Free Republic

Fox News host Jesse Watters reflected on the redacted affidavit over the FBI’s raid on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on "Jesse Watters Primetime." [cut] Well, according to the affidavit, there appears to be two major concerns: where the documents were stored and how they were stored. The affidavit states: "I believe that the storage room and other spaces within the premises are not currently authorized locations for the storage of classified information or NDI." NDI is national defense information. So let me get this straight: Trump has some Trump administration documents locked up in the storage room of...

On July 21, members of the Ukrainian parliament decided to increase their salaries by 70 percent raise. After the bill for this decision had only been submitted on July 18, the parliamentarians were able to carry out the vote unusually quickly, reported the Overton magazine. According to the magazine, this decision, which was unanimously approved by all the remaining parties, would have been possible so quickly in the absence of a lack of opposition. Instead of 28,800 hryvnia as before, the “servants of the people”, as Vladimir Zelensky’s party is called, now earn 49,600 hryvnia per month. Since July 15,...

Surrounded by dozens of men in chainmail and helmets playing dead in a field, an impersonator of mediaeval Russian prince Alexander Nevsky raises his sword and roars. "This land is Russian, always has been, and always will be!" It was on this spot near Lake Peipus on Russia's border with Estonia that eight centuries ago Nevsky repelled a force of Teutonic Knights who wanted to convert Russia to Catholicism. Known as the Battle of the Ice because it was fought largely on the frozen lake, the clash in April 1242 is celebrated as a great victory against efforts to turn...

Alexander Dugin, known as ‘Putin’s Rasputin’, had strongly attacked the Kremlin leader shortly before his daughter Darya was blown up in a car bomb. There had been an online campaign to disparage Dugin in the days leading up to the fatal blast it appears was intended for him instead of his daughter. The revelations add to the theory that TV personality and ultranationalist pundit Darya Dugina, 29, was killed by Russian special services or other forces loyal to Putin. ... Today the Russian FSB claimed that the SBU - Kyiv’s special services - were behind the murder and said a...

The British parliament has convened for an emergency session to investigate the events of July 4th, 1776 in the colonies across the Atlantic. Sources indicate an illegal insurrection took place there that cost many lives. "Blimey! These cheeky colonists are quite literally — and I'm LITERALLY not exaggerating here — an existential threat to democracy!" said MP Peasley Peckinposh III to a chorus of "hear hears." Prime Minister Boris Johnson has directed the House of Commons and the House of Lords to form a committee that will hold televised hearings on the matter every night for at least 100 fortnights....

President Biden on Wednesday said his administration would make sure that Americans are not being “gouged for gas,” noting the recent decline in prices. Biden credited his administration’s decision last month to release 50 million barrels of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve during a speech in Kansas City where he said the average price of gas had fallen below $3 per gallon.

Ford Motor Co.’s hot-selling Mustang Mach-E electric SUV and other plug-in models are being rendered unprofitable by rising raw material costs. “We actually had a positive bottom line profit when we launched the Mach-E, commodity costs have wiped that out,” Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said Wednesday at the Deutsche Bank Global Automotive Conference, referring to 2020, when the vehicle went on sale. “You’re going to see pressure on the bottom line when we launch our EVs, they’re not going to be positive.”

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday blamed America’s struggle with inflation on “Putin’s war in Ukraine.” Anchor Jake Tapper said, “You heard Secretary Yellen say this week she got it wrong about inflation. In July, you told Bloomberg that inflation would be temporary about a year ago. As recently as six months ago, you were calling inflation, quote, a short-term problem, not a long-term problem. so, you got it wrong, too.”

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said Friday that she doesn't see ample evidence that inflation has peaked and thus is on board with supporting a series of aggressive interest rate increases. "I think the Fed has shown that we're in the process of recalibrating our policy to get inflation back down to our 2% goal. That's the job before us," Mester said in a live interview on CNBC's "The Exchange." "I don't want to declare victory on inflation before I see really compelling evidence that our actions are beginning to do the work in bringing down demand in better...

One of Australia’s largest regional food processors says energy costs are “out of control”, with already elevated gas prices tripling since the company signed new contracts in early 2022. Consumers will inevitably cop higher prices on their products with other costs also on the rise, including a jump of as much as 40% for raw materials such as tomatoes, carrots and apples in the past year, Jason Fritsch, the chief executive of Kagome, said. Kogame produces about 200,000 tonnes of tomatoes, 30,000 tonnes of carrots, 10,000 tonnes of apples and 7,000 tonnes of beetroot annually. The firm’s gas bill will...

