Free Republic

Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said the evidence that Iran was an imminent threat to the United States was not there.Co-host Joe Kernen said, “You have such a tough job. I asked Senator Scott, and he said, I love Senator Paul because you never waver, but everybody wavers. I was going to ask you about war powers, and the Constitution is messy, and to stick with it as you do in the real world, it’s hard. I don’t know why you even have this job. It must be so difficult at this point for you, right?...

Marrakech – The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) issued an urgent travel warning for Algeria late on Monday after two suicide bombings struck the town of Blida, roughly 50 kilometers south of the capital Algiers. The FCDO confirmed it is “aware of reports of an explosion on 13 April in the town of Blida” and urged British nationals in the area to “remain vigilant at all times and follow the advice of the local security authorities.” The twin attacks unfolded in the early afternoon. The first explosion targeted the security directorate in central Blida. A second suicide...

A US destroyer interdicted two oil tankers attempting to leave Iran on Tuesday, a day after US President Donald Trump's blockade went into effect, and instructed them to turn around, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The ships had left Chabahar port on the Gulf of Oman and were contacted by the warship via radio communication, the official said. It was unclear whether any further warnings were given. The disclosure adds further detail to the start of Trump's blockade, which aims to pressure Iran to end its effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point...

Iran’s central bank has warned President Masoud Pezeshkian that rebuilding the country’s war-damaged economy could take more than a decade, sources familiar with internal deliberations told Iran International. In a stark assessment delivered to the president in recent days, senior economic officials said the damage inflicted during the 40-day war with the United States and Israel—combined with Iran’s already fragile economic situation—could take up to 12 years to repair. Several major airports were damaged during the conflict, while strikes also targeted oil facilities, refineries and petrochemical installations that are central to Iran’s export revenues and industrial supply chains. Officials involved...

A fallback plan to ensure Europe can defend itself using NATO’s existing military structures if the U.S. departs is gaining traction after getting buy-in from Germany, a long-term opponent of a go-it-alone approach. The officials working on the plans, which some officials are referring to as “European NATO,” are seeking to get more Europeans into the alliance’s command-and-control roles and supplement U.S. military assets with their own. The plans—advancing informally through side discussions and over dinner meetings in and around the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—aren’t intended to rival the current alliance, participants said. European officials are aiming to preserve deterrence...

A Chinese-owned tanker under U.S. sanctions has passed the Strait of Hormuz despite the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports that began on Monday.Citing data from Kpler and MarineTraffic, Reuters reported that the vessel had traversed the chokepoint earlier today. Owned by Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co Ltd., the vessel, Rich Starry, became a target for U.S. sanctions because it was used to transport Iranian crude.

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams has become a citizen of Albania by a special presidential decree, adding an unexpected milestone to his post-political life. Albanian President Bajram Begaj signed the decree at Adams’ own request. Albanian media reported the development first. Spokesman Todd Shapiro confirmed that Eric Adams received Albanian citizenship voluntarily, describing him as a longstanding friend of the Albanian-American community. Shapiro also said the honor reflects a relationship built on mutual respect and that it deepens the ties between New York City and Albania. The roots of that relationship go back to Adams’ time in office....

Ali Motahari, who served as Parliament deputy speaker from 2016 to 2019, made the statements in 2022 while speaking on Iranian news media outlet ISCA News, saying: 'When we began our nuclear activity, our goal was indeed to build a bomb. There is no need to beat around the bush.' Motahari noted that Iran had no plans for detonating the bomb, only using it as a deterrent, meaning a weapon intended to discourage enemies rather than immediately use it, citing the Quranic verse: 'Strike fear in the hearts of the enemy of Allah.'

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth welcomed his Indonesian counterpart — Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin — to the Pentagon today, where the two men announced the establishment of the Major Defense Cooperation Partnership between the two countries. ... The partnership will serve as a framework to advance bilateral defense cooperation between the U.S. and Indonesia in order to maintain peace and stability throughout the Indo-Pacific region. ... The new cooperation agreement features three "foundational pillars" that are based on each country's national sovereignty and mutual respect: military organization and capacity building; training and professional military education; and exercises and operational cooperation....

There's no lack of blame to go around for the overnight spat between Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, and President Trump doing his late-night tweets.AdvertisementFollowing the heavily advertised 60 Minutes segment featuring the pope's three closest and wokest U.S. cardinals repeating their criticisms of Trump's Iran actions and work restoring U.S. immigration law, Trump put out these intemperate tweets:B R E A K I N G 🅱️ President Trump SLAMS Pope Leo for catering to woke radical leftists.. 👀 pic.twitter.com/5Ua04zcvuG — American AF 🇺🇸 (@iAnonPatriot) April 13, 2026The president posted this not long after attacking the Pope: pic.twitter.com/RlRhO63ZCoAdvertisement —...

