Free Republic

This win needs to be sipped slowly for maximum enjoyment. First, we would draw your attention to May 23rd, when President Trump announced an instruction to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to begin a Section 301 review of the auto industry a week prior to the implementation of the Steel and Aluminum tariffs. At the time when all media were discussing other ‘matters’ CTH pointed out the strategy that was visible in the Auto-Sector. China, the EU (specifically Germany), and Canada were the strategic trade targets in the approach. About a week later, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland snarkily announced her...

The Paris prosecutors' office said on Tuesday that the conditions of Oulkadi's release back to the Belgian capital included regularly reporting to police and a curfew. ~~ A total of 130 people died in a series of coordinated suicide bombings and shootings at the Stade de France, the Bataclan concert hall and at bars and restaurants in Paris on the night of 13 November 2015. Abdeslam's brother Brahim was among the suicide bombers.

Homosexual rights got a boost from a groundbreaking judgment of the European Court of Justice that forces all EU member states to welcome the same-sex "spouses" of EU citizens, even when they are not EU nationals. The European Court of Justice fell short of imposing an obligation on EU member states to recognize homosexual marriages but opened another avenue for homosexual marriage in Europe by declaring a "derived right of residence" in EU states for same-sex spouses of EU nationals who are non-EU citizen. The Court recognized that homosexual marriage may not be a human right but held that homosexual...

A woman who allegedly shouted "Allahu akbar" attacked two people with a box cutter at a supermarket in southern France on Sunday before she was arrested, local media reported. The incident took place around 10:30 a.m. at the supermarket Leclerc in the Mediterranean city of La Seyne-sur-Mer, located near Marseilles. Witnesses told Var-matin the young woman attacked a customer and employee. The woman was dressed in black and wearing a veil at the time, shouting "Allahu akbar" -- "God is great" in Arabic -- before she was placed under control by people intervening, according to Var-matin. Europe 1 radio quoted...

French and German industry have unexpectedly unveiled a new Euro Main Battle Tank (EMBT) concept at Eurosatory, their first attempt at combining national technologies to develop a next-generation pan-European tank. The EMBT has been developed by KNDS – a joint company between German Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and French company Nexter – and combines a Leopard 2 chassis with a Leclerc 120mm turret. Officials from KNDS told Shephard that the development effort has been ongoing since January 2017, with the prototype platform conducting live fire trials only a month ago. ‘This is the first step in having a common product from...

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, announced that he’s expelling Uber from Turkey, a result of pressure from Istanbul's taxi industry. Istanbul taxi drivers, numbering more than 17,000, claimed Uber was providing an illegal service and that it needs to be banned. Ever since Uber began its service in Turkey in 2014, it's caused dissension among the country's taxi drivers, not unlike what's happening elsewhere. In a speech on Friday, Erdogan said, “This thing called Uber emerged. That business is finished. That does not exist anymore. We have our taxi system.... Where does this come from? It is used...

French carmaker Renault will maintain its presence in Iran while taking measures to avoid the risk of penalties for breaching renewed US sanctions, CEO Carlos Ghosn said Friday. “We will not abandon it, even if we have to downsize very strongly,” he said at the annual shareholders’ meeting in Paris. “When the market reopens, the fact of having stayed will certainly give us an advantage,” he predicted. […] Renault’s rival PSA, which produces the Peugeot and Citroën brands, has also announced it will quit Iran to abide by the US sanctions. But Ghosn signaled that Renault, which counted 160,000 cars...

Marion Marechal-Le Pen, often tipped as a future leader of France's far right, has dropped one of the most famous – and infamous – names in French politics.. On her social media accounts Marion has changed her profile names from Marion Le Pen to simply Marion Marechal. The change “was a way to demonstrate my transition to civilian life. I have never and will never feel ashamed of my name”, she told the rightwing Boulevard Voltaire website. Marechal, a 28-year-old former MP and devout Catholic, added her mother Yann Le Pen’s name to her surname in 2012 as she launched...

Immigration is now seen as the most important issue facing the European Union (EU) by people in every member state apart from seven countries, where the top concern is terrorism, an official survey has found. The revelation comes from the Eurobarometer, a series of public opinion surveys conducted for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, and corroborates the results of a YouGov survey from May. As recently as 2014, immigration and terror were perceived as less of a concern for the bloc than the economic situation, member states’ public finances, and unemployment. When people were asked this year what...

The Eiffel Tower is installing bulletproof glass and metal fencing to protect it from terrorist attacks. The panels are nearly 10 feet high and more than 2 inches thick and will be positioned on the north and south ends of the Paris monument, according to NPR. The east and west ends will now have metal fencing, a measure put in place to protect against possible cars ramming into the monument's grounds. The report notes that plans for these protective measures were announced in 2017. These bulletproof glass and metal fencing replace temporary barriers that were installed in 2016. The temporary...

