Free Republic

President Barack Obama and leaders of the world’s largest industrialized countries expelled Russia from the group until it “changes course” in Ukraine and formally canceled plans to attend an economic summit in Russia in June. The move was aimed at Russian President Vladmir Putin’s plan to host the G-8 group of economic powers at Sochi, Russia, which would have been its second starring role on the world stage after this winter’s Olympics. Instead, the G-7 leaders will meet in Brussels without Putin. At the same time, the group said it would not send its foreign ministers to a planned G-8...

A “Special Report” panel today discussed how G7 leaders met today in The Hague and announced that they would be excluding Russia from the G8 and boycotting a planned summit in Sochi. Jason Riley, of the Wall Street Journal, said Russian President Vladimir Putin is rebuilding the Russian empire while President Barack Obama and our allies in Europe are sitting around discussing international law and “kicking Putin out of clubs he doesn’t care about in the first place.” Riley said Putin knows that the administration doesn’t have the stomach for confrontation and will continue to take advantage of that.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared the G8 to be dead, thanks to Russia’s take over of the Crimea: German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared the Group of Eight leading nations defunct given the current crisis in Ukraine, in a clear message to Russia that the world’s seven other major industrialized countries consider its actions in Ukraine unacceptable. “As long as there is no political environment for such an important political format as the G-8, the G-8 doesn’t exist anymore, not the summit nor the format,” said Ms. Merkel, in Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag. “Russia is widely isolated in all international...

A possible Ebola case has been detected in Canada after a passenger returned from Africa where dozens have died from the virus. "All we know at this point is that we have a person who is critically ill who travelled from a country where these diseases occur," Denise Werker, joint director of health in Saskatchewan province in western Canada, said. She said the casualty had been in Liberia and had developed the symptoms after landing in Canada. He or she would not have been contagious when travelling and was now in isolation pending test results.

THE HAGUE—Leaders of the world's largest economies agreed Monday to effectively remove Russia from the Group of Eight nations in response to Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine. The leaders, meeting in emergency session, also agreed that they would begin to exert punitive sanctions on Russia's energy, banking, finance and arms industries unless Moscow dialed back plans to seize the region of Crimea from Ukraine. "This group came together because of shared beliefs and shared responsibilities. Russia's actions in recent weeks are not consistent with them," the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Canada, Japan and Italy said in a joint statement. "We...

NEW BRUNSWICK: The Old Bay Restaurant's owner lashed out at France on Friday -- flushing nearly $1,000 in French wine and champagne down a toilet to protest the country's lack of support for the United State's position on Iraq. In response, local folk singer Spook Handy is spearheading an Old Bay Boycott. "The Old Bay is for the war and is apparently willing to attack any party that disagrees," he wrote in a mass e-mail distributed yesterday. Owner Anthony Tola had no comment yesterday about the proposed boycott. Handy of Cranbury urged bands and patrons alike in his e-mail to...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia announced on Monday that it was barring 13 Canadian officials, lawmakers and public figures in retaliation for sanctions imposed by Canada over Russia's annexation of Crimea. The Canadians prohibited from entering Russia include aides to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, members of parliament and the head of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Paul Grod, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "This step was taken in response to unacceptable actions by the Canadian side which have done serious damage to bilateral relations," the ministry said, adding that Canada "chose to ignore the free expression of will of...

If Diane Francis had her way, the U.S. would share a lot more with its northern neighbor than the Great Lakes, maple syrup and Justin Bieber. The editor-at-large for Toronto’s National Post argues that a complete merger of Canada and the United States would create a global colossus, add 13 stars to the American flag, eliminate the border and require just a few amendments to the Constitution. But, Ms. Francis acknowledged on a visit to Washington last week, not everyone up north is thrilled with the idea. “I wanted to attack the Canadian establishment and say, ‘Wake up, there is...

Jeff Bezos, the multi-billionaire (via Amazon.com) new owner of the Washington Post has got a messy situation on his hands, and unless he steps in, it appears that his new property is in danger of losing the prestige that was its primary asset. After a false hit piece on the Koch Brothers claiming they were the largest holder of Canadian oil sands land rights was devastatingly debunked by John Hinderaker of Powerline (see also: Washington Post busted!), the authors of the incorrect article responded conceding nothing, not apologizing or retracting their falsehoods, but only made their situation worse. As Jonah...

