Free Republic

Bluesky, the rapidly growing social media platform, is violating EU regulations by failing to disclose important details, a European Commission spokesperson told reporters during a daily briefing on Monday. “All platforms in the EU even the smallest ones which are below the threshold, which is the case for Bluesky, have to have a dedicated page on their website where it says how many user numbers they have in the EU and where they are legally established. This is not the case for Bluesky as of today,” the spokesperson said.He also stated that since Bluesky falls below the threshold and is...

Jews and homosexuals are no longer safe in Berlin and should hide their identity in certain neighborhoods, Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik has claimed.In a wide-ranging interview with Berliner Zeitung about security risks, anti-Semitic danger zones in Berlin, and the effects of austerity measures on police work, Slowik warned that the German capital has become less tolerant in areas with high Arab populations and the police have insufficient resources to tackle the problem.While she maintained that Berlin is “as safe as many other cities in Germany and safer than some other European capitals,” Slowik admitted there are parts of the...

Prosecutors appeal ruling to free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah serving life sentence for 1982 killing of US military attaché Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov PARIS — A French court on Friday ordered the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, jailed for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats, prosecutors said. The court said Abdallah, first detained in 1984 and convicted in 1987 over the murders, would be released on December 6 provided he leaves France, French anti-terror prosecutors said in a statement to AFP, adding that they would appeal. “In (a) decision dated...

A three-star hotel in northern Italy near the Dolomites has rejected a reservation made by a handful of young Israelis, simply because they are Israelis. The booking was made via the Booking.com online reservation service, which promotes the hotel as an establishment “ideally placed for hiking and cycling excursions as well as skiing.” But apparently the hotel is not as welcoming to Israelis. Those who booked the reservation online received the following response:“Good morning. We inform you that the Israeli people as those responsible for genocide are not welcome customers in our structure. Therefore, if you would like to cancel...

CHICAGO (AP) — For the second year in a row, Earth will almost certainly be the hottest it’s ever been. And for the first time, the globe this year reached more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming compared to the pre-industrial average, the European climate agency Copernicus said Thursday. “It’s this relentless nature of the warming that I think is worrying,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus. Buontempo said the data clearly shows the planet would not see such a long sequence of record-breaking temperatures without the constant increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere driving global...

Breaking: Violent attacks against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans are taking place in Amsterdam following the soccer match that took place Thursday evening between Maccabi and Ajax.... Various reports in both Israel and Amsterdam have indicated that Israel’s embassy in the Netherlands has gotten involved and is assisting with relocating the Israelis to a safe location.... Footage circulating on social media has shown fans being beaten, chased with knives, and narrowly avoiding being hit by vehicles. According to Maariv, there has been at least one attempt at kidnapping an Israeli, and many have barricaded themselves in stores and buildings.... These attacks...

In a stunning turn of events, Yemen’s Houthi forces have reportedly surrendered within hours of Donald Trump’s historic election victory. The swift surrender has sparked worldwide speculation about the potential for peace in long-standing conflicts, with some now wondering if this could also signal a shift in the Ukraine war. Arab Defense on X (formerly Twitter) posted a statement from the Houthis: “Our operations in international waters were purely defensive, and we announce their final cessation.”

The European Green Party on Friday called for Jill Stein, the 2024 presidential candidate of the U.S. Green Party, to withdraw from the race...writing that the election is “too close for comfort.” “On 5 November 2024, the world will be watching to see whether Americans choose Kamala Harris or Donald Trump to be their next president,” the European party, also known as the European Greens, wrote. “Ahead of these pivotal elections, European Greens have called upon US Green Party candidate Jill Stein to withdraw her Presidential candidacy, and endorse Kamala Harris.” Harris is the only candidate who can block former...

Green politicians from across Europe on Friday called on U.S. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein to withdraw from the race for the White House and endorse Democrat Kamala Harris instead.“We are clear that Kamala Harris is the only candidate who can block Donald Trump and his anti-democratic, authoritarian policies from the White House,” Green parties from countries including Germany, France, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland, Estonia, Belgium, Spain, Poland and Ukraine said in a statement, which was shared with POLITICO ahead of publication.

The Germany President pictured here with his Greek counterpart flew to Crete on Thursday to apologize for the German atrocities in Crete. Credit: German Presidency President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier has asked the people of Kandanos in Crete for forgiveness on behalf of Germany for the massacres committed by the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. “We cannot undo the suffering. We will never be able to properly make up for it. But we must keep its memory alive to ensure that what happened once does not happen again”, he said at a commemoration ceremony. Visiting Kandanos on Crete...

