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Strategic patience for the win? Iran's regime leaders thought they could force the US to buckle by strangling the global economy at the Strait of Hormuz. The US, however, has an actual blue-water navy, and that tends to matter in blockades involving a country entirely reliant on sea trade for its only valuable export economy. As the Wall Street Journal concedes, Donald Trump's Hormuz blockade is a lot less "leaky" than the IRGC's. And as Trump himself pointed out yesterday, the Strait may not matter for very much longer anyway:By squeezing the Strait of Hormuz, both the U.S. and Iran...

Key PointsU.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the Trump administration may never reach a deal to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.Wright’s comments suggest the administration may pursue its goal of preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon without reaching a negotiated nuclear agreement.Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that future attacks on Iran would receive a “faster, heavier, and more painful” response. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday said the U.S. may not reach an elusive deal to constrain Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, as the U.S.-Iran conflict enters its seventh month.“There may not be a nuclear...

For centuries, skeptics have dismissed the account of Noah's Ark as allegory--an ancient story meant to convey moral truth rather than historical reality. But today, high in the rugged terrain of eastern Mount Ararat, a growing body of evidence is once again challenging that assumption. What was once the domain of speculation is now being probed by ground-penetrating radar, soil chemistry, and emerging technology. And the results, while still debated, are difficult to ignore. At the center of renewed interest is the so-called Durupinar formation, a boat-shaped geological structure first identified in 1959. For decades, it has fascinated researchers due...

The Durupinar formation site in Eastern Turkey that some believe to be the resting spot of Noah's Ark from the Bible is seen in this drone shotBiblical archaeologists say they have discovered a boat-like formation matching the biblical description of Noah's Ark as they used a ground-penetrating radar at a rocky spot in eastern Turkey that some speculated to be the location of the original vessel.Archaeologists associated with a project named Noah's Ark Scans say they have discovered a "boat formation" on Mount Tendürek matching the "exact length" of the ark given in the Bible — around 150 meters or...

Scientists are weeks away from results that could either confirm or shatter one of history’s most enduring biblical mysteries.Noah needed incontrovertible proof. He got it. “And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.” (Genesis 8:11) Now, we need incontrovertible proof that his legendary Ark has been unearthed. >>>“Current data increases the likelihood that it is Noah’s ark with each passing day,” the archaeology professor told the Turkish news agency iHA.He is leading an international team...

Besheer Mohamed @bmoham Sep 3 I wrote a data essay on Muslim Americans 25 years after 9/11 – American Muslims have grown in numbers and political visibility, but views of Islam are more negative now than they were six months after the attacks, and far more partisan

Let's Examine Mass Killings in Recent History and Islamism The Muslim Turks murdered, either directly or indirectly, between 1.5 and 2.5 million Christians between 1894 and 1924. It was also a jihad, or "holy" war.Sudan, 1953–2004: Some 4 million dead. Written in September 2005: Genocide in Darfur – How the Horror Began , Sudan Tribune, 3 September 2005. Copied here: Racism and Islamism in Khartoum... Perhaps the most destructive civil conflict since World War II and one of the longest wars in Africa's history, it saw the Christian and animist South pitted against the Muslim, Arab-speaking North. As many as...

NATO member Turkey would consider taking its relations with the China and Russia-led security bloc, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, to a higher level, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. "Turkey's prospect of (full) membership to the organization does not imply a breakaway from any other bloc or from the West," Erdogan said, according to a transcript of remarks he made to journalists on his return flight from Kyrgyzstan. Erdogan attended a summit of the SCO, of which Turkey is a "dialog partner," in Bishkek on Tuesday. Erdogan also said on Wednesday that a mechanism is needed to permanently ensure...

The elderly grimace, hobbling on crutches, and wide-eyed children stare, cradling chickens carried from homes they were forced to leave behind. "It feels good to be in my own country," 35-year-old Nazia says, just minutes after she crosses from Pakistan, where she was born, into Afghanistan. The Torkham crossing, known as "Zero Point", is where one hard life ends and another begins. "But I've never been to Afghanistan before and many people here don't even have enough bread to eat," Nazia sighs as she heads, two of her children in tow, toward registration counters festooned with white and black Taliban...

The West needs to take note of a growing threat that could in the long term prove to be equal to or worse than the threat of the Islamic Republic of Iran. “Pakistan Asks Muslim Nations To Join ‘Islamic NATO,’” NDTV, August 10, 2026:Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has called for Islamic nations to set aside their differences and join Islamabad’s defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey to form a military alliance along the lines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Talking to Geo News, Asif said the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement shouldn’t be an ‘exclusive club’ and...

