Free Republic

Vladimir Putin’s wartime economy has been resilient in the face of Western sanctions triggered by his invasion of Ukraine, but it’s hitting a wall and U.S. pressure on the energy sector could cause a recession, according to experts. Massive defense spending has propped up growth, kept factories humming, and pushed unemployment lower, while Moscow has relied on allies like China for goods no longer available from the West. “But the country has exhausted its reserves of manufacturing capacity and manpower,” Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and former Russian central bank advisor, wrote in Foreign Affairs...

Two serious incidents that occurred last Saturday in Gush Etzion have sparked anger among local residents, who accuse IDF forces of unjustly detaining Jewish shepherds while failing to act against violent Arab rioters. In both cases, shepherds grazing their flocks were either detained or arrested by IDF soldiers, while-according to the residents-the Arab assailants who attacked them were not stopped. The first incident took place during the morning hours near Mikneh Avraham Hill, above Ma'ale Amos. Residents reported that a shepherd grazing his flock was ordered by soldiers to leave the area. When he asked to understand the reason, they...

Much is being written about how leftism is really a religion since its adherents cling to their dogma in spite of the obvious contradictions constantly being presented by the real world. This was really brought to mind in the chapter about the Communist Second International (1889) in Sean McMeekin’s To Overthrow the World. At that time, Eduard Bernstein, who had been Karl Marx’s protégé while they both lived in exile in London, had by the mid-1890s broken from the pack. Bernstein eventually saw through the web of deception that was Marxism. Rather than resulting from the proposed seizure and authoritarian...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(10/26/25)[Prayer]Water, Rivers, and Streams in the BibleJob 36:27-3327 “He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams[a]; 28 the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. 29 Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion? 30 See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea. 31 This is the way he governs[b] the nations and provides food in abundance. 32 He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark....

The Chester County District Attorney said the violence may have included multiple shooters. One person alleged to have a gun was in custody, the D.A. said. One person is dead and at least six others were wounded in a shooting amid homecoming festivities Saturday night at Lincoln University, one of the nation's first historically Black colleges, authorities said. One person alleged to have a gun has been taken into custody, Chester County District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe said during an overnight news conference on campus. He said it was possible someone else may have opened fire as well, but investigators...

The Talk ShowsOct 26th, 2025 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows:FACE THE NATION (CBS): Margaret Brennan anchors: House Minority Leader Hakeem “Sombrero” Jeffries; Sen. Linda Graham (R-S.C.); Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.). FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Anchor Shannon Bream: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.); Sen. Tim (co) Kaine (D-Va.). Foreign policy panel: Michael Allen, executive editor of Axios and the former chief political reporter for Politico (Leftist) and Michael Pillsbury, Senior Advisor for the President’s Office at The Heritage Foundation (RINO). Panel Horace Cooper, Ben Ferguson, former Obama spokesperson Marie Harf and Annmarie Hordern.MEET THE dePRESS (NBC):...

Of course there's an alien spacecraft on its way. How could there not be after this past week? To me, the most incredible story this week was well-buried in the press: The arrest of “La Diabla,” the female cartel member who butchered pregnant women, stole their organs, and sold their babies. The day’s most astonishing crime-fighting anecdote came from Tulsi Gabbard, who described a story reported last month in the New York Post under the headline, “Female cartel member ‘La Diabla’ busted for running horrific baby-trafficking, organ-harvesting rings.” Tulsi described a new “Fusion Cell” at the ODNI that works with...

On MSNBC's The Weekend, in a segment on President Trump's ballroom project co-host Eugene Daniels called the Founding Fathers "nightmarish" on some policies, citing slavery. Daniels acknowledged that the Founders got it right in creating a White House that was relatively small, the goal being to distinguish it from the palaces of royalty. The original Constitution did not forbid slavery because the Southern states, whose economies were heavily dependent on slave labor, had made it clear that they would not join the United States if the Constitution had abolished slavery. Daniels would apparently have preferred a United States composed only...

When it comes to Bible prophecy, one of the dismissive criticisms of scoffers is that generations of Christians have come and gone without the promise of Jesus’ coming being fulfilled. Skeptical of the “practical” value of anticipating Jesus’ soon return, they will ask, “What’s the point?”...

