Free Republic

In an illuminating piece by Tilak Doshi on Forbes, the economic trajectory of Europe under the weight of its environmental policies is critically analyzed. Doshi paints a stark picture of what he describes as a self-inflicted wound to Europe’s industrial base, driven by stringent regulations and a shift away from reliable energy sources. “Voltaire famously said that ‘common sense is not so common.’ Nowhere is this adage more relevant than in the field of energy policies in the European Union. These policies are most vigorously pursued in Germany—Europe’s industrial powerhouse—since it adopted the Energiewende legislation in 2010. The ‘green’ regulations...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces began a renewed ground assault on Ukraine’s northeast, killing and injuring several and forcing more than 1,700 civilians to evacuate from the Kharkiv region, local officials said Saturday. Artillery, mortar, and aerial bombardments hit more than 30 different towns and villages, leaving at least three people dead and five others injured, said Kharkiv governor, Oleh Syniehubov. Ukraine rushed reinforcements to the Kharkiv region on Friday to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defenses, authorities said.

Sal Mercogliano - a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner - discusses the Joint Logistics Over the Shore Operation preparing to start over the beach in Gaza.

Once an economic powerhouse that was the envy of much of the world, there is deep concern in Tokyo that the economies of China and Germany have already surpassed Japan's — and that India's will do so next year. The announcement that in 2025 India will overtake Japan in nominal gross domestic product in dollar terms has shocked Tokyo, which had until 2010 been the undisputed second-largest economy in the world but is now on the brink of slipping to fifth place. In estimates released in late April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that India's nominal GDP will reach...

On Friday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) stated that America wants “to continue to be” Israel’s best ally but “the Biden administration, and certainly I would agree here, has a very strong disagreement with how Israel is conducting the war in Gaza. And so, if Israel wants to go ahead and do whatever it’s doing, regardless of the American position, there will be consequences, and that will be seen in the Congress and undoubtedly seen in the actions of the administration.”

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, reports to Congress 4 times a year about how things are going in Afghanistan. The answer is not well. Not well at all. SIGAR is a relic of the Afghan war, and I was not aware it was still a thing, although I am glad it is. Given the hundreds of billions of dollars we poured into that country, somebody with a conscience should be rooting out all the corruption and incompetent actions that took place and keep tabs on what our blood and treasure bought. UN team identified up to...

Just because it's not front page news at the moment doesn't mean this may not be one of the most important stories in the world right now. As discussed here and here, the conflict between China and the Philippines has been escalating for most of the past year. China claims that all of the islands in the South China Sea belong to it and the Philippines refuses to comply, especially with regard to island that are within its Exclusive Economic Zone.China has been harassing Philippines' ships and fishing vessels for months but last week it threatened to release proof of...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s domestic support is on the rise as Israel’s war against Hamas advances, according to poll numbers released on Thursday. Israel’s Channel 14 published the results of a survey conducted by Direct Polls on Thursday evening, showing that if elections were held now, Netanyahu’s Likud Party would receive 25 mandates, one of its best numbers since the October 7 massacre — the most brutal attack on Jews since the Nazi Holocaust.

Is anyone surprised that Joe Biden is caving? It’s what he does. In a disgracefully craven move, President Biden has paused weapons shipments to Israel to try to prevent the Jewish state from launching a full-scale offensive against the remaining Hamas military stronghold in Rafah. It’s a policy shift sheathed in high-minded concern about the safety of civilians in Gaza but happens to be a change in direction that is welcome to a political left that has whipped itself into an anti-Israel frenzy in the months since the Oct. 7 attack. Not too long ago, Biden was averring that Hamas...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that student protesters didn’t “know very much” about the Middle East. When asked about the protests at college campuses across the country, Clinton said, “First of all, I have had many conversations, as you have had, with a lot of young people over the last many months now. You are right. They don’t know very much at all about the history of the Middle East, or frankly about history in many areas of the world, including in our own country. With respect to the Middle East, they don’t...

President Joe Biden’s border chief says the White House’s border plan “is working.” But the plan is not intended to reduce migration into U.S. communities, homes, and jobs, according to May0rkas, who was impeached in February by the House of Representatives. Instead, the border plan is intended to divert the flood of economic migrants from the cartel-run “irregular migration” pipeline into many expanding government-run quasi-legal pipelines, Mayorkas told NPR Morning Edition‘s Steve Inskeep during a May 10 interview: Inskeep: Do you also have a policy goal to cause fewer people to arrive, fewer people to get in, fewer people to...

