Cars Burned in Southern France
BBC: At least 10 cars have been burned and a fire broke out at a library in Toulouse, southern France, following consecutive nights of rioting in Paris.

There was also more violence in Paris as youths set cars and a shop on fire in the Villiers-le-Bel suburb, the Associated Press news agency reports. >>

BBC:
In Pictures: Paris Riots Continue

Mark Alexander

British Teacher Awaits Judge's Ruling on 'Blasphemous' Teddy Bear
If these people are upset about children naming teddy bears 'Muhammad', I wonder how they would feel if people started naming their dogs 'Muhammad'? What if the West decided to have an international ‘Name Your Your Dog Muhammad Week’? Then they they really would have something to bitch and moan and whine about!

TIMESONLINE: A British teacher facing 40 lashes in Sudan over a school teddy bear named Muhammad will discover today whether she will be charged with blasphemy.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, is being questioned for a second day by police in Khartoum on suspicion of insulting Islam's prophet for allowing her seven-year-old pupils to give the toy the name of the prophet. >>

Mark Alexander

Paris Rioters 'Criminals' says PM
BBC: French PM Francois Fillon has said that youths who have rioted for two nights in the Paris suburbs are "criminals".

More than 80 police officers were injured, four seriously, during the second night of clashes, police unions have said.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has called an emergency meeting for Wednesday on his return from a trip to China. >>

Mark Alexander

Increasing Danger of War Through Incomprehension Between United States and Iran
LE FIGARO INTERNATIONAL: It must be acknowledged that in connection with the Iranian nuclear question a single line is now taking shape, and it is that of confrontation. It is as though two crazy trains were rushing headlong towards each other on the same track, without anyone being able to halt them or divert them onto a different track. The engineer on the US train is called Dick Cheney (the conservative vice president who orchestrated the disastrous attack on Iraq in 2003,) and the engineer on the Iranian train is called Mahmud Ahmadinezhad (the highly nationalistic and religious president of the Islamic Republic.) In English, this is what is known as a collision course.

Why is the US train still racing towards disaster (a bombardment of Iran, which would immediately bring about a blaze throughout the Persian Gulf, as a pasdaran general has just warned?) Three factors in Washington could explain it. The first is that George W. Bush, convinced by Cheney, does not want to go down in history as the US president that allowed Iran to become a nuclear military power. The second is that the policy of steadfastness with Tehran enjoys strong bipartisan support in Congress. The third is that the two foreign lobbies that exert the strongest influence on Bush (the Israeli and the Saudi lobbies) are agreed on the principle of US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The Israelis, because they do not believe that the rationale of deterrence would work with such an «enlightened» leader as Ahmadinezhad. And the Saudis, because they cannot bear the idea of Iranian hegemony over the Gulf.

The Iranian train is also racing inexorably towards a collision. Ali Larijani’s resignation, announced Saturday morning, from his post as secretary general of the Iranian Security Council, points to a radicalization of the regime and a concentration of power in Ahmadinezhad’s hands. Having hitherto been Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Larijani, a refined, cultivated, and thoughtful man, advocated finding a compromise solution with the West. Neither the United States nor the radicals in his own country gave him the time to devise one and establish it. By adhering to its precondition for a start to direct negotiations (Iran’s suspension of its uranium enrichment programme,) the United States has destroyed any prospect of negotiations. Indeed, Iran believed that if it suspended its enrichment activities (which were declared to have an exclusively civilian purpose,) it would no longer have anything left to negotiate. >>

Mark Alexander

Abdullah Gül : «Les réformes vont être relancées»
LE FIGARO: Pour le Président de la République turc, le projet français d’Union méditerranéenne ne peut pas être une alternative à l’adhésion de son pays à l’Union européenne.

Venu à Paris pour promouvoir l’organisation à Izmir de l’Exposition universelle de 2015, le président Abdullah Gül répond aux questions du Figaro.

Malgré l’opposition du Président Sarkozy à une adhésion de la Turquie à l’Union européenne, les relations entre Paris et Ankara semblent s’améliorer. Pourquoi ?

Les relations entre la Turquie et la France sont historiques. Elles remontent à l’empire ottoman et aux débuts de la république, lorsque la France était pour nous une porte ouverte sur l’Occident. Les Français figurent parmi ceux qui connaissent le mieux le potentiel économique de la Turquie. Il y a sans doute plus de voitures Renault à Istambul qu’à Paris. La diplomatie française apprécie le rôle de la Turquie dans la région et dans le monde. Les aleas conjoncturels ne peuvent changer des relations aussi importantes. Les soucis entre nos deux pays ne peuvent qu’être provisoires et temporaires. >>

Mark Alexander

L'Australie se donne un nouveau premier ministre, Kevin Rudd, "blairiste" de l'hémisphère Sud
LE MONDE: Dimanche 25 novembre, au lendemain de sa victoire écrasante sur le Parti libéral de John Howard, le nouveau premier ministre travailliste australien, Kevin Rudd, est allé à la messe en famille. Puis il a annoncé que l'Australie signerait le protocole de Kyoto.

