Free Republic

Business leaders, officials and ordinary people tell me that the economy has stabilized, defying the Western sanctions that were once expected to have a devastating effect. Putin’s regime, they say, looks more stable than at any other time in the past two years. Restaurants in Moscow are packed. “The restaurant market is growing, not only in Moscow, but throughout Russia, facilitated by the development of domestic tourism,” said a top Russian restaurateur. “And the quality of food is also changing for the better.” Real estate prices are rising, and construction is booming. At the beginning of 2022, most global brands...

Former President Donald Trump mocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' debate against California Gov. Gavin Newsom, dubbing it the 'Battle of Loserville,' as DeSantisworld sources say the governor's 2024 campaign is running out of steam. After midnight on Truth Social Friday, Trump shared a dubbed 'Battle of Loserville' video, with moderator Sean Hannity asking DeSantis, 'Have you ever betrayed the greatest president who ever lived, President Donald J. Trump.' Senior campaign aides are feeling gloomy about their chances in the upcoming primary, which kicks off with the Iowa caucuses on January 15. 'People increasingly think it's over,' a person close to...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will soon consider whether to hear appeals brought by people charged with offenses relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol in cases that could have a major impact on the criminal prosecution of former President Donald Trump. The justices are weighing three different appeals brought by defendants Joseph Fischer, Edward Lang and Garret Miller...The three men are seeking to dismiss a charge accusing them of obstructing an official proceeding, namely the certification by Congress of President Joe Biden’s election victory, which was disrupted by a mob of Trump supporters. Trump has...

MIAMI (Gray News) - Police in Florida say a woman has been arrested for stabbing her boyfriend in the eye. According to the Miami Police Department, 44-year-old Sandra Jimenez was taken into custody last Saturday and is facing an aggravated battery charge for the attack. Officers said Jimenez and her boyfriend of eight years were in an ongoing argument about him looking at other women that escalated that evening. Jimenez’s arrest report stated that once the couple got home, she jumped on top of him when he lay down on the couch with two rabies needles that were for...

The pastoral center of Christ the King Cathedral in Loikaw, Myanmar, was bombed on Nov. 26 and occupied by the Burmese military the next day, according to reporting by Agenzia Fides, the news arm of Pontifical Mission Societies. Though no one was killed in the bombing, the pastoral center’s ceiling collapsed and Bishop Celso Ba Shwe and the 80 refugees taking shelter in the church were forced to flee, per the Hong Kong Catholic news service UCA News. Shwe said in a statement published by Agenzia Fides that “the Burmese army tried to take the Christ the King Cathedral complex...

ABUJA, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists on Thursday (Nov. 30) killed seven Christians in attacks on two villages in Plateau state, Nigeria, sources said. The assailants attacked Puka and Dinter villages in Mangu County at about 1 a.m., said Yohanna Markus of Puka. “Fulani herdsmen together with a group of bandits attacked two of our villages, Puka and Dinter, where they killed seven of our Christian villagers,” Markus told Morning Star News in a text message. “Aside from those killed, who include five men and a woman, many other Christians were injured and are currently...

Brother Peter Olarewaju recently recounted the horrific kidnapping and torture he and two other monks from a Benedictine monastery in Nigeria underwent, including the murder of one of the monks. Brother Godwin Eze spent his final hours encouraging his brother monks before he was singled out, shot, and his body thrown in a fast-flowing river. Eze was kidnapped Oct. 17 alongside Olarewaju and Brother Anthony Eze from the Benedictine monastery in Eruku in the Ilorin Diocese, tortured, and later killed. Unable to find the murdered monk’s body after days of searching along the river where it was thrown, the monastery...

In a letter to Jack Smith, the House Oversight Committee said, “The Supreme Court has consistently overturned criminal convictions against public officials and private parties based upon broad theories of prosecution brought under general criminal statutes. Yet you have used just such a theory in your prosecution of President Trump, relying on a general conspiracy statute to allege a conspiracy to defraud the United States. The Supreme Court has held past attempts to prosecute under such a theory exceeded the reach of the statutes on which they were based, including overly expansive definitions of “official acts,” the lawmakers wrote. They...

Earlier this year, Mid Vermont Christian School made headlines when they refused to participate in the state’s transvestite folly in women’s basketball. In standing firm in their faith by refusing to participate in a perverted male’s fetishistic delusions, the Vermont Principals’ Association banned the school from athletic tournaments. At the time, the school set an example of the willingness to sacrifice the little things, that being a high school women’s basketball game, rather than bend the knee to the spirit of the age, something most parents and schools acquiesce rather than fight. The decision of the VPA impacted athletic and...

