Free Republic

The European Union's trade chief said the 27-member bloc is committed to securing a trade deal with the US based on "respect" not "threats". It comes after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 50% tariff on all goods sent to the US from the EU. "The EU's fully engaged, committed to securing a deal that works for both," EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said after a call with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. "EU-US trade is unmatched & must be guided by mutual respect, not threats. We stand ready to defend our interests."...

The French president also warned that Europe must be prepared for the US “not to be at our side” going forward. FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL Macron has said that peace “cannot be achieved by abandoning Ukraine” as he warned of the “real threat” to Europe from Russia. Addressing the nation over the current global uncertainty in the wake of the radical change in US policy on Ukraine under Donald Trump, Macron also said that Europe has to be ready for the US “not to be at our side” going forward. It comes amid the breakdown in relations between Trump and Ukrainian...

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are considering accompanying Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington to salvage his relationship with Donald Trump. The visit would be part of a three-pronged plan being worked out by Kyiv’s European allies after a dramatic spat in the Oval Office between the US and Ukrainian presidents led to Washington suspending military support for the war-torn nation.

Donald Trump has claimed Sir Keir Starmer 'didn't do anything' to end the Ukraine war - just days before he is due to welcome the Prime Minister to the White House. The US President lashed out at Sir Keir and France's Emmanuel Macron amid a transatlantic spat over Mr Trump branding Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky a 'dictator'. Those comments riled both the PM and French President, who hit back at Mr Trump's attack on the Ukrainian President and doubled down on their support for Kyiv. Mr Macron also warned Mr Trump against being 'weak' with Russia's Vladimir Putin, amid fears the...

Sir Keir Starmer has tonight compared Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky to Winston Churchill and defended him from US president Donald Trump's claims that he is 'a dictator without elections.' Trump's extraordinary outburst came after Zelensky accused the US President of falling for Russian fake news, with Trump suggesting yesterday that Ukraine was to blame for Moscow's illegal invasion of the country three years ago. Since the US president's comments, many have come out to bat for Zelensky, including Starmer, who spoke with the Ukrainian leader tonight and affirmed his support for him as the country's 'democratically elected leader', according to Downing...

Donald Trump has signed an executive order that could make him the most powerful president in history by using an obscure Constitutional theory to enact his vision of presidential authority. The new order seeks to 'reign in independent agencies' by seizing various departments that normally act in accordance with Congress and bring them under control of the executive branch in the White House. The order also states that the president and attorney general will interpret the law, leaving Trump free from Congressional and judicial oversight. Observers suggest that Trump is using unitary executive theory which grants the president a wide...

Europe can’t be the world’s “herbivore” anymore following Donald Trump’s reelection as the United States president, according to Emmanuel Macron. It needs to become an “omnivore” instead. The French president’s comments come a day after Trump swept to a resounding victory in the U.S. presidential election, prompting concerns that the U.S. president-elect could downgrade Washington’s participation in NATO, forcing European countries to ramp up defense spending. Macron is known as Europe’s loudest advocate for the bloc becoming more independent from trading rivals such as China and the United States on everything from defense and security to cutting-edge technologies. “For me,...

For months, Germany has feared having to ration energy amid Russia’s increasing willingness to turn off the tap. Now those fears are becoming a reality as Germany prepares for a return to 1970s-style energy rationing, when the OPEC oil embargo forced governments to mandate measures like dimmer lights and car-free Sundays. Only, the energy crisis of 2022 isn’t limited to oil. Last year, Germany relied on Russia for 55% of its natural gas imports. Germany has since been able to reduce that number to 35%, but with Russia seemingly prepared to further cut gas shipments to Europe, German officials are...

The Sept. 11-17 poll found that 36 percent of adults surveyed did not want Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court, up 6 points from a similar poll conducted a month earlier. Only 31 percent of U.S. adults polled said they were in favor of Kavanaugh’s appointment...Support for Kavanaugh was higher among Republicans, but fewer than two out of three, or 64 percent, said they were in favor of his nomination...More women--33 percent--opposed Kavanaugh’s nomination...

Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, one of the most influential Brexit spokesmen, had a meeting with EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier yesterday. Although Barnier didn't want to meet with Farage initially, he eventually relented to the British politician's requests. Their meeting was scheduled, and the two men spoke about the negotiations between Britain and the EU about the former leaving the union. Farage was adamant about speaking personally with Barnier because he wanted "to make sure Barnier heard some pro-Brexit views that I suspect the Conservative government has not yet explained to him." It became clear early on in the...

