Free Republic

Germany posted a record trade surplus of 22.2 billion euros (17.74 billion pounds) in July, suggesting Europe's largest economy could bounce back strongly in the third quarter after suffering a surprise contraction in the second. Seasonally-adjusted data from the Federal Statistics Office showed exports surged 4.7 percent to 98.2 billion euros, the most goods and services Germany has ever sent abroad in a single month. It was the sharpest rise in exports since May 2012, easily outstripping expectations for a modest 0.5 percent increase. Coming on the heels of July data showing industrial output and orders jumping, the trade figures...

The teacher of Free university of Brussels Aude Merlen shared with DW a personal assessment of prospects of the relations of the European Union and Russia in the conditions of the Ukrainian crisis. The position of the European Union concerning Russia is full of internal contradictions. About, whether already accepted EU of the sanction against the Russian economy is effective, whether it is necessary to wait for the fourth package of penal measures and why some EU countries belong to policy of the Kremlin quite loyally, the correspondent of DW has a talk from Aude Merlen who teaches political science...

Residents of the German city of Wuppertal have expressed concern after a group of young radical Islamists started taking to the streets late at night, trying to deter revellers from drinking and gambling. The self-styled "Sharia Police" have been patrolling an area around the city's main train station, declaring the popular nightlife area to be a "Sharia Controlled Zone". Deutshe Welle reports that witnesses have seen them handing out leaflets urging people not to drink alcohol, attend concerts, gamble, watch pornography or visit prostitutes. The men are believed to be from the Salafi sect of Islam, which is closely related...

During today’s NATO summit, the alliance agreed to create a rapid reaction force to respond to threats to member states. That force is being formed specifically to deal with threats in eastern Europe. It is a direct response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The Russians responded swiftly. The Foreign Ministry suggests a larger NATO conspiracy is at work. The summit adopted a line towards NATO’s eastward expansion and build-up of its presence near Russia’s borders. These plans were nurtured for a long time and the Ukrainian crisis became merely an excuse for the start of their implementation. Russia also accused...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on the country’s citizens to attend a rally against anti-Semitism next week in Berlin where she will speak. Merkel said Saturday she will do everything possible to make sure anti-Semitism has no chance in Germany. …

In a blow to the Yes campaign, Olli Rehn, vice president of the European Parliament and former commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, said keeping the pound without consent from Westminster "would simply not be possible" because EU membership requires countries to have access to an independent central bank. All three main political parties in Westminster have already slammed the door shut on a currency union between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK. However, Alex Salmond, Scotland's First Minister, has argued that this would not stop Scotland from using the pound anyway.

The debate over Germany’s insistence on eurozone austerity has flared anew as an ailing France continues to demand economic stimulus. The European Central Bank may now be siding with Paris, leaving Merkel looking increasingly alone. […] Berlin is particularly alarmed by the stance taken by ECB head Mario Draghi. At the annual conference of top central bankers from around the world at Jackson Hole, Wyoming in August, Draghi surprised those present by saying “there is leeway to achieve a more growth-friendly composition of fiscal policies.” It was a comment that came close to the kind of debt-fueled growth stimulus measures...

Charges of unlawful assembly and use of uniform in public were brought against 11 members of a group trying to enforce aspects of strict Islamic Sharia law in the North Rhine-Westphalia city, a spokeswoman for the Wuppertal police told The Local. Officers stopped the 11-man group on the street on Wednesday. Some were wearing orange vests bearing the words 'Shariah Police', in violation of federal German law, the spokeswoman said. The group has been stopping young people at local drinking and gambling establishments and urging them to abstain from activities deemed to be ungodly according to Islam. The Wednesday incident...

HAVANA: Cuban ex-president Fidel Castro lashed out at the United States and Europe on Monday (Sep 1), accusing them of war-mongering and comparing the NATO military alliance's representatives to the Nazi SS. In a tortuous column published in Cuban state media, the father of the island's communist revolution also attacked US Senator John McCain over United States policy in the Middle East, calling him "Israel's most unconditional ally." "The world has seen no respite in recent years, particularly since the European Economic Community, under the strict and unconditional leadership of the United States, decided the time had come to settle...