Ces quelques gestes symbolisent les raisons du succès de Kevin Rudd et de sa campagne pour "un nouveau leadership". Arrivé il y a moins d'un an, en décembre 2006, à la tête du Labor, ce diplomate de 50 ans a su jouer sur la lassitude de l'électorat à l'égard de M. Howard qui, à 68 ans, dominait la politique australienne depuis douze ans, et exploiter ses deux erreurs majeures de jugement, tout en se posant comme le défenseur des familles et des valeurs australiennes en menant une campagne centriste et en se définissant comme "économiquement conservateur".

Les Australiens ont trouvé un mot pour cela : le "me too-ism", la technique du "moi aussi". Une fois marquée sa différence sur le changement climatique, que John Howard a fatalement négligé, et sur l'Irak, où le premier ministre conservateur a engagé l'Australie aux côtés des Etats-Unis, Kevin Rudd s'est parfois montré plus royaliste que le roi, reprochant à M. Howard d'encourager l'inflation par un programme de dépenses publiques excessives, défendant un système d'"immigration ordonnée" et refusant les engagements réclamés par les Aborigènes. Il rejette l'étiquette de "gauche" à laquelle il préfère celle de "moderniste". >>

Mark Alexander

Ahmadinejad Offers to Be an Observer at US Presidential Election
THE GUARDIAN: He denounces it as the "Great Satan" and frequently dismisses its power, but the overtures of the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the US seem to grow ever more extravagant.

Having failed to win a response with an 18-page letter to President George Bush or to a request to visit the site of the September 11 2001 attack on New York, Ahmadinejad has offered himself as an observer in next year's presidential election. >> By Robert Tait

Mark Alexander

Paris Continues to Burn
WATCH GUARDIAN VIDEO: Second night of rioting in Paris
Mark Alexander

Is This What They Call the ‘Cream of the Crop’?
WATCH GUARDIAN VIDEO: Free speech debate sparks protests
Mark Alexander

Mummy and I
Supersarko decides to travel to China en famille.
Mark Alexander

Irving and Griffin Spark Fury at Oxford Union Debate
Photo courtesy of The Guardian
It is to be noted that the people demonstrating against free speech at the Oxford Union were trying to take our liberties away from us all by intimidation. They forget that millions of people have died for this cherished freedom as recently as the last century. These demonstrators are naïve in the extreme, and totally without understanding.

Just because we find someone else’s views offensive - and David Irvings’s views on the Holocaust most certainly are – this does not mean to say that that person should have no right to express them.

Those demonstrators wanted to close down all that we Britons have held dear for so long. Many of those demonstrating have surely come to this country from abroad. They have probably fled tyranny themselves. Now they want to impose their own tyranny and restrictions on us!

It is also to be noted that there were banners displayed in those demonstrations in favour of a “multicultural” Britain. One can but wonder if these same demonstrators realise how little multiculturalism there will be in the United Islamic Kingdom!

These people are supposed to be intelligent. Intelligence is usually accompanied by insight and foresight. As far as I can see, they have shown themselves to have very little insight, foresight or understanding of what living in a free society means. Free means free for ALL people, not just free for students who worship at the altar of multiculturalism. There are other people out there with different views, and their views should be heard. Remember Voltaire’s words of wisdom: ”I disapprove of what you say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it.” Voltaire must be turning in his grave! - ©Mark

· Demonstrators breach security cordon
· Speakers forced to address audience separately

THE GUARDIAN: A debate on free speech at the Oxford Union descended into chaos last night after scores of demonstrators broke through a security cordon and staged a sit-down protest in the union's famous chamber.

Scuffles broke out in the hall as the demonstrators - there to voice their opposition to the presence of discredited historian David Irving and BNP leader Nick Griffin - clashed with organisers and security guards.

Order was eventually restored and the event went ahead with Griffin and Irving forced to speak in separate rooms as hundreds of students and anti-fascist campaigners surrounded the venue chanting and singing.

During his speech Griffin described the protesters as a "mob which would kill".

"I have seen them beat old men and women who are wearing war medals and try and kill them. Had they grown up in Nazi Germany they would have been splendid Nazis."

During his speech Irving said he would not be bowed. "I am not going to write what they want me to write. I am going to write what I find in the archives."

At the end of the event Union president Luke Tryl, who had invited Griffin and Irving, said his only regret was that some people had been intimidated. "At the end of that David Irving came out looking pathetic ... I said in my introduction that I found his views repugnant and abhorrent because I wanted that on record ... I think the principle has been proved," said Tryl.

The meeting was disrupted again when Peter Simpson, a student who had travelled from Essex, heckled Griffin from the floor. Afterwards Simpson said: "I cannot believe people will sit in a room and listen to him spout his despicable ideology." >> By Alexandra Topping

The Oxford Union

THE SPECTATOR:
My Comment

Mark Alexander

Briton Faces Lashes in Sudan Over Teddy Named Mohammed
THE TELEGRAPH: A British primary school teacher in Sudan is facing 40 lashes and up to six months in prison after allowing her pupils to name a teddy bear after the prophet Mohammed.

Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, 54, claim she made an "innocent mistake" by allowing the class of seven year-olds to choose the name. But she has been accused of insulting Islam’s holiest prophet, arrested and imprisoned.

If charged and found guilty of blasphemy she faces punishment under Sharia law.

Her actions have sparked protests in Sudan and have forced the school to close until January for fear of reprisals.

The divorced mother-of-two from Liverpool is being held at a police station in the Sudanese capital city of Khartoum, and there were reports that an angry mob had gathered.

As the Foreign Office tried to resolve the situation, Miss Gibbons was visited by consular staff who described her as well, despite her ordeal. >> By Caroline Gammell and Aislinn Simpson

Mark Alexander

Riots Break Out for Second Night in Paris
THE TELEGRAPH: Thirty police officers have been injured in a second night of violence between youths and officers in the flashpoint suburb of Villiers-le-Bel in Paris.

About 160 riot police came under attack in the notoriously crime-ridden district, 20 miles north of the centre of the French capital. The violence spread from Villiers-le-Bel to several other areas, police said.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is in Beijing negotiating a trade deal, is facing the first serious test of his law and order credentials. He appealed for calm after the first night of unrest and for "all sides to calm down and for the judiciary to decide who bears responsibility".

The violence was sparked on Sunday by the deaths of two young boys, who were killed when their moped collided with a police car.

The boys who died were said by locals to be "aged between 12 and 13".

Police insisted that their car had not been chasing the boys when the crash occurred soon after dusk. >> By Megan Levy and agencies

THE GUARDIAN:
Sarkozy urges calm as riots return to Paris

Mark Alexander

Welsh Dragon Call for Union Flag
The Welsh Dragon, the flag of Wales, courtesy of the BBC
Tinker with the Union Jack at your peril! Now it’s Wales, soon it will be Islam! Leave well alone!

BBC: The Union Jack should be combined with the Welsh flag, according to an MP who wants the change to be made to reflect Wales's status within the UK.

In a Commons debate, Wrexham's Labour MP Ian Lucas said Wales' Red Dragon should be added to the Union Jack's red, white and blue pattern.

He said the Union Jack currently only represented the other three UK nations. But Stewart Jackson, Conservative MP for Peterborough, said the plan was "eccentric" and would be unpopular.

"I do not believe it would add to the unity of the country," he said. >>

Mark Alexander

Erneut schwere Ausschreitungen in Pariser Vorort: Polizisten durch Schrotkugeln verletzt
NZZ: Auch am Montagabend ist es im Pariser Vorort Villiers-le-Bel zu schweren Ausschreitungen gekommen. Bei den Strassenschlachten zwischen der Polizei und Jugendlichen wurden acht Polizisten verletzt. Zuvor war anlässlich eines Schweigemarschs den jungen Männern gedacht worden, die am Sonntag ums Leben gekommen waren.

(sda/afp) Bei Krawallen im Pariser Vorort Villiers-le-Bel hat es auch am Montagabend wieder Verletzte gegeben. Wie die Polizei mitteilte, wurden acht Polizisten bei Strassenschlachten mit Jugendlichen durch Schrotkugeln verletzt. Bis zu drei Polizisten hätten ins Spital gebracht werden müssen. Mehrere dutzend Jugendliche hatten die Sicherheitskräfte zuvor mit Flaschen und Steinen beworfen. Mehrere Fahrzeuge, darunter ein Polizeiauto und ein Wagen der Kehrichtabfuhr, gingen in Flammen auf. Auch Mülltonnen brannten. >>

THE TELEGRAPH:
Riots break out for second night in Paris By Megan Levy and agencies

Mark Alexander

Bin Laden Message 'to Be Aired'
BBC: Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is to address the people of Europe in a new message, according to the terror network's media production arm.

The claim was made in an advertisement posted on an Islamic militant website on Monday, featuring Bin Laden's image.

As-Sahab did not say when the message would be aired or whether it would be a video or audio recording. >>

Mark Alexander

Oxford Debate Delayed by Protest
BBC: A debate at the Oxford Union has begun after being delayed when protesters forced their way into the building.

BNP leader Nick Griffin and controversial historian David Irving were invited to talk about free speech.

Thirty protesters pushed their way into the hall to stage a sit-down protest at the debating table.

Earlier, 500 people staged a sit-down demonstration outside the gates of the building, preventing about half the students due to attend from getting in.

Anti-racism campaigners said the two men should not be given a platform to speak at the debate in St Michael's Street, Oxford.

Protesters chanted anti-fascist slogans and jeered "shame on you".

The students broke through a security cordon into the building where the debate, scheduled to start at 2030 GMT was delayed.

