Free Republic

Ukraine last week got a vital $61 billion lifeline from the United States. But it still needs a medium-term funding plan to withstand Russia’s onslaught. A multi-year funding plan would have several benefits. For a start, it would provide some insurance against U.S. political swings. It would also boost Ukrainian morale and give Western arms manufacturers greater confidence to ramp up production. Ukraine is straining every sinew to hold the line against Russia, an adversary whose $2 trillion, opens new tab economy was 11 times bigger than its own last year. How much Kyiv needs in future depends on what...

A prominent liberal priest faces expulsion from the Russian Orthodox church for refusing to read out a prayer asking God to guide Russia to victory over Ukraine. In a verdict published on Saturday, a church court said Aleksiy Uminsky should be “expelled from holy orders” for violating his priestly oath. The decision was forwarded for approval to Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian church who strongly backs President Vladimir Putin. The case shows how the church is clamping down on internal dissent as it throws its support behind Putin and his “special military operation” in Ukraine, which is now...

NEW YORK, May 6 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday reinstated Florida's new Republican-backed voting restrictions, overruling a judge's decision that several provisions such as limits on ballot drop boxes were racially discriminatory. U.S. Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee had struck down the bulk of the law in March, finding that lawmakers had designed the legislation to be "intentionally discriminatory" against Black voters. He also ordered the state to seek court approval to make any changes to the provisions in question for the next 10 years. But a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals...

Honduras' deposed President Manuel Zelaya said on Sunday that he would stay in the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital for as long as Brasilia allowed him to and that he would be willing to talk to the new president-elect. Leftist Zelaya, who was ousted by the army in a coup on June 28, slipped back into Honduras in September and took refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, from where he has been demanding his reinstatement. The United States and Brazil have been pushing for Zelaya's return to power but his fate remains uncertain after the Honduran Congress voted...