Chemical Agent Sarin Smuggled from Turkey to ISIS – Turkish MP

SIS terrorists in Syria received all necessary materials to produce deadly sarin gas via Turkey, a Turkish MP claimed, citing evidence from an abruptly closed criminal case. Speaking to RT, Eren Erdem said there is grounds to believe of a cover up.

USA: Paris Climate Deal a 'Turning Point for the World' Says Obama

US President Barack Obama praised climate change accord reached at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, calling it a "turning point for the world", speaking from the White House in Washington D.C, Saturday.

France: Marion Le Pen Fails to Secure Regional Vote

Front National's Marion Le Pen thanked her supporters in Marseille on Sunday, following the party's defeat in the second round of the French regional elections.

'Satanic Islam' Sermon Pastor McConnell Ready to Face Justice

A firebrand preacher who goes on trial today for branding Islam "Satanic" says he is ready to go to jail for his beliefs - but hopes the court will first let him spend Christmas with his family.
BELFAST TELEGRAPH: 'Jail doesn't scare me, but let me have Christmas at home,' says James McConnell

In a hard-hitting interview from his Greenisland home, Pastor James McConnell said he had no regrets about his controversial comments and, even if jailed, would repeat them on release.

He said "freedom of speech and freedom of conscience" were at stake in the landmark trial. Hundreds of Pastor McConnell's supporters are expected to protest outside Belfast Magistrates Court as the case opens today.

"This is about Christians fighting back," the pastor said. "There is an agenda at work to restrict our rights while allowing followers of other religions to say and act as they please. » | Suzanne Breen | Monday, December 14, 2015

Donald Trump Responds to His Critics

Dec. 13, 2015 - 14:07 - The Republican presidential frontrunner sounds off on the prospect of a brokered convention and his controversial call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.

USA: Armed Protesters Stage Anti-Islam Rally in Texas

A group of armed protesters demonstrated against refugees entering the U.S. and 'the Islamisation of America', outside Richardson mosque in Dallas, Texas, Saturday.

National Front Loses in 2nd Round of French Regional Elections – Exit Polls

France’s far-right National Front party, headed by Marine Le Pen, has failed to win a single region in the second round of the country’s regional elections after a solid victory in the first round, several exit polls have shown.

Angela Merkel 'Dismisses US Request for More Military Help against Islamic State'

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Der Spiegel says US is asking for increased commitment from Germany after parliament voted to join military campaign in Syria

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, on Sunday brushed off what a magazine said was a request from the United States to provide more military help in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

"I believe Germany is fulfilling its part and we don't need to talk about new issues related to this question at the moment," Mrs Merkel told the ZDF broadcaster when asked about the Der Spiegel magazine report of the US request.

Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that Ashton Carter, US Defence Secretary, had sent a letter asking for a bigger military contribution from Germany, a week after parliament approved a plan to join the campaign in Syria. » | Reuters | Sunday, December 13, 2015

Libyen macht Italien Angst

In Rom wird an einer internationalen Konferenz nach einer politischen Lösung für Libyen gesucht. Dass Italien das Treffen organisiert, hat damit zu tun, dass die beiden Länder eng verbunden waren und sich geographisch nahe sind. Diese Nähe macht vielen in Italien Angst. Zu Recht?

Zweite Runde bei Frankreichs Regionalwahlen

SCHWEIZER RADIO UND FERNSEHEN: Front National scheitert in allen Regionen: In Frankreich konnte die rechtsextreme Partei keine der insgesamt 13 Regionen erobern. Nach der zweiten Runde der Regionalwahlen zeigen erste Nachwahlbefragungen: Die Partei von Marine Le Pen landet auf dem dritten Platz, hinter den Konservativen und den Sozialisten. » | sda/afp/reutes/kurn; | Sonntag, 13. Dezember 2015

French Far Right National Front 'Routed' in Key Vote

BBC: France's far-right National Front (FN) has failed to win a single region in the second round of elections, exit polls indicate.

Early results suggest the party has been beaten into third place, despite leading in six of 13 regions in the first round of votes a week ago.

The polls predict Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right Republicans will win most seats ahead of the ruling Socialists.

Acknowledging defeat, FN leader Marine Le Pen pledged to keep fighting.

And she blamed the outcome on the mainstream parties which joined forces to keep the FN from power, telling her supporters they had been "disenfranchised in the most indecent of ways by a campaign of lies and disinformation". (+ video) » | Sunday, December 13, 2015

Worlds Apart: ‪Borders of Democracy? Featuring Ulrike Guerot, Director of the European Democracy Lab‬

The values of democracy, freedom, tolerance and human rights are at the core of the European project. But with populist parties making significant gains on the back of the Paris terrorist attacks, the migration influx and the European debt crisis, those core values are being left by the wayside. Can European democracy survive these challenges, and what role do nation-states have in both exacerbating and solving the problem? Oksana is joined by Ulrike Guerot, the director of the European Democracy Lab at the European School of Governance, to examine these issues.

