Free Republic

Dubai chocolate has become one of the most talked-about food phenomena on social media. Behind this ultra-indulgent bar lies a recent history, rooted in Middle Eastern culinary tradition and propelled to fame at lightning speed by TikTok. Dubai Chocolate was created in 2021 by Fix Dessert Chocolatier, a boutique based in Dubai. Its creator, Sarah Hamouda, an engineer of British-Egyptian origin, teamed up with chef Nouel Catis Omamalin with a simple but bold idea: to transform the experience of knafeh, an iconic Middle Eastern dessert made with kadaif [editor’s note: fresh angel hair], cheese, butter, and pistachios or walnuts, topped...

Major disruptions in Qatar (15% of global LNG) and Australia have triggered a severe natural gas shortage, far worse than the oil shock. Gas prices have spiked sharply (Asia +143%, Europe +85%), with physical availability becoming a bigger issue than pricing. Countries are reverting to coal, Europe faces energy security risks, and rising gas costs could drive fertilizer shortages and food inflation.

Oil prices remained volatile on Wednesday, as the US and Iran clashed over what terms might bring the conflict in the Middle East to an end. Brent crude rose to $101 a barrel at midday in the US before falling back to $98 as President But Iranian media on Wednesday cited leaders criticising the US peace proposal. They presented their own terms for a ceasefire, including international recognition of Iran's "sovereign right" to control the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and gas supplies. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt maintained that US attacks were...

House Republicans are expecting to get a major boost from President Donald Trump on Wednesday as they build resources to defend their razor-thin congressional majority in November's midterm elections. National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chair, Rep. Richard Hudson, is expected to announce a major haul at their annual fundraising dinner in the nation's capital, which will be headlined by Trump. The fundraising is much needed, as Republicans aim to not only defend but expand their current 218-214 House majority in the midterms. Republicans are battling stiff political headwinds as the party in power in the nation's capital traditionally loses seats...

ran’s economy is no longer merely experiencing high inflation; it is exhibiting the structural symptoms of a nation losing faith in its own currency and facing a shift in its monetary regime. Over the past year, a pattern has emerged across markets, policy decisions and price behavior pointing to the early stages of de facto dollarization. In April 2025, when a “five-dollar pizza” shop opened in Tehran’s affluent Niavaran neighborhood, many dismissed the fixed dollar price as a marketing gimmick. At the time, one pizza cost roughly 5 million rials, with inflation reportedly above 40%. Less than a year later,...

Europe could face a shortage of energy and fuel as soon as next month without a reopening of the strait of Hormuz, Shell’s chief executive has said. The boss of Europe’s biggest oil company said it was working with governments to help them address the oil and gas supply crisis, which has already led to energy rationing in Asian countries. Oil prices dipped back to about $100 a barrel on Wednesday from highs of about $114 at the start of the week, on the back of reports that the White House had sent a 15-point peace plan to Iran’s leaders....

Kristi Noem kept her lover Corey Lewandowski close at hand as she made her first appearance in her new job after she was booted from the Department of Homeland Security. Noem and Lewandowski sat side-by-side across from Guyanese President Irfaan Ali during a meeting in the South American country on Tuesday. She was all smiles during the meeting, which came just weeks after she was grilled over the supposed affair in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier in March. Noem dodged questions about the affair as her husband sat behind her at that hearing. That disastrous hearing resulted in her...

Last week, Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be helping Iran "a bit". But Iran's successful hitting of US military bases and energy infrastructure in the Gulf suggests that Russian help is much more than what Trump described as "a bit". Russia is reported to have provided Iran with the precise locations of US warships and aircraft operating in the Middle East. Russia's Kanopus-V satellite gives Iran round-the-clock images of American assets and other targets in the region. An important target reportedly provided by Moscow to Tehran was the precise location of a US military base in Kuwait,...

Donald Trump has brutally slapped down Benjamin Netanyahu's push for the US to incite a bloody street revolution to topple the Iranian regime. 'Why the **** should we tell people to take to the streets when they'll just get mowed down,' Trump told Netanyahu during a call last week. The call came just hours after Iran's security chief Ali Larijani was killed in an Israeli strike last Tuesday. Netanyahu told Trump the regime was in disarray and that there was a window for a popular uprising, a US official and Israeli source told Axios. But Trump feared a massacre, mindful...

Images circulating on social media appear to show posters bearing Adolf Hitler's image and a quote attributed to him displayed in several Iranian cities, as the Islamic Republic intensifies its wartime crackdown on alleged foreign spies and internal collaborators. The posters, shared in posts claiming they were photographed in cities such as Babolsar and Kermanshah, carried a message aimed at Iranians accused of siding with foreign enemies.

For the first time in more than 1,400 years, Church of England gets a woman leaderCANTERBURY – In a ceremony that has been taking place for more than 1,400 years, the Church of England has installed its new leader, the archbishop of Canterbury.For the first time in history, the new archbishop is a woman, Sarah Mullally. She becomes the 106th person to hold the job.The 90-minute ceremony began with Mullally knocking three times on the west door of Canterbury Cathedral, before being let in by local schoolchildren. It was attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales, and Prime Minister...

