Free Republic

GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's attempt to shame the so-called "uniparty" of pro-Ukraine Republicans and Democrats has backfired. During a Wednesday press conference on her plan to remove Speaker of the House Mike Johnson from leadership over the passage of $61 billion in Ukraine aid, Greene displayed a blue and yellow "MUGA" ("Make Ukraine Great Again") hat, a reference to the MAGA slogan often associated with former President Donald Trump.

With seven months to go until November's presidential election and the majority of polls showing the presumptive presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden are basically neck-and-neck, the pair both need every vote they can to secure the keys to the White House. But Trump, the Republican former president, may be hampering his chances at success because of his standing with one key demographic in the adult voting population: women. Polls show that the proportion of women who plan to vote for Trump in November is less than the proportion who voted for him in the 2020 election. Meanwhile, experts...

The British government said on Tuesday it would commit its largest-ever tranche of military aid to Ukraine as part of a package worth £500 million ($622 million). The assistance will include further deliveries of Storm Shadow air-launched, precision-guided missiles, as well as vessels and vehicles. The Paveway IV—the latest in the Paveway series of bombs—converts unguided munitions, also known as "dumb bombs," into precision-guided weapons. They can use laser guidance or satellites to find their way to a target. "The Paveway IV will enable Ukraine to strike back" at Russian forces and target high-value assets such as command centers and...

New videos appear to show a fire raging in northern Crimea, after reports of explosions around a military airfield overnight. Footage widely circulated on social media by Russian and Ukrainian sources early on Wednesday show bright flashes of light and explosions, with sirens wailing in the background. A local Telegram channel reported "several loud explosions," starting just before 4 a.m. local time, before a fire broke out. Roads around the air base are blocked, the channel later reported. Dzhankoy is a major military hub, home to one of Russia's largest airfields in Crimea. It is a key location for supplying...

Up to 30 Russian personnel may have been killed and another 80 injured, according to a new report, after dramatic footage appeared to show explosions at a Russian military base in northern Crimea overnight. "About 30 Russian servicemen were killed and about 80 were wounded at the airfield in Dzhankoy," a Crimean-based Telegram channel called Crimean Wind reported on Wednesday. Crimean Wind is a pro-Ukrainian monitoring group that focuses on Crimea and generally offers reliable information. Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine's southern forces, described Dzhankoy as a legitimate military target on Wednesday but declined to offer up further details. A...

Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted last August that a drop in the importance of the U.S. dollar was "irreversible"—but there appears to be no sign that the global economy is turning its back on the greenback. "The U.S. Dollar was used in 48% of international payment transactions last year, the highest level in more than a decade. But Brics...," it said next to the graph, which showed the euro making 23.2 percent of transactions and the Chinese yuan way behind at 3.47 percent. "BRICS countries would like their currencies to be used in world trade, but each has a major...

Iran's massive missile and drone barrage targeting Israel over the weekend is similar to Russian tactics used in frequent strikes on Ukraine, according to a new assessment, after Iran launched its first-ever direct strike from its own territory into Israel. "Iran's use of drones and missiles shows how Iran is learning from the Russians to develop increasingly dangerous and effective strike packages against Israel," the U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Saturday. Russia has launched thousands of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in nearly 26 months of all-out war in the country....

Tucker Carlson has sparked ire among several conservative commentators after interviewing a Palestinian pastor, who discussed how the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has affected Christians in the region. -snip- “This is mendacious hit piece that shows Tucker's generally well-hidden hand. The Christian population of Bethlehem all but disappeared after the PLO took over in 1996 due to Islamic persecution. The only Christian population in the Middle East that is growing is the Christian community in Israel. The Christian community in Gaza disappeared after Hamas took over in 2005.” -snip- Darrell C. Scott, a pastor and vocal supporter of former President Donald...

Donald Trump suffered a blow in a number of primary votes on Tuesday, after thousands of Republicans refused to vote for him.

Members of Russian military intelligence unit 29155, who allegedly have access to microwave or ultrasound weapons, had been placed at the scene of reported attacks that resulted in US personnel suffering health problems, according to a year-long investigation by the Latvia-based Insider in collaboration with CBS’s “60 Minutes” and Germany’s Der Spiegel. Christo Grozev, the head of investigations with The Insider, told “60 Minutes” that he uncovered accounting records that show a 29155 officer received a bonus for work related to the development of “non-lethal acoustic weapons.” Unit 29155 has reportedly operated around the world since 2008, and is suspected...

