Free Republic

The intelligence-sharing relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine has bounced back to previous highs, according to long-time Ukraine watchers — a welcome boost during a critical window of opportunity for the Ukrainian war effort. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the intelligence committee’s ranking member and a longtime proponent of more U.S. assistance to Ukraine, told POLITICO he sees evidence of an improved intel-sharing agreement — and believes it’s helped Kyiv gain an advantage in Moscow’s four-year-long war.

The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the United States met certain conditions.A top Iranian national security official delivered a sweeping set of demands on Saturday that he said the United States must meet before the Strait of Hormuz can reopen to maritime traffic, throwing the fate of the critical trade waterway into question.Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, issued a statement carried by state media laying out multiple requirements for reopening the strait. He called for the United States to lift its naval...

Terrifying footage shows a Russian drone hunting a street vendor in Ukraine – as Moscow intensifies its drone and missile attacks against the country. The nerve-wracking video, which has sparked allegations of war crimes from Ukrainian officials, shows a vegetable vendor being chased around his van stand by the low-flying craft before it explodes just as he dives behind his vehicle. The vendor, a man in his 50s, survived the blast but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries, officials said. An explosion occurring between two vehicles, with the Ukrainian National Police emblem visible in the corner.A Russian drone taunted and hunted...

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine is reportedly quietly working toward an exit from Donald Trump’s Iran war, even as the president appears to believe more air strikes could force a deal. As the war enters its sixth month, CNN reported Friday that Caine has privately discussed the limits of further military action with other top Trump advisers, warning that continued bombing may not be enough to secure a ceasefire. “Caine is looking for an off-ramp,” one source familiar with the matter told the outlet. The 57-year-old general has discussed the matter with CIA Director John...

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei hasn’t met any Iranian cabinet members since the US-Israeli strikes that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei, the opposition-aligned IranWire outlet reports, citing two unnamed sources close to President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration. The sources claim that “rumors that he is in extremely critical condition and could pass away at any moment are circulating widely within the highest levels of the regime.” One of the sources is quoted as saying: “We would not be surprised if we heard news of his martyrdom soon.”

Iranian officials continued to make disparaging comments about the United States and tout their plans to take permanent control of the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, even as the White House remains optimistic about an imminent “deal” that would end the conflict in the Middle East and secure safe passage for shipping. Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Friday mocked President Donald Trump for constantly backing down from his threats to launch a “massive attack” and claiming Iran wants to make a deal. “‘Massive attack coming… wait, never mind, they want to negotiate.’ That’s theater diplomacy on loop,” he...

They board flights from Central America bound for the United States, not to migrate but to source used cars. Operating a cross-border circuit, these drivers transport salvaged vehicles from American scrapyards to their home roads — giving junked cars a second life and fueling the local economy. Julio César Pisquiy Nimatuj was 12 when he first drove on a highway. He discovered that he enjoyed being behind the wheel. Decades later, Mr. Pisquiy, 44, is one of these migrants who drives for a living. Every driver has their own business model. Mr. Pisquiy buys the cars in advance at auctions...

As cities and towns across America reckon with power-hungry data centers, the Chinese Communist Party is sowing division. As small towns across the United States reckon with power-hungry data centers springing up, the Chinese Communist Party is muddying the waters and sowing division. By tapping into the tensions around water usage, power demands, and environmental costs, the regime is trying to widen the wedge using an old playbook: influence peddling and propaganda. There’s no discounting the groundswell of anger in American towns about data centers in their neighborhoods. Local resistance has blocked or delayed at least 75 data center...

Russia has attacked Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones, killing at least 21 people, as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said interceptors "could have saved lives". Kyiv and the surrounding region experienced the deadliest strikes it had seen this year overnight, with 17 people reported dead. Attacks in Kharkiv and Donetsk also killed one and three people respectively. Ukraine, who has consistently urged allies for more US-made Patriot missile interceptors to defend against Russian ballistics, has not reported intercepting any of the missiles in the overnight attack. Zelensky added delays in receiving anti-ballistic systems from partners leads to "horrific casualties and...

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have signed a joint defence agreement, saying an attack on one of them would be seen as an attack on all three. The pact was announced at a meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the Saudi city of Mecca. The three countries have been looking to strengthen security ties as the war between the US and Iran has drawn in Saudi Arabia and disrupted maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil shipping channel, and the Red Sea. Saudi...

