Free Republic

Gordon Brown has announced he is resigning as UK prime minister. Mr Brown is on his way to officially tender his resignation to the Queen, and recommend that Conservative leader David Cameron should succeed him. Speaking alongside his wife Sarah outside No 10 Downing Street, he said the job had been "a privilege" and wished his successor well. His decision comes as the Tories and Liberal Democrats are poised to agree a deal to form a government. Labour's attempts to negotiate a deal of their own with the Lib Dems, after last week's inconclusive election result, ended in failure on...

Check out the video @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsRkT7OEDyA. Hornbach is a German DIY-store chain offering home improvement and do-it-yourself goods with stores in Germany and other European countries.

The twin brother of Poland's former president, who was killed in a plane crash in Russia this month, says he will run to be elected in his place. Jaroslaw Kaczynski said he would stand in the 20 June presidential election despite his "personal pain", in order to continue his brother's mission. Lech Kaczynski was killed in a plane crash in western Russia on 10 April, along with many Polish dignitaries. The two brothers founded the Law and Justice party in 2001. Possible sympathy vote In a statement on the party's website on Monday, Mr Kaczynski said: "Poland is our common,...

Fourteen U.S. soldiers were honored Wednesday for risking their lives to help German soldiers in a firefight, according to The Associated Press. Gen. Stanley McChrystal accepted the country’s Gold Cross on behalf of the soldiers after meeting with German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg in Berlin. The Gold Cross medal is one of Germany’s highest awards for valor, and this is the first time foreign troops have ever been given this award. U.S. medics braved fire from Taliban fighters to help bring wounded Germans to safety near the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan on April 2.

ITV1 — 14.Apr.10 — Season 2010 Ep. 1 — With the election called for 6th May, tonight sees the first ever live television debate between the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat party leaders.

Things aren't just going bad for the Greeks. They have been shaken to the core and terrified, and they don't know how to go forward from here. The government also deserves some of the blame for this because, for six months, it only discussed the issues and has only now announced its reform measures. This lack of action has had negative effects on the population and also kept the Greeks in the dark about just how bad things really were in the country. Another result is that there is now only a single way out of the crisis: If the...

First the euro, now the pound. Britain's currency is coming under massive pressure as speculators bet that the UK's national debt will soon get out of hand. Like Athens, London has its share of problems -- and the Brits don't have any euro zone partners to back them up. Schadenfreude may be a German word, but it has never been a foreign concept in Great Britain -- particularly in recent months as the British watch the trials and tribulations of the European common currency, the euro. The budgetary and debt problems facing Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain have merely...

Porsche unveiled its new 918 Spyder concept that not only brings sleek styling to the table, but also a wealth of high-tech powertrain goodness. Looking somewhat like a gorgeous mashup up of a Ferrari F430, Porsche Carrera GT, Porsche Boxster, and Porsche 911 GT1, the 918 Spyder concept features a mid-engine layout, seating for two people, and all-wheel drive. The roadster also features dual side-exiting exhaust pipes on either side of the vehicle along with a nod to the past with an intriguing "disk" wheel design. Being that this is a Porsche first and foremost, this vehicle is all about...

GERMANY’S LEFT Party was expelled from the Bundestag yesterday after its members held up signs bearing the names of Afghan civilians killed in a German-ordered airstrike last September. The protest came in the middle of a parliamentary debate on extending Germany’s nine-year military mission to Afghanistan by a further year. Some 429 MPs voted for and 111 against the new mandate – 16 fewer votes in favour than last time – allowing troop numbers to be increased by 850 to 5,350. [...] Bundestag president Norbert Lammert defended his actions, pointing out that protests in the chamber breach parliamentary guidelines. Parliamentary...

Excerpt cannot be posted due to copyright complaints, follow the link: http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4458174

Israel's government convened for the first time in Berlin, the former heart of the Nazi regime, for a special joint session with the German government highlighting the nations' bond six decades after the Holocaust. High on the agenda Monday will be Germany's push to win the release of a captive Israeli soldier held by Hamas militants and its efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. Environmental issues, economic cooperation and efforts to restart the Middle East peace process are also to be discussed. "We assign great importance to this good relationship with Germany," Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday. "It has...