ISRAEL: Government approves call-up of up to 400,000 reservists amid ongoing war with Iran and Hezbollah •⁠ ⁠IDF says this is a maximum ceiling, not the actual number to be called •⁠ ⁠Previous cap stood at 280,000 •⁠ ⁠Move aimed at expanding flexibility for Operation Roaring Lion •⁠ ⁠Designed to meet growing needs across multiple fronts

Iran has launched a missile bearing a poster of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, thanking him for his public condemnation of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military campaign against the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps released footage of the missile, which displayed a portrait of the Spanish leader alongside a message in both Farsi and English: “We praise the Spanish minister who calls this war illegal. We say: not only is this war illegal, it is also inhuman. Thank you, Prime Minister.” Israel’s Foreign Ministry wasted no time responding. “Pedro Sánchez — Iran’s mullah regime is thanking you by putting...

Former CIA Director John Brennan sparked a fierce backlash from the White House and critics on social media after saying during a cable news appearance that he finds Iran more credible than President Trump on the question of whether negotiations to end the war are underway. Brennan made the remarks Monday on MSNBC’s MS NOW, after host Symone Sanders noted that Iran has flatly denied it is engaged in talks with the Trump administration — directly contradicting the president’s public claims that negotiations are proceeding. Sanders told Brennan she was “wary of taking the word of Iran … an authoritarian...

Six American soldiers who lost their lives over western Iraq while supporting a mission are being remembered and honored by the U.S. Senate. The lawmakers passed a resolution recognizing their bravery, service, and ultimate sacrifice. The resolution, introduced by U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and co-sponsored by Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Jon Husted (R-Ohio), and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), passed unanimously. It honors Major Alex Klinner of Auburn, Alabama; Major Ariana G. Savino of Covington, Washington; Technical Sergeant Ashley B. Pruitt of Bardstown, Kentucky; Captain Seth R. Koval of Mooresville, Indiana; Captain...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Eijk reflects on celebrating his first public Latin Mass in new interview'I found it a very impressive and unforgettable experience,' said Cardinal Eijk in an interview with the Italian blog Messainlatino.Cardinal Willem Eijk celebrates first public Traditional Latin Mass in Oss, Netherlands. Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk explained his reasons for celebrating a Pontifical Mass in the Tridentine Rite and described its reception among the faithful.On March 25, the Italian blog Messainlatino published an exclusive interview conducted by Father Marco Begato with Cardinal Eijk, archbishop of Utrecht and primate of the Netherlands, who celebrated his first Pontifical High...

The Windy City is blowing travelers away with its new tourist fee. Chicago's City Council has unanimously voted to create a Tourism Improvement District - and raise hotel rooms taxes in that district to 19 percent, one of the highest in the country. That’s higher than Las Vegas - and far above cities like Los Angeles, where hotel taxes sit closer to 14 percent. Under the plan, a new 1.5 percent surcharge will be added to hotel stays at larger properties, with the money funneled into tourism marketing efforts run by Choose Chicago. On a $300 hotel room, visitors could...

[Catholic Caucus] EXCLUSIVE: Dutch bishop says Church in Netherlands has collapsed, warns Germany may be nextDue to heterodox ‘reforms’ after Vatican II, just 2% of Catholics in the Netherlands now attend Sunday Mass, down from 96% in some parts of the country, Bishop Robert Mutsaerts told LifeSiteNews.Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Bishop Georg Baetzing –former German bishops' conference presidentsDutch Bishop Roberts Mutsaerts has warned the Catholic Church in Germany that it will suffer a collapse like the Church in the Netherlands if its continues with the heretical Synodal Way.In an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews journalist Andreas Wailzer, Bishop Mutsaerts, the auxiliary bishop...

The Biden administration pushed COVID-19 boosters for elderly people even harder after its vaccine safety surveillance systems discovered, as early as November 2022, "statistically significant safety signals for ischemic stroke" in that age group following uptake of the Pfizer bivalent, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy in a letter Monday, disclosed Wednesday. The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations chair released nearly 2,000 pages of "relevant HHS records" in conjunction with the letter, in 10 batches, documenting the stroke signal and internal communications between officials "acknowledging significant statistical limitations in their ability to detect...

Explanation: In the words of today's astrophotographer, Rositsa Dimitrova, "What have these silent sentinels watched pass across the sky?" The volcanic mo'ai (meaning statue) of Ahu Tongariki stand guard over Rapa Nui (Isla de Pascua, Easter Island), a Polynesian island (annexed by Chile in 1888) located thousands of kilometers off the coast of South America in the Pacific Ocean. Due to the island's remoteness, the mo'ai, with their backs to the dark ocean, are able to gaze upon a clear and vibrant night sky. Pictured, these larger-than-life statues stare at the bright band of the Milky Way, partly obscured by...