at the federal level: the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which also includes a photo ID requirement at the polls. The bill is stalled in the Senate.  After the Supreme Court ruled Monday that states are allowed to count mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day – rejecting a GOP challenge 5-4 – Trump called the SAVE Act even more vital to avert cheating. The SAVE Act would eliminate federal-only voters in Arizona. Arizona only counts ballots that arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day, so Monday’s ruling does not affect Arizona’s elections. The post Supreme Court takes up GOP bid to revive Arizona proof of citizenship law that critics call voter suppression appeared first on Cronkite News. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b759197238567836baff JASON BEDRICK: Proposed ESA Reforms Are Concessions, Not Fixes te 2026-06-30T12:32:25.283Z JASON BEDRICK: Proposed ESA Reforms Are Concessions, Not Fixes By Jason Bedrick | Arizona lawmakers may soon be summoned back to the Capitol for a special session to consider a “grand bargain” on Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs). If so, they should put the interests of ESA families first. Under one version of the deal, the Arizona Education Association (AEA) and its allies would drop their ballot initiative restricting ESAs. In exchange, the legislature would abandon three measures it referred to the ballot this session — protections for military families’ scholarships, payroll reform for teachers’ unions, and a mandate that districts spend 60 percent of their budgets on instruction — and would enact most of the ESA provisions debated this session in House Bill 2142. (There’s one important exception: the unnecessary testing mandate would be dropped.) A much better deal, proposed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, would offer “one for one,” with the legislature dropping the payroll ballot measure in return for the AEA dropping its ballot measure. The legislative GOP caucus is behind the Biggs deal—the question is just how desperate the AEA is to avoid going to the ballot. But if the “grand bargain” requires some reforms to the ESA program, legislators should hold out for a better deal than the original proposal. The AEA-backed initiative is not a modest accountability measure; it is a serious threat to the ESA program, imposing a host of harmful regulations, including a restrictive income cap that would kick tens of thousands of students off the program, blocking parents from buying basic school supplies, and confiscating funds that families had saved for their children’s education. If Democrats balk at the Biggs proposal, trading away three referred measures and a handful of program restrictions to make that threat disappear is a defensible trade. But as Arizona’s ESA defenders take yes for an answer, they should be honest about what they’re doing and minimize harm to ESA families. The HB2142-based “grand bargain” is not, as the American Federation for Children (AFC) has suggested, a set of “commonsense reforms” that simply tidy up the program. It is a series of concessions — real costs imposed on real families — that ESA supporters are accepting because the alternative is worse. Calling it “commonsense” or a “fix” obscures this. It allows the organization to claim credit for “saving” the ESA program without ever having to explain to the families of more than 100,000 students who rely on it what its own proposed changes will actually do to their accounts. In the wake of the HB2142-based proposal, I solicited feedback about it on a social network page for ESA families. I received nearly 400 comments from ESA parents who overwhelmingly opposed the proposed regulations. They explained in detail how the supposedly “commonsense” restrictions would hamper their ability to provide their children with an education that works best for them. Here is what the three central provisions of the HB2142-based proposal would actually do — and why each of them, even if ultimately worth swallowing in some form, makes the program worse for the families it serves. Capping Rollover Funds A key feature of ESAs that distinguishes them from a traditional voucher is that families can save unspent funds from year to year rather than being forced to spend a lump sum on a single school by a single deadline. This matters because families spend their own money more efficiently than bureaucrats spend other people’s money. The ability to save and re-deploy funds gives families both the incentive to economize and the flexibility to plan for expenses that don’t arrive on a tidy nine-month school-year schedule. A voucher must be spent now, at one school, or it will be lost. ESA funds can be banked for next year’s therapy bill, a multi-year curriculum purchase, or a future tuition increase. The deal under discussion would cap how much families can carry forward — $50,000 for students with disabilities, $24,000 for everyone else — with the excess confiscated and deposited into the state general fund each year. That won’t matter for most families who spend close to their full allotment annually. But for the families who most need the flexibility ESAs were designed to provide, particularly families of students with special needs, it will be a bitter pill to swallow. Families saving toward a multi-year placement at a specialized school, parents stockpiling funds for a major piece of assistive technology, or families anticipating a more expensive placement as a child with a disability ages into more intensive services — these are exactly the families a cap punishes. The rollover cap is a “solution” in search of a problem. The rollover cap creates a perverse “use it or lose it” incentive that won’t save money; it will only encourage wasteful spending. If lawmakers proceed with a cap, the least they should do is exempt students with disabilities entirely. The case for forced spend-down is weakest exactly where the case for flexibility is strongest: students whose educational and therapeutic needs are least predictable and most expensive over time. Fingerprinting Mandate The deal would require fingerprint clearance cards — the same background-check credential used for school district and charter school employees — for individuals providing tutoring or teaching services paid for with ESA funds, as well as for staff at qualified private schools. For an institution — a school, a learning center, a tutoring company with a storefront and rotating staff — this is a reasonable extension of an existing framework, as schools are already required to fingerprint their teachers. But the bill does not stop at institutions. As drafted, it would also sweep in independent tutors — the retired teacher down the street who tutors a handful of children at a family’s kitchen table, the local college student who helps with algebra twice a week. This is a fundamentally different relationship from a teacher supervising a classroom of other people’s children at an institution. A tutor working in a family’s own home, under that family’s direct supervision and invited in by that family’s own judgment, is not analogous to a stranger left alone with a building full of students. Parents already vet who comes into their homes; that is what parental choice means. Mandating a state-administered background-check bureaucracy on top of that judgment does not make children safer — it makes it harder and more expensive to find a tutor at all, particularly in the specialized subjects and therapeutic disciplines where the pool of qualified providers is already thin. The fix here is narrow and obvious: limit the fingerprinting requirement to qualified schools and institutional tutoring providers, and exempt individual tutors providing services in a student’s own home. That preserves the child-safety rationale where it actually applies — institutional settings with unsupervised access to multiple children — without taxing the much more common, much more easily supervised arrangement of one family hiring one tutor. Spending Restrictions The deal under consideration also adds a long, explicit list of disallowed expenses. Most of this list is theater. Jewelry, lingerie, hot tubs, bounce houses, and gift cards were never allowable ESA expenses in the first place. Codifying their prohibition changes nothing about what families can actually buy. It exists to give legislators something to point to — a list that sounds tough — rather than to solve an actual problem in the program. That is itself a tell about how this provision came to be. But a few items on the list are genuinely new restrictions, and those deserve scrutiny on the merits. Barring out-of-state and international museums and excursions, for instance, would forbid spending ESA funds on precisely the kind of experiential, field-based learning that homeschooling and hybrid-schooling families have used for years — a trip to a Civil War battlefield, a national museum in Washington, D.C., a language-immersion excursion across the border. These are not luxuries dressed up as education — for many families building a curriculum outside a traditional classroom, they are the curriculum. Banning them doesn’t close a loophole. It closes off a category of legitimate, well-documented educational practice that happens to be easy to caricature in a press release. Hotel stays, meals, plane tickets and other travel expenses are already properly forbidden, but there’s no good reason to prevent families from purchasing tickets to a museum outside Arizona that would be allowed if it were in Arizona. Any grand bargain should restore legitimate educational purchases to the allowable-uses list. Why AFC Is Getting This Wrong None of these three provisions emerged from a serious conversation with ESA families about what they need. They emerged from a desire to manage headlines. Rather than designing ESA policy in the best interests of ESA families, AFC’s strategy would let school-choice opponents dictate the policy agenda. Chief among them is school-choice opponent Craig Harris at Channel 12, who has spent the better part of a year manufacturing alarm about ESA account balances and fraud rates that bear little resemblance to reality. The Arizona Department of Education has confirmed that flagged fraudulent or egregious spending amounts to roughly 0.3 percent of total ESA spending — a rate that would be the envy of nearly any government program. Harris has claimed fraud rates many times higher, and signature gatherers for the AEA-backed and AFC-backed ballot campaigns alike have been caught on camera spreading those falsehoods to voters. The right response to false claims is to correct them. Instead, AFC has chosen to give ESA opponents a say in how to regulate the program — an approach that has repeatedly proven disastrous for ESA families. Instead of proposing rollover caps because Harris made an issue of high account balances, school-choice proponents should explain to Arizona voters why families save those balances in the first place — often precisely because they have a child with disabilities whose needs are expensive and unpredictable. AFC’s approach sets a dangerous precedent: when an activist-journalist manufactures a talking point, AFC’s policy response is to regulate around it rather than to defend the program based on the facts. Arizona’s ESA families were not asked whether they would trade their ability to save for a child’s future needs, or their ability to hire a trusted neighbor as a tutor, for a quieter news cycle. They deserve a coalition that designs policy around what actually serves them — not one that lets their loudest opponents write the rules by proxy, then dresses up the result as “commonsense.” The next time AFC or any other organization in this space asks Arizona families to accept a “commonsense reform,” someone should ask the obvious question: commonsense according to whom, and at whose expense? If the goal is just to keep Craig Harris’s headlines at bay, it’s a fool’s errand — he and his ilk will continue manufacturing anti-ESA headlines so long as there’s an ESA program. “Avoiding bad headlines” is not a serious approach to policymaking and certainly not in the interests of ESA families. Arizona’s ESA families deserve better. Consider the Deal — With Open Eyes None of this is an argument against the special-session deal. The AEA-backed initiative would do far more damage to far more families than a rollover cap or a fingerprinting mandate ever could, and trading three referred ballot measures plus some unnecessary or even harmful ESA restrictions to take that threat off the table is a trade worth considering. Dropping the testing mandate from the deal is itself a meaningful win, preserving the central insight of school choice: families, not state-mandated exams, are the accountability mechanism. Taking the HB2142-based deal might be a necessary evil, but it’s certainly not a victory. At best, it would be a retreat to a more politically defensible position, not a “commonsense” fix or policy advance. If there is a special session, lawmakers who support the ESA should do everything in their power to minimize the harm to ESA families. That would entail supporting the Biggs proposal or, at the very least, holding out for revisions to HB2142 that seriously consider the impact on ESA families. Jason Bedrick is a Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy. The post JASON BEDRICK: Proposed ESA Reforms Are Concessions, Not Fixes first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b758197238567836baf5 JASON BEDRICK: Proposed ESA Reforms Are Concessions, Not Fixes te 2026-06-30T12:32:24.779Z JASON BEDRICK: Proposed ESA Reforms Are Concessions, Not Fixes By Jason Bedrick | Arizona lawmakers may soon be summoned back to the Capitol for a special session to consider a “grand bargain” on Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs). If so, they should put the interests of ESA families first. Under one version of the deal, the Arizona Education Association (AEA) and its allies would drop their ballot initiative restricting ESAs. In exchange, the legislature would abandon three measures it referred to the ballot this session — protections for military families’ scholarships, payroll reform for teachers’ unions, and a mandate that districts spend 60 percent of their budgets on instruction — and would enact most of the ESA provisions debated this session in House Bill 2142. (There’s one important exception: the unnecessary testing mandate would be dropped.) A much better deal, proposed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, would offer “one for one,” with the legislature dropping the payroll ballot measure in return for the AEA dropping its ballot measure. The legislative GOP caucus is behind the Biggs deal—the question is just how desperate the AEA is to avoid going to the ballot. But if the “grand bargain” requires some reforms to the ESA program, legislators should hold out for a better deal than the original proposal. The AEA-backed initiative is not a modest accountability measure; it is a serious threat to the ESA program, imposing a host of harmful regulations, including a restrictive income cap that would kick tens of thousands of students off the program, blocking parents from buying basic school supplies, and confiscating funds that families had saved for their children’s education. If Democrats balk at the Biggs proposal, trading away three referred measures and a handful of program restrictions to make that threat disappear is a defensible trade. But as Arizona’s ESA defenders take yes for an answer, they should be honest about what they’re doing and minimize harm to ESA families. The HB2142-based “grand bargain” is not, as the American Federation for Children (AFC) has suggested, a set of “commonsense reforms” that simply tidy up the program. It is a series of concessions — real costs imposed on real families — that ESA supporters are accepting because the alternative is worse. Calling it “commonsense” or a “fix” obscures this. It allows the organization to claim credit for “saving” the ESA program without ever having to explain to the families of more than 100,000 students who rely on it what its own proposed changes will actually do to their accounts. In the wake of the HB2142-based proposal, I solicited feedback about it on a social network page for ESA families. I received nearly 400 comments from ESA parents who overwhelmingly opposed the proposed regulations. They explained in detail how the supposedly “commonsense” restrictions would hamper their ability to provide their children with an education that works best for them. Here is what the three central provisions of the HB2142-based proposal would actually do — and why each of them, even if ultimately worth swallowing in some form, makes the program worse for the families it serves. Capping Rollover Funds A key feature of ESAs that distinguishes them from a traditional voucher is that families can save unspent funds from year to year rather than being forced to spend a lump sum on a single school by a single deadline. This matters because families spend their own money more efficiently than bureaucrats spend other people’s money. The ability to save and re-deploy funds gives families both the incentive to economize and the flexibility to plan for expenses that don’t arrive on a tidy nine-month school-year schedule. A voucher must be spent now, at one school, or it will be lost. ESA funds can be banked for next year’s therapy bill, a multi-year curriculum purchase, or a future tuition increase. The deal under discussion would cap how much families can carry forward — $50,000 for students with disabilities, $24,000 for everyone else — with the excess confiscated and deposited into the state general fund each year. That won’t matter for most families who spend close to their full allotment annually. But for the families who most need the flexibility ESAs were designed to provide, particularly families of students with special needs, it will be a bitter pill to swallow. Families saving toward a multi-year placement at a specialized school, parents stockpiling funds for a major piece of assistive technology, or families anticipating a more expensive placement as a child with a disability ages into more intensive services — these are exactly the families a cap punishes. The rollover cap is a “solution” in search of a problem. The rollover cap creates a perverse “use it or lose it” incentive that won’t save money; it will only encourage wasteful spending. If lawmakers proceed with a cap, the least they should do is exempt students with disabilities entirely. The case for forced spend-down is weakest exactly where the case for flexibility is strongest: students whose educational and therapeutic needs are least predictable and most expensive over time. Fingerprinting Mandate The deal would require fingerprint clearance cards — the same background-check credential used for school district and charter school employees — for individuals providing tutoring or teaching services paid for with ESA funds, as well as for staff at qualified private schools. For an institution — a school, a learning center, a tutoring company with a storefront and rotating staff — this is a reasonable extension of an existing framework, as schools are already required to fingerprint their teachers. But the bill does not stop at institutions. As drafted, it would also sweep in independent tutors — the retired teacher down the street who tutors a handful of children at a family’s kitchen table, the local college student who helps with algebra twice a week. This is a fundamentally different relationship from a teacher supervising a classroom of other people’s children at an institution. A tutor working in a family’s own home, under that family’s direct supervision and invited in by that family’s own judgment, is not analogous to a stranger left alone with a building full of students. Parents already vet who comes into their homes; that is what parental choice means. Mandating a state-administered background-check bureaucracy on top of that judgment does not make children safer — it makes it harder and more expensive to find a tutor at all, particularly in the specialized subjects and therapeutic disciplines where the pool of qualified providers is already thin. The fix here is narrow and obvious: limit the fingerprinting requirement to qualified schools and institutional tutoring providers, and exempt individual tutors providing services in a student’s own home. That preserves the child-safety rationale where it actually applies — institutional settings with unsupervised access to multiple children — without taxing the much more common, much more easily supervised arrangement of one family hiring one tutor. Spending Restrictions The deal under consideration also adds a long, explicit list of disallowed expenses. Most of this list is theater. Jewelry, lingerie, hot tubs, bounce houses, and gift cards were never allowable ESA expenses in the first place. Codifying their prohibition changes nothing about what families can actually buy. It exists to give legislators something to point to — a list that sounds tough — rather than to solve an actual problem in the program. That is itself a tell about how this provision came to be. But a few items on the list are genuinely new restrictions, and those deserve scrutiny on the merits. Barring out-of-state and international museums and excursions, for instance, would forbid spending ESA funds on precisely the kind of experiential, field-based learning that homeschooling and hybrid-schooling families have used for years — a trip to a Civil War battlefield, a national museum in Washington, D.C., a language-immersion excursion across the border. These are not luxuries dressed up as education — for many families building a curriculum outside a traditional classroom, they are the curriculum. Banning them doesn’t close a loophole. It closes off a category of legitimate, well-documented educational practice that happens to be easy to caricature in a press release. Hotel stays, meals, plane tickets and other travel expenses are already properly forbidden, but there’s no good reason to prevent families from purchasing tickets to a museum outside Arizona that would be allowed if it were in Arizona. Any grand bargain should restore legitimate educational purchases to the allowable-uses list. Why AFC Is Getting This Wrong None of these three provisions emerged from a serious conversation with ESA families about what they need. They emerged from a desire to manage headlines. Rather than designing ESA policy in the best interests of ESA families, AFC’s strategy would let school-choice opponents dictate the policy agenda. Chief among them is school-choice opponent Craig Harris at Channel 12, who has spent the better part of a year manufacturing alarm about ESA account balances and fraud rates that bear little resemblance to reality. The Arizona Department of Education has confirmed that flagged fraudulent or egregious spending amounts to roughly 0.3 percent of total ESA spending — a rate that would be the envy of nearly any government program. Harris has claimed fraud rates many times higher, and signature gatherers for the AEA-backed and AFC-backed ballot campaigns alike have been caught on camera spreading those falsehoods to voters. The right response to false claims is to correct them. Instead, AFC has chosen to give ESA opponents a say in how to regulate the program — an approach that has repeatedly proven disastrous for ESA families. Instead of proposing rollover caps because Harris made an issue of high account balances, school-choice proponents should explain to Arizona voters why families save those balances in the first place — often precisely because they have a child with disabilities whose needs are expensive and unpredictable. AFC’s approach sets a dangerous precedent: when an activist-journalist manufactures a talking point, AFC’s policy response is to regulate around it rather than to defend the program based on the facts. Arizona’s ESA families were not asked whether they would trade their ability to save for a child’s future needs, or their ability to hire a trusted neighbor as a tutor, for a quieter news cycle. They deserve a coalition that designs policy around what actually serves them — not one that lets their loudest opponents write the rules by proxy, then dresses up the result as “commonsense.” The next time AFC or any other organization in this space asks Arizona families to accept a “commonsense reform,” someone should ask the obvious question: commonsense according to whom, and at whose expense? If the goal is just to keep Craig Harris’s headlines at bay, it’s a fool’s errand — he and his ilk will continue manufacturing anti-ESA headlines so long as there’s an ESA program. “Avoiding bad headlines” is not a serious approach to policymaking and certainly not in the interests of ESA families. Arizona’s ESA families deserve better. Consider the Deal — With Open Eyes None of this is an argument against the special-session deal. The AEA-backed initiative would do far more damage to far more families than a rollover cap or a fingerprinting mandate ever could, and trading three referred ballot measures plus some unnecessary or even harmful ESA restrictions to take that threat off the table is a trade worth considering. Dropping the testing mandate from the deal is itself a meaningful win, preserving the central insight of school choice: families, not state-mandated exams, are the accountability mechanism. Taking the HB2142-based deal might be a necessary evil, but it’s certainly not a victory. At best, it would be a retreat to a more politically defensible position, not a “commonsense” fix or policy advance. If there is a special session, lawmakers who support the ESA should do everything in their power to minimize the harm to ESA families. That would entail supporting the Biggs proposal or, at the very least, holding out for revisions to HB2142 that seriously consider the impact on ESA families. Jason Bedrick is a Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy. The post JASON BEDRICK: Proposed ESA Reforms Are Concessions, Not Fixes first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b755197238567836baeb JASON BEDRICK: Proposed ESA Reforms Are Concessions, Not Fixes te 2026-06-30T12:32:21.558Z JASON BEDRICK: Proposed ESA Reforms Are Concessions, Not Fixes By Jason Bedrick | Arizona lawmakers may soon be summoned back to the Capitol for a special session to consider a “grand bargain” on Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs). If so, they should put the interests of ESA families first. Under one version of the deal, the Arizona Education Association (AEA) and its allies would drop their ballot initiative restricting ESAs. In exchange, the legislature would abandon three measures it referred to the ballot this session — protections for military families’ scholarships, payroll reform for teachers’ unions, and a mandate that districts spend 60 percent of their budgets on instruction — and would enact most of the ESA provisions debated this session in House Bill 2142. (There’s one important exception: the unnecessary testing mandate would be dropped.) A much better deal, proposed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, would offer “one for one,” with the legislature dropping the payroll ballot measure in return for the AEA dropping its ballot measure. The legislative GOP caucus is behind the Biggs deal—the question is just how desperate the AEA is to avoid going to the ballot. But if the “grand bargain” requires some reforms to the ESA program, legislators should hold out for a better deal than the original proposal. The AEA-backed initiative is not a modest accountability measure; it is a serious threat to the ESA program, imposing a host of harmful regulations, including a restrictive income cap that would kick tens of thousands of students off the program, blocking parents from buying basic school supplies, and confiscating funds that families had saved for their children’s education. If Democrats balk at the Biggs proposal, trading away three referred measures and a handful of program restrictions to make that threat disappear is a defensible trade. But as Arizona’s ESA defenders take yes for an answer, they should be honest about what they’re doing and minimize harm to ESA families. The HB2142-based “grand bargain” is not, as the American Federation for Children (AFC) has suggested, a set of “commonsense reforms” that simply tidy up the program. It is a series of concessions — real costs imposed on real families — that ESA supporters are accepting because the alternative is worse. Calling it “commonsense” or a “fix” obscures this. It allows the organization to claim credit for “saving” the ESA program without ever having to explain to the families of more than 100,000 students who rely on it what its own proposed changes will actually do to their accounts. In the wake of the HB2142-based proposal, I solicited feedback about it on a social network page for ESA families. I received nearly 400 comments from ESA parents who overwhelmingly opposed the proposed regulations. They explained in detail how the supposedly “commonsense” restrictions would hamper their ability to provide their children with an education that works best for them. Here is what the three central provisions of the HB2142-based proposal would actually do — and why each of them, even if ultimately worth swallowing in some form, makes the program worse for the families it serves. Capping Rollover Funds A key feature of ESAs that distinguishes them from a traditional voucher is that families can save unspent funds from year to year rather than being forced to spend a lump sum on a single school by a single deadline. This matters because families spend their own money more efficiently than bureaucrats spend other people’s money. The ability to save and re-deploy funds gives families both the incentive to economize and the flexibility to plan for expenses that don’t arrive on a tidy nine-month school-year schedule. A voucher must be spent now, at one school, or it will be lost. ESA funds can be banked for next year’s therapy bill, a multi-year curriculum purchase, or a future tuition increase. The deal under discussion would cap how much families can carry forward — $50,000 for students with disabilities, $24,000 for everyone else — with the excess confiscated and deposited into the state general fund each year. That won’t matter for most families who spend close to their full allotment annually. But for the families who most need the flexibility ESAs were designed to provide, particularly families of students with special needs, it will be a bitter pill to swallow. Families saving toward a multi-year placement at a specialized school, parents stockpiling funds for a major piece of assistive technology, or families anticipating a more expensive placement as a child with a disability ages into more intensive services — these are exactly the families a cap punishes. The rollover cap is a “solution” in search of a problem. The rollover cap creates a perverse “use it or lose it” incentive that won’t save money; it will only encourage wasteful spending. If lawmakers proceed with a cap, the least they should do is exempt students with disabilities entirely. The case for forced spend-down is weakest exactly where the case for flexibility is strongest: students whose educational and therapeutic needs are least predictable and most expensive over time. Fingerprinting Mandate The deal would require fingerprint clearance cards — the same background-check credential used for school district and charter school employees — for individuals providing tutoring or teaching services paid for with ESA funds, as well as for staff at qualified private schools. For an institution — a school, a learning center, a tutoring company with a storefront and rotating staff — this is a reasonable extension of an existing framework, as schools are already required to fingerprint their teachers. But the bill does not stop at institutions. As drafted, it would also sweep in independent tutors — the retired teacher down the street who tutors a handful of children at a family’s kitchen table, the local college student who helps with algebra twice a week. This is a fundamentally different relationship from a teacher supervising a classroom of other people’s children at an institution. A tutor working in a family’s own home, under that family’s direct supervision and invited in by that family’s own judgment, is not analogous to a stranger left alone with a building full of students. Parents already vet who comes into their homes; that is what parental choice means. Mandating a state-administered background-check bureaucracy on top of that judgment does not make children safer — it makes it harder and more expensive to find a tutor at all, particularly in the specialized subjects and therapeutic disciplines where the pool of qualified providers is already thin. The fix here is narrow and obvious: limit the fingerprinting requirement to qualified schools and institutional tutoring providers, and exempt individual tutors providing services in a student’s own home. That preserves the child-safety rationale where it actually applies — institutional settings with unsupervised access to multiple children — without taxing the much more common, much more easily supervised arrangement of one family hiring one tutor. Spending Restrictions The deal under consideration also adds a long, explicit list of disallowed expenses. Most of this list is theater. Jewelry, lingerie, hot tubs, bounce houses, and gift cards were never allowable ESA expenses in the first place. Codifying their prohibition changes nothing about what families can actually buy. It exists to give legislators something to point to — a list that sounds tough — rather than to solve an actual problem in the program. That is itself a tell about how this provision came to be. But a few items on the list are genuinely new restrictions, and those deserve scrutiny on the merits. Barring out-of-state and international museums and excursions, for instance, would forbid spending ESA funds on precisely the kind of experiential, field-based learning that homeschooling and hybrid-schooling families have used for years — a trip to a Civil War battlefield, a national museum in Washington, D.C., a language-immersion excursion across the border. These are not luxuries dressed up as education — for many families building a curriculum outside a traditional classroom, they are the curriculum. Banning them doesn’t close a loophole. It closes off a category of legitimate, well-documented educational practice that happens to be easy to caricature in a press release. Hotel stays, meals, plane tickets and other travel expenses are already properly forbidden, but there’s no good reason to prevent families from purchasing tickets to a museum outside Arizona that would be allowed if it were in Arizona. Any grand bargain should restore legitimate educational purchases to the allowable-uses list. Why AFC Is Getting This Wrong None of these three provisions emerged from a serious conversation with ESA families about what they need. They emerged from a desire to manage headlines. Rather than designing ESA policy in the best interests of ESA families, AFC’s strategy would let school-choice opponents dictate the policy agenda. Chief among them is school-choice opponent Craig Harris at Channel 12, who has spent the better part of a year manufacturing alarm about ESA account balances and fraud rates that bear little resemblance to reality. The Arizona Department of Education has confirmed that flagged fraudulent or egregious spending amounts to roughly 0.3 percent of total ESA spending — a rate that would be the envy of nearly any government program. Harris has claimed fraud rates many times higher, and signature gatherers for the AEA-backed and AFC-backed ballot campaigns alike have been caught on camera spreading those falsehoods to voters. The right response to false claims is to correct them. Instead, AFC has chosen to give ESA opponents a say in how to regulate the program — an approach that has repeatedly proven disastrous for ESA families. Instead of proposing rollover caps because Harris made an issue of high account balances, school-choice proponents should explain to Arizona voters why families save those balances in the first place — often precisely because they have a child with disabilities whose needs are expensive and unpredictable. AFC’s approach sets a dangerous precedent: when an activist-journalist manufactures a talking point, AFC’s policy response is to regulate around it rather than to defend the program based on the facts. Arizona’s ESA families were not asked whether they would trade their ability to save for a child’s future needs, or their ability to hire a trusted neighbor as a tutor, for a quieter news cycle. They deserve a coalition that designs policy around what actually serves them — not one that lets their loudest opponents write the rules by proxy, then dresses up the result as “commonsense.” The next time AFC or any other organization in this space asks Arizona families to accept a “commonsense reform,” someone should ask the obvious question: commonsense according to whom, and at whose expense? If the goal is just to keep Craig Harris’s headlines at bay, it’s a fool’s errand — he and his ilk will continue manufacturing anti-ESA headlines so long as there’s an ESA program. “Avoiding bad headlines” is not a serious approach to policymaking and certainly not in the interests of ESA families. Arizona’s ESA families deserve better. Consider the Deal — With Open Eyes None of this is an argument against the special-session deal. The AEA-backed initiative would do far more damage to far more families than a rollover cap or a fingerprinting mandate ever could, and trading three referred ballot measures plus some unnecessary or even harmful ESA restrictions to take that threat off the table is a trade worth considering. Dropping the testing mandate from the deal is itself a meaningful win, preserving the central insight of school choice: families, not state-mandated exams, are the accountability mechanism. Taking the HB2142-based deal might be a necessary evil, but it’s certainly not a victory. At best, it would be a retreat to a more politically defensible position, not a “commonsense” fix or policy advance. If there is a special session, lawmakers who support the ESA should do everything in their power to minimize the harm to ESA families. That would entail supporting the Biggs proposal or, at the very least, holding out for revisions to HB2142 that seriously consider the impact on ESA families. Jason Bedrick is a Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy. The post JASON BEDRICK: Proposed ESA Reforms Are Concessions, Not Fixes first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b745197238567836bae2 Joint Economic Committee Warns Debt Stabilization Will Require Trillions In Fiscal Adjustments te 2026-06-30T12:32:05.827Z Joint Economic Committee Warns Debt Stabilization Will Require Trillions In Fiscal Adjustments By Matthew Holloway | U.S. Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ01), chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), warned that the United States faces growing fiscal risk unless Congress acts sooner to stabilize the federal debt-to-GDP ratio. Schweikert sent the committee’s latest Views and Estimates letter to House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington in a letter earlier this month. “There is great uncertainty about when and how the debt will switch from sustainable, business as-usual, to an unsustainable, market-unraveling nightmare,” Schweikert wrote. “Every year we wait to change course increases leverage, and the higher the debt-to-GDP ratio the easier it is for bad headwinds—such as crisis spending or interest rate fragility—to lock us into a debt spiral. In short, allowing the debt burden to increase is a levered bet, and the downside risks are already enormous.” JEC Chairman @RepDavid sent @HouseBudgetGOP Chairman @RepArrington the latest Views & Estimates. “There is great uncertainty about when & how the debt will switch from sustainable, business as-usual, to an unsustainable, market-unraveling nightmare. https://t.co/pPMp4K17EP — Joint Economic Committee Republicans (@JECRepublicans) June 8, 2026 The committee’s Republican staff found that rising federal debt is structurally unsustainable and that stabilizing the debt-to-GDP ratio will require large early policy changes. The letter states that delaying action materially increases the risk of severe economic and financial consequences. According to the letter, federal debt has recently reached 100 percent of gross domestic product, meaning the federal debt is now roughly the size of the economy’s total annual output. The Congressional Budget Office projects debt held by the public will reach 118 percent of GDP by 2035, 142 percent by 2045, and 172 percent by 2055. Treasury projections cited in the letter are higher, estimating 129 percent by 2035, 183 percent by 2045, and 245 percent by 2055. The JEC letter describes the current debt path as a “levered bet on stability” that depends on avoiding major crises requiring substantial fiscal headroom and on future interest rates remaining favorable relative to economic growth. The letter warns that the damage to the nation’s fiscal position and status as a world power could be “catastrophic and irreversible” if those conditions deteriorate. The committee cited estimates from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget indicating that a fiscal adjustment of about $9.5 trillion over ten years would be needed to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio at about 100 percent. The JEC letter used a similar ballpark estimate of about $9.2 trillion to close the primary deficit over a ten-year window, while noting that the exact adjustment would depend on interest rates, economic growth, the timing of policy changes, and the path of the primary deficit. “In any case, these are magnitudes of adjustment virtually absent from current policy debates,” the letter states. The letter recommended reforms in Medicare, international taxation, and immigration that it estimated would produce about $3.6 trillion in deficit reduction over ten years, or roughly 40 percent of the adjustment identified as necessary to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio. The largest proposed savings would come from Medicare Advantage reform. The letter states that Medicare Advantage now covers 55 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries and that flawed payment policies, excessive coding practices, insufficient enforcement, and federal inaction have driven up costs. According to the JEC, Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are now estimated to cost roughly 14 percent more than they would under traditional Medicare, amounting to an estimated $76 billion in excess federal spending in 2025. The letter cites H.R. 3467, the Better Medicare Act, as a proposal to realign Medicare Advantage incentives. The JEC estimated the legislation would reduce federal spending by approximately $1.8 trillion over ten years. In a Fox Business appearance posted to X by Schweikert’s office, Schweikert described what he called “institutional design fraud,” citing his team’s investigations into New York and California “where they’re exploiting part of the Medicaid system for billions and billions and billions of dollars.” Federal prosecutors say a $30 million Medicaid scheme meant for children’s mental health services helped pay for a fleet of luxury vehicles. That is bad actor fraud. But the real bleeding is coming from New York and California exploiting parts of Medicaid for billions and… pic.twitter.com/jFyGJr3JAC — Rep. David Schweikert (@RepDavid) June 5, 2026 “If New York actually had the same cost in their Medicaid system,” he continued, “it would be a $50 billion savings a year if they had the same costs as other states. That’s actually where the tremendous amount of money is, because remember, we’re borrowing about a million dollars every 15 seconds. So, the scale is what’s just so hard to get your head around.” The committee also recommended a border adjustment tax policy, which would tax business income based on where products are sold rather than where they are produced. Under the proposal, export receipts would be excluded from the tax base and import deductions would be disallowed. The JEC estimated the policy could raise approximately $1.5 trillion over ten years. On immigration, the committee recommended shifting employment-based admissions toward higher-producing applicants through a points-based, industry-targeted framework. The letter states that an aging population and a shrinking pool of younger workers are reducing the labor force needed to grow the economy and service the debt. The JEC estimated that such a reform could produce a net fiscal benefit of $335 billion over ten years and $1.34 trillion over twenty years, assuming annual immigration remains at current levels. Schweikert has raised the alarm regarding demographic decline as a driver of fiscal collapse, citing three unassailable facts: “debt, deficits and demographics,” in March 2025. The letter also credited H.R. 1, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with pro-growth tax provisions. The JEC said policymakers should redirect their focus toward “transparently pro-growth reforms” and cited federal land sales, reforms of the Jones Act, and policy related to port automation as examples of areas that could support growth. Schweikert’s letter concluded that growth alone should not be counted on to resolve the federal government’s fiscal problems. “I have highlighted fiscal reforms that would bring us about 40 percent of the way to stability of the debt-to-GDP ratio,” Schweikert concluded in the letter. “While there is strong potential for increasing economic growth as a partial solution, we should not count on growth alone to address our fiscal problems.” Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com. The post Joint Economic Committee Warns Debt Stabilization Will Require Trillions In Fiscal Adjustments first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b744197238567836bad9 Joint Economic Committee Warns Debt Stabilization Will Require Trillions In Fiscal Adjustments te 2026-06-30T12:32:04.291Z Joint Economic Committee Warns Debt Stabilization Will Require Trillions In Fiscal Adjustments By Matthew Holloway | U.S. Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ01), chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), warned that the United States faces growing fiscal risk unless Congress acts sooner to stabilize the federal debt-to-GDP ratio. Schweikert sent the committee’s latest Views and Estimates letter to House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington in a letter earlier this month. “There is great uncertainty about when and how the debt will switch from sustainable, business as-usual, to an unsustainable, market-unraveling nightmare,” Schweikert wrote. “Every year we wait to change course increases leverage, and the higher the debt-to-GDP ratio the easier it is for bad headwinds—such as crisis spending or interest rate fragility—to lock us into a debt spiral. In short, allowing the debt burden to increase is a levered bet, and the downside risks are already enormous.” JEC Chairman @RepDavid sent @HouseBudgetGOP Chairman @RepArrington the latest Views & Estimates. “There is great uncertainty about when & how the debt will switch from sustainable, business as-usual, to an unsustainable, market-unraveling nightmare. https://t.co/pPMp4K17EP — Joint Economic Committee Republicans (@JECRepublicans) June 8, 2026 The committee’s Republican staff found that rising federal debt is structurally unsustainable and that stabilizing the debt-to-GDP ratio will require large early policy changes. The letter states that delaying action materially increases the risk of severe economic and financial consequences. According to the letter, federal debt has recently reached 100 percent of gross domestic product, meaning the federal debt is now roughly the size of the economy’s total annual output. The Congressional Budget Office projects debt held by the public will reach 118 percent of GDP by 2035, 142 percent by 2045, and 172 percent by 2055. Treasury projections cited in the letter are higher, estimating 129 percent by 2035, 183 percent by 2045, and 245 percent by 2055. The JEC letter describes the current debt path as a “levered bet on stability” that depends on avoiding major crises requiring substantial fiscal headroom and on future interest rates remaining favorable relative to economic growth. The letter warns that the damage to the nation’s fiscal position and status as a world power could be “catastrophic and irreversible” if those conditions deteriorate. The committee cited estimates from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget indicating that a fiscal adjustment of about $9.5 trillion over ten years would be needed to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio at about 100 percent. The JEC letter used a similar ballpark estimate of about $9.2 trillion to close the primary deficit over a ten-year window, while noting that the exact adjustment would depend on interest rates, economic growth, the timing of policy changes, and the path of the primary deficit. “In any case, these are magnitudes of adjustment virtually absent from current policy debates,” the letter states. The letter recommended reforms in Medicare, international taxation, and immigration that it estimated would produce about $3.6 trillion in deficit reduction over ten years, or roughly 40 percent of the adjustment identified as necessary to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio. The largest proposed savings would come from Medicare Advantage reform. The letter states that Medicare Advantage now covers 55 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries and that flawed payment policies, excessive coding practices, insufficient enforcement, and federal inaction have driven up costs. According to the JEC, Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are now estimated to cost roughly 14 percent more than they would under traditional Medicare, amounting to an estimated $76 billion in excess federal spending in 2025. The letter cites H.R. 3467, the Better Medicare Act, as a proposal to realign Medicare Advantage incentives. The JEC estimated the legislation would reduce federal spending by approximately $1.8 trillion over ten years. In a Fox Business appearance posted to X by Schweikert’s office, Schweikert described what he called “institutional design fraud,” citing his team’s investigations into New York and California “where they’re exploiting part of the Medicaid system for billions and billions and billions of dollars.” Federal prosecutors say a $30 million Medicaid scheme meant for children’s mental health services helped pay for a fleet of luxury vehicles. That is bad actor fraud. But the real bleeding is coming from New York and California exploiting parts of Medicaid for billions and… pic.twitter.com/jFyGJr3JAC — Rep. David Schweikert (@RepDavid) June 5, 2026 “If New York actually had the same cost in their Medicaid system,” he continued, “it would be a $50 billion savings a year if they had the same costs as other states. That’s actually where the tremendous amount of money is, because remember, we’re borrowing about a million dollars every 15 seconds. So, the scale is what’s just so hard to get your head around.” The committee also recommended a border adjustment tax policy, which would tax business income based on where products are sold rather than where they are produced. Under the proposal, export receipts would be excluded from the tax base and import deductions would be disallowed. The JEC estimated the policy could raise approximately $1.5 trillion over ten years. On immigration, the committee recommended shifting employment-based admissions toward higher-producing applicants through a points-based, industry-targeted framework. The letter states that an aging population and a shrinking pool of younger workers are reducing the labor force needed to grow the economy and service the debt. The JEC estimated that such a reform could produce a net fiscal benefit of $335 billion over ten years and $1.34 trillion over twenty years, assuming annual immigration remains at current levels. Schweikert has raised the alarm regarding demographic decline as a driver of fiscal collapse, citing three unassailable facts: “debt, deficits and demographics,” in March 2025. The letter also credited H.R. 1, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with pro-growth tax provisions. The JEC said policymakers should redirect their focus toward “transparently pro-growth reforms” and cited federal land sales, reforms of the Jones Act, and policy related to port automation as examples of areas that could support growth. Schweikert’s letter concluded that growth alone should not be counted on to resolve the federal government’s fiscal problems. “I have highlighted fiscal reforms that would bring us about 40 percent of the way to stability of the debt-to-GDP ratio,” Schweikert concluded in the letter. “While there is strong potential for increasing economic growth as a partial solution, we should not count on growth alone to address our fiscal problems.” Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com. The post Joint Economic Committee Warns Debt Stabilization Will Require Trillions In Fiscal Adjustments first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b741197238567836bad0 Joint Economic Committee Warns Debt Stabilization Will Require Trillions In Fiscal Adjustments te 2026-06-30T12:32:01.076Z Joint Economic Committee Warns Debt Stabilization Will Require Trillions In Fiscal Adjustments By Matthew Holloway | U.S. Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ01), chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), warned that the United States faces growing fiscal risk unless Congress acts sooner to stabilize the federal debt-to-GDP ratio. Schweikert sent the committee’s latest Views and Estimates letter to House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington in a letter earlier this month. “There is great uncertainty about when and how the debt will switch from sustainable, business as-usual, to an unsustainable, market-unraveling nightmare,” Schweikert wrote. “Every year we wait to change course increases leverage, and the higher the debt-to-GDP ratio the easier it is for bad headwinds—such as crisis spending or interest rate fragility—to lock us into a debt spiral. In short, allowing the debt burden to increase is a levered bet, and the downside risks are already enormous.” JEC Chairman @RepDavid sent @HouseBudgetGOP Chairman @RepArrington the latest Views & Estimates. “There is great uncertainty about when & how the debt will switch from sustainable, business as-usual, to an unsustainable, market-unraveling nightmare. https://t.co/pPMp4K17EP — Joint Economic Committee Republicans (@JECRepublicans) June 8, 2026 The committee’s Republican staff found that rising federal debt is structurally unsustainable and that stabilizing the debt-to-GDP ratio will require large early policy changes. The letter states that delaying action materially increases the risk of severe economic and financial consequences. According to the letter, federal debt has recently reached 100 percent of gross domestic product, meaning the federal debt is now roughly the size of the economy’s total annual output. The Congressional Budget Office projects debt held by the public will reach 118 percent of GDP by 2035, 142 percent by 2045, and 172 percent by 2055. Treasury projections cited in the letter are higher, estimating 129 percent by 2035, 183 percent by 2045, and 245 percent by 2055. The JEC letter describes the current debt path as a “levered bet on stability” that depends on avoiding major crises requiring substantial fiscal headroom and on future interest rates remaining favorable relative to economic growth. The letter warns that the damage to the nation’s fiscal position and status as a world power could be “catastrophic and irreversible” if those conditions deteriorate. The committee cited estimates from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget indicating that a fiscal adjustment of about $9.5 trillion over ten years would be needed to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio at about 100 percent. The JEC letter used a similar ballpark estimate of about $9.2 trillion to close the primary deficit over a ten-year window, while noting that the exact adjustment would depend on interest rates, economic growth, the timing of policy changes, and the path of the primary deficit. “In any case, these are magnitudes of adjustment virtually absent from current policy debates,” the letter states. The letter recommended reforms in Medicare, international taxation, and immigration that it estimated would produce about $3.6 trillion in deficit reduction over ten years, or roughly 40 percent of the adjustment identified as necessary to stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio. The largest proposed savings would come from Medicare Advantage reform. The letter states that Medicare Advantage now covers 55 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries and that flawed payment policies, excessive coding practices, insufficient enforcement, and federal inaction have driven up costs. According to the JEC, Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are now estimated to cost roughly 14 percent more than they would under traditional Medicare, amounting to an estimated $76 billion in excess federal spending in 2025. The letter cites H.R. 3467, the Better Medicare Act, as a proposal to realign Medicare Advantage incentives. The JEC estimated the legislation would reduce federal spending by approximately $1.8 trillion over ten years. In a Fox Business appearance posted to X by Schweikert’s office, Schweikert described what he called “institutional design fraud,” citing his team’s investigations into New York and California “where they’re exploiting part of the Medicaid system for billions and billions and billions of dollars.” Federal prosecutors say a $30 million Medicaid scheme meant for children’s mental health services helped pay for a fleet of luxury vehicles. That is bad actor fraud. But the real bleeding is coming from New York and California exploiting parts of Medicaid for billions and… pic.twitter.com/jFyGJr3JAC — Rep. David Schweikert (@RepDavid) June 5, 2026 “If New York actually had the same cost in their Medicaid system,” he continued, “it would be a $50 billion savings a year if they had the same costs as other states. That’s actually where the tremendous amount of money is, because remember, we’re borrowing about a million dollars every 15 seconds. So, the scale is what’s just so hard to get your head around.” The committee also recommended a border adjustment tax policy, which would tax business income based on where products are sold rather than where they are produced. Under the proposal, export receipts would be excluded from the tax base and import deductions would be disallowed. The JEC estimated the policy could raise approximately $1.5 trillion over ten years. On immigration, the committee recommended shifting employment-based admissions toward higher-producing applicants through a points-based, industry-targeted framework. The letter states that an aging population and a shrinking pool of younger workers are reducing the labor force needed to grow the economy and service the debt. The JEC estimated that such a reform could produce a net fiscal benefit of $335 billion over ten years and $1.34 trillion over twenty years, assuming annual immigration remains at current levels. Schweikert has raised the alarm regarding demographic decline as a driver of fiscal collapse, citing three unassailable facts: “debt, deficits and demographics,” in March 2025. The letter also credited H.R. 1, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with pro-growth tax provisions. The JEC said policymakers should redirect their focus toward “transparently pro-growth reforms” and cited federal land sales, reforms of the Jones Act, and policy related to port automation as examples of areas that could support growth. Schweikert’s letter concluded that growth alone should not be counted on to resolve the federal government’s fiscal problems. “I have highlighted fiscal reforms that would bring us about 40 percent of the way to stability of the debt-to-GDP ratio,” Schweikert concluded in the letter. “While there is strong potential for increasing economic growth as a partial solution, we should not count on growth alone to address our fiscal problems.” Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com. The post Joint Economic Committee Warns Debt Stabilization Will Require Trillions In Fiscal Adjustments first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b732197238567836bac7 Costanzo Highlights School Choice, Immigration Enforcement In AZ House Campaign te 2026-06-30T12:31:46.375Z Costanzo Highlights School Choice, Immigration Enforcement In AZ House Campaign By Staff Reporter | Andrew Costanzo, a Republican candidate for the 7th legislative district, still believes public education is key to Arizona’s future. But Costanzo says Arizona has serious need for reform — and that’s why public schools continue to decline.  Costanzo has proposed remedying low student proficiency rates by increasing school choice competition, mirroring Mississippi law, and implementing merit-based bonuses for educators.  He has also proposed growing the state’s universal school choice program by allowing property taxes to follow the child rather than according to the geographical predeterminations that fund school districts.  Costanzo is also very much against the proposed ballot initiative to end universal school choice. He said opportunity for educational freedom should be afforded to all, regardless of economic status. He also said educators would benefit from greater competition because they would be marketable on merit. “How will these children reach their full potential as adults if they can’t read? We’re causing them a lifetime of pain,” said Costanzo in an interview last month. “The schools need something that benefits all businesses, and that’s competition.”  Costanzo also proposed enacting legislation similar to Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act in Arizona, which policy experts have credited with a dramatic turnaround in student outcomes. The lifelong Republican, who operates a family business near Payson, views freedom as the result of individuals taking on personal responsibilities and risks. “Security, which is typically imagined, requires minimal personal responsibility and risk,” stated Costanzo’s website. “The alleged security is always provided at the loss of freedom.” Beyond those philosophical takes on political matters, Costanzo presented a platform heavy on reducing government regulations through serious bureaucratic downsizing and greater deference to local governments, while increasing election security measures, resisting increased gun restrictions and abortion freedoms, retaining protections for law enforcement, and rolling back renewable energies.  Costanzo said in an interview last month that the legislature must “economically strangle” cartels and further scrutinize state agencies to recover what he says are sizable amounts of taxpayer funds being lost.  “It is so evident that there is waste, fraud, and abuse [in Arizona],” said Costanzo.  Costanzo’s platform also addressed at length the ongoing consequences of mass illegal immigration. He described opposition to the present government handling of the illegal immigration crisis. According to Costanzo, the status quo victimizes both the illegal aliens and Americans. Illegal aliens face exploitation due to their vulnerable status as noncitizens, while Americans face the burdens of increased crime and strained public resources. “Illegal aliens are often exploited financially, physically, or sexually. These people become part of an underclass of humans, a new form of slavery,” said Costanzo. “Whomever the victim, law enforcement resources must be implemented, the legal system is burdened, and incarcerations are applied. All paid for by the American taxpayer. […] [And t]he children of illegal aliens only put more pressure on an already failing [public school] system. Children who do not speak English must receive additional attention and resources, depriving the same from American students.” Costanzo has been involved with the Arizona Republican Party, Gila County Republican Committee, Maricopa County Republican Committee, and Arizona Law Enforcement Emerald Society. He served as a precinct committeeman as well as a chairman, first vice chairman, and secretary for his legislative district.  This year marks Costanzo’s second time running for this office. He failed to secure the nomination in the 2024 Republican primary, which proved to be more crowded than this year’s primary: six candidates fought for two seats. The 7th legislative district has fewer contenders in the Republican primary this time around.  State Rep. Walt Blackman is running to retain his seat, the other vacated by the April resignation of former lawmaker David Marshall. Three candidates are fighting for that spot vacated by a would-be incumbent: Costanzo and fellow 2024 primary candidate, Barby Ingle, and former state representative David Cook. AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link. The post Costanzo Highlights School Choice, Immigration Enforcement In AZ House Campaign first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b72f197238567836babe Costanzo Highlights School Choice, Immigration Enforcement In AZ House Campaign te 2026-06-30T12:31:43.810Z Costanzo Highlights School Choice, Immigration Enforcement In AZ House Campaign By Staff Reporter | Andrew Costanzo, a Republican candidate for the 7th legislative district, still believes public education is key to Arizona’s future. But Costanzo says Arizona has serious need for reform — and that’s why public schools continue to decline.  Costanzo has proposed remedying low student proficiency rates by increasing school choice competition, mirroring Mississippi law, and implementing merit-based bonuses for educators.  He has also proposed growing the state’s universal school choice program by allowing property taxes to follow the child rather than according to the geographical predeterminations that fund school districts.  Costanzo is also very much against the proposed ballot initiative to end universal school choice. He said opportunity for educational freedom should be afforded to all, regardless of economic status. He also said educators would benefit from greater competition because they would be marketable on merit. “How will these children reach their full potential as adults if they can’t read? We’re causing them a lifetime of pain,” said Costanzo in an interview last month. “The schools need something that benefits all businesses, and that’s competition.”  Costanzo also proposed enacting legislation similar to Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act in Arizona, which policy experts have credited with a dramatic turnaround in student outcomes. The lifelong Republican, who operates a family business near Payson, views freedom as the result of individuals taking on personal responsibilities and risks. “Security, which is typically imagined, requires minimal personal responsibility and risk,” stated Costanzo’s website. “The alleged security is always provided at the loss of freedom.” Beyond those philosophical takes on political matters, Costanzo presented a platform heavy on reducing government regulations through serious bureaucratic downsizing and greater deference to local governments, while increasing election security measures, resisting increased gun restrictions and abortion freedoms, retaining protections for law enforcement, and rolling back renewable energies.  Costanzo said in an interview last month that the legislature must “economically strangle” cartels and further scrutinize state agencies to recover what he says are sizable amounts of taxpayer funds being lost.  “It is so evident that there is waste, fraud, and abuse [in Arizona],” said Costanzo.  Costanzo’s platform also addressed at length the ongoing consequences of mass illegal immigration. He described opposition to the present government handling of the illegal immigration crisis. According to Costanzo, the status quo victimizes both the illegal aliens and Americans. Illegal aliens face exploitation due to their vulnerable status as noncitizens, while Americans face the burdens of increased crime and strained public resources. “Illegal aliens are often exploited financially, physically, or sexually. These people become part of an underclass of humans, a new form of slavery,” said Costanzo. “Whomever the victim, law enforcement resources must be implemented, the legal system is burdened, and incarcerations are applied. All paid for by the American taxpayer. […] [And t]he children of illegal aliens only put more pressure on an already failing [public school] system. Children who do not speak English must receive additional attention and resources, depriving the same from American students.” Costanzo has been involved with the Arizona Republican Party, Gila County Republican Committee, Maricopa County Republican Committee, and Arizona Law Enforcement Emerald Society. He served as a precinct committeeman as well as a chairman, first vice chairman, and secretary for his legislative district.  This year marks Costanzo’s second time running for this office. He failed to secure the nomination in the 2024 Republican primary, which proved to be more crowded than this year’s primary: six candidates fought for two seats. The 7th legislative district has fewer contenders in the Republican primary this time around.  State Rep. Walt Blackman is running to retain his seat, the other vacated by the April resignation of former lawmaker David Marshall. Three candidates are fighting for that spot vacated by a would-be incumbent: Costanzo and fellow 2024 primary candidate, Barby Ingle, and former state representative David Cook. AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link. The post Costanzo Highlights School Choice, Immigration Enforcement In AZ House Campaign first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b72c197238567836bab5 Costanzo Highlights School Choice, Immigration Enforcement In AZ House Campaign te 2026-06-30T12:31:40.595Z Costanzo Highlights School Choice, Immigration Enforcement In AZ House Campaign By Staff Reporter | Andrew Costanzo, a Republican candidate for the 7th legislative district, still believes public education is key to Arizona’s future. But Costanzo says Arizona has serious need for reform — and that’s why public schools continue to decline.  Costanzo has proposed remedying low student proficiency rates by increasing school choice competition, mirroring Mississippi law, and implementing merit-based bonuses for educators.  He has also proposed growing the state’s universal school choice program by allowing property taxes to follow the child rather than according to the geographical predeterminations that fund school districts.  Costanzo is also very much against the proposed ballot initiative to end universal school choice. He said opportunity for educational freedom should be afforded to all, regardless of economic status. He also said educators would benefit from greater competition because they would be marketable on merit. “How will these children reach their full potential as adults if they can’t read? We’re causing them a lifetime of pain,” said Costanzo in an interview last month. “The schools need something that benefits all businesses, and that’s competition.”  Costanzo also proposed enacting legislation similar to Mississippi’s Literacy-Based Promotion Act in Arizona, which policy experts have credited with a dramatic turnaround in student outcomes. The lifelong Republican, who operates a family business near Payson, views freedom as the result of individuals taking on personal responsibilities and risks. “Security, which is typically imagined, requires minimal personal responsibility and risk,” stated Costanzo’s website. “The alleged security is always provided at the loss of freedom.” Beyond those philosophical takes on political matters, Costanzo presented a platform heavy on reducing government regulations through serious bureaucratic downsizing and greater deference to local governments, while increasing election security measures, resisting increased gun restrictions and abortion freedoms, retaining protections for law enforcement, and rolling back renewable energies.  Costanzo said in an interview last month that the legislature must “economically strangle” cartels and further scrutinize state agencies to recover what he says are sizable amounts of taxpayer funds being lost.  “It is so evident that there is waste, fraud, and abuse [in Arizona],” said Costanzo.  Costanzo’s platform also addressed at length the ongoing consequences of mass illegal immigration. He described opposition to the present government handling of the illegal immigration crisis. According to Costanzo, the status quo victimizes both the illegal aliens and Americans. Illegal aliens face exploitation due to their vulnerable status as noncitizens, while Americans face the burdens of increased crime and strained public resources. “Illegal aliens are often exploited financially, physically, or sexually. These people become part of an underclass of humans, a new form of slavery,” said Costanzo. “Whomever the victim, law enforcement resources must be implemented, the legal system is burdened, and incarcerations are applied. All paid for by the American taxpayer. […] [And t]he children of illegal aliens only put more pressure on an already failing [public school] system. Children who do not speak English must receive additional attention and resources, depriving the same from American students.” Costanzo has been involved with the Arizona Republican Party, Gila County Republican Committee, Maricopa County Republican Committee, and Arizona Law Enforcement Emerald Society. He served as a precinct committeeman as well as a chairman, first vice chairman, and secretary for his legislative district.  This year marks Costanzo’s second time running for this office. He failed to secure the nomination in the 2024 Republican primary, which proved to be more crowded than this year’s primary: six candidates fought for two seats. The 7th legislative district has fewer contenders in the Republican primary this time around.  State Rep. Walt Blackman is running to retain his seat, the other vacated by the April resignation of former lawmaker David Marshall. Three candidates are fighting for that spot vacated by a would-be incumbent: Costanzo and fellow 2024 primary candidate, Barby Ingle, and former state representative David Cook. AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link. The post Costanzo Highlights School Choice, Immigration Enforcement In AZ House Campaign first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b71e197238567836baac Hobbs Signs Bipartisan Public Safety Reform Package Into Law  te 2026-06-30T12:31:26.913Z Hobbs Signs Bipartisan Public Safety Reform Package Into Law  By Staff Reporter | A series of public safety reforms will go into effect after Gov. Katie Hobbs signed them into law over the past week.   State Sen. Kevin Payne (R-LD27), chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee, sponsored the bills. Payne’s press release announcing the reforms said the state’s approach to public safety should be proactive, not just reactive. “Public safety is about more than responding after a crime has occurred,” said Payne. “It’s about stopping criminal organizations before they victimize more people and making sure the men and women who protect our communities have the support they need to do their jobs.” The bills in this bipartisan public safety reform package — Senate Bills 1215, 1400, 1452, and 1493 — represent changes to cargo theft investigations and prosecutions, wellness and crisis response for first responder employees, and workers’ compensation claims for cancer-stricken firefighters. SB 1215 represented a fix to something Payne called a “drafting error” in the state’s presumptive cancer law which enabled challenges to workers’ compensation claims filed by first responders diagnosed with certain cancers contracted while in the line of duty.  Workers’ compensation providers have reportedly denied claims based on what critics of the original legislation called a “punctuation problem” with missing commas that created ambiguous meaning and purportedly allowed providers to reject certain claims.  These latest legislative fixes are retroactive to July 1, 2021. “Firefighters put their lives on the line for complete strangers every day,” said Payne. “When they develop cancer linked to years of service, they shouldn’t have to fight insurance companies over a misplaced comma in state law.” SB 1400 permits first responder entities to establish wellness and crisis response programs for those employees exposed to traumatic events in the line of duty. Programs would offer employees access to certain resources including counseling, peer support, and crisis intervention services. Part of that legislation, Payne noted, created confidentiality protections for participating employees’ communications. “Our firefighters, police officers, dispatchers, and public safety professionals witness things most people will never experience,” said Payne. “Too often, the culture of these professions tells them to carry those burdens alone.” SB 1452 creates the Cargo Theft Task Force under the attorney general, dedicated specifically to investigating and prosecuting organized cargo theft operations: the theft, diversion, embezzlement, unlawful taking, or fraudulent acquisition of cargo or freight.  The bill requires the attorney general to invite federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to participate in the task force.  Task force membership will include one full-time prosecutor, one full-time paralegal, one full-time support staff member, six investigators, and any additional law enforcement personnel designated by the attorney general.  In addition to their investigatory duties, the task force will be required to meet regularly to review investigations and intelligence and share case updates, and to coordinate with local, state, or federal law enforcement on case referrals and the latest developments in the illicit cargo theft industry.  The attorney general will be required to submit an annual report on the task force’s activities, intelligence gathered, and any recommendations for legislative or policy action.  “Organized cargo theft has become a sophisticated criminal enterprise that impacts far more than warehouses and trucking companies,” said Payne. When criminals steal products moving through the supply chain, Arizona families ultimately pay the price at the checkout counter.” SB1493 would require employers of wrongfully terminated law enforcement officers to cover any appeal costs and fees.  “When an officer is wrongly terminated and later proven right, justice shouldn’t stop at reinstatement,” said Payne. “No one should have to drain their savings or jeopardize their family’s financial future simply to clear their name.” AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link. The post Hobbs Signs Bipartisan Public Safety Reform Package Into Law  first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b718197238567836ba9f Hobbs Signs Bipartisan Public Safety Reform Package Into Law  te 2026-06-30T12:31:20.116Z Hobbs Signs Bipartisan Public Safety Reform Package Into Law  By Staff Reporter | A series of public safety reforms will go into effect after Gov. Katie Hobbs signed them into law over the past week.   State Sen. Kevin Payne (R-LD27), chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee, sponsored the bills. Payne’s press release announcing the reforms said the state’s approach to public safety should be proactive, not just reactive. “Public safety is about more than responding after a crime has occurred,” said Payne. “It’s about stopping criminal organizations before they victimize more people and making sure the men and women who protect our communities have the support they need to do their jobs.” The bills in this bipartisan public safety reform package — Senate Bills 1215, 1400, 1452, and 1493 — represent changes to cargo theft investigations and prosecutions, wellness and crisis response for first responder employees, and workers’ compensation claims for cancer-stricken firefighters. SB 1215 represented a fix to something Payne called a “drafting error” in the state’s presumptive cancer law which enabled challenges to workers’ compensation claims filed by first responders diagnosed with certain cancers contracted while in the line of duty.  Workers’ compensation providers have reportedly denied claims based on what critics of the original legislation called a “punctuation problem” with missing commas that created ambiguous meaning and purportedly allowed providers to reject certain claims.  These latest legislative fixes are retroactive to July 1, 2021. “Firefighters put their lives on the line for complete strangers every day,” said Payne. “When they develop cancer linked to years of service, they shouldn’t have to fight insurance companies over a misplaced comma in state law.” SB 1400 permits first responder entities to establish wellness and crisis response programs for those employees exposed to traumatic events in the line of duty. Programs would offer employees access to certain resources including counseling, peer support, and crisis intervention services. Part of that legislation, Payne noted, created confidentiality protections for participating employees’ communications. “Our firefighters, police officers, dispatchers, and public safety professionals witness things most people will never experience,” said Payne. “Too often, the culture of these professions tells them to carry those burdens alone.” SB 1452 creates the Cargo Theft Task Force under the attorney general, dedicated specifically to investigating and prosecuting organized cargo theft operations: the theft, diversion, embezzlement, unlawful taking, or fraudulent acquisition of cargo or freight.  The bill requires the attorney general to invite federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to participate in the task force.  Task force membership will include one full-time prosecutor, one full-time paralegal, one full-time support staff member, six investigators, and any additional law enforcement personnel designated by the attorney general.  In addition to their investigatory duties, the task force will be required to meet regularly to review investigations and intelligence and share case updates, and to coordinate with local, state, or federal law enforcement on case referrals and the latest developments in the illicit cargo theft industry.  The attorney general will be required to submit an annual report on the task force’s activities, intelligence gathered, and any recommendations for legislative or policy action.  “Organized cargo theft has become a sophisticated criminal enterprise that impacts far more than warehouses and trucking companies,” said Payne. When criminals steal products moving through the supply chain, Arizona families ultimately pay the price at the checkout counter.” SB1493 would require employers of wrongfully terminated law enforcement officers to cover any appeal costs and fees.  “When an officer is wrongly terminated and later proven right, justice shouldn’t stop at reinstatement,” said Payne. “No one should have to drain their savings or jeopardize their family’s financial future simply to clear their name.” AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link. The post Hobbs Signs Bipartisan Public Safety Reform Package Into Law  first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b704197238567836ba75 Stephen A. Smith warns Democrats embracing socialism is 'handing the presidency to the GOP' te 2026-06-30T12:31:00.854Z Stephen A. Smith warns Democrats embracing socialism is 'handing the presidency to the GOP' Stephen A. Smith emphasized how socialism could threaten the Democratic Party's presidential goals for 2028 if it embraces democratic socialist candidates like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. During his "Straight Shooter" show on Monday, Smith reacted to Mamdani's claims on ABC News that a democratic socialist "can get elected anywhere across this country for any position." Though Smith agreed with Mamdani on concerns about the wealth gap and the working class, he bristled at the idea of the Democratic Party pushing socialism. AOC ISSUES WARNING TO HER FELLOW DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS IN THE WAKE OF SOCIALISTS WINNING BIG IN NYC "I am not a socialist, nor do I aspire to see socialism in the United States of America," Smith said. "I don't know anywhere in the world where true socialism has worked. I don't see it. I don't know where communism has worked." Smith added that Mamdani's socialist policies are unlikely to appeal to many voters outside New York City and could risk damaging the Democratic Party's broader reach. "If he's coming, what does that mean for the rest of America? Because I got questions. Where has socialism ever succeeded? If so, tell us where that is. How is it going to succeed in New York? How are you going to sell that in a capitalistic society? You might do it in New York with young voters. What about the people in the suburbs? What about them? You really, really think this kind of message is going to resonate with them?" Smith asked. STEPHEN A SMITH QUESTIONS WEALTH OF BILL CLINTON AND BARACK OBAMA, SAYS AMERICANS SHOULD PROSPER FIRST He continued, "If it resonates within the Democratic Party, but it doesn't have a snowball's chance of resonating in a general election, then you're basically handing the presidency to the GOP as well. That's what you're doing because the party, the Democratic Party, will have been perceived as being fragmented. That's what I'm seeing when I see Zohran Mamdani. That's what I'm looking at, and that's what I see when I see his ascension taking fold before our very eyes." At the end of his show, Smith revealed that Mamdani "was supposed to be coming on" the show but has yet to appear to discuss the issues. Despite his concerns, Smith acknowledged that it was important to pay attention to Mamdani's rise in popularity. BILL MAHER TEARS INTO SOCIALISM AND BEGS DEMOCRATS TO EMBRACE MODERATE CANDIDATES "That wealth gap is real, y'all. It's very, very real. There are two Americas in this country, no matter what way we slice it. The haves and the have-nots. And there's a lot more have-nots than haves, which is why Zohran Mamdani is relevant, if not more so. So think about that," Smith said. Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani's office and the Democratic Socialists of America for comment. Mamdani's original comments came after Mamdani-backed candidates Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier won Democratic congressional primaries in New York, with Lander and Chevalier defeating incumbent Democrats. Other socialist candidates have also launched primary campaigns throughout the country. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b6f4197238567836ba69 Blue states file lawsuit over ‘narrow’ Medicaid work requirement exemption te 2026-06-30T12:30:44.418Z Blue states file lawsuit over ‘narrow’ Medicaid work requirement exemption Key Points: Coalition of 24 attorneys general sues Trump administration Lawsuit challenges federal rule limiting Medicaid work exemptions The lawsuit seeks to block the rule and ultimately have it struck down A coalition of 24 attorneys general, including Attorney General Kris Mayes, and two governors sued the Trump administration on Monday to block a federal rule limiting exemptions to a new federal Medicaid work requirement.  The directive issued in June would “dramatically narrow” exclusions for medically vulnerable people under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and sow “harm and chaos” in the states by forcing them to scuttle expensive and complex plans they had spent months devising based on regular communication with federal officials, the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts alleges.  “States had already made substantial investments relying on the plain language of the law and CMS’s prior guidance and now face the risk of harsh financial penalties for noncompliance with the Medicaid work requirements interim final rule,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement.  “The interim final rule creates administrative burdens and unnecessary red tape that put eligible people at risk of losing their health coverage — including those who are already working or qualify for an exemption.” State officials have received regular presentations and guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services throughout the year outlining how they would be expected to implement the new work requirements established by Congress in the Big Beautiful Bill, the lawsuit alleges. The official directive took them by surprise with an additional hurdle that was not in the statutory language. While the Big Beautiful Bill mandated that most adults enrolled in Medicaid work or participate in qualifying activities for at least 80 hours a month, CMS adopted a restrictive definition of who could claim an exemption because of “medical frailty.” Read More: Guidance stirs fear of larger health insurance losses The new rule would require enrollees to prove that their medical condition prevents them from working. That test was not included in the Big Beautiful Bill. “People with serious illnesses or disabilities already face major challenges in their daily lives — they shouldn’t also have to worry about losing their healthcare because of work requirements or related barriers,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “That was Congress’s will, and it must be respected.” The work requirement begins on Jan. 1, 2027, but states are required to begin notifying beneficiaries by Aug. 31. The short runway doesn’t provide enough time for states to request changes through the federal rulemaking process, the lawsuit alleges. It asks for the rule to be blocked and ultimately struck down.  Bonta, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport are co-leading the lawsuit. They are joined by Weiser and the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The post Blue states file lawsuit over ‘narrow’ Medicaid work requirement exemption first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b6f1197238567836ba60 Reds' Dane Myers carted off field after crashing into wall making acrobatic catch vs Brewers te 2026-06-30T12:30:41.346Z Reds' Dane Myers carted off field after crashing into wall making acrobatic catch vs Brewers Cincinnati Reds center fielder Dane Myers needed to be carted off the field after a play that could be a candidate for "Catch of the Year" turned scary after he crashed into the fence in Milwaukee on Monday night. Milwaukee Brewers veteran Andrew Vaughn smashed a ball to center field in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Myers got a great jump as he started to track the ball. As he sprinted toward the gap, Myers reached up and made an acrobatic catch, but he lost his balance and was too close to the wall when he collided with the fence at top speed. It was a miracle he even held on to the ball considering the collision, but it clearly took a toll. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Myers, writhing in pain on the warning track, was bent over when his fellow outfielders came over to tend to him, while Reds training staff started the sprint out onto the field. Myers was holding his right shoulder, though his collision was head-on with the fence. Trainers looked at Myers for some time, as the crowd was hushed in hopes he would walk away from this somehow. REDS ROOKIE TYLER CALLIHAN BREAKS ARM CRASHING INTO WALL WHILE TRYING TO MAKE DIVING CATCH Eventually, a cart came out and Myers rose to his feet with some assistance as the crowd gave him a round of applause for sacrificing his body for his team. TJ Friedl ended up taking his spot in center field. Myers was taken to a local hospital in Milwaukee for further testing, and it was a good sign that initial X-rays came back negative, according to manager Terry Francona following the Reds' 5-3 loss to the Brewers. Francona wouldn't go into specifics on what ailment Myers may be dealing with. Myers, a 30-year-old Columbus, Texas, native, is in his first season with the Reds, where he serves as a bench outfielder. He has played in 63 games this season, owning a .256/.358/.385 slash line with a .742 OPS, three homers and 14 RBI across 117 at-bats. Prior to his time in Cincinnati, Myers made his big league debut with the Miami Marlins in 2023, playing 22 games that year and hitting .269 over 67 at-bats. He spent the next two seasons with the Marlins, though his longest tenure in MLB came in 2025 when he played 106 games and hit .235/.291/.326 with six home runs and 31 RBI with Miami. Unfortunately for the Reds, they were unable to get the win for Myers in the end. Joey Ortiz's two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning broke the 3-3 tie at the time in this NL Central bout, which capped a comeback that also saw Brice Turang, who starred for Team USA during the World Baseball Classic, smash a solo home run to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. The Reds were up 1-0 at the time of Myers' injury. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b6ed197238567836ba57 Blue states file lawsuit over ‘narrow’ Medicaid work requirement exemption te 2026-06-30T12:30:37.106Z Blue states file lawsuit over ‘narrow’ Medicaid work requirement exemption Key Points: Coalition of 24 attorneys general sues Trump administration Lawsuit challenges federal rule limiting Medicaid work exemptions The lawsuit seeks to block the rule and ultimately have it struck down A coalition of 24 attorneys general, including Attorney General Kris Mayes, and two governors sued the Trump administration on Monday to block a federal rule limiting exemptions to a new federal Medicaid work requirement.  The directive issued in June would “dramatically narrow” exclusions for medically vulnerable people under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and sow “harm and chaos” in the states by forcing them to scuttle expensive and complex plans they had spent months devising based on regular communication with federal officials, the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts alleges.  “States had already made substantial investments relying on the plain language of the law and CMS’s prior guidance and now face the risk of harsh financial penalties for noncompliance with the Medicaid work requirements interim final rule,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement.  “The interim final rule creates administrative burdens and unnecessary red tape that put eligible people at risk of losing their health coverage — including those who are already working or qualify for an exemption.” State officials have received regular presentations and guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services throughout the year outlining how they would be expected to implement the new work requirements established by Congress in the Big Beautiful Bill, the lawsuit alleges. The official directive took them by surprise with an additional hurdle that was not in the statutory language. While the Big Beautiful Bill mandated that most adults enrolled in Medicaid work or participate in qualifying activities for at least 80 hours a month, CMS adopted a restrictive definition of who could claim an exemption because of “medical frailty.” Read More: Guidance stirs fear of larger health insurance losses The new rule would require enrollees to prove that their medical condition prevents them from working. That test was not included in the Big Beautiful Bill. “People with serious illnesses or disabilities already face major challenges in their daily lives — they shouldn’t also have to worry about losing their healthcare because of work requirements or related barriers,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “That was Congress’s will, and it must be respected.” The work requirement begins on Jan. 1, 2027, but states are required to begin notifying beneficiaries by Aug. 31. The short runway doesn’t provide enough time for states to request changes through the federal rulemaking process, the lawsuit alleges. It asks for the rule to be blocked and ultimately struck down.  Bonta, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport are co-leading the lawsuit. They are joined by Weiser and the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The post Blue states file lawsuit over ‘narrow’ Medicaid work requirement exemption first appeared on Arizona Capitol Times. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b6e0197238567836ba4d Trump’s sharpened focus on investigating elections raises fears of midterm meddling te 2026-06-30T12:30:24.963Z Trump’s sharpened focus on investigating elections raises fears of midterm meddling As President Donald Trump's administration pursues multiple election probes in advance of the midterm elections, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents carried out a raid on Jan. 28, 2026, at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Union City, Georgia. (Photo by Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder) President Donald Trump was speaking to supporters at a Pennsylvania rally June 23 when he made an extraordinary admission about an election a continent away. Trump and his allies had spent several days in June savaging California over its slow vote counting and baselessly alleging its contests were fraudulent. But now the president divulged that his actions went beyond just public criticism. “I called up the very powerful, very good U.S. attorney in California and I said, ‘Do me a favor, take a look, they’re trying to steal that election, too,’” Trump recounted.  Over the past six months, the Trump administration has focused the power of federal law enforcement — and even a top U.S. intelligence official  — on elections and discredited grievances over the president’s 2020 loss.  In January, the FBI raided an elections facility in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing hundreds of boxes of 2020 ballots. FBI agents are probing the 2020 election in Milwaukee and subpoenas have gone out to officials in Arizona. The Department of Justice demanded to see Detroit-area ballots and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed it took voting machines from Puerto Rico. The FBI searched the offices of an Ohio voting rights group in June. Democrats, election experts, former federal prosecutors and others say the administration’s actions raise deep concerns about whether the White House will use groundless investigations to disrupt the November midterm elections. They say Trump’s recent acknowledgment that he personally directed a federal prosecutor to examine voting in California only underscores their fears. “The notion that a president or anybody in the White House calls up the U.S. attorney’s office, certainly on our end, would have been considered, I think, completely inappropriate,” said Stephen McAllister, who served as the U.S. attorney in Kansas during the first Trump administration. Shattering a norm After Watergate, the Department of Justice built a reputation for independence from the White House. While presidents nominated DOJ leaders and set broad priorities for the department, they were expected to steer clear of specific investigations. The norm was tested during the first Trump term but didn’t entirely break.  By contrast, the second term has shattered it, creating a clear path for the president to act on his false claims of stolen elections, according to individuals who have worked in the Justice Department and critics of the Trump administration. Growing evidence, they say, points to Trump personally intervening in federal law enforcement action on elections — or top officials getting the message and acting accordingly. “I think the focus and the direction is whatever the president wants, and I think this is wrong,” McAllister, now a law professor at the University of Kansas, said of the current Justice Department.  “The DOJ, especially post-Watergate, there were a lot of things done to try to strengthen it as an institution that could stand up and protect, defend the rule of law,” he said. “And this administration has torn so much of it down.” The California election shows how quickly the Justice Department can take action after Trump makes his views known. California’s primary election was Tuesday, June 2, but election officials are allowed to take roughly a month to complete vote counting. The lengthy process is a product of the state’s large population, as well as its reliance on voting by mail.  While politicians, including Democrats, have called on the state to speed up its count, the sometimes plodding process isn’t evidence of fraud. Late the night after the primary, Trump posted on Truth Social that Democrats were trying to steal the election. “Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS,” he wrote. It isn’t clear which U.S. attorney received the call from Trump or when exactly he placed the call or if it actually occurred. California is divided into multiple federal judicial districts, each with their own top federal prosecutor.  Asked about the call, the White House referred States Newsroom to Trump’s comments and the Justice Department, which didn’t respond to questions. By the Friday morning after the election, First Assistant U.S Attorney Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, announced that his office had multiple election fraud investigations underway with the FBI. He also dispatched a prosecutor to observe vote counting. In the days that followed, Essayli gave several interviews with conservative media, including an appearance on commentator Glenn Beck’s show where he predicted criminal cases. “I expect people will be charged,” he said. After Trump’s comments in Pennsylvania, the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who frequently clashes with Trump, posted on social media that Trump had “just admitted it.” “The President of the United States is personally directing federal prosecutors to start investigations into his political opponents when his preferred candidate may lose the election,” the post said. DOJ pursuing 30 lawsuits on voter rolls Ahead of the midterms, Trump and other administration officials have shown a high level of interest in how elections are administered.  Last week, the president refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill to pressure the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act, which would implement a nationwide requirement that voters show documents proving their citizenship. In March, he signed an executive order attempting to restrict voting by mail, which a federal judge blocked last week. The Justice Department has filed 30 lawsuits against states that have refused to turn over their unredacted voter rolls, which include sensitive personal information like driver’s license and Social Security numbers.  The Department of Homeland Security also overhauled a powerful computer program into a system that can search voter rolls for possible noncitizen voters (a judge recently halted use of the reconfigured system). “President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement when asked about Trump’s approach to election-related investigations. Jackson named several federal laws — including the Civil Rights Act, National Voting Rights Act and Help America Vote Act — that she said give the Justice Department “full authority to ensure states comply with federal election laws, which mandate accurate state voter rolls.” “This campaign pledge from the President is why millions of Americans sent him back to the White House,” Jackson said, noting Trump’s support of the SAVE America Act. Within the Justice Department, criminal investigations involving elections have traditionally been treated with particular sensitivity, McAllister said.  Anything touching on elections needed to be coordinated with the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., he said, adding that there was a lot of centralized control to prevent U.S. attorneys “from just poking around where they shouldn’t be.” The Justice Department has previously published a manual on prosecuting election crimes on its website, but at some point it was removed without explanation. In June, a group of Democratic senators voiced concern its disappearance could presage attempts to interfere in the midterms. They noted that during Trump’s first term the manual was accompanied by a memo outlining the DOJ’s election non-interference policy. Robert Weiner, who served in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division during the Biden administration, said the government used to enjoy what the legal community calls the presumption of regularity — the belief among judges that it was acting lawfully. He said courts should not extend that presumption now. Trump may be trying to impair the ability of local election officials to conduct fair elections and “generally create chaos” that could serve as an excuse to seize voting machines and not accept legitimate election results, Weiner said. “I am very worried,” said Weiner, who is now the director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, an advocacy group. “I think we have to act on the assumption that bad things are going to happen. That’s not saying that they will. We have to be prepared and able to counter.” US Senate Dems form task force Some Democratic states — including California, Colorado, Connecticut and others — have passed new limits on federal election interference. At the federal level, Senate Democrats have formed an election protection task force and announced plans to train their staff members as election observers. “The president of the United States is clearly laying the groundwork to try to interfere with the midterms and try to undermine confidence in any election results that he is not happy about,” Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, told reporters. Voting rights advocates fear the FBI’s raid on a Fulton County election facility in January offered a window into what it might look like for federal law enforcement to seize ballots after the November election. While Trump has long promoted false allegations about voter fraud in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, the raid shocked election experts in part because the FBI obtained a search warrant, meaning a federal judge found probable cause to believe evidence of federal crimes would be found at the election facility. Fulton County officials vocally condemned the raid and successfully sued to unseal the affidavit used to support the warrant. The 19-page document included previously investigated claims about the 2020 elections and revealed the investigation originated from a referral by Kurt Olsen, an election denier who Trump last fall made a special government employee to look into the 2020 election.  Trump appears to have taken a personal interest in the Fulton County raid. Tulsi Gabbard, then the director of national intelligence, was photographed at the scene and later told Congress she was present at Trump’s request. The New York Times reported that she put the president on the phone with FBI agents the next day. Gabbard left her role in June, but Trump has indicated he wants the new acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, to also look into elections. The director of intelligence, a Cabinet-level position established in the wake of 9/11, is supposed to help lead the U.S. intelligence community and has no formal role in elections. Pulte, who has no previous intelligence experience and previously led the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is known for antagonizing the president’s perceived opponents, including the former Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James. “He may find out some things about the rigged elections,” Trump told reporters in early June. Marisa Pyle, senior democracy defense manager at All Voting is Local Georgia, praised Fulton County officials for aggressively pushing back against the raid.  She said that while she is concerned the search could create a chilling effect among voters and election workers, she has been heartened that it had also motivated some people to sign up to work the polls. While no one has a crystal ball, Pyle said, she expressed hope that Fulton County’s rejection of federal interference will minimize future attempts. “I think that’s optimistic,” Pyle said. “I think we prepare as best as we can and we just have to be ready to defend the results.” Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b6d9197238567836ba41 Trump’s sharpened focus on investigating elections raises fears of midterm meddling te 2026-06-30T12:30:17.141Z Trump’s sharpened focus on investigating elections raises fears of midterm meddling As President Donald Trump's administration pursues multiple election probes in advance of the midterm elections, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents carried out a raid on Jan. 28, 2026, at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Union City, Georgia. (Photo by Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder) President Donald Trump was speaking to supporters at a Pennsylvania rally June 23 when he made an extraordinary admission about an election a continent away. Trump and his allies had spent several days in June savaging California over its slow vote counting and baselessly alleging its contests were fraudulent. But now the president divulged that his actions went beyond just public criticism. “I called up the very powerful, very good U.S. attorney in California and I said, ‘Do me a favor, take a look, they’re trying to steal that election, too,’” Trump recounted.  Over the past six months, the Trump administration has focused the power of federal law enforcement — and even a top U.S. intelligence official  — on elections and discredited grievances over the president’s 2020 loss.  In January, the FBI raided an elections facility in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing hundreds of boxes of 2020 ballots. FBI agents are probing the 2020 election in Milwaukee and subpoenas have gone out to officials in Arizona. The Department of Justice demanded to see Detroit-area ballots and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed it took voting machines from Puerto Rico. The FBI searched the offices of an Ohio voting rights group in June. Democrats, election experts, former federal prosecutors and others say the administration’s actions raise deep concerns about whether the White House will use groundless investigations to disrupt the November midterm elections. They say Trump’s recent acknowledgment that he personally directed a federal prosecutor to examine voting in California only underscores their fears. “The notion that a president or anybody in the White House calls up the U.S. attorney’s office, certainly on our end, would have been considered, I think, completely inappropriate,” said Stephen McAllister, who served as the U.S. attorney in Kansas during the first Trump administration. Shattering a norm After Watergate, the Department of Justice built a reputation for independence from the White House. While presidents nominated DOJ leaders and set broad priorities for the department, they were expected to steer clear of specific investigations. The norm was tested during the first Trump term but didn’t entirely break.  By contrast, the second term has shattered it, creating a clear path for the president to act on his false claims of stolen elections, according to individuals who have worked in the Justice Department and critics of the Trump administration. Growing evidence, they say, points to Trump personally intervening in federal law enforcement action on elections — or top officials getting the message and acting accordingly. “I think the focus and the direction is whatever the president wants, and I think this is wrong,” McAllister, now a law professor at the University of Kansas, said of the current Justice Department.  “The DOJ, especially post-Watergate, there were a lot of things done to try to strengthen it as an institution that could stand up and protect, defend the rule of law,” he said. “And this administration has torn so much of it down.” The California election shows how quickly the Justice Department can take action after Trump makes his views known. California’s primary election was Tuesday, June 2, but election officials are allowed to take roughly a month to complete vote counting. The lengthy process is a product of the state’s large population, as well as its reliance on voting by mail.  While politicians, including Democrats, have called on the state to speed up its count, the sometimes plodding process isn’t evidence of fraud. Late the night after the primary, Trump posted on Truth Social that Democrats were trying to steal the election. “Here we go with the very late and massive numbers of MAIL IN BALLOTS,” he wrote. It isn’t clear which U.S. attorney received the call from Trump or when exactly he placed the call or if it actually occurred. California is divided into multiple federal judicial districts, each with their own top federal prosecutor.  Asked about the call, the White House referred States Newsroom to Trump’s comments and the Justice Department, which didn’t respond to questions. By the Friday morning after the election, First Assistant U.S Attorney Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, announced that his office had multiple election fraud investigations underway with the FBI. He also dispatched a prosecutor to observe vote counting. In the days that followed, Essayli gave several interviews with conservative media, including an appearance on commentator Glenn Beck’s show where he predicted criminal cases. “I expect people will be charged,” he said. After Trump’s comments in Pennsylvania, the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who frequently clashes with Trump, posted on social media that Trump had “just admitted it.” “The President of the United States is personally directing federal prosecutors to start investigations into his political opponents when his preferred candidate may lose the election,” the post said. DOJ pursuing 30 lawsuits on voter rolls Ahead of the midterms, Trump and other administration officials have shown a high level of interest in how elections are administered.  Last week, the president refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill to pressure the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act, which would implement a nationwide requirement that voters show documents proving their citizenship. In March, he signed an executive order attempting to restrict voting by mail, which a federal judge blocked last week. The Justice Department has filed 30 lawsuits against states that have refused to turn over their unredacted voter rolls, which include sensitive personal information like driver’s license and Social Security numbers.  The Department of Homeland Security also overhauled a powerful computer program into a system that can search voter rolls for possible noncitizen voters (a judge recently halted use of the reconfigured system). “President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement when asked about Trump’s approach to election-related investigations. Jackson named several federal laws — including the Civil Rights Act, National Voting Rights Act and Help America Vote Act — that she said give the Justice Department “full authority to ensure states comply with federal election laws, which mandate accurate state voter rolls.” “This campaign pledge from the President is why millions of Americans sent him back to the White House,” Jackson said, noting Trump’s support of the SAVE America Act. Within the Justice Department, criminal investigations involving elections have traditionally been treated with particular sensitivity, McAllister said.  Anything touching on elections needed to be coordinated with the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., he said, adding that there was a lot of centralized control to prevent U.S. attorneys “from just poking around where they shouldn’t be.” The Justice Department has previously published a manual on prosecuting election crimes on its website, but at some point it was removed without explanation. In June, a group of Democratic senators voiced concern its disappearance could presage attempts to interfere in the midterms. They noted that during Trump’s first term the manual was accompanied by a memo outlining the DOJ’s election non-interference policy. Robert Weiner, who served in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division during the Biden administration, said the government used to enjoy what the legal community calls the presumption of regularity — the belief among judges that it was acting lawfully. He said courts should not extend that presumption now. Trump may be trying to impair the ability of local election officials to conduct fair elections and “generally create chaos” that could serve as an excuse to seize voting machines and not accept legitimate election results, Weiner said. “I am very worried,” said Weiner, who is now the director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, an advocacy group. “I think we have to act on the assumption that bad things are going to happen. That’s not saying that they will. We have to be prepared and able to counter.” US Senate Dems form task force Some Democratic states — including California, Colorado, Connecticut and others — have passed new limits on federal election interference. At the federal level, Senate Democrats have formed an election protection task force and announced plans to train their staff members as election observers. “The president of the United States is clearly laying the groundwork to try to interfere with the midterms and try to undermine confidence in any election results that he is not happy about,” Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, told reporters. Voting rights advocates fear the FBI’s raid on a Fulton County election facility in January offered a window into what it might look like for federal law enforcement to seize ballots after the November election. While Trump has long promoted false allegations about voter fraud in Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, the raid shocked election experts in part because the FBI obtained a search warrant, meaning a federal judge found probable cause to believe evidence of federal crimes would be found at the election facility. Fulton County officials vocally condemned the raid and successfully sued to unseal the affidavit used to support the warrant. The 19-page document included previously investigated claims about the 2020 elections and revealed the investigation originated from a referral by Kurt Olsen, an election denier who Trump last fall made a special government employee to look into the 2020 election.  Trump appears to have taken a personal interest in the Fulton County raid. Tulsi Gabbard, then the director of national intelligence, was photographed at the scene and later told Congress she was present at Trump’s request. The New York Times reported that she put the president on the phone with FBI agents the next day. Gabbard left her role in June, but Trump has indicated he wants the new acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte, to also look into elections. The director of intelligence, a Cabinet-level position established in the wake of 9/11, is supposed to help lead the U.S. intelligence community and has no formal role in elections. Pulte, who has no previous intelligence experience and previously led the Federal Housing Finance Agency, is known for antagonizing the president’s perceived opponents, including the former Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James. “He may find out some things about the rigged elections,” Trump told reporters in early June. Marisa Pyle, senior democracy defense manager at All Voting is Local Georgia, praised Fulton County officials for aggressively pushing back against the raid.  She said that while she is concerned the search could create a chilling effect among voters and election workers, she has been heartened that it had also motivated some people to sign up to work the polls. While no one has a crystal ball, Pyle said, she expressed hope that Fulton County’s rejection of federal interference will minimize future attempts. “I think that’s optimistic,” Pyle said. “I think we prepare as best as we can and we just have to be ready to defend the results.” Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b6cd197238567836ba38 US Senate Ethics Committee dismisses complaint against Gallego te 2026-06-30T12:30:05.505Z US Senate Ethics Committee dismisses complaint against Gallego Ruben Gallego in August 2024. (Photo by Gage Skidmore | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Ethics Committee has dismissed a complaint against Sen. Ruben Gallego, writing in a letter it found no evidence the Arizona Democrat violated the chamber’s rules or federal law. Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna filed a complaint to the six-member committee earlier this year, claiming the senator had violated campaign finance laws and engaged in what the letter described as “inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature.” Gallego wrote in a social media post Monday the “dismissal by the Ethics Committee reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies.”  “I look forward to an apology from Rep. Luna for weaponizing the ethics process while refusing to investigate historic corruption that’s making life harder for families,” Gallego added. Luna wrote in a social media post in response to Gallego’s post that she doesn’t believe the complaints are “conspiracy theories.” “The good news about DC is everyone talks, and eventually the reporters come forward with your texts,” she wrote. “Do yourself a favor and keep raising for your legal defense fund. Once a creep always a creep, and you’re gonna need it.” The Ethics Committee wrote in the letter dated June 26 that it “retains the authority to revisit this matter should additional facts become known to the Committee.” Ethics Committee Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla., ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., Idaho Republican Sen. James Risch, Hawaii Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer and New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, signed the letter.  Luna made the allegations against Gallego in April just after California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell and Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations.  She wrote in a social media post addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune on April 15 that it “seems like the Senate has its own trash to take out. @LeaderJohnThune You need to look into the allegations against one of your Senators, it’s very disturbing. My chief will be contacting your chief.” Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b6c5197238567836ba06 US Senate Ethics Committee dismisses complaint against Gallego te 2026-06-30T12:29:57.683Z US Senate Ethics Committee dismisses complaint against Gallego Ruben Gallego in August 2024. (Photo by Gage Skidmore | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Ethics Committee has dismissed a complaint against Sen. Ruben Gallego, writing in a letter it found no evidence the Arizona Democrat violated the chamber’s rules or federal law. Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna filed a complaint to the six-member committee earlier this year, claiming the senator had violated campaign finance laws and engaged in what the letter described as “inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature.” Gallego wrote in a social media post Monday the “dismissal by the Ethics Committee reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House, and their allies.”  “I look forward to an apology from Rep. Luna for weaponizing the ethics process while refusing to investigate historic corruption that’s making life harder for families,” Gallego added. Luna wrote in a social media post in response to Gallego’s post that she doesn’t believe the complaints are “conspiracy theories.” “The good news about DC is everyone talks, and eventually the reporters come forward with your texts,” she wrote. “Do yourself a favor and keep raising for your legal defense fund. Once a creep always a creep, and you’re gonna need it.” The Ethics Committee wrote in the letter dated June 26 that it “retains the authority to revisit this matter should additional facts become known to the Committee.” Ethics Committee Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla., ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., Idaho Republican Sen. James Risch, Hawaii Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer and New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, signed the letter.  Luna made the allegations against Gallego in April just after California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell and Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations.  She wrote in a social media post addressed to Senate Majority Leader John Thune on April 15 that it “seems like the Senate has its own trash to take out. @LeaderJohnThune You need to look into the allegations against one of your Senators, it’s very disturbing. My chief will be contacting your chief.” Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b6ba197238567836b9fd US Supreme Court to take up Arizona proof of citizenship case te 2026-06-30T12:29:46.056Z US Supreme Court to take up Arizona proof of citizenship case The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case casting the Republican National Committee against a host of Democratic and voting rights groups over voting restrictions in Arizona. (Photo by Jim Small/Arizona Mirror) The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a case that could decide whether the state can require Arizonans to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote and if it can purge voter rolls in the months leading up to an election. The high court’s decision in the case, which could come before the 2028 presidential election, could impact similar laws in other states that also face legal challenges.  The case originated in 2022 when a group of voting rights organizations, including Mi Familia Vota and Living United for Change in Arizona, challenged two new laws signed by then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican.  The laws would ban voters who don’t provide proof of citizenship from voting by mail and in presidential elections. It would require more frequent and extensive checks of voter rolls for noncitizens, and subsequent purges.  GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature enacted the laws in response to unproven claims of widespread noncitizen voting in 2020, which were made alongside baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from President Donald Trump. The Republican National Committee and the U.S. Department of Justice asked the nation’s highest court to take up the case after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year, in agreement with a trial court, that Arizona’s proof of citizenship and purge requirements violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Civil Rights Act.  The lower court blocked portions of the Arizona laws, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision. “Only American citizens should vote in American elections,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in a Monday statement. “It’s the law, and it’s supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans.”  Studies show that noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare, with one study of the 2016 election finding that it accounted for 0.0001% of votes cast. The Campaign Legal Center, which is representing the voting rights groups in the case, said in a Monday statement that the U.S. Supreme Court’s involvement puts the voter protections bestowed by the NVRA at risk.  “Ignoring critical voter protections like the National Voter Registration Act forces Arizonans to jump through unnecessary hoops to participate in our democracy,” spokesperson Danielle Lang said in the statement. “We must ensure that every Arizonan, regardless of their background, has an equal and unobstructed path to exercise their fundamental freedom to vote.”  Since 2004, Arizona has required its residents to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote in state and local elections. But in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state couldn’t require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, per the NVRA.  After that, those who were unable to provide proof of citizenship could register as federal-only voters, allowing them to vote in federal races if they attest that they are U.S. citizens under penalty of perjury.  But the 2022 laws went further by banning federal-only voters from voting by mail — by far the most popular way to vote in the Grand Canyon State — and allowing voter rolls to be purged of noncitizens within the 90 days leading up to an election. The NVRA imposes strict limits on sweeping voter registration purges in the 90 days before a federal election. Voting rights groups say that these rules disproportionately impact Latino, Native American and student voters who are citizens but don’t have access to the documents — such as birth certificates or passports — necessary to prove it. During a Feb. 9 discussion on the floor of the Arizona Senate, Democratic Sen. Theresa Hatathlie of Coal Mine Mesa, who is Navajo, said that her 67-year-old sister still doesn’t have a birth certificate. Hatathlie’s sister was born at home on a rural part of the Navajo Nation, 22 miles from the nearest community. She has been unsuccessfully trying to get a birth certificate for more than 15 years, Hatathlie said. Proof of citizenship to vote and giving election officials the ability to purge alleged noncitizen voters ahead of elections is a key aim of the SAVE America Act, Trump’s signature elections legislation that is stalled in Congress due to some Republican holdouts So, Trump’s Justice Department last month asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up RNC v. Mi Familia Vota, to overturn the lower court rulings and find that the Arizona laws don’t violate the NVRA.  The Trump administration has been pushing for states to hand over voter rolls to the Department of Justice to run them through the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system, which it uses to verify citizenship by checking information in federal databases.  Many Republican states have begun uploading their voter rolls to SAVE to search for potential noncitizens, and the Trump administration unsuccessfully sued the states that refused to hand over their voter rolls, including Arizona.  Critics of the program say SAVE has incorrectly identified U.S. citizens as noncitizens, a problem that could be exacerbated if the Supreme Court allows its widespread use in the weeks before an election. Last-minute misidentifications would leave little time for voters to prove their citizenship. Arizona’s Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes reminded voters in a Monday statement that the Supreme Court’s decision to take on the case will not impact 2026 elections.  “However, after years of legal wrangling and legislation, Arizona does need clarity from the Court on how to administer the citizenship requirement for voting,” Fontes wrote. “The current process is confusing to voters and results in some voter applications being totally rejected because of which form they use.”  Contributing reporting by Jonathan Shorman  YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b6b2197238567836b9f4 US Supreme Court to take up Arizona proof of citizenship case te 2026-06-30T12:29:38.231Z US Supreme Court to take up Arizona proof of citizenship case The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case casting the Republican National Committee against a host of Democratic and voting rights groups over voting restrictions in Arizona. (Photo by Jim Small/Arizona Mirror) The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a case that could decide whether the state can require Arizonans to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote and if it can purge voter rolls in the months leading up to an election. The high court’s decision in the case, which could come before the 2028 presidential election, could impact similar laws in other states that also face legal challenges.  The case originated in 2022 when a group of voting rights organizations, including Mi Familia Vota and Living United for Change in Arizona, challenged two new laws signed by then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican.  The laws would ban voters who don’t provide proof of citizenship from voting by mail and in presidential elections. It would require more frequent and extensive checks of voter rolls for noncitizens, and subsequent purges.  GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature enacted the laws in response to unproven claims of widespread noncitizen voting in 2020, which were made alongside baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from President Donald Trump. The Republican National Committee and the U.S. Department of Justice asked the nation’s highest court to take up the case after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year, in agreement with a trial court, that Arizona’s proof of citizenship and purge requirements violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Civil Rights Act.  The lower court blocked portions of the Arizona laws, and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision. “Only American citizens should vote in American elections,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in a Monday statement. “It’s the law, and it’s supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans.”  Studies show that noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare, with one study of the 2016 election finding that it accounted for 0.0001% of votes cast. The Campaign Legal Center, which is representing the voting rights groups in the case, said in a Monday statement that the U.S. Supreme Court’s involvement puts the voter protections bestowed by the NVRA at risk.  “Ignoring critical voter protections like the National Voter Registration Act forces Arizonans to jump through unnecessary hoops to participate in our democracy,” spokesperson Danielle Lang said in the statement. “We must ensure that every Arizonan, regardless of their background, has an equal and unobstructed path to exercise their fundamental freedom to vote.”  Since 2004, Arizona has required its residents to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote in state and local elections. But in 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state couldn’t require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, per the NVRA.  After that, those who were unable to provide proof of citizenship could register as federal-only voters, allowing them to vote in federal races if they attest that they are U.S. citizens under penalty of perjury.  But the 2022 laws went further by banning federal-only voters from voting by mail — by far the most popular way to vote in the Grand Canyon State — and allowing voter rolls to be purged of noncitizens within the 90 days leading up to an election. The NVRA imposes strict limits on sweeping voter registration purges in the 90 days before a federal election. Voting rights groups say that these rules disproportionately impact Latino, Native American and student voters who are citizens but don’t have access to the documents — such as birth certificates or passports — necessary to prove it. During a Feb. 9 discussion on the floor of the Arizona Senate, Democratic Sen. Theresa Hatathlie of Coal Mine Mesa, who is Navajo, said that her 67-year-old sister still doesn’t have a birth certificate. Hatathlie’s sister was born at home on a rural part of the Navajo Nation, 22 miles from the nearest community. She has been unsuccessfully trying to get a birth certificate for more than 15 years, Hatathlie said. Proof of citizenship to vote and giving election officials the ability to purge alleged noncitizen voters ahead of elections is a key aim of the SAVE America Act, Trump’s signature elections legislation that is stalled in Congress due to some Republican holdouts So, Trump’s Justice Department last month asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up RNC v. Mi Familia Vota, to overturn the lower court rulings and find that the Arizona laws don’t violate the NVRA.  The Trump administration has been pushing for states to hand over voter rolls to the Department of Justice to run them through the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system, which it uses to verify citizenship by checking information in federal databases.  Many Republican states have begun uploading their voter rolls to SAVE to search for potential noncitizens, and the Trump administration unsuccessfully sued the states that refused to hand over their voter rolls, including Arizona.  Critics of the program say SAVE has incorrectly identified U.S. citizens as noncitizens, a problem that could be exacerbated if the Supreme Court allows its widespread use in the weeks before an election. Last-minute misidentifications would leave little time for voters to prove their citizenship. Arizona’s Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes reminded voters in a Monday statement that the Supreme Court’s decision to take on the case will not impact 2026 elections.  “However, after years of legal wrangling and legislation, Arizona does need clarity from the Court on how to administer the citizenship requirement for voting,” Fontes wrote. “The current process is confusing to voters and results in some voter applications being totally rejected because of which form they use.”  Contributing reporting by Jonathan Shorman  YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b6a6197238567836b9eb School voucher special session deal is likely dead in the water te 2026-06-30T12:29:26.594Z School voucher special session deal is likely dead in the water Photo via Getty Images/iStock A plan by Republican lawmakers to call a special session of the Arizona Legislature to strike a deal with the state’s largest teachers union to kill a ballot initiative aimed at the school voucher program is likely dead in the water.  In the final hours of the annual legislative session just three weeks ago, Republican lawmakers pushed through a ballot referral that, if approved by voters, would nullify the two citizen-led initiatives aimed at regulating the state’s billion-dollar school voucher program, formally known as the Empowerment Scholarship Account program.  The move came after the Arizona Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, tried and failed to make a deal to keep both initiatives off the ballot. That proposal would have implemented more modest reforms on the universal K-12 voucher system, in exchange for GOP legislators abandoning a ballot referral asking voters to effectively kill the AEA. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The push for the Republican constitutional amendment barring school voucher reforms that passed along party lines in the last hours of the legislative session was a backup plan for GOP lawmakers pushed through after the compromise with the teachers union failed.The ESA program provides payments for any K-12 Arizona student to attend private or parochial schools, and pays for tutoring or homeschooling supplies. In exchange for getting the AEA to abandon the initiative campaign, Republicans had reportedly pledged to drop their retaliatory ballot referral that would effectively defund the teachers union by prohibiting school districts from deducting membership fees from employee paychecks — even though that is done at the employee’s request.  However, when that negotiated bill materialized on the Senate floor, it failed to pass, with two Republicans, Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, and Senate President Warren Petersen, joining Democrats in killing it.  Republicans then swiftly moved on to Plan B, House Concurrent Resolution 2048, dubbed the “Military Families College Savings and Scholarship Protection Act.”  But the legislation does far more than Republicans advertised: Buried in the bill is a clause that says it is not just limited to “scholarship account programs that are established and maintained by this state for only children of military families.” Democrats said that means it would effectively bar any reforms to the ESA program. Last week rumors began to circulate of a deal being proposed by Republican leadership that would see them withdrawing HCR2048, among other pieces of legislation aimed at teachers in exchange for some concessions on ESA reform.  In return AEA would drop its ballot initiative. Multiple sources at the Capitol confirmed to the Arizona Mirror that lawmakers were meeting to discuss some sort of deal and that the AEA was monitoring the situation last week.  Now it appears that a deal is unlikely as signatures for the petitions are due Thursday, meaning a special session would need to be held before then. Gov. Katie Hobbs said she wouldn’t call for one.  “Legislative Republicans are throwing firefighters, police and teachers under the bus in order to protect waste, fraud and abuse in the ESA entitlement program,” Hobbs’ office said in a statement to the Arizona Mirror “They’ve chosen to pull back from a deal they already agreed to at the end of session in order to appease partisan politicians in Washington, DC.”  The ballot referral issued by Republicans at the last hour has come under attack by firefighter and police unions who have said that an amendment made by Hoffman to the bill impacts them as well. Critics warned that the ballot referral  could ban police and firefighter union bargaining if voters favor it.  Meanwhile, Republicans Monday continued to push for Hobbs to call a legislative session and for a deal that would include what they call a “one-for-one ballot measure exchange.”  “It’s shameful that they would put their own partisan political agenda ahead of protecting public safety and public education,” Hobbs’ office said in the statement. “Governor Hobbs will continue standing with our firefighters, police and teachers who show up for Arizonans every day, and she will not accept a sham deal.” Some long-time ESA advocates are continuing to push for what is now being called the “Biggs plan,” named after Republican Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, despite signals from the ninth floor that the governor will not agree to that deal.  “Keep refreshing Gov. Hobbs’ X page to see if she announces a special session before midnight,” Jason Bedrick, a Heritage Foundation employee said to another user on X who asked where they could get updates on the possible deal.  Meanwhile Democratic members of the Arizona Legislature slammed Republicans for the attempt.  “Republicans created this mess by rushing harmful and misleading ballot referrals through the Legislature, including an attack on teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers and other public employees who wish to join a union and negotiate the terms of their employment,” Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan and House Democratic Leader Oscar De Los Santos said in a joint statement. “Today, they had the opportunity to come together and work with Democrats to pull back these rushed and ill-considered reforms and once again, they failed Arizona.” YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b69e197238567836b9e2 School voucher special session deal is likely dead in the water te 2026-06-30T12:29:18.771Z School voucher special session deal is likely dead in the water Photo via Getty Images/iStock A plan by Republican lawmakers to call a special session of the Arizona Legislature to strike a deal with the state’s largest teachers union to kill a ballot initiative aimed at the school voucher program is likely dead in the water.  In the final hours of the annual legislative session just three weeks ago, Republican lawmakers pushed through a ballot referral that, if approved by voters, would nullify the two citizen-led initiatives aimed at regulating the state’s billion-dollar school voucher program, formally known as the Empowerment Scholarship Account program.  The move came after the Arizona Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, tried and failed to make a deal to keep both initiatives off the ballot. That proposal would have implemented more modest reforms on the universal K-12 voucher system, in exchange for GOP legislators abandoning a ballot referral asking voters to effectively kill the AEA. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The push for the Republican constitutional amendment barring school voucher reforms that passed along party lines in the last hours of the legislative session was a backup plan for GOP lawmakers pushed through after the compromise with the teachers union failed.The ESA program provides payments for any K-12 Arizona student to attend private or parochial schools, and pays for tutoring or homeschooling supplies. In exchange for getting the AEA to abandon the initiative campaign, Republicans had reportedly pledged to drop their retaliatory ballot referral that would effectively defund the teachers union by prohibiting school districts from deducting membership fees from employee paychecks — even though that is done at the employee’s request.  However, when that negotiated bill materialized on the Senate floor, it failed to pass, with two Republicans, Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, and Senate President Warren Petersen, joining Democrats in killing it.  Republicans then swiftly moved on to Plan B, House Concurrent Resolution 2048, dubbed the “Military Families College Savings and Scholarship Protection Act.”  But the legislation does far more than Republicans advertised: Buried in the bill is a clause that says it is not just limited to “scholarship account programs that are established and maintained by this state for only children of military families.” Democrats said that means it would effectively bar any reforms to the ESA program. Last week rumors began to circulate of a deal being proposed by Republican leadership that would see them withdrawing HCR2048, among other pieces of legislation aimed at teachers in exchange for some concessions on ESA reform.  In return AEA would drop its ballot initiative. Multiple sources at the Capitol confirmed to the Arizona Mirror that lawmakers were meeting to discuss some sort of deal and that the AEA was monitoring the situation last week.  Now it appears that a deal is unlikely as signatures for the petitions are due Thursday, meaning a special session would need to be held before then. Gov. Katie Hobbs said she wouldn’t call for one.  “Legislative Republicans are throwing firefighters, police and teachers under the bus in order to protect waste, fraud and abuse in the ESA entitlement program,” Hobbs’ office said in a statement to the Arizona Mirror “They’ve chosen to pull back from a deal they already agreed to at the end of session in order to appease partisan politicians in Washington, DC.”  The ballot referral issued by Republicans at the last hour has come under attack by firefighter and police unions who have said that an amendment made by Hoffman to the bill impacts them as well. Critics warned that the ballot referral  could ban police and firefighter union bargaining if voters favor it.  Meanwhile, Republicans Monday continued to push for Hobbs to call a legislative session and for a deal that would include what they call a “one-for-one ballot measure exchange.”  “It’s shameful that they would put their own partisan political agenda ahead of protecting public safety and public education,” Hobbs’ office said in the statement. “Governor Hobbs will continue standing with our firefighters, police and teachers who show up for Arizonans every day, and she will not accept a sham deal.” Some long-time ESA advocates are continuing to push for what is now being called the “Biggs plan,” named after Republican Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Andy Biggs, despite signals from the ninth floor that the governor will not agree to that deal.  “Keep refreshing Gov. Hobbs’ X page to see if she announces a special session before midnight,” Jason Bedrick, a Heritage Foundation employee said to another user on X who asked where they could get updates on the possible deal.  Meanwhile Democratic members of the Arizona Legislature slammed Republicans for the attempt.  “Republicans created this mess by rushing harmful and misleading ballot referrals through the Legislature, including an attack on teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers and other public employees who wish to join a union and negotiate the terms of their employment,” Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan and House Democratic Leader Oscar De Los Santos said in a joint statement. “Today, they had the opportunity to come together and work with Democrats to pull back these rushed and ill-considered reforms and once again, they failed Arizona.” YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b693197238567836b9d9 Arizona Supreme Court upholds dark money law, allows free speech challenge to proceed te 2026-06-30T12:29:07.138Z Arizona Supreme Court upholds dark money law, allows free speech challenge to proceed Photo by iStock / Getty Images Plus The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday dismissed most of the challenges to a voter-approved anti-dark-money law, but allowed one of the challenges from deep-pocketed conservative opponents to move forward.  The remaining challenge questions whether disclosing the identities of political donors creates a chilling effect that violates the state constitution.  Since voters in 2022 overwhelmingly approved Proposition 211, the Voters Right to Know Act, proponents of the anonymous campaign spending that has transformed American elections over the past 15 years have challenged its constitutionality. The law’s conservative opponents have argued that forcing disclosure of the source of political spending limits the free speech of wealthy people who want to influence voters, but don’t want those voters to know who is trying to persuade them.  On Monday, months after hearing oral arguments, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled to dismiss a number of the challenges brought against the law, upholding the voter approved initiative. The court agreed to let live a challenge arguing that disclosing the identity of donors chilled free speech under Arizona’s constitution.  GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The state constitution’s “Speak Freely Clause,” which provides protections to Arizonans’ freedom of speech and the press, was the main focus of the 4-3 opinion released Monday.  The legal challenges that the court considered were brought by the anti-abortion advocacy group Center for Arizona Policy and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, a dark money nonprofit. They were joined by two anonymous donors who said they feared harassment and violence if their political spending was disclosed.  They argued that mandating disclosure of the source of political spending violates the Arizona Constitution’s protections of free speech, association, privacy and separation of powers. Lower courts have rejected arguments that Prop. 211 chills free speech and said the law complies with the state constitution, including a unanimous decision at the Arizona Court of Appeals.   Republican legislative leaders made similar arguments in their failed attempt to overturn the ballot measure, which was broadly supported by Arizonans across all political ideologies and ultimately won the backing of more than 70% of voters.  Under federal tax law, neither the Arizona Free Enterprise Club nor the Center for Arizona Policy’s political arm have to disclose donors. But under Prop. 211, they will be forced to do so for their election-related activities.  The two groups campaigned against the passage of Prop. 211, claiming that it enshrined “cancel culture” into law. And the Center for Arizona Policy, which has a history of pushing anti-LGBTQ laws, said it feared the harassment it already received would be directed to its donors if they are revealed.  The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Ann Timmer, noted that Arizona’s constitution strongly favors protecting freedom of speech but also supports political campaign disclosures.  “[T]he framers included a provision prohibiting corporations from making contributions ‘for the purpose of influencing any election or official action,’” Timmer wrote. “The Speak Freely Clause therefore does not prevent the prohibition of corporate campaign contributions…This is so despite the fact that the First Amendment prohibits such a restriction.” While the U.S. Supreme Court deemed corporate campaign contributions protected speech under the infamous Citizens United ruling, Timmer and the majority concluded that Arizona’s constitution and its framers did not anticipate this and thus are not impacted by it. The majority also wrote that landmark cases argued under Arizona’s Speak Freely Clause have focused more on “prohibiting punishment for expression” and did not address the chilling of speech.  In one of those cases, the court determined that a City of Phoenix nondiscrimination ordinance could not force a Christian-owned company to create invitations for a same-sex couple. The majority argued that the government has certain “police-power” rights over certain types of speech that were recognized by the authors of the Arizona Constitution, citing ordinances dating to 1910, prior to statehood. Those ordinances required residents to report contagious diseases, physicians to report births and deaths and poisons to be labeled.  “These enactments, existing before and at statehood, evidence Arizonans’ understanding that the exercise of the State’s police powers for health, safety, and welfare—as illustrated—did not conflict with Arizonans’ right to speak “‘freely,’” Timmer wrote.  However, Timmer and the majority noted the clash between the Speak Freely Clause and Arizona’s history of election spending transparency. Timmer wrote for the majority that donating to an organization for the “express purpose of funding campaign media” or knowing that it will be used for messaging is “expressive conduct protected by the Speak Freely Clause.”  Spending that reflects the organization’s messaging is also seen as “expressive conduct” so both the Center for Arizona Police and the Free Enterprise Club have “adequately alleged that expression protected by the Speak Freely Clause is at issue.”  But the state has a long history of favoring campaign disclosure, Timmer noted.  “​​Using disclosure requirements to advance integrity and transparency in election spending is deeply rooted in Arizona’s history,” Timmer wrote. “On the eve of statehood, territorial law already required candidates and political committees to file detailed public reports disclosing the sources and expenditures of campaign funds, both direct and indirect through intermediaries.” She wrote that with both those things taken together that “free-speech protections do not shield campaign-related contributions, even those made through intermediaries, or contributor identities from reasonable publicity requirements.”  Not all of the court agreed.  “We concur with the majority’s conclusion that Plaintiffs’ as-applied challenge under the Speak Freely Clause should not have been dismissed,” Justice Kathryn King wrote in the dissent. “But we depart from the majority in all other respects.”  King, along with Vice Chief Justice John Lopez IV and Justice Clint Bolick, argued that the majority’s interpretation “creates a new limitation on free speech rights, permitting censorship and restraint on speech in ‘the state’s proper exercise of its regulatory authority.” “Most fundamentally, this police power justification departs from clear constitutional text that limits the scope and exercise of legislative authority infringing on the right to speak freely to ‘abuse of that right,’” King wrote. “ But this police power justification is also nebulous and sweeping, invites government suppression of speech, and is unprecedented.”  Timmer and the majority argue that isn’t the case and that electoral disclosures, restrictions on advertisements and other similar laws are all “police-power regulation affecting expression” that have never been deemed unconstitutional and do not impact one’s ability to “speak freely.”  The dissenting justices also took umbrage with the possibility of an “indirect donor” having their private information exposed due to a second or third organization triggering the Voters Right to Know Act. The justices provided two scenarios they said were plausible under the law.  In one of them a woman  “donates $5,100 to her church over the course of a year without designating her funds to be used in any way” and then her church donates those funds to a “social justice organization.” That organization then donates the money to an immigrant relief organization that then purchases campaign advertisements against a ballot measure seeking to prohibit local law enforcement agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  “Under the Act, the woman will be publicly identified as supporting ‘anti-ICE’ campaign media spending, even if she strongly supports ICE,” King wrote.  The group gave another example involving a man who donates a total of $5,005 to a non-profit that, with his donation eventually going to an organization that funds a gun rights group, even though the person “vehemently supports gun control and increased government restrictions on the purchase and use of guns.”  “And not only are their names reported as supporting ballot measures and messages they fundamentally oppose, but their addresses, occupations, and employers are publicly reported too,” King wrote. “The notion that a citizen—who anonymously donates a total of $5,001 over two years to an organization that later uses the donation to speak through media on a matter of public interest—is a ‘major donor’ who represents a threat to our citizenry is contrary to the text and history of the Arizona Constitution.”  Both groups of justices seem to agree that the opt-out option for donors who want to make sure their money is not used for campaign media is not entirely clear.  “To be sure, the Act does not answer every question about how its notice and tracing provisions operate in all circumstances,” Timmer wrote.  “For example, it does not expressly specify who must provide upstream donors notice of the opt-out opportunity or require a covered person to investigate whether an immediate donor’s contribution includes original monies from upstream donors. We need not resolve those implementation questions here.” Both also seemed to agree that both the Center for Arizona Police and the Free Enterprise Club have faced possible threats to their speech. While both groups have “sufficiently alleged a concrete, non-speculative burden on protected expression” it does not impact their ability to “publicly communicate messages” as the act only impacts donations used for campaign media.  “They do allege, however, that the prospect of public identification under the Act will cause major donors to fear harassment and retaliation, deterring them from contributing sufficient money and resources needed for CAP and FEC to engage in campaign media related to their issue advocacy,” Timmer wrote. “As a result, CAP and FEC allege that the Act ‘chills’ their speech by forcing them to curtail their campaign media messaging.”  The Center for Arizona Policy provided an example of receiving death threats as did the Free Enterprise Club, both citing their advocacy on controversial issues as a basis for the harassment.  The Goldwater Institute, which has been representing the two organizations, applauded Monday’s opinion.  “This is an important victory for every Arizonan who believes people should be free to support the causes they care about without fear of government-compelled disclosure,” Scott Freeman, senior attorney at the Goldwater Institute said in a statement. “The Arizona Supreme Court recognized that our state constitution independently protects free speech and that citizens are entitled to prove that compelled donor disclosure violates those protections.” The case will now head back to Maricopa County Superior Court where the Center for Arizona Police and Free Enterprise Club will be allowed to argue that the act is unconstitutional because it chills their clients’ speech. YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b68b197238567836b9d0 Arizona Supreme Court upholds dark money law, allows free speech challenge to proceed te 2026-06-30T12:28:59.316Z Arizona Supreme Court upholds dark money law, allows free speech challenge to proceed Photo by iStock / Getty Images Plus The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday dismissed most of the challenges to a voter-approved anti-dark-money law, but allowed one of the challenges from deep-pocketed conservative opponents to move forward.  The remaining challenge questions whether disclosing the identities of political donors creates a chilling effect that violates the state constitution.  Since voters in 2022 overwhelmingly approved Proposition 211, the Voters Right to Know Act, proponents of the anonymous campaign spending that has transformed American elections over the past 15 years have challenged its constitutionality. The law’s conservative opponents have argued that forcing disclosure of the source of political spending limits the free speech of wealthy people who want to influence voters, but don’t want those voters to know who is trying to persuade them.  On Monday, months after hearing oral arguments, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled to dismiss a number of the challenges brought against the law, upholding the voter approved initiative. The court agreed to let live a challenge arguing that disclosing the identity of donors chilled free speech under Arizona’s constitution.  GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE The state constitution’s “Speak Freely Clause,” which provides protections to Arizonans’ freedom of speech and the press, was the main focus of the 4-3 opinion released Monday.  The legal challenges that the court considered were brought by the anti-abortion advocacy group Center for Arizona Policy and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, a dark money nonprofit. They were joined by two anonymous donors who said they feared harassment and violence if their political spending was disclosed.  They argued that mandating disclosure of the source of political spending violates the Arizona Constitution’s protections of free speech, association, privacy and separation of powers. Lower courts have rejected arguments that Prop. 211 chills free speech and said the law complies with the state constitution, including a unanimous decision at the Arizona Court of Appeals.   Republican legislative leaders made similar arguments in their failed attempt to overturn the ballot measure, which was broadly supported by Arizonans across all political ideologies and ultimately won the backing of more than 70% of voters.  Under federal tax law, neither the Arizona Free Enterprise Club nor the Center for Arizona Policy’s political arm have to disclose donors. But under Prop. 211, they will be forced to do so for their election-related activities.  The two groups campaigned against the passage of Prop. 211, claiming that it enshrined “cancel culture” into law. And the Center for Arizona Policy, which has a history of pushing anti-LGBTQ laws, said it feared the harassment it already received would be directed to its donors if they are revealed.  The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice Ann Timmer, noted that Arizona’s constitution strongly favors protecting freedom of speech but also supports political campaign disclosures.  “[T]he framers included a provision prohibiting corporations from making contributions ‘for the purpose of influencing any election or official action,’” Timmer wrote. “The Speak Freely Clause therefore does not prevent the prohibition of corporate campaign contributions…This is so despite the fact that the First Amendment prohibits such a restriction.” While the U.S. Supreme Court deemed corporate campaign contributions protected speech under the infamous Citizens United ruling, Timmer and the majority concluded that Arizona’s constitution and its framers did not anticipate this and thus are not impacted by it. The majority also wrote that landmark cases argued under Arizona’s Speak Freely Clause have focused more on “prohibiting punishment for expression” and did not address the chilling of speech.  In one of those cases, the court determined that a City of Phoenix nondiscrimination ordinance could not force a Christian-owned company to create invitations for a same-sex couple. The majority argued that the government has certain “police-power” rights over certain types of speech that were recognized by the authors of the Arizona Constitution, citing ordinances dating to 1910, prior to statehood. Those ordinances required residents to report contagious diseases, physicians to report births and deaths and poisons to be labeled.  “These enactments, existing before and at statehood, evidence Arizonans’ understanding that the exercise of the State’s police powers for health, safety, and welfare—as illustrated—did not conflict with Arizonans’ right to speak “‘freely,’” Timmer wrote.  However, Timmer and the majority noted the clash between the Speak Freely Clause and Arizona’s history of election spending transparency. Timmer wrote for the majority that donating to an organization for the “express purpose of funding campaign media” or knowing that it will be used for messaging is “expressive conduct protected by the Speak Freely Clause.”  Spending that reflects the organization’s messaging is also seen as “expressive conduct” so both the Center for Arizona Police and the Free Enterprise Club have “adequately alleged that expression protected by the Speak Freely Clause is at issue.”  But the state has a long history of favoring campaign disclosure, Timmer noted.  “​​Using disclosure requirements to advance integrity and transparency in election spending is deeply rooted in Arizona’s history,” Timmer wrote. “On the eve of statehood, territorial law already required candidates and political committees to file detailed public reports disclosing the sources and expenditures of campaign funds, both direct and indirect through intermediaries.” She wrote that with both those things taken together that “free-speech protections do not shield campaign-related contributions, even those made through intermediaries, or contributor identities from reasonable publicity requirements.”  Not all of the court agreed.  “We concur with the majority’s conclusion that Plaintiffs’ as-applied challenge under the Speak Freely Clause should not have been dismissed,” Justice Kathryn King wrote in the dissent. “But we depart from the majority in all other respects.”  King, along with Vice Chief Justice John Lopez IV and Justice Clint Bolick, argued that the majority’s interpretation “creates a new limitation on free speech rights, permitting censorship and restraint on speech in ‘the state’s proper exercise of its regulatory authority.” “Most fundamentally, this police power justification departs from clear constitutional text that limits the scope and exercise of legislative authority infringing on the right to speak freely to ‘abuse of that right,’” King wrote. “ But this police power justification is also nebulous and sweeping, invites government suppression of speech, and is unprecedented.”  Timmer and the majority argue that isn’t the case and that electoral disclosures, restrictions on advertisements and other similar laws are all “police-power regulation affecting expression” that have never been deemed unconstitutional and do not impact one’s ability to “speak freely.”  The dissenting justices also took umbrage with the possibility of an “indirect donor” having their private information exposed due to a second or third organization triggering the Voters Right to Know Act. The justices provided two scenarios they said were plausible under the law.  In one of them a woman  “donates $5,100 to her church over the course of a year without designating her funds to be used in any way” and then her church donates those funds to a “social justice organization.” That organization then donates the money to an immigrant relief organization that then purchases campaign advertisements against a ballot measure seeking to prohibit local law enforcement agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  “Under the Act, the woman will be publicly identified as supporting ‘anti-ICE’ campaign media spending, even if she strongly supports ICE,” King wrote.  The group gave another example involving a man who donates a total of $5,005 to a non-profit that, with his donation eventually going to an organization that funds a gun rights group, even though the person “vehemently supports gun control and increased government restrictions on the purchase and use of guns.”  “And not only are their names reported as supporting ballot measures and messages they fundamentally oppose, but their addresses, occupations, and employers are publicly reported too,” King wrote. “The notion that a citizen—who anonymously donates a total of $5,001 over two years to an organization that later uses the donation to speak through media on a matter of public interest—is a ‘major donor’ who represents a threat to our citizenry is contrary to the text and history of the Arizona Constitution.”  Both groups of justices seem to agree that the opt-out option for donors who want to make sure their money is not used for campaign media is not entirely clear.  “To be sure, the Act does not answer every question about how its notice and tracing provisions operate in all circumstances,” Timmer wrote.  “For example, it does not expressly specify who must provide upstream donors notice of the opt-out opportunity or require a covered person to investigate whether an immediate donor’s contribution includes original monies from upstream donors. We need not resolve those implementation questions here.” Both also seemed to agree that both the Center for Arizona Police and the Free Enterprise Club have faced possible threats to their speech. While both groups have “sufficiently alleged a concrete, non-speculative burden on protected expression” it does not impact their ability to “publicly communicate messages” as the act only impacts donations used for campaign media.  “They do allege, however, that the prospect of public identification under the Act will cause major donors to fear harassment and retaliation, deterring them from contributing sufficient money and resources needed for CAP and FEC to engage in campaign media related to their issue advocacy,” Timmer wrote. “As a result, CAP and FEC allege that the Act ‘chills’ their speech by forcing them to curtail their campaign media messaging.”  The Center for Arizona Policy provided an example of receiving death threats as did the Free Enterprise Club, both citing their advocacy on controversial issues as a basis for the harassment.  The Goldwater Institute, which has been representing the two organizations, applauded Monday’s opinion.  “This is an important victory for every Arizonan who believes people should be free to support the causes they care about without fear of government-compelled disclosure,” Scott Freeman, senior attorney at the Goldwater Institute said in a statement. “The Arizona Supreme Court recognized that our state constitution independently protects free speech and that citizens are entitled to prove that compelled donor disclosure violates those protections.” The case will now head back to Maricopa County Superior Court where the Center for Arizona Police and Free Enterprise Club will be allowed to argue that the act is unconstitutional because it chills their clients’ speech. YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b67f197238567836b9c7 How American engineers unlocked the impossible beneath the Gulf of America te 2026-06-30T12:28:47.171Z How American engineers unlocked the impossible beneath the Gulf of America July 4th is more than marking America’s independence with patriotic flags, parades and fireworks. It's about celebrating American ingenuity, our firm belief that our country can engineer solutions to achieve the impossible, from launching the modern age of aviation to landing a man on the moon. Some of the most compelling evidence of American exceptionalism today is happening thousands of feet beneath the surface of the Gulf of America, where our offshore industry has spent more than a decade solving one of the hardest engineering problems in the history of energy. More than 100 miles offshore from the Gulf Coast sits a geological layer of sandstone and shale rock deep beneath the seabed called the Paleogene that holds tens of billions of barrels of oil. For years, most of it was considered unattainable. The reservoir pressures – up to 20,000 pounds per square inch, equivalent to an elephant standing on a quarter – exceeded anything existing technology could handle. No equipment had ever been built to work under those conditions. TRUMP’S ENERGY INITIATIVES MAY FINALLY EXTRACT AMERICA FROM MIDEAST CHAOS The solution was engineered here, in American waters, by the people who know them best. Transocean developed the first drillships in the world built to work in these high-pressure conditions. Their Deepwater Titan and Deepwater Atlas are currently operating in the Gulf of America. Trendsetter Engineering designed subsea systems and manifolds capable of operating reliably at pressures once considered beyond reach. Other offshore companies have developed similar equipment that has unlocked the Paleogene. The results speak for themselves. Chevron's Anchor project came online in 2024, representing roughly $5.7 billion in development spending. Beacon Offshore's Shenandoah is also producing oil and natural gas. BP's development plan for its $5 billion Kaskida project has secured federal approval and is moving toward first production. Together, these projects mark the opening of a new chapter of American offshore capability. TRUMP’S ENERGY INITIATIVES MAY FINALLY EXTRACT AMERICA FROM MIDEAST CHAOS The people who did this work aren't household names. They're engineers and subsea specialists and vessel crews spread across the Gulf Coast, part of a remarkable expertise that shows up when an impossible problem needs solving. And our people have proven this equipment is safe and reliable. Safety and containment systems were purpose-built, independently verified, and rigorously tested under federal oversight before a single well was drilled. Offshore consortiums HWCG and Marine Well Containment Co. (MWCC) both maintain 20,000 psi containment systems that can be deployed rapidly in the event of an incident. CONGRESS MUST NOT DERAIL THE FREIGHT RAIL LIFELINE FOR AMERICA’S FARMERS Federal regulations require operators to demonstrate access to containment resources, submit detailed response plans, and conduct robust recurring training exercises before drilling begins. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement requires third-party certification on every major high-pressure component: blowout preventers, subsea trees, wellheads and completion equipment. Nothing goes offshore without it. This achievement that’s producing more American energy is worth celebrating today, especially during a time when we take stock of what this country is built on. The Paleogene wasn't unlocked by a single mandate or a government program. It was unlocked by an ecosystem of companies, engineers, regulators, suppliers and workers who collectively decided a problem was worth solving and spent years doing it. That's a distinctly American model, and it works. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION The Gulf of America supplies roughly 15% of U.S. oil production. Offshore projects support shipyards, manufacturers, ports, marine operators and skilled trades across the country. There are jobs and investments in all 50 states. The Paleogene represents the next chapter of that output, backed by existing infrastructure, an experienced workforce, and decades of hard-won operating knowledge. The economic and national security benefits don't happen without the long-term investment decisions and the long-term confidence that make them possible. At 250, America is still a country that does seemingly impossible things. The Paleogene in the Gulf of America is proof. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM ERIK MILITO Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b677197238567836b9be How American engineers unlocked the impossible beneath the Gulf of America te 2026-06-30T12:28:39.346Z How American engineers unlocked the impossible beneath the Gulf of America July 4th is more than marking America’s independence with patriotic flags, parades and fireworks. It's about celebrating American ingenuity, our firm belief that our country can engineer solutions to achieve the impossible, from launching the modern age of aviation to landing a man on the moon. Some of the most compelling evidence of American exceptionalism today is happening thousands of feet beneath the surface of the Gulf of America, where our offshore industry has spent more than a decade solving one of the hardest engineering problems in the history of energy. More than 100 miles offshore from the Gulf Coast sits a geological layer of sandstone and shale rock deep beneath the seabed called the Paleogene that holds tens of billions of barrels of oil. For years, most of it was considered unattainable. The reservoir pressures – up to 20,000 pounds per square inch, equivalent to an elephant standing on a quarter – exceeded anything existing technology could handle. No equipment had ever been built to work under those conditions. TRUMP’S ENERGY INITIATIVES MAY FINALLY EXTRACT AMERICA FROM MIDEAST CHAOS The solution was engineered here, in American waters, by the people who know them best. Transocean developed the first drillships in the world built to work in these high-pressure conditions. Their Deepwater Titan and Deepwater Atlas are currently operating in the Gulf of America. Trendsetter Engineering designed subsea systems and manifolds capable of operating reliably at pressures once considered beyond reach. Other offshore companies have developed similar equipment that has unlocked the Paleogene. The results speak for themselves. Chevron's Anchor project came online in 2024, representing roughly $5.7 billion in development spending. Beacon Offshore's Shenandoah is also producing oil and natural gas. BP's development plan for its $5 billion Kaskida project has secured federal approval and is moving toward first production. Together, these projects mark the opening of a new chapter of American offshore capability. TRUMP’S ENERGY INITIATIVES MAY FINALLY EXTRACT AMERICA FROM MIDEAST CHAOS The people who did this work aren't household names. They're engineers and subsea specialists and vessel crews spread across the Gulf Coast, part of a remarkable expertise that shows up when an impossible problem needs solving. And our people have proven this equipment is safe and reliable. Safety and containment systems were purpose-built, independently verified, and rigorously tested under federal oversight before a single well was drilled. Offshore consortiums HWCG and Marine Well Containment Co. (MWCC) both maintain 20,000 psi containment systems that can be deployed rapidly in the event of an incident. CONGRESS MUST NOT DERAIL THE FREIGHT RAIL LIFELINE FOR AMERICA’S FARMERS Federal regulations require operators to demonstrate access to containment resources, submit detailed response plans, and conduct robust recurring training exercises before drilling begins. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement requires third-party certification on every major high-pressure component: blowout preventers, subsea trees, wellheads and completion equipment. Nothing goes offshore without it. This achievement that’s producing more American energy is worth celebrating today, especially during a time when we take stock of what this country is built on. The Paleogene wasn't unlocked by a single mandate or a government program. It was unlocked by an ecosystem of companies, engineers, regulators, suppliers and workers who collectively decided a problem was worth solving and spent years doing it. That's a distinctly American model, and it works. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION The Gulf of America supplies roughly 15% of U.S. oil production. Offshore projects support shipyards, manufacturers, ports, marine operators and skilled trades across the country. There are jobs and investments in all 50 states. The Paleogene represents the next chapter of that output, backed by existing infrastructure, an experienced workforce, and decades of hard-won operating knowledge. The economic and national security benefits don't happen without the long-term investment decisions and the long-term confidence that make them possible. At 250, America is still a country that does seemingly impossible things. The Paleogene in the Gulf of America is proof. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM ERIK MILITO Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b66b197238567836b9b5 Fetterman unleashes on 'dirtbag' wing of Dems after far-left victories: 'Orgy of socialism' te 2026-06-30T12:28:27.714Z Fetterman unleashes on 'dirtbag' wing of Dems after far-left victories: 'Orgy of socialism' Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., unloaded on his own party on Sunday evening, blasting a series of victories for progressives he called "anti-America." "Big night for the dirtbag left," Fetterman said, referring to New York’s recent primaries, when two members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) won primaries. "I’ve said the party is becoming an orgy of socialism. Clearly anti-America, anti-Western Civilization," Fetterman said. Fetterman’s striking calls give a rare look at how some moderates may view the developments on their far-left flank that have dominated the party’s momentum in recent months, sparking concern that their high visibility is dragging the party further and further left. FETTERMAN WARNS DEMOCRATS 'DRIFTING FIRMLY INTO COMMUNISM' AFTER SOCIALIST PRIMARY WINS His comments come on the heels of a handful of key progressive victories. In Maine, Graham Platner, a controversial Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, has attracted controversy for denying knowledge of the meaning behind a Nazi-linked tattoo, for off-color comments about race and calling himself a "communist" in a deleted Reddit post. In New York, one DSA member, Claire Valdez, won a primary on a platform of abolishing ICE and a Green New Deal-style approach to climate change. Similarly, Darializa Avila-Chevalier, another DSA candidate, beat out incumbent Rep. Adriano Espillat, D-N.Y., a high-ranking Democrat and the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. WINNERS AND LOSERS EMERGE AFTER SOCIALIST EARTHQUAKE ROCKS NYC PRIMARIES Both Chevalier and Valdez had the backing of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is a self-proclaimed socialist. The wins have captured national attention and drawn criticism from Republicans who have pointed to their success as emblematic of the direction of the Democratic Party. Fetterman, who has not shied away from confrontations, has been one of the few Democrats to express alarm about the kind of candidates carrying the party’s banner. "I mean, you look at some of the things that people have said. Abolish prison, abolish the border, abolish ICE, I mean these crazy people — I have colleagues in my caucus that refuse to even call this out," Fetterman said. FETTERMAN REACTS TO MAMDANI’S REFUSAL TO ACCEPT SUPREME COURT’S IMMIGRATION RULING "Between P-hustle in Maine and some of the other winners in New York, they should form their own party and run on all the things that they’ve had to delete on social media," Fetterman said, referring to Platner. "That’s where our party has moved," he added. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b663197238567836b9ac Fetterman unleashes on 'dirtbag' wing of Dems after far-left victories: 'Orgy of socialism' te 2026-06-30T12:28:19.890Z Fetterman unleashes on 'dirtbag' wing of Dems after far-left victories: 'Orgy of socialism' Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., unloaded on his own party on Sunday evening, blasting a series of victories for progressives he called "anti-America." "Big night for the dirtbag left," Fetterman said, referring to New York’s recent primaries, when two members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) won primaries. "I’ve said the party is becoming an orgy of socialism. Clearly anti-America, anti-Western Civilization," Fetterman said. Fetterman’s striking calls give a rare look at how some moderates may view the developments on their far-left flank that have dominated the party’s momentum in recent months, sparking concern that their high visibility is dragging the party further and further left. FETTERMAN WARNS DEMOCRATS 'DRIFTING FIRMLY INTO COMMUNISM' AFTER SOCIALIST PRIMARY WINS His comments come on the heels of a handful of key progressive victories. In Maine, Graham Platner, a controversial Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, has attracted controversy for denying knowledge of the meaning behind a Nazi-linked tattoo, for off-color comments about race and calling himself a "communist" in a deleted Reddit post. In New York, one DSA member, Claire Valdez, won a primary on a platform of abolishing ICE and a Green New Deal-style approach to climate change. Similarly, Darializa Avila-Chevalier, another DSA candidate, beat out incumbent Rep. Adriano Espillat, D-N.Y., a high-ranking Democrat and the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. WINNERS AND LOSERS EMERGE AFTER SOCIALIST EARTHQUAKE ROCKS NYC PRIMARIES Both Chevalier and Valdez had the backing of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is a self-proclaimed socialist. The wins have captured national attention and drawn criticism from Republicans who have pointed to their success as emblematic of the direction of the Democratic Party. Fetterman, who has not shied away from confrontations, has been one of the few Democrats to express alarm about the kind of candidates carrying the party’s banner. "I mean, you look at some of the things that people have said. Abolish prison, abolish the border, abolish ICE, I mean these crazy people — I have colleagues in my caucus that refuse to even call this out," Fetterman said. FETTERMAN REACTS TO MAMDANI’S REFUSAL TO ACCEPT SUPREME COURT’S IMMIGRATION RULING "Between P-hustle in Maine and some of the other winners in New York, they should form their own party and run on all the things that they’ve had to delete on social media," Fetterman said, referring to Platner. "That’s where our party has moved," he added. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b658197238567836b9a3 Socialists take fight west, target Colorado in latest bid to oust Democratic Party establishment te 2026-06-30T12:28:08.256Z Socialists take fight west, target Colorado in latest bid to oust Democratic Party establishment The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is setting its sights on Colorado. A handful of Tuesday's primaries in the Democrat-dominated Rocky Mountain state are the next battleground in the fight between the far left and the center-left establishment over the future of the Democratic Party. "Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West," the DSA wrote in a social media post last week, hours after their ballot-box victories in a handful of congressional primaries in New York City. The post came after DSA-aligned Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old far-left community organizer, ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, another democratic socialist, won a congressional primary by defeating an establishment-backed candidate. VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY The victories by Chevalier and Valdez, who were heavily supported by democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, further emboldened the far left as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the Democratic Party. The DSA is now looking to replicate its playbook across the country, starting Tuesday in the Democratic primary in Colorado's 1st Congressional District, a solidly blue seat anchored in Denver that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried by a whopping 56 points in the 2024 election. Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress three decades ago, is facing two primary challengers, including DSA-backed Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate and former attorney born four months after DeGette first took office. Kiros, who lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel, is also supported by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting "Squad" members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB "ELECT ANOTHER SOCIALIST TO CONGRESS ON JUNE 30TH," a DSA social media post states as it urges supporters to lend a hand to the Kiros campaign. The Democratic Party divide will also play out in the primary in the neighboring 8th Congressional District, which stretches along the I-25 corridor north of Denver. State Rep. Manny Rutinel is running to the left of former state Rep. Shannon Bird, with the winner taking on Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, who flipped the seat in the 2024 cycle. The race is considered one of two or three dozen that will determine if the GOP holds onto its razor-thin House majority in the midterms. Immigration has been a top issue in the Democratic primary in a district where roughly 40% of the population is Latino. Rutinel has criticized Bird for a vote she cast last year opposing a measure limiting cooperation between local and state law enforcement and ICE. MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES Another primary showdown highlighting the split between progressives and moderates, as well as the party's generational divide, is the Senate nomination battle between incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper, 74, and former state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a 43-year-old progressive. Hickenlooper, a former Denver mayor and two-term governor, has seen his once-large advantage over Gonzales, a one-time DSA member, narrow. The winner will face Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley, who is unopposed in his primary. Shannon Jackson, a longtime progressive political strategist and grassroots organizer best known for his leadership roles in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, pointed to last week's results and told Fox News Digital that "people are frustrated." "The key message of the victors: Medicare-for-All, the importance of affordability and a living wage. Progressives have long fought for these values and I expect the primary victories to continue," he emphasized. Meanwhile, the state's expensive and combustible Democratic gubernatorial primary pits Sen. Michael Bennet against state Attorney General Phil Weiser. Bennet or Weiser will be considered the clear favorite in the race to succeed two-term Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the nation's history. Weiser, who is running to Bennet's left on certain issues, closed the gap with the senator as he spotlighted his efforts to take on President Donald Trump, including suing Trump 66 times as attorney general. The winner will face either state Rep. Scott Bottoms, state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer or pastor and Marine Corps veteran Victor Marx as the Republican nominee. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b650197238567836b99a Socialists take fight west, target Colorado in latest bid to oust Democratic Party establishment te 2026-06-30T12:28:00.448Z Socialists take fight west, target Colorado in latest bid to oust Democratic Party establishment The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is setting its sights on Colorado. A handful of Tuesday's primaries in the Democrat-dominated Rocky Mountain state are the next battleground in the fight between the far left and the center-left establishment over the future of the Democratic Party. "Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West," the DSA wrote in a social media post last week, hours after their ballot-box victories in a handful of congressional primaries in New York City. The post came after DSA-aligned Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old far-left community organizer, ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, another democratic socialist, won a congressional primary by defeating an establishment-backed candidate. VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY The victories by Chevalier and Valdez, who were heavily supported by democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, further emboldened the far left as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the Democratic Party. The DSA is now looking to replicate its playbook across the country, starting Tuesday in the Democratic primary in Colorado's 1st Congressional District, a solidly blue seat anchored in Denver that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried by a whopping 56 points in the 2024 election. Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress three decades ago, is facing two primary challengers, including DSA-backed Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate and former attorney born four months after DeGette first took office. Kiros, who lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel, is also supported by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting "Squad" members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB "ELECT ANOTHER SOCIALIST TO CONGRESS ON JUNE 30TH," a DSA social media post states as it urges supporters to lend a hand to the Kiros campaign. The Democratic Party divide will also play out in the primary in the neighboring 8th Congressional District, which stretches along the I-25 corridor north of Denver. State Rep. Manny Rutinel is running to the left of former state Rep. Shannon Bird, with the winner taking on Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, who flipped the seat in the 2024 cycle. The race is considered one of two or three dozen that will determine if the GOP holds onto its razor-thin House majority in the midterms. Immigration has been a top issue in the Democratic primary in a district where roughly 40% of the population is Latino. Rutinel has criticized Bird for a vote she cast last year opposing a measure limiting cooperation between local and state law enforcement and ICE. MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS LOOK TO TAKE NEW YORK PLAYBOOK NATIONWIDE AFTER PRIMARY VICTORIES Another primary showdown highlighting the split between progressives and moderates, as well as the party's generational divide, is the Senate nomination battle between incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper, 74, and former state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a 43-year-old progressive. Hickenlooper, a former Denver mayor and two-term governor, has seen his once-large advantage over Gonzales, a one-time DSA member, narrow. The winner will face Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley, who is unopposed in his primary. Shannon Jackson, a longtime progressive political strategist and grassroots organizer best known for his leadership roles in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, pointed to last week's results and told Fox News Digital that "people are frustrated." "The key message of the victors: Medicare-for-All, the importance of affordability and a living wage. Progressives have long fought for these values and I expect the primary victories to continue," he emphasized. Meanwhile, the state's expensive and combustible Democratic gubernatorial primary pits Sen. Michael Bennet against state Attorney General Phil Weiser. Bennet or Weiser will be considered the clear favorite in the race to succeed two-term Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the nation's history. Weiser, who is running to Bennet's left on certain issues, closed the gap with the senator as he spotlighted his efforts to take on President Donald Trump, including suing Trump 66 times as attorney general. The winner will face either state Rep. Scott Bottoms, state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer or pastor and Marine Corps veteran Victor Marx as the Republican nominee. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b644197238567836b991 MORNING GLORY: Senator Susan Collins and the nation’s national defense te 2026-06-30T12:27:48.803Z MORNING GLORY: Senator Susan Collins and the nation’s national defense Extraordinarily gifted legislators in the United States Senate are rare. As preconditions to their effectiveness, they must accumulate both significant seniority in the body of 100, and the respect of their ever-changing 99 colleagues. It’s a small club — the United States Senate — and everyone knows who has got the ability and the respect to guide big lifts through the (intentionally) complicated process. Maine Senator Susan Collins is one of the handful of senators who command the respect of her Republican Conference colleagues and most of the Democratic senators who actually care about making the country run well. That is why Collins is the chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and is also one of the 17 senators on the critical Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. (Collins is also a member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.) As chair of the Appropriations Committee, Collins has a unique power to guide the country’s spending. In partnership with the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Collins’ greatest responsibility as a legislator is to ensure the American military is fully funded to the level necessary to "provide for the common defense," as the Preamble of the Constitution succinctly puts it. TRUMP PLAN FOR FOREIGN SHIPBUILDERS COULD CREATE 540,000 JOBS AND EXPAND US FLEET Collins long ago earned a reputation as a Senate "workhorse," and her 10,000th consecutive Senate roll call vote — extending the unbroken voting streak she began in 1997 — made her the first senator in U.S. history to have cast this many votes without ever missing one. Even as Joe DiMaggio’s 1941 run of hits in 56 consecutive games is regarded as untouchable, so is Collins’ remarkable milestone (which towers higher with every roll call vote she makes.) All of that experience and all of that earned respect will be needed in the weeks and months immediately ahead as Collins, along with Wicker and the Senate GOP leadership, tackle perhaps the most difficult challenge of her already distinguished and widely admired career: Allocating the funds needed to modernize the Pentagon in an era of rapidly changing technology when it comes to war and intelligence gathering, both the visible markers of American power like ships, submarines and the new B-21 bombers which provide the nation with deterrence and the secret and extraordinarily sensitive virtual stockpiles of cyber strength. Collins must do this even as hyper-partisanship engulfs the country’s politics. Collins faces the urgent need to thread this extremely partisan era which is defined by negative polarization and rhetorical extremism of both the far left and far right. The nation requires a steady and effective set of military appropriation bills that will keep the nation’s defenses funded for the immediate demands of the conflict with Iran, even as the United States must continue to define and meet the challenge posed by the aggressive plans of China’s iron-fisted Leninist dictator Xi Jinping. That Collins is leading in this moment of peril is very fortunate for the country. That she has to do so in what is for her an election year against a self-described "communist" and wildly extremist radical from the fringe of the Democrat’s far left edge is a new challenge. Graham Platner was nominated by the Democrats because he is a human wrecking ball. By nominating the very opposite of Collins when it comes to achievement and temperament, the radical wing of the Democrats hope to cripple the Senate by denying it one of its most effective members. They are asking Mainers to destroy their own state’s vast advantage in the Congress in the service of their anti-West, anti-American, anti-Israel and antisemitic agenda. They are also aiming to deeply injure the process that defends America at this crucial moment. GRAHAM PLATNER BLASTS NEW ALLEGATIONS AS 'FALSE ACCUSATIONS': 'MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK' The House and Senate must soon decide how to proceed on the Pentagon’s budget for 2027 and beyond. Both the SASC and the Senate Appropriations Committee must act. SASC provides the defense spending architecture via the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but as The Wall Street Journal noted this past weekend, the NDAA "is a policy guide not a check, and the big question is whether the President’s $1.5 trillion defense budget" will actually pass and in what form and via what process. Genuine legislators like Collins would prefer to use "regular order" to hold hearings, conduct mark-ups and send proposed bills to House-Senate conference committees. That is the ideal. That ideal is doomed to fail this year as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, assailed by his party’s radicals, is intent on creating a government shutdown before the midterms. That shutdown isn’t a prophecy or a dart thrown with a blindfold. It’s the inevitable result of how the Democrats have framed the midterm elections this fall. Schumer cannot stop the House from enacting a defense budget but he can and will make the Senate’s regular order grind to a halt in order to satisfy his party’s whacko left-wing with a shutdown. Which puts Collins and every Republican who is serious about keeping our military strong in a bind. The military must be as equipped and prepared in an era of rapidly evolving threats and technology. It cannot lurch from "Continuing Resolution" to "Continuing Resolution" (CR) which is the best result of "shutdown politics." Democrats intend that very result. And if the Democrats win either or both Houses back from the Republicans in the fall, they will go much farther than a long string of CRs. They will savage defense spending in favor of their socialist pipe dreams. This isn’t a secret and it’s not doom-casting. Believe what Democrats tell you. The party has launched off the left cliff in American politics, heading to places no American party has ever proposed to go before, much less actually traveled towards. The left is now opposed to American power and stature in the world. It would strip us of our defenses. Even the handful of crazed leftists nominated for the House by Democrats in New Jersey and New York in recent weeks would combine with the existing fringe — the "Squad" — to eviscerate American military strength. Even five radical House members will be enough to control defense spending in a closely divided House and only one or two senators can do so in an even or one-vote majority Senate. The Congress ahead is very likely to be the most radical in America’s 250 years. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION Which is why Collins and Wicker, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senate Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton (R-AR) must make the anti-institutionalist choice to fund the Pentagon via the "budget reconciliation process," a complicated and controversial means to the end of tackling major tax and spending bills like the Working Families Tax Cut of 2025 and various COVID relief bills of both Republican and Democratic presidents. (Collins and then Senator Marco Rubio led the crafting of the Paycheck Protection Program which was the critical part of the economy-saving CARES Act of March 2020.) Because Democrats are going to hold the federal government hostage in the fall as a giant campaign stunt, it falls to the serious and sober-minded Republican senators to advance national security spending through reconciliation. The harder question is whether to do so for two or three years instead of just one. That’s a difficult choice to make because it would recognize the yawning chasm between the mainstream American consensus about the country’s defenses and the hard left’s "defund defense" corollary to its "defund the police" and "defund ICE" platform planks. Using reconciliation to forward funds up to $5 trillion is nobody’s ideal. But it is a necessity to provide time for our troops until the Democrats’ collective fever breaks. Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM HUGH HEWITT Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b63c197238567836b988 MORNING GLORY: Senator Susan Collins and the nation’s national defense te 2026-06-30T12:27:40.986Z MORNING GLORY: Senator Susan Collins and the nation’s national defense Extraordinarily gifted legislators in the United States Senate are rare. As preconditions to their effectiveness, they must accumulate both significant seniority in the body of 100, and the respect of their ever-changing 99 colleagues. It’s a small club — the United States Senate — and everyone knows who has got the ability and the respect to guide big lifts through the (intentionally) complicated process. Maine Senator Susan Collins is one of the handful of senators who command the respect of her Republican Conference colleagues and most of the Democratic senators who actually care about making the country run well. That is why Collins is the chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and is also one of the 17 senators on the critical Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. (Collins is also a member of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.) As chair of the Appropriations Committee, Collins has a unique power to guide the country’s spending. In partnership with the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Collins’ greatest responsibility as a legislator is to ensure the American military is fully funded to the level necessary to "provide for the common defense," as the Preamble of the Constitution succinctly puts it. TRUMP PLAN FOR FOREIGN SHIPBUILDERS COULD CREATE 540,000 JOBS AND EXPAND US FLEET Collins long ago earned a reputation as a Senate "workhorse," and her 10,000th consecutive Senate roll call vote — extending the unbroken voting streak she began in 1997 — made her the first senator in U.S. history to have cast this many votes without ever missing one. Even as Joe DiMaggio’s 1941 run of hits in 56 consecutive games is regarded as untouchable, so is Collins’ remarkable milestone (which towers higher with every roll call vote she makes.) All of that experience and all of that earned respect will be needed in the weeks and months immediately ahead as Collins, along with Wicker and the Senate GOP leadership, tackle perhaps the most difficult challenge of her already distinguished and widely admired career: Allocating the funds needed to modernize the Pentagon in an era of rapidly changing technology when it comes to war and intelligence gathering, both the visible markers of American power like ships, submarines and the new B-21 bombers which provide the nation with deterrence and the secret and extraordinarily sensitive virtual stockpiles of cyber strength. Collins must do this even as hyper-partisanship engulfs the country’s politics. Collins faces the urgent need to thread this extremely partisan era which is defined by negative polarization and rhetorical extremism of both the far left and far right. The nation requires a steady and effective set of military appropriation bills that will keep the nation’s defenses funded for the immediate demands of the conflict with Iran, even as the United States must continue to define and meet the challenge posed by the aggressive plans of China’s iron-fisted Leninist dictator Xi Jinping. That Collins is leading in this moment of peril is very fortunate for the country. That she has to do so in what is for her an election year against a self-described "communist" and wildly extremist radical from the fringe of the Democrat’s far left edge is a new challenge. Graham Platner was nominated by the Democrats because he is a human wrecking ball. By nominating the very opposite of Collins when it comes to achievement and temperament, the radical wing of the Democrats hope to cripple the Senate by denying it one of its most effective members. They are asking Mainers to destroy their own state’s vast advantage in the Congress in the service of their anti-West, anti-American, anti-Israel and antisemitic agenda. They are also aiming to deeply injure the process that defends America at this crucial moment. GRAHAM PLATNER BLASTS NEW ALLEGATIONS AS 'FALSE ACCUSATIONS': 'MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK' The House and Senate must soon decide how to proceed on the Pentagon’s budget for 2027 and beyond. Both the SASC and the Senate Appropriations Committee must act. SASC provides the defense spending architecture via the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but as The Wall Street Journal noted this past weekend, the NDAA "is a policy guide not a check, and the big question is whether the President’s $1.5 trillion defense budget" will actually pass and in what form and via what process. Genuine legislators like Collins would prefer to use "regular order" to hold hearings, conduct mark-ups and send proposed bills to House-Senate conference committees. That is the ideal. That ideal is doomed to fail this year as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, assailed by his party’s radicals, is intent on creating a government shutdown before the midterms. That shutdown isn’t a prophecy or a dart thrown with a blindfold. It’s the inevitable result of how the Democrats have framed the midterm elections this fall. Schumer cannot stop the House from enacting a defense budget but he can and will make the Senate’s regular order grind to a halt in order to satisfy his party’s whacko left-wing with a shutdown. Which puts Collins and every Republican who is serious about keeping our military strong in a bind. The military must be as equipped and prepared in an era of rapidly evolving threats and technology. It cannot lurch from "Continuing Resolution" to "Continuing Resolution" (CR) which is the best result of "shutdown politics." Democrats intend that very result. And if the Democrats win either or both Houses back from the Republicans in the fall, they will go much farther than a long string of CRs. They will savage defense spending in favor of their socialist pipe dreams. This isn’t a secret and it’s not doom-casting. Believe what Democrats tell you. The party has launched off the left cliff in American politics, heading to places no American party has ever proposed to go before, much less actually traveled towards. The left is now opposed to American power and stature in the world. It would strip us of our defenses. Even the handful of crazed leftists nominated for the House by Democrats in New Jersey and New York in recent weeks would combine with the existing fringe — the "Squad" — to eviscerate American military strength. Even five radical House members will be enough to control defense spending in a closely divided House and only one or two senators can do so in an even or one-vote majority Senate. The Congress ahead is very likely to be the most radical in America’s 250 years. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION Which is why Collins and Wicker, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senate Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton (R-AR) must make the anti-institutionalist choice to fund the Pentagon via the "budget reconciliation process," a complicated and controversial means to the end of tackling major tax and spending bills like the Working Families Tax Cut of 2025 and various COVID relief bills of both Republican and Democratic presidents. (Collins and then Senator Marco Rubio led the crafting of the Paycheck Protection Program which was the critical part of the economy-saving CARES Act of March 2020.) Because Democrats are going to hold the federal government hostage in the fall as a giant campaign stunt, it falls to the serious and sober-minded Republican senators to advance national security spending through reconciliation. The harder question is whether to do so for two or three years instead of just one. That’s a difficult choice to make because it would recognize the yawning chasm between the mainstream American consensus about the country’s defenses and the hard left’s "defund defense" corollary to its "defund the police" and "defund ICE" platform planks. Using reconciliation to forward funds up to $5 trillion is nobody’s ideal. But it is a necessity to provide time for our troops until the Democrats’ collective fever breaks. Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons from 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh drives Americans home on the East Coast and to lunch on the West Coast on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable, hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM HUGH HEWITT Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b631197238567836b97f How capitalism missed out and failed to capitalize on America’s 250th anniversary te 2026-06-30T12:27:29.347Z How capitalism missed out and failed to capitalize on America’s 250th anniversary I love a good celebration, and Americans know how to go all-out to celebrate. Whether it’s Halloween, Christmas or even a major sporting event, we decorate, we costume, we have themed and branded food, and we fête the specific holiday or milestone. And, as Americans, we go hard. As such, I was looking forward to an all-out barrage of red, white and blue patriotism coming from every direction as we headed into 2026, the 250th anniversary of our declaration of independence from England and the milestone celebrating the founding of our great country. Now, as we are just a week away from July 4th, I find myself still looking. SECRETS OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLEFIELDS EMERGE 250 YEARS AFTER AMERICA'S FOUNDING Capitalism, it seems, has failed America’s 250th anniversary. In a land of clever people who look to lean into every possible opportunity, it seems like our 250th has been a wasted one. Sure, you can find some merchandise here and there, or your normal July 4th fare, but the economic response to this huge milestone event has been utterly milquetoast at best. I expected to see T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters and more in red, white and blue, emblazoned with oversized "America 250" and "America: Established 1776." I expected to see accessories proudly featuring the Stars and Stripes and "250." I expected every grocery store product, from condiments to candy, to feature not only limited-edition red, white and blue variations, but branding about celebrating 250 years of America. DAVID MARCUS: AS THE NATION BICKERS, SMALL-TOWN AMERICA STILL LOVES A PARADE Where are the crazy themed decorations, the 250th balloons and the commemorative knick-knacks? Where are the blow-up Uncle Sams on the suburban lawns? Where are the special festivals and events? The big apple pie baking contests? Why, when I walk down the street, is it not covered in red, white and blue from top to bottom and oversized "America’s 250th" banners, not just for the 4th of July, but all year long? It seems like we have witnessed more American patriotism from foreigners visiting America for the FIFA World Cup than we have seen from American industry. NEW DIRECTOR'S CUT OF 2024 ‘REAGAN’ BIOPIC WILL RETURN TO THEATERS FOR AMERICA’S 250TH ANNIVERSARY Corporate America is usually first to jump on any theme, event or milestone. The fact that they have largely ignored America’s 250th is incredibly disappointing. For those who might say that they don’t want to get too "political," not only has it never stopped them in the past, but, moreover, the founding of our country isn’t about a political party. In fact, America’s 250th is about all of us as individuals. America was founded on a unique idea, to uphold and protect the rights of each of us as individuals. It’s a celebration of independence and a celebration of people over government. It’s a celebration of defying odds through smarts, grit and strategy and being willing to put ideas into action. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION The country belongs to us as Americans, regardless of what you think of anyone or everyone in government at any point in time. That is something worth celebrating, loudly, proudly and with an obscene amount of themed merchandise. With half of the year gone, it’s a little late in the game, but it’s never too late for capitalism. I hope that July 4th will mark the beginning of a wave of in-your-face patriotism. We have the greatest country in the world and that deserves appropriate celebration. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM CAROL ROTH Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b629197238567836b976 How capitalism missed out and failed to capitalize on America’s 250th anniversary te 2026-06-30T12:27:21.525Z How capitalism missed out and failed to capitalize on America’s 250th anniversary I love a good celebration, and Americans know how to go all-out to celebrate. Whether it’s Halloween, Christmas or even a major sporting event, we decorate, we costume, we have themed and branded food, and we fête the specific holiday or milestone. And, as Americans, we go hard. As such, I was looking forward to an all-out barrage of red, white and blue patriotism coming from every direction as we headed into 2026, the 250th anniversary of our declaration of independence from England and the milestone celebrating the founding of our great country. Now, as we are just a week away from July 4th, I find myself still looking. SECRETS OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLEFIELDS EMERGE 250 YEARS AFTER AMERICA'S FOUNDING Capitalism, it seems, has failed America’s 250th anniversary. In a land of clever people who look to lean into every possible opportunity, it seems like our 250th has been a wasted one. Sure, you can find some merchandise here and there, or your normal July 4th fare, but the economic response to this huge milestone event has been utterly milquetoast at best. I expected to see T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters and more in red, white and blue, emblazoned with oversized "America 250" and "America: Established 1776." I expected to see accessories proudly featuring the Stars and Stripes and "250." I expected every grocery store product, from condiments to candy, to feature not only limited-edition red, white and blue variations, but branding about celebrating 250 years of America. DAVID MARCUS: AS THE NATION BICKERS, SMALL-TOWN AMERICA STILL LOVES A PARADE Where are the crazy themed decorations, the 250th balloons and the commemorative knick-knacks? Where are the blow-up Uncle Sams on the suburban lawns? Where are the special festivals and events? The big apple pie baking contests? Why, when I walk down the street, is it not covered in red, white and blue from top to bottom and oversized "America’s 250th" banners, not just for the 4th of July, but all year long? It seems like we have witnessed more American patriotism from foreigners visiting America for the FIFA World Cup than we have seen from American industry. NEW DIRECTOR'S CUT OF 2024 ‘REAGAN’ BIOPIC WILL RETURN TO THEATERS FOR AMERICA’S 250TH ANNIVERSARY Corporate America is usually first to jump on any theme, event or milestone. The fact that they have largely ignored America’s 250th is incredibly disappointing. For those who might say that they don’t want to get too "political," not only has it never stopped them in the past, but, moreover, the founding of our country isn’t about a political party. In fact, America’s 250th is about all of us as individuals. America was founded on a unique idea, to uphold and protect the rights of each of us as individuals. It’s a celebration of independence and a celebration of people over government. It’s a celebration of defying odds through smarts, grit and strategy and being willing to put ideas into action. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION The country belongs to us as Americans, regardless of what you think of anyone or everyone in government at any point in time. That is something worth celebrating, loudly, proudly and with an obscene amount of themed merchandise. With half of the year gone, it’s a little late in the game, but it’s never too late for capitalism. I hope that July 4th will mark the beginning of a wave of in-your-face patriotism. We have the greatest country in the world and that deserves appropriate celebration. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM CAROL ROTH Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b61d197238567836b96d Probe into 'subversive' anti-AI Singham network is 'enormous,' former Treasury advisor says te 2026-06-30T12:27:09.889Z Probe into 'subversive' anti-AI Singham network is 'enormous,' former Treasury advisor says FIRST ON FOX: Former Treasury senior advisor and chief speechwriter Sam Lyman says the Southern District of New York's investigation into the finances behind the activist network tied to American Marxist businessman Neville Roy Singham marks one of the most significant developments yet in the federal government's scrutiny of the organization and far-left protests in the U.S. "It's an enormous development because it's one of the first legal actions that's taking a deeper look into this network, which is among the most subversive political networks here in the United States, period," Lyman told Fox News Digital. Lyman was reacting to Fox News Digital's exclusive report that U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton from the Southern District of New York has opened a grand jury investigation into the finances behind Singham's sprawling activist network. The former Treasury official, who now serves as head of research at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, released a new report on Monday, first obtained by Fox News Digital, examining the Singham network's role in organizing opposition to artificial intelligence infrastructure and data center development across the country. DOJ LAUNCHES GRAND JURY PROBE INTO MARXIST MOGUL NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM'S FUNDING OF LEFTIST GROUPS Researchers conclude that about $23.6 billion in proposed AI and data center investment has been delayed, scaled back or blocked in campaigns where Party for Socialism and Liberation served as "a critical mobilizer in efforts that delayed, scaled back, or blocked the proposed AI infrastructure investment." "What we've uncovered is that Neville Singham's network, in particular the Party for Socialism and Liberation, has been boots on the ground in dozens of protests across the country targeting data centers," Lyman said. According to the report, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which has emerged in the past decade as a key political and activist arm of the Singham network, has developed a nationwide organizing operation that has participated in 21 campaigns across 14 states opposing AI infrastructure projects. The report documents 19 case studies involving cities and counties including: Charlotte, N.C.; Prince George's County, Md.; DeForest, Wisc.; Monterey Park, Calif.; Denver, Co.; Tucson, Ariz.; Athens, Ga.; Durham, N.C.; Madison, Wisc.; New Orleans; Cleveland and other locations. According to the report, those campaigns resulted in 10 local data center moratoria, one permanent data center ban and four rejected or withdrawn projects. The authors note that the figure likely understates the total impact because several additional campaigns involved projects whose investment values were never publicly disclosed. REPORT: CHINESE PROPAGANDA, SINGHAM NETWORK, FOREIGN DARK MONEY LINKED TO CAMPAIGNS AGAINST DATA CENTERS The report argues that while many residents have legitimate concerns over water use, electricity demand and land use, activists linked to the Singham network have built a sophisticated nationwide operation that amplifies those concerns through coordinated organizing, demonstrations and political pressure. "The American opposition to data centers is real and mostly homegrown," the report states. "But an organized, foreign-aligned party has worked to amplify and convert genuine grievances into actions that slow or degrade America's buildout of data centers." One of the report's featured examples is Charlotte, N.C., where it says Party for Socialism and Liberation organizers canvassed neighborhoods, circulated petitions and helped organize demonstrations before the City Council unanimously approved a 150-day moratorium on new data centers. According to the report, organizers are now pushing for a permanent ban. In Prince George's County, Md., researchers say the Party for Socialism and Liberation chapter in Washington, D.C., helped organize town halls, canvass neighborhoods and gather more than 20,000 petition signatures opposing Lerner Enterprises' proposed $5 billion Brightseat Tech Park. County officials later paused data center approvals while reviewing local policy. SEN. TOM COTTON URGES DOJ TO PROBE CHINESE BID TO 'KNEECAP' AMERICAN AI The report also highlights DeForest, Wisc., where it says Party for Socialism and Liberation organizers joined local residents opposing Blackstone-backed QTS' proposed $12 billion hyperscale data center campus. Following months of public opposition, village officials declared the proposal "not feasible," leading the developer to withdraw the project. In Southern California, the report said the Los Angeles chapter of Party for Socialism and Liberation participated in the "No Data Centers SGV" coalition, which organized petitions, public meetings and a ballot initiative culminating in California's first permanent municipal ban on new data centers in Monterey Park. According to the report, the coalition also influenced neighboring cities to adopt additional restrictions or temporary moratoria. Researchers further cite campaigns in Arizona opposing Amazon's proposed $3.6 billion Project Blue near Tucson and a separate $2 billion AI data center proposal in Chandler, both of which encountered significant setbacks following organized opposition. The report argues that the campaign against AI infrastructure is only one part of a broader effort by organizations linked to Singham. "The common thread in all of these nonprofit organizations is that they agitate against American causes — what they call American empire," Lyman said. NETWORK FUNDED BY PRO-CCP TECH TYCOON TARGETS PALANTIR AMID ANTI-US PROTESTS THAT SUPPORT THE REGIME IN IRAN "After Oct. 7, these nonprofit networks and their political affiliates were boots on the ground protesting Israel and any action Israel took in Gaza. They did the exact same thing when President Trump took office and started enforcing immigration laws. Now we're seeing the exact same thing take place against the technology industry here in the United States." As reported by Fox News Digital, nonprofits funded by Singham — including CodePink, Tricontinental, People's Dispatch and Liberation News — have spent years publishing material opposing American AI development and criticizing leading technology companies including Palantir, Google, Amazon and Meta. Lyman said the network's organizing capacity has made it an increasingly influential political force. "This network is incredibly good at organizing," he said. "Self-identified socialists in America are incredibly good at getting out the vote, getting their people to protest and getting them to sign petitions." He argued that the federal investigation by the Justice Department's Southern District of New York reflects growing recognition in Washington, D.C., of Singham's influence. "Singham essentially is the figurehead who's funding all of this," Lyman said. "It makes sense both from a legal perspective and from a policymaking perspective that the American people are starting to take notice of his subversive activities because they are truly prolific." The report concludes by calling for greater transparency into the funding behind the Party for Socialism and Liberation and other organizations tied to Singham, arguing that Americans should know who is financing organized campaigns that seek to shape the future of the country's AI infrastructure. Fox News Digital's Mitch Picasso contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b616197238567836b964 Probe into 'subversive' anti-AI Singham network is 'enormous,' former Treasury advisor says te 2026-06-30T12:27:02.073Z Probe into 'subversive' anti-AI Singham network is 'enormous,' former Treasury advisor says FIRST ON FOX: Former Treasury senior advisor and chief speechwriter Sam Lyman says the Southern District of New York's investigation into the finances behind the activist network tied to American Marxist businessman Neville Roy Singham marks one of the most significant developments yet in the federal government's scrutiny of the organization and far-left protests in the U.S. "It's an enormous development because it's one of the first legal actions that's taking a deeper look into this network, which is among the most subversive political networks here in the United States, period," Lyman told Fox News Digital. Lyman was reacting to Fox News Digital's exclusive report that U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton from the Southern District of New York has opened a grand jury investigation into the finances behind Singham's sprawling activist network. The former Treasury official, who now serves as head of research at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, released a new report on Monday, first obtained by Fox News Digital, examining the Singham network's role in organizing opposition to artificial intelligence infrastructure and data center development across the country. DOJ LAUNCHES GRAND JURY PROBE INTO MARXIST MOGUL NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM'S FUNDING OF LEFTIST GROUPS Researchers conclude that about $23.6 billion in proposed AI and data center investment has been delayed, scaled back or blocked in campaigns where Party for Socialism and Liberation served as "a critical mobilizer in efforts that delayed, scaled back, or blocked the proposed AI infrastructure investment." "What we've uncovered is that Neville Singham's network, in particular the Party for Socialism and Liberation, has been boots on the ground in dozens of protests across the country targeting data centers," Lyman said. According to the report, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which has emerged in the past decade as a key political and activist arm of the Singham network, has developed a nationwide organizing operation that has participated in 21 campaigns across 14 states opposing AI infrastructure projects. The report documents 19 case studies involving cities and counties including: Charlotte, N.C.; Prince George's County, Md.; DeForest, Wisc.; Monterey Park, Calif.; Denver, Co.; Tucson, Ariz.; Athens, Ga.; Durham, N.C.; Madison, Wisc.; New Orleans; Cleveland and other locations. According to the report, those campaigns resulted in 10 local data center moratoria, one permanent data center ban and four rejected or withdrawn projects. The authors note that the figure likely understates the total impact because several additional campaigns involved projects whose investment values were never publicly disclosed. REPORT: CHINESE PROPAGANDA, SINGHAM NETWORK, FOREIGN DARK MONEY LINKED TO CAMPAIGNS AGAINST DATA CENTERS The report argues that while many residents have legitimate concerns over water use, electricity demand and land use, activists linked to the Singham network have built a sophisticated nationwide operation that amplifies those concerns through coordinated organizing, demonstrations and political pressure. "The American opposition to data centers is real and mostly homegrown," the report states. "But an organized, foreign-aligned party has worked to amplify and convert genuine grievances into actions that slow or degrade America's buildout of data centers." One of the report's featured examples is Charlotte, N.C., where it says Party for Socialism and Liberation organizers canvassed neighborhoods, circulated petitions and helped organize demonstrations before the City Council unanimously approved a 150-day moratorium on new data centers. According to the report, organizers are now pushing for a permanent ban. In Prince George's County, Md., researchers say the Party for Socialism and Liberation chapter in Washington, D.C., helped organize town halls, canvass neighborhoods and gather more than 20,000 petition signatures opposing Lerner Enterprises' proposed $5 billion Brightseat Tech Park. County officials later paused data center approvals while reviewing local policy. SEN. TOM COTTON URGES DOJ TO PROBE CHINESE BID TO 'KNEECAP' AMERICAN AI The report also highlights DeForest, Wisc., where it says Party for Socialism and Liberation organizers joined local residents opposing Blackstone-backed QTS' proposed $12 billion hyperscale data center campus. Following months of public opposition, village officials declared the proposal "not feasible," leading the developer to withdraw the project. In Southern California, the report said the Los Angeles chapter of Party for Socialism and Liberation participated in the "No Data Centers SGV" coalition, which organized petitions, public meetings and a ballot initiative culminating in California's first permanent municipal ban on new data centers in Monterey Park. According to the report, the coalition also influenced neighboring cities to adopt additional restrictions or temporary moratoria. Researchers further cite campaigns in Arizona opposing Amazon's proposed $3.6 billion Project Blue near Tucson and a separate $2 billion AI data center proposal in Chandler, both of which encountered significant setbacks following organized opposition. The report argues that the campaign against AI infrastructure is only one part of a broader effort by organizations linked to Singham. "The common thread in all of these nonprofit organizations is that they agitate against American causes — what they call American empire," Lyman said. NETWORK FUNDED BY PRO-CCP TECH TYCOON TARGETS PALANTIR AMID ANTI-US PROTESTS THAT SUPPORT THE REGIME IN IRAN "After Oct. 7, these nonprofit networks and their political affiliates were boots on the ground protesting Israel and any action Israel took in Gaza. They did the exact same thing when President Trump took office and started enforcing immigration laws. Now we're seeing the exact same thing take place against the technology industry here in the United States." As reported by Fox News Digital, nonprofits funded by Singham — including CodePink, Tricontinental, People's Dispatch and Liberation News — have spent years publishing material opposing American AI development and criticizing leading technology companies including Palantir, Google, Amazon and Meta. Lyman said the network's organizing capacity has made it an increasingly influential political force. "This network is incredibly good at organizing," he said. "Self-identified socialists in America are incredibly good at getting out the vote, getting their people to protest and getting them to sign petitions." He argued that the federal investigation by the Justice Department's Southern District of New York reflects growing recognition in Washington, D.C., of Singham's influence. "Singham essentially is the figurehead who's funding all of this," Lyman said. "It makes sense both from a legal perspective and from a policymaking perspective that the American people are starting to take notice of his subversive activities because they are truly prolific." The report concludes by calling for greater transparency into the funding behind the Party for Socialism and Liberation and other organizations tied to Singham, arguing that Americans should know who is financing organized campaigns that seek to shape the future of the country's AI infrastructure. Fox News Digital's Mitch Picasso contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b60a197238567836b95b Clinton confidant who called Maxwell his 'lover' grilled by Congress over Epstein ties te 2026-06-30T12:26:50.433Z Clinton confidant who called Maxwell his 'lover' grilled by Congress over Epstein ties Former Bill Clinton aide Doug Band is set to face a grilling by congressional investigators after his name was referenced dozens of times in the Epstein files. Band will testify voluntarily before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday in a transcribed interview as part of the bipartisan panel’s probe into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted on federal sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., invited Band to testify about his interactions with Epstein and Maxwell while serving as a top aide to Clinton during the early years of his post-presidency.  Band attended a 2003 dinner at Epstein’s Manhattan town house and corresponded with Maxwell between 2002 and 2006, according to files released by the Justice Department. FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON DEPOSED IN EPSTEIN PROBE IN POTENTIAL FIRST FOR CONGRESS In a 2006 email, Band, who is a University of Florida alumnus, asked to use Maxwell’s plane to attend the NCAA men’s basketball finals to watch the Florida Gators play. In other correspondence published by the DOJ, he called Maxwell his "lover" and "social matchmaker," among other flirtatious messages. The pair were photographed together at a Valentine's Day tea party at a members-only club in New York City in 2007. Band has not been charged with any wrongdoing, and his interactions with the couple appeared to largely predate Epstein’s conviction of soliciting a minor in 2008. The ex-Clinton advisor is likely to be peppered with questions about the former president’s ties to the disgraced financier. Band, who initially served as Clinton’s personal aide and ultimately became a member of his inner circle, helped establish the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative during Clinton’s post-presidency. He later cut ties with the Clintons during a public falling out in the early 2010s. In a 2020 tell-all interview with Vanity Fair, Band said he grew to dislike Epstein during a 2002 trip aboard Epstein’s private jet with Clinton to Africa and advised the former president to end his relationship with him.  Also in the interview, Band said Clinton in 2003 traveled to Epstein’s private Caribbean island, Little St. James. Band said he declined to attend over his objections to Epstein. Band’s account conflicts with Clinton’s repeated assertion that he never visited. Clinton, who has denied any wrongdoing, has pointed to travel logs that do not show such a trip. Band told Vanity Fair he sought to bar Maxwell from Clinton-related events amid his broader rupture with the Clinton family. Maxwell was notably close to Chelsea Clinton and was invited to her wedding in 2010. JEFFREY EPSTEIN ALLEGEDLY SAID BILL CLINTON 'LIKES' YOUNG GIRLS, DOCUMENTS REVEAL The House Oversight interview will take place behind closed doors, but a transcript is expected to be published at a later date. Tuesday’s testimony comes after Bill and Hillary Clinton testified to congressional investigators in March about their interactions with Epstein under the threat of civil contempt charges. Lawmakers threatened to criminally refer the couple to the Justice Department for contempt charges if they refused. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has also interviewed former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as part of the committee’s probe. Comer’s panel in July is expected to interview former Goldman Sachs attorney and Obama counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz and former JPMorgan Chase executive and ex-Barclays CEO Jes Staley. All three knew Epstein personally and were among the high-profile figures whose names appear in recently released Epstein-related files, though none has been charged with wrongdoing. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b602197238567836b952 Clinton confidant who called Maxwell his 'lover' grilled by Congress over Epstein ties te 2026-06-30T12:26:42.612Z Clinton confidant who called Maxwell his 'lover' grilled by Congress over Epstein ties Former Bill Clinton aide Doug Band is set to face a grilling by congressional investigators after his name was referenced dozens of times in the Epstein files. Band will testify voluntarily before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday in a transcribed interview as part of the bipartisan panel’s probe into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted on federal sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., invited Band to testify about his interactions with Epstein and Maxwell while serving as a top aide to Clinton during the early years of his post-presidency.  Band attended a 2003 dinner at Epstein’s Manhattan town house and corresponded with Maxwell between 2002 and 2006, according to files released by the Justice Department. FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON DEPOSED IN EPSTEIN PROBE IN POTENTIAL FIRST FOR CONGRESS In a 2006 email, Band, who is a University of Florida alumnus, asked to use Maxwell’s plane to attend the NCAA men’s basketball finals to watch the Florida Gators play. In other correspondence published by the DOJ, he called Maxwell his "lover" and "social matchmaker," among other flirtatious messages. The pair were photographed together at a Valentine's Day tea party at a members-only club in New York City in 2007. Band has not been charged with any wrongdoing, and his interactions with the couple appeared to largely predate Epstein’s conviction of soliciting a minor in 2008. The ex-Clinton advisor is likely to be peppered with questions about the former president’s ties to the disgraced financier. Band, who initially served as Clinton’s personal aide and ultimately became a member of his inner circle, helped establish the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative during Clinton’s post-presidency. He later cut ties with the Clintons during a public falling out in the early 2010s. In a 2020 tell-all interview with Vanity Fair, Band said he grew to dislike Epstein during a 2002 trip aboard Epstein’s private jet with Clinton to Africa and advised the former president to end his relationship with him.  Also in the interview, Band said Clinton in 2003 traveled to Epstein’s private Caribbean island, Little St. James. Band said he declined to attend over his objections to Epstein. Band’s account conflicts with Clinton’s repeated assertion that he never visited. Clinton, who has denied any wrongdoing, has pointed to travel logs that do not show such a trip. Band told Vanity Fair he sought to bar Maxwell from Clinton-related events amid his broader rupture with the Clinton family. Maxwell was notably close to Chelsea Clinton and was invited to her wedding in 2010. JEFFREY EPSTEIN ALLEGEDLY SAID BILL CLINTON 'LIKES' YOUNG GIRLS, DOCUMENTS REVEAL The House Oversight interview will take place behind closed doors, but a transcript is expected to be published at a later date. Tuesday’s testimony comes after Bill and Hillary Clinton testified to congressional investigators in March about their interactions with Epstein under the threat of civil contempt charges. Lawmakers threatened to criminally refer the couple to the Justice Department for contempt charges if they refused. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has also interviewed former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as part of the committee’s probe. Comer’s panel in July is expected to interview former Goldman Sachs attorney and Obama counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz and former JPMorgan Chase executive and ex-Barclays CEO Jes Staley. All three knew Epstein personally and were among the high-profile figures whose names appear in recently released Epstein-related files, though none has been charged with wrongdoing. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b5f6197238567836b949 One of the biggest myths about the Boston Tea Party revealed by historian te 2026-06-30T12:26:30.979Z One of the biggest myths about the Boston Tea Party revealed by historian When Americans think of the beverage that fueled the American Revolution, they usually picture black tea — but it turns out that green tea was just as popular. The Founding Fathers and their contemporaries drank both types of tea, Bruce Richardson, the Kentucky-based founder of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, told Fox News Digital. British subjects "were as likely to be drinking green tea as black tea, whether you were in Jane Austen [era] England ... or you were in colonial Boston," he added. WANT TO EAT LIKE THE FOUNDING FATHERS THIS JULY 4TH? HOW TO INCORPORATE THEIR FAVORITE FOODS INTO YOUR HOLIDAY "There were five teas, all from China, because that was the only country that was exporting tea," Richardson said. "And of those five different teas, two of them were green and three of them were black." Richardson, a tea historian who works as the tea master at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, said the five types of tea dumped into Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act of 1773 included three black varieties — Bohea, Souchong and Congou — as well as the green teas Hyson and Singlo. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER Bohea, the most common and least expensive black tea of the era, was often made from older tea leaves harvested after the highest-quality leaves of the season had already been picked. Most of the tea dumped into Boston Harbor was Bohea, Richardson said — and it was so ubiquitous that he compared it to the way Kleenex has become synonymous with tissues today. "It was so common that often teapots at the time, or some that I've seen, would say Bohea on the side of the teapot," he said. "If they wanted tea, they'd say, 'I'll have a cup of Bohea.' It was that common." Not only did colonial Americans distinguish between green and black tea, they even stored them differently. "The well-to-do people would have a tea caddy – a wooden, beautifully made tea caddy to store their tea in," he said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES "It was kept under lock and key. And in that tea caddy, [there] would be two compartments, one for green tea and one for black tea." Merchants often favored black tea because it held up better during the long voyage from China to Europe and onward to the American colonies, Richardson said. "The green tea was what China had always drunk," he said. "And so they were exporting that as well, but they found that the black tea actually made the voyage better than the green teas." Even after many colonists swore off British tea, they kept the ritual of drinking it — or at least a close substitute. Many patriots brewed so-called "Liberty Teas" made from ingredients such as dried apples, blueberries, chamomile and herbs grown in their gardens. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ "They still wanted their tea time, but they didn't want to support the British government," Richardson said. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b5ef197238567836b940 One of the biggest myths about the Boston Tea Party revealed by historian te 2026-06-30T12:26:23.156Z One of the biggest myths about the Boston Tea Party revealed by historian When Americans think of the beverage that fueled the American Revolution, they usually picture black tea — but it turns out that green tea was just as popular. The Founding Fathers and their contemporaries drank both types of tea, Bruce Richardson, the Kentucky-based founder of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, told Fox News Digital. British subjects "were as likely to be drinking green tea as black tea, whether you were in Jane Austen [era] England ... or you were in colonial Boston," he added. WANT TO EAT LIKE THE FOUNDING FATHERS THIS JULY 4TH? HOW TO INCORPORATE THEIR FAVORITE FOODS INTO YOUR HOLIDAY "There were five teas, all from China, because that was the only country that was exporting tea," Richardson said. "And of those five different teas, two of them were green and three of them were black." Richardson, a tea historian who works as the tea master at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, said the five types of tea dumped into Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act of 1773 included three black varieties — Bohea, Souchong and Congou — as well as the green teas Hyson and Singlo. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER Bohea, the most common and least expensive black tea of the era, was often made from older tea leaves harvested after the highest-quality leaves of the season had already been picked. Most of the tea dumped into Boston Harbor was Bohea, Richardson said — and it was so ubiquitous that he compared it to the way Kleenex has become synonymous with tissues today. "It was so common that often teapots at the time, or some that I've seen, would say Bohea on the side of the teapot," he said. "If they wanted tea, they'd say, 'I'll have a cup of Bohea.' It was that common." Not only did colonial Americans distinguish between green and black tea, they even stored them differently. "The well-to-do people would have a tea caddy – a wooden, beautifully made tea caddy to store their tea in," he said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES "It was kept under lock and key. And in that tea caddy, [there] would be two compartments, one for green tea and one for black tea." Merchants often favored black tea because it held up better during the long voyage from China to Europe and onward to the American colonies, Richardson said. "The green tea was what China had always drunk," he said. "And so they were exporting that as well, but they found that the black tea actually made the voyage better than the green teas." Even after many colonists swore off British tea, they kept the ritual of drinking it — or at least a close substitute. Many patriots brewed so-called "Liberty Teas" made from ingredients such as dried apples, blueberries, chamomile and herbs grown in their gardens. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ "They still wanted their tea time, but they didn't want to support the British government," Richardson said. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b5e3197238567836b937 Iran fights to keep grip on Hormuz as US, Gulf allies carve new shipping route te 2026-06-30T12:26:11.522Z Iran fights to keep grip on Hormuz as US, Gulf allies carve new shipping route Iran's latest attacks on commercial shipping came just as the United States and Oman were beginning to steer more vessels through a new southern shipping corridor hugging Oman's coastline — an alternative route designed to move traffic farther from Iran's immediate reach. Former U.S. military commanders and regional analysts told Fox News Digital the timing was no coincidence. They said Iran was trying to preserve one of its greatest strategic advantages as new shipping routes and regional infrastructure begin chipping away at Tehran's leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. "The southern route creates a route they can't toll or control," retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery told Fox News Digital. "They felt it necessary to attack it." SHIPPING GIANT WARNS STRAIT OF HORMUZ CHAOS IS 'NEW NORMAL' AS TEHRAN SHIFTS 4M BARRELS For decades, Iran's ability to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has given it influence well beyond its borders. But that advantage is increasingly under pressure as Gulf states invest in pipelines that bypass Hormuz and the United States and Oman expand use of the southern corridor.  Nearly half of inbound commercial traffic through the strait is already using that route, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward.  After Iran attacked vessels using the corridor, the U.S. responded with strikes on Iranian military targets tied to maritime operations. Iran retaliated in recent days with attacks on U.S. facilities and regional partners before Trump announced both sides had agreed to halt further strikes and return to negotiations in Doha.  Iran has denied that its negotiators would be meeting with U.S. officials in Qatar on Tuesday.  Former Navy Fifth Fleet commander, Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, said Iran's objective isn't necessarily to halt shipping altogether. "The IRGC has been trying to make it commercially unworkable," Donegan told Fox News Digital, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. "These attacks on shipping to me aren't random. They're strategy." Rather than closing the strait outright, Donegan said, Iran only needs to keep insurance premiums high enough that commercial shipping companies remain reluctant to return. "Their strategy is to enforce their control of the straits," he said, by driving up insurance costs while continuing to "test the U.S. resolve." VANCE REJECTS CLAIMS TRUMP-IRAN DEAL ECHOES OBAMA-ERA LOGIC AS HAWKS RAISE ALARM The question now is whether Iran can translate that military pressure into lasting influence over the strait. Under the memorandum of understanding negotiated after the ceasefire, Iran, Oman and the Gulf littoral states are expected to negotiate the strait's "future administration and maritime services" while commercial traffic moves toll-free for 60 days. President Donald Trump has insisted on social media that there will be "NO TOLLS" after the negotiating period expires, even though the memorandum itself does not explicitly guarantee that outcome. Asked about the discrepancy, Trump argued that "common sense" and the threat of renewed U.S. military action would keep Iran from interfering with commercial traffic. Iran, however, has signaled a different vision. An IRGC-linked news outlet portrayed last-minute revisions to the agreement — including language governing the strait's future administration and the temporary toll provision — as negotiating victories for Tehran. The White House could not immediately be reached for comment ahead of Tuesday's negotiations.  America's Gulf partners have made equally clear they are not interested in rewriting the status quo. "The management of the strait was working fine before the conflict," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said. "Why should we now, as a result of a conflict, accept some novel arrangement?" The disagreement reflects competing visions of what Iran's role in the strait looks like once the fighting ends. Former Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker said the negotiations reflect Iran's effort to emerge from the conflict with "a new status quo in the Persian Gulf." But preserving leverage over the Strait is about more than commercial shipping. "Iran is trying to basically step into that void," said Clionadh Raleigh, executive director of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project. Raleigh argued the conflict has left Gulf governments questioning whether "the U.S. is a partner that's unreliable," creating an opportunity for Tehran to argue that Gulf security should increasingly be managed by countries in the region rather than by Washington. Those doubts are already reshaping regional strategy. "They're seeking to really develop their own defense posture," Raleigh said. "And they're also seeking alternative means for them to continue trade." Those efforts have been underway for years, but the latest conflict has accelerated them. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in the East-West Pipeline linking Gulf oil fields to the Red Sea, while the United Arab Emirates has expanded export capacity through Fujairah, allowing crude exports to bypass Hormuz altogether. Every barrel that leaves the Gulf without transiting the strait — and every ship that safely uses the southern corridor — chips away at the leverage Iran has historically derived from one of the world's most important maritime choke points. If those alternatives continue to expand, Iran's ability to wield the strait as a strategic pressure point could gradually diminish even if Hormuz itself remains one of the world's most vital energy corridors. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b5db197238567836b92e Iran fights to keep grip on Hormuz as US, Gulf allies carve new shipping route te 2026-06-30T12:26:03.724Z Iran fights to keep grip on Hormuz as US, Gulf allies carve new shipping route Iran's latest attacks on commercial shipping came just as the United States and Oman were beginning to steer more vessels through a new southern shipping corridor hugging Oman's coastline — an alternative route designed to move traffic farther from Iran's immediate reach. Former U.S. military commanders and regional analysts told Fox News Digital the timing was no coincidence. They said Iran was trying to preserve one of its greatest strategic advantages as new shipping routes and regional infrastructure begin chipping away at Tehran's leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. "The southern route creates a route they can't toll or control," retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery told Fox News Digital. "They felt it necessary to attack it." SHIPPING GIANT WARNS STRAIT OF HORMUZ CHAOS IS 'NEW NORMAL' AS TEHRAN SHIFTS 4M BARRELS For decades, Iran's ability to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has given it influence well beyond its borders. But that advantage is increasingly under pressure as Gulf states invest in pipelines that bypass Hormuz and the United States and Oman expand use of the southern corridor.  Nearly half of inbound commercial traffic through the strait is already using that route, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward.  After Iran attacked vessels using the corridor, the U.S. responded with strikes on Iranian military targets tied to maritime operations. Iran retaliated in recent days with attacks on U.S. facilities and regional partners before Trump announced both sides had agreed to halt further strikes and return to negotiations in Doha.  Iran has denied that its negotiators would be meeting with U.S. officials in Qatar on Tuesday.  Former Navy Fifth Fleet commander, Vice Adm. Kevin Donegan, said Iran's objective isn't necessarily to halt shipping altogether. "The IRGC has been trying to make it commercially unworkable," Donegan told Fox News Digital, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. "These attacks on shipping to me aren't random. They're strategy." Rather than closing the strait outright, Donegan said, Iran only needs to keep insurance premiums high enough that commercial shipping companies remain reluctant to return. "Their strategy is to enforce their control of the straits," he said, by driving up insurance costs while continuing to "test the U.S. resolve." VANCE REJECTS CLAIMS TRUMP-IRAN DEAL ECHOES OBAMA-ERA LOGIC AS HAWKS RAISE ALARM The question now is whether Iran can translate that military pressure into lasting influence over the strait. Under the memorandum of understanding negotiated after the ceasefire, Iran, Oman and the Gulf littoral states are expected to negotiate the strait's "future administration and maritime services" while commercial traffic moves toll-free for 60 days. President Donald Trump has insisted on social media that there will be "NO TOLLS" after the negotiating period expires, even though the memorandum itself does not explicitly guarantee that outcome. Asked about the discrepancy, Trump argued that "common sense" and the threat of renewed U.S. military action would keep Iran from interfering with commercial traffic. Iran, however, has signaled a different vision. An IRGC-linked news outlet portrayed last-minute revisions to the agreement — including language governing the strait's future administration and the temporary toll provision — as negotiating victories for Tehran. The White House could not immediately be reached for comment ahead of Tuesday's negotiations.  America's Gulf partners have made equally clear they are not interested in rewriting the status quo. "The management of the strait was working fine before the conflict," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said. "Why should we now, as a result of a conflict, accept some novel arrangement?" The disagreement reflects competing visions of what Iran's role in the strait looks like once the fighting ends. Former Assistant Secretary of State David Schenker said the negotiations reflect Iran's effort to emerge from the conflict with "a new status quo in the Persian Gulf." But preserving leverage over the Strait is about more than commercial shipping. "Iran is trying to basically step into that void," said Clionadh Raleigh, executive director of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project. Raleigh argued the conflict has left Gulf governments questioning whether "the U.S. is a partner that's unreliable," creating an opportunity for Tehran to argue that Gulf security should increasingly be managed by countries in the region rather than by Washington. Those doubts are already reshaping regional strategy. "They're seeking to really develop their own defense posture," Raleigh said. "And they're also seeking alternative means for them to continue trade." Those efforts have been underway for years, but the latest conflict has accelerated them. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in the East-West Pipeline linking Gulf oil fields to the Red Sea, while the United Arab Emirates has expanded export capacity through Fujairah, allowing crude exports to bypass Hormuz altogether. Every barrel that leaves the Gulf without transiting the strait — and every ship that safely uses the southern corridor — chips away at the leverage Iran has historically derived from one of the world's most important maritime choke points. If those alternatives continue to expand, Iran's ability to wield the strait as a strategic pressure point could gradually diminish even if Hormuz itself remains one of the world's most vital energy corridors. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b5d0197238567836b925 Seattle Pride parade pandemonium as nude marchers prance through streets in front of children te 2026-06-30T12:25:52.078Z Seattle Pride parade pandemonium as nude marchers prance through streets in front of children WARNING: Graphic Content Seattle's LGBT Pride parade on Sunday descended into bedlam as attendees stripped off their clothes and marched the streets naked while children looked on. One video filmed by Chloe Cole, a de-transitioner activist, and posted by Frontlines Turning Point USA, shows people from a group called "Friends of Denny Blaine" marching in the nude. Some onlookers clapped and cheered, while the video panned to young children watching the spectacle. Another video shows naked people prancing around an outdoor fountain near children who were playing in the water. DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION The "Friends of Denny Blaine" website says it is dedicated to protecting Denny Blaine Park, which is known for its "historic nude & queer character." Currently, the park is facing a lawsuit from concerned citizens over its graphic nature, according to the website. "Nude ≠ Lewd," "Free to be Naked" and "Nude is Nourishing," read signs held by the marchers in the parade. BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY PLANS 19 DRAG QUEEN STORY HOURS FOR YOUNG KIDS DURING PRIDE MONTH Yet another lewd video shows naked men cycling in the parade, again to the applause and appreciation of the crowd, though some spectators can be seen shielding the eyes of children from the nude bodies. DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION The Frontlines TPUSA video showing people parading nude around the Seattle Center International Fountain after the gay pride event includes scenes of children splashing in the water that sprays from the fountain just feet from several naked men and one naked woman. It comes as Pride Month, which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community every June, comes to a close. In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton officially declared June the "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month," and in the years after gay marriage was codified in 2015, the parades and celebration have become increasingly crass, often with scenes of nude or nearly nude people parading in public. The three videos of naked demonstrators caused online fury from viewers shocked by the indecent display. INDIANA REPUBLICAN SENATOR MOVES TO BLOCK KIDS FROM ACCESSING PORN ONLINE "How is this not indecent exposure? Wtf?" one X user said. "Why the f--- would you take your children to see and celebrate this vile filthy celebration of perversion and degeneracy?" asked another. DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION A third said: "Those parents are stupid, both for bringing children to a Pride Parade, and for keeping them there when a bunch of naked pervs exposed themselves. Pride Parades are infamous for crap like this." Seattle's municipal code mentions nothing about public nudity, and the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has reiterated multiple times that being nude in Seattle is not a crime in itself. "However, public nudity can quickly become a case of indecent exposure if the nudity causes a person to reasonably experience fear, alarm or concern," an SPD press release says. Instead, the city is governed by Washington's indecent exposure law. "A person is guilty of indecent exposure if he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her person or the person of another knowing that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm," Revised Code of Washington 9A.88.010 says. A subsection of the law says indecent exposure is a misdemeanor "on the first offense if the person exposes himself or herself to a person under the age of fourteen years." It is a felony for convicted sex offenders to commit the crime of indecent exposure. The Seattle Police Department did not return a request for comment when asked whether anyone was arrested during the city's pride festivities. Mayor Katie Wilson's Office also did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b5c8197238567836b916 Seattle Pride parade pandemonium as nude marchers prance through streets in front of children te 2026-06-30T12:25:44.244Z Seattle Pride parade pandemonium as nude marchers prance through streets in front of children WARNING: Graphic Content Seattle's LGBT Pride parade on Sunday descended into bedlam as attendees stripped off their clothes and marched the streets naked while children looked on. One video filmed by Chloe Cole, a de-transitioner activist, and posted by Frontlines Turning Point USA, shows people from a group called "Friends of Denny Blaine" marching in the nude. Some onlookers clapped and cheered, while the video panned to young children watching the spectacle. Another video shows naked people prancing around an outdoor fountain near children who were playing in the water. DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION The "Friends of Denny Blaine" website says it is dedicated to protecting Denny Blaine Park, which is known for its "historic nude & queer character." Currently, the park is facing a lawsuit from concerned citizens over its graphic nature, according to the website. "Nude ≠ Lewd," "Free to be Naked" and "Nude is Nourishing," read signs held by the marchers in the parade. BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY PLANS 19 DRAG QUEEN STORY HOURS FOR YOUNG KIDS DURING PRIDE MONTH Yet another lewd video shows naked men cycling in the parade, again to the applause and appreciation of the crowd, though some spectators can be seen shielding the eyes of children from the nude bodies. DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION The Frontlines TPUSA video showing people parading nude around the Seattle Center International Fountain after the gay pride event includes scenes of children splashing in the water that sprays from the fountain just feet from several naked men and one naked woman. It comes as Pride Month, which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community every June, comes to a close. In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton officially declared June the "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month," and in the years after gay marriage was codified in 2015, the parades and celebration have become increasingly crass, often with scenes of nude or nearly nude people parading in public. The three videos of naked demonstrators caused online fury from viewers shocked by the indecent display. INDIANA REPUBLICAN SENATOR MOVES TO BLOCK KIDS FROM ACCESSING PORN ONLINE "How is this not indecent exposure? Wtf?" one X user said. "Why the f--- would you take your children to see and celebrate this vile filthy celebration of perversion and degeneracy?" asked another. DRAG QUEEN INVITED TO BALTIMORE ORIOLES PRIDE NIGHT TAKES A SHOT AT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION A third said: "Those parents are stupid, both for bringing children to a Pride Parade, and for keeping them there when a bunch of naked pervs exposed themselves. Pride Parades are infamous for crap like this." Seattle's municipal code mentions nothing about public nudity, and the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has reiterated multiple times that being nude in Seattle is not a crime in itself. "However, public nudity can quickly become a case of indecent exposure if the nudity causes a person to reasonably experience fear, alarm or concern," an SPD press release says. Instead, the city is governed by Washington's indecent exposure law. "A person is guilty of indecent exposure if he or she intentionally makes any open and obscene exposure of his or her person or the person of another knowing that such conduct is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm," Revised Code of Washington 9A.88.010 says. A subsection of the law says indecent exposure is a misdemeanor "on the first offense if the person exposes himself or herself to a person under the age of fourteen years." It is a felony for convicted sex offenders to commit the crime of indecent exposure. The Seattle Police Department did not return a request for comment when asked whether anyone was arrested during the city's pride festivities. Mayor Katie Wilson's Office also did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b5bc197238567836b90d HOA threatens American flag-flying homeowners as they fight for Old Glory before nation’s 250th birthday te 2026-06-30T12:25:32.617Z HOA threatens American flag-flying homeowners as they fight for Old Glory before nation’s 250th birthday As Americans prepare to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday, homeowners in an upscale Southern California community say they're being threatened with fines for flying Old Glory. Residents in San Marcos, whose townhome community is governed by the Ambiance Owners Association, are refusing to remove American flags displayed outside their homes despite notices from the homeowners' association. Real estate websites show townhomes in the community are valued at just under $1 million. OBAMA JUDGE RULES ON EFFORT TO BLOCK AMERICA 250 EVENTS AT WH AND LINCOLN MEMORIAL Documents reviewed by Fox News Digital show the dispute dates back at least three years. In May 2023, the HOA notified one homeowner that sports flags were prohibited while stating that "the American flag is the only approved flag to be hung on and within common property." 📢 See a problem in your neighborhood that isn't getting attention? 📩 stepheny.price@fox.com 📸 Instagram: @fndstephprice 🎥 X: @StephenyPrice Whether it's a developing case, concerning trend, or something you think deserves attention, your information could help lead our next story or investigation. By May 2026, however, the HOA issued Amy and Christopher Cooke a violation notice alleging the American flag mounted outside their home violated the association's flag policy and directing them to remove the flag mount within 15 days or face enforcement action. Neighbor Terri Collins also received a violation notice over the American flag displayed outside her home and said she's prepared to fight the HOA alongside the Cookes. "The journey has been long and hard, and we are ready to put an end to it once and for all," Collins told Fox News Digital. Amy Cooke told Fox News Digital the controversy began after another resident attempted to fly a San Diego Padres flag, prompting the HOA to revisit its flag rules. PRIDE FLAGS SPARK CONTROVERSY AFTER BEING DISPLAYED WITH VETERANS' TRIBUTE BANNERS IN LONG ISLAND TOWN "Both American flags had been flying around here for decades without issue," Cooke said. "The fact is it's about the American flag, distinctly." Cooke said she laughed when she first received notice that the HOA considered her American flag to be in violation. "My first reaction was, 'No,'" she said. "'Wait a minute, this isn't legal.'" REMEMBERING THE COLLEAGUES WE LOST: A VETERAN'S MEMORIAL DAY REFLECTION According to Cooke, the flag has flown from her garage door frame for more than 20 years in honor of her husband's grandfather, who was killed in World War II while rescuing fellow sailors. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart. Cooke contends the HOA has repeatedly failed to explain why it considers her garage door frame to be a common area rather than an exclusive-use common area under the association's governing documents. In a June 19 letter to the HOA obtained by Fox News Digital, the Cookes requested board meeting minutes adopting the flag policy, records supporting the HOA's interpretation of the property's common areas and the authority it relied upon in issuing the violation. They also asked that their disciplinary hearing be postponed until those records were produced, writing that the same questions "remain unanswered." Cooke said she and her husband have spent nearly two years researching federal and California law, gathering HOA records, corresponding with the HOA and preparing for what they believe could become a lengthy legal battle. The couple has since launched an online fundraiser to help cover attorney fees, court costs and other legal expenses if the dispute heads to court. FOLLOW US ON X "This isn't about refusing to follow reasonable rules," Cooke wrote on the fundraising page. "We believe this is about preserving the right to display the American flag in our own community and ensuring that HOA rules are enforced fairly and consistently." Cooke said any money remaining after legal expenses would be donated to patriotic organizations or causes supporting Gold Star military families. The homeowners' fight has also attracted attention from legal advocates. CLICK HERE FOR MORE U.S. NEWS "California law is clear. While homeowners associations may adopt reasonable rules governing the manner, placement, or safety of flag displays, they cannot prohibit homeowners from flying the American flag on their own property," Courtney Corbello, counsel at the Center for American Liberty, told Fox News Digital. "No homeowner should be threatened with fines for respectfully displaying the flag of the country they love, especially on the eve of America's 250th birthday. A blanket policy that sweeps in longstanding flag displays and punishes residents instead of pursuing reasonable solutions is likely to face serious legal scrutiny. HOAs cannot bully homeowners into taking down the Stars and Stripes." WATCH: Poll shows 27% of Democrats won't fly flag for July 4 The controversy has also reached the political arena. "What is wrong with these people? We are just about to celebrate the 250th birthday of our country," California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton told the California Post. "One of the most beautiful and magnificent things about America is the way we show our love of our country together all the time. ... And now these tin-pot bureaucrats at some ridiculous HOA want to trample on our flag and stifle national pride at this of all moments? What a bunch of anti-American losers." GET BREAKING NEWS ALERTS Hilton urged residents to ignore the HOA's demands and respond by displaying even more American flags in celebration of America's 250th birthday. Cooke said the dispute has already had a ripple effect throughout the neighborhood. SEND US A TIP "We have flags going up and down emotionally, which is really sad," she said. "Just fly the flag. It shouldn't be an emotional decision." She said she hopes the case encourages other homeowners not to be intimidated by their HOAs. "Stand up for what you believe in. Show some pride in your country and appreciate what America gives you," Cooke said. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Ambiance Owners Association and the San Marcos mayor's office for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b5b4197238567836b904 HOA threatens American flag-flying homeowners as they fight for Old Glory before nation’s 250th birthday te 2026-06-30T12:25:24.788Z HOA threatens American flag-flying homeowners as they fight for Old Glory before nation’s 250th birthday As Americans prepare to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday, homeowners in an upscale Southern California community say they're being threatened with fines for flying Old Glory. Residents in San Marcos, whose townhome community is governed by the Ambiance Owners Association, are refusing to remove American flags displayed outside their homes despite notices from the homeowners' association. Real estate websites show townhomes in the community are valued at just under $1 million. OBAMA JUDGE RULES ON EFFORT TO BLOCK AMERICA 250 EVENTS AT WH AND LINCOLN MEMORIAL Documents reviewed by Fox News Digital show the dispute dates back at least three years. In May 2023, the HOA notified one homeowner that sports flags were prohibited while stating that "the American flag is the only approved flag to be hung on and within common property." 📢 See a problem in your neighborhood that isn't getting attention? 📩 stepheny.price@fox.com 📸 Instagram: @fndstephprice 🎥 X: @StephenyPrice Whether it's a developing case, concerning trend, or something you think deserves attention, your information could help lead our next story or investigation. By May 2026, however, the HOA issued Amy and Christopher Cooke a violation notice alleging the American flag mounted outside their home violated the association's flag policy and directing them to remove the flag mount within 15 days or face enforcement action. Neighbor Terri Collins also received a violation notice over the American flag displayed outside her home and said she's prepared to fight the HOA alongside the Cookes. "The journey has been long and hard, and we are ready to put an end to it once and for all," Collins told Fox News Digital. Amy Cooke told Fox News Digital the controversy began after another resident attempted to fly a San Diego Padres flag, prompting the HOA to revisit its flag rules. PRIDE FLAGS SPARK CONTROVERSY AFTER BEING DISPLAYED WITH VETERANS' TRIBUTE BANNERS IN LONG ISLAND TOWN "Both American flags had been flying around here for decades without issue," Cooke said. "The fact is it's about the American flag, distinctly." Cooke said she laughed when she first received notice that the HOA considered her American flag to be in violation. "My first reaction was, 'No,'" she said. "'Wait a minute, this isn't legal.'" REMEMBERING THE COLLEAGUES WE LOST: A VETERAN'S MEMORIAL DAY REFLECTION According to Cooke, the flag has flown from her garage door frame for more than 20 years in honor of her husband's grandfather, who was killed in World War II while rescuing fellow sailors. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart. Cooke contends the HOA has repeatedly failed to explain why it considers her garage door frame to be a common area rather than an exclusive-use common area under the association's governing documents. In a June 19 letter to the HOA obtained by Fox News Digital, the Cookes requested board meeting minutes adopting the flag policy, records supporting the HOA's interpretation of the property's common areas and the authority it relied upon in issuing the violation. They also asked that their disciplinary hearing be postponed until those records were produced, writing that the same questions "remain unanswered." Cooke said she and her husband have spent nearly two years researching federal and California law, gathering HOA records, corresponding with the HOA and preparing for what they believe could become a lengthy legal battle. The couple has since launched an online fundraiser to help cover attorney fees, court costs and other legal expenses if the dispute heads to court. FOLLOW US ON X "This isn't about refusing to follow reasonable rules," Cooke wrote on the fundraising page. "We believe this is about preserving the right to display the American flag in our own community and ensuring that HOA rules are enforced fairly and consistently." Cooke said any money remaining after legal expenses would be donated to patriotic organizations or causes supporting Gold Star military families. The homeowners' fight has also attracted attention from legal advocates. CLICK HERE FOR MORE U.S. NEWS "California law is clear. While homeowners associations may adopt reasonable rules governing the manner, placement, or safety of flag displays, they cannot prohibit homeowners from flying the American flag on their own property," Courtney Corbello, counsel at the Center for American Liberty, told Fox News Digital. "No homeowner should be threatened with fines for respectfully displaying the flag of the country they love, especially on the eve of America's 250th birthday. A blanket policy that sweeps in longstanding flag displays and punishes residents instead of pursuing reasonable solutions is likely to face serious legal scrutiny. HOAs cannot bully homeowners into taking down the Stars and Stripes." WATCH: Poll shows 27% of Democrats won't fly flag for July 4 The controversy has also reached the political arena. "What is wrong with these people? We are just about to celebrate the 250th birthday of our country," California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton told the California Post. "One of the most beautiful and magnificent things about America is the way we show our love of our country together all the time. ... And now these tin-pot bureaucrats at some ridiculous HOA want to trample on our flag and stifle national pride at this of all moments? What a bunch of anti-American losers." GET BREAKING NEWS ALERTS Hilton urged residents to ignore the HOA's demands and respond by displaying even more American flags in celebration of America's 250th birthday. Cooke said the dispute has already had a ripple effect throughout the neighborhood. SEND US A TIP "We have flags going up and down emotionally, which is really sad," she said. "Just fly the flag. It shouldn't be an emotional decision." She said she hopes the case encourages other homeowners not to be intimidated by their HOAs. "Stand up for what you believe in. Show some pride in your country and appreciate what America gives you," Cooke said. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Ambiance Owners Association and the San Marcos mayor's office for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b5a9197238567836b8fb Trump’s massive GOP faith bloc raises red flag on Iran deal: Trust him, not his team te 2026-06-30T12:25:13.153Z Trump’s massive GOP faith bloc raises red flag on Iran deal: Trust him, not his team Influential evangelical leaders are divided over the Trump administration's memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran, as conflict continues across the Middle East and debate grows over whether the framework strengthens U.S. leverage or risks harming Israel. President Donald Trump recently threatened to re-escalate U.S. military strikes against Iran after Tehran continued attacks in the Strait of Hormuz after the regime launched strikes against Kuwait and Bahrain over the weekend, drawing condemnations from both Gulf neighbors. The split is emerging at a delicate moment for Trump, who is trying to turn military pressure on Iran into a diplomatic framework without alienating supporters who helped power his political coalition. Supporters of the MOU say Trump has earned trust because he weakened Tehran first, while critics say any deal that gives Iran relief before its threat to Israel is permanently neutralized risks betraying the alliance his base expects him to protect. Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a close evangelical ally of Trump, told Fox News Digital that many people are underestimating the American president. EVANGELICAL LEADERS RALLY FOR TRUMP AND ISRAEL AS OPERATION EPIC FURY RESHAPES THE REGION "The facts are that Donald Trump was key to ending the Gaza war, he was key to getting hostages out of there, and he was key in breaking the back of the Iranian regime, including destroying its navy, air force, missile defense and leadership," Evans said. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT There are 750 million Bible-believing Christians around the world who identify as Zionists, Evans said, adding that while they may disagree on Israeli political issues, they agree that Israel is the biblical homeland given by God to the Jewish people through Abraham. While running for president, Trump met with Christian groups, including Evans, and asked whether they would support him, Evans said, adding that they agreed on the condition that he support Christian values in the United States and stands by the State of Israel. I'M A CHRISTIAN PASTOR WHO WAS BORN IN EGYPT. HERE ARE 3 FACTS I LEARNED ABOUT IRAN'S NUCLEAR OBSESSION "He promised to do both and so far he’s exceeded all of our expectations," Evans said. "Israel is willing to shed its blood for America in the Middle East. America needs to do everything possible to support the State of Israel. We, as believers, believe that God birthed this nation. We don’t have any fear about Israel’s future," he added. U.S. officials worked with the Israel Defense Forces to complete Operation Epic Fury in February, which was a 38-day effort to dismantle the Iranian regime’s military capabilities.  "Following the historic destruction of Iran’s military capabilities through the successful Operation Epic Fury, President Trump and his negotiating team have brokered an excellent, performance-based MOU that advances the interests of the United States by ending the fighting, reopening the Strait of Hormuz to significantly lower energy prices, and forcing Iran to commit to abandon its nuclear ambitions," White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital. "President Trump has a strong relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Israel has always been a great ally to the United States. There has been no greater friend to Israel and a fighter for peace than President Trump... Americans and our allies around the world are already safer for the United States and Israel’s bold actions to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon," a White House official added in a comment to Fox News Digital. The Rev. Johnnie Moore, president of The Congress of Christian Leaders, told Fox News Digital that, in 2016, opposition to President Obama's catastrophic Iran deal was one of the top three reasons evangelicals rallied to Donald Trump, helping forge one of the most consequential, enduring and powerful political coalitions in American history — a coalition that stands with him still and knows its power. "Evangelicals know, and President Trump knows, that words on paper don't change terrorists. Accountability does. Action does. This president has been willing to confront the Iranian regime in ways no predecessor would, and the regime has never been weaker," Moore said. TRUMP PIVOTS ON STRIKES WHILE DANGLING IRAN DEAL, TESTING WHETHER TEHRAN BLINKS "The nuclear threat, at least for now, is gone. What brought Iran to this table was not a memorandum — it was precise and unrelenting military action that shattered their nuclear ambitions and broke their conventional forces," he continued. "We also know, as the president knows, that the regime will say and do anything to deceive everyone around him — because they understand they cannot deceive the president himself. Evangelicals trust President Trump entirely. That does not mean that we trust many of those now involved in the negotiation," he added.  The risk the president must manage, he said, is that Tehran turns this into a stalling game — as it tried and failed to do with his own team at least twice and did successfully with Presidents Biden and Obama.  "In the end, because of the president, America will win this too — negotiation or not. But it is clear where our community stands. The regime only understands one language: strength. American strength," he said. ISRAEL FEARS TRUMP WEARY OF ‘HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS’ NETANYAHU AND COULD 'FLIP' AMID IRAN DEAL: ANALYST  Other leaders expressed concerns over recent comments on Israel from the administration. Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, told Fox News Digital that evangelical Christians were largely responsible for the election of the current administration and said the agreement with Iran is extremely worrying. "One of our core issues is the Biblical requirement to stand with Israel and G-d's chosen people as described in the Books of Genesis and Obadiah. As the Bible teaches, those who stand with Israel will be blessed, and those who curse her will be cursed," she said. "There is a strong feeling that Israel is being betrayed and thrown under the bus in favor of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are particularly concerned about recent harsh and false statements made by Vice President Vance, which could be perceived as cursing Israel," she added. The office of the vice president declined to comment when approached by Fox News Digital. Vance has supported Israel but has also said he is willing to criticize the country when he believes its actions warrant it. He condemned antisemitism in February, telling the Daily Mail, "I think Jew hatred is disgusting." "You shouldn’t hate people because they’re White. You shouldn’t hate people because they’re Jewish. You shouldn’t hate people because they’re Black," he said. But Vance has also made clear that support for Israel does not mean automatic agreement with Netanyahu’s government. "Prime Minister Netanyahu, look, he governs a country that has obviously been a very close partner of the United States. But, even when we've been close partners, sometimes we have interests that are perfectly aligned, and sometimes we have interests that are misaligned," Vance said in an interview on "CBS Sunday Morning" June 10. TRUMP'S IRAN AGREEMENT RAISES A BASIC QUESTION: IS IT ACTUALLY A DEAL? The Trump administration publicly released details of the memorandum outlining plans for immediate waivers on Iranian oil exports, a framework for at least $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development assistance if a final agreement is reached, and a 60-day negotiating period aimed at securing a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear program. Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, told Fox News Digital that, in its current form, the MOU appears ill-advised at best, as the military gains achieved by Washington and Jerusalem have yet to be fully realized. "I have yet to hear from anyone who was not surprised by such an about-face in signing the MOU. Who would not be concerned with the U.S. effectively agreeing to forever negotiations with a highly militarized radical Islamist regime, flush with cash, in pursuit of nuclear weapons," Hagee said. Most evangelical Christians, he added, see what everyone else sees: The U.S. negotiating team appears to have fumbled the ball on the one-yard line. Nevertheless, the U.S.-Israel alliance remains a cornerstone of both countries’ security and a key pillar of global stability. AMERICANS KNOW IRAN IS OUR ENEMY. IT’S TIME ESTABLISHMENT POLITICIANS AGREED RETIRED US MILITARY LEADERS SUPPORT LETTING ISRAEL 'FINISH THE JOB' AGAINST IRAN, PROXIES "From a religious perspective, we have a divine mandate to stand with Israel. From a national security perspective, we have no stronger or wiser ally anywhere in the world. And from the Christian pilgrim’s perspective, our holy sites in the Holy Land have never been more open and yet more secure," Hagee said. "The most ‘America-first’ thing one can do is stand with our only true ally in the region," he continued. "The Islamic Republic declared war on the West the day it was founded nearly half a century ago. That has not changed. Democracies rarely get to decide who their enemies are. The only conclusion to this conflict is regime change through domestic revolution in Iran," Hagee added. MORNING GLORY: PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE US ARE WAGING A RIGHTEOUS BATTLE — AND WINNING After the 60-day timeframe, Evans predicted Trump is likely to extend negotiations for another 90 days, carrying them through the end of the year and beyond the midterm elections. President Trump, Evans said, will then break the economic back of the regime, take Kharg Island and completely bankrupt the regime. "I am not panicking because I know Donald Trump. I am the strongest supporter in the state of Israel of Donald Trump. I am the one that hosted the embassy gala, put up all the billboards and gave him an award. I am not panicking over this," he added. Evans said Christians do not believe the battle can be won by bombs alone, and that they view prayer as their most powerful weapon. "We are hosting the largest prayer in history at the Kotel (Western Wall) with 5 to 10 million Christians on Oct. 7. I now have more than a dozen ambassadors involved and 23 additional ones I am meeting with who want to represent their country," he said. Dr. Jürgen Bühler, president of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), said his organization has witnessed up close for decades how the Iranian regime has progressively raised the sword of radical Islam over Israel, as well as over indigenous Christians throughout the Middle East. "Given the current deal being worked out with Iranian leaders, we share the sense of most Israelis that the war against this intolerable Iranian threat has been stopped short of its needed objective," he told Fox News Digital. "Israel is a fellow Western democracy that deserves our full support in its fight to defend our shared freedoms and values, and many Christians in this region look to Israel as a light of hope for securing their own freedoms and futures," he added. Ultimately, Bühler said, the best and most just answer to the Iranian threat is genuine regime change in Tehran. "We have not given up hope that the Iranian people themselves will be able to rise up and overcome their oppressive rulers and steer their nation away from this self-destructive obsession with destroying Israel," he said. Heather Johnston, founder and president of the U.S.-Israel Education Association, said in a statement to Fox News Digital in reaction to the MOU that the U.S.-Israel relationship has advanced American interests for decades and should be strengthened — not strained — by U.S. diplomacy with Iran. "Iran’s long record of supporting terrorism and threatening Israel gives Americans ample reason to assess this agreement carefully and skeptically. Any diplomacy with Iran should be measured against whether it advances or undermines that progress," she said. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b5a1197238567836b8f2 Trump’s massive GOP faith bloc raises red flag on Iran deal: Trust him, not his team te 2026-06-30T12:25:05.332Z Trump’s massive GOP faith bloc raises red flag on Iran deal: Trust him, not his team Influential evangelical leaders are divided over the Trump administration's memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran, as conflict continues across the Middle East and debate grows over whether the framework strengthens U.S. leverage or risks harming Israel. President Donald Trump recently threatened to re-escalate U.S. military strikes against Iran after Tehran continued attacks in the Strait of Hormuz after the regime launched strikes against Kuwait and Bahrain over the weekend, drawing condemnations from both Gulf neighbors. The split is emerging at a delicate moment for Trump, who is trying to turn military pressure on Iran into a diplomatic framework without alienating supporters who helped power his political coalition. Supporters of the MOU say Trump has earned trust because he weakened Tehran first, while critics say any deal that gives Iran relief before its threat to Israel is permanently neutralized risks betraying the alliance his base expects him to protect. Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a close evangelical ally of Trump, told Fox News Digital that many people are underestimating the American president. EVANGELICAL LEADERS RALLY FOR TRUMP AND ISRAEL AS OPERATION EPIC FURY RESHAPES THE REGION "The facts are that Donald Trump was key to ending the Gaza war, he was key to getting hostages out of there, and he was key in breaking the back of the Iranian regime, including destroying its navy, air force, missile defense and leadership," Evans said. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT There are 750 million Bible-believing Christians around the world who identify as Zionists, Evans said, adding that while they may disagree on Israeli political issues, they agree that Israel is the biblical homeland given by God to the Jewish people through Abraham. While running for president, Trump met with Christian groups, including Evans, and asked whether they would support him, Evans said, adding that they agreed on the condition that he support Christian values in the United States and stands by the State of Israel. I'M A CHRISTIAN PASTOR WHO WAS BORN IN EGYPT. HERE ARE 3 FACTS I LEARNED ABOUT IRAN'S NUCLEAR OBSESSION "He promised to do both and so far he’s exceeded all of our expectations," Evans said. "Israel is willing to shed its blood for America in the Middle East. America needs to do everything possible to support the State of Israel. We, as believers, believe that God birthed this nation. We don’t have any fear about Israel’s future," he added. U.S. officials worked with the Israel Defense Forces to complete Operation Epic Fury in February, which was a 38-day effort to dismantle the Iranian regime’s military capabilities.  "Following the historic destruction of Iran’s military capabilities through the successful Operation Epic Fury, President Trump and his negotiating team have brokered an excellent, performance-based MOU that advances the interests of the United States by ending the fighting, reopening the Strait of Hormuz to significantly lower energy prices, and forcing Iran to commit to abandon its nuclear ambitions," White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital. "President Trump has a strong relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Israel has always been a great ally to the United States. There has been no greater friend to Israel and a fighter for peace than President Trump... Americans and our allies around the world are already safer for the United States and Israel’s bold actions to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon," a White House official added in a comment to Fox News Digital. The Rev. Johnnie Moore, president of The Congress of Christian Leaders, told Fox News Digital that, in 2016, opposition to President Obama's catastrophic Iran deal was one of the top three reasons evangelicals rallied to Donald Trump, helping forge one of the most consequential, enduring and powerful political coalitions in American history — a coalition that stands with him still and knows its power. "Evangelicals know, and President Trump knows, that words on paper don't change terrorists. Accountability does. Action does. This president has been willing to confront the Iranian regime in ways no predecessor would, and the regime has never been weaker," Moore said. TRUMP PIVOTS ON STRIKES WHILE DANGLING IRAN DEAL, TESTING WHETHER TEHRAN BLINKS "The nuclear threat, at least for now, is gone. What brought Iran to this table was not a memorandum — it was precise and unrelenting military action that shattered their nuclear ambitions and broke their conventional forces," he continued. "We also know, as the president knows, that the regime will say and do anything to deceive everyone around him — because they understand they cannot deceive the president himself. Evangelicals trust President Trump entirely. That does not mean that we trust many of those now involved in the negotiation," he added.  The risk the president must manage, he said, is that Tehran turns this into a stalling game — as it tried and failed to do with his own team at least twice and did successfully with Presidents Biden and Obama.  "In the end, because of the president, America will win this too — negotiation or not. But it is clear where our community stands. The regime only understands one language: strength. American strength," he said. ISRAEL FEARS TRUMP WEARY OF ‘HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS’ NETANYAHU AND COULD 'FLIP' AMID IRAN DEAL: ANALYST  Other leaders expressed concerns over recent comments on Israel from the administration. Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, told Fox News Digital that evangelical Christians were largely responsible for the election of the current administration and said the agreement with Iran is extremely worrying. "One of our core issues is the Biblical requirement to stand with Israel and G-d's chosen people as described in the Books of Genesis and Obadiah. As the Bible teaches, those who stand with Israel will be blessed, and those who curse her will be cursed," she said. "There is a strong feeling that Israel is being betrayed and thrown under the bus in favor of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are particularly concerned about recent harsh and false statements made by Vice President Vance, which could be perceived as cursing Israel," she added. The office of the vice president declined to comment when approached by Fox News Digital. Vance has supported Israel but has also said he is willing to criticize the country when he believes its actions warrant it. He condemned antisemitism in February, telling the Daily Mail, "I think Jew hatred is disgusting." "You shouldn’t hate people because they’re White. You shouldn’t hate people because they’re Jewish. You shouldn’t hate people because they’re Black," he said. But Vance has also made clear that support for Israel does not mean automatic agreement with Netanyahu’s government. "Prime Minister Netanyahu, look, he governs a country that has obviously been a very close partner of the United States. But, even when we've been close partners, sometimes we have interests that are perfectly aligned, and sometimes we have interests that are misaligned," Vance said in an interview on "CBS Sunday Morning" June 10. TRUMP'S IRAN AGREEMENT RAISES A BASIC QUESTION: IS IT ACTUALLY A DEAL? The Trump administration publicly released details of the memorandum outlining plans for immediate waivers on Iranian oil exports, a framework for at least $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development assistance if a final agreement is reached, and a 60-day negotiating period aimed at securing a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear program. Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, told Fox News Digital that, in its current form, the MOU appears ill-advised at best, as the military gains achieved by Washington and Jerusalem have yet to be fully realized. "I have yet to hear from anyone who was not surprised by such an about-face in signing the MOU. Who would not be concerned with the U.S. effectively agreeing to forever negotiations with a highly militarized radical Islamist regime, flush with cash, in pursuit of nuclear weapons," Hagee said. Most evangelical Christians, he added, see what everyone else sees: The U.S. negotiating team appears to have fumbled the ball on the one-yard line. Nevertheless, the U.S.-Israel alliance remains a cornerstone of both countries’ security and a key pillar of global stability. AMERICANS KNOW IRAN IS OUR ENEMY. IT’S TIME ESTABLISHMENT POLITICIANS AGREED RETIRED US MILITARY LEADERS SUPPORT LETTING ISRAEL 'FINISH THE JOB' AGAINST IRAN, PROXIES "From a religious perspective, we have a divine mandate to stand with Israel. From a national security perspective, we have no stronger or wiser ally anywhere in the world. And from the Christian pilgrim’s perspective, our holy sites in the Holy Land have never been more open and yet more secure," Hagee said. "The most ‘America-first’ thing one can do is stand with our only true ally in the region," he continued. "The Islamic Republic declared war on the West the day it was founded nearly half a century ago. That has not changed. Democracies rarely get to decide who their enemies are. The only conclusion to this conflict is regime change through domestic revolution in Iran," Hagee added. MORNING GLORY: PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE US ARE WAGING A RIGHTEOUS BATTLE — AND WINNING After the 60-day timeframe, Evans predicted Trump is likely to extend negotiations for another 90 days, carrying them through the end of the year and beyond the midterm elections. President Trump, Evans said, will then break the economic back of the regime, take Kharg Island and completely bankrupt the regime. "I am not panicking because I know Donald Trump. I am the strongest supporter in the state of Israel of Donald Trump. I am the one that hosted the embassy gala, put up all the billboards and gave him an award. I am not panicking over this," he added. Evans said Christians do not believe the battle can be won by bombs alone, and that they view prayer as their most powerful weapon. "We are hosting the largest prayer in history at the Kotel (Western Wall) with 5 to 10 million Christians on Oct. 7. I now have more than a dozen ambassadors involved and 23 additional ones I am meeting with who want to represent their country," he said. Dr. Jürgen Bühler, president of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), said his organization has witnessed up close for decades how the Iranian regime has progressively raised the sword of radical Islam over Israel, as well as over indigenous Christians throughout the Middle East. "Given the current deal being worked out with Iranian leaders, we share the sense of most Israelis that the war against this intolerable Iranian threat has been stopped short of its needed objective," he told Fox News Digital. "Israel is a fellow Western democracy that deserves our full support in its fight to defend our shared freedoms and values, and many Christians in this region look to Israel as a light of hope for securing their own freedoms and futures," he added. Ultimately, Bühler said, the best and most just answer to the Iranian threat is genuine regime change in Tehran. "We have not given up hope that the Iranian people themselves will be able to rise up and overcome their oppressive rulers and steer their nation away from this self-destructive obsession with destroying Israel," he said. Heather Johnston, founder and president of the U.S.-Israel Education Association, said in a statement to Fox News Digital in reaction to the MOU that the U.S.-Israel relationship has advanced American interests for decades and should be strengthened — not strained — by U.S. diplomacy with Iran. "Iran’s long record of supporting terrorism and threatening Israel gives Americans ample reason to assess this agreement carefully and skeptically. Any diplomacy with Iran should be measured against whether it advances or undermines that progress," she said. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b595197238567836b8e9 WWE star dubs New Jersey coastal casino mecca 'saddest' in America te 2026-06-30T12:24:53.697Z WWE star dubs New Jersey coastal casino mecca 'saddest' in America Atlantic City, New Jersey, is far from the shining casino resort capital of the East Coast that it used to be. Sure, there are still great hotels and casinos left in the city and the beach, unlike most in New Jersey, is still free. But crime and corruption have changed the perception of the city over the years. COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL WWE star Grayson Waller took advantage of that. Atlantic City’s iconic Boardwalk Hall played host to "Monday Night Raw" and a taping of "Friday Night SmackDown." Waller posted a video of himself running on the beach on social media and dubbed the beach town the "saddest city in America." "I’ve been to a lot in America, but Atlantic City, New Jersey, might just be the saddest," the Australian heel said. "It’s like Las Vegas for people who have given up on life. But it’s Monday morning. Technically, I’m at a beach – an American version of a beach. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM "While the rest of the Raw roster is sleeping in, I’m out here getting after it. I don’t want to end up like one of these people who has to vacation in Atlantic City, New Jersey. So sad." While it might feel like that for some, fellow WWE star Matt Cardona had different memories of Atlantic City. Cardona performed for Game Changer Wrestling at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City. The promotion would turn the hotel’s ballroom into a wrestling ring and put on some memorable matches on the independent scene. "Back in Atlantic City tonight for @WWE. Matt Cardona, the man, was born on Long Island. Matt Cardona, the pro wrestler, was born in AC!" he wrote on X. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b58d197238567836b8e0 WWE star dubs New Jersey coastal casino mecca 'saddest' in America te 2026-06-30T12:24:45.876Z WWE star dubs New Jersey coastal casino mecca 'saddest' in America Atlantic City, New Jersey, is far from the shining casino resort capital of the East Coast that it used to be. Sure, there are still great hotels and casinos left in the city and the beach, unlike most in New Jersey, is still free. But crime and corruption have changed the perception of the city over the years. COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL WWE star Grayson Waller took advantage of that. Atlantic City’s iconic Boardwalk Hall played host to "Monday Night Raw" and a taping of "Friday Night SmackDown." Waller posted a video of himself running on the beach on social media and dubbed the beach town the "saddest city in America." "I’ve been to a lot in America, but Atlantic City, New Jersey, might just be the saddest," the Australian heel said. "It’s like Las Vegas for people who have given up on life. But it’s Monday morning. Technically, I’m at a beach – an American version of a beach. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM "While the rest of the Raw roster is sleeping in, I’m out here getting after it. I don’t want to end up like one of these people who has to vacation in Atlantic City, New Jersey. So sad." While it might feel like that for some, fellow WWE star Matt Cardona had different memories of Atlantic City. Cardona performed for Game Changer Wrestling at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City. The promotion would turn the hotel’s ballroom into a wrestling ring and put on some memorable matches on the independent scene. "Back in Atlantic City tonight for @WWE. Matt Cardona, the man, was born on Long Island. Matt Cardona, the pro wrestler, was born in AC!" he wrote on X. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b582197238567836b8d7 Man accused of killing two teens claimed he was carjacked — his own dashcam footage shows otherwise: cops te 2026-06-30T12:24:34.242Z Man accused of killing two teens claimed he was carjacked — his own dashcam footage shows otherwise: cops The New Jersey man accused of killing two girls told police he was carjacked — but his own dashcam footage showed him driving to the scene, a criminal complaint obtained by Fox News Digital alleges. Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas, both 17, were riding an electric bike on Sept. 29, 2025 in Cranford, New Jersey, where prosecutors say 18-year-old Vincent Battiloro intentionally mowed them down. He was charged as an adult Friday. When detectives brought Battiloro to the Cranford Police Department, he told them he had been carjacked earlier that day — before the two teen girls were killed — by an unknown person wearing a red mask and armed with a knife, the criminal complaint alleges. However, dash camera footage obtained by police allegedly disputes his account. TEEN MURDER SUSPECT ALLEGEDLY SWATTED VICTIM'S HOME WEEKS BEFORE DEADLY HIT-AND-RUN: LAWYER "The defendant stated he was driving the Jeep Compass that afternoon when he was carjacked by an unknown individual wearing a red mask and armed with a knife," the complaint states. "Search warrants were executed on the Jeep Compass, and dash camera footage was obtained from the vehicle. The footage from 9/29 showed the defendant getting into and driving the vehicle to the area of Burnside Avenue, where he parked. Shortly thereafter, both victims were seen on the e-bike heading in the opposite direction." According to police, Battiloro's dash camera video showed him getting inside the Jeep Compass on Sept. 29, 2025, and driving to the area of Burnside Avenue in Cranford, near the home of one of the victims. Shortly after he parked, police said both teen girls were seen on electric bicycles headed in the opposite direction. TEEN ACCUSED OF KILLING TWO GIRLS IN ALLEGED HIT-AND-RUN WILL BE TRIED AS ADULT AFTER IDENTITY REVEALED Detectives said Battiloro then made a U-turn in order to follow the victims while he accelerated. The dash camera video then allegedly shows both girls being struck at a "high rate of speed before the vehicle ultimately stopped," according to the complaint. Afterward, according to the complaint, Battiloro fled the area by foot. Brent Bramnick, who is representing Niotis’ family, told Fox News Digital they are thankful the case was moved to adult court. "The decision to try the defendant as an adult is a welcomed sliver of justice. We are grateful to the Prosecutor’s Office for their efforts as well as the community at large for continuing to keep Maria and Isabella’s memories alive," Bramnick said. SEND US A TIP HERE Battiloro's identity was previously withheld because he was a minor when allegedly committing the crimes, but his case was transferred to adult court on Friday. He is now charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Bramnick previously told Fox News Digital that the suspect allegedly swatted the family's home in Cranford twice in September. He said both incidents took place between Sept. 1 and Sept. 15 in 2025. LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST After the two incidents, Bramnick said the Niotis family wants to know "what went on?" "What investigation, if any, went on after all that the family reported and all the information that the police had in their possession. That's the question. So we need those questions answered," Bramnick said. "And that's why we're involved, because we're doing our own investigations to try to get to the bottom of those questions." Foulla Niotis, Maria's mother, previously told Fox News that the suspect "planned" the attack and thought he was "untouchable" because he had relatives working in law enforcement. "I want justice for Maria and Isabella. That's what I want," she added. Fox News Digital reached out to Battiloro's attorney and father for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b57a197238567836b8ce Man accused of killing two teens claimed he was carjacked — his own dashcam footage shows otherwise: cops te 2026-06-30T12:24:26.418Z Man accused of killing two teens claimed he was carjacked — his own dashcam footage shows otherwise: cops The New Jersey man accused of killing two girls told police he was carjacked — but his own dashcam footage showed him driving to the scene, a criminal complaint obtained by Fox News Digital alleges. Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas, both 17, were riding an electric bike on Sept. 29, 2025 in Cranford, New Jersey, where prosecutors say 18-year-old Vincent Battiloro intentionally mowed them down. He was charged as an adult Friday. When detectives brought Battiloro to the Cranford Police Department, he told them he had been carjacked earlier that day — before the two teen girls were killed — by an unknown person wearing a red mask and armed with a knife, the criminal complaint alleges. However, dash camera footage obtained by police allegedly disputes his account. TEEN MURDER SUSPECT ALLEGEDLY SWATTED VICTIM'S HOME WEEKS BEFORE DEADLY HIT-AND-RUN: LAWYER "The defendant stated he was driving the Jeep Compass that afternoon when he was carjacked by an unknown individual wearing a red mask and armed with a knife," the complaint states. "Search warrants were executed on the Jeep Compass, and dash camera footage was obtained from the vehicle. The footage from 9/29 showed the defendant getting into and driving the vehicle to the area of Burnside Avenue, where he parked. Shortly thereafter, both victims were seen on the e-bike heading in the opposite direction." According to police, Battiloro's dash camera video showed him getting inside the Jeep Compass on Sept. 29, 2025, and driving to the area of Burnside Avenue in Cranford, near the home of one of the victims. Shortly after he parked, police said both teen girls were seen on electric bicycles headed in the opposite direction. TEEN ACCUSED OF KILLING TWO GIRLS IN ALLEGED HIT-AND-RUN WILL BE TRIED AS ADULT AFTER IDENTITY REVEALED Detectives said Battiloro then made a U-turn in order to follow the victims while he accelerated. The dash camera video then allegedly shows both girls being struck at a "high rate of speed before the vehicle ultimately stopped," according to the complaint. Afterward, according to the complaint, Battiloro fled the area by foot. Brent Bramnick, who is representing Niotis’ family, told Fox News Digital they are thankful the case was moved to adult court. "The decision to try the defendant as an adult is a welcomed sliver of justice. We are grateful to the Prosecutor’s Office for their efforts as well as the community at large for continuing to keep Maria and Isabella’s memories alive," Bramnick said. SEND US A TIP HERE Battiloro's identity was previously withheld because he was a minor when allegedly committing the crimes, but his case was transferred to adult court on Friday. He is now charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Bramnick previously told Fox News Digital that the suspect allegedly swatted the family's home in Cranford twice in September. He said both incidents took place between Sept. 1 and Sept. 15 in 2025. LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST After the two incidents, Bramnick said the Niotis family wants to know "what went on?" "What investigation, if any, went on after all that the family reported and all the information that the police had in their possession. That's the question. So we need those questions answered," Bramnick said. "And that's why we're involved, because we're doing our own investigations to try to get to the bottom of those questions." Foulla Niotis, Maria's mother, previously told Fox News that the suspect "planned" the attack and thought he was "untouchable" because he had relatives working in law enforcement. "I want justice for Maria and Isabella. That's what I want," she added. Fox News Digital reached out to Battiloro's attorney and father for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b56e197238567836b8c5 Los Angeles schools quietly remove compulsory 'affirm and respect' gender identity pledge from LGBTQ training te 2026-06-30T12:24:14.786Z Los Angeles schools quietly remove compulsory 'affirm and respect' gender identity pledge from LGBTQ training The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will reportedly no longer require educators to agree to "affirm and respect" the "identities" of LGBTQ students, following a legal challenge. Middle and high school teachers in the district must complete one hour of online cultural competency training every year to support LGBTQ students, according to the California Department of Education. The Liberty Counsel, a non-profit legal organization, revealed that the training mandated teachers to check a box acknowledging the following prompt: "I am aware that LAUSD policy requires me to affirm and respect the identities of all students, including those who identify as LGBTQ+." On Friday, Liberty Counsel announced it had sent a demand letter to LAUSD on June 8, arguing the prompt violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. LOUDOUN COUNTY PARENTS NOT 'SATISFIED' AFTER SCHOOL OFFICIALS TESTIFY ON TRANSGENDER POLICIES "Federal law protects employees from being compelled to choose between their employment and adherence to their faith," the group wrote to the district. LAUSD reportedly modified the questionnaire just two days after receiving the letter, according to Liberty Counsel. The updated prompt removes the "affirm and respect" language, instead asking teachers to simply confirm they are "aware" of the district’s nondiscrimination policies regarding LGBTQ students. In statements released through Liberty Counsel, two LAUSD sixth-grade teachers expressed relief over the change. JUDGE AWARDED $640K AFTER REFUSING TO OFFICIATE SAME-SEX WEDDINGS "When LAUSD implemented a mandatory LGBTQ training, I feared losing my job, yet I knew I had to stand firm in my faith and conviction," one teacher said. "What a victory for religious liberty! Thank you, Liberty Counsel, for courageously defending the rights of believers and helping ensure that people of faith can remain true to their convictions in the workplace." Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver praised the district's swift pivot. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE "The Los Angeles Unified School District did the right thing in changing its training certification language. Federal law is clear that teachers cannot be required to ‘affirm’ a student’s perceived gender identity or use inconsistent pronouns against their personal religious convictions. Title VII ensures that people cannot be forced to choose between their faith and their livelihood," he said in a statement. LAUSD did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. The online training stems from California's "Safe and Supportive Schools Act," originally introduced in 2019. Expansions to the bill passed in 2023 required school districts provide annual training to middle and high school educators to support LGBTQ students. According to a California Department of Education press release, the state partnered with LGBTQ advocacy organizations, such as the Trevor Project and the Human Rights Campaign, to develop the online training course, known as PRISM. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b566197238567836b8bc Los Angeles schools quietly remove compulsory 'affirm and respect' gender identity pledge from LGBTQ training te 2026-06-30T12:24:06.962Z Los Angeles schools quietly remove compulsory 'affirm and respect' gender identity pledge from LGBTQ training The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will reportedly no longer require educators to agree to "affirm and respect" the "identities" of LGBTQ students, following a legal challenge. Middle and high school teachers in the district must complete one hour of online cultural competency training every year to support LGBTQ students, according to the California Department of Education. The Liberty Counsel, a non-profit legal organization, revealed that the training mandated teachers to check a box acknowledging the following prompt: "I am aware that LAUSD policy requires me to affirm and respect the identities of all students, including those who identify as LGBTQ+." On Friday, Liberty Counsel announced it had sent a demand letter to LAUSD on June 8, arguing the prompt violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. LOUDOUN COUNTY PARENTS NOT 'SATISFIED' AFTER SCHOOL OFFICIALS TESTIFY ON TRANSGENDER POLICIES "Federal law protects employees from being compelled to choose between their employment and adherence to their faith," the group wrote to the district. LAUSD reportedly modified the questionnaire just two days after receiving the letter, according to Liberty Counsel. The updated prompt removes the "affirm and respect" language, instead asking teachers to simply confirm they are "aware" of the district’s nondiscrimination policies regarding LGBTQ students. In statements released through Liberty Counsel, two LAUSD sixth-grade teachers expressed relief over the change. JUDGE AWARDED $640K AFTER REFUSING TO OFFICIATE SAME-SEX WEDDINGS "When LAUSD implemented a mandatory LGBTQ training, I feared losing my job, yet I knew I had to stand firm in my faith and conviction," one teacher said. "What a victory for religious liberty! Thank you, Liberty Counsel, for courageously defending the rights of believers and helping ensure that people of faith can remain true to their convictions in the workplace." Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver praised the district's swift pivot. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE "The Los Angeles Unified School District did the right thing in changing its training certification language. Federal law is clear that teachers cannot be required to ‘affirm’ a student’s perceived gender identity or use inconsistent pronouns against their personal religious convictions. Title VII ensures that people cannot be forced to choose between their faith and their livelihood," he said in a statement. LAUSD did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. The online training stems from California's "Safe and Supportive Schools Act," originally introduced in 2019. Expansions to the bill passed in 2023 required school districts provide annual training to middle and high school educators to support LGBTQ students. According to a California Department of Education press release, the state partnered with LGBTQ advocacy organizations, such as the Trevor Project and the Human Rights Campaign, to develop the online training course, known as PRISM. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b55b197238567836b8b3 Scientists discover possible link between 9/11 and accelerated aging te 2026-06-30T12:23:55.329Z Scientists discover possible link between 9/11 and accelerated aging A study of World Trade Center responders found that PTSD is associated with molecular changes linked to accelerated biological aging and a higher risk of chronic disease. The study, led by Stony Brook University in New York, could offer new clues to the long-term physical health effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. The researchers tested blood samples from 393 WTC responders, collected approximately 18 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks, according to a university press release. THE 'AGE' OF YOUR BLOOD COULD PREDICT DEMENTIA RISK, NEW STUDY SUGGESTS Out of the sampled responders, 232 were diagnosed with PTSD and 161 were not. Between the two groups, 114 proteins and seven metabolites were significantly different. In particular, the researchers detected changes in blood markers linked to brain function, immune activity, energy metabolism, protection against cell damage and how cells communicate and repair tissues. Also reported were signs of accelerated biological aging in multiple organs — including the heart, kidneys, liver and lungs — among responders with PTSD. COMMON VITAMIN MAY INFLUENCE BRAIN AGING IN WAYS SCIENTISTS DIDN'T EXPECT These discoveries could help explain why people with long-term PTSD are at greater risk for chronic conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, cognitive decline and other age-related illnesses. "This study found that chronic PTSD is associated with long-lasting biological changes throughout the body, affecting multiple organs and biological systems decades after their traumatic exposure," lead study author Benjamin Luft, director and principal investigator at the Stony Brook WTC Wellness Program, told Fox News Digital. The study reinforces the view that PTSD is a "whole-body illness" rather than simply a mental health disorder, he noted. "Traumatic experiences can produce lasting biological changes that persist for decades," Luft said. "These changes appear to accelerate aspects of biological aging and may increase the risk of many chronic diseases." FOX NEWS' ERIC SHAWN REVEALS CANCER AND RESPIRATORY ILLNESS FROM 9/11 TOXIC DUST Several proteins that are critical for healthy brain function were also altered in those with PTSD, the researchers found. "Many of these proteins play critical roles in helping brain cells communicate with one another, repair damage and maintain healthy connections that support memory and thinking," Luft said. The study – which was funded in part by the CDC, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and the National Institutes of Health – was published in Nature Communications. Luft said the findings should be viewed with "cautious optimism." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER "The research provides compelling evidence that PTSD is associated with long-lasting biological changes throughout the body, including signs of accelerated aging, altered metabolism and changes in proteins involved in brain health," he said. "These findings strengthen the growing recognition that PTSD is not simply a mental health disorder, but a condition that can have lasting effects on physical health as well." TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, was not involved in the study but called the results "fascinating." "This speaks to the complex reality that PTSD is not an isolated psychiatric event due to emotional trauma alone, but that it is also tied in with physical trauma," he told Fox News Digital. "The stress is both emotional and physical, and leads directly to immune dysregulation and aging processes." "The chronic diseases that resulted from high exposure in the aftermath of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks were conjoined in terms of the impact on physical and emotional well-being, longevity and effects on multiple organ systems, as well as core metabolic and immunological processes," the doctor added. There were some limitations to the findings, the researchers noted. "Because all measurements were taken at one point in time, the research can only show an association — not that PTSD directly caused the changes," Luft noted. "We are currently doing studies in these patients examining multiple time points to see whether the changes in specific proteins and metabolites precede clinical changes." CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES Also, because the study was done on a unique population – World Trade Center responders who experienced very specific trauma and environmental exposures – the findings may not apply to everyone with PTSD, "such as combat veterans, survivors of abuse or people who experienced other types of trauma." Women are not well-represented in the study, comprising only 10% of responders. "Blood tests cannot tell us exactly what is happening inside the brain," Luft said. "Although many of the altered proteins are related to brain function, blood measurements are only an indirect reflection of processes occurring in the brain." Additional studies are needed to determine whether these blood markers can predict disease progression or treatment response. "From a public health and policy perspective, the study reinforces the importance of recognizing PTSD as a chronic medical condition with significant long-term health implications," Luft said. "Investing in early diagnosis, comprehensive treatment and long-term follow-up for trauma survivors, including our first responders and veterans, may improve quality of life while reducing the burden of chronic disease." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b553197238567836b8aa Scientists discover possible link between 9/11 and accelerated aging te 2026-06-30T12:23:47.506Z Scientists discover possible link between 9/11 and accelerated aging A study of World Trade Center responders found that PTSD is associated with molecular changes linked to accelerated biological aging and a higher risk of chronic disease. The study, led by Stony Brook University in New York, could offer new clues to the long-term physical health effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. The researchers tested blood samples from 393 WTC responders, collected approximately 18 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks, according to a university press release. THE 'AGE' OF YOUR BLOOD COULD PREDICT DEMENTIA RISK, NEW STUDY SUGGESTS Out of the sampled responders, 232 were diagnosed with PTSD and 161 were not. Between the two groups, 114 proteins and seven metabolites were significantly different. In particular, the researchers detected changes in blood markers linked to brain function, immune activity, energy metabolism, protection against cell damage and how cells communicate and repair tissues. Also reported were signs of accelerated biological aging in multiple organs — including the heart, kidneys, liver and lungs — among responders with PTSD. COMMON VITAMIN MAY INFLUENCE BRAIN AGING IN WAYS SCIENTISTS DIDN'T EXPECT These discoveries could help explain why people with long-term PTSD are at greater risk for chronic conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, cognitive decline and other age-related illnesses. "This study found that chronic PTSD is associated with long-lasting biological changes throughout the body, affecting multiple organs and biological systems decades after their traumatic exposure," lead study author Benjamin Luft, director and principal investigator at the Stony Brook WTC Wellness Program, told Fox News Digital. The study reinforces the view that PTSD is a "whole-body illness" rather than simply a mental health disorder, he noted. "Traumatic experiences can produce lasting biological changes that persist for decades," Luft said. "These changes appear to accelerate aspects of biological aging and may increase the risk of many chronic diseases." FOX NEWS' ERIC SHAWN REVEALS CANCER AND RESPIRATORY ILLNESS FROM 9/11 TOXIC DUST Several proteins that are critical for healthy brain function were also altered in those with PTSD, the researchers found. "Many of these proteins play critical roles in helping brain cells communicate with one another, repair damage and maintain healthy connections that support memory and thinking," Luft said. The study – which was funded in part by the CDC, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and the National Institutes of Health – was published in Nature Communications. Luft said the findings should be viewed with "cautious optimism." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER "The research provides compelling evidence that PTSD is associated with long-lasting biological changes throughout the body, including signs of accelerated aging, altered metabolism and changes in proteins involved in brain health," he said. "These findings strengthen the growing recognition that PTSD is not simply a mental health disorder, but a condition that can have lasting effects on physical health as well." TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, was not involved in the study but called the results "fascinating." "This speaks to the complex reality that PTSD is not an isolated psychiatric event due to emotional trauma alone, but that it is also tied in with physical trauma," he told Fox News Digital. "The stress is both emotional and physical, and leads directly to immune dysregulation and aging processes." "The chronic diseases that resulted from high exposure in the aftermath of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks were conjoined in terms of the impact on physical and emotional well-being, longevity and effects on multiple organ systems, as well as core metabolic and immunological processes," the doctor added. There were some limitations to the findings, the researchers noted. "Because all measurements were taken at one point in time, the research can only show an association — not that PTSD directly caused the changes," Luft noted. "We are currently doing studies in these patients examining multiple time points to see whether the changes in specific proteins and metabolites precede clinical changes." CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES Also, because the study was done on a unique population – World Trade Center responders who experienced very specific trauma and environmental exposures – the findings may not apply to everyone with PTSD, "such as combat veterans, survivors of abuse or people who experienced other types of trauma." Women are not well-represented in the study, comprising only 10% of responders. "Blood tests cannot tell us exactly what is happening inside the brain," Luft said. "Although many of the altered proteins are related to brain function, blood measurements are only an indirect reflection of processes occurring in the brain." Additional studies are needed to determine whether these blood markers can predict disease progression or treatment response. "From a public health and policy perspective, the study reinforces the importance of recognizing PTSD as a chronic medical condition with significant long-term health implications," Luft said. "Investing in early diagnosis, comprehensive treatment and long-term follow-up for trauma survivors, including our first responders and veterans, may improve quality of life while reducing the burden of chronic disease." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b547197238567836b8a1 Morocco sends the Netherlands home with dramatic World Cup knockout in penalties te 2026-06-30T12:23:35.873Z Morocco sends the Netherlands home with dramatic World Cup knockout in penalties The World Cup provided a second miraculous moment on Monday night. The Netherlands, a favorite to win the tournament after years of making long runs, took the lead late in the match when Cody Gakpo took control of a loose ball in the box and sent it into the back of the net. But the lead didn’t last long, as Morocco’s Issa Diop headed one behind the Dutch goalie in stoppage time. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! Morocco and the Netherlands went to penalties. Morocco’s Ismael Saibari nailed the winning penalty kick to give Morocco the 3-2 win in the stage, advancing the squad to the Round of 16. "We know when we do everything on the pitch, it’s God that gives something back to us as well," Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi said after the match. "We give all the energy that we have on the field. Rahimi’s goal could have not been a goal, but it went in thankfully." CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM The Dutch had reached at least the Round of 16 in the last 11 World Cups, including a quarterfinal appearance in 2022 in Qatar. It was the same year Morocco became the first African team to reach the semifinals. Morocco will play Canada in the Round of 16 in Houston on Saturday. Morocco defeated Canada 2-1 in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup. "I think Morocco has gained everybody’s respect now," Ouahbi said. "I saw (the Netherlands’ style of play) as a form of respect." It was the latest surprising knockout of the World Cup. Paraguay defeated Germany after a controversial call to reverse a German goal late in their match. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b540197238567836b898 Morocco sends the Netherlands home with dramatic World Cup knockout in penalties te 2026-06-30T12:23:28.057Z Morocco sends the Netherlands home with dramatic World Cup knockout in penalties The World Cup provided a second miraculous moment on Monday night. The Netherlands, a favorite to win the tournament after years of making long runs, took the lead late in the match when Cody Gakpo took control of a loose ball in the box and sent it into the back of the net. But the lead didn’t last long, as Morocco’s Issa Diop headed one behind the Dutch goalie in stoppage time. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! Morocco and the Netherlands went to penalties. Morocco’s Ismael Saibari nailed the winning penalty kick to give Morocco the 3-2 win in the stage, advancing the squad to the Round of 16. "We know when we do everything on the pitch, it’s God that gives something back to us as well," Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi said after the match. "We give all the energy that we have on the field. Rahimi’s goal could have not been a goal, but it went in thankfully." CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM The Dutch had reached at least the Round of 16 in the last 11 World Cups, including a quarterfinal appearance in 2022 in Qatar. It was the same year Morocco became the first African team to reach the semifinals. Morocco will play Canada in the Round of 16 in Houston on Saturday. Morocco defeated Canada 2-1 in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup. "I think Morocco has gained everybody’s respect now," Ouahbi said. "I saw (the Netherlands’ style of play) as a form of respect." It was the latest surprising knockout of the World Cup. Paraguay defeated Germany after a controversial call to reverse a German goal late in their match. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b534197238567836b88f Warehouse robots move packages without human handoff te 2026-06-30T12:23:16.416Z Warehouse robots move packages without human handoff A busy warehouse loading dock can be a grind. Trucks pull up. Packages pour in. Workers have to move fast, lift heavy boxes and keep everything flowing before the next trailer arrives. That part of the warehouse has always been one of the hardest places to automate. Every box can be a different size. Freight can shift in transit. Labels may face the wrong way. And when one system finishes a task, the next system still has to know what to do with the package. Now, Ambi Robotics and Pickle Robot Company say they have linked their robotic systems to help solve that handoff problem. The companies announced a commercial integration that connects Pickle Robot's trailer-unloading robots with Ambi Robotics' AmbiStack pallet-building system. In other words, one robot system unloads mixed freight from a trailer. Then a conveyor moves those cases downstream so another robotic system can scan and stack them for warehouse receiving. If this works well in large facilities, it points to a future where robots can handle more of the work that happens between a truck and a warehouse floor. Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report OHIO ROBOT COP RETIRES AFTER ZERO ARRESTS The setup starts at the trailer. Pickle Robot's system unloads boxes from trailers or containers. That matters because unloading mixed freight can be exhausting work. It also creates bottlenecks when warehouses do not have enough people on the dock. From there, the packages move by conveyor into AmbiStack. Ambi Robotics designed AmbiStack as a multipurpose stacking system. It reads package information and builds pallets for the next stage of the warehouse process. The key here is the handoff. Many warehouses already use automation. However, those systems often work in separate lanes. One machine may handle unloading. Another may handle sorting or stacking. Yet the warehouse still needs people or custom engineering to connect the pieces. This collaboration tries to make that connection smoother. The companies say the system can work with existing warehouse infrastructure. That means operators may avoid tearing apart a facility to use it. Physical AI means AI that controls machines doing physical work. That is important here because warehouse robots have to deal with moving boxes, shifting freight, conveyor timing and pallet stability. That creates a very different challenge from software that writes a paragraph or answers a question. A warehouse robot has to react to what sits in front of it. A box can arrive dented. A label can face the wrong way. A pallet can become unstable if the next case goes in the wrong spot. This Ambi Robotics and Pickle Robot integration shows how that can work inside a warehouse. Pickle Robot handles the trailer unloading. AmbiStack takes over downstream by scanning and stacking cases for receiving. Together, the systems show how specialized robots can connect across a warehouse workflow. "Warehouse operators shouldn't have to choose between best-in-class technologies and seamless integration," said Jim Liefer, CEO of Ambi Robotics. "As Physical AI transforms supply chains, interoperability will become increasingly important." AJ Meyer, founder and CEO of Pickle Robot Company, put the customer demand more directly: "Customers want automation that improves real-world throughput while fitting into existing operations." AI MAY SPOT DEADLY HEART RISK IN A ROUTINE ECG Anyone who has waited on a delayed package knows the supply chain can break down fast. Sometimes the problem starts long before a delivery truck reaches your home. Inbound logistics covers the work that happens when goods arrive at a warehouse. That includes getting boxes off trailers and moving them into the right workflow. It sounds pretty straightforward until you see the reality. Trailers can be packed unevenly. Boxes can arrive in odd shapes. Warehouse teams also deal with tight schedules and physical strain. That is why loading docks have become such a major focus for automation. If robots can unload freight and pass it into a pallet-building system without constant human intervention, warehouses could move goods faster through one of the most labor-heavy parts of the operation. The big question is obvious. What happens to workers? Robots can take over repetitive and physically demanding tasks. That may reduce injuries and help warehouses handle labor shortages. It may also change which jobs companies need most. Instead of spending a full shift unloading trailers, some workers may monitor the unloading and stacking systems. Others may step in when a package jams, a label fails to scan or a pallet needs human attention. Still, that shift can feel unsettling. Automation often comes with a promise of safety and efficiency. Workers want to know where they fit in next. That is very important. A robot may move a box, but people still handle judgment calls, customer issues and fast decisions when the workflow changes. Retailers and logistics companies feel pressure from several directions. Consumers expect faster shipping. Warehouses face staffing challenges. Meanwhile, e-commerce keeps creating more package volume. That creates a hard math problem. Companies need to move more goods without slowing down at the dock. This Ambi Robotics and Pickle Robot setup gives warehouse operators another option. Instead of buying one giant system from a single vendor, they can connect specialized robotic tools that handle different parts of the job. That could give operators more flexibility. It could also help them avoid major redesigns, which can be expensive and disruptive. In other words, the robots are getting smarter. They are also starting to work together in more useful ways. Even if you never set foot in a warehouse, this kind of automation can affect your life. When warehouses move goods more efficiently, stores may restock faster. Online orders may move with fewer delays. Returns may get processed more quickly. There is another side, too. More automation can reshape job roles inside warehouses. That means workers may need new training as companies bring in more robotic systems. You may also hear fewer excuses when packages run late. If robots help warehouses operate with fewer bottlenecks, retailers may raise expectations for speed even more. That sounds convenient, but it also means the race for faster delivery keeps putting pressure on every part of the supply chain. Your phone holds your email, passwords, photos, banking apps and personal data. In this free CyberGuy Live replay, Kurt the CyberGuy walks you step by step through simple phone security fixes you can do at your own pace. You’ll learn how to improve your privacy settings, spot the latest phone scams, use trusted security tools and walk away with a simple checklist to stay protected. Watch the replay and get our checklist here: CyberGuyLive.com MOST PROMINENT AI CHATBOTS HAVE LIBERAL BIAS, NEW STUDY FINDS What grabs me here is the handoff. One robot unloads packages from a trailer. Another scans and stacks them for the next part of the warehouse process. That is the piece that could change how loading docks operate. Warehouses are full of little delays that add up fast. If a package sits in the wrong place or waits for a person to move it to the next step, the whole process can slow down. This integration shows how warehouse robots may start taking over more of that middle work between the truck and the warehouse floor. Still, the human side deserves attention. These systems could reduce backbreaking work, which is a good thing. At the same time, they may change what warehouse workers are asked to do. The companies that make that transition clear, fair and useful for workers will be the ones to watch. If robots can unload the truck, build the pallet and keep the warehouse moving, what job inside the warehouse gets automated next? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com. Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b52c197238567836b886 Warehouse robots move packages without human handoff te 2026-06-30T12:23:08.597Z Warehouse robots move packages without human handoff A busy warehouse loading dock can be a grind. Trucks pull up. Packages pour in. Workers have to move fast, lift heavy boxes and keep everything flowing before the next trailer arrives. That part of the warehouse has always been one of the hardest places to automate. Every box can be a different size. Freight can shift in transit. Labels may face the wrong way. And when one system finishes a task, the next system still has to know what to do with the package. Now, Ambi Robotics and Pickle Robot Company say they have linked their robotic systems to help solve that handoff problem. The companies announced a commercial integration that connects Pickle Robot's trailer-unloading robots with Ambi Robotics' AmbiStack pallet-building system. In other words, one robot system unloads mixed freight from a trailer. Then a conveyor moves those cases downstream so another robotic system can scan and stack them for warehouse receiving. If this works well in large facilities, it points to a future where robots can handle more of the work that happens between a truck and a warehouse floor. Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report OHIO ROBOT COP RETIRES AFTER ZERO ARRESTS The setup starts at the trailer. Pickle Robot's system unloads boxes from trailers or containers. That matters because unloading mixed freight can be exhausting work. It also creates bottlenecks when warehouses do not have enough people on the dock. From there, the packages move by conveyor into AmbiStack. Ambi Robotics designed AmbiStack as a multipurpose stacking system. It reads package information and builds pallets for the next stage of the warehouse process. The key here is the handoff. Many warehouses already use automation. However, those systems often work in separate lanes. One machine may handle unloading. Another may handle sorting or stacking. Yet the warehouse still needs people or custom engineering to connect the pieces. This collaboration tries to make that connection smoother. The companies say the system can work with existing warehouse infrastructure. That means operators may avoid tearing apart a facility to use it. Physical AI means AI that controls machines doing physical work. That is important here because warehouse robots have to deal with moving boxes, shifting freight, conveyor timing and pallet stability. That creates a very different challenge from software that writes a paragraph or answers a question. A warehouse robot has to react to what sits in front of it. A box can arrive dented. A label can face the wrong way. A pallet can become unstable if the next case goes in the wrong spot. This Ambi Robotics and Pickle Robot integration shows how that can work inside a warehouse. Pickle Robot handles the trailer unloading. AmbiStack takes over downstream by scanning and stacking cases for receiving. Together, the systems show how specialized robots can connect across a warehouse workflow. "Warehouse operators shouldn't have to choose between best-in-class technologies and seamless integration," said Jim Liefer, CEO of Ambi Robotics. "As Physical AI transforms supply chains, interoperability will become increasingly important." AJ Meyer, founder and CEO of Pickle Robot Company, put the customer demand more directly: "Customers want automation that improves real-world throughput while fitting into existing operations." AI MAY SPOT DEADLY HEART RISK IN A ROUTINE ECG Anyone who has waited on a delayed package knows the supply chain can break down fast. Sometimes the problem starts long before a delivery truck reaches your home. Inbound logistics covers the work that happens when goods arrive at a warehouse. That includes getting boxes off trailers and moving them into the right workflow. It sounds pretty straightforward until you see the reality. Trailers can be packed unevenly. Boxes can arrive in odd shapes. Warehouse teams also deal with tight schedules and physical strain. That is why loading docks have become such a major focus for automation. If robots can unload freight and pass it into a pallet-building system without constant human intervention, warehouses could move goods faster through one of the most labor-heavy parts of the operation. The big question is obvious. What happens to workers? Robots can take over repetitive and physically demanding tasks. That may reduce injuries and help warehouses handle labor shortages. It may also change which jobs companies need most. Instead of spending a full shift unloading trailers, some workers may monitor the unloading and stacking systems. Others may step in when a package jams, a label fails to scan or a pallet needs human attention. Still, that shift can feel unsettling. Automation often comes with a promise of safety and efficiency. Workers want to know where they fit in next. That is very important. A robot may move a box, but people still handle judgment calls, customer issues and fast decisions when the workflow changes. Retailers and logistics companies feel pressure from several directions. Consumers expect faster shipping. Warehouses face staffing challenges. Meanwhile, e-commerce keeps creating more package volume. That creates a hard math problem. Companies need to move more goods without slowing down at the dock. This Ambi Robotics and Pickle Robot setup gives warehouse operators another option. Instead of buying one giant system from a single vendor, they can connect specialized robotic tools that handle different parts of the job. That could give operators more flexibility. It could also help them avoid major redesigns, which can be expensive and disruptive. In other words, the robots are getting smarter. They are also starting to work together in more useful ways. Even if you never set foot in a warehouse, this kind of automation can affect your life. When warehouses move goods more efficiently, stores may restock faster. Online orders may move with fewer delays. Returns may get processed more quickly. There is another side, too. More automation can reshape job roles inside warehouses. That means workers may need new training as companies bring in more robotic systems. You may also hear fewer excuses when packages run late. If robots help warehouses operate with fewer bottlenecks, retailers may raise expectations for speed even more. That sounds convenient, but it also means the race for faster delivery keeps putting pressure on every part of the supply chain. Your phone holds your email, passwords, photos, banking apps and personal data. In this free CyberGuy Live replay, Kurt the CyberGuy walks you step by step through simple phone security fixes you can do at your own pace. You’ll learn how to improve your privacy settings, spot the latest phone scams, use trusted security tools and walk away with a simple checklist to stay protected. Watch the replay and get our checklist here: CyberGuyLive.com MOST PROMINENT AI CHATBOTS HAVE LIBERAL BIAS, NEW STUDY FINDS What grabs me here is the handoff. One robot unloads packages from a trailer. Another scans and stacks them for the next part of the warehouse process. That is the piece that could change how loading docks operate. Warehouses are full of little delays that add up fast. If a package sits in the wrong place or waits for a person to move it to the next step, the whole process can slow down. This integration shows how warehouse robots may start taking over more of that middle work between the truck and the warehouse floor. Still, the human side deserves attention. These systems could reduce backbreaking work, which is a good thing. At the same time, they may change what warehouse workers are asked to do. The companies that make that transition clear, fair and useful for workers will be the ones to watch. If robots can unload the truck, build the pallet and keep the warehouse moving, what job inside the warehouse gets automated next? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com. Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b520197238567836b87d Supreme Court set to close term with landmark birthright citizenship ruling and more top headlines te 2026-06-30T12:22:56.962Z Supreme Court set to close term with landmark birthright citizenship ruling and more top headlines 1. Supreme Court to close term with birthright citizenship ruling  2. Socialists take fight west in bid to oust Democratic establishment 3. US, Iran send delegations to Qatar as Tehran denies direct talks ENERGY SECURITY — Gulf states quietly building ways to bypass Iran's greatest geopolitical weapon. Continue reading … HOUSE DIVIDED — Fetterman unleashes on 'dirtbag' wing of Dems after far-left victories. Continue reading … HISTORIC UPSET — Disallowed goal in extra time leads Paraguay over Germany in stunner at FIFA World Cup. Continue reading … SUMMER MENACE — Deadly tick virus cases explode in US as doctors warn infection happens in minutes. Continue reading … STAR POWER — HOA threatens American flag fines as homeowners refuse to remove Old Glory. Continue reading … -- ‘PERVERSION’ — Online fury after viral Seattle Pride videos show nude adults marching next to children. Continue reading … CIRCLE OF TRUST — Clinton confidant who called Maxwell his 'lover' grilled by Congress over Epstein ties. Continue reading … COVENANT CRISIS — Trump’s massive GOP faith bloc raises red flag on Iran deal. Continue reading … SILICON SQUEEZE — AOC targets tech giants for breakup over surging processor costs and AI strain. Continue reading … Click here for more cartoons…   POLICY PIVOT — Schools quietly remove gender identity pledge from LGBTQ training. Continue reading … HOT TAKE — Paris deputy mayor blasts Americans on Instagram for France's deadly heat wave. Continue reading … DEFYING THE ODDS — Savannah Guthrie proved doubters wrong 64 days after her mother's disappearance. Continue reading … SPEAKING OUT — Meteorologist axed after Instagram rant blasts station's workplace culture. Continue reading … HUGH HEWITT — Senator Susan Collins and the nation’s national defense. Continue reading …  DAN GAINOR — How American engineers unlocked the impossible beneath the Gulf of America. Continue reading … -- PATRIOTISM BREWED — One of the biggest myths about the Boston Tea Party revealed. Continue reading … HIDDEN INFESTATION — Man's headaches led doctors to suspect cancer — the real cause was far more bizarre. Continue reading … BILLIONAIRE BRIDE — Taylor Swift's empire tops $2 billion as wedding frenzy fuels global obsession. Continue reading … AMERICAN CULTURE QUIZ — Test yourself on cruise controversies and wedding whispers. Take the quiz here … Tune in to hear how the World Cup is reshaping global views of the United States and explore the history behind America’s biggest sports moments. Check it out ... What's it looking like in your neighborhood? Continue reading…   Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter LinkedIn      Fox News First Fox News Opinion Fox News Lifestyle Fox News Entertainment (FOX411) Fox Business Fox Weather Fox Sports Tubi Fox News Go Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Wednesday. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b519197238567836b874 Supreme Court set to close term with landmark birthright citizenship ruling and more top headlines te 2026-06-30T12:22:49.149Z Supreme Court set to close term with landmark birthright citizenship ruling and more top headlines 1. Supreme Court to close term with birthright citizenship ruling  2. Socialists take fight west in bid to oust Democratic establishment 3. US, Iran send delegations to Qatar as Tehran denies direct talks ENERGY SECURITY — Gulf states quietly building ways to bypass Iran's greatest geopolitical weapon. Continue reading … HOUSE DIVIDED — Fetterman unleashes on 'dirtbag' wing of Dems after far-left victories. Continue reading … HISTORIC UPSET — Disallowed goal in extra time leads Paraguay over Germany in stunner at FIFA World Cup. Continue reading … SUMMER MENACE — Deadly tick virus cases explode in US as doctors warn infection happens in minutes. Continue reading … STAR POWER — HOA threatens American flag fines as homeowners refuse to remove Old Glory. Continue reading … -- ‘PERVERSION’ — Online fury after viral Seattle Pride videos show nude adults marching next to children. Continue reading … CIRCLE OF TRUST — Clinton confidant who called Maxwell his 'lover' grilled by Congress over Epstein ties. Continue reading … COVENANT CRISIS — Trump’s massive GOP faith bloc raises red flag on Iran deal. Continue reading … SILICON SQUEEZE — AOC targets tech giants for breakup over surging processor costs and AI strain. Continue reading … Click here for more cartoons…   POLICY PIVOT — Schools quietly remove gender identity pledge from LGBTQ training. Continue reading … HOT TAKE — Paris deputy mayor blasts Americans on Instagram for France's deadly heat wave. Continue reading … DEFYING THE ODDS — Savannah Guthrie proved doubters wrong 64 days after her mother's disappearance. Continue reading … SPEAKING OUT — Meteorologist axed after Instagram rant blasts station's workplace culture. Continue reading … HUGH HEWITT — Senator Susan Collins and the nation’s national defense. Continue reading …  DAN GAINOR — How American engineers unlocked the impossible beneath the Gulf of America. Continue reading … -- PATRIOTISM BREWED — One of the biggest myths about the Boston Tea Party revealed. Continue reading … HIDDEN INFESTATION — Man's headaches led doctors to suspect cancer — the real cause was far more bizarre. Continue reading … BILLIONAIRE BRIDE — Taylor Swift's empire tops $2 billion as wedding frenzy fuels global obsession. Continue reading … AMERICAN CULTURE QUIZ — Test yourself on cruise controversies and wedding whispers. Take the quiz here … Tune in to hear how the World Cup is reshaping global views of the United States and explore the history behind America’s biggest sports moments. Check it out ... What's it looking like in your neighborhood? Continue reading…   Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter LinkedIn      Fox News First Fox News Opinion Fox News Lifestyle Fox News Entertainment (FOX411) Fox Business Fox Weather Fox Sports Tubi Fox News Go Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Wednesday. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b50d197238567836b86b Juan Soto's misread turns routine single into Little League home run as Mets' woes continue te 2026-06-30T12:22:37.506Z Juan Soto's misread turns routine single into Little League home run as Mets' woes continue Just how bad are things going for the 2026 New York Mets? Look no further than the first batter they faced against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night, where a routine base hit turned into a Little League home run. And Juan Soto, the team’s $765 million man, was at the center of the brutal mishap. The Mets came into this game 35-49, which has been one of the most shocking pre-All-Star-break stories of the season given their spot as the second-highest payroll in MLB this season, only behind the reigning World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Starting a six-game road trip on Monday night in Toronto, the Mets were hoping to get something going in their favor just days after manager Carlos Mendoza was fired. But the game couldn’t have started off worse for New York, and it ultimately hurt them in a 2-1 loss. George Springer stepped into the batter’s box against Mets starter Sean Manaea when he served a 2-2 pitch to left field – a routine single is all it should’ve been. WHY ARE THE METS SO BAD? OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES AND A DISJOINTED CLUBHOUSE LEAD TO WORST RECORD IN MLB However, Soto misread the ball bouncing off the turf completely, choosing to have an aggressive route toward the ball and potentially catch it on the short hop. Instead, the ball went right underneath his glove and started to roll all the way to the left field fence. Soto was jogging to the ball, while the veteran Springer was booking it around the basepaths. Soto’s decision not to sprint himself was because rookie center fielder A.J. Ewing was in pursuit already. But things only got worse from there. As Ewing looked up to see where Springer was on the bases, he didn’t field the ball cleanly, rather tossing it back to the fence after trying to scoop it up with his glove. As a result, Springer was waved around third base. By the time Soto picked the ball up and looked toward the infield, Springer was already around third base to score his Little League home run to the delight of the Rogers Centre crowd. Errors have been among the pain points for the Mets this season, having the third-most in MLB, only behind the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants. It was just five days ago when the Mets committed six infield errors as they were swept by the Chicago Cubs in a doubleheader. This moment was one Soto tried to explain postgame. "When you have an outfield like that, that it bounces a lot, you have to be aware because you can give up extra base hits really easy," Soto told reporters after going 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk in the loss. "So, I would say you got to be aggressive – that was my mindset. Just be aggressive, come through the ball instead of playing it back and let it bounce over my head. But I actually just stopped." This is obviously not what owner Steve Cohen and the Mets had in mind when they began the 2026 campaign, but they find themselves in a hole that seems to get deeper with every game, and plays like this only pile on to the disappointment that continues for the team and its fan base.   Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b505197238567836b862 Juan Soto's misread turns routine single into Little League home run as Mets' woes continue te 2026-06-30T12:22:29.683Z Juan Soto's misread turns routine single into Little League home run as Mets' woes continue Just how bad are things going for the 2026 New York Mets? Look no further than the first batter they faced against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night, where a routine base hit turned into a Little League home run. And Juan Soto, the team’s $765 million man, was at the center of the brutal mishap. The Mets came into this game 35-49, which has been one of the most shocking pre-All-Star-break stories of the season given their spot as the second-highest payroll in MLB this season, only behind the reigning World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Starting a six-game road trip on Monday night in Toronto, the Mets were hoping to get something going in their favor just days after manager Carlos Mendoza was fired. But the game couldn’t have started off worse for New York, and it ultimately hurt them in a 2-1 loss. George Springer stepped into the batter’s box against Mets starter Sean Manaea when he served a 2-2 pitch to left field – a routine single is all it should’ve been. WHY ARE THE METS SO BAD? OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES AND A DISJOINTED CLUBHOUSE LEAD TO WORST RECORD IN MLB However, Soto misread the ball bouncing off the turf completely, choosing to have an aggressive route toward the ball and potentially catch it on the short hop. Instead, the ball went right underneath his glove and started to roll all the way to the left field fence. Soto was jogging to the ball, while the veteran Springer was booking it around the basepaths. Soto’s decision not to sprint himself was because rookie center fielder A.J. Ewing was in pursuit already. But things only got worse from there. As Ewing looked up to see where Springer was on the bases, he didn’t field the ball cleanly, rather tossing it back to the fence after trying to scoop it up with his glove. As a result, Springer was waved around third base. By the time Soto picked the ball up and looked toward the infield, Springer was already around third base to score his Little League home run to the delight of the Rogers Centre crowd. Errors have been among the pain points for the Mets this season, having the third-most in MLB, only behind the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants. It was just five days ago when the Mets committed six infield errors as they were swept by the Chicago Cubs in a doubleheader. This moment was one Soto tried to explain postgame. "When you have an outfield like that, that it bounces a lot, you have to be aware because you can give up extra base hits really easy," Soto told reporters after going 1-for-3 at the plate with a walk in the loss. "So, I would say you got to be aggressive – that was my mindset. Just be aggressive, come through the ball instead of playing it back and let it bounce over my head. But I actually just stopped." This is obviously not what owner Steve Cohen and the Mets had in mind when they began the 2026 campaign, but they find themselves in a hole that seems to get deeper with every game, and plays like this only pile on to the disappointment that continues for the team and its fan base.   Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b4fa197238567836b859 House GOP's SAVE Act rescue plan hits resistance from conservative holdouts te 2026-06-30T12:22:18.049Z House GOP's SAVE Act rescue plan hits resistance from conservative holdouts House Republican leaders are making another bid to salvage the stalled SAVE America Act after a conservative revolt froze floor action last week, but GOP lawmakers behind the blockade are withholding support for the plan. The House Rules Committee on Monday approved a rule in an 8-4 vote that would merge an annual defense policy bill with the Trump-backed election measure in a rare procedural maneuver before sending the package to the Senate.  Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the panel who was among the conservatives last week that backed the SAVE-related floor blockade, did not vote.  Meanwhile, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla. — the leader of the lower chamber's SAVE protest — argued the procedural tactic would fail to force Senate action, instead calling for a SAVE amendment to be added to the defense bill. 'AS LONG AS IT TAKES': TRUMP ALLIES FREEZE HOUSE FLOOR TO PRESSURE SENATE ON VOTER ID BILL "The only way to ensure the Senate passes this is to make sure it’s in the bill text of the NDAA, meaning that my amendment(s) must be made an order," the Florida Republican wrote on X. "I’m not trying to be difficult, but this is what 80% of Americans want and what we promised the American people, so I stand by my decision."  Johnson’s proposal comes after the conservative holdouts rejected his appeal to enact parts of SAVE in another ‘Big Beautiful Bill" last week. Given House Republicans' slim majority, the speaker will likely need their support to pass a rule later Tuesday teeing up the chamber's version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Because procedural votes are typically party-line, he can afford to lose only a handful of GOP defections. Tuesday’s vote will also advance a spending bill funding the State Department and other foreign operations for fiscal year 2027 and a resolution commemorating the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans now refer to as the Working Families Tax Cuts. If Republican leadership fails to advance the legislative items, the House floor would effectively be frozen and lawmakers could return home early ahead of the July 4 recess. Johnson warned Monday that continuing the floor blockade would be a "self-defeating" approach. "It doesn't make any sense," Johnson told reporters. "We have to move forward with legislation and that's what I'll be telling them all."  'IT'S A MESS': GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP'S AGENDA But Luna indicated her reluctance to unlock the House floor until she receives assurances on the SAVE America Act’s fate in the Senate. "But to, you know, say that we're holding up the process. This is legislating," Luna told reporters Monday, standing next to Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who has also joined the SAVE protest. "If people elected us to just come up here and vote in line with what the party wants, then it would be a whole lot different." Democrats, who would like to see the rules package fail, argued the GOP holdouts should not listen to Republican leadership because their proposal would be dead on arrival in the Senate.  "Let me be clear, the Senate will just strip the SAVE Act out," Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Conn., said during the Rules Committee debate Monday. "They've already said that merging it with the NDAA bill doesn't prevent that. Nothing in this rule will prevent that." "There is a 0% chance SAVE ends up in the NDAA because of this rule today," he continued. "So this is a ‘cover-your-behind’ maneuver, if you will." Under the rule approved Monday, the procedural maneuver would facilitate SAVE’s attachment to the NDAA without requiring lawmakers to vote on it again. Leadership did not choose a version of the election bill including all the president’s SAVE priorities, such as curtailing mail-in voting and banning men in women’s sports and child sex change procedures. Johnson has yet to ask House Republicans to consider the comprehensive measure, and it is unclear whether a crackdown on mail-in ballots could clear the chamber. Johnson’s SAVE gambit comes as House Republicans appear to have little leverage to force the bill through the Senate, where GOP leaders say it lacks the votes to pass. The election measure has struggled to win unified Republican support, let alone the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster. Trump sharply criticized five alleged holdouts — Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. — in a Truth Social post Monday, arguing the cohort "must vote to SAVE OUR COUNTRY." "There can be no more excuses!" he wrote. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b4f2197238567836b850 House GOP's SAVE Act rescue plan hits resistance from conservative holdouts te 2026-06-30T12:22:10.228Z House GOP's SAVE Act rescue plan hits resistance from conservative holdouts House Republican leaders are making another bid to salvage the stalled SAVE America Act after a conservative revolt froze floor action last week, but GOP lawmakers behind the blockade are withholding support for the plan. The House Rules Committee on Monday approved a rule in an 8-4 vote that would merge an annual defense policy bill with the Trump-backed election measure in a rare procedural maneuver before sending the package to the Senate.  Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the panel who was among the conservatives last week that backed the SAVE-related floor blockade, did not vote.  Meanwhile, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla. — the leader of the lower chamber's SAVE protest — argued the procedural tactic would fail to force Senate action, instead calling for a SAVE amendment to be added to the defense bill. 'AS LONG AS IT TAKES': TRUMP ALLIES FREEZE HOUSE FLOOR TO PRESSURE SENATE ON VOTER ID BILL "The only way to ensure the Senate passes this is to make sure it’s in the bill text of the NDAA, meaning that my amendment(s) must be made an order," the Florida Republican wrote on X. "I’m not trying to be difficult, but this is what 80% of Americans want and what we promised the American people, so I stand by my decision."  Johnson’s proposal comes after the conservative holdouts rejected his appeal to enact parts of SAVE in another ‘Big Beautiful Bill" last week. Given House Republicans' slim majority, the speaker will likely need their support to pass a rule later Tuesday teeing up the chamber's version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Because procedural votes are typically party-line, he can afford to lose only a handful of GOP defections. Tuesday’s vote will also advance a spending bill funding the State Department and other foreign operations for fiscal year 2027 and a resolution commemorating the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans now refer to as the Working Families Tax Cuts. If Republican leadership fails to advance the legislative items, the House floor would effectively be frozen and lawmakers could return home early ahead of the July 4 recess. Johnson warned Monday that continuing the floor blockade would be a "self-defeating" approach. "It doesn't make any sense," Johnson told reporters. "We have to move forward with legislation and that's what I'll be telling them all."  'IT'S A MESS': GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP'S AGENDA But Luna indicated her reluctance to unlock the House floor until she receives assurances on the SAVE America Act’s fate in the Senate. "But to, you know, say that we're holding up the process. This is legislating," Luna told reporters Monday, standing next to Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who has also joined the SAVE protest. "If people elected us to just come up here and vote in line with what the party wants, then it would be a whole lot different." Democrats, who would like to see the rules package fail, argued the GOP holdouts should not listen to Republican leadership because their proposal would be dead on arrival in the Senate.  "Let me be clear, the Senate will just strip the SAVE Act out," Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Conn., said during the Rules Committee debate Monday. "They've already said that merging it with the NDAA bill doesn't prevent that. Nothing in this rule will prevent that." "There is a 0% chance SAVE ends up in the NDAA because of this rule today," he continued. "So this is a ‘cover-your-behind’ maneuver, if you will." Under the rule approved Monday, the procedural maneuver would facilitate SAVE’s attachment to the NDAA without requiring lawmakers to vote on it again. Leadership did not choose a version of the election bill including all the president’s SAVE priorities, such as curtailing mail-in voting and banning men in women’s sports and child sex change procedures. Johnson has yet to ask House Republicans to consider the comprehensive measure, and it is unclear whether a crackdown on mail-in ballots could clear the chamber. Johnson’s SAVE gambit comes as House Republicans appear to have little leverage to force the bill through the Senate, where GOP leaders say it lacks the votes to pass. The election measure has struggled to win unified Republican support, let alone the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster. Trump sharply criticized five alleged holdouts — Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. — in a Truth Social post Monday, arguing the cohort "must vote to SAVE OUR COUNTRY." "There can be no more excuses!" he wrote. