Free Republic

House raids over speech violations are becoming commonplace across Germany, even as violent crime explodes... On Wednesday morning at 6 a.m., a large-scale police operation was launched across Germany, targeting hundreds of individuals suspected of insulting politicians or spreading “hate and incitement” online. The massive crackdown saw police launch morning raids against 170 individuals, which saw police seize computers, cell phones, and tablets, and conduct searches in multiple locations across the country. The action, which was conducted by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), uses the new Criminal Code Paragraph 188 to target individuals accused of racism and hate speech....

Keir Starmer tonight defended Canada as an "independent, sovereign nation" after Donald Trump's 51st state of America attacks. As he jetted to Ottawa for key meetings with the country's PM Mark Carney ahead of the G7 summit, Mr Starmer said Canada was also "a much-valued member of the Commonwealth". Last year the US President referred to Mr Carney's predecessor - Justin Trudeau - as "governor" and Canada as "the 51st state" of America. Asked whether he called out the threats, “Canada and the US are our allies. Canada is an independent, sovereign nation, and quite right, too. "And that’s the...

When immigration agents pulled up outside a Los Angeles car wash on a quiet Sunday afternoon, it sparked instant chaos. Some customers at the Westchester Hand Wash, which sits in the centre of a busy shopping area just blocks from the city's airport, froze as the officers in olive-green uniforms approached, CCTV footage obtained by the BBC shows. Two employees who spotted them ducked behind a luxury SUV they were wiping down with a rag. Another worker halfway through cleaning the back window of a car looked up. Then all at once they scattered and ran, some jumping over a...

BERLIN (Reuters) -Europe is capable of sustaining Ukraine's resistance against Russia, even if the United States were to decide to completely halt its military support to Kyiv, the senior military official in charge of coordinating Germany's arms supplies told Reuters.Major General Christian Freuding said NATO's European members plus Canada had already exceeded the estimated $20 billion worth of U.S. military aid provided last year to Kyiv.They accounted for around 60% of the total costs borne by the Western allies, he said."The war against Ukraine is raging on our continent, it is also being waged against the European security order. If...

The democratic will of the Hungarian people to clamp down on the proliferation of LGBTQ+ ideology should be punished by the European Commission, a group of 16 EU countries demanded on Wednesday. In response to recent legislation passed by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s conservative government to ban Pride parades in Hungary, over half of fellow European Union member states signed an open letter demanding that Budapest reverse course or face punishment from Brussels. The “declaration” was signed by the countries of Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Sweden. […]...

Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has once again disappointed conservative voters—this time by appointing a radical-left activist from the SPD as the government’s new “Queer Commissioner,” in a move critics are calling a gift to the woke wing of German politics. Sophie Koch, 31, replaces Green politician Sven Lehmann in the post, but instead of downsizing the role or scrapping it altogether, Merz has expanded it—creating a new, additional post within his government. The CDU leader who once vowed to bring order to immigration policy and push back against progressive excess has instead handed more power to someone known for...

The majority of EU countries — including France and Germany — want the European Commission to crack down on Hungary over Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s plan to ban upcoming Pride celebrations in Budapest, according to a joint statement seen by POLITICO. (snip) Another EU official said momentum was building in capitals to use the nuclear option — stripping Hungary of its voting rights in the European Council via so-called Article 7 proceedings. In order to do so, a four-fifths majority of EU countries would first need to vote that Budapest has violated the EU treaty. Then, 26 countries (all EU...

Merz will tell Netanyahu "not to overdo it" in a call this week, though notes Germany will remain more guarded in its criticism than others for 'historical reasons'. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that Israel's recent attacks on Gaza are taking a humanitarian toll on civilians that can no longer be justified as a fight against terrorism. "Harming the civilian population to such an extent, as has incresingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism," he told broadcaster WDR in a televised interview...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not hold back in his criticism of U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Israeli leader’s condemnation comes after the U.K., France and Canada issued a joint statement demanding that Israel end its military campaign in Gaza. In a video statement released on Thursday, Netanyahu said Hamas does not want a Palestinian state; rather, the terror group wants the destruction of the state of Israel. He questioned how this "simple truth evades the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others." Netanyahu went on to accuse...

Summoned Israeli ambassador to Two-tier's Presence, demand that Israel surrender. Lots of sanctimonious platitudes. Halted trade talks. More threats. Israel: GFYS Transcript linked below video.

