Free Republic

In one of the most underreported happenings in the Persian Gulf conflict, Yemen’s internationally recognized government and allied militias have inflicted a series of ground setbacks on Iran-backed Houthi forces over the past month. These defeats are reversing parts of a late-summer Houthi push toward the Red Sea undertaken as part of the Iranian strategy of widening its conflict with the U.S. The Yemeni government is sufficiently confident in the new fronts that they now describe this as the start of a campaign to take the Houthi capital of Sanaa. The Iranian-backed Houthis have been Iran's key ace-in-the-hole for years....

Days after Donald Trump won the presidential election in November 2016, thousands flocked to the streets of New York City to demonstrate against the president elect in a protest organized by a Kremlin-connected Facebook page called BlackMattersUS, The Hill reports. Between 5,000 and 10,000 people attended the protest organized by the Facebook page, which, according to an archived screen grab, had more than 99,000 likes.“Join us in the streets! Stop Trump and his bigoted agenda!” the Facebook event page reads for the protest, which was called “Trump is NOT my President. March against Trump.” “Divided is the reason we just fell,” it reads. “We must...

According to media reports, a key installation near the Jänschwalde coal plant in Brandenburg was repeatedly targeted with rockets, which emergency crews later found and defused. Several improvised explosive devices were found at a substation near a coal-fired power plant in Germany on Tuesday and several power lines were damaged, police and a grid operator said. Operator 50Hertz said there was a "brief interruption of service" but all lines are now back in operation at the Preilack substation, which distributes power from the nearby Jänschwalde power plant. Police said no one was hurt. The apparent aim was to trigger a...

Today, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York ruled that the State of New York may not impose strict liability on energy companies for their alleged contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2024, New York enacted the “Climate Change Superfund Act,” which purported to impose billions of dollars on domestic and foreign energy companies that extract fossil fuels or refine crude oil. A coalition of states and trade organizations sued, alleging that the Act is preempted by the federal Clean Air Act and by the federal foreign affairs power, and that the Act violates the...

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama was quick to blame the bankruptcy of Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers on Republicans’ “failed philosophy”. Obama’s September 15 comments were repeated throughout the media--yet reporters have not noted Obama’s glaring conflict of interest—the Lehman debt owed to a bank owned by the financier who loaned millions of dollars to Tony Rezko.

Drive from Buffalo into Genesee County and you will pass fields that have grown corn and soybeans for generations. Soon, thousands of those acres will be covered by steel and glass. New York state is forcing industrial-scale solar plants onto rural communities that never asked for them, and the people who live there are discovering just how little their voice counts when a governor decides differently. The Mandate Behind The Mess.. New York is tearing up rural communities, wiping out wildlife sanctuaries, and burying prime agricultural soil under solar installation in the name of green energy. The root of this...

President Donald Trump announced an historic energy deal with Venezuela in a Truth Social post Friday night. The president called the deal “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY.” Trump wrote that the United States secured “majority U.S. control” of over 65 million barrels’ worth of Venezuelan oil reserves. Trump credited Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez and “a partnership with private business.” The president stated that the deal more than doubles American reserves and will “substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans.” He added that the deal would strengthen the...

Three of China's top solar market players reported deepening losses over the first half of the year, reflecting weakening demand for solar in the world's top manufacturer and generator.Jinko Solar, JA Solar Technology, and Tongwei all reported six-month losses as overcapacity in the sector meets weakening demand, not only at home but also abroad, Bloomberg reported, citing statements made by the companies at their financial results releases.The report noted new solar power capacity additions in China had shrunk to 72.07 GW over the first half of the year, compared with 212.2 GW a year earlier. Part of the decline was...

We reported earlier on 14 recent wins that are going to help the country, from immigration actions to economic actions. But now there's a new report from two U.S. officials about a deal that's in the offing. "Calling this deal huge would be an understatement," one of the officials said. "It is massive."The Trump administration is in talks with Venezuela's interim government about taking an ownership stake in the South American country's enormous oil resources, two U.S. officials tell Axios.Why it matters: The historic deal would more than double U.S. oil reserves by drawing from a country that has the...

The reactor was produced under President Trump’s 2025 nuclear reactor plan. It was designed by Australian Bobby Gallagher and his team in Houston. It can produce one megawatt of power, at a cost of 15 cents per kilowatt hour, for five years before refueling is required. The entire reactor can fit on the bed of a Ford F150 pickup. More importantly, it can be manufactured in a factory, fits into one 20-foot shipping container, uses the existing conventional supply chain, and requires no exotic custom-made components.