A great motorcycle battery provides your engine with the power needed to start your bike regardless of the weather conditions. It's the backbone of your bike’s performance. However, not all batteries are the same. You need the right battery that's built for your bike and provides the best performance. Our buying guide offers a rundown of some of the best motorcycle batteries on the market today. Summary List Best Overall: Yuasa High-Performance AGM Best Value: Mighty Max Best Premium: Shorai LFX Best Lead-Acid: Yuasa Yumicron Our Methodology The first thing to figure out before you order a new battery is...

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., needs to be expelled from the U.S. Senate, quipping that he’s more of a "Senator from Egypt, not New Jersey," on Friday on ABC’s "The View." The freshman lawmaker from Pennsylvania made the claim in the context of the recent expulsion of Rep. George Santos, D-N.Y., from the House of Representatives, noting that if Santos deserves to be kicked out of Congress, then Menendez does, too, after being federally charged for participating in a bribery scheme. Co-host Joy Behar prompted Fetterman’s take-down of Menendez by bringing up Santos’ ouster, which happened...

The Elites believed their experiment of transforming America into a “multiracial democracy” had come to fruition with Obama’s installation. It was a lock. Just keep boiling the frog. Trump’s rise scared the elites to their core. MAGA elicited an unacceptable rebirth of White America. That could not stand.

In a revealing interview with Liz Gunn, a New Zealand government data administrator identified as Winston Smith has come forward with startling claims regarding the consequences of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in New Zealand.Winston Smith emphasizes that he is not an anti-vaxxer. He clarifies that he has been vaccinated in the past and has even contributed to building the COVID vaccination system in New Zealand, which gave him access to the data , making it clear that his stance is not born from opposition to vaccines on principle. Winston findings on the mortality rates associated with various COVID-19 vaccine batches...

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby responded to a question on reporting that Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israel it doesn’t have the “credit” for a months-long war to eradicate Hamas by stating that he can’t confirm the reports and “wouldn’t talk about private diplomatic conversations anyway,” but Blinken and President Joe Biden have been clear that “we’re going to continue to support Israel as they fight to defend themselves against a quite clearly genocidal threat posed by Hamas.”

...Brittany Skoland, from Fort Dodge, was attacked by three pit bulls last Friday, leaving her in critical condition. Police were called to the 800 block of South 16th Street in Fort Dodge at around 11:25am, by a neighbor who reported that they could hear someone yelling for help. When an officer arrived on scene, they found a woman being mauled by three dogs. After attempting to scare the dogs away the officer was forced to shoot each dog multiple times, killing all three. ... Neighbor Kerri Johnson told KCCI about the horrifying scene.... 'I stepped out into the driveway just...

On Thursday’s broadcast of One America News’ “Real America,” Seamus Bruner, Director of Research at the Government Accountability Institute and author of Controligarchs: Exposing the Billionaire Class, their Secret Deals, and the Globalist Plot to Dominate Your Life, stated that some officials in Ireland are essentially using the European welfare state to impose a China-style social credit score by threatening to revoke government benefits from people protesting against the government’s migrant policies.

The Red State vs Blue State Debate on FNC Thursday night with Sean Hannity as moderator turned out to be an excellent event. I thought I would put down a few thoughts on the debate between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and California Governor Gavin Newsom. I wrote about the debate on Thursday in anticipation of tuning in that night. I think most of the predictions I made turned out to be true. But, I did miss the mark when I said that Gavin Newsom is a smooth talker. He may be a smooth talker in television interviews and political speeches...

A boatful of illegal migrants invaded the elite playground of Malibu, California, where the average home sells for a jaw-dropping price of $3.4 million. ABC7.com reported the landing, which delivered roughly 25 illegal migrants into California: MALIBU, Calif. (KABC) — Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are investigating a panga boat that sunk off the Malibu coast on Wednesday. The U.S. Coast Guard got a call around 7:30 a.m. regarding the 25-foot-long vessel, which is often a type of boat used by human and drug smugglers. Authorities found a debris field with life jackets and gas cans, but...

To use Antony Blinken’s phrase, credit the war to Hamas — again. Over the previous 24 hours, the terrorist government of Gaza took credit for a murderous attack at a Jerusalem bus stop that killed three people, failed to provide a list of hostages to release today, and then fired “several” rockets back into Israel.Having received the message, Israel returned to full-scale war operations earlier today:The Israel Defense Forces resumed its military offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday after a week-long truce as the Hamas terror group broke the ceasefire, firing rockets into Israel and failing to provide a...

The bottom line is this: the modern home of antisemitism is the Democrat Party.That’s not to say that being a Democrat makes you an antisemite. Hardly. 7 in 10 Jews are Democrats, and many non-Jewish Democrats are anything but antisemites.But let’s face facts: the home of antisemites in America is the Democrat Party. While 80% of Republicans and nearly 70% of Independents support Israel, only 45% of Democrats do.Americans' sympathies overall lie with Israel in this conflict, but Democrats are splitBy a 61%-30% margin, respondents said their sympathies lie more with Israelis than Palestinians, but that's driven by Republicans (79%)...