Free Republic

US-Saudi relations have significantly deteriorated in recent months amid anger in Riyadh over Washington’s decision to launch a war against Iran that has caused massive blowback for the rest of the region, a Middle Eastern intelligence official tells The Times of Israel, confirming a Wall Street Journal report. Saudi Arabia refused to allow the US to use its bases in order to conduct Project Freedom, which was aimed at breaking Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz by escorting stuck ships out of the channel. Saudi bases and airspace were critical to the operation and Riyadh’s refusal to cooperate forced...

We can never know what frantic thoughts raced through George Armstrong Custer’s mind in the last hour of his life. But surely, as ever-growing numbers of angry, well-armed Plains Indians closed in on his 210 troopers of the 7th Cavalry, he must have realized that he had fatally misjudged the size of the hostile force now surrounding him. His plan to subdue a large Indian village had completely broken down. He had been warned repeatedly by his scouts that his target, an Indian encampment on Montana’s Little Bighorn River, was far larger than he had imagined. Now, on this very...

PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) – After 14 incumbent South Dakota lawmakers lost their seats in the 2024 Republican primary, 16 lost on Tuesday, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s Office. The 2024 shakeup was described as “an earthquake” by Spearfish Rep. Scott Odenbach, a Republican incumbent who won his own primary that year and was elevated to majority leader of the House of Representatives with support from the newcomers. In the 2026 primary, those former newcomers made up the majority of the ousted incumbents. snip Several of the lawmakers who lost their seats in the 2024...

When Bashar al-Assad’s regime collapsed in December 2024, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa declared that he would embrace a “zero problems” foreign policy, in the hopes that would help break the country’s isolation and solve some of its economic problems. The prospect of a stable Syria enticed at least $28 billion in investment deals from Middle Eastern countries in 2025, and even more has been secured so far in 2026. The continuation of that trend amid the current war with Iran has amplified Syria’s central geopolitical and economic pitch—that it can be a potentially transformational corridor for energy flows, commercial...

Abu Dhabi is accelerating construction of the new West-East pipeline to Fujairah as it looks to expand its oil export capacity and bypass the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint. The project, expected to come online in 2027, will double the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s (ADNOC) export capacity. The second pipeline project comes as global energy supplies remain under pressure, flows through the Strait of Hormuz are severely limited, and repeated attacks on energy infrastructure and shipping have curtailed the UAE’s ability to restore normal output. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday called...

The German chancellor Friedrich Merz has desperately backflipped on his criticism of US President Donald Trump after he threatened to remove thousands of US troops from Germany. German chancellor desperately backtracks on Trump criticism after savage threat to remove troops | 4:55 | 6.18M subscribers | 368,472 views | May 4, 2026

President Donald Trump granted a key approval Thursday for a major new oil pipeline from Canada into the U.S. that’s been dubbed “Keystone Light” over its similarities to a contentious project blocked by the Biden administration. The three-foot-wide (1 meter) Bridger Pipeline Expansion would carry up to 550,000 barrels (87,400 cubic meters) of oil a day from Canada through Montana and Wyoming, where it would link with another pipeline. The pipeline needs additional state and federal environmental approvals before construction, which company officials expect to start next year. Environmentalists hope to stop the project over worries that the pipeline could...

California drivers could be seeing lower gas prices once a new mega-pipeline project reaches completion, flooding the state with the much needed black gold. In a recent joint announcement, Phillips 66 and Kinder Morgan, Inc. said its Western Gateway Pipeline project was moving forward following the closure in the state of multiple refineries. “Customer response during the open season underscores the importance of Western Gateway in addressing long‑term refined products logistics needs in the region,” Phillips 66 Chairman and CEO Mark Lashier said. Once fully operational, the massive pipeline will stretch from St. Louis, MO. to California, and be able...

Russia is set to suspend oil transit from Kazakhstan to Germany through the Druzhba pipeline on May 1, 2026, amid escalating geopolitical tensions over the Ukraine conflict. Summary Industry sources report that Russia will block Kazakh oil exports destined for German refineries, specifically targeting the northern leg of the Druzhba network. This move disrupts a critical alternative supply route Germany established to reduce dependence on Russian crude. The decision follows a period of frayed political relations and represents a significant escalation in the use of energy infrastructure as a geopolitical lever. Market participants are now bracing for supply tightening at...

