Free Republic

Government officials are investigating nearly $1 billion in land purchases near Travis Air Force Base in California due to concerns of possible foreign influence that led to an Air Force Foreign Investment Risk Review Office’s probe. If you’re already thinking Bill Gates or China, you’re likely not alone.At the center of the probe is “Flannery Associates,” a “mysterious” investor group that has acquired nearly 52,000 acres of agricultural land in the state in the last five years to become the largest landowner in California’s Solano County, according to county officials and public records, as first reported by The Wall Street...

Russia is pressing Turkey for access to a key airbase used by the US as it tries to extend its influence in the Middle East. The American-built Incirlik base, about 65 miles from the Syrian border, is used by Nato and has about 50 US nuclear warheads stored on site. A senior Russian politician said that allowing Russian jets and bombers to use it would be a logical continuation of President Erdogan’s efforts to rebuild Turkey’s relations with the Kremlin. “It just remains to come to an agreement with Erdogan that we get the Nato base Incirlik as [our] primary…