Free Republic

The United States does not have “the luxury of not dealing with China” as Beijing is “acting more aggressively abroad,” Secretary of State Tony Blinken said. Speaking to CBS’ “60 Minutes” in a wide-ranging interview that aired Sunday night, the nation’s top diplomat made the remarks after being asked what the United States’ red line was with regard to Beijing’s behavior.

Meanwhile, Russia continues to be marked by domestic authoritarianism and aggression beyond its borders. The harassment and murder of journalists and human rights advocates continues unabated. Press freedom has declined precipitously since Prime Minister Vladimir Putin came to power 10 years ago. Baton-wielding riot police regularly break up peaceful demonstrations. A recently “leaked” Russian foreign policy document cites NATO enlargement – the consensual process by which sovereign states, once held captive behind the Iron Curtain, decide to join an alliance of free and democratic nations – as the greatest threat to Russian security, underscoring the paranoid mind-set that dominates Kremlin...

GIRLS are starting puberty earlier and as a result are more likely to become aggressive teenagers, Queensland researchers have found. The study found that at 14, girls were also just as likely as boys to be involved in fights, threats and stealing – reinforcing the perception that young women are behaving more like their male friends. University of Queensland sociologist Jake Najman, lead author of the research, said children were experiencing puberty at earlier ages because of increasing rates of obesity. He said while early puberty for girls was related to an increased risk of aggression in adolescence, the same...

In recent years, the Russian bear has bared his fangs at Ukraine as the grim season commemorating genocide-by-famine 75 years ago. On November 22, the former "Soviet republic" of Ukraine observed the 75th anniversary of the end of the Holodomor, a genocide-by-famine perpetrated by Josef Stalin's Soviet government which left up to ten million Ukrainian men, women, and children dead due to forced starvation. Punishing Enemies of Collectivism.....

Syrian President Bashar Assad was scheduled to leave for Russia on Wednesday for a two-day visit that has been described by analysts as important at a time when Moscow may be considering closer ties with the Arab world. Assad told Russia's Kommersant newspaper on Wednesday that he would use his visit to expand military ties with Moscow, whose arms sales to the Middle Eastern state have angered Israel and the United States. He said that Russia's conflict with Georgia, in which Moscow says Georgia used Israeli-supplied equipment, underlined the need for Russia and Syria to tighten their defense cooperation.

The Russian occupation of the Georgian city of Gori appeared to be more entrenched today, despite claims by President Medvedev that his troops were planning to withdraw. As international pressure increased on Mr Medvedev to implement a French-brokered ceasefire pledge signed last week, the Kremlin declared today that Russian forces would start pulling back from the occupied territory tomorrow. The ceasefire deal was meant to conclude a five-day war in which Russian forces launched an all-out assault against Georgia after stopping a Georgian army assault against Moscow-backed separatists in its autonomous region of South Ossetia. Yet despite Mr Medvedev's claim...

Tired Barack Obama resorts to aggression By Tim Shipman in Kokomo, Indiana Last Updated: 2:00am BST 27/04/2008 He seems tired, brittle and more aggressive, and some of his appealing hope and charisma have been dispensed with. Five days after losing to Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania primary, Barack Obama has taken off the gloves in his battle to win the American presidency - and in so doing has left critics wondering whether he is not just another conventional politician grubbing for votes. After his loss in Pennsylvania, Obama strengthens his attack In Indiana on Friday, scene of his next showdown...

International pressure on Serbia over the future of Kosovo and the surrender of war criminals is counter-productive and could lead to instability, Vuk Draskovic, Serbia’s foreign minister, warned on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT “The humiliation of the people of Serbia must be stopped,” Mr Draskovic told the Financial Times while visiting Washington for the annual convention in the US of the National Prayer Breakfast to be hosted by President George W. Bush. Mr Draskovic echoed a warning delivered hours earlier by Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, that independence for Kosovo would fuel demands for independence elsewhere, naming Georgia’s provinces of Abkhazia and South...

DALLAS - The arrest of a 12-year-old boy on charges that he molested a 4-year-old girl at a fast-food restaurant playground may point to a growing problem of sexually aggressive children, child-abuse experts say. The boy was arrested Wednesday in suburban Houston on charges of indecency with a child and aggravated sexual assault. Police would not discuss in detail what happened to the girl, other than to say her mother said she'd been touched inappropriately. The arrest came a week after the Dallas Independent School District expelled two first-grade boys after one performed a sex act on another during class....

A state lawmaker wants to put violent games out of reach of children under the age of 17. Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, introduced two bills yesterday to restrict sales of video games that feature graphic violence and criminal behavior. The first bill would label such games "harmful matter," and ban sales to children similar to the way other "adult" materials are restricted. "These violent games are bad for children and should be treated the way we treat pornography, guns, tobacco and alcohol," said Yee, who is also a child psychologist. Yee's second measure would force retailers to display M-rated...