Union security officers said the protesters got into the building by jumping over the wall while others created a diversion by gathering and crushing at the front gate. >>

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Students against fee speech

THE TELEGRAPH:
Protesters break into Oxford Union debate By Ben Farmer in Oxford

THE TELEGRAPH:
Context should not affect free speech

TIMESONLINE:
Rival students clash as Holocaust denier turns up for Oxford debate

Mark Alexander

Turning Free Speech into a Negotiable Commodity
SP!KED: ‘Why make a big deal about free speech?’ a student asked me after one of my lectures recently. Such a cynical attitude towards the principle of free speech is common today. An army of self-selected censors is currently demanding: ‘How dare the Oxford Union invite Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, and the anti-Semitic historian David Irving to participate in one of its debates?’ The fevered response to tonight’s debate on free speech and extremism at the Oxford Union highlights the exhaustion of a genuine democratic commitment to freedom of expression. If there is one powerful argument in favour of holding the debate, it is as a way of countering this illiberal outlook.

There was a time when those who called themselves radical or progressive marched and struggled for the realisation of the right to freedom of speech. These days, so-called progressives are far more likely to demonstrate against the right of people that they don’t like to speak openly. They demand the censorship of public expressions of extremist views. Mainstream public figures and officials embrace the role of the censor, and proclaim that freedom of speech is not an ‘absolute right’. In an era that finds it difficult to uphold any absolutes – absolute truth, absolute good – the devaluation of speech from an absolute freedom to a conditional one fits in well with the prevailing ‘common sense’. However, once a right ceases to be an ‘absolute’, it becomes a negotiable commodity. Devaluing the freedom of speech so that it becomes a relative right (in other words, a privilege) simply means upholding the right to speak of those whom we like, and censoring the views of people we find obnoxious or offensive.

The censorious response to the Oxford Union debate comes at a time when attacks on freedom of speech are being widely institutionalised. In recent years, numerous laws have been introduced to punish various forms of speech as ‘incitement to religious hatred’, ‘glorifying terrorism’ or ‘expressing homophobic views’. The New Labour government is set to launch a new crusade against the expression of extremist views on university campuses. Such illiberal attitudes are not confined to Labour. Julian Lewis, the Tory shadow defence secretary, sought to capture the limelight with his very public resignation from the Oxford Union over the Irving/Griffin debate. Of course, Lewis informed us, he is not against free speech – well, he is not absolutely against it. ‘I think there are people who are confusing this with an issue of free speech’, he said. In fact, there is no confusion here; this is a free speech issue. >> By Frank Furedi

Mark Alexander

The Limits to Freedom of Speech
Freedom of speech is indivisible: Either you have it, or you don’t. Period! It cannot be limited without losing freedom of speech altogether. And in any case, once you start saying that this or that cannot be said, then who is to decide what is seemly? If we start limiting our freedom of expression in this manner, we will soon be on a slippery slope: We might well find ourselves in a situation as has happened in Khartoum just recently, a situation in which a teacher has been arrested for allowing her classroom children to call a teddy bear Muhammad. That poor young lady has been arrested for blasphemy!

BBC: The debate at the Oxford Union featuring BNP leader Nick Griffin and historian David Irving highlights fundamental questions about the limits to free speech.

Some protestors called for the debate to be cancelled, both because it might offend people and because it could stir up racial hatred.

But there are others who think people should be allowed to say whatever they think - regardless of the offence it might cause, and even if there is a potential threat to public order.

For some anti-fascist campaigners like Donna Guthrie, the fact that David Irving's views are offensive to large numbers of people is enough to prevent him from speaking.

'Racial attacks'

"Irving is a Holocaust denier, and giving him a platform is an insult to the millions who were murdered by the Nazis."

Ms Guthrie - National Campaigner for the group Unite Against Fascism - said there had also been a rise in racial attacks whenever Nick Griffin's BNP party gained seats on local councils.

She added: "Free speech is not uncontrolled. Speech does not happen in a vacuum. We know that when a fascist organisation speaks, there are real consequences."

In Britain there are laws protecting our right to free speech. But they are so hedged with qualifications that there is still plenty of room for arguments. >> By Julian Joyce

Mark Alexander

Protest Expected at Oxford Debate
"The measure of our country's respect for free expression is our willingness to allow it for the most objectionable and offensive lawful speech" - Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat MP

BBC: Protests are expected later outside the Oxford Union when two controversial figures arrive for a free speech event.

Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, and David Irving - jailed for denying the Holocaust - are to take part in an Oxford Union debate.

Their inclusion has led to objections from student groups and MP Dr Julian Lewis has resigned his membership of the debating union in protest.

The Oxford Union says it is important to give people of all views a platform.

A rally against the inclusion of the two men was held last week with speakers including Holocaust survivors.

The decision to give Mr Griffin and Mr Irving a platform has also been condemned by the president of the Oxford Student Union and race equalities watchdog Trevor Phillips.

Mr Griffin has repeatedly insisted the BNP is not a racist group. >>

LISTEN TO BBC AUDIO:
Free speech debate ‘theatre’?

Mark Alexander

Police Hunt Neo-Nazis Who Cut Swastika Into Woman's Hip
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Yet another far-right assault in eastern Germany: Police are hunting four men who sliced a swastika into the hip of a 17-year-old woman after she tried to stop them harassing a six-year-old girl. Witnesses have been slow to come forward.

