Free Republic

Nearly five years after the last American troops left Afghanistan, al-Qaeda is again finding both sanctuary in the country and an audience far beyond it. A new report from Europol warns that jihadism remained Europe’s most widespread form of terrorism in 2025, accounting for 24 of the 45 terrorist attacks reported by European Union member states and 347 terrorism-related arrests. More ominously, the report finds that al-Qaeda is exploiting the war in Gaza to regain influence and incite attacks against Western and Jewish targets. The group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, has been particularly aggressive. Europol reports that...

A leaked intelligence document from Pakistan central intelligence indicates that expanding United States troop concentrations near the Persian Gulf provide capabilities for a sudden limited invasion of southern Iran. A leaked intelligence document originating from Pakistan central intelligence agency and shared with Arab media indicates that the concentration of United States military forces in the Middle East provides President Donald Trump with operational capabilities to execute a sudden invasion of southern Iran. The intelligence assessment, compiled from direct military observations and electronic surveillance, indicates that American naval, air, and ground deployments near Iranian territory expand daily. This force build up...

Maria Shahbaz, a 13-year-old Christian who was forced to convert to Islam after being abducted last year, must be provided with access to her family and psychological support, Members of the European Parliament demanded while passing a new resolution on the human rights situation in Pakistan earlier this month.

The police freed them only after they abandoned their complaint against the Muslims who attacked them. As in Pakistan and elsewhere, Christians in Egypt can expect no sympathy or protection from authorities. If Muslims victimize them, those authorities will all too often side with the people who are doing the victimizing, as a Muslim will know that if he defends Christians against Muslims, he will face opprobrium (and possibly violence) from his fellow Muslims. Also, Muslim police officers know that the Qur’an tells Muslims to be “ruthless to unbelievers, merciful to one another.” “Police arrest Christian victims after attack on...

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will set out on Monday the legal steps she will take to deport the freed ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang. Shabir Ahmed, jailed for 22 years in 2012 for multiple counts of child sexual offences including rape, was released from prison on licence earlier this month. Calls have mounted across the political spectrum for the deportation of Ahmed, who was stripped of his British citizenship following his conviction, leaving him with only Pakistani nationality. But he cannot be deported due to a 1971 law that forbids the removal of a small group of Commonwealth citizens...

The unexplained attacks have added a dangerous new layer of uncertainty to an already volatile conflict, raising concerns that additional countries may now be conducting military operations against Iran without publicly acknowledging their involvement.New Airstrikes Came After U.S. Said Its Campaign Had EndedThe U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Thursday morning that it had completed a coordinated operation striking approximately 90 targets inside Iran.Yet only hours later, Iranian state media reported another wave of explosions and airstrikes across the southern provinces of Bushehr and Sistan and Baluchestan.Those attacks occurred after the United States had publicly stated its operation was complete.CENTCOM...

The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) said late on Tuesday night that a search and rescue operation was underway after an aircraft of K2 Airways with five crew members aboard was reported missing off the coast of Karachi. In a series of posts on X, the PAA said a K2 Airways Boeing 737 cargo flight was en route from Sharjah to Karachi at 2118 PST when it reported a navigational system issue and was promptly guided by the Karachi Area Control Centre.

SummaryKhamenei will be buried on Thursday in Mashhad, near Imam Reza's tomb Ceremonies are scheduled in Qom on Tuesday and Iraq's Najaf and Kerbala on Wednesday Iraqi, Armenian and Pakistani officials arrived in Tehran for the funeral DUBAI, July 3 (Reuters) - The body of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lay in state in a vast hall in Tehran on Friday as clerics, officials, foreign ​dignitaries and other mourners paid their respects to Iran's late Supreme Leader, slain by U.S. and Israeli bombs.Iran is staging a week of mass funeral processions for Khamenei, whose 37-year reign was brought to ‌an end in...

President Trump has made a deal with Iran. On Friday, Vice President JD Vance will attend the official signing in Geneva of a 14-point US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding that covers the naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's nuclear ambitions, the lifting of sanctions, a $300bn reconstruction fund for Iran and a ceasefire. The deal has gone down badly in the US, and with good reason. Gerry argues that it's a calamity for America and a betrayal of the Iranian people. Could it also be the undoing of JD Vance? It looks like he's been set up as the...

A prominent Pakistani-American businessman who spent years cozying up to powerful Democrats stands accused of being part of a $38 million Medicaid scam. Civic leader and well-known Brooklyn Community Board 13 member Pervez Siddiqui, 78, was arrested Monday along with seven co-conspirators. They are alleged to have run a large-scale Medicaid kickback and false-billing scheme through two social adult day care (SADC) centers in Brooklyn: APNA Adult Daycare and Ashiana Social Adult Daycare. The scam ran from 2019 through December 2025, feds allege, with seniors being signed up for day cares that they rarely or never attended, then getting a...