An AI was asked to create images of what Europeans think the average American from different states looks like - and the results are shocking. According to the tech, Europeans hold racist and sexist stereotypes about Americans, and generally see people from the US as gluttonous, overweight consumers who only eat McDonalds. That belief churned out a series of startling images - only of women - that presents how Americans are seen. In the bot's view, only Florida and Texas have attractive women. The images presented to represent those states were of scantily-clad blonde beauties. The other states were summed...

The new Italian law restricting overseas travel for surrogacy services goes further than other countries, but same-sex couples face family planning hurdles across Europe. A new law that bans Italians from travelling abroad for surrogate pregnancies is expected to make it harder for LGBTQ people to become parents – but Italy is far from the only country where family planning is a challenge for same-sex couples. Italy’s restrictive approach to surrogacy isn’t new – or unique. Many European countries ban surrogacy outright, while others have strict rules about citizenship, payment, and relationship status. Those rules have prompted some couples to...

The European Union has warned X that it may calculate fines against the social-media platform by including revenue from Elon Musk’s other businesses, including Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Neuralink Corp., an approach that would significantly increase the potential penalties for violating content moderation rules. Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, the bloc can slap online platforms with fines of as much as 6% of their yearly global revenue for failing to tackle illegal content and disinformation or follow transparency rules. Regulators are considering whether sales from SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI and the Boring Company, in addition to revenue generated from...

There’s a surprise twist in the battle to control genome editing. In the decade-long fight to control CRISPR, the super-tool for modifying DNA, it’s been common for lawyers to try to overturn patents held by competitors by pointing out errors or inconsistencies. But now, in a surprise twist, the team that earned the Nobel Prize in chemistry for developing CRISPR is asking to cancel two of their own seminal patents, MIT Technology Review has learned. The decision could affect who gets to collect the lucrative licensing fees on using the technology. ­­The request to withdraw the pair of European patents,...

International Bat Night is global celebration of bats, organised by Eurobats. Normally it would take place at the end of August, but with the holiday season in full swing and noisy nights in Casares, they decided to shift it to mid-September this year. Casares will experience the ‘Night of the Bats’ on Friday, September 13. The batty organisation ‘Euro Bats’, as every year at this time, is hosting talks, exhibitions and an evening workshop on bat locations using radio frequency-location devices. Beginning at dusk, they give talks about the important role these mammals play in nature, their benefits and problems....

Volkswagen is contemplating factory closures in Germany for the first time as it grapples with increasing pressure from cheaper Asian competitors. This development signifies a major conflict between Chief Executive Oliver Blume and influential company unions, which have a history of blocking management decisions.The company's works council has identified a large vehicle plant and a component factory as obsolete, vowing strong opposition to the executive board's plans. Lower Saxony, Volkswagen's second-largest shareholder, supports a review of potential closures, increasing tensions within the company.Facing decreased competitiveness, a challenging economic environment, and aggressive Chinese automakers entering Europe, Volkswagen plans to cut costs...

Could Finland´s next President be a foreigner? Finland´s current President Alexander Stubb speaking to the public. Finland´s President Alexander Stubb Credit: Alexander Stubb, Facebook Finland´s future President may be a foreigner, said current President Alexander Stubb during a recent presidential Q&A session on the local Yle Radio Suomi. The Finnish President emphasised that 10 per cent of residents in Finland have foreign backgrounds and argued that the future could see a foreign national leading the country. “Racism should not be politicised. Every nation has to go through this discussion,” emphasised Stubb. “In Finland, 10 per cent of people were not...

Elon Musk is rapidly transforming his enormous wealth – he’s the richest person in the world – into a huge source of unaccountable political power that’s now backing Trump and other authoritarians around the world. Musk owns X, formerly known as Twitter. He publicly endorsed Donald Trump last month. Before that, Musk helped form a pro-Trump super political action committee. Meanwhile, the former US president has revived his presence on the X platform.

Hungary is threatening to send migrants directly to the European Union (EU) capital of Brussels, Belgium if disputes with the EU over penalties imposed on Hungary for controlling its borders are not resolved. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has imposed a €200 million (~$222.5 million) penalty and a daily fine of €1 million (~$1.1 million) on Hungary for turning away illegal immigrants at its border instead of allowing them to claim asylum.

The European Union may have just given Tesla’s future sales in the region a boost by setting tariffs on its China-made vehicles considerably below those imposed on rival electric carmakers. The high-profile decision comes two months after the EU hiked tariffs on all electric cars imported from China, citing “unfair” state subsidies that unduly benefited the country’s electric vehicle makers at the expense of European manufacturers. Tesla, which has a factory near Berlin but exports many of the cars it makes in China to Europe, had requested that the EU recalculate its rate, initially set at 20.8%. On Tuesday, the...