Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Sentenced to Death in Libya
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| Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in a courtroom in Zintan, Libya |
The British-educated son of Col Muammar Gaddafi has been sentenced to death by firing squad by a court in war-torn Libya.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the debonair friend of Lord Mandelson and other European notables who returned to his father's side during the 2011 revolution, was found guilty of war crimes by a court in the capital Tripoli.
He had appeared at hearings by video-link, as he was captured - in late 2011 - by a militia from the town of Zintan, which is fighting Tripoli-based brigades in the country's civil war.
Also sentenced to death were Col Gaddafi's notorious security chief and brother-in-law, Abdullah Senussi, accused by some of masterminding the Lockerbie bombing, and his prime minister, Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi. They appeared in person, having been extradited before security collapsed in Libya from neighbouring countries. » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Editor | Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Monday, July 27, 2015
Public Anger after Gang Beat Up French Sunbather for Wearing a Bikini in Reims Park
French social networks exploded with anger after a young woman was reportedly beaten up by a gang of girls and young women for wearing a bikini in a park.
Authorities have not identified the attackers but most commentators have assumed that they were Muslims. » | John Lichfield | Sunday, July 26, 2015
Obama Performs Traditional Lipala Dance During Kenyan State Dinner
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Saudi Official Calls on International Community to Criminalize Criticism of Islam
One problem with it, among many, is that at a time when hatred and violence are being preached and perpetrated in the name of a “heavenly religion” and justified by reference to a “holy book,” to criminalize criticism of such things would be tantamount to muzzling all resistance to that hatred and violence. And that may be precisely the agenda.
“Criminalize vilification of religious symbols, says Saudi official,” Saudi Gazette, July 26, 2015: » | Robert Spencer | Sunday, July 26, 2015
Hundreds Gather to Watch Islamic State Throw 'Gay' Man to His Death
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| The man was condemned to death after being accused of being gay |
The horrific new images show the levels of depravity reached by the terror group, who are known for killing homosexual people by throwing them off buildings.
This latest insight into the workings of the extremist organisation shows hundreds of people gathered in the main street of Mosul in Iraq.
They are joined by ISIS jihadis, all dressed in black and white, as a judge reads out a statement which condemns a man to death for allegedly being gay.
In an attempt to publicise the brutal murder, the judge can reportedly be seen making his speech through a microphone system to the blood-thirsty crowd.
The majority of the people gathered were apparently carrying weapons - with even small children wearing ISIS clothing also seen in the street.
A final picture from the heinous scene shows the broken and motionless body of the man on the concrete floor after being pushed from the top of a building.
It is unclear how ISIS discovered the sexuality of the man. » | Levi Winchester | Sunday, July 26, 2015
The West Likes to Think That 'Civilisation' Will Defeat Isis, But History Suggests Otherwise
Hitler set a bad example. He was evil. His regime was evil. His Reich was destroyed, the Nazis vanquished, the Fuhrer dying by his own hand in the ashes of the European nightmare. Bad guys lose. Good guys win. Morality, human rights, law, democracy – though with the latter, we should perhaps speak carefully – will always prevail over wickedness. That’s what the Second World War taught us.
We have grown up in a Western society that believes in such simple, dodgy, history lessons. The world’s major religions teach us about goodness, humility, family, love, faith. So why should we not – however liberal, agnostic, cynical – cling on to our fundamental belief that violence and torture and cruelty will never outlast the power and courage of the righteous?
Isis is evil. It massacres its opponents, slaughters civilians, beheads the innocent, rapes children and enslaves women. It is “apocalyptic”, according to the Americans, and therefore it is doomed. Better still, Ash Carter – the US Secretary of Defence who accused the Iraqis of running away from Isis – lectured the Iraqi Prime Minister last week. His message – I could hardly believe this naivety – was Hollywood-clear. “Civilisation always wins over barbarism.” » | Robert Fisk | Sunday, July 26, 2015
The Greek Debt Crisis Threatens 70 Years of Peace
Political crises in the Middle East and North Africa since 2011 have either produced extreme violence or caused countries to dissolve into civil war. The territorial settlement that followed the defeat of the Ottomans in 1918 is collapsing, but there is no clear sign of what will replace it, other than conflicts which nobody knows how to end.