Donald Trump wants to ban Muslims from entering the United States? Well, it turns out lots of Britons want to ban him from the United Kingdom. Trump detractors across the pond have started an online petition on an official government website asking British officials to block the GOP presidential front-runner from visiting. "The signatories believe Donald J. Trump should be banned from UK entry," the petition reads. "The UK has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech. The same principles should apply to everyone who wishes to enter the UK," the petition says. "If the United Kingdom is to...

A World Net Daily article (is) claiming that fearful Europeans are making a run on their local gun stores in response to the flood of young, mostly male Muslim “refugees” that are flooding into Europe in what many see as nothing more or less than an invasion. A Czech TV report confirms that long guns – shotguns and rifles – have been flying off the shelves in Austria, and Austrians who haven’t already purchased a gun may not have a chance to get one for some time. They’re all sold out. And those arming themselves are primarily women. “If anyone...

<p>LONDON -- One of London's fastest-changing neighborhoods is echoing to the snap, crackle and pop of conflict.</p> <p>An East End cafe that serves 120 varieties of breakfast cereal — along with 30 kinds of milk — has become a surprising flashpoint for protest in a city increasingly polarized between rich and poor.</p>

Allies of former prime minister regard darling of Tea Party movement as a frivolous figure unworthy of an audience Sarah Palin wants to show to the Republican right that she is the true keeper of the Ronald Reagan flame by meeting the late president's closest ally on the world stage.

Its been said that life often imitates art. However, I never imagined that the satirical airbrushing campaign undertaken by the rabid anti-smoking lobby at the end of “Thank You For Smoking” would ever actually be replicated in real life. Apparently, as the Daily Mail reports, I was wrong (h/t Adam S Baldwin): It seems the man who steered Britain through the most dangerous period of its recent history may have fallen victim to the modern curse of political correctness. (pictures within link)

The angry comments attributed to Mr Wolfowitz came from damning testimony by Xavier Coll, head of human resources at the bank, who provided investigators with his notes of a meeting with Mr Wolfowitz last year. The notes directly contradict Mr Wolfowitz's assertions that the details of Ms Riza's treatment were properly shared with senior bank officials. In March last year, when a mention of Ms Riza's secondment outside the bank to avoid rules about partners was first published in the magazine US News & World Report, an angry Mr Wolfowitz accused Mr Coll of leaking the information. According to Mr...

The approach of the New Year and departure of the old inevitably brings a flurry of "year's best" lists. This even applies to nations, which some organizations make it their business annually to rank in order of wealth, quality of life, and what-have-you. Surprisingly often, the Nordic countries come out on top. This placement is usually a reflection less of objective reality, however, than of the list-makers' enthusiasm for the Nordic welfare-state model. The criteria, in other words, are formulated in such a way that the Nordic countries will inevitably end up on top. Hence Norway, for example, is repeatedly...

Davids Medienkritik discovered deep condescension toward America from a German executive whose company makes most of its money here. Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking defends the German “social model” of capitalism, and implies that we Americans are barely out of the backwoods with our rifles. Europe’s culture is decidedly older than that of the USA. The Fuggers were doing business, while hunting was still the order of the day in America. Right now 37 million people in the USA live below the poverty line. The gulf between poor and rich has widened brutally. Do we want to have a situation like...

VIENNA, Austria - The mayor of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian hometown on Tuesday begged the California governor to reconsider his decision to end ties to the city after locals assailed him for his death penalty stance. Siegfried Nagl, mayor of the southern city of Graz, said he dashed off a letter to Schwarzenegger pleading with him not to return a ring of honor bestowed on him by officials in his birthplace in 1999 and reassuring him that most residents still admire him. "I hope that very soon we'll hear you say, 'I'll be back,'" Nagl told the actor-turned-politician, one of Austria's...

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Political parties in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown have started a petition drive to remove his name from a sports stadium. The dispute stems from the governor's decision this week to deny clemency to Stanley Tookie Williams. The co-founder of the Crips gang was executed early Tuesday in San Quentin State Prison for four 1979 murders. Opposition to the death penalty is strong in Austria, and the once-popular Schwarzenegger has lost much of his shine since becoming California governor for refusing to spare convicted murderers on death row. The outcry was especially sharp this week after the...