Five years ago almost no one knew the term – Fracking. Today it is one of the hottest topics in America and has become one of our hottest political footballs. The question is whether the fracking process harms underground water. It depends on who you ask. Josh Fox received money from HBO to make a movie called Gasland. The documentary reached great heights as it was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary based on a small theatrical release. Josh Fox, a little known theater director, became a darling of the anti-fracking movement. The highlight of his film was...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Stephen Harper heads to emergency G7 talks on Monday as the only leader in attendance who's personally witnessed the turmoil in Ukraine, clearly keen to advocate a tougher stand against Russia amid the biggest European crisis since the Cold War. The prime minister called for a "complete reversal" of Russia's recent actions in Crimea, including its formal annexation of the strategic Black Sea peninsula, during his six-hour visit to Kyiv on Saturday. He also suggested Russia should be booted out of the G8 and warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted. Others are sounding...

Watchdogs from several European countries have noticed no indication of a massive build-up of Russian military that would threaten the security of neighboring states, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Sunday. According to Mr. Antonov, as many as seven inspection groups paid visits to Russian border territories over the past month. “Our facilities and deployment areas along the Russian-Ukrainian border were twice checked by the Ukrainian military,” he noted.Monitors from the US, Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Finland scrutinized Russia’s military camps stationed on its borders with neighboring nations. “It must have been a simple...

On Thursday, the Washington Post published an article by Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin titled “The biggest lease holder in Canada’s oil sands isn’t Exxon Mobil or Chevron. It’s the Koch brothers.” The article’s first paragraph included this claim: The biggest lease holder in the northern Alberta oil sands is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, the privately-owned cornerstone of the fortune of conservative Koch brothers Charles and David. The theme of the article was that the Keystone Pipeline is all about the Koch brothers; or, at least, that this is a plausible claim. The Post authors relied on a report...

Will Americans continue allowing a radicalized environmental agenda to animate Washington, one that prohibits the utilization of natural resources – oil in particular – and that squelches the nation’s economy? Or could it be that, at such a time as this, rationality might take-hold in the USA yet again? As if our own problems aren’t a sufficient reason to bolster the U.S. energy industry, the world is now upended by a Russia that appears intent on re-creating another Soviet Union while simultaneously forming an energy axis with China. If America could supply more of the world’s natural gas and oil...

President Barack Obama is getting some help from the country's tech giants in his effort to show Americans how climate change will affect their communities. The Obama administration thinks that local data, which may have a real-world effect on Americans' lives, will provide a convincing argument for steps to prevent climate change. The risk rising sea levels have on individual communities will be the focus of a new website, climate.data.gov, which uses government data to put environmental changes in context. The White House also called on tech companies to develop tools for Americans to better get a grasp on how...

Canada is on the verge of becoming an energy superpower, according to its natural resources minister. The Canadian government is already signing trade deals and building pipelines that could help it beat the US in a race to energy hegemony, Graeber writes. - - - Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said his country is on the verge of becoming an energy superpower. While the United States mulls its options for energy hegemony, a recent free-trade deal with South Korea and pipeline developments suggest Canada may beat it to the punch. The International Energy Agency said that, despite recent volatility,...

Meandering south from Cold Lake on small roads, I entered a new landscape. The boreal forest of northern Alberta gave way to rolling prairie, grain silos, and rural crossroads. The oil sands were now behind me — or rather, flowing beneath me. Every road had pipeline crossing signs or ditches for new lines alongside or piles of pipe sections waiting to be laid. All pipes led to the place I was headed: Hardisty, home to Canada’s largest oil depot and the site where the Keystone XL was slated to begin. LAt first glance, Hardisty, population 650, looked much like other...

The FBI secretly kept tabs on Nicholas Michael Teausant for six months, having a confidential informant meet with him repeatedly in Stockton at breakfast joints, a park and a flea market as the 20-year-old student allegedly spun his vision of jihad against the United States. Federal court papers say Teausant talked for months of his desire to train fighters in Syria, to bomb the Los Angeles subway system over the New Year’s Day holiday and to spark a civil war that would topple the U.S. government. :snip: In Internet postings quoted in the complaint, as well as conversations Teausant had...

A National Guard reservist has been arrested at the Canadian border in Washington for allegedly trying to aid al-Qaida in a plot to attack a Southland subway. Nicholas Teausant, 20, of Acampo, Calif., was charged Monday with attempting to provide material to support a foregoing terrorist organization, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office said. He made his first appearance in a federal courtroom in Seattle Monday afternoon.

A student at a French-language Catholic school in Canada has alleged that he is the victim of homophobia and has filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Christopher Karas, the student, alleges that the “the Mississauga Catholic School Board is systematically denying students their constitutional right to form Gay Straight Alliances,” according to a press release from an organization that supports his efforts. In his complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal, Karas alleges that he was embarrassed when a teacher at his school, École Secondaire Catholique Sainte-Famille, agreed to the requests of other boys not to room...