Bad though this is, the world has got used to instability in the Middle East and North Africa, almost as if it were a natural phenomenon like earthquakes in Japan or hurricanes in the Caribbean. Seven wars are being fought in Muslim countries between Pakistan and north-east Nigeria. In Europe, on the contrary, 70 years of almost continuous peace since 1945 have convinced its people that this is the natural order of things which will continue despite hiccups in atypical places such as Greece and Ukraine.
But peace in Europe has been very much the exception over the past 1,500 years and there is no God-given guarantee it will continue. The golden age of European integration may have ended as long ago as 2008 when the financial crash began to divide eurozone members into winners and losers. In the same year, the easy dominance of the Western powers established after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 began to look less absolute when Russia invaded Georgia. » | Patrick Cockburn | Saturday, July 25, 2015
Barack Obama: I'm Proud to Be the First Kenyan-American President
Ex-Muslim: Leaving Islam - BBC News
Petition as French Riviera Beach Closed for Saudi King
The petition insists the public beach in Vallauris should be "available for the benefit of all".
Authorities sealed off the beach early on Saturday to prevent any protesters from occupying it as King Salman was due to arrive in the area.
The Saudi monarch is expected to stay at his villa for three weeks.
He and his entourage of about 1,000 people arrived at Nice airport on Saturday on board two Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747s.
The king's inner circle is staying at the villa - between Antibes and Marseille - while about 700 others will stay at hotels in Cannes.
Michel Chevillon, president of an association of Cannes' hotel managers, said the visit was "clearly good news" for hotels and the local economy.
"These are people with great purchasing power," he said.
However, the closure of a section of La Mirandole beach beneath the king's villa has outraged many local residents. » | Saturday, July 25, 2015
Related »
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Barack Obama Tells African States to Abandon Anti-gay Discrimination
The US president, Barack Obama, has launched an unprecedented defence of gay rights in Africa, telling Kenya’s president that the state has no right to punish people because of “who they love”.
Obama, visiting his late father’s homeland for the first time as US president, confronted Uhuru Kenyatta and millions of Kenyans watching on television with his “unequivocal” views. Homosexual acts are illegal in Kenya and surveys show nine in 10 people find them unacceptable.
Obama personalised the issue by comparing homophobia to racial discrimination that he had encountered in the United States. Never before has such a powerful foreign leader challenged Africans so directly on their own soil. » | David Smith in Nairobi | Saturday, July 25, 2015
Origins of ISIS – Special Coverage
Why Is ISIS Attacking During Ramadan? BBC News (June 2015)
Obama's Visit Sparks Debate on Gay Rights in Kenya, Africa
President Barack Obama – Full Interview – BBC News
Friday, July 24, 2015
Obama Admits US Gun Laws Are His 'Biggest Frustration'
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Obama said it was "distressing" not to have made progress on the issue "even in the face of repeated mass killings".
He vowed to keep trying, but the BBC's North America editor Jon Sopel said the president did not sound very confident.
However, Mr Obama said race relations had improved during his presidency.
Hours after the interview, a gunman opened fire at a cinema in the US state of Louisiana, killing two people and injuring several others before shooting himself.
In a wide-ranging interview, President Obama also said: » | Friday, July 24, 2015
Barack Obama Says Britain Must Stay in EU
Barack Obama has said that Britain must stay in the European Union to continue to have a strong influence on the world stage.
The US president said that Britain was America’s “best and most important partner” because of its willingness to go beyond its "immediate self-interests to make this a more orderly, safer world".
But in his strongest warning to date, he said that for Britain to maintain its global influence, it must stay within the EU.
The EU has "made the world safer and more prosperous", and having Britain in it was crucial for America’s “transatlantic union” both with Britain and the rest of Europe, he said.
“(The EU) is part of the cornerstone of institutions built after World War Two that has made the world safer and more prosperous. » | Barney Henderson, New York | Thursday, July 23, 2015
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