Free Republic

With one stroke of a pen, President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- nationalist, conservative world leaders much-maligned by our sclerotic global elites as bigoted warmongers -- did more last week to advance durable peace in the Middle East than did generations of Washington's failed "peace process," "two-stater" professional classes. Peace between Israel and the oil-rich Gulf state, the United Arab Emirates, represents a profoundly impactful act of statesmanship and reifies an ascendant, transformative paradigm. In a just world (which we do not presently inhabit), the Norwegian Nobel Committee would be knocking on their doors. In the...

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on Thursday urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be “brave” in the fight against global warming as she sought to breathe fresh life into a climate movement overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic. The 17-year-old traveled to Berlin to meet Europe’s most powerful leader exactly two years since she first skipped school to demand more climate action, kicking off what would become the global Fridays for Future strikes. Thunberg was joined by co-campaigners Luisa Neubauer from Germany and Belgium’s Anuna De Wever and Adelaide Charlier, all of whom wore masks as they made their way to the...

Its the weekend again in the summertime of DC 19, getting off to a good start with great music. They talk about "masks" nowadays and its really not "masks" that we are being told to wear it's "face coverings" that are really "muzzles" covering our noses and mouths. What does someone wearing a mask look like? Here's a clip from the 1970's when the weatherman was stung by a hornet, the weatherman being a guy you saw a lot in Denver for many years on KUSA, Bill Kuster. Bill was at KYW-TV Philadelphia in the 1970's and on this occasion...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sealed a defense cooperation deal Saturday with Polish officials that will pave the way to deploy more American troops to Poland. Pompeo, in Warsaw at the end of a four-nation tour of central and eastern Europe, signed the deal with Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak that sets out the legal framework for the additional troops. “This is going to be an extended guarantee: a guarantee that in case of a threat our soldiers are going to stand arm-in-arm,” Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said during the signing ceremony. “It will also serve to increase the...

Official estimates say at least 15,000 people are taking part in the protests, which is being called "The Day of Freedom". Protesters held up banners featuring such slogans as "Corona, false alarm", "We are being forced to wear a muzzle". The BBC's Damian McGuinness in Berlin says some are from the far right and some are conspiracy theorists who do not believe Covid-19 exists, but others are ordinary people who simply object to the government's approach to the pandemic Restrictions in Germany include the wearing of face-coverings in shops and on public transport, social distancing rules and hygiene requirements apply...

This was the scene in Berlin, where an estimated 17,000 people defied social-distancing and mask requirements to join a protest supported by neo-Nazi groups, conspiracy theorists and others who said they were fed up with the restrictions. Video...

Rejoice, citizens, for good news abounds! This is what sensible people would refer to as “a good start.”– For starters, President Donald Trump (I still never tire of typing those three glorious words in that order) announced this morning that the United States of by-God America is pulling 12,000 troops out of Germany. For those keeping count, that is fully 3,000 more troops than Trump indicated he would be pulling out of that country when the topic was first raised a few weeks ago. Even better is the reason the President gave for making the move: Beautiful. Wonderful. Absolutely glorious....

America and the United Kingdom would be wise to let Egypt, France, and Greece take the lead in balancing a dangerous and resurgent Turkey. With Americans focused on the anarchy in Democrat-led cities, a cryptic tweet from French President Emmanuel Macron on July 20 went out relatively unnoticed. Macron tweeted he had a great discussion with “his friend” Donald Trump about Libya.Within hours, the Egyptian parliament declared they had voted unanimous support for Egyptian President Al-Sisi to send in Egyptian troops and armor in support of battered Eastern Libyan forces on their back foot due to Turkish intervention. Anyone keeping...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Spurred on by President Donald Trump’s demand to pull troops out of Germany, the U.S. will bring about 6,400 forces home and shift about 5,400 to other countries in Europe, U.S. defense officials said Wednesday, detailing a Pentagon plan that will cost billions of dollars and take years to complete. The decision fulfills Trump’s announced desire to withdraw troops from Germany, at least in part due to its failure to spend enough on defense. U.S. officials said that some moves will begin in months and would likely send air and ground forces to countries that already have...

How does one say “Goodnight, Irene” in Greek? Or “Show Me the Way to Go Home”? Or, if neither of those classic festivity-enders does the trick, “Hit the Road, Jack”? In any case, the message needs to be sent: The party is over, and it is time for Greece to be shown the door, if the Greeks cannot find it themselves, and exit the eurozone. A Greek default appears to be imminent. The question is whether it is to be an orderly default or a chaotic one. At the moment, the odds are about even between those two possibilities. Prime...

