Iran’s most powerful piece of leverage against the U.S. is slipping through its hands, according to the latest Axios assessment.

The Iranian regime’s stranglehold over the pivotal Strait of Hormuz has allowed it to resist demands from the Trump administration for a peace deal with terms favorable to the U.S.

‘They don’t want us to go back at them. That’s the whole ball game. The rest doesn’t matter.’

U.S. officials now tell Axios that they have gained the upper hand in the struggle to control the strait, which may lead to an end to the military operation.

“That sucker is open. The Iranian response is very mild,” said Trump in a phone call Thursday to Axios. “They don’t want us to go back at them. That’s the whole ball game. The rest doesn’t matter.”

The effort to reopen the strait despite the Iranian threat began after a memorandum of understanding collapsed in the peace negotiations in July.

The U.S. military then reportedly began to quietly help transport about 10 million barrels a day through the strait by a southern channel near Oman. While the amount is about half of what it was before the strait was closed, it’s a significant increase and a boon to the U.S. cause.

The U.S. has also been able to cripple Iran’s ability to strike at tankers after a two-week bombing campaign, according to Axios. A U.S. military mine-sweeping operation and aid from the United Arab Emirates have also improved Trump’s advantage.

CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper announced that they had reached a major milestone in the effort to wrestle control of the strait from Iran.

“Internationally recognized sea routes in the strait are free of Iranian sea mines. Bottom line: Today international shipping lanes are open and momentum is building,” he said in a video Thursday.

While some experts remain skeptical of the official tally of oil that can pass already, Axios noted many other signs that the U.S. is gaining ground against Iran.

The president has repeatedly proclaimed that the ultimate goal of the operation is to keep the Iranian regime from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“I don’t want to meet, they do. In fact, they are begging to make a deal,” Trump claimed on social media Thursday.

Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaee denied the claims and said that they had agreed to allow the southern channel near Oman. He added that the regime was compiling a list of demands to negotiate a peace deal.

RELATED: When Marco Rubio warned Iran that closing of Strait of Hormuz would be ‘suicidal’

Brent crude oil was trading at about $72 a barrel before the military operation began and surged to over $111 at its worst in April. It opened at just below $90 on Thursday.

About a fifth of the world’s oil trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S.-Israeli joint military strikes against Iran began 6 months ago on Feb. 28.

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​Strait of hormuz, Iran, Gas prices, Politics, Donald trump 

Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah was rehired after her termination over social media posts about Charlie Kirk’s assassination after taking the publication to court — and BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock is disappointed to hear it.

“This is a woman that had tweeted out some really negative things about the death of Charlie Kirk, and the Washington Post said, ‘Hey, we don’t need any of that.’ She was a columnist there covering race and culture,” Whitlock explains.

“She sued to get her job back, and this week, she won that lawsuit and has been reinstated,” he adds.

An article from the New York Times reported that “the Washington Post said in its termination letter that Ms. Attiah’s posts about Mr. Kirk had harmed ‘the integrity’ of the organization and violated standards requiring employees to use social media with civility and respect.”

“Ms. Attiah’s remarks about Mr. Kirk’s assassination, which she posted to the social network Bluesky on Sept. 10, the day he was shot, responded to the outpouring of grief after the shooting,” The Times continued.

“Refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence is … not the same as violence,” she wrote in a post.

“She wrote this on a post on the day he was shot,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says in disbelief.

“I can’t blame the Washington Post for not wanting to be associated with Ms. Attiah. I’m not surprised that she sued, and I’m not surprised that some liberal judge, or some liberal court, reinstated her,” he continues.

And in a recent podcast episode, conservative commentator April Chapman made her case for why things like this happen.

“Y’all not gonna like this, but it is risky and full of hidden liabilities to hire a black woman. They tend to be difficult. Okay? They tend to be less compliant. They are more likely to file a lawsuit and cry racism or sexism or some other ‘ism’ as a way to extort money from a company,” Chapman said on her podcast “Unshakable.”

“She will get the company embroiled in some lawsuit that never ends. And so you don’t have to take my word for it, but because of the lack of the accountability and the ethnic narcissism of most liberal black females, like you don’t really have this problem in conservative spaces with black women,” she continued.

“But since 92% of all black women are progressive and liberal and Marxist in their worldview, what I’m saying holds to be true,” she added.

“That’s amazing,” Whitlock says, adding, “particularly coming from a black woman.”

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​April chapman, Assassination, Charlie kirk, Columnist, Jason whitlock, Karen attiah, New york times, Rehired, Termination, Washington post, Blazetv show 

Gay British right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at an airport in Louisiana.