German police say they have received two leads but have made no arrests yet in the case of a 17-year-old girl attacked by four far-right youths who cut a swastika symbol into her hip in the eastern town of Mittweida this month.

The men had been outside a supermarket pushing and harassing a six-year-old girl from the former Soviet Union. The teenager shouted at them to stop and they responded by turning on her. They threw her to the ground, three of them held her and the fourth cut the 5 centimeter Nazi symbol into her thigh with what she said was an "object similar to a scalpel."

He also tried to cut a Germanic symbol into her cheek but she defended herself so violently that they failed, police said. Police have located a 19-year-old suspect but so far none of the people who witnessed the attack have come forward to testify and the local court has refused to issue an arrest warrant against him because of a lack of evidence. >>

Mark Alexander

Trotziger Patriotismus: Belgien droht zu zerbrechen. Die düstere Aussicht weckt plötzlich nationale Gefühle
NZZ: Ein halbes Jahr nach den Wahlen haben sich Belgiens Politiker noch nicht auf eine neue Regierung einigen können. Jetzt steigen Patrioten gegen die fahrlässige Gefährdung des Staates auf die Barrikaden.

Pascale redet mit ihren Kunden nie über Politik. Jeder im Brüsseler Quartier Dailly kauft bei der Kioskfrau seine Zeitung. Der Flame von nebenan wird auf Flämisch begrüsst, mit den zahlreicheren Frankophonen schimpft man auf Französisch über das triste Wetter oder den Hundekot auf dem Trottoir. Seit ein paar Tagen fühlt sich auch Pascale zu einer politischen Stellungnahme gezwungen. An der Fassade über dem Kiosk hängt gut sichtbar die belgische Fahne in Schwarz-Gelb-Rot. >> Von Stephan Israel

Mark Alexander

'Muhammad' Teddy Teacher Arrested
BBC: A British school teacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, said she made an "innocent mistake" by letting the six and seven-year-olds choose the name.

Ms Gibbons was arrested after several parents made complaints.

A spokesman from the British Embassy in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, said it was unclear whether she had been charged.
Embassy officials are expected to visit Mrs Gibbons in custody on Monday.

The BBC's correspondent Amber Henshaw said Ms Gibbons' punishment could be up to six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.

The school has been closed until January for fear of reprisals. >>

THE GUARDIAN:
Teacher charged with blasphemy for calling bear Muhammad By James Sturcke and agencies

Mark Alexander

Rudd to Apologise to Aborigines
BBC: Australia's new government will issue a formal apology to Aborigines for the abuses they suffered in the past, prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd has promised.

Mr Rudd, whose Labor Party swept to power in an election on Saturday, said the apology would come early in his first parliamentary term.

Outgoing Prime Minister John Howard had repeatedly refused to say sorry. >>

BBC:
Australia shifts course, away from US By Paul Reynolds

BBC:
Rudd in green gaffe

Mark Alexander

Saudi Rape Victim 'Having Affair'
BBC: Saudi justice officials say a woman who was sentenced to prison and flogging after she was gang-raped has now confessed to an extramarital affair.

The case of the unidentified women, 19, drew international criticism after an appeal increased her 90-lash sentence to 200 lashes and six months' jail.

The justice ministry statement rejected "foreign interference" in the case.

It insisted the ruling was legal and that the women had "confessed to doing what God has forbidden". >>

Mark Alexander

The Polish Baby Boom: Fears for NHS and Schools as 1,000 Polish Children are Born EVERY Month
DAILY MAIL: Hospitals and schools are struggling to cope with a huge influx of Eastern European children, new figures show.

The number of Polish babies born in UK hospitals has almost quadrupled since the 2004 EU expansion.

On current trends, there will be more than 13,000 such births this year, costing the NHS more than £20million.

In addition, more than 240,000 Eastern European children have arrived in Britain's schools - with head teachers warning that some are now close to breaking point. >> By James Slack

Mark Alexander

US Obtains Swiss Records and Flies in British Witness in BAE Investigation
· Washington wants papers from SFO's Saudi inquiry
· Britain trying to block questions on payments

THE GUARDIAN: US corruption investigators have gone behind the back of Downing Street to fly a British witness to Washington to testify about Saudi arms deals with the UK arms firm BAE Systems, the Guardian can disclose. In a hitherto secret move, Swiss federal prosecutors have also agreed to hand over to Washington financial records linked to the Saudi royal family.

