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The UK’s agreement with France to pay for beach patrols is on the verge of collapse amid wrangling over the number of small boat interceptions and the safety of asylum seekers in French waters. Negotiations over plans to revamp the three-year, £480m deal remain deadlocked, despite the involvement of ministers including Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary. The deal expires at midnight on Tuesday. It is understood that Downing Street has insisted on an increase in the number and nature of interventions by French officials as they seek to disrupt gang activity. Paris remains concerned that UK demands could put the...

A Paris court on Monday began hearings in a major trial involving 22 suspects accused of murder and other serious crimes on behalf of a mafia network inside the Athanor Masonic Lodge in the Paris suburb of Puteaux. The accused include police officers, former French intelligence agents and businessmen. Twenty-two people went on trial in France on Monday on charges of murder and other serious crimes centred on members of a Masonic lodge accused of running hit squads. Thirteen of the defendants face life imprisonment. Those in the dock include four military personnel from France's foreign intelligence service (DGSE), two...

Support Free Republic join me in supporting FR as the deadline approaches... "Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves... Iran says it attacked an anti-drone depot in the United Arab Emirates operated by Ukrainians defending an American base... Your host self-identifying as a great hypocrite with a song about hypocrisy penned... A clue about what Epstein was up to with all his international contacts in the story of French diplomat Fabrice Aidan now being investigated by French authorities......

A series of fireballs — very bright meteors — were spotted across North America from March 17-23, 2026. People in Ohio reported one on March 17. The next sightings were in California on March 19, Michigan and Georgia on March 20, and Texas on March 21, where a fragment crashed through a house roof. It's happening beyond the U.S. Vancouver saw a fireball on March 3. France and Germany reported sightings on March 8 and 11. Many fireballs lasted a long time and were seen across wide areas. Some caused pressure waves and sonic booms. ... The emerging picture is...

One study by Texas A&M in the late 1980s suggests the masses are from shipwrecks or piles of ballast stones from Spanish or French vessels. Man says he's found evidence of ancient civilization in St. Bernard | 4:35WWLTV | 631K subscribers | 30,266 views | March 2, 2022

This week French investigators searched the offices of Edmond de Rothschild in Paris. It was related to a former employee of the Swiss bank who worked previously as a diplomat. Fabrice Aidan linked to Jeffrey Epstein in more than 200 documents of the US Justice Department... Spiraling fuel costs caused by the Iran War on the minds of cabinet ministers. No relief for the general public is envisioned but targeted relief... "You are waiting for the Yellow Vests while it's you!"... In Paris an attempt to bomb the Bank of America foiled at the last minute. Police arresting a young...

Over 13,000 adults and 8,000 teens will be baptized in France this Easter, setting a new record, the French Bishops' Conference announced on March 25. "How is this happening? What's going on?" Archbishop Olivier de Germay of Lyon, France, didn't try to downplay the mystery. He serves as the point person for the catechumenate for the French Bishops' Conference (CEF). Speaking from Lourdes, he noted the many unknowns still surrounding the surge in teen and adult baptism requests. During the Easter Vigil, on April 4, the Church will celebrate 21,386 adult and teen baptisms. The CEF shared these staggering figures...

According to Catherine Vautrin, France is taking a "defensive" position, seeking a diplomatic solution, particularly regarding the Strait of HormuzPARIS, March 27. /TASS/. The United States launched its own military campaign against Iran without consulting allies and now demands that everyone join them, not exactly the best way to foster cooperation, French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin told Cnews. "When the war began on March 1, the US did not see fit, for example, to call France to share their plans, <...> they acted alone, and today they are asking everyone to join them," she said. According to her, France...

A social media campaign pushing fake news to exploit the death of a French journalist has emerged in recent days, accusing Israel of killing her in order to censor her reporting on Gaza. According to her family and friends, these claims are baseless. The father of Marine Vlahovic, a French journalist who was found dead on the roof of her Marseille apartment in November 2024, has rejected mounting social media speculation that his daughter was murdered by Israel. Jean-Yves Vlahovic, the father of Marine Vlahovic — a journalist celebrated for her documentary podcasts and work as a correspondent reporting from...

A deal with France to pay for migrant beach patrols has been delayed because Shabana Mahmood wants stricter, payment-by-results terms, The Times has been told. The Home Office said it was trying to add “flexibility and innovation” to the agreement to base funding on the number of interceptions made by the French. British officials will go to Paris this week for another round of talks on the proposed three-year deal before the existing arrangement expires next Tuesday. There are concerns about a potential surge in Channel crossings if there is a gap between the deals. At present, Britain pays nearly...

