Free Republic

The American branch of Russian state-funded media network Russia Today (RT) is shutting down and laying off most of its staff, CNN reports. According to a memo, RT America will be “ceasing production” due to “unforeseen business interruption events.” “Unfortunately, we anticipate this layoff will be permanent, meaning that this will result in the permanent separation from employment of most T&R employees at all locations,” the memo said, via CNN. Per CNN, Misha Solodovnikov, the general manager of T&R Productions, the production company behind RT, delivered the news in person to hosts, correspondents, producers and others in the Washington, D.C....

Emphasizing among other points that they are not feminists, women were protesting in groups in various French cities Sunday with some 300 estimated in Toulouse for example where a large banner was used by the protesters. In Paris, Toulouse and Caen among other places the protests occurred. The women were sometimes with children and in Caen they shouted in the streets:.....

First this morning the situation in France where in less than 24 hours mass demonstrations are expected to unfold nationwide and especially in Paris. The "yellow vests" movement opposing the gasoline taxes of the increasingly unpopular President Emmanuel Macron is being swelled by others discontented by Macron's pro-big business "liberal reforms"..... The arm twisting continues in London as the Conservative Party government of Prime Minister Theresa May tries to cajole both Tories and members of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party who support her government into backing her controversial Brexit proposal.... A lawyer for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange says a deal...

President Donald Trump is taking his "Make America Great Again" mid-term election tour to Las Vegas today. The President is banking on his own personal popularity and persona to boost Republican candidates, even ones backed by those known for opposing his immigration policies like the "Cheap Labor Express" US Chamber of Commerce. In Nevada's race for governor there's a third force present with the candidacy of Ryan Bundy...... President Trump says: "I don't have an Attorney General".... An Israeli delegation is in Russia led by its air force chief to explain Israel's side of the Monday night incident in Syria...

There is Breaking News from Syria overnight with 15 Russian servicemen dead after their plane was shot down by Syrian air defenses during a sudden Israeli air attack. Russia's Defense Ministry says 4 Israeli F-16's used the larger Russian IL-20 plane as a decoy for their attack on the northern Syrian city of Latakia. Russia says it reserves the right to an "adequate response".... US UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is in a knot accusing Russia of "cheating" on North Korea sanctions. Haley spoke at the UN Security Council yesterday..... South Korea's President Moon Jae In arrived in North Korea today...

Syrian troops are now at the gates of the Islamic State-besieged city of Deir ez-Zor, the governor of the province said, as the government forces continue to press forward, obliterating terrorist positions in the vicinity and on the outskirts of the city. “The heroes of the army will arrive at Deir ez-Zor in 24-48 hours at the most,” the governor of Syria’s Deir ez-Zor province, Mohammed Ibrahim Samra, told Reuters, adding that the Syrian Army was only 18-20 kilometers (11-12 miles) away from the city. Earlier, an elite unit of the Syrian Army, called the Tiger Forces, came within 18...

A recent US intelligence report said that Daesh (also known as ISIL/Islamic State) is degrading. Two coalitions - one led by the US and the other by Russia - have been involved in fighting the terrorists. It is high time to figure out some differences between the two approaches. The Common Goal Russia, the United States, and Syria have one common enemy - the terrorist group Daesh. In September 2014, US President Barack Obama pledged to destroy Daesh with massive airstrikes. "Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy. We...