Free Republic

The heatwave wreaking chaos across Europe is a “dramatic warning” to reject climate naysayers, a European Commission vice-president says. Teresa Ribera, executive vice-president for a clean, just and competitive transition, lambasted those who listened to the “vested interests” of the fossil fuel industry rather than scientists and their own citizens. “This is a dramatic warning being sent once again by nature on what it means to have a different climate system,” she told the Guardian. “What we are experiencing today [in the form of record heat] is what we knew could happen, but we have not been smart enough to...

Spain's plan to grant legal residency and work rights to undocumented migrants will be the largest scheme of its kind in European history. There have been at least 1.3 million applications made, more than double the 500,000 the centre-Left coalition government expected. The deadline for applications is on Tuesday. Pedro Sánchez, Spain's prime minister, said the amnesty was an act of justice but also of necessity, to continue Spain's strong economic growth and safeguard public pensions by bringing younger workers into the country. It began on April 16 and by mid-June 360,000 people out of 900,000 applications had been granted...

A Paris official has said she holds the US partially responsible for the record-breaking heatwave in France. The comments were made as part of a scathing rebuke to American tourists, immigrants and expats who have been criticising France for its lack of air conditioning across the country. Over the past week, the transatlantic discourse online has also been heating up, with some Americans – many living in desert and tropical climes in the southern US – mocking the French and Western Europeans for not being able to withstand temperatures to which they are accustomed to every year. “Dear American journalists...

A shooting at a youth welfare facility in northern Germany on Monday left six people dead, police said. The suspected shooter was arrested. Five people – four women and one man – died at the scene of the shooting in Stade, police said. A sixth, also an adult, died later at a hospital. Police said several people were wounded, some of them seriously, German news agency dpa reported, but they did not give a specific figure or information on the victims’ identity. Police said the shooting took place in the facility on Dankersstrasse, a street south of the town center....

On Wednesday, Pierre Masselot received a text from his daughter’s nursery – less than 50 miles from the weather station that was the first this week to break the UK June temperature record – asking parents to collect children early because the school buildings were about to get worryingly hot. Similar scenes were repeated across Europe this week as the continent swelters through its most severe and widespread heatwave on record – an oppressive force made hotter by carbon pollution and less bearable by repeated failures to prepare for it. France experienced its hottest day and night on record, while...

A nightmare scenario has been playing on eastern European minds with increasing intensity since Donald Trump returned to the White House: what if Russia attacks and the US does not join the fight? On the rare occasions the question is posed out loud, nobody much likes the answer. In mid-May, at a gathering in Tallinn, the US undersecretary of state Thomas DiNanno was asked directly whether American troops would fight if Russia invaded the Baltic states. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, then gave a meandering answer. It did not include the word “yes”. Politicians from the region usually try...

The Polish government has told its citizens to cash in on British benefits before returning home. Advice published on Powroty, a Polish government website for citizens living abroad who wish to return home, says "when leaving the UK, it is worth considering whether you are eligible for Jobseeker's Allowance". Post-Brexit arrangements allow European Union citizens who acquired settled status before December 2020 to transfer some benefit payments abroad when they move to an EU country, for up to three months. It means those returning to Europe can claim hundreds of pounds from the British taxpayer to support their job hunt,...

The European Commission’s headquarters was forced to shut down its air-conditioning system on Friday due to the heat wave. Staff working at the Berlaymont building received a text at midday, reading: “BERL — URGENT — Due to extreme weather conditions, forced shut down of air cooling system from floor 1 to 7 for the rest of the day.” The 13-story building is home to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, her 26 commissioners and about 3,000 staff. Von der Leyen works on the 13th floor, and most of her commissioners’ offices are housed on floors eight or above. Belgium and...

President Trump threatened to scrap a just-finalized trade deal with the European Union on Friday, saying that any country that levies a digital services tax would be hit immediately with a 100 percent tariff on all exports to the United States. Mr. Trump seized on the fact that several European countries are discussing imposing such taxes. Those taxes would apply to the revenue that major U.S. tech firms earn in Europe. If they choose to proceed, the United States would “immediately" impose a 100 percent tariff on them, he said. “This TARIFF will supersede Trade Deals made with the Country,...

Wealthy nations with the highest rate of immigration over the past 35 years reaped a large economic benefit and many could still absorb more ​workers, according to research to be presented at a top European Central Bank conference next week. Political tensions ‌over immigration have been on the rise in recent years as far-right, anti-immigrant parties have helped drive the issue to near the top of the political agenda while making headway in countries including the U.S., Germany and Britain. The study, which looked at data in dozens of rich ​countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, said...

