Today the Supreme Court ruled that parents must be given the option to opt their young children out of LGBT readings in Maryland, at least while the case is ongoing. Justice Sotomayor said it will cause chaos for public schools. Maryland parents have a religious right to withdraw their children from classes on days that stories […] The post Supreme Court: Parents Can Opt Young Children Out of LGBTQ Readings appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

WASHINGTON/PARIS/KINSHASA (Reuters) – Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo signed a U.S.-brokered peace agreement on Friday, raising hopes for an end to fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more so far this year. The agreement marks a breakthrough in talks held by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which also aims to attract billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium, and other minerals. At a ceremony with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Department of State, the two countries’ foreign ministers signed the agreement pledging to implement a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days, according to a version initialled by technical teams last week and seen by Reuters. JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free Kinshasa and Kigali will also launch a regional economic integration framework within 90 days, the agreement said. “They were going at it for many years, and with machetes – it is one of the worst, one of the worst wars that anyone has ever seen. And I just happened to have somebody that was able to get it settled,” Trump said on Friday, ahead of the two sides signing the deal in Washington. “We’re getting, for the United States, a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo as part of it. They’re so honored to be here. They never thought they’d be coming.” Trump was due to meet the foreign ministers in the Oval Office later on Friday. Rwanda has sent at least 7,000 soldiers over the border, according to analysts and diplomats, in support of the M23 rebels, who seized eastern Congo’s two largest cities and lucrative mining areas in a lightning advance earlier this year. The gains this year by M23, the latest cycle in a decades-old conflict with roots in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, sparked fears of a wider war drawing in Congo’s neighbours. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe called the deal a turning point. Congo Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said the agreement must be followed by disengagement. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the initialled version of the agreement. ECONOMIC DEALS Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, told Reuters in May that Washington wanted the peace deal and accompanying minerals deals to be signed simultaneously this summer. However, the agreement signed on Friday gives Congo and Rwanda three months to launch a framework “to expand foreign trade and investment derived from regional critical mineral supply chains”, according to the initialled version seen by Reuters. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday that another agreement on the framework would be signed by the heads of state at a separate White House event at an unspecified time. There is an understanding that progress in ongoing talks in Doha – a separate but parallel mediation effort with delegations from the Congolese government and M23 – is essential before the signing of the economic framework, the source said. The agreement signed on Friday was set to voice “full support” for the Qatar-hosted talks, according to the initialled version. It also says Congo and Rwanda will form a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days and implement a plan agreed last year to monitor and verify the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers within three months. Congolese military operations targeting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Congo-based armed group that includes remnants of Rwanda’s former army and militias that carried out the 1994 genocide, are meant to conclude over the same timeframe. Reuters reported on Thursday that Congolese negotiators had dropped an earlier demand that Rwandan troops immediately leave eastern Congo, paving the way for Friday’s signing ceremony. Congo, the United Nations, and Western powers say Rwanda is supporting M23 by sending troops and arms. Rwanda has long denied helping M23, saying its forces are acting in self-defence against Congo’s army and ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. “This is the best chance we have at a peace process for the moment despite all the challenges and flaws,” said Jason Stearns, a political scientist at Simon Fraser University, specialising in Africa’s Great Lakes region. Similar formulas have been attempted before, he added, and “it will be up to the U.S., as they are the godfather of this deal, to make sure both sides abide by the terms.” (Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington, Ange Adihe Kasongo in Kinshasa and Sonia Rolley in Paris; Additional reporting by Robbie Corey-Boulet in Dakar and Trevor Hunnicutt and Steve Holland in Washington; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Alison Williams)

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom filed a $787 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Friday, alleging the news network deliberately misrepresented the timeline of a phone call between him and President Donald Trump to make it appear the governor lied about their communication. The lawsuit, first reported by POLITICO, centers on Fox News’ coverage of a June 7 phone call between Trump and Newsom during anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles County. President Trump said he deployed thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to the area to quell the violence despite the governor’s objections, but local officials say they are there to protect federal buildings and federal workers. The dispute arose when Trump claimed on June 10 that he had called Newsom “a day ago.” Newsom subsequently denied any recent contact, stating: “There was no call. Not even a voicemail. Americans should be alarmed that a President deploying Marines onto our streets doesn’t even know who he’s talking to.” No more lies. I’m suing Fox News for $787 million.https://t.co/L73VUsPsuB pic.twitter.com/qKoRaxHRDW — Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 27, 2025 Fox News then ran a segment on Jesse Watters’ program that Newsom’s claims “willfully distorted” the timeline to the network’s viewers. According to the lawsuit, Watters aired a deceptively edited video that juxtaposed Trump’s “day ago” claim with call logs obtained by Fox host John Roberts showing the call occurred on June 7 — three days earlier, not one day as Trump had claimed. Newsom accuses the network of falsely claiming he lied about the phone call and violated California’s Unfair Competition Law, which outlaws “deceptive and unfair business practices.” JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free “If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, it should face consequences — just like it did in the Dominion case,” Newsom said in a statement to POLITICO, referencing Fox’s $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in 2023. In Fox News’s initial reporting on the disputed call, headlined “Trump brings receipts he called Newsom amid LA riots as California gov claims there wasn’t ‘even a voicemail,'” the network did include Newsom’s clarification that the call was from “3 days ago” rather than the “day ago” Trump had claimed. “I believe the American people should be able to trust the information they receive from a major news outlet. Until Fox is willing to be truthful, I will keep fighting against their propaganda machine,” the governor added. POLITICO notes that defamation cases brought by public officials face a much higher legal standard than those filed by private citizens. Newsom has indicated he would retract the lawsuit if Fox News issues a formal retraction and Jesse Watters delivers an on-air apology.

