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Afghan Man Arrested For Series Of Rapes Of Goats And Sheep In France Via Remix News, A 19-year-old Afghan national has been arrested and charged following a series of brutal sexual attacks on goats and sheep in Pennes-Mirabeau, a municipality in Bouches-du-Rhône, near Marseille. The suspect was taken into custody by the anti-crime brigade (BAC) on the night of April 9-10, 2026, after local sheep and goat owners alerted police. Since early 2026, several owners had discovered their animals injured, with incidents reported in both February and March. The animals had their legs tied and showed clear signs of rape, according to French newspaper La Provence. After multiple similar episodes, the owners installed motion-sensor cameras on their properties in an attempt to identify the perpetrator. The footage revealed the silhouette of a young man visiting their livestock at night, and the images were handed over to police, who were eventually able to identify a matching suspect. The man appeared bef...

Drone Attack On Russia's Tuapse Oil Refinery Unleashes Fire So Large It Can Be Seen From Space Russia and Ukraine have continued trading blows on key oil and energy sites, with the latest being a drone attack targeting Russia's Tuapse Oil refinery, which unleashed a fire so large it can be picked up by satellites in space. The refinery is owned by Rosneft and has suffered major attack before, in a March 2025 Ukrainian operation. Local authorities have declared a state of emergency, after schools and residential buildings suffered damage, and all classes have been canceled. According to the Amsterdam-based Moscow Times, "NASA satellite imagery on Thursday showed a plume of smoke extending around 200 kilometers (125 miles) into the Black Sea from Tuapse, which is located 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of the resort city of Sochi." Krasnodar region Governor Venyamin Kondratyev confirmed that a woman and a teenage girl were killed in the attack on the northeastern Black Sea p...

Mises, Rothbard, & Libertarian 'Just War' Theory In The 2026 Iran War Authored by Daniel Lacalle, As of April 2026, the US and Israel are still at war with Iran. The war began on February 28 with surprise bombings that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking officials. Since then, attacks on infrastructure have continued, leading to significant disruptions in essential services and escalating tensions in the region. Iran has attacked targets in Gulf nations and tightened its grip on the Strait of Hormuz as a result. The conflict has damaged the economy around the world, driving inflation and supply chain disruption fears. The war is often considered a way to protect Israel, the Gulf nations, and, ultimately, the US against a brutal, theocratic dictatorship that was looking to build nuclear weapons and was the main financier of terrorism in the world. However, there is a common libertarian question: Do libertarian ideas support sending troops to other countries to stop t...

India's Central Bank Tells Oil Refiners To Stop Buying Dollars On Spot Market By Julianne Geiger of OilPrice.com India's central bank has told state-run oil refiners to stop buying dollars in the spot market and instead use a government-backed credit line. That matters because oil is priced in dollars, and refiners are some of the biggest buyers of dollars in the country. When they all go into the market at once to pay for crude, it puts direct pressure on the rupee. That pressure has been building for weeks. The Reserve Bank of India is now stepping in to manage the demand. State refiners, including Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, have been asked to draw dollars through a special credit facility routed via State Bank of India. Together, these companies account for about half of India's 5.2 million barrels per day of refining capacity. Instead of going into the open market to buy dollars on the spot—meaning immediate purchase at c...

US Navy Destroyer Shows Off New Launcher For Mystery Weapons The U.S. Navy has quietly equipped one of its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers with a previously unseen launcher, reflecting a broader effort to counter the growing threat posed by drones in contested maritime environments, according to TWZ. USS Carl M. Launcher mounted on Levin (DDG 120) (U.S. Navy, VIRIN: 260329-M-FP389-1205) A U.S. Marine Corps photograph released April 8, taken March 29 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, shows the USS Carl M. Levin fitted with the system on its aft upper deck. The multi-cell launcher, positioned between the port-side torpedo tubes and the aft Mk 41 Vertical Launch System, was not visible in imagery of the ship as recently as December 2025, TWZ reported. A Japanese-language defense blog first noted the addition on social media, prompting speculation that it may be designed for counter-unmanned aerial systems missions. USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120) got a new Hellfire/JAGM launcher improving C-UAS capability. は...

