Free Republic

Amid shortages of basic groceries in Russia as a result of its war in Ukraine, instances of petty thefts of essential items have been reported online, with butter emerging as one of the targeted products. -snip- The shortages in the country stem from a combination of supply chain disruptions, Western sanctions, and declining domestic production. As reported by state-owned news outlet Moskow 24, large butter-making enterprises have begun to reduce production and suspend shipments of their products to retail chains. One production company cited 46 percent cumulative inflation for eight months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023,...

Vladimir Putin has admitted that sanctions on Russia and worker shortages have contributed to economic turbulence in the country. The Russian president made the comments days after Russia's Central Bank raised its key interest rate to a record 21 percent—higher than the emergency 20 percent level introduced in the aftermath of Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine when facing Western sanctions and isolation from the global financial system. -snip- Russia's economic growth has been fueled by record levels of military spending but a lack of workers exacerbated by troop losses in Ukraine and a brain drain of those avoiding the draft,...

A longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has predicted that the majority of Russian companies could go bankrupt due to the increasingly high interest rate. - snip- Chemezov criticized the Russian central bank's elevated key interest rate, which, following his comments, was raised by an additional two percentage points on Friday to a record 21 percent. "There is no 20 percent profitability anywhere. Maybe in the drug trade, but even the sale of weapons does not bring such a profit," he said. Chemezov said that the high key interest rate drives up borrowing costs for businesses, which hurts their...

Any decision to send North Korean troops to Russia would be in line with international law, Pyongyang has said amid reports that its soldiers could reach the front lines of the war in Ukraine as early as this weekend. This is a developing story.

"I am disappointed that he hasn't embraced Kamala Harris," Anderson said, referring to the silence from Kelly and other former Trump officials regarding endorsements. "When they took a political job, like being Trump's chief of staff, they lost the right to remain neutral." Anderson added that he wished Kelly would fully support Harris over Trump, something he has not yet done. "His view is that the general and flag officer corps of the United States military should stay out of partisan politics as much as possible, and I believe he is reluctant to endorse any politician," he said. However,...

During a campaign stop in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, former President Donald Trump visited a McDonald's and learned how to make fries at a branch in Feasterville-Trevose in Bucks County. On Sunday, the Republican presidential nominee held an impromptu press conference through the drive-thru's window. Trump, known for his love of fast food, used the opportunity to attack Harris over claims she never worked at a fast food chain during her college years. The vice president has previously said she worked at a McDonald's as a student at Howard University in Washington.However, rumors have been circulating on social...

The Kremlin has refused to publish details of "high-level conversations" between top officials, a spokesperson said after Donald Trump said he had threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with a strike on his capital if Moscow invaded Ukraine. Trump, the Republican candidate for elections now just two weeks away, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Friday that he had warned Putin—with whom he said he had a "great relationship"—not to go to war in Ukraine or he would "hit" Moscow. "I said, 'Vladimir, 'if you go after Ukraine, I am going to hit you so hard, you're...

Some 18 North Korean soldiers are believed to have deserted the Russian frontline, with Kremlin fighters reportedly searching for them. The troops were deployed in Russia's Kursk and Bryansk oblasts, about four miles from the border with Ukraine, when they deserted, the public broadcasting company of Ukraine, Suspilne, reported. Intelligence officials cited by the broadcaster said the Russian military is searching for the North Korean soldiers, while commanders are trying to conceal the desertion from their higher-ups. It comes after reports that Moscow was planning to assemble a battalion of troops sent over by Kim Jong Un to help push...

One of Moscow's fighter jets has been shot down by Ukrainian forces, according to a military blogger with links to the Russian air force. Another pro-Moscow milblogger said that the Sukhoi Su-34 aircraft had been downed by a Western-supplied F-16. Neither report has been confirmed and Newsweek has contacted the Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries for comment over the unverified claims which have sparked much speculation on social media. The Telegram channel Fighterbomber posted on Saturday a message which looked like a tribute to a lost Su-34 fighter jet. Next to an image of the supersonic medium-range fighter bomber, which...

...Judge Trevor McFadden sided with two ranchers from Arizona—a border state that's a battleground in the presidential race—who claimed that the Biden administration's halt on the border wall, which violated laws requiring an environmental review, caused concrete damage to the environment. The case centers around whether the Biden administration violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not reviewing the potential environmental impact of halting construction.. The ruling came from the case Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security... "In sum, the Court finds that Smith suffered tangible harms that were caused by an influx...

Saudi Arabia is prepared to abandon its $100-a-barrel crude oil price target as it moves to increase output, signaling its acceptance of lower prices, according to the Financial Times. This decision comes despite earlier production cuts by OPEC+ members, which sought to keep prices high. Brent crude prices dipped below $70 earlier this month, the lowest since December 2021. Despite this, officials plan to boost production starting December 1, potentially extending a period of reduced prices. This marks a shift from Saudi Arabia's previous focus on price stabilization. Saudi Arabia's ramp-up in oil production, especially if paired with lowered prices,...

...Speaking at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania...Harris criticized Trump's proposal to impose high tariffs on China... She also said that Trump's policies made it easier for China to acquire advanced semiconductor chips, which they then use for military applications. "Donald Trump actually shipped advanced semiconductor chips to China which helps them upgrade their military.... The Facts The claim that Trump "sold out" the U.S. by shipping semiconductors to China is not supported by evidence...In fact, Trump's administration took significant steps to limit China's access to sensitive technologies, including semiconductors... The Ruling...We found Harris' claim to be highly misleading....

Donald Trump has no plans to visit Springfield, Ohio, despite pledging to do so at a rally last week, Newsweek can reveal.The city was unwittingly thrust into the national spotlight this month after the former president and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, amplified claims that its Haitian migrant community were killing and eating residents' pets.At a rally in Long Island on September 18, Trump said that he planned to visit Springfield in the next two weeks.However, two sources familiar with the matter have said Trump is not expected to visit the city in the near future.It comes as Ohio's...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has suffered an emabarassing setback as his feared Satan 2 nuclear arsenal failed four out of five missile tests, according to arms experts and satellite imagery from the launch site. High-resolution satellite images of the launch pad at Russia's Plesetsk test site, where the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile exploded, shows extensive damage. A crater approximately 60 meters wide at the launch silo at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, along with visible damage in the surrounding area that was not present in images taken earlier in the month. -snip- The missile's liquid-fuel engine likely exploded...

Russian State TV recently broadcasted a segment of a talk show during which the hosts discussed the potential of Alaska joining Russia. In the show, the host makes a joke saying: "Do you know what they call Alaska? Ice Crimea." He then adds that Alaska will "one day return to its native shores." The hosts are referencing the fact that Alaska once "belonged" to Russia, before being sold to the United States in 1866. This echoes rhetoric used in the war in Ukraine, that Ukraine "belonged" to Russia, and therefore should rejoin its so-called native land.

"The return of Crimea to Ukraine is a requirement of international law." Erdoğan said in his video address that Turkey has always been opposed to Russia's annexation of Crimea. He decried the persecution of Crimea's ethnic Tatars since 2014. Erdoğan added: "Our sincere wish is for the war to end with a fair and lasting peace based on Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence." In October 2020, the Turkish leader said during a joint press briefing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that his country would never recognize the annexation of Crimea. "We have and always will support Ukraine's sovereignty and...

The Ukrainian military has started deploying drones retrofitted with thermite payloads, effectively transforming its lethal fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into potent "flamethrower" weapons. Footage shared by Ukraine's 108th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade shows these drones releasing streams of molten thermite over enemy positions, resulting in large plumes of smoke billowing from the impact zones. The widely circulated video highlights the destructive capability of these modified drones, as the thermite ignites upon contact, creating an inferno capable of obliterating Russian positions. Thermite is still considered less lethal than white phosphorous or napalm. Ukrainian Telegram channels reported that the combat...

Russian firefighters are battling a three-day inferno in the southwest of the country, after a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil storage depot ignited the facility's diesel reserves. On Saturday Rostov Oblast Governor Vasily Golubev said that Russian air defense forces had repelled an attack by a Ukrainian UAV in the town of Proletarsk, located around 150 miles from the Ukrainian border. A day later, however, Golubev said that fallen debris from the UAV had landed on the industrial warehouses at the Proletarsk state reserve fuel facility, igniting a fire which Russian authorities have since struggled to contain. Golubev also...

Let's have a convention where the voices of the balaclava-clad angry mob outside don't drown out messages of unity and love on the inside. Let's wear our stupid hats and sunglasses as big as the moon. Let's shake our signs and cheer our cheers whenever a talking point is raised up upon the stage. Let us hear speeches from the men and women of the moment and let us search for the voices of the future. Let's have a convention where we offer thanks to the man who got us here—President Joe Biden. It's enough to turf out the man...

North Korea's supreme leader has reiterated his country's support for Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and expressed his intention to foster closer ties between the two regimes. "I express firm belief that the strong and brave Russian people will firmly defend the sovereign right and security interests of the state and surely win victory in the sacred war for regional peace and international justice," Kim Jong Un said on Thursday, according state news agency KNCA.