Free Republic

The head of NATO expressed worry that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a war between Russia and NATO, according to an interview released Friday. “If things go wrong, they can go horribly wrong,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in remarks to Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “It is a terrible war in Ukraine. It is also a war that can become a full-fledged war that spreads into a major war between NATO and Russia,” he said. “We are working on that every day to avoid that.”

Komal Sri-Kumar, the president of Sri-Kumar Global Strategies, believes global central banks could soon face an important “credit event” after hastily raising rates, with Credit Suisse’s financial health a possible contender. “I think the Federal Reserve is going to have to face the consequences of a credit event” if it were to occur, Komal Sri-Kumar told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday. “Something is going to break.” “This may or may not be a Lehman moment,” he said when asked about Credit Suisse and referring to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, which triggered a string of big Wall...

Famed investor Michael Burry delivered arguably his most dire warning about the current US economy to date late Thursday – suggesting he is concerned the ongoing downturn could be worse than the Great Recession. Burry, the boss of Scion Asset Management, noted that one of his market analysts said his comments were “spooky” because he voiced his concerns on Sept. 29 – the anniversary of a 777.68-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2008 that ranked at the time as the largest single-day plunge in history. “Today I wondered aloud if this could be worse than 2008,” Burry...

Kati Pannwitz spends her evenings at home alone in a darkened and unheated apartment, watching old movies while worrying about the new reality of life in a country that is being drawn ever closer to the war in Ukraine. Surging inflation and fears about an energy crisis are hitting home for Pannwitz, 34, taking a heavy toll on her finances and the futures of both her and her 17-year-old son. No more vacations, no more trips abroad, no more going out, no more saving and an outlook that has grown increasingly bleak for Pannwitz — and millions of fellow Germans...

Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are reportedly on the verge of collapse. They have 2.7 trillion in assets under management between them. It’s three times the assets of Lehman at the time of the collapse. On 15 September 2008, Lehman Brothers, a bank considered ‘too big to fail,’ filed for insolvency. It was the single largest bankruptcy filing in the history of the US. At the time, the bank had $639 billion in assets and $619 billion in debt. Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are too big to fail. Some say Deutsche Bank will be okay, but Credit Suisse is...

VLADIMIR Putin has deployed the world's biggest submarine which can be armed with a terrifying nuclear "apocalypse drone", NATO has reportedly warned. As the tyrant edges the world into the most dangerous moment since his shambolic Ukraine invasion, there are fears Russia's giant nuclear-capable torpedo is now on the warpath.

Credit Suisse shares fell nearly 8% on Monday as investors worried about the bank suffering a Lehman Brothers-style collapse. Swiss-listed shares dropped 7.8% to 3.67 francs ($3.71) in European trading hours, having fallen over 12% earlier in the session. Investors are fretting about the bank's overall health as it finalizes a restructuring plan due to be announced on October 27. On Friday there was a sharp rise in spreads on the bank's credit default swaps (CDS), which protect investors if it defaults on its debts.

In a Sunday editorial in the state-owned Global Times, Beijing warned that allowing the country into the alliance—as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested—would lead to an inevitable escalation in the conflict, prompting Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats to use nuclear arms against the West. While unlikely—U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan stated in a White House press briefing last week that NATO should delay talks on allowing the country into the alliance—the newspaper warned "all European countries will tremble under the shadow of a possible nuclear war" should it take place, and called for the Western alliance to withdraw...

Oil prices slumped Monday, falling by more than 3% on fears that slowing global economic growth will weigh on crude demand ahead of likely new large interest rate hikes by a number of central banks, including the Federal Reserve. By 08:35 ET (12:35 GMT), U.S. crude futures traded 3.4% lower at $81.88 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 3% to $88.59. U.S. Gasoline RBOB Futures were down 2.8% at $2.3474 a gallon. Both benchmarks suffered their third consecutive negative week last week, and this selling has continued Monday as traders fretted that aggressive monetary tightening by a number of...

mid growing concerns about a potential new large-scale Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory, at least one Russian T-80 tank has apparently been sighted in occupied Crimea with a bizarre-looking ad hoc armor fit. Armor of this type has been increasingly appearing on Russian tanks as of late and appears to be primarily intended to defend them against attacks by loitering munitions and other armed unmanned aircraft. The solution, which is part of a wider trend of improved defenses for Russian tanks, may well have been inspired by the destruction wrought by drone-launched munitions during last year’s conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, although...

MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. Kiev will not receive any "security guarantees", in particular, because its draft is essentially a "prologue" to World War III, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev believes. "The Kiev camarilla has given birth to a project of 'security guarantees', which are essentially a prologue to a third world war. Of course, no one will provide any 'guarantees' to the Ukrainian Nazis," he wrote on his Telegram channel on Tuesday. He believes that the agreement proposed by Kiev is tantamount to "applying Article 5 of the North Atlantic Pact to Ukraine." This article refers...

As the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council said, the current 'ultimatums' are a warm-up for kids, a preview of demands to be made in the future Russia’s current negotiating position on Ukraine is nothing but a "warm-up for kids," because the eventual demand may be total surrender of the Kiev regime, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on his Telegram channel on Monday. He drew attention to the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s statement about his refusal to conduct a dialogue with those who put forward ultimatums.

Negotiations Russia "does not reject" negotiations with Ukraine, but there are some "delays that complicate the process" of negotiations. This was said by Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov quoted by Tass. In an interview with Rossiya-1 television, Lavrov reported that Vladimir Putin convened a meeting with the Duma, the lower house of parliament, and leaders of the different factions. "The president told the participants that we do not reject negotiations," Lavrov stressed, but he accused the Ukrainians of delaying the process of negotiations. Kiev, Putin said again according to Lavrov's account, "should understand that the longer it delays the process, the...

The global shift to cleaner sources of energy is not yet a casualty of Russia's war in Ukraine, according to new research showing power generation has become less carbon-intensive, and clean energy investment has climbed since the conflict started. European nations that led the transition away from fossil fuels in recent years now find themselves scrambling to secure new sources of natural gas ahead of winter as Russia squeezes supply lines. In one of her first major policy announcements, new British Prime Minister Liz Truss promised to approve more North Sea oil drilling, and lift a ban on fracking to...

CHINESE space designers have unveiled plans to build their proposed lunar bases in the volcanic caves of the Moon, allowing for longer-term stays. The researchers believe that these underground hollow lava channels would offer astronauts offer a natural shield against space radiation and the extreme temperatures prevalent on the Moon. This would provide a boost to Beijing’s plans to allow astronauts to stay on the Moon for long periods by 2035. The underground tunnels, also known as lava tubes, were created by molten rock during ancient volcanic eruptions.

The Kremlin has issued its sharpest comments about cutting off Russia's natural-gas flow to Europe via the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Monday, saying supplies wwould not resume until the "collective West" lifts sanctions against Moscow. "Problems with gas supply arose because of the sanctions imposed on our country by Western states, including Germany and Britain," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov during a conference call, Reuters reported on Monday. "We see incessant attempts to shift responsibility and blame onto us. We categorically reject this and insist that the collective West – in this case, the EU, Canada, the UK...

An unprecedented rise in food and energy costs compounded by the climate crisis is resulting in a perfect storm for civil unrest in more than 100 countries, according to newly released analysis. Popular anger at cost-of-living crises has seen the Sri Lankan government toppled, protests in Argentina and rising discontent in Europe. The report, produced by risk analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft, warns that political turmoil in the next 12 months is set to increase, with over 80 percent of countries experiencing inflation above six percent and the prospect of repressive measures being used to quell dissent likely. Countries in the...

The purchase of Su-35 fighter jets from Russia is on the agenda of the Iranian Air Force, Commander of the Iranian Air Force Hamid Vahedi said. The final decision on the purchase of Su-35 fighters rests with the Iranian Army Command and the Armed Forces General Staff Command, Vahedi told Iran's BORNA news agency in an interview on Sunday.

While European nations are struggling to prepare for a cold winter with natural gas supplies choked off by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, reports have begun to trickle in that Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas company, is burning off massive amounts of natural gas daily. The BBC has reported the natural gas plant of Portovaya, near the Finnish border with Russia, is burning off an estimated $10 million worth of gas each day. According to the report, experts say that gas previously would have been exported to Europe. Miguel Berger, Germany’s ambassador to the UK, told BBC News that the European Union’s efforts...

Topline Authorities in Transnistria, a Moscow-backed breakaway region of Moldova that borders Ukraine, reported two explosions on Tuesday morning, the second instance of violence reported in as many days amid fears the region could be dragged into Russia’s war with Ukraine. Transnistria’s interior ministry said the explosions targeted a broadcasting center in the village of Mayak near the border with Ukraine. The blasts knocked down two powerful radio antennae that rebroadcast Russian radio in the region, which is supported by Russia but not recognized internationally, the ministry said in a statement. There were no injuries among employees or local residents,...