Yiannopoulos, who most recently had worked as the chief of staff for Kanye West, was detained for overstaying a visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

‘He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws. … He will remain in ICE custody pending removal.’

The detention was reported by TMZ, which cited inmate records.

Yiannopoulos had been issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in July after he failed to appear at an immigration hearing, according to the DHS.

He was detained at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner on Thursday, according to te DHS.

“He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws,” the agency stated. “He will remain in ICE custody pending removal.”

Yiannopoulos legally entered through New York City, New York, on May 19, 2019.

The right-wing provocateur gained fame for supporting President Donald Trump and for supporting the theory that homosexuality was not hardwired from birth, but a response to early childhood trauma that can include sexual molestation.

He was canceled by many after numerous comments resurfaced in which he appeared to support men having sex with underage boys.

RELATED: California Democrat calls for ICE to be abolished after Homan announces ‘record’ arrests

Yiannopoulos parted ways with West in 2024 before posting that the rap mogul had been recreationally using nitrous oxide that was supplied to him by his dentist. The dentist has denied the allegation.

He was also banned from Facebook after being listed alongside right-wing conspiracy theorists and white nationalists that the platform described as “dangerous.”

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​Department of homeland security, Immigration, Louisiana, Milo yiannopoulos, Politics 

WNBA team owner Michael Alter may want to rethink his choice of words the next time he gives an interview.

Following an incident at Wintrust Arena in Chicago last Sunday, the sports world wanted to hear what the owner had to say about a pro-women protest by former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom during a Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever game.

‘He needs to check himself.’

Following a courtside exchange with Chicago Sky point guard Natasha Cloud — which included him standing up and raising his arms — Freedom was promptly ejected from the arena.

This was followed by Alter, the principal owner of the Sky, banning Freedom from the arena later in the week. The owner said Freedom had “the potential to be a threat,” accusing him of stepping “towards the court” and “towards the players.”

On Wednesday, Fox News’ OutKick asked Alter to explain why Freedom did not get a warning before he was kicked out of the arena.

“You’re kind of making me repeat over and over. So I think at some point we need to move on. But he wasn’t given a warning because certain threats don’t get warnings,” Alter is heard saying in an audio clip. “He was given a lot of leeway. As I said, he was sitting there, and he was trash-talking [Cloud] and, and all that.”

The owner continued, comparing Freedom’s actions to shooting a person in a metaphor he might soon regret using.

“[Freedom] was certainly given leeway, but at a certain point, you know, when somebody, I mean, to use an extreme example, when you, when you shoot a gun at someone, you don’t get a warning. ‘Don’t do that again.’ Your action doesn’t deserve a warning. “

The owner reiterated that if a person takes an action “that becomes a threat,” they “don’t get a warning.”

Freedom responded to the statement in a subsequent podcast with OutKick and seemed flabbergasted at the comparison.

“The Chicago Sky owner, Michael Alter, literally compared my actions with shooting a gun. Unbelievable,” the Turkey native stated.

“He needs to check himself. This is unacceptable,” Freedom later said.

RELATED: WNBA team bans Enes Kanter Freedom from arena with yet another insane claim: ‘That changed everything’

Freedom went on explain that after playing in the NBA for 11 years, he’s quite familiar with the rules surrounding fan interactions with players.

“If a fan steps over the baseline or the sideline, you will be thrown out of the game,” Freedom explained. “Fans are not allowed to touch players, right? Anything other than that, you’re allowed to do, which, I wasn’t even trash-talking to her. Let me just make that very clear.”

Freedom maintained that he simply told Cloud he was at the game to help protect women, wearing a shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”

He did not heckle or cuss at Cloud, although she used bad language toward him, the 6’10” center claimed.

The conversation culminated with Freedom saying he has plans to take legal action against Alter and the Sky, but not necessarily the WNBA. At the very least, he added that he would demand a refund as a paying customer who did nothing wrong.

RELATED: Al Michaels divides NFL fans with Trump jab during ‘Thursday Night Football’: ‘Read the news’

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Alter, overall, has continually boasted about the arena security who immediately reprimanded Freedom during the game and escorted him out.

“The security were there to stop him. … The Indiana Fever guy was right there. He was right in front of him. The guy from the arena, Monterey, was right there. It took a second for Chicago’s guys to go to get there, but they got there pretty damn fast,” Alter said, per Fox News. “I can’t tell you what his intent was beyond his actions. I don’t know what was in his head, OK? Neither do you. And if he tells you what’s his intent based on the other things he’s told you, you have to know he is completely unreliable.”

