Free Republic

Tucker Carlson has sparked ire among several conservative commentators after interviewing a Palestinian pastor, who discussed how the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has affected Christians in the region. -snip- “This is mendacious hit piece that shows Tucker's generally well-hidden hand. The Christian population of Bethlehem all but disappeared after the PLO took over in 1996 due to Islamic persecution. The only Christian population in the Middle East that is growing is the Christian community in Israel. The Christian community in Gaza disappeared after Hamas took over in 2005.” -snip- Darrell C. Scott, a pastor and vocal supporter of former President Donald...

Five months into its counter-offensive, Ukraine has managed to advance by just 17 kilometres. Russia fought for ten months around Bakhmut in the east “to take a town six by six kilometres”. Sharing his first comprehensive assessment of the campaign with The Economist in an interview this week, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhny, says the battlefield reminds him of the great conflict of a century ago. “Just like in the first world war we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate,” he says. The general concludes that it would take a massive technological leap to...

The capture marks the first time since Russia’s invasion in February last year that Ukraine’s forces have been able to retake land seized in the initial Donbas invasion eight years prior. Ukrainian troops were said to have liberated the lands last week, but news of the victory has been kept secret until now for tactical reasons.

The head of Russia's private Wagner militia said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces were not leaving the city of Bakhmut and fighting was continuing in the western part of the city. "It must be said clearly that the enemy is not going anywhere," Yevgeny Prigozhin said on his Telegram channel. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had on Wednesday raised the prospect of a possible withdrawal from the city, saying Kyiv would take the "corresponding" decisions if its forces in the city risked being encircled by Russian troops. The months-long battle for Bakhmut, one of the last urban centres in Ukraine's eastern...

The Nordic country will become NATO’s 31st member on Tuesday, expanding the alliance in a strategic setback for President Vladimir Putin of Russia. (snip) Finland’s flag is being raised on Tuesday afternoon at NATO headquarters, a deeply symbolic moment marking the Nordic nation’s official welcome into the alliance and the shifting power calculations as the West strengthens its allegiances in response to the war in Ukraine. The president of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, is expected to attend the ceremony, on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 74th anniversary, in what amounts to a strategic defeat for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia,...

China is considering sending Russia lethal military aid in the form of artillery shells as President Vladimir Putin’s army rapidly depletes its supply of ammunition a year into his invasion of Ukraine, U.S. officials said, a prospect that has alarmed those in the Biden administration who believe Beijing has the ability to transform the war’s trajectory. There is no evidence that any weapons transfers have occurred, these officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. government’s assessment. But if China does move ahead, it would mark the first time Beijing has provided lethal aid in the...

Prayer for the End of the Francis Pontificate Many of you may be familiar with the musical, Fiddler on the Roof, about life in a small Jewish community of a pre-revolutionary Russian village. One by one the Jewish father of five daughters watches painfully as the religious and cultural traditions of the village collapse around him. In the opening scene of the musical, the rabbi’s son asks, “Is there a proper blessing for the czar?” The rabbi responds: “A blessing for the czar? Of course! May God bless and keep the czar . . . far away from us!”Like...

Republican worries of a midterm flop are growing heading into the critical post-Labor Day campaign season, with analysts who had previously predicted massive GOP gains shifting their forecasts toward Democrats. Rick Tyler, a Republican strategist and analyst, said the environment looks “not even close” to a red wave election year. “The enthusiasm is just not there,” Tyler said. “Last time Republicans had a good year, they were six points ahead in the generic poll. Now we’re barely two points ahead. So it’s definitely not going to happen.”

VLADIMIR Putin has been forced to pull back his jets and helicopters from Crimea after a massive blitz on Russian military bases - as humiliating video shows mutinying soldiers refusing to fight. Ukrainian intelligence sources claim some 24 fighter jets and bombers along with 14 choppers retreated deeper into the Black Sea peninsula - or back to mainland Russia. The dramatic withdrawal follows the heavy bombardment of Putin's military bases on the Russian-occupied peninsula over the last nine days from Ukrainian special forces. A devastating series of explosions at an air base last week destroyed 20 jets and caused £1bn...

Russia could struggle to resupply its troops in a key part of occupied Ukraine after Kyiv forces hit two bridges used to transport supplies, according to the British Ministry of Defence. Both the Antonivsky road bridge and Kherson rail bridge over the Dnipro River have been heavily damaged, and are "likely unusable for heavy military vehicles" according to U.K. intelligence. The two bridges connect Russian forces in the occupied -city of Kherson, on the north-west bank of the Dnipro, with the main Russian controlled area to the south-east. -snip- The latest U.K. update, released on August 13, details the logistical...

VLADIMIR PUTIN has suffered another bitter humiliation this week after a retired colonel admitted on live state TV that Russia is struggling to replenish its monumental losses in Ukraine and that even a mass mobilisation would not help. A retired Russian colonel, Mikhail Khodaryonok, has told Russian state TV viewers that the country's military cannot compete with Ukraine's equipment from NATO. In a stark admission on the tightly-controlled propaganda channel Russia-1, Mr Khodaryonok dismantled the idea that a mass mobilisation call-up would bolster Russia's war efforts in Ukraine. This comes amid growing speculation that President Vladimir Putin will announce a...

This arsenal of firearms is among the dozens of weapons that have been taken off London’s streets during the Met’s latest gun amnesty. Since Monday 45 weapons have been surrendered across the capital as part of the Give Up Your Gun campaign, including shotguns, revolvers, rifles and handguns, Scotland Yard said. Detectives from the Met’s gang unit today urged anyone still in possession of an illegal firearm to hand it in before the amnesty ends on Sunday night.