Free Republic

As Russians prepare to celebrate the New Year or the week of public holidays that follows, they might notice this year's festive bill at the supermarket come out to significantly more than last year's – especially for fans of sandwiches with butter and red caviar, a New Year's dinner staple in the country. In October of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that Russia was “spending too much money on guns and forgetting about butter,” prices of which have seen some of the biggest increases of all produce, growing by over 33 percent since the start of 2024. Caviar,...

The UK economy had zero growth between July and September, revised official figures show. The revised data comes after a series of disappointing figures including inflation rising at its fastest pace for eight months and the economy unexpectedly shrinking in October. One of the UK's leading business groups, the CBI, said its latest company survey suggested "the economy is headed for the worst of all worlds". Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the challenge to fix the economy "after 15 years of neglect is huge", while shadow chancellor Mel Stride said Monday's figures showed "growth has tanked on Labour's watch". The revised...