As for whether the ban is permanent, Alter said Freedom would not be permitted into the arena until “he can prove” he is able to control himself.

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​Enes kanter freedom, Wnba, Chicago sky, Basketball, Sports, Womens sports 

The Lindsay Clancy case has generated no shortage of online speculation, but a new theory gaining traction on TikTok may be among the strangest yet.

Rather than examining evidence presented in court, some social media users are using astrology and birth-chart readings to argue that Clancy’s husband, Patrick, was actually responsible for the deaths of the couple’s children.

“Women on TikTok are using astrology to argue that Patrick actually committed the killings. And they’re using divination. They’re using what they claim to be some connection with the divine and with the universe to try to prove their case,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey explains.

“So they’re using Lindsay and Patrick’s birth dates to create birth charts,” she says, noting that these women have “too much time.”

“An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. That’s what’s going on here,” she adds, before playing clips of women arguing their case on TikTok.

“Patrick Clancy did it, and you will never convince me otherwise. His sun sign is at 24 degrees of Gemini. That is a violence degree. That’s a malevolence degree and a danger of accidents degree,” one TikTok user said.

“So to all the Patrick Clancy haters, I can validate for you that he was a jackass because he was cheating on Lindsay, and I confirmed it. This is his chart,” another one said.

One TikTok user even used Lindsay’s birth chart to claim that she “likely had a very deep need to protect, nurture, and provide safety to children, her own children, and vulnerable populations.”

“Astrology is not a scientific method. It’s not thoughtful. It has its roots in ancient pagan traditions. It’s a religious belief system that Christians should have absolutely no part in whatsoever,” Stuckey says.

“But this just goes to show social media, astrology, the New Age, conspiracy, true crime, toxic empathy, all of these things are coming together in this very, what I think is dangerous and disturbing combination of the American female psyche,” she continues.

Stuckey also notes that God warns against use of divination, necromancy, mediums, magic, fortune, fortune tellers, and tarot cards.

“That’s not where we’re supposed to be seeking wisdom,” she says, “because all of that makes us vulnerable, I think, to demonic influence.”

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​Allie beth stuckey, Conspiracy theories, Lindsay clancy, Patrick clancy, True crime, Tiktok, Astrology, Blazetv show, New age 

President Donald Trump immediately took action after a plea from Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck to deregulate farmers and ranchers to fight back against a processor monopoly.

The president posted on Truth Social Friday that he is unleashing farmers and ranchers to allow them to more easily butcher their livestock and help lower beef prices.

‘I am authorizing legal documents to be drawn in order to allow Farmers and Ranchers to be given the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD.’

Beck interviewed the president on his show Wednesday and explained how four large meat-processing companies have a chokehold on the industry that has been driving up beef prices. Beck has particular knowledge about the regulations that hold back ranchers because he runs a working cattle ranch in Southeast Idaho.

“I run a ranch, so I know what it’s like, and I’m telling you, it’s the processing plants,” Beck told the president. “There’s four of them, and I think two of them are not even American. It’s bad. And I believe they’re colluding with each other.

“I’m surprised that the ranchers and the farmers haven’t done it, because they’re smart as hell. I’m surprised, because that’s been going on a long time, Glenn,” Trump responded.

“Help us. We can’t butcher with all of the federal regulations,” Beck said.

On Friday, the president said his administration would move quickly to pass the deregulation of beef processing.

“Ranchers and Farmers have always been a number one priority for me. They work very hard, are smart, efficient, and immaculately CLEAN, but for years I have heard that they have had a tremendous problem with the Big Processors, who many say are a nasty Monopoly,” the president wrote.

“There are, essentially, 4 of them, a very non competitive number, and they make life miserable for our wonderful Farmers and Ranchers, and I can’t let that happen, can I?” he added. “So, in order to break this powerful monopoly, with much of its ownership based outside of the U.S., I am authorizing legal documents to be drawn in order to allow Farmers and Ranchers to be given the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD. This should move quickly.”

Beef prices have been rising steadily due to a decrease in U.S. cattle production. Over the last three years, the average U.S. beef price has risen by about 37.8%.

Agriculture Dept. Sec. Brooke Rollins also posted about the deregulation proposal.

“We are on it Mr. President!” she wrote. “Our great AMERICAN ranchers produce the highest-quality, most incredible beef in the world AND it is a matter of national security that we be able to feed and fuel ourselves.”

