Free Republic

Greece and Spain are sitting on stockpiles of Patriot air defence missiles nearing their expiry dates that could be donated to Ukraine, The Telegraph can disclose. The two Nato nations hold some of Europe's largest reserves of the interceptors, even as Kyiv pleads for more to defend against Russia's plans for its most brutal long-range bombardments of the war. Ukrainian officials have circulated what they say are intercepted Russian plans for a new campaign to cripple the country's energy grid, plunging cities into darkness and testing the population's resolve through the winter. Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, has repeatedly pressed...

Construction of a “transformational” new railway line linking China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan will allow goods to transit from east to west across Eurasia a whole week faster. On the way, it’s also predicted to have a transformational impact on the economy of Kyrgyzstan, one of the slowest developing countries on the continent. Now, the “CKU” will give direct transit options for most of Central Asia while unlocking substantial natural resource opportunities among a depressed, mountainous region of Kyrgyzstan. The trilateral agreement to build the 300-mile-long railway was signed on December 27th, 2024, and construction began the following year. $1.1 billion...