President Donald Trump on Friday responded to Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s claim that Iran was victorious over the United States. “Look, you’re a man of great faith, a man who is highly respected in his country, you have to tell the truth,” Trump said. “You got beat to hell.” Trump added that the United States would “absolutely” bomb Iran again if it tried to develop its uranium to high levels again. Trump responds to Ayatollah Khameini claiming victory over the United States: "You have to tell the truth, you got beat to hell." pic.twitter.com/kJSdYUfNY4 — Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) June 27, 2025 Trump’s comments come after Khamenei declared victory on Thursday in a series of tweets and an address. “My congratulations on our dear Iran’s victory over the US regime,” Khamenei posted. “The US regime entered the war directly because it felt that if it didn’t, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed. It entered the war in an effort to save that regime but achieved nothing.” HAMAS IS PREPARING ATTACKS ON AMERICAN CONTRACTORS HELPING DISTRIBUTE AID IN GAZA After 12 days of conflict, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei agreed to a ceasefire with Israel, brokered by Trump. The decision followed a series of major setbacks for the Iranian regime, including successful American strikes on key nuclear sites and military infrastructure. American forces used Tomahawk missiles and 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs — delivered by B-2 Spirit bombers — to cripple Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Trump has spent much of this week praising the precision of American pilots for delivering a direct hit on Iran’s heavily fortified Fordo nuclear site with massive bunker busters. In another tweet, Khamenei claimed that “the Islamic Republic delivered a heavy slap to the U.S.’s face,” a reference to Iran’s missile strike on the U.S. Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council falsely claimed that its attack “destroyed the U.S. air base in Al-Udeid, Qatar.” TRUMP HAS BEEN CLEAR FOR 14 YEARS THAT IRAN CANNOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON The attack involved the launch of 19 missiles, 18 of which were reportedly intercepted. The one missile that landed caused no casualties and resulted in only minimal damage. Trump said Iran had provided advance warning to his administration, allowing American personnel to shelter or evacuate during the strike, which has been regarded as a coordinated attack for the regime to save face. “I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday. JULY 4 SALE: Get Six Months Of DW+ Free Throughout Israel’s entire 12-day campaign against Iran, dubbed “Operation Rising Lion,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the IDF removed the threat of a significant number of Iranian ballistic missiles, and helped severely harm Iran’s nuclear program. The IDF eliminated much of Iran’s senior military command and several leading nuclear scientists, destroyed the enrichment facility in Natanz, the uranium conversion plant in Isfahan, and the heavy water installation in Arak, according to Netanyahu. Other laboratories, factories, ballistic missile production facilities, and regime targets were also struck.

Zohran Mamdani, the socialist who is the Democratic nominee in New York City’s mayoral race, wants to “shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods.” Mamdani, a far-left 33-year-old Muslim who became an American citizen in 2018, detailed his plan in a policy memo that insists “the cityʼs property tax system favors wealthier homeowners in gentrifying neighborhoods.” According to the campaign document, Mamdani wants to lower the tax burden for homeowners in lower-income neighborhoods while “raising the amount paid in the most expensive Brooklyn brownstones.” Mamdani’s proposal to target “whiter neighborhoods” is one of many radical policy objectives, along with city-owned grocery stores, defunding the police, and freezing rent. The leftist state assemblyman has drawn the ire of Republicans and moderates across the country. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) even called for Mamdani to be stripped of his American citizenship in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, saying the Democratic socialist expressed support for foreign terror organizations, a reference to Mamdani’s self-professed “love” for a group of individuals convicted of funneling money to Hamas. “Zohran ‘little muhammad’ Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York,” Ogles said as he shared the letter to Bondi on social media. “He needs to be DEPORTED. Which is why I am calling for him to be subject to denaturalization proceedings.” New York billionaire Bill Ackman has already pledged millions of dollars to the effort to stop Mamdani from being elected. “There are hundreds of millions of dollars of capital available to back a competitor to Mamdani that can be put together overnight,” the Pershing Square Capital founder and CEO said. Mamdani came out ahead of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in an upset victory in the Democratic primary and is now set to face off against incumbent Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent in November’s general election. 

'raked in $177,394 over the past week'

Disaster that is still ongoing...

'Direct And Blatant Attack On Our Country': Trump Announces End To Trade Talks With Major Partner

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan once opposed the practice of district judges issuing national injunctions before siding with the court's two other liberal justices in dissent to Friday's ruling.