Families Forced To Hide Underground As Russia Launches Worst Assault On Kyiv In Years

 Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine’s capital overnight into Thursday, killing at least 22 civilians and injuring more than 90 people in an attack that Kyiv says targeted residential areas across the city.

The hours-long bombardment combined 74 missiles and 496 drones, according to Ukraine’s air force, with loud explosions shaking the capital as more than 50,000 residents sought shelter in subway stations after air raid sirens sounded, the Associated Press reported. 

Emergency crews spent Thursday searching through collapsed apartment buildings for survivors as fires burned across multiple districts of the city. Authorities reported damage at more than 30 locations, including about 20 residential buildings.

Among the hardest-hit areas were Kyiv’s Desnianskyi and Darnytskyi districts, where residents became trapped inside damaged apartment buildings. In Darnytskyi, most of a nine-story residential building collapsed.

“It was a night of horror,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, describing the attack as rescuers continued pulling victims from the rubble.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called it the worst Russian attack on the capital in more than four years of war, according to The Guardian. 

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the barrage was retaliation for Ukraine’s recent long-range attacks on Russian oil facilities, claiming it targeted weapons factories, energy infrastructure, and military airfields using “high-precision long-range weapons” and drones. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also maintained that the strikes were directed “exclusively against military or military-linked targets.”

Ukrainian officials rejected that characterization, pointing to widespread damage to residential neighborhoods. Sybiha called it “immoral” to describe the attack as retaliation, arguing that Ukraine is defending itself against an invading force while Russia is the aggressor.

The overnight attack came after weeks of intensified Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the campaign as a 40-day blitz targeting Russian oil infrastructure, with officials saying the strategy is designed to weaken Moscow’s war effort and force Russian President Vladimir Putin toward negotiations.

According to Ukrainian officials, the strikes have contributed to severe fuel shortages in Russia, particularly in occupied Crimea, where authorities have declared a state of emergency. Multiple Russian regions have also introduced gasoline rationing following attacks on refineries.

Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries overnight in the Nizhny Novgorod region, igniting a fire. It also reported striking a railway bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River in Russian-occupied Luhansk that was being used to transport Russian personnel, weapons, and military supplies.

Russia acknowledged Thursday’s strikes were conducted in response to Ukraine’s attacks on its energy infrastructure.

While Ukraine has significantly improved its ability to intercept Russian drones during the war, officials say ballistic missiles remain much harder to stop. Roughly one-third of the missiles launched during Thursday’s attack were ballistic missiles.

Sybiha renewed Kyiv’s call for additional Western air defense systems, particularly Patriot batteries, arguing that greater air defense capabilities could have reduced the destruction.

“We are fighting alone,” Zelensky said after returning early from a trip to Ireland to visit one of the strike sites. “The victims are only Ukrainians. All we ask from our partners is that they do what they agreed to.”

According to Ukrainian officials, Putin believes time favors Moscow as it seeks to outlast Western support for Ukraine while continuing pressure through sustained aerial bombardment.

President Donald Trump and Zelensky are expected to attend next week’s NATO summit in Turkey.

As the death toll continued to rise Thursday, Kyiv officials declared Friday a day of mourning for the victims of the attack.

Protesters Tried To Disrupt Hegseth’s Speech. He Made Them Part Of It.

 War Secretary Pete Hegseth blasted demonstrators protesting outside the Trump administration’s D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force ceremony honoring National Guard troops on Thursday, calling them “ingrates” who are “so blinded by ideology” they “can’t see law and order and common sense.”

According to The Daily Wire’s reporting from Meridian Hill, protesters gathered outside the ceremony chanting for the National Guard to “go home” even as administration officials pointed to substantial declines in violent crime and nearly every major crime category since the guard’s deployment.

 

Before the ceremony began, protesters chanted “Pete Hegseth skips leg day,” “Guard go home,” “86-47,” and “D.C. is a sanctuary, we don’t need the military.”

As the crowd grew, security personnel could be overheard discussing streets “flooding with protesters.” Demonstrators blocked surrounding roads, causing traffic backups as horns and emergency sirens sounded. Reporters were told they could not move closer because the area had been deemed unsafe.

