Free Republic

During the EURO 2008, German director Detlev Buck and the YouTube community created the first fan movie made out of user generated videos. The movie was shown in cinemas across Germany. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxYzNpgaXa4

Germany coach Joachim Low generously praised Spain ahead of Sunday's Euro 2008 final in Vienna, pinpointing their consistency throughout the competition. "The Spaniards have been the most constant team here," said Low. "They have shown consistent levels of performance, they are flexible regarding their positioning and they are sure of the passes they make. ..."We have the experience of this kind of tournament. We believe we can win such games - we have a winner's mentality."

Whether it has any bearing on Monday's crunch Euro 2008 match between the two countries is debatable but Austria drew first blood on Sunday when their topless women's soccer team beat Germany 10-5. The traditional swapping of shirts afterwards was not an option as the six-a-side teams wore nothing but thongs, with the national colors painted on to their bare skin. The football may not have been of the highest quality but that did not temper the enthusiasm of a mostly male crowd boosted by a sizeable media presence only too happy to desert Euro 2008 training for an hour...

The Hunt for American al Qaeda The United States is turning up the heat in the hunt for the California boy turned al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who has been charged with treason and is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan. If caught and convicted, Gadahn could face the death penalty. The State Department along with the Department of Diplomatic Security announced the beginning of a publicity campaign in Afghanistan urging locals to provide any information on Gadahn's whereabouts, with a reward if the information leads to his capture. Radio advertisements with information concerning the $1 million reward have...

Al-Qaeda could be planning to attack this summer's Euro 2008 football championships in Switzerland and Austria, it was reported today. "The Euro 2008 tournament is a target cited by the Islamist terrorist network," a police spokesman reportedly told Swiss newspaper La Liberte. A flurry of messages have been monitored, by police and security officials in Switzerland, on two Islamist internet forums - sos minbar and As-Sahab - which are favoured by the extremist terrorist group as a means to awaken dormant cells. One message is reported to say: "Let’s transform these two countries, the safest in Europe, into hell -...

Israeli Arabs are split on whether Badir (c) should play for Israel This Saturday the England football squad take on Israel in the two sides' first official encounter.This Euro 2008 qualifier will, according to the Israeli press, test the loyalties of English Jews who live here. Which side will they cheer for, the papers ask? But it is not just the Anglo-Israelis who may choose not to wave the Israeli flag this weekend. One in five Israelis is a so-called Israeli Arab. They are the families of Palestinians who stayed in Israel after its war of independence in 1948....