Free Republic

The rise of the Five Star Movement in Italy is the number one happening in Europe right now and mainstream media has not even begun to cover it in any depth. The movement is led by an Italian comedian, Beppe Grillo. Main Rules for the Five Star Movement Not be an elected politician prior to 5 Stelle Commit to stay in charge for no longer than 2 termsCommit to take a minimum salary and give the rest back to the communityPost a public platform on the internet Be willing to hold a public debate on the platform Beppe Grillo's personal...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has stored up imports and hard currency for a "battle" against "dastardly" EU sanctions, officials said Sunday, the day that the measures aimed at pressuring the Islamic Republic over its controversial nuclear program take effect. Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said the country has stockpiled the population's daily needs to reduce the impact of the embargo hitting the oil and banking sectors. "Today, we are facing the heaviest of sanctions and we ask people to help officials in this battle," Rahimi was quoted by state television's website as saying at a religious conference. He said...

Just days after the breakdown of talks with the West over Iran’s nuclear program, the deputy chief commander of the Revolutionary Guards announced that there soon will be war - and that Allah will ensure his forces are victorious.

(Reuters) - International powers agreed on Saturday that a national unity government should be set up in Syria to resolve the conflict between President Bashar al-Assad and opposition forces trying to oust him. Peace envoy Kofi Annan said after the talks in Geneva that the government should include members of Assad's administration and the opposition. But it was not immediately clear what role, if any, was envisaged for Assad.

Calls for the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre to be remembered with a minute's silence at the opening of the London 2012 Games have been rebuffed by the organisers. Ankie Spitzer has campaigned unsuccessfully for the act of remembrance since the atrocity. Her husband - fencing coach Andre Spitzer - was one of 11 Israeli athletes and trainers killed when the Palestinian "Black September" organisation attacked apartments in the Olympic village and took them hostage in what was the darkest chapter in Olympic history. The world looked on in horror as friendly competition was replaced by killing and...

By commenting that Germany should perhaps leave the euro and exerting significant pressure on Prime Minister Mario Monti, former Italian premier Berlusconi is back in the headlines. Are his political escapades those of a senile billionaire or is he seriously thinking of returning to power? On Tuesday afternoon in Rome, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and his predecessor Silvio Berlusconi were sitting at a table with a few close associates. Monti, alarmed by Berlusconi's recent statements, which were sometimes threatening and sometimes confused, was seeking clarity. Monti said that in such a sensitive and decisive moment, Italy's parliament must stand...

An exciting find of an intact Bronze Age burial urn has been made by a team of archaeological experts working on the site of a new link road under construction at Lynn. The team had already unearthed Iron Age timber posts beside the route of the road which will take traffic from the A149 Queen Elizabeth Way to Scania Way on the Hardwick Industrial Estate, where the new Sainsbury's superstore is being built. Ken Hamilton, Norfolk County Council's senior historic environment officer, said now a collared urn, believed to contain cremated human remains from about 2,500 years ago, had been...

To go by the pronouncements coming out of Germany over the last couple of weeks, you might naturally conclude that the euro is toast. Speaking before Parliament, Chancellor Angela Merkel broadly rejected “counterproductive” proposals to pool Europe’s resources to help floundering Mediterranean nations. Germany’s “strength is not infinite,” she stressed.

Despite the euro crisis becoming increasingly dire as European governments scramble to patch up the broken banking system in Spain and shore up sovereign debt and budget deficits, French citizens still overwhelmingly want to go on vacation this summer. According to an l’Institut Français d’Opinion Publique (IFOP) poll, 73 percent of French citizens — a sizeable increase from last year — are still considering going on vacation this summer, with nearly a quarter saying that vacations of “three weeks” are ideal. If you thought the French weren’t belt-tightening, however, you’d be wrong. More French citizens seem to prefer shorter vacations...

Jihad in France Just Beginning by Guy Millière April 2, 2012 at 4:30 am The Obin Report showed a deep infiltration by radical Islam into the vast majority of French schools and a vitriolic hatred for Jews. What the Report showed was so alarming that the text was not initially disclosed. Nobody dares to say that more than thirty mosques all over the country broadcast incendiary remarks that have « nothing to do with the teachings of Islam, » and that the same remarks are received daily on television by tens of thousands of Muslims in France through the...

Germany has told Greece to stop asking for more help and get on with implementing the reforms it has already promised as tensions mount before this week’s crucial summit of European Union leaders. German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble In unusually blunt remarks, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said: “The most important task facing new prime minister [Antonis] Samaras is to enact the programme agreed upon quickly and without further delay instead of asking how much more others can do for Greece.” His comments highlight Germany’s growing impatience with the eurozone’s problem nations in what is shaping up to be another...

