Free Republic

Canada’s oil could replace American imports of Russian crude, the top officials of the oil-producing province Alberta said this weekend.As talks about banning Russian oil imports in the United States and its European allies intensify, reports have started to emerge that the U.S. Administration could be looking to persuade Saudi Arabia to pump more oil or lift some sanctions on Venezuela to help fill the gap that a Russian oil embargo would open.On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the United States and its European allies were in “very active discussions” about banning the import of Russian...

The matter of Russian energy exports is being discussed in talks with the United States, Moscow says, telling Europe they would have to be mentally ill to turn down cheap natural gas. Russia and the United States are discussing the potential resumption of energy exports through the Nord Stream pipeline in the ongoing ceasefire and peace talks, the Kremlin says. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Wednesday it would be advantageous to “restore normal energy supply” to Europe, revealing the Nord Stream pipelines are “being discussed” with the United States now. The subject is one that will not be...

Máté Kocsis, the leader of the Fidesz faction, announced after a meeting of the National Security Committee that, according to information obtained by the Hungarian secret services, the Ukrainian state had launched a smear campaign against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. “It is not news that a Ukrainian intelligence operation has been launched to discredit Viktor Orbán, as the Hungarian intelligence services reported on it at the meeting of the National Security Committee of the Parliament,” ​​Levente Boros Bánk, director of political analysis at the Nézőpont Institute, told Magyar Nemzet. The goal is to undermine the international reputation of the...

Trump pressured NATO, armed Ukraine, and imposed tough policies on Russia, while Europe postures without action—leaving real deterrence to the U.S. Fable One: Donald Trump Is Appeasing Russia?Who wiped out the Wagner group in Syria? Who sold offensive weapons to Ukraine first? Who warned Germany not to become dependent on the Russian Nord Stream II deal? Who withdrew from an unfair missile deal with the Russians? Who cajoled and berated NATO members to meet their military investment promises made following the 2014 invasion of Ukraine? In contrast, who originally conceived a Russian “reset” in 2009? Who publicly virtue-signaled pushing the...

Germany hasn’t seen significant economic growth in five years. It’s a stunning turnaround for Europe’s biggest economy, which for much of this century had expanded exports and dominated world trade in engineered products like industrial machinery and luxury cars. Here are five reasons for Germany’s ongoing economic slump:

COVID-19: It’s all we talk about, on the cable news, and in our 6-foot socially-distanced prison walks around our silent neighborhoods. And in nearly every conversation comes the intellectual shrug, “who could have seen this coming?” A single phrase that neatly absolves governments and experts alike of any responsibility of predicting the pandemic and, if not being able to stop it, at least cushioning its blow........ But is it unfair to engage in so much 20-20 hindsight? After all, who could see COVID coming? Well, we did. We — as in nodes within the U.S. Government tasked with tracking critical...

President-elect Donald Trump’s victory bodes well for US-Morocco relations. As King Mohamed VI recalled in his statement congratulating Trump on his election win, during his first term, Trump recognized Rabat’s full sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Trump made this recognition with a presidential proclamation on December 10, 2020, in exchange for Morocco reestablishing diplomatic relations with Israel. In his statement, Mohammed VI went on to say that “the Moroccan people will forever be grateful” for this recognition, calling Washington “our longstanding friend and ally.” While Morocco hopes to pick up where it left off in negotiations with...

For years, world leaders have accused Russia of funding environmental groups in Europe to steer nations away from energy independence and strengthen Russia’s iron grip over the continent. As nations across the globe begin shunning Russian oil in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. leaders are also questioning how deep Russia’s ties go in the environmental community. "The Russians actually fund some of the most rabid environmental groups in Europe because they sic them on the energy projects that aren’t Russian," James Carafano, vice president of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign...

The U.S. nuclear energy sector’s dependence on Russian uranium created during a failed Obama-era reset with Moscow is coming back to bite Americans as the Kremlin moves to block future exports of the vital fuel. Vladimir Putin’s new restrictions on uranium exports to the U.S., announced last week, come as the country’s war in Ukraine continues to heighten tensions with the United States and the West. His announcement created an immediate impact, as uranium prices soared and worries grew that American utilities might have trouble meeting electric demand next year. It's the latest fallout from a series of foreign policy...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a stunning miracle, congresspeople just emerged from negotiations over 2.3 trillion loaves and fishes, somehow turning the trillions of morsels of food into enough meals for just five people. An exhausted Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) held up the small basket so crowds of unemployed citizens could witness perhaps the most historic event in the history of mankind, in which countless loaves and fishes given by those same citizens were magically transformed into, like, four or five measly meals. "This is significant," noted a sweating Pelosi, surely weary after working nearly 40 hours per...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “New Day,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stated that the Biden administration is “trying to help people deal with the consequences of rising prices, whether it’s increasing the SNAP benefit or whether it’s making sure that the child tax credit is available to folks or whether it’s rebuilding the infrastructure of this economy” to fix supply chain issues. Vilsack said, “I think it’s — the key here is that we’re also trying to help people deal with the consequences of rising prices, whether it’s increasing the SNAP benefit or whether it’s making sure that the child...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Tuesday that his agency is looking for “creative ways” to give public school students access to more meals, including a way to provide them breakfast, lunch and dinner year round. “We have focused on efforts to try to figure out ways in which we can expand in those time periods when youngsters may not have access to school meals,” Vilsack said in remarks at the liberal Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. That includes giving students access to meals “across the school day, across the school year and across the calendar year,” he...

