Ukraine war briefing: Trump says he ‘didn’t
make any progress’ with Putin after call
Posted By: earlybird, 7/4/2025 6:19:14 PM
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a phone call earlier in the day with Vladimir Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, while a Kremlin aide said the Russian president reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes.”(snip)Within hours of the call’s conclusion, Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv that injured 14 and sparked multiple fires. Witnesses reported explosions and sustained heavy fire overnight into Friday as air defence units battled drones over the capital. Damage was recorded in six of Kyiv’s 10 districts
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Protests in Portland, Oregon, on Friday opposing President Donald Trump and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency erupted in chaos, according to multiple reports.
Several people involved in the protests reportedly organized a “caravan” that went from an ICE facility located in “South Portland to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington,” according to KOIN 6 News.
Earlier in the day demonstrators involved in the “protests outside the Portland ICE facility” reportedly “clashed with federal officers,” according to the outlet.
Per the outlet:
The city of Kerrville and Kerr County provided another update following the fatal flash flooding that moved through the area Friday.As of 8:55 a.m. Saturday, officials said 27 people have been found dead. Of those, 18 were adults and nine were children. Six adults remain unidentified, as well as one child.
Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr. said a fund has been set up by the Community Foundation of Texas Hill Country.
“People need to know today will be a hard day…it will be a hard day,” Herring said.
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a phone call earlier in the day with Vladimir Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war in Ukraine, while a Kremlin aide said the Russian president reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes.”(snip)Within hours of the call’s conclusion, Russia launched a drone attack on Kyiv that injured 14 and sparked multiple fires. Witnesses reported explosions and sustained heavy fire overnight into Friday as air defence units battled drones over the capital. Damage was recorded in six of Kyiv’s 10 districts
The father of a 5-year-old girl who fell overboard from a Disney cruise ship off the coast of Florida did not lift her up onto the railing before the accident, authorities have said.
The “little girl was not being held, as erroneously reported on some social media sites,” the Broward County Sheriff’s Office told CBS News Miami on Tuesday, referring to speculation that the child’s father had lifted her up for a photo before she fell backwards and smacked into the ocean.(snip)A fellow passenger also came to the dad’s defense amid the speculation, insisting that a crew member told her that the little girl scaled the protective barrier.
The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear a case that will determine whether transgender female student athletes can be prevented from joining girls and women’s sports teams at public schools.
The justices are set to hear challenges to laws in Idaho and West Virginia after lower court rulings in sided with transgender students who sued when they were blocked from competing.
“I am optimistic that after hearing the case, the Supreme Court will restore sanity to athletics and allow West Virginia to enforce its commonsense law that prevents boys from competing in girl’s sports,” Mountain State Gov. Patrick Morrisey fired off in an X post.
The House of Representatives has voted to advance President Donald Trump’s $3.3 trillion “big, beautiful bill” to its final phase in Congress. After a long night of debate and amendment votes, the House is set to deliver the final vote this morning.
After it appeared to be derailed late Wednesday by hard-right holdouts, Republicans advanced the bill around 3:30 a.m. and are set to vote on final passage. During the all-nighter, GOP leaders kept the procedural vote open for almost six hours as they worked to flip 12 votes. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) was the lone Republican to vote “no” at the end.
Two firefighters were killed by a sniper in Idaho on the 24th anniversary of a local Neo-Nazi compound being burned by the fire department for a training exercise.
The ambush killer, named as Wess Roley, was found dead near his gun on Canfield Mountain outside of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho on Sunday evening.
Further information about Roley - including his age, hometown and a possible motive - have not yet been shared. (snip)locals are questioning whether the incident may have been a revenge attack for the June 28 and 29 2001 burning of the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake, just seven miles from Coeur d'Alene.
“Elbows up” and knees bent. As expected given the nature of their dependency, the Canadian government has rescinded the digital services tax against U.S. tech companies.The June 30th collection is halted and the Canadian government led by Mark Carney will be bringing legislation to rescind the tax entirely.
CANADA – […] Minister of Finance and National Revenue, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, announced today that Canada would rescind the Digital Services Tax (DST) in anticipation of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States. Consistent with this action, Prime Minister Carney and President Trump have agreed that parties will resume negotiations with a view towards agreeing on a deal
A horrible story. A gunman started a fire in the mountains near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in order to bait firefighters to the area. Upon arrival to the area three firefighters were shot; two killed and other in serious condition following surgery.