The U.K. suspended free trade talks with Israel on Tuesday and hit West Bank settlers with sanctions, less than a day after vowing “concrete actions” if Israel didn’t stop its new military offensive in Gaza. Pressure from close allies is mounting on Israel following a nearly three-month blockade of supplies into Gaza that led to famine warnings. Even the United States, a staunch ally, has voiced concerns over the hunger crisis. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the government couldn’t continue talks on upgrading its existing trade agreement with an Israeli government pursuing what he called egregious policies in Gaza...

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The founder of the Telegram messaging app said on Sunday he had refused a request by a Western government, which he did not name but appeared to imply was France, to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of a presidential election run-off there.

Talk about your all-time backfires. Instead of landing a major hit on the president’s son, a German-backed publication has drawn massive federal attention onto its foreign ownership structure and lobbying activities before the federal government. This broader “German Influence Operation” has grabbed the attention of the White House and senior administration officials and even entangles a key Washington lobbyist who has reportedly had an on-again-off-again lukewarm relationship with the president. It all comes, too, as worldwide pressure builds on German government officials over their censorship regime against political opponents and the efforts of a central European nation with a dark...

In his first address to the Bundestag parliament on Wednesday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to rearm Germany so that the country would have the “strongest” military force in Europe. Following years of chronic underinvestment in defence and relying on the United States for protection, Chancellor Merz told lawmakers that “strengthening the Bundeswehr is our top priority” and will make “every effort to continue to achieve the greatest possible agreement between the European and American partners.” In this context, Merz promised to expand Germany’s military forces “into the strongest conventional army in Europe,” Die Welt reports.

On the way back from Kyiv, journalists unexpectedly entered the leaders’ cabin. German advisor Merz hid a spoon used for cocaine, while French President Macron concealed a bag of it. ... What’s this? Reporters walk in, and boom - Merz hides a coke spoon, Macron tucks a bag. Awkward ride back from Kyiv. ... OLD BUT STILL RELEVANT: Traces of cocaine have been found in several toilets in the Reichstag (parliament) and in the Berlin House of Representatives. The drug had been detected in a test "in quantities where a drug dog would react” ... Macron in slow-mo ... You...

The United Kingdom does not have a blasphemy law, but that didn’t stop the Criminal Prosecution Service trying their best, leading to something of a volte-face (about-face) after backlash. 50-year-old Hamit Coskun was charged with acting with intent to cause “harassment, alarm or distress” against the “religious institution of Islam” by the UK’s Criminal Prosecution Service (CPS) this week after allegedly burning a copy of the Qur’an outside the Turkish consulate in London. Yet after a short campaign by free speech activists, including the Free Speech Union, which is supporting Coksun, and Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick, the charge has...

The al Qaeda terror leader of Syria – Al Sharaa who is perpetrating the wholesale slaughter of Christians, Alawites, Druze as we speak is hosted by French president Macron in Paris This the same Macron who has pledged to arrest Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu if he came to France. Didn’t they vote this craven scumbag out? ... The Syrian dictator, an ISIS murderer, who just recently set his Sunni dogs to butcher Alawites and Druze, has landed in Paris to meet Macron. If Bibi were going down those stairs he would be arrested for being a Jewish leader who fights...

Denmark's foreign minister says he will summon the US ambassador to address a report that Washington's spy agencies have been told to focus on Greenland amid Donald Trump's threats to take over the island. "It worries me greatly because we do not spy on friends," Lars Løkke Rasmussen said, responding to the report in The Wall Street Journal. According to the newspaper, US spy agencies were told to focus efforts on the semi-autonomous country's independence movement, and American goals to extract mineral resources there. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused the Journal of attempts to "undermine" President Trump "by...

The notion the United Kingdom government, its people, or way of life are something worth fighting for appears to be in decline, with a survey finding that less than half of the nation would be willing to fight and defend their country for any reason. According to a poll from Ipsos released to coincide with Victory in Europe (VE) Day, which marks the formal surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allied nations in 1945, some 48 per cent of Britons would not fight for their country “under any circumstances.” Conversely, a paltry 35 per cent said that they would be...

French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly pressuring cardinals to block Cardinal Robert Sarah, a conservative African prelate challenging the Church’s progressive path. French President Emmanuel Macron is facing renewed criticism after it was revealed that he is trying to influence one of the most sacred processes in the Catholic church—the papal conclave. The allegation, made by Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, centers on purported communications between Macron and several French cardinal electors aimed at blocking the candidacy of Cardinal Robert Sarah. The Cardinal has said that “the West no longer knows who it is, because it no longer knows...