The disruption delayed the ceremony before Hegseth took the podium and addressed both the soldiers assembled before him and the protesters gathered outside.

“Thank you for waiting out here in the sun,” Hegseth told members of the National Guard in a video captured by The Daily Wire. “I’m to blame. Sorry I had a meeting go long. I never want to make a formation stand out any longer than it has to because I’ve stood in your formation before waiting for somebody to show up so I can get on and do my job.”

Hegseth then referenced the chants echoing into the ceremony.

“In fact, this background noise this morning is perfect,” Hegseth said. “It’s the sound of ingrates, of ingratitude, of people who are so blinded by ideology they can’t see law and order and common sense in front of them.”

“There’s nothing ideological about this group,” he continued. “There’s nothing political about this exercise.” Instead, Hegseth argued that restoring public safety should transcend politics.

“Law and order is something all Americans deserve. Black, white, rich, poor, man or woman, from D.C. or far-flung places in this country,” he said.

Hegseth thanked Guard members who traveled from around the country to assist in Washington and asked attendees to observe a moment of silence of service members killed in the line of duty. 

“The beautiful thing is when I look out at this group, that’s all of you from all across this great country,” Hegseth said. “You’re not from Washington, most of you, but this is your capital. And you believe in this 250th year that it should be safe and it should be secure for every single citizen that lives here and every single citizen that comes to visit in this 250th year.”

Hegseth concluded by contrasting the protesters with the Guard members standing before him.

“See, these ingrates will fade away,” he said. “They’ll go back to wherever they came from. You will do your job.”

Demonstrators continued chanting outside after the ceremony, including calls to “Free D.C.,” “Free Palestine,” and for National Guard troops to leave Washington, according to footage captured by The Daily Wire. Administration officials say the Guard’s deployment has led to historic reductions in violent crime and other major offenses in the District.

Iran Wants The World To See One Thing At Khamenei’s Funeral

 

The Iranian regime is betting a historic turnout at former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s funeral will send a message of national unity and legitimacy by rallying mourners under the slogan “We Must Rise.”

The funeral ceremonies, beginning Friday, will span Iran and Iraq over several days. After lying in state in Tehran, Khamenei’s body will be taken to the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala before returning to Iran for ceremonies in Qom and a July 9 burial at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, his birthplace.

Iranian authorities estimate turnout could reach tens of millions, marking one of the most widely attended funerals in history.

The scale of the preparations reflects the significance of Khamenei’s 36-year rule and the regime’s desire to demonstrate popular support following its massacre of thousands of anti-regime protesters and the war that claimed the former leader’s life.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged citizens “of every ethnicity, religion, preference and political tendency” to attend, explicitly linking turnout to the image Iran hopes to project internationally.

“Your widespread presence will be a decisive response to the logic of terrorism, violence, and bullying, and a clear message to the world that the Iranian nation stands united and in solidarity in defending its independence and dignity,” Pezeshkian said Thursday.

Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, likewise called on Iranians to attend in massive numbers, framing participation as an act of revenge for Khamenei’s death.

“The nation’s call for vengeance must ring in the ears of the whole world,” Ghalibaf said, urging citizens to “write a glorious page in the history of Islamic Iran.”

The funeral’s official slogan, “We Must Rise,” alongside imagery of Khamenei’s raised fist, reinforces the regime’s effort to transform the ceremonies into a display of resilience and national unity.

Foreign delegations from more than 30 countries are expected to attend, though the list of sitting world leaders appears limited. According to The Jerusalem Post, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Tajikistani President Emomali Rahmon are expected to be among the highest-profile attendees. China announced that senior lawmaker He Wei will attend, while India said it would send its deputy foreign minister and a state governor. Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev will attend as a special envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Moscow Times.

One major question remains whether Iran’s current supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, will appear publicly during the ceremonies. The son of Ali Khamenei reportedly suffered injuries in the attack that killed his father and has not been seen publicly since assuming power, though written statements attributed to him have been released. The attack also reportedly killed Mojtaba Khamenei’s wife, Zahra Haddad-Adel, along with Ali Khamenei’s wife, a daughter, a son-in-law, and a grandchild.

