Free Republic

Outlining the history and particulars of the rules of war.

Sophia Loren has been rushed to hospital to undergo emergency surgery after suffering a bad fall at her home in Geneva, Switzerland. The Hollywood star, 89, was left with several fractures to her hip and and a series fracture to her femur after she fell in the bathroom of her home this weekend. Sophia’s sons, Carlo Jr., 55, and Edoardo, 50, have been by her side throughout the ordeal and her time in hospital, according to The Hollywood Reporter. News about Sophia’s condition was shared by the team at her self-titled restaurant chain, who shared the news on their Instagram...

Is United Nations Geneva trying to tell us somethin’? Heh. Hey man, we all ‘typo’ when we tweet … it happens. And we’ve seen some silly gun-grabbing tweets but this one? WOOF and YIKES all in one. If you’re tweeting for say some very large even GLOBAL organization you might want to double-check what your tweet says beyond just spellcheck. Not to mention hashtags are a different beast entirely so check, check, and check again. They tweeted this in response to the Allen, TX shooting (and it was up for several hours): Why is the UN promoting #IncestInPeace? Incest? pic.twitter.com/TDOYDkXqzZ...

Elon Musk is back again, tweeting out a meme calling CERN's Large Hadron Collider "demonic technology" and that should totally, totally not surprise us at this point. For those unaware of what the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is, it's the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator located underground in Geneva, Switzerland. The Large Hadron Collider was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research with over 10,000 scientists, hundreds of universities and laboratories, with the collaboration of over 100 countries. CERN recently turned the Large Hadron Collider back in 6 weeks ago, with Elon tweeting out the meme 6...

A captured Russian soldier has described how he was shot at and his comrade killed after fellow troops opened fire on them when they tried to protect Ukrainian civilians. In a video, the POW described how he and a lieutenant tried to save a woman in her 20s, and her mother, after Russian soldiers were given orders to fire on civilians on February 24 in Kharkiv. In the clip, the captured soldier claimed he was shot in the foot, and the lieutenant killed, when other troops realised the pair weren't shooting at civilians. It comes as a separate video showed...

A Russian commander captured by Ukraine condemned Moscow’s “genocide” invasion — saying in a remarkable televised statement that the troops were duped into believing Kyiv had been overthrown by Nazis and needed liberating. National Guard Lt. Col. Astakhov Dmitry Mikhailovich, who was captured along with two other soldiers, said he had been told they were being sent to help Ukraine because it was “dominated by a fascist regime” and that “nationalists and Nazis had seized power.” “Obviously, this information was unilateral information,” Mikhailovich told reporters in a video that emerged Monday. National Guard Lt. Col. Astakhov Dmitry Mikhailovich condemned Moscow’s...

When last we heard about Tariq Ramadan, at one time the most famous Muslim “public intellectual” in the Western world, he had fallen from grace. The curtain was pulled back and as one woman after another came forward to charge him with rape, he was revealed to be not only a serial rapist, but one who enjoyed humiliating – and physically hurting – his victims. He has been allowed out of prison, and awaits trial in Paris. He may also have to face trial in Geneva, with a different set of accusers. In the wake of these charges, he was...

In 2009 or 2010, three looted sculptures were taken from the ancient city of Palmyra. Several years later, customs officers in Switzerland seized them at a Geneva freeport. At last, they’re heading home to Syria, the Art Newspaper reports. The three sculptures date back to the second and third centuries B.C.E., when Palmyra was still a nexus of trade, possibly during the rule of Queen Zenobia. One of the sculptures is a bust of a priest wearing a ceremonial headpiece. The sculpture was badly damaged by the looters when they removed it from the site, as the head once had...

Biden discussed meeting with other world leaders in Rome to enact climate change initiatives. After his talk, he opened the floor to questions but admitted that he was told to start with the Associated Press. "And now I’m happy to take some questions. And I’m told I should start with AP, Zeke Miller," Biden said. Biden has previously alluded to the idea that he had a list of pre-approved reporters to call on back in June following his Geneva visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I’ll take your questions, and as usual, folks, they gave me a list of the...

