France Attack: Man Decapitated at Factory Near Lyon

BBC AMERICA: A man has been found decapitated at a gas factory near Lyon in France after an attack that police suspect was carried out by one of his employees.

The body was found after a car rammed into the factory causing an explosion that put France on its highest alert amid fears of a terror attack.

Within hours a man was arrested who officials said had been investigated over possible ties to radical Islam.

His boss, the owner of a delivery firm, was the man found beheaded, police say.

The delivery company had made regular trips to the factory, which is owned by the US-based company Air Products, Dauphine Libere newspaper reports.

Few details of the killing have been released, but the businessman's head was reportedly found on a post at the factory, in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, some 40km (25 miles) from Lyon.

Mr Hollande said the decapitated body had "inscriptions" on it. The French interior minister said: "A flag with Arabic writing on it was found at the scene." » | Friday, June 26, 2015

Thousands Packed into North Korea Stadium Call for Bloody Revenge on US on Korean War Anniversary

THE TELEGRAPH: Pyongyang holds 'Mass Rally on the Day of the Struggle Against the US' and issues an English-language statement condemning the 'fatty monster US imperialists'

North Korea marked the 65th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War on Thursday with a 100,000-strong rally in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Stadium, and a statement condemning the "fatty monster US imperialists".

The "Pyongyang Mass Rally on the Day of the Struggle Against the US," was a carefully orchestrated display of angry speeches, fist-pumping and calls for blood revenge.

The rally was just one event in what it officially known as "Struggle Against US Imperialism Month", during which North Koreans visit war museums and attend gatherings denouncing the evils of the United States.

North Korea also issued a statement on Thursday urging the world to join its struggle to "dismember the gangster US imperialists".

"We appeal to the world to turn out in the worldwide anti-US struggle to dismember the gangster US imperialists", said the statement carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). » | Andrew Marszal, and agencies | Thursday, June 25, 2015

Shock Poll: 51% of U.S. Muslims Want Sharia; 25% Okay with Violence against Americans

BREITBART.COM: The Center for Security Policy released a poll Tuesday that should give all Americans pause. The results show that a startling number of American Muslims, our fellow citizens, agree that violence is a legitimate response to those who insult Islam. A full majority of 51% “agreed that “Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to shariah.” » | John Nolte | Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Queen and Philip Lunch with German Branch of Family Once Tainted by Nazi Past

DAILY EXPRESS: THE Queen and Prince Philip had a family reunion in Germany today with the descendants of relatives once banned from their wedding because of Nazi connections.

They met different branches of Philip’s side of the family at a lunch in Frankfurt and again at a reception at the British Embassy in Berlin tonight.

There was a time when such a meeting would have had to be far more discreet – all but one of Philip’s German relatives, his mother Princess Alice, were excluded from the couple’s 1947 wedding because of sensitivities over his sister’s Nazi connections.

Three of his four sisters joined Hitler’s party and married princes who were prominent Nazis, although other relatives were persecuted after being accused of opposing the party.

But there was no sense of any awkwardness today, as the 89-year-old monarch and her husband, 94, chatted to guests in Frankfurt’s city hall, Philip using his fluent German.

There were three groups of Philip’s relatives seated at tables: the Battenbergs, the von Badens and the Hesses. » | Richard Palmer, Royal Correspondent | Thursday, June 25, 2015

Isis Targets Vulnerable Bosnia for Recruitment and Attack

A still from a new Isis recruitment video aimed at Bosnian youth.

THE GUARDIAN: High youth unemployment, ethnic tensions and political paralysis help jihadis lure young people to Syria and open up new terror front in heart of Europe

Islamic State has expanded its efforts to recruit fighters in Bosnia and incite terrorist attacks there, taking advantage of the world’s highest youth unemployment rate and chronic political paralysis.

The initiative, though small in scale, is causing alarm in western capitals, where diplomats fear that the mix of economic malaise and ethnic tensions represents fertile terrain for extremism, and that Europe could come to regret the failure to confront Bosnia’s profound structural problems in the two decades since the war.

