Israel-Iran War: Tehran’s BIG statement on role of India in 12-day conflict, embassy says…
In what may be called a tacit expression of its displeasure, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi kept a cryptic silence on India’s role, the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi thanked India.
Trump says US would strike again if Iran rebuilds nuclear program
The U.S. would strike Iran again if the country attempts to rebuild its nuclear program, President Donald Trump said Wednesday. Trump made the statement during an exchange with reporters while attending a NATO summit in the Netherlands on Wednesday. The U.S. has touted a report from Israel stating that the strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities set back the country’s program “many years.” A reporter asked Trump whether he would strike Iran again if it were to rebuild its nuclear facilities. “Sure,” came Trump’s blunt response. TRUMP JOINS NATO SUMMIT WITH GLOWING PRAISE AS ALLIES ADOPT NEW SPENDING HEGSETH SAYS FBI IS CONDUCTING INVESTIGATION INTO LEAK OF INTEL REPORT ON STRIKE AGAINST IRAN The exchange came after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised Trump as a “man of strength” and a “man of peace” during Wednesday’s summit. “I just want to recognize your decisive action on Iran,” Rutte said at the start of his joint remarks with the president. “You are a man of strength, but you are also a man of peace. And the fact that you are now also successful in getting this ceasefire done between Israel and Iran — I really want to commend you for that. I think this is important for the whole world.” Rutte also praised Trump’s effort to get NATO members to pay more and said the president was “flying into another big success” after all countries—except Spain—agreed to spend 5% of their GDP on defense. He added that Trump achieved something “NO American president in decades could get done.” Leaders of NATO member states had mixed reactions to the strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, with several calling for de-escalation while acknowledging the threat a nuclear Iran would pose to global security. Trump cajoled Iran and Israel into a ceasefire on Tuesday that has so far held after an uncertain start that saw Trump unleash his frustration with both countries. Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
WATCH: Former Dem ousted from party over ‘defund the police’ takes on Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg
EXCLUSIVE: After being ousted from the Democratic Party over a disagreement about the push to defund the police, Maud Maron, a former progressive turned conservative Republican, is running to unseat Alvin Bragg as Manhattan district attorney. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Maron, an attorney and mother of four, said that under Democratic rule, crime in New York City has spiraled out of control to the point that the city is facing a serious “public safety crisis.” She described a situation in which a criminal slashed police officers in the neck and face inside a Manhattan courthouse. In any other city, this occurrence would have been outrageous and unheard of, but Maron said that due to Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s policies, it is a familiar scene. According to Maron, after entering office in 2022, Bragg issued a day one memo in which he directed the assistant district attorneys in his office to simply not prosecute whole categories of crimes or “charge as low as possible and to seek as little jail time as possible.” “That’s a recipe for chaos, disorder, and violence in our streets, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen,” she said. BERNIE SANDERS, AOC-BACKED MAYORAL CANDIDATE PLANNING MASSIVE SPENDING INCREASES IN NYC In just the three years since Bragg took office, Maron said that the decline in New York City is palpable and can be experienced just walking in the streets or taking the subway. “If you’re going to commit a crime, best do it when Alvin Bragg is in office, because he will make sure you get the least amount of prosecution, the least amount of jail time, if jail time is in your future, the least amount of accountability,” she explained. “He is going to absolutely make sure that it’s the friendliest place for the people who break the law, which conversely makes it a very scary place for people who want to walk down the street or take the subways.” As a lifelong New Yorker, Maron said the change in the city is personal. “I’m a public school mom and I have four kids who have taken subways to school,” she said, adding that “over 300,000 New York City public school students take the subway by themselves as their commute to school.” BRAWL ERUPTS AT CONEY ISLAND BEACH AS NYC SIZZLES, MULTIPLE ARRESTED: NYPD “Our subways have gotten dirty, they’re now places where mentally ill people who can’t clean themselves are sleeping or doing worse things on the subways. And we’ve seen someone set on fire, we’ve seen people slashed and hurt,” she said. “I just don’t think it’s progressive to put children and tourists and workers and commuters through that kind of dangerous gauntlet on the subway. And it also just doesn’t help that mentally ill person who can’t clean themselves or restrain themselves. So, it’s not compassionate for me on any ground, in any way, to follow Alvin Bragg’s ideology,” she said. If elected, Maron said that she would issue a day-one memo of her own titled “The People’s Plan for Public Safety,” that would lay out “a clear, unapologetic commitment to law and order rooted in common sense, accountability, and community protection.” Maron said that she would restore the assistant district attorneys’ ability to charge and prosecute the crimes committed instead of downgrading charges. TRUMP FRONT-AND-CENTER AS NATION’S BIGGEST CITY HOLDS PRIMARY ELECTION FOR MAYOR “What we need to do is, first of all, rescind Alvin Bragg’s day one memo. We need to stop with the idea that there are categories of crime that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office doesn’t prosecute,” she said. “The thinking behind Alvin Bragg’s day one memo is to keep the offenders out of jail as often as possible. But that doesn’t take into consideration the people who have been hurt and the people who need justice. And it certainly doesn’t take into consider future victims. If your whole goal is to keep people out of jails as much as possible, you’re setting up future victims to be hurt by those very people.” Though New York City is seen as a deeply blue city, Maron believes that between independents and moderates in both parties there is enough frustration with Bragg’s soft-on-crime policies to vote him out and flip the district red. “Everybody that I talk to is deeply unhappy with the public safety crisis in our city,” she explained, adding that in her estimation, “it’s a matter of convincing people to go out to vote.” Bragg’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by the time of publication.
