Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday ordering the payment of 5 million rubles to the families of Russia’s National Guard who died in Ukraine and Syria.

TOKYO -- China and India have increased Russian oil purchases as prices decline due to Western import bans, the latest data shows, creating a loophole that allows Moscow to secure export revenue. China imported 800,000 barrels of Russian petroleum daily by sea last month, according to data from Refinitiv, a figure that does not include oil delivered via pipelines. The volume has soared by more than 40% from January. The number indicates that China is deliberately going after cheap Russian crude. India's marine imports of Russia's oil also spiked from zero in January to nearly 700,000 barrels a day in...

Countries around the world are facing recession as the Ukraine war hits economies already rocked by the Covid pandemic, the World Bank has warned. Less developed countries in Europe and east Asia face a "major recession", it said. The risk of high inflation and low growth - so-called "stagflation" - is also higher, World Bank President David Malpass said. Energy and food bills have been rising around the world. "The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply-chain disruptions, and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid," Mr Malpass said. He also...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — US Senator John Thune has also secured the Republican Primary spot for US Senator on the November ballot in the general election. The Associated Press called the race just about an hour after results came in. Thune held off Bruce Whalen and Mark Mowry for the Republican spot.

TORONTO—An embarrassing crime wave has taken Toronto by storm as criminals, emboldened by Canada's ban on handguns, have begun holding up businesses armed with nothing but finger guns. Tim Hortons, a popular Canadian cafe, is reportedly among the hardest hit. Authorities confirm that the cashiers of Tim Hortons are routinely held at finger-point and forced to empty hundreds of dollars into cartoonish money bags. By the time police arrive on the scene the robbers are long gone. "It's absolutely terrible," said Constable Evans. "Since these thieves are using finger guns there's no chance of them leaving additional evidence at the...

The biggest reshuffle of oil trade flows since the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s is underway—and things may never return to normal. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions on Russian oil exports are changing global oil trade routes. Over the past nearly five decades, oil flowed more or less freely from any supplier to any customer in the world, except for sanctions on Iran and Venezuela in recent years. This free energy trade is now over, after the Russian aggression and the Western sanctions that followed, plus Europe’s irreversible decision to cut off its dependence on Russian...

I needed to make an appointment for a vision exam to get some new glasses. My ophthalmologist now refuses to see me because I have refused to take the clot shot. Another one similarly would not see me for the same reason. I told both of them that I reject THEM for insisting on a procedure which has been shown to have terrible side effects and which does not keep you from catching COVID. Witness the many "break-through" cases in the news. Finally found another one who will see me. Have any fellow FReepers experienced similar exclusions from doctors?

Taxpayer-funded transgender organizations want society to “decolonize the gender binary,” force white people to pay reparations to “gender-nonconforming people” and “affirm mustache[s] and big *ick[s]” as “authentic expression of womanhood,” in the latest round of woke lunacy to defy basic biology. “Last year, a group of Washington State gender-identity nonprofits—all of which work with children and receive public funding—hosted a presentation series called ‘Decolonizing Gender,’ claiming that “the process of creating men and women actually is the process of genocide,” Rufo tweeted. One of the participants was Ganesha Gold Buffalo, a “transgender sex worker,” who said that colonialism was the...

An unidentified object was picked up on camera during this weekend's celebrations of the platinum jubilee. As the UK united in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's 70 years on the throne, eagle-eyed viewers of the jubilee celebrations spotted something unusual in the TV coverage of the event. The anomalous sighting occurred following a flypast of several historic aircraft, just as the Red Arrows came into view leaving a trail of red, white and blue smoke behind them. Televised footage shows a white object, which first appears to the right of the jets, moving at considerable speed across the smoke towards...