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b4e6197238567836b847 Discoveries that reshaped what historians knew about America's Founding Fathers te 2026-06-30T12:21:58.594Z Discoveries that reshaped what historians knew about America's Founding Fathers The Founding Fathers left behind extensive writings, but new discoveries continue to deepen historians' understanding of America's most influential figures. Advances in archaeology, DNA analysis and archival research have uncovered forgotten documents, artifacts and other evidence from the nation's earliest years. Over the past century, discoveries have offered fresh insight into America's founders, changing how historians understand their lives and legacies, as detailed below. ANCIENT ROMAN'S 'MISHAP' LEADS TO RARE JEWELRY DISCOVERY IN BRITISH COUNTRYSIDE According to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (TJF), Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, fathered at least six children with Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman at Monticello. Though it was rumored during his lifetime that Jefferson fathered children with one of the enslaved women, it wasn't until a landmark 1998 DNA study that historians found scientific evidence that appears to support the claim. EXCAVATORS DISCOVER PREHISTORIC VILLAGE BENEATH FUTURE GOLF COURSE: 'REMARKABLE JOURNEY' Hemings was brought to Paris from 1787 to 1789 to work as a servant and maid for Jefferson's household. "While in Paris, where enslaved people could petition for their freedom, she negotiated with Jefferson to return to enslavement at Monticello in exchange for 'extraordinary privileges' for herself and freedom for her unborn children," the TJF states on its website. "Decades later, Jefferson freed all of Sally Hemings’s children ... [he] did not grant freedom to any other enslaved family unit." ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH STRANGE HEAD DEPICTING ROMAN GOD BENEATH CATHOLIC BASILICA After reviewing documentary, scientific, statistical and oral history evidence, the Foundation concluded that Jefferson most likely fathered Hemings' children, a position now widely accepted by mainstream historians. Not all historians agree with that assessment, however. After reviewing historical evidence, the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society concluded that Hemings "was only a minor figure in Thomas Jefferson's life and that it is very unlikely he fathered any of her children," according to the TJF website. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES "This committee also suggested in its report, issued in April 2001 and revised in 2011, that Jefferson's younger brother Randolph (1755-1815) was more likely the father of at least some of Sally Hemings's children," the website adds. In 1999, archaeologists at Mount Vernon uncovered the remains of George Washington's long-lost whiskey distillery — revealing that the first president operated what had become the largest commercial distillery in the U.S. by the time he died in 1799. Historians had long known that Washington operated a distillery through surviving records, but the archaeological excavation revealed the scale and sophistication of the operation. The facility was "one of the largest, highest producing operations in the area," Mount Vernon's website says. "The evidence also highlights the fact that this distillery was operating at an industrial scale, compared to the one or two still farmer-distillers common in the 18th and early 19th centuries," the site adds. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ During the excavation, archaeologists uncovered stone foundations, teacups, drinking glasses and evidence of the distillery's copper stills and boilers, which helped researchers reconstruct how the massive operation functioned. "Research suggests that George Washington was one of the most innovative and enterprising farmers in America’s history," Mount Vernon's website says. "This entrepreneurial spirit can be seen in such exhibits as the 16-sided treading barn, the gristmill and the distillery." In 1947, historian Julian P. Boyd discovered a previously unknown draft of the Declaration of Independence among Jefferson's papers. The Library of Congress's website describes the draft as "brief, but critically important," noting that it predated the famous "Rough Draught" Jefferson later produced. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER Comparing the older fragment and the "Rough Draught," the historian found that Jefferson revised his language more extensively than previously documented. The fragment also gave historians a clearer picture of the drafting process, helping them trace Jefferson's edits alongside revisions made by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Congress before the Declaration's adoption. "Heavily edited in Jefferson's clear, precise hand, the fragment proved to be a key component in unraveling the story of the writing of the Declaration," the website notes. "The existence of the fragment confirmed the view of those historians, who had argued that a heavily edited draft must have preceded the copy Jefferson had endorsed as the original rough draft." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b4de197238567836b83e Discoveries that reshaped what historians knew about America's Founding Fathers te 2026-06-30T12:21:50.771Z Discoveries that reshaped what historians knew about America's Founding Fathers The Founding Fathers left behind extensive writings, but new discoveries continue to deepen historians' understanding of America's most influential figures. Advances in archaeology, DNA analysis and archival research have uncovered forgotten documents, artifacts and other evidence from the nation's earliest years. Over the past century, discoveries have offered fresh insight into America's founders, changing how historians understand their lives and legacies, as detailed below. ANCIENT ROMAN'S 'MISHAP' LEADS TO RARE JEWELRY DISCOVERY IN BRITISH COUNTRYSIDE According to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (TJF), Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, fathered at least six children with Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman at Monticello. Though it was rumored during his lifetime that Jefferson fathered children with one of the enslaved women, it wasn't until a landmark 1998 DNA study that historians found scientific evidence that appears to support the claim. EXCAVATORS DISCOVER PREHISTORIC VILLAGE BENEATH FUTURE GOLF COURSE: 'REMARKABLE JOURNEY' Hemings was brought to Paris from 1787 to 1789 to work as a servant and maid for Jefferson's household. "While in Paris, where enslaved people could petition for their freedom, she negotiated with Jefferson to return to enslavement at Monticello in exchange for 'extraordinary privileges' for herself and freedom for her unborn children," the TJF states on its website. "Decades later, Jefferson freed all of Sally Hemings’s children ... [he] did not grant freedom to any other enslaved family unit." ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH STRANGE HEAD DEPICTING ROMAN GOD BENEATH CATHOLIC BASILICA After reviewing documentary, scientific, statistical and oral history evidence, the Foundation concluded that Jefferson most likely fathered Hemings' children, a position now widely accepted by mainstream historians. Not all historians agree with that assessment, however. After reviewing historical evidence, the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society concluded that Hemings "was only a minor figure in Thomas Jefferson's life and that it is very unlikely he fathered any of her children," according to the TJF website. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES "This committee also suggested in its report, issued in April 2001 and revised in 2011, that Jefferson's younger brother Randolph (1755-1815) was more likely the father of at least some of Sally Hemings's children," the website adds. In 1999, archaeologists at Mount Vernon uncovered the remains of George Washington's long-lost whiskey distillery — revealing that the first president operated what had become the largest commercial distillery in the U.S. by the time he died in 1799. Historians had long known that Washington operated a distillery through surviving records, but the archaeological excavation revealed the scale and sophistication of the operation. The facility was "one of the largest, highest producing operations in the area," Mount Vernon's website says. "The evidence also highlights the fact that this distillery was operating at an industrial scale, compared to the one or two still farmer-distillers common in the 18th and early 19th centuries," the site adds. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ During the excavation, archaeologists uncovered stone foundations, teacups, drinking glasses and evidence of the distillery's copper stills and boilers, which helped researchers reconstruct how the massive operation functioned. "Research suggests that George Washington was one of the most innovative and enterprising farmers in America’s history," Mount Vernon's website says. "This entrepreneurial spirit can be seen in such exhibits as the 16-sided treading barn, the gristmill and the distillery." In 1947, historian Julian P. Boyd discovered a previously unknown draft of the Declaration of Independence among Jefferson's papers. The Library of Congress's website describes the draft as "brief, but critically important," noting that it predated the famous "Rough Draught" Jefferson later produced. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER Comparing the older fragment and the "Rough Draught," the historian found that Jefferson revised his language more extensively than previously documented. The fragment also gave historians a clearer picture of the drafting process, helping them trace Jefferson's edits alongside revisions made by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Congress before the Declaration's adoption. "Heavily edited in Jefferson's clear, precise hand, the fragment proved to be a key component in unraveling the story of the writing of the Declaration," the website notes. "The existence of the fragment confirmed the view of those historians, who had argued that a heavily edited draft must have preceded the copy Jefferson had endorsed as the original rough draft." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b4d3197238567836b835 Heartbroken father blasts ‘broken’ system that let family massacre take his children before they could reunite te 2026-06-30T12:21:39.137Z Heartbroken father blasts ‘broken’ system that let family massacre take his children before they could reunite A father is grieving the loss of his four young children following an alleged murder-suicide poisoning plot. Speaking with Fox News Digital, the children's father, Brady Harmon, said nothing could have prepared him for the shocking and devastating news. He said, "There is no preparation. It's horrendous." The children's grandmother is suspected of poisoning the four children and their mother before taking her own life in Mechanicville, New York, police said during a Thursday news conference. "There is recovered evidence inside the apartment that indicates intentional poisoning with numerous prescriptions and over-the-counter medication," said Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt. WOMAN LINKED TO TRANSGENDER ZIZIAN CULT CHARGED WITH ARRANGING HER PARENTS' MURDERS ON HER 30TH BIRTHDAY 📩 Send me a story idea: kelsie.cairns@fox.com 📸 Instagram: kelsiecairns_tv 🎥 Facebook: Kelsie Cairns He added that during an autopsy examination it was discovered that one of the child victims may have "suffered fatal sharp force injuries." FOLLOW US ON X Investigators made their grim discovery during a welfare check at the home on Tuesday, June 23. MPD named those found dead: GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL During the news conference, police named Steadman as the children's grandmother. Rabbitt said investigators found a "handwritten note" that may link her to the deaths. CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWS He also said causes of death are pending additional investigation and toxicology testing. Before the young victims were found dead, Harmon, who lives in Utah, told Fox News Digital he was planning on taking his children back to Utah with him for the summer. He never had the chance. He was fighting an ongoing custody battle with the children's mother, Myers, he said. He also told Fox News Digital he had concerns about the children's safety and well-being before the tragedy. His worst fears became realized. "The system is broken, it takes way too long to get anything done. I spent six and a half years fighting to be able to have access to my kids," he said. While the murder investigation continues, Harmon said, "My concern right now is being able to bring my kids home, and have them away from those two monsters that did this to them." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b4cb197238567836b82c Heartbroken father blasts ‘broken’ system that let family massacre take his children before they could reunite te 2026-06-30T12:21:31.316Z Heartbroken father blasts ‘broken’ system that let family massacre take his children before they could reunite A father is grieving the loss of his four young children following an alleged murder-suicide poisoning plot. Speaking with Fox News Digital, the children's father, Brady Harmon, said nothing could have prepared him for the shocking and devastating news. He said, "There is no preparation. It's horrendous." The children's grandmother is suspected of poisoning the four children and their mother before taking her own life in Mechanicville, New York, police said during a Thursday news conference. "There is recovered evidence inside the apartment that indicates intentional poisoning with numerous prescriptions and over-the-counter medication," said Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt. WOMAN LINKED TO TRANSGENDER ZIZIAN CULT CHARGED WITH ARRANGING HER PARENTS' MURDERS ON HER 30TH BIRTHDAY 📩 Send me a story idea: kelsie.cairns@fox.com 📸 Instagram: kelsiecairns_tv 🎥 Facebook: Kelsie Cairns He added that during an autopsy examination it was discovered that one of the child victims may have "suffered fatal sharp force injuries." FOLLOW US ON X Investigators made their grim discovery during a welfare check at the home on Tuesday, June 23. MPD named those found dead: GET BREAKING NEWS BY EMAIL During the news conference, police named Steadman as the children's grandmother. Rabbitt said investigators found a "handwritten note" that may link her to the deaths. CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWS He also said causes of death are pending additional investigation and toxicology testing. Before the young victims were found dead, Harmon, who lives in Utah, told Fox News Digital he was planning on taking his children back to Utah with him for the summer. He never had the chance. He was fighting an ongoing custody battle with the children's mother, Myers, he said. He also told Fox News Digital he had concerns about the children's safety and well-being before the tragedy. His worst fears became realized. "The system is broken, it takes way too long to get anything done. I spent six and a half years fighting to be able to have access to my kids," he said. While the murder investigation continues, Harmon said, "My concern right now is being able to bring my kids home, and have them away from those two monsters that did this to them." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b4bf197238567836b823 Taylor Swift's empire tops $2 billion as wedding frenzy fuels global obsession te 2026-06-30T12:21:19.688Z Taylor Swift's empire tops $2 billion as wedding frenzy fuels global obsession Taylor Swift's biggest wedding gift may already be sitting in her bank account. Before the superstar prepared to say "I do," she built an estimated $2 billion empire that branding experts said transformed her from a hitmaker into one of the most powerful businesses in entertainment. "At this point, Taylor Swift's brand is so dominant and so deeply tied to her creative output that marriage is only going to add a new dimension to an empire that is already running on all cylinders," reputation management expert Evan Nierman told Fox News Digital. "The buzz and speculation around her wedding have made it a global media event long before it even happens, and that level of cultural gravity tells you everything about where her brand stands heading into the next chapter," Nierman, founder & CEO of crisis PR firm Red Banyan, added. TAYLOR SWIFT, TRAVIS KELCE WEDDING BETTING FRENZY REVEALS ONE OVERWHELMING PREDICTION Reports of Swift and Travis Kelce's rumored July 3 wedding intensified last week after The New York Times reported Swift had rented Madison Square Garden for a multi-day celebration. The couple's potential July 3 wedding would come weeks after Forbes announced the global pop star had surpassed a net worth of $2 billion after becoming a billionaire in 2023. Swift's fortune included roughly $800 million earned directly from her music and touring along with a $600 million music catalog, according to the outlet. The "Life of a Showgirl" singer's massive fortune didn't happen by accident, branding experts said. Instead, they pointed to years of relentless touring, strategic business moves and an unmatched connection with fans that turned the singer into a global powerhouse. "Taylor Swift is the apex predator of the entertainment industry," branding expert Doug Eldridge told Fox News Digital. "She is the first artist to earn one billion dollars from a world tour and while the ticket prices often started at four figures, the reality is she was an absolute road warrior – she put in the work, and was willing to grind on that tour," Eldridge, founder of Achilles PR, added. "When it comes to her billion dollar valuation, she earned it. It was grit, not grift." TRAVIS KELCE'S DAD CALLS TAYLOR SWIFT 'THE GIRL NEXT DOOR' AS WEDDING SPECULATION REACHES NEW HEIGHTS While Swift's record-breaking tour fueled her fortune, experts said her billion-dollar success extends far beyond ticket sales. "The music catalog is a massive asset, but it would only be worth a fraction of what it is today without the power of the Taylor Swift brand behind it," Nierman said. "Her ability to fill stadiums, command global attention and elevate every album release into a cultural event is what turned a great body of work into a $2 billion empire." Nierman said that brand wouldn't have reached its current value without one key ingredient: the unwavering loyalty of Swift's fans. "The Swifties are the single most valuable fanbase in entertainment because they’ve turned loyalty into an economic engine that generates revenue at a historic scale," he explained. "The Eras Tour generated over $2 billion in ticket sales and experts estimate fans spent billions more on travel, merchandise and experiences around those shows, which is the kind of consumer spending power that most major corporations would kill for." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Former CBS executive Derek Reisfield said Swift has turned fan loyalty into something few artists ever achieve: complete control over her business. "Swift is calling the shots," he explained. "She essentially is a Fortune 1000 CEO. It is driven by the music, but Swift seems to have a knack for creating significant revenue streams on top of the music. The loyalty and emotional investment of her fans helps her do that." Reisfield credited Swift's genuine connection with fans for helping her sustain one of entertainment's most powerful brands. "Taylor Swift has an extremely strong brand. She is an incredible musician and performer, and she has bonded with her fans in a powerful and unique way," the co-founder and founding Chairman of MarketWatch told Fox News Digital. "She has an authenticity that is genuine that drives a powerful connection with her audiences." LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Looking ahead, experts said a wedding would likely mark another evolution of the Swift brand rather than a departure from it. "Will marriage affect her brand? I think in only positive ways," Reisfield said. "Her relationship with Travis Kelce seems to be part of her story now. Kids won't affect her brand either. They will probably only enhance her brand in the short to medium term." Eldridge predicted that whatever comes next for Swift personally will likely translate into business success. "It’ll be one of two things: source material for her next 'good girl, done wrong' album, or a logical evolution of teen, to young adult, to finding her own, real-life Prince Charming," the PR expert noted. "In either case, it will generate eyeballs, interest, and investment. In other words, Swift will cash in." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b4b7197238567836b81a Taylor Swift's empire tops $2 billion as wedding frenzy fuels global obsession te 2026-06-30T12:21:11.858Z Taylor Swift's empire tops $2 billion as wedding frenzy fuels global obsession Taylor Swift's biggest wedding gift may already be sitting in her bank account. Before the superstar prepared to say "I do," she built an estimated $2 billion empire that branding experts said transformed her from a hitmaker into one of the most powerful businesses in entertainment. "At this point, Taylor Swift's brand is so dominant and so deeply tied to her creative output that marriage is only going to add a new dimension to an empire that is already running on all cylinders," reputation management expert Evan Nierman told Fox News Digital. "The buzz and speculation around her wedding have made it a global media event long before it even happens, and that level of cultural gravity tells you everything about where her brand stands heading into the next chapter," Nierman, founder & CEO of crisis PR firm Red Banyan, added. TAYLOR SWIFT, TRAVIS KELCE WEDDING BETTING FRENZY REVEALS ONE OVERWHELMING PREDICTION Reports of Swift and Travis Kelce's rumored July 3 wedding intensified last week after The New York Times reported Swift had rented Madison Square Garden for a multi-day celebration. The couple's potential July 3 wedding would come weeks after Forbes announced the global pop star had surpassed a net worth of $2 billion after becoming a billionaire in 2023. Swift's fortune included roughly $800 million earned directly from her music and touring along with a $600 million music catalog, according to the outlet. The "Life of a Showgirl" singer's massive fortune didn't happen by accident, branding experts said. Instead, they pointed to years of relentless touring, strategic business moves and an unmatched connection with fans that turned the singer into a global powerhouse. "Taylor Swift is the apex predator of the entertainment industry," branding expert Doug Eldridge told Fox News Digital. "She is the first artist to earn one billion dollars from a world tour and while the ticket prices often started at four figures, the reality is she was an absolute road warrior – she put in the work, and was willing to grind on that tour," Eldridge, founder of Achilles PR, added. "When it comes to her billion dollar valuation, she earned it. It was grit, not grift." TRAVIS KELCE'S DAD CALLS TAYLOR SWIFT 'THE GIRL NEXT DOOR' AS WEDDING SPECULATION REACHES NEW HEIGHTS While Swift's record-breaking tour fueled her fortune, experts said her billion-dollar success extends far beyond ticket sales. "The music catalog is a massive asset, but it would only be worth a fraction of what it is today without the power of the Taylor Swift brand behind it," Nierman said. "Her ability to fill stadiums, command global attention and elevate every album release into a cultural event is what turned a great body of work into a $2 billion empire." Nierman said that brand wouldn't have reached its current value without one key ingredient: the unwavering loyalty of Swift's fans. "The Swifties are the single most valuable fanbase in entertainment because they’ve turned loyalty into an economic engine that generates revenue at a historic scale," he explained. "The Eras Tour generated over $2 billion in ticket sales and experts estimate fans spent billions more on travel, merchandise and experiences around those shows, which is the kind of consumer spending power that most major corporations would kill for." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Former CBS executive Derek Reisfield said Swift has turned fan loyalty into something few artists ever achieve: complete control over her business. "Swift is calling the shots," he explained. "She essentially is a Fortune 1000 CEO. It is driven by the music, but Swift seems to have a knack for creating significant revenue streams on top of the music. The loyalty and emotional investment of her fans helps her do that." Reisfield credited Swift's genuine connection with fans for helping her sustain one of entertainment's most powerful brands. "Taylor Swift has an extremely strong brand. She is an incredible musician and performer, and she has bonded with her fans in a powerful and unique way," the co-founder and founding Chairman of MarketWatch told Fox News Digital. "She has an authenticity that is genuine that drives a powerful connection with her audiences." LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Looking ahead, experts said a wedding would likely mark another evolution of the Swift brand rather than a departure from it. "Will marriage affect her brand? I think in only positive ways," Reisfield said. "Her relationship with Travis Kelce seems to be part of her story now. Kids won't affect her brand either. They will probably only enhance her brand in the short to medium term." Eldridge predicted that whatever comes next for Swift personally will likely translate into business success. "It’ll be one of two things: source material for her next 'good girl, done wrong' album, or a logical evolution of teen, to young adult, to finding her own, real-life Prince Charming," the PR expert noted. "In either case, it will generate eyeballs, interest, and investment. In other words, Swift will cash in." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b4ac197238567836b811 Far-left group calls out New York officials for taking too long to issue reparations as 'disservice' to Blacks te 2026-06-30T12:21:00.226Z Far-left group calls out New York officials for taking too long to issue reparations as 'disservice' to Blacks A prominent civil rights organization is calling out New York officials for extending the timeline on a highly anticipated state report investigating slavery reparations remedies. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) on Friday slammed the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies after a provision embedded in the newly passed state budget pushed the release of its final report back an additional two years—moving the deadline to 2029. "The state’s decision to spend an additional three years before it takes any action to address these harms raises a lot of questions about when Black New Yorkers will receive reparations," said Chantelle Williams, the NYCLU’s Assistant Director of the Racial Justice Center, pointing to the total time elapsed since the commission's inception. TRUMP ADMIN VOWS TO STOP REPARATIONS PROGRAMS, ACCUSES OFFICIALS OF 'VIRTUE SIGNALING' TO GET 'VOTES' "Meanwhile, the impact of discrimination continues to harm Black individuals and communities across the state. This delay is not just a bureaucratic inconvenience. It is a disservice to those who have suffered the profound and lasting consequences of inequality," Williams added. The New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies, a nine-member panel composed of scholars and community leaders, recently concluded a series of statewide public hearings. The final hearing, titled "From Extraction to Repair: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap," took place in Harlem at the end of May. The commission was born out of legislation signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in late 2023, which established a panel to examine the state's historical ties to the institution of slavery, subsequent Jim Crow-era policies, and modern economic disparities like redlining. The body was tasked with compiling those findings into a formal report proposing recommendations for financial compensation and policy changes. However, state leaders agreed to stall the inquiry. Assemblymember Michaelle C. Solages, D-Nassau County, who helped draft the original legislation, acknowledged that the extension was requested to navigate a changing national landscape, citing the erosion of voting protections and conservative legal challenges against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Additionally, the new budget measure shields the commissioners from personal legal exposure if they face lawsuits over their official findings. TRUMP ADMIN WANTS TO STOP ILLINOIS CITY'S REPARATIONS EFFORT FOR 'SIMPLY HANDING OUT MONEY BASED ON RACE' Williams believes that rushing the final findings would be a mistake, but emphasizes that the clock is ticking for impacted communities. "The reparations report from the state commission – whenever it’s finally released – will undoubtedly provide ample evidence of past and present harm to Black New Yorkers," Williams said. "Will the legislature respond to the report’s findings with clear, measurable actions to help repair historic wrongs? That’s an open question, and the answer will depend on lawmakers’ political will." "New York has studied, exposed, and documented injustices committed against Black Americans. Now state leaders must decide whether they are ready to truly make amends for those harms," she continued. The Empire State is part of a broader wave of states and local municipalities exploring local reparative structures. Some localities have pushed forward regardless; the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, made headlines by distributing $25,000 grants to eligible Black residents to address historic housing discrimination. Williams' comments come as the NYCLU itself faces fierce criticism from grassroots reparations advocates who take issue with the organization's overarching philosophy. At a public hearing held at Hempstead High School on Long Island, Susan Gottehrer, the Director of the Nassau County Chapter of the NYCLU, defended a broad approach to any state-level restitution framework. "These government policies have affected Black New Yorkers regardless of lineage. Excluding a subset of Black Americans would leave a significant portion of documented racial injustice completely unexamined," Gottehrer testified. OAKLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT VOWED REPARATIONS FOR BLACK STUDENTS, YET OUTCOMES APPEAR STAGNANT AFTER 5 YEARS That stance drew immediate backlash from members of the U.S. Freedmen Project, an advocacy group present at the hearing. Lineage advocates argue that reparations should be strictly reserved for ancestral Black Americans—specifically the direct descendants of individuals enslaved in the United States. Activists with the Freedmen Project argued that the left-leaning NYCLU and its local chapters do not represent the specific legal and historical interests of foundational Black Americans by trying to include modern Black immigrants under the same compensatory umbrella. The testimony gathered from these tense public forums will be weighed alongside historical data as the commission continues its work ahead of its revised multi-year deadline. The NYCLU did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b4a4197238567836b808 Far-left group calls out New York officials for taking too long to issue reparations as 'disservice' to Blacks te 2026-06-30T12:20:52.406Z Far-left group calls out New York officials for taking too long to issue reparations as 'disservice' to Blacks A prominent civil rights organization is calling out New York officials for extending the timeline on a highly anticipated state report investigating slavery reparations remedies. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) on Friday slammed the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies after a provision embedded in the newly passed state budget pushed the release of its final report back an additional two years—moving the deadline to 2029. "The state’s decision to spend an additional three years before it takes any action to address these harms raises a lot of questions about when Black New Yorkers will receive reparations," said Chantelle Williams, the NYCLU’s Assistant Director of the Racial Justice Center, pointing to the total time elapsed since the commission's inception. TRUMP ADMIN VOWS TO STOP REPARATIONS PROGRAMS, ACCUSES OFFICIALS OF 'VIRTUE SIGNALING' TO GET 'VOTES' "Meanwhile, the impact of discrimination continues to harm Black individuals and communities across the state. This delay is not just a bureaucratic inconvenience. It is a disservice to those who have suffered the profound and lasting consequences of inequality," Williams added. The New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies, a nine-member panel composed of scholars and community leaders, recently concluded a series of statewide public hearings. The final hearing, titled "From Extraction to Repair: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap," took place in Harlem at the end of May. The commission was born out of legislation signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in late 2023, which established a panel to examine the state's historical ties to the institution of slavery, subsequent Jim Crow-era policies, and modern economic disparities like redlining. The body was tasked with compiling those findings into a formal report proposing recommendations for financial compensation and policy changes. However, state leaders agreed to stall the inquiry. Assemblymember Michaelle C. Solages, D-Nassau County, who helped draft the original legislation, acknowledged that the extension was requested to navigate a changing national landscape, citing the erosion of voting protections and conservative legal challenges against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Additionally, the new budget measure shields the commissioners from personal legal exposure if they face lawsuits over their official findings. TRUMP ADMIN WANTS TO STOP ILLINOIS CITY'S REPARATIONS EFFORT FOR 'SIMPLY HANDING OUT MONEY BASED ON RACE' Williams believes that rushing the final findings would be a mistake, but emphasizes that the clock is ticking for impacted communities. "The reparations report from the state commission – whenever it’s finally released – will undoubtedly provide ample evidence of past and present harm to Black New Yorkers," Williams said. "Will the legislature respond to the report’s findings with clear, measurable actions to help repair historic wrongs? That’s an open question, and the answer will depend on lawmakers’ political will." "New York has studied, exposed, and documented injustices committed against Black Americans. Now state leaders must decide whether they are ready to truly make amends for those harms," she continued. The Empire State is part of a broader wave of states and local municipalities exploring local reparative structures. Some localities have pushed forward regardless; the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, made headlines by distributing $25,000 grants to eligible Black residents to address historic housing discrimination. Williams' comments come as the NYCLU itself faces fierce criticism from grassroots reparations advocates who take issue with the organization's overarching philosophy. At a public hearing held at Hempstead High School on Long Island, Susan Gottehrer, the Director of the Nassau County Chapter of the NYCLU, defended a broad approach to any state-level restitution framework. "These government policies have affected Black New Yorkers regardless of lineage. Excluding a subset of Black Americans would leave a significant portion of documented racial injustice completely unexamined," Gottehrer testified. OAKLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT VOWED REPARATIONS FOR BLACK STUDENTS, YET OUTCOMES APPEAR STAGNANT AFTER 5 YEARS That stance drew immediate backlash from members of the U.S. Freedmen Project, an advocacy group present at the hearing. Lineage advocates argue that reparations should be strictly reserved for ancestral Black Americans—specifically the direct descendants of individuals enslaved in the United States. Activists with the Freedmen Project argued that the left-leaning NYCLU and its local chapters do not represent the specific legal and historical interests of foundational Black Americans by trying to include modern Black immigrants under the same compensatory umbrella. The testimony gathered from these tense public forums will be weighed alongside historical data as the commission continues its work ahead of its revised multi-year deadline. The NYCLU did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b484197238567836b7fb Az Gov. Hobbs: Flags to half-staff Tuesday to honor Granite Mountain Hotshots te 2026-06-30T12:20:20.961Z Az Gov. Hobbs: Flags to half-staff Tuesday to honor Granite Mountain Hotshots Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b47d197238567836b7f2 Az Gov. Hobbs: Flags to half-staff Tuesday to honor Granite Mountain Hotshots te 2026-06-30T12:20:13.490Z Az Gov. Hobbs: Flags to half-staff Tuesday to honor Granite Mountain Hotshots Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b46a197238567836b7c1 SCOTUS to consider reviving citizenship checks for Arizona voters te 2026-06-30T12:19:54.036Z SCOTUS to consider reviving citizenship checks for Arizona voters Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b456197238567836b7b8 Supreme Court allows states to accept mail ballots after Election Day te 2026-06-30T12:19:34.579Z Supreme Court allows states to accept mail ballots after Election Day Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b443197238567836b7af Lawsuit: Lawmakers concealed full scope of proposed anti-trans amendment to Az Constitution te 2026-06-30T12:19:15.128Z Lawsuit: Lawmakers concealed full scope of proposed anti-trans amendment to Az Constitution Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b42f197238567836b7a6 Vets with Gulf War Illness were finally seeing progress, but Congress cut funding te 2026-06-30T12:18:55.666Z Vets with Gulf War Illness were finally seeing progress, but Congress cut funding Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b41c197238567836b79d Hot dogs, fireworks and… lobbyists? These are the trade groups behind your July Fourth traditions te 2026-06-30T12:18:36.210Z Hot dogs, fireworks and… lobbyists? These are the trade groups behind your July Fourth traditions Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b408197238567836b794 2 Oro Valley candidates will attend League of Women Voters forum Tues. te 2026-06-30T12:18:16.753Z 2 Oro Valley candidates will attend League of Women Voters forum Tues. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b3f5197238567836b78b U.S. Senate Ethics Committee dismisses complaint against Gallego te 2026-06-30T12:17:57.299Z U.S. Senate Ethics Committee dismisses complaint against Gallego Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b3e1197238567836b782 How often are dogs shot by the police? te 2026-06-30T12:17:37.841Z How often are dogs shot by the police? Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b3ce197238567836b779 Celebrate a week free from local gov't meetings by mouthing off to D.C. te 2026-06-30T12:17:18.385Z Celebrate a week free from local gov't meetings by mouthing off to D.C. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b3ba197238567836b770 Sun Tran talks with Teamsters continue as Tucson bus driver contract runs out Tuesday te 2026-06-30T12:16:58.936Z Sun Tran talks with Teamsters continue as Tucson bus driver contract runs out Tuesday Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b3a7197238567836b767 In Nogales, Catholic bishops hold 'Border Mass 250' te 2026-06-30T12:16:39.475Z In Nogales, Catholic bishops hold 'Border Mass 250' Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b390197238567836b759 WhatsApp now lets you reserve usernames te 2026-06-30T12:16:16.435Z WhatsApp now lets you reserve usernames WhatsApp username can be between 3 to 35 characters. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b37b197238567836b750 In major privacy win, Supreme Court rules geofence warrants are protected by privacy rights te 2026-06-30T12:15:55.955Z In major privacy win, Supreme Court rules geofence warrants are protected by privacy rights The Supreme Court's decision to limit geofence warrants is a win for privacy advocates, who called their use unconstitutional but sought an outright ban. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b368197238567836b742 TIDAL cracks down on AI music by cutting off monetization te 2026-06-30T12:15:36.498Z TIDAL cracks down on AI music by cutting off monetization In addition, TIDAL will use automated tools to remove AI-generated music that attempts to impersonate an artist or a group, the company said. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b355197238567836b739 Trump administration threatens 92 GW of new electricity supply with red tape te 2026-06-30T12:15:17.042Z Trump administration threatens 92 GW of new electricity supply with red tape The Trump administration's moves threaten $121 billion in new solar and wind power, two energy sources that are the biggest contributors to new capacity in the U.S. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b340197238567836b730 Cursor now has a mobile app for guiding your coding agent on the go te 2026-06-30T12:14:56.568Z Cursor now has a mobile app for guiding your coding agent on the go Cursor has launched a new mobile app for remote oversight over coding agents. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b32c197238567836b727 Arena, the AI leaderboard everyone uses, is now a $100M business te 2026-06-30T12:14:36.082Z Arena, the AI leaderboard everyone uses, is now a $100M business The startup, which runs a popular free AI leaderboard, launched its commercial service just last September. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b318197238567836b71e South Korean tech giants commit over $550B to ease ‘RAMageddon’ te 2026-06-30T12:14:16.629Z South Korean tech giants commit over $550B to ease ‘RAMageddon’ The world's two largest memory chip companies vow to build more memory lab fabs as South Korea positions itself as an AI tech powerhouse country. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b305197238567836b715 Anthropic and Gov. Newsom forge deal allowing California government to use Claude at half price te 2026-06-30T12:13:57.170Z Anthropic and Gov. Newsom forge deal allowing California government to use Claude at half price As Anthropic forges a closer relationship with the state of California, the federal government has made an enemy out of the OpenAI rival. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b2f1197238567836b70c Waymo and Uber quietly part ways in Phoenix te 2026-06-30T12:13:37.716Z Waymo and Uber quietly part ways in Phoenix Uber said it is readying the launch of a separate autonomous vehicle partnership in the city, but did not name the partner. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b2de197238567836b703 Watch out, Amazon: The Kobo eReader now has a Goodreads rival te 2026-06-30T12:13:18.259Z Watch out, Amazon: The Kobo eReader now has a Goodreads rival Kobo users can now automatically sync their reading progress to StoryGraph, making it easier to track books, reading stats, and challenges without relying on Amazon’s Goodreads. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b2ca197238567836b6fa Gemini’s personalized AI image generation is now free for US users te 2026-06-30T12:12:58.290Z Gemini’s personalized AI image generation is now free for US users Google is expanding Gemini’s personalized AI image generation to eligible free users in the U.S., allowing the chatbot to create images based on your interests and data from connected Google apps. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b2b6197238567836b6f1 Chamath Palihapitiya raises $135M Series A for his AI coding startup, takes CEO role te 2026-06-30T12:12:38.841Z Chamath Palihapitiya raises $135M Series A for his AI coding startup, takes CEO role VCs remain thirsty to fund AI coding startups. This one, founded by investor Chamath Palihapitiya, is no exception. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b2a3197238567836b6df Vibe coding platform Base44 launches own model as AI startups seek defensibility te 2026-06-30T12:12:19.380Z Vibe coding platform Base44 launches own model as AI startups seek defensibility Wix-owned vibe coding platform Base44 has started rolling out its own AI model — with hopes that it will eventually outperform frontier models. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b28f197238567836b6d6 The AI jobs debate just got messier te 2026-06-30T12:11:59.922Z The AI jobs debate just got messier A new report finds "high-intensity AI adopters” saw headcount increase 10.2%. Among those companies, entry-level headcount rose by 12%, countering the rhetoric that AI kills junior jobs. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b27c197238567836b6cd Crypto exchange OKX wants AI agents to hire and pay each other te 2026-06-30T12:11:40.467Z Crypto exchange OKX wants AI agents to hire and pay each other OKX is bringing together payments, identity and reputation into a marketplace for AI agents. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b268197238567836b6c4 Villegas seeks reelection in Arizona House LD20 race te 2026-06-30T12:11:20.508Z Villegas seeks reelection in Arizona House LD20 race State Rep. Betty Villegas, a Democrat, is seeking reelection to the Arizona House of Representatives in Legislative District 20, facing primary challenges from Genoveva Diaz, Sally Ann Gonzales and Ben Koehler. Katherine Weasel, a Republican, has filed as a write-in candidate for the general election. Legislative District 20 covers parts of Tucson's south and west sides and is a majority Latino district, with 53% of residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino. Villegas was elected to the position in 2023. Some of the issues she has worked to address in the Legislature are the same ones facing Tucsonans in 2026, though several have evolved and grown more urgent. Tucson Spotlight asked all the candidates their positions on water policy, school vouchers and affordable housing. Water conservation has almost always been a top priority for Tucson residents, and recent data center projects, like Amazon's Project Blue, have driven concerns that the city's limited water source, its underground aquifer, will be overused. "Water is life in Arizona," Villegas said. "The public has every right to be concerned when large corporations and data centers come into our communities and demand enormous amounts of water and energy without clear accountability." State Rep. Betty Villegas has been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva. Courtesy of Betty Villegas. Villegas said if reelected, she'll continue pushing for transparency, stronger oversight and guardrails before major water users are allowed to expand. "That means requiring clear water impact information, protecting our groundwater, making sure local communities have a voice, and ensuring that corporations do not get special treatment while families are asked to conserve," Villegas said, adding that she believes growth should not be divorced from sustainability. Housing affordability is another issue at the top of mind for Tucson voters, with both the city of Tucson and Pima County declaring the growing unhoused population an emergency. "Housing is one of the reasons I ran for office," said Villegas, who worked for 31 years in housing, community development, mortgages and public service. "I know housing stability is not a luxury. In Arizona's extreme heat, it is a matter of health, safety, and survival. No one should have to choose between turning on their air conditioning and paying rent or a mortgage." Villegas said she supports Gov. Katie Hobbs' work to expand utility assistance and approves of continuing support for state and federally funded programs like Power AZ and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. "Wages have not kept pace with housing," Villegas said. "It will take years for working families to catch up. We need more housing, but we also need housing people can actually afford." Villegas has introduced and supported legislation aimed at protecting renters, preventing unnecessary evictions, expanding rental assistance, strengthening manufactured housing protections, supporting community land trusts and increasing permanently affordable housing. A newer issue is the expansion of the state's Empowerment Scholarship Account voucher program, which allows parents to redirect the per-student funding that would otherwise go to their local public school and use it for tuition and resources at private or alternative schools. Many critics of the ESA expansion cite a lack of transparency and the system's potential to gut public education. "Arizona's universal ESA voucher expansion has become one of the biggest threats to our public schools and our state budget," Villegas said. "Public dollars should first serve public schools, where the vast majority of Arizona children are educated. Instead, we have a voucher system that lacks transparency, has grown far beyond what voters were originally told, and is draining resources from classrooms, teachers, and students." Villegas said she supports putting a cap on ESA growth and forcing accountability and transparency that would curtail waste and abuse from the expansion. "We must fully fund public schools, raise teacher pay, invest in school safety, support special education, and strengthen our community colleges and universities. Public education is one of the best investments we can make in Arizona's future, and we should not allow a private voucher system to weaken it," Villegas said. Villegas has also campaigned on and worked toward strong public health, defending democracy, civil rights, environmental justice and climate resilience during her time in the Legislature. 💡 The LD20 primary is July 21. Early voting began June 24, with a mail ballot deadline of July 14. Pima County voters can register, check their registration or request a mail ballot at recorder.pima.gov Quentin Agnello is a University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist in Tucson. Contact him at qsagnello@gmail.com. Tucson Spotlight is a community-based newsroom that provides paid opportunities for students and rising journalists in Southern Arizona. Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible donation. Donate to Tucson Spotlight Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b255197238567836b6bb Pima County SNAP households cut in half by federal bill te 2026-06-30T12:11:01.044Z Pima County SNAP households cut in half by federal bill The number of Pima County households receiving SNAP benefits has been cut nearly in half in less than a year, county officials told supervisors earlier this month, as the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act strips eligibility from veterans, the unhoused, former foster youth and thousands of others who once qualified for food and health care assistance. Supervisors heard details about the county's proposed action plan during their June 9 meeting, with the Pima County Health Department proposing a coordinated response to policy changes to mitigate the possible impact. The bill makes the following changes to SNAP and AHCCCS eligibility and reporting requirements: Extending the age range for work reporting requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents from 18-54 to 18-64. Narrowing eligible immigrant groups to lawful permanent residents and limited categories, excluding refugees, asylees and parolees. Changing Arizona's "insufficient jobs" designation so that waivers now apply only to areas with greater than 10% unemployment. Based on fiscal year 2026 data, this makes Pima County ineligible for waivers, with only the city of Yuma and select tribal areas qualifying. Reducing parental exemptions from eligibility requirements for parents caring for children under 18 to only those caring for children under 14. Eliminating most self-attestation in the verification process, now requiring verified proof of income and work activities. Removing eligibility exemptions for veterans, the unhoused and former foster youth. Basing income calculations on gross income with fewer deductions, eliminating utility bill spending deductions. Across Pima County, the number of SNAP beneficiaries has been cut nearly in half in less than a year. From July 2025 to April 2026, the number of SNAP households fell from 78,001 to 39,197, and the total number of county residents receiving benefits dropped from 144,720 to 67,671. That includes a nearly 56% drop in the number of children receiving SNAP benefits in the county, from 53,616 to 23,710. The trend mirrors the rest of the state. In that same timeframe, the number of Arizona SNAP households fell from 455,652 to 253,162, and the number of individuals receiving benefits dropped from 908,989 to 435,196. For those who remain on SNAP in Pima County, benefits have fallen nearly 15%, with the average household's benefit dropping from $330.79 to $282.15, significantly below the state average, which dropped from $356.59 to $311.43. Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen said the numbers presented are a "moving target," with figures often mismatching between sources. "We are anticipating being the coordinator for a response both within the county as well with our partners throughout the county which will be primarily the health care systems as well as community-based organizations that are ensuring that people have adequate enrollment in both SNAP and access," Cullen said. District 2 Supervisor Matt Heinz estimated the SNAP reductions amount to $178 million a year in federal funding that Pima County no longer receives. "I just want everyone to understand that there is no way the county, the city, the state, community food banks, they're not making up for this," Heinz said. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is also taking public comments on a rule established June 1 that Cullen said would significantly limit the concept of medical frailty. Cullen said the county currently has no clear guidance on how people will document eligibility requirements, who will document them or how documentation will be submitted and verified at the state level for Medicaid and SNAP. The county is continuing to enroll residents in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children using its own funding, with more than 2,000 people enrolled in the last year. Pima County also operates a referral program through which residents can request food assistance and receive referrals through departments like Development Services. Arizona's Medicaid system faces similar eligibility restrictions, with changes to immigrant eligibility, which previously included humanitarian statuses, set to take effect Oct. 1. Starting in 2027, renewals will be required every six months rather than every 12, with shorter response windows and more frequent proof of work requirements. Work exemptions have narrowed, with medical frailty remaining as an exemption but requiring stricter verification. A new federal mandate will also require work or community engagement for Medicaid expansion adults aged 19 through 64. From July 2025 to April 2026, the number of SNAP households fell from 78,001 to 39,197. Statewide, an estimated 380,000 AHCCCS enrollees are subject to disenrollment. Work requirement rules will affect 190,000 adults, while more frequent redeterminations are expected to result in 50,000 additional annual disenrollments. For Pima County, that likely means 25,000 to 35,000 residents will be subject to the new requirements. The Pima County Health Department has proposed a countywide action plan to preserve health care coverage, reduce food insecurity and prevent future gaps in both. The action plan calls for developing multilingual navigation resources and community-facing tools, expanding enrollment assistance through Health-e-Arizona Plus and clinic-based programs, and creating referral pathways through clinical screenings, food insecurity referrals and community resource navigation. "There have been reports that people are so disheartened that they are choosing to believe that they will not qualify for both access and or SNAP due to the changes that have happened," Cullen said. To restore health care access, the plan calls for supporting streamlined AHCCCS redetermination processes at the state level, analyzing disenrollment trends, identifying high-risk populations, providing navigation and renewal assistance for AHCCCS enrollees and reducing Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage loss. To reduce food insecurity, the plan calls for advocating for local and state flexibility in SNAP eligibility requirements, monitoring food insecurity trends and SNAP participation rates, and expanding outreach and enrollment assistance for emergency food programs as alternatives to SNAP. The plan also aims to strengthen system readiness, connect clients to food assistance, health resources, employment opportunities and social support services, and build long-term infrastructure for sustained coverage, helping to reduce future costs. District 5 Supervisor Andrés Cano pushed back on work requirements for SNAP recipients, pointing to the steep drop in benefits for children as evidence that the cuts go far beyond targeting able-bodied adults. He also criticized the timing of the Medicaid changes, which are set to take effect after November's midterm elections, and called on residents to contact U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani and the federal administration to push for a reversal. District 4 Supervisor Steve Christy pointed to other food resources available to children in the community, such as Tucson Unified School District's free and reduced-price lunch program, but District 3 Supervisor Jennifer Allen noted that those programs were also subject to a $1 billion funding cut in 2025. "What we know is that nutrition, especially early childhood nutrition, is critical. It's critical not only for physical development, but for brain development," Cullen said. "There are many historical and peer-reviewed studies that have indicated that the impact of the malnutrition or inadequate nutrition early in life stunts growth, stunts brain development, and it cannot be recovered later in life." Cullen also noted the broader economic impact of the cuts, pointing to the ripple effects of grocers losing SNAP revenue and uninsured residents being forced to seek medical treatment they cannot pay for. Ian Stash is University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist in Tucson. Contact him at ianjgs16@gmail.com. Tucson Spotlight is a community-based newsroom that provides paid opportunities for students and rising journalists in Southern Arizona. Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible donation. Donate to Tucson Spotlight Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b241197238567836b6b2 Tucson's Reid Park Zoo works to protect endangered jaguars te 2026-06-30T12:10:41.592Z Tucson's Reid Park Zoo works to protect endangered jaguars At 17 years old, Bella the jaguar has already outlived most of her wild counterparts, but her quiet life at Reid Park Zoo is also a window into a species fighting to survive a shrinking, fractured habitat that stretches from Arizona to Argentina. With the strongest bite force of all large felines, Bella is widely seen as the apex predator of South America. Jaguars once ranged from South America all the way into North America, but mining, factory farming, industrialization and artificial borders have since pushed the species toward endangerment. That's why Reid Park Zoo has partnered with programs like La Tierra del Jaguar to help protect jaguars and teach people about their importance to the larger ecosystem. Bella is shy and heat-averse, preferring most days to stay in her air-conditioned back enclosure, hidden among the foliage the way jaguars are built to be: silent and unseen. Erin Gleeson, director of conservation at Reid Park Zoo, said Bella is 17, which is beyond the median life expectancy of most captive jaguars, let alone wild ones. Part of what keeps a jaguar healthy that long is meeting certain environmental needs, including visibility, temperature and scents that allow them to mark territory. Without those conditions, a jaguar can decline quickly. Allison Kreis, co-director of La Tierra del Jaguar, said she has worked with jaguars at the zoo for about 25 years, including a pair of sisters named Nikita and Simone who lived comfortably at Reid Park Zoo into their 20s. "That was my first experience with jaguars before going into conservation," Kreis said. Visitors watch as Bella, Reid Park Zoo's 17-year-old jaguar, takes part in enrichment activities designed to keep her healthy and engaged. Marlon Bedoy / Tucson Spotlight.. Despite conservation efforts like preserves and protected spaces, Kreis said the shrinking distance between those spaces is threatening the species' survival. Jaguars are generally solitary animals, each claiming hundreds of miles of territory and only interacting when mating. As fragmented populations lose the ability to reach one another, reproduction has become harder to sustain. "A lot of it has to do with the human systems," Kreis said. "The agriculture, the livestock management, the building of cities, mining, all these different things that just create disjointed populations." That hostility has real consequences for jaguar populations. "There's this attitude towards jaguars that they're dangerous, that they're evil," Gleeson said. Kreis said that when cattle go missing without a trace, ranchers are often quick to blame apex predators like jaguars and bears, or smaller predators like wolves, and some communities even incentivize hunting them. But Gleeson said part of Kreis' work is changing that perception, teaching people that jaguars are actually "majestic, beautiful" and keystones to a healthy landscape. In most cases, Kreis said, the real culprits behind mysterious herd losses are packs of feral dogs, a well-documented problem in Tucson and other urban centers. What many ranchers don't know is that these dogs form roving packs that prey on cows and calves that stray from a herd. With modern cattle operations sometimes going a week or two between herd checks, most evidence of an attack has already disappeared by the time a rancher notices animals are missing. "Working with communities is critical to protecting the jaguar and creating a longevity ... within jaguar habitats," Kreis said. Gleeson echoed that message with a broader appeal. "Understand that jaguars are native here and that ecosystems from the Southwestern US all the way down to Argentina evolved with jaguars," Gleeson said. "We need these cats to help maintain healthy, functional landscapes, and (as Allison's work is showing us), we can find ways to coexist." Kreis encourages anyone interested in jaguar preservation to consider supporting organizations like Reid Park Zoo, La Tierra del Jaguar and the Northern Jaguar Project. Quentin Agnello is a University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist in Tucson. Contact him at qsagnello@gmail.com. Tucson Spotlight is a community-based newsroom that provides paid opportunities for students and rising journalists in Southern Arizona. Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible donation. Donate to Tucson Spotlight Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a43b22d197238567836b6a9 Supreme Court will weigh Trump-backed Republican push to enforce Arizona voting laws te 2026-06-30T12:10:21.677Z Supreme Court will weigh Trump-backed Republican push to enforce Arizona voting laws WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider a Republican push to enforce strict Arizona voting laws passed in the swing state after the 2020 election. The high court has allowed some similar rules to take effect temporarily before, including Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship requirement for state and local elections and a Virginia purge of voter rolls that the state said was aimed at keeping noncitizens from voting. President Donald Trump’s Republican administration joined the appeal after lower courts found the measures violated federal voting laws. The high court is expected to hear arguments in the fall and hand down an opinion after the midterm elections. The Republican-controlled legislature passed the laws in 2022, part of a wave of similar proposals around the country after Trump falsely claimed widespread voter fraud was responsible for his narrow defeat there to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump reclaimed the state in 2024, helping secure his return to the White House. The case reached the Supreme Court’s emergency docket in 2024. The justices gave the GOP a partial victory, allowing Arizona to require proof of citizenship for registration in state and local elections but not federal races. Also that year, the high court allowed Virginia to continue a purge of voter rolls shortly before the election. Citizenship is required to vote across the country, and people must attest they are citizens under penalty of perjury to register. Arizona is among only a handful of states that require additional proof, like a driver’s license or passport. Data indicates that voting by noncitizens is rare. Arizona tried to impose proof requirements for national elections in 2013, but the law was struck down by the Supreme Court. Now, people can register as “federal only” voters without providing proof of citizenship, but Arizona requires additional proof for state and local election participation. Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court. The post Supreme Court will weigh Trump-backed Republican push to enforce Arizona voting laws appeared first on AZ Luminaria. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42927e197238567836b67b Explained: How Lisa Cook’s three home loans became central to Trump’s fight over her Federal Reserve seat te 2026-06-29T15:42:54.423Z Explained: How Lisa Cook’s three home loans became central to Trump’s fight over her Federal Reserve seat Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook's legal battle against President Donald Trump centered, in part, on a trio of mortgages she obtained before joining the nation's central bank. The loans, tied to properties in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts, drew scrutiny regarding whether Cook misrepresented how the homes would be used — as primary residences or otherwise. Trump cited those allegations in his effort to boot her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, arguing they constituted cause for her removal. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled 5-4 that Cook can remain on as a Fed governor while her separate lawsuit challenging her firing proceeds. WHO IS LISA COOK? THE FED GOVERNOR AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP'S SUPREME COURT FIGHT Cook challenged Trump's attempt to oust her in federal court, arguing that the move was unlawful and threatened the Federal Reserve's independence. Her lawsuit, filed Aug. 28, did not address allegations that she listed two homes as a primary residence on mortgage documents. The allegations originated with Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee who oversees the federal agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pulte, who is now acting Director of National Intelligence, linked Cook to the trio of properties in referrals sent to the Justice Department, which later confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation into allegations of mortgage application fraud. The mortgages cited in the Justice Department probe were issued in 2021, before former President Joe Biden nominated Cook to the Federal Reserve Board. At issue were the preferential terms that come with primary-residence loans, which lenders typically view as lower risk than mortgages for vacation homes or rental properties. Cook disclosed all three mortgages in a financial filing with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in June 2025, listing them alongside her income, retirement accounts and investments. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OPENS CRIMINAL PROBE INTO FED'S LISA COOK The filing also showed that Cook earned more than $50,000 a year in rental income from her Cambridge, Massachusetts, condominium. Pulte alleged in his DOJ referral that Cook represented the Cambridge condominium as a second home rather than an investment property, despite reporting rental income from the unit. Cook bought the condo in 2002 when she was a professor at Harvard University. For this property, she obtained a 15-year loan for $361,000 at a rate of 2.5% in April 2021. Two months later, Cook secured a mortgage for a three-bedroom home in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The 15-year loan for $203,000 at a 2.87% rate through the University of Michigan Credit Union covered the 1,800-square-foot property. At the time, she taught economics and international relations at Michigan State University, roughly an hour’s drive away. She also obtained a $540,000, 30-year mortgage for a luxury condo above the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The loan, issued by the Bank Fund Staff Federal Credit Union, carried a 3.25% interest rate. A RARE FILING IN THE LISA COOK–TRUMP CASE COULD SWAY SUPREME COURT JUSTICES In that loan agreement, Cook "affirmed that this property would serve as her primary residence within 60 days of the execution of the mortgage and would serve as her primary residence for a full year," according to Pulte's referral letter to the Justice Department. Cook has not publicly explained why both the Michigan and Georgia properties were designated as her primary residence. Her attorney, Abbe Lowell, denied the allegations in a Sept. 2 filing, writing that Cook "did not ever commit mortgage fraud." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a428fa2197238567836b65b Back Nine Golf listed as replacement for Grimaldi's at Aspen Place te 2026-06-29T15:30:42.648Z Back Nine Golf listed as replacement for Grimaldi's at Aspen Place Offering access to its indoor simulators 24 hours and seven days a week, Back Nine describes itself as offering "flexible and convenient access to state-of-the-art facilities" to fit any lifestyle and skill level. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a428b2c197238567836b5c8 Diamondbacks look to extend perfect record against struggling Giants in pivotal home matchup tonight te 2026-06-29T15:11:40.584Z Diamondbacks look to extend perfect record against struggling Giants in pivotal home matchup tonight In my article about the Yankees and Red Sox yesterday, I talked about dodging bad luck. Instead of dodging it, I walked face-first into a wall. The Red Sox had a no-hitter going, and then blew it late in the game. The score was still just 2-0 going into the ninth inning. Then the bullpen blew it. In the 10th inning, the teams combined for five runs, giving a total of nine when I bet under eight. It was a painful way to lose that game. This has been the case for about a week. Hopefully it balances on our side quickly as we take on the Giants vs. Diamondbacks. The San Francisco Giants are having a year to forget. Their team has been in the news mostly because of Pride Night, not because of any memorable on-field production. For the season, they are 13 games under .500 at 35-48, and they've gone just 17-26 on the road. The team has a lineup full of players with potential, and their offense has been as productive as you would hope. They are batting .256 as a team with 88 homers, but they just aren't manufacturing the runs that you would hope. They average just about four runs a game, which isn't terrible, but it seems like they can't string together the hits for big innings. Perhaps the issue is their pitching staff. Collectively, they have a 4.31 ERA, which isn't great, but it is manageable. Tyler Mahle is taking the mound, and he has been knocked around quite a bit this season. He is 1-7 with a 5.49 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. When he is locked in, he can deliver a decent performance, as evidenced by four starts of five innings or more and no runs allowed on his game log. When he isn't, he can give up crooked numbers in a heartbeat, as evidenced by six starts of four or more earned runs allowed. He faced the Diamondbacks twice last month and allowed nine earned runs on 11 hits over 10 innings. The Arizona Diamondbacks are playing well, especially when you consider that they have traded away many pieces over the past year. I'd be surprised if the team makes the playoffs, but for now, they are doing an admirable job of keeping their team afloat. They are 41-42 for the season, and they've been successful at home, going 24-17. They aren't really doing better than the Giants in any category other than runs, which makes their record even more impressive. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS READY TO SELL STAR PLAYERS AHEAD OF TRADE DEADLINE AS BUSTER POSEY'S REBUILD UNRAVELS Tonight, they are sending out Eduardo Rodriguez to the mound. For the season, Rodriguez has been very impressive, going 6-2 with a 2.27 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He has been even better at home, going 53.2 innings and throwing to a 1.84 ERA. This is not a guy I would've predicted it to happen for, and the WHIP indicates his ERA is likely to increase as the season goes along. Still, the work so far has been impressive. He faced the Giants once already this season, and he turned in six solid innings where he allowed just two runs on six hits. The Giants can't possibly be happy to see the Diamondbacks. For the season, Arizona has demolished them, winning all six of the games they've played. Perhaps that means the Giants will steal this one. I could see it happening. Mahle isn't exactly reliable, but as mentioned, if he locks in, he can be very strong. I still don't think it is worth betting on him in this situation given that Rodriguez has looked so good. I think the total is also a risky endeavor here. So my bet is going to be on the Diamondbacks through five innings. If you want to take the moneyline and get a chance for a tie, go for it. I think they should be ahead, though, with Rodriguez on the mound. Give me the Diamondbacks -0.5 on the run line through five innings. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024 Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a428b19197238567836b5bf Dutton Ranch star Natalie Alyn Lind drops behind the scenes photos ahead of season finale this Friday te 2026-06-29T15:11:21.129Z Dutton Ranch star Natalie Alyn Lind drops behind the scenes photos ahead of season finale this Friday A "Dutton Ranch" star fired up fans with some fun behind-the-scenes content. The first season of the "Yellowstone" spinoff from Taylor Sheridan is currently airing on Paramount+. The season finale airs this Friday. There's no doubt that it's been an epic ride so far, and I'm sure season one will end with a bang. There's no doubt about that at all. 'YELLOWSTONE' STARS COLE HAUSER, KELLY REILLY CONFIRMED FOR SPIN-OFF SERIES ALONGSIDE MAJOR CASTING ADDITION Ahead of the season finale, star Natalie Alyn Lind hopped on Instagram on Sunday to drop a photo dump of behind-the-scenes content. 'DUTTON RANCH' STAR NATALIE ALYN LIND STIRS UP SPECULATION ABOUT SHOW'S FUTURE WITH SIMPLE COMMENTS It's the exact kind of content that will only further stoke excitement of episode nine dropping this Friday on Paramount+. Check out all the photos below, and let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com. This isn't the only major news to come out of the "Dutton Ranch" world in recent days. The show was officially renewed for season two last week. That means there's a lot more coming of Rip, Beth and their new journey in Texas with new allies and foes. Now, we sit and wait for Friday to arrive. Have a fun theory on how season one might end? Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a428b05197238567836b5b6 Houston TV meteorologist says she was fired after viral Emmy rant targeting bosses te 2026-06-29T15:11:01.696Z Houston TV meteorologist says she was fired after viral Emmy rant targeting bosses A Houston meteorologist said she was fired from KRPC-TV last week after a viral Instagram post in which she criticized the station, complained that traffic reporting had been overlooked for Emmy Awards and accused the newsroom of tolerating poor workplace standards. "No longer with KPRC — and for that, I’m truly grateful. Maybe you’ve read the headlines?" Brittany Begley said, according to Chron. Brittany Begley, 44, confirmed her departure from the NBC affiliate in a Wednesday Instagram post after her earlier comments drew national attention. She told the Houston Chronicle that she was fired and said she did not agree with how weekend scheduling had been handled. "I do disagree with how the weekends were handled after several attempts to make it better for all," she said. KATIE COURIC ADMITS BARI WEISS HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO FIRE SCOTT PELLEY AFTER CBS CLASH Begley’s departure came less than three weeks after a June 7 Instagram post in which she said she felt worn down by the industry and frustrated by what she viewed as a lack of recognition for her work. "Sorry, but I’m tired of coming home to an empty refrigerator," she said. In the post, Begley said traffic reporters were often overlooked despite covering wrecks, road closures and other information tied to public safety. "Never won an Emmy because the markets I worked in never thought traffic reporting was worthy of one," Begley said. EMMY-AWARD WINNING JOURNALIST ALLEGEDLY HID CAMERAS IN TV STATION DRESSING ROOMS, POLICE SAY She said the experience left her questioning whether the industry valued her work, while arguing that she still believed she had taken a stand. "After the pandemic, I told myself that when I die, at least I’ll know I stood for something... even if the industry never technically thought I was worthy," Begley said. Begley also criticized KPRC's newsroom culture, accusing some coworkers of being late and unprepared before broadcasts while management allegedly allowed that behavior to reach the air. "Consistently late, not even mic’d up ten minutes before a show, then put it on air as a segment," she said. KATIE COURIC ADMITS BARI WEISS HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO FIRE SCOTT PELLEY AFTER CBS CLASH After the post spread online, Begley said she was not trying to insult colleagues but wanted to raise broader concerns about accountability, workplace culture and mental health in television news, Chron reported. "I believe in accountability. This conversation won’t be going away anytime soon," Begley said. KPRC News Director Ana Lastra confirmed Begley's exit to the Houston Chronicle and wished her well, but said the station would not discuss the circumstances of her departure further. "As a matter of policy, we do not comment on personnel matters," Lastra said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Sean McLaughlin, KPRC vice president and general manager, previously told the New York Post that the station was aware of Begley’s post and treated employee concerns seriously. "Our station takes issues raised by employees seriously and is committed to fostering a positive workplace. As this matter involves an individual employee, we have no further comment," McLaughlin said. Begley said in her follow-up post that she planned to continue speaking publicly about the media business and wanted a larger platform to advocate for people who built careers from entry-level roles, according to Chron. "I wouldn’t say it if I couldn’t prove it," she said. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a428add197238567836b5a2 Rocket Lab continues buying spree by acquiring satellite company Iridium te 2026-06-29T15:10:21.743Z Rocket Lab continues buying spree by acquiring satellite company Iridium The all-stock deal values Iridium at $8 billion, and gives Rocket Lab even more firepower to compete against Amazon and SpaceX. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4288ea197238567836b578 Jeffries' socialism dilemma: New York victories expose Democratic Party divide te 2026-06-29T15:02:02.175Z Jeffries' socialism dilemma: New York victories expose Democratic Party divide The man looks tired. Veteran observers of Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries know at a glance when the fellow isn’t catching his Zs. Some politicians bark gruffly when they are under pressure. Others become wildly frenetic. Some pick fights. Others go quiet, and retreat. Jeffries gets puffy. It has been one of those tells that longtime Empire State and Washington, D.C. hands have noticed for years. When the Brooklyn Democrat appears on morning television looking a little baggy, a tad swollen around the eyes; when he speaks in his trademark measured cadence but stumbles over the elucidation; when he presents the unmistakable glaze of someone who has squeezed three hours of sleep into what should have been a seven-hour night, it usually means he spent the evening on the phone. HAKEEM JEFFRIES CONFRONTED ON 'YOU'RE NEXT' CHANTS FOLLOWING NY DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST VICTORIES Counting votes. Putting out fires. Trying to solve a problem. Since Tuesday, the problem has been coming from inside his own party. Not Donald Trump. Not Republicans. Not the economy. Not the spending bill. The Democratic Party. More specifically, the Democratic Socialists of America inside the Democratic Party. For much of the last week, Jeffries has found himself staring transfixed at perhaps the most difficult political challenge of his career — immobilized not because he does not know what he thinks, but because he knows exactly what he thinks. He believes Democrats need to look mainstream to win swing districts. He believes affordability is a stronger message than ideology. He believes most Americans don’t want a political revolution. And he surely believes that Republicans — from President Donald Trump on down — cannot wait to compel every rival candidate to answer for the most controversial voices inside the Democratic Party. That has always been the danger of ideological movements. They rarely stay quaintly confined to the neighborhoods where they first emerge. They spread. They redefine brands. They force everyone wearing the same jersey to bear responsibility for the teammates they did not recruit. This week, such a menace landed squarely on Jeffries' desk. The source of the headache was New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani's stunning Democratic victory last November now has staged a second, hugely consequential act, as three candidates backed by Mamdani — Brad Landler, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier — won congressional primaries. Valdez and Chevalier are both members of the Democratic Socialists of America. The victories are significant for reasons that resonate far beyond New York. For years, the Democratic establishment has comforted itself with the belief that support for democratic socialism was limited to a handful of safe districts represented by colorful personalities who generated cable-news segments but exercised limited influence over the broader direction of the party. Tuesday suggested something different. Democratic socialists did not merely sustain their corner of the party with fringe support, they expanded it — and expanded it in Jeffries' own backyard. It is difficult to overstate the implications of such a predicament for the Democratic leader. Jeffries is not Bernie Sanders, nor is he Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Rather, Jeffries has spent years carefully cultivating an image as a disciplined institutionalist — a modern Democratic leader capable of appealing to progressives without frightening suburban moderates. His personal politics always have been considerably closer to the political center than to those of the raucous activists in his coalition. He is, by temperament and instinct, a coalition builder. Coalition builders do not enjoy civil wars. It is a major hurdle for Jeffries to explain and finesse the ballooning faction without detonating a timebomb inside his party. Almost immediately after Tuesday's results, reporters and anchors began asking Jeffries his opinion of the new nominees — not whether he supported them, but whether he supported what they unequivocally endorsed. It was an impossible line of questioning precisely because everyone already knew the answer. Jeffries does not believe America should abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prisons or the police force. He has never argued for dismantling capitalism, nor has he embraced many of the wider ideological positions associated with the Democratic Socialists of America. So, he did what experienced political leaders often do when trapped between principle and practicality. He tried to change the subject. In interview after interview, Jeffries gently, nebulously, acknowledged that he did not share every position or previous statement made by the nominees. He steered the conversation toward affordability, alternate Democratic victories and the overarching national map. It was classic Hakeem Jeffries: polite, measured, disciplined and careful. But politics rarely allows careful people to remain above the fray forever, and, before long, one of the nominees, Chevalier, became a national story. Opposition researchers — and increasingly, reporters — began to dredge up years of Chevalier’s social-media posts and public statements, staunchly expressed and clearly defined. She did indeed call for abolishing police and prisons, and argued for eliminating borders and ICE. She harshly, profanely, criticized Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, and decried America as "a f------ disgrace." Her many posts involving race, white women, and interracial relationships spread rapidly, first across conservative media and then on MSNOW and CNN. For many, it does not matter that she has deleted and repudiated some of the posts. One Democratic Party stalwart told me ruefully, "Chevalier is our David Duke. She is poisoning the possibility of a Democratic majority." AOC ISSUES WARNING TO HER FELLOW DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS IN THE WAKE OF SOCIALISTS WINNING BIG IN NYC But another Democrat familiar with the House caucus, who has been aligned with the progressive wing, offered me an opposing view. "The reality is that the energy of the party in primaries is anti-genocide, anti-billionaire and for Medicare-for-all. Many centrists and House Democratic members are having a hard time coming to terms with this. But that’s where voters primary are. They are unfortunately jamming Jeffries unnecessarily instead of letting him embrace the progressive wing." Whether Chevalier’s comments are viewed as youthful activism, sincere ideological conviction or political malpractice, they guarantee one thing: the questions will not stop. Republicans understood immediately that they had been handed a gift, and Democrats knew every candidate in a competitive district could now expect variations of the same questions: Do you agree with this? Is this your party? Does Chevalier represent today's Democrats? Jeffries undoubtedly knew exactly where this was heading. Yet on Saturday afternoon, he nevertheless offered an official welcome to Chevalier, Landler and Valdez with a celebratory post on X. "Congratulations to our newest members of the NYC congressional delegation," he wrote. "From public servants to union organizers to community activists, the path is different but the work is the same. We must decisively address the affordability crisis and crush far-right extremism!" With this statement, Jeffries conceded that his paramount job is to elect a majority, despite the risks to his own reputation, digital and otherwise. "Jeffries is doing what he needs to do to keep his Democratic caucus as whole as he can," a veteran Democratic political operative in New York told me. "That means making sure the tent is seen as broadly as it needs to be while moving it into a (hopefully) governing coalition come January. There is no win by holding out and claiming these folks are socialists and therefore not our people. They are going to vote for Jeffries [for Speaker] and we will need their votes for that and much more going forward. And the folks who didn’t get that in last year's election for Mayor also paid a real price for not recognizing it." Even so, moderate Democrats have been urging Jeffries, publicly and privately, to draw sharper distinctions between the party's mainstream constituency and its socialist wing. Those calls escalated dramatically after Tuesday. When I asked a spokeswoman for Jeffries about the content and timing of the X post, and how he might respond to those calling for his repudiation of Chevalier and other controversial candidates, she only would say that Jeffries has put out similar congratulatory messages in virtually every race this cycle, on behalf of nominees from every state, background, and ideology. But that hardly is sufficient for many of the most prominent voices in the party. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a leading moderate/centrist Democrat from New Jersey, told Jewish Insider that the socialists’ anti-Israel point of view is a "growing cancer, and we can’t let it spread, and we cannot ignore it." He warned that the incoming DSA-aligned lawmakers will be coming to Washington to "wreak havoc in Congress" and will try to "hold the party hostage" to their socialist views. "It will lead to more gridlock and dysfunction, and hard-working families will pay the price for this," he said. "The socialists have put their own personal hatred above our national security and our promises to our allies. And I think we’ve got to call out hate when we see it." "This is a bridge too far," agrees veteran Democratic strategist James Carville, who cautions that embracing candidates whose politics fall well outside the party's historical mainstream risks alienating precisely the voters Democrats need to regain strong, enduring governing majorities. He dismisses the political views of Chevalier as entirely anathema to the Democratic Party, insisting that "they should not seat her in the caucus. Her views are totally against anything that any Democrat has. We believe in pluralism, she doesn’t believe in interracial dating…Lady, I ain’t in the same party as you…She has attacked interracial relationships and the American flag." Carville considers this a line in the sand. "I actually do think it’s time for Democrats to talk the S word," he says. "Schism. I really do. Everybody’s always said, ‘No, no, we’re a coalition. We’re a big tent.’ And there’s some – there’s just some s--- that I can’t be in the same tent with." Trump himself sees a similarly dire scenario. "The Democrat Party is in big trouble," he said Friday at the Faith & Freedom Coalition's policy conference. "Because this isn't stopping with New York. This is the most serious threat to our country in its existence, in my opinion." Jeffries, meanwhile, understands that fear now runs in both directions inside the Democratic Party. Moderate Democrats worry about losing swing voters. Party leaders worry about losing their own base. The activists who dominate many Democratic primaries are intensely engaged, highly organized and deeply angry. They have shown they are willing to target incumbents they regard as insufficiently progressive. Jeffries must have felt a nervous little chill last week at the New York election night victory party. When his image appeared, the DSA celebrants put him on notice with the ominous chant, "You’re next!" To be sure, this is not the first time Democratic leaders have confronted an insurgency from the party left. During Donald Trump's first presidency, Nancy Pelosi was faced with a similar complication with the rise of "the Squad." New congressional members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley, independently and as a team, became media stars almost overnight, with their youth, charisma, modern brio, irreverence, and controversial views. Republicans tried relentlessly to define the entire Democratic Party through their most radical statements. Pelosi's response was remarkably effective. She did not attempt to defeat them ideologically, but instead, managed them institutionally. She reminded everyone who counted votes, controlled committee assignments, raised money, determined legislative priorities, and possessed the experience and power to turn slogans into laws. When necessary, Pelosi criticized "the Squad," but more often, she simply outmaneuvered them. Nancy Pelosi understood something that many ideological movements forget. In Congress, power is measured not by followers on social media but by the ability to assemble 218 votes. Jeffries inherited Pelosi's position, but he has not inherited Pelosi's authority. He has never held the Speaker’s gavel, nor spent years disciplining a majority. He has not had to decide which members receive prized committee chairs while balancing dozens of competing factions. Most importantly, he has never governed with a razor-thin Democratic majority. If Democrats capture the House this November by only a handful of seats, the arithmetic becomes brutal. Every member and every vote will matter, as will every defection. A bloc of uncompromising ideological members can exercise influence wildly disproportionate to its size. Republicans know this because they lived through it, Kevin McCarthy learned this tough lesson, and Mike Johnson is enduring it now. Jeffries may soon discover it himself. Which explains why this week's story matters beyond a handful of New York primaries. The broader struggle inside the Democratic Party has been building for years. Bernie Sanders demonstrated—twice--that democratic socialism has enormous appeal inside Democratic presidential politics. