Free Republic

ISIL’s Afghan branch – also known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K) – has claimed responsibility for the attack... “Russian foreign policy has been one big red flag for ISIS [ISIL],” Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center told Al Jazeera. “The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Russian actions in Chechnya, Moscow’s close relationships with the Syrian and Iranian governments, and especially the military campaigns that Russia has waged against ISIS fighters in Syria and — through Wagner Group mercenaries – in parts of Africa.” “ISK [ISKP] has consistently demonstrated its ambition...

Shortly before he was traded to Denver, Russell Wilson lost a power struggle in Seattle. That’s the word from TheAthletic.com, which reports today that Wilson asked Seahawks ownership to fire both head coach Pete Carroll and General Manager John Schneider in February of 2022. Weeks after that, the Seahawks traded Wilson to the Broncos. Carroll and Schneider remain in their jobs a year later. The report also says that Wilson wanted the Seahawks to hire Sean Payton as their head coach if they fired Carroll. Payton is now the coach of the Broncos, so Wilson got his wish a year...

An experiment in bipartisan government in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is less than a week old, and cracks are beginning to appear. If the compromise falls apart, the chamber will be plunged into chaos. Republican and Democratic leaders, at Speaker Mark Rozzi’s request, must find a way to move forward together, if they plan to serve the people of Pennsylvania this session. It’s time for Mr. Rozzi to honor the commitments he made in accepting the role of speaker, especially his pledge to change his registration from Democrat to Independent as a symbol of unity. After last week’s display...

The daughter of an ultranationalist Russian ideologue believed to have had a strong influence on Vladimir Putin has been killed in a car bomb on the outskirts of Moscow, according to multiple media reports. Darya Dugin, daughter of Russian political commentator Alexander Dugin – dubbed “Putin’s brain” – died when the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving was ripped apart by a powerful explosion about 20km west of the capital at around 9.30pm local time. The blast occurred near the village of Bolshiye Vyazemy, according to Russian media sites Baza and 112, and state-owned Novaya Gazeta. Witnesses said debris was...

CommentaryXi Jinping is facing stiff opposition from within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in his bid to secure unlimited tenure for himself at the Party’s 20th Congress next year.By 2022, Xi would have served 10 years as state president. According to the Chinese constitution—which restricted tenure of office to two terms, each lasting for five years—he should be stepping down by the end of next year. Yet, Xi amended the constitution to delete this stipulation. This caused widespread discontent within the CCP itself.The strong opposition surfaced recently when the Party’s watchdog, the Central Disciplinary Commission (CDC), admitted publicly that there...

Kamala Harris’s short tenure in the Veep’s office, in its own way, has been even more disastrous than Biden’s equally short tenure in the Oval office. We all knew Biden would be a bumbling fool, but thanks to the power of the pen and the executive orders the radicals on his staff have been writing, he’s been incredibly effective. In six months, he’s dismantled America’s security, economy, and sanity. Meanwhile, Kamala has failed at the one thing for which she was responsible: Bringing control to the border. Now, some are wondering if that failure was orchestrated in the White House...

In 2008, as the Obama administration prepared to take control in Washington, retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey offered a list of bold predictions for the coming five years. Some of them bore out: The economy performed well globally despite the Great Recession, relations with Russia became more hostile without devolving into outright dysfunction, and the United States withdrew from Iraq right at the 36-month mark, which McCaffrey specified. Other predictions, such as a North Korean collapse, improved prospects for success in Afghanistan following a massive commitment of resources, and a nuclear breakout for Iran, never occurred.A year later, geopolitical analyst...

National parliaments should be able to initiate reviews of existing EU law, according to a report by the UK parliament. The paper, published on Monday (24 March), by the House of Lords’ EU committee, says domestic lawmakers should have more power in the EU legislative process. “There should be a way for a group of like-minded national parliaments to make constructive suggestions for EU policy initiatives,” it notes. “We would envisage a ‘Green Card’ as recognizing a right for a number of national parliaments working together to make constructive policy or legislative suggestions, including for the review or repeal of...

Russia's Micex stock index fell 11% on Monday and the ruble hit an all-time low after Vladimir Putin's weekend invasion of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. The sour reaction suggests that investors understand that Mr. Putin's Achilles' heel is the Russian economy and its access to world financial markets, if the West has the wit and will to exploit it. The conventional wisdom in the pundit class is that Russia holds the economic edge because of its natural gas supplies to Ukraine and much of Europe. But that supply is a double-edged sword because Russia needs the foreign-exchange earnings as much as...

<p>The meeting turned violent. They went at it hammer and sickle. Xi Jinping tried to calm them down. He put himself physically in the crossfire and unwittingly into the path of a chair as it was thrown across the room. It hit him in the back, injuring him. Hence the absence, and the silence, and the rumours.</p>

September 13, 2012 Off-Script Scramble for Power in a Chinese Leader’s Absence By IAN JOHNSON and JONATHAN ANSFIELD BEIJING — With still no sign of China’s designated new leader, Xi Jinping, who has not been seen in public since Sept. 1, many insiders and well-connected analysts say the Chinese political ship is adrift, with factions jockeying to shape an impending Communist Party conclave. The government has maintained its official silence about Mr. Xi’s absence. After an initial burst of chatter, blog posts alluding to Mr. Xi have been effectively smothered on China’s social media platforms, and China’s beleaguered Foreign Ministry...