It's entirely possible that Trump, the "Art of the Deal" master, never saw the details of the MoU --brokered by fake "friends" Qatar/Pakistan-- before blindly placing his confidence in JD Vance. Yet virtually no one argues that this deal is good for America. There is broad consensus across Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, and many others that the sole beneficiary would be Iran's oppressive regime and its jihadist proxies. No one believes that the $300 billion would simply be spent on "reconstruction." Just like the regime has been doing with Obama's cash release for its annihilation nuclear program, ballistic missiles, shahed drones...

CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth all have voiced doubts about Iran’s commitment not to build a nuclear weapon. Rubio and Hegseth speak to press. Malcolm Ferguson. June 16, 2026 CIA Director John Ratcliffe and others within the Trump administration don’t think Iran is being serious about its promise not to develop or attain nuclear weapons, according to anonymous sources from Axios.

While investors focus on artificial intelligence, data centers, and advanced manufacturing, a growing crisis is emerging behind the scenes. The U.S. is running short of the skilled workers needed to keep those industries operating. Major employers including Ford Motor Company, along with organizations backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies, BlackRock, and Lowe’s, are now committing hundreds of millions of dollars to train the next generation of mechanics, electricians, and trade professionals.The spending surge highlights a growing reality: the future of America’s economy may depend as much on skilled tradespeople as it does on software engineers.Ford Says Technician Shortage Is Hurting CustomersEvery morning,...

... nations failed to establish or effectively enforce comprehensive legal prohibitions against importing goods produced wholly or partly through forced labour.While a subset of countries — including Canada, Mexico, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the European Union — will see 10% tariffs imposed due to specific enforcement failures, Australia has been grouped with jurisdictions like China and India under the higher 12.5% tariff bracket...

Two Pakistani men who gang-raped a French tourist in front of her three children six years ago will be sentenced to death, a court has ruled. Abid Malhi and Shafqat Ali were convicted of gang rape, kidnapping, robbery and terrorism offences back in March 2021 over the attack on the Sialkot-Lahore Motorway and were handed the death penalty. Both appealed their conviction, with the defence arguing that there were gaps in the prosecution's version of events and that the judge’s decision was unjust. But on Wednesday, two judges dismissed the appeal after the prosecution argued that there was overwhelming evidence...

Mehek Cooke@MehekCookeTrump just turned the Abraham Accords into an accountability trap for the Gulf states and Iran walked right into it.Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey have never held Iran accountable is due to exposure. They share a neighborhood. They can't sanction, shame, or confront Iran while having zero security architecture binding them to the West or to each other.The Abraham Accords change that math entirely. Once Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey are signatories, they aren't just recognizing Israel they are locking themselves into a collective security posture.A breach of the Iran deal becomes their problem...

PESHAWAR: Fear and uncertainty continue to spread among Pakistan’s Christian minority following the tragic death of an 18-year-old Christian youth who succumbed to injuries sustained in a deadly shooting incident in Peshawar. According to local residents, Silas, son of Ejaz and a resident of Father Colony in Peshawar, died on Wednesday after battling critical gunshot wounds for several days. The attack reportedly occurred when unidentified armed men opened fire on two Christian boys a few days earlier, leaving both seriously injured. Silas remained under treatment following the attack, but his condition deteriorated due to the severity of his injuries. His...

The world's diplomatic attention is fixed on Pakistan, on ceasefire memoranda, on whether Mojtaba Khamenei will emerge from hiding long enough to initial a document. In that distraction, Israel has done something strategically significant in Lebanon that has received almost no serious analysis (but was highlighted on Arutz Sheva). It has crossed the Litani River. Israeli forces have advanced beyond the Litani, a line that for decades functioned as an unofficial boundary in southern Lebanon. Troops are now pushing northward toward the Zahrani River, roughly ten kilometers away. The IDF has declared the entire area between the two rivers an...

One America News Network. May 22, 2026. On this episode of Fine Point with Chanel Rion, guest Karys Rhea joins Chanel to discuss allegations of foreign influence campaigns, online bot networks, and growing fractures within conservative politics. The two examine claims surrounding Thomas Massie’s online support base, social media manipulation, donor controversies, and the widening disconnect between online activism and real-world voters. They also explore how foreign actors may amplify existing political divisions inside the America First movement and what it could mean for the future of conservative politics. (Foreign Bots, Pakistan Troll Farms & the MAGA Divide? Explosive New...

I am angry. I’ve been relentlessly scrolling through social media and sundry reports tracking Marco Rubio’s statements throughout the day at various forums during his visit of India. It is Sunday, Day 2 of his four-day sojourn, and he has already kicked up quite a storm, telling the audience at an event in US embassy in New Delhi to mark America’s 250th Independence Day celebrations that “one of those relationships”… he is “so excited about going in to the 21st century, given the challenges and the opportunities of this new era, is India… one of those countries that I know...