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Nearly 5,000 criminal cases were launched last year against everyday citizens for criticizing politicians online. Germans have had enough. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz - ODD ANDERSEN / AFP.The German Criminal Code’s controversial Section 188, which prohibits social media users from insulting or even criticizing politicians online, has become a hot topic in Germany again after a Facebook user was fined for over €2,000 for calling Chancellor Merz a “liar.” Pollster INSA conducted a country-wide survey to discover what Germans actually think about the law, and found widespread opposition. According to the poll, a plurality (43%) of Germans want the complete...

A former Royal Navy commander has expressed concerns over reports Sir Keir Starmer could axe a new fleet of warships. Tom Sharpe, who commanded four warships during his 27-year career, said he fears ministers will take the “cheapest option” rather than the best one in the future of the Type 83 destroyer programme. Reports claim the Prime Minister is weighing up scrapping plans to build the warships, expected to replace the current Type 45s next decade. Mr Sharpe said there is a decision to be made about the programme, as the First Sea Lord pushes for a transition towards a...

Defence Secretary John Healey resigns This is breaking news - we'll have more details in our next post.

The US fired nearly 50 Tomahawk missiles at the country on Wednesday night. Iranian state media has reported that explosions were heard around Minab and Sirik in the southern part of the country, near the Strait of Hormuz. Air defense systems in Asaluyah were also activated - though no attacks have occurred thus far in the key energy hub that houses refineries and petrochemical complexes, CNN reports. As the strikes then continued, Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters warned that the Strait of Hormuz would be closed to all marine traffic - and all ships seen passing through the waterway...

Alice Smith reposted Nina Wysocka @realninawysocka Elon Musk to Starmer: “Murderous migrants beheading innocent people in their hometown is what’s making people angry, not social media!”

A Chinese tracking device was discovered in the Prime Minister's official car, MPs were told yesterday. The bug is believed to have been found in a sealed part of the vehicle imported from China. Its discovery during a sweep first emerged in 2023, sparking fears that Beijing was aggressively spying on ministers in the then-Conservative government. Now it has been revealed that the device was in fact found in the Prime Minister's car the previous year. Charles Parton, of think-tank the Council on Geostrategy, told the Commons Business and Trade Committee yesterday: 'The prime minister's car in 2022 was emanating...

I'm starting to think diversity is not, indeed, our strength. Surprisingly, the Police Service of Northern Ireland was quick to admit that the suspect is Somali. Normally, the police and media would report the suspect as a "Belfast man" in a situation like this! The victim not only had his throat cut, but according to reports, had at least one of his eyes gouged out by the Somali man. Here's one witness testimony from the BBC, which also reported that the man is "believed to be Somali": A resident told BBC News NI how she was in her home when...

In harrowing video posted online, an attacker can be seen straddling the bloodied victim’s neck armed with a knife. He stabs the victim in the head repeatedly before taking the knife to the man’s neck, before members of the public rush over to stop the attack. Bystanders can be heard screaming in the clip: "He’s trying to cut his head off". Police said today that a Sudanese man in his 30s had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon, the Northern Ireland Secretary said members of the public who intervened during...

A man has been seriously injured in a stabbing in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where footage from the scene appeared to show an attempted beheading. The suspect was arrested after bystanders intervened. The incident was reported shortly after 10:30 p.m. on Monday on Kinnaird Avenue in north Belfast, where officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland responded to a stabbing. Police said one man was taken to hospital with serious injuries. A second man was arrested in connection with the incident. Graphic footage posted by witnesses showed the suspect on top of the victim in the middle of the road...

In a joint letter signed by former ministers and all of the Labour chairs of Westminster select committees, the UK Government has been told there is an “urgent need for accountability and concrete consequences in response to Israel’s violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are spiralling by the day”. The letter to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was co-ordinated by Melanie Ward, the Labour MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy and the former chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). It comes as Israel launches air strikes on Iran despite a so-called ceasefire, closes all...

The White House is actively considering a plan to purchase the Chagos Islands, potentially undermining the UK’s agreement to transfer sovereignty of the strategically vital territory to Mauritius, according to reports. US officials have prepared proposals to bypass Britain and negotiate directly for control of Diego Garcia, the key Indian Ocean atoll that hosts a major joint US-UK military base. The idea forms part of broader options being developed by the Trump administration as alternatives to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s plan to cede the islands to Mauritius, which has close ties to China and Iran. Strategic Importance Diego Garcia’s location...

