Free Republic

Michael Kretschmer, prime minister of the German state of Saxony, knew he was entering the lion’s den. But even he looked unprepared for the boos, whistles and catcalls that greeted him in Chemnitz, a city boiling over with rage and hurt.  Addressing a town-hall meeting of locals reeling from the murder of a 35-year-old man in the city last weekend, Mr Kretschmer insisted they should have distanced themselves from the rightwing extremists who hijacked their peaceful protest over the killing, which authorities suspect was carried out by a Syrian and an Iraqi. “It’s not a good thing to be in a...

CHEMNITZ, Germany — Waving German flags, with some flashing Nazi salutes, the angry mob made its way through the streets, chasing after dark-skinned bystanders as police officers, vastly outnumbered, were too afraid to intervene. A Syrian refugee and father of two, Anas al-Nahlawie, watched horrified from a friend’s fourth-floor balcony. They were hunting in packs for immigrants just like him, he said. “Like wolves.” For a few perilous hours over two days this week, the mob owned the streets of Chemnitz, where anger exploded after word spread that an Iraqi and a Syrian asylum seeker were suspected in a knife...

CHEMNITZ, Germany (Reuters) - Far-right demonstrators clashed with leftist protesters in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Monday after an Iraqi and a Syrian were arrested over a fatal stabbing that had triggered violent demonstrations. Over a thousand leftist protesters massed near a giant statue of Karl Marx in Chemnitz on Monday evening to protest attacks on foreigners that occurred during an impromptu demonstration on Sunday after reports spread on social media about the stabbing of a 35-year-old German man. Nearly the same number of demonstrators waving German and Bavarian flags gathered nearby, some breaking through police barriers aimed...

Saxony court officials have decided this week that a Niedersdorf man can now legally sell his miniature gallow souvenirs, despite the fact they have reservations for Angela Merkel and her colleague Sigmar Gabriel on them. In a surprising decision by the Chemnitz judiciary, a citizen has been allowed to sell his miniature versions of the gallows used at the Dresden PEGIDA demonstration on October 12th 2015, reported the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Wednesday. The miniatures are based on the life-sized gallows carried in the protest in 2015, which had signs hanging from the hangman’s nooses with the words, “Reserved for Angela...

The German city of Chemnitz was in lockdown Saturday after armed police launched a huge manhunt for a Syrian suspected of planning a bomb attack, as the country grapples with a weakened sense of security following recent terror assaults. Police, who told people to stay in their homes, named the suspect as 22-year-old Syrian Jaber Albakr. Photographs posted on social media showed armed police clad in black balaclavas and helmets at an apartment building in the eastern city. Germany has been on edge after suffering two attacks claimed by the Islamic State group (IS) in July -- an axe rampage...

German police have launched a manhunt for a suspected Syrian bomb plotter after raiding a building in the eastern city of Chemnitz. The suspect was identified as Jaber Albakr from Damascus and police urged anyone with information about his whereabouts to come forward. "We have to assume that the person is dangerous," Tom Bernhardt, spokesman for the state criminal police, was quoted as saying. An image released by police showed a dark-haired man wearing a hooded sweatshirt. He was said to have been wearing similar clothes when he was last seen. Police raided an apartment in the Fritz-Heckert-Gebiet neighbourhood after...

The Russians are preparing to harvest the spoils from their billions of dollars of investment in Syria. Israeli electronic warfare and American surveillance and might are in their way, although their equipment is also antiquated. They have told the Iranians to leave, and although they had been mainly in the north have now been seen approaching the eastern part of Syria and the Euphrates River, where the oil wealth is. Also some news about political changes in Iran, which seems to be heading for a harder line in its government and will certainly join Russia if warfare does break out.

The United States on Monday asked judges at the International Court of Justice to throw out a claim by Iran to recover $1.75 billion (€1.5 billion) in national bank assets seized by U.S. courts. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the assets must be turned over to American families of victims of the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, among others. The hearings at the tribunal were separate from Iran’s claim relating to current U.S. sanctions against Tehran. Iran’s claim in both cases is based on a 1955 Amity Treaty, which was signed 24...

Amazon has admitted it sold goods to a person named on the US government's list of people and entities associated with terrorism. The company is also under federal investigation for possible violations of US sanctions against Iran The company disclosed the information in their quarterly financial report Friday...... In its July 28 regulatory filing, Amazon also noted it made other sales that could have violated the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act, other export-control laws or US sanctions, according to Silicon Beat. The US Department of the Treasury and the US Department of Commerce is investigating the sales...

