Free Republic

Spain said today it had stepped up border controls with Gibraltar under a scheduled move by the EU’s Schengen zone. The announcement comes amid rising friction over the British territory caused by Brexit. The interior ministry said it had intensified controls at the crossing point to Gibraltar, a rocky outcrop in Spain’s southern tip, in line with rules introduced on Friday for boosting security on the Schengen perimeter. […] The new rules coincide with a flare-up of tensions surrounding the rocky outcrop, which Spain ceded to Britain in 1713 but wants back. The European Union, reacting to Britain’s decision to...

Politicians in Wales are campaigning to transform the country into the world’s first “nation of sanctuary” for “refugees and asylum” seekers, with the support of the regional government.

A Government spokesperson said: “Overnight, the US has taken military action against the Syrian regime, targeting the airfield in Shayrut which was used to launch the chemical weapons attack earlier this week. “The UK Government fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks.” The news comes after the US launched 59 Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian airfield in a show of power against Bashar al-Assad. In a statement, President Trump said: “Tonight I ordered a targeted military strike...

Former US president Barack Obama is to make his first visit to Scotland when he addresses business leaders in the capital next month. He will also answer questions from the audience at the event, which is being held to raise money for charity. The charity was set up by leading businessman and philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter. Tickets for a table of 10 at the dinner are expected to go on sale for approximately £5,000. The Hunter Foundation has previously arranged for US politicians and actors including Bill Clinton, Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney to come to Scotland. All of the...

Sir Michael Caine has said he is confident Britain's exit from the EU "will be alright" and that British people have voted for "freedom". The film star told Sky News: "I think it will be alright. "I voted for Brexit ... what it is with me, I'd rather be a poor master than a rich servant." "It wasn't about the racism, immigrants or anything, it was about freedom." The acting legend spoke about Brexit while promoting his new film, Going In Style. "Politics is always chaotic. "In politics you're always going into areas you've never been before, so you're going...

One of China’s top universities is preparing to open a campus at the heart of British academic life, just months after President Xi Jinping called for Chinese universities to be transformed into strongholds of Communist party rule. Peking University, an elite Beijing institution where Mao Zedong once worked as a librarian, will open a branch of its HSBC Business School in Oxford early next year, the respected financial magazine Caixin reported on Thursday. The school is setting up camp in Foxcombe Hall which it recently purchased for a reported £8.8m. The 19th century manor was home to the eighth earl...

A number of online services are charging "divorced" Muslim women thousands of pounds to take part in "halala" Islamic marriages, a BBC investigation has found. Women pay to marry, have sex with and then divorce a stranger, so they can get back with their first husbands. Farah - not her real name - met her husband after being introduced to him by a family friend when she was in her 20s. They had children together soon afterwards but then, Farah says, the abuse began. "The first time he was abusive was over money," she tells the BBC's Asian Network and...

Shunning the desert kingdom’s strict Islamic dress code – and in defiance of official UK Foreign Office advice – May met officials and was seen out in public with her hair showing. (The main image shows her arriving at the Saudi Stock Exchange in the capital Riyadh escorted by Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan). A British government spokesman said May had made a ‘personal choice’ and a source travelling with the prime minister said it was intended as a ‘statement’ .

A furious row erupted inside and outside the Labour party last night after former London mayor Ken Livingstone was “given a slap on the wrist” over anti-Semitic comments. Mr. Livingstone — who had been suspended from the party last April over remarks saying Hitler had supported Zionism — was handed a further 12-month ban from representing Labour. He will remain a full member of the party and will still be allowed to take part in Labour votes and attend meetings. But MPs, including some from his own party’s shadow cabinet, described the move as “shameful” and said the party leadership...

The British navy chased a Spanish gunship out of British waters off the coast of Gibraltar after an illegal incursion, the government of Gibraltar said Tuesday.