BRUSSELS -- China took over the mantle of the world's top merchandise exporter from Germany in 2009, according to the latest figures, aided by a global economic crisis that has taken a greater toll on other trading powers. China exported $957 billion of goods in the first 10 months of 2009, compared with $917 billion for Germany, according to customs data compiled by Global Trade Information Services, a Geneva-based firm. China in 2007 overtook Germany as the world's third-largest national economy, and is on track to soon surpass Japan to become the second-largest economy after the U.S. "China has been...

Boeing said Thursday evening that the first flight of its 787-8 long-range jet is set for 10 a.m., Dec. 15 in Everett, Wash. The first of six test airplanes, ZA001, is due to take off from Payne Field next to the airplane's final assembly factory north of Seattle. Chief Pilot Michael H. Carriker and copilot Randall Neville will conduct low- and high-speed taxi tests that take the airplane to the threshold of flight in preparation for Tuesday's events. Once airborne, Carriker and Neville are not expected to return ZA001 to Everett. They will land at Boeing Field in Seattle, headquarters...

SEVILLE, Spain — The A400M military transport plane that has been causing Airbus and European defense ministers budgetary and logistical headaches finally took to the skies for its maiden flight on Friday. But even as the hulking gray airlifter took off from the Spanish city of Seville, defense officials are meeting on the sidelines of the event to decide how to continue with the much delayed and over budget project. Louis Gallois, head of Airbus parent EADS, said he found the takeoff "more moving than I expected. It's enormous. We've been waiting a long time." [...] The 127 ton (140...

Volkswagen staged the world premiere of the Up! Lite concept at the LA Auto Show. The new concept, based on Volkswagen’s New Small Family (the Up! models), incorporates a variation on the two-cylinder TDI hybrid powertrain from the L1 concept unveiled earlier this year at the Frankfurt Motor Show. (Earlier post.) The door, five-seat concept offers combined EPA cycle fuel consumption of 2.44 L/100km (96 mpg US), with 70 mpg highway. The poewrtrain comprises an 800cc, 2-cylinder TDI (turbo-diesel), electric motor and 7-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG). Combined with aerodynamics of Cd 0.237, the concept has reduced CO2 emissions to...

FRANKFURT -- German car maker Daimler AG said Wednesday it will shift production of its best-selling Mercedes-Benz C-Class model from its core plant in Sindelfingen, Germany, to its Bremen and U.S. facilities, as part of a wider move to bring production closer to main sales regions and reduce exposure to currency fluctuation. "This step is essential for strategic and operational reasons, so that Mercedes-Benz remains competitive and can fully utilize future growth opportunities," said Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche. The move underscores a trend among auto makers to ramp up local production to reduce exposure to currency fluctuations and benefit from...

Israel is hoping to order two modern German-made warships without paying for them, daily Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Friday. Sources within the German government told the paper that Israel wants the Berlin to finance the MEKO corvettes, a sum that would reportedly reach hundreds of millions of euros. The paper reported that the government has not yet reacted to Israel’s request. But “influential politicians from northern Germany,” where the shipbuilding industry is suffering from the global economic downturn, are apparently supportive in the interest of keeping German shipyards in business.

BERLIN, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Germany has been asked to help fund yet another submarine for the Israeli navy. Jerusalem plans to order another submarine of the Dolphin class from German Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG and has asked the German government to subsidize the order, German news magazine Der Spiegel reports. Berlin has helped Israel pay for five previously ordered submarines. The first two (named Dolphin and Leviathan) were a gift by Germany after it surfaced that German companies were involved with Iraq's chemical weapons program. To save the orders and jobs for the German shipyards, Chancellor Helmut Kohl decided to...

BERLIN — Germany's newly elected government unveiled its plans for the next four years on Saturday, spearheaded by 24 billion euros of tax cuts in spite of the country's mammoth debt mountain. "It is all geared to creating jobs," Chancellor Angela Merkel said, calling the coalition pact, finalised after three weeks of tough negotiations in the early hours of Saturday, Germany's "answer to the crisis." "We have agreed a coalition programme showing that we want to advance courageously into the future," she said. "We are aiming for growth, for the creation of an education republic and social cohesion." "The burden...

PARIS — Somali pirates attempted to storm the flagship commanding French military forces in a night attack in the Indian Ocean after mistaking it for a cargo vessel, the military said here on Wednesday. French sailors saw off the attack and captured five pirates in the incident while no-one was injured, military spokesman Admiral Christophe Prazuck said. "The pirates, who because of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs," he said. The pirates had tried to storm the 160-metre (525-foot) 18,000-tonne La Somme, a fuel supply ship...