A group of just over 100 homeless people in California's Los Angeles County and San Francisco Bay Area were given $750 per month for a year — no questions asked. The newly released results of the first six months of the study into the impact of a basic income and social support intervention reveal what the recipients spent the influx of cash. ... Those who received the $750 monthly stipend were less likely to remain unsheltered and closer to having enough money to meet all of their basic needs as compared to a control group who accessed usual homeless services,...

The camel's nose under the tent is becoming a full free ride now for DACA recipients on health care. For DACA recipients, U.S. life under Joe Biden just keeps getting better and better. Here's the latest from the Washington Examiner: President Joe Biden is reportedly set to expand the health plans available to hundreds of thousands of people who illegally immigrated to the United States as children. Biden's decision will allow participants in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program to access government-funded health insurance programs such as Medicaid and Obamacare's health insurance exchanges, officials reportedly told...

In this episode of China’s Not Gonna Eat Our Lunch, Man…“Subnational incursions are afoot — China is on the hunt,” warn two former U.S. ambassadors, as Joe Biden and the Democrats continue to push unachievable “green energy” goals on America. Former U.S. Ambassadors Peter Hoekstra and Joseph Cella said Chinese companies, which are subject to strict Chinese laws, have made a concerted effort to take advantage of U.S. green energy goals.This report should come as zero surprise to those who’ve paid attention to the “climate change” madness.From Biden’s ridiculous, ill-informed goals to lunatic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s insane law that...

A secret plan drawn up by Russia’s security service, the FSB, lays out detailed options to destabilize Moldova – including supporting pro-Russian groups, utilizing the Orthodox Church and threatening to cut off supplies of natural gas. The document appears to have been drawn up to thwart Moldova’s tilt to the West, which includes closer relations with NATO and an application to join the European Union. It repeatedly refers to the importance of preventing Moldova from joining NATO. (snip)The document sets out a 10-year strategy for bringing Moldova, a former Soviet republic sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, within Russia’s sphere of...

Masking and social distancing should be encouraged or even mandated once more in public in order to protect people from COVID-19 and from the possibility of suffering from "Long COVID," according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services. The report, commissioned by HHS and produced by research agency Coforma, calls for a broad range of government policies to help people who continue to deal with the lingering effects of COVID. Those policies include an awareness campaign, funding for long COVID support groups, financial support for students and workers, and new health benefits for COVID victims....

Eric Holder's resignation, just 40 days before the midterm elections, shows how jittery Obama is about losing control of the Senate this November. While Holder likely is getting out of Dodge before federal judges weigh in and order the release of documents showing he covered up the Fast and Furious and IRS email scandals, the timing of his resignation suggests that Obama wants to be sure that he has time for a Democratic lame duck Senate to confirm a replacement. With so much dirty laundry stacked up in the closets of the Justice Department, Obama didn't dare let in an...

Protests have erupted in Buenos Aires over the past 90 days and continue to build inside the capital as residents battle with their center-left government over sizeable amendments to social programs. Cuts to subsidies in the energy sector based on household income already began in June. Other subsidies, including the country’s notorious welfare program, are also on the chopping block, triggering thousands of angry residents to take to the streets. State-sponsored aid for civilians has soared in the past 20 years, leaving 22 million Argentinians dependent on some form of government assistance. However, for the 1.2 million members dependent on...

A top U.S. official warned the Chinese government there would be “consequences” if Beijing helps the Kremlin evade sanctions and said he believes China had at least some insight into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine before its launch. Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser for President Joe Biden, said on two Sunday shows that the United States would not just allow Beijing to undermine U.S. and international sanctions against Russia. While the Pentagon criticizes China for its "at least tacit approval" of Russia's invasion, China has repeatedly sought to lay blame at the feet of the U.S., calling it one of...