Free Republic

A Jewish man in Missoula, Montana, was assaulted on Oct. 7 by a self-proclaimed “Nazi,” according to the Missoula Police Department. On Tuesday, the suspect, Michael Cain, 29, got into an argument with the victim who had a visible tattoo of the Star of David on his forearm. Cain asked the victim about his tattoo and allegedly identified himself as a believer in the teachings of the Nazi party. When the victim, who told Cain he was Jewish, then asked Cain to show him any Nazi-related tattoos on his body, Cain allegedly kicked and punched the victim, who was seated...

International politics can be boring at times, but the one constant in an ever-changing universe is the hubris of the European Union.With President Trump outlining the breakthrough negotiations for a peace agreement in Gaza, Emmanuel Macron (France), Keir Starmer (U.K) and Friedrich Merz (Germany) call an urgent meeting of EU Foreign Ministers to organize their strategy to take over the Gaza “Board of Peace.”EUROPE – Now that Donald Trump’s peace deal has the green light, European powers want a seat at the table.As the news broke that Israel and Hamas had agreed the first phase of a ceasefire plan, French...

BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary's Viktor Orban said on Monday that Ukraine was not a sovereign country, as he hit back at accusations that Hungarian reconnaissance drones violated its airspace - the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter row between Kyiv and Budapest."Ukraine is not at war with Hungary; it is at war with Russia. It should be concerned with the drones on its eastern border," the Hungarian prime minister said during an interview on a right-wing podcast popular with his supporters."I believe my ministers, but let's say it would have actually flown a few metres there, so what? Ukraine is not...

Swiss voters have narrowly approved a plan to introduce voluntary electronic identity cards. With all votes counted, 50.4% of those who voted said yes to the proposal, while 49.6% rejected it. The closeness of the ballot is a surprise. Opinion polls had suggested up to 60% backed digital IDs, which also had the approval of the Swiss government, and both houses of parliament. It was Switzerland's second vote on digital IDs. An earlier proposal was rejected in 2021, amid concerns the data would be held centrally, and controlled largely by private providers. Sunday's revised proposal keeps the system in government...

European soccer body UEFA is moving toward a vote to suspend its member federation Israel over the war in Gaza, people familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press on Thursday. A majority of the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) 20-member executive committee is expected to support any vote in favor of suspending Israeli teams from international play, two sources told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Such a step would prevent Israeli national and clubs teams from playing in international competitions including next year's World Cup. Israel's men's team is...

Moldova's electoral commission barred a pro-Russian party from participating in this weekend's parliamentary elections on Friday, a vote beleaguered by widespread claims of Russian interference. The outcome of Sunday's high-stakes vote could determine whether Moldova, a former Soviet republic and a candidate for EU membership, will continue on a path towards the West or be brought back into Moscow's orbit. The Heart of Moldova party is one of four parties in the Russia-friendly Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP), which is viewed as one of the main opponents of the ruling pro-Western Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS). The Central Electoral Commission's...

Germany is war-gaming a mass-casualty scenario—up to 1,000 wounded soldiers per day—amid Russian airspace violations and warnings of possible conflict by 2029. Surgeon General Ralf Hoffmann says Ukraine’s drone-saturated battlefield is reshaping injuries toward blasts and burns, complicating evacuation and forcing longer stabilization times.

According to the statement, the goal of the European liberal mainstream is to bring a compliant and loyal to Brussels leadership to power in one of the largest countries in the BalkansMOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. The European Union is plotting a "maidan" in Serbia with current disturbances in the country with the youth's active participation being a product of Brussels' "subversive activity," the press service of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said in a statement made available to TASS. "The press bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) of the Russian Federation informs that, according to the information coming to...

Nato fighter jets have shot down Russian drones over Polish airspace for the first time, after what Warsaw described as an “unprecedented violation” of its territory that led it to trigger emergency consultations in the alliance. The operation in the early hours of Wednesday, during a massive Russian attack on Ukraine, involved Dutch and Polish fighter jets, while German Patriot missiles were put on alert and an Italian early warning aircraft provided support. The alliance said it was “committed to defending every kilometre of Nato territory, including our airspace”. It marks the most serious clash between Russia and the US-led...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that his country has never objected to Ukraine's membership in the European Union. "As for Ukraine's membership in the EU, we have never objected to it. As for NATO, that is a different matter. Here we are talking about ensuring the security of the Russian Federation, and not just today," Putin said during a meeting with Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, and added that Ukraine's membership in NATO is "unacceptable." The Russian president told Fico that he does not want to put him in a "difficult dual position" by criticizing the EU and...

