Free Republic

ANYONE WHO has stood in a long queue at border control, or bypassed one, knows that not all passports are created equal. Citizens of some countries can speed through the gates; citizens of others must submit to interrogation and delay. Henley & Partners, a consultancy that helps rich people acquire citizenship in attractive countries, ranks passports by the number of countries their holders can enter without a visa. Its latest assessment of passport power shows that America is sliding down the table. Our map below shows how countries compare this year. Asian countries dominate the top of the table. Singapore...

Each Christmas The Economist names a country of the year. Not the happiest: that would nearly always be Scandinavian, making for a dull, predictable contest. Nor the most influential: that would always be a superpower. Rather, we try to identify the country that has improved the most, whether economically, politically or in any other way that matters.The year was a turbulent one, with President Donald Trump disrupting global trade and horrific conflicts scarring places such as Gaza and Sudan. But several countries navigated choppy waters well. Canada elected a sober technocrat as prime minister, rather than a populist, and stood...

When describing U.S. President Donald Trump’s governing style, and particularly his relationships with other countries, two words tend to come up frequently: “mercurial” and “transactional.” The latter suits several U.S. allies, partners, and even adversaries just fine, while the former has buffeted even some of Washington’s closest and most enduring partnerships over the past year. In examining which countries have benefited the most and least from the second Trump administration, we intentionally excluded the parties to the two biggest conflicts that it is trying to mediate—one between Israel and Hamas, the other between Russia and Ukraine. Both of those conflicts...

Nasry “Tito” Asfura, the conservative candidate in Honduras endorsed by President Trump, was declared the winner of the country’s presidential election on Wednesday after a weeks-long vote count. Asfura, the 67-year-old former mayor of the Central American country’s capital city of Tegucigalpa, edged out Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla in a 40.27% to 39.53% vote, according to electoral authorities. Rixi Moncada of the left-wing incumbent LIBRE Party finished with only 19.19% of the vote. “Honduras: I am prepared to govern,” Asfura wrote on X. “I will not fail you.” Trump publicly backed Asfura last month ahead of the Nov. 30...

A group of Western and allied states issued a joint statement condemning the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new communities in Judea and Samaria, stating that the move was "part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank." The statement, issued by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom, described the decision as a unilateral action and claimed that such steps "not only violate international law but also risk fueling instability." According to the statement, the decision risks undermining "the implementation of the Comprehensive...

Bit by bit, a Turkish front is forming, more dangerous than Israel’s seven arenas since Oct. 7. Erdogan’s ideology and ambition require Israel to refocus on a higher strategic risk.Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s political and military leadership has claimed that seven different arenas threaten it. It seems that, bit by bit but consistently, an eighth menacing front is forming, one that in many ways is more dangerous than the others.This is the Turkish front. Turkey, which until about 23 years ago was one of Israel’s greatest friends, has become a real enemy since Erdogan rose to power.The main factors...

KYIV—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would be willing to pull troops out of the eastern region of Donetsk and create a demilitarized free economic zone as part of a potential peace deal, provided Russia took similar steps to withdraw from areas it controls. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Zelensky said the proposal and other aspects of a 20-point plan would be put to a referendum. The territorial dispute across the Donbas, the eastern flank of Ukraine where some of the heaviest fighting is raging, is one of the chief sticking points in the latest version of a plan to...

The State Department announced Tuesday it was barring five Europeans it accused of leading efforts to pressure US tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints. The Europeans, described by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “radical” activists and “weaponized” nongovernmental organizations, fell afoul of a new visa policy announced in May that restricts the entry of foreigners deemed responsible for the censorship of protected speech in the United States. “For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” Rubio posted on X. “The Trump administration will no...

Hundreds of Christians in China will likely spend Christmas in jail this year, according to a recent report. Starting on Dec. 13, the Chinese Communist Party mobilized “more than a thousand police officers, SWAT units, anti-riot forces, and firefighters” in the Zhejiang Province’s Yayang Town in Wenzhou City, raiding churches and conducting mass arrests of Christians, ChinaAid reported Friday. “Belongings of relevant individuals were illegally confiscated, roads leading to the church were completely blocked by police, and Christians in Yayang Town were unable to enter the Yayang church. The operation lasted nearly five days, yet no public statement was issued...

Donald Trump's government has banned two Brits - including a campaign group leader with links to senior Labour figures - and a former EU commissioner from the United States for allegedly seeking to curb free speech among Americans online. The US State Department says it has sanctioned Imran Ahmed, leader of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), and Clare Melford, of the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), for seeking to 'coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose'. Mr Ahmed, a Cambridge graduate who is based in Washington DC according to an online CV, faces deportation; Ms Melford will...