Canfield Mountain is in Coeur d’Alene, which is in northwestern Idaho, about 30 miles from Spokane, Washington. The fire appeared to have been set as part of an “ambush,” and sheriff’s deputies took active sniper fire, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said. Authorities said during a press conference that a man was found dead on Canfield Mountain with a gun nearby. That man is believed to be the shooter,
Below is my column in the New York Post on the controversial dissenting opinion of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in the injunction ruling in Trump v. CASA on Friday. The opinion seemed to fan the flames of “democracy is dying” claims of protesters, suggesting that basic limits on injunctive relief could result in the collapse of our core institutions. It was a hyperventilated opinion better suited to a cable program than a Court opinion. The response from Justice Amy Coney Barrett was a virtual pile driver of a rebuke. What was notable is that a majority of the justices signed off on the takedown. It could indicate a certain exasperation
GOP Senators Present Evidence China Bankrolls
Environmentalist Lawsuits To Cripple U.S. Power 12 replies
Environmentalist Lawsuits To Cripple U.S. Power 12 replies
Senators met yesterday for a subcommittee hearing to discuss claims that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), foreign donors, and leftist legal activism are behind a “systematic campaign” to dismantle American energy dominance.
Throughout the hearing, Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, emphasized how foreign funding and activist litigation are undermining U.S. energy infrastructure, posing a national security threat. His four Democrat colleagues repeatedly dismissed the concerns as a “conspiracy theory,” instead focusing on energy costs and “global warming.”
The “assault by the radical left,” “paid for by the [CCP],” seeks to “seize control of our courts [and] to weaponize litigation against U.S. energy producers,” Cruz said. He noted the assault is “three-pronged,
It’s a complicated dynamic, but not so complicated that we cannot understand the motives. Prior to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard taking office, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence had no problems with the DNI office. However, with DNI Gabbard now stretching her wings to diminish the CIA, suddenly the Senate seeks to control the DNI.
Tulsi Gabbard had been shrinking the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) since she took office; from 2,000 to roughly 1,600 and dropping. SSCI Chairman Tom Cotton now wants to cap the office staff at 650, sending the remaining intelligence community operatives back to the CIA and
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Black New York isn’t buying it. A slew of black Big Apple residents fumed Friday over mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s claim on an Ivy League college application that he is African American — with them raging the socialist pol is a “fraud” and “trickster.”[snip] Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, had checked off the “black or African American” and “Asian” boxes on his 2009 Columbia University application regarding his race, the New York Times reported last week.
Joe Biden has always been a fabulist. Since he first stepped onto the national stage, he has woven myths about his life. Joe needed the gravitas of good grades and a solid academic background to move up the ladder of national politics, so he invented a student who never existed.
Joe threatened to fight a man who asked about his academic chops and claimed he went to law school on “a full academic scholarship.” Except, he didn’t. He claimed he had three degrees from college. Except, he doesn't. He claimed he was in the “top half” of his law school class. Nope. He was in the “steerage” section
Just one day after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrapped up his self-indulgent “magic minute” marathon, the truth is starting to surface: Even many Democrats weren’t impressed. His hours-long fauxibuster—meant to stall the inevitable passage of the GOP’s One Big, Beautiful Bill—ended up accomplishing absolutely nothing for the Democrats’ cause. The only minds that were changed were Republicans who flipped from “no” to “yes.”
Let’s not kid ourselves. This wasn’t some bold act of resistance or savvy legislative tactic. It was performative grandstanding, plain and simple—a desperate attempt to look like he’s fighting while doing absolutely nothing to stop the bill. [Video]
The bill passed 218-214
Tech CEO axes incredible progressive perk
after accusing his laziest employees of
abusing it 25 replies
after accusing his laziest employees of
abusing it 25 replies
A California tech CEO changed his company's paid time off (PTO) policy after he said his laziest employees were abusing it. Ryan Breslow, the founder of Bolt, announced on Tuesday that his San Francisco-based payment technology company would be axing unlimited PTO - a common perk in the industry.
