Free Republic

Angela Merkel’s cabinet agreed on Wednesday to tighten scrutiny on takeovers of companies in strategic industries by buyers outside the EU, the Economy Ministry said, reacting to Europe-wide disquiet over Chinese takeovers. New regulations will allow Berlin more time to probe takeover bids, especially in sectors affecting critical infrastructure, and extend the range of deals eligible for examination by the authorities. “We remain one of the most open economies in the world, but we also have an eye on fair competition. We owe that to our companies,” Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said in a statement. “In the future, reporting requirements...

They “plotted to have two suicide bombers set off explosive vests and then open fire on passers-by with automatic rifles.” They “hoped to finance their plot by selling to the Vatican a video showing proof of life of a priest who was kidnapped by IS in Syria.” Nothing a little “dialogue” won’t fix. Maybe Pope Francis could travel to Düsseldorf, slip these poor dears a few bucks, and explain to them how true Islam and the proper understanding of the Qur’an reject every form of violence.

Remember when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hopped on a jet and took off to Germany right when the city was in mourning over the assassination of yet another police officer? To say that this was a political misstep is the definition of an understatement, but the fallout of that stunt isn’t quite over yet. Some people are raising the awkward question of precisely who paid for that little public relations disaster. As you could probably have guessed without my telling you, it was the taxpayers of New York City. But fear not, citizens! The New York City...

At the G-20 in Hamburg, it is said, President Trump was isolated, without support from the other G-20 members, especially on climate change and trade. Perhaps so. But the crucial question is not whether Trump is alone, but whether he is right. Has Trump read the crisis of the West correctly? Are his warnings valid? Is not the Obama-Merkel vision of a New World Order a utopian fantasy? At the monument to the patriots of the Warsaw Uprising, Trump cited Poland as exemplar of how a great people behaves in a true national crisis. Calling the Polish people "the soul...

Remember when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hopped on a jet and took off to Germany right when the city was in mourning over the assassination of yet another police officer? To say that this was a political misstep is the definition of an understatement, but the fallout of that stunt isn’t quite over yet. Some people are raising the awkward question of precisely who paid for that little public relations disaster. As you could probably have guessed without my telling you, it was the taxpayers of New York City. But fear not, citizens! The New York...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday defended President Trump’s daughter Ivanka for briefly sitting in for her father during a Group of 20 summit meeting in Germany. Merkel, who served as the host leader of this year's summit, said at a news conference that it was up to individual nations to decide who represented them, Bloomberg reported. "The delegations themselves decide, should the president not be present for a meeting, who will then take over and sit in the chair,” Merkel said, according to the report. “Ivanka Trump was part and parcel of the American delegation, so that is something...

Under the watch of Chancellor Merkel, millions of Muslim migrants have flooded Germany. Amid a spike in rapes, another frightening trend is emerging within Europe’s largest economy — Sharia Police.Gatestone Institute reports: A hundred Islamists are now openly enforcing Sharia law on the streets of Berlin, according to local police who are investigating a recent string of violent assaults in the German capital. The self-appointed morality police involve Salafists from Chechnya, a predominantly Sunni Muslim region in Russia. The vigilantes are using threats of violence to discourage Chechen migrants from integrating into German society; they are also promoting the establishment of a parallel...

World leaders made concessions on trade and climate language to Donald Trump Saturday at the end of the most fractious and riot-hit G20 summit ever, in exchange for preserving a fragile unity of the club of major industrialised and emerging economies. But the gesture opened the door for others, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning that Ankara was now leaning towards not ratifying the landmark Paris climate accord. Erdogan’s threat brought further disarray to a summit that was marred by bilateral quarrels and strife over climate protection and trade. […] In a departure from final summit declarations that tend...

Ex-President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev compared the meeting between Russian and US leaders Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Hamburg to his meeting with ex-President of the United States Ronald Reagan. The politician made such a statement in an interview with Italian publicist Giulietto Chiesa posted on Globalist portal on Saturday. "I recall when we started the disarmament dialog with Ronald Reagan, I was told in several days after first contacts that US naval vessels entered the Black Sea and approached territorial waters of the Soviet Union. I was asked, "What shall we do?"...

Raging street battles that marred Germany’s G20 summit have sparked a political fight over how Hamburg could descend into “mob rule” and why Chancellor Angela Merkel chose a hotbed of leftist militancy as the venue. Germany’s top-selling Bild daily was withering in its condemnation of the chaos that saw far-left and anarchist radicals torch rows of cars, loot shops and hurl rocks and bottles from burning barricades at riot police. “One should use with caution the words ‘failure of the state’. Sadly, it applies in Hamburg,” the newspaper thundered Saturday, slamming the summit as a “debacle”. “Of course, the police...