Venezuela's new petroleum minister sees her South American home not as a dilapidated former oil giant, but as an emerging energy economy ripe for U.S. and foreign investments in new oil and gas exploration, both onshore and offshore. Paula Henao, who took over as the hydrocarbons minister in March after the forced U.S. removal of former leader Nicolás Maduro, told an overflowing Houston energy audience on Wednesday that Venezuela is much more than just its famed heavy-grade crude oil. There are more than 916 exploration opportunities awaiting foreign investment, she said, including natural gas and other untapped oil basins. She...

Restaurants and other businesses have lost their challenge to Denver ordinances that forbid them from using natural-gas appliances, as a judge has found they are not preempted by federal law. The Restaurant Law Center and the National Association of Home Builders were among the trade associations that sued Denver in July 2024, arguing rules passed in Denver this decade were preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Judge Philip Brimmer disagreed in an Aug. 7 ruling granting the city’s motion to dismiss. Preemption only applies to energy use requirements on manufacturers before the appliances reach consumers, Brimmer wrote....

Every August, the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Georgia is accompanied by familiar reflections about missed warning signs, intelligence failures, and a supposedly unexpected turning point in European security. The language has become so standardized that it obscures a far more uncomfortable reality. Georgia did not reveal a new Russia. It exposed a Russia that had been behaving consistently for nearly two decades while much of the West continued searching for evidence that Moscow had fundamentally changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Describing the failure to recognize this trajectory as a collection of mistakes understates what actually occurred....

The Fifth Circuit has set aside Biden-era energy efficiency standards for stoves and cooktops, ruling that the Energy Department illegally refused to withdraw the rule after states raised objections requiring ordinary notice-and-comment rulemaking. Judge Oldham accused the Biden administration of trying to “dodge” controversy, said DOE’s interpretation made a “mindless hash” of Congress’s scheme, and called its concession that CA, MA, and NY do not fairly represent the states “the understatement of the day.” The ruling could significantly limit DOE’s use of direct final rules. The Fifth Circuit held they are for consensus regulations, must be withdrawn when objections provide...

Over the past eighteen months, nearly every condition analysts have long said would erode the dollar's dominance arrived at once. War broke out in the Persian Gulf. The Strait of Hormuz has closed, reopened, and closed again, and remains shut as this is written. Iran began charging transit tolls denominated in yuan. Indian refiners started settling Russian crude in yuan and dirhams, the first time a top-five oil importer structurally routed around the dollar for energy. China's cross-border payment system posted record volumes, clearing 1.22 trillion yuan in a single day in March. Central banks bought gold at a pace...

The United States and Israel are planning what would be one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date against energy infrastructure targets in Iran, multiple sources told CBS News, with strikes possible throughout the weekend. There was some discussion about trying to conclude by the time financial markets open Monday because of concern about how the bombings will affect the U.S. and global economy, but an end point wasn't locked in. The Israelis have been notified and are coordinating with the United States, according to multiple U.S. sources. The president has yet to give the final go orders for the...

Germany, proud parent of the 'Destroy Your Economy and National Standard of Living Through the Climate Cult Fever Dreaming School,' has been wallowing in its own pond scum colored green glory lately.There is not a single week without a German company announcing mass layoffs or closures.Germany is in the deepest structural crisis since WWII. Government spending masks the real magnitudeIt can’t continue forever, governments need taxes from the real economy to keep spending. pic.twitter.com/DuBjY173ys— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) July 26, 2026Now the poster child for the horrors of life under deindustrialization (not that Britain isn't giving them a run for...

Cuba's state power operator UNE announced on Monday that the national electrical system had suffered a "total disconnection," plunging the island into darkness amid its worst economic crisis in decades, severe fuel shortages, and daily blackouts averaging 20 hours. Cuba's national power operator announced on Monday that the island's electrical system had suffered a complete collapse, triggering a nationwide blackout as technicians worked to restore service. The state-run company UNE said in a post on X that the National Electric Power System had gone down completely without immediate explanation. "A total disconnection of the National Electric Power System is occurring....

Russia is now "so deeply invested in the Maduro regime that the only realistic option is to double down." Financial Times' Alexander Gabuev says that Rosneft owns two offshore gas fields in Venezuela and holds stakes in assets boasting more than 20 million tonnes of crude. Caracas owes Rosneft USD 3 billion. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido last month declared himself interim president, winning the backing of the United States. Russia, meanwhile, supported Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolás Maduro, who has led the oil-rich nation since 2013. The Kremlin is extending help to Maduro while the United States is imposing sanctions...

President Trump shouldn’t waste time chasing a final Iran deal — and instead prepare Americans for resuming military operations by targeting Tehran’s economic lifeline, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg told The Post.“[We should be telling Americans] the fight’s not over. It’s going to take a day or two — buckle up,” Kellogg, a former Trump adviser, said in an interview Wednesday. “The American people are great about that … if they explain it to them, they’ll understand it.”Kellogg is skeptical of the ongoing 60-day US-Iran talks outlined in the memorandum of understanding signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian...