Free Republic

In October, Mr Musk pledged to cut "at least $2 trillion" from the federal government budget. He subsequently halved this target and on 10 April talked about making savings of $150bn from "cutting fraud and waste" by the end of the next financial year in 2026. ...Doge's largest listed individual saving is $2.9bn. It comes from cancelling a contract - which started in 2023 under President Biden - for a facility in Texas to house up to 3,000 unaccompanied migrant children. Doge appears to have taken the "total contract value" until 2028 - the end date listed - and subtracted...

Russian national Igor Strelkov, a former commander of pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine, has claimed personal responsibility for unleashing the conflict in which 4,300 people have been killed since April. "I was the one who pulled the trigger of this war," Strelkov said in an interview published Thursday with Russia's Zavtra newspaper, which espouses imperialist views. "If our unit hadn't crossed the border, everything would have fizzled out — like in [the Ukrainian city of] Kharkiv, like in Odessa," Strelkov, who uses that nom-de-guerre meaning "Shooter" to replace his last name Girkin, was quoted as saying. "There would have been...

POKROVSK REGION, Ukraine -- A dire shortage of infantry troops and supply routes coming under Russian drone attacks are conspiring against Ukrainian forces in Pokrovsk, where decisive battles in the nearly three-year war are playing out — and time is running short. Ukrainian troops are losing ground around the crucial supply hub, which lies at the confluence of multiple highways leading to key cities in the eastern Donetsk region as well as an important railway station. Moscow is set on capturing as much territory as possible as the Trump administration is pushing for negotiations to end the war and recently...

"Andrzej Duda told the BBC that the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which have not been used since 2022, "should be dismantled". This, he said, would mean the likes of Germany would not be tempted to restore Russian supplies to boost its own struggling economy. "I can only hope that European leaders will learn lessons from Russia's aggression against Ukraine and that they will push through a decision to never restore the pumping of gas through this pipeline," he said. The Polish president, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, insisted that economic sanctions against Russia were working and European...

The leader of Azerbaijan directly blamed Russia on Sunday for the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet last week, calling on Moscow to accept responsibility and offer compensation to victims. President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with Azerbaijan’s national broadcaster that a vague apology issued by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a day earlier would not suffice to preserve friendly relations between the two former Soviet states. ...“We can clearly say today that the plane was shot down by Russia,” Mr. Aliyev said in the interview, according to a summary published in English by Azerbaijan’s state news...

The Kremlin said Friday that its "prerequisites" for holding peace talks with Ukraine had not yet been met, as speculation over a possible ceasefire mounts ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump coming to power in January. "We don't want a ceasefire, we want peace, after our conditions are met and all our goals are achieved," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that the "prerequisites" needed to open negotiations were not in place.

Paapa Essiedu is being eyed for the role of Professor Severus Snape in the upcoming “Harry Potter” TV series, Variety has confirmed with sources. According to sources, no deal is currently in place and Essiedu has not formally accepted the role. He is the latest actor to be mentioned for a role in the series. Variety previously reported that Academy Award winner Mark Rylance was in the running for the role of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Variety has reached out to HBO and Warner Bros. for comment and will update this story should they respond. SNIP

Russia’s widespread overnight attack targeting critical energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine was a response to strikes on Russian territory using US-made ATACMS missiles, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. Putin claimed Russia hit 17 targets that were “military facilities, defense industry facilities and their support systems,” without acknowledging the hits to power infrastructure. “As I have said many times, there will always be a response from our side (to the use of American ATACMS),” Putin said during comments made at a security summit in Kazakhstan. Air defenses were activated across the country, with damage reported in 14 regions, according to the...

Russia has launched a "massive strike" on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, the country's energy minister said, as explosions were reported in several cities. Herman Halushchenko said on Facebook that attacks on energy facilities were "taking place all over Ukraine" and emergency power outages had been introduced, urging people to take shelter. Early on Thursday, the Ukrainian air force issued a nationwide air raid warning "due to the threat of missile danger". The air force issued further warnings of missiles, rockets and drones heading towards numerous regions around the country, including Kyiv, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Kropyvnytskyi, Balta, and Mykolaiv.

A famous Belarusian prankster who has garnered a reputation for duping schools to highlight the “fascistization of Russian society” has tricked teachers in Russia's Voronezh region into wearing pro-Russia “protective” tinfoil hats. Vladislav Bokhan, an exiled Belarusian artist and activist who lives in Poland, wrote on Telegram on November 9 that in July he sent out what appeared to be an official government directive to schools in the Voronezh region to organize events in which tinfoil hats bearing the Russian flag were made. The hats, the order said, would “protect against foreign enemies.” The schools were also instructed to...