The US is seeking - but has so far been refused - more than a million pages of documents seized from BAE, its bankers, Lloyds TSB, and the Ministry of Defence during an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

Prince Bandar, the former Saudi ambassador to the US, who says there was no impropriety about a £1bn payment he received for brokering arms deals with BAE, has hired a former head of the FBI and a retired British high court judge to defend his position. The British government has been attempting to block all investigations into payments from BAE to members of the Saudi regime. >> By David Leigh and Rob Evans

THE GUARDIAN — THE SECRETS OF BRITAINS ARMS TRADE:

Part 1: The Healey Machine
Part 2: The Ray Brown Years
Part 3: The Iranian Deals
Part 4: The Unlovable Saudis
Part 5: BAE in Saudi Arabia
Part 6: The Secrets of Al-Yamamah
Part 7: Britain Blocks Reform
Part 8: BAE’s Secret Money Machine
Part 9: Nobbling the Police
Part 10: The Web Widens

MORE:
All articles

Mark Alexander

Riots Break Out in Paris Suburb
BBC: Youths have damaged police stations, shops and cars in two Paris suburbs, following the deaths of two teenagers whose motorbike hit a police car.

Police said 21 officers were injured in the rioting in the northern suburbs of Villiers-le-Bel and Arnouville.

The Villiers-le-Bel police station was set ablaze and another in Arnouville was pillaged, police say. At least seven people were arrested.

The violence - reminiscent of riots in 2005 - lasted for more than six hours. >>

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Paris riots follow teen deaths

Mark Alexander

Asian MI5 and MI6 Officers Speak
BBC: British Asian intelligence and security officers have spoken to the BBC about their work in a bid to broaden recruitment among ethnic minorities.

Two MI5 agents were permitted to talk for the first time in the hope of attracting more ethnic minorities into the security service.

They told Asian Network their job was to protect the UK, not target Muslims.

Meanwhile, a Muslim officer of the security service MI6 has told Radio 1 about her work recruiting spies.

MI5 - Britain's domestic security service - says it hopes the insight into life as a British Asian agent will help increase its percentage of black and minority ethnic staff, which currently stands at 6.5%.

It also wants to improve relations with Muslim communities. >>

LISTEN TO BBC RADIO:
Security services speak to BBC

Mark Alexander

MP Quits Union Over BNP Speaker
Photo of Dr Lewis who resigned from the Oxford Union Debating Society courtesy of the BBC
The president of the Oxford Union Debating Society has defended an invitation to the British National Party leader and a controversial historian.

BBC: A Tory MP has resigned from The Oxford Union in protest at its decision to invite two controversial figures to a free speech event on Monday.

Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party (BNP) and David Irving - jailed for denying the Holocaust - were invited by the union debating society.

Shadow defence minister and MP for New Forest East Dr Julian Lewis said the students should be "ashamed".

The Oxford Union said it was important to give people of all views a platform.

Mr Griffin has repeatedly insisted the BNP is not a racist group. >>

WATCH BBC VIDEOS:
Oxford students in BNP debate

Oxford debate is ‘worrying’

Mark Alexander

In Loving Memory of George Mason
It is with great sadness that I have learned that my dear friend and blogging partner, George Mason of Brushfires of Freedom, has passed on. George was a very good, sincere, and true friend of mine. I could always count on him. His presence will be sorely missed.

May dear George rest in peace!

If you would like to pay your respects to our dear friend, please click HERE

Mark Alexander

Alarming! Neo-Nazis on the Rise in Russia
BBC: Russia is witnessing a rise in racially-motivated attacks committed by neo-Nazis.

WATCH BBC VIDEO
Mark Alexander

Row as Oxford Union Votes to Hear Irving
THE GUARDIAN: The Oxford Union was accused last night of 'promoting anti-Semitism' after students voted to allow Holocaust revisionist David Irving and the leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin, to address students tomorrow.

Members of the Oxford Union Debating Society voted by a margin of two to one in favour of permitting the two right-wing figures to speak at a free-speech event, despite demands that they be banned.

The decision provoked an immediate backlash. Former Europe minister Denis MacShane condemned the union for 'promoting anti-Semitism', while the university's Muslim and Jewish societies said that principles of freedom of speech were 'overshadowed in this instance'.

The union's president, Luke Tryl, defended the invitation by arguing that the pair were not being granted a platform to expound their views, but would discuss the limits of free speech. >>

Mark Alexander

US is‘Worst’ Imperialist: Archbishop
Photo of the Archbishop of Canterbury courtesy of The Sunday Times
THE SUNDAY TIMES: THE Archbishop of Canterbury has said that the United States wields its power in a way that is worse than Britain during its imperial heyday.

Rowan Williams claimed that America’s attempt to intervene overseas by “clearing the decks” with a “quick burst of violent action” had led to “the worst of all worlds”.

In a wide-ranging interview with a British Muslim magazine, the Anglican leader linked criticism of the United States to one of his most pessimistic declarations about the state of western civilisation.

He said the crisis was caused not just by America’s actions but also by its misguided sense of its own mission. He poured scorn on the “chosen nation myth of America, meaning that what happens in America is very much at the heart of God’s purpose for humanity”.

Williams went beyond his previous critique of the conduct of the war on terror, saying the United States had lost the moral high ground since September 11. He urged it to launch a “generous and intelligent programme of aid directed to the societies that have been ravaged; a check on the economic exploitation of defeated territories; a demilitarisation of their presence”.