Turkey says future visa-free travel will work out well because Turks no longer want to live in the EU. (Turkey's) European affairs minister Egemen Bağış told EUobserver on Friday (22 June) that Turks these days travel to EU capitals "to spend [money]" in shops and hotels. "In the past, when Turks were asked do you want to live in Europe, 80 percent would say Yes. Now, 85 percent say No. Turkish citizens feel there is more hope in Turkey; better job opportunities," he said. He noted that in 2010, 27,000 Turks went to live in Germany, but 35,000 German citizens...

Nobody ever got rich shorting Japanese government bonds, it is often said. Are those now aggressively shorting German bunds about to fall into the same trap? The bund short is therefore effectively a bet on the euro crisis To investors who think the ever more mountainous size of Japan's national debt is eventually bound to end in fiscal disaster, shorting Japanese bonds has long seemed the closest thing to a certain bet the international capital markets are capable of. Yet J-bonds continue to defy the bears; just when you think yields can go no lower, they fall even more. However...

A German-led report shows lackluster support for the creation of a powerful new EU leader. The eight-page paper—circulated to press on Wednesday (20 June)—is a snapshot of current thinking in German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle's reflection group on the future of the Union. It says that: "Some foreign ministers suggested to examine the creation of a double-hatted post of President of the [European] Commission and President of the European Council." … It adds that "in the long term" there "could" be "a directly elected commission President who chooses the members of his "European Government." The hodge-podge of remarks pointing toward...

The demand for cheap cigarettes in Europe is fueling the manufacture and consumption of illicit tobacco at unprecedented levels. A report, released on Wednesday (20 June) by Philip Morris International (PMI), says Europeans smoked more than 65 billion illicit cigarettes in 2011. Of those, more than 12 billion were consumed in Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus and Malta. Western and central EU countries consumed a combined total of 36.5 billion. But in Spain alone, cigarette contraband jumped by 300 percent in 2011 compared to 2010. In Greece, illicit consumption increased five-fold compared to 2008. “Despite efforts by law enforcement authorities...

Struggling banks in the EU and beyond are becoming more willing to launder dirty cash for organized crime. Italy's anti-mafia prosecutor Pietro Grasso drew attention to one of the lesser known aspects of the crisis at a hearing in the European Parliament's new anti-mafia committee on Tuesday (19 June). He told press: "The current economic crisis is making criminal groups even more powerful because they've got liquid cash, they've got ready money ... and not just in Europe, but in other countries where there are fragile economies and they can influence politicians." His line was echoed by Jean-François Gayraud, the...

The recent indecisive Greek elections could be summed up by two general themes: Greeks want to stay in, and expect help from, the eurozone. But they still do not want to take the necessary medicine to stop borrowing billions of euros from northern Europeans, who want a radical Greek reform of the tax code, deregulation of labor laws, fiscal discipline, massive cuts in bureaucracy, and greater transparency -- all unlikely given Greek history and contemporary culture. So what lies in the future for Greece as it is slowly eased out of the euro zone and its civilization goes into reverse?...

Professor Peter Donnelly, of Oxford University, said the Welsh carry DNA which could be traced back to the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago. The project surveyed 2,000 people in rural areas across Britain. Participants, as well as their parents and grandparents, had to be born in those areas to be included in the study. Prof Donnelly, a professor of statistical science at Oxford University and director of the Wellcome Trust centre for human genetics, said DNA samples were analysed at about 500,000 different points. After comparing statistics, a map was compiled which showed Wales and Cornwall stood out. Prof...

France's Socialists vowed on Monday to use a resounding victory in weekend parliamentary elections to pursue President Francois Hollande's drive for growth in Europe while sticking to promises to cut the budget deficit, mostly through taxation increases. Hollande will use a special session of parliament next month to whittle down France's numerous tax exemptions and pass tax rises for large corporations, especially banks and energy firms, in a bid to cut the deficit to within the European Union's 3 percent limit by next year despite a stagnant economy. Economists expect the Socialist leader - who has also pledged a 75...

