Free Republic

U.S. and Chinese officials may be able to settle many of their differences to reach a trade deal and avert punishing tariffs, but they remain far apart on one issue: the U.S. demand that China stop purchasing oil from Iran and Russia. "China will always ensure its energy supply in ways that serve our national interests," China's Foreign Ministry posted on X on Wednesday following two days of trade negotiations in Stockholm, responding to the U.S. threat of a 100% tariff. "Coercion and pressuring will not achieve anything. China will firmly defend its sovereignty, security and development interests," the ministry...

Your socks pick up microbes from every surface you step foot on. (Photo by K-FK on Shutterstock) ================================================================= Your feet are microbial hotspots. The area between your toes is packed with sweat glands, and when we wrap our feet in socks and shoes, we trap that moisture in a warm, humid cocoon that’s ideal for microbial growth. In fact, your feet may be home to a miniature rain forest of bacteria and fungi, with anywhere from 100 to 10 million microbial cells per square centimeter of skin surface. Not only do feet host a huge variety of microorganisms – up...

China’s leadership, including Xi Jinping, is now openly admitting to a crisis of industrial “overcapacity,” a problem they have termed “involution.” This counterproductive and “disorderly competition” is causing destructive price wars, particularly in the massive auto industry. While Beijing is attempting to use dictatorial measures, such as price controls, to address the issue, experts argue that this approach will fail.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vowed to “fight fire with fire” amid Republican efforts to enact redistricting in Texas on

Anxiety-inducing audio captured a United Airlines pilot calling “Mayday” when one of its engines failed moments after taking off for a trans-Atlantic flight. “Failure, engine failure, left engine,” the pilots of United Flight 108 radioed air traffic controllers as it departed from Washington Dulles International Airport on July 25. “Declaring an emergency. Mayday, mayday, mayday,” the pilot added. Flight 108 departed from the DC airport just before 6 p.m. that Friday to begin a nearly eight-hour flight across the ocean to Munich, Germany. But mere moments after becoming airborne, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner’s engine cut out as it reached about...

Residents of Boston's ritziest and best-known neighborhood are fuming at the city's Democratic mayor - blaming her policies for rampant open-air drug use in the upscale area. Beacon Hill, known for its preserved early 19th century brownstones and cobblestone roads famously saved from the wrecking ball, is now facing a new crisis: an alarming uptick in drug-related incidents.Infuriated locals have laid blame squarely with Mayor Michelle Wu, who launched an initiative to hand out free crack pipes, syringes, and other drug paraphernalia to addicts on the streets in 2022. While Wu's administration has pitched this controversial policy as 'harm reduction,'...

This is the problem. Whitaker’s arrogance thinks that the US is so powerful that it can crush Russia without ever firing a shot and calling Putin “sick and twisted” when we started this war, and there were TWO peace deals which the WEST broke – not Russia. I have NEVER in my entire life witnessed such INCOMPETENT diplomacy. The Neocons have been instructing Trump to be strong and yield nothing to Putin, and he will fold. Peace is easy. Just HONOR the Minsk Agreement. But this is a war to destroy Russia, and Trump is a fool who is being...

‘John Brennan and James Clapper are known liars and are digging themselves into an even deeper hole,’ White House spokesman Davis Ingle told The Federalist.There is a lot of talk about whether former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper are protected by a statute of limitations in their roles in fabricating the Russia hoax.But, as current CIA director John Ratcliffe pointed out, “The statute of limitations doesn’t start to run until the last act in the furtherance of that conspiracy,” and the two Russia hoaxers just restarted the clock on...

More than 150 mourners gathered Saturday to remember the mother and her 11-year-old daughter tragically killed in a head-on crash with an allegedly drunk illegal immigrant driver. Sobbing and weeping relatives and friends — many of them, donning shirts with images of Maria Pleitez and little Dayanara Cortes’ beaming faces — lined up outside the Lakewood Funeral Home in Howell to pay their respects at a somber wake. ---snip--- The Mexican immigrant, who was in the US illegally, had been arrested twice this spring for DUI in Red Bank, NJ — something Pleitez’s niece bemoaned at the wake. Maria del...

Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX) suffered a meltdown after the Texas GOP unveiled a new congressional map that leaves her quite literally out of bounds. The far-left loudmouth, known for her unhinged outbursts, freaked out after Texas State Rep. Todd Hunter (R) released a proposed redistricting map that would reshape the political battlefield in favor of conservatives. The proposed map includes the elimination of five Democrat districts across Austin, Dallas, Houston, and South Texas. Crockett, who now doesn’t even reside in the district she currently represents, was livid. “I currently don’t live in the [Congressional District] 30 that they created…that’s...

TWO Russian TikTokers were forced to issue a grovelling apology after filming in front of a flaming Russian plant following a Ukrainian strike. Social media influencers Dasha Vladimirovna 21, and Karina Evgenyevna, 19, were filmed rapping in front of the Rosneft-Kubannefteprodukt oil depot in Sochi. The energy plant was on fire after being hit by a massive Ukrainian drone attack, which is understood to have infuriated Moscow. But the TikTok stars were seen glorying in the Ukrainian strike, which the Russian air defences failed to prevent. The video was posted to a track called Crimson Dawn by singer Endshpil, a...

A suspect is being sought after three juveniles were shot and wounded and another was shot and killed at 5:15 p.m. Sunday afternoon in Augusta, Georgia. WRDW noted that the deceased juvenile was a 14-year-old. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office pointed out that the shooting occurred in an Advanced Auto Parts parking lot at “the corner of Meadowbrook Drive and Deans Bridge Road.” Regarding the three wounded juveniles, one is in critical condition and two are stable. WJBF reported that “several” teenage suspects have already been arrested in connection with the incident and police are now seeking 18-year-old Nametrius McClam

*** A coalition of 20 attorneys general, led by New York AG Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the lawsuit Monday, arguing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s demand that states turn over personal information about SNAP recipients dating back five years, violates privacy laws. SNAP is a federally-funded, state-administered program that provides billions of dollars in food benefits to tens of millions of low-income individuals and families in the United States. The new USDA demands, released last week, require states to provide a list of individuals who have applied or are currently receiving SNAP benefits, in...

A total of eight people were shot after a party in downtown Los Angeles overnight, and police say two of them are dead. The shooting took place around 1 a.m. Monday in the area of East 14th Place and Paloma Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The address provided by authorities is located in an industrial zone just north of the 10 Freeway. LAPD officers had previously been in the area around 11 p.m. Sunday to shut a party down, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether the gathering of people early Monday was connected to the earlier party...

The US plans to impose tariffs of 39% on Swiss imports as of August 7, the White House said on the night of Thursday-Friday – a rate even higher than the 31% announced by Trump in April. The tariff hike also deviates “significantly” from the draft of a joint declaration of intent which had been the result of intensive discussions between both sides in recent months, according to the Swiss government, which approved the draft on July 4. As such, a spokesman for the finance ministry spoke on Friday of “great regret” that the US intends to impose steep unilateral...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is threatening felony charges and replacement of Texas state Democrats as they push to block a vote for a Trump-backed congressional map. House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) joins Ana Cabrera, slamming Republican leaders in Texas and the Trump administration for the gerrymandered map.

A 25% tariff on shrimp from India is shaking up the seafood industry and drawing praise from Texas shrimpers and one Gulf Coast congressman. “Our domestic shrimpers, including those in my district, have struggled to compete against the unprecedented amount of foreign shrimp that has been imported into our country for far too long,” said U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX). “By imposing a 25% tariff on imports from India, President Trump is demonstrating that the United States of America won’t be taken advantage of … I applaud President Trump’s decisive action that puts American shrimpers first.” The White House announced...

Surveillance video released of a immigrant kidnapping a girl at a shopping mall in Fairfax, Virginia In another alarming incident that raises serious questions about public safety and immigration control in the United States, surveillance footage from a shopping mall in Fairfax, Virginia, captured the exact moment when a man, identified as Andrés Casares Jordán —a suspected inmigrant— abducted a young girl in broad daylight. The shocking video shows the child walking out alone from the play area while her father was distracted with another child. Seconds later, the suspect appears, watches her, follows her, and effortlessly picks her up...

Is Jerry Jones a great NFL owner? Maybe: It kinda depends on your criteria. If you think the fundamental job of an NFL owner is generating wealth, then Jones is one of the most stunningly successful owners in the history of sports. He bought the Cowboys in 1989 for $140 million, and today his franchise is worth about $11 billion. Not too shabby of an ROI. More importantly, his aggressive approach to branding, merchandising, and marketing revolutionized the league. At first, the NFL threw a yellow hanky in the air, serving him with a $300 million lawsuit for carving independent...

Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS), opens new tab has bought 7 million barrels of crude from the United States, Canada and the Middle East, four trade sources said on Monday, as U.S. President Donald Trump ramped up his criticism of the country over its purchases of Russian oil. India is the biggest buyer of seaborne crude from Russia, which is under Western-led sanctions over its war in Ukraine. Its main refiners paused buying Russian oil last week as discounts to other suppliers narrowed after Trump threatened hefty tariffs on imports from countries that make any such purchases, Reuters reported last week....