Free Republic

Archaeologists have formed a trade union grouping amid concerns that some highly qualified people are working for pay rates not much above the minimum wage — or in some cases, for free. Contract archaeologists, who mostly work in the private sector, have joined trade union Unite in an attempt to convince archaeological consultancies to sign up to a standardised pay agreement that would protect wage levels. The move comes after what the chairman of the new branch, Matt Seaver, described as “an apocalypse” in the sector. The union grouping comprises approximately 60 contract archaeologists — around half the total number...

BERLIN -- After being injured fighting the Syrian government, 31-year-old Mohannad reached his home in Frankfurt, Germany, with a simple plan: rest, recuperate, then rejoin the fight with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. As related in German newspaper accounts, which by law couldn’t identify him by his full name, Mohannad even transferred the equivalent of $6,800 to a Syrian bank for use by the terror organization. With that as evidence that he was supporting a terrorist organization, German authorities seized his passport and prevented him from returning to Turkey _ the jumping-off point for radicals seeking to join...

The German government is ending a contract with Verizon over fears the company could be letting U.S. intelligence agencies eavesdrop on sensitive communications, officials said Thursday. The New York-based company has for years provided Internet services to a number of government departments, although not to German security agencies, said Interior Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate. […] German authorities were particularly irked by reports that the NSA had targeted Chancellor Angela Merkel. Berlin has also proposed building more secure networks in Europe to avoid having to rely on American Internet companies that manage much of the electronic traffic circulating the globe. …

Can two defensively suspect teams settle on a needed draw? If Team USA and Germany simply equal each other’s goal tallies, both sides will go through to the knockout rounds. In most cases, it would be expected that the two sides should line up in highly defensive formations and show little adventure, committing only the minimum number of men to any attack. If both sides play defensively, the draw will come regardless of any conspiracy.The problem is, neither side is built to play the sort of boring, unadventurous soccer such a fixture requires. American fans are well aware of the...

Streaming online - Watch: http://espn.go.com/watchespn/player/_/id/1824045/size/condensed/>

On June 26, 1948, the first American C-47 cargo aircraft were launched to supply West Berlin in what would eventually be known as the Berlin Airlift, following the Soviet Union's closure of water and land corridors between the western Allies sectors of occupied Germany and Berlin. Planes from the American, British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and South African Air Forces would eventually participate in the Airlift, flying over 200,000 flights over the next 11 months before the blockade was lifted.

Angela Merkel stated today that Germany would leave its 1,500 tonnes of gold in the Federal Reserve vault in NYC for continued safekeeping. Proponents for repatriation of German gold were outraged that Angie would double-cross them after initially agreeing to have at least 674 tonnes of gold repatriated. Insiders confirmed that only 5 tonnes of gold were repatriated before shipments were inexplicably stopped. The current Federal Reserve Chairthing, Janet Yelling, announced today that the former Federal Reserve Chairthing, Ben Bernanke's computer hard drive had crashed destroying the inventory of gold on deposit with the Fed. Shockingly, the six backup copies...

A spokesperson for police in the district of Hochsauerlandkreis in the German Federal State of Nordrhein Westfalen, reported the accident. The German armed forces and a spokesperson for the German Air Force confirmed for the magazine Spiegel Online.de and the daily Bild, that the military plane was a German Air Force Eurofighter.

<p>Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, generally viewed as a leading ally of the United States in Europe, said in a mysteriously-leaked recording Sunday that the alliance between the two countries is “not worth anything.”</p> <p>“We are gonna conflict with both Russians and Germans, and we’re going to think that everything is great, because we gave the Americans a blowjob. Suckers. Total suckers,” Sikorski says, according to a translation of the account for BuzzFeed.</p>

This week German news magazine Der Spiegel published the largest single set of files leaked by whistleblower and former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. The roughly 50 documents show the depth of the German intelligence agencies' collusion with the NSA. They suggest that the German Intelligence Agency (BND), the country's foreign spy agency, and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the German domestic spy agency, worked more closely with the NSA than they have admitted - and more than many observers thought.

A new study concludes that humans mated with Neanderthals 50,000 to 80,000 years ago, leaving traces of the Neanderthal genome in some modern humans. This picture shows the reconstruction of a Neanderthal woman at the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann, Germany, on March 20, 2009. A new study is offering insights into how early humans and Neanderthals were similar and different.