Chinese Mystery: Where Is Xi Jinping? . By JEREMY PAGE, FLEMMING EMIL HANSEN and JOSH CHIN BEIJING—Speculation gathered steam about the health and whereabouts of the man expected to take the reins as China's top leader in a matter of weeks as Chinese authorities keep their usual tight grip on information about the nation's leaders. . Monday, Chinese authorities failed to explain why Vice President Xi Jinping, who hasn't been seen in public since Sept. 1, had missed another meeting with a visiting foreign dignitary, Denmark's prime minister. Rumors that all wasn't well with 59-year-old Mr. Xi were sparked last...

N.Korea Shuts Down Military-Controlled Investment Firm North Korea's Taepung International Investment Group, established in December 2009 to woo foreign investors, has been shut down due to poor performance, it emerged on Saturday. Experts believe the closure of the military-controlled firm is related to the ouster of North Korean Army chief Ri Yong-ho, who was apparently mired in corruption. Taepung was tasked with implementing key economic development plans and became known to the outside world when the powerful National Defense Commission appointed it as the official conduit to lure foreign capital into the North's state development bank. "When it was launched...

A Policy of Market Suppression [Lee Young Hwa Reform Outlook ①] By Prof. Lee Young Hwa, Kansai University, Japan [2012-07-25 18:00 ] According to recent defector testimony, low- and mid-level cadres and the North Korean people are expecting big things from the Kim Jong Eun regime. The focus is on economic reform. Everyone is wondering whether the Kim Jong Eun regime really will improve the lives of the North Korean people through economic restructuring. Widespread expectation means that many people are ‘watching the Kim Jong Eun regime closely.” The Kim Jong Eun regime needs to respond swiftly to these expectations....

07-22-2012 16:14 Ominous rumblings in North Korea By Arthur I. Cyr Strange things are happening in North Korea, which is nothing new. This time, however, developments apparently reflect divisions within the leadership of the isolated totalitarian regime. Conceivably, this could spark a renewed Korean War. Ri Yong-ho, a powerful military figure and until recently a close ally of young North Korea leader Kim Jong-un, has been relieved of command, allegedly due to illness. This explanation is generally discounted. In a May statement, Kim criticized those in the military for "developing a taste for money" amid reports of corruption. Kim has...

Exclusive: China leadership rules Bo case isolated, limits purge: sources By Benjamin Kang Lim and Chris Buckley BEIJING | Fri May 25, 2012 2:07am EDT (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao has demanded senior Communist Party officials stifle tensions over the ousting of ambitious politician Bo Xilai and show unity as they prepare for a change of leadership, sources briefed on recent meetings said. Hu urged the party to close ranks at a meeting of about 200 officials early this month at a Beijing hotel, declaring the downfall of Bo - China's biggest political scandal in two decades - to...

Exclusive: China considers delay of key party congress: sources By Benjamin Kang Lim and Nick Edwards BEIJING | Tue May 8, 2012 5:28pm EDT (Reuters) - China's ruling Communist Party is seriously considering a delay in its upcoming five-yearly congress by a few months amid internal debate over the size and makeup of its top decision-making body, sources said, as the party struggles to finalize a once-in-a-decade leadership change. The two most senior posts, of president and premier, are not considered in much doubt. But any delay in the congress, no matter the official reason, would likely fuel speculation of...

Party May Be Long-Term Loser in Chinese Scandal By MICHAEL WINES and SHARON LaFRANIERE BEIJING — The scandal that climaxed here on Tuesday when Communist Party leaders suspended the Politburo member Bo Xilai and accused his wife of murder seems poised to destroy a charismatic party leader who challenged President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s vision for China. But for the Chinese leaders who purged Mr. Bo, there are threats as well. In the view of some analysts and party insiders, that same scandal has raised the notion of high-level misconduct among China’s elite to a level that...

China braces for next act in leadership drama By Chris Buckley and Benjamin Kang Lim BEIJING | Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:02pm EDT (Reuters) - "We can't keep a lid on this," China's disgraced leader Bo Xilai was reportedly told by his police chief when the murder scandal now engulfing Bo's family first began to unravel. With a once-in-a-decade leadership handover months away, the Communist Party's elite must be thinking the same thing as they confront the first very public turmoil at the centre of power in more than 20 years. Revelations about the former Chongqing party chief issued by...

China puts on show of might over Bo Xilai’s military allies By Kathrin Hille, Published: April 13 BEIJING — Half of last week was a public holiday in China, but it was a busy week in the barracks. In many military bases and academies, political education sessions were scheduled at short notice to hammer home the message of the Communist Party’s absolute leadership over the armed forces. “Everyone knows it’s about Bo Xilai, but we’re not supposed to talk about it,” said a young officer. As the party leadership scrambled this month to decide whether to strip the former Chongqing...