Free Republic

#Russian president #Putin is not an ordinary person, and so is his "friendship" with the leadership of some countries. Recently, one could observe how Putin and his envoys "cajole" the #Iranian leadership. 1/12 Image The Russian president meets and calls #Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi regularly. Relations between the leadership of #Russia and #Iran have not always been smooth. There were many problems, such as the spread of #COVID-19, #Syria, #Iran's refusal to pay for... 2/12 Image the construction of the Bushehr and Bushehr-2 nuclear power plants by #Russia and other difficulties (you can find the details in our earlier posts)....

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is racing to boost its production of artillery shells by 500 percent within two years, pushing conventional ammunition production to levels not seen since the Korean War as it invests billions of dollars to make up for shortfalls caused by the war in Ukraine and to build up stockpiles for future conflicts. The effort, which will involve expanding factories and bringing in new producers, is part of “the most aggressive modernization effort in nearly 40 years” for the U.S. defense industrial base, according to an Army report. The new investment in artillery production is in part...

BERLIN, Jan 24 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow other countries such as Poland to do so while the U.S. may supply Abrams tanks, magazine Spiegel reported on Tuesday. A government spokesperson declined to comment. The defence ministry was not immediately available for comment. The decision concerns at least one company of Leopard 2 A6 tanks that will be provided out of Bundeswehr stocks, Spiegel said.

The Biden administration is preparing to announce a roughly $2.5 billion military aid package for Ukraine that is expected to include dozens of Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles, according to two people familiar with the decision, as the Pentagon intensifies its support ahead of an expected counteroffensive against entrenched Russian forces. The war has entered a phase, U.S. officials have said, that will require Ukrainian units to attack enemy forces in a concerted way, using tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and aviation in what is known as combined arms warfare. Bradleys and Strykers would significantly bolster their firepower and allow soldiers...

Days after Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian intelligence agents left a corpse on a sidewalk in the center of Kyiv with a bullet hole in the back of the skull. The dead man, 45-year-old banker Denys Kiryeyev, was killed as a traitor. The Security Service of Ukraine—the country’s primary domestic intelligence agency, known as the SBU—shot Mr. Kiryeyev because he was allegedly spying for Moscow, an agency official said. Yet days after Mr. Kiryeyev’s body was dumped, he was buried a hero and interred next to Ukraine’s first foreign minister. According to Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency,...

San Francisco's reparations committee will propose paying $5million to each longtime black resident of the city in a reparations plan this spring. To qualify, people need to have identified as black on public records for at least 10 years and be at least 18 years old. They also must qualify for two of a number of requirements, including having been born in the city or migrated to it between 1940 and 1996 and then lived there for 13 years. It is unclear exactly how many people would qualify should the proposal pass, but if just 10,000 people qualified it would...

Switzerland's veto on the delivery of anti-aircraft ammunition to Ukraine has raised security policy issues and caused irritation in Berlin. A German armaments company reacts - and builds up new capacities. Rheinmetall is setting up an extensive new ammunition production facility in Germany with the aim of supplying the Bundeswehr independently. The systems for so-called medium-caliber ammunition should be ready in January, the armaments company confirmed on request. Previously, there had been political anger in Berlin over the Swiss veto on ammunition deliveries from Germany to Ukraine. The export of old stocks of the weapon material needed for the anti-aircraft...

Jeffrey Younger has lost his court case to prevent his ex-wife from taking their son to California, where he could be medically transitioned. Younger has been trying to stop this from happening for years, and has now reached the end of the line. He is prevented by the courts of Texas from protecting his boys from medical mutilation at the hands of their mother, who is a pediatrician. Younger has accused her of using the children to help advertise her "inclusive," "gender affirming" practice. "The Supreme Court of Texas denied my Mandamus, effectively terminating my parental rights. My children are...

President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are planning to meet at the White House on Wednesday, according to two sources familiar with the planning underway, in what would be a surprise visit that could change based on security concerns. The visit, which hasn’t been finalized and has remained tightly held due to security concerns, will coincide with the administration’s intent to send the country a new defense assistance package that will include Patriot missile systems. It would mark Zelensky’s first trip outside Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February of this year. His potential visit to Washington...

Former President Donald Trump has backed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in his bid for speaker while saying that McCarthy’s opponents should fall in line. “I support McCarthy,” Trump told Breitbart News on Dec. 15. “Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard,” Trump added. “He is just—it’s been exhausting. If you think, he’s been all over. I think he deserves the shot. Hopefully, he’s going to be very strong and going to be very good and he’s going to do what everybody wants.” McCarthy, 57, has been in the House GOP leadership since 2009, during his second...