Australia delivered a withering denunciation of China's trade policies Thursday, accusing Beijing of undermining the World Trade Organization and foot-dragging on promised economic reforms. During a usually routine WTO review in Geneva, Canberra's representatives said China had benefited "significantly" from 20 years of WTO membership but was not keeping its end of the bargain. ... ..."China has increasingly tested global trade rules and norms by engaging in practices that are inconsistent with its WTO commitments," the Australian government said in a statement. "By undermining agreed trade rules China also undermines the multilateral trading system on which all WTO members rely."...

Something strange is going on. Why is the EU so keen to shoe-horn America back into the nuclear deal with Iran? Former US president Donald Trump ditched the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal three years ago and imposed heavy sanctions on the mullahs’ regime under his ‘maximum pressure’ campaign. Since then, the Iranians have boasted about how they have flouted the terms of the deal by accelerating their advanced centrifuge program and enriching uranium to almost weapons grade fissile status. The Biden administration is being ultra-cautious. But the EU’s high Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security, the Spanish...

Biden recently met with the president of Russia in Geneva, and America had a very good day. The entire world waited with bated breath to watch the main event of the summer; Vlad from Russia vs. Sleepy Joe from Wilmington. They looked like the odd couple. Barrel chested and shirtless, Vlad rides horses through the wilderness and Joe eats two scoops of ice cream without getting a brain freeze. Surprisingly, Joe got all up in Vlad’s grill. Joe angrily wagged his bony finger in Putin’s face and told him please don’t cyber-attack 16 critical targets in America – or else....

Everything in Geneva went swimmingly between Joey and Vlad. And if you don’t believe me just ask the acting President himself. He said his meeting with Vlad went “pretty good.” Well, I suppose - if by “pretty good” you mean “train wreck.” Whoops, no more trackThe degree to which the summit was a disaster became evident when Putin emerged for his press conference — alone with a forum all to himself. (The Biden Team did not want to do a joint presser so held their own)Putin fielded softball questions from Russian news agencies, but he also welcomed hostile questions from...

Live: Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin meet in Geneva

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Kremlin is aware of US President Joe Biden's plans to hold a solo press conference in Geneva after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik, adding that the Russian president would also talk to the media unaccompanied by his American counterpart."This is most likely the American president's general practice. As we know, the US president also held a separate press conference in England. They did not hold a joint press conference with [UK Prime Minister] Boris Johnson. We also learned that Mr Biden is planning to hold a separate press...

Now that coronavirus vaccines are starting to roll out in the U.S. and abroad, many people may be dreaming of the day when they can travel, shop and go to the movies again. But in order to do those activities, you may eventually need something in addition to the vaccine: a vaccine passport application.

In order for people to travel in 2021, they may eventually need a COVID vaccine passport. Several companies and technology groups have begun developing smartphone apps or systems for individuals to upload details of their COVID-19 tests and vaccinations, creating digital credentials that could be shown in order to enter concert venues, stadiums, movie theaters, offices, or even countries. The Common Trust Network, an initiative by Geneva-based nonprofit The Commons Project and the World Economic Forum, has partnered with several airlines including Cathay Pacific, JetBlue, Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, as well as hundreds of health systems...

Now that coronavirus vaccines are starting to roll out in the US and abroad, many people may be dreaming of the day when they can travel, shop and go to the movies again. But in order to do those activities, you may eventually need something in addition to the vaccine: a vaccine passport application. Several companies and technology groups have begun developing smartphone apps or systems for individuals to upload details of their Covid-19 tests and vaccinations, creating digital credentials that could be shown in order to enter concert venues, stadiums, movie theaters, offices, or even countries. The Common Trust...

Most of you are likely familiar with the city of Geneva, Switzerland. It’s famous for being the home of the United Nations and some of the world’s most lucrative (and secretive) banks, as well as the birthplace of the Geneva Convention. One other fact is that it’s among the most expensive places to live on the planet. As a result, it’s rather hard to get along there if you’re not part of the fabulously wealthy set. But now they’ve come up with a solution to that issue and it’s one that was probably predictable given Switzerland’s socialist leanings. They’re...

Europe’s preeminent particle-physics organization will need global help to fund the project, which is expected to cost at least €21 billion and would be a follow-up to the lab’s famed Large Hadron Collider. The new machine would collide electrons with their antimatter partners, positrons, by the middle of the century. The design—to be built in an underground tunnel near CERN’s location in Geneva, Switzerland—will enable physicists to study the properties of the Higgs boson and, later, to host an even more powerful machine that will collide protons well into the second half of the century. The approval is not yet...