Free Republic

Indian refiners, the top importers of Russian crude oil, are searching for alternative suppliers ahead of Friday’s summit between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, is looking to switch up its procurement process after Trump imposed a total 50% tariff rate on New Delhi, accusing the country of effectively fueling Russia’s war machine. Oil importers are hedging their bets that even harsher punishments are in store for anyone who purchases petroleum from Moscow once Trump meets with Putin, with India’s state processor buying large bulk quantities of non-Russian crude this week to...

The Communist Party of China imposed a 75.8-percent tariff on Canadian canola products on Thursday, claiming that Canada was intentionally “dumping” underpriced canola seed into the Chinese market to hurt domestic farmers. The measure appeared to be a response to the Canadian government, still under radical leftist Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the time, imposing a 100-percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) last year to protect Canada’s fledgling homemade EVs. Chinese state media explicitly mentioned Canada’s “trade protectionist and restrictive measures against China” in reporting the canola seed tariffs, accusing Ottawa of violating World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Beijing...

Chinese researchers are developing the world’s first humanoid robot capable of simulating pregnancy, with a prototype expected to launch in 2026. The device, created by Guangzhou-based Kaiwa Technology, features an artificial womb integrated into a robotic abdominal module to replicate the full gestation. The artificial womb is an advanced incubation pod that mimics the conditions of a uterus and is designed to handle the full human pregnancy cycle, from conception to birth. Priced below 100,000 yuan, or about $14,000, the robot aims to assist infertile couples and individuals who prefer to avoid biological pregnancy, especially young women who wish to...

Pet psychics in China who claim to help people communicate with their dead pets and find out if they have been reincarnated have sparked an online controversy. The psychics charge prices of 128 yuan (US$18) to allow owners to ask their pet five questions and 2,999 yuan (US$420) for an unlimited number of questions within six months, according to a news report by Jimu News. Finding out if their pet has been reincarnated costs between 899 yuan and 1,899 yuan (US$125 and US$260) depending on the circumstances. ... Anran joined the chat group, which had more than 400 members. She...

On this Independence Day 2021, I reflect on the America I love so much and how it looks very different from the one I knew as a child in the 80s and 90s. How, once upon a time, we celebrated our nationalism and patriotism, and today, there is a very vocal minority that resents the USA. I believe if they knew the realities behind China, they may rethink their position. As an American of Chinese ancestry and a community organizer on the ground, I felt an important need to discuss this topic. Perhaps one of the most bizarre news stories...

Congress has been warned to be on high alert for Chinese spies after a suspected Beijing espionage plot was uncovered in British parliament. Earlier this week, a parliamentary researcher with links to MPs with classified information was arrested for 'spying for China.' The suspect is thought to be linked to numerous Conservative members of Parliament - including Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Alicia Kearns. According to reports, several of the members with links to the suspected spy are 'privy to classified or highly sensitive information', however none have been accused of wrongdoing. The suspect, who was...

One lesson from the ongoing scandal is that it lifted the curtain of foreign governments’ covert influence campaigns in the United States. Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop revealed much information, including Hunter’s shady business dealings in Ukraine and China, raising questions about the extent to which President Biden was involved in his son’s business activities. This ongoing scandal lifted the curtain of foreign governments’ covert influence campaigns in the United States. No government has conducted such influence campaigns more effectively than Communist China. To understand China’s influence campaigns on foreign soil, one has to get familiar with a secretive Chinese government...

The common denominator is India’s rivalry with China...Trump recently made a show of doubling his 25% tariffs on India as punishment for its continued purchase of Russian energy and military-technical equipment.Influenced by Lindsey Graham, he expected that India would dump Russia after the costs of doing business with it spiked, the Kremlin would thus lose this important foreign revenue flow, and then Putin would make concessions to Ukraine in exchange for lifting these secondary sanctions in to avoid bankruptcy.Here’s why India defied the US:1. The “Voice Of The Global South” Can’t Bow To US DemandsIndia has presented itself as the...

***Kabul is running dry, withered by scarcer rainfalls and snow melts and drained by unregulated wells. It has become so dry that its six million people could be without water by 2030 — and are now fighting about it. Its water reserves are emptying nearly twice as quickly as they are getting replenished. The Taliban administration, short of cash, has so far been unable to bring water from nearby dams and rivers to the choking city. *** Kabul, surrounded by snowy mountains and crossed by three rivers, had never been known as a dry city. But while its population has...

American and Chinese naval vessels clashed near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Wednesday, escalating tensions in the disputed waters, a Navy spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) accused the USS Higgins, a guided missile destroyer, of encroaching on its waters surrounding Scarborough Reef, while the Navy called the claim false and vowed to operate wherever international law allows. The U.S. warships were deployed for a freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) following a Monday confrontation between Chinese vessels and the Philippine coast guard in the South China Sea.