CLAIM: President Ronald Reagan, like President Joe Biden, withheld arms from Israel to influence its military policy. VERDICT: MISLEADING. Reagan acted within the law, and in very different circumstances, in withholding arms. The New York Times‘ Peter Baker — winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his newspaper’s bogus reporting on “Russia collusion” — wrote Friday that President Reagan, too, withheld weapons from Israel over concerns about their use. Baker’s aim in the article appears to be to rescue Biden from some of the criticism he has faced since he confirmed earlier this week that the administration was withholding bombs and...

Argentina has historically been a country of failed governments, economic collapses, and debt defaults. Yet incredibly there are signs that – against all the odds – the bold, free market reforms of its libertarian President Javier Milei are beginning to work. With inflation falling, interest rates coming down, and the peso on fire in one market, Milei is already proving the global Left-wing economic establishment – addicted to bigger government and endless deficits – wrong. Indeed, it may provide a template for other countries to escape from zero growth. First, what’s changed in the country: inflation has fallen to 11pc...

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the U.N. Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably.” The vote by the 193-member General Assembly was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member – a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state – after the United States vetoed it in the U.N. Security Council last month. The assembly adopted a resolution with 143 votes in favor and nine against – including the U.S. and...

Two supporters of the climate activism group Just Stop Oil have smashed the glass protecting the Magna Carta, an iconic British manuscript from the 13th century, on Friday. According to Just Stop Oil, Reverend Dr. Sue Parfitt, 82, an active Anglican priest and author, and Judy Bruce, 85, a retired biology teacher, entered the British Library in London on Friday morning and “smashed the glass enclosure that surrounds the Magna Carta.” After this, the pair glued themselves to the document’s enclosure and held up a sign that said “The government is breaking the law,” Just Stop Oil said.

Israel’s security cabinet voted Friday to expand the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation in Rafah, albeit on a limited scale, and to continue talks with mediators in Egypt in the hope of reaching a hostage release deal with Hamas. The vote was interpreted as a rebuke of the Biden administration, in the wake of this week’s admission by the president that the U.S. is withholding bombs and artillery from Israel in protest of its decision to attack Hamas in Rafah. The security cabinet is one level above the war cabinet, which deals with more immediate military decisions.

President Joe Biden’s decision to withhold bombs from Israel will cause more Israeli soldiers to die in booby-trapped buildings that would otherwise have been destroyed from the air, according to a military source in Israel. As Breitbart News reported, the Biden administration confirmed this week that it had withheld 2,500-lb. and 500-lb. bombs, and would also withhold artillery rounds, in opposition to Israel’s decision to attack Hamas’s last stronghold in Rafah. Israel, which views the defeat of Hamas in Rafah as a military necessity, has decided to continue its operation. But in order to avoid antagonizing Biden, or running out...

The Biden administration hopes to dispense thousands of ID cards to migrants in the coming weeks as part of an effort to update the documentation that US government agencies provide illegal border-crossers. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning on a “limited rollout” of its Secure Docket Card program this summer that would see roughly 10,000 ID cards distributed to migrants in as many as four US cities, according to Fox News. Two potential locations are Houston and Atlanta, a source told the outlet. The program aims to “modernize documentation provided to some noncitizens,” according to ICE, which notes that the...

The U.N. has warned the world is teetering on the edge of a climate abyss and a Guardian survey affirms hundreds of the world’s climate experts agree with the globalist body, expecting global heating to pass the international target of 1.5C. The outlet contacted what it called “a series of leading climate figures” who have reacted to the findings and nodded their heads in agreement. They recount the “deep despair voiced by the scientists must be a renewed wake-up call for urgent and radical action to stop burning fossil fuels and save millions of lives and livelihoods.”

The city of Denver has seen more than 40,000 illegal aliens arrive within the city limits in the last few months, as the city's resources have been stretched to the breaking point. The illegals are grateful, for sure. Well, some of them are grateful. A group of illegals staying in an encampment under a railroad bridge made a list of 13 demands they sent to the mayor. If the mayor doesn't play ball, the illegals are threatening to stay outside. Given that summer will be here in a few weeks, it's not much of a threat. But these illegals have...