Last US Convoy Exits Syria After Brutal 14-Year Regime Change Proxy War Widespread reports on Thursday say the very last US military convoy has finally departed Syrian territory, with the years-long occupation of the primarily northeast oil and gas rich sector over in a 'mission accomplished' fashion. It brings to a final close the 14-year long bloody proxy war which overthrew the Assad government and ultimately installed a pro-US/Saudi axis puppet, in the person of founding Syrian Al Qaeda Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, now known as President Ahmed al-Sharaa. via Le Monde Hundreds of thousand of people lost their lives in the regime change war, with the country and its economy left in a sanction-starved and conflict-demolished state of ruins. The US-backed Syrian Foreign Ministry declared Washington had decided to "complete its military mission" in the country. "The Syrian state is today fully capable of leading counter-terrorism efforts from within, in co-operation with the inte...

Drought Engulfs 60% Of U.S. As Farmers Begin Spring Planting A massive drought has emerged across large swaths of the US agricultural belt, threatening crops and livestock and eventually affecting food prices, at a time when fertilizer and diesel costs are soaring. As of early April, 60% of the Lower 48 is in drought as the Northern Hemisphere growing season begins and farmers begin plantings, according to NOAA.  The southern US is already experiencing severe, extreme, and even exceptional drought conditions, putting pressure on key crops such as sugarcane, rice, and peanuts, while fruit trees have also been damaged by extreme temperatures. Across the Great Plains, otherwise known as the nation's breadbasket, winter wheat farmers are being forced to decide whether to keep the struggling crop or cut losses and replant, with dry soil also making germination harder. The drought also complicates matters for ranchers, as the nation's cattle herd is already at its lowest level since the 1950s. A...

What AI Doesn't Know - And Why It Matters Authored by Richard Porter via RealClearPolitics, Artificial intelligence has taken the wired world by storm, but the backlash came almost as fast. Progressives complain of job losses, environmentalists question the ecological impacts of huge data centers, and local activists are clamoring for assurances that household utility bills won't skyrocket because of the centers' voracious electricity requirements. Others simply worry that the technology will overwhelm humans' ability to control it. At least in part, these reactions stem from the overselling of AI. AI is super cool, but it's not superhuman nor is it super intelligent. AI is simply very fast processing of vast amounts of data. Intelligence, knowledge, understanding and wisdom are all different concepts; the distinction between them elucidates the scope and limits of both human and electronic “intelligence.” Intelligence is the ability to process information into an internally coherent ...

US Army Trials Unmanned Hunter Wolf Robot With Gun, Radar In Combat Drills The U.S. Army is quietly putting armed robots through their paces alongside real soldiers - and new footage suggests these machines could soon be a regular sight on tomorrow's battlefields. Wolf-X robotic combat vehicle by HDT Global.Blade HDT Fresh imagery dropped on Monday by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service shows a Hunter Wolf unmanned ground vehicle rolling with the 101st Airborne Division during a full-on combat simulation at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) in Louisiana. The display amounted to a serious stress test in one of the Army's roughest training environments - where ideas either prove they work or get ditched fast. The Hunter Wolf's appearance at JRTC marks a significant shift - as units aren't just playing around with unmanned gear in isolated experiments anymore; they're dropping it straight into realistic, chaotic scenarios. Elements of the 101st used the vehicle for l...

Why The Crash Was Delayed Authored by Robert Aro via Mises Institute, Whatever happened to the mother of all crashes that was supposed to arrive when the Federal Reserve began tightening its balance sheet back in 2022? For several years, I've been scratching my head, convinced that draining the balance sheet by trillions of dollars should have triggered a systemic banking failure or some other Black Swan event. In the past, crises like Lehman/AIG or the 2020 lockdowns took the blame, when in reality, the root cause was always monetary. From the peak in June 2022 to the trough in December 2025, the asset side of the Fed's balance sheet shrank by roughly $2.3 trillion. That was the front door. But through the back door, something else was happening on the liability side: the Fed's Overnight Reverse Repo Facility (RRP) was releasing $2.5 trillion of previously frozen private liquidity back into the financial system.  If Quantitative Tightening (QT) removed liquidity, the RRP added it back.....