He went on to suggest that the West was fundamentally adrift: “Our modern western definition of humanity is clearly not working very well. There is something about western modernity which really does eat away at the soul.”

Williams suggested American leadership had broken down: “We have only one global hegemonic power. It is not accumulating territory: it is trying to accumulate influence and control. That’s not working.” >> By Abul Taher

THE SUNDAY TIMES:
New Australian PM signals Iraq pullout By Paul Ham

Mark Alexander

John Howard Concedes Defeat in Australian Election
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Mark Alexander

Zehntausende demonstrieren in Madrid: Opposition gegen Zapateros Antiterror-Politik
NZZ: Zehntausende haben in Madrid gegen die Antiterror-Politik der sozialistischen Regierung protestiert. Die Demonstranten warfen Premierminister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero vor, nicht entschieden genug gegen die baskische Untergrundorganisation ETA vorzugehen. Die Regierung wirft der Opposition vor, den Kampf gegen den Terror als Wahlkampfthema zu missbrauchen.

(sda/dpa) Sie verlangten zudem am Samstagabend ein Verbot zweier ETA-naher Parteien im Baskenland. Einige Teilnehmer forderten den Rücktritt Zapateros. Die Veranstalter bezifferten die Zahl der Demonstranten auf eine halbe Million. Die Polizei machte dazu keine Angaben. Zu der Kundgebung hatte Spaniens grösste Vereinigung von Terroropfern (AVT) aufgerufen. Diese steht der oppositionellen Volkspartei (PP) nahe. Mehrere PP-Spitzenpolitiker nahmen an der Demonstration teil. >>

Mark Alexander

BNP to Speak to Oxford Students
Photo of Nick Griffin and David Irving courtesy of the BBC
BBC: The Oxford Union has voted to let the British National Party (BNP) leader and a controversial historian speak at a free speech event on Monday.

Despite opposition, the Oxford Union Debating Society members voted by a margin of 2 to 1 to continue to extend an invite to the BNP's Nick Griffin.

David Irving, who was jailed for Holocaust denial, will also be invited.

The move was opposed by the Oxford Student Union and the university's Muslim and Jewish societies.

The Oxford Union Debating Society said it was important to give people of all views a platform. >>

Mark Alexander

Pope Calls for an End to the War in Iraq
REUTERS: VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, elevating 23 prelates from around the world to the rank of cardinal, made a pressing appeal on Saturday for an end to the war in Iraq and decried the plight of the country's Christian minority.

One of the new cardinals is Emmanuel III Delly, the Baghdad-based Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, and the Pope used the solemn occasion, known as a consistory, to express his concern for the country.

The other new cardinals come from Italy, Ireland, Germany, the United States, Spain, India, Argentina, Kenya, Mexico, Poland, Senegal, Brazil and France.

Speaking of Delly during the ceremony in St Peter's Basilica, Benedict said Christians in Iraq were "feeling with their own flesh the dramatic consequences of an enduring conflict ... "

The Chaldeans are Iraq's biggest Christian group and the Chaldean rite is one of the most ancient of the Catholic Church. Pope makes new cardinals, calls for end to Iraq war (more) By Philip Pullella

Mark Alexander

Election Disaster for John Howard in Australia
BBC: The Labor Party has claimed victory in Australia's election, after early vote counts suggested Prime Minister John Howard had lost his parliamentary seat.

"On the numbers we are seeing tonight Labor is going to form a government," said Labor deputy leader Julia Gillard.

She was one of several Labor figures to claim victory, although leader Kevin Rudd has yet to make a statement.

Mr Howard was bidding for a fifth term in office, but tallies indicated his Sydney seat had been lost to Labor. Labor claims Australia poll win (more)

Mark Alexander

The $100 Oil Barrel
THE GUARDIAN: As the price of crude oil sets records almost daily, the British government remains stunningly complacent. With the $100 barrel a real and constant threat, the prime minister's website blithely proclaims "the world's oil and gas resources are sufficient to sustain economic growth for the foreseeable future". Officials refuse to define what is meant by "foreseeable", but it is clear they suffer from extreme myopia, or worse.

All the evidence suggests we are rapidly approaching "peak oil", the point when global production goes into terminal decline for geological reasons. The industry consensus is that world output, excluding that from the Opec producers, will peak in about 2010. It is also widely agreed that Opec has grossly exaggerated the size of its reserves, meaning that global output must also peak soon. Since oil provides 95% of all transport energy, as well as vital inputs to modern agriculture, this is likely to provoke a crisis.

Oil executives have traditionally avoided talk of geological constraints - no doubt mindful of the value of their share options - but now even they admit the industry is in difficulty. A growing number believe output will never exceed 100m barrels per day, compared with 86m today. At present rates of growth, demand will hit that ceiling within about a decade. $100 oil: the terrible truth: Nearing the price barrier is a pointer to the peak of output, and the crisis the powerful want to ignore By David Strahan

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For the Sake of Christ, Go Spend More Time with Your Family, Mr Straw, Before You Ruin Europe!
DAILY EXPRESS: JACK Straw said yesterday that Turkey should be drawn in to the European Union so that Muslims and Christians can be seen to live in harmony.