Top lithium producer Albemarle Corp (ALB.N) may have to shut its Langelsheim plant in Germany if the metal used in electric vehicle batteries is declared a hazardous material by the European Union, its finance chief told Reuters. Lithium's pivotal role in electric vehicles makes it an important commodity in meeting global targets to cut carbon emissions, and it was added to the EU's list of critical raw materials in 2020.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has introduced a plan to slash federal spending and balance the budget within five years; the Kentucky Senator’s bill includes trillions in budget cuts —he says we can’t ignore the problem any longer. “Five years ago, we could balance our budget with a freeze in spending. Not cut anything. Since then, our debt has skyrocketed to $30 trillion with $2 trillion just from this past year,” Paul said in a statement. “We cannot keep ignoring this problem at the expense of taxpayers, and my budget will put our nation on track to solve this crisis that...

There were seven major farm fires in the United States over a recent 10-day period. In the big picture, they were for the most part relatively small-scale events. But with reports of so many fires at food production facilities, you can’t help but notice. Coincidence? It could be. But it does get your attention. A barn in Hanover Township, Ohio, burned Monday. Officials initially were concerned that a person was in the burning structure but found no people or animals inside, according to the Butler County Journal-News. Saturday was a North Smithfield, Rhode Island, horse farm fire. Thankfully, none of...

In late February, Russian propaganda attempted to instill terror into Ukrainians by claiming that up to 70,000 Chechen fighters were headed to Ukraine to support Russian troops. With a population of about 1.2 million, Chechnya is a Russian republic in Eastern Europe’s volatile North Caucasus region, which saw the rise of jihadist groups in the 1990s. The region’s predominant religion is Islam, which is strictly enforced by government authorities. Chechnya is run by a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who makes sure it remains firmly in the Kremlin’s orbit. The legend of Chechen warriors stretches back nearly 200...

Conservative Mark Ronchetti has won the New Mexico gubernatorial Republican primary, sweeping with more than 60 percent of the vote and votes still rolling in. On Tuesday, Ronchetti won the gubernatorial primary, ensuring he will face off against New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) in the November midterm elections.

A recent study published by Oregon State University discovered that COVID-19 infected individuals have a higher chance of developing psychiatric disorders within about four months of contracting the virus. For the study, published in World Psychiatry on May 7, researchers used data from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C). They matched 46,610 patients infected with COVID-19, which can trigger a respiratory tract infection (RTI), with control patients diagnosed with a different RTI. This allowed researchers to specifically look into how COVID-19 affected the mental health of infected individuals. No patients with any history of mental illness prior to 21 days...

The SDNY case against We Build the Wall has ended in a hung jury. The jury could not agree on the SDNY’s garbage case. Last week, the judge doxed one of the jurors in the We Build the Wall case in New York. Today, the case ended in a hung jury. The New York Daily News reported moments ago: A Manhattan judge ruled a mistrial Tuesday in the case of a Steve Bannon associate charged with siphoning donations to the “We Build the Wall” charity — after a deadlocked jury said it couldn’t overcome its ideological differences. The mistrial comes...

Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) stalwart commitment to the January 6 committee has earned her praise from none other than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Speaking with reporter Jacqueline Alemany on Wednesday, Pelosi said that Cheney has performed “excellently” as vice-chair on the January 6 committee.

MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace said Tuesday on her show “Deadline” that it seems “obvious” domestic violent extremists were a part of the right’s voting coalition. NBC News national security contributor and former FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi said, “There is another takeaway from today’s domestic terrorism hearing, and that is, I think the far-right position on domestic terrorism and any steps toward mitigating the threat really was encapsulated by Senator Ted Cruz.”

The World Bank's executive board approved $1.49 billion of additional financing for Ukraine on Tuesday to help pay wages for government and social workers, expanding the bank's total pledged support to over $4 billion. The World Bank said in a statement that the latest funding is supported by financing guarantees from Britain, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Latvia. The project is also being supported by parallel financing from Italy and contributions from a new Multi-Donor Trust Fund. Ukraine has said that it needs at least $5 billion per month in the near term to keep its government operating in the face...

How is everyone enjoying our preview of the Green New Deal? As American families wake up every day to record gas prices, President Joe Biden continues to hit new lows in his approval rating. The situation has grown so dire that Ron Klain, the embattled White House chief of staff, checks the price at the pump first thing every morning. For nearly a month, the United States has “welcomed” a new high gas price...every single day. This streak of failure so large, I actually thought it had to be some kind of record. So, when I reached out to AAA...