Free Republic

A SECRETIVE colonel Vadim Zimin who carried the Russian president’s nuclear codes has been found shot at his home, it was reported. After leaving his position as an officer in the security services, the mysterious Vadim Zimin, who is 53 years old, is being investigated for allegedly accepting bribes in his new job in the customs service. Zimin is a former colonel from the Federal Security Service. During his time in the FSS, he was in charge of the briefcase that carries the Russian nuclear controls and that is always carried by the head of the Kremlin.

“‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened’” (Matthew 7:7–8). The promises in these verses are limited only to believers who meet certain qualifications. First, “everyone” refers to those who belong to the Father. Those who are not God’s children can’t come to Him as their Father. Second, the one who claims this promise must be living in obedience to his Father. “Whatever we ask we receive from...

God always desires to pour out more of his glory on his people. He longs to do for us “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20, NKJV).This is why he wants a people who have a ravenous appetite for more of him. He wants to fill them with his awesome presence, beyond anything they’ve experienced in their lifetime. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). To obtain this abundant life, though, we must abound more and more in pleasing the Lord. Paul wrote,...

After the horrifying and tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, you would think lawmakers would be doing everything in their power to make schools safer. But, as evidenced by the House’s recently passed gun-reform package, Democrats are misdiagnosing the issue yet again. There is, understandably, a sentiment among Americans that those in power must do something—anything—to prevent tragedies like Uvalde from occurring in the future. The House’s reform package is certainly an example of politicians “doing something.” But the legislation would blatantly violate Americans’ Second Amendment rights, and represents another dubious attempt to combat gun violence with...

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NEW YORK -- A jury has found that Richard Rojas is not responsible for plowing his car through a Times Square crowd in 2017, killing an 18-year-old tourist and injuring several others, due to mental illness. Deliberations began on Tuesday. Rojas, 31, faced numerous charges in the case, including murder. Alyssa Elsman, 18, was killed and 22 others were hurt in the 2017 crash. The defense said Rojas has a history of mental illness. He pleaded not guilty. The decision means Rojas qualifies for being committed instead of being sentenced to prison. Rojas was ordered to held while he is...

A member of the Ukrainian army and a policeman standing near body bags exhumed from a mass grave where civilians were buried in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on April 13, 2022. FADEL SENNA / AFP At least 1000 bodies of civilians discovered in the area around Bucha - with new discoveries ongoing Almost three months after Russian soldiers withdrew from towns and villages neighboring Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, bodies of local citizens are still being discovered, The Guardian reported. At least 1000 bodies of civilians have been found in the area around Bucha since the Russian retreat, with...

Fears of a growing totalitarian tendency in the United States have swelled during 2020–2022. But how close are we really to a totalitarian state? How have such regimes come about historically and what are the warning signs? This article will answer these questions by examining totalitarian regimes in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries and the pattern by which they came to power. Stage 1: Discontent and Rumblings Every new order rises on the ruins of the old. Those who would establish a new regime must tap into or generate dissatisfaction with the status quo. However much those desiring a reset...

A long £6m investigation into multiple police failings during the Rotherham grooming scandal “lets down victims and survivors” by failing to identify any individual accountability, a police and crime commissioner has said. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on Wednesday published what it described as its overarching report from Operation Linden, the name given to a series of investigations it carried out into how South Yorkshire police responded to allegations of child sexual abuse and exploitation between 1997 and 2013. It is estimated that more than 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham across the 16-year time span.The report...

Sri Lanka’s prime minister is increasing efforts to revive the country’s “completely collapsed” economy amid a lack of foreign exchange reserves and severe shortages of essential items. “We are now facing a far more serious situation beyond the mere shortages of fuel, gas, electricity, and food. Our economy has faced a complete collapse,” Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament on June 22. “It is no easy task to revive a country with a completely collapsed economy, especially one that is dangerously low on foreign reserves,” he said. Sri Lanka will hold a credit aid conference with India, China, and Japan...

While Ferguson’s COVID vaccination status is unknown (as it should be), many people around the world are questioning the stunning number of healthy teens and young adult athletes who received the COVID jab and later died unexpectedly.

MOSCOW, June 22 (Reuters) - A top Russian official warned the West on Wednesday to stop talking about triggering NATO's "Article 5" mutual defence clause in a standoff between Lithuania and Russia. Moscow has promised practical retaliation that will affect Lithuania's population after the Baltic state blocked the transit of goods subject to EU sanctions from Russia to its Baltic exclave. "I would like to warn Europeans against dangerous rhetorical games on the topic of conflict," the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday.

Ohio's food banks are struggling to keep shelves stocked amid rising costs and supply-chain disruptions. But those same issues are pushing even more people to turn to them for help. Why it matters: More than 1.5 million Ohioans — one in eight of our neighbors — go hungry, according to Feeding America. The Ohio Association of Foodbanks says that some banks have been forced into rationing. State of play: The association's leaders are now urging lawmakers to spend federal pandemic relief funds or other cash reserves to address the critical need. Ohio has nearly $2 billion in remaining American Rescue...

According to two sources, around the time of Russia's late February invasion of Ukraine, a cyber unit of Russia's GRU military intelligence service again conducted targeting-reconnaissance operations against a major U.S. liquefied natural gas exporter, Freeport LNG. U.S. LNG exports have long been a priority concern for Russia, viewed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a means for the United States to undercut Russia's domination of the European gas market. On June 8, Freeport LNG suffered an explosion at its liquefaction plant and export terminal on Texas's Quintana Island. The damage suffered means the facility is not expected to resume...

The cause of the imminent cuts is multiplying humanitarian needs around the world and insufficient funding his has already forced the agency to make significant reductions in daily meals for vulnerable people in the Sahel and elsewhere. “As global hunger soars way beyond the resources available to feed all the families who desperately need WFP’s help, we are being forced to make the heartbreaking decision to cut food rations for refugees who rely on us for their survival,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley. “Without urgent new funds to support refugees - one of the world’s most vulnerable and forgotten...

The monthly mortgage payment on a typical home in the Bay Area jumped more than 50% from a year ago, soaring to over $9,000 in San Jose and above $8,000 in San Francisco, according to a report from Zillow. The online real estate marketplace reported Tuesday that housing affordability across the nation is at a 15-year low, adding that buying a typical U.S. home at the current average mortgage rate of 5.78% would mean monthly payments of $2,127, 51% higher than a year ago. As is customary, that number quadruples in the Bay Area's two largest cities. Here are some...

The inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in mid- to later life is linked to a near doubling in the risk of death from any cause within the next 10 years, finds research. To improve standardization of the test, participants were asked to place the front of the free foot on the back of the opposite lower leg, while keeping their arms by their sides and their gaze fixed straight ahead. Up to three attempts on either foot were permitted. In all, around 1 in 5 (20.5%; 348) participants failed to pass the test. The inability to...

Major shakeups are underway in the Russian command structure in Ukraine, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War Experts found that top officials may be blamed for not fully capturing Ukraine and the Kremlin may replace those officers with new faces Russia has suffered significant losses since the invasion of Ukraine began almost four months ago, including a dozen high ranking generals The Kremlin recently replaced the commander of the Russian Airborne forces and could be in the process of a major shakeup of their current command structure in Ukraine, according to a new report...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign a bill to grant places of worship the right to keep doors open during a state of emergency. Florida bill SB 254, which passed the Senate in January, would officially designate religious services as being essential and therefore allow houses of worship, including churches, to remain open and host public gatherings in the event of a public emergency or disaster. The governor received the bill last Friday and has until June 30 to act on it. “An emergency order authorized by this part may not directly or indirectly prohibit religious services or...