Free Republic

Sixteen EU states have said products made by Israeli settlers should be marked in shops so that European consumers can decide whether to boycott them. The group - which includes France, Italy, Spain, and the UK - made the appeal in a letter to EU foreign relations chief Federica Mogherini on Monday (13 April). They said “EU-wide guideline on the labelling of settlement produce/products … is an important step in the full implementation of EU longstanding policy in relation to the preservation of the two-state solution”.

Full title: Christians in Niger Forgive Muslims Who Burned Churches and Killed Believers: 'We Want Them to Know Jesus Christ' Christians living in Niger, West Africa have offered Christ-like forgiveness to the radical Muslims who destroyed their homes and churches, are are continuing to share the Gospel in the region. On January 17, hundreds of Muslims, angered by the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad published by the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, destroyed 69 churches and 11 Christian homes. Ten Christians lost their lives and hundreds more were injured in the wake of the deadly rampage. "They took pews, Bibles, chairs...

TRIESTE, Italy, April 17 (UPI) -- Italian shipbuilder Orizzonte Sistemi Navali and DCNS of France have announced the construction of combat vessels for the navies of Italy and Egypt. Orizzonte Sistemi Navali S.p.A. said that OCCAR, the European Union agency in charge of multinational weapons procurement projects, had notified them that the Italian Navy was exercising a contract option to obtain two FREMM frigates. The frigates would be the ninth and tenth for Italy under the Italian-French FREMM, or Multi Mission European Frigates, program. The value of the option exercise carries a value of about $818.1 million. "Considering the effort...

With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big announcement in Paris that New Delhi would purchase 36 Dassault Rafale multi-role fighters off-the-shelf (prêt-à-porter, if you will) in a government-to-government deal, the future of the $20 billion tender for India’s medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) that was being negotiated between France’s Dassault Aviation and the Indian government fell into limbo. That ambiguity was resolved on Monday, three days after Modi’s announcement, when Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar clarified that the $20 billion tender would not move forward. Just like that, the “mother of all defense deals,” as India’s MMRCA project was known,...

Total Absorption and Breakthrough I am drawing you deeper into My Spirit then ever before for I AM your Wellspring of Life and so now as I call and you answer I will feed you from The Tree of Life great and mighty things. First you will delve into and devour My very Virtue for without this nothing exists so you must come into and completely walk in My Worthiness for "HOLY" is My Name "Yeah" even the angels cry out unrelentingly My Truth . Second I will cause you to drink in My love and this door opens to...

Pope Francis has reportedly barred the nomination of a close aide of President Francois Hollande as new French ambassador to the Vatican because he is gay. The apparent rejection calls into question the pope's reputation as holding more liberal views on homosexuality. Laurent Stefanini, 54, a senior diplomat and Mr Hollande's chief of protocol, was nominated in early January but the Vatican has maintained a stony silence over whether it accepts his credentials, officials in Paris said. The usual time frame for their acceptance is a month and a half. After that, a prolonged silence after a nomination is normally...

The Paris-Roubaix bicycle race in northern France features 32 teeth-chattering miles of cobbled roads. Landscaping apprentices help repair potholes along the way.

Indians did not fight in World War I because they wanted to expand their territorial boundaries, PM Modi said at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. On the 100th anniversary of World War 1 on Saturday, PM Modi visited the WWI Memorial at Neuve Chapelle. Later in the day, he addressed Indian diaspora at Carrousel du Louvre in Paris. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the Airbus A 380 assembly line facility soon after arriving in Toulouse. Toulouse is the home as well for the Airbus’ A380 final assembly line – a massive facility that provides a space of...

In January, the French government appointed Laurent Stefanini as its ambassador to the Holy See, but three months later, the Vatican has not approved the appointment—leading to European media reports that the lack of approval stems from Stefanini’s homosexuality. Le Monde and Corriere della Sera reported that Cardinal André Vingt-Trois of Paris interceded with Pope Francis on behalf of the nomination of Stefanini, a former official of the French embassy at the Vatican. La Croix reported that Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the former Vatican foreign minister who now serves as president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, also supports the...

Vatican, France In Showdown Over Gay Ambassador Vatican City (AFP) - Three months after appointing an openly gay diplomat as France's ambassador to the Vatican, Paris is still waiting for the green light from Rome. With Pope Francis entering his third year in the post, some activists see the Vatican's silence as a test of the depth of reform in the Catholic Church. While the Vatican usually declares it has accepted a candidate around a month after an appointment is made, it makes no public statements at all if the answer is no. Paris appears determined to stick with seasoned...