Israel on Monday said it had uncovered an ‌Iranian network that had planned to attack a pipeline carrying crude oil from Azerbaijan to the Mediterranean as well as Israeli and Jewish targets in Azerbaijan. In a joint statement, the Mossad and ‌Shin Bet intelligence agencies said a plan by ​Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to attack the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline through Georgia to Turkey several weeks ⁠ago had been thwarted. The cell had also planned attacks ​on Jewish and Israeli targets in Azerbaijan including the Israeli ⁠embassy and a synagogue in Baku, as well as leaders of the Jewish community in...

Several Trump administration officials helped break ground on a new natural gas pipeline in New York that could be an energy grid saver for millions who have suffered from the impact of stupid Democrat energy policies.The 2019 New York Climate Act is driving up fuel and energy prices in the blue state and setting it up for rolling blackouts and grid reliability collapse. Obviously, Democrats will never solve the problems they caused, so it is up to the Trump administration to take action, as it is doing. Energy Secretary Chris Wright declared in an April 14 press release, “For decades,...

The Trump administration will celebrate the groundbreaking of a controversial new natural gas pipeline in New York City on Tuesday — with the project set to run off the coast of the city to boost the region’s energy supply. President Trump strongly backs the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline and used his influence to persuade Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to approve the permits allowing the project to proceed, despite fierce opposition from anti-fossil fuel environmentalists. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Environmental Protection Secretary Lee Zeldin will attend the event at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field, hosted by Williams...

.BREAKING: 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia fully restores East-West oil pipeline, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz and pumping 7,000,000 barrels per day. Saudi Arabia says it needs no more strait of Hormuz.

According to the ministry, law enforcement officials are continuing their work on site to search for additional evidence and identify those involvedBELGRADE, April 5. /TASS/. Serbian law enforcement officials discovered a cache of explosives near the gas pipeline connecting the country with Hungary, the Defense Ministry reported. "During the operation, a significant amount of explosives was discovered, as well as items and tools necessary for their preparation and use. The suspicious items were found near the gas pipeline, that is, the gas infrastructure connecting Serbia and Hungary," the statement said. According to the ministry, law enforcement officials are continuing their...

California sued the Trump administration Monday to block what it says is an unprecedented power grab: using emergency authority to force the restart of an offshore oil operation shut down more than a decade ago. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, argues a March 13 order by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright oversteps his authority under the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law. “No matter how much President Trump may claim there’s a so-called national energy emergency — it’s just not true,” Attorney General Rob Bonta told reporters. “The U.S. already produces significantly more oil and...

The Keystone XL pipeline should be revived immediately and there is a strong case to be made for an energy corridor in eastern Canada including Quebec, the chief executive of National Bank of Canada told an industry event Tuesday. “We need to revive Keystone right now,” Laurent Ferreira said at his bank’s annual financial services conference in Montreal. “The infrastructure is already partly built.” The controversial Keystone XL pipeline was dealt a crippling blow in 2021 when then-U.S. President Joe Biden cancelled permits for the project that had been expected to carry oil from Alberta to Nebraska, joining an existing...

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has told Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi in a call that violation of Turkiye’s airspace by Iranian ballistic missiles was unacceptable, Reuters reports, citing a Turkish Foreign Ministry source. The source said Araqchi told Fidan that Tehran had conducted a wide investigation into the missiles, adding Fidan reiterated Turkey’s demand for all sides to refrain from steps that could put civilians at risk and told Araqchi that Ankara would take measures against missiles targeting it.

Greenpeace is fighting for its life in North Dakota's court system, where a judge has decided to order the environmental group to pay an expected $345 million to an energy company whose Dakota Access oil pipeline construction drew protests nearly a decade ago. A jury last year found three Greenpeace entities liable for numerous claims and awarded more than $660 million to Energy Transfer in damages, which Judge James Gion cut nearly in half. Once the order he promised Tuesday is formally entered, both sides are expected to appeal to the North Dakota Supreme Court. The $64 billion, Dallas-based energy...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made a joint statement this evening following a trilateral meeting in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu began: "This is not our first meeting. It's our tenth meeting. But I said in our discussions that I think it's the most consequential. The last time the three of us met was a short time before the October 7th massacre, before terror once again reminded us that stability in this region is never guaranteed, and that strength, clarity and cooperation are not options. They are a must." "The Middle...

Turkish Energy Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar said on Monday that Turkey intends to seal an energy exploration agreement with Syria in 2026 to assess possible offshore energy resources along the Syrian coast.In an interview with Turkish digital news platform GDH on Monday, Bayraktar said that Ankara and Damascus had already signed a general framework agreement on energy cooperation earlier this year."We plan to sign a specific offshore deal in 2026," he said. "After signing the deal, we may conduct seismic research to see what the field offers us".Bayraktar cautioned that the agreement does not necessarily mean Turkey would carry out drilling...