The Prime Minister, in a dark blue trouser suit, made sure she had her wrists and ankles covered, in accordance with strict dress codes for women in Saudi Arabia. But her choice of outfit as she arrived on Tuesday afternoon was contrary to Foreign Office guidelines, which state: “Women should wear conservative, loose-fitting clothes as well as a full length cloak (abaya) and a headscarf.” Mrs May won widespread praise on Twitter, with users saying they were “proud you have not bowed down” to the regime, and that “secular women are equal and free”.

Spain has said it would not veto an attempt by an independent Scotland to join the EU, in a boost to Nicola Sturgeon’s campaign for a second independence referendum and the clearest sign yet that Brexit has softened Madrid’s longstanding opposition.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has signed a climate change agreement with California Gov. Jerry Brown at the start of a five-day visit to the U.S. that comes as Scotland considers its independence from the United Kingdom. […] Sturgeon tells The Associated Press Monday she in the U.S. to strengthen Scotland’s trade and business relationships with “one of its most important markets.” Sturgeon also toured Tesla Motors’ Silicon Valley facility and discussed connecting Scottish women entrepreneurs with American investors. …

As British PM Theresa May presses ahead with a hard Brexit and a retreat from the single market, Scotland said on Monday (3 April) that its distinct demographic trends require powers over immigration to support public services and the economy. The Scottish government predicts that 90% of the population increase in Scotland over the next decade will come from net migration, both from international migration and from the rest of the UK. The Scottish Chambers of Commerce identified Scotland’s lower population growth rate as a reason why Scotland must have a distinct migration system. According to a ScotCen survey published...

The EB-5 program will get you permanent residency in the US through capital investment With the new US President's anti-globalisation and anti-immigrants stance, those wishing to toil their way in to a US citizenship might find it hard in the near future. But money might buy you a rightful place under the US sun. This can be achieved with the help of the EB-5 program, that can get you permanent residency and eventually citizenship, provided you have a deep pocket. Many countries, including the UK, Australia and exotic locales such as Malta and Cyprus provide a channel to high networth...

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday insisted that she would "never" allow Gibraltar to slip from British control against the wishes of Gibraltarians as the issue took centre-stage in early Brexit wranglings. May told Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo that "we will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes." Her comments came as Spain pledged it would not close its border post-Brexit with the 6.7-square-kilometre (2.6-square-mile) British overseas territory on the southern tip of Spain.

This is a rather long read with lots of detail so I'm not going to try to excerpt it. But the upshot is that while most in Britain don't want to think about a world without The Queen, she will turn 91 this month. At some point the long reign will come to an end. Most people can't remember the last time there was a royal succession so the government has been quietly making incredibly detailed plans to make sure everything goes off smoothly.

We can't link to AP reports on FR I understand so with that in mind the Associated Press is reporting through its story posted on Yahoo, MSN and other websites that the leftist Lenin Moreno has won the runoff election for President of Ecuador. The reported margin is 51-49 percent Lenin Moreno over Guillermo Lasso. Lasso is claiming vote fraud as three exit polls showed him winning. Lenin Moreno was in support of keeping Julian Assange of WikiLeaks at Ecuador's embassy in London while Guillermo Lasso wanted to kick him out and let the globalist authorities arrest him.

In the week Britain began the formal process of leaving the European Union with the triggering of Article 50, the Home Office put a contract out to tender for the “design, production and personalisation of the UK passport” post-2019. High-level discussions have already taken place with potential bidders to reintroduce the traditional navy design, below, as a backdrop to the iconic gold lion and unicorn royal coat of arms.

Police officers carried out arrests on Thursday in connection with alleged sex offences against females which occurred between 2008 and 2015. Six men were charged with the rape of a girl under 16 as well as other sexual offences, while a seventh man was charged with conspiracy to rape. Six men - all from Oxford - will appear before Oxford magistrates. They are: Shabir Dogar, 22; Shabaz Khan, 23; Shohab Dogar, 23; Yasin Hamid, 20; Usman Iddris, 22; and Joseph Suraina, 22.