Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin has his own version of the NATO military alliance, made up of post-Soviet states. But the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which was never as powerful or cohesive as Russia would have liked, has been increasingly creaking since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, experts told Insider. Some of its members have made unprecedented public snubs against Putin, and experts say they're conscious of Russia's poor military performance over the past year, with questions over how well Russia could protect them. Some may even fear becoming Russian targets. (snip) As Putin has become more isolated since the...

Back in August 2007, the dangerous and decaying state of America's infrastructure became a shocking reality when the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, sending vehicles crashing into the river below. 13 people were killed while another 145 were injured. In August 2018, a bridge collapse in Genoa, Italy, shocked the world with 43 people losing their lives. After that catastrophe, many countries, including the United States, started to seriously look at the state of their deteriorating infrastructure.Last week, as Statista's Niall McCarthy notes, President Biden unveiled his plans for a $2 trillion investment in American infrastructure, describing it...

The new lawsuit filed by two women against Fox News and several of its personalities is riddled with inaccuracies. This raises questions about the veracity of its claims. Jennifer Eckhart and Cathy Areu, a former Fox Business producer and frequent network guest, respectively, claim that they suffered sexual misconduct, harassment, and even rape at the hands of Ed Henry, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, and Howard Kurtz.The lawsuit immediately made waves in the mainstream media, where it was picked up by the New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post, CBS News, and other major outlets. It has been a top trending topic...

The Port Authority Bus Terminal is so crowded with commuters waiting for buses amid a massive winter storm that the agency is blocking any more people from entering, officials said. Officials closed the doors to the facility at about 5:15 p.m. because so many passengers are waiting for buses that aren’t heading in or out. “We’re recommending passengers take trains back to NJ due to weather causing bus delays,” said a PA spokesman. The agency even tweeted that riders should find other ways to get home.

It wasn't very long ago that President Obama would jeer at Republicans for the many congressional votes they had taken to amend or repeal his healthcare law. But, much though he loves to jeer - his shameful and unpresidential fit of pique about GOP concerns on terrorists camouflaged as refugees, was a recent example - the president may soon beg them for a few more such votes. Because as its sixth birthday approaches, his health insurance law is in critical condition. The latest bad Obamacare news came on Thursday, when America's largest insurer had to tell Wall Street that it...

Whenever someone writes about infrastructure or bridges, they always use the word “crumbling” and say that we have neglected our infrastrucutre. We have to spend more, we’re told.It is good to remember this picture from David Leonhardt’s November 2008 column on infrastructure that shows that federal spending on infrastructure as a proportion of GDP was actually higher in 2008 than it had been any time since 1981.Here is Leonhardt’s assessment of the problem. This, of course, is before the stimulus passed. But Leonhardt was prescient about the problems: The House recently passed a bill that would allocate $18 billion for...

President Barack Obama is taking his popular wife with him to three campaign stops in the pivotal swing state of Ohio Sunday, but a new Associated Press Poll shows that may be too little, too late with just over two weeks remaining before critical congressional elections. The survey found that the coalition of voters that swept Obama into the White House just two years ago — aching for change after the eight-year presidency of Republican George W. Bush — has crumbled. SNIP The Associated Press-Knowledge Networks survey found that one-fourth of those who voted for Obama two years ago are...

It’s not a good sign when cell windows at a state prison are broken. But that was the situation just last year at Reception Center-East, one of four facilities at the California Institution for Men in Chino. Officers had complained about the windows repeatedly, but nothing was done to fix them – until an inmate was caught after slipping out his window in an apparent escape attempt. After that, officers began 24-hour patrols outside East as officials waited for Sacramento to approve funding for repairs. The facility is less than a half-mile from a housing development under construction. ‘‘We’re gonna...

Crumbling Chernobyl Shelter Poses DangerBy MARA D. BELLABY, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 22, 6:37 PM ET An aerial view of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant shortly after the explosion of its still smoking fourth reactor is seen in this 1986 file picture. Ukraine marks the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the world's worst civil nuclear disaster, on April 26 this year. The concrete was used for the building of a sarcophagus around the shattered reactor, designed to contain emanating radiation. BLACK AND WHITE ONLY REUTERS/Vladimir Repik/Files CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, Ukraine - Chernobyl's coffin is cracking. Birds...

<p>July 15 (Bloomberg) -- A heat wave in Europe is melting Switzerland's glaciers and causing chunks of the Swiss Alps to break off, prompting the evacuation of climbers and hikers, Agence France-Presse reported.</p> <p>In southern Switzerland, helicopters ferried about 70 people from the Matterhorn after a rock face on the 3,400-meter (11,155- foot) peak crumbled, AFP said. A portion of a glacier near the Alpine resort of Grindelwald also broke away and fell into the Luetschine river, causing a surge of water downstream. Police warned people several miles away to stay away from the river, AFP cited the Swiss news agency ATS as saying.</p>

Arab media accept Iraq is crumbling By Gerald Butt in Nicosia (Filed: 05/04/2003) The truth is beginning to dawn on the Arab world. After two and a half weeks of denial, sections of the Arab press are finally accepting that Iraqi resistance is crumbling. "US forces announce control of the southern entrance to Baghdad," was the banner headline in the semi-official Cairo daily al-Ahram, while al-Akhbar talked of "ferocious clashes as the invading forces reach Baghdad airport - squadrons of American tanks and personnel carriers advance on the capital". Al-Riyadh in Saudi Arabia said "it appears that the battle for...