The government is undertaking an enormous logistical operation to accommodate the expected crowds. According to The New York Times, officials have established massive parking areas outside Tehran, arranged buses to transport mourners into the capital, and opened military barracks and schools to house visitors arriving from across the country. Crews have also been constructing platforms and crowd-control routes at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla, where Khamenei’s body will initially lie in state.

The expected crowds have drawn comparisons to the 1989 funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. An estimated 10 million people attended the funeral, making it one of the largest public gatherings in modern history. The funeral reportedly descended into chaos as mourners surged toward Khomeini’s coffin, causing his body to fall from it. Security forces fired warning shots to disperse the crowd, and at least eight people were killed in the crush.

The 2020 funeral of Qasem Soleimani also drew millions before a stampede killed dozens of mourners. 

Mourners from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries have already begun traveling to Iran, and commemorative events are planned in Iraqi cities as well.

Khamenei will be buried inside the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad rather than in a dedicated mausoleum. Khomeini, by contrast, was entombed in a sprawling shrine complex outside Tehran that became a pilgrimage site. Some observers have suggested the decision could spare the government from inevitable comparisons between the two leaders’ public followings, particularly after years of protests that challenged the popularity of Khamenei’s rule.

The timing is also unusual, as Islamic tradition generally calls for burial as soon as possible after death. According to experts, Khamenei’s body has likely been kept refrigerated because chemical embalming is prohibited under Islamic law. The more than four-month gap between his death and burial reflects the turmoil that followed the war and the challenges Iran faced in organizing a funeral during wartime. 

Even as indirect negotiations continue, Iranian officials have used the lead-up to the funeral to issue fresh threats against the United States and Israel. Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, warned of a “harsh retaliation” against any attack. 

Members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts over the weekend appeared to endorse the assassination of President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, declaring that anyone who gains access to the two leaders is obligated to “send them to hell.”

Zohran Mamdani’s Wife Skips America’s 250th Celebration For Luxurious Overseas Islamic Retreat

 While Democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani used America’s 250th birthday to criticize capitalism, ICE, and what he described as an “arena of supremacy,” his wife, Rama Duwaji, spent the nation’s milestone celebration thousands of miles away at a luxury Islamic spiritual retreat in Spain.

Duwaji departed from Newark Liberty International Airport earlier this week for Mallorca, a Mediterranean island off of the western coast of Spain.

Far from simply vacationing abroad, Duwaji is serving as the artist-in-residence and one of the featured hosts for the sold-out Women’s Sanctuary retreat. Attendance costs roughly $3,400 per guest. The program centers on “Plants of the Quran” through art, botanical workshops, and Islamic spiritual reflection. She is also scheduled to help host a second sold-out retreat in Corsica later this month exploring “Mary in the Quran.”

The timing of the trip drew criticism as Americans celebrated the nation’s 250th anniversary over the Fourth of July weekend. Republican New York City Councilwoman Joann Ariola told the New York Post the decision reflected poorly on the city’s first family. “Nothing says ‘America 250’ quite like skipping the celebration for a Mediterranean vacation,” Ariola said. “I am not surprised because she has made her hatred for America very evident.”

Councilman Frank Morano similarly criticized the optics, “it’s disappointing that the First Lady chose to be overseas instead of taking part in one of the biggest civic events our city and country will mark this year,” Morano said. “No one is saying elected officials and their families can’t take vacations, but this was a moment to show up for the city and for the country.”

The Mayor’s Office declined to respond directly to the criticism but confirmed Duwaji was not accompanied by officers assigned to the family’s NYPD security detail.

The trip also renewed scrutiny of Duwaji’s past social media activity. Earlier this year, deleted posts resurfaced in which Duwaji criticized the United States and American foreign policy. In one post, she shared a message claiming American soldiers “are not brave” and accused them of “slaughtering 3rd world civilians” in pursuit of American hegemony. Other deleted posts reportedly praised Palestinian militant organizations and criticized U.S. support for Israel.

