Free Republic

The US has added two countries to its “do not travel” list. Last month, government officials added North Korea and Burkina Faso to the list of countries Americans are advised against visiting. The State Department has four travel advisory levels: exercise normal precautions, exercise normal precautions, reconsider travel, and do not travel. The threat level in North Korea and Burkina Faso has been upgraded to Level 4. It’s the highest of the US State Department’s safety ranking system. Travel to North Korea has been discouraged due to “the continuing serious risk of arrest, long-term detention, and the threat of wrongful...

Rep. Jamie Raskin threatened foreign leaders who “facilitated authoritarianism in our country” by currying favor with President Trump on issues like deportation — saying that Democrats will not “look kindly” on his supporters when they “come back to power.” Referencing El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele specifically, Raskin (D-Md.), 62, suggested that Dems should keep score of foreign leaders who brownnose Trump, 78, during his second term. “Implicit in it should be the idea that if and when we come back to power — and we will — we are not going to look kindly upon people who … facilitated authoritarianism...

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the Trump administration was negotiating trade policy with 130 countries. Host Jake Tapper said, “What do you say to small business owners or even big business owners who say they’re having difficulty making long-term business decisions because the country seems right now to be run by capricious whim?” Hassett said, “Oh, I don’t think at all that it’s run by a capricious whim. The way that I would think about it is that in the previous administration, you could sort of say, if you’re thinking...

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said during Thursday’s Cabinet meeting that countries are approaching the United States with offers they never previously would have because of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. Lutnick was the second cabinet member to speak after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just a day after Trump put a pause on his reciprocal tariffs on countries that did not retaliate against them. According to the White House, some 75 countries are looking to negotiate, while escalations with Beijing have led to the administration ramping up reciprocal tariffs to 125 percent on China. “They have come with offers that...

President Trump bragged that countries have been “calling us up, kissing my ass” ever since he announced he’d be slapping roughly 90 nations with sweeping tariffs — including a staggering 104% levy on China. “I’m telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass,” Trump told the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner late Tuesday — just hours before the tariffs went into effect. “They are. They are dying to make a deal. ‘Please, please, Sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything, sir!’” he said mockingly.

The Trump administration is drafting a new travel ban, this time with an even stronger stance on national security and immigration. This proposal could impact citizens from 43 countries, categorizing them into three groups with varying levels of restriction based on the risk they pose to the United States. The plan is a bold move, aimed at keeping America safe and ensuring that only those who respect our values and abide by our laws are allowed to enter. Red category: This includes 11 countries where citizens would face a complete ban on entering the U.S. These nations are considered the...

The Trump administration is considering issuing sweeping travel restrictions for the citizens of dozens of countries as part of a new ban, according to sources familiar with the matter and an internal memo seen by Reuters. The memo lists a total of 41 countries divided into three separate groups. The first group of 10 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Cuba and North Korea among others, would be set for a full visa suspension. In the second group, five countries — Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar and South Sudan — would face partial suspensions that would impact tourist and student visas as...

Most of the world found itself confined to their homes in March 2020 as Covid-19 spread at a blistering pace. Some countries didn't impose any lockdown restrictions – so was their decision the right one? In March 2020, billions of people stared out through their windows at a world they no longer recognised. Suddenly confined to their homes, their lives had shrunk abruptly to four walls and computer screens. Around the world, national leaders appeared on television, telling them to stay put – only leave the house to buy essential supplies or for once-daily exercise, maybe. It was a last-ditch...

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum appears to have changed her mind and warmed to the concept of receiving migrants from other countries who are expected to be deported by the Trump administration later this month. During her daily news conference on Friday, Sheinbaum claimed that Mexico and the U.S. could collaborate on cases where migrants are deported to Mexico instead of being returned to their countries of origin. The Mexican politician said that Mexico could receive migrants from certain countries or ask the U.S. for compensation to return them to their home countries.

Over the last year, the future strength of the global economy has been a mixed picture amid rising protectionism and geopolitical conflict.In the U.S., growth was resilient - but higher prices, despite cooling inflation, continued to squeeze consumer wallets. European economies faced slower growth, with Germany facing a two-year downturn. In China, property market troubles weighed on consumer confidence and economic growth.Given this backdrop, how confident are people around the world in the global economy looking ahead to 2025?This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows global economic sentiment by country, based on survey data from Ipsos that asked respondents...