The year is 2019 and, after almost a full term in office, Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government of right-wing and religious parties heads to a general election. Opposing him is a former IDF chief of staff heading a new centrist party which quickly soars in the polls, making him the main challenger for prime minister. That challenger was Benny Gantz. Gantz formed alliances, fought elections and got caught up in the paralysis of Israel’s 2019-20 governing crisis in which nobody was able to form a coalition. Facing the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic, Gantz agreed to a deal with Netanyahu where...

The maximalists wanted regime change, the minimalists wanted nothing, and the doubters see only waffling. Carafano’s answer: the victor gets to define victory — and everywhere you look, the region is moving Trump’s way. Iran War Turns into Trump Middle East Triumph: We are about to see the biggest reshaping of the Middle East since Moses led the Jews out of Egypt. Like the pharaoh, who missed every warning sign up to the parting of the Red Sea, the critics and questioners of Trump’s tug-of-war with what’s left of the Iran regime seem obtuse to the prophetic truth that the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A former U.S. Marine jailed in Russia since 2022 and allegedly tortured and injected with mind-altering drugs, slipped into a stupor in June and may be close to death, according to two hostage advocacy groups and his sister. The White House and the State Department have urged Moscow to release Robert Gilman, 32, so he can receive urgent medical treatment in the U.S., said Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach, an advocacy group representing his family. Gilman is being fed through a tube, he said. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters they had...

The world is focused on Iran. Dr. David Wurmser says the real threat is much bigger. In this urgent conversation, he explains how China, Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar, and a weakened Iran are aligning against Israel and the United States, why containment may fail, and what could finally bring the Iranian regime down from within.

Preliminary proposal reported by Iran’s Tasnim agency would also block Israel-linked cargo, demand compensation from ‘hostile states’ and fine violators up to 20% of cargo value; separate Iranian report says Tehran and Oman are discussing service fees and a jointly managed shipping corridor Iran’s parliamentary National Security Committee is reviewing a preliminary “strategic plan for managing the Strait of Hormuz” that would bar Israeli and American vessels from the critical waterway, according to a report Thursday by Iran’s Tasnim news agency. The reported proposal would also prohibit the passage of Israeli-linked military and civilian cargo, demand compensation from countries deemed...

At least 17 people were killed in a heavy Russian missile strike on Kiev and its surroundings, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Wednesday, exposing Ukraine's current inability to intercept ballistic missiles. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia fired 28 ballistic missiles of various types overnight. Not a single projectile was intercepted. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the shortage of air-defence weapons.....

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas announced on Friday that Discord has agreed to a temporary injunction that will require the messaging platform to implement in Texas the same age-assurance and default safety features that it already provides for users in the United Kingdom.

Donald Trump clashed with Pete Hegseth over a claim that a US munitions shortage could limit his options in the Iran war, according to reports. The US president confronted his defence secretary at Camp David, his country retreat in Maryland, demanding to know why he had been misled about the missile shortage. The clash occurred on the sidelines of Mr Trump’s cabinet meeting on Friday, at which he said that he thought the missile issue “had been fixed”, two people familiar with the matter told the Washington Post. The White House dismissed the claims as “fake news”, denying that the...

The headlines focus on negotiations, but the war’s real story is this: Iran is steadily being broken by sanctions, isolation, and relentless military pressure. One day, the United States seems ready to unleash a Curtis LeMay-style devastating bombing campaign of Iran. The next, it appears trapped in endless haggling with Iranian dissimulators. Of the roughly 150 days since the first strike, about 90 have passed without major military operations. Iran believes time is on its side. The Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, gas prices are too high, and antiwar House Democrats seem poised to win the midterms and bring Trump’s...

Anger over depleted US weapon inventories broke into the open at Camp David, where President Donald Trump pressed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on why he had been kept in the dark regarding severe missile deficits that are now restricting military maneuvers against Iran, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing two individuals familiar with the matter. According to the report, the tense interaction occurred on the sidelines of a Friday Cabinet meeting. Trump reportedly expressed sharp irritation, indicating he assumed the supply deficit “had been fixed", according to sources who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity....