Free Republic

IT is ChINA’S gravest economic test since the most far-reaching of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms began in the 1990s. Last year the country achieved growth of 5%, but the pillars of its decades-long miracle are wobbling. Its famously industrious workforce is shrinking, history’s wildest property boom has turned to bust and the global system of free trade that China used to get richer is disintegrating. As our reporting explains, President Xi Jinping’s response is to double down on an audacious plan to remake China’s economy. Blending techno-utopianism, central planning and an obsession with security, this sets out China’s ambition to dominate...

An increased serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) is independently associated with a lower risk for bowel resection with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study. Lintao Dan and colleagues examined the association between serum vitamin D levels and the risk for bowel resection in individuals with IBD. The analysis included 5,474 individuals with IBD followed for a mean 13.1 years. The researchers found that compared with participants with vitamin D deficiency, nondeficient participants showed a significantly reduced bowel resection risk in IBD (hazard ratio [HR], 0.72), Crohn disease (CD; HR, 0.74), and ulcerative colitis (UC; HR, 0.73). For...

High levels of glucose and triglycerides are associated with future risk for depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders, according to a study. Charilaos Chourpiliadis, M.D. and colleagues conducted a population-based cohort study with longitudinal data collection involving 211,200 participants from the Apolipoprotein-Related Mortality Risk cohort who underwent occupational health screening to examine whether biomarkers of carbohydrate, lipid, and apolipoprotein metabolism are associated with the risk for depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders. The researchers found that 16,256 individuals were diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or stress-related disorders during a mean follow-up of 21.0 years. High levels of glucose and triglycerides were associated with...

Here we go. Palm Beach County State Attorney David Aronberg says Jack Smith is close to using a ‘nuclear button’ to remove Judge Aileen Cannon from the Trump classified documents case over her jury instruction order. “He is close to pushing the nuclear button,” said Palm Beach County State Attorney David Aronberg, according to NBC News. “It is a high burden to reach, and it is rarely done, but her proposed jury instructions may have pushed him to the breaking point.” Last month Judge Aileen Cannon issued a jury instruction order in Jack Smith’s classified documents case and the leftist...

The Philippines announcing joint military maneuvers with the US, Australia and Japan tomorrow... "Some have been sent naked images, and two MP's are reported to have responded by sending images of themselves"...a few of the details...emerging 'sexting' scandal...in the UK... "Stay away so you won't get hurt" The message from Iran to the US ahead of...attacks on Israeli targets... ...messaging from Joe Biden today...Israel is doing what he wants... ...Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia calling for sanctions on Israel... In the African nation of Zimbabwe a new "structured currency" launched amidst rampant inflation... The Dutch naval support ship "Karel Doorman"...

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed Friday to appoint a special counsel to review cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot against rival Donald Trump and his supporters if Kennedy wins the Oval Office — arguing one can oppose the former president but still be “disturbed by the weaponization of government against him.”“As President, I will appoint a special counsel — an individual respected by all sides — to investigate whether prosecutorial discretion was abused for political ends in this case, and I will right any wrongs that we discover. Without the impartial rule of law,...

President Biden vowed on Friday that the federal government would cover the cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore – and that the work would be done by union labor, potentially setting up a funding fight with the conservative wing of the House of Representatives. Biden has promised from the outset that the federal government would pay for the bridge to be rebuilt. His comments on Friday came after the House Freedom Caucus — the conservative wing of the House of Representatives — released a series of conditions for federal funding for the bridge. The conditions include...

She’s the best they can find? The village of Dolton, Illinois, is considering hiring former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to investigate its own scandal-ridden leader, “dictator” Tiffany Henyard, as residents demand her resignation. Lightfoot, who lost her reelection bid in a landslide last year, would be tasked with probing numerous allegations against the self-proclaimed “Super Mayor” — including misusing taxpayer funds for lavish trips and sexual assault accusations, Fox 32 reported.

Bandages from brands such as Band-Aid and Curad have been found to contain dangerous levels of toxic “forever chemicals,” allowing direct contact with the bloodstream through open wounds, according to a new report. Of the 40 bandages from 18 different brands tested by environmental health and consumer watchdog Mamavation and Environmental Health News, 26 had detectable levels of organic fluorine, an indicator of harmful “forever chemicals,” also known as PFAS.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was booed by members of the audience of The View after expressing regret for his endorsement of President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Boos were heard on Friday morning after the airing of a short clip from a recent Fox News interview with the actor and professional wrestling star, who is set to return to the ring for the first time in eight years at this weekend's WWE WrestleMania event. Johnson said that he was not "happy with the state of America" in the clip and revealed that he would not be endorsing Biden...

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) clinched the first spot on the ballot for her Colorado GOP primary after securing the highest percentage of delegate support on Friday at the district assembly. Boebert, who is running for the full two-year term in former Republican Rep. Ken Buck’s eastern Colorado district, received 41 percent support from the 527 delegates gathered at the assembly, according to the Colorado Sun. That allows her name to be placed first on the GOP ballot in June.

President Biden penned letters Friday to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, urging them to convince Hamas to release some of the terror group’s most vulnerable hostages that remain in captivity in Gaza. Biden, 81, also asked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Than to ensure that Hamas abides by the terms of a deal that would see sick, wounded, elderly, and young female hostages released in exchange for a halt to Israel’s military operations in the region, according to a senior administration official. The official added that national security adviser Jake Sullivan...

A federal judge on Friday ripped DOJ prosecutors for ignoring Hunter Biden-related subpoenas while pointing out that Trump’s top advisor is in prison for defying a subpoena issued by House members. In September former Trump advisor Dr. Peter Navarro, 74, was convicted of criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena in Liz Cheney’s January 6 investigation. Navarro did not comply with the subpoena because he said Trump told him to assert executive privilege. Hunter Biden blatantly defied a congressional subpoena and nothing happened to him. He is a free man while Navarro sits in prison. US...

A group of House Democrats on Friday unveiled legislation that would rename a Florida federal prison after former President Donald Trump. The bill seeking to redesignate the Miami Federal Correctional Institution as the Donald J. Trump Federal Correctional Institution was introduced in response to a Republican-backed measure that called for Dulles International Airport in Virginia to be renamed after the 45th president. “When our Republican colleagues introduced their bill to rename Dulles after Donald Trump, I said the more fitting option would be to rename a federal prison,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), one of the three Democrats sponsoring the legislation,...

Trillions of cicadas will emerge across several U.S. states this spring in an event one expert dubbed "cicada-geddon." Not only are more cicadas than usual expected this year, but some of them will be "zombie cicadas" that are infected by a sexually transmitted fungus that makes them hyper-sexual. Periodical cicadas spend most of their lives underground and only emerge after 13 or 17 years. This year, two broods of cicadas will emerge: Brood XIX, which comes out every 13 years, will emerge in the Georgia and Southeast, and Brood XIII, which emerges every 17 years, will appear in Illinois. With...

A recent poll finds that the issue of illegal immigration has become a top election issue in Colorado as the state drowns in tens of millions spent on freebies for Joe Biden’s illegal border crossers. A statewide poll of Colorado voters shows that Joe Biden’s border crisis is weighing heavily on the minds of Coloradans. The poll, conducted by the Colorado Polling Institute, quizzed 632 likely voters in the Centennial State on what they feel are the most important issues of the 2024 election, the Denver Gazette reported.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev launched a scathing verbal attack against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Thursday, calling for a bounty on any Western troops that enter Ukraine. "There can only be one rule for these overseas lice, who, unlike the unfortunate Ukrainians, were not forced to go to war: no prisoners taken!" Medvedev, who's now the deputy chair of Russia's Security Council, wrote in a post on X. "And for each NATO fighter killed, blown-up, or burned, there must be a maximum reward," he added." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> This Medvedev comment sounds like a comment from a demented, drugged, serial...

Kamala Harris' heavily tattooed stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, is selling her knitted art pieces for more than $5,000 each at her exhibition in a New York City cannabis store. Emhoff, 24, debuted her textile exhibition this week at Gotham NYC, a 'woman-owned legal cannabis concept store' on the city's Lower East Side. The vice president's daughter is asking $5,500 for a textile of her self-portrait, featuring her bright red nose and freckles on her forehead. Another piece, featuring two light-blue Gucci hair clips with a backdrop of red, comes with an eye-watering $4,500 price tag. 'This new art form kind of...

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - An earthquake on the eastern coast of the United States on Friday and a total solar eclipse on April 8 represent signals from God for the country to repent, US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said on Friday. “God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come,” Greene said in a statement via social media platform X. Greene said that she prays the US listens to such signals. Earlier on Friday, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake hit occurred near New York City. The geological event resulted in ground...

The solar eclipse's path of totality could shift on Monday - and now experts are urging people to travel to different spots to see the celestial event.Amateur astronomer John Irwin released a new map of the 115-mile path from Maine through Texas which has revealed its changed by roughly 2,000 feet.The updated calculation has suggested that people in places like Rome, New York, Effingham, Illinois, and some areas of Fort Worth, Texas will no longer be able to have a perfect view of the eclipse. Roughly 34 million people are expected to view the eclipse, but hundreds of thousands of...