The Ukrainian army’s newest howitzers also are among its oldest. On Sunday, the first video appeared online depicting ex-Lithuanian M101 howitzers in front-line use by Ukrainian forces, apparently somewhere in eastern Ukraine. The 105-millimeter M101 was the standard light howitzer for U.S. and allied forces ... in World War II. But the design’s age belies its effectiveness. The 2.5-ton M101 is a classic—an artillery piece that nearly perfectly balances weight, range and accuracy. The M101 was a battle-winner 80 years ago. In the hands of experienced, motivated gunners, it still can win battles today. Especially as those gunners combine the...

But here’s what they can’t get around, here’s where pro-lifers have no answer: There were seven—seven—ballot measures where abortion was in one way or another on the line. And in all cases pro-life lost. The right to abortion was enshrined in the state constitutions of California (no surprise), Vermont (ditto), and Michigan (that’s bad news). Red Kentucky defeated a sweeping antiabortion measure, and red Montana defeated a bill mandating that doctors provide lifesaving measures to babies born alive during the procedure (pro-lifers surely thought that would be an easy win; instead they got a painful loss). In red Arkansas, a...

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) is reportedly considering a bid for chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) following his candidacy in the Empire State’s gubernatorial race, according to reports. Activists and supporters across the country have asked Zeldin to run for the position following his unsuccessful bid to unseat incumbent New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in blue New York. And according to Zeldin’s media consultant, John Brabender, the Republican is exploring the option. “It’s likely that he will at least explore it. … He’s fielding calls, talking to people, listening to them, but it has not gone beyond...

Is it true that McConnell tanked Senate races by not funding candidates like Masters? McConnell spent HUGE everywhere but AZ. Masters had Thiel so his outside spending was pretty good at $53M vs $57M for his opponent. But he got only 46% of the vote. Is It True That McConnell Tanked Senate Races By Not Funding Candidates Like Masters? https://www.dailywire.com/news/is-it-true-that-mcconnell-tanked-senate-races-by-not-funding-candidates-like-mastersSome were rankled by McConnell spending $6M in an R-vs-R race in AK, which they imagine could have gone to AZ But that's a negligible amount in the context of AZ spending & there's no reason it would have gone to...

AKRON, Ohio — Bill Liming says he doesn't feel like he can remain silent any longer. His son, Ethan Liming, was a star athlete, an honor roll student and a rising senior. Summer vacation had just started when the 17-year-old was brutally beaten and killed. Now, months later, his father feels like he is being victimized by the justice system. “I naively believed that once the people who murdered my son were caught that the justice system would simply handle things. We’ve said all along we were confident when the facts of the case were presented that Ethan would receive...

During this year’s Super Bowl, cryptocurrency exchange FTX ran an ad for which it paid Larry David some unknowably huge amount of money. It was one of the best ads of the night, no question, the perfect combination of actor and script. FTX got America’s most famous curmudgeon to express skepticism toward various scenes of great innovation over the course of human history. The wheel? Larry David didn’t like it. The fork? Absolutely not. On it went: the toilet, coffee, the Declaration of Independence, the lightbulb, dishwashers, the moon landing, MP3 players, and … FTX, “a safe and easy way...

Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's incumbent secretary of state, held off a challenge from Democratic state Rep. Bee Nguyen on Tuesday night, marking a major rebuke of former President Donald Trump's influence in the state. Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp, who also won reelection Tuesday night, became the face of Republican opposition to Trump's election fraud claims in 2020. Both officials publicly rebuked Trump's allegations, and Raffensperger gained even more "resistance" notoriety after a recorded Jan. 2, 2021, call with Trump was made public. Raffensperger could be heard on the call vocally defending Georgia's election integrity and refusing to influence the state...

The US air force plans to replace its entire fleet of F-15 fighter jets based in Okinawa, Japan, with a “rotational” force, a shift that some American and Japanese officials worry will send a dangerous signal to China about deterrence. The air force intends to retire two squadrons of ageing F-15 Eagles that have been permanently based in Okinawa, according to six people familiar with the situation. The decision has triggered alarm in some parts of the Japanese government and the Pentagon because the air force does not intend to replace them with a permanent presence in the near term....

Putin “declared” martial law in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine on Oct. 19. The measure, while illegal, could be used to justify tighter control over essential infrastructure and public transportation. The decree bans people from leaving the regions, greenlights Russian forces to deport people into Russia and confiscate their property, and establishes so-called “territorial defense units.” To fill those units, Russian troops plan to forcibly recruit locals. In Russian-occupied Donetsk, Oleksii knows a thing or two about forced conscription. Like thousands of others, he has been hiding at home for over eight months as Russian proxies grab people from the street...

"An individual was arrested on 21 October 2022 pursuant to a request from the United States of America for their provisional arrest," a spokesman for the federal Attorney-General's Department said. The arrest came the same week Britain warned dozens of former military pilots to stop working in China or face prosecution on national security grounds under new laws. Australia is also investigating reports some of its former fighter pilots have been approached to work in China. An aviation source told Reuters that the FBI sought Duggan because of his work in China. His lawyer, Dennis Miralis of Nyman, Gibson and...