IMF Warns Australia Set For One Of Highest Inflation Rates In Developed World Authored by Rex Widerstrom via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Australia is on track to have one of the highest inflation rates in the developed world. Australian dollars coins in Melbourne, Australia, on April 4, 2024. AAP Image/Joel Carrett In the latest edition of its World Economic Outlook, the global lender said economies around the world “face repercussions [from] the direct impact of higher commodity prices, indirect second-order effects on inflation expectations—which tend to be especially sensitive to energy and food prices—and amplification effects coming from [conservative] sentiment in financial markets.” While the global economy had withstood “a series of shocks, yet another one—this time a military conflict engulfing the Middle East since the end of February—is testing this resilience,” the IMF warned. It predicted that Australia's GDP growth ...

DOJ Launches Investigation into Sexual Assault Allegations Against Eric Swalwell The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into multiple sexual assault and misconduct allegations against former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), federal officials confirmed Thursday, marking the latest escalation in a scandal that has already forced the longtime congressman to resign from the House and suspend his bid for California governor. Swalwell, who represented California's 14th District since 2013, stepped down from Congress on Tuesday amid bipartisan pressure and a House Ethics Committee probe into claims that he engaged in sexual misconduct, including toward a staffer under his supervision. The Ethics review is expected to close following his resignation, as the panel's jurisdiction is limited to current members. The DOJ's involvement adds a federal layer to ongoing local probes. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office is investigating an alleged 2024 sexual assault in a New ...

CBP Says It Seized More Than 60 Pounds Of Cocaine From US Citizen At Border Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the U.S.–Mexico border prevented more than 60 pounds of cocaine from entering the country, allegedly smuggled by an American citizen—a “trusted traveler”—the agency exclusively told The Epoch Times on Wednesday. At California's San Ysidro Port of Entry, a 25-year-old man was arrested on April 7 for allegedly concealing more than $1.1 million of the illegal narcotics within his vehicle and now faces federal prosecution. The man was not named by CBP. He was categorized as a “trusted traveler” because he was a participant in the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection program, the agency said. The program allows expedited passage into the United States for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. All applicants for the program undergo an extensive background check and an in-person interview prior to be...

Space Nuclear Power Initiative Sends Reactor Companies Flying An announcement from the administration's Science and Technology Director, Michael Kratsios, regarding the establishment of the National Initiative for American Space Nuclear Power sent reactor development companies higher over the following trading days.  The time has come for America to get underway on nuclear power in space?? https://t.co/fLrM4MtNbM — NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) April 14, 2026 Oklo and NuScale have been soaring...   Investors are betting on reactor development companies being involved in multiple different nuclear-related applications in space missions to include propulsion, shuttle electrical power, and power for bases on the moon and Mars. The question stands, though, as to which developer actually has a chance of being involved in any of these programs? For those not tracking, outer space has some slightly different environmental factors to consider compared to the surface of the ...

Bankrupted Spirit Airlines Faces Imminent Liquidation Bankrupt Spirit Airlines "could liquidate as early as this week," according to a new CNBC report. The troubled carrier, stuck in years of turbulence, has failed to emerge from its second bankruptcy in less than a year and is now being squeezed by soaring jet fuel costs. NEW: Spirit Airlines could liquidate and shut down as soon as this week, @lesliejosephs of @CNBC reports, citing “people familiar with the matter.” Latest round of chatter about a deeply troubled airline … but rising fuel prices could be its death knell.… — Kyle Potter (@kpottermn) April 16, 2026 When the budget carrier would begin the liquidation process was not immediately clear to CNBC's sources, but the report comes just after an overnight Bloomberg story warned about the "risk of liquidation" due to the latest surge in jet fuel prices. The airline had been trying to downsize its jet footprint and focus on popular seasonal routes, while lab...

