Free Republic

No, Putin isn't re-building the third Reich: Chamberlain isn't a historic villain because he did nothing after Hitler seized neighboring German-speaking territories. He's a historic villain because he did nothing after Hitler blamed Christianity for poisoning Europe with weakness, swore to destroy the Jews, build a master race, set fire to the Reichstag, seized all police powers, built concentration camps and THEN invaded German-speaking lands. No, Putin isn't re-building the Soviet Union: He has implemented a flat, low tax rate, struck the authority of local commissars to impose taxes, decriminalized tax disputes, decentralized agriculture and industry, seen the numbers of...

Iran’s nuclear reactor at Bushehr was shut down for fear of an explosion. Saturday Dec. 1, an authoritative Russian nuclear industry source revealed the cause of its malfunction: “Indicators showed that some small external parts were… in the [Bushehr] reactor vessel….” They were identified as “bolts beneath the fuel cells.” Moscow sources report this information came from a source in the office of Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian nuclear energy authority Rosatom, which supervised the construction of Iran’s first atomic reactor at Bushehr. According to our intelligence sources, Russian scientists and engineers were rushed from Moscow to Bushehr when...

Russia has approved a plan intended to end fighting with Georgia, brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Mr Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU presidency, is now in Tbilisi trying to persuade Georgians to accept the deal. Under the plan, both sides would agree not to use force, and all troops would return to the positions they were in before the conflict began last week. Earlier, Russia announced its military activity in the area was completed and witnesses reported troops pulling back. But despite the diplomacy and apparent withdrawal, rhetoric on both sides has remained fiery and analysts predicted a...

The reburial of empress Maria Fyodorovna, the mother of Russia's last tsar, has taken place in St Petersburg in accordance with her wishes. The Danish-born empress was exiled after the communist revolution and died in the country of her birth in 1928. Her son, Nicholas II, abdicated in 1917 and was executed by the Bolsheviks, along with much of his family. Members of several European royal families attended the reburial ceremony at St Isaac's Cathedral. Among them were Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and the UK's Prince Michael of Kent, a distant relative of Maria Fyodorovna.

Putin in push to extend his term Mark Franchetti, Moscow20sep04 RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin is considering extending his term of office, due to expire in 2008, in a sign of his determination to tighten his grip on power and crack down on terrorism after the Beslan school massacre. Moscow sources say plans are being drawn up to lengthen Mr Putin's mandate from four years to seven, or to change the rules so he can stand for a third term as president. If implemented, this measure would make Mr Putin the longest-serving Russian leader since Leonid Brezhnev, who ruled the...