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez transformed progressive activism into celebrity politics and brand name recognition. Mamdani, magnetic and unapologetic, has shown that the movement can capture America's largest city. What makes this movement especially potent is that it has found an organizing principle steeped in emotion that extends well beyond traditional left-right politics. For many younger activists, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially conditions in Gaza, has become not merely a foreign policy issue but a moral litmus test. The language of "genocide," "apartheid" and "settler colonialism" has moved from campus protests into Democratic primaries, online pressure campaigns, and frequent heckling at live events, creating an intensity that traditional establishment politicians often struggle to comprehend. Whether those characterizations are accepted or fiercely disputed, whether they veer into glib virtue signaling, the political reality is undeniable: arguments over Gaza have become a powerful engine of grassroots activism and candidate recruitment in ways that few Democratic leaders anticipated. Each DSA victory expands the movement's confidence and makes compromise less attractive, while increasing pressure on Democratic leaders who must somehow persuade suburban voters that none of this defines the party while simultaneously assuring activists that it absolutely does. That balancing act has grown more difficult every election cycle, and is teetering on the unsustainable. And this is not simply Hakeem Jeffries' problem. Chuck Schumer faces his own version of the same challenge. As the Democratic leader in the Senate, he must deal with his socialist-aligned (and acutely flawed) nominee in Maine, Graham Platner, and with the frontrunner in the August Senate primary in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, another Sanders disciple with controversial views. In many respects, Jeffries and Schumer are tackling what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris sidestepped during their administration. As progressive cultural politics and increasingly strident anti-Israel sentiment spread through elite institutions, universities, activist organizations and social media, the Biden White House generally sought accommodation rather than confrontation. The result was that ideas once largely confined to activist circles migrated steadily, unchecked, into Democratic primaries—not only in New York, but in blue cities, college towns and even pockets of some of America's reddest states. Leaders who decline to police the boundaries of a coalition eventually discover that someone else has redrawn them. Perhaps Jeffries hopes the controversy fades. Washington is certainly capable of changing the subject. Trump is still able to absorb all the oxygen in any room, in any crisis. Inevitably there will be other international emergencies, budget showdowns, political and cultural shiny objects. Jeffries has a few potential lifelines, such as the natural evolution of his peers. AOC, for example, has in recent years become less of a bomb-thrower and more of a legislator. She still sits firmly on the left flank of the party, but she has learned the value of coalition-building, party discipline and picking her spots. Jeffries can reasonably hope that today's firebrands eventually follow a similar trajectory. The gamble, of course, is that this new generation may conclude that AOC moderated and matured too much. There are already indications of that sentiment. So, while politics has an extraordinary capacity to move on, this DSA controversy probably won't. The views of some of these new candidates are simply too extreme, too genuinely insulting to a majority of Americans, too unsavory for citizens who want calm, not drama; common sense, not gauzy, faddish ideology. There will be more archived posts. More old videos. More awkward interviews. More Republican ads. More questions shouted down Capitol hallways. More uncomfortable television appearances. More brash and polarizing statements. And, if Democrats win the House, more difficult internal negotiations between party leadership and members who see compromise not as governing but as surrender. JEFFRIES WELCOMES DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS INTO THE FOLD AS CRITICS WARN PARTY IS REVEALING 'EXACTLY WHO IT IS' The larger lesson extends beyond Jeffries. Political parties can survive disagreements and factions, even bitter internal fights. But what presents a deeper threat is the pretense that people who march beneath the same wide banner all are ultimately headed toward the same destination. The Democratic Party today contains centrists who want to make capitalism work better, progressives who want to regulate it much more aggressively, and democratic socialists who openly question whether capitalism itself should remain the organizing principle of American life. Those are not merely policy disagreements. They are competing visions of the country. Jeffries knows this. He also knows that House elections are not won in Park Slope, but in places where swing voters often pay little attention to Congress until a thirty-second television advertisement flashes across the screen showing the most controversial quote imaginable beside the words "Democrat for Congress." And he knows, that for others, the Democratic establishment and its officeholders are now more unpopular than socialism. Sometimes leadership is less about choosing between good options than about choosing between bad ones. This week, Hakeem Jeffries, faced with nothing but bad options, chose rhetorical party unity. It is too soon to say if Jeffries’ choice was clever statesmanship — or simply the first compromise in what assuredly will be a very long negotiation over the future of his party. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4288d6197238567836b56f Who is Lisa Cook? The central bank governor at the heart of the Supreme Court’s Trump-Fed showdown te 2026-06-29T15:01:42.710Z Who is Lisa Cook? The central bank governor at the heart of the Supreme Court’s Trump-Fed showdown Lisa Cook's ascension to the Federal Reserve was historic from the start.  Appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2022, she became the first black woman to serve as a governor on the Fed board — a seven-member panel that sets national interest rates and oversees the banking system. Now, she stands at the center of another historic moment, as the Supreme Court ruled Monday against President Donald Trump's effort to fire her, preserving long-standing protections around the central bank’s independence. TRUMP VS THE FEDERAL RESERVE: HOW THE CLASH REACHED UNCHARTED TERRITORY Cook's legal fight traces back to late August, when Trump said he was firing her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the seven-member body that helps set monetary policy and oversee the U.S. banking system. He alleged she misrepresented information tied to a trio of mortgages she obtained before joining the central bank. Cook has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. She sued Trump in federal court in Washington, D.C., to block her removal from the nation's most powerful central bank. On Sept. 9, a district court judge barred Trump from firing her while the case proceeds, a decision later upheld by a federal appeals court. A RARE FILING IN THE LISA COOK–TRUMP CASE COULD SWAY SUPREME COURT JUSTICES Before joining the Fed board, the Oxford alumna and UC Berkeley-trained economist built a career in academia, including faculty roles at Harvard University and Michigan State University. A graduate of Spelman College, Cook has been described by American economist Barry Eichengreen as "part economist and historian," with command of several languages, including French, Russian, Spanish and Wolof — a widely spoken language in Senegal. Cook has also held senior roles in government, serving as a senior economist on then-President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2011 to 2012.  Before that, she served as a senior adviser on finance and development in the Treasury Department’s Office of International Affairs.  She joined the Fed board in May 2022 and was reappointed in September 2023 for a term that runs through January 2038. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4288c3197238567836b566 Comedians dig at Trump as Bill Maher accepts Mark Twain prize at Kennedy Center te 2026-06-29T15:01:23.257Z Comedians dig at Trump as Bill Maher accepts Mark Twain prize at Kennedy Center Comedian Bill Maher and other celebrities took multiple digs at President Donald Trump as Maher accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor over the weekend at the Kennedy Center. Maher and impressionist Matt Friend did a bit where Friend impersonated Trump, saying, "Why are we giving this low-ratings lightweight jerk the Mark Twain Award," The Washington Post reported. Friend, depicting Trump, insisted he was more deserving of the award, and even broke into the Trump dance. "I know we’ve had our differences, but I’m finally getting an award," Maher said during the bit. "Can you just let me have my moment, give my speech, then you can go back to zinging me with all of your insults?" BILL MAHER TELLS LIBERALS TO STOP 'PARTISAN SULKING' AND JOIN AMERICA 250 PARTY Whitney Cummings said during her set that the center could celebrate Maher "even though Trump is now the board chair of this venue." She said she was warned not to dig at the president, but said she wasn't scared. Workers removed Trump's name from the Kennedy Center facade in June after an appeals court denied a request from the Kennedy Center's board to block a judge's ruling that Trump's name be removed. Actor Woody Harrelson referenced the name change during his congratulations to Maher "ironically at the Trump Kennedy Center." He then quipped at the intended slip-up and said, "No, all right, we fixed it," the Post reported. TRUMP'S NAME TO BE REMOVED FROM KENNEDY CENTER AS APPEALS COURT DENIES BOARD'S REQUEST FOR ADMINISTRATIVE STAY John Mellencamp sang his hit "Pink Houses" at the event, and brought in a bit of politics after he sang the line, "to work in some high rise, and vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico!" He said, "...or whatever we’re calling it these days," a reference to Trump's renaming of the body of water as the Gulf of America. Maher and Trump have traded barbs over the last year as the White House initially denied that Maher was going to be given the Mark Twain prize. Maher said on his "Club Random" podcast in late April that he will be accepting the award on June 28 "unless Trump f---s it up again, which is completely possible." "I loved it that they tried to block it," Maher said, referring to reports that the Trump administration tried to prevent him from receiving the award. "And, of course, I think he absolutely still could if he wanted to. So, I’m just thankful." He offered backhanded praise for the move, appearing to say he respected the hostility as a kind of honor. "I love that, you know, he takes the game seriously. Like no, ‘I’m going to block this guy.’ I respect the move," Maher said. "But I know that on June 28th, it's going to happen. We're going to be at the Kennedy Center, and I couldn't be more appreciative, honestly." CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Maher said at the event on Sunday that he had been nominated for over 40 Emmys, but had never won. "Is it something I said?" he asked, according to the Post. "It’s everything I said." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4288af197238567836b55d Iran requests talks with US as White House warns 'violence will be met with violence' te 2026-06-29T15:01:03.798Z Iran requests talks with US as White House warns 'violence will be met with violence' Iran has requested high-level talks with the Trump administration amid a fragile ceasefire this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed Monday, saying U.S. officials will head to Doha as President Donald Trump continues to press Tehran to accept a deal while warning that any renewed attacks will be met with force. "As far as we're concerned, we're holding up our end of the ceasefire. Violence will be met with violence," Leavitt warned on "Fox & Friends." "There were attacks on commercial vessels that the United States of America, directed by the president, responded to, and that will continue to happen — but we hope we don't see that. The president obviously wants to see the peace process play out, and the Iranians would be best to sign a good deal with the United States of America because the president has proven he's unafraid to use the might of our military." IRAN'S UNPRECEDENTED 'WHOLE-REGIME' DELEGATION AT US DEAL TALKS SIGNALS ONE GOAL: EXPERT Live from the foreground of the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., Leavitt detailed that special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are slated to head to Doha as the U.S. and Iran continue to discuss the memorandum of understanding (MOU). Leavitt said Americans can expect to see gas prices continue to "tumble" if the MOU plays out as expected. If Iran shows aggression, however, the country will continue to alienate itself. "They'll prove themselves to be the pariah of the Middle East," she said. VANCE SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S KEY OBJECTIVES HAVE BEEN REACHED IN US-IRAN DEAL "They've totally alienated themselves from their Gulf and Arab partners in the region. And the United States of America has the best and strongest military in the world. The president retains the right to use it." The breaking news comes after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) launched airstrikes against Iranian targets, including Qeshm Island, on June 26 after a vessel was struck in the Strait of Hormuz.  This prompted Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to retaliate by targeting U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.  Fox News' Emma Bussey contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42889c197238567836b554 Wife of Louis Farrakhan dead at 90 te 2026-06-29T15:00:44.351Z Wife of Louis Farrakhan dead at 90 Khadijah Farrakhan, the wife of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, died at the age of 90. The two had been married for 72 years. "The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan with deep sadness yet with profound gratitude to Allah informs you that his beloved wife of 72 years, the First Lady of the Nation of Islam, Mother Khadijah has returned to Allah (may Allah be pleased)," a Saturday statement by The Executive Council of the Nation of Islam from Student Minister Ishmael R. Muhammad said. WHAT IS THE NATION OF ISLAM? "We thank Allah for the precious life of a loving wife, mother, a faithful devoted follower of The Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Mother Khadijah will forever be cherished and remembered. May Allah give His unequaled comfort to the family as we mourn this tremendous loss and lift the family in our prayers and thoughts," the statement continued. "Allah, there is no God but He, He gives life and to Him is our eventual return. Funeral (Janazah) services will be sent as soon as it's available," the statement concluded. Farrakhan, who survives his wife, is 93. WHO IS LOUIS FARRAKHAN? WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE CONTROVERSIAL NATION OF ISLAM LEADER Born Betsy Ross, Khadijah Farrakhan married her husband, then named Louis Walcott, in Boston on Sept. 12, 1953. DEM CANDIDATE CAUGHT ON CAMERA APPLAUDING NOTORIOUS ANTISEMITE'S VIOLENT RHETORIC: 'YOU BREAK HIS NECK' The couple had nine children — sons Louis Farrakhan Jr. and Joshua Farrakhan passed away in 2018 and 2023 respectively. The Associated Press contributed to this report . Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a428640197238567836b4e5 Jay White makes dramatic AEW return at Forbidden Door, helps Adam Copeland and Christian Cage retain titles te 2026-06-29T14:50:40.164Z Jay White makes dramatic AEW return at Forbidden Door, helps Adam Copeland and Christian Cage retain titles David Finlay and Clark Connors believed they had the momentum on their side going into their AEW World Tag Team Championship match against Adam Copeland and Christian Cage at Forbidden Door on Sunday night. However, the duo known as The Dogs didn’t plan for the triumphant return of Jay White. COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL White had been away for 15 months recovering from an injury. As Finlay and Connors tried every dirty trick in the book to gain the tag team titles, including Finlay hitting Cage with a shillelagh with the referee down, the lights went out in the arena. Juice Robinson, Ace Austin, Colten Gunn and Austin Gunn appeared at the top of the entrance ramp appearing to get ready to attack The Dogs. As the lights turned on, White was in the ring. He hit the Blade Runner on Finlay as the crowd erupted. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Whtie stepped back and gave Copeland the opportunity to hit Finlay with a spear. The referee came back into the ring and counted the fall. Copeland and Cage retained the AEW World Tag Team Championship. It appeared White and the Bang Bang Gang’s rivalry with Finlay and Connors was just getting started. Their issues stem from Finlay taking over the Bullet Club in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, casting White out from the group. At least for now, Copeland and Cage made their first successful title defense and the rivalry between White and his former Bullet Club compatriots its heating up once again. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427f4c197238567836b40f Viktor Hovland stuns Scottie Scheffler with playoff birdie to win the Travelers Championship te 2026-06-29T14:21:00.330Z Viktor Hovland stuns Scottie Scheffler with playoff birdie to win the Travelers Championship For most professional golfers, a five-month gap between PGA Tour victories barely qualifies as a drought. For world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, it’s long enough to make people wonder if something is wrong. That conversation is going to last at least another week, especially with the way it happened. Viktor Hovland defeated Scheffler on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff Monday morning at TPC River Highlands, winning the Travelers Championship after both players finished regulation tied at 21-under Sunday. And he did it in stunning fashion. Both players found the fairway on the first playoff hole. Both players hit their approaches inside 10 feet. Then Hovland poured in his birdie putt, putting all the pressure on the best golfer in the world. Scheffler had a short birdie putt to extend the playoff. He missed. Yes, really. That’s the shocking part. Scheffler forced the playoff Sunday evening by draining an 8 1/2-foot par putt on the 72nd hole, then came back Monday morning and missed from about half that distance with the tournament on the line again. Golf is weird. Golf is cruel. Even for the world's best player. The Travelers Championship needed a rare Monday finish after weather and darkness prevented the tournament from being decided Sunday. The playoff began on the par-4 18th hole, and Hovland wasted no time finishing it. For the Norwegian, it meant a massive win after refusing to let Scheffler pull away during a tense, rain-delayed final round. For Scheffler, it meant another close call. Scheffler entered the Travelers with just one victory in 2026, which came all the way back in January at The American Express. Of course, "just one victory" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. It’s not like Scheffler has played poorly this season. Quite the opposite, in fact. The world’s top player had eight top-five finishes in his first 13 starts this season, including his win at The American Express and runner-up finishes at the Masters, RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship. He finished third at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and tied for fourth at the U.S. Open last week. SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER SAYS BEING THE NO. 1 GOLFER IN THE WORLD IS 'NOT A FULFILLING LIFE' But Hovland kept him from turning another close call into a trophy. Scheffler started the final round one shot behind Hovland after a wild first three days in Connecticut. He opened with a 64, nearly shot a historic 59 on Friday before settling for a 60, then posted a 67 on Saturday that left him in solo second place, one back of Hovland. Scheffler had a ho-hum front nine in the final round, making one birdie and one bogey for an even-par 35. Hovland dropped a shot on the front with a 36, which allowed a number of players back into the tournament. Collin Morikawa shot a 61 in the final round, posting the clubhouse lead at 20-under several hours before Scheffler and Hovland finished. For a while, it looked like Morikawa might be the player Scheffler had to beat. Then Hovland made his move. Scheffler made birdies at Nos. 10 and 13 to move to 21-under and take a one-shot lead over Morikawa’s clubhouse number. Hovland, who also made birdie on No. 13, was still lurking two back. But that's when heavy rain started hammering TPC River Highlands and forced an 83-minute weather delay. After the delay, Hovland completely flipped the tournament. He birdied No. 14 to pull within one, then added another birdie at No. 15 to grab a share of the lead. Suddenly, Scheffler was no longer cruising toward another PGA Tour victory. He was trying to survive Hovland’s late charge. Scheffler had his own chance to regain control, but his birdie putt on No. 17 lipped out, leaving the two players tied heading to the 72nd hole. Both players hit solid approach shots on No. 18, but Scheffler found himself slightly farther away than Hovland. The American gave it too much pace, sending it well past the hole and leaving himself 8 1/2 feet coming back for par. It wouldn’t have mattered if Hovland drained his 25-foot birdie putt, but Hovland's potential tournament-winning putt just leaked wide of the hole at the end. He tapped in for par, meaning Scheffler would need to make his putt to send the pair to a playoff. Scheffler drained the putt, gave an enthusiastic fist pump and shook Hovland’s hand before the two players returned Monday morning to decide it. In front of a pretty large crowd, especially for a Monday morning finish in Connecticut, Hovland finished the job to secure his eighth career PGA Tour victory and first since the 2025 Valspar Championship last March. What made the win so impressive is how he did it. Hovland looked like he was out of it when he made bogey on No. 10 and Scheffler made birdie. That turned a tie at the top of the leaderboard into a two-shot deficit to the world's best player with eight holes remaining. But he never gave up. He made three consecutive birdies on Nos. 13, 14 and 15 with the latter two coming immediately after a nearly hour-and-a-half weather delay. Then he came back Monday and beat Scheffler head-to-head. He watched Scheffler hit his approach inside six feet and followed by hitting a dart of his own. He buried a clutch putt, thinking he needed to make it or the tournament was over. That's some serious mental fortitude, especially for a player who has had a roller-coaster season. Hovland has had some good results this season, including top-20 finishes at multiple signature events (WM Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational, PLAYERS Championship) and a top-20 at the Masters. But he failed to make the cut at both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. For Scheffler, it was another high finish that didn't result in a victory. Technically, he's in the midst of a lengthy drought, at least to his lofty standards. He hasn't gone 13 consecutive tournaments without winning since 2023. Of course, Scheffler's dry spells would be career-best stretches for just about everyone else. He keeps putting himself near the top of leaderboards, keeps piling up top-five finishes and keeps making deep Sunday runs at the biggest events in golf. WYNDHAM CLARK HANDLED HIS U.S. OPEN WIN WITH THE PERFECT ATTITUDE TO WIN BACK GOLF FANS But when the bar is this high, close is not enough. Scheffler came to TPC River Highlands looking like he was ready to end any talk of a dry spell before it got too loud. Instead, Hovland dragged him all the way into Monday and forced him to make one more putt. This time, Scheffler missed. There is still nothing wrong with Scottie Scheffler. But Hovland was better when it mattered most. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427f38197238567836b406 Supreme Court rules on mail-in ballots received after Election Day te 2026-06-29T14:20:40.874Z Supreme Court rules on mail-in ballots received after Election Day The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Mississippi law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted in elections even if they are received after Election Day on Monday. The court was split 5-4 on the ruling, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett writing the majority opinion. She was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427f25197238567836b3f1 Supreme Court Upholds Mississippi Late-Arriving Mail-In Ballot Law te 2026-06-29T14:20:21.425Z Supreme Court Upholds Mississippi Late-Arriving Mail-In Ballot Law The justices had been asked to examine the legality of the state’s grace period for late-arriving mail-in ballots. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427d42197238567836b3d2 Federal health agency cancels most of its teen pregnancy prevention grants te 2026-06-29T14:12:18.101Z Federal health agency cancels most of its teen pregnancy prevention grants A teacher holds a student’s baby while his class completes coursework at a high school for young parents in Spokane, Wash. U.S. Health and Human Services sent termination letters to 53 of 67 grantees under the Office of Population Affairs’ Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program on Friday, June 26. (Photo by Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report) A spokesperson for U.S. Health and Human Services confirmed to Stateline on Friday that the agency is canceling 53 out of 67 grants, worth about $68 million, under the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, affecting grantees in more than two dozen states. A list obtained by Stateline of canceled grants includes those awarded to universities, community organizations, city and state health departments and Planned Parenthood affiliates in states such as Arizona, Montana, Michigan, Texas and West Virginia. The grants were canceled two years before their expiration dates because the programs did not align with agency priorities, according to one of the grantees who received a termination notice. The program is part of the agency’s Office of Population Affairs and is a “national, evidence-based grant program that funds diverse organizations working to prevent teen pregnancy across the United States,” according to the HHS website. The agency provides funding to programs that develop and evaluate innovative approaches to prevent teen pregnancy as well as to prevent sexually transmitted infections among adolescents, and to promote positive behaviors. Ayana Bradshaw, president and CEO of AccessMatters in Philadelphia, told Stateline her organization received the termination notice of its $1.2 million grant on Friday, and it was effective the same day. Bradshaw said the letter cited a misalignment with agency priorities, specifically that the program “normalizes or promotes sexual activity for minors.” AccessMatters’ Adolescent Health Initiative is entirely funded by the federal grant and provides free sexual and reproductive health programs to more than 1,100 teens between the ages of 13 and 19. The program provides information, education and referrals for healthcare as needed. “This is devastating for the youth that we serve,” Bradshaw said. “It also impacts us as an organization, our staff, and it impacts the partners that we had who supported us in implementing this program.” During the first administration of President Donald Trump in 2017, HHS took the same action, ending grants for more than 80 recipients two years before they were set to expire. Legal advocacy organization Democracy Forward sued the administration on behalf of several grantees and won a permanent injunction after courts ruled the action violated agency regulations. The Trump administration identified the teen pregnancy program as one to cut in its 2025 budget request, and it was included in the final 2026 appropriations bill. The language accompanying that bill said grants for sexual risk avoidance must use medically accurate information and teach youth about risky behaviors “without normalizing teen sexual activity.”   Teen birth rates have fallen dramatically in the past 20 years, according to federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data — about 72% since 2007. Experts attribute that decline to fewer teens deciding to have sex earlier, sex education and better access to contraception, especially for girls.  The agency also released two new grant programs this week, one of which is titled “Replicating Effective Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs,” with $63.4 million available to be awarded. The other is “Rigorous Impact Evaluation of Programs to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and Achieve Optimal Health,” with $8.3 million available. Both opportunities tell applicants that they must pass an alignment review process to ensure they meet agency priorities. That language mimics Trump administration language in the 2027 Notice of Funding Opportunity for Title X grants, which a national family planning organization filed a lawsuit over last week, arguing that it violates Congress’ intentions and administrative procedure. Tara Mancini, director of public policy at reproductive health advocacy organization Power to Decide, said she expects the administration’s decision to cancel the grants to be challenged again in court. Stateline reporter Kelcie Moseley-Morris can be reached at kmoseley@stateline.org. This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Arizona Mirror, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427d2e197238567836b3b5 American Airlines flight aborts Miami takeoff after business jet enters runway te 2026-06-29T14:11:58.133Z American Airlines flight aborts Miami takeoff after business jet enters runway An American Airlines flight bound for Bermuda aborted takeoff at Miami International Airport on Friday after a business jet crossed the active runway, bringing the planes within about a third of a mile of each other. While traffic on the runways was moving by air traffic controller (ATC) commands, a catastrophic accident was averted by alert pilots using visual confirmation in the AA cockpit and not relying on instrumentation. "After receiving clearance, American Airlines flight 308 discontinued its takeoff when the crew observed another aircraft on the runway," American Airlines said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "We appreciate the quick actions of our crew members and thank our customers for their understanding." The Federal Aviation Administration told Fox News Digital in a statement that the other aircraft had been crossing "without authorization," and that they are investigating the incident. LAGUARDIA AIRPORT RUNWAY SHUT DOWN AFTER SINKHOLE DISCOVERED DURING ROUTINE MORNING INSPECTION ATC audio captured the near tragedy. "You just crossed an active runway," an ATC agent told the business jet pilot after the incident around 6 p.m. ET. "You just told me to cross the runway, sir," the pilot replied. "No, we said Amerijet 461," the controller responded. ATC audio confirms the American Airlines flight was cleared for takeoff on runway eight in Miami, while the business jet, NetJets Flight EJA434, reportedly being operated by a third-party maintenance vendor, mistakenly believed clearance from ATC was intended for it. "RNAV Jamba clear for takeoff 8R, American 308," one air traffic controller instructed. "Amerijet 461, cross runway eight left, hold short of runway eight right," another said. "Four Quebec Sierra, you just crossed an active runway: Hold short of runway eight left," another urged. A NetJets spokesperson told Fox News Digital that "EJA434 was not under NetJets' operational control at the time of the encounter." FORMER NFL QB ROBERT GRIFFIN III DESCRIBES HARROWING ENGINE FIRE ON UNITED FLIGHT The American Airlines flight 308 later departed Miami for Bermuda, arriving around two hours late, according to FlightAware tracking data. The scare comes as airports prepare for heavy July 4 travel and follows a series of recent close calls involving commercial aircraft and runway traffic. In March, an Air Canada flight crash-landed after an emergency truck mistakenly crossed an active runway, with ATC urging it to "stop, stop, stop," leaving two pilots dead and 42 injured in a fiery crash. A United Airlines flight reported a near miss with a drone Friday while approaching Newark Liberty International Airport. The pilot said the aircraft "almost hit a drone," which was about 100 feet below the plane, according to reports. United's flight landed safely and passengers deplaned normally. Last week, an American Airlines plane and a Delta jet were involved in a near miss at Boston Logan International Airport. Aviation experts estimated the two aircraft came within about 300 feet of each other, according to the New York Post. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427d1a197238567836b3ac Newsom under fire as California gas tax hike sends pump prices even higher te 2026-06-29T14:11:38.675Z Newsom under fire as California gas tax hike sends pump prices even higher FIRST ON FOX: California motorists are set to pay even more at the pump starting Wednesday as another gas tax increase takes effect, prompting some of the state's Republican lawmakers to warn that added costs will further squeeze residents already shouldering some of the highest fuel prices in the nation. California’s GOP congressional delegation, led by Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., is urging Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., to suspend the planned 2.2-cent-per-gallon hike, which would raise the state's excise gas tax to 63.4 cents per gallon. The lawmakers say that figure doesn't include the state's sales tax and other local fees, bringing the total surcharge burden to about $1.15 per gallon at California pumps. "According to AAA, the average price of gasoline in California is currently $5.58 per gallon—the highest in the nation and $1.65 above the national average," the lawmakers wrote Friday in a letter sent to Newsom. "Instead of further unaffordable increases to California’s gasoline excise tax, we urge you to prioritize commonsense energy policies that will provide meaningful relief for all Californians." STEVE HILTON: GAVIN NEWSOM'S $9 GAS NIGHTMARE LOOMS OVER THE GOLDEN STATE Of the average $5.58 price per gallon cited by the lawmakers, about $4.43 reflects the cost of gasoline, with the rest going toward taxes and fees. California GOP Reps. James Gallagher, Tom McClintock, Vince Fong, Jay Obernolte, Young Kim, Ken Calvert, Darrell Issa, and Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., also signed the letter.  Valadao has repeatedly urged Newsom to suspend California's gasoline excise tax increases in recent years, which are indexed to inflation and rise annually. The policy dates back to a 2017 California transportation law that raised the state's fuel taxes to help fund road, highway and transit projects. Voters rejected a 2018 ballot measure to repeal the law, allowing the annual excise tax increases to remain in effect.  Newsom has balked at scrapping the fuel tax hikes, arguing a temporary gas tax holiday or repeal effort would jeopardize the state's road repair programs, and he blamed President Donald Trump's war against Iran for sending fuel prices higher. He has also dismissed the idea that suspension efforts would lead to lower prices at the pump.  "Repealing gas taxes wouldn’t lower prices at the pump — it would hand oil companies a massive tax break with no guarantee that a single cent would be passed on to drivers," Newsom’s office wrote in a March press release. NEWSOM KNOCKED FOR ‘INSANE’ CALIFORNIA GAS PRICES AFTER BLAMING TRUMP FOR RISING COSTS Republicans have sharply criticized Newsom for pursuing policies they argue have raised energy prices in the state, which in turn can make everyday life more expensive.  Two major California oil refineries operated by Valero and Phillips 66 closed down this year in part due to the adoption of stringent climate regulations and fuel standards that threatened the economic viability of their operations. Less fuel-making capacity means the state has to purchase more crude oil and gasoline outside California — often from abroad at a higher price. Because California lacks pipeline connections to the major oil-producing parts of the country, it imports roughly three-fourths of its crude oil, while domestic production continues to decline. About one-third of those imported barrels come from the Middle East, leaving the state especially vulnerable to fuel price spikes as the war against Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Chevron moved its headquarters to Houston in 2024 after operating for more than 140 years in the Golden State — a decision that was attributed to Texas’ more business-friendly corporate environment and California’s aggressive environmental policies that pushed fossil fuel companies out of the state. Newsom has also backed a goal for California to halt all oil extraction in the state by 2045. "California drivers pay almost $2 more per gallon than the national average, yet Governor Newsom continues to advance policies that will drive prices even higher," Valadao said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Central Valley families are already feeling the strain of California’s high cost of living, and they can’t afford to pay an extra 71 cents per gallon every time they fill up their tanks." "It’s past time for Sacramento to stop these harmful price hikes, prioritize domestic energy production, and ease the burden on hardworking Californians instead of adding to it," he added.  A Fox News poll released earlier in June found that just 23% of voters approve of Trump’s handling of gas prices. A spokesperson for Newsom did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427d07197238567836b3a3 John Fetterman answers Larry David's attack on Trump's White House UFC event with a classic movie one-liner te 2026-06-29T14:11:19.218Z John Fetterman answers Larry David's attack on Trump's White House UFC event with a classic movie one-liner Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., offered a harsh rebuke to comedian Larry David’s comments slamming President Donald Trump’s celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary with a UFC fight hosted at the White House.  "It was a travesty," David told Variety — referring to the UFC fight — at the premiere of his new series on HBO, "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness," adding, "What else can you say about it?"  "It was embarrassing," the 78-year-old comic continued. "I was embarrassed to be an American."  Speaking with TMZ on Wednesday, Fetterman channeled a ‘80s comedy reference as he slammed David’s comments. LARRY DAVID SLAMS TRUMP'S WHITE HOUSE UFC FIGHT, SAYS IT MADE HIM 'EMBARRASSED TO BE AN AMERICAN' "I’d say lighten up, Francis," Fetterman said, quoting a famous line from the 1981 movie, "Stripes."  The quote originates from a famous scene in which a character named Francis — played by Conrad Dunn — tells his fellow soldiers during Army basic training that he wants to be referred to as "Psycho," instead of his given name.  The request prompts Sgt. Hulka — played by Warren Oates — to quip, "Lighten up, Francis." FETTERMAN SAYS DEMOCRATS LACK LEADER, CLAIMS PARTY DRIVEN BY ‘TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME’ The callback to the Bill Murray-fronted film drew confusion from the TMZ reporter, who repeatedly asked Fetterman about the reference.  Fetterman went on to tell David to "get over himself," as he slammed the comedian for expressing his embarrassment over the event.  "Hey, I’m proud to be an American, and if you are embarrassed or whatever because of a UFC thing, get over yourself, dude," Fetterman added. TRUMP MARKS 80TH BIRTHDAY WITH PATRIOTIC UFC FREEDOM 250 SPECTACLE ON WHITE HOUSE SOUTH LAWN The UFC Freedom Fight 250 was hosted on the White House South Lawn and marked Trump’s 80th birthday earlier this month.  The event boasted an attendance of 1,200 active-duty service members and roughly 4,000 spectators, with both Trump and UFC president Dana White in the audience. Attendees were also treated to a performance of the national anthem by the Marine Band and Zac Brown, and the event concluded with a flyover by the Navy’s Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds. "It was beyond anything that anybody's ever seen in sports," the president told reporters as he departed the White House ahead of the G7 summit in France. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE When reached for comment, a White House spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital: "This was one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history, and President Trump hosting it at the White House is a testament to his vision to celebrate America’s monumental 250th anniversary. Anyone who finds a problem with that clearly suffers from a severe and incurable disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome."  Fox News Digital reached out to David and Fetterman for comment but did not immediately receive responses. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427cf3197238567836b39a Taylor Swift's wedding rumors spark speculation about close friends, infamous fallouts and bridal party te 2026-06-29T14:10:59.765Z Taylor Swift's wedding rumors spark speculation about close friends, infamous fallouts and bridal party Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's upcoming wedding has sparked conversation around which of the singer's A-list friends could possibly be filling her bridal party. Wedding rumors have been dominating the media as the couple's alleged wedding date inches closer. "Queer Eye" star Antoni Porowski, one of Swift's close friends, gave a strange answer when asked if he is planning on attending the wedding. "They’re getting married?" Porowski responded to Andy Cohen's question on "Watch What Happens Live." "I should really send some flowers or some kind of a congratulations," he added. Cohen then replied, "And because he didn’t answer your question, that means he is going." TAYLOR SWIFT AND TRAVIS KELCE’S WEDDING PARTY: CELEBRITIES WHO COULD MAKE THE CUT There have been several reports on the stars who potentially received a coveted invite to Swift and Kelce's big day — as well as those who have been reportedly snubbed. This has left fans questioning Swift's current, and former, friendships and who could possibly be in her bridal party. According to Harper's Bazaar, Gigi Hadid and Selena Gomez are the only two women confirmed to be among Swift's bridal party. Page Six reported that Zoë Kravitz, Ed Sheeran, Haim, Suki Waterhouse, Hadid and Gomez have already received their invitations and will be appearing at the wedding, which is allegedly taking place on July 3 at Madison Square Garden. The outlet reported that Miles Teller and his wife, Keleigh Sperry, did not receive an invitation after having a falling out with Swift. Page Six shared that Swift's former close friend, model Karlie Kloss, also did not get an invite. Blake Lively is reportedly not likely to appear at the Swift/Kelce wedding after her explosive legal battle with Justin Baldoni, according to the outlet. Lively dragged Swift into the legal drama and the duo have not been seen together in the public eye since. TAYLOR SWIFT AND TRAVIS KELCE’S WEDDING GUEST LIST MIGHT INCLUDE KATE MIDDLETON, PRINCE WILLIAM: SOURCE The mystery surrounding Swift and Kelce's wedding timeline only deepened last week week after The New York Times reported that a permit application was filed to close the streets outside Madison Square Garden from July 2 until July 4. The outlet also reported that Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs teammates had made hotel accommodations at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square around July 3. Winick Productions also allegedly filed a permit with New York City's Street Activity Permit Office to set up a tent or canopy outside MSG. The prominent event planning company has produced large-scale red carpet events, according to The New York Times. LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS A city official confirmed to the outlet that Madison Square Garden is prepared to host wedding festivities on July 3. Amtrak Police officers have also been informed of the expected Swift-Kelce wedding during the weekend of July 4, the NYT reported. Perhaps the biggest clue of all: an entertainment industry executive confirmed to the outlet that a multi-day event was set to take over Madison Square Garden, which was rented by Swift, beginning July 2. The festivities would reportedly kick off with an intimate gathering of about 100 people before a much larger celebration for roughly 1,000 guests on July 3. The July 3 celebration may include stage performances, according to the outlet's sources. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Swift and Kelce first sparked dating rumors in 2023 after the Kansas City Chiefs tight end revealed that he had unsuccessfully tried to give the pop superstar a friendship bracelet during her Eras Tour stop in Kansas City. The pair later confirmed their romance when Swift began attending Chiefs games and cheering Kelce on from the stands. After two years of dating, the couple announced their engagement in August 2025. Neither Swift nor Kelce has publicly commented on the latest wedding rumors, but that hasn't stopped fans from scrutinizing every potential clue. Fox News Digital's Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427ce0197238567836b391 What to know about the Newsom-linked charities reportedly caught in DOJ’s sights te 2026-06-29T14:10:40.310Z What to know about the Newsom-linked charities reportedly caught in DOJ’s sights Federal investigators are reportedly probing nonprofits linked to California first lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom, putting renewed scrutiny on two organizations that conservative watchdogs and media reports have criticized over alleged conflicts of interest tied to their proximity to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political orbit. Newsom has accused President Donald Trump’s Justice Department of launching a politically motivated "fishing expedition" against him and his wife, but the DOJ has not publicly confirmed any probe. The reported inquiries have revived questions about The Representation Project and California Partners Project, two nonprofits connected to Siebel Newsom that have received donations from corporations, tribes and other entities with interests before California state government.  While Newsom has cast the purported investigation as a political witch hunt, the DOJ has yet to publicly confirm that a probe is even taking place, though internal sources speaking to media outlets have confirmed as much. Most recently, a source speaking to the California Post claimed that the FBI was looking into Siebel Newsom's taxes.  "The sheer amount of cash, combined with the nature and timing of government activity, is eye-catching — especially when unexpected windfalls are benefiting the contributors," Americans for Public Trust executive director Caitlin Sutherland told the Washington Free Beacon in July 2025, around the time sources claim the probe into Newsom’s wife began. "It’s past time for this cash flow to fall under intense scrutiny." FEDERAL PROSECUTOR CALLS NEWSOM 'KING OF FRAUD' AS TRUMP LAUNCHES CALIFORNIA CORRUPTION PROBE Siebel Newsom’s finances first came under major scrutiny in 2021 when the Sacramento Bee reported that TRP had received more than $800,000 from a dozen corporations that frequently lobby the state of California for policy concessions. The outlet also found that many of the companies that donated to TRP later received favorable treatment from Newsom. Data analyzed by the Sacramento Bee showed that Siebel Newsom’s charity saw its revenue spike whenever her husband’s political career advanced between 2011 and 2019. FORMER SAN FRANCISCO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION LEADER ACCUSED OF 'SELF-DEALING,' PUBLIC CORRUPTION Siebel Newsom pays herself directly from TRP, pulling a salary of over $160,000 a year. TRP also cuts six-figure checks to a media production company owned by Siebel Newsom each year, tax documents show.  Newsom claims federal investigators have questioned people connected to his wife, including those affiliated with her nonprofits, as part of an inquiry involving their finances. The California governor has called the investigation a politically motivated "fishing expedition" by President Donald Trump’s Justice Department and said he and his wife have "nothing to hide." He said the inquiry is aimed at him because he is considering running for president and that "to get me, he’s coming after my wife." The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed the investigation and has declined to comment. Sources speaking to CNN on the condition of anonymity insist that the investigation was not requested by DOJ leadership in D.C. but was instigated by local officials after they received whistleblower reports. NEWSOM'S FREE-PHONE GIVEAWAY TO STATE BUSINESS LEADERS PAID FOR BY NONPROFIT RUN BY EX-STAFFERS Years after the Sacramento Bee report, the Washington Free Beacon released a follow-up investigation in 2025 that reportedly uncovered a similar pattern. California has a unique system through which politicians can "behest," basically request, that a given individual or organization make a contribution to a charity. Through this system, Newsom routed roughly $4.3 million to TCPP between February 2020 and March 2026.  Cross-referencing California state records and nonprofit tax documents shows that behests made by Newsom accounted for over 80% of the TCPP revenue between 2020 and 2024. NEW EXPOSÉ CLAIMS CALIFORNIA LOST AT LEAST $180B TO FRAUD UNDER GAVIN NEWSOM Critics have pointed to several donors to Siebel Newsom-linked nonprofits that later benefited from actions by Newsom’s administration, though Newsom has denied any connection between the donations and state decisions. Newsom made headlines in 2024 for opposing the construction of a casino project north of San Francisco, writing a letter to the Biden administration urging it to block the project, then suing the federal government when development was allowed to continue.   Just months before Newsom sent his letter to the Biden administration, however, he requested that an American Indian tribe give $500,000 to TCPP. He asked for another half a million dollars just before suing the federal government in April 2025. The American Indian tribe agreed to both requests. EX-NONPROFIT BOSS ALLEGEDLY SWIPED $1.2M MEANT FOR HOMELESS PROGRAMS TO FUND LAVISH LIFESTYLE, DA SAYS The payments are significant because the proposed casino project would have competed directly with a casino run by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria just 15 miles away.   Entities that have donated to Newsom’s family charities typically deny that their contribution had political strings attached, stating instead that they cut the checks because they genuinely believed in feminist mission statements of the groups. Multiple conservative media outlets, however, have characterized the arrangement as a "pay for play" scheme. While, unlike TRP, Newsom’s wife doesn’t draw a salary from TCPP, the funds transferred to it at the request of her husband nonetheless provide her with resources to spend on activist causes she cares about. JOURNALIST WHO EXPOSED ALLEGED MINNESOTA FRAUD SAYS NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA ARE HIS NEXT TARGETS The Newsoms have also been hit with allegations of self-dealing. Many of the films produced by Siebel Newsom’s enterprise are shown in California public schools, generating revenue for California’s first family by routing tax dollars to their personal enterprises.  Following the public scrutiny, Siebel Newsom’s charity appears to have become less transparent. A TRP spokeswoman told the Sacramento Bee in 2021 that the charity discloses all donors over $5,000 on its website; however, as of publishing, no such webpage exists. COMER TELLS NEWSOM TO 'LAWYER UP' AS HOUSE OVERSIGHT LAUNCHES CALIFORNIA FRAUD PROBE Newsom has separately faced scrutiny over whether donors received state benefits after contributions. After donating to Newsom, wealthy contributors have secured multimillion-dollar public contracts, access to large tax credits, favorable executive action and appointments to prestigious public posts, a 2025 Washington Examiner investigation found. Newsom has denied any conflict of interest or quid pro quo involving donations to his wife’s nonprofits, saying of the donations in 2021, that "there’s no correlation, period, full stop. Absolutely none," explaining that his decisions were made on the basis of policy judgement. TRP, TCPP, Newsom’s office and the DOJ did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427ccc197238567836b373 Robot hand company settles Tesla trade secret suit and announces $11M raise te 2026-06-29T14:10:20.346Z Robot hand company settles Tesla trade secret suit and announces $11M raise The startup, Proception, is taking a unique approach to collecting training data to tackle one of the hardest problems in robotics: hands. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427a8d197238567836b361 Sedona Airport overlook to get memorial bricks te 2026-06-29T14:00:45.774Z Sedona Airport overlook to get memorial bricks The Sedona-Oak Creek Airport Authority, approved Sedona Airport staff to move forward during its meeting on Monday, June 22, with a plan to sell memorial bricks to fund a brick floor beautification effort for the Airport Overlook. The area SOCAA is looking to cover is 50 feet by 150 feet, estimateda Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427a77197238567836b33e Rhaenyra's return to King's Landing in 'House of the Dragon' season three has fans calling it peak television te 2026-06-29T14:00:23.771Z Rhaenyra's return to King's Landing in 'House of the Dragon' season three has fans calling it peak television The internet is buzzing after the latest episode of "House of the Dragon." The hit "Game of Thrones" prequel is currently airing its third season on HBO, and excitement has been off the charts. Season three started with a bang when it premiered on June 21st, and episode two of the new season took things to a new level. WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. 'GAME OF THRONES' STAR SOPHIE TURNER CALLS KISSING CO-STAR KIT HARINGTON A 'VILE' EXPERIENCE Episode two of season three saw Rhaenyra Targaryen finally return to King's Landing to take the Iron Throne. It's been a long time coming. Fans have been eager to finally see how Rhaenyra would take what she believes is rightfully hers. When the opening finally presented itself, the face of the Targaryens acted with blitzkrieg speed to take King's Landing without much combat. FROM MOBSTER TO CARTOON MUTT: FIVE OF THE SADDEST TV DEATHS THAT STILL HIT HARD TO THIS DAY Without getting into all the spoilers, there is a death at the end of the episode.......that is grisly, to put it politely. It didn't take long at all for reactions to pour in on Reddit following the episode airing. Check out what fans are saying below: Clearly, the throne scene was very moving for viewers, and it feels like the pressure and chaos will only increase from here. I can't wait to see what comes next. Let me know your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42787e197238567836b2e6 Biden's illegal immigration surge caused higher rent and home prices, Fed study finds te 2026-06-29T13:51:58.136Z Biden's illegal immigration surge caused higher rent and home prices, Fed study finds A new Federal Reserve working paper found the record surge in illegal immigration during the Biden administration came at a cost to one of the nation's fiercest political debates: higher home prices and rent rates. The findings arrive as immigration remains a defining political issue, with Republicans arguing former President Joe Biden's border policies strained housing and public resources while Democrats have pointed to immigration as helping ease labor shortages and support economic growth. The new report, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas by compiling individual immigration court records and government administrative data, is among the first comprehensive efforts to measure how the unprecedented wave of illegal migration between 2021 and 2024 impacted local economies and affected local labor markets. A PROBLEM HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT IS KEEPING AMERICANS FROM BUYING HOMES The authors cautioned that the paper is a preliminary draft circulated for professional comment and that its findings do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas or the Federal Reserve System. Researchers found the influx of illegal immigrants boosted local employment with little measurable effect on wages, but came with a trade-off of increasing housing demand enough to drive up home prices and rents. The researchers found that illegal immigrant worker inflows increased local employment "approximately one-for-one," meaning a 1% increase in unauthorized workers relative to a local area's workforce corresponded with roughly a 1% increase in overall employment. The study found no evidence that the immigration surge lowered average wages. THE KEY STRATEGY RED STATES ARE USING TO LOWER HOUSING COSTS REVEALED That 1% increase in illegal immigrant worker flow, however, raised local home prices by about 2.2% and rents by roughly 1.4%, while finding little evidence that new housing construction expanded enough to absorb the increased demand, according to the study. So while wages remained relatively stable due to the influx of illegal immigration, housing prices and rent surged and left American workers struggling to keep up. The housing crisis has heavily impacted affordability in the U.S. and is a key midterm issue for many voters on both sides of the political aisle. Researchers concluded the influx of illegal immigrant workers acted as a housing demand shock in markets where supply remained relatively constrained. The authors argued the increase in housing demand outpaced homebuilding in many areas, amplifying price pressures where housing supply was already limited. ONE TYPE OF PROPERTY IS QUIETLY SAVING AMERICANS THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS The economists estimate illegal immigrant worker flows accounted for roughly 30% of employment growth in the average local labor market between March 2021 and March 2024. They also estimate those inflows explained about 30% of home-price growth and roughly 20% of rent growth in the average metropolitan area over the same period. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER The findings suggest the recent immigration surge had different effects across sectors—expanding the labor force without significantly affecting wages while increasing demand in housing markets where supply struggled to keep pace. The estimates refer to the average metropolitan area in the study and do not suggest immigration was the sole driver of rising housing costs nationwide. The paper describes the years between 2021 and 2024 as an "unprecedented boom" in illegal immigration. Citing Congressional Budget Office estimates, the authors said net unauthorized immigration added roughly 7 million people to the U.S. population during that period before slowing sharply beginning in mid-2024. The researchers also examined government spending and found areas with larger increases in unauthorized immigrant workers experienced declines in government transfer payments. They suggested the finding could reflect stronger employment and lower use of safety-net programs among working-age immigrants, while acknowledging the result differs from some previous survey-based research. Read the full report here: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42786a197238567836b2dd Luigi Mangione returns to court for jury selection hearing after reported plea deal falls apart te 2026-06-29T13:51:38.687Z Luigi Mangione returns to court for jury selection hearing after reported plea deal falls apart Accused UnitedHealthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione returns to court Monday for a hearing on jury selection in his upcoming federal trial — days after reports that a potential plea deal had fallen apart. The 28-year-old former Ivy Leaguer is also facing a separate state-level murder case in the December 2024 shooting of Brian Thompson, 50. Since April, Justice Department prosecutors and Mangione's defense team have been working on the jury questionnaire for his federal trial. LUIGI MANGIONE OVERRULED HIS OWN LAWYERS WITH A 'CHANGE OF HEART' ON PSYCH DEFENSE, LEGAL EXPERT SAYS The proposed jury questionnaires have not been made public, but the sides have argued about them in court filings. Prosecutors filed a letter with the court in May listing their objections to some of the defense's proposed questions, calling some overly intrusive or duplicative. Some things the defense is looking to learn about prospective jurors includes their living situations, including whether they own or rent a home, their employment status, and if they have worked toward a goal as a part of a group, whether they have children and background information on their children, and details about their faith. LUIGI MANGIONE TEAM FIRES BACK AT PLEA DEAL REPORT, CALLS LEAKS A THREAT TO FAIR TRIAL The defense also seeks to ask jurors about their background in the context of jails, firearms and law enforcement, the type of television shows they watch, and any prejudices with the criminal justice system.  The defense wants to know if a juror regularly stays at the Hilton on 6th Avenue, the scene of the crime — and whether the potential juror works for or holds stock in UnitedHealthcare. Last week, reports citing anonymous sources claimed that Mangione's attorneys and federal prosecutors were having discussions about a plea deal but were unable to come to an agreement.  In a statement to Fox, Mangione lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo called information attributed to anonymous sources, "a troubling, deliberate pattern by prosecutors and law enforcement to prejudice Luigi."  A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York declined to comment on the reported plea negotiations. LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST Separately, Mangione's lawyers floated and then withdrew a potential psychiatric defense in the state case. They sent a one-sentence letter to the court, telling Judge Gregory Carro that they were withdrawing a notice made public just a day earlier that signaled plans to pursue an extreme emotional disturbance defense in his state case. LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? FIND MORE ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB The move would have required Mangione to concede that he shot Thompson, a father of two, at his state trial. If he were later convicted under New York's extreme emotional disturbance law, the murder charge would be reduced to manslaughter, and the potential sentence would be reduced from 25 years to life in prison to five to 25 years. With his federal trial not scheduled to begin until early next year, it's unclear how such a defense in the state case would have impacted that one. The federal case carries stiffer potential sentences, and there is no federal equivalent to New York's emotional disturbance law. Mangione is accused of plotting the murder, traveling across state lines to New York City ahead of a UnitedHealthcare business conference and shooting Thompson in the back outside the venue. Prosecutors have alleged he had used a fake name to check into a Manhattan hostel and then fled to Altoona, Pennsylvania, where police arrested him at a McDonald's restaurant. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427857197238567836b2cb Trump plan for foreign shipbuilders could create 540,000 jobs and expand US fleet te 2026-06-29T13:51:19.222Z Trump plan for foreign shipbuilders could create 540,000 jobs and expand US fleet President Trump is eyeing foreign shipbuilders to establish operations in the United States as part of an effort to rapidly expand the Navy's fleet, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said Sunday, arguing the move could create roughly 540,000 American jobs while bolstering the nation's defense. "Right now, we're held with two manufacturers in the United States that are building ships, so what the president wants to do is look at other builders," Cao told "The Big Weekend Show." "We're not building foreign ships. What we're doing is having them invest in the United States," he said. TIM SHEEHY EXPOSES A 'SCARY' SHIPBUILDING COLLAPSE THAT LEAVES THE US VULNERABLE TO CHINA "Toyotas and Nissans are made here in the U.S., so why can't they bring that capability over here? And maybe some of their processes are more efficient than ours also. We're gonna create 540,000 jobs when they do that." Cao said the proposal is driven by a simple reality: the Navy does not have enough ships to meet today's global demands. This comes as tensions simmer in the Middle East and China continues expanding its military presence in the Indo-Pacific. PETE HEGSETH FACES CONGRESS OVER PENTAGON'S UNPRECEDENTED $1.5 TRILLION BUDGET AS DEMOCRATS VOW TO BLOCK IT "We need 350 ships," Cao explained, noting that aircraft carriers such as the USS Gerald R. Ford have seen extended deployments because there are not enough vessels to rotate into service. "That's exactly why [the] president is pushing for this $1.5 trillion dollar budget so we can build the ships we need," he added. Cao said his priority is ensuring the Navy has the ships, aircraft and submarines necessary to deter adversaries around the globe. "Don't forget there's a [32-year-old] submarine out there, [the] USS Charlotte that was out there for [the] longest time, and they didn't know where it was, and they were launching missiles from right on the coastline," he added. Charlotte sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka in March, becoming the first U.S. Navy submarine to sink an enemy vessel in combat since World War II. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427843197238567836b2c2 Chiefs heiress Gracie Hunt dumps out World Cup content, Sophie Cunningham loves her finger point & fast food te 2026-06-29T13:50:59.773Z Chiefs heiress Gracie Hunt dumps out World Cup content, Sophie Cunningham loves her finger point & fast food It's Monday, I'm toeing the rubber for my second Screencaps relief appearance of this latest call to the bullpen, which runs through Thursday, and we have Kansas City Chiefs heiress Gracie Hunt performing her duties as a World Cup hospitality captain. She didn't get the call to assist the World Cup coverage based solely on her work in the NFL as the face of the front office of one of the league's most successful franchises. She played soccer all the way up until she went to college. The Hunt family owns FC Dallas of the MLS. Gracie gets the game. She also gets content and when she's covering the World Cup, she's looking to capture five things: The arrival. The atmosphere. Her outfit. The cultural details and the emotional impact. That's what she's looking for as a hospitality captain who is out at the stadium day in and day out. She calls it her "FIFA World Cup content system." CHIEFS HEIRESS GRACIE HUNT WELCOMES FIFA FANS TO AMERICA IN A RED DRESS, 8U BASEBALL BRAWL & IS THIS A CATCH? If Gracie didn’t spend her time and energy focusing on the five pillars of her content system, there would not be a lot of content. Except, of course, a field full of guys exercising. The Chiefs heiress said it best, and it applies more to soccer than it does most other sports. She wrote, "Because the best sports content is never just about what happened on the field."  Thank you, Gracie for your coverage of the World Cup and for being honest about where you can find most of the action during the tournament. - Jon writes: Sean, We live in East TN and our church has at least 1 police officer in uniform every Sunday and 2 around the holidays.  In addition, typically have a couple volunteer law enforcement types assisting.  Church security is managed by a retired CIA officer.  Had a conversation with him one morning and he dropped this nugget.  "People think I’m friendly.  Always coming up, greeting, and hugging newcomers.  Nah, just gives me a chance for a quick pat down to see if they are carrying."  Unfortunately just the world we live in. MACKENZIE CARPENTER COULD BE THE NEXT GREAT NASHVILLE COUNTRY STAR, OILERS FANS GET INTO MASSIVE BRAWL & MEAT! - Jim T in San Diego writes: While Saturday was only the second dark day of Screencaps history, I decided to take that time window I had available due to no SC and do the kind of in-depth research that Joe and SeanJoe would be proud of - the kind of deep dive investigative story that the legacy media is too self-important to cover but that Screencaps Nation stands ready to take upon ourselves. That’s right - I went and tried the legacy deep fried apple pies at McDonald’s and the enchiritos at Taco Bell, and am here to report my findings. The apple pies now come in a box rather than a sleeve. But other than that, it was just as I remembered: Sweet and tart at the same time, with a fine crunch to the crust. There was still, as I’m guessing most of Screencaps Nation will also experience, a bit of muscle memory anxiety when I swallowed - the roof of my mouth and my throat still not ready to fully forgive nor trust me after being literally burned in this manner so many times in the past. With age comes wisdom - we let them cool before eating them. I’d also note that when I ordered my pies at the drive-through, the cashier said, "Let me make sure we have some ready - otherwise it’s a six-minute waite to cook new ones." I was prepared to pull off to teh side and wait in the interests of scientific research, but apparently I got the last of the previous batch. So be prepared to wait - and rest assured it’s worth it. (Just don't allow your impatience and anticipation allow you to skip the cooling off part!) We then made a run for the border to get the reconstituted enchirito. It too, tasted pretty spot on to what I remembered, with a couple noticeable differences. First, where were my black olives on top? Taco Bell management: If you’re reading this (and somebody at Taco Bell surely is an Outkick fan and reader), get Costco Business Center HQ on the line, and have large cans of sliced black olives delivered to every restaurant in the country ASAP! The other difference is just a sign of the times, I suppose: the enchirito now comes in a standard plastic tray. Back in the day, though, it came in an aluminum tray - which lent the classic enchirito a certain metallic tang that only added to its charm. PAIGE SPIRANAC SHOWS THE KENTUCKY DERBY LOVE, IVANA KNOLL STOLE THE SHOW AT MIAMI GRAND PRIX & GRILLING SEASON I can also report that Arby’s brought back their potato cakes earlier this year, after a trial run last year. It’s like a deep-fried hash brown - but in a large triangle. When cooked right, it’s heaven: Crispy, crunchy, and just ready for two packets of Arbys sauce to be slathered over it. But when undercooked, it’s a soggy blob of lead that sticks in your stomach all day. BTW, I’d counter Joe’s longstanding prediction that Wendy’s is destined for a death spiral by pointing out that the Burger Kings in the San Diego region are far scarier, dirtier and less appealing than our local Wendy’s. I realize Wendy’s is born and bred in my native Ohio, and absolutely trust Joe’s observations of the franchises in northwest Ohio, but the Wendy’s out San Diego way are consistently clean, well-lit and professionally staffed. Over the past 3, 4 years, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at every Wendy’s visit (not sponsored!). Burger King, on the other hand, is increasingly a hit or miss affair. Frankly, Carl's Jr. (Hardees east of the Rockies) is a better bet than BK. SeanJo Now this is a fast food report. Thanks for sending this my way, Jim T. I'm not much of an apple pie guy in general. Not because I hate it or anything, but I think there are superior desserts and I will grab those before I get to the apple pie. I'm glad McD's delivered a version that you remember. I hate when something is brought back and whoever brings it back tries to get too cute with it. Stick to what works. Not everything needs an "upgrade." As far as the enchirito goes, I don't recall ever having one before. I may have to get out and grab one of those. CHIEFS HEIRESS GRACIE HUNT MIGHT HAVE SET A BRIDESMAIDS RECORD, FIGHTING IN THE DOVER PARKING LOT & WINGS! I can report that around here, Wendy's is alive and well. It is, however, hit or miss depending on the location as to the service you can expect. Burger King, and it breaks my heart to say this, is down in numbers and is not the crown-wearing memory maker of my youth. - Sam writes: Claiborne county Tennessee, North of Knoxville - CF, a Cornhusker in Kansas, writes: Sean, Hotdog cookies sound like something you'd find at a state fair.  Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should, although there are people out there who will try anything once.  If you're looking for something different try this:  Wrap a cooked hot dog in a corn tortilla with a slice of American cheese and microwave for 15 seconds to melt the cheese and warm the tortilla.  It's actually pretty tasty if I do say so myself!!  Because I have celiac disease I can't eat regular hot dog buns and gluten free buns just don't cut it.  On another note, here's a weird combination for you.  Back when I was in elementary school, I opened up my lunch box one day to find my mom had made me a peanut butter and velveeta cheese sandwich 😝.  She swears she never did... unless...I do have two brothers... SWEDISH WORLD CUP DEFENDER'S WIFE HOPPED ON A MECHANICAL BULL, ELEONORA INCARDONA CHECKS IN & HOTDOG COOKIES? SeanJo I wouldn’t be properly doing my job if I didn’t ask, did you eat any or all of the peanut butter and Velveeta cheese sandwich? Please report back. We need to know if it's something to add to the list of food we need to try. - Cody in OK writes: 1 - Your selection of Instagram babes is the best. 2 - Your World Cup (and US Soccer) take is so dead on. Thank you SeanJo Thank you, Cody for both the email and for the support. I hope I can continue to deliver during my relief appearances this week. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! ########## That's it for Monday. Counting Friday's relief appearance, we're two days in. I have a couple of emails that came in later in the afternoon yesterday that will be included tomorrow. Keep the emails coming sean.joseph@outkick.com. You can also follow me on Twitter and over on Instagram if you'd like. Feel free to slide into the DMs. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427830197238567836b2af Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Request to Appeal $5 Million Verdict in E. Jean Carroll Case te 2026-06-29T13:50:40.307Z Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Request to Appeal $5 Million Verdict in E. Jean Carroll Case President Trump had asked the justices to intervene after a jury found that he had sexually abused and defamed the writer E. Jean Carroll. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42781c197238567836b2a6 Voters Think A.I. Is Terrible. In Campaigns, It’s Everywhere. te 2026-06-29T13:50:20.864Z Voters Think A.I. Is Terrible. In Campaigns, It’s Everywhere. A.I.-generated images are the public face of this election overhaul. Behind the scenes, campaigns are using the technology to analyze voter data, craft campaign materials and write custom messages. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427106197238567836b1e5 Donations being collected for Charlie Kirk memorial bench te 2026-06-29T13:20:06.032Z Donations being collected for Charlie Kirk memorial bench Now that a partnership agreement for a Charlie Kirk memorial bench has been approved, donations are being collected to bring the project to life. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427105197238567836b1dc 3 firefighters killed in Colorado as wildfires stoked by heat, wind rage across the West te 2026-06-29T13:20:05.631Z 3 firefighters killed in Colorado as wildfires stoked by heat, wind rage across the West Three firefighters have died and two were injured while battling fires on the Colorado-Utah border. The U.S. Wildland Fire Service says they were responding to the Knowles and Gore fires on Saturday. Wildfire activity has intensified across the Western U.S.… Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427105197238567836b1d3 Experts: Removing harmful PFAS in Arizona water will take generations te 2026-06-29T13:20:05.263Z Experts: Removing harmful PFAS in Arizona water will take generations From Prescott to the border town of Nogales, "forever chemicals" contaminate the water of nearly 2 million people in Arizona. Some affected utilities have shut down wells and connected to clean sources of water or paid millions for treatment, but… Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427104197238567836b1ca Arizona scholarship nonprofit paid millions to leaders’ own companies te 2026-06-29T13:20:04.848Z Arizona scholarship nonprofit paid millions to leaders’ own companies The nonprofit Arizona Leadership Foundation (ALF) has awarded over $280 million in private school scholarships for thousands of students across the state between 2011 and 2023. During that same time, ALF has paid at least $17 million to for-profit companies… Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427104197238567836b1c1 Celebrate Independence Day safely with fireworks, patriotic events in Lake Havasu City te 2026-06-29T13:20:04.417Z Celebrate Independence Day safely with fireworks, patriotic events in Lake Havasu City Lake Havasu City is encouraging residents and visitors to celebrate Independence Day safely with a full day of patriotic events, family activities and a professional fireworks show over the lake. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a427102197238567836b188 Pocket raises $11M in bet on rising demand for AI note-taking devices te 2026-06-29T13:20:02.203Z Pocket raises $11M in bet on rising demand for AI note-taking devices Pocket sells a $129, credit card-shaped puck, which sticks to the back of your phone, and promises unlimited recordings, transcriptions and to-do items. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a426efa197238567836b158 Former NFL star Chris Johnson says he's been diagnosed with ALS te 2026-06-29T13:11:22.320Z Former NFL star Chris Johnson says he's been diagnosed with ALS Chris Johnson was a dominant running back at one point in his NFL career. He ran for 2,000 yards in his second season with the Tennessee Titans in 2009 on his way to three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances. He was named the 2009 Offensive Player of the Year and made the Pro Bowl in 2009 thanks to his statistical prowess that season. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! Johnson, 40, on Monday announced a new and harrowing battle. He said he was diagnosed with ALS. "T here's no history of ALS in my family," he said on ABC’s "Good Morning America." "My doctors believe my case is what's called sporadic ALS, which is actually how the vast majority of ALS cases happen. FORMER FALCONS STAR TIM GREEN REFUSES TO LET ALS SILENCE HIM AS FATHER-SON PODCAST CREATES LASTING LEGACY "That's one of the reasons this disease can be so shocking. It can happen to someone who never expected it." Johnson said he started to notice a weakness in his right hand and that his grip hadn’t been as strong as it previously was. "It's continued to progress much faster than I ever imagined. I want people to understand just how quickly ALS can attack your body," Johnson said. "Just over a year ago, I was picking up my 7-year-old daughter so she'd make a wish with her birthday cake. Today, I couldn't do that." CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM There is no known cure for ALS – known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It’s a progressive disease in which the brain loses connection with the muscles, according to the ALS Association. The afflicted slowly lose their ability to walk, talk, eat, dress, write, swallow and, eventually, breathe. Johnson credited his family, including his wife Brittany, with giving him a "reason to keep going." The former running back played in the NFL from 2008 to 2017 with the Titans, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals. Fox News’ Angelica Stabile contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a426ee6197238567836b145 Many Child Safety Features on Social Apps Don’t Work, Report Finds te 2026-06-29T13:11:02.366Z Many Child Safety Features on Social Apps Don’t Work, Report Finds Researchers found that teens can discover harmful content, connect with unknown adults and easily bypass time limits. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a426ed1197238567836b135 Omen AI’s plan to optimize data centers is all wet te 2026-06-29T13:10:41.871Z Omen AI’s plan to optimize data centers is all wet Omen AI raised a $31 million Series A to monitor chip coolant and stop bacterial outbreaks in data centers. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a426ebe197238567836b12c Flipper Device’s new Busy Bar is a customizable display for productivity te 2026-06-29T13:10:22.427Z Flipper Device’s new Busy Bar is a customizable display for productivity Flipper Device's new Busy Bar will retail for $249. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a426c7f197238567836b109 Arizona law will make paying for sex a felony te 2026-06-29T13:00:47.028Z Arizona law will make paying for sex a felony PHOENIX -- State lawmakers have approved a new approach they say should cut down on prostitution: Come down harder on the people who patronize them but ease up on some who are victims of sex trafficking. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a426c6b197238567836b100 Lake Havasu City to host national kickoff for Operation Dry Water campaign te 2026-06-29T13:00:27.066Z Lake Havasu City to host national kickoff for Operation Dry Water campaign Lake Havasu City will kick off this year's national Operation Dry Water campaign Monday as boating safety officials from across the Southwest gather ahead of the Independence Day holiday to promote sober boating and stepped-up enforcement. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4267c8197238567836b052 Thekla embarrasses Stardom's Starlight Kid after retaining AEW World Women's Championship at Forbidden Door te 2026-06-29T12:40:40.140Z Thekla embarrasses Stardom's Starlight Kid after retaining AEW World Women's Championship at Forbidden Door Thekla has had every reason to talk as much trash as she’s done. She made her debut in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) last year and quickly moved up the ladder to win the AEW Women’s World Championship in a strap match against Kris Statlander in February. She’s continued to hold the title even when three opponents were thrown her way at Double or Nothing. COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL Thekla declared war on Stardom and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the buildup to Forbidden Door. She demanded that Stardom send its best to challenge her at Forbidden Door, and they obliged. Starlight Kid stepped up against the "Toxic Spider" and the two put on a great match in front of the pro wrestling audience at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Thekla taunted Starlight Kid throughout the match and it appeared she got more than she bargained for at points during the match. Starlight Kid wouldn’t stay down and gave every effort to bring the AEW Women’s World Championship back to Japan with her. Starlight Kid worked on Thekla’s knee toward the end of the match. But the champion would not quit. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Thekla got out of the submission hold and avoided being pinned by mere seconds. Thekla was put to the test more than any other opponent she’s faced since becoming the champion. The "Toxic Spider" hit two stomps and finally put away Starlight Kid to retain the title. With Stardom president Taro Okada in attendance, Thekla continued her assault against Starlight Kid. Skye Blue and Julia Hart came out to support Thekla. Hart handed Thekla a pair of scissors and the champion ripped the mask off Starlight Kid’s head and spit in it. Thekla taunted Okada with the mask and hit the wrestling executive with it. Thekla stayed the champion and added a trophy to her mantel. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4267b4197238567836b049 Emmanuel Acho argues the WNBA would be 'better off' without Caitlin Clark despite her record impact te 2026-06-29T12:40:20.693Z Emmanuel Acho argues the WNBA would be 'better off' without Caitlin Clark despite her record impact Apparently, Caitlin Clark's services are no longer required. At least that's the conclusion Emmanuel Acho reached this week when he argued that the WNBA would actually be "better off" without her — despite repeatedly acknowledging that Clark is the primary reason the league is enjoying record popularity and unprecedented financial success in the first place. CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE The former NFL player made the comments on his "Speakeasy" podcast while discussing the ongoing controversy surrounding Clark's treatment by opponents, most recently the incident involving Phoenix Mercury star Alyssa Thomas. "The W, at this junction in time, would be better off without Caitlin Clark because she is a bigger distraction than she is an additive," Acho said. He continued: "Caitlin Clark has gotten the WNBA over the necessary threshold they needed. Now, people are watching. Now, we realize there's talent in the W that's actually even greater than Caitlin Clark… "Caitlin got the necessary eyes there, but now that the eyes are there, we don't necessarily need her anymore." And then came perhaps the most astonishing part of the argument: "Caitlin Clark has gotten the WNBA players past the proverbial Red Sea. Chartered planes, new CBA, new max contracts. With all due respect, if Caitlin disappeared from the W, she wouldn't be missed." That's certainly one way to thank the person largely responsible for increasing your visibility, television ratings and revenue. His argument essentially boils down to this: Caitlin Clark served her purpose, helped the league and its players make a lot of money, and now she should kindly f--- off. That seems not only rude and ungrateful, but wildly disconnected from reality. Clark's arrival in 2024 transformed the WNBA. Attendance exploded. Television ratings shattered records. Merchandise sales surged. The league signed a media-rights agreement worth more than $3 billion. Revenue grew enough to trigger revenue sharing with players. Charter flights became permanent. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, average player salaries are up more than 450%, and the league’s top stars are making upwards of $1.5 million a year. And none of that is happening without Caitlin Clark. Does that mean other stars don't matter? Of course not. But pretending the league has somehow outgrown its biggest draw less than three years after she arrived is absurd. CAITLIN CLARK HARD CONTACT TIMELINE: WNBA'S GROWING HISTORY OF BRUTAL HITS AGAINST THE FACE OF THE SPORT The conversation came in the wake of another controversy involving Clark. Last week, the Mercury's Alyssa Thomas was suspended one game and fined $1,000 following an incident in which Thomas essentially throat-punched Clark during a loose-ball scramble. The play reignited a familiar debate: Is Clark being targeted? Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham certainly thinks so. "You see the videos of literally kneeing and cheapshotting [Clark] in the throat... they're definitely targeting her and the league and the refs do nothing to protect her," Cunningham said on her podcast. Whether you agree with Cunningham or not, it’s indisputable that the WNBA's current level of success is directly tied to Caitlin Clark's arrival. You can argue that she doesn't deserve special treatment. You can argue that officials shouldn't officiate games differently on her account. What you cannot reasonably argue is that the WNBA would somehow be "better off" without the player who has generated more interest, more money and more attention than anyone in league history. The WNBA may not want to admit how much it needs Caitlin Clark. But the numbers certainly do. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a426319197238567836afb0 DOJ launches grand jury probe into Marxist mogul Neville Roy Singham's funding of leftist groups te 2026-06-29T12:20:41.956Z DOJ launches grand jury probe into Marxist mogul Neville Roy Singham's funding of leftist groups FIRST ON FOX: A federal grand jury is investigating alleged financial crimes by Neville Roy Singham, the China-based tech tycoon whose fortune has funded a sprawling network of socialist, communist and Marxist organizations across the U.S. over the last decade. According to sources familiar with the matter, the grand jury in Manhattan has issued subpoenas as part of a probe launched by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York, one of the country's most powerful districts for federal prosecutions. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche authorized the investigation as the Trump administration seeks to crack down on fraud, money laundering and other financial crimes in the multibillion-dollar nonprofit industry. The grand jury action follows a Fox News Digital investigation published in mid-March, documenting how Singham pumped $285 million from his base in Shanghai into a Goldman Sachs philanthropy fund and two shell corporations that then fed the money into a constellation of nonprofit organizations, media operations and activist groups pushing sectarian division, identity politics and support for socialist politicians. The investigation is examining the movement of the money in Singham's financial network and attempting to determine if Singham, the organizations he funded or their leaders committed wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering or other financial crimes, according to sources familiar with the matter. HOUSE OF SINGHAM: READ FOX NEWS DIGITAL'S 5-PART INVESTIGATION Prosecutors have presented evidence to the grand jury, which has issued subpoenas seeking bank records and other financial documents from organizations in Singham's network. Federal prosecutors use grand jury subpoenas as an investigative tool to compel the production of documents and testimony as they determine whether sufficient evidence exists to pursue criminal charges. Nicholas Biase, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, declined to comment. According to sources, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to New York City earlier this year for a meeting with Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon. The men discussed the role of a Goldman Sachs philanthropic arm — GS Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund For Wealth Management Inc. — that facilitated the movement by Singham of millions of dollars into a network of U.S. nonprofits. A Treasury Department spokesman declined to comment. A person familiar with the meeting confirmed that it occurred, saying that Bessent has regular meetings with business leaders, and declined to comment further on the substance of the meeting. At that meeting, sources said, Bessent delivered a blunt ultimatum: Goldman Sachs could face scrutiny for alleged conspiracy in the funneling of the Singham money and urged Solomon to cooperate with federal investigators. Like many U.S. companies, Goldman Sachs has had a long business relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, with Solomon participating in a meeting, for example, on Nov. 4, 2025, with He Lifeng, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs. Solomon pledged his cooperation, according to sources. WALL STREET BANKS HELPED CHINESE MILITARY-LINKED FIRM RAISE BILLIONS DESPITE RED FLAGS, LAWMAKERS FIND By mid-May, with the Southern District of New York investigation in full throttle, Solomon joined a delegation of powerful American business leaders who accompanied President Donald Trump, Bessent and other administration officials to China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. In a five-part investigative series published earlier this year, Fox News Digital unearthed a four-minute-13-second speech in which Singham stood on a stage at the Golden Tulip Hotel on Nov. 13, 2025, for a conference of the "Global South Academic Forum," coincidentally just days after the Goldman Sachs' chief was in Beijing. Tricontinental Ltd., a Singham-funded nonprofit, co-sponsored the event with academic institutions administered by the Chinese Communist Party. On stage, Singham openly supported a "new world order" promoted by Chinese President Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party. During the speech, he called the United States a "fascist" nation, echoing the propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party now also parroted on the streets by communist, socialist and Democratic Party activists. WATCH THE NOVEMBER 2025 SINGHAM SPEECH: The series revealed a 172-page report in which Singham outlined his theory of change, invoking 20th century Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong's battle plan to wage a "people's war" to spread communism. Mao was inspired by communist leaders Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. LAWMAKERS RAISE ALARM OVER NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM'S $278M NETWORK SPREADING CCP PROPAGANDA IN THE U.S. Singham’s rise as a global political financier accelerated after his February 2017 marriage to Jodie Evans, the co-founder of Code Pink, a far-left activist group that has aligned itself with authoritarian regimes including the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Communist Party of Cuba and the Chinese Communist Party. According to sources, Evans is also a target of the investigation, emerging as a board member in the U.S. on many of the organizations that Singham funded. That same year, Singham sold his company, ThoughtWorks, for an estimated $785 million to a London-based private equity firm, Apax Partners. A spokeswoman for Apax Partners said the company wouldn't disclose the names of the investors who pumped money into that sale, but sources told Fox News Digital that federal investigators are looking for potential ties to the Chinese Communist Party. After that sale, Fox News Digital found, Singham began directing large sums of money into a network of organizations that now form part of a broader activist infrastructure in the United States and abroad. In its investigation, Fox News Digital mapped 223 transactions from 2017 through 2025 that moved $591 million across five continents through 67 core groups in the Singham network. They partner with hundreds of groups worldwide, resulting in a network of about 2,000 groups, amplifying anti-U.S., pro-China messages. Of that money, Fox News Digital established a documented $278 million flowed directly from Singham into organizations that "sow discord" in the U.S., as House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith put it earlier this year at a hearing a dynamics called "foreign malign influence." In money-laundering investigations, prosecutors typically examine three stages of alleged impropriety called "placement," "layering" and "integration." Placement refers to the introduction of funds into the financial system. Layering involves moving money through multiple entities or transactions to allegedly obscure its origin. Integration is the point at which the money reemerges as apparently legitimate funding, grants, payments or organizational support. Step 1: Alleged Placement Singham allegedly funneled $278 million from Shanghai into the United States through three key channels — the philanthropic arm of Goldman Sachs and two shell corporations that have since gone defunct. Step. 2: Alleged Layering The three entities then pumped the $278 million into six nonprofits: Step 3: Alleged Integration The six nonprofits then funneled at least $223 million and other forms of support into a global network of organizations including: FLASHBACK: INSIDE THE POLITICAL MOVEMENT THAT PUT A SOCIALIST IN CHARGE OF NEW YORK CITY Singham and Evans haven't responded to repeated requests for comment from Fox News Digital. In January, Becker and De Los Santos refused to respond to questions by Fox News Digital outside the People's Forum headquarters. Benjamin refused to respond to questions during a protest in May.  