Free Republic

...the Beauty of Killing Fascists: This review was certainly planned differently, on the assumption that this would be a conventionally proceeding first night. But now one has to start with the ending. In the final scene, the 'fascist' has the floor - that is, the far-right politician who hasn't said a single word until now, just waited for his execution by a large group of committed anti-fascists, who have made such actions a recurring ritual for seventy years. So Tiago Rodrigues' play ends with a very long monologue in which the prisoner delivers the usual nonsense from JD Vance, AfD,...

Marco Rubio considers it an "overused term" while Friedrich Merz thinks it "no longer exists". But while the US Secretary of State and German chancellor may not believe in the relevance of the rules-based international order, the concept — and its potential collapse — has been at the forefront of global geopolitics of late. The phrase caught the global attention in January after a rare speech, from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in which a world leader tackled the often unspoken concept head on. "We knew the story of the rules-based international order was partially false, that the strongest would...

Berlin film festival director Tricia Tuttle defended the Berlinale jury’s right to speak freely on politics, after criticism for refusing to label Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide. ✍️ @HannahBrown972 [link] Berlinale head Tricia Tuttle defends jury for refusing to condemn Israel for ‘genocide’ The issue surfaced following the opening press conference, where the International Jury president, director Wim Wenders, said that filmmakers should stay out of politics.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European leaders on Feb. 14 that Washington is not walking away from the transatlantic alliance—but called for a renewed partnership that aligns with President Donald Trump’s push for national revival, tougher border control, and a return to industrial and military strength.Addressing the annual Munich Security Conference, Rubio sought to reassure governments unsettled by a year of tensions over trade, defense spending, and at times critical U.S. rhetoric toward NATO.At the same time, he made clear that Washington’s commitment would be tied to what he called a broader civilizational renewal—one that calls on Europe...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., alleged at the Munich Security Conference on Friday that U.S. aid to the Jewish state enabled a genocide by Israel. AOC’s attack on the Jewish state in Munich unfolded in the birthplace of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi movement that carried out the worst genocide in human history. During the town hall event in Munich, the Squad member said, "To me, this isn't just about a presidential election. Personally, I think that the United States has an obligation to uphold its own laws, particularly the Leahy laws. And I think that personally, that the idea of completely unconditional...

According to the latest public opinion poll released by the Associated Press, about 70 percent of Americans oppose the United States taking control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. Among Republicans who support U.S. President Donald Trump, about 50 percent are opposed to the United States acquiring Greenland. The Associated Press noted that, so far, very few people in the United States have publicly expressed support for the plan to take control of Greenland. Only about 24% of American adults approve of Trump’s approach to Greenland. Among Republicans, opinions are notably more divided; roughly half disapprove of the attempt...

Irresponsible Trump, responsible China: that is the message the BBC’s climate editor seemed to be sending us by juxtaposing the news that the President had repealed Barack Obama’s “endangerment finding” and that China’s carbon emissions fell slightly last year. Trump’s critics like to portray him as a rogue figure in a world which is otherwise committed to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. But is there any truth in that? The endangerment finding was a piece of legalese issued in a 2009 ruling by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It stated that six greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide,...

With the US relationship with Europe increasingly frayed, and a major nuclear arms treaty set to expire this week, longtime pacifist Germany is starting to think differently about its nuclear posture. German Chancellor Frederich Merz recently revealed that Germany is in discussions with other European powers about establishing Europe-wide nuclear deterrence. And while it’s highly unlikely that Berlin would acquire its own nuclear weapons, European countries such as Germany are beginning to look beyond the US for protection. Germany hopes that the French will allow discussions about their nuclear strategy on a European level, Emil Archambault, a defense expert at...

Germany has issued a travel advisory to its citizens travelling to the United States, citing risks linked to immigration enforcement and public-order situations. Germany’s Federal Foreign Office said on Tuesday that German citizens should be aware of demonstrations and clashes with American migration and security authorities. Why It MattersThe advisory is not a political statement about the U.S. but aims to give impartial information for German citizens travelling to the country at a time of increased tensions during President Donald Trump's aggressive deportation drive.Protests have been held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and other cities against the actions of Immigration and Customs...

At an emergency summit of European Union leaders in Brussels, the building blocks of an empire were beginning to take shape. […] In a brutal new age of world powers, the EU wants to build a bigger, richer, stronger “super Europe” able to resist the dangerous whims of the globe’s autocrats. Turning 27 quarrelsome small to middle-sized powers into a geopolitical heavyweight has been Emmanuel Macron’s largely unheeded call ever since the US president’s first term. This time, though, it is different, multiple Brussels insiders have told The Telegraph. “Let’s take a step back and realize we live in a...