Louisiana mom warns ‘half of what we’re working for’ at risk if Trump’s budget bill fails
EXCLUSIVE: Toni McAllister is a prominent voice in Louisiana’s logging industry, but as she told Fox News Digital on Tuesday, she is also “a mom and a wife” from a middle-class family. She is one of four Americans from across the country invited by House GOP leaders to Capitol Hill to promote President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” It is a vast piece of legislation aimed at advancing Trump’s priorities on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt – which is taking Herculean political maneuvering to pass. On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other leaders pivoted from promoting it themselves, instead inviting their four guests to talk about their support for the bill, and what is at stake if it does not pass by the end of this year. 148 DEMOCRATS BACK NONCITIZEN VOTING IN DC AS GOP RAISES ALARM ABOUT FOREIGN AGENTS “I believe that our tax rates in Louisiana for small businesses will jump up to around 43.4%. I mean, that’s literally half of what we’re working for. So what will we be working for to pay taxes?” McAllister told Fox News Digital. She is the executive director of the Louisiana Logger’s Association, a trade group representing loggers in the Bayou State. In addition to that, however, McAllister said she was concerned about a tax hike for her family if the bill is not passed. “I’m just a regular middle-class family. And in Louisiana, the average tax hike would be around $1,300. That’s a month of groceries. That’s anything extra that we can do with our kids. $1,300 is a lot of money,” she said. Projections released by the House GOP show that under the lower chamber’s version of the bill, an average family could see an additional $1,300 in tax relief, while a failure to pass it could lead to a $1,700 tax hike. Republicans are aiming to use the bill to extend Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as well as implement a host of new policies like eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages. Retired Sheriff James Stuart said those latter measures, which Trump campaigned on in 2024, will be critical to law enforcement recruitment in Minnesota. “One of the most persistent struggles of agencies across the country is retention and recruitment. No tax on overtime will increase take-home pay for our peace offices, which will boost morale and ease burdens for them and their families,” Stuart, who is also executive director of the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, told Fox News Digital. However, Paul Danos, the head of a family-owned offshore energy service company in Gray, Louisiana, told Fox News Digital that Republicans’ energy policies are also critical for his business. “If this bill doesn’t pass, then we find ourselves where we were in the last administration, with that lack of predictability around lease sales,” Danos said. “Those multibillion-dollar investments that are creating jobs, that are providing safe and affordable energy here in the US, are jeopardized. We start having to depend on other nations for our oil and gas.” That, he argued, would lead to higher prices for everyone. Sam Palmeter, who leads engineering at Laser Marking Technologies, one of the last two laser technology companies owned and operated in America, said he and others in Michigan were “tired of brain drain,” hoping Trump’s bill could reverse that and revitalize manufacturing in the region. “We won’t grow, and we won’t provide as many jobs in the industrial manufacturing and engineering space,” Palmeter said. “And that’s sad, because there’s nothing that makes me more proud than hiring a local kid…So he’s working 13 miles from home. He doesn’t have to leave his family and everything to exercise that degree.” REPUBLICANS CHALLENGE ‘IRRELEVANT’ BUDGET OFFICE AS IT CRITIQUES TRUMP’S ‘BEAUTIFUL BILL’ It is not yet clear if their arguments or others in favor of Trump’s bill will have any effect, however. The legislation has been met with Republican critics in the House and Senate, while GOP leaders have styled it as the best possible path forward for a conservative policy overhaul while they control Congress and the White House. While the dissent is coming from a relatively small number of Republicans, it could be enough to derail the legislation – both House and Senate GOP leaders are grappling with razor-thin margins of just a few votes. Trump recently ordered lawmakers to remain in Washington, D.C., until the bill is passed – despite a planned recess next week for the Fourth of July holiday. The bill passed the House by one vote last month, and a modified version is expected to get a Senate vote sometime this week. Both the House and Senate must pass identical products before they can be sent to Trump’s desk.