Mamdani previously defended his wife, arguing she should not be judged by past social media activity because she holds no official role in his administration. Duwaji later apologized for a number of the posts.

Her overseas retreat came as the mayor himself marked the nation’s semi-quincentennial with a speech that focused less on the country’s founding than on what he views as its present shortcomings.

Speaking from behind George Washington’s former desk at New York City Hall, Mamdani criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policy, condemned economic inequality, and argued that America had become “an arena of supremacy.”

“We see masked agents terrorizing our streets,” Mamdani said, referring to ICE officers, while also criticizing what he described as monopolies and oligarchs controlling the nation’s wealth.

Although Mamdani concluded his remarks by saying “God bless America,” much of the speech centered on America’s failures rather than the anniversary being commemorated.

The mayor later participated in several official America 250 events in New York, including the Parade of Sail and a Fourth of July lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building, while Duwaji remained overseas.

Patriots Rip Down Somali Flag In American City Square After Officials Cancel July 4 Fireworks

 A Somali flag that Buffalo, New York, city officials raised in Niagara Square earlier this week to celebrate the foreign country’s independence was cut down in the dead of night on Wednesday. The flag robbery took place one day after city officials canceled Buffalo’s Fourth of July fireworks celebration.

Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan said “unknown vandals” removed the Somali flag at some point late on Wednesday night, according to Buffalo-Toronto Public Media. Ryan added that the Buffalo Police Department is investigating the incident. The Somali flag has been raised in Niagara Square for the past four years on July 1 to celebrate Somali Independence Day.

“Buffalo is a proud, diverse city, and our administration remains committed to honoring and celebrating the many cultures that make our community stronger,” Ryan added.

The Somali flag-raising has stirred controversy in the city, especially since it falls so close to the Fourth of July and the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. As they raised the Somali flag in the city square, Buffalo city officials were also blasted for scrapping the Fourth of July fireworks celebration.

“City Hall canceled its downtown fireworks display, leaving Buffalo as one of the only cities in Western New York without a public Fourth of July celebration, and instead raised the flag of Somalia outside City Hall,” Erie County, New York, GOP Chairman Michael Kracker said. “No one is questioning the contributions of Buffalo’s immigrant communities. But this week belongs to all of us, as Americans.”

Mayor Ryan announced in early June that the city planned to revive its patriotic fireworks display for America’s 250th birthday. Buffalo hasn’t put on a Fourth of July fireworks show in decades as the city focuses on a big New Year’s Eve fireworks display. This week, however, Ryan said the patriotic show wouldn’t take place.

“After exploring potential locations, an appropriate site could not be identified that would provide a safe and widely accessible viewing experience for residents. As a result, the City will not be hosting a downtown fireworks display this year,” he said.

Buffalo isn’t the only American city to raise the Somali flag on government property to celebrate the foreign country. Columbus, Ohio, which is home to the second-largest concentration of Somalis in the United States, also announced that it would hoist the Somali flag on July 1, The Daily Wire previously reported.

The Columbus Parks and Rec Department deleted the post announcing the Somali flag raising moments after The Daily Wire asked about it.

FBI Embedded Wired Informant Inside Newsom’s Admin, Lawyer Says

 A Democratic operative with deep ties to California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration secretly recorded conversations for the FBI as part of a corruption investigation that has since expanded to scrutinize the governor, his wife, and members of his inner circle, The California Post reported on Thursday.

Alexis Podesta, a power broker who has served in senior roles under both Newsom and former California Governor Jerry Brown, wore a wire to record conversations beginning as early as June 2024 while cooperating with federal investigators probing Newsom’s former chief of staff, Dana Williamson, Podesta’s lawyer revealed. Williamson pled guilty in May to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, filing a false tax return, and lying to the FBI.

“According to court documents, between February 2022 and September 2024, Williamson conspired with Greg Campbell, 52, of Davis, Sean McCluskie, 57, of Davis, and others to steal approximately $225,000 in funds from a dormant political campaign and funnel it to McCluskie for his personal use. Collectively, they funneled the money through various business entities and disguised it as pay to McCluskie’s spouse for what was, in reality, a no-show job,” the DOJ stated.