The Greek boss learns a few lessons about economics as he makes his rounds, on the very eve of the election… As a minor mob boss in the south, Greco had had some serious setbacks. His operation was crumbling around him, and he didn’t know what to do. Deep in hock to the big Mob Bosses in Brussels, Greco had gone back to the well for renegotiations again and again, and neither his bosses nor his grubber list seemed to understand his situation at all. No compassion, no understanding. What was the world coming to? But it was Saturday, and...

snip.... Old News and Current Events: I have written before that the fundamentals of the Euro and European Union didn’t bode well. They still don’t. Each step of these “rescues”, Iceland in 2008, Ireland in 2009, Portugal in 2011, Italy and Greece in 2011 and 2012….and now Spain ….are all just shocking the dying patient back to life for a few more moments of pain and chaos. The inevitable and permanent straight-line on the EKG is coming. It will be a collapse of the Euro and a financial crisis of a size not seen since WWII or the Great Depression....

EU: Staring down the abyss of isolation offered by the far left, Greece's voters had the sense to pull back, electing a pro-bailout center-right party in Sunday's vote and staying in the euro. But are they ready for real austerity? As surprising and relieving as it was to see Greeks vote for the New Democracy party which took 29.4% of the votes in Sunday's multiparty election, the result is the best of bad alternatives. Voting in New Democracy for a second time since the government failed in May bought time, but the real issue is whether Greece has the will...

MOSCOW, June 15 (Itar-Tass) —— A number of warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet are prepared to go to Syria, the Russian General Staff told Itar-Tass on Friday. “The Mediterranean Sea is a zone of the Black Sea Fleet responsibility. Hence, warships may go there in the case it is necessary to protect the Russian logistics base in Tartous, Syria,” it said. “Several warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, including large landing ships with marines aboard, are fully prepared to go on the voyage,” he said. The Cesar Kunikov large landing ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet,...

In an interview on CNN in advance talks between Iran and Western countries on Tehran's nuclear program, President Shimon Peres said that “time is running out” for Iran. You cannot provoke the world, assuming the world is made of fools only," Peres told the network. The talks got underway in Moscow Monday, after several inconclusive sessions over the past several months in Baghdad and Istanbul. The talks, with the U.S., Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany on one side of the table and Iran on the other, were “not going well,” an Iranian source quoted by European news agencies said...

This Is What The Greek Election Results Mean Simone Foxman June 17, 2012 The first exit polls are out in Greece, and it looks like New Democracy is in the lead, albeit by a tiny margin. While these are just early results, this could bring either a huge sigh of relief to Europe--or another disastrous deadlock. If New Democracy is able to hold out in front as more results roll in, it will get a 50 seat bonus. Then it's all up to PASOK to win enough support to allow the two pro-bailout parties to form a coalition. Good news...

Here we go again, Groundhog Day. And likely with almost the same result as last time likely. Interesting quote: Condemning the outside interference in the election, Greek blogger Nick Malkoutzis, who is also deputy editor of deputy editor of Kathimerini English Edition, writes that "Europe that has become scared of democracy". UK Guardian is Live-Bogging, with updates every minute: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/greek-election-blog-2012/2012/jun/17/greek-elections-greece-polls-live?newsfeed=true

... back 1891, one gun-manufacturer came up trumps - developing the world's only triple-barrelled shotgun, subsequently dubbed the 'Holy Grail' of the gun world. Now the gun - built by Edinburgh gun makers John Dickson & Son - has a new owner, having just been sold in London for £43,000.

The MV Alaed, a Russian-operated cargo vessel, is currently thought to be sailing through the North Sea after allegedly picking up a consignment of munitions and MI25 helicopters - known as "flying tanks" - from the Russian Baltic port of Kaliningrad. Washington, which last week condemned Moscow for continuing to arm the Syrian regime, has asked British officials to help stop the Alaed delivering its alleged cargo by using sanctions legislation to force its London-based insurer to withdraw its cover. Under the terms of the current European Union arms embargo against Syria, imposed in May last year, there is a...

No debt repayments, higher salaries and freedom from EU-IMF tutelage: Greece under the radical leftists, who are poised to win a June 17 election, seems a world removed from its current recession nightmare. The Syriza party has pledged to tear up Greece’s loan agreement with the EU and the IMF, which is currently keeping the country on its feet but at the cost of an unprecedented wave of austerity cuts and structural reforms. If implemented, such a programme, which would also mean the nationalisation of banks and a halt to privatisation, could well mean Greece’s ejection from the eurozone, potentially...

Graves of British soldiers of the Royal Horse Artillery at the Commonwealth Benghazi War Cemetery Commonwealth War Cemetery in Benghazi targeted again Headstone damaged, markers removed Digger graves among 198 damaged in February THERE has been another war graves attack at a cemetery in Libya which contains the remains of Australian soldiers. Authorities say a headstone has been damaged and temporary markers removed from some graves at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Benghazi. "The nationality of the individual buried beneath the headstone that was damaged is not yet known,'' the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) said today. The Commonwealth War...