A key leader in the world economy is warning that undue interference in the Federal Reserve’s operations by President Donald Trump could pose a serious economic risk to the U.S. and the rest of the world. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said in an interview with Radio Classique on Monday that efforts to remove Fed Chair Jerome Powell or Fed Governor Lisa Cook would “represent a very serious danger for the U.S. economy and the world economy.” “If U.S. monetary policy were no longer independent and instead dependent on the dictates of this or that person, then I believe...

Norway’s $2 trillion wealth fund, the world’s largest, said it has divested from US construction equipment group Caterpillar as well as five Israeli banking groups on ethics grounds. The five banks are Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, First International Bank of Israel and FIBI Holdings, the fund said in a statement. The six groups were excluded “due to an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict”, said the fund, which is operated by Norway’s central bank. […] The fund’s ethics watchdog, called the Council on Ethics,...

Donald Trump has staked much of his political brand on being the consummate dealmaker. He is not a theorist, nor a philosopher-king, nor a bureaucrat buried in details. His appeal rests in his posture as the man who cuts through nonsense, breaks impasses, and brings adversaries to the table. In the past, Trump’s instincts on foreign affairs have proven unconventional but effective: cooling tensions with North Korea, brokering normalization between Israel and Arab states, restraining NATO adventurism, and articulating—against Washington orthodoxy—that endless wars in the Middle East were bleeding America dry. He relishes the image of the peacemaker, a strongman...

In February 2016, Donald Trump scandalized Republican Party elites at a CNN town hall event in Columbus, Ohio, when he dared to call George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq “a big fat mistake” and “the worst decision any one has made, any president has made, in the history of this country.” Trump’s assertion infuriated GOP insiders not because it was clearly mistaken or even easily disputable, but because it was all too true. A glance at the titles of major books on America in the Middle East written by authors across the political spectrum—Fiasco, Grand Delusion, Losing the Long Game,...

Not for the first time, European capitals are gripped with apprehension that Russian President Vladimir Putin will surgically divide the transatlantic alliance as well as get everything he wants in Ukraine.Ahead of the suddenly announced summit in Alaska on Friday between Putin and US President Donald Trump, one European diplomat, who declined to be named as they were not authorized to speak on the record, told CNN: “We are at risk of being a footnote in history.”In part, European fears are down to just how little is known about what the Kremlin has proposed in order to halt the fighting...

A host of European leaders welcomed the news that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a law restoring independence to his country’s main anti-corruption agencies. A total of 331 out of 340 lawmakers present voted in favor of the bill on Thursday, forming an overwhelming constitutional majority.

The orders include the purchase of 20 Eurofighter jets from Airbus, up to 5,000 Boxer armored vehicles from Rheinmetall (ETR:RHMG), and at least 3,500 Patria Oyj armored vehicles, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the discussions. The German cabinet is scheduled to approve its medium-term financial planning on Wednesday. The plan will more than double the country’s annual defense budget to as much as €162 billion ($189 billion) within four years.

Okay, this is a very big win. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlines some more details of the U.S-EU trade agreement. The parameters fall similar to the Japanese deal, without the banking aspect. The EU will face (and accept) a 15% tariff rate for most exports to the USA including autos, that’s huge, even with some zero-for-zero tariff sectors outlined. The primary motivating factor was to avoid the 35% tariff rate scheduled for August 1st and provide the EU corporations with certainty in their tariff rate as applied by the USA (15%). WATCH:This is almost full acquiescence to...

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is now Germany’s largest opposition group and even topped several opinion polls – briefly putting it ahead of now-Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right party – in the weeks after February’s federal election. At the same time, the AfD is facing growing calls for an outright ban, most recently from another major political party. In May, the country’s domestic intelligence agency formally classified the AfD as an extremist entity that threatens democracy. In a 1,100-page report, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, also laid out its findings that the party was...

Ukrainian officials say that despite media reports that the Trump administration is halting the delivery of critical air defense interceptors and other munitions, at least some U.S. arms continue to be provided and they have not been informed that these transfers will no longer be made. The news comes at a particularly critical time, as Russia has stepped up its aerial attacks. Earlier this week, Moscow launched its largest air barrage of the war, firing 477 drones and 60 missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Overall, major and relatively sudden shortfalls in planned weapons deliveries could have wide-ranging impacts...