Police from the Ariel station in the West Bank stopped a garbage truck on Route 5 and were surprised to find more than 60 Palestinian illegal entrants inside it. The driver, a man in his 30s from Kafr Qassem, was arrested. Footage from the scene shows the Palestinians packed tightly inside the truck, piled one on top of another in severe crowding. Within minutes of their discovery, officers removed them one by one as trash fell from the vehicle. According to police, “A garbage truck driver transported dozens of Palestinian illegal entrants, who were placed inside the refuse compactor. The...

Mossad head David Barnea addressed the campaign against Iran, intelligence operations in the heart of Tehran, and the continuation of activities in Iran. Barnea delivered his remarks at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony, warning that threats to the existence of the Jewish people are not a thing of the past. He opened with a stark warning against international complacency: “The naïve are mistaken in thinking the Holocaust is a thing of the past-that in today’s reality genocide cannot occur, that calls for destruction cannot exist, and that hatred threatening a people’s existence cannot arise. The Iranian threat has steadily intensified...

America’s leverage in the Strait exposes Iran’s weakness—turning its greatest asset into a liability and reshaping the balance of power without a ground war. The prognosis of the Iran War is now so couched in politics and so warped by the American Left that the public has grown tired and wants it all to go away. But in truth, the situation is so fluid that any accurate prediction is impossible. Yet there is good reason to believe in an eventual outcome quite favorable to the U.S. and one far better than the status quo ante bellum. The Strait of HormuzPrior...

China’s sulphuric acid export ban and Iran war risks are squeezing metals, fertiliser and food supply chains worldwide, testing procurement and logistics China’s ban on sulphuric acid exports from May is set to cascade through global supply chains, tightening the screws on metals producers and fertiliser makers already hit by the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The decision turns a once-background industrial chemical into a strategic pinch point for mining, agriculture and food security. The ban covers sulphuric acid produced as a by-product of copper and zinc smelting in China, the world’s largest exporter of...

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney secured a stronger hold on power – and bigger mandate to push back against US President Donald Trump - after a series of historic floor crossings and two special election wins supercharged his Liberal Party to a majority government. Liberals were set to win two additional seats in parliament Monday, CNN-affiliate CBC News projected, bringing the party to 173 seats in the House of Commons – just one above the threshold needed to claim a majority government. A third race, a knife-edge contest in Quebec which the Liberal candidate previously won by just one vote,...

The US and Iran have failed to reach an agreement after 21 hours of talks in Pakistan. I can’t say I’m surprised. After all, we didn’t have to wait for the negotiations to finish to make an informed guess of the outcome. We needed merely to consider the shape of things beforehand to know that Donald Trump’s hoped-for new world order would fall into new world chaos. America and Iran agreed on a ceasefire conditional on the Islamic Republic’s complete opening of the Strait of Hormuz. It has so far refused to honour that condition. Earlier this week, President Trump...

The Republic of Somaliland in the Horn of Africa is once again offering the United States a military base in a strategic area with access to critical minerals, this time reminding the USA that this could be the perfect foothold from which to counter terrorist operations from the Iranian regime and the Houthis. On Monday, the Republic of Somaliland's X account shared a Fox News headline about how a potential U.S. base in the African nation could be crucial in combatting the jihadis who terrorize the area: The Republic of Somaliland is seeking international recognition and is offering the United...

Donald Trump claims that the "right people" in Iran have reached out to cut a deal for real after imposing a naval blockade and cutting off Iran's income stream. Who are we talking with in Tehran? Mahdi al-Hall? That's what Trump claimed in an ad-hoc press conference on the veranda of the Oval Office this afternoon. Trump didn't specify the identities of the "right people," but hinted that the blockade may have changed some minds over the last few hours: Trump: The right people called from Iran, they want to make a deal. pic.twitter.com/nbcXnyn19P— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) April 13,...

Pedro Sanchez, the current Prime Minister of Spain and Trump's most vocal critic in Europe, has a serious problem: he already leads a minority government held together by a coalition of left-wing parties, and in the coming elections looks headed toward a major defeat. He has been embroiled in questions about his wife's corruption, and was almost forced to resign when the allegations first arose. 🇪🇸 Spanish PM Sanchez’s wife charged with corruptionBegoña Gómez, the wife of Spanish far-left Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has been formally charged with multiple corruption-related offenses, including influence peddling, business corruption, embezzlement, and… pic.twitter.com/n04JCTaMZl— Visegrád...

At least two oil and chemical tankers were forced to turn away from the Strait of Hormuz on Monday after the United States moved to enforce a naval blockade, according to maritime tracking data. One of the vessels, Rich Starry, which had listed its destination as China, reportedly reversed course within minutes of the blockade taking effect, data from MarineTraffic showed. Responding to the developments, China issued a strong message signalling it would continue its maritime activity in the region. Defence Minister Dong Jun said Chinese vessels would keep operating in the area and warned against external interference. “Our ships...