Turkey's inflation climbed to its highest level since 1998, hitting an annual 73.5% in May, official data showed Friday, an issue dogging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of elections next year. Critics have blamed the country's economic woes on Erdogan's unorthodox economic policy of pushing for lower interest rates to combat price rises. The central bank refused again last week to raise its main rate, keeping it at 14%. Soaring food and energy prices pushed inflation even higher last month. Transport prices jumped by 107.6% in May while food was up 91.6%. Rumours of a military intervention in northern Syria...

President Biden’s Secret Service detail rushed him to a safe house in Rehoboth Beach, Del., Saturday when a private plane violated the airspace above the vacation home he owns in the small seaside town. Local resident Susan Lillard spotted a small white aircraft flying over Biden’s neighborhood around 12:45 p.m. — a violation of the FAA airspace restrictions that are always called when the president is away from the White House. Minutes later, Lillard told CBS News, she saw two military-style jets scramble over the town.

Grain production in Ukraine is likely to fall by around 20 per cent this year, prompting inflation and global food security warnings from the UK Ministry of Defence. Britain’s Ministry of Defence has warned that Ukraine’s grain harvest looks set to see around a 20 per cent decrease in yield as a result of the ongoing Russian invasion of the country. With Ukraine being responsible for a significant share of the world’s supply of wheat and other essential crops, this fall is reportedly likely to have devastating effects on the global supply of food, causing price hikes which will put...

Amid the ongoing global inflation crisis, NATO heads of state and mainstream media repeat a mantra that high energy prices are a direct result of Putin’s actions in Ukraine since end of February. The reality is that it is the western sanctions that are responsible. Those sanctions including cutting SWIFT interbank access for key Russian banks and some of the most severe sanctions ever imposed, are hardly having an impact on the military actions in Ukraine. What many overlook is the fact that they are increasingly impacting the economies of the West, especially the EU and USA. A closer look...

In an alert to clients this week Bank of America strategists warned in blunt language: "'Inflation shock' worsening, 'rates shock' just beginning, 'recession shock' coming." Why it matters: The ultra-tight job market and high inflation are two sides of the same coin, Axios chief economic correspondent Neil Irwin notes. The super tight-job market is fueling higher wages and strong demand — which is why the Fed is going to have to move more aggressively than it has in decades to try to quash inflation. Driving the news: The recession calls are about what might happen later this year or in...

Seven people at a poultry farm in southern Russia have been infected with H5N8 bird flu, officials say, making it the first time that the highly pathogenic virus has been found in humans. There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. “Today, I want to inform you about an important scientific discovery made by scientists at the Vector scientific center,” Anna Popova, the head of Russia’s consumer health watchdog, said on Saturday. “The first cases of human infection with [avian influenza A(H5N8)] have been laboratory confirmed.” The virus was found in seven employees at a poultry farm in southern Russia, where...

The Russian military has moved artillery units manned by Russian personnel inside Ukrainian territory in recent days and is using them to fire at Ukrainian forces, NATO officials said on Friday. The West has long accused Russia of supporting the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, but this is the first time it has said it had evidence of the direct involvement of the Russian military.

Among the Polish leaders lost in the plane crash in Russia last weekend was Slawomir Skrzypek, head of the National Bank of Poland. Skrzypek was the architect behind the scenes of what has been Poland’s economic success over the last couple of years. Americans know all too well the effects of the big drop in economic growth we suffered last year. That same fate has befallen virtually all of Europe. While Europe’s GDP has fallen by 2.2 percent over the last year, Poland’s grew by 3.1 percent. It is quite a feat for a country's economy to grow while its...

Poland has been plunged into mourning by the deaths of President Lech Kaczynski and dozens of political and military leaders in a plane crash. The jet crashed as it attempted to land at Smolensk air base in Russia in thick fog, killing all 97 people on board. Russian officials have said the pilots ignored warnings from air traffic control to divert to another airport. A week of mourning has been called in Poland where a two-minute silence will be held at noon (1000 GMT) on Sunday. Russia has also declared Monday a day of mourning for the victims, whose remains...