Richard III 'Given Dignity Denied in Death' as He Is Laid to Rest

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Fallen king's remains buried in Leicester


The burial of a king began with the words of a Queen.

Her Majesty did not attend the service to reinter one of her most divisive predecessors but her 142-word message to Richard III greeted the congregation as they arrived at Leicester Cathedral.

As tributes went, it was hardly glowing. Her words, printed in the order of service, spoke not of honouring Richard III, but “recognising” a king “who lived through turbulent times”.

But then this was not a funeral. It might have featured the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a poem composed by the Poet Laureate and members of the royal family, but it was technically a service of reinterment. For the king had already been given a funeral, presided over by Franciscan monks in the days after he died on the battlefield at Bosworth in 1485. » | Tom Rowley, Special Correspondent, in Leicester Cathedral, video from ITN | Thursday, March 26, 2015

IS Stones To Death Man & Woman In Mosul For Adultery

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES: In yet another display of how the Islamic State (IS) implements the Sharia law, a resident of Mosul narrated another recent incident of stoning to death of a man and a woman for adultery. The witness was a clothing store owner whose outlet is near a government building where the incident happens.

Abu Mohammad al-Lahibi, the shop owner, said the woman was in her 20s and married. Lahibi was not sure if the woman was given a fair trial since none was held before the stoning.

The two were handcuffed, while the woman wore a full face veil called niqab. Twelve IS militants stood before the condemned couple and had bags filled with stones. They started to throw stones on the two. On the third stone, the “adulteress” was killed, while the man died after her, recounts Lahibi. » | Vittorio Hernandez | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

ISIS Presents Conversion to Islam of Christian Captured in Syria

THE JERUSALEM POST: Unconvincing ISIS video shows Assyrian captive converting to Islam » | Ariel Cohen | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Related »

'Islamist Extremists,' Phrase Rejected by Obama, Embraced by Allies

While President Obama and his aides insist that Muslim extremists have nothing to do with Islam the religion, other world leaders are leaving that approach behind. British Home Secretary Theresa May on Monday announced a get-tough policy that includes a comprehensive strategy to combat what she called "Islamist extremists," a phrase the Obama administration officials have…

Erdoğan Plan for Super-presidency Puts Turkey's Democracy at Stake

THE GUARDIAN: The Turkish president’s attempted power-grab is slated from within his own party as divisions between the country’s executive and legislature deepen

Turkey’s strongman leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is facing unexpectedly spirited, across-the-board resistance to his plan to create a Putin-style super-presidency, a move that opposition parties warn could spell an end to parliamentary democracy and result in a virtual dictatorship.

Erdoğan, the founding leader of the neo-Islamist Justice and Development party (AKP), has ruled Turkey in increasingly authoritarian fashion since becoming prime minister in 2003. Barred under party rules from seeking a fourth term, he switched to the presidency last August and has been manoeuvring to increase his executive powers ever since.

The strategy looks similar to Vladimir Putin’s successive shifts from the Russian presidency to prime ministership and back again, which have kept him in overall charge in Moscow since 2000. The now deposed Pervez Musharraf pulled off a similar trick in Pakistan, bolstering his presidential authority at the expense of the prime minister and parliament.

Ever choleric, Erdoğan appears oblivious to these precedents, and to his growing reputation for harsh crackdowns on popular dissent, street protests and independent journalism. This week saw the jailing of two Penguen magazine cartoonists who dared to poke fun at him.

He is counting instead on his high profile and personal popularity among religious-minded working-class and rural voters to give the AKP a big majority in national elections due on 7 June. In theory, the necessary constitutional changes he wants could then be pushed through. » | Simon Tisdall | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Do British Muslims Have a Problem with Apostates? (The Big Questions, 15/3/15)

Enemies of the State: ”Jews Must Leave Israel” – Anjem Choudary

WOW, after an amazing week of election coverage in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won in an unbelievable landslide, we feature several analysts from Israel who are ecstatic about the victory and one British Muslim teacher of the shariah, who is not happy at all with any Jews in Israel. Tune in to hear how Anjem Choudary dispassionately explains Islamic doctrine and how it is essential for all the Jews to leave Israel and go to another country to live, or deal with the prophecies of Islam, which has the Muslim jihadis conquering the Jews and obliterating them from Israel. Folks, this is some serious stuff, don't miss it!

ISIS-held Assyrian Hostage Converts to Islam

Sargon David converts to Islam after two months of detention
by ISIS militants in northeastern Syria.

ARA NEWS: Dohuk, Kurdistan Region – The Media Center of the Islamic State group (IS/ISIS) in “al-Barakah state” (in reference to Hasakah, northeastern Syria) released Monday a videotape showing the Islamization of an Assyrian hostage held by the group.

Sargon David, an Assyrian man from Tel Temit in northeastern Syria, who had been held hostage by the group since the militants stormed the Assyrian villages in the area.

David appeared in the video uttering the Islamic Shahada in a sign of conversion to Islam. He was then named by the group’s militants as Abu Omar.

