Author: Press Room

Sam Liccardo said he “groaned excessively” when the U.S. national team’s Folarin Balogun was given a red card. Yet the Silicon Valley representative objected after President Donald Trump pressed FIFA to review the play at issue, before the world soccer organization suspended the penalty and allowed the U.S.’ lead scorer to play in today’s knockout round match against Belgium. “We can’t win this way,” Liccardo, a Democrat, wrote on social media. “I won’t cheer FIFA’s capitulation to power.” Few other American politicians have expressed a similar sentiment, perhaps wary that they’ll be viewed as rooting against their own country’s success.…

The presidential chief-of-staff says he opposes Kiev’s “historical lies” amid an escalating row over Nazi collaborators Ukraine’s state-backed Mirotvorets database of alleged “enemies of the state” has blacklisted Polish presidential chief-of-staff Zbigniew Bogucki, calling him an “anti-Ukrainian propagandist.” Bogucki responded by declaring himself an enemy of “Banderism” and Kiev’s “historical lies.”Tensions between Warsaw and Kiev deepened in May after Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky granted an elite commando unit an honorific referencing the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) – a WWII-era ultranationalist militia which cooperated with Nazi Germany and took part in ethnic cleansings targeting thousands of Poles, Jews, and Russians in…

Chinese state media highlighted this week the rise of “children influencers” on regime-controlled social media, children producing short video content in which they appear to be subject to a variety of abusive actions such as force-feeding and fighting each other. The Chinese state newspaper Global Times suggested that the Communist Party would soon enable a broader crackdown on the content, though it mostly highlighted government regulations that already exist against what the Party deems “harmful” content. Chinese state media censors are quick to delete any content that is politically sensitive or considered to dissent from Party orthodoxy, but its main…

The U.S.-brokered interim ceasefire with Iran is now over. President Donald Trump made the declaration Wednesday, telling reporters at the NATO defence summit in Ankara, Turkey: “These are evil, sick people,” before describing Tehran’s negotiators as scum and a cancer that needs to be excised. A clearly angry Trump further added he didn’t “want to deal with them any more” after launching overnight strikes on the totalitarian Islamic republic after it attacked commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, as Breitbart News reported. The Daily Telegraph reports talks may well continue but Trump holds little hope now for an outcome…

Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) said a fellow House Democrat dismissed concerns about antisemitism by claiming it is no longer a problem because “all the Jews are rich.” Speaking to CNN, Balint said the unnamed lawmaker made the remark during a bipartisan House antisemitism task force meeting. She recalled the incident after watching footage of California state Sen. Scott Wiener being forced out of a transgender rights event by protesters angry over his support for Israel, saying it reminded her of other examples of antisemitism she has encountered. Balint said the moment felt familiar. She compared it to people who dismiss…

Speaker Mike Johnson is exploring whether to put legislation on the House floor that would end the ability of pregnant women to enter the United States legally to gain citizenship for their children. The possible vote, described by four people granted anonymity to share details of private conversations, would be a way for Johnson to appease hard-liners who are demanding a vote to end birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court ruled against Trump administration efforts to undermine it. House passage of a measure to crack down the practice would be largely symbolic, as it stands no chance of overcoming the…

The facility was producing components for FP-5 Flamingo ground-launched cruise missiles, the ministry says Russia has carried out precision strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in Kiev, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has reported.In a statement released on Wednesday, the ministry said the strikes targeted the production facilities of Samsung Ukraine, where it said the components for FP-5 Flamingo ground-launched cruise missiles were manufactured and stored, as well as a workshop assembling medium- and long-range UAVs.According to the ministry, the overnight barrage was carried out in response to terrorist attacks by Kiev against Russian civilian infrastructure.The authorities in Kiev have not…

A 59-year-old former Italian intelligence official, described by local outlets as an “ex-007,” was arrested on Tuesday alongside another former agent in Rome for spying on behalf of Russia and leaking classified information to Moscow. The retired agent, reportedly identified as Gavino Raoul Piras, is a former member of the Carabinieri gendarmerie’s intelligence division. He stands accused by the Office of Rome’s Public Prosecutor of engaging in unauthorized access of sensitive computer systems to spy for Russia. The other arrested man, also 59 years old, was identified by local outlets as former agent Vincenzo di Pasquale. Sky TG24 reports that, per…

Tuesday on MS NOW’s “The Weeknight,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) said Democrats were investigating President Donald Trump’s changes to Washington, D.C. Co-host Luke Russert said, “Congressman, we’re here in Washington, DC. You wrote a letter about the reflecting pool a few weeks ago and what the Trump administration did. They’re with completely botched, quote unquote, renovation and, no bid contract. We now see scaffolding going on the North Portico of the White House. They’ve said that’s just going to be normal renovation, etc.. They’re not going to change out the columns, and suddenly no one’s allowed to take a tour of…

Nobody understands the stakes of finding a replacement for Graham Platner quite like Chuck Schumer. But nobody in his party is suggesting he should have anything to do with it. The anti-establishment fervor energizing Democrats’ voter base is putting Schumer and other party leaders in a delicate spot. They are aching to ensure whomever may take Platner’s place on the ballot is better vetted after POLITICO’s exclusive reporting on allegations of sexual assault against him, which Platner denies. Still, even the appearance of the Senate minority leader controlling voters’ choice is stoking fears of deflated turnout and internal fighting that…