Startling new evidence from German intelligence reports shows the Tehran regime is working to illegally obtain technology and know-how to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs, despite the 2015 agreement to curb its nuclear program. A report from the state of Hamburg holds that “there is no evidence of an complete about-face in Iran’s atomic polices in 2016” [after the Islamic Republic signed the JCPOA deal with Western powers in 2015, aimed at restricting Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief]. Iran sought missile carrier technology necessary for its rocket program.” The report noted that the federal prosecutor...

10:03 a.m. President Donald Trump is praising a new women's entrepreneurship fund launched by his daughter and the World Bank Saturday that will help women access capital, financing and other support. Trump says that his administration is making a $50 million commitment to the effort at an event held alongside the Group of 20 world leaders' summit in Hamburg, Germany. He says the group will help eliminate barriers for women to launch businesses and transform "millions and millions of lives." World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced Saturday that the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative had raised $325 million from...

German prosecutors said Thursday they had shut down a major platform used by “elite pedophiles” for organizing the sexual abuse of children, arresting its suspected ringleader and senior members of the “pedophile community” in Germany and abroad. According to police, the arrests include “high level politicians” as well as entertainers, white-collar professionals, and high-ranking clergy members. The sting, dubbed Operation Elysium, was launched on the eve of the G20 in Hamburg, throwing the global summit into disarray after key members of at least two European delegations were held by police. The elite pedophile community, operating through a website known as...

A gang of armed Chechen Muslims are terrorising women in Germany who do not adhere to their strict interpretation of the Quran. Reports suggest up to 100 men belong to the vigilante group, which 'punishes' Chechen women who are seen to behave immorally, including fraternising with non-Chechen men, smoking, drinking or visiting swimming pools. Gay Chechens – many of whom sought asylum in Germany because of the Islamic Republic's purge of homosexuals – are also victimised by the Berlin-based mob. Two young Chechen women were seriously injured as a result of recent attacks in Berlin, while another two were threatened...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is battling to prevent US President Donald Trump undermining the world leaders' united front on climate change. At the Paris climate deal, all world leaders spoke in favour of limiting global temperature rise to 2 degrees but that was after a massive diplomatic effort by President Barack Obama made membership of the climate club a moral imperative. He and the French hosts created such an atmosphere that even the normally foot-dragging Russians and Saudis committed to the deal, despite their long history of slowing progress in climate negotiations behind the scenes. They own vast fossil fuel...

Cojones! Trump tells reporters he 'absolutely' still wants Mexico to pay for his border wall – and Mexico's leader is right next to him listening President Donald Trump reiterated on Friday that he still wants Mexico to pay for a lengthy border wall separating America from its southern neighbor. And he did it with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto sitting just an arm's length away. Reporters had a few moments to pepper the two leaders with questions as their bilateral meeting on the margins of the G20 summit got underway. 'Mr. Trump do you still want Mexico to pay for...

When it comes to hilarious viral videos, Donald Trump aces it. In another incredibly awkward moment, Trump got 'snubbed' by the first lady of Poland when he extended a hand shake.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to travel to Hamburg, Germany, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit to speak at a demonstration against President Trump's policies and the spread of populism in Europe. De Blasio, a Democrat, will deliver the keynote address at a protest event organized by a group called "Hamburg Zeigt Haltung," or Hamburg Shows Attitude, his office announced Thursday afternoon. The mayor will be "on stage on Saturday on our rally for human rights and democracy as keynote speaker," according to a tweet from the organization. "It's important that American leaders confront head-on, locally and...

Washington (CNN) — First lady Melania Trump is unable to leave her Hamburg hotel and attend events with other G20 spouses because of protests, her spokeswoman said Friday. "Hamburg police couldn't provide clearance for us to leave," Stephanie Grisham told reporters in Hamburg. The spouses of G20 leaders are scheduled to tour a climate change center in Hamburg and take a river cruise while the world leaders attend the summit, according to media reports.

(Full article title: German police call for reinforcements and Melania Trump is trapped inside her hotel as streets of Hamburg turned into a warzone with protestors throwing petrol bombs in violent clashes with police) A police station has been firebombed and cars and buildings set alight in the German city of Hamburg, where world leaders are holding crunch talks today. Police have called for reinforcements after tens of thousands of protesters descended on Hamburg, causing chaos. US First Lady Melania Trump is reportedly trapped inside her hotel room and some world leaders were late arriving to the G20 summit because...