DALLAS — Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas says it's painting the steps of the church in rainbow colors following Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's order targeting rainbow crosswalks. The church, located at the corner of Oak Lawn Avenue and Cedar Springs Road, says the action is "not one of defiance, but of faith." The painting of the church steps comes after Abbott issued an order earlier this month to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) that instructs state and local agencies to remove any “decorative crosswalks or markings conveying artwork or other messages” that are not part of standard...

IBJNJ OY BHNWZQK OQ HTITWQ HQP H STYIJN OQ OIY YRK. —VJNMK FKYYBJ YBJSSJK

SEPANG, Oct 26 — Newly-crowned Moto3 champion Jose Antonio Rueda and Switzerland’s Noah Dettwiler were both airlifted to hospital after being involved in a collision during the sighting lap of the 2025 Petronas Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) at the Petronas Sepang International Circuit here today. According to a statement from the race organiser (Dorna), the accident occurred when Dettwiler, who is from team CIP Green Power, was seen riding slowly on the track before Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Rueda crashed into the back of Detwiller’s machine at the Turn 3. Both riders fell to the ground and sustained injuries....

President Donald Trump greeted Malaysian dancers with his signature moves as he kicked off his highly anticipated week-long foreign trip to Asia. Drums played as he strutted down the red carpet, leading him off Air Force One in Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur, toward the native dancers on Sunday morning local time. After a 23-hour flight from Washington, DC, Trump, 79, stepped side to side as he pumped his fists.

About 41.7 million people during fiscal year (FY) 2024. That’s 12.3% of the US population. Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is determined based on household income levels.... The 12.3% of the population receiving SNAP benefits in FY 2023 is more than double the share in FY 2000 when 6.1% of people were recipients... SNAP...is administered primarily by state governments... In FY 2024, New Mexico had the highest share of its population receiving SNAP payments... Qualifying for SNAP benefits is based on how close a household's income level is to the national poverty line. If expenses aren't considered...

Two men who allegedly stole $100 million worth of France’s crown jewels during a daring daytime heist at the Louvre Museum were arrested on Saturday night — as one suspect was captured trying to flee the country. One of the suspects, who has not been identified, was busted as he was boarding a flight bound for Algeria at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris newspaper Le Parisien reported. The men, from Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb north of Paris, were detained by police as part of the investigation of “organized gang robbery” and “conspiracy to commit a crime.” Police were tipped off on...

ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in Laredo, Texas, arrested a father and son accused of smuggling hundreds of firearms, including rifles, magazines and ammunition into Mexico after Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers discovered hidden compartments in two trailers at the U.S.-Mexico border. On Oct. 23, CBP officers working at the Laredo Bridge 2 Port of Entry stopped two southbound vehicles towing box trailers for inspection. Agents said they noticed irregularities in the trailer walls. A secondary inspection revealed false compartments packed with an arsenal: roughly 400 firearms of various calibers, high-capacity magazines, and thousands of rounds of ammunition....

At least one person was killed and six others injured in a shooting at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University Saturday night, during the historically Black university’s Homecoming weekend, according to officials. A total of seven people were hit with gunfire outside the school’s International Cultural Center, authorities told reporters at news conference early Sunday. “We’re devastated to announce tonight that one person has died, six other people have been struck by gunfire,” Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said at the conference, without detailing the conditions of the injured. One person who was carrying a gun has been detained, the district...

The U.S. government has been shut down for three weeks since October 1. If it doesn’t end soon, millions of people will lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments starting November 1. With 41.7 million recipients nationwide relying on these food stamps, states warn of halted payments without federal funding. Social media erupts with videos of desperate individuals threatening to loot Walmart stores, turning policy gridlock into potential retail mayhem. The USDA’s SNAP program, which injected $99.8 billion into economies in FY 2024 with average monthly benefits of $187 per person, faces a funding freeze. October payments should proceed,...

The Big Apple’s hotly contested mayoral race sparked a massive first-day voter turnout Saturday, with about five times more voters hitting the polls compared to 2021 as early voting kicked off, according to the Board of Elections. The increase comes as a high-stakes showdown to replace Mayor Eric Adams pits former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an Independent, against Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Party nominee and beret-wearing Republican Curtis Sliwa. The New York City BOE reported a total of 79,409 early voter check-ins as the polls closed Saturday night – a sharp jump from the 15,418 who showed up when...

Cambodia and Thailand on Sunday signed an expansion of a ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump helped broker over the summer to end their border conflict. Trump threatened higher tariffs against both countries to push them into agreeing to end the fighting. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced in the conflict. The president watched as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the expanded ceasefire at the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.