California Offering Taxpayer-Funded Gender Surgeries To Homeless, Illegal Immigrants: Report Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA, The California government may struggle to provide basic housing for the homeless, but it appears willing to fund gender-transition procedures with taxpayer dollars, including illegal aliens, according to a new report. A Wednesday report from City Journal found that San Francisco homeless shelters, with the assistance of state and local governments, are facilitating transgender surgeries for males who identify as female. One such shelter, St. Vincent de Paul's MSC-South, entered into a $66 million contract with the city to house homeless individuals, including illegal aliens. A pair of Honduran nationals living at the shelter, Lyca and Alondra, reportedly identify as transgender, and both said they receive Medi-Cal, California's taxpayer-funded Medicaid program. According to City Journal, the taxpayer-funded program covers transgender procedures, or...

Scientist Suggests Dark Matter Could Be Black Holes From A Different Universe Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, While the scientific establishment has spent decades chasing invisible particles that never quite show up, a leading cosmologist has dropped a theory that turns everything on its head: dark matter isn't some exotic new particle. It could be ancient black holes that survived from an entirely different universe. This idea, laid out by Professor Enrique Gaztanaga of the University of Portsmouth, doesn't just tackle one cosmic puzzle. It offers a clean fix for the Big Bang's thorniest problems and lines up with fresh observations that have astronomers scrambling. Gaztanaga argues the elusive substance that makes up roughly 27 per cent of the universe's mass may actually be “relic” black holes formed in a previous collapsing phase of the cosmos. What is dark matter? Elusive substance could be made of black holes from a different UNIVERSE, scientist claims https://t.co/...

Gulf Shock May Spark Shortage Of World's Most Critical Industrial Chemical, Used Heavily In Mining  Goldman analysts Kyle Shaffer and Amanda Ross provided clients with a broad overview of industrials and natural resources amid energy disruptions in the Gulf area. In the note, they stated that the well-known Gulf energy shock is set to disrupt LNG production in Qatar for years to come. However, they also highlighted another emerging supply crunch that has received far less attention: sulfuric acid. "Some long-lasting consequences have also started to emerge, including a 3-5 years production loss for LNG facility in Qatar, a 6-12 month re-starting time for some aluminum facilities in the Gulf, and shortage of sulfuric acid which can potentially impact future production for copper and lithium" Shaffer and Ross said. About a third of the world's sulfur comes from the Gulf region, where it is produced as part of oil and gas refining. Much of the sulfur is exported, primarily to fertil...

California Supreme Court Disbars Former Trump Attorney For Aiding Challenge Of 2020 Election Results Authored by Brad Jones via The Epoch Times, The California Supreme Court decided to disbar former Trump attorney John Eastman over his aiding the president in challenging the 2020 presidential election results. The court has not yet handed down an opinion to explain the April 15 decision, which affirmed the California Bar court's recommendation for disbarment for alleged attorney ethics violations. Eastman, a former Chapman University law professor, gained national attention for advising President Donald Trump on constitutional challenges to election procedures in several battleground states after the president alleged widespread election fraud. The California decision is not the end of the line for Eastman. He can still practice law in the U.S. Supreme Court and possibly in another state. “Federal courts are supposed to let me keep practicing, and the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed me to co...

Wall Or Sieve? Attacks Raise Doubts About U.S. Immigration System Authored by Benjamin Weingarten via RealClearPolitics, In the wee hours of Sunday, March 1, a Senegalese immigrant clad in a sweatshirt bearing the words “Property of Allah” opened fire outside an Austin, Texas beer garden, killing three and leaving 14 others wounded. On March 12, at Old Dominion University, a former Virginia National Guard member from Sierra Leone – released early from an 11-year prison sentence for attempting to provide material support to the ISIL – yelled “Allahu Akbar” before shooting and killing a beloved college professor and wounding two other people. That same day, a Lebanese immigrant plowed a pickup truck filled with fireworks and gasoline into a large synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan. After exchanging gunfire with security staff, he killed himself. His brother, it turned out, was a recently eliminated Hezbollah commander in Lebanon.  Amidst the emerging threat environment of the ...