Free Republic

Turkey's president appears to have threatened to intervene in Gaza in an impassioned speech at a pro-Palestine rally this evening. Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a speech to a rally this afternoon in which he told attendees Israel was responsible for war crimes, and framed Hamas as "freedom fighters". In comments that have prompted Israeli outcry, and led the country to withdraw its diplomatic presence, president Erdogan suggested assaults on Gaza constituted a "massacre". In the same speech, he reportedly said that Turkey can "come at any night unexpectedly” to ecstatic reception from hundreds of thousands of attendees. The footage, which...

Italy’s highest court on Wednesday cleared the way for Romano Prodi, the centre-left leader, to take over as prime minister by certifying his victory in last week’s hotly disputed general election. Having reviewed several thousand contested ballot papers, the Court of Cassation confirmed that Mr Prodi’s alliance had defeated the centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi, the premier who has governed Italy since 2001. Mr Berlusconi refused last week to acknowledge Mr Prodi’s victory, but some politicians in his coalition have signalled their willingness to accept the result and go into opposition. They calculate that, with a mere two-seat majority in...