RELATED: Karoline Leavitt berates CNN’s Kaitlan Collins over inflation and the economy

She said officials would seek to:

waive red tape in processing,expand ranchers’ ability to sell across state lines, rescind outdated guidance, add technology for faster safety data, grow real support for small processors (funding and deregulation), fight consolidation so small processors can compete, andexpand truth in labeling.

“The world is hungry for American beef!” she added.

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​Beef prices, Deregulation, Glenn beck, Inflation, Donald trump, Brooke rollins, Politics 

Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed made his stance clear on the genital mutilation of minors in a recent interview on Fox News with Jesse Watters — and BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is disturbed.

“Sex changes for minors, do you support that?” Watters asked El-Sayed.

“I just think the government shouldn’t tell you what kind of health care you should have. And if you’re a minor, it’s your parents. Now, if you disagree with that … if you disagree that health care decisions need to be made by a doctor and their parents and a patient, then I think we just agree to disagree,” El-Sayed answered.

“So you think it’s OK for a parent to slash his kid’s ding-a-ling off? You think that’s OK?” Watters asked.

“Do you really want to have this conversation? Are you circumcised?” El-Sayed asked.

“Circumcision’s different than castration,” Watters said, shocked.

“It’s a problem that you think that you get to decide what happens between a parent, a doctor, and a patient. And I’m just saying that yes, circumcision is surgery on a kid’s ding-a-ling,” El-Sayed added.

“Circumcision is not chopping off a child’s genitals. That is wild stuff,” Gonzales comments, noting that while he refused to answer Watters, some old audio of his does.

“Right now, 31 bills have been introduced across the country to restrict health care access among trans people seeking gender-affirming care. It’s ironic that a party that decries medical tyranny in the form of flimsy cloth masks thinks that it can get between a person and their doctor,” El-Sayed said in unearthed audio.

“To add insult to injury, an additional 66 bills have been introduced to restrict trans youth from school sports. Seriously, let the kids play. Trans rights are human rights. And this Pride Month, remember that those rights are not a foregone conclusion in this country and that we must keep up the fight for equal dignity, equal protection, and equal rights under the law,” he added.

“By the way,” Gonzales comments, “it seems like other Sharia doctors are pretty obsessed with mutilating genitals too. In Abdul’s own state of Michigan, a Detroit-area clinic allowed a doctor to perform a female genital mutilation on two 7-year-old girls from Minnesota.”

“Female genital mutilation is that they, like, cut off a part of a girl’s genitals,” she adds.

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​Castration, Circumcision, Fox news, Gender affirming care, Genital mutilation, Minors, Parental rights, Sara gonzales, Trans rights, Pride month, Abdul el-sayed, Sharia law, Blazetv show, Jesse watters 

Some statements are politically incorrect, some are defamatory, and others are outright illegal. For Tim Dillon, it’s all alleged.

For the better part of a decade, the stand-up comic has delivered what can be considered some of the most offensive tirades ever broadcasted. The problem is, a lot of people agree with him.

‘I don’t want to live in a right-wing Christian theocracy.’

Nothing to lose

Perhaps it was in 2020 when Dillon took a turn for the worse, suggesting during one of his trademark rants that Bill and Hillary Clinton should be respected “even if they are murderers.”

Dillon’s verbose way of comically beating around the bush always, eventually, gets to the point, but he’s not willing to show his cards right away. First, audiences need to hear about how tough a negotiator Hillary is, or how American mothers revered Bill through his political journey and his time as governor of Arkansas.

After about eight minutes, viewers are ready to hear how far the mighty have fallen. In this case, it was Hillary’s transition from committing murders and “arranging the suicides of many of your Secret Service people” into hosting a new podcast. Dillon’s show is like watching the news being broadcasted by someone who is on death row and has nothing to lose.

Through this method, Dillon laughed his way through the next year, amassing a reported 23,000+ Patreon subscribers who garnered him $1.5 million in revenue. In 2021, his show was labeled the seventh-richest podcast on the air.

By 2023, Dillon’s production had lost any and all guardrails, as seen by clips titled “My Son’s P*ssy Rant,” for example. Looking to address transgender controversies, the 41-year-old provided adequate prefacing: “I don’t want to live in a right-wing Christian theocracy,” Dillon began, priming the conservative portion of his audience.

After reminding his viewers that such topics are always handled with tact, Dillon expressed that he isn’t a fan of children being rushed into operating rooms or told to use puberty blockers.

While asserting that he is not trying to take a side in the culture war, Dillon asked a simple question: “Are we going to be better at making a vagina out of someone’s bowel? I hope we are,” he said.

“Literally not kidding, no joke,” he added, saying he dreamed of a future where such surgeries become as easy as going to the dentist.