Numerous European Countries have been discussing the imminent implementation of a Digital Services Tax on American Companies. Some of these Countries are close to actually doing this. Please let this statement serve to represent that any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100% TARIFF on any and all Goods sent to the United States of America. This TARIFF will supersede Trade Deals made with the Country, whether implemented, signed, or not. Additionally, the 100% TARIFF will be immediately imposed, if they proceed. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP

France is ready to discuss a 'Breturn' if and when Andy Burnham takes over at No10, one minister revealed. A French minister has flung open the doors for Britain to return to the EU - in the face of the wishes of 17,410,742 British voters. Claiming Brexit has "failed", Jean-Noel Barrot, the French Foreign Minister also backed Andy Burnham - who previously said he would like to see Britain rejoin the bloc - to become Prime Minister. Mr Burnham said while campaigning he was "not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU", adding that he respected the result of...

There's a major heatwave taking place across most of Europe this week. Here's visualization showing the "temperature anomalies" which have driven temperatures in many European capitals close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (and in some cases over that). Europe is melting! The size, intensity, and longevity of this #heatwave is enormous. Peak temperatures will reach 45°C / 100-115°F this week in #France . You are looking at temperature anomalies in the cloud layer over the next 2 weeks, which peak at +20°C. #Europe is Earth’s fastest warming continent, and European heat extremes are increasing faster than models project they should, likely...

Airbus, Leonardo and Thales announced Thursday that they will combine their satellite and space activities to form a “leading European player in space,” as the region looks for a homegrown rival to Elon Musk’s Starlink. The companies — each a heavyweight in the aerospace and defense sector in their own right — said the joint venture would develop and build, “a comprehensive portfolio of complementary technologies and end-to-end solutions, from space infrastructure to services.” The development of space launchers will be excluded from the new company’s operations. The combined entity is expected to generate mid-triple-digit million euros in annual synergies...

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte sought to calm tensions with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, using a mix ​of flattery and gentle pushback to argue that instances of allies' reluctance to support the U.S. war with Iran were limited to "isolated cases." Trump, a longtime NATO critic who has called the alliance a "paper tiger," has been angered by allies' refusal to support the U.S. in the Middle East conflict or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz after a U.S.-Israeli attack on ​Iran on February 28 disrupted the major oil shipping route. During the Oval Office meeting,...

Ten years following the landmark vote, the EU's former Brexit negotiator said the bloc's door is open to the UK, but that London "cannot cherry-pick" EU policies. Former European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told Euronews that it is up to the United Kingdom to decide whether it would want to rejoin the bloc, but that Brussels has made its conditions clear. His comments come ten years after the UK voted to leave the EU by 52% to 48%, and at a time when polling shows a clear majority of the British public, across party lines, views doing so as...

France has confirmed its first case of Ebola - a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The doctor was "immediately admitted to a specialised facility" and is in a stable condition, the French health ministry said on Wednesday. DR Congo announced an Ebola outbreak last month, but experts believe the virus had been circulating for weeks previously. More than 260 people are confirmed to have died from the virus in the central African country, while 1,000 people have been infected. This is the first Ebola case to have been confirmed in Europe,...

Denmark is planning to ban the Islamic call to prayer, with the country's immigration minister claiming parts of the nation risk sounding like 'a suburb of Islamabad'. 'It has no place in Denmark, and you shouldn't be in any doubt whether you've ended up in a suburb of Islamabad when you walk around Denmark.' The Adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, is traditionally broadcast five times a day to summon worshippers to mosques, often through loudspeakers mounted on minarets. Bødskov's proposal marks the third attempt by a Danish immigration minister to establish a legal framework for banning the practice, following...

The sheer amount of roughly one million illegal migrants in Spain seeking amnesty could lead to a “collapse” of the nation’s basic services such as housing, education, or security, experts warned. Spain is presently in the final weeks of a widely-criticized mass amnesty process launched by the government of socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez that aims to grant half a million illegal migrants with “legal” residence status, work permits, and other benefits. Despite the initial “half a million” estimates stated by Spanish officials in January, officials recently acknowledged that over 900,000 amnesty requests had been submitted by migrants, confirming estimates...

June 21 (UPI) -- The Russian government on Sunday halted fuel sales to civilians and businesses not considered vital to functioning and security in Crimea. Sergey Aksyonov, the governor of Crimea, announced people would be turned away from gas stations amid a fuel shortage and logistical difficulties related to the war with Ukraine, the BBC reported. "Further decisions regarding the current situation in the republic's fuel market will be announced at a later date," he said in a post on Telegram. The announcement came amid new attacks by Ukraine on energy and transportation infrastructure on the Crimean Peninsula, Politico reported....