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Iran has asserted expanded control over the Strait of Hormuz, publishing a map showing its claims extending into the coastal waters of the United Arab Emirates and Oman, and holding talks with Oman about sharing fees from ships traversing the waterway. The move was denounced on Friday as unacceptable by US Secretary of State Mario Rubio, who urged all countries to oppose it, and prompted a letter of protest from five Gulf states. US President Donald Trump on Thursday stressed, “We want [the Strait of Hormuz] open, we want it free. We don’t want tolls. It’s an international waterway.” Iran’s...

Mary, a veteran Silicon Valley marketer who can’t find a job, considers herself a victim of an H-1B visa program run amok. Her story, a U.S. native replaced by a foreign-born employee who is willing to work at a significantly lower wage, has become commonplace, particularly in the tech industry. Adding insult to injury, she says, her CEO, who hails from India, told her to train the man he selected to replace her before laying her off.Despite stints at Google and Cisco and two years of job hunting, Mary can no longer compete in a job market saturated with foreign-born...

The South Carolina Senate just killed a critical motion to expedite the Trump-backed congressional redistricting effort, putting the entire push for a bold 7-0 Republican map in serious jeopardy as Democrats and their weak-kneed GOP enablers drag their feet past the start of early voting on Tuesday, May 26. State Rep. Adam Morgan blasted the vote and sounded the alarm: “South Carolina Senate KILLS motion to expedite Redistricting! This puts the entire effort in serious jeopardy. 6 Republicans voted with Dems to kill it… The motion would [have] suspended Rule 15b to allow immediate cloture. Without this they can drag...

Hell hath no fury like a Republican senator scorned by his own party’s president. After Sen. Bill Cassidy fell far short in his Louisiana primary, the longtime Republican lawmaker delivered a concession speech that took some unsubtle shots at the president who orchestrated his defeat. “When you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to,” the senator said. “But you don’t pout, you don’t whine, you don’t claim the election was stolen.”In the same concession speech, the Louisianian said, “Let me just set the record straight: Our country is not about one individual. It...

The incident occurred on Friday outside Rick's Coffee Bar on the 5400 block of 43rd Avenue South, when police said Ferrier interrupted the theft of his vehicle. Janaya Samiah Frost, top left, and Riniyah Brinique Allen, bottom left (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office); Right: Amos Ferrier/Rick's Coffee Bar Minneapolis police say they’ve arrested two women in connection to the death of Amos Ferrier, who died after attempting to stop his vehicle from being stolen. The incident occurred on Friday outside Rick’s Coffee Bar on the 5400 block of 43rd Avenue South, when police said Ferrier interrupted the theft of his vehicle....

The HORRIFIC ills of our nation are already in supersonic motion moving as a 10,000 ft. tsunami towards our national shore and how can one man or even a remnant of U.S. conservatives stop such a HORRIFIC tsunami?? It takes great blind faith of any individual to believe that any man or any political party can stop and overturn our nation's EXPONENTIAL crisis and reverse our nation's super sonic death spiral. We are at the end and either you will receive these evil tidings or in great delusion receive the lie that its not to late to save America. Thank...

(WND)—Democrats in the U.S. House have killed a proposal for a Women’s Museum on the National Mall because it would be about … WOMEN! Applying their anti-science transgender agenda, that men can become women by saying they are women, they rejected the plan because an amendment would provide that the subjects in the museum be biological women. “The measure came up short in a vote of 204-216 after a handful of conservative GOP lawmakers joined Democrats in tanking the legislation that would secure a site for the forthcoming Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum on the grounds of the Mall,” explained...

The horrified wife of a Navy veteran accused of viciously beating the elderly owner of the San Diego-area “Trump House” described her husband’s dark past — and revealed that she now plans to divorce the “nerdy gamer.” Breanna Butler, 32, told The California Post that her husband Thomas Caleb Butler, also 32, acted violently toward his family and dangerously mixed alcohol with his medication “frequently.” Breanna had been separated from Thomas for two years due to his violent nature, which she attributed to his mental illness. “[He] has a history of mental health illness, and it became violent for our...

The criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia — the man the Trump administration deported to El Salvador last year despite a judge’s order barring his removal to the country – have been dismissed by a federal judge in Tennessee, who cited a “tainted investigation” by now-acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. When he was transported back to the US last year, Abrego Garcia was immediately charged with two counts over allegedly transporting unlawful migrants in 2022. His attorneys fought the charges, saying they should be dismissed because they were selective and vindictive because of the administration’s public missteps in deporting Abrego...