AN UNPRECEDENTED EU crisis looms as tensions between the Brussels bloc and Turkey escalate along its border, as Greece warns it will do "whatever is necessary" to defend itself from Ankara. Earlier this week, Athens vowed to defend its rights against "any type of threat" after Turkey confirmed plans to send oil-and-gas research vessels to the Eastern Mediterranean. Greek armed forces are officially on 'high alert' and are monitoring Turkish movements in the region. French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday gave his backing to Greece in the dispute. Mr Macron called for sanctions against Turkey, adding he will soon call...

There has never been any love lost between Turkey and Greece, but the danger of war between the two NATO members has not been this high since the Cyprus conflict more than forty-five years ago. In the past, Turkey and Greece have gone to the brink, but policies initiated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan may very much push the two neighbors over the edge. reek and Turkish fighter jets engaged in mock dogfights this week over the Greek island of Kastellorizo, just a mile and a half from the Turkish coast, causing tourists to flee. Meanwhile, there is a...

The Independent Security Committee has said that it “saw no evidence” of Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum. The crux of the report, however, criticised the government for failing to task intelligence agencies to look into the possibility, advising the Boris Johnson administration to undertake a review — a claim the government has rejected. On Tuesday, the ISC, the body responsible for the oversight of the UK’s intelligence community, released its report on Russian interference in Britain’s democratic processes. In the case study on the EU referendum, the authors criticised the “narrow coverage” given to the possibility of Russian...

Will Donald Trump score an important victory against China by locking out Huawei from western networks? The Economist tried mightily to avoid giving personal credit to Trump in its analysis of decisions by the UK and Canada to exclude the regime-linked firm from its 5G projects. Instead, they cast it instead as “America’s war on Huawei” while noting that the final battle will take place in Berlin.That didn’t fool Donald Trump, who retweeted it out to his followers: The Economist’s unsigned analysis of the Huawei fight is sound enough, but for some reason they barely mention Trump at all,...

Vatican silent as verdict triggers geopolitical tremorsISTANBUL (ChurchMilitant.com) - In a historic verdict, Turkey's top court has returned the world's greatest Byzantine basilica to its previous status as a mosque after it abolished President Atatürk's 1934 decision to turn Hagia Sophia into a museum. Turkey's highest administrative court, the Council of State, reached a unanimous verdict declaring that president Kemal Atatürk's cabinet had no right to turn Hagia Sophia into a museum as part of his secularist reforms and has rendered the decision unlawful. The court is expected to deliver its judgment Friday, but Turkish journalist Mehmet Ardıç, a close...

A federal judge cast doubt on Bayer AG ’s proposal to neatly resolve all future lawsuits over the safety of its Roundup weedkiller, potentially snagging the German company’s attempts to move past the massive liability. Bayer said recently it would pay up to $10.9 billion to settle tens of thousands of current Roundup cases and create a system for handling future cases. The deal came after three juries in recent years awarded large verdicts to plaintiffs alleging Roundup caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma, spooking investors. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco, who must approve the class action, said Monday he...

Senators aim to limit Trump's ability to remove troops from Germany BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 06/29/20 03:19 PM EDT A bipartisan group of senators is trying to place limits on President Trump's ability to remove troops from Germany unless the administration is able to meet a slew of requirements. The proposal, spearheaded by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), would prohibit the administration from reducing the number of active-duty troops in Germany below 34,500 unless the Pentagon can certify to Congress that it is in the national security interest of the United States and would not negatively undermine European alliances or NATO....

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...

Footage shows yobs pelting cops with rocks as a German police union boss said that "young people with a migrant background" were among those arrested. The riots on Saturday night began in reaction to the arrest of a white German 17-year-old for drugs offences - prompting hundreds of people to start attacking the police in "solidarity" with the teen. Videos from the scene even show rioters attacking paramedics who had been called to the scene, which local media described as a "battlefield". At least 40 shops had been ransacked while 19 police officers were injured in the night of horrific...

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi checked on the forces in the Western Military Zone Saturday telling them, "The Egyptian Army is one of the strongest in the region. Yet, it is a wise army that protects but doesn't threaten, and is able to defend the national security of Egypt within and beyond its borders." The president said that the Air Force, the Special Forces, and the Border Guards have been securing 1,200 kilometers of borders with Libya for seven years, and accomplishing missions that have not been disclosed... The president warned in his speech in Sidi Barani district in Matrouh Governorate...