The IS group addressed the Christian community in Syria in the video message saying that many of the Assyrian residents in the countryside of Tel Temir have converted to Islam “and received the caliphate’s blessing”. » | ARA News | Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Oxford Union Invites Hate Preacher Anjem Choudary to Speak Despite Being On Bail for Being Member of Banned Terror Group

DAILY MAIL: Hate preacher Anjem Choudary invited to speak by debating society / Said it would be a 'great privilege' to have Choudary as the star guest / Got invite day before Theresa May announced crackdown on extremists

Hate preacher Anjem Choudary has been invited to speak at the Oxford Union despite being on police bail on suspicion of being a member of a banned terror group.

The notorious rabble rouser received his invitation from the debating society a day before Home Secretary Theresa May announced a crackdown on Islamic extremists.

The letter said it would be a 'great privilege' to have Choudary appear as the star guest.

Choudary, who once said that Woolwich terror victim Fusilier Lee Rigby would 'burn in hellfire', was even offered a choice of days on which to attend the debate entitled: This house believes that radicalism is born at home.

Britain's most notorious hate preacher proudly showed off his invitation after launching a hate-filled rant against Western society outside the Houses of Parliament yesterday.

He said: 'I am still on police bail after being arrested by Scotland Yard in September last year. 'But the police can't stop me from speaking. They can't stop me from going to the Oxford Union where I've been invited to speak.' » | Arthur Martin for The Daily Mail | Tuesday, March 24, 2015

A Sinner in Mecca (Trailer)

For a gay filmmaker, filming in Saudi Arabia presents two serious challenges: filming is forbidden in the country and homosexuality is punishable by death. For filmmaker Parvez Sharma, however, these were risks he had to assume as he embarked on his Hajj pilgrimage, a journey considered the greatest accomplishment and aspiration within Islam, his religion. He brings back the story of the religion like it has never been told before, having endured the biggest Jihad there is: the struggle with the self.

THE DAILY BEAST: Gay Muslim’s Secret Pilgrimage to Mecca: Parvez Sharma took the long trip to Mecca with two big secrets: He’s recording his journey on his phone, and he has a husband back home. » | Nina Strochlic | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

France Declares War on Radical Islam

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: The moves are part of a raft of new anti-terrorism measures aimed at preventing French citizens or residents from joining jihadist groups abroad. The new powers are controversial because they can be implemented without judicial approval.

"These are legal tools, but not tools of exception, nor of generalized surveillance of citizens. There cannot be a lawless zone in the digital space. Often we cannot predict the threat, the services must have the power to react quickly." — Manuel Valls, Prime Minister of France.

"When you do a projection for the months to come, there could be 5,000 [Europeans waging jihad in Iraq and Syria] before summer and 10,000 before the end of the year. Do you realize the threat that this represents?" — Manuel Valls, Prime Minister of France.

The French government has cut the social welfare benefits of nearly 300 jihadists who have left France to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Amid a rapidly expanding jihadist threat, it has also started confiscating passports, imposing travel bans and blocking access to jihadist websites.

The moves are part of a raft of new anti-terrorism measures aimed at preventing French citizens or residents from joining jihadist groups abroad, and at slowing the spread of radical Islam at home. Muslim groups are criticizing the flurry of activity as "Islamophobia." » | Soeren Kern | Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Islam Needs to Reform or Leave, Says Canadian Leader of PEGIDA Movement

THE STAR: PEGIDA, a controversial European movement, plans to ‘send a message’ in a rally that has been denounced in the House of Commons and the Quebec legislature.

MONTREAL—Islam needs to change or it needs to leave.

That’s the message from one of the leaders who has brought to Canada a controversial European movement that unites political conservatives, anti-immigration activists and neo-Nazis with the goal of beating back a perceived rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism.

Jean-François Asgard is one of five people to have launched PEGIDA Québec earlier this year, the latest branch of a global anti-Islam movement that was created last fall in the German town of Dresden.

PEGIDA (the name is a German acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West) was founded by a convicted burglar-turned-graphic designer who planned a protest against the opening of 14 refugee centres in his city. It has risen rapidly, gathering more than 20,000 people at its peak and provoking warnings and denunciations from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

That has done little to stop its global growth and there are now branches across Europe, in Australia, Britain and the United States. There is also a national PEGIDA Canada group as well as a branch in British Columbia.

“The incompatibility of Islam with the west is flagrant and that’s the reason that PEGIDA and the Western patriots are rising up. It’s not just to counter Islam but to say that if Islam doesn’t reform itself, Islam needs to get out of the west,” Asgard, 33, told the Star in the group’s first interview ahead of a controversial march planned for this weekend. » | Allan Woods | Quebec Bureau | Tuesday, March 24, 2014

Origins of ISIS – Special Coverage

In a special report, RT America examines the origins, power and expansion of the terrorist group known as the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS). RT’s Ben Swann delves into the roots of the organization while Ameera David explains how the group amasses the millions of dollars it requires to operate. Finally, Manuel Rapalo explores how the Iraqi army fell apart despite benefiting from billions of dollars of US money – and military hardware – meant to ensure security.