Podesta, who has not been charged, has been identified by her attorney as the unnamed co-conspirator in Williamson’s case and has cooperated with prosecutors. Court records indicate she and Williamson discussed how to handle a public records request involving state litigation against a major corporate client.

The latest news is part of a broader federal inquiry that has drawn Newsom’s family finances into question. Newsom has publicly framed the expanding investigation as politically motivated retaliation by the Trump administration, saying, “They’re demanding records; they’re abusing the grand jury process, digging through years and years of random documents. Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets, he’s coming after me because I’m considering running for president.”

The federal probe into Newsom’s former chief of staff began under the Biden administration.

Financial records reviewed by the Post raise questions about the finances of The Representation Project, the gender-equity nonprofit founded by Siebel Newsom. The leftist project reported $1.24 million in revenue, while adding that it spent $1.75 million in expenses last year, The New York Post noted. The net assets for Siebel Newsom’s project plunged to just $44,853 from $553,081 since the start of the new fiscal year.

Siebel Newsom, meanwhile, raked in a $161,250 salary for the fiscal year ending in March 2025, The Representation Project reported. That salary came despite the nonprofit’s financial struggles and despite several of her films failing to gain traction with critics or audiences.

Separately, earlier reporting by the Post found that Newsom “helped funnel more than $4.4 million from special interests and wealthy individuals to California Partners Project, one of Siebel Newsom’s pet projects.”

Waltz Blasts Iran Envoy: ‘This Is Not Tehran. This Is The United States Of America’

 America’s man at the United Nations unloaded on Iran’s chief diplomat Thursday, delivering a blistering smackdown after Tehran’s envoy tried to shut down an emergency Security Council session on the Gulf crisis — telling him bluntly that intimidation tactics don’t fly on East River soil.

“This is not Tehran,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz thundered at Iranian envoy Amir Saeid Iravani after the Iranian diplomat suggested the council shouldn’t even be meeting and accused Waltz and other members of spreading lies. “This is the United States of America. This is the United Nations Security Council. You will not silence this body.”

Waltz — the first Green Beret elected to Congress, who served 27 years in the U.S. Army, including multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa, and received four Bronze Stars, including two for valor — wasn’t done. He continued:

The representative goes on to say that the ambassador from Bahrain, the foreign minister, myself, and other members of this body are full of lies; they were lying. Let me ask you. What here is a lie? Who’s lying here? Is this Arab family in Bahrain in a residential neighborhood whose home was destroyed by an Iranian Shahed drone, are they lying? Crowne Plaza Hotel, full of tourists? Are they lying? First responders whose headquarters were struck deliberately so that they couldn’t put out fires:  Were they lying? Is this hypocrisy? Is this what this council is here to denounce today? I ask the representative, are these lies? Are these photographs, are these lies? I’d say not.

The fireworks capped a brutal day at the U.N., where Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, laid out a horror-show tally: 808 Iranian missile and drone strikes on his tiny kingdom since late February, killing three civilians and wounding 465 more. Al-Zayani said the barrage — 203 ballistic missiles and more than 600 armed drones — hammered homes, hospitals and infrastructure, and warned that an April strike on an ammonia tank came within a hair of triggering a toxic gas catastrophe.

Waltz, addressing the council earlier, had warned that President Donald Trump’s patience with Tehran was wearing thin, accusing the regime of strangling global trade by choking off the vital Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint UN economists say threatens 61 developing nations. “Iran cannot, and we cannot allow it to, hold the world’s economy hostage,” Waltz declared, insisting a “transformative” opportunity for ordinary Iranians remains on the table if Tehran changes course.

Iranian envoy Iravani claimed Waltz’s remarks were “lies and disinformation,” insisting Iran’s strikes were purely defensive retaliation against American bases used to launch attacks on Iranian soil. He argued Washington has no business dictating security in the Gulf, insisting only regional nations should call the shots.

Waltz was having no part of it.