A new poll shows that while most Germans fear military escalation between Russia and the Ukraine, only half want to see NATO intervene ahead of the alliance’s summit starting on Thursday in Wales. After the annexation of Crimea, Germans are worried that Russian President Vladimir Putin will take over more of the country. Two-thirds of respondents in a poll taken by German press agency DPA said they fear a Russian invasion in eastern Ukraine. However, 51 percent of people were against a strong NATO presence in the region while just one in three respondents were for it. …

Police officers from both countries will in the future mount joint patrols in frontier areas, both in uniform and in plain clothes, it was agreed on Tuesday. […] Aimed primarily at organized crime rings, the new mode of operation will cover a territory extending 25 kilometers into Denmark and 30 kilometers into Germany. Officers will be armed, but it was stressed that weapons will only be used in emergency situations. Germany already has similar border-policing agreements with Poland and the Netherlands. …

Are American Troops Already Fighting on the Front Lines in Iraq? The Pentagon is denying that U.S. troops are fighting ISIS on the ground in Iraq—but eyewitness accounts and Kurdish officials tell a different story. ZUMAR, Iraq — The role of American Special Operations Forces in Iraq has remained hidden even while the U.S. air war expands. As momentum against ISIS picks up, they may be emerging from the shadows. In a pitched battle on Monday, Kurdish Peshmerga, backed by American airpower and what appeared to be U.S. troops, struck at ISIS positions in the strategic crossroads of Zumar.Scenes from...

The whole world is watching the crisis in Crimea, and Russia faces off with the USA and European superpowers. The dispute centers around which country the territory should belong to, and it may seem shocking in today’s modern era, but the borders of Europe have never been solid. In this time-lapse video, you can see how 1000 years of European history plays havoc on the stability of the border we take for granted today. This time-lapse video has never been more relevant. As the eyes of the world are fixed on events in Ukraine and Crimea, its good to have...

GDANSK, Poland: Russia has "effectively severed its partnership" with Europe and wants to establish a new order, German President Joachim Gauck said on Monday (Sep 1). "We want partnership and good neighbourly relations (with Russia)" but on the condition that Moscow changes its policies and that there is a "return to respect for the rights of nations", Gauck said at a ceremony in Gdansk to mark the 75th anniversary of Germany's invasion of Poland that set off World War II. Evoking the "miracle" of post-war reconciliation between Germans and Poles, Gauck said he was disappointed with the turn of events...

David Cameron has vowed to “turn the ratchet” on Vladimir Putin, as he warned Western sanctions would “permanently” damage the Russian economy. Moscow banks are running short of funding as investors pull capital out the country, while the rouble and the Russian stock market are falling, the Prime Minister said. He was speaking ahead of a Nato summit in Wales which will discuss Ukrainian membership of the military alliance. Addressing the Commons, the Prime Minister said Britain would face the “grave danger” posed by Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine with “reliance and resolve”. On Saturday, European leaders gave Russia a...

BERLIN — The German government says it will send high-end rifles, tank-busting weapons and armored vehicles to aid Kurdish fighters battling Islamic extremists in Iraq. .... Three shipments will be made starting at the end of September, including 8,000 German-made G36 assault rifles and ammunition, 30 MILAN anti-tank systems, and five heavily armored Dingo infantry vehicles.

An appeals court in Germany has ruled that a family court's decision to keep legal custody of four children away from their parents, Dirk and Petra Wunderlich, was wrong, and ordered that complete custody be returned to the family. However, the court maintained that homeschooling endangers children and they should go to school. "We have won custody and we are glad about that," Dirk said in a statement released by Virginia-based Home School Legal Defense Association, which has been assisting the Wunderlich family since their children were taken on Aug. 29, 2013. The court said taking the children away was...

After World War I the third rate minds who brought us the conflict to begin with came up with another stupid idea: They decided to divide up former German, Austrian and Turkish empires into separate countries, like Czechoslovakia, and create makeshifts, like the Danzig Corridor. Germany lost territory to Poland to create a land corridor to Danzig that gave Poland access to the sea.Never mind that it cleaved a country in two. It was these territorial wedges-- wedges that diced up ethnicity-- that Hitler used to gain legitimacy in the eyes of Germans. By cutting up countries in defiance of...

Rotherham's council leader has stepped down but there are calls for other heads to roll over the devastating abuse scandal. Many people are asking why no-one in a position of responsibility has been held accountable in the wake of the Rotherham sex abuse scandal. A devastating report revealed at least 1,400 children were sexually exploited over 16 years - between 1997 and 2013 - with girls as young as 11 repeatedly raped by large numbers of men. The inquiry found Rotherham council knew as far back as 2005 of sexual exploitation on a wide scale - mostly by Asian men...

Flanked by 120 law enforcement officers, 300 pro-life demonstrators marched the streets of Salzburg, Austria in peaceful solidarity. Several protesters were detained by police as the marchers carried white crosses, a symbol of the 1,000 human beings massacred every day through legalized abortion in Austria and Germany. austriaBanners reading “1000 Ungeborene Jeden Tag” (“1,000 Unborn Every Day”) “commemorates the tragedy of unborn human beings who are denied life every day,” said Johannes Bucher, director of HLI-Europe. In partnership with other pro-life organizations including Europrolife and Lifecenters, Bucher plans to organize additional marches to defend life for the voiceless. The march,...