Free Republic

China kicked off its largest-ever military parade on Wednesday, a show of its growing firepower and geopolitical clout as President Xi Jinping seeks to cast Beijing as the custodian of a post-U.S. international order. Flanked by Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, a smiling Xi strolled up a red carpet to take his seat for the lavish event at Tiananmen Square to mark 80 years since Japan's defeat at the end of World War Two. More than 50,000 spectators packed into stands joined a vast choir singing patriotic songs as the dignitaries took their seats on the...

President Vladimir Putin has presented US President Donald Trump's special envoy with an award to pass on to a senior CIA official whose son was killed fighting with Russia in Ukraine. Putin gave the Order of Lenin to Steve Witkoff during his trip to Moscow this week to discuss a plan to end the Ukraine war, sources familiar with the matter told the BBC's US partner CBS. Michael Gloss, 21, who was killed in Ukraine last year, was the son of Juliane Gallina, who is the CIA's deputy director for digital innovation. Reports of the award emerged as it was...