The ANSWER Coalition, Breakthrough BT Media Inc., CodePink Women for Peace, Justice and Education Fund Inc., Party for Socialism and Liberation, People's Forum Inc., People's Welfare Association and Tricontinental Ltd. also haven't responded to repeated requests for comment. Representatives for Mutod Ltd. and Likewise Conceptions LLC couldn't be located. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a426306197238567836afa5 NASCAR star says quiet part out loud about Europe, punches nearly thrown & get these 's---boxes' off the track te 2026-06-29T12:20:22.506Z NASCAR star says quiet part out loud about Europe, punches nearly thrown & get these 's---boxes' off the track Well, it was nice while it lasted. I thought we had finally broken the Shane Van Gisbergen spell when someone else won on a road course last week, only for him to absolutely mop the floor with us Sunday at Sonoma. Sure, Chase Briscoe tried to make things interesting at the end, but come on ... we all knew SVG was winning that race. You could've put Jeff Gordon in the field and SVG still would've dominated Sears Point. Side note: Remember when it used to be called "Sears Point?" Simpler times. Back when we were a proper country. Oh well. Sad. Speaking of Jeff, SVG's latest win puts him one shy of Gordon for most road courses in NASCAR history. Gordon currently leads with nine. I assume Shane will get there before Halloween. Anyway, that's enough film breakdown. I'm not here to talk SVG all day. Lord knows y'all don't want that. What else should we discuss? How about Noah Gragson saying he was about to pummel Kevin Magnussen last week, only to be told he'd basically be canned if he did? Wait till you hear this soundbite. I've also got Denny Hamlin vs. Carson Hocevar, SVG vs. F1 and the "s---boxes," and Hooters Gianna continues her comeback tour in wine country. Summer is heating up, and so is Gianna. Good to have her back. Four tires, enough fuel to get us to from Sears Point to Chicago, and maybe a belt for SVG so he can properly use it on the rest of the garage ... Monday Morning Pit-Stop — the 'Another Aussie 'Whippin' edition — is LIVE! Look, we didn't get a great race yesterday. I'll just be honest with you. I'm nothing if not a man of integrity. I'm not gonna sit here and try to make lemonade when all Sunday gave me was a couple limes. (No CLUE if that analogy works, but I just sort of typed it out by accident and I've decided to stick with it). So, before we dive into Sonoma, I'd like to first continue our discussion from last week. For those who missed class, Noah Gragson and F1 driver Kevin Magnussen got into it after the Naval Base race, with Gragson berating the European with what I would imagine was some of the most vulgar language he'd ever heard on a race track. This is America, baby! "What's your f---ing problem?" Gragson said ... over, and over, and over, and OVER again after Kevin wrecked him. "Get out of my face," he calmly said back. Magnussen also had the balls to mock NASCAR in a separate interview, basically turning up his Danish know at us. "I’ve watched NASCAR before, so I know that’s how you guys play it," he said. P--s off, Kevin. You attack one of us, you attack all of us. I will be damned if we get lectured by the Europeans on our own soil. Not on my watch. Not on the eve of our 250th birthday. Kick rocks! Anyway, we all caught up now? Good! Now, let's check in with Noah to see what really happened during that post-race interaction: "You're in our our ball field and our ballpark, and to come in here on lap 3 and be jamming it up the inside and running into guys and driving into their doors, it's it's frustrating," Gragson started before really saying the quiet part out loud. "You see it a lot with guys in the past ... I think they see how much rougher and how much more contact there is (in NASCAR). F1, they kind of have a zero-touching policy. So, I really wanted to go fight and I was about to to throw a punch and I got told right before I got over there that there would be be long-term consequences with my job if that was the case." Yes! Any time we can start our work week by dumping on F1, I'm taking it. It's the best. Noah's right, by the way. I know folks don't love him as a NASCAR driver for multiple reasons — mainly that he just hasn't been very good in the Cup Series — but he's right. These Europeans come over and stick their noses up at us an act like they come from some holier-than-thou form of racing. Hogwash. Don't come over here and wreck a series regular. That's a step too far. Could you imagine, just for a second, if Kevin had wrecked the late Kyle Busch? Kyle despised F1. He hated it. He dumped on it all the time. God, I miss him. Anyway, I know I said we'd be done with him, but ... let's get SVG's thoughts on it: "Our sport is really awesome because you don’t know who is going to win, whereas you watch F1 and there’s three guys who are going to win." I mean, yes, SVG is correct here. Absolutely no argument from me, obviously. I just crapped on F1 for 500 words. Clearly I agree. That being said ... SVG has won eight (!!!) road course races the past three years. Eight. He won five times last season and has won seven of the last nine races on a road/street course. It's SVG's world on a road course, and we're all just a bunch of "sh-tboxes" living in it! Amazing. Yeah, I might be coming around on SVG after yesterday. He's annoyed me for a while, mainly because he's just completely ruined road racing, but Lordy, he's speaking my language right now. First he craps on F1, and then he calls lap cars a bunch of "s---boxes" after absolutely embarrassing the rest of the field? He's turning into an American quite nicely! OK, couple quickies on the way out. First? Did Carson Hocevar add another victim to his list yesterday? Yeah, I'm gonna give Carson a heavy pass here. Everyone is up in arms about this today and quick to blame Hocevar, but that's just a product of road racing. I've seen that a million times. As DW would say, "it's just one of them racin' deals." Everyone is bottled up and turning left and right and left again. People are pushing and shoving and knocking the hell out of bumpers. Sometimes, you just get caught in the middle. That's life at a road course. Denny ... thoughts? Let's ask him ONE MORE TIME if he's p---ed, guys. He only told you 47 times that he hasn't watched it yet and he'll need to do that before placing blame. But, yeah, let's ask just one more time to see if we can get Denny Hamlin pissed. Lordy. "I haven't seen it, Jeff. I know you want a reaction, but I haven't seen it. When I see it, I'll react to it." In other words: Tune into the podcast this week! OK, that's it for today — and this week. Not the greatest race in the world, but we did out best. A quick PSA on the way out ... We've got three straight night races coming up, starting this week at Chicago. The fellas will head to Atlanta after, followed by North Wilkesboro. Green flags for all three are set for after 6 p.m. No more Sunday afternoon naps for a while! Take us home, Gianna Blaney. Good to have you back. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4260d4197238567836af61 Secrets of Revolutionary War battlefields emerge 250 years after America's founding te 2026-06-29T12:11:00.605Z Secrets of Revolutionary War battlefields emerge 250 years after America's founding Even though it's been nearly 250 years since the Continental Congress declared independence from Britain, the study of the American Revolution is far from over. For decades, archaeologists have dug at Revolutionary War battlefields across the country, yielding fascinating artifacts. From southern sites to northern battlefields, these places are still sharing secrets — and shedding new light on our country's founding. AMERICA 250 EVENTS TAKING PLACE THIS SUMMER CALLED 'ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME' TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES As America celebrates its 250th, below are a few Revolutionary War battlefields that are still revealing new discoveries. One of the earliest military engagements of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought in Charlestown, Massachusetts, just outside downtown Boston. On June 17, 1775, the British decisively defeated American forces and seized the Charlestown Peninsula after a retreat. REVOLUTIONARY WAR ARTIFACTS UNEARTHED AT SITE OF INFAMOUS COLONIAL AMERICAN HEIST: 'VERY SURPRISED' Archaeologists, who began digging at the site in June, have been actively making new discoveries about the battle site. Among their findings is a redoubt, a dirt fort colonial soldiers built by hand overnight. "We know that the fortification was up here, but nobody has been able to identify where specifically," Lauryn Sharp, project archaeologist for the City of Boston, told Fox News earlier in June. "Even with the monument being built, there wasn't any evidence of where the actual redoubt was, so … we are adding this information back into the story." Some artifacts have also emerged, including munitions. SCHOOLBOY SPOTS AMERICAN REVOLUTION WARSHIP ON BEACH AFTER STORM UNCOVERS 230-YEAR-OLD WRECK "We found two English gun flints, a French gun flint and then two musket balls," Joel Bohy, a historian and material culture specialist in Concord, Massachusetts, told Fox News. "This project has been extremely successful, and we're learning new things about the battle that we didn't know before." American Veterans Archaeological Recovery (AVAR), a veteran-led archaeological organization, excavated Camden Battlefield in Camden, South Carolina, last year – and they weren't just looking for old artifacts. AVAR founder Stephen Humphreys told Fox News Digital that archaeologists-in-training used GPS receivers to collect spatial data about movements of the battle, which was fought in August 1780. ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER CENTURIES-OLD SHIPWRECK BENEATH HISTORIC CITY: 'UNIQUE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE' "[We're] using intensive metal detector surveys to plot exactly where the different forces were during the battle," he said at the time. "We're getting spatial data for every musket ball that's found on the site." Humphreys said the battle was a devastating loss for the colonies. "It's an extremely significant battle for the South … and for the North as well." In 2024, archaeologists unearthed remnants of the battle that ushered the "shot heard round the world" at Minute Man National Historical Park, the site of the Battle of Concord and Lexington. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ Five musket balls believed to have been fired by colonial militia members were uncovered near an area where British soldiers formed. It was "incredible" that the lead musket balls survived so long, park ranger and historic weapons specialist Jarrad Fuoss told Fox News Digital at the time. "It is also a poignant reminder that we are all stewards of this battlefield and are here to preserve and protect our shared history," he said. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER "We weren't looking for them," Fuoss noted. "We were just trying to make sure there was nothing going to be damaged." While it was not the site of a Revolutionary War battle, archaeologists found remnants of soldiers’ barracks at Colonial Williamsburg in 2024. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES The barracks used by American forces were likely built between 1776 and 1777. Jack Gary, executive director of archeology at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, told Fox News Digital that the barracks could once accommodate 2,000 soldiers and up to 100 horses. They were destroyed by British troops who were on their way to Yorktown in 1781. Historical documentation shows that "in August 1776, just a month after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Commonwealth of Virginia ordered the construction of those barracks," Gary said. "After the Cornwallis troops moved through, they could see the barracks on fire in the distance," he added. Fox News Digital’s Kailey Schuyler, Ashley DiMella and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4260c1197238567836af58 Kelsey Grammer urges Americans to look to Founding Fathers for guidance as nation faces deep divisions te 2026-06-29T12:10:41.151Z Kelsey Grammer urges Americans to look to Founding Fathers for guidance as nation faces deep divisions Kelsey Grammer remains optimistic about America's future. Ahead of America's 250th anniversary of independence, the "Cheers" and "Frasier" alum stars in "Young Washington," in which he plays aristocrat Thomas Fairfax. The historical drama follows George Washington during the French and Indian War, before he became the first U.S. president. As debates over America's future continue to intensify, the actor told Fox News Digital that the nation's Founding Fathers still offer a blueprint for overcoming division and preserving the American Dream. KELSEY GRAMMER, NOW A DAD OF EIGHT AT 70, SHARES THE PARENTING LESSON HE DIDN’T GRASP AS A YOUNG FATHER "This is something I've been sorting through for a while now, but I do think the greatest hope for any future wisdom in America has already been written in the actions and words of our Founding Fathers," he explained. "We need to look to them for the guidance that they have, that we have today, to become the great nation that they dreamed of," the 71-year-old urged.  "We can share that dream. It’s a dream that still holds up. It’s a dream that holds up for everyone. No matter what your origin is, the diversity that we all talk about, this is a unifying concept about what greatness is in a nation, and it has to do with us all being equal." "And it doesn't mean there's an equal result — it just means we have an equal opportunity to carve out our happiness," he added. WATCH: KELSEY GRAMMER: AMERICA'S FOUNDERS STILL HOLD THE KEY TO UNITY When asked what one American quality he hopes never goes out of style, Grammer beamed and replied, "Optimism." Grammer's connection to Washington's story dates back more than 40 years. In 1984, he appeared as Lt. Stewart in the CBS miniseries "George Washington," one of his earliest television roles before landing "Cheers" later that year. Nearly two decades later, he portrayed Washington in the 2003 TV movie "Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor." In 2022, he further explored the nation's founding era as host of Fox Nation's "Historic Battles for America," an eight-part series examining the military conflicts that helped shape the United States. He returned to Washington's legacy as host and executive producer of Fox Nation's 2024 docudrama "George: Rise of a Revolutionary." WATCH: KELSEY GRAMMER-HOSTED FOX NATION DOCUSERIES SHOWCASES UNIQUE SIDE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON But after spending decades studying the man on the dollar bill, one question still lingered. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER When asked what he would ask Washington if given the chance to sit down with him, Grammer laughed. "Did you really chop down the cherry tree?" he asked. The question refers to one of the most enduring legends in American history. According to the tale, a young Washington received a hatchet and accidentally chopped down his father's prized cherry tree. When confronted, he supposedly confessed, saying, "I cannot tell a lie, Pa; you know I cannot tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet." Rather than punish his son, Washington's father was said to be so impressed by the boy's honesty that he forgave him. The story perfectly captures the qualities Americans have long associated with Washington — integrity, humility and moral courage. There is just one problem: Historians say there is no evidence it ever happened. The anecdote first appeared years after Washington's death in an 1806 biography by Mason Locke Weems, a traveling bookseller and clergyman, who used Washington's life to teach moral lessons to young readers. Though likely apocryphal, the cherry tree story endured, helping transform the nation's first president into an American folk hero. LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS "I don't know," Grammer said. "I doubt he chopped down a cherry tree unless he thought it was a dying tree. I mean, it would’ve been a pretty silly thing to do." "What the hell were you thinking?" he joked. "I say that to my sons all the time. That seems to be a universal question for most fathers to their sons, ‘What were you thinking?’" Grammer previously told Page Six Hollywood that today's politicians could learn a thing or two from the nation's first president. "George Washington was not particularly tolerant of fools," he told the outlet. "He stood up against stuff that he thought was whimsical, or not particularly focused on what really saves the people. I don’t think he was a fan of big government. I think he was a fan of small government." "He was humble enough to say, ‘I am not perfect, but I am not going to quit,’" Grammer shared. "That’s what I’d like to see in Washington, [DC], honestly." Ahead of July 4, Angel Studios announced it had partnered with the U.S. Department of State to screen "Young Washington" at U.S. embassies around the world. "One of the privileges of playing Thomas Fairfax was portraying a mentor who recognized potential in a young George Washington long before the world knew his name," Grammer said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital. "In this film, we see what Fairfax saw — a young man wrestling with responsibility, ambition, failure, and purpose. That humanity is what makes his eventual greatness so inspiring. As this film travels to embassies around the world on the eve of America’s 250th anniversary, I hope audiences are reminded that freedom is not just an inheritance, but a responsibility to be carried forward by every generation." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4260ad197238567836af4f King Charles becomes first British monarch to publicly disclose tax payments, revealing $39.6M bill te 2026-06-29T12:10:21.702Z King Charles becomes first British monarch to publicly disclose tax payments, revealing $39.6M bill King Charles III made history this week by becoming the first reigning British monarch to publicly disclose how much he pays in taxes. Buckingham Palace revealed the king's voluntary tax payments as part of its annual financial reports released Thursday. The monarch is not legally required to pay income or capital gains tax but does so voluntarily under a longstanding arrangement. The unprecedented disclosure also included the first public release of Prince William's voluntary tax payments and was presented as part of the palace's effort to increase transparency around royal finances. The financial reports included the Sovereign Grant Annual Report and a new "Royal Finances" explainer. While the documents revealed summary tax payments, they stopped short of publishing complete tax returns or detailing the king's full income and wealth. KING CHARLES, PRINCE WILLIAM UNDER FIRE FOR ALLEGEDLY MAKING 'SECRET MILLIONS' FROM CHARITIES, PUBLIC SERVICES From Charles' record-setting tax disclosure to new details about William's finances and the future of Buckingham Palace, here's what we learned from the newly released royal financial documents. Following his ascension to the throne in 2022 after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Charles has paid more than 30 million pounds (about $39.6 million) in taxes. According to the reports, Charles paid 12.9 million pounds (about $17 million) in voluntary income and capital gains taxes for 2024-25 and 11.7 million pounds (about $15.4 million) for 2023-24. PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE MIDDLETON QUIETLY BUILDING TRUSTED TEAM FOR ‘INEVITABLE TRANSITION’: EXPERTS In a statement to The Guardian prior to the release of the annual financial reports, the palace addressed the decision to publish the king's tax information for the first time and pointed out that he had adopted a similar practice while serving as Prince of Wales. "While this is the first time a monarch has shared this personal tax information, you may recall it was similarly released by His Majesty when he was Prince of Wales," the palace said. "The decision to do so as sovereign has come at the express wish of the king himself, as part of the adaptations carried across since accession." KING CHARLES’ CANCER, KATE MIDDLETON PHOTOSHOP DRAMA: TOP 10 ROYAL BOMBSHELLS OF 2024 Although King Charles is exempt from paying income tax and capital gains tax as sovereign, he continues a voluntary practice established by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 following public scrutiny over royal finances. Under an agreement with the United Kingdom's government, the monarch pays taxes on relevant private income despite having no legal obligation to do so. Much of Charles' private income comes from the Duchy of Lancaster, a private estate consisting of land, property and investments that provides income to the reigning monarch. KATE MIDDLETON IS 'THE GLUE' WHEN KING CHARLES, PRINCE WILLIAM 'DON'T SEE EYE TO EYE': EXPERT Per the reports, the Duchy generated 27.5 million pounds (about $36.3 million) in income for the king in 2023-24 and 26.8 million pounds (about $35.3 million) in 2024-25. The latest financial documents mark the first time Prince William has publicly revealed his tax payments. The 44-year-old royal's tax bill largely stems from income generated by the Duchy of Cornwall, which he inherited when he became Prince of Wales in 2022. PRINCE WILLIAM WAS SHUT DOWN BY KING CHARLES AFTER FAMILY STRUGGLES LEFT HIM ‘SHAKEN TO THE CORE’: BOOK Though William continued the practice of voluntarily paying income and capital gains tax on his income after becoming Prince of Wales, he did not previously disclose the amounts. William's decision not to reveal his 2023-24 tax bill previously drew media attention because it broke with Charles' decades-long practice. Per the new documents, William paid 7.76 million pounds (about $10.2 million) in 2024-25 and 8.34 million pounds (about $11 million) in 2023-24, bringing his total tax bill to more than 20 million pounds (about $26.3 million) since becoming Prince of Wales and inheriting the Duchy of Cornwall estate. PRINCE WILLIAM BRANDED 'OUT OF TOUCH' AS EXPERTS INSIST FUTURE KING ‘READS THE ROOM’ FOR YOUNGER GENERATION According to the Duchy of Cornwall's annual reports, the estate generated a 23.6 million-pound (about $31.1 million) surplus in 2023-24 and a 22.9 million-pound (about $30.2 million) surplus in 2024-25. James Chalmers, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, said during a Thursday briefing that, based on annual media rankings, Charles' 2024-25 tax bill would likely place him among the U.K.'s top 100 taxpayers. Chalmers made the comparison to illustrate the scale of the king's tax bill after the palace released the figures for the first time. KING CHARLES' CHICKEN COOP AT HIGHGROVE HAS A NAME THAT WILL MAKE YOU DO A DOUBLE TAKE Ahead of the release of the Sovereign Grant Annual Report and the new Royal Finances summary, Buckingham Palace said the expanded financial disclosures were part of a broader effort to increase transparency and public understanding of how the monarchy is funded. "Our aim is to explain all elements of royal finances in a way that further enhances clarity and accessibility, while also placing it in its historical and constitutional context," a palace spokesperson told The Guardian. "In order to constantly improve, and to encourage wider understanding of our accountability, the royal household has been considering options to enhance this transparency still further – and can today announce additional measures in keeping with our public service priorities," the spokesperson added. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER "To put it simply: we continue to modernize and evolve." While the disclosures revealed how much Charles and William paid in voluntary taxes, they did not provide a complete picture of the royals' finances. LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Though the reports disclosed some information about income from the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall, they did not include complete tax returns, detailed tax calculations, itemized deductions, capital gains or a comprehensive accounting of Charles' and William's overall wealth. The Sovereign Grant report confirmed that Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, plan to remain at Clarence House, where they have lived since marrying in 2005, after Buckingham Palace's multiyear renovation is complete. Instead, Buckingham Palace will continue serving as the monarchy's official headquarters, hosting state occasions, ceremonial events and administrative offices rather than becoming the royal couple's primary residence. The newly released reports do not include tax information for 2025-26 because the figures are still being audited. Buckingham Palace said those numbers are not yet available. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a425e57197238567836af04 Families watch in horror as skydiving plane crashes in France, killing all 11 aboard te 2026-06-29T12:00:23.611Z Families watch in horror as skydiving plane crashes in France, killing all 11 aboard Families watched in horror as a skydiving plane crashed in France moments after takeoff Sunday, killing all 11 people aboard, according to French officials. The single-engine Pilatus PC-6 crashed shortly after taking off from the Nancy-Essey Airfield near the city of Nancy in northeastern France. Officials said the victims included five skydiving instructors, five first-time jumpers and the pilot. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said some victims' relatives watched the aircraft fall from the sky. "Some of the victims' families witnessed the aircraft falling with their own eyes," Nuñez said. "So there is tremendous emotion and an even greater psychological trauma." MISSOURI SKYDIVING PLANE CRASH THAT KILLED ALL 12 ABOARD IS A 'DEVASTATING LOSS,' COMPANY SAYS Meurthe-et-Moselle Prefect Yves Séguy said the aircraft suffered an apparent malfunction and "fell almost vertically," narrowly missing a populated area after crashing roughly 300 yards from the runway. Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 showed the aircraft banked left after takeoff before disappearing from radar less than a minute into the flight. France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), the country's aviation accident investigation agency, said on X that it had opened a safety investigation into the crash involving the Pilatus PC-6. The agency said four investigators and one first-response investigator were dispatched to the scene. MISSOURI SKYDIVING PLANE CRASH THAT KILLED ALL 12 ABOARD IS A 'DEVASTATING LOSS,' COMPANY SAYS Authorities have not determined what caused the crash, and officials cautioned that it is too early to speculate while investigators examine the wreckage. Nancy Mayor Mathieu Klein called the crash "an immense shock that has plunged the Greater Nancy area into mourning" in a Facebook post, offering condolences to the victims' families and those who witnessed the tragedy. Klein said he visited the crash site alongside regional officials and praised the "remarkable professionalism and commitment" of rescue, medical and security personnel. He also announced that Greater Nancy would open a gathering space at Marcel Picot Stadium where residents could pay their respects and show solidarity with the victims' families. MISSOURI SKYDIVING PLANE CRASH THAT KILLED ALL 12 ABOARD IS A 'DEVASTATING LOSS,' COMPANY SAYS The Meurthe-et-Moselle prefecture said it activated a public information center Sunday afternoon to assist victims' families and said the hotline would reopen Monday morning as recovery efforts and the investigation continue. Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot described the crash as the country's deadliest skydiving aviation accident in roughly three decades. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4259a6197238567836ae78 Kendal Grey captures WWE NXT Women's Championship at The Great American Bash te 2026-06-29T11:40:22.191Z Kendal Grey captures WWE NXT Women's Championship at The Great American Bash Kendal Grey came into her match against Lola Vice as the up-and-coming rookie ready to make a major splash and put the rest of the WWE NXT roster on notice at The Great American Bash. She stepped into the ring against the NXT women’s champion and hoped that, by the end of Sunday night, she would leave the WWE Performance Center as the new title holder. Grey, donning Kurt Angle-inspired gear, got it done. COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL Grey and Vice were sprawled out on the mat, attempting to pin one another. Both competitors got their shoulders up at the last second. The two traded forearm shots. Grey ran toward Vice, avoiding the spinning backfist. She used the middle turnbuckle to hit the Shades of Grey on Vice. She then pinned Vice for the victory. The celebration with WWE women’s speed champion Wren Sinclair and her family began. Grey picked up the NXT Women’s Championship on her third try, dispatching Vice, whose reign as champ came to an end after 85 days. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Grey has only been on the NXT roster since April. She was the WWE Evolve women’s champion for 146 days before she was promoted to NXT. She got her first shot at the NXT Women’s Championship at New Year’s Evil but lost to Jacy Jayne. At Stand & Deliver, she lost in a triple threat to Jayne and Vice, who won the title. Now, after attempt No. 3, Grey can finally call herself the NXT women’s champion. Vice is still the AAA mixed tag team champion with Mr. Iguana. She’s appeared on AAA a bunch recently, signaling a possible program in the Mexican promotion coming soon. For now, Grey will have to see who comes after the NXT Women’s Championship. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42574d197238567836ae2b US military touts work to assist in Venezuela following deadly earthquakes te 2026-06-29T11:30:21.271Z US military touts work to assist in Venezuela following deadly earthquakes The U.S. military has been working to assist in Venezuela after the South American nation was rocked by deadly earthquakes last week. "At the direction of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), U.S. military capabilities continue arriving in Venezuela today to support ongoing U.S. earthquake relief efforts requested by the Venezuelan government and led by the U.S. State Department," SOUTHCOM said in a Sunday press release regarding the relief efforts. "SOUTHCOM operations are completely self-sustaining, with personnel on the ground requiring zero local resources as they work tirelessly to deliver critical relief to the people of Venezuela," SOUTHCOM noted. Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez indicated Sunday that the death toll from the earthquakes had reached 1,450. AMERICAN RESCUE TEAMS PULL INFANT ALIVE FROM RUBBLE IN VENEZUELA DAYS AFTER DEVASTATING TWIN EARTHQUAKES "Marines on the ground, saving lives," SOUTHCOM declared in a Sunday post on X. "U.S. Marines in Venezuela are supporting U.S. and international first responders during search and rescue efforts in areas hardest-hit by the earthquakes," the post, which included several photos, continued. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PLEDGES $150M IN AID, DEPLOYS NAVY WARSHIPS AFTER DEADLY VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES "The @DeptofWar continues to work closely with the @StateDept to support earthquake relief efforts and deliver assistance to the Venezuelan communities of greatest need. At the direction of #SOUTHCOM, U.S. military forces are supporting U.S. disaster assistance to the people of Venezuela in the aftermath of the June 24, 2026, earthquakes," the post noted. ARGENTINE SOCCER PLAYER LUCAS TREJO LOSES WIFE, TWO CHILDREN IN VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKE BUILDING COLLAPSE: REPORT "Racing against the clock to save lives in Venezuela: First responders assist a U.S. Marine climbing through rubble during a search for survivors in earthquake-damaged structures," SOUTHCOM wrote in a different post on X. "Operating day and night, these crews continue to support international search and rescue operations across the hardest-hit communities." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4254f7197238567836adde Mamdani-backed socialists look to take New York playbook nationwide and more top headlines te 2026-06-29T11:20:23.713Z Mamdani-backed socialists look to take New York playbook nationwide and more top headlines 1. Mamdani-backed socialists look to take NYC playbook nationwide 2. Seven arrested after National Mall vandalism  3. US, Iran agree to stand down, continue negotiations DISASTER ZONE — Survivors blast officials for eating arepas and posing while bodies lay buried. Continue reading … BACK IN PLAY — Alex Murdaugh returns to court as defense argues for retrial move after clerk scandal poisoned jury pool. Continue reading … DEADLY ATTACK — Trio accused of fatally stabbing Texas mother of 5 in broad daylight. Continue reading … FATAL FLIGHT — Aircraft 'fell almost vertically,' killing 11 and barely missing a neighborhood. Continue reading … LOSING BET — Dave Ramsey’s daughter warns of money habit ‘taking down a generation’. Continue reading … -- DC CLASH — Trump floats seizing federal control if socialist wins the capital's mayoral race. Continue reading … CLOSE CALL — Senator taken to hospital after driver's medical emergency triggers car crash. Continue reading … EXIT STAGE LEFT — Biden's latest awkward stage moment goes viral after Democratic gala speech. Continue reading … SILICON SQUEEZE — AOC targets tech giants for breakup over surging processor costs and AI strain. Continue reading … Click here for more cartoons…   CONTESTED GROUND — DHS chief clashes with Tapper over Haiti deportations after Supreme Court ruling. Continue reading … DIGITAL FOOTPRINT — Deleted posts trashing Harris, interracial couples and Old Glory haunt Dem candidate. Continue reading … PARTY POLITICS — Mamdani claims democratic socialists can win ‘anywhere’ as Democrats feud over party’s future. Continue reading … PRAYER PENALTY — Orthodox Jew penalized thousands of dollars for hosting religious meetings in home. Continue reading … CHAD WOLF — America cannot ignore China’s economic attack on US industry. Continue reading …  JOE ABRAHAM — Famed economists warned us about big government power. Katie paid the ultimate price. Continue reading … -- OPEN SEASON — Caitlin Clark controversy explodes as WNBA faces brutal timeline of mistreatment of star. Continue reading … STILL FRESH — Archaeologists uncover freeze-dried potatoes older than the US in 'excellent' condition. Continue reading … PAPER TRAIL — Singer baffled after album artwork shredded as packing for Taylor Swift merch. Continue reading … AMERICAN CULTURE QUIZ — Test yourself on cruise controversies and wedding whispers. Take the quiz here … Tune in to hear how one songwriter turned chart-topping country hits into an off-Broadway musical celebrating the pursuit of the American dream. Check it out ... What's it looking like in your neighborhood? Continue reading…   Facebook Instagram YouTube Twitter LinkedIn      Fox News First Fox News Opinion Fox News Lifestyle Fox News Entertainment (FOX411) Fox Business Fox Weather Fox Sports Tubi Fox News Go Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Tuesday. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4252c5197238567836ad96 Tony D'Angelo retains WWE NXT Championship at The Great American Bash te 2026-06-29T11:11:01.975Z Tony D'Angelo retains WWE NXT Championship at The Great American Bash Tony D’Angelo came into his NXT Championship title defense against Naraku at The Great American Bash on Sunday with a bandage over his eye. D’Angelo and Naraku’s contract signing led to a fireball into the champion’s face. D’Angelo was feeling the effects of the madness created by Naraku but he wasn’t going to let it stop him from trying to achieve his goal – defend the NXT Championship. COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL The champion started off hot. He speared Naraku through a retaining wall, getting the edge early. Naraku wasn’t going to just sit back and take it. He took control of the match and tried to take advantage of D’Angelo’s eyesight issue. When the referee was going to call for the bell, D’Angelo made clear he wasn’t about to throw in the towel because of his eye. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM D’Angelo got back into the match and hit Naraku with a Dead to Rights. He pinned him for the win. D’Angelo only won the NXT Championship for the first time back at Stand & Deliver. His reign has lasted at least 85 days and it will increase going into the brand’s Tuesday episode later in the week. Who challenges him next is anyone’s guess. He might get Mason Rook next as the newcomer looks to step up and make a name for himself. So far, D’Angelo has dispatched every opponent who has made an effort to fight for the NXT Championship. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4252b2197238567836ad8d Socialism is only a symptom. Republicans can’t risk ignoring the real problem te 2026-06-29T11:10:42.515Z Socialism is only a symptom. Republicans can’t risk ignoring the real problem The left isn’t embracing socialism. It’s rejecting the status quo. The political world woke up after Tuesday’s election asking the same question: Is the Democratic Party lurching toward socialism? Maybe. DEMOCRATS' NEW-WAVE SOCIALISTS ARE WINNING PRIMARIES BUT FACE A HARSH REALITY IN GENERAL ELECTIONS But that’s not the question that matters. The question that matters is this: Why are more voters willing to give socialism a look in the first place? Because if Republicans answer that question incorrectly, they risk making precisely the same mistake Democrats made in 2016. KHANNA TORCHES DEMOCRATS FOR RUNNING 'STATUS QUO' CANDIDATES, ADMITS WORKING-CLASS VOTERS WERE ‘SHAFTED’ The rise of President Donald Trump bewildered much of the political establishment. Too many observers looked at his supporters and saw only the man. They missed the message. What many Trump voters were saying was simple: The system isn’t working for me anymore. They felt ignored by political leaders, looked down upon by cultural elites and abandoned by institutions they no longer trusted. They believed that the people in charge either couldn’t or wouldn’t fix what was broken. FOX NEWS POLL: 'RESILIENT DISCONTENT' DEFINES THE US MOOD AT 250TH ANNIVERSARY Trump didn’t create that frustration. He harnessed it. Today, a remarkably similar frustration is coursing through younger and more progressive voters, even if it is leading them to very different political conclusions. Listen to the language of the left’s ascendant voices. New York Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani has made affordability the centerpiece of his politics. "My focus is on the cost-of-living crisis," he said during his campaign. Elsewhere, he has argued that he is running to "lower the cost of living for working-class New Yorkers." Notice what is absent from those appeals. There is little talk of Marx. Little discussion of economic theory. Instead, there is a relentless focus on everyday struggle: rent, groceries, childcare, transportation, and the increasingly widespread feeling that a middle-class life is slipping out of reach. Claire Valdez, one of the Democratic Socialists backed by Mamdani who prevailed Tuesday, framed her campaign in similarly populist terms. "We are more powerful than the billionaires and bosses," she told supporters in the closing days of the race. Darializa Avila Chevalier spoke in much the same language, arguing that too many working people feel trapped in an economy that benefits those at the top while everyone else falls further behind. Across these campaigns, the message was remarkably consistent: ordinary people believe the system is no longer delivering for them. For many younger voters, this isn’t ideology. It’s biography. They look at homeownership and see fantasy. They look at college debt and see decades of payments. They look at healthcare costs, rent and everyday expenses and wonder whether they will ever enjoy the economic security their parents took for granted. And increasingly, they have lost faith that the institutions that shaped previous generations can solve these problems. That loss of faith matters. Because when people conclude that the existing system no longer works, they go searching for alternatives. Sometimes those alternatives emerge on the right. Sometimes they emerge on the left. But the emotional fuel is often strikingly similar: anger, frustration, disillusionment and a deep sense that the promise of America is slipping away. This is where Republicans should proceed carefully. If socialism worries you, condemning the people drawn to it is unlikely to change their minds. Democrats spent years dismissing Trump supporters as misguided, irrational or morally suspect. In doing so, they often ignored the underlying frustrations that made Trump’s message resonate in the first place. Conservatives should avoid repeating that mistake. People rarely embrace political movements because they have spent countless hours studying ideology. More often, they embrace movements because those movements speak to their fears, validate their frustrations, and offer hope that change is possible. Socialism is not the disease. It is a symptom. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION The deeper problem is the growing belief, shared by Americans on both the left and the right, that the current system no longer delivers a fair shot, a secure future, or a reason to trust the institutions that govern our lives. Americans are angry. Some are expressing that anger through populism on the right. Others are expressing it through democratic socialism on the left. The labels are different. The dissatisfaction is not. And any political movement that ignores that reality does so at its own peril. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM LEE HARTLEY CARTER Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42529f197238567836ad84 America's lifespan has doubled since 1776 — experts reveal what changed te 2026-06-29T11:10:23.066Z America's lifespan has doubled since 1776 — experts reveal what changed Americans today live roughly twice as long, on average, as they did when the Declaration of Independence was signed. When the nation was founded in 1776, life expectancy was around 35 to 40 years old, historians estimate. However, someone who survived childhood in colonial America often lived into their 60s or even 70s. Today, the average lifespan is about 79 years old, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. FILTERED WATER AT SPECIFIC AGES COULD ADD MONTHS TO YOUR LIFESPAN DECADES LATER, NEW STUDY FINDS The improvement in lifespan over the centuries has been largely attributed to reduced deaths in infancy and from infectious diseases, multiple researchers have stated. Advances in sanitation, clean water, nutrition, vaccination and medical care have also contributed to lower mortality rates. "Much of this vast discrepancy is related to the extremely high rates of infant, childhood and maternal mortality," Dr. Omer Awan, physician and professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told Fox News Digital. "Childbirth was dangerous, and without antibiotics and vaccines, many infectious diseases, such as measles, smallpox and pneumonia, were deadly," he went on. "Now we have cleaner water and sanitation, vaccines and antibiotics that have significantly prolonged life." Advances in treatments of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, cancer and diabetes have also significantly prolonged life, the Harvard-trained doctor noted. WANT TO AGE BETTER? RESEARCHERS SAY 4-MINUTE ROUTINE MAY HELP PREVENT DANGEROUS FALLS According to the CDC, improved prevention and treatment of high blood pressure has helped reduce deaths from heart disease and stroke, two of the nation's leading causes of death. Mia Kazanjian, MD, a Stanford-trained body and breast radiologist with an interest in longevity who is based in Greenwich, Connecticut, attributes the shorter life expectancy in the 1700s to suboptimal sanitation, poor hygiene and limited medical treatments. "Many babies and children died from infections like dysentery, diphtheria, scarlet fever and pneumonia," she told Fox News Digital. Children who survived into adulthood often succumbed to infections like tuberculosis, cholera and typhoid fever. Maternal mortality has also fallen dramatically over the past century due to advances in antibiotics, blood transfusions and safer obstetric care, according to the CDC. Kazanjian pointed to several key advancements over the centuries that contributed to longevity improvements, including the development of early municipal water systems that provided cleaner drinking sources. "Sewer system networks were built, the first in Brooklyn in 1857," she said. "These allowed people to drink clean water and dispose of waste. Indoor plumbing with toilets and bathrooms became more widespread." At this time, people’s understanding of disease started to improve, and public health measures were developed to minimize risk. During the late 1800s, germ theory became widely accepted in medicine and public health, helping shape the Sanitary Era, the expert said. COULD 'HUMANMAXXING' ACTUALLY HELP YOU LIVE LONGER? HERE'S WHAT EXPERTS SAY "The Federal Quarantine Act of 1878 allowed the government to prevent spread of infection from out of the country, from epidemics like yellow fever," she said. "Food safety regulations went into effect in 1906, when the Pure Food and Drug Act and Federal Meat Inspection Act were passed." By 1900, the average life expectancy was about 49 years old, according to the National Vitals Statistics Report. Another major landmark in increasing lifespan came with the development of vaccines and antibiotics to prevent and treat disease, Kazanjian noted. "Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine in 1796, Pasteur created vaccines for rabies and anthrax in the 1880s, and several scientists created vaccines for polio, measles, influenza, mumps and rubella in the mid 1900s," she said. "Antibiotics proliferated in the 1940s, specifically penicillin and tetracycline. By 1950, the US life expectancy was about 68 years old." FINDING THE SLEEP 'SWEET SPOT' COULD HELP YOU LIVE LONGER, STUDY SUGGESTS From the mid-20th century to 2014, life expectancy continued to rise, Kazanjian said, largely due to "major gains" in medical knowledge of ways to prevent heart disease and stroke. Public health campaigns promoting smoking cessation also played a role, as declining smoking rates helped reduce deaths from lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, according to the CDC. "Motor vehicles became safer and carseats became staples," Kazanjian noted. According to the National Institutes of Health, advances in emergency medical services and trauma care have substantially reduced deaths after serious injuries. Development of pharmaceuticals for cardiovascular disease and cancer also contributed to longer lives, according to Kazanjian. Modern longevity is more focused on preventing chronic disease and less about surviving childhood infections, noted Nneoma Oparaji, MD, a triple board-certified media physician specializing in obesity, lifestyle and internal medicine. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER "The next frontier will be less about living longer, but more about living healthier longer," Houston-based Oparaji told Fox News Digital. Kazanjian pointed out that between 2014 and 2026, there has been a fall and a rise in lifespan. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ "The fall was due to young adult deaths from drug overdoses, particularly the opioid epidemic, suicides and alcohol-related deaths," she told Fox News Digital. The COVID-19 pandemic reduced U.S. life expectancy by more than two years between 2019 and 2021 before it began recovering, CDC data shows. Although U.S. life expectancy has rebounded since the pandemic, it remains below that of other high-income countries, largely because of higher death rates from chronic diseases, substance use and other preventable causes, according to KFF. CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES Obesity rates also continue to climb, contributing to higher numbers of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, Kazanjian said. "Most concerning is the rise in obesity in children," she added. Changing cancer trends are also affecting lifespan among younger adults, data shows. "My generation, the millennials, has seen an unprecedented rise in young adult cancers, particularly colon and breast," Kazanjian said, citing factors that include sedentary lifestyles, poor diet, alcohol, obesity and smoking, among others. The doctor said she aims to raise public health awareness of ways to improve lifespan. "We need to get off our screens, move around more, eat a whole food, plant-based diet, sleep seven hours a night, do our screening exams, and avoid toxins like alcohol and cigarettes." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a424dec197238567836ad0a AI may spot deadly heart risk in a routine ECG te 2026-06-29T10:50:20.503Z AI may spot deadly heart risk in a routine ECG A routine heart test may be hiding a warning sign that doctors have missed for years. That is the big takeaway from new UC Berkeley research published in Nature. Researchers trained an artificial intelligence model to study ECGs, also called EKGs, and look for patterns tied to sudden cardiac death. This is the scary part. Sudden cardiac arrest can strike people with known heart problems. However, it can also hit younger athletes and people who never knew they were at risk. Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans die after cardiac arrest. Once it happens outside a hospital, survival can drop fast. CPR and a defibrillator can save lives, but timing is everything. Now, AI may help doctors spot some patients earlier, while their hearts still look normal by today's common tests. Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report DIABETES DRUG COULD SLASH RISK OF FATAL HEART CONDITION IN ONE GROUP, SCIENTISTS REVEAL An ECG records the electrical activity of your heart. It creates the familiar spikes and waves doctors review to check rhythm and other heart clues. For this study, researchers used more than 440,000 ECGs from Sweden. They paired those scans with death certificates and health records. Then they trained the AI model to look for waveform patterns linked to sudden cardiac death. After that, they tested the model on separate patient data from the U.S. and Taiwan. That step is important because medical AI often looks good in one dataset, then fails in the real world. Here, the model held up across very different health systems. Doctors often use a measurement called left ventricular ejection fraction, or LVEF, to judge risk. In plain terms, it shows how much blood the heart pushes out with each beat. If that number falls below a certain threshold, a patient may qualify for an implantable defibrillator. That device can shock the heart back into rhythm during a dangerous event. However, this method leaves big gaps. Many people who die suddenly never had that deeper heart evaluation. Others may have a heart that pumps normally but still be at risk for a dangerous rhythm problem. The UC Berkeley model found a high-risk group with a 7% annual rate of sudden cardiac death. The standard reduced LVEF group had a 4.6% annual rate. Even more striking, most patients flagged by the AI were missed by the LVEF method. In other words, a routine ECG may hold warning signs that current screening overlooks. The researchers did more than ask AI for a risk score. They also tried to understand what the model saw. That is important because medical AI can become a black box if doctors get an answer with no clear reason behind it. To dig deeper, the team used another AI system to compare low-risk and high-risk ECG patterns. Think of it as a way to see how a normal-looking heartbeat pattern could shift into a higher-risk one. That comparison pointed to a visible feature in one part of the ECG called aVL. This is one of the standard views doctors use to read the heart's electrical activity. The feature showed up in the QRS complex, the part of the ECG that reflects the heart's main electrical signal during each beat. Researchers say this signal strongly predicted sudden cardiac death. They also say it had not been previously described in medical literature. That raises a fascinating possibility. AI may help doctors make better predictions and spot warning signs humans have missed. LATEST COVID VACCINE MAY HAVE UNEXPECTED HEALTH BENEFIT, STUDY SUGGESTS An implantable defibrillator can save a life. Still, putting one in the wrong patient has risks. The procedure can be invasive and costly. Also, many devices placed under current rules never need to fire. So doctors face a brutal challenge. Miss the patient who needs the device and the result can be deadly. Implant too many and patients face procedures they may never need. This new AI tool could help narrow that gap. It may flag patients who need closer monitoring before doctors consider bigger steps. The next phase is already underway. Researchers are working with health systems in Sweden, Taiwan and the U.S. to test the algorithm on hospital ECG databases. If the tool flags a scan as high risk, doctors could contact the patient. The patient may then wear a heart-monitoring patch. That could reveal more about the dangerous rhythm before it turns fatal. There is another side to this story. Medical AI needs huge datasets to work well. Researchers said it took about a decade to compile the data used in this study. That tells you how hard serious clinical AI can be. But it also raises a fair question. Who controls the data when your scan helps train a medical model? Hospitals, researchers and AI companies need clear guardrails. Patients should know how their health records get protected, shared and used. Before sharing more health data, review health app permissions, logins and privacy settings. Health apps can hold sensitive information, so small privacy choices can have big consequences. Better prediction can save lives. However, trust will decide how quickly people accept these tools. This AI tool is promising, but you cannot use it at home today. You cannot upload an ECG and get a personal risk score. Doctors are still testing it before it becomes part of routine care. Still, the idea is powerful. A routine heart test you may have already had could one day reveal a hidden risk that today's screening might miss. For now, do not ignore warning signs. Fainting, unexplained dizziness, a racing heartbeat or a family history of sudden cardiac death should be discussed with a doctor. A normal checkup does not always mean every heart risk has been ruled out. If your doctor wants you to track blood pressure, compatible cuffs can sync readings with Apple Health. Wearables can also flag some heart-health clues, including possible hypertension alerts, but they do not replace a doctor. Also, know what to do in an emergency. Learn CPR if you can. Look for AEDs at work, school, gyms and public places. When cardiac arrest happens, fast action can help save a life. Your phone holds your email, passwords, photos, banking apps and personal data. In this free CyberGuy Live replay, Kurt the CyberGuy walks you step by step through simple phone security fixes you can do at your own pace. You’ll learn how to improve your privacy settings, spot the latest phone scams, use trusted security tools and walk away with a simple checklist to stay protected. Watch the replay and get our checklist here:CyberGuyLive.com 8 COMMON FOOD PRESERVATIVES LINKED TO HIGHER RISK OF HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND HEART DISEASE This is the kind of AI breakthrough that grabs me because it starts with something so ordinary: a routine ECG. Many of us have had one. You lie back, a few stickers go on your chest and a machine prints out a wave pattern most people never think about again. Now, researchers say AI may be able to find a hidden warning sign in that pattern. That is powerful because sudden cardiac death often gives families no time to prepare and doctors no second chance. However, this tool still needs more testing before it becomes part of everyday care. Doctors need to know it works across more patients. Hospitals need a plan for what happens after an AI alert. Patients also deserve clear privacy protections when their medical scans help train these systems. Still, the idea is hard to ignore. A common heart test could someday help spot danger before a person collapses. That to me is hopeful, unsettling and exactly why this kind of medical AI deserves very close attention. Would you want an AI system scanning your old medical tests for hidden health risks? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com Sign up for my FREE CyberGuy Report Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com.  All rights reserved. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a424b94197238567836acc0 Serena Williams criticizes 'grueling' anti-doping process ahead of Wimbledon return te 2026-06-29T10:40:20.949Z Serena Williams criticizes 'grueling' anti-doping process ahead of Wimbledon return Serena Williams will participate in women’s singles at Wimbledon for the first time since 2022, entering the tournament as a wild card entrant. She’s also in the doubles event with her sister, Venus, for the first time since 2016. The road to get back to professional tennis was a long one. Williams had to go back into the anti-doping pool. When asked about the process on Sunday, the 44-year-old tennis legend called the system "unprofessional" and "unreasonable." ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! "It’s grueling. They changed the rules now. I didn’t know some of the rules. So apparently if you miss a test outside of your window, it still counts as missed. I’m like, I guess I can’t go pick up my kids," she said. "It’s unprofessional. I hate it. I think it’s necessary, but I think a lot of the stuff, if I want to go places outside of my window, I should be able to go without having it count as a missed test." The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) requires players to provide their daily "whereabouts" for no-notice testing. It’s a feature that has come under much scrutiny over the last few weeks. Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, was suspended for four years for refusing an anti-doping test. Williams called the process "unreasonable." CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM "That was a big reason why I didn’t want to come back either because it’s just so hard. I mean, my life is busy, I run a company, I run a VC company, I travel the world. I have children. It’s like I could be in so many different cities so many different times," she said. The ITIA responded to Williams’ comments. "If a tester is unable to reach a player during their allocated hour, then it may well be a ‘strike,’ and three failures could lead to a charge. If a tester is unable to reach a player outside of their allocated hour, it is not considered a strike," the agency said. "There have been no changes to the whereabouts rules in the last few years," the ITIA added. "We understand the system can seem challenging, but it is there to protect players, not to trip them up. If players are unsure or have questions, we would welcome a conversation with them directly or through their agents." Regardless, Williams has said she’s always been willing to comply with the rules. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a424720197238567836ac40 Archaeologists uncover freeze-dried potatoes older than the US in 'excellent' condition te 2026-06-29T10:21:20.717Z Archaeologists uncover freeze-dried potatoes older than the US in 'excellent' condition Archaeologists in Peru recently uncovered an unusual find: freeze-dried potatoes that date back centuries before the United States was even founded. The potatoes, known as chuño, were found at the Tambo Viejo site in the Acarí Valley in southwestern Peru. The discovery was recently published in the Journal of Field Archaeology. The potatoes date back roughly 500 years, to the time of the Inca Empire, according to Phys.org. RESEARCHERS DISCOVER 2,500-YEAR-OLD HONEY RESIDUE IN ANCIENT BRONZE JARS Photos of the ancient food show two wrinkled, brownish, freeze-dried potatoes that still appear to retain their shape and color, looking strikingly like modern-day produce. The preservation of the potatoes is "excellent," said Lidio Valdez, an archaeology professor at the University of Calgary, who led the excavation. Valdez told Fox News Digital that the two freeze-dried potatoes are remarkably similar. "The only difference is the samples found are small, and it seems that over time and due to the aridity of the region, their original size was reduced," he said. "There is no way one can tell their old age from samples." ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH ANCIENT BREAD THAT SURVIVED UNDERGROUND FOR 5,000 YEARS The significance of the discovery, Valdez said, is that it shows the Inca transported food over long distances. "Freeze-dried potatoes can be produced only at high elevations," he said. "Afterward, the chuño were stored in state-controlled warehouses, most of them built also at high elevations." "Because the Inca state carried out countless projects throughout the realm, the tasks involved thousands of workers, who had to be fed by the state. Thus, state officials likely mobilized volumes of chuño from the warehouses, transporting them in llama caravans." At Tambo Viejo, the potatoes were then placed in ceramic vessels and stored underground to avoid food waste. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER Potatoes have high water content, Valdez added, which means they don't survive long "in most places," making Incan preservation methods particularly impressive. "Place a potato somewhere in your kitchen just for a month and see what will happen," he said. "In places with rain and moisture, potatoes will rot quickly. Therefore, freeze-drying was [and] is an effective way to preserve and store them for long periods of time." While freeze-dried potatoes may seem like a specialty ingredient, Valdez said the Inca considered chuño a staple food. "Those who built the empire … palaces, roads and everything else we admire, [like] Machu Picchu … lived off the chuño," he said. "It appears that in Inca times, large volumes of potatoes were cultivated and freeze-dried, then stored in state-controlled warehouses." CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES The archaeologist said he had hoped to learn more about the Inca recording system, known as khipus, because Tambo Viejo was an administrative center. Instead, he was surprised to uncover evidence of ancient food preservation. Valdez described Tambo Viejo as "such a great Inca site," noting that it's been excavated on and off since 2018. "Many wonderful finds have been discovered at the site," he said. "Almost everything found at the site is unprecedented, which makes Tambo Viejo such a unique center." The find adds to a growing number of archaeological discoveries that have shed light on the foods eaten — and preserved — by ancient civilizations. Last year, archaeologists in Italy uncovered preserved food remains in ancient Pompeii, including fruit and fava beans. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ In April, Swiss officials announced the discovery of a charred 2,000-year-old Roman bread loaf unearthed during an excavation in Windisch, marking the first archaeological find of its kind in the country. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42470d197238567836ac37 Alex Murdaugh returns to court as defense argues for retrial move after clerk scandal poisoned jury pool te 2026-06-29T10:21:01.265Z Alex Murdaugh returns to court as defense argues for retrial move after clerk scandal poisoned jury pool Alex Murdaugh’s murder case is headed back to court Monday morning in the shadow of the clerk of court scandal that unraveled his convictions and gave one of America’s most notorious defendants a shot at a second trial. Murdaugh, the disgraced former South Carolina attorney convicted in the 2021 murders of his wife and son before his convictions were overturned, is expected to appear at a 10 a.m. status and scheduling hearing in Lexington County, South Carolina. It will mark Murdaugh’s first court appearance related to his potential retrial since he was sentenced in his sweeping financial crimes cases in March 2023. ALEX MURDAUGH: TIMELINE OF THE ONCE POWERFUL SOUTH CAROLINA LAWYER'S SPECTACULAR DOWNFALL LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST The hearing is not expected to dive into the grisly murders of his wife, Maggie, 52, and their younger son, Paul, 22, who were found shot to death near the dog kennels at the family’s hunting estate, known as Moselle, in June 2021. Instead, the proceeding is expected to focus on scheduling, discovery and other procedural matters as prosecutors and defense attorneys begin mapping out what could become Murdaugh’s second murder trial. But criminal defense attorney and Fox News contributor Donna Rotunno told Fox News Digital that even a procedural hearing could reveal the first major fault lines in the next phase of the case: where the trial will be held and how fast the state can bring Murdaugh back before a jury. ALEX MURDAUGH DEFENSE POINTS TO UNKNOWN MALE DNA IN PUSH FOR NEW TESTING "I think the main thing we’re going to learn is whether or not there’s going to be a change in venue and what the trial dates are looking like," Rotunno said. WATCH: Buster Murdaugh spotted at home after father’s conviction overturned Murdaugh’s defense team has pushed for a venue change out of the circuit, arguing that the legal circus surrounding the case and the misconduct allegations tied to the original trial make it impossible for him to get a fair retrial. Venue changes are typically a steep climb, Rotunno said, because courts often find that wall-to-wall publicity follows a notorious defendant no matter where the case is moved. ALEX MURDAUGH DEFENSE POINTS TO UNKNOWN MALE DNA IN PUSH FOR NEW TESTING "A change of venue is always a difficult task because the court’s position is, no matter where you live, you know about this," she said. "You can read about it. You can watch these trials when they’re televised. So a lot of times courts will say it doesn’t matter if we change the venue." But Murdaugh’s case, she said, is different. His murder convictions were overturned after the South Carolina Supreme Court found improper comments by former Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca "Becky" Hill, whose conduct became the basis for Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial. "I think in this situation, it’s a little bit different, given the fact that you had a clerk in that county basically cause the whole reason we’re having a new trial," Rotunno said. "So I do think, given the appearance of impropriety here, it would probably behoove the court to make the decision for the change of venue." FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X Rotunno said keeping the case in the same county could create problems down the line if Murdaugh were convicted again. "I think if you’re looking at the thought of appeals down the line, if he were to lose in that same county, you may open yourself up to more scrutiny," she said. WATCH: Buster Murdaugh: I do not believe the trial was fair Murdaugh, once a powerful Lowcountry lawyer from a prominent legal dynasty, was convicted in March 2023 of gunning down Maggie and Paul. Prosecutors argued at trial that Murdaugh killed them to gain sympathy and distract from a collapsing web of financial crimes, stolen client money and lies. The case was thrown back into turmoil after allegations surfaced that Hill made improper comments to jurors during the trial. Murdaugh’s defense argued she tampered with the jury to secure a guilty verdict and boost publicity for a book. The court found that Hill was drawn by the "siren call of celebrity" and allowed public attention to overcome her duty. Hill co-authored a book about the proceedings, "Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders," which the lawsuit says earned roughly $100,000 before being withdrawn amid plagiarism allegations. In December 2025 Hill pleaded guilty to four charges: obstruction of justice and perjury for showing a reporter photographs that were sealed court exhibits and then lying about it, plus two counts of misconduct in office for taking bonuses and promoting a book she wrote on the trial through her public office. WATCH: Buster Murdaugh: It took advantage of a jury pool in a very small town LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE The state has maintained that Murdaugh received a fair trial, but the South Carolina Supreme Court reversed the murder and weapons convictions and remanded the case for new proceedings. South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has indicated he hopes to try the case by the end of the year, previously telling Fox News Digital that he plans to try it "as quickly and expeditiously as possible." "Look, I'm being aspirational when I say this, but we would like to try to get this case up before January 2027. That would be our goal," he said. "I think that might be a little overzealous," Rottuno said. She said the timeline will ultimately depend on the judge and whether Murdaugh’s defense team says it can be ready. "I know that they’re definitely exploring a lot of new defense options here, so they may want a little bit more time than that," Rotunno said. "End of the year is only six months away, and you’re talking about holidays. I don’t see that." Murdaugh’s attorneys have already previewed some of the issues they want to raise before any retrial, including a motion to test unknown male DNA reportedly found under Maggie’s fingernails. His defense team also filed a motion to have Murdaugh remain unshackled, but withdrew the motion after prosecutors fired back that the disgraced lawyer "thinks he’s special." "Murdaugh is not just a pre-trial detainee; he is an inmate serving a very long sentence," the state wrote. Prosecutors also argued that Murdaugh should not receive different treatment "simply because the crimes he allegedly committed have received media attention." SEND US A TIP His attorneys fired back that the state’s opposition was "without merit," accused prosecutors of "histrionics" and argued that televised pretrial proceedings could still prejudice prospective jurors if Murdaugh is displayed in shackles. WATCH: There are always two sides of the story: Buster Murdaugh The defense later withdrew the motion, saying Murdaugh did not want to create a distraction before the status conference and wanted the court to focus on issues more central to his defense. "If the State wants to use that for a public spectacle, so be it," the defense wrote. "Mr. Murdaugh will not waste the Court’s time at the upcoming status conference arguing about the optics." SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEW Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4246f9197238567836ac2e DHS chief Mullin clashes with Tapper over Haiti deportations after Supreme Court TPS ruling te 2026-06-29T10:20:41.806Z DHS chief Mullin clashes with Tapper over Haiti deportations after Supreme Court TPS ruling Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin clashed with CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday over deportations to Haiti after the Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump's administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian immigrants. "I understand that. But based on everything I have read, including the U.N. and Human Rights Watch, it doesn’t sound safe for Haitians. More than 8,100 killings documented last year, those weren’t Americans," Tapper said. "Haiti is among the top five countries with the highest rates of rape and sexual abuse, with more than 1,200 cases of sexual violence last year. That’s not Americans; 1.4 million people have been displaced. Those aren’t Americans." "Is there a question in that?" Mullin replied to Tapper's monologue. Tapper began by asking whether all affected migrants would be deported and when removals would start. SUPREME COURT'S LATEST IMMIGRATION RULING WILL CAUSE AMERICANS TO 'DIE AND SUFFER' ATTORNEY WARNS "Will you be deporting all of them?" Tapper asked. "Will they be all deported back to their home countries, Haiti and Syria? And when will these deportations start? Will it be immediately?" Mullin said TPS was not intended to become a permanent immigration status and said beneficiaries had time to pursue other options. "Temporary Protected Status was never intended to be permanent," Mullin said. "The whole time these individuals have been here underneath the Temporary Protected Status, they could have applied for a visa. They could have applied for LPR. They could have applied for different directions." HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEFY TRUMP TO SHIELD HAITIANS FROM DEPORTATION Tapper pressed Mullin on whether Haiti was safe enough for returns, pointing to the State Department's April Level 4 "Do Not Travel" advisory and warnings about crime, terrorism, kidnapping, unrest and limited health care. "That do not travel is not for Haitians," Mullin said. "That’s do not travel for the United States, because they are kidnapping or trying to kidnap individuals from the United States because they feel like their family has the money to pay the ransom." Tapper countered that U.N. and Human Rights Watch reports showed Haitian victims, citing killings, sexual violence and displacement. TRUMP PLANS TO DEPORT IRANIANS TO VIOLENCE-PLAGUED CENTRAL AFRICAN NATION IN NEW DEAL "I understand that," Tapper said. "But based on everything I have read, including the U.N. and Human Rights Watch, it doesn’t sound safe for Haitians." Tapper then asked how deportations could happen while commercial flights to Port-au-Prince are restricted because of gunfire and gang violence. Mullin said DHS has deportation-flight options where commercial travel is limited. "We have several options for deporting individuals, because we have deportation flights, where we can get into areas where maybe commercial travel can’t go to," Mullin said. "We expect to have pretty full flights going back to Haiti and going back to some of these countries where TPS has been eliminated." CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Mullin said the administration would provide travel assistance to migrants who choose to leave. "We will provide the travel for them," Mullin said. "And, like I said, we will give them $2,100 roughly to go back home." The Supreme Court on Thursday reversed lower court orders that delayed TPS terminations for Haiti and Syria. The court said the TPS statute bars judicial review of nonconstitutional claims and that Haitian challengers were unlikely to succeed on an equal protection claim. TPS was created by Congress in 1990 for nationals who cannot safely return home because of armed conflict, disaster or extraordinary temporary conditions. The Supreme Court said Haiti’s TPS designation followed the 2010 earthquake and Syria’s followed the civil war that began in 2011. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4246e6197238567836ac25 Tom Brady gives Raiders harsh 'reality' check after the team won only three games in 2025 te 2026-06-29T10:20:22.357Z Tom Brady gives Raiders harsh 'reality' check after the team won only three games in 2025 The Las Vegas Raiders have had a disappointing few years. The Raiders have not had a winning season, nor have they made the playoffs since 2021. The team hasn’t won more than eight games in that stretch, which concluded with a 3-14 season in 2025. Last year’s futility landed them with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 draft. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! Tom Brady, a minority owner of the Raiders and FOX’s lead color commentator, put the organization on notice in a recent interview on the "Stick to Football" podcast. "I would expect a lot of improvement from where it’s been. Last year, we just underperformed in every area," he said. "And it’s everybody’s fault. That’s the reality. "There’s nobody who did a good job. There’s not one player in the organization, there’s not anybody involved that did the job to the level that it needs to be done at. And everybody needs to improve. And it starts with me, and it filters down to the rest of the players on the field, and they’ve got to go out there, and ultimately they’ve got to perform at a high level." CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Brady said he expected a "massive improvement" all around as the team revamped its personnel from the sidelines down to those playing on the field. He added that with more reps on the field, a good team should be better from the beginning of the year to the end. The team hired Klint Kubiak as its new head coach in the offseason after he helped guide the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl title. The Raiders selected quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the top pick and signed Kirk Cousins to ramp up the competition at the position. The team also signed Tyler Linderbaum, Quay Walker, Kwity Payne, Connor Heyward and Jalen Nailor among others. Las Vegas will open up the season against the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 on Sept. 13. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4242d9197238567836abb2 Celebrate America's 250th Birthday with Summer Deals, Savings and Prizes te 2026-06-29T10:03:05.896Z Celebrate America's 250th Birthday with Summer Deals, Savings and Prizes Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4242c5197238567836aba9 Eleve sus reuniones de verano pensando en la salud: aperitivos, comidas y guarniciones fáciles hechas con uvas frescas y jugosas te 2026-06-29T10:02:45.928Z Eleve sus reuniones de verano pensando en la salud: aperitivos, comidas y guarniciones fáciles hechas con uvas frescas y jugosas Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4242b1197238567836aba0 Eleve sus reuniones de verano pensando en la salud: aperitivos, comidas y guarniciones fáciles hechas con uvas frescas y jugosas te 2026-06-29T10:02:25.959Z Eleve sus reuniones de verano pensando en la salud: aperitivos, comidas y guarniciones fáciles hechas con uvas frescas y jugosas Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42429d197238567836ab97 How to Protect Yourself from a Smartphone Scam te 2026-06-29T10:02:05.993Z How to Protect Yourself from a Smartphone Scam Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42428a197238567836ab8e How to Protect Yourself from a Smartphone Scam te 2026-06-29T10:01:46.025Z How to Protect Yourself from a Smartphone Scam Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a424276197238567836ab82 Jim Rosensweet: Righting the ship te 2026-06-29T10:01:26.055Z Jim Rosensweet: Righting the ship Editor: The letter by Ms. Francis in Thursday’s edition was, in my humble opinion, naive. It suggested that if only those MAGA election deniers would sign up as poll workers, they would see that our elections are well run and… Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a424262197238567836ab79 Carl P. Leubsdorf: Needed — A bipartisan approach to fix Social Security te 2026-06-29T10:01:06.095Z Carl P. Leubsdorf: Needed — A bipartisan approach to fix Social Security Once again, the Social Security system’s managers are warning that the nation’s main retirement fund is running out of money so that, without action, benefits will have to be cut for millions of retirees. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a423b53197238567836aa73 Mamdani-backed socialists look to take New York playbook nationwide after primary victories te 2026-06-29T09:30:59.754Z Mamdani-backed socialists look to take New York playbook nationwide after primary victories Hours after their ballot box victories in a handful of congressional primaries in New York City, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) set their sights west. "Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West," the DSA wrote in a social media post last week. The post came after DSA-aligned Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old far-left community organizer, ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair, and state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, another socialist, won a congressional primary by beating an establishment-backed candidate. The victories by Chevalier and Valdez, who were heavily supported by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, further emboldened the far left as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the Democratic Party. VICTORIES BY MAMDANI-BACKED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES SPOTLIGHTS GROWING RIFT IN DEMOCRATIC PARTY The DSA is now looking to replicate its playbook across the country, starting Tuesday in the Democratic primary in Colorado's 1st Congressional District, a solidly blue seat anchored in Denver that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried by a whopping 56 points in the 2024 election. Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress three decades ago, is facing two primary challenges, including DSA-backed Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate and former attorney born four months after DeGette first took office. Kiros, who lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel, is also supported by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting "Squad" members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB "ELECT ANOTHER SOCIALIST TO CONGRESS ON JUNE 30TH," a DSA social media post states as it urges supporters to lend a hand to the Kiros campaign. The far left is also training its firepower in two high-profile statewide Democratic primaries in early August in key battleground states: the Senate showdown in Michigan and Wisconsin's gubernatorial contest. DSA-aligned Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director who unsuccessfully ran for governor eight years ago, is one of three major candidates trying to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. LURCHING LEFT: MAMDANI-BACKED CANDIDATES OUST ESTABLISHMENT DEMOCRATS And Wisconsin state Rep. Francesca Hong is on the rise among a crowded field of candidates in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. "It’s a great day to be a democratic socialist," the DSA-aligned Hong posted on X last week. "Wisconsin is next!" Mamdani's stunning Democratic mayoral primary victory a year ago sent political shockwaves across the country and cemented the DSA as a major political force. A year later, Mamdani's kingmaker status was further enhanced by last week's results in New York City. Possibly looking to the national stage, the mayor said, "My goal is to make America a place that every American can afford." Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, a veteran of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, told Fox News Digital, "Some of the DSA and the majority of the left wing of the Democratic Party appear to be the only ones truly engaging in a conversation about economic populism in a period where costs continue to soar, and there is seemingly no plan from anyone in Washington to rectify that problem. You can see why it's appealing." BERNIE SANDERS, DSA REVEAL DEMANDS FOR DEM PARTY AFTER SOCIALISTS SWEEP NEW YORK ELECTIONS It's not just strategists from the progressive wing of the party that acknowledge the increasing power of the far left. Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, noted, "There is enormous energy around the far left in very, very blue places, like New York City" and that "they are succeeding in their mission to oust incumbents or mainstream Democrats from blue seats and make them bluer." But outside what has been labeled New York City's "commie corridor," which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens, where voters in recent years have consistently backed far-left and socialist candidates, more mainstream Democrats prevailed in Tuesday's primaries. In the high-profile showdown to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler in Manhattan, former Nadler staffer Micah Lasher came out on top. Miles north of New York City in the state's swing 17th Congressional District, Army veteran Cait Conley won the primary and will challenge GOP Rep. Mike Lawler in a key midterm contest that is one of a handful which will determine if Republicans hold the slim House majority. In Utah, former Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams defeated progressive rivals to win the primary in the newly redrawn and blue-leaning 1st Congressional District. In Maryland, just outside of Washington D.C., in the race to succeed longtime Rep. Steny Hoyer, Adrian Boafo, who was supported by Hoyer, topped a crowded and diverse Democratic primary field. And in South Carolina, Nancy Lacore, a former Navy admiral who was fired by War Secretary Pete Hegseth, won the Democratic primary in a Republican-leaning district Democrats had hopes of flipping. Bennett said the New York City races grabbing outsized attention "are not representative districts, and it remains the case that the far left, in the Trump era, has failed to flip a single seat in Congress from red to blue, House or Senate." "They’re doing nothing to put a check on Trump or get power back," he argued. "And in fact, they’re making it harder, because they’re handing Republicans very potent ammunition to use against Democrats in swing districts the way the GOP used ‘defund the police’ very effectively in 2020." Veteran center-left Democratic strategist Matt Corridoni, who advises the political groups The Bench and Majority Democrats, said, "I think if we're only focusing on New York we're missing the forest through the trees." Corridoni said, "There are dozens of examples across the country of these sort of purple reddish districts where we're getting candidates who are tapping into the energy that voters are feeling right now." Despite the success of center-left candidates, it's the far-left that's grabbing the media spotlight. And that's giving Republicans more ammunition as they portray all Democrats as radicals. Since Mamdani's shocking Democratic mayoral primary win a year ago, Republicans have used him as a cudgel as they work to hold their razor-thin House majority in this year's midterm elections. National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella argued, "Zohran Mamdani’s socialist brand is as toxic as it comes." Pointing to Tuesday's results, Marinella charged that "it was the night the Democrat establishment officially surrendered to Zohran Mamdani and the socialist wing of their party. Every House Democrat, in safe and competitive districts alike, will now answer to the radicals calling the shots. And Americans should be terrified by where the Democrat Party is headed." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a423b3f197238567836aa55 Antes indocumentada, directora de Scholarships A-Z guía a beneficiarios de DACA en tiempo de incertidumbre te 2026-06-29T09:30:39.785Z Antes indocumentada, directora de Scholarships A-Z guía a beneficiarios de DACA en tiempo de incertidumbre Cuando Carolina Silva se convirtió en la primera empleada de tiempo completo de la organización sin fines de lucro Scholarships A-Z, con sede en Arizona, en 2020, había un gran entusiasmo en torno a los esfuerzos comunitarios para apoyar a los jóvenes indocumentados de Arizona en su camino hacia la educación superior. Durante más de una década de organización para lograr el acceso a la matrícula estatal para estudiantes indocumentados y complementar las brechas en el acceso a ayuda financiera, Scholarships A-Z fue una presencia constante. El grupo reunió a una vibrante comunidad de jóvenes y sus aliados en el sur de Arizona. En 2026, esa necesidad y esa comunidad siguen existiendo, pero la realidad de lo que significa la agresiva política de control migratorio de la administración Trump para los jóvenes que fueron traídos a Estados Unidos cuando eran niños está proyectando una sombra sobre los esfuerzos para ampliar el acceso a la educación. Para algunos, esto los ha llevado a preguntarse cómo podría ser su futuro en Estados Unidos, dijo Silva. “Puede que los estudiantes ni siquiera vean un futuro en este país debido a todo lo que está pasando”, dijo Silva. Carolina Silva fixes a frame on the gallery wall at the Scholarships A-Z office in the Global Justice Center in Tucson on June 16, 2026. / Carolina Silva acomoda un marco en la pared de la galería de la oficina de Scholarships A-Z, ubicada en el Global Justice Center de Tucson, el 16 de junio de 2026. Crédito Summer Williams Credit: Summer Williams Ahora, como directora ejecutiva de Scholarships A-Z, Silva, quien también fue una joven indocumentada, se encuentra en la primera línea ayudando a los beneficiarios de DACA a navegar en este momento. El programa DACA fue creado para otorgar permisos de trabajo y protección contra la deportación a los inmigrantes que fueron traídos a Estados Unidos cuando eran niños. Esa protección no constituía un estatus legal permanente, sino más bien un ejercicio de discreción procesal que ambos partidos habían respetado durante décadas. En mayo, Silva fue una de las portavoces durante el arresto migratorio de Karla Toledo, una residente de Tucson desde hace mucho tiempo, beneficiaria de DACA y ex integrante de la junta directiva de Scholarships A-Z. Toledo fue liberada después de cinco días bajo custodia y los cargos en su contra fueron desestimados, solo para ser colocada nuevamente en procedimientos de deportación poco tiempo después. Según datos del Servicio de Ciudadanía e Inmigración de Estados Unidos, al 31 de diciembre había 495,320 personas con estatus activo de DACA en el país. Se estima que 18,450 de esas personas con estatus activo de DACA viven en Arizona, la cuarta cifra más alta de Estados Unidos. Home is Here, una campaña nacional que aboga por los beneficiarios de DACA, informó que el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional ha confirmado la detención de 270 beneficiarios de DACA, la deportación de 86 beneficiarios de DACA y la deportación de 174 solicitantes de DACA. Arizona Luminaria conversó con Silva sobre cómo llegó a este trabajo y qué sigue para ella y la organización. La entrevista ha sido editada ligeramente por motivos de extensión y claridad. P: ¿Qué la llevó al trabajo que realiza actualmente? R: Cuando tenía 17 años y estaba viendo cómo ir a la universidad, yo misma era indocumentada, realmente me encontré navegando el proceso sola. No tenía educadores que me apoyaran cuando compartía mi estatus migratorio. Sentía que tenía que superar obstáculo tras obstáculo y que una puerta tras otra se cerraba. Finalmente encontré una comunidad en línea de otros estudiantes indocumentados. En ese momento yo vivía en Utah y no podía acceder a la matrícula estatal, pero encontré la lista de becas que había creado Scholarships A-Z. Ahora soy ciudadana naturalizada, gracias a Dios, pero lo que se quedó conmigo fue que tuve que atravesar esa experiencia sola. Cuando ingresé a la escuela de posgrado y obtuve mi doctorado en educación, quedó muy claro que incluso las personas con toda esa formación e investigación en el ámbito educativo seguían sin saber cómo apoyar a estudiantes como yo. Fue entonces cuando pensé: “Está bien, necesito seguir haciendo este trabajo”. P: ¿Cómo ha cambiado el trabajo de Scholarships A-Z en este momento? R: Scholarships A-Z existe desde 2009 y originalmente fue creada como una lista de becas. Una estudiante de Pima Community College estaba teniendo muchas dificultades para encontrar becas. Hizo una investigación muy profunda y pensó: “¿Saben qué? Voy a crear esta lista”. Después acudió a sus educadores y les dijo: “Quiero que esto sea accesible para más estudiantes”. Ella y algunos consejeros de Pima Community College crearon nuestro primer sitio web de becas, que después se convirtió en Scholarships A-Z. Así fue como comenzó todo. En los primeros años, funcionábamos casi como un club. Los estudiantes indocumentados se reunían todos los viernes. Participaban en talleres para desarrollar habilidades y convivían entre ellos. Se creó una comunidad de jóvenes líderes, y esas personas lucharon por obtener acceso a la matrícula estatal en Pima, lo lograron, luego ese acceso fue retirado y después volvió a estar en disputa. Ha sido un ir y venir constante en cuanto al acceso. En 2017, mientras colaborábamos con diferentes grupos en todo el estado, escuchamos claramente a las familias decir que necesitaban programas para estudiantes indocumentados. La lista de becas era excelente, pero los estudiantes también tenían que enfrentar el proceso de inscripción y mantenerse en la escuela. No se trata únicamente de que se inscriban y ya está. Se trata de la permanencia y de seguir apoyándolos a lo largo de su trayectoria para que puedan completar el camino que elijan, cualquiera que sea. Ahora, desafortunadamente, esos estudiantes están siendo atacados y es muy triste verlo. Probablemente tenemos el mayor acceso a la educación superior que hemos tenido en Estados Unidos en mucho tiempo, pero al mismo tiempo enfrentamos las medidas de control migratorio más severas. Carolina Silva works in the Scholarship A-Z office in the Global Justice Center in Tucson on June 16, 2026. / Carolina Silva trabaja en la oficina de Scholarships A-Z, ubicada en el Global Justice Center de Tucson, el 16 de junio de 2026. Crédito Summer Williams Credit: Summer Williams P: ¿Cómo ha sido apoyar a las personas directamente afectadas en este momento? R: Para ser honesta, ha sido muy agotador y ha requerido mucho tiempo. Ya atendemos a una comunidad con muchas necesidades. Nuestra línea de respuesta rápida ha estado activa desde 2010 y, en este momento, tenemos que brindar apoyo mutuo y responder a emergencias. Ha sido realmente difícil. El nuevo apoyo ha venido principalmente de aliados y organizaciones que ya formaban parte de nuestra red; nada de esto apareció de la noche a la mañana. Tucson tiene la fortuna de contar con una red muy sólida de grupos comunitarios de base. Aun así, los ataques contra nuestra comunidad inmigrante son muy preocupantes porque no creo que ninguno de nosotros tenga la capacidad de mantenerse al ritmo de todo esto, por más que la gente se una para ayudar. Sigue siendo una carga muy pesada y dolorosa de llevar. Lo primero que pensamos cuando hablamos de Karla es que eso no debió haber ocurrido. Karla cuenta con la protección de DACA. Desde el principio supimos que la manera en que respondiéramos a su caso enviaría un mensaje a nuestra comunidad. También me sorprendió que no fuera liberada el lunes. Creo que eso demuestra el poder que tienen las autoridades bajo esta administración y cómo ahora se necesita mucha más presión para que hagan lo correcto. Cronología del acceso a la matrícula estatal para estudiantes indocumentados y la lucha en torno a DACA 2006 Se aprueba la Proposición 300, que restringe el acceso a la matrícula estatal y a la asistencia financiera financiada por el estado para jóvenes indocumentados. 