Los Angeles residents and business owners are fuming over claims that the sister-in-law of lefty late-night host Jimmy Kimmel bullied a longtime grocer for selling pro-Spencer Pratt cookies. Carly Kimmel, Jimmy’s sister-in-law, was accused in a viral social media post of complaining about the Pratt-themed sweets sold at Vicente Foods, a 78-year-old grocery store in Brentwood. The popular LA fashion and lifestyle boutique Kitson — which counts stars Paris Hilton, Kate Beckinsale, Angelina Jolie and Janet Jackson among its clientele — said that it “spoke to a reliable source” who confirmed the complaint came from Carly. It also posted photos...

22 May 2026 Friday of the 7th week of Eastertide St. Rita of Cascia Parish - ChicagoReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: A(II).First readingActs 25:13-21'I ordered Paul to be remanded until I could send him to Caesar'King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus. Their visit lasted several days, and Festus put Paul’s case before the king. ‘There is a man here’ he said ‘whom Felix left behind in custody, and while I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and elders of the Jews laid information against him, demanding his condemnation. But I told...

Congo's team must isolate for 21 days or risk the ability to enter the U.S. for the World Cup as the country deals with an outbreak of Ebola, said Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, to ESPN on Friday. Giuliani said the U.S. has told FIFA, the Congolese national team and the Congolese government that the team must maintain a bubble in Belgium, where it is currently training and is scheduled to play two warmup games. "We've been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is in a spat with a major oil company over who is to blame for the state’s high gas prices, with the Democratic governor’s office urging drivers not to fill up at Chevron stations over Memorial Day weekend. “Pro tip: unbranded gas comes from the same refineries, storage tanks, and pipelines, and it meets the same state standards to keep your engine running clean,” Newsom’s office posted Thursday on X. “Big Oil is already making billions off Trump’s Iran War; don’t let them rip you off even more by overpaying for the brand name.” Newsom’s office...

Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 @TulsiGabbard I am deeply grateful for the trust President Trump placed in me and for the opportunity to lead @ODNIgov for the last year and a half. Unfortunately, I must submit my resignation, effective June 30, 2026. My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer. He faces major challenges in the coming weeks and months. At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called Friday for the US to resume strikes on Iran to “finish what we started” — as Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said it was unclear whether a deal was possible even “over weeks or months.” “We are at a moment that will define President Trump’s legacy,” Wicker said in a statement. “His instincts have been to finish the job he started in Iran, but he is being ill-advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it is written on.”The 74-year-old further criticized current diplomatic...

WASHINGTON — Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, announced her resignation Friday to care for her husband after his diagnosis with an extremely rare form of bone cancer. Gabbard informed President Donald Trump of her decision during a meeting in the Oval Office. Her last day leading the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will be June 30, according to a resignation letter obtained by Fox News Digital.

A former Democratic megadonor blasted his party’s newly released election autopsy, arguing the party doesn't need a lengthy report to understand why voters rejected them. John Morgan, who has previously given over a million dollars to the Democratic Party, revealed he didn’t give "a penny" to the 2024 campaign once Vice President Kamala Harris took the helm. Speaking on "Jesse Watters Primetime," Morgan argued the DNC’s post-mortem report misses the mark, failing to address the party’s decision to embrace certain progressive social issues. "I don't know what they spent on this autopsy, but they could have given me nothing and...

President Donald Trump is championing the prospect of putting the kibosh on twice-annual clock changes by making daylight saving time permanent. A bill to make daylight saving time permanent has been folded into a larger measure that the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced in a 48-1 vote on Thursday. "Big Vote today (48-1!) in the Energy and Commerce Committee on a Bill including The Sunshine Protection Act, which will be making Daylight Saving Time Permanent! This is so important in that Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change...

Based on my reporting, it was well known in national security circles that a CIA investigative unit had sent emails to several members of DNI Gabbard’s Director’s Initiatives Group — or DIG — demanding they come in for questioning. While the CIA unit routinely conducts polygraphs and investigations, the timing of the request was concerning. It did not appear to be part of a standard security clearance review. The alleged CIA monitoring of the Director’s Initiatives Group was described as tracking “every keystroke” on their government computers and devices. While there is no expectation of privacy on government computers and...

I've noticed that user ransomnote ( https://freerepublic.com/tag/by:ransomnote/index?tab=comments;brevity=full;options=no-change ) publishes numerous X posts every day. I work with AI every day, and it feels like maybe he's just set up an AI agent/bot to pull from X and share on FR throughout the day. Kinda weird. I asked him about it in a comment, and he didn't reply. I don't want to be the blog police. But I was curious if FReepers are OK that an increasing number of FR posts are simply shared from X. Or if we'd prefer that news articles from online publications are shared instead. I've been...