Free Republic

President Trump's trade war with China is a multi-pronged thing, given how closely the east Asian states of the Pacific Rim are being affected. Those states are all U.S. allies, and the reason we project so much naval power in the Pacific. While we are seeing a lot of doom and gloom talk in the endless 'analyses' you always see in Pacific Rim affairs on the economic side of things, including China itself declaring there will be 'no winners' (typical for the nation that is facing disaster itself), along with some stories of Pacific Rim states getting ready to profit from...

When there is war, conflict, or instability, vulnerable human beings flee, seeking refuge in safer countries. Everyone is familiar with the plight of refugees, and the challenges refugees create for surrounding nations. People need and deserve support, and it requires resources to meet this need. When there is war, conflict, or instability, vulnerable capital and wealth also flee. The "problem" of fleeing capital is different, however. Because capital and wealth are not as encumbered and physically restricted as are human beings, especially in the modern electronic age, capital moves far from the source of instability. Capital flight makes support of...

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The U.S. Embassy in Ankara has not put out a statement regarding pastor Andrew Brunson, an embassy official told Reuters on Monday, after a report on social media cited the embassy as saying he would be released from house arrest by Aug. 15. The case of Brunson, an evangelical Christian being tried by a Turkish court, is one of a series of disputes that lies at the heart of deteriorating ties between the two NATO allies.

• "We have to realize that perhaps China isn't as strong as when we at first think. China is still figuring out also how to deal with this trade situation, how to ensure the stability of its domestic economy," said Curtis Chin, an Asia fellow at the Milken Institute. • Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box," Chin also "totally" disagreed with the view that U.S. President Donald Trump's policies are backfiring. China's power may have been overrated and the U.S. economy is staying strong, meaning that U.S. President Donald Trump has an advantage in the trade war, according to one expert....

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dealt a lethal blow to the so-called ‘caliphate’ a week ago, when their troops seized the last border points that were under the Islamic State’s control in eastern Syria. According to the official spokesperson for the SDF, their troops managed to capture the entire desert of eastern Deir Ezzor and secure the Al-Hasakah provincial border that weekend.

As the bombing and shelling campaign against jihadist opposition forces intensified in northern Syria, reports of civilian casualties are coming out of the area. The anti-Syria government Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that children were among 39 people killed.... Left-wing and anarchist protestors flooded the streets of Washington DC today to oppose a very small white nationalist protest.... The lead juror at the trial of an FBI agent accused of lying about two shots fired during a January 2016 operation that killed one Oregon Standoff protestor LaVoy Finicum and injured another Ryan Bundy says: "I feel its possible someone...

Unlike the prior administration who was more than willing to give away America’s wealth and power, President Trump understands US economic power. And he is using the wealth and power of the United States to the country’s full advantage. President Trump knows that since the US is holding all of the aces it is time to use them and really start winning. The US economy is the world’s largest America’s economy is bigger than the combined economies of the rest of the G7. Our total annual output which will exceed $20 Trillion this year, is almost 25% of the world’s...

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier launched strong attack on Trump for his tariffs and sanctions. He told Bild am Sonntag newspaper that “this trade war is slowing down and destroying economic growth – and it creates new uncertainties.” Meanwhile, the agreement between the EU and US “can only be first step”. Altmaier emphasized “Our goal is a global trade order with lower tariffs, less protectionism and open markets.” Regarding US sanctions on Iran, Altmaier also pledged the Germany and EU will continue to support companies doing business with Iran. He warned that “we won’t let Washington dictate us with whom...

The Democrats Don’t Have a Foreign Policy, They Have A Trump Policy Not just treasonous, stupid. May 10, 2018 Daniel Greenfield Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical left and Islamic terrorism. Quick, what’s the Dem position on Syria? What about China? Don’t bother. There was once a time when Democrats could discuss Syria, North Korea, the South China Sea, economic tensions in the European Union and the future of Africa. But that was before Trump. Democrats don’t have a foreign policy anymore. They have a Trump...

Reza Pahlavi is hated & feared by the Iranian regime, because he is very popular with the Iranian people & the regime view him as a huge threat. 2 days ago, Reza Pahlavi asked Iranians via social media, to use their local soccer match to show their disdain for the regime. He specifically asked Azeris, since as a whole they were not participating as much in the ongoing protests. Here is a video posted after that request: Thousands of soccer fans in Iranian province of Azerbaijan singing in praise of Reza Pahlavi in Turkish-Azeri language.