Middle-class white men have been banned from a taxpayer-funded internship in a case of 'blatant discrimination'. The National Audit Office (NAO), a publicly-funded Government spending watchdog, said only applicants who were female, of black heritage or from lower socio-economic backgrounds could apply for its diversity internship this summer. In a job advert the watchdog said its six-week scheme aimed to 'support diverse talent' in accounting and was open to penultimate-year undergraduates studying any degree.

The leaders of Ukraine and its close European allies - the UK, France and Germany - have set out out five conditions for reaching a "just and lasting" deal to end the war with Russia. In a joint statement after talks in London, Volodymyr Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they would "stand firmly with Ukraine". The five conditions include a stop to the fighting, starting negotiations from the current position in the field as well as "robust" security guarantees for Ukraine. The leaders reiterated the need for the...

The Royal Navy's entire available fleet of hunter-killer submarines is stuck in port unable to sail – leaving Britain at risk from Vladimir Putin's Russia. In a fresh humiliation for Britain's Armed Forces, all five of its Astute class submarines are currently laid up awaiting maintenance and other repair work. Military experts have also warned that the Navy's lack of available nuclear-powered attack submarines – which carry up to 38 Spearfish torpedoes and a battery of Tomahawk missiles – leaves the UK's sub-sea internet and power cables dangerously vulnerable to sabotage by the Kremlin. The subs also play a critical...

Much Important News Including Middle East-Iran-Israel-Lebanon News Has "Dumped" This Weekend... Support Free Republic Some of the posts like this one are reposted on "Free Republic" FR a premier Conservative website used by Rush Limbaugh for show prep. The Scripture For Church Tomorrow Includes A Lot About "Love Your Wives"... I am supporting FR.... Newsdump Alert: At Least Nine Killed In Israeli Air Attacks In Southern Lebanon...One Of Those Killed A General In The Lebanese Army... Israeli Attack On A Lebanese Army Vehicle Came After Army Commander General Rudolf Haykal left the country to visit Pakistan... "Special Operations And Low...

The White House is considering a plan to buy the Chagos Islands from Mauritius, the Telegraph reported on ​Sunday. U.S. officials have drawn up a proposal to bypass the U.K. ‌and make their own deal to take control of Diego Garcia, the report said. The plan is among several options being drafted by the White House, in a paper aimed at providing alternatives ​to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer ceding sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago ​to Mauritius, the report said. "President Trump has been consistent in his position ⁠that the United Kingdom should not give away the British Indian...

British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has said that not all ethnic groups should be treated the same by police in the wake of the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, who died in police handcuffs after officers refused to believe he had been stabbed by a Sikh man. Lammy, who also serves as the left-wing Labour Party government’s Justice Secretary, said that while the “starting point” should be equality before the law, it is not always appropriate to be treated “the same”, noting the disproportionate arrest rates of certain ethnic minority groups, such as Roma travelers [Gypsies] and black Britons....

David Lammy has said he told the US vice-president, JD Vance, he was wrong to blame the murder of the British teenager Henry Nowak on mass migration. The deputy prime minister said he spoke to Vance by phone on Saturday to tell him “our democratic process is working well” and that he was wrong in his commentary about the murder. Keir Starmer suggested this week that the US was trying to interfere in British democracy after Vance claimed in a post on X that Nowak would be alive “if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground...

Israel has hit southern Beirut in the first attack on the Lebanese capital since a truce brokered by the US last week. Two air strikes on two apartment buildings in a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah killed two people and injured at least 20, including women and children, Lebanon's health ministry said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had struck "terrorist headquarters in the Dahieh district of Beirut, in response to Hezbollah's firing at Israeli territory". Israel had limited its Beirut attacks under US pressure over concerns strikes there could put a wider peace deal in jeopardy. But on Sunday night,...

King Charles reportedly raised concerns about hosting President Donald Trump during his state visit to the U.K. following Trump's public attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Last September, Trump paid a state visit to the U.K., during which he stayed at Windsor Castle with King Charles and Queen Camilla. According to an iPaper report, King Charles was “reticent” about hosting Trump. One source told the outlet he “did not want to do it.” Per the report, the concerns stemmed from how Trump treated Zelensky during his visit to the White House in February 2025.