Free Republic

A ‘sharp recession’ lies ahead for Germany should it be cut off from the Russian gas it is so badly addicted to. Germany’s energy situation does not appear to be getting any better, with a recently released report suggesting that the country would fall into a “sharp recession” should it suddenly lose access to Russian gas. While Europe as a whole appears keen to implement harsh embargos on Russian energy imports, Germany’s chronic addiction to Russian gas has put a wrench in such works, with authorities in the country having expressed disbelief as to how the addiction issue was ever...

KAYSERI, Turkey — As the muezzin heralded the noon prayers on a recent Friday, a small army of workers fanned out from an industrial park to take their places on mats in a nearby mosque. Fifteen minutes later, the prayers were over and the teachings of the Koran gave way to the demands of the factory floor. “In European countries, workers take a 15-minute smoking break; here we take a 15-minute prayer break,” said Ahmet Herdem, the mayor of Hacilar, a town of 20,000 people in central Anatolia, a deeply religious and socially conservative region which has produced some of...