🚨BREAKING: France's local election results are in and the RN and other right-wing candidates (blue) CRUSHED the left-wing candidates (red) Many areas are now led by patriots, and it looks like the left is going extinct.

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron explained today that the French Army simply could not help open the Strait of Hormuz as all fifteen of its soldiers have already been deployed to defend Greenland. Though expressing their sincere desire to help, Macron stated that France simply did not have the military resources to help open the Strait while maintaining its protection of Greenland. "All of France's military might, specifically the one unit we have with fifteen soldiers, is already deployed," said Macron. "They cannot be relocated as they are bravely defending the shores of Greenland. Specifically, the one shore that's...

French President Emmanuel Macron speaking with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian last week repeating US-Israeli talking points about Iran possessing nuclear weapons or long-range missiles. Mr. Macron injected himself into the Israeli offensive against Lebanon and the Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement. France is a former colonial power in Lebanon... President Trump signaling this disagreement with French President Emmanuel Macron on the Iran War also noting: "He'll be out of office soon" But Mr. Trump did give France's overall policy on the Iran War... But for France and its European allies the Ukraine War remains a priority this week France enforcing economic sanctions...

The Western Alliance was already fraying long before the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began earlier this month. But the collective refusal of European leaders to even entertain the idea of assisting the U.S. in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open – and their personal insults against President Donald Trump – may have fractured the relationship beyond repair. As Iranian forces continue to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint through which 20-30 percent of all global crude oil flows, President Trump has called on European nations to form an international coalition to help reopen the strait....

The Western European NATO allies of the United States appear to be celebrating what they mistakenly believe is the discomfort the Americans and Israelis are now encountering in the Iran war. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has unctuously announced that this war is not a NATO responsibility since NATO is a defensive alliance. He has at least had the decency to recognise that “The United States and Israel are doing the world’s dirty work for it.” President Trump has made it clear that he does not need the assistance of any other country in clearing the Hormuz Strait, but he considers...

Serbia has sharply condemned Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, for what it described as “unacceptable interference in internal affairs,” after she criticized the Balkan country’s military cooperation with Israel. The diplomatic dispute follows Albanese’s visit to Belgrade this week, during which she accused Serbian authorities of collaborating “without shame” with Israel, claiming Serbia is among its strongest allies and that Serbian weapons are being used in Gaza. “We consider the statements made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Mrs. Albanese, to be unbalanced and activist in nature, and as such inappropriate to the mandate she...

Trump’s former national security advisor has slammed European leaders’ inaction on the war in Iran as a “mistake” that invites the US president to halt support for Ukraine against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Europe’s stance on the Iran war risks US President Donald Trump walking away from the conflict in Ukraine, his former national security advisor, John Bolton, has said, criticising the EU’s reaction to the situation in the Middle East. In an interview with Euronews, Bolton, who also previously served as the US’s ambassador to the UN, branded the Iran conflict as “Europe’s war.” “Europe is just as much, if...

The central principle of democracy is that power is vested in the people and expressed by their elected representatives. We expect that governments will seek to align themselves with the views and opinions of the people, while protecting the views and opinions of minorities. Yet Britain is currently demonstrating a different phenomenon: at times, and under the right circumstances, governments are seeking to align themselves with the views and opinions of minorities while failing to protect the views and opinions of the people. Take this Labour Government, which at present appears to be in a blind panic. With local elections...

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Leading ⁠nations ⁠in Europe ⁠said in a joint statement ​with Japan on Thursday they would ‌take steps to stabilise ‌energy markets and were ⁠ready ⁠to join "appropriate efforts" to ensure safe passage ​through the Strait of Hormuz. The statement from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the ​Netherlands and Japan, condemned attacks by ⁠Iran and ⁠called on it ⁠to ​halt its actions immediately. It also said ​they would ⁠work with certain energy producing nations to increase output and stabilise markets. "We express our readiness ⁠to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe ⁠passage through the Strait," the...

Unlike the Kurds in 1991, the Iranians of 2026 will have a genuine chance to wrest their freedom because of five key reasons: 1. Iran’s army, navy, and — most importantly — air force have mostly been destroyed. (And whatever’s left will be blown to bits over the next few days.) 2. We have complete air supremacy over Iran and aren’t impeded by UN regulations that would prevent us from using it to blow Iranian planes, helicopters, and drones out of the sky, should they target protesters. 3. Instead of pushing Saddam’s army out of Kuwait, President Trump focused on...