Isis produced a new recruitment video this month, targeting the Balkans region and Bosnia and Herzegovina in particular. The 20-minute film, entitled Honour is in Jihad, features several Bosnian Isis fighters exhorting their fellow countrymen to join the battle in Syria or carry out opportunistic attacks on perceived enemies of Islam at home.

“If you can, put explosives under the cars, in their houses, all over them. If you can, take poison and put it in their drink or food. Make them die, make them die of poisoning, kill them wherever you are. In Bosnia, in Serbia, in Sandzak [a region in south-west Serbia]. You can do it,” one of the Bosnians, identified by a pseudonym, Salahuddin al-Bosni, implores the audience in Bosnian. » | Julian Borger in Sarajevo | Thursday, June 25, 2015

Obamacare Subsidies Upheld in US Supreme Court Ruling

BBC AMERICA: The US Supreme Court has upheld a key portion of President Barack Obama's healthcare law in a 6-3 decision.

The court ruled the law as a whole made subsidies available for people in all 50 states, not just those who bought insurance through a state exchange.

The high court case was the second major challenge to the healthcare law- often known as Obamacare - since its passage.

The decision is major victory for the Obama administration.

"Congress passed the Affordable Care act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion.

If the law was overturned, 6.4 million Americans would have been at risk of losing aid.

The 2010 law, often known as Obamacare, set up a federally run insurance exchange where Americans who were not covered by employers or other governmental could buy health insurance. » | Thursday, June 25, 2015

Bobby Jindal Becomes 13th Republican to Run for US Presidency

The governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, has become the 13th Republican to throw his hat into the ring and join the presidential race. Jindal criticised the establishment in Washington, saying, 'It's time for the folks in Washington to admit the truth. You can't grow the economy and the government at the same time.' He pitched himself as a Republican candidate with a difference, saying 'the Republican party in Washington DC has been beaten into submission. It is increasingly afraid to speak the truth. It is time to say what everybody is already thinking. The emperors in Washington, they are not wearing any clothes.' Jindal is the first person of Indian-American heritage ever to run for the presidency

Obama: "Shame on You" to White House Heckler

President Obama is heckled at a White House event honoring the LGBT community with Obama saying, "Shame on you," as he called for heckler to be removed. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

Read the Telegraph article here | David Millward, US Correspondent | Thursday, June 15, 2015

St. Petersburg Lawmaker Wants Romanov Family to Return to Russia

Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna

THE MOSCOW TIMES: A lawmaker in the Leningrad region outside the city of St. Petersburg has appealed to the descendants of the Romanov royal family to return to Russia, saying their presence would help unify the country and restore its might, media reports said.

In letters to Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna Romanova in Spain and Prince Dmitry Romanovich Romanov in Denmark, both of whom claim to be the head of the house of Romanov, regional lawmaker Vladimir Petrov argued that the “return of the descendants of the last Russian autocrat to their historical homeland would help smooth out the political contradictions inside the country, which have been left over from the moment of the [Bolshevik] October revolution, and would become a symbol of restoring the spiritual might of Russia's people,” Izvestia reported Tuesday.

“At the present time, a difficult process is under way in restoring Russia's might and of returning its international influence,” Petrov said in the letter, Izvestia reported. “I am certain that during such an important historical moment, members of the Romanov imperial house cannot remain aside from the processes that are going on in Russia.” » | Anna Dolgov | Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Related »

Peter Hitchens – WWI & Christianity

Saudi Arabien: Eine der grausamsten Diktaturen der Welt

Staatsbankett: Beethoven zur Forelle

FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU: Mit einem Staatsbankett endete der zweite Tag des Besuchs der britischen Königin in Berlin. 136 Gäste hatte der Bundespräsident dazu ins Schloss Bellevue eingeladen. Vor dem festlichen Abendessen gab es ein Defilee bei den Staatsoberhäuptern.