41 years before Shubhanshu Shukla, Rakesh Sharma became first Indian to go to Space, he now lives in THIS town, works with…
Forty-one years before Shubhanshu Shukla’s mission took off for space, IAF Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma had scripted history by becoming the first-ever Indian to go to outer space. But over the past couple of decades, Sharma has largely stayed away from the limelight. Read on to know more.
Dem rep to plead not guilty to federal charges for incident at Newark ICE facility
A New Jersey Congresswoman who was involved in a much-publicized altercation outside an immigration facility last month is expected to appear in court later today to face charges for allegedly obstructing Homeland Security agents. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., is charged in a three-count indictment of forcibly impeding federal officers during the attempted arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at the Delaney Hall immigration facility on May 9. She says she will plead not guilty to the charges. McIver and two other members of Congress said they were conducting a congressional oversight visit that coincided with an immigration protest, when a clash ensued with federal agents. BLUE STATE ICE FACILITY RAMPS UP SECURITY WITH NEW BARRICADES AMID CLASHES WITH PROTESTERS According to a DOJ press release, Baraka was allowed into the facility’s secured area and then federal agents warned him to leave but he refused to do so. When officers tried to arrest Baraka, McIver allegedly blocked them, putting her arms around the mayor, and “slammed her forearm” into one officer while grabbing another and using both of her forearms to forcibly strike the second officer. Each of the first two counts carries a maximum eight-year prison sentence. The third carries up to one year. The charges are being brought be Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba, who has represented President Donald Trump between his two presidencies. Habba previously said that McIver “assaulted, impeded, and interfered with law enforcement.” McIver denounced the charges earlier this month, likening them to previous attempts by the Trump administration to silence political opponents. DEM LAWMAKERS DEFEND ‘STORMING’ OF ICE FACILITY, SAY TRUMP ADMIN IS ‘LYING AT ALL LEVELS’ “The facts of this case will prove I was simply doing my job and will expose these proceedings for what they are: a brazen attempt at political intimidation,” McIver said in a statement. “This indictment is no more justified than the original charge and is an effort by Trump’s administration to dodge accountability for the chaos ICE caused and scare me out of doing the work I was elected to do,” she continued. “But it won’t work—I will not be intimidated. The facts are on our side, I will be entering a plea of not guilty, I’m grateful for the support of my community, and I look forward to my day in court.” Baraka was arrested but had a trespassing charge against him dismissed. Meanwhile, the Campaign for Accountability, a liberal watchdog group, filed an ethics complaint with the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics on Tuesday, accusing Habba of serious ethical misconduct related to her prosecution of McIver and the arrest of Baraka. The complaint alleges they were politically targeted in retaliation for participating in the protest and oversight visit because their policies conflict with those of the Trump administration. Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
Acting Buffalo, NY mayor loses in Democratic primary
Acting Mayor Christopher Scanlon of Buffalo, N.Y., fell short in the city’s Democratic primary Tuesday night, losing the nomination to state Sen. Sean Ryan. Scanlon conceded the primary to Ryan, thanking his supporters and apologizing for “not getting it done for you tonight.” “It was a lot of work and the most humbling experience of my life to have the type of support that the campaign has had to this point,” Scanlon said. Ryan, who has the endorsement of the county Democratic Party, declared victory and pledged to unite the city. CUOMO CONCEDES IN NYC DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR MAYOR, CONGRATULATES AOC-ENDORSED MAMDANI “I know we need to unite Buffalo, not just as Democrats, but as Buffalonians,” Ryan said. ALVIN BRAGG BLOWS OUT DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGER IN MANHATTAN DA PRIMARY Ryan told Buffalo Toronto Public Media that he was “so pleasantly surprised with the margin” of victory in the multi-candidate field. The Associated Press called the victory for Ryan, who had 46.5% of the vote. Scanlon fell short with 35.3% of the votes. Scanlon sought a full term after replacing Buffalo’s longest-serving mayor, Byron Brown, who resigned in October to head an off-track betting agency. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Axiom-4 Launch: Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla shares emotional message for wife ahead of space journey, says, ‘No one travels to space…’
Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, one of the astronauts selected under India’s Gaganyaan program, is set to create history today by becoming the second Indian to travel to space in past four decades.
