Free Republic

France is deploying two Rafale fighter jets and a naval frigate in the eastern Mediterranean because of tensions between Greece and Turkey. French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Turkey to halt oil and gas exploration in disputed waters in the area. A Turkish survey ship began such a mission on Monday, angering Greece. The area is rich in untapped energy. There are also tensions around Cyprus over rival exploration rights. The Republic of Cyprus and Greece do not accept any such rights for Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus in the region. France is also at odds with Turkey over the crisis in...

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor says it is a “regression” for African nations — including her own country of Gambia — to quit the court and says the continent should work with her office to end impunity for atrocities. Speaking to The Associated Press on Tuesday at the court’s headquarters overlooking the North Sea on the edge of The Hague, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said regional and local courts in Africa should work with her office to bring perpetrators of atrocities to justice. …

Around 400 US Marines have been dispatched to a US base in Greece ahead of deployment on warships off Libya, an American military spokesman said today. "The operation is part of forces reposition in the region... with regard to Libya," said Paul Farley, spokemsan for the US Souda base on the island of Crete. He said the troops from North Carolina arrived at the base on Wednesday and would later join two US warships in Mediterranean. The USS Kearsage and the USS Ponce steamed into the Mediterranean en route to Libya yesterday, the Suez Canal Authority said. The Kearsage amphibious...