Das Menü wurde auf Staatsgeschirr von KPMG mit goldenem Adler serviert. Als Vorspeise gab es Bachforelle, Meerrettich und geröstetes Salatherz, gefolgt von einer „Wildkraftbrühe mit gefülltem Teigblatt“. Als Hauptgericht wurde Müritzlamm-Rücken, Beelitzer Spargel und Kartoffeltörtchen aufgetischt – und als Dessert eine Variation von Erdbeeren, Holunderblüte und Buttermilch. » | Von Susanne Rost | Mittwoch, 24. Juni 2015

Peter Hitchens - Monarchy & Christianity

Islamic State Spreads Tentacles to Russia as Chechnya Militants Pledge Allegiance to Leader Baghdadi

THE TELEGRAPH: New alliance marks first time the terror group has made a territorial claim in Russia and becomes the latest addition to its rapidly expanding portfolio of terror franchises

Islamic State has claimed a swathe of southern Russia as a “province” of its emirate after fighters there pledged allegiance to the group, opening a new front on Europe’s doorstep.

Thousands of Islamist fighters from the region this week pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isil, in a video filmed in the Muslim republic of Chechnya.

Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, Isil’s spokesman, appointed a new "governor" of the Caucasus, calling on all “mujahideen” to recognise his authority “and obey him in everything except sin.”

The move appears to sideline the current leadership of the Caucasus Emirate, an umbrella group of smaller extremist groups in Chechnya, Daghestan and Ingushetia, who have fought to break away from Russian rule for decades.

Mr Adnani declared that the Caucasus would form a new province of the self-proclaimed Caliphate, marking the first time the terror group has made a territorial claim in Russia and becomes the latest addition to its rapidly expanding portfolio of terror franchises. » | Roland Oliphant, Moscow | Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Die Queen in Deutschland: Elisabeth II warnt vor Spaltung Europas

Königin Elisabeth II. und Bundespräsident Gauck
am Mittwoch in Berlin.

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Die britische Königin sieht Europa vor einer Bewährungsprobe. In einer Rede auf einem von Bundespräsident Gauck ausgerichteten Abendessen sprach sie von Gefahren für den Osten wie den Westen des Kontinents.

Die britische Königin Elisabeth II. hat vor einer Spaltung Europas gewarnt. In einer Rede am Mittwochabend in Berlin sagte die Queen: „Wir wissen, dass Spaltung in Europa gefährlich ist und dass wir uns davor in Acht nehmen müssen, im Westen wie auch im Osten unseres Kontinents.“ Dieses bleibe „unser gemeinsames Bestreben“, äußerte Elisabeth II. bei einem von Bundespräsident Joachim Gauck ausgerichteten Abendessen im Schloss Bellevue in Berlin. Die Queen und ihr Mann Prinz Philip sind für vier Tage zu Besuch in Deutschland. » | Von Eckart Lohse, Berlin | Mittwoch, 24. Juni 2015

Queen Wades into Europe Debate as She Says Division Is 'Dangerous'

The Queen in Berlin on Wednesday

THE TELEGRAPH: Her Majesty emphasises Britain’s 'key part' in shaping of continent in Berlin speech that left little doubt of which way she would vote in referendum

The Queen has said that division in Europe is "dangerous" in what will be seen as a plea to the British people to vote yes to staying in Europe.

In a speech in front of David Cameron and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday night, Her Majesty emphasised Britain’s “key part” in the shaping of the continent.

She also lauded Britain’s “irreversible” friendship with Germany, the EU’s most powerful member state, as she spoke at a State banquet in Berlin.

Her comments were all the more powerful as they were made ahead of a speech by the German President, Joachim Gauck, who urged Mr Cameron to do everything he can to secure a “yes” vote in the in-out EU referendum, saying that “the European Union needs Britain”. » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter, in Berlin and Steven Swinford | Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Dutch Government Ordered to Cut Carbon Emissions in Landmark Ruling

THE GUARDIAN: Dutch court orders state to reduce emissions by 25% within five years to protect its citizens from climate change in world’s first climate liability suit

A court in The Hague has ordered the Dutch government to cut its emissions by at least 25% within five years, in a landmark ruling expected to cause ripples around the world.