But Breslow said the incentive wasn't working and that his top performers were more burnt out than ever, while his laziest were enjoying too much time on the beach. 'It sounds progressive, but it's totally broken,' he said of the policy in a LinkedIn post. 'This leads to A-performer burnout. B-performer luxuries. And feelings of unfairness across the board.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of California has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), demanding an immediate halt to what it describes as “unlawful immigration raids” across the Los Angeles area.
The left-leaning nonprofit accuses the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of carrying out unconstitutional raids and targeting “migrants with brown skin.” The plaintiffs allege that DHS and ICE have carried out unconstitutional arrests in order to meet arrest quotas allegedly set out on June 6 by the Trump administration. The suit specifically claims that officials have based arrests and detentions on race and ethnicity with no articulable reasonable suspicion.
The first six months of the Trump administration have not been kind to the experts and the degree-holding classes.Almost daily during the tariff hysterias of March, we were told by university economists and most of the PhDs employed in investment and finance that the U.S. was headed toward a downward, if not recessionary, spiral.[snip] Instead, recent data show increases in tariff revenue. Personal real income and savings were up. Job creation exceeded prognoses. There was no surge in inflation. The supposedly "crashed" stock market reached historic highs.
One year from now, you will not be able to turn around without receiving notice of America’s semiquincentennial jubilee. The jollity of the occasion will not change the fact that it will be seven years premature.
The historical significance assigned to July 4, 1776, the date the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress, is befuddling. Without victory in the Revolutionary War, which began over a year earlier, any declarations regarding American independence made during the summer of 1776 would have the same significance today as the “declarations of independence” made by the 11 Confederate States in 1860-61.
A local activist who handed out protective face shields to protesters last month during demonstrations against the Trump administration’s chaotic immigration raids was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday.
Alejandro Orellana, a 29-year-old member of the Boyle Heights-based community organization Centro CSO, faces charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting civil disorder, court records show.
According to the indictment, Orellana and at least two others drove around downtown L.A. in a pickup truck distributing Uvex Bionic face shields and other items to a crowd engaged in a protest near the federal building
Donald Trump has never been one to shy away from a fight, but this time, he’s done more than just rattle the Democrats—he’s practically handed Republicans the keys to a midterm landslide in 2026. The playbook was simple, the execution flawless, and the results devastating for the opposition.
Here’s what happened.
When Zohran Mamdani, the antisemitic socialist, won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City, many Democrats were less than thrilled. Last month, the Associated Press reported that his victory “exposed anew the fiery divisions plaguing the Democratic Party as it struggles to repair its brand nearly half a year into Donald Trump’s presidency.”
Many progressives cheered
"Kilmar Abrego Garcia suffered psychological and physical torture in El Salvador prison, attorneys say" reads the headline from NBC.
"Abrego Garcia says he was severely beaten in Salvadoran prison," says NPR's headline.
"Kilmar Abrego Garcia says he was beaten and subjected to psychological torture in El Salvador jail," reports the Associated Press.
You get the idea.
This all stems from the fact that attorneys for "Maryland Dad" — and alleged MS-13 member, human smuggler, and domestic abuser — Kilmar Abrego Garcia claim that he was "subjected to severe mistreatment upon arrival" at El Salvador's Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, aka CECOT, "including but not limited to severe beatings,
WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa — It is big and it is beautiful, President Donald Trump says. But for many Democratic leaders, the tax break and spending cut package passed by Trump’s Republican allies in Congress on Thursday represents the key to the Democratic Party’s resurgence. Even before the final vote, Democratic officials were finalizing ambitious plans for rallies, voter registration drives, attack ads, bus tours and even a multiday vigil, all intended to highlight the most controversial elements of Trump’s “big beautiful” bill: deep cuts to the nation’s safety net that will leave nearly 12 million more people without health coverage
A flight carrying eight men who had been held for weeks on a U.S. military base in Djibouti landed in South Sudan just before midnight Friday, officials said, bringing an end to a six-week legal battle that was resolved by an emergency intervention by the Supreme Court.
The U.S. military plane took off around 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, according to Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokeswoman. A picture shared by Homeland Security showed the men apparently aboard the airplane, handcuffed and shackled at their ankles, surrounded by uniformed personnel.