Free Republic

Last Tuesday, the European Union’s top court ordered Poland to recognize the marriage of a same-sex couple who had wed in Germany. In delivering its verdict, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) kept the language broad, referring to the obligation of “a member state” to recognize same-sex marriages registered in other EU member states. It means that a Czech, Romanian or Bulgarian court — or any other EU member state where same-sex marriage is not recognized — will now have to take the verdict into consideration if a similar case arises in their jurisdiction. The case in...

After New York City’s race for mayor catapulted Zohran Mamdani from state assembly member into one of the world’s most prominent progressive voices, intense debate swirled over the ideas at the heart of his campaign. His critics and opponents painted pledges such as free bus service, universal childcare and rent freezes as unworkable, unrealistic and exorbitantly expensive. But some have hit back, highlighting the quirk of geography that underpins some of this view. “He promised things that Europeans take for granted, but Americans are told are impossible,” said the Dutch environmentalist and former government adviser Alexander Verbeek in the wake...

Updates to the long-awaited project linking Spain and Morocco suggest that the dream of an undersea tunnel across the Strait of Gibraltar is now within technological reach. The German firm Herrenknecht, a global leader in tunnel-boring technology, has completed a feasibility study confirming that the infrastructure, while highly complex, is technically achievable. Commissioned by Spain’s Secegsa (Sociedad Española de Estudios para la Comunicación Fija a través del Estrecho de Gibraltar) under the Ministry of Transport, the report marks a milestone for a project studied for over fifty years. According to Vozpópuli on Wednesday, the Spanish government has had the report...

BOMBSHELL REPORT: Nearly $2 BILLION in foreign dollars were poured into policy advocate groups in the U.S., including to the group behind anti-Trump protests in Washington D.C.

Soon, the EU may have access to every photo, message and video on your phone or computer. After Germany dropped its long-standing opposition to EU chat control, leading encrypted messenger Signal issued a dire warning about privacy in Europe, with the post going viral. However, now European parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) have joined in the criticism, with the party warning just before the EU Council vote that so-called “chat control” could end privacy entirely in Europe. The protest from the AfD comes after Signal threatened to pull out entirely from Europe if the EU implements its...

TMZ founder Harvey Levin is facing massive backlash after his staff was caught on camera cheering the assassination of Charlie Kirk, a conservative leader gunned down on a college campus this week. The clip sparked outrage online, with YouTube users flooding Levin’s channel with thumbs-down reactions and angry comments. At first, Levin tried to deflect, claiming the cheers were about a “car chase” unrelated to Kirk. But now, with public pressure mounting, Levin is changing his tune—and issuing a grim warning. “I am not gonna mince words. I fear a civil war,” Levin said. “Charlie Kirk is different. This is...

They went there--(Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) German Public TV, subsidized by government-mandated license fees, is arguing that Charlie Kirk enraged people because he was a racist misogynist who hit people's rage buttons. Advertisement Of course, they say it is unacceptable to celebrate Kirk's murder, but, well, you know he deserved it... These people are scum. Similarly, The New York Times spread a hoax about Kirk--that he held certain views that he quoted and then criticized. They, of course, released a correction well after the fact, and one that almost nobody will see.

A prominent German orchestra’s performance at a Belgian festival has been canceled over concerns about its Israeli conductor, organizers said Wednesday, sparking a furious reaction from Berlin. The Munich Philharmonic had been due to perform on September 18 at the Flanders Festival Ghent, led by its future chief conductor, Israeli musician Lahav Shani.

End Wokeness @EndWokeness BREAKING: Shabana Mahmood named as UK Home Secretary, in charge of borders, police, immigration

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...

According to new report, opposition to abortion is more ‘extreme’ than rape.A European abortion lobby is warning against “religious extremism” on the rise across the continent, singling out Catholicism and ignoring the threat posed to Europe by Islam. The 158-page report “The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism Is Reclaiming Power,” published by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights (EPF), faults “religious extremism” for the phenomenon of “accelerating financial expansion of movements working to dismantle decades of hard-won sexual and reproductive rights across Europe.”The EPF report derides the “anti-rights and religious extremist actors in Europe” working to oppose...

Ursula's new "European Media Freedom Act" permits the arrest of journalists if it is in the "public interest." ... The act also allows surveillance software to be deployed on devices used by media service providers, editorial staff, or related persons in the “public interest. Who decides the “public interest?” Sophie ... The new law also contains numerous provisions that call for action against alleged "disinformation." Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President ... "national lists" are to be created listing the owners and addresses of media outlets, as stipulated in Article 6. Despite its intent to strengthen media freedom, critics...

Germany's foreign minister said on Thursday recognition of a Palestinian state should come at the end of talks on a two-state solution but Berlin would respond to any unilateral actions, after citing "annexation threats" by some Israeli ministers. Johann Wadephul issued the statement before heading off to Israel and the Palestinian territories on a trip Berlin has billed as a fact-finding mission amid heightened alarm over starvation in Gaza. His remarks marked Germany’s strongest warning yet to Israel as Western nations intensify efforts to exert pressure. In recent weeks, Britain, Canada and France have all signaled their readiness to recognise...

Palestinian statehood comes at the end of negotiations for a two-state solution and that process can no longer be held in abeyance, Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Thursday. “A negotiated two-state solution remains the only path that can offer people on both sides a life in peace, security, and dignity,” he said in a statement issued shortly before his trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories, as reported by Ynet News. “For Germany, the recognition of a Palestinian state comes more at the end of that process. But such a process must begin now.” Wadephul’s remarks follow a string...

Dutch lawyer Arno van Kessel was leading a civil lawsuit against Bill Gates, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, and Klaus Schwab over alleged COVID vaccine-related crimes, he was recently arrested by Dutch special forces in a late-night raid and jailed without formal charges.

Keir Starmer addresses the nation as he announces the UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September

The British government has reportedly tasked a specialist police unit to surveil social media for anti-mass migration opinions as it braces for another potential summer of unrest. Rather than address the concerns of the public, such as removing the mostly young male illegal migrants from the taxpayer-funded hotel accommodations in communities across the country, the UK Home Office has formed the National Internet Intelligence Investigations to “maximise social media intelligence” about anti-mass migration sentiment on social media, according to The Telegraph. The team will work out of the Covid lockdown-enforcing National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) in London. It comes amid...

If you have any doubt that the European Union is devolving into a soft totalitarian state, think again. I have been sounding the alarm bells about the developments in Europe for as long as I have been writing at Hot Air, and some of you may have thought me an alarmist engaged in hyperbole. I am alarmed, of course, but by real threats to freedom. The latest assault on freedom--not just in Europe, because the EU and Great Britain are using their criminal and regulatory powers to suppress speech in the US as well as other countries--comes with the breaking...

It’s frightening enough to see full-blown totalitarianism return in Germany, but worse is knowing that it’s happening across the West, including in America. Germany’s Bundestag police commissioner, Uli Grötsch, is trying his best to rid his police force of members of the conservative Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Grötsch, himself a member of the left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SPD), is tasked with overseeing police misconduct, but instead is using his position specifically to target supporters of the AfD to disqualify them from serving in law enforcement. Speaking to the Rheinische Post, Grötsch flatly stated: “AfD membership and work as a...

France will recognise a Palestinian state in September at the UN general assembly, Emmanuel Macron has said. The French president announced the decision on X on Thursday evening, saying he hoped it would bring peace to the region. Macron published a letter sent to Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, confirming France’s intention to become the first major western power to recognise a Palestinian state. “True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine,” Macron said. “I will make this solemn announcement at the...