To cheers and hoots from climate campaigners in court, three judges ruled that government plans to cut emissions by just 14-17% compared to 1990 levels by 2020 were unlawful, given the scale of the threat posed by climate change.

Jubilant campaigners said that governments preparing for the Paris climate summit later this year would now need to look over their shoulders for civil rights era-style legal challenges where emissions-cutting pledges are inadequate. » | Arthur Neslen | The Hague | Wednesday, June 24, 2015

US Ransom Policy Shift Undermines UK's Hardline Stance

THE GUARDIAN: Barack Obama’s decision may put Americans at greater risk, fuel hostage price inflation and raise pressure on UK to save its citizens in the same way

Barack Obama’s decision to relax Washington’s blanket ban on paying ransoms to free hostages will be seen as belated American acceptance of an unpleasant but unavoidable necessity by west European countries criticised in the past for buying off terrorist kidnappers with cash.

But if David Cohen, deputy director of the CIA, and other counter-terrorism experts are to be believed, Wednesday’s announcement may increase the risk of American citizens being taken hostage abroad, because the payment of large amounts of money for their release now appears more likely.

Obama’s policy shift does not in any way overcome the basic ransoms-for-hostages dilemma, which is the fear that handing over money is, in effect, “giving in” to the bad guys and will encourage and finance more terrorism. Linked to this is the belief, common among American and British politicians, that European governments that pay ransoms (while officially denying it) – notably France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Italy – are letting the side down. » | Simon Tisdall | Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Vladimir Putin 'Wants' to Reinstate Russia's Royal Family and Bring Back the Tsars

THE DAILY EXPRESS: VLADIMIR PUTIN 'wants' to reinstate the Russian royal family and move them into an ancient palace once occupied by the last Tsar Nicholas II.

The Romanov family's extraordinary return would not threaten the rule of the Kremlin strongman but would aim to give them a role in unifying Russia.

The move proposed by Vladimir Petrov, a law maker from Putin's party, has prompted speculation that it has the Russian leader's direct approval.

Petrov also plans to introduce a law, which would be implemented by the centenary of the end of Imperial rule, which would "give the Royal family members a special status" and "stimulate their return to Russia". The legislator has written letters to the heirs of the Romanov dynasty, which ruled the country for two centuries before the abdication of last Tsar Nicholas II ahead of two revolutions in 1917.

The following year the Romanov family - Nicholas and his wife Tsarina Alexandra and their five children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei - were executed by Bolsheviks led by Yakov Yurovsky under the orders of the Ural Soviet.

Petrov has written to Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna and Prince Dimitri Romanovich urging them to return to Russia to become symbols of national culture in order to "revive the spiritual power of Russian people". » | Rebecca Perring | Tuesday, June 13, 2015

Heute Nacht schläft die Queen im Kingsize-Bett

BILD: Sie bleibt drei Tage, absolviert 14 Termine

Hoher Besuch in der Hauptstadt: Königin Elizabeth II. (89) ist am Dienstag mit einer Entourage von 40 Bediensteten in Berlin gelandet. Am Abend checkte sie mit ihrem Ehemann Prinz Philip (94) im „Adlon“ ein.

Die Queen residiert in der Präsidentensuite 312 in der dritten Etage des Nobel-Hotels: 180 Quadratmeter, fünf Zimmer (u. a. Wohnbereich mit Flügel und Kamin, Schlafzimmer mit Garderobe, Badezimmer mit Sauna sowie eine Mini-Küche). Und im Schlafzimmer ein kuscheliges Kingsize-Bett – mit Blick aufs Brandenburger Tor. Kosten: 15 000 Euro pro Nacht. » | Tuesday, June 23, 2015