Free Republic

For decades, US firms have enjoyed a strong foothold in Germany, particularly in the country’s western regions, which were under the control of the Western Allies after World War II. In the immediate postwar years, US cigarettes were so highly prized on the German black market that they effectively served as currency. […] Today, however, the climate has shifted. The image of the US in Germany has taken a major beating, raising questions about how US companies can maintain their reputation. Some US firms are now actively marketing their products as “Made in Germany.” […] Coca-Cola, perhaps more than any...

The European Union said on Monday it doesn’t “encourage” aid flotillas heading to Gaza, as vessels carrying humanitarian aid and pro-Palestinian activists including Greta Thunberg sail for the war-ravaged territory. “We don’t encourage flotillas like this, because basically they can escalate the situation, and they also put their participants at risk,” EU spokeswoman Eva Hrncirova said. She said the EU believes the “best way … to deliver the humanitarian aid” is via partner organizations working on the ground. …

Leaders of the MAGA movement have a new warning: Don’t let America become like Britain. That was the howling conclusion at a conference of MAGA-aligned policymakers and think tanks this week in Washington, where elite voices, many with close ties to President Donald Trump, painted a dystopian, misleading and anti-Muslim picture of England as a bastion for dangerous immigrants. Stephen K. Bannon, Trump’s former chief of staff who continues to be an influential adviser, decried the “threat of Islamism in the U.K.,” positioning Britain as a cautionary tale of how mass migration could affect the United States. Others called the...

Beginning Sept. 1, the European Union has banned an ingredient commonly found in gel nail polish. The banned substance, TPO (trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide), gives nails a super glossy sheen and a quick dry time under UV or LED light. However, it has been deemed toxic in the EU after several studies have shown that it can cause fertility issues and adversely affect reproductive health. Gel nail polish, which has gained popularity since the 2000s, is cured under UV or LED light, resulting in a hard, durable manicure.

There has been a steep rise in the number of citizens of the US seeking asylum in Ireland. Fifty-one people from the US applied for international protection in the first half of this year, more than in 2023 and 2024 combined. New figures from the Department of Justice show that 104 American citizens have looked for asylum in Ireland since the beginning of 2022. […] Immigration sources said that any individual seeking international protection from the United States was likely to face an uphill battle. “The number of claims from the US is small in terms of the volume of...

Ransomware hits Sweden: A ransomware attack on Swedish IT supplier Miljödata has paralysed up to 164 councils, four regions and other organisations, with police and cybersecurity teams investigating after hackers demanded 1.5 Bitcoin, around 1.5 million kronor (€128,000). Sweden is still reeling today after a ransomware attack on IT supplier Miljödata left councils, regions, universities and private firms in digital paralysis. Most Read on Euro Weekly News France tells hospitals to be war-ready by March 2026 Lisbon tram derailment leaves 15 dead German AfD suffers multiple candidate deaths Early reports suggested that around 200 municipalities and regional governments were caught...

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...

ar AL-QATTAA/AFP/AFP More than 250 media outlets in over 70 countries staged a front page protest Monday highlighting the deaths of scores of journalists in Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, the Reporters Without Borders media freedom group said. "At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no-one left to keep you informed," the group's general director Thibaut Bruttin said in a statement. The protest was taken up on the website front pages of publications including Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, British news site The Independent, French newspapers La Croix and L'Humanite...

The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in 1949 with a solemn pledge: NATO members would not only defend one another against external aggression, they would safeguard “the freedom, common heritage and civilization of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.” These words matter. They mean that NATO is not simply a military alliance, it is a union of democracies. Its credibility rests on the idea that members govern themselves with the very liberties they claim to defend. Yet in recent years, several NATO states have drifted from these commitments, especially when confronted...

Europe is drawing up “pretty precise plans” for a multinational troop deployment to Ukraine as part of post-conflict security guarantees that will have the backing of US capabilities, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times in an interview published on Aug 31. “President Trump reassured us that there will be (an) American presence as part of the backstop,” Dr von der Leyen told the FT, adding that “That was very clear and repeatedly affirmed.” -snip- European leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte and von der Leyen are...