Liberals have had high hopes (no pun intended) for Pope Francis ever since his election. His sometimes nuanced messages of compassion for all humans have been regularly covered here by Ed and I have found many of them inspiring, though really not all that different from traditional messages coming from the Vatican. The Pontiff just has a different way of expressing himself than some of his predecessors. But that hasn’t stopped many liberals from believing that a sea change was in the air, particularly when it came to the relationship between the church and gay and lesbian Catholics. But...

Germany plans to bring 100 mothballed tanks back into service in what is widely seen as a response to rising tensions with Russia over Ukraine. The tanks were sold to industry as part of defence cuts after the Cold War. The German defence ministry said it would spend €22m (£16m;$24m) on bringing its total of tanks to 328. Nato officials agreed in February to create a quick-reaction force to meet the challenges posed by the Ukraine crisis and by Islamic extremists.

The MSM took what the Pope said on the airplane (about a homosexual who is trying to live a holy life), that is, “Who am I to judge?” and ran with only half the story, giving the impression that Pope Francis approved of some way of homosexual acts.Wrong.  HEREThis Pope is not a liberal when it comes to doctrine.  He doesn’t think that homosexual sex is okay.I have been saying for a couple years now that when liberals figure that out, they will turn on Francis.I read this today at the Telegraph: Pope Francis ‘refuses’ gay French ambassadorPope Francis’ reputation...

Don’t look now but ISIS fighters are just a few short miles away from Bashar al-Assad’s Presidential Palace in Syria after taking control of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus where some 18,000 are trapped in what the UN calls a “beyond inhumane” situation. The camp, which has been under siege by the Assad regime for years came under attack by ISIS earlier this month who reports indicate may be working alongside al-Qaeda’s Syrian arm al-Nusra in what would be a break with recent precedent. Some Palestinian factions — who, alongside the Free Syria Army are battling ISIS for control...

India is likely to buy about 60 Rafale combat jets from Dassault Aviation instead of 126 aircraft proposed in the original request for proposal meant to be procured in under the process that began some eight years ago, highly placed sources said. The decision to buy nearly three-and-a-half squadrons (between 60 and 63 aircraft) of Rafale jets for the Indian Air Force was taken at the highest political level hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on his three-nation tour on Thursday, April 9, the sources added. Given the huge financial and operational implications, the government thought it prudent to...

France’s culture minister is to call an urgent meeting of French media groups to assess their vulnerability to hacking after the public service television network TV5Monde was taken over by individuals claiming to belong to Islamic State, blacking out broadcasts as well as hacking its websites and Facebook page. All TV5Monde broadcasts were brought down in a blackout between 10pm and 1am local time on Wednesday to Thursday by hackers claiming allegiance to Isis. They were able to seize control of the television network founded by the French government in 1984, simultaneously hacking 11 channels as well as its website...

In one of the most elegant cities on earth, France's Parliament has moved to make it a crime to use anorexic models or encourage anorexia, as authorities try to crack down on the glorification of dangerously thin women. Other countries including Israel and Spain have taken similar action. The French measure would only apply within France, but could have symbolic impact beyond, because of its outsized influence in setting style and image trends around the world.

Over 1,430 French nationals have traveled to join jihadist groups in territory held by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq and Syria, representing 47 percent of the European militants there, a report by the French Parliament revealed. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the figure only covers French militants who are known and accounted for, Jean-Pierre Sueur, a member of the country’s Parliament, told reporters.Sen. Sueur spearheaded the parliamentary probe into jihadist networks.

A French television network has been hacked by people claiming allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) group, the channel's director said Thursday. The hackers briefly cut transmission of 11 channels belonging to TV5 Monde and took over its websites and social media accounts. The channel's director, Yves Bigot, said the attack was continuing Thursday morning. He told RTL radio that the network has restored its signal but can only broadcast recorded programs. He said he was shaken when he saw 11 channels with a black screen "and when we discovered the sense of the message appearing on our social media...

Various Russian media outlets on Wednesday fell for an April Fools' joke news story published by the EUObserver, which stated that France has decided to deliver a Mistral-class warship originally meant for Russia to Latvia instead.