Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro have signed a strategic partnership agreement. -snip- Since 2022, Russia has already signed strategic partnership pacts with China, North Korea and Iran. -snip- During his visit to Moscow, Maduro is also due to attend commemorative events around the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany, including a military parade on Friday.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Friday that he will vote for Democrat Kamala Harris over fellow Republican Donald Trump in the November election, warning that the former president “can never be trusted with power again.”

Vladimir Putin has earned himself a slagging after choosing to wear ear protectors in a weird way. The alleged reason is even more ridiculous than it looks. The deranged Russian president was recently spotted at a Chechen shooting range alongside the head of the Chechen Republic and close military ally Ramzan Kadyrov. While the Chechen warlord wore his ear protectors the regular way, on his head, the Russian despot wore the protective gear with the strap jutting out around his chin.

Minnesota Governor and Democratic nominee for Vice President Tim Walz suddenly stopped his speech in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday after noticing a crowd member was in need of help due to the heat. Walz, who was announced as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate on Tuesday, paused his speech after a crowd member could be heard yelling for help. The governor stopped talking and pointed toward the situation, saying, "Can we get somebody to help? Somebody's hot." "You okay?" Walz asked looking toward the crowd. "Drink some water folks, it is hot out." The governor continued his speech after...

Dramatic footage shows the moment a suspected Ukrainian plane-type UAV explodes as it was targeted at a Russian plant assembling Iranian Shahed drones used in the war. There was a huge blast and fireball near Yelabuga, deep in Russia, at least 660 miles from the closest Ukrainian territory. A total of three strikes were reported in the area. Russian sources say it hit a dormitory for workers in the Alabuga economic zone in the Republic of Tatarstan, where it is believed the deadly Iranian drones are assembled. It is unclear so far if there was also damage to the drone-making...

Ukrainian drones attacked Russia's third largest oil refinery on Tuesday about 1,300 km (800 miles) from the front lines, hitting a core unit which processes about 155,000 barrels of crude refining per day. -snip- Pictures from the scene indicated the drone hit the primary refining unit, CDU-7, at the Taneco refinery. The unit accounts for around a half of the plant's total annual production capacity. "A drone attack was carried out on one of the enterprises in Nizhnekamsk," Ramil Mullin, the mayor of Nizhnekamsk, said. -snip- The attack was one of several in Tatarstan, a highly industrialised region south-east of...

Ukraine used Cessna-sized drones to attack deep inside the Russian Federation in the early hours of Tuesday morning, launching multiple strikes against a factory and oil refinery in the longest range hits of the war so far. A drone factory and an oil refinery over 800 miles from the frontline of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were the targets in an attack claimed by Kyiv’s military intelligence bureau in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Footage shared from the scene by Ukrainian state media shows a large drone — perhaps the size of a civilian single-engine pleasure aircraft — crashing into...

Residents of the village of Otniel in the southern Hebron Hills were surprised to discover near the village, in Area C which is fully controlled by Israel, a new factory that manufactures bomb shelters and employs Palestinian Arabs. One of the residents told Arutz Sheva-Israel National News that the intensive construction in the area began at the beginning of the war with substantial earthworks using heavy machinery. Residents of the village contacted the military and the Civil Administration claiming the work was an additional attempt to take over Area C. Military officials claimed that the construction was okay and was...

Victoria Nuland: "With this money, Ukraine will be able to accelerate the asymmetric warfare that has been most effective on the battlefield. As I said in Kiev three weeks ago, this supplemental funding will ensure Putin faces some nasty surprises on the battlefield this year."

Berlin has confirmed a leaked conversation between top military officers about the specifics of British soldiers assisting Ukraine in using advanced missiles took place. A conversation that allegedly took place on March 1st involving a group of senior German officers including the head of Luftwaffe (Air Force) Generalleutnant Ingo Gerhartz [above, left] that took place on an open, unsecured line was intercepted by Russia and published over the weekend. Discussing options Germany had for deploying an advanced cruise missile against Russia in support of Ukraine with plausible deniability, one officer reflected in apparently prophetic words: “Just imagine the uproar if...