The man dubbed the "far-right candidate" had a very strong first round finish in Brazil's presidential election..... Two Israelis were killed and a third injured in a terrorist attack in the West Bank Sunday morning at an industrial park...... Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met from North Korea's ruler Kim Jong-un for more than three hours Sunday..... The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating an accident involving a stretch limousine in upstate New York that killed 20 people..... The Turkish regime believes that Saudi government critic Jamal Khashoggi was murdered when he visited the Istanbul consulate of Saudi Arabia last...

Despite the United States recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December and relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv in May, Americans born in Jerusalem are still unable to list “Jerusalem, Israel” on U.S. passports. “The president has made clear that the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem remain subject to final-status negotiations between the [Israelis and the Palestinians],” a State Department spokesperson told JNS. “We have not changed our practice regarding place of birth on passports or Consular Reports of Birth Abroad at this time.”

Russia Derangement Syndrome: Syria Edition by David Archibald 6 August 2018 The road to hell is paved with good intentions. So it has been with US involvement in Syria. To provide a context to that involvement, let’s start part way through the story with the self-immolation of a Tunisian vegetable vendor on December 17, 2011, driven to despair by harassment from petty officials. That spark set off the Arab Spring. A number of Arab regimes changed; some remained resilient. That wasn’t good enough for David Cameron and Nicholas Sarkozy, the then leaders of the UK and France respectively. Their armed...

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke out against President Donald Trump in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, blasting his anti-press rhetoric, the retreat from the world stage, and his insults of U.S. allies.

"When it comes once again the debt crisis will come back and hit cause actually national borrowing, corporate borrowing and individual borrowing is even bigger than it was back in 2008 when we had those huge problems.." Nigel Farage-"The Nigel Farage Show"-9/10/2018 "Democrats...tax and spend...Republicans...spend and spend" Michael Savage-"The Michael Savage Show"-10/1/2018 ".....British interests involve almost total subjection to the wishes of Saudi Arabia. So their current stance of supposed horror on the subject of Chemical Weapons, especially when (as was not the case in Halabja), their use has not been established beyond doubt, may be less than wholly genuine..."...

Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour on Friday launched a racial attack against Sen. Susan Collins, saying the Maine Republican was guilty of espousing “white supremacy” with her decision to support the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Ms. Sarsour, a prominent Palestinian-American activist, blasted Ms. Collins on Twitter as a “white woman” and the “mother & grandmother of white women in America who gave us a Donald Trump presidency.”

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli official played down on Wednesday the Russian upgrading of Syria’s air defences, saying the newly supplied S-300 missile system could be defeated by Israel’s stealth fighters and possibly destroyed on the ground. Moscow said on Tuesday that it had delivered the S-300, a decision it took after accusing Israel of indirect responsibility for the downing of a Russian spy plane by Syrian forces as they fired on attacking Israeli jets last month. Damascus and its big-power backer describe the advanced addition to Syria’s arsenal as a major deterrent. Israel and Washington have both voiced misgivings...

The Senate has been in session all night with senators speaking about the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. The final vote will be today and it could be..... Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke faces a minimum of six year in prison after being convicted of second degree murder.... A new tone from the European Union about Brexit..... The latest on the disappearance of the Chinese official who heads Interpol is that Chinese authorities took him into custody..... We still don't know what happened to Saudi journalist and critic of hte Saudi Arabian government Jamal Khashoggi.......

As the fall arrives, the probability of a fourth Gaza war between Israel and Hamas is on the rise. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot decided on Thursday to reinforce troops along the tense security fence, citing the military’s policy of preventing infiltrations from the blockaded coastal enclave into southern Israel. The reinforcements include snipers, as well as infantry and armored forces. The IDF has also deployed the Iron Dome missile defense system over concerns of mortar and rocket fire from the blockaded coastal enclave. The decision was made ahead of the 29th week of violent Friday protests, out...

The update was interrupted this afternoon by pro-Palestinians at the hotel and had to be re-broadcast later. All the parts of the S-300s are in Syria now and only the further steps are needed to make them operational. Israel basically now has a border with Russia, not with Syria. Other aspects of the buildup toward conflict, involving the United States and others. The big picture is taking shape.

Syria’s foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, told the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday that the country was ready for the voluntary return of refugees who fled during the more than seven-year conflict. ... We welcome any assistance with reconstruction from those countries that were not part of the aggression on Syria