Alvin Bragg blows out Democratic challenger in Manhattan DA primary
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg defeated his moderate challenger to secure the Democratic nomination to serve another term in his post on Tuesday. Bragg, a noted legal adversary of President Donald Trump, defeated Patrick Timmins, who had run on a more moderate platform. Timmins had criticized Bragg for failing to prosecute certain crimes, and his campaign highlighted the case of a repeat offender making a targeted attack against two court officers. Bragg, who won Tuesday’s primary with over 70% of the vote, had secured a conviction against Trump prior to his re-election to the White House in November. Bragg’s office filed a legal brief calling on Justice Juan Merchan to put Trump’s conviction on ice until after his second term. “President-elect immunity does not exist. And even after the inauguration, defendant’s temporary immunity as the sitting President will still not justify the extreme remedy of discarding the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict and wiping out the already-completed phases of this criminal proceeding,” the Tuesday court filing from Bragg’s office states. PROSECUTORS REQUEST STAY IN TRUMP NY CASE UNTIL 2029 AS DEFENSE PLANS MOTION FOR DISMISSAL ‘ONCE AND FOR ALL’ Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May 2024. Bragg’s office worked to prove that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. BRAGG CASE ‘EFFECTIVELY OVER’ IN ‘MAJOR VICTORY,’ TRUMP OFFICIALS SAY Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of lawfare promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his election efforts ahead of November. Bragg’s office acknowledged that Trump cannot be sentenced as president but argued Merchan has various options to keep the case on ice until 2029 and sentence Trump following his second presidential administration. “[N]o principle of immunity precludes further proceedings before defendant’s inauguration. And even if judgment has not been entered at the time of defendant’s inauguration, there is no legal barrier to deferring sentencing until after defendant’s term of office concludes,” the filing said. The DA’s office argued that a stay of proceedings in the case would exempt the former and upcoming president “from any immediate obligations in this case during his time in office, while at the same time respecting the public interest in upholding the rule of law and preserving the meaningful aspects of the criminal process that have already taken place.” The DA’s office had already called for a stay in the case following the election, with Tuesday’s filing doubling down on that argument. “To be sure, the People do not dispute that presidential immunity requires accommodation during a President’s time in office. But the extreme remedy of dismissing the indictment and vacating the jury verdict is not warranted in light of multiple alternative accommodations that would fully address the concerns raised by presidential immunity,” their filing said. Merchan ultimately sentenced Trump to an unconditional discharge, essentially imposing no punishment: no jail time, fines or probation. The sentence also preserves Trump’s ability to appeal the conviction. Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Russian official says Moscow has ‘no intention’ of supplying Iran with warheads, following Trump taunts
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Moscow is not planning to supply Iran with nuclear warheads, after President Donald Trump mocked him for suggesting that other countries would step in and provide Iran with nuclear weapons after the U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities. Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, originally said Sunday that Iran would continue to advance its nuclear program and would receive assistance from other nations to do so. Although Medvedev did not specify any countries, he clarified later Monday that he was not talking about Russia. “I condemn the U.S. strike on Iran — it failed to achieve its objectives,” Medvedev said in a Monday post on X. “However, Russia has no intention of supplying nuclear weapons to Iran because, unlike Israel, we are parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.” TRUMP SLAMS RUSSIA’S CASUAL THREAT TO ARM IRAN WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS: ‘THAT’S WHY PUTIN’S THE BOSS’ “I know quite well what this would entail, having overseen our nuclear forces as president,” Medvedev said. “But other countries might — and that’s what was said.” Medvedev’s statement came after Trump called him out by name in a post on Truth Social following the Russian leader’s original Sunday remarks. “Did I hear Former President Medvedev, from Russia, casually throwing around the ‘N word’ (Nuclear!), and saying that he and other Countries would supply Nuclear Warheads to Iran? Did he really say that or, is it just a figment of my imagination? If he did say that, and, if confirmed, please let me know, IMMEDIATELY. The ‘N word’ should not be treated so casually. I guess that’s why Putin’s ‘THE BOSS,’” Trump said in a Monday Truth Social Post. Andrea Sticker, the deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ nonproliferation and biodefense program, chalked up Medvedev’s initial statement as an attempt to brag and said it was unrealistic for any country to provide such assistance to Iran. “Medvedev’s original claim was likely bluster about Russia or another country supplying Iran with nuclear weapons,” Stricker said in a Monday email to Fox News Digital. “No country, including Pakistan or North Korea, would supply atomic devices to Tehran because they would be held accountable by the United States if Iran used the weapons. Moscow and Pyongyang, at least from available open-source information, appear to be standing mostly idle as their ally Iran takes a major beating.” RUSSIAN LEADER CLAIMS MULTIPLE COUNTRIES PREPPED TO PROVIDE IRAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOLLOWING US STRIKES The U.S. launched strikes late Saturday targeting key Iranian nuclear facilities, which involved more than 125 U.S. aircraft, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told reporters Sunday. Trump announced early Tuesday that a ceasefire had gone into effect between Israel and Iran but scolded both countries hours later following accusations from both sides that the other had violated the agreement. ISRAEL-IRAN CONFLICT: LIVE UPDATES Trump told reporters both Israel and Iran failed to follow the terms of the agreement, which he said is still in effect. “I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either but I’m really unhappy with Israel going out this morning,” Trump said at the White House Tuesday morning. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the f— they’re doing,” he said.