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign on Monday, accusing him of engaging in the cover-up of the Qatargate affair, which Bennett called “the most serious act of treason in Israeli history.” The statement from Bennett, who is running against Netanyahu in next year’s election, follows new revelations about the scandal. The affair involves allegations that top aides to the prime minister were acting as paid lobbyists for Qatar, where Hamas’s leadership is based, while simultaneously working for Netanyahu. On Sunday, i24 News reported that communication between the suspects showed they had fabricated information,...

El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele responded to allegations by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the conditions at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), the country’s maximum-security prison that has received migrants deported from the United States. Bukele was responding to a post on X by Clinton that was accompanied by an 11-minute video of the PBS Frontline documentary titled: “Surviving CECOT.” “Curious to learn more about CECOT?” she wrote. “Hear Juan, Andry, and Wilmer share firsthand how the Trump administration branded them as gang members without evidence and deported them to the brutal El Salvadoran prison.” […] In response,...

Two men who swore allegiance to Islamic State have been found guilty of plotting to “kill as many Jewish people as they could”, in what detectives believe would have been the UK’s worst terror attack if it had not been thwarted. Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, were found guilty at Preston crown court on Tuesday of preparing acts of terrorism between 13 December 2023 and 9 May 2024. Jurors were told they were Islamist extremists with a “visceral dislike” of Jewish people. They planned a marauding attack in Greater Manchester, at the heart of one of Europe’s largest...

Turkish authorities closed Ankara’s airspace as a precaution after it lost contact with the plane and diverted multiple commercial flights away from Esenboga Airport. The commander's death was later confirmed by Turkish and Libyan officials. ============================================================= urkish officials temporarily closed down airspace over its capital of Ankara on Tuesday night after a business jet that carried Libya’s top military commander crashed near the city after he concluded an official visit to the country. The plane carrying Chief of the General Staff of Libya’s armed forces Muhammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad and four others lost contact roughly 30 minutes after departing Esenboga...

KYIV, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces have pulled out of the embattled eastern town of Siversk, Kyiv's military said on Tuesday, as Russian troops wage a battlefield offensive aimed at threatening key cities critical to Ukraine's defences in the east.The fall of Siversk comes with Ukraine under U.S. pressure to quickly negotiate peace in the nearly four-year-old war triggered by Russia's invasion, and puts Russian forces closer to the hub of Sloviansk, some 30 km (20 miles) to the west.The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here.Sloviansk is a...

Donald Trump has said the US will keep or sell the crude oil contained on tankers it has seized off the coast of Venezuela, as well as the vessels themselves.The US president's comments came as Washington continues to pressure the South American country's leader Nicolás Maduro to stand down.Speaking to reporters in Florida on Monday, Trump said of the oil "we're going to keep it", adding: "Maybe we will sell it, maybe we will keep it. Maybe we'll use it in the Strategic Reserves. We're keeping the ships also."The Trump administration has accused Venezuela of using oil revenues to fund...

TRUMP'S MOST IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENT. Experts estimate that during the Biden administration, around 9 million migrants crossed illegally into the United States and remained in the country. As illegal border crossers, they are what immigration officials call "removable," that is, subject to expulsion from the country on the grounds that they entered without authorization. The wild influx during the Biden years strained communities nationwide, burdened government budgets, caused social disruption, led to an alarming number of violent crimes, and, in general, made a mockery of U.S. immigration law. Plus, the situation is difficult to reverse; it would be exceedingly difficult, if...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rebuffed the Trump administration over its plan to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois over the strenuous objections of local officials. The court in an unsigned order turned away an emergency request made by the administration, which said the troops are needed to protect federal agents involved in immigration enforcement in the Chicago area. In doing so, the court at least provisionally rejected the Trump administration’s view that the situation on the ground is so chaotic that it justifies invoking a federal law that allows the president to call National Guard troops into federal service...

Denmark said Monday it will summon the US ambassador after President Donald Trump announced he had appointed a special envoy to Greenland, the Danish autonomous territory he has threatened to annex. In response, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa said they stood "in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland". Denmark said Monday it would summon the US ambassador after President Donald Trump appointed a special envoy to Greenland who immediately vowed to make the Danish autonomous territory "a part of the US". Since returning to the White House in January,...

An Israeli man was violently assaulted and lost an eye in a horrific attack overnight in Limassol, Cyprus. According to media reports, the victim was apparently overheard speaking Hebrew on his phone outside his hotel when a group of local youths allegedly recognized the language, hurled insults, before viciously attacking him. Cyprus police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. Photo of victim