Spain and Italy, under increasing fire in Europe's debt crisis, promised new measures to repair their public finances as their soaring borrowing costs raised new alarm ahead of a cliffhanger Greek election. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel rebuffed pressure from EU partners and the United States for Europe's most powerful economy to underwrite debt or guarantee bank deposits in the single currency area. Spain's 10-year bond yield hit a euro lifetime high above seven per cent on Thursday - a danger level above which Greece, Ireland and Portugal were driven to seek international rescues - despite last weekend's euro zone...

How do you say Schadenfreude in French? Or Spanish? Or Greek? Because, three years into the failed economic policies of a failed president, Schadenfreude -- knowing that, however bad our situation may be, the state of affairs in the Eurozone is much worse -- is all that is left to us. And it is worse, make no mistake about that. And, it increasingly appears, irreversible. Which is why those of us who saw this day coming must resist the urge to gloat now that the poulets européens have come home to roost. Let us instead, let out a sigh of...

"Italian auctions are now as nerve-wracking as Spanish ones," said sovereign debt expert Nicholas Spiro of Spiro Strategy, warning that both Spain and Italy could soon find it too expensive to raise money on financial markets if the European Central Bank does not take action to restore confidence. Italy's overall debt is an enormous ¬1.9 trillion ($2.4 trillion), requiring frequent market access to repay investors whose bonds are expiring. To lower that debt, the economy needs to become more competitive. Spain's decision over the weekend to seek a bailout for its banks has fundamentally changed the market perception of Italy...

Mideast: As Moscow tests a new ballistic missile, our secretary of state expresses concern that Moscow is sending attack helicopters to the murderous regime in Syria. The only thing changed is the degree of our naivete. On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan spoke to the people of West Berlin at the base of the Brandenburg Gate, near the Berlin Wall, and uttered this famous demand: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" A quarter-century later to the day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. was "concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on...

I see that Big Guy was busy giving autographs to his adoring fans yesterday while Lady M was busy raising money for the campaign… No wait! I’ve got that backwards. It was the other way around. It’s really getting hard to keep their schedules straight, since they’re nearly identical these days. So, while Big Guy was out drumming up support for WINNING and moving the hope ’n change FORWARD, Romney’s a vampire capitalist. Now repeat after me: ‘I hope he fails’by blaming the stinkin’ economy on Bush for stickin’ him with the bill for that big old steak and martini...

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Sunday he would travel to watch the country's Euro 2012 soccer opener in Poland, just one day after Spain announced it would seek international help to rescue its stricken banks. "I am going because the Spanish team are world champions and I think it is good that the head of government be at this inaugural game," Rajoy told a news conference.

Ireland wants to renegotiate its rescue plan to benefit from the same treatment as Spain, which looks set to win a bailout for its banks without any broader economic reforms in return, European sources said on Saturday. "Ireland raised two issues: one is the need to ensure parity of the deal with Spain retroactively on its bailout from EFSF," one European government source told AFP, referring to the temporary rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility. Another European government source confirmed the information. Ireland secured an 85-billion-euro ($112 billion) rescue deal from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund...

After months of denials, a short Eurogroup Statement shows Spain will submit a formal request to Brussels for a bailout.  Here is the statement in full. The Eurogroup supports the efforts of the Spanish authorities to resolutely address the restructuring of its financial sector and it welcomes their intention to seek financial assistance from euro area Member States to this effect. The Eurogroup has been informed that the Spanish authorities will present a formal request shortly and is willing to respond favourably to such a request. The financial assistance would be provided by the EFSF/ESM for recapitalisation of financial institutions....

The EU Is Considering Limiting ATM Withdrawals And Imposing Border Checks If Greece Leaves The Euro Luke Baker, ReutersJune 11, 2012 European finance officials have discussed as a worst-case scenario limiting the size of withdrawals from ATM machines, imposing border checks and introducing capital controls in at least Greece should Athens decide to leave the euro. EU officials have told Reuters the ideas are part of a range of contingency plans. They emphasized that the discussions were merely about being prepared for any eventuality rather than planning for something they expect to happen - no one Reuters has spoken to...

Here we go: •EU SOURCES HAVE DISCUSSED IMPOSING CAPITAL CONTROLS AS WORST CASE SCENARIO IF GREECE LEAVES EUROZONE - RTRS •IMPOSING BORDER CHECKS, LIMITING ATM WITHDRAWALS ALSO PART OF WORST-CASE SCENARIO PLANNING - EU SOURCES - RTRS [....] In other words, that money you thought you had... You don't really have it. We can only hope this message was not meant to restore confidence and prevent future bank runs. Because if Europe wanted a continental bank run, it may have just gotten one. This is getting scary very fast. Full piece from Reuters: European finance officials have discussed as a...

