Free Republic

Pope Leo XIV's recent visit to the Mosque of Algiers--where he removed his shoes, stood in silent reflection before the mihrab, and expressed gratitude for being in "a place that represents the space proper to God"--is not a harmless gesture of goodwill. It is a deeply consequential moment that raises serious questions about how the highest office in the Catholic Church is choosing to represent Christian truth in the public square. Because this is not simply about respect. No one is arguing against basic courtesy toward Muslims or any other religious group. Christians are called to love their neighbors and...

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...

Meanwhile, foreign Islamists meeting “residency” requirements receive taxpayer assistance. Andreas Wailzer at LifeSite News reports that the German government, through the Ministry of Construction, has just proposed a new bill that “would give municipalities the right of first refusal if a potential buyer of property has ‘anti-constitutional aspirations.’” But those with “anti-constitutional aspirations” aren’t to be confused with the third-world foreigners and hordes of Islamists who have decidedly not integrated and accepted the German constitution and government as authoritative, instead bringing sharia culture, customs, and pseudo-law to Germany and making no pretenses of hiding their intentions—this is specifically in regards...

The Iranian regime executed more than 1,600 people last year — marking a three decade high not seen since the end of the Islamic Republic’s war against Iraq in 1989. The shocking figures were included in a joint report released by the nonprofit Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty, which estimated that in 2025 at least four people were put to death each day in Iran. In total, at least 1,639 were executed in Iran last year, the highest reported number since the post-war bloodbath in 1989, where an estimated 1,700 political prisoners were executed, according to...

A mosque in Maine has suggested it is the victim of a racist campaign after its worshippers' illegally-parked cars were ticketed and towed away. The Masjidu Salaam Mosque in Lewiston blasted both the town's police department and its neighbor Mid Valley Motors/Leonard Heavy Duty Towing Company over recent incidents during its religious services. A spokesperson told the Lewiston Sun-Journal: 'The Lewiston Police Department conducted numerous unnecessary and targeted parking enforcement sweeps near the mosque on Friday, ignoring their responsibility to keep the community safe to instead focus on a right-wing grievance.' But locals and businesses have hit back at the...

Brescia imam: “In our Islam, after age 9, a girl becomes a woman.” An “Italian” imam named Ali Kashif went on TV and announced that girls who have reached nine years of age may be considered women, and are appropriate marriage material. The Italian government reacted in an sensible manner and expelled him from the country, putting him on a flight to his native Pakistan. These words, spoken by the Brescia imam Ali Kashif into the microphones of the program “Out of the box”, have earned him expulsion from the country. It was the Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi who made...

A 19-year-old Afghan national is due to appear in court today in Bouches-du-Rhône after being arrested for repeatedly breaking into farms and sexually assaulting goats and sheep, causing serious injuries to the animals. According to local farmers and police reports, the suspect carried out the attacks over roughly two months in the Les Pennes-Mirabeau area near Marseille. He would enter the farms at night, tie up the animals (sometimes by the legs), and rape them. At least six animals were victimized, some on multiple occasions. The assaults caused visible injuries, including bloody vulvas, vaginal and anal lacerations. One young lamb...

A decade ago, Peter Hitchens warned that the atheist campaign to expel Christianity from Western public life would not produce a neutral, secular vacuum—but would instead open the door to something else entirely. In an interview on Conversations, he observed: “When they drive Christianity out of Europe, as they’re rapidly succeeding in doing, they will not create an atheist paradise. They will leave a space for Islam.” His point was not that Islam advances by force of argument alone, but that civilisations cannot remain religiously empty. The attempt to force Christianity from public life—education, law, and government—does not produce neutrality....

Almost one in two, or 45.1 percent, of Muslims in Germany under the age of 40 hold Islamist attitudes, according to Germany’s Radicalization Monitoring System and Transfer Platform. MOTRA is run by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). MOTRA researchers revealed last month that almost half of younger Muslims in Germany hold latent or manifest Islamist-leaning views, which means they feel drawn to Islamism, prefer Sharia law over the constitution, and hold antisemitic prejudices. Breaking this down, the researchers found manifest Islamist attitudes – meaning their radicalization toward Islamism is already evident and pronounced – to be most widespread among...

An ‘Islamophobic’ incident in California shows the ridiculousness of the whole charade. The Simi Valley, California Police Department had a momentous announcement on Wednesday: they revealed that they were “investigating a possible ‘hate incident’ at an Islamic Society of Simi Valley building,” according to NBC Los Angeles. What kind of “hate incident”? That’s unclear. What is clear from several recent incidents, however, is that although most people, especially political and law enforcement officials, are much more worried about “Islamophobia” than they are about Islamic jihad, the latter is actually much more of a threat. It all started apparently when someone...