En Syrie, l'EI enrôle des bataillons d'enfants

LE POINT: Ils sont appelés les "lionceaux du califat". Endoctrinés et armés, parfois dès l'âge de 8 ans, plus de 400 enfants font la guerre pour le groupe djihadiste.

Plus de quatre cents enfants en Syrie ont été entraînés au combat par les combattants extrémistes du groupe État islamique (EI), a indiqué mardi l'Observatoire syrien des droits de l'homme (OSDH). Le groupe djihadiste soumet les enfants, appelés "lionceaux du califat", à des entraînements intensifs militaires et religieux dans les territoires qu'il contrôle en Syrie, précise l'ONG. Des vidéos diffusées sur des comptes proches de l'EI montrent des garçons, dont certains âgés d'à peine 8 ans, chargeant des fusils, tirant et marchant à genoux à travers les broussailles. » | Source AFP | mardi 24 mars 2015

Saudi Arabia Moves Military Equipment to Border with Yemen

Prince Saud al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, at
a press conference in Riyadh.

THE GUARDIAN: Violent political tensions in Yemen are reaching such ferocity that neighbouring Saudi Arabia is beginning to fear for its border regions

Saudi Arabia is moving heavy military equipment including artillery to areas near its border with Yemen, US officials have said, raising the risk that the Middle East’s top oil power will be drawn into the worsening conflict.

The buildup follows an advance by Iranian-backed Houthi Shia militants who took control of the capital Sana’a in September and seized the central city of Taiz at the weekend as they move closer to the new southern base of the US-backed president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The armour and artillery being moved by Saudi Arabia could be used for offensive or defensive purposes, two US government sources said, while two other US officials said the buildup appeared to be defensive.

One US government source described the size of the Saudi buildup on Yemen’s border as “significant” and said the Saudis could be preparing air strikes to defend Hadi if the Houthis attack his refuge in the southern seaport of Aden. » | Reuters in Washington | Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Anti-Semitism in Europe akin to 1930s: Jewish Leader

President of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: 'We Jews are the sentinels at the forefront of this war' a prominent Jewish figure in America says

A prominent Jewish figure urged the United States on Tuesday to beware surging anti-Semitism in Europe and warned that seven decades after World War II Jews on the continent are having to look over their shoulders once more.

World Jewish Congress (WJC) president Ronald Lauder told a congressional committee in Washington that the United States could not sit by quietly, with events such as the recent attack in France underlining the growing threat.

"Once again, like the 1930s, European Jews live in fear," said Lauder, a billionaire businessman who inherited a fortune from his mother Estee Lauder's cosmetics empire.

"The United States can and must speak loudly and clearly to condemn this evil for what it is - the radical Islamic hatred of Jews."

"To defeat this new flame of radical Islamic terror and survive... the United States must lead," stressed Lauder, whose mother was Jewish and in whose faith he was raised.

The WJC represents Jewish communities in 100 countries. » | Agencies | Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel zeigt sich vom Absturz tief betroffen

America and Iran 'Taking Part in Joint Military Operations in Iraq'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Officials admit US providing intelligence from air to Iran-led attack on Tikrit

The United States is taking part in joint military operations with Iran, admitting it is providing aerial surveillance over the current battle for Tikrit.

The assault on Isil-held Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s home town in Iraq, has stalled in recent days after initial success.

Troops loyal to the Baghdad government, along with Iran-backed Shia militia and some Sunni tribesmen, have surrounded Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters in Saddam’s old palace complex and one other part of the city, but have been unable to make further progress.

The attack has been openly master-minded by an Iranian general, Qassem Suleimani, head of the internationally-focused Al Quds division of the Revolutionary Guard, who has been photographed on the front lines.

An official from the US-led coalition operating air strikes against Isil in Iraq and Syria confirmed to the Reuters news agency that it was now providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance from the air to support the attack.

The United States is also said to be awaiting an imminent formal request for the coalition to join in military operations directly from the air, which it would be likely to grant. » | Richard Spencer Middle East Editor | Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Canada Plans to Expand Air Strikes against IS Militants

BBC AMERICA: Canada will extend its air strike campaign against Islamic State (IS) into Syria, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced.

"In our view, ISIL [IS] must cease to have any safe haven in Syria," Mr Harper said in the House of Commons.

Canada's mission against IS will also be extended for one year, beyond October's election and well into 2016.

Opposition leaders have criticised Mr Harper for drawing Canada into a war with unclear objectives.

The move means Canada will be the first Nato country, other than the United States, to strike inside Syria. » | Tuesday, March 24, 2015

WESLEY PRUDEN: Sodomite Suppression Act Ignites Panic in California

ANALYSIS/OPINION: Life can be good inside a bubble, where the sun always shines, life is a bowl of cherries and it comes with whipped cream and no calories. You could ask almost anyone in San Francisco, where the only disappointment inside the lavender bubble is among the gay caballeros who don't get to carry the six-foot…