The earliest confirmed archaeological layers at Andriake date to the 3rd century BCE, though many researchers believe the harbor served Myra as early as the Classical period. The synagogue is currently dated to the 5th–6th century CE based on inscriptions and architectural context; further publication of the excavation is ongoing. This documentary follows current archaeological interpretations and distinguishes established evidence from open academic questions. Andriake: Lost Roman Harbor Almost Untouched for 2,000 Years | 21:47 Rumiseus | Lost Civilizations | 1.44K subscribers | 31,173 views | August 29, 2026

On Friday, August 7, 2026, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey signed a defense agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, referred to by many as a “(Sunni) Muslim NATO.” U.S. president Donald Trump praised the agreement without considering the consequences for America or its ally Israel, as well as how Greece and India would react to this deal. In a post shared on social media, Trump said he was “very happy” that the three countries had signed the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, adding that it showed the Middle East was “coming together” and would allow countries to defend themselves “in a more...

Iran has been invited to join the Mecca Agreement for Mutual Defense, the new security alliance established by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan earlier this month, Al Mayadeen reported on Saturday, citing a senior Iranian official. The invitation has not yet been officially confirmed by Iran's Foreign Ministry or by any of the three countries that are parties to the agreement. Mehdi Rahimi, head of the Iranian parliament's Khaneh Mellat news agency, told the channel that "Iran has received an invitation to join the Mecca Agreement, and the matter is under review." Rahimi added that countries in the region "are...

Three Secret Service officials, including the agency's top spokesman, have been marched out of their offices amid an internal misconduct probe. Communications director Anthony Guglielmi and two others in his department left on Monday, sources told Real Clear Politics. The three have been placed on leave, with their security clearances suspended and their work devices seized, according to CNN. The Secret Service declined to comment on the nature of the investigation, which reportedly involves the CIA and the FBI. It comes amid an ongoing effort by FBI director Kash Patel to hunt down the source of a leak to the...

Unless Israel draws concrete red lines in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish army and navy will further encroach upon Israel’s northern and maritime borders. Israel could find itself facing Turkish tanks on the Golan Heights and Turkish frigates off the coast of Caesarea. This is the warning I heard this week from a very senior Israeli intelligence official. The warning echoes the alarm expressed in the 2025 Nagel Commission report (which evaluated Israel’s security budget and force buildup) about the Turkish drive toward an Islamist-jihadist regional order with Ottoman-era hegemonic ambitions. SNIP

DAMASCUS, Syria — Israel struck an air base in northwest Syria early Tuesday, saying it aimed to prevent Turkish troops from deploying there. Turkey, which has close ties with the Syrian government and has been providing assistance to Syria's military, has tense relations with Israel. The rival countries have sought to curb each other's influence in neighboring Syria. Eight strikes hit the runway of the Abu Duhur air base in the northwestern province of Idlib, causing damage but no casualties, state TV said. Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani told reporters in Damascus that Syria condemns the "Israeli aggression," adding that...

Turkey has renewed its challenge to Greek sovereignty in the Aegean Sea, using Greece's newly approved Special Spatial Framework for Tourism as the latest pretext. In an official statement, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to "geographical features whose sovereignty has not been granted to Greece through international treaties" -- language that directly revives Ankara's long-standing "gray zones" theory regarding certain islands and islets in the Aegean. Turkey declared that the Greek spatial plan "will have no legal consequences for Turkey" and accused Athens of attempting to instrumentalize environmental protection for political purposes. Ankara further warned that "unilateral actions...

Written in ancient Greek poet Homer's "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad," the legends of the Trojan War and the lost city of Troy were believed to be nothing more than myth for centuries. But in 1860, a millionaire named Heinrich Schliemann set out on a relentless quest to prove the legends were real, uncovering ancient secrets and sparking a golden age of archaeology. In this full episode of The Legend of Troy: Epic Rise and Fall from National Geographic, explore ancient civilization and early archaeology in episode one, "The Schliemann Legacy." Finding the Lost City of Troy (Full Episode) |...

Reporting Highlights Ready, Fire, Aim: In a rushed process exempted from normal rules, the Army hired General Dynamics, which brought on a Turkish subcontractor with little vetting, to make artillery shells. Money for Nothing: Despite being paid $533 million, General Dynamics did not produce a single usable shell at its new factory — and has not been held publicly accountable. Wages of Failure: Since the Army halted two production lines at the factory, the General Dynamics unit responsible for the debacle has received contract awards totaling $2.5 billion. A robot was on fire. Again. It was the summer of 2024,...

Sky News host James Macpherson says an LGBTQ cruise to Turkey got a “lesson” about the intolerance for homosexuality in Islamic culture. Mr Macpherson said Turkish authorities refused permission for the ship to dock. “They seem to genuinely believe they're oppressed in the West and are genuinely surprised that Islamic nations don't want a floating Pride parade docking in their harbour.”