The pro-western incumbent Maia Sandu has won a second term in office in the Moldovan presidential election, preliminary results have shown, marking a significant boost for the country’s EU aspirations and a clear rebuke to Moscow. The runoff election was seen as a crucial indicator of whether the country’s long-term geopolitical alignment will be with Russia or Europe. The pro-western incumbent, Sandu, who has intensified the nation’s efforts to break away from Moscow’s influence, was facing the Kremlin-friendly political newcomer, Alexandr Stoianoglo, from the Socialist party, in the second round of voting on Sunday. With 98% of the ballots counted,...

The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia supplied targeting intelligence to Yemen's Houthi forces for attacks on Western ships in the Red Sea. Yemen’s Houthi terrorists used targeting data provided by Russia to attack Western ships in the Red Sea earlier this year, an exclusive Thursday Wall Street Journal report disclosed. According to the report, the Houthis used Russian satellite data to destabilize the region as the Israel-Hamas war expanded throughout the past year. A person familiar with the matter and two European defense officials reportedly told the WSJ this information. Furthermore, the data was passed through Islamic Revolutionary Guard...

Jim O'Neill came up with the term BRIC in 2001 in a research paper that underlined the massive growth potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China. The then-Goldman Sachs chief economist highlighted the need to reform global governance to include these up and coming countries in his paper. Today, the grouping accounts for 45% of the world's population and 35% of its economy. O'Neill, who admitted he would “have Mr. BRICS stamped on his forehead forever”, has however said the group group had achieved very little over the past 15 years. In an interview, he added that it was not...

Moldovans have voted by a razor-thin majority in favour of joining the European Union, nearly final results showed on Monday after a pivotal referendum clouded by allegations of Russian interference. On Sunday, Moldova held key votes in a presidential election and a referendum on EU membership, marking a critical moment in the continuing struggle between Russia and the west for control over the small, landlocked nation in eastern Europe, home to 2.5 million people. After nearly 99.5% of votes were counted in the referendum that asked voters to choose whether to enshrine in the country’s constitution a path toward the...

Former vice-president of the Russian concern YUKOS Mikhail Rogachev has been found dead in Moscow . This was reported by the Russian propaganda Telegram channel Mash “One of the top YUKOS executives, Mikhail Rogachev, fell out of a window and died in the center of Moscow. He had previously committed suicide,” the report says. It is noted that Rogachev was 64 years old. According to Mash, he had a severe form of oncology. “He left a suicide note and committed suicide in the morning on Protopopovsky Lane,” the Telegram channel reported.

The finance ministers of the most important BRICS countries refused to come to the meeting in Moscow. The Kremlin presented there its idea of ​​​​phasing out payments in US dollars. No one supported it. Friday's BRICS meeting in Moscow was focused on the Kremlin's announcement of a global payment system alternative to the dollar. However, it was held without the participation of finance ministers and central bank governors of China, India and South Africa, Reuters reports. The countries sent their deputies and junior officials to the meeting. China was represented in Moscow by Vice Finance Minister Liao Ming and Central...

India’s Modi has tried to play peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine. But reports that Ukraine is using Indian shells could complicate those efforts. Visiting Moscow in early July, Modi described Russia as New Delhi’s “trusted ally” and “all-weather friend”, referring to the decades-old strategic collaboration between the two nations. Yet, less than three months later, that relationship is being tested, especially after reports that Kyiv has accessed Indian ammunition and is using it in the Russia-Ukraine war. Indian shells, bought by Italy and the Czech Republic, have been routed to Ukraine. The report follows a series of battlefront images that...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the United Nations of turning a blind eye to Ukrainian attacks in Russia’s Kursk region, which began in early August. Lavrov made the remarks during an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.Lavrov claimed that Ukrainian forces, armed with Western weapons, are committing indiscriminate attacks on civilians and infrastructure in Kursk. He criticized the UN and its Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, for failing to condemn these actions.“I have not heard any voices from UN representatives responsible for human rights, including, of course, the secretary...

Russian foreign ministry claimed on X that the Soviet Union’s invasion of Poland prevented genocide in Western Belarus and Western Ukraine. History shows, and Germany pointed out, they are wrong The Hitler-Stalin pact was a secret agreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, carved Poland into zones of control for both powers, setting the stage for the start of World War II. Images courtesy: Wikimedia Commons Germany reacted with disbelief after Russia defended its 1939 invasion of Poland, claiming it was a move to protect Ukrainian and Belarusian populations, not an act of aggression. Marking the 85th anniversary of...

The Russian government is completely writing off all debt, mortgages, and loans for their soldiers who were wounded or received awards for service in Russia’s Special Military Operations. American soldiers get assistance but not an exoneration of mortgages and debts. Putin also ordered the country’s military to expand to 1.5 million active troops, bringing the total military personnel to nearly 2.4 million. The growing prospect for World War III continue to unfold.