GENEVA (Reuters) - Talks with the United States over how to reform the main U.N. rights body have failed to meet Washington’s demands, activists and diplomats say, suggesting that the Trump administration will quit the Geneva forum whose session opens on Monday. A U.S. source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the withdrawal appeared to be “imminent” but had no details. Diplomatic sources said it was not a question of if but of when the United States retreats from the Human Rights Council, which is holding a three-week session through July 6. A separate U.S. official in Geneva had...

For the umpteenth time, the United Nations General Assembly has voted to condemn Israel for defending itself. By a tally of 120 to 8, the members declared that Israel was guilty of “excessive use of force” against Palestinians who were protesting the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. The resolution also requested recommendations to protect Palestinians. For 10 weeks now, the two sides have clashed at the border, resulting in 120 Palestinian deaths. Israeli Defense Forces warned protesters not to approach the Israeli-Gaza border on May 14, the day of the embassy opening. They did anyway - some armed...

An Italian coastguard ship carrying more than 900 migrants was allowed to dock in Sicily Wednesday, after Italy controversially turned away a separate foreign vessel with rescued migrants on board. ... The migrants aboard the Aquarius, run by French NGO SOS Mediterranee, were stuck on the overloaded ship as Italy and Malta bickered over who should take them.

WASHINGTON - Intelligence shortcomings, as we see, have a thousand fathers; secret intelligence triumphs are orphans. Here is the unremarked story of "the Farewell dossier": how a CIA campaign of computer sabotage resulting in a huge explosion in Siberia -- all engineered by a mild-mannered economist named Gus Weiss -- helped us win the Cold War. Weiss worked down the hall from me in the Nixon administration. In early 1974, he wrote a report on Soviet advances in technology through purchasing and copying that led the beleaguered president -- detente notwithstanding -- to place restrictions on the export of computers...

The president’s top economic adviser on Wednesday implied that the U.S. may not abide by any rulings from the World Trade Organization (WTO), a tough signal ahead of a Group of Seven summit this weekend where Trump is expected to face a backlash from allied leaders over his protectionist trade agenda. “International, multilateral organizations are not going to determine American policy,” White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters at a press briefing organized to preview President Trump’s trip to Canada for the G-7. The comments paint an unyielding stance on trade as the president prepares to meet...

“Keep calm and carry on.” In the wake of a disastrous G7 summit where US president Donald Trump all but broke off the Western alliance, the EU should stay cool and prepare to take over global leadership. That is the message on Monday (11 June) by a former member of the EU leaders club, Helle Thorning-Schmidt. “The US is leaving a vacuum. And who should step in? For me, it is completely obvious, it is Europe’s time to step in,” the former Danish prime minister said at an event in Brussels. “That’s where our new next opportunity is,” she said,...

(News, Comment, Analysis) "What will Israel's reaction to this be? How effective will Syrian air defenses be against a reaction? What will Russia's reaction be to Israeli attacks on its ally's forces?" Col. Pat Lang on his "Sic Semper Tyrannis" blog 6/10/2018 The word from Syria is that the Assad regime is planning their "largest offensive of the war" to launch this week. The report published by "Almasdar News" Saturday June 9th says the big offensive expected in southwestern Syria against the jihadists is about to kick off. The US State Department issued a statement May 25th warning the Syrian...

A priceless 16th-century casket containing the embalmed heart of a French queen consort has been found after it was snatched by thieves earlier this month. The theft of the 500g solid golden box containing Anne of Brittany's heart had fuelled fears the relic would be melted just for its weight in gold. The casket was taken along with other relics after robbers reportedly broke in through a window of the Thomas-Dobree museum in the western French city of Nantes. French police arrested two men who then led them to the buried haul on Saturday. Anne of Brittany was born in...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday warned Syrian President Bashar Assad was “no longer immune” from retaliation, while declaring the Iran nuclear deal is over after Washington ditched the accord. “He is no longer immune, his regime is no longer immune. If he fires at us, as we’ve just demonstrated, we will destroy his forces." “Syria has to understand that Israel will not tolerate the Iranian military entrenchment in Syria against Israel,” Netanyahu added. “The consequences are not merely to the Iranian forces there but to the Assad regime as well,” he said, adding: “I think it’s something that he...

Just over three years since the contract for their development was signed, the first EBRC Jaguar 6x6 vehicle prototypes developed as part of the French Army’s ambitious Scorpion modernisation programme have been rolled out. The Jaguar is one of three new vehicles the French Army is acquiring as part of its far-reaching land modernisation programme, which will also include the VBMR Jaguar and as-yet-unnamed VBMR ‘Light’ vehicle, as well as a suite of new C4I systems. The Leclerc main battle tank will also be upgraded under the Scorpion modernisation. One of the new Jaguar prototypes was unveiled to media at...