The Justice Secretary indicated that he wants Turkey, which has 70 million Muslims, to be allowed into the EU as soon as possible.

He said in Istanbul: “By welcoming Turkey into Europe we will prove how two cultures can not only exist together, but thrive together.” Turkey Must Be in the EU Says Straw (more)

Mark Alexander

More Barbarity from the World of Barbarians!
DAILY MAIL: An Iraqi couple were beheaded in front of their children by their cousins because the man wore Western-style trousers.

Three suspected al Qaeda militants, including two sisters, beheaded their uncle and his wife, forcing the couple's children to watch, according to Iraqi police.

The killing came because the school guard Youssef al-Hayali was considered an infidel because he did not pray and wore western-style trousers.

The militants, later arrested in Diyala province northwest of Baghdad, killed Hayali and his wife Zeinab Kamel at the all-boys school in Jalawlah.

Sunni Arab communities across Iraq have been turning against al Qaeda because of its indiscriminate killings and strict interpretation of Islam, which includes a ban on smoking in public and forcing schoolgirls to wear veils. Iraq: Sisters behead uncle and aunt in front of their children - because he wore Western-style trousers (more

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Turks in Christian Murder Trial
BBC: Five men are to go on trial in eastern Turkey, accused of killing three Christians earlier this year.

The Christians, who included a pastor and a German missionary, were stabbed repeatedly and had their throats cut.

The suspects, aged 19 and 20, were detained at the scene of the crime, a Protestant publishing house in Malatya.

The murders prompted three Christian families to leave the town. Germany has accused Turkey of "unacceptable intolerance" towards non-Muslims.

Turkey is a candidate for EU membership. Turks in Christian murder trial (more)

Mark Alexander

In Search of Lost Time
TIME: The days grow short. A cold wind stirs the fallen leaves, and some mornings the vineyards are daubed with frost. Yet all across France, life has begun anew: the 2007 harvest is in. And what a harvest it has been. At least 727 new novels, up from 683 for last autumn's literary rentrée. Hundreds of new music albums and dozens of new films. Blockbuster art exhibitions at all the big museums. Fresh programs of concerts, operas and plays in the elegant halls and salles that grace French cities. Autumn means many things in many countries, but in France it signals the dawn of a new cultural year.

And nobody takes culture more seriously than the French. They subsidize it generously; they cosset it with quotas and tax breaks. French media give it vast amounts of airtime and column inches. Even fashion magazines carry serious book reviews, and the Nov. 5 announcement of the Prix Goncourt — one of more than 900 French literary prizes — was front-page news across the country. (It went to Gilles Leroy's novel Alabama Song.) Every French town of any size has its annual opera or theater festival, nearly every church its weekend organ or chamber-music recital.

There is one problem. All of these mighty oaks being felled in France's cultural forest make barely a sound in the wider world. Once admired for the dominating excellence of its writers, artists and musicians, France today is a wilting power in the global cultural marketplace. That is an especially sensitive issue right now, as a forceful new President, Nicolas Sarkozy, sets out to restore French standing in the world. When it comes to culture, he will have his work cut out for him. In Search of Lost Time (more) By Don Morrison, Paris

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Former Chiefs of Defence Staff Condemn Budget Cuts in the Military Sparking Bitter ‘War of Words’
THE GUARDIAN: The defence secretary, Des Browne, hit back today at former defence chiefs who accused the government of treating the armed forces "with contempt", as a war of words over the issue became increasingly personal.

In the House of Lords yesterday, five former chiefs of the defence staff lined up to condemn what they claimed were in effect budget cuts on the military, some of them also attacking Gordon Brown individually for a perceived lack of interest in the armed forces.

The prime minister also entered the fray today, insisting he had "enormous respect" for the armed forces, who were financed and equipped adequately, he said. Defence secretary hits back at admiral's criticism (more) By Peter Walker and agencies

DAILY MAIL:
Brown hits back after barrage of criticism from miltary top brass over defence cuts

Mark Alexander

Split Widens Over Iran’s Nuclear Plans
THE TELEGRAPH: International divisions over Iran's nuclear ambitions deepened yesterday after the world's nuclear watchdog pleaded for more time for its inspections regime despite admitting international knowledge of Teheran's nuclear programme had diminished.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), endorsed Iranian pledges to provide better access to its clandestine atomic programme within "several weeks" even though Iran had failed to bridge a "confidence deficit" with inspectors.

But America, which is leading a campaign for a new round of sanctions on Iran, warned that Iran had shown no signs of compliance. "We have seen this before: promises of full co-operation under pressure, selective co-operation and backsliding when the pressure comes off," said Greg Schulte, the US ambassador at the IAEA.

"Despite four years of intensive investigation and the launch of this work plan four months ago, the IAEA remains unable to confirm the absence of undeclared nuclear activities in Iran." Split widens over Iran’s nuclear plans (more) By Damien McElroy

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