The Danish presidency has abandoned attempts to agree to new rules on access to EU documents. It took the decision on Tuesday (12 June) after EU countries and the European Commission last week rejected its latest draft of the law. It still wants MEPs to back a commission proposal to extend existing rules on freedom of information to all EU institutions—including its 31 agencies—however. The existing rules go back to 2001. Pro-transparency advocates say they allow too much secrecy. EU officials say they waste time by ambiguity on what is open or not. A big sticking point in the draft...

The European Parliament on Wednesday (13 June) approved draft laws that would strongly increase Brussels' power over eurozone countries' budgets. But they tempered the previously austere proposals with measures for growth, debt redemption and democratic scrutiny. "This is the core of a fiscal union," said Austrian MEP and socialist leader Hannes Swoboda. "This is the first time that there is a structural solution [to the eurozone crisis] on the table," said Liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt. His Green counterpart Daniel Cohn-Bendit called it a "milestone" for the strength of agreement among MEPs. The pair of laws—also known as the two-pack—is among...

France has called on the United Nations to authorize using "all means" necessary to end the carnage in Syria, bringing the civil war closer to the edge of a proxy war between Russia and the Western alliance. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday accused the United States of supplying weapons to Syria's opposition, hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton charged that Moscow is sending a new shipment of attack helicopters to Damascus. Lavrov spoke during a brief visit to Iran, which along with Syria are two of Russia’s favorite nations for investment of nuclear development and arms...

Police in the Polish capital Warsaw are on full alert as Russia fans marched through the city centre in a celebration of Russian independence day. Poland and Russia were drawn together in the European Championships group stage.

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration says Russia is sending attack helicopters to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and is warning about a dramatic escalation in the Arab country's 15-month conflict. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. was "concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria." She said the shipment "will escalate the conflict quite dramatically."

A law to allow same-sex weddings will destroy the institution of marriage for future generations, leaders of the Church of England warned yesterday. They claim it will lead to a constitutional crisis, arguing that human rights legislation will force churches to treat gay couples asking for a wedding in the same way they treat heterosexual couples. The Church of England’s warning comes in response to the Government’s consultation on legalising same-sex marriage, which will close this week. The proposed reforms, formally launched in March, have been described by Church officials as ‘half-baked’, ‘very shallow’, ‘superficial’ and ‘completely irrational’. They claim...

US President Barack Obama has demanded that European leaders act “right now” as ministers in Brussels deliberate over whether to impose a bail-out on Spanish banks. In Madrid, Berlin and Brussels officials denied that a rescue plan for Spanish banks was ready to launch this weekend, but Mr Obama blew their cover. “The focus must be on strengthening the banks, like we did in 2008,” he said. “EU leaders are in discussions about that and they are going in the right direction.” At the White House Mr Obama said: “The sooner [leaders] act, the more decisive and concrete their action,...

In what has been called “a definite turning point,” China’s direct investment in Europe over the last couple of years has multiplied by a factor 10, according to a new study. EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht welcomed the news, saying that “we need the money.” “Our dataset shows a profound post-2008 surge,” says the new study, presented on Thursday (7 June) in Brussels by consultancy firm Rhodium Group. “From €700 million yearly 2004-2008, to roughly €2.3 billion in 2009 and 2010, to €7.4 billion in 2011.” Most of that money went to France—with more than €4.5 billion in investment...

A serious mishandling of the debt crisis by European leaders led Fitch to axe Spain’s credit rating by three notches and issue a warnings on the stability of country’s banks, debt levels and economy. In a report that will be embarrassing for Berlin and Brussels, the credit rating agency said “policy mis-steps at the European level” and an “absence of a credible vision” for the euro had resulted in a “dramatic erosion of Spain’s sovereign profile.” Spain’s credit rating was cut to BBB from A leaving the eurozone’s fourth biggest economy languishing just above junk status. Fitch said the cost...

The companion of the new French president has finally found a role for herself, but her choice is getting mixed reviews. Valérie Trierweiler, the partner and closest confidante of President François Hollande, said she wanted to continue working as a journalist, prompting some to complain about the potential conflict of interest. Ms. Trierweiler has covered political and cultural issues for Paris Match magazine for more than 20 years. Since Mr. Hollande took office, she negotiated with the magazine to continue to contribute book and art reviews and other cultural coverage a few times a month. “It’s an unprecedented situation,” Olivier...