Many people dream of moving abroad, whether it's to experience a different culture, a desire for a slower life, or as am escape from the ever changing political climate. But one road block you'll consistently hit, no matter your nationality, revolves around your visa status. Even if you have a work visa, being able to put down permanent roots in a country where you don't have citizenship is not at all stress-free. There are some loopholes, however, specifically around international real estate that make the moving (and remaining) process so much easier.

Transcript Search in video 0:00 as history continues evolving with Time 0:01 new and old countries come in and out of 0:03 existence pretty much all the time 0:05 dozens of new UN recognized countries 0:07 have come into existence in only the 0:08 past 30 plus years since the Cold War 0:10 Began coming to a close back in 1990 and 0:12 as a result the world map has officially 0:14 changed dozens of times in many of our 0:16 lifetimes East Germany faded out of 0:18 existence in 1990 when it was legally 0:20 absorbed by West Germany...

“…[F]or I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it." - Psalm 55:9,10 There is a Mexican NGO called the Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y la Justicia Penal, A.C. which releases an annual list of the world’s 50 most violent cities. The country with the most violent cities on the list was Mexico, with 16. In second place was Brazil, with 10 cities, followed by Colombia with eight. The United States of America was #4 on the...

The cost of racial and ethnic diversity is incredible. In just 6 years the United Kingdom has seen a 5 billion pound increase in spending on police services (www.gov.uk/government/statistics/police-funding-for-england-and-wales-2015-to-2023/police-funding-for-england-and-wales-2015-to-2023) in England and Wales, a 41% policing budget increase. In just the first 9 months of 2023 Ireland’s Garda overtime budget has surged by 54%, and a further 25% increase is planned for 2024. (www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money-and-tax/budgets/budget-2024/)

Amazon workers in multiple countries went on strike for Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, to protest the e-commerce giant’s labor practices. The strike is organized by the UNI Global Union, which represents workers around the world and said it has mobilized workers from more than 30 countries, including Italy, Germany and the U.S., to speak out against Amazon’s treatment of employees.

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight,” Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry told countries that say they need fossil fuels for development that “they have to buy into this transformation” to green energy that he acknowledged “the private sector’s restrained against investing” in, “partly just out of concern, not confident.” Guest host Ayman Mohyeldin asked, “I was interviewing the Iraqi prime minister today, who’s desperate to get his country’s economy back on track after 20 years of war, but at the same time, a lot of it goes through fossil fuel. How do you convince a leader...

A Queens lawmaker has introduced legislation to spread the burden of dealing with the migrant crisis across New York State, as the Big Apple continues to struggle to handle the influx of asylum seekers. In one of the bills put forward by Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar in Albany Thursday, local governments would be barred from blocking asylum seekers from being housed in their counties through emergency orders.

It's been 75 years since the start of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service, the first universal health system available to all, free at the point of delivery.In light of this, Statista's Anna Fleck looks at how different health systems compare around the world, using data from Legatum Prosperity Index, created by The Legatum Institute Foundation, a London think tank.As the following chart shows, the UK ranks in 34th place out of the 167 indexed countries and territories, based on not only its healthcare system (such as access to health services) but also its population’s state of health (including mortality...

Americans are pretty happy compared with the rest of the world. That’s according to the latest World Happiness Report, published Monday, which ranked the United States 15th on the list of the world’s happiest countries in 2023, up from 16th place in 2022. The report compiled data from more than 150 countries on average life satisfaction, and findings offer some good news for a world struggling with a years-long pandemic. “Average happiness and our country rankings, for emotions as well as life evaluations, have been remarkably stable during the three COVID-19 years,” said John Helliwell, an editor of the report,...

Investors are bracing for longer inflation.The Federal Reserve indicated that more restrictive monetary policy is in the cards amid strong employment gains. In Europe, while inflation has fallen, it is still far above the 2% target. Across the Euro area inflation is estimated to have reached 8.5% in January.At the same time, as Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld and Sam Parker detail below, some countries have managed to tamp down inflation. Slower growth, cheaper import costs, and foreign exchange policy are some of the factors keeping inflation subdued.As price pressures rattle global markets, the infographic below maps inflation rates globally using...