Mark Steyn's Take: Trump's Proposed Muslim Ban

Media Go Nuclear Against Trump

Dec. 13, 2015 - 10:49 - Denouncing his Muslim travel ban

Margaret Thatcher Auction Prompts 'Family Feud'

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Sir Mark Thatcher is alleged by friends to have fallen out with twin sister Carol over her decision to sell items belonging to the former prime minister

Margaret Thatcher’s family are embroiled in a bitter family feud over an auction of the late prime minister’s personal possessions, it has been claimed.

Baroness Thatcher’s son Sir Mark Thatcher is said to have objected to his twin sister Carol’s decision to stage a sale of handbags, shoes and mementoes at Christie’s auction house this week.

The sale of more than 400 items is expected to raise upwards of £500,000.

According to friends the 62-year-old twins “cannot bear to be in the same room”. » | David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent | Sunday, December 13, 2015

Former Gitmo Detainee Returns to Battlefield

Dec. 12, 2015 - 9:49 - President's plan to close Guantanamo Bay in focus

Growing Turmoil for the Democratic Party

Dec. 11, 2015 - 4:48 - 'The O'Reilly Factor' analyzes the fallout of Donald Trump's campaign and Barack Obama's failing policies

Fear, Anger and Hatred: The Rise of Germany's New Right

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: For years, a sense of disillusionment has been growing on the right. Now, the refugee crisis has magnified that frustration. Increasingly, people from the very center of society are identifying with the movement -- even as political debate coarsens and violence increases. By SPIEGEL Staff

Martin Bahrmann, a local politician in the Saxon town of Meissen, was just preparing to speak in a council debate on refugee shelters when a ball-point pen ricoched off the back of his head. It was a cheap, plastic writing utensil -- blue with white writing.

As a member of the business friendly Free Democrats (FDP), Bahrmann's seat in the regional council is at the very back and the visitors' gallery is just behind him. The pen must have come from somebody in the audience. When Bahrmann turned around, he found himself looking at a sea of hostile faces. Although there were around 80 visitors in the gallery, nobody admitted to having seen who threw the pen. On the contrary: The FDP representative and his colleagues were later insulted as being "traitors to the German people."

Bahrmann, 28, does not draw a salary for his involvement in local politics. It is merely his contribution to a functioning democracy. He was born and grew up in the region he represents and he has known many of the people there for many years. But even he, Bahrmann says, now must be more careful about when and where he makes political appearances. Ever since the regional council discussed transforming the former Hotel Weinböhla into a refugee hostel, the established political parties have been confronted with the hate of many locals. One Left Party representative was spit on as he was walking down the street while another was threatened with violence. Meanwhile, representatives from the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the neo-Nazi NPD were celebrated for having voted against the refugees in the regional council.

The pen thrown in Meissen may not have garnered much media attention, but it says a lot about the public mood in Germany, a country in which increasing numbers of people are united against the state, its institutions and its elected officials. It is a country in which antipathy towards democracy is gradually increasing while xenophobia is growing rapidly. And it is a country where incidents of right-wing violence are on the rise and refugee hostels are set on fire almost daily. Read on and comment » | Spiegel Staff | Friday, December 11, 2015

Germany: Police Attack Ruptly Producer as Clashes Break Out in Leipzig

Hundreds of antifa activists clashed with German riot police in Leipzig, Saturday, as a counter-protest decrying the three announced right-wing demonstrations taking place in the city got underway.

Krawalle in Leipzig »

Krawalle in Leipzig: Dutzende Polizisten bei Demos gegen rechts verletzt

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Die Polizei setzte Wasserwerfer und Tränengas ein, Gegendemonstranten warfen Steine: In Leipzig ist es nach einem Aufmarsch von Rechtsextremisten zu Ausschreitungen gekommen. 56 Polizisten wurden verletzt.

Bei gewaltsamen Ausschreitungen am Rande der Kundgebungen von Rechtsextremen und linken Gegendemonstranten sind in Leipzig nach Angaben der Polizei 56 Polizisten verletzt worden. Mindestens zwei von ihnen seien dienstunfähig, einer für mindestens vier Wochen, sagte die Polizeisprecherin. Außerdem seien 32 Dienstfahrzeuge der Polizei beschädigt worden. » | sto/dpa/AFP | Samstag, 12. Dezember 2015