Greece has launched a multi-billion euro claim against one of Germany’s biggest defence firms who sold the financially-beleaguered country four submarines in a complicated deal which has become symbolic of the country’s economic woes. The controversial deal has threatened Greece’s position in Nato, according to well-placed sources, led to the criminal prosecution of the country’s defence minister and the resignation of a senior Naval figure. The Telegraph today publishes photographs of the four submarines, which are still unfinished in a Greek shipyard almost 15 years after they were first ordered. It can now be disclosed that the Greek Government has...

President Obama just can't seem to help himself. Over and over again, he makes exaggerated or false claims about guns and crime. Last year Obama kept asserting the bogus numbers such as “40 percent of all gun purchases take place without a background check.” Besides the study being based on a tiny survey it was started before the Federal background check law went into effect. Moreover, the 40 percent figure referred to all transfers, not just sales, and the vast majority of transfers took place within families through gifts and inheritances. Then, for good measure, Obama added an extra 4...

Tour operators in Egypt have this week held a conference to urge Italian tourists to return, after instability in the country prompted a crisis in the travel industry following the 2011 ousting of dictator Hosni Mubarak. Around 700 tour operators gathered this week at the ‘United for Egypt’ conference held at the Port Ghalib resort, La Stampa reported. Organizers from both countries hoped the meeting would give a much-needed boost to tourism to Egypt, which has seen a dramatic fall-off in recent years. “In 2008 in Egypt there were 1,073,159 Italian travellers. That number literally collapsed and in 2013 local...

Germany’s president says his compatriots shouldn’t always reject deploying the military to help resolve conflicts as he underlines calls for the country to take more international responsibility. […] President Joachim Gauck told Deutschlandfunk radio in an interview broadcast Saturday that he understands Germans’ longstanding reluctance to take a leading international role, but the country is now a “solid and reliable democracy.” He said that in defending human rights and innocent lives “it is sometimes necessary to take up arms.” …

An Austrian man caused mayhem on an El Al flight from Tel Aviv to Munich on Thursday, when he started shouting about terror attacks and bombs. Two men shot in Munich beer garden (27 May 14) Firefighters rescue man from women’s jail (23 May 14) Cheap flights get pricier as airlines expand (24 Apr 14) The 25-year-old man, from Tyrol, had to be restrained and the Boeing 737 made an emergency landing in Sofia, Bulgaria. About two hours into the flight the man jumped up and started shouting: "Here are the terrorists, we have a bomb! You’ll all be blown...

Klinsmann Offers Brutally Honest Assessment Before Team Even Arrives In BrazilThe United States men’s soccer team has its work cut out for it at the upcoming World Cup. The United States is in what has been dubbed this year’s “Group of Death,” containing Germany, Portugal and Ghana. It will be very difficult for the U.S. to get out of Group G, and head coach Jurgen Klinsmann isn’t expecting a miracle in Brazil. In fact, he’s being brutally honest and realistic about his club’s chances. “We cannot win the World Cup because we are not at that level yet,” Klinsmann said,...

NATO launched a large-scale exercise, "Steadfast Javelin", in Estonia on 16 May to test Allied forces on their ability to work together and maintain NATO's readiness and combat effectiveness. 6000 troops from 9 Allied nations are participating in these drills, the most important NATO exercise in the Baltic region since the start of the Ukraine crisis. Exercises like this one are especially important in enhancing NATO's readiness to defend its Allies.

A US soldier freed after five years in Taliban captivity is in stable condition in a US military hospital in Germany, officials have said. Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, 28, is being treated after his release on Saturday in exchange for five senior Afghan Taliban figures held at Guantanamo Bay. The prisoner swap has been criticised by Republicans who warn it could put Americans at risk in the future. How he was captured is unclear, with some accusing him of being a deserter. There is speculation he may have walked away from his base out of disillusionment with the US campaign in...

Before the European Parliament election last month, voters were told the poll would also determine the next Commission president. In a silent putsch against the electorate, Angela Merkel is now impeding the process. She fears a loss of power and Britain’s EU exit. […] … Merkel had hardly begun her speech last Friday before she got right to the point. With her hands set on the podium in front of her in the Regensburg University auditorium, she said: “I am engaging in all discussions in the spirit that Jean-Claude Juncker should become president of the European Commission.” German news agency...