2009 Se funda Scholarships A-Z. 2012 La administración Obama adopta el programa DACA para permitir que los jóvenes indocumentados traídos al país puedan trabajar en Estados Unidos y recibir protección contra la deportación durante dos años. 2015 Un tribunal superior del condado de Maricopa determina que los estudiantes beneficiarios de DACA son elegibles para la matrícula estatal. 2017 La administración Trump intenta poner fin a DACA. Scholarships A-Z inicia su primer programa, Immigrant Scholarship Hustle (ISH). 2018 La Corte Suprema de Arizona dictamina que los estudiantes indocumentados de Arizona no son elegibles para la matrícula estatal. 2017-2019 Scholarships A-Z se enfoca en abrir centros de recursos para inmigrantes en Pima Community College y posteriormente en la Universidad de Arizona. 2020 La Corte Suprema revierte los esfuerzos de la administración Trump para poner fin a DACA. 2022 Tras una campaña sostenida, se aprueba la Proposición 308, una iniciativa electoral que garantiza la matrícula estatal para estudiantes indocumentados que se graduaron de una escuela secundaria de Arizona después de haber asistido al menos dos años. Scholarships A-Z se sumó a los esfuerzos de la coalición Yes on Prop 308! para impulsar esta iniciativa. Scholarships A-Z lanza un programa de empoderamiento para jóvenes indocumentados dirigido a quienes no planean asistir a una universidad de cuatro años, pero están considerando otras opciones como un colegio comunitario o un título asociado. 2026 Mientras el programa DACA continúa en litigio, la Junta de Apelaciones de Inmigración, que establece estándares para los tribunales de inmigración en todo el país, determinó en un caso de abril que ser beneficiario de DACA no otorga automáticamente protección contra la deportación. Créditos Traducción: Beatriz Limón The post Antes indocumentada, directora de Scholarships A-Z guía a beneficiarios de DACA en tiempo de incertidumbre appeared first on AZ Luminaria. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a423b2c197238567836aa4c Once undocumented herself, Scholarships A-Z director guides DACA holders through uncertain moment te 2026-06-29T09:30:20.356Z Once undocumented herself, Scholarships A-Z director guides DACA holders through uncertain moment When Carolina Silva became the first-ever full-time staff member at the Arizona nonprofit Scholarships A-Z in 2020, the energy was high on community efforts to support undocumented youth in Arizona on their journey to higher education.  During more than a decade of organizing to win access to in-state tuition for undocumented students, and supplement the gaps in aid access, Scholarships A-Z was a consistent presence. The group had brought together a vibrant community of young people and their allies in Southern Arizona.  In 2026, that need, and community, remains, but the reality of what the Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement policy means for young people brought to the United States as children is casting a shadow over education access efforts. For some, it has made them wonder what their future could look like in America, Silva says. “Students might not even see a future in this country because of everything that’s happening,” Silva said.  Carolina Silva fixes a frame on the gallery wall at the Scholarships A-Z office in the Global Justice Center in Tucson on June 16, 2026. Credit: Summer Williams Now, as executive director of Scholarships A-Z, Silva — herself a former undocumented young person —  is at the frontlines of helping DACA holders navigate this moment.  The DACA program was created to provide immigrants brought to the U.S. as children with work permits and protection from deportation. That protection was not permanent legal status, but rather an exercise of prosecutorial discretion that both parties had respected for decades. This May, Silva was one of the spokespeople amid the immigration arrest of Karla Toledo, a longtime Tucson resident, DACA holder and former board member at Scholarships A-Z. Toledo was released after five days in detention and the charges against her dismissed, only to be placed back in deportation proceedings soon after.  There are 495,320 people with active DACA status in the U.S. as of December 31, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data. An estimated 18,450 of those individuals with active DACA status are in Arizona, the fourth largest number in the U.S.  Home is Here, a national campaign advocating for DACA recipients, said the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed they have detained 270 DACA recipients, deported 86 DACA recipients, and deported 174 DACA applicants. Carolina Silva sits in the Scholarship A-Z office in the Global Justice Center in Tucson on June 16, 2026. Credit: Summer Williams Arizona Luminaria sat down with Silva to talk about how she came to this work, and what’s next. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.  Q: What brought you to the work you are doing right now?  A: When I was 17 years old and I was looking at going to college — I myself was undocumented — I really found myself navigating the process alone. I really didn’t have any educators supporting me when I shared my status. I felt like I was jumping through hoops, and door after door was closing.  Eventually I was able to find an online community of other undocumented students. At the time I was in the state of Utah, and I couldn’t get access to in-state tuition, but I found the scholarships list that Scholarships A-Z made. Now I’m a naturalized citizen, thank goodness, but what stayed with me was that I had to navigate that experience by myself.  When I got into grad school and got my doctorate in education, it became very clear that even people who had all this training and research in the education world, they still didn’t know how to support students like me. So that’s when I was like, “OK, I need to continue doing this work.” Q: How has the work of Scholarships A-Z shifted in this moment?  A: Scholarships A-Z has been around since 2009, and we were first created as a scholarship list.  A student at Pima Community College was really struggling to find scholarships. She did a lot of deep research and was just like: “You know what?  I’m going to create this list.” And then she went to her educators and said: “I want to make this accessible to more students.” Her and a few Pima College counselors put together our very first scholarship website which then became Scholarships A-Z. So that’s how it all started.  In the early days, they kind of functioned like a club. Undocumented students would meet every Friday. They would do skill-building workshops, and hang out. It created this community of young leaders, and those folks fought for in-state tuition at Pima, and then won, and then it got taken away.  It’s been this back-and-forth of access. In 2017, as we partnered with different groups across the state, we really heard from families: we just need programming for undocumented students. The scholarship list is great, but they also have to navigate enrollment and then retention.  It’s not just about enrolling and they’re done, it’s really about retention and continuing to support them as they go through their journey, so they can complete their pathway regardless of what it is. Right now unfortunately those students obviously are being attacked and it’s really sad to see that. We probably have the most access that we’ve had to higher education in the U.S. for a while, but we have the harshest enforcement.  Carolina Silva works in the Scholarship A-Z office in the Global Justice Center in Tucson on June 16, 2026. Credit: Summer Williams Q: What has it looked like to support directly-impacted people in this moment? A: It’s been really exhausting and time consuming, to be honest. We already serve a high need community. Our rapid response line has been active since 2010, and right now we have to do mutual aid and we have to do emergency response. It’s just been really difficult.  New support has been mainly partners that were already in our network and groups — none of this appeared overnight. Tucson is just really fortunate to have a really strong network of grassroots groups.  Still, attacks on our immigrant community are just very scary because I don’t think any of us have the capacity to keep up with it regardless of people coming together. It’s still really awful and heavy to carry.  The first thing, when we think about Karla, is that should not have happened, right? Karla has protection [of DACA]. Right off the bat we knew how we responded to the case would send a message to our community. I was also surprised that she wasn’t released Monday.  I think that speaks to the power that these authorities in this administration have and how it takes a lot more to pressure them now to do the right thing. A timeline of tuition access for undocumented students and the fight around DACA  2006 Proposition 300 passes, restricting access to in-state tuition and state-funded financial assistance for undocumented youth. 2009  Scholarships A-Z is founded  2012 The Obama administration adopts the DACA program to allow undocumented youth brought to the country to work in the United States and protect them from deportation for two years  2015 A Maricopa County Superior Court finds DACA students were eligible for in-state tuition  2017  Trump administration attempts to rescind DACA  Scholarships A-Z starts its first program, the Immigrant Scholarship Hustle or ISH  2018  The state Supreme Court rules that that undocumented Arizona students would not be eligible for in-state tuition 2017-2019 Scholarships A-Z helps more than undocumented 50 students gain scholarships and organizes efforts to inform educators Scholarships A-Z focuses on getting immigrant resource centers open at Pima Community College and then the University of Arizona 2020 The Supreme Court overturns the Trump administration’s efforts to rescind DACA Carolina Silva becomes Scholarships A-Z first executive director Scholarships A-Z distributes funds to support immigrant families impacted by COVID-19 2022   After a sustained campaign, Proposition 308 passes, a 2022 ballot initiative securing in-state tuition for undocumented students who had graduated from an Arizona high school after attending for at least two years. Scholarships A-Z joined efforts with the Yes on Prop 308! Coalition on this effort.  Scholarships A-Z launches an undocumented youth empowerment program to work with young people who are not moving toward four-year college but are considering other options like community college or an associate’s degree  2024 Scholarships A-Z celebrates its 15th anniversary as a formal organization 2026 As the DACA program remains in litigation, the Board of Immigration Appeals, which sets standards for immigration courts nationally, says in an April case that being a DACA recipient does not automatically provide relief from deportation  The post Once undocumented herself, Scholarships A-Z director guides DACA holders through uncertain moment appeared first on AZ Luminaria. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4236f1197238567836a9dc Democratic socialism is sweeping the nation. Voters should be alarmed te 2026-06-29T09:12:17.507Z Democratic socialism is sweeping the nation. Voters should be alarmed Democratic socialism is sweeping the nation. All three of the far-left candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primary races. Elections in Washington, DC vaulted another self-described "democratic socialist" into the national spotlight. What does it mean when our nation’s capital and the Empire City vote in democratic socialist candidates? The clearest answer is to look at what democratic socialists elsewhere have claimed — and done. Seattle’s mayor, Katie Wilson, is a self-described democratic socialist who has argued for defunding the police and led campaigns targeting private property owners. MAMDANI'S POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE ROCKS DEMOCRATS, DIVIDING PARTY ON PATH FORWARD Seattle has a history of revolutionary politics. Self-proclaimed socialist Kshama Sawant, now running for Congress, is associated with the politics of envy and agitation, from the destructive Occupy Movement to the deadly Seattle-based Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in 2020. New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has called for a sweeping increase in government workers, along with free transportation, state-run grocery stores, aggressive interventions in private property and real estate, and even taxes on some universities to subsidize others. The Free Press reports that New York City’s new legion of social workers and canvassers, Organize NYC, appears designed not merely to "serve the people," but to defend the mayor’s agenda and build a political constituency — right down to the red "socialism" bracelets on some "volunteers." Democratic socialists are the heirs of an earlier generation of progressive operatives — a generation convinced it could impose a utopian "Great Society" through state power. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION Their ideological descendants can see the symptoms of those failures, but not the causes. The old progressives failed because they buried society under red tape and unaccountable bureaucracy while smothering initiative, innovation, competition, and market incentives. Today’s democratic socialists look at sclerotic processes, weak growth, and bureaucratic dysfunction and blame wealth creators, innovators, property owners, and businesses. They have it backward. The first culprit is bad policy. The democratic socialist prescription is always the same: more government, more taxes, less freedom, less opportunity. There is a reason major corporations continue to exit California, New York, and Washington state for lands of opportunity such as Texas and Florida. Now another major American city stands on the brink of so-called democratic socialism. Whatever the party label, Americans need leaders who believe in the American Dream — individual liberty, opportunity, strong families, civil society, a vibrant private sector, and limited government. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4236de197238567836a9d3 CHAD WOLF: America cannot ignore China’s economic attack on US industry te 2026-06-29T09:11:58.050Z CHAD WOLF: America cannot ignore China’s economic attack on US industry America is under economic attack. For decades, Washington politicians looked the other way while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) quietly flooded our markets with artificially cheap goods, wiping out American jobs and entire industries. Thanks to President Trump, that era of willful blindness is over. But the fight is far from finished. When you hear the term "dumping", it might not sound like much of a threat. But it is one of the most destructive economic weapons the CCP uses against the United States. Dumping occurs when a country subsidizes the production of a good in order to flood another country with cheap goods to crater their domestic production capacity. The practice is anti-free market because it uses government funding to produce goods beyond consumer demand and distort prices.  While career politicians shrugged and allowed multinational companies to outsource American jobs to Beijing, President Donald Trump said enough. On his first day back in office, President Trump signed the America First Trade Policy Executive Order, directing his administration to review existing tariffs and duties on Chinese goods to ensure they are strong enough to actually stop the cheating. Unlike past administrations, the Trump administration actively fights dumping around the world.  TRUMP’S TARIFF WAR WITH BEIJING IS PART OF A MULTI-PRONG STRATEGY TO SECURE AMERICA FROM A MUCH BROADER THREAT President Trump is taking action. But Communist China is persistent, creative, and patient. The CCP will look for workarounds, shift product categories, route goods through third countries, and probe every gap in our enforcement framework. America must maintain a robust enforcement agenda at the U.S. Trade Representative and continue applying Antidumping and Countervailing Duties to keep international markets fair and hold China to the agreements it has already signed. The industries under CCP attack represent the backbone of American industry: steel and aluminum, automobiles, critical minerals, fertilizer, food products, lumber, textiles, furniture, and chemicals. These sectors employ tens of millions of Americans. When Chinese companies dump underpriced, subsidized products into our market, American manufacturers cannot compete in an economy that China has decided the rules do not apply to. This is a deliberate strategy. The CCP's goal is to infiltrate the largest economic markets in the world, take out the competition, and make the United States and Europe dependent on China's manufacturing supply chain. China controls roughly 60% of the world's rare earth mining and nearly 90% of refining capacity. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum described exactly how Beijing weaponizes that dominance: "They would target that particular mineral, dump a quantity onto the market, drive the price down. And companies, including U.S. companies that were profitable suddenly became unprofitable." THE WEST STILL DOESN’T GRASP THE DANGER OF CHINA’S RARE EARTH ENDGAME On steel, China is both the largest producer and exporter in the world, and its exports jumped another 7.5% from 2024 to 2025. The Trump Administration has launched an investigation into structural excess capacity in Chinese steel production, with global excess capacity expected to hit 721 million metric tons by 2027. China also controls 60% of the world's supply of glyphosate, a chemical critical to herbicide production. If America becomes dependent on China to grow its food, the national security consequences are obvious and alarming.  Even the auto sector is not safe. In 2023, China increased car chassis exports into the EU by 327% to weaken European manufacturing. The U.S. cannot let the same thing happen here. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION The Trump administration has rightfully realized the seriousness of the problem. President Trump has imposed tariffs, launched trade investigations, and put America's economic sovereignty back at the center of U.S. foreign policy. No president in modern history has done more to expose and confront the CCP's rigged trade playbook, and American manufacturers, steelworkers, farmers, and families are better off because of it.  Congress has also given the President powerful tools through Sections 201 and 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allow the President to impose tariffs on products being imported with the intent to harm a domestic industry. The Trump administration is using those tools to great effect. Every time one of Communist China’s dumping schemes goes unchallenged, an American factory is put at risk. Every time enforcement slips, the CCP learns it can push further. Now is not the time for complacency or appeasement. It is time for unity, resolve, and a clear-eyed America First strategy. President Trump is working to protect American workers from CCP dumping. We must make sure that fight does not get abandoned the moment it becomes inconvenient. China is counting on our attention to fade. We can’t let it. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM CHAD WOLF Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4236ca197238567836a9ca Famed economists warned us about big government power. Katie paid the ultimate price te 2026-06-29T09:11:38.595Z Famed economists warned us about big government power. Katie paid the ultimate price My daughter Katie was 20 years old. She was a college student. She had dreams, plans, friends and a future stretching out before her. On January 19, 2025, while visiting friends in Urbana, Illinois, she was sitting in the back seat of a vehicle stopped at a red light when an intoxicated driver slammed into it at nearly 80 miles per hour. Katie and another young woman were killed. Three others were seriously injured. Every parent who loses a child asks why. Over the last year, I have spent countless hours examining not only the actions of the man responsible for the crash, but also the policies and institutions that helped create the circumstances that made it possible. What I have discovered is not merely a failure of one individual. It is a failure of accountability. GRIEVING ILLINOIS FATHER CONDEMNS SANCTUARY ‘CHAOS,’ PLEADS FOR ‘COMMON SENSE’ AFTER DAUGHTER’S DEATH More troubling, it reflects a broader trend in American politics: the tendency to prioritize systems, ideologies and political objectives over individual human beings. The great political debates of the 20th century were never simply about economics. They were about power; how much government should possess, how much authority should be concentrated in the hands of political leaders and what happens when those leaders become convinced they know what is best for everyone else. Economists are often portrayed as cold, clinical or detached; people who reduce human life to numbers, charts and equations. Yet some of the clearest and most profoundly human warnings about the dangers of concentrated power came from economists who understood that freedom, dignity and human flourishing are inseparable from individual liberty. EVILS OF COLLECTIVISM ARE JUST WARMING UP. ‘RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM’ BETTER BE READY Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell were not merely defending markets. They were defending the individual against the tendency of institutions and governments to subordinate human beings to political visions, collective goals and centralized authority. Hayek spent much of his life warning about this danger. His concern was not merely that some leaders would abuse power. It was that systems built upon concentrated authority inevitably create incentives that attract those most willing to exercise it. In "The Road to Serfdom," Hayek explored what he called the problem of "why the worst get on top." His argument was not that every public servant is corrupt. Rather, it was that systems requiring extensive control often reward those most willing to impose their will on others. History proved his concerns were not theoretical. THE FOUNDING FATHERS WOULD SOUND THE ALARM ON AOC, MAMDANI AND OUR SLIDE INTO SOCIALISM The 20th century witnessed repeated examples of governments claiming to act on behalf of the collective while diminishing the dignity and freedom of the individual. Time and again, political leaders promised equality, security or social justice. Time and again, ordinary citizens paid the price. Milton Friedman understood the same principle. He warned that "concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it." That insight matters because political movements are often judged by their intentions rather than their results. Good intentions can inspire noble aspirations. They cannot eliminate the consequences of bad policies. NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR MURDER VICTIMS REMINDS US OF 'SOFT-ON-CRIME' POLICIES' DEADLY CONSEQUENCES When leaders refuse to acknowledge those consequences, accountability disappears. That is what has struck me most since Katie's death. Many of the politicians who championed policies that reduced cooperation with federal immigration authorities, weakened safeguards or prioritized ideological commitments over public safety have shown little interest in examining whether those policies contributed to preventable tragedies. ANGEL FATHER SLAMS PRITZKER'S SANCTUARY POLICIES, SAYING THEY LEAD TO 'PREVENTABLE' DEATHS Instead, the discussion often shifts away from victims and toward defending the system itself. The question becomes how to preserve the narrative rather than how to prevent the next family from suffering the same loss. Sowell spent decades warning about this tendency. He famously observed that there are no solutions, only tradeoffs. His broader point was that every policy carries consequences, every decision imposes costs and wisdom requires honestly accounting for both. Yet modern politics increasingly treats certain policies as morally untouchable. To question them is considered insensitive. To discuss their costs is viewed as disloyal. The result is that real people become invisible. Katie becomes a statistic. ANGEL DADS FACE ANOTHER FATHER'S DAY WITHOUT CHILDREN KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: 'SHE SHOULD BE GRADUATING' Families become anecdotes. Victims become inconvenient reminders that public policy has consequences. That is not compassion. Compassion begins with recognizing the inherent value of every individual life. It requires acknowledging when policies fail. It requires admitting mistakes. It requires leaders who care more about truth than protecting their reputations or preserving political narratives. The lesson of the 20th century is not simply that some socialist leaders were corrupt or cruel. It is that systems requiring the concentration of economic and political power inevitably attract and empower those most willing to use force, coercion and compulsion. The tragedy is not merely bad leadership; it is that the structure itself creates incentives that elevate rulers while diminishing the freedom and dignity of ordinary citizens. Just as troubling, such systems often reshape how society views the individual. When the collective becomes the highest good, individual lives are increasingly measured against larger political objectives. Human beings are no longer valued primarily for who they are, but for how their circumstances fit within a preferred narrative. MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER: THE LEFT IS GETTING PEOPLE KILLED That is why societies organized around collective outcomes often struggle to honestly confront the human cost of their policies. Admitting those costs can threaten the political project itself. Victims become unfortunate exceptions. Losses become regrettable but necessary tradeoffs. Human suffering is contextualized rather than confronted. This is why Katie's story matters. Not because her death proves a political ideology, but because the response to it reveals a deeper moral question: Are we willing to stop and account for the life of a single young woman when doing so forces us to confront uncomfortable truths about the policies we support? DHS VIDEO HONORS YOUNG WOMAN KILLED IN HIT-AND-RUN ALLEGEDLY CAUSED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT Katie was not a statistic. She was not a tradeoff. She was not collateral damage in service of any political objective. She was a daughter, a student, a friend and a human being whose life possessed inherent worth and dignity. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION A free society worthy of the name begins with that recognition. Not with the collective. Not with the state. Not with political narratives. With the individual human being. The 20th century taught us what happens when societies elevate systems above people, power above principle, and collective objectives above individual dignity. Katie's story is a reminder that the price is never paid by abstractions. It is paid by real people, real families, and real futures that can never be restored. Because when a society loses sight of the value of one life, it eventually loses sight of the value of all of them. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JOE ABRAHAM Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4236b7197238567836a9ba Berkeley Will Start Institute Named for Pelosi te 2026-06-29T09:11:19.138Z Berkeley Will Start Institute Named for Pelosi The Trump administration has been scrutinizing the University of California, Berkeley, which insists its new program will be a nonpartisan venture. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a4236a3197238567836a9b1 Israel and Iran Have Divided Democrats and Republicans. Will They Ever Be the Same? te 2026-06-29T09:10:59.683Z Israel and Iran Have Divided Democrats and Republicans. Will They Ever Be the Same? Raging internal debates over foreign policy threaten both parties’ fortunes in November — and in 2028. Is a major ideological shift underway? Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a423690197238567836a9a8 With Final Decisions Ahead, the Supreme Court Is Sharply Divided te 2026-06-29T09:10:40.227Z With Final Decisions Ahead, the Supreme Court Is Sharply Divided The justices will decide this week whether President Trump can end the guarantee of birthright citizenship and fire a leader of the independent Federal Reserve. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42367c197238567836a99f The Ohio City Revived by Haitian Immigration Sees an Uncertain Future te 2026-06-29T09:10:20.777Z The Ohio City Revived by Haitian Immigration Sees an Uncertain Future In Springfield, Ohio, some residents see the end of an economic boom after the end of a humanitarian program for immigrants. Others see still darker possibilities. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a422b1a197238567836a887 Best Bets: Monday, June 29, 2026 te 2026-06-29T08:21:46.569Z Best Bets: Monday, June 29, 2026 Coming Up Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a422b06197238567836a87e Gas prices June 29 te 2026-06-29T08:21:26.600Z Gas prices June 29 National average: $3.90 Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a422af2197238567836a875 Davis Dam releases for June 29 te 2026-06-29T08:21:06.638Z Davis Dam releases for June 29 Thursday Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42286c197238567836a803 Platner Has Slight Edge Over Collins in Tight Maine Senate Race, Poll Finds te 2026-06-29T08:10:20.500Z Platner Has Slight Edge Over Collins in Tight Maine Senate Race, Poll Finds The Maine race, which both parties see as key to winning control of the Senate, is extremely close as the sprint to fall begins, a Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll found. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a422694197238567836a7e2 Ciscomani Targets Washington Corruption In First 2026 Campaign Ad te 2026-06-29T08:02:28.386Z Ciscomani Targets Washington Corruption In First 2026 Campaign Ad By Matthew Holloway | Congressman Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ-06) launched his first television ad of the 2026 campaign cycle last wek, highlighting his background as a legal immigrant, work history, and support for legislation restricting members of Congress from trading stocks. The ad, titled “Work For You”, was released in both English and Spanish and is available to view on the campaign’s YouTube account. The spot centers on Ciscomani’s family story and his argument that public office should be focused on service rather than personal financial gain. “Twenty years ago, I became an American citizen,” Ciscomani says in the ad. “We immigrated to the United States and started with nothing. Dad drove a bus. Mom cleaned houses. Five of us in a two-bedroom apartment.” 20 years ago, I became an American citizen 🇺🇸 My dad drove a bus. My mom cleaned houses. Like many, we've worked hard toward our American Dream. That's why I stood up to both parties to ban insider trading by Members of Congress. I don't work for Washington. I work for YOU,… pic.twitter.com/CIEaty4wXo — Juan Ciscomani (@JuanCiscomani) June 25, 2026 Ciscomani immigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in Tucson, according to his official biography, where his father worked as a bus driver. As a child, he attended Tucson public schools, then Pima Community College and the University of Arizona, while working maintenance and service jobs before becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college. “The opportunity to pursue our American Dream changed my life, but it’s not just my story – it’s the story of countless families across the country who simply want an opportunity to build a better future,” Ciscomani said in a campaign statement. “Families are working too hard to watch Washington politicians put themselves first. Arizonans deserve leaders who never forget where they came from, why they’re there in the first place, and who they work for. I don’t work for Washington. I work for you.” The ad points to Ciscomani’s support for legislation aimed at congressional stock trading as a highlight of his freshman term. In the spot, Ciscomani says he “stood up to both parties” to cosponsor legislation banning insider trading by members of Congress. Federal records list Ciscomani among the cosponsors of H.R. 7008, the Stop Insider Trading Act, introduced in January by House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI). The bill’s full title states that it would amend federal law “to require certain restrictions on stocks for Members of Congress and their spouses and dependents.” The House Administration Committee said the Stop Insider Trading Act would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded securities. The committee said the bill would also require members to file public notice at least seven days, and no more than 14 days, before selling covered investments. The committee said the proposal would require the House Ethics Committee to impose a fee equal to $2,000 or 10 percent of the value of the covered investment, whichever is greater, along with any net gain realized from the sale. H.R. 7008 is currently pending consideration on the House floor after passing the Committee on House Administration in February 2026. Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com. The post Ciscomani Targets Washington Corruption In First 2026 Campaign Ad first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42267f197238567836a7d9 Gov. Hobbs Vetoes Bill To Help Unborn Children Harmed By Substance Abuse te 2026-06-29T08:02:07.900Z Gov. Hobbs Vetoes Bill To Help Unborn Children Harmed By Substance Abuse By Staff Reporter | Gov. Katie Hobbs rejected legislation that would have imposed an accountability-based intervention system for expectant mothers who abuse substances. Arizona does not currently punish expectant mothers for drinking alcohol or using drugs. Lawmakers who passed the bill, SB 1476, said it would have protected children from the harmful consequences of mothers who drink alcohol or use drugs while pregnant.  The bill would have classified those adverse behaviors as child neglect, a class six felony. Expectant mothers would then have several options before them: face legal consequences, or undergo alcohol or drug treatment. Class six felonies may be modified as class one misdemeanors. This felony level is considered the least severe; punishments can range from probation or prison time from four months to nearly six years, depending on the total number of past felonies and the severity of the offense. Hobbs dismissed the approach of the bill in her veto letter, arguing that punishments wouldn’t deter mothers from abusing substances while pregnant.  “Further criminalization will not yield safer pregnancies and births in Arizona,” said Hobbs. “I instead invite you to join me in efforts to expand access to substance use treatment.”  Sen. Shawnna Bolick (R-LD2), sponsor to SB 1476, said in a press release announcing the bill’s passage earlier this month that the legislation would enable the justice system to intervene on the child’s behalf and get the mother into drug or alcohol recovery programs.  “Every child deserves a safe and healthy start in life,” said Bolick. “When substance abuse harms a child before they’re even born, the law should recognize that reality while also encouraging mothers to seek treatment and recovery. This bill strikes an appropriate balance between accountability and compassion, with both the mother’s and child’s well-being remaining the top priority.” The latest data cited by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that, on average, about six out of every 1,000 newborns in the hospital are diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), the clinical term for babies born with drug dependence. Per the CDC, NAS increased by over 80% from 2010 to 2017.  Arizona has one of the highest NAS rates in the nation. Out of every 1,000 hospitalizations of newborns, nine are diagnosed with NAS. NAS diagnoses have steadily increased in the state since 2009.  The latest reporting from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) stated that 97% of babies diagnosed with NAS, Substance Exposed Newborns (SEN), or Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS) received treatment services within 30 days of birth in the 2025 fiscal year.  During her first year in office, Hobbs vetoed legislation that would have required infants born alive during an abortion to receive medical interventions to preserve their life and health.  The governor said the bill impermissibly interfered with the relationship between the woman and her doctor, and a breach of her campaign promise to kill any bill perceived as interfering with abortion rights.  “It’s simply not the state’s role to make such difficult medical decisions for patients,” said Hobbs. AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link. The post Gov. Hobbs Vetoes Bill To Help Unborn Children Harmed By Substance Abuse first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42266b197238567836a7d0 Gilbert Vice Mayor Backs Effort To End Universal School Choice te 2026-06-29T08:01:47.419Z Gilbert Vice Mayor Backs Effort To End Universal School Choice By Staff Reporter | The town of Gilbert’s vice mayor is one of the biggest individual donors to an effort to end universal school choice in the state. Councilman Charles “Chuck” Bongiovanni was one of a small number to provide funding to Protect Education, Accountability Now (PEAN), the political action committee behind a ballot initiative to limit access to the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program.  A majority of PEAN’s funds have come from national and local teachers’ unions: the D.C.-based National Education Association gave $2.5 million, and the Arizona Education Association gave $10,000. As of this report, only three others donated more to PEAN than Bongiovanni: former PetSmart CEO Phil Francis and his wife, former Valleywise Health Foundation board member Nita Francis, donated $25,000; and a retired Avondale computer software author and frequent donor to Democrats, Roxton Baker, donated $1,000.  Bongiovanni donated $500 to the cause. Excluding Bongiovanni and the other top three individual donors, the median of total donations from individual donors reported so far — about 100 in total — was about $20.  After Bongiovanni, the next-highest donation was in the amount of $250 from Linda Thor, at-large member of the Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board.  Bongiovanni has also laid claim to being the largest donor for the LD14 Democrats, though he has donated to some Republicans.  Bongiovanni, who is running for reelection to the council, is the CEO of Majestic Residences: claimed as the second-largest franchised residential assisted living provider in the country and the largest in its main state of operations, North Carolina.  Bongiovanni’s reelection platform focused on the likelihood of increasing costs to residents in order to address aging infrastructure, which he defined as water, sewer, and road.  However, Bongiovanni has taken a less strict approach to defining infrastructure for the purposes of justifying increased costs and taxes.  In October 2024, Bongiovanni and other council members voted to raise sales taxes on all goods and services sold in Gilbert. The tax raise was controversial beyond the increased financial burden to property owners and businesses: it earned the nickname “the pickleball tax” because the revenue would go to projects not traditionally defined as critical infrastructure, but so defined by the council, like pickleball courts, splash pads, a ropes course, and a statement bridge. The Goldwater Institute sued the town over the tax in December 2024. The lawsuit accused the council of pushing an illegal tax hike on services. That lawsuit is still active.  What’s more, just last year, the town council approved its third water rate hike since 2024. The backlash incited the ire of some Gilbert residents, and even one man who was arrested for threatening violence against council members in retaliation over the rate increase.  Bongiovanni also took credit for establishing the town’s hiring of a police officer dedicated to preventing teen violence, and the establishment of the Dementia-Friendly City Program.  In the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce candidate forum in April, Bongiovanni proposed expanding the size of town government to expedite the town’s turnaround times, specifically citing the permitting department.  Bongiovanni didn’t look to accomplish that this year. In the fiscal year 2027 budget passed earlier this month, Bongiovanni and the council approved $2.7 billion representing a commitment to maintenance of present operations, not expansion.  Bongiovanni also hinted at inviting a greater corporate presence into Gilbert, though he declined to elaborate on which entities he has been courting. “I’m also looking for Disneyland — I don’t mean Disneyland itself, I’m looking for a big project,” said Bongiovanni. “[S]ome very huge projects that bring in, like, $200 million into our tax base. That’s all we’re going to need forever.” AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link. The post Gilbert Vice Mayor Backs Effort To End Universal School Choice first appeared on AZ FREE NEWS. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42263f197238567836a7ac Marine missing from USS Anchorage now focus of recovery mission off California coast te 2026-06-29T08:01:03.404Z Marine missing from USS Anchorage now focus of recovery mission off California coast Efforts to find a Marine who went missing from the USS Anchorage during integrated training off the coast of Southern California turned to a recovery mission, according to Navy officials. The Marine was aboard the ship as part of the training with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Pendleton and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group. The search began on Thursday before it later turned into a search and recovery operation on Friday, featuring three surface ships and 12 aircraft from the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Air Force. COAST GUARD HELICOPTER CRASHES DURING ALASKA TRAINING MISSION, INJURING FOUR CREW MEMBERS The search covered about 2,400 square miles, officials said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and all who are affected during this difficult time," the Navy said in a news release this week about the missing Marine. The Marine's name was being withheld pending the notification of family, the Navy said. The USS Anchorage is an amphibious transport dock ship based at Naval Base San Diego. This is at least the second time in six weeks that the U.S. military has had to search for missing service members. REMAINS RECOVERED OF US SOLDIER WHO WENT MISSING IN MILITARY EXERCISES IN MOROCCO, 2ND SOLDIER STILL MISSING The remains of the second of two U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during military training exercises in Morocco were recovered in May, ending a multinational search operation that utilized air, naval and artificial intelligence assets, the Army said at the time. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a42262b197238567836a7a3 Mississippi law could create statewide registry of undocumented immigrants te 2026-06-29T08:00:43.931Z Mississippi law could create statewide registry of undocumented immigrants A new Mississippi law set to take effect this week will allow the state's top law enforcement agency to compile a list of all illegal immigrants living in the state, alarming immigrant advocates who fear it could be a new tool to target immigrants as part of President Donald Trump's mass deportation plan. The law, which will go into effect on Wednesday, states that the state Department of Public Safety "may use all reasonable lawful investigative means available" to determine the number of illegal immigrants residing in Mississippi and their identities, including by collecting their names, addresses, country of origin and whether they are an adult or child. The department may also list any criminal history and the date, location and status of deportation proceedings. The agency is instructed to share information on immigrants suspected of violating laws with state and local authorities. ‘GHOSTS’ ON FLORIDA HIGHWAYS: ROADSIDE STINGS SNARE 249 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, OFFICERS WARN MANY MORE HIDING The law does not expressly require or prohibit sharing the database with federal immigration authorities, though other provisions of SB 2114 require the Department of Public Safety and county detention agencies to attempt cooperation agreements with ICE under Section 287(g). State Sen. Angela Hill, a Republican who sponsored the bill, argued that states have a right and obligation to assist the federal government in stopping illegal immigration, which she claims contributes to crimes such as human and drug trafficking. Hill said the new measure "seems like commonsense to me." "In order to address the problems caused by illegal immigration, we need to understand the magnitude of the problem. Identifying the number and identity of illegal aliens in Mississippi is a concrete way to better understand the problem," she said. The Mississippi law authorizes an ongoing effort to keep track of immigrants illegally in the state for the next two years, which could include people who overstay visas. Immigrant advocates warn that the law could complicate things in Mississippi as people overstay visas, apply for new forms of legal status and move into and out of the state. "You can be undocumented today, and then have status tomorrow, and then lose it again next month, and then regain it three months from now," Efrén Olivares, vice president of litigation and legal strategy at the National Immigration Law Center, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income immigrants, told The Associated Press. "It’s practically unworkable, but it’s also very worrisome, because it’s eerily reminiscent of other countries that have created lists of certain groups of people," Olivares added. Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit think tank that supports immigration restrictions, said state officials must come up with "a credible and fairly foolproof way of correctly determining someone's immigration status." However, Vaughan argued the law "makes a lot of sense," saying that it "raises the likelihood that someone’s illegal presence is going to come to the attention of federal authorities." Mississippi has one of the country's smallest percentages of illegal immigrants with fewer than 28,000 people, which amounts to less than 1% of its population, according to the American Immigration Council, citing 2023 Census Bureau data. Victoria Francis, deputy director of state and local initiatives for the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of immigrants, warned that the law has the potential to redirect law enforcement resources away from protecting the public in favor of investigating immigrants who may be contributing to the economy. "A mandate like this invites profiling and turning entire communities into targets," Francis told The Associated Press. American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi's policy and advocacy manager, Lydia Grizzell, added that the law could harm the trust between police and residents. "That increases the likelihood of individuals not reaching out to law enforcement when it’s needed – and that is opposite of the mission," she said. More than 100 immigration-related laws have been adopted in states across the country this year. JUDGE ORDERS ICE TO FREE WISCONSIN MOSQUE LEADER OVER 'SUBSTANTIAL' FREE SPEECH CLAIM AFTER CRITICIZING ISRAEL Republican-led states have sought to support Trump's immigration crackdown by requiring local sheriffs to sign cooperative agreements with ICE, reinforcing eligibility restrictions for public benefits and instructing election clerks to check voter rolls against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system in an effort to identify noncitizens. Mississippi's new law appears to be similar to a 2021 executive order by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that directed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to "use all lawful investigative means available" to determine the number and identities of all "illegal aliens" who had been transported from the nation's southwest border to Florida during the border crisis under the Biden administration. Meanwhile, blue states have attempted to limit Trump's immigration raids, including by banning cooperative pacts with ICE, prohibiting ICE from wearing masks to shield their identities and barring immigration arrests in schools, hospitals and other sensitive locations without judicial warrants. At the federal level, the Trump administration has increased enforcement of a decades-old law that requires noncitizens to register with the U.S. government. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a422618197238567836a79a Democratic socialists seize the moment with extreme, anti-American views that badly tarnish the party te 2026-06-29T08:00:24.484Z Democratic socialists seize the moment with extreme, anti-American views that badly tarnish the party Socialism has long been deemed a dirty word in American politics.  It smacked of a rejection of the capitalistic system that had fueled the country's rise to superpower status, too reminiscent of a dreamy, share-the-wealth philosophy that goes against the grain of fierce corporate competition.  Looked at another way, the U.S. has a mixed system, with a government-run retirement program, government-run health care systems for the elderly and the poor, and a spate of programs to help farmers, small businesses, schools, veterans, the unemployed and so on. It isn’t exactly a European-style welfare state, but perhaps a close cousin.  Right now, socialists are on a roll in Democratic politics. DEMOCRATS' NEW-WAVE SOCIALISTS ARE WINNING PRIMARIES BUT FACE A HARSH REALITY IN GENERAL ELECTIONS Following the lead of its most visible champion, Zohran Mamdani, they are shoving the party dramatically to the left – and with some deep, dark elements, especially on foreign policy.  This amounts to a gift-wrapped Fourth of July present to the Republicans, who are happy to spend the next few years running against these new-wave socialists.  Maybe that word no longer carries sinister overtones, because President Trump says the three far-left candidates that the New York mayor successfully pushed for Congress are "Communists." That sounds like a throwback to the 1950s witch hunts known as McCarthyism.  AOC ISSUES WARNING TO HER FELLOW DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS IN THE WAKE OF SOCIALISTS WINNING BIG IN NYC But this goes beyond Washington and Seattle also electing socialists as mayors, and the obvious point is that most of the country is far to the right compared with the liberal cauldron that is New York City. The new socialists may have excitement on their side, but some of their views are downright dangerous. And they wage their warfare quite openly under the banner of the Democratic Socialists of America. "The Democratic Party lets DSA candidates run as Democrats, even though the DSA is ideologically committed to a hostile takeover of the party," says Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Dispatch, a conservative, anti-Trump news site. "The DSA isn’t a formal party; it calls itself ‘a political and activist organization, not a party.’ What it is is a fifth column within the Democratic Party. There is no sensible, informed Democrat who thinks these people are good for their party."  What about the left? On the liberal show "The View," Joy Behar announced that "I’m not scared of the term. Social Security is democratic socialism. Partly unemployment insurance is. The people who pick up your garbage, the people who take the fire out of your house. All of these are democratic socialism."  But it gets worse. The new socialists are fervently anti-Israel, which clearly deserves criticism for Bibi Netanyahu’s endless wars, but cements the view that the Democratic Party, even in New York, has turned its back on our longtime Middle East ally. That reflects the party’s shift as well. Based on their own words, many of them hate America as well as Israel. Trump wasted no time escalating his rhetoric: "Assassination is a big deal for them. They are animals… They will kill your people. And that’s what they’re about." The three congressional candidates successfully pushed by Mamdani are openly pro-Palestine. And the mayor, who has used the phrase "from the river to the sea" – meaning wipe Israel off the map – takes the same stance, even in a city with the largest Jewish population outside Israel.  LEFTIST DEMOCRATS ARE BEING THROWN UNDER THE BUS, AND SOCIALISTS ARE IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT That seems to be their overriding issue. There’s nothing wrong with the Democratic incumbents who were knocked off – they just weren’t sufficiently anti-Israel. The most outrageous of the Mamdani-backed winners is Darializa Avila Chevalier, a community organizer and doctoral student who has supported defunding police and prisons, abolishing borders, eliminating ICE, seizing private property and nationalizing major industries. The day after the savage Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas that butchered 1,200 Israelis and took hostages, Chevalier attended a pro-Palestinian rally in Times Square. She was celebrating a horrifying terrorist assault. Chevalier has also called Joe Biden a "rapist" and used the F-word against Kamala Harris. And this is not ancient history, with some of the messages posted as recently as 2022. As pointed out by National Review, Chevalier is hardly alone. Aber Kawas, the Democratic nominee for a New York state Senate seat, contends that America deserved the 9/11 attacks: Seriously. "The idea that we have to apologize for, like, a terror attack that, like, a couple people did, and then there’s no apologies or reparations for genocides and for slavery, et cetera, is something that I kind of find, like, reprehensible," Kawas says. Chris Rabb, a Pennsylvania state rep and Democratic nominee for Congress, blamed the Bondi Beach massacre of Australian Jews on "Zionists." Adam Hamawy, a former Army doctor and now a Democratic nominee for Congress from New Jersey, worked with the "blind sheikh," Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He even testified on the sheikh’s behalf. He now says he’s disavowed Abdel-Rahman’s calls for violence. Another of Mamdani’s winners, Claire Valdez, would not only abolish ICE but says "detention and deportation have been used as a weapon, not just against immigrants, but against the entire working class." And out west, Melat Kiros, another socialist running in Colorado, was asked by a local anchor about a firebombing attack on peaceful protesters supporting Jewish hostages held by Hamas – and refused to condemn it.  "I don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator," she said. LEFT, LEFTER AND LEFTIST: DEMOCRATS COULD BE DEFINED BY RADICAL, BIG CITY MAYORS Ugh. That’s a really low bar – and she failed to clear it. Do these sound like the kind of people who should be the face of the Democratic Party? New York Rep. Tom Suozzi has rounded up 12 other Democratic lawmakers to fight back. Under the banner "Promise to America," these more moderate liberals are declaring themselves champions of capitalism, police and patriotism. "We disagree with MAGA. We disagree with socialism," Suozzi says. "We believe the vast majority of America wants common-sense, mainstream leadership, not political extremism." It’s a tiny group with little influence, but the Suozzi gang is trying to send a message that the party is not the captive of crazy socialists. "I’m a capitalist, not a socialist… I’m not ashamed of America," Suozzi told Fox News Digital. James Carville flipped out in an X-rated rant, invoking Chevalier and saying: "Lady, I ain’t in the same party as you… I don’t want to be in a political party that denies the right of the state of Israel to exist. I just can’t do that."  SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE'S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY'S HOTTEST STORIES The socialists are hot right now, a fringe group that has somehow seized the national spotlight, and which Republicans will spend years attacking. America deserved 9/11? A barbaric terrorist attack on Israelis should be celebrated? Get rid of the police?  Even if only a handful of far-left zealots are elected, they will set the tone for an increasingly extreme party with views that most voters would deem repulsive. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a41e476197238567836a5a1 Argentine soccer player Lucas Trejo loses wife, two children in Venezuela earthquake building collapse: report te 2026-06-29T03:20:22.188Z Argentine soccer player Lucas Trejo loses wife, two children in Venezuela earthquake building collapse: report The 74-hour search for the family of Argentine soccer star Lucas Trejo ended this weekend after rescue crews recovered the bodies of his wife and two children from the rubble of the apartment building that collapsed in Wednesday's twin earthquakes. Trejo, 38, a center back for Venezuelan club Sport Maritimo de La Guaira, was in Caracas with his team when earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 struck the country's northern coast. After learning his family's apartment building had collapsed in Playa Grande, La Guaira, he immediately traveled to the disaster zone to join the search. "Our building in Playa Grande collapsed. I don't know anything about my family," Trejo wrote on Instagram during the early hours of the search. "Please pray for them and share this message in case someone saw them. I want to believe they weren't there." 33 RESCUED FROM VENEZUELAN RUBBLE: SURVIVAL WINDOW DESPERATELY FADING WITH NEARLY 50,000 MISSING Trejo's father and brother traveled from Argentina to assist firefighters, military personnel and volunteers searching through the debris. The search ended after rescuers recovered the bodies of Trejo's wife, Yanina Maranella, and their children, Aaron and Ainhoa. The tragedy prompted an outpouring of support from across the South American soccer community. EX-MLB PLAYER SAYS WIFE DIED IN DEVASTATING VENEZUELA EARTHQUAKES Fellow Argentine footballer Edson Tortolero, a close friend of Trejo's, mourned the family's deaths. "Today my heart breaks into a thousand pieces," Tortolero wrote. "There are no words that can ease so much pain. I ask God to give Lucas strength to endure this unimaginable loss." Club Sport Maritimo de La Guaira confirmed the deaths in a statement on Sunday. "We join the grief that overwhelms player Lucas Trejo for the passing of his wife, Yanina Maranella, and of his children, Aaron and Ainhoa Trejo," the club said. "Peace to their souls and comfort for Lucas and all his loved ones." Trejo's family is among the victims of the earthquakes that devastated parts of Venezuela's northern coast. Emergency crews remain in the region as recovery efforts continue. Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a41db15197238567836a4aa Rock star forced to issue plea after shocking incident at Philadelphia tour stop te 2026-06-29T02:40:21.807Z Rock star forced to issue plea after shocking incident at Philadelphia tour stop Noah Kahan issued a stern warning to his fans after a messy situation. A viral video picked up steam Saturday following Kahan's "The Great Divide" tour stop in Philadelphia, which appeared to show pieces of fecal matter on the floor at Citizens Bank Park. The "Stick Season" singer pleaded with future attendees to prioritize restroom breaks before admitting he once had his own on-stage excrement experience. KATY PERRY FORCED TO CANCEL BELGIUM FESTIVAL SET HOURS BEFORE TAKING THE STAGE DUE TO SEVERE WEATHER "If you have to poop at a show please dear god just go to the bathroom lmao," Kahan shared on X Saturday morning. "I’ve pooped my pants as much as the next 29 year old but you guys gotta understand there’s a venue worker out there with a 1000 yard stare after dealing with that." Kahan, 29, continued, "I s-— myself onstage in Charlottesville but that's because I am dedicated to my craft." In the clip shared on TikTok, one user showed off floor seats which were surrounded by what appeared to be fecal matter. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER "45,000 people and I end up seated right behind her," the user's friend wrote. One person begged to ask if not all was what it seemed, and wrote, "Hear me out... what if it was dirt on their shoes? As a horse girl... sometimes I track mud in like this." LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS The creator responded, "She squatted and took a s---. Security was screaming at her to go to the bathroom." Kahan released his fourth studio album, "The Great Divide," in April, two years after earning a best new artist Grammy nomination for "Stick Season." His 57-stop tour began earlier this month in Orlando, and concludes in Paris at the end of the year. Sloppy bathroom habits appear to be trending in live music venues. Olivia Rodrigo recently delved into unique behavior she's witnessed at concerts while appearing on KISS FM UK. "I have been to certain concerts and certain festivals where people wear diapers so that they can be front row of the show," Rodrigo said before adding, "and that's been an experience as a performer that I have smelled." Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a41d8bd197238567836a45b Lawsuit filed after tree dubbed 'Widow Maker' fatally crushes man at Texas BBQ restaurant te 2026-06-29T02:30:21.348Z Lawsuit filed after tree dubbed 'Widow Maker' fatally crushes man at Texas BBQ restaurant The family of a Texas father of four is suing after the man was allegedly "fatally crushed by the preventable falling" of a "diseased" pecan tree while he was eating at a BBQ restaurant. Kirk Foyle, 64, died after a May 19 when a tree fell on him at Green Mesquite BBQ in Austin, according to the lawsuit, Fox 7 reported. The tree was hanging over an outdoor patio area where Foyle was eating as storms moved through the area. The tree, which is referred to in the complaint as a "Widow Maker," was located at 1410 Barton Springs Rd, but parts of the tree extended into Green Mesquite’s outdoor patio area, where Foyle was seated, according to the outlet. WOMAN KILLED BY FLYING RESTAURANT UMBRELLA IN FREAK ACCIDENT AT SOUTH CAROLINA LAKESIDE RESTAURANT The tree was allegedly never properly inspected by restaurant staff or management at a neighboring business, Aspen Hatter, despite being "located on, or in part on, property owned and controlled" by the businesses, according to the lawsuit. The complaint alleges that staff at the two local businesses allowed the tree, which allegedly showed signs of disease, to rot and decay without warning customers or taking action to maintain it or remove it. The lawsuit names Green Mesquite BBQ and nearby property owners as defendants. "Defendants knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known, of the dangerous, diseased, decayed, and/or structurally compromised condition of this tree and failed to inspect, maintain, remove, and/or warn of its dangerous condition," the complaint alleges. "Prior to May 19, 2026, the Widow Maker was in a dangerous, compromised, decayed, diseased, and/or structurally defective condition," it reads. "Upon information and belief, the Widow Maker's dangerous condition was visible, apparent, or discoverable upon reasonable inspection, and had existed for a sufficient period of time that defendants knew or, in the exercise of ordinary care, should have known of its condition." According to the Foyle family, he was sitting on the outdoor patio when the tree "suddenly and violently broke at or near its base and fell" as storms were moving through the area. Foyle's cause of death was determined to be blunt trauma sustained as a result of being struck by a falling tree branch, according to the Travis County Deputy Medical Examiner, the complaint says. SISTERS, FRIEND CHARGED IN TEXAS MOM'S STABBING DEATH Green Mesquite has alleged that the tree was struck by lightning the night it crushed Foyle, but his family and their attorneys contend that this never happened and that the lack of upkeep was the reason for his death, according to Law & Crime. The filing also claims that the property owners of the area where the tree was located took out a $960,000 deed of trust used to refinance the property just a week after Foyle’s death. The defendants are accused of gross negligence, and the Foyle family is seeking $1,000,000 in damages related to the man's death, mental anguish and legal costs. Fox News Digital reached out to Green Mesquite and Aspen Hatter for comment. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a41cf5c197238567836a357 Chiney Ogwumike's defense of Alyssa Thomas reinforced everything critics say about the WNBA media te 2026-06-29T01:50:20.731Z Chiney Ogwumike's defense of Alyssa Thomas reinforced everything critics say about the WNBA media It takes remarkable intellectual gymnastics to watch the WNBA suspend Alyssa Thomas for striking Caitlin Clark in the throat and still argue that the controversy was driven more by optics than by the hit itself. Yet that's exactly where parts of the league's media landed. When Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas hit Caitlin Clark in the throat last Wednesday, the league eventually corrected the officials' mistake by upgrading the play to a Flagrant 2 and issuing a one-game suspension. Some WNBA analysts searched for ways to justify the contact. Among the most egregious defenses came from former WNBA star and ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike. On Sunday, Ogwumike framed the incident as a broader discussion about officiating and social media optics. WNBA SUSPENDS ALYSSA THOMAS FOR 'RECKLESSLY' HITTING CAITLIN CLARK IN THROAT DURING SCRAMBLE Rather than squarely criticizing Thomas for the hit, she suggested Clark "can embellish contact in certain situations." The twisted reasoning from Ogwumike lost a lot of people. LISA LESLIE SAYS WNBA OFFICIALS 'GOT TO DO BETTER' AFTER ALYSSA THOMAS SHOVED FIST INTO CAITLIN CLARK'S THROAT "This was a marquee matchup. When you look at Alyssa Thomas and Caitlin Clark, they're both dominant players, but Alyssa plays on the edge. I know her, and Caitlin, at times, can embellish contact in certain situations," she said. "Instead, the league found itself in a position where it had to be reactive. Rather than controlling the game through officiating, it ended up responding after the fact by doing something it rarely does, issuing a suspension for a non-call. "I'll add one more thing. I think that largely happened because of the optics. Watching the play live, in real time, I didn't think much of it because players hit the floor all the time. But once narratives started forming around a freeze-frame image, that changed everything. I do think the league was reacting to the optics of that image." Reactions on X called out Chiney's bias against Clark. "And this is why nobody respects Chiney’s opinion on ball," one fan responded. More fans reacted. "Wrong. The league made the right call. Chiney has always hated Caitlin and pushes false narratives. This is a PR clean up for AT and no one is buying it." "So did Caitlin embellish getting a hand to the neck? I’m lost here." SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM CALLS OUT WNBA REFS FOR NOT PROTECTING CAITLIN CLARK AFTER STARTING FIGHT TO PROTECT HER By framing a play that resulted in a suspension as an optics problem, Ogwumike shifted the conversation away from Thomas' actions and toward the reaction to them. Physical play against Clark is often framed as something she simply needs to accept rather than something officials should consistently police. Comments like Ogwumike's are likely to reinforce that perception. By framing a play that resulted in a suspension as an optics problem, Ogwumike shifted the conversation away from Thomas' actions and toward the reaction to them. If enough fans decide the league and its media are more interested in protecting enforcers than protecting Caitlin Clark, they should not be surprised when they start tuning out. Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a41cd05197238567836a317 J.T. Poston posts a 12 on a single hole at Travelers Championship in stunning meltdown te 2026-06-29T01:40:21.309Z J.T. Poston posts a 12 on a single hole at Travelers Championship in stunning meltdown Golf humbles many, including those who are the best in the world. Just ask J.T. Poston at the Travelers Championship on Sunday. What started out as a chance to put a low score on the card at the 13th hole after getting greenside in two shots, Poston, the world No. 32 in the Official World Golf Ranking, posted a 12 in an absolute meltdown that derailed his entire day. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM While Poston may not have been in contention, he wasn’t picturing himself at the bottom of the leaderboard by the end of the tournament, but the 12 was the main reason behind finishing 6-over and 1-over on the tournament for 69th place out of the remaining 72 that made the cut. So, what exactly happened to Poston? MICROPHONE ENDURES GOLFER SHANE LOWRY'S WRATH DURING MELTDOWN AT US OPEN Well, the 13th hole began with a perfect tee shot that found the middle of the fairway. Then, his second shot found a greenside bunker, but professionals sometimes don’t mind finding those bunkers because of how great their short game is. A good bunker shot and Poston has a chance at birdie on the par-5. But things went awry from there, as the bunker shot came out quite short, leaving him with a chipping situation. Again, professionals understand that’s not the end of the world, with a chance at par after a solid chip. The nightmare was just beginning for Poston, though, as his fourth shot went clear across the green and ended up in the water on the other side. From there, Poston had to drop not once, but three separate times because he couldn’t get his ball back on the green. On his 10th stroke, he finally got the ball into a putting position. Poston still had to keep going, putting his 11th stroke and missing it before a tap-in 12 and ending the meltdown in front of the fans. Poston spoke about the multiple drop balls near the water that continued to roll back into the drink. "It’s not really rough, where you can kind of blast it out," Poston said, per Golfweek. "It’s into the grain, but it looks like you can get enough golf ball on it, which is why I kept trying to hit a good chip." Poston was asked if he even thought about putting it out of the greenside rough with his chips clearly not working out. "I feel like it’s just going to hop and that takes all the speed out of it," he responded. "And you’ve got this big false front you got to get it over. So my worry with trying to putt it was it would not have enough speed to really get there." Poston didn’t bounce back on the 14th hole either, as he posted a double bogey on the par-4 to put himself down even more. In the end, Poston posted a 76 on the day to finish off his tournament. Meanwhile, the Travelers Championship will come down to a playoff that must be played on Monday after Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler found themselves deadlocked at 21-under after the latter sank a putt to force it. Hovland's putt to win it all just missed and Scheffler took advantage of the open opportunity. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a41c610197238567836a252 Mamdani claims democratic socialists can win ‘anywhere’ as Democrats feud over party’s future te 2026-06-29T01:10:40.946Z Mamdani claims democratic socialists can win ‘anywhere’ as Democrats feud over party’s future New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Sunday that democratic socialists can win across the country, using an interview with ABC News' Jonathan Karl to defend his influence after candidates he endorsed swept New York Democratic primaries and deepened his party's ideological fight ahead of November. "I think a democratic socialist can get elected anywhere across this country for any position," Mamdani told Karl. Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, made the claim on "This Week" after Karl asked whether a democratic socialist could be elected president. The exchange came after Mamdani-backed candidates Brad Lander, Claire Valez and Darializa Avila Chevalier won Democratic congressional primaries in New York, with Lander and Chevalier defeating incumbent Democrats. "I think we are seeing a hunger that is not just felt by New Yorkers, but, frankly, by Americans from coast to coast for a new kind of politics, one that puts working people at the heart of it," Mamdani said. LETITIA JAMES FUMES AS MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALISTS SWEEP NEW YORK PRIMARIES The mayor rejected warnings from moderate Democrats that socialist wins in New York could hurt the party nationally, arguing that Democrats need a message beyond opposition to President Donald Trump. "For far too long, all we’ve had to say as a party is opposition to the current administration," Mamdani said. "What do we have to say beyond that?" Mamdani said the New York results should be viewed as a broader message for Democrats as they look toward the midterms and the 2028 presidential race. "What these candidates offer is a vision that extends beyond the midterms," Mamdani said. "It extends beyond 2028." AOC ISSUES WARNING TO HER FELLOW DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENTS IN THE WAKE OF SOCIALISTS WINNING BIG IN NYC Karl pressed Mamdani on Chevalier, who has faced scrutiny over past statements and posts supporting the abolition of prisons, borders and police. Chevalier's campaign site lists "Abolish ICE" among her priorities. "I think what the Democratic Party can win on nationally is a focus on working people," Mamdani said. "I think that we can have disagreements on policy positions." Karl asked whether Democrats could disagree on "something as basic whether or not there should be prisons." "There are prisons," Mamdani said. "And what we’re also showing in this city is that safety is not something that’s up for debate." MAMDANI STANDS BY FELLOW SOCIALIST CANDIDATE DESPITE RESURFACED FAR-LEFT, ANTI-AMERICAN POSTS Mamdani also framed democratic socialism as governing pragmatism, pointing to his administration's record on child care, tenants, potholes and crime. "I think democratic socialism at the heart is pragmatic, because if we cannot deliver for working people, then what is this for?" Mamdani said. The NYPD said earlier this month that New York City recorded its fewest murders, shooting incidents and shooting victims for the first five months of any year in recorded history. Mamdani cited those figures during the interview while defending his administration. "What we’ve delivered for working people are the very things we were told were impossible," Mamdani said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE The interview came as a group of moderate Democrats promoted a "Promise to America" pledge declaring, "We are capitalist, not socialist." The pledge also says Democrats should support "secure borders," "safe communities," "fiscal discipline" and "persuasion over purity." Mamdani dismissed the anti-socialist push when Karl raised it. "I’m not interested in writing a manifesto or, frankly, in reading one," Mamdani said. "I’m interested in delivering." Karl also pressed Mamdani on Israel, including whether he supports Israel as a Jewish state. Mamdani said he supports Israel as "a state with equal rights," but declined to endorse the Jewish-state framing. "I think any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can’t tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else," Mamdani said. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a41c5fd197238567836a249 Scottie Scheffler drains clutch putt to force sudden-death Monday playoff with Viktor Hovland at Travelers te 2026-06-29T01:10:21.498Z Scottie Scheffler drains clutch putt to force sudden-death Monday playoff with Viktor Hovland at Travelers For most professional golfers, a five-month gap between PGA Tour victories barely qualifies as a drought. For world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, it’s long enough to make people wonder if something is wrong. The Travelers Championship made that notion look pretty silly, even if Scheffler still has to wait until Monday morning to see if the drought ends. Scheffler and Viktor Hovland finished regulation tied at 21-under Sunday at TPC River Highlands, setting up a rare Monday playoff at the Travelers Championship after weather and darkness prevented the tournament from being decided before the end of the day. The playoff is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET on the par-4 18th hole. The Travelers Championship playoff format is sudden death, meaning the player with the lower score on a playoff hole wins. If Scheffler and Hovland tie the hole, they keep going until someone finally separates. For Scheffler, it means the winless streak is not over yet. SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER SAYS BEING THE NO. 1 GOLFER IN THE WORLD IS 'NOT A FULFILLING LIFE' For Hovland, it means one more chance to take down the best golfer on the planet after refusing to let Scheffler pull away during a tense, rain-delayed final round. Scheffler entered the Travelers with just one victory in 2026, which came all the way back in January at The American Express. Of course, "just one victory" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. It's not like Scheffler has played poorly this season. Quite the opposite, in fact. The world's top player had eight top-five finishes in his first 13 starts this season, including his win at The American Express and runner-up finishes at the Masters, RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship. He finished third at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and tied for fourth at the U.S. Open last week. Now, he has another chance to turn a close call into a trophy. But he will have to sleep on it first. Scheffler started the final round one shot behind Hovland after a wild first three days in Connecticut. He opened with a 64, nearly shot a historic 59 on Friday before settling for a 60, then posted a 67 on Saturday that left him in solo second place, one back of Hovland. From there, it looked like Scheffler had a familiar script in front of him. The best golfer on the planet had 18 holes to hunt down another trophy. Instead, Hovland made sure the Travelers Championship would need more than 72 holes. Scheffler, who rarely needs help from other players, got some early help from Hovland. The Norwegian, who birdied 18 on Saturday to post a 64 and take the lead from Scheffler heading into the final round, made bogey on his first hole Sunday to fall back into a tie with Scheffler. Scheffler had a ho-hum front nine, making one birdie and one bogey for an even-par 35. Hovland dropped a shot on the front with a 36, which allowed a number of players back into the tournament. Collin Morikawa shot a 61 in the final round, posting the clubhouse lead at 20-under several hours before Scheffler and Hovland finished. For a while, it looked like Morikawa might be the player Scheffler had to beat. Then Hovland made his move. Scheffler made birdies at Nos. 10 and 13 to move to 21-under and take a one-shot lead over Morikawa’s clubhouse number. Hovland, who also made birdie on No. 13, and U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark were still lurking two back, but Scheffler appeared to have control of the tournament when heavy rain started hammering TPC River Highlands and forced a weather delay. After the delay, Hovland completely reversed the momentum. He birdied No. 14 to pull within one, then added another birdie at No. 15 to grab a share of the lead. Suddenly, Scheffler was no longer coasting to his 21st PGA Tour victory. He was trying to survive Hovland’s late charge. Scheffler had his own chance to regain control, but his birdie putt on No. 17 lipped out, leaving the two players tied heading to the 72nd hole. Both players hit solid approach shots on No. 18, but Scheffler found himself slightly farther away than Hovland. The American gave it too much pace, sending it well past the hole and leaving himself 8 1/2 feet coming back for par. It wouldn't have mattered if Hovland drained his 25-foot birdie putt, but it just leaked wide of the hole at the end. That meant Scheffler would need to make his putt to send the pair to a playoff. Is there any doubt what happened next? Scheffler drained the putt, gave an enthusiastic fist pump, and shook Hovland's hand as the two almost certainly exchanged "See ya tomorrows." It will be the PGA Tour’s first Monday playoff since Rory McIlroy defeated J.J. Spaun in a three-hole aggregate playoff at the 2025 Players Championship last March. This one will be much simpler. Scheffler and Hovland will head back to the 18th hole Monday morning, and the first player to win a playoff hole wins the tournament. For Scheffler, the situation is familiar in one way and unusual in another. He has been here before at the Travelers. In 2024, Scheffler defeated his friend Tom Kim in a playoff for his first victory at TPC River Highlands. It only took one hole for Scheffler to beat Kim. It's a course that has been friendly to Scheffler after a rough start. After missing the cut in his first trip to Connecticut in 2020 and finishing 47th in 2021, he turned the event into one of his best stops on Tour. Scheffler finished 13th in 2022, fourth in 2023, won in 2024, finished sixth last year and now has another chance to win again in 2026. Pretty good. WYNDHAM CLARK HANDLED HIS U.S. OPEN WIN WITH THE PERFECT ATTITUDE TO WIN BACK GOLF FANS Still, the drought technically continues. That's the strange thing about Scheffler right now. His dry spells would be career-best stretches for just about everyone else. He keeps putting himself near the top of leaderboards, keeps piling up top-five finishes and keeps making deep Sunday runs at the biggest events in golf. But when the bar is this high, close is not enough. Scheffler came to TPC River Highlands looking like he was ready to end any talk of a dry spell before it got too loud. Instead, Hovland dragged him all the way into Monday. Now, one more hole, or maybe several, will decide whether Scheffler’s drought finally ends or stretches into another week. Either way, the larger point is pretty clear. Win or lose Monday, there is nothing wrong with Scottie Scheffler. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a41c3a9197238567836a209 Jacob Frey praises Somali community as Minnesota faces renewed scrutiny over fraud investigations te 2026-06-29T01:00:25.892Z Jacob Frey praises Somali community as Minnesota faces renewed scrutiny over fraud investigations Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told members of the city's Somali community over the weekend that they are "our family," pledging solidarity and praising their contributions to the city during remarks celebrating Somali Independence Day. Frey's remarks came as Minnesota continues to face scrutiny over several high-profile fraud investigations and weeks after a Republican-led House Oversight Committee report alleged the Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's administration failed to act on repeated warnings about widespread fraud in the state's social services programs. "Through the most difficult of times and through Operation Metro surge, we all saw that they tried to come for some of us," Frey told members of the Somali community on Saturday. "And when that happens, we say that you're coming for all of us." BLUE STATE’S ANTI-ICE PLEDGE COLLAPSES AS GOP WARNS OF NEW SANCTUARY ‘CONFEDERACY’ "In Minneapolis, we loved our neighbors. In Minneapolis, we do not see you as immigrants. We see you as our family," he added. "You are our brothers. You’re our sisters. You have done so much for this incredible city, and for that, we stand with you." Frey appeared to reference Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration's immigration and public safety initiative in Minnesota. The operation concluded in February after border czar Tom Homan announced it had resulted in the arrest of more than 4,000 people in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and had reduced what he described as public safety threats. BLUE STATE’S ANTI-ICE PLEDGE COLLAPSES AS GOP WARNS OF NEW SANCTUARY ‘CONFEDERACY’ Frey shared the video on X, writing, "Happy Somali Independence Day." "Here in Minnesota, home to one of the largest Somali communities in the United States, we celebrate the resilience, culture, and leadership that continue to enrich our city and community," he said. Earlier this month, a Republican-led House Oversight Committee report alleged Walz's administration repeatedly failed to act on warnings about fraud involving state social services programs, including the Feeding Our Future scandal. WALZ ADMINISTRATION IGNORED FRAUD WARNINGS AS BILLIONS VANISHED, HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPORT ALLEGES The committee said more than 110 people have been charged in connection with various fraud schemes in Minnesota, including many defendants identified as members of Minnesota's Somali immigrant community. The report also alleged concerns about potential racial discrimination claims contributed to delays in addressing suspected fraud and estimated Minnesota lost roughly $300 million in stolen federal child nutrition funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Walz administration officials have disputed the committee's findings. Fox News Digital's Adam Pack contributed to this report. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a41bca1197238567836a134 Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss publicly disagrees with Lane Kiffin's claims about racism in Oxford te 2026-06-29T00:30:25.132Z Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss publicly disagrees with Lane Kiffin's claims about racism in Oxford Lane Kiffin is no stranger to making headlines. The new head coach of the LSU Tigers starts his career in Baton Rouge in just two months' time, but even after his controversial and contentious exit from Ole Miss, he had some bizarre complaints about his time in Oxford. In an interview with Vanity Fair in May, Kiffin addressed some of his reasons for the move, including the most unexpected one: Black family members being concerned about racism in Mississippi in 2026. "'Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren’t letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi.’ That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana," he said in the interview. "Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus’s diversity feels so great: 'It feels like there’s no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that’s the real world.'" He later added that his remarks about Ole Miss were "factual." TIM BRANDO JOINS DAN DAKICH, EVISCERATES LANE KIFFIN FOR HIS RACIALLY CHARGED VANITY FAIR COMMENTS "I just hope [comments] comes across respectful to Ole Miss," he said. "There are some things that I'm saying that are factual, they're not shots." Unsurprisingly, reactions on social media to Kiffin's claims were not positive. And there were many of them. To the point where Kiffin later apologized, telling On3, "I really apologize if anybody at Ole Miss or in Mississippi was offended by that. In a four-hour interview, I was asked a lot of questions on a lot of things, and Ole Miss has been wonderful to me and to my family. "I was asked questions about the differences in recruiting, and I said a narrative that we battled there from some out-of-state Black parents and grandparents was not wanting their kid to move to Mississippi. That’s a narrative that coaches have been fighting forever. It wasn’t calculated by bringing it up." OLE MISS' TRINIDAD CHAMBLISS ELIGIBLE FOR SIXTH COLLEGE SEASON AFTER NCAA'S APPEAL DENIED BY JUDGE The entire situation was odd and unnecessary, and obviously, it's highly unlikely that Black players and families did not want to go to Oxford, Mississippi in 2026, relative to anywhere else. Not just in the SEC, but across the country. It's no surprise, then, that one of the most prominent Ole Miss players, quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, has publicly disagreed with Kiffin. "Me, personally, I don’t agree," said Chambliss, per the Associated Press. "I don’t think that what he said was truthful. ... The Oxford community is nothing but love and they care about their people no matter what they look like: brown, black, purple, yellow — you know what I mean?" Chambliss also said that "The people in Mississippi and Oxford showed me nothing but love," discussing a visit he made before his decision to transfer to Ole Miss. "One thing that I can really take away from my visit and the reason why I did commit to Ole Miss is I asked my family what they genuinely thought about the visit, what they thought about the people, if they trusted what they were actually saying, if they’re gonna be true to their word," he added. ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW! "They said, ‘I feel like this is the right place.’ And my mom’s super religious, too, and she just had a good feeling," he said. "We prayed on it, and that was the main thing. ... So, I felt like Oxford is home and it’s a great place." That's what made Kiffin's comments so odd; were there players who felt mistreated or the subject of racial discrimination in Oxford, in 2026? Locals, who presumably support the football team, mistreated player families while on recruiting visits to the point where they told Kiffin about it? And these families, many of whom come from the South, thought that there was a dramatic difference between Oxford and other college towns in the SEC? Bizarre and unrealistic feels like an understatement. Kiffin has made himself into one of the top coaches in college football, without question. And his ability to build relationships with players and families has made him one of the top recruiters in the sport as well. But it's hard not to feel like those comments were precisely "calculated" in order to put that doubt in some players' or families' minds. Trying to plant the thought that Oxford may be worse for their son or grandson than Baton Rouge. Either way, one of the biggest reasons for Kiffin's success in 2025 has now publicly disagreed with him. That Ole Miss-LSU game in Oxford on Sept. 19 is going to be must-see TV. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/post/6a41ba46197238567836a0f2 Pro-Israel Democrat California state senator heckled at Trans March over Gaza, ‘We f---ing hate you’ te 2026-06-29T00:20:22.448Z Pro-Israel Democrat California state senator heckled at Trans March over Gaza, ‘We f---ing hate you’ California state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said he was forced to leave San Francisco's Trans March at Dolores Park on Friday after demonstrators confronted him over Israel and Gaza, in a viral episode that unfolded as Pride Weekend began. The video showed several people surrounding Wiener as he walked through the park, with multiple hecklers shouting profinity-laced messages. "We f---ing hate you!" Dimitry Yakoushkin, who posted the clip to X, could be heard criticizing Wiener’s position on the war in Gaza as the Democratic lawmaker moved away from the crowd. HASAN PIKER CLAIMS CALIFORNIA WANTS 'HOMO-FASCISM' AFTER HIS FAVORED CANDIDATE LOSES TO GAY PROGRESSIVE "I think your policy on the genocide is terrible!" Yakoushkin said in the video. "I think you do not belong here!" As Wiener walked away, Yakoushkin continued to accuse him of betraying the LGBT community because of his stance on Israel and Gaza. "You’ve been terrible on Gaza! You do not belong here anymore Scott and it breaks my f---ing heart!" Yakoushkin said. "It breaks my heart that someone who wrote good legislation for queers is so f---ing terrible on Gaza!" Another person in the crowd accused Wiener of forfeiting his place in the LGBT community because of his support for Israel. CONGRESSMAN RESPONDS AFTER NEW YORK CITY COFFEE SHOP BANS HIM OVER ISRAEL SUPPORT: 'SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS' "You stopped being queer the moment you started supporting Israel!" Wiener said he had attended the Trans March every year since the first march in 2004 and was walking through Dolores Park to attend a trans-led Pride Shabbat service when the confrontation unfolded. "As I walked through Dolores Park to participate in a trans-led Pride Shabbat service in connection with the trans march, a group of people began screaming at me, ran up to me, surrounded me, and began harassing me, both verbally and physically, including physical contact," Wiener said. CONGRESSMAN RESPONDS AFTER NEW YORK CITY COFFEE SHOP BANS HIM OVER ISRAEL SUPPORT: 'SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS' Wiener said the group invoked Israel while confronting him. "They made statements about my ‘Israeli handlers,’ among many other inaccurate, extreme, and vile statements," Wiener said. "They were so physically and verbally aggressive that it was impossible for me to safely remain in the park." Fox News Digital reached out to Sen. Wiener for further comment, but did not immediately receive a response. Wiener said the incident marked the first time in 22 years that he did not participate in the Trans March, which began in 2004 and has become one of the largest transgender gatherings in the world. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Calif., said the confrontation went beyond the Bay Area's tradition of political protest. "Here in the Bay Area we have a long and proud history of heated protest and passionate disagreement; last night was not that," he said. "There is simply no place for hate speech, harassment, and violence - in our politics or elsewhere. No matter your beliefs, no one should be threatened or intimidated for simply showing up for their community. Elected officials and candidates for office do not lose their right to basic human decency." California Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón also joined Senate Democrats and the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus in condemning the confrontation. The joint statement said Wiener had spent 16 years in public service in San Francisco and had been "a fearless champion" for LGBTQ Californians. San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie condemned the confrontation and described the language directed at Wiener as antisemitic. "As mayor, I can never accept hate directed at a member of our community," Lurie said. "This language directed at Senator Wiener yesterday was targeted, hateful and antisemitic." Wiener finished first in California’s top-two primary for the San Francisco-based 11th Congressional District, the seat held by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Wiener and San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan advanced to the November general election, setting up an all-Democratic race to represent one of the party’s highest-profile House districts. San Francisco police said five people were arrested in a separate confrontation involving alleged vandalism, obstruction and assault. Police said two officers suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana https://meenews.co/home