There was a 16% decrease in the number of immigrants arriving in Ireland in the 12 months to April 2025 as 125,300 came to live in the State, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. It was the fourth successive year when there were more than 100,000 people coming to live in the country. It means net migration, the number of people arriving less those leaving, was 59,700, a drop of almost 20,000 on the previous year. Of the immigrants, 31,500 were returning Irish citizens, 25,300 were other EU citizens, 4,900 were UK citizens and the remaining...

Ever since the Europeans signed on to the F-35 program, it has been clouded by one persistent fear: that in some future geopolitical crisis, Washington might seek to exercise leverage by denying software updates or spare parts, thereby rendering the European fleet inoperable. But where does this geopolitical anxiety come from? Is it grounded in historical fact (i.e., have there been precedents in which the United States weaponized its control over advanced weapon systems against its allies)?

On Sunday, August 24th, Ukraine’s Independence Day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the existence of the Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline, just like the political friendship between Ukraine and Hungary, is now directly tied to Budapest’s position.During a press conference, a journalist asked if after the strikes on the Druzhba oil pipeline and appeals to U.S. President Donald Trump Ukraine had gained additional leverage over Hungary, especially in terms of the lifting of Budapest’s veto on opening EU accession negotiation clusters.Zelenskyy responded by saying that Ukraine has always supported friendship between the two countries, but its further existence now depends...

Donald Trump has staked much of his political brand on being the consummate dealmaker. He is not a theorist, nor a philosopher-king, nor a bureaucrat buried in details. His appeal rests in his posture as the man who cuts through nonsense, breaks impasses, and brings adversaries to the table. In the past, Trump’s instincts on foreign affairs have proven unconventional but effective: cooling tensions with North Korea, brokering normalization between Israel and Arab states, restraining NATO adventurism, and articulating—against Washington orthodoxy—that endless wars in the Middle East were bleeding America dry. He relishes the image of the peacemaker, a strongman...

On the anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Polish President Karol Nawrocki drew parallels between past and present-day aggression in a message posted on social media. In his statement, he referred to “unresolved injustices” and “sick dreams of an empire.” “Eighty-six years ago, Stalin and Hitler signed the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact—an agreement that paved the way for World War II and claimed the lives of millions around the world. Poland was the first victim of German, and later Soviet, aggression,” Nawrocki wrote on Saturday, August 23rd. He continued: “Germany has still not paid its historical debts, while imperialist sentiments have reawakened in...

More than 50 consultants at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) have called on the State to stop using medicines manufactured by an Israeli company where “viable alternatives” are available. Teva Pharmaceuticals, an Israeli multinational, is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of generic and specialist drugs. The company, which makes Sudocrem, has a big presence in Ireland and is one of the largest suppliers of generic medicines to the HSE. Teva said any boycott of its medicine could “impose a risk on the health and wellbeing” of patients. …

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s defense minister said that a flying object that crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland early Wednesday was identified as a Russian drone, calling it a provocation by Russia.

A widely condemned Israeli settlement plan that would cut across land which the Palestinians seek for a state received final approval on Wednesday, according to a statement from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The approval of the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, was announced last week by Smotrich and received final go-ahead from a defense ministry planning commission on Wednesday, he said. […] A German government spokesperson commenting on the announcement told reporters on Wednesday that settlement construction violates international law and “hinders a negotiated two-state solution and an...

Work has begun to lay the underwater cable for the first electricity interconnector between Ireland and mainland Europe. It marks a major milestone in the €1.6 billion ($1.9 billion) Celtic Interconnector project, which will link the electricity grids of Ireland and France to ensure security of power supply. A specialist marine vessel Calypso, from Norway, has begun cable-laying along an 84-km (52-mile) section of the route. Once fully installed, the entire 575-km (357-mile) interconnector will run from east Cork to the northwest of Brittany. It will allow for the exchange of 700 MW of electricity, enough to power some 450,000...

Earlier on Monday, Georgian media reported that the United Kingdom was training young activists in Lithuania to confront police forcesTBILISI, August 18. /TASS/. Foreign elements represented by the so-called deep state continue their attempts to stir unrest and revolution in Georgia, Kakhaber Kaladze, Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream — Democratic Georgia party and Mayor of Tbilisi, said during a press briefing. Earlier on Monday, Georgian media reported that the United Kingdom was training young activists in Lithuania to confront police forces. The recruitment process allegedly involves the "British-Georgian Society" and the "International Institute for Strategic Studies." "These countries,...