RELATED: Joe Rogan & Shane Gillis say we’re never going back — and young men should listen

Burying the lede

This wasn’t the first time Dillon tactfully addressed the excesses of the MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ community. In a video from 2019 titled, “The problem with 10 year old strippers,” the comedian informed listeners that as a gay man himself, “if you’re a woman and go ‘I’m a dude,’ it’s still not working.”

Much of Dillon’s show is figuring how to say what is not supposed to be said and then saying it anyway.

“You can say it ’cause you’re gay,” Joe Rogan told Dillon in 2020, citing that his wife doesn’t believe Dillon is actually a homosexual. But even if Dillon does have a “get-out-of-jail free pass” for gay topics, as Rogan claims, he still has to find a way to say more broadly incendiary politic remarks, too.

Dillon admitted to Rogan that he may “look too racist” to say certain things, but he says them anyway.

Case in point: episode No. 355. Dillon tells viewers about his trip to Denver, doing comedy shows and having a great time. After promoting his tour dates and talking about his observations in the Mile-High City, the New Yorker made another one of his famous comedy-to-politics transitions.

After about four minutes of a monologue culminating in the eating of a green chili burrito, Dillon stated, “In that time that I was away from you all, I imagine you’ve heard about, and this is not a big deal, it’s the summer and the Obamas killed a sex slave.”

RELATED: The video of Tony Hinchcliffe & Snoop Dogg they forgot to delete — it changes everything

Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images

Loose lips

Whether Dillon is accusing the Obama family of murder, the Trump administration of being in a mafia-like government, or Vice President JD Vance acting clueless about Jeffrey Epstein, the backdrop of the entire podcast has, and always will be, Dillon’s freedom of speech.

Dillon has vehemently, and perhaps even seriously, defended his right to free speech in the face of people who actually wanted to silence him. He discussed this when he was fired from the Riyadh Comedy Festival over jokes in which he said Saudi Arabia has slaves.

In his defense, Dillon said he was actually complimenting the Islamic regime by saying, “Slaves are probably hard workers and, for the most part, agreeable.”

Things turned more serious when Dillon addressed comments his publicity team had allegedly told him about how there are certain topics he doesn’t need to touch because they might hurt his career, but Dillon soundly rejected the idea: “On my own show, in my own country, where I have the freedom to speak and say the things I want, I’m going to be funny and I’m going to be who I am. And if you’re not buying that, you don’t have the right to tell me on my own show.”

So whether Dillon is calling out “Good Morning America” for promoting an 11-year -old “drag kid” or being told he’s a “self-hating gay guy” or not even really gay at all, he knows exactly where his get-out-of-jail free card lies: with his audience.

“The business doesn’t have any teeth any more. They can’t tell me what to do or say. What? They’re not even offering anything.”

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​Tim dillon, Comedy, Free speech, Hillary clinton, Jd vance, Entertainment 

A 19-year-old Texas woman is accused of stabbing a pregnant woman in the face, and it isn’t the first time the suspect has been accused of such a crime.

Carrieale Williams last week allegedly invited the victim to her home on Dona Lane in Houston after meeting her at church.

‘That is extremely violent.’

Williams allegedly tried to hide the knife from the victim, who has not been identified, but the victim noticed it. When Williams pulled out the knife, the victim grabbed for it, and Willams responded by stabbing her in the face, arms, and hands.

When deputies arrived on the scene, the victim was transported to a hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Court documents allege the victim is dating Williams’ ex-boyfriend.

A judge also indicated that Williams herself was believed to be pregnant at the time of the alleged attack.

One neighbor told KTRK-TV that the neighborhood is usually quiet.

“That is extremely violent. I didn’t know any of that was happening,” Damiun Becnel told the station. “My neighbors are usually chill, so hearing that, hearing that story came from my neighbors is kind of crazy.”

The pregnant victim is expected to be OK, according to police.

RELATED: Pregnant mother found brutally raped and murdered in Mexico after fleeing the US with 7 kids

Williams is charged with aggravated assault, and charging documents accuse her of intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causing bodily injury to the victim by stabbing her with a deadly weapon.

What’s more, during Williams’ court appearance, a judge noted that she was accused of attacking a different pregnant woman prior to the current allegations. Williams last year allegedly pushed her pregnant sister down and punched her in the stomach amid a dispute about a phone charger.

Williams’ sister, who was six-months pregnant at the time, requested dismissal of charges after Williams completed a 10-hour anger management course. KTRK said the case was dismissed.

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​Church, Stabbing, Texas, Pregnant, Arrest, Teen, Crime