Washington (CNN)Iranian President Hassan Rouhani issued a challenge to President Donald Trump on Monday, saying the Islamic Republic would welcome talks with the US "right now." "I don't have preconditions. If the US government is willing, let's start right now," Rouhani said during an interview that aired on state television late Monday local time, just hours before the US renewed sanctions on Iran. "If there is sincerity, Iran has always welcomed dialogue and negotiations," Rouhani said. Trump's national security adviser John Bolton, when asked about the offer by CNN's Jake Tapper, dismissed it as possible "propaganda." "Let's see what really...

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is putting on a rather fierce face in reaction to new tariffs from President Donald Trump and the plunging lira. Erdogan – ever the strongman – implored the country to show economic patriotism in response to what was going on. Via Daily Sabah in Turkey. “If you have dollars, euros or gold under your pillow, go to banks to exchange them for Turkish lira. This is a national struggle,” he said.“This will be my people’s answer to those who declare economic war against us,” he added.Erdoğan also said Turkish people should not worry, saying “We...

The Turkish government made an announcement on August 2 that is likely to increase tensions between the state and its Orthodox Christians. While the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s seminary on the island of Halki has remained closed since 1971, Turkey has announced that it intends to open an Islamic studies center on the same island. Moreover, building plans have the Global Center for Islamic Studies situated right in front of the Orthodox seminary building, reports Sedmitza. According to experts, the opening of the Islamic studies center would completely rule out the possibility of reopening the seminary, which the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A chief strategist of Venezuela's government-backed cryptocurrency is a former U.S. congressional intern who once organized protests against the same socialist administration he's now helping to circumvent U.S. financial sanctions.Gabriel Jimenez, 27, was catapulted to something of tech stardom in Venezuela last month when he stood alongside President Nicolas Maduro and two Russian businessmen on national TV signing a contract to position the petro, as the fledgling currency is known, among international investors."It's a company founded and led by young Venezuelan geniuses, boys and girls of Venezuela, who have one of the most technologically advanced blockchain...

Today is the first anniversary of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia that began when left-wing protestors attacked a white nationalist rally. In the end, a white nationalist ran his car into a group of leftists killing one and injuring others. That man faces criminal charges from the State of Virginia and federal hate crimes charges that could include the death penalty... The leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, Gerard Batten, has called out the chief of London's Metropolitan Police for launching a hate crimes investigation of former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson..... The Associated Press reported Saturday that 29-year...

One of the instruments that the enemies use is creating discord among us. I insist that we stress and place great emphasis on this matter. Brothers, sisters, Muslims in the world of Islam, if this call reaches your ears, you should know that the day when the words “Sunni” and “Shia” appeared in the American discourse, we became concerned. Every insightful person became concerned. What does America have to do with Sunni and Shia? What does such and such a Jewish Zionist politician in America – who has done nothing except for showing malevolence against Islam and Muslims – have...

rohl...metals tariffs on Turkey The (The Turkish lira) added to its steep losses on Friday, hitting a fresh record low, after President ( Donald Trump) authorized the doubling of metals tariffs on Turkey.

ISTANBUL (AFP) - Three, four, five, six? What next? Turks have over the last half decade counted the rapid depreciation of the Turkish lira on the screens outside doviz (exchange) booths with a mixture of bewilderment, alarm and ironic amusement. The currency had spent much of 2014 hovering at just over two to the dollar but broke through the three mark for the first time after the 2016 failed coup bid and then slid to four earlier this year. But the haemorrhaging reached an unprecedented intensity in the last weeks as Turkey's ties with the United States strained further and...

A federal jury in Portland, Oregon found FBI Agent Joseph Astarita not guilty of lying about firing two shots during a deadly law enforcement operation..... A California jury has ordered the chemical company Monsanto to pay a California man 289 million dollars in damages for causing his cancer..... Late word tonight that a turboprop aircraft was stolen by an airline employee at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The plane was intercepted by fighter aircraft and did some acrobatic maneuvers before crashing on an island in southern Puget Sound..... The Syrian government launched dozens of airstrikes and shelling attacks across three northern provinces...

A top Iranian official has admitted for the first time that Iran knowingly helped al-Qaeda terrorists — including some of the 9/11 attackers — travel secretly through the Middle East. “Their movements [through Iran] were under the complete supervision of the Iranian intelligence,” Mohammad-Javad Larijani said in a recently surfaced interview. That was one of the main accusations leveled against Iran in the U.S. government’s 9/11 Commission Report, which named the nation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Larijani, the secretary of the Iranian judiciary’s High Council for Human Rights and a former diplomat, is a prominent member of the...