Dhaka, Bangladesh A man was killed, and at least three others were injured after a mob attacked, vandalised and set fire to a shrine in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia on Saturday, following allegations of insulting religious sentiments. The deceased was identified as Abdur Rahman, also known as Shamim, 65, described by locals as the “pir” of the shrine, locally known as Shamim Babar Darbar Sharif in the Darogar Mor area of Philipnagar union. According to police, administration officials and local sources, tensions escalated after an old video resurfaced on social media on Friday, allegedly showing Shamim making derogatory remarks about...

Iran’s ambassador to India said Tehran is open to talks with the United States if Washington refrains from making “unlawful demands.” Mohammad Fathali was referring to talks held in Islamabad and said the main sticking points were Iran’s nuclear program, war reparations and sanctions relief. Asked about the prospects for future negotiations, Fathali told reporters in New Delhi, “If they (the U.S.) accept our conditions, it is possible.”

Iran does not need to secure the Strait of Hormuz. It only needs to make sure that no one else can, either. Despite the sorry condition of its naval forces,.. Iran still maintains selective control of the Strait of Hormuz—resulting in 80 to 90 percent of the traffic being halted. How? Not through naval dominance, but rather through asymmetric disruption, which Iran uses to make travel through the Strait too dangerous to risk. Iran Doesn’t Need to Close the Strait to Cut Off Shipping Iran’s strategy is not to implement a total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, it...

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the island of Qeshm, separated from the Iranian mainland by the Clarence Strait, on December 10, 2023. Nicolas Economou/Reuters With thousands of US ground troops reportedly on the way to the Middle East, speculation is mounting that they may be assigned to take Iran’s Kharg Island, a key fuel hub in the northern Persian Gulf which handles 90% of Tehran’s oil exports. But Kharg is just one of dozens of Iranian islands in the gulf, and others may be more important to securing the safe passage of ships – and naval vessels –...

The islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf hold the key to the global economy's most vital chokepoint: the Strait of Hormuz..In the current landscape of the West Asia conflict, the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb have transformed from sleepy patches of sand into what military analysts call “unsinkable aircraft carriers". While the world watches the missile exchanges between major powers, these three tiny landmasses in the Persian Gulf hold the key to the global economy’s most vital chokepoint: the Strait of Hormuz.The story of how these islands became part...

Violence has begun to feel routine in Pakistan, a grim normalization that reflects a deeper and more dangerous reality: the country’s security situation has deteriorated sharply, marking the sixth consecutive year of rising terrorism. The Global Terrorism Index 2026, released by the Institute for Economics and Peace, crystallizes this trend with stark clarity. While the world as a whole recorded a substantial fall in terrorism deaths by 28 percent and attacks by nearly 22 percent, Pakistan moved in the opposite direction. For the first time, it ranked number one on the index, recording 1,139 terrorism‑related deaths in 2025, a six...

The dust of conflict has settled. The fever of the moment has yielded to the cooler discipline of strategic reflection. It is time to ask, with unflinching clarity, what the United States and its partners should do with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Tehran’s propaganda organs were quick to claim victory. That claim, however theatrical, must be taken seriously -- not because it reflects battlefield reality, but because it reveals an uncomfortable truth: the regime cannot, or will not, abandon the terrorist and extremist doctrines that have defined it for more than four decades. No amount of quiet concessions extracted...

British men Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, Hameed Mohammed Nagi, Ibrahim Ayyub Khan, and Mohammed Sultan Saleh were caught illegally sneaking into the U.S. in a remote part of Maine, per court records.

If anything, this article under-reports the threat of Iran's influence in the US. It does not really delve into the lobby system created here, and funded by shell corporations that have successfully evaded the sanctions. Also, the article seems to imply that the influence system is limited to Shiite network. But the rulers of Iran, flush with cash, have built a network of mosques, Islamic centers, cultural centers and schools throughout the US. And they are not limiting their reach and message to Shiite Islam. Wherever necessary, they are happy to reach Sunnis, including Arabs, Pakis, and Africans. By and...

Until the U.K.’s political and cultural elite can defend confidently what it means to be British, the nation will sacrifice women’s safety, Jewish security, and core liberal principles such as free speech. In Britain, March meant Ramadan. My local supermarket advised me to “Make this holy month meaningful” and offered “everything you need for Iftar, Suhoor, and beyond,” including a range of halal foods. At televised Premiership football matches, play stopped to allow Muslim players to break their fast. Days before Eid, Muslims gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square to pray in public. The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, hailed...