I follow a lot of Russian language accounts on social media. I first realised something had happened on Friday when I saw a Russian listings magazine post a crying emoji with a picture of the face of Navalny, Russia’s leading opposition figure. This was odd. Their posts were usually apolitical – recently about Rothko in Paris, Timothée Chalamet in Wonka and Prince Charles’s health. News of Alexei Navalny’s death hit the Russian-speaking online world moments before it broke across international media. The very first reaction was cryptic and euphemistic. You could sense the thought behind the responses: Is he really...

Abortion stigma, aimed at abortion providers, has been prevalent in the medical community for many, many years. Traditionally, abortionists were looked down on and perceived as being bad doctors. Historical Opposition to Abortion In 2005, Frederick N Dyer wrote The Physicians’ Crusade Against Abortion, a book with quotes from many pro-life papers and articles written by doctors from the mid-1800s to the early 20th century. In the book, he discusses the history of the early pro-life movement, which was led by doctors. In the early 1800s, abortions before quickening (the time when a pregnant person can feel the baby move)...

Haley — the former South Carolina governor and the only woman in the 2024 race — was asked Wednesday night by “The Daily Show” guest host Charlamagne tha God if she was going to wear heels so she can tower over DeSantis at the third GOP debate next week in Miami. “I don’t know. We’ll have to figure that out,” Haley replied...I’ve never hid that from anybody. I’ve always said, ‘Don’t wear ’em if you can’t run in ’em,’ so we’ll see if he can run in ’em.” Trump’s super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., also trolled DeSantis Wednesday...

Same-sex couples have to pay thousands of pounds before they can access IVF fertility treatment through the NHS in contrast to the process for heterosexual couples which has been labelled as a “Gay Tax”, according to a report. As reported by the BBC, NHS England funds IVF for heterosexual couples who have been trying to conceive, unsuccessfully, for at least two years whilst other details such as age and weight status. However, campaigners are aggrieved that same-sex couples face a different process in that they need to prove their infertility before the NHS will commit to IVF but as part...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a massive drone attack on the western city of Lviv early Tuesday, burning down a warehouse said to house humanitarian supplies and killing one man, Ukrainian authorities said. It was one of at least three deadly attacks in different cities.Ukraine intercepted most of the 30 Shahed drones overnight, the country's air force said. But drones that got through air defense systems sparked an inferno at the industrial storage facility, Gov. Maksym Kozytsky said.The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine condemned the drone strikes and said they had burned down a charity’s warehouse that contained vital...

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has awarded the Hero of Ukraine to a soldier whose execution by machine gun fire was filmed by Russian forces. The soldier was identified as Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi by Ukraine’s security services after speculation about his identity followed the publishing of the grim video that captured his death. In his nightly address, Zelenskiy said Matsievskyi had become a symbol of resistance to the Ukrainian people. “Today I conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine upon Oleksandr Matsievskyi, a soldier,” he said. “A man whom all Ukrainians will know. A man who will be remembered for ever. For...

Israel’s president called for greater dialogue between the Right and Left, warning Sunday that the country is descending into a major social crisis. In a televised address Sunday evening, President Isaac Herzog reiterated his call on the Netanyahu government and the Opposition to reach a compromise on the proposed judicial reform plan. “Some of the things I am going to say tonight may not be pleasant to one side or the other. Over the past few weeks, I have worked with all my strength to bring about a broad agreement [for a compromise]. If one side manages to force its...

The United States government blew up the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline connecting Russian suppliers to our allies Germany last year, according to a bombshell report from Seymour Hersh. “The New York Times called it a ‘mystery,'” wrote Hersh, “but the United States executed a covert sea operation that was kept secret — until now.”Hersh cites an anonymous source “with direct knowledge of the operational planning” who claimed that Navy divers, operating under the cover of NATO’s annual BALTOPS exercise last June, planted remotely-operated explosives that were detonated months later, last September.White House spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told Hersh in an...

U.S. Navy divers planted C4 explosives that caused $500 million damage to Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany, sensational report claims Report by Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour Hersh details plot in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Europe's dependence on gas from Moscow The White House and the CIA have denied claims the attack was carried out after nine months of secret planning overseen by President Joe Biden

The academy's 9,000 members had been 'completely split' on the decision There were 'hundreds of WhatsApp groups' where they were arguing over it Smith slapped host Chris Rock on March 27 for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head He later won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in King Richard Smith apologized for the violence, and Jada said she wished he hadn't slapped Rock Rock has been quiet on the controversy, saying only that he was 'processing' it Hollywood was split on whether or not the actor should get to keep his award