Xi Jinping has offered Europe new trade partnerships and promised to uphold the “values” of the United Nations. The move is an apparent attempt to capitalise on the continent’s growing rift with the United States. On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer became the latest leader to travel to Beijing after Mark Carney and Petteri Orpo, the prime ministers of Canada and Finland. In a meeting with Mr Orpo on Tuesday, the Chinese president said China and Europe were “partners, not adversaries” and invited Finnish companies to “swim in the vast ocean of the Chinese market”. He also appeared to snub Donald...

The woman stole a knife from a drug store and attacked passengers waiting on a platform in the busy station during the Friday evening rush hour, severely injuring at least four of her victims. A woman who stabbed 15 people in an attack at Hamburg's central train station in northern Germany last year was ordered on Monday to be held permanently in a psychiatric hospital. A court ruled that the 39-year-old woman, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, could not be held criminally responsible for the 23 May attack, according to a court spokesperson. The woman stole a knife from...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon released a priority-shifting National Defense Strategy late Friday that chastised U.S. allies to take control of their own security and reasserted the Trump administration’s focus on dominance in the Western Hemisphere above a longtime goal of countering China.The 34-page document, the first since 2022, was highly political for a military blueprint, criticizing partners from Europe to Asia for relying on previous U.S. administrations to subsidize their defense. It called for “a sharp shift — in approach, focus, and tone.” That translated to a blunt assessment that allies would take on more of the burden countering...

Top business leaders this week delivered an expletive-laden plea in defense of climate action, describing the backlash to Europe’s green transition as an “aberration.” In an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Allianz CEO Oliver Bäte said he disagreed with the suggestion that it may just be a matter of time before net zero is dismissed in Europe, saying short-term thinking on this issue is “bulls---.” Asked about political leaders backtracking on their much-vaunted European Green New Deal and Norway’s oil fund reportedly defending a push from companies to water down their climate goals, Bäte...

Former U.S. ambassador John Bolton criticizes President Trump's escalating rhetoric on acquiring Greenland, possibly by military force, because of security concerns. "This is a tragedy that just unfolds day by day, causing us more and more harm," Bolton tells "NewsNation Prime." Trump's Greenland threats aren't real, but they're harmful: John Bolton | 5:24 NewsNation | 2.52M subscribers | 302,702 views | January 18, 2026

The EU has strengthened its energy security by cutting gas demand by over 20% between 2021 and 2024 and curbing gas imports from Russia. However, this progress masks a new vulnerability for the EU: Incentivising imports of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) has created a potentially high-risk new geopolitical dependency. Following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU has gradually reduced its reliance on Russian gas. The bloc’s imports of Russian gas (including pipeline gas and LNG) fell by 75% between 2021 and 2025. Despite this shift, Russia remains one of the EU’s largest gas suppliers. The EU...

The prime minister will take to the Downing Street lectern this morning, after another extraordinary weekend of diplomatic turmoil prompted by US President Donald Trump. Sir Keir Starmer knows that people and businesses in the UK will expect him to respond, in front of the cameras, to the prospect of the UK and European allies being hammered by more US tariffs. It is the latest twist in the row over Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory Trump wants to get his hands on. Trump has said he will impose new taxes on eight US allies - Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the...

Davos (Switzerland) (AFP) – The collective wealth of the planet's billionaires soared to a record level in 2025, charity Oxfam reported Monday, warning of "highly dangerous" political consequences as the global elite gathers for the World Economic Forum. US President Donald Trump's policies in particular spurred the fortunes of the ultra-rich, which jumped 16.2 percent in the first year of his second term to $18.3 trillion, the NGO said in a report released each year ahead of the Davos forum. "Actions of the Trump presidency including the championing of deregulation and undermining agreements to increase corporate taxation have benefited the...

<p>French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that his country has now overtaken the US as the main provider of intelligence to Ukraine.</p><p>"Where Ukraine was overwhelmingly dependent on American intelligence capacity, a year ago, two-thirds is today provided by France. Two-thirds," Macron said in a New Year's speech to the French military.</p>

It’s not often that Europe speaks with one voice – or responds with such urgency.But US President Donald Trump’s announcement Saturday of sanctions against several European countries that reject any US claim to Greenland, a Danish territory, was one of those moments.EU ambassadors are holding an emergency meeting in Brussels on Sunday in response to Trump’s threat, which he made after an estimated quarter of the population of Greenland’s capital Nuuk joined protests against any potential annexation.Across the continent, among allies that usually tread carefully in responding to utterances from the White House, the response was immediate and emphatic, and...