If you thought New York politics couldn’t get more cynical, think again. An exposé from The New York Post has shone a harsh spotlight on one more act in the city’s ideological theater of the absurd—Jews for Zohran, a meticulously choreographed campaign crafted to launder the record of Zohran Mamdani, the self-styled Democratic Socialist assemblyman from Queens with a well-documented history of Israel-bashing. The group’s name sounds grassroots—almost quaint—like typical campaign affinity group fare. But its roots lie not in Astoria or the Bronx, and certainly not in Israel, but halfway around the globe in Shanghai, where pro-Beijing billionaire Neville...

Pakistan’s top general has set off alarm bells with an unprecedented warning—delivered not in Islamabad, but from Tampa, Florida. Speaking at a private dinner, Army Chief Gen Asim Munir said, "We are a nuclear nation. If we think we are going down, we’ll take half the world down with us." According to reports, this marks the first known instance of a nuclear threat being issued from American soil against another nation. The remarks came during a function hosted by businessman Adnan Asad, Tampa’s honorary consul, where around 120 guests of Pakistani origin were present. Security at the gathering was tight—cellphones...

China’s richest man just bought an empty piece of land with only a warehouse in New Hampshire and they’re REFUSING to answer questions on what it’ll be used for.. The land cost $15 million, they paid 4X THE COST, $67 million.. It’s right next to important US military bases ... What would happen if we owned any land next to a military base in China? ... China doesn't allow foreigners to purchase land there.

A Chinese navy vessel collided with one of its own coast guard ships while pursuing a Philippine patrol boat in the South China Sea on Monday, according to Manila officials who released video footage of the incident.

---SNIP--- It’s decline began some 20 years ago, when the company made multiple acquisitions, many of which were in telecommunications and wireless technology. In concept, that made great sense. But acquiring businesses is a skill of its own, and David Yoffie, a Harvard Business School professor who was on Intel’s board of directors at the time, told Fortune “100% of those acquisitions failed. We spent $12 billion, and the return was zero or negative.” Intel also tried unsuccessfully to grasp the mammoth cell phone opportunity. The company understood the opportunity and was supplying chips for the highly popular BlackBerry phone....

A Chinese warship ploughed into its own coast guard vessel on Monday while the latter was chasing a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea, Manila said. Philippine coast guard officials were distributing aid to fishermen in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, Commodore Jay Tarriela said, when the Chinese coast guard "performed a risky manoeuvre" which inflicted "substantial damage" on the Chinese warship's forward deck. China confirmed that a confrontation took place and accused the Philippines of "forcibly intruding" into Chinese waters, but did not mention the collision. The South China Sea is at the centre of a territorial dispute between...

Gavin Newsom is letting the Chinese buy up Pacific Palisades land.. American contractor works in both the Pacific Palisades and Altadena area and confirms Chinese nationals are calling him and asking to buy up 5-6 lots at a time He says China is buying so many properties, it’s “going to turn both Altadena and Pacific Palisades into the type of neighborhoods where you drive down and all of the signage is in Chinese.” “Do you know who's buying up all of the property in the LA fire zones? It's the Chinese. And I've avoided saying this for a while because...

Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for the Chagos Islands will cost 10 times more than he said, according to official figures. The Government’s own estimate for handing over the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius is almost £35bn, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show – far higher than the £3.4bn figure Sir Keir has cited in public. Labour ministers now face accusations they misled Parliament and the press with an “accountancy trick” to conceal the true scale of the bill from taxpayers

A 38-year-old man from the Bay Area, who went by at least three aliases, managed to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of rare historical Chinese manuscripts dating back to the 13th century from the University of California, Los Angeles’ library, federal officials announced. In a U.S. Department of Justice news release, federal prosecutors allege that Jeffrey Ying, who also went by the names Jason Wang, Alan Fujimori and Austin Cheng, stole the manuscripts between Dec. 2024 and July 2025. Because of their value and rarity, UCLA does not keep the books in regular circulation, requiring a reservation to...

Since returning to office in January 2025, President Donald Trump has shown a marked shift in his approach to South Asian geopolitics, displaying what analysts describe as a more favorable stance toward Pakistan while simultaneously straining relations with India. This represents a significant departure from decades of U.S. foreign policy that had increasingly favored New Delhi as a strategic counterweight to China. The most striking aspect of this policy shift appears to be intertwined with the Trump family’s business ventures. World Liberty Financial (WLF), founded in 2024, is no ordinary fintech startup. The company is 60% owned by Donald Trump’s...