Ukraine's navy said in a statement published on Tuesday that Kyiv had "successfully destroyed" the Konstantin Olshansky, and the three other vessels it targeted since Saturday. In a later statement, Pletenchuk said the Ivan Khurs reconnaissance ship may have sustained damage. It was one of two of this type of reconnaissance vessel at Russia's disposal ... Ukraine used a home-grown Neptune anti-ship missile to strike the Konstantin Olshansky, which was being "prepared for use against Ukraine," Pletenchuk said. Pletenchuk said the attack on the Konstantin Olshansky landing ship had taken place on Saturday, the same day as the strikes on...

Russia's three-day presidential election began on Friday, and some Western analysts have said the Kremlin is concerned about low voter turnout. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to win by a large margin in what is considered by many to be a rigged election, his office is reportedly concerned that a smaller-than-expected turnout could lend credence to the argument that the contest is illegitimate. The Moscow Times on Thursday detailed how Russia is attempting to lure citizens to the polling stations with prizes like bags of sugar and concert tickets. In Omsk, a city in Siberia, some young voters...

Five more Republican representatives may join Ken Buck in resigning from the House of Representatives if they continue to be dissatisfied with the party's nominee for the presidential election, Donald Trump. On Tuesday, Buck, a Colorado congressman, suddenly resigned, leaving his seat vacant from next week and shrinking the Republican's slim majority in the House to 218 to 213. Previously, he had announced his intention to retire from Congress at the end of his current term. When asked by Axios whether he was coming under pressure from colleagues over his decision, Buck then hinted that more colleagues might resign, saying:...

Ukrainian forces "destroyed or heavily damaged" one of Russia's prized but scarce A-50 spy planes, according to a Ukrainian official, after Kyiv targeted an aviation plant in southern Russia. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday that its air defenses had intercepted 47 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight, including 41 over the southwestern Rostov region. Vasily Golubev, the governor of the Rostov region, said Kyiv launched a "massive UAV (uncrewed aerial vehicle) attack" on the city of Taganrog, east of the captured Ukrainian city of Mariupol and west of Rostov-on-Don. Russian military bloggers reported that Ukrainian drones struck a plant...

Alabama Senator Katie Britt faced mockery and pushback after delivering the GOP's response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on Thursday. Britt aimed to skewer Biden on his record on immigration, crime and safety issues and the economy. Delivered from her kitchen table, her rebuttal was directed at "my fellow moms" across the country. Speaking about immigration and the crisis at the southern border, Britt claimed that construction of the wall between the U.S. and Mexico has been stopped. During her speech delivered after the State of the Union, Britt said Biden "halted construction of the border...

Russian tank academy building caught on fire on Thursday, March 7th, according to the Defense Ministry's statement and videos circulating online. One video posted by Astra, a Telegram news outlet, was captioned: "A tank academy barracks is on fire in Kazan." The barracks of the Kazan Higher Tank Command School, located in Kazan, Central Russia, which trains soldiers deployed to tank units in Ukraine, was seen engulfed in smoke as fire raged

Tens of Russian soldiers have died close to the front lines in eastern Ukraine after Kyiv attacked a training ground with U.S.-supplied HIMARS, according to a Ukrainian official and media reports. -snip- Around 65 Russian soldiers were killed at the training ground near the village of Trudivske, Bratchuk said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. The Ukrainian military used two missiles in the strike, the BBC's Russian service reported on Tuesday, citing several anonymous sources. Units of Russia's 39th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade were stationed near Trudivske, Bratchuk said. -snip- Bratchuk posted two videos he said showed...

Ukraine's armed forces have shot down six Russian fighter jets in just three days, according to the country's Ministry of Defense. The ministry said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that Ukraine on Monday destroyed two Russian jets—an Su-34 fighter-bomber and an Su-35S fighter jet. "Russian planes continue to fall! This morning, defenders of the sky shot down two russian planes in the eastern direction—a Su-34 fighter-bomber and a Su-35 fighter," it said. "In 3 days, Ukraine destroyed 6 russian jets." The news comes after the Commander of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General...

A Republican winning an Oklahoma special election on Tuesday night in a deep red area by just five points has sparked concerns about the GOP's performance in November's races. Republican Erick Harris won House District 39's special election by 261 votes, beating Democrat Regan Raff into second place (50 percent to 45 percent). The election was triggered following former state Representative Ryan Martinez's resignation last September after pleading guilty to a felony offense of being in physical control of a vehicle while intoxicated. While the result is not likely not an indication of the outcome of the 2024 presidential election...

Russians have been told to grow their own bananas as a shortage looms, days after President Vladimir Putin issued a ban on imports from Ecuador, its largest supplier of the fruit, seemingly over an arms shipment spat. Oleg Knyazkov, the head of the industry expertise center at Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian consumer watchdog, told local news outlet Gazeta that he predicts there will be a nationwide shortage of bananas in a month. He advised Russians to start growing them domestically. His comments come after Putin suspended banana imports from five Ecuadorian companies on February 2, saying the decision was made due...