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Councils are recruiting 'citizen snoopers' to report litter louts, dog foulers and even people who fail to sort out their rubbish properly. The 'environment volunteers' will also be responsible for encouraging neighbours to cut down on waste. The move comes as local authorities dish out £100 fines to householders who leave out too much rubbish or fail to follow recycling rules. Spy on your neighbours: Councils are recruiting spotters to report litter louts, dog foulers and bad recyclers It will fuel fears that Britain is lurching towards a Big Brother society, following the revelation this week that the Home Office...

Devout Muslim found guilty of forcing boys to flog themselves in religious ceremony Last updated at 15:41pm on 27.08.08   A devout Muslim was found guilty of child cruelty today in a British legal first after forcing two boys to beat themselves during a religious ceremony.The jury at Manchester Crown Court found 44-year-old Syed Mustafa Zaidi guilty of two counts of child cruelty.The boys, aged 13 and 15, were forced to beat themselves with a zanjeer zani, an implement containing five curved blades, during a ceremony to commemorate the death of a Shia Muslim spiritual leader.Zaidi, of Station Road,...

Thames reveals forgotten wrecksMark Blunden 26.08.08   The largest-ever post-war salvage operation on the Thames has discovered seven shipwrecks up to 350 years old. They include a warship that was blown up in 1665, a yacht converted to a Second World War gunboat, and a mystery wreck in which divers found a personalised gin bottle. The vessels, in the Thames Estuary, are just some of about 1,100 ships which went down in the whole of the river. The salvage by Wessex Archaeology and the Port of London Authority, which regulates the river, was both historical and practical. Jagged metal...

LONDON, Aug. 25 -- The daughter of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher said Britain's "Iron Lady" is suffering from dementia, the family's first public confirmation of what has been widely rumored in Britain for several years. Thatcher's condition has deteriorated so much that she forgets that her husband, Denis Thatcher, died in 2003, her daughter said in a memoir that is to be published next month and was serialized over the weekend in the Mail on Sunday newspaper. "I had to keep giving her the bad news over and over again," Carol Thatcher wrote. "Every time it finally sank in...

London's Terror Bank August 21, 2008 In the war on terror, the U.S. has had no greater friend than the United Kingdom. And as the U.S. economy continues to suffer under the burdens of Sarbanes-Oxley, our British friends have demonstrated a more sensible approach to financial regulation. For both of the preceding statements, however, there is an exception. Even as the U.K. stands with us in rallying the world against doing business with Tehran, an Iranian bank with a history of financing terrorism continues to operate in London. On September 8, 2006, the U.S. Treasury announced it was cutting off...

'Spy-in-the-sky' paves way for road pricing Motorists are being warned they may face "pay as you drive" road taxes as ministers launch the first ever trials of a scheme that could see them charged for every mile they drive. By David Millward, Transport Editor Last Updated: 1:06AM BST 18 Aug 2008 A prototype road-pricing device: the scheme involves a satellite tracking a vehicle's movements. Motorists will then receive a bill for their time on the road Photo: PAUL GROVER The Telegraph can disclose that the Government is pushing ahead with plans for a national road-pricing scheme, including testing "spy in...

Like many townies, my prejudices about the Glorious Twelfth were well and truly fully formed. The official start of the shooting season was nothing more than an ancient ritual to massacre thousands of defenceless birds. So it was with some cynicism and not a little trepidation that I agreed to take part in the Glorious Twelfth last Tuesday, the traditional start of the shooting season, on a moor on the Durham/ Northumberland border. (edit) Having missed my first bird and about to hand over my place to the next gun, I looked back at the group. Mums with red-faced...

Three years ago this month, American freelance journalist Steven Vincent was kidnapped and murdered in Basra, Iraq, a port city then under British military control. His murder occurred as Britain's military -- as Vincent had earlier reported -- was turning a blind eye to the rise of menacing Shiite religious groups, including those of bellicose rebel cleric Moktada al-Sadr. Now, three years later, the ineptitude of British forces in Basra has boiled over into a full-fledged scandal in Britain, as today's Wall Street Journal notes in an editorial, "Basra and the Brits." The scandal concerns the failure of British military...

Return of the Atlanticists by: Jeff Waldmann, August 13, 2008 With the British Conservative Party poised for a thunderous victory in the next general election, the future appears bright for increased cooperation between the United States and Great Britain in the War on Terror, according to a July 29 Heritage Foundation panel. “Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s personal ratings are among the worst for a British leader in modern history, with 70% of Britons dissatisfied and just 17% approving,” said Niles Gardner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation. So what can the United States expect...

Council snoopers to get new powers to seize phone and email records - with taxpayers footing the £50m bill Last updated at 15:11pm on 13.08.08  Tory concerns: Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve Council snoopers will be given even greater powers to pry into our phone, email and internet records  -  landing the taxpayer with a bill of almost £50million.  Town halls, along with the police, security services, health authorities and other public bodies, will have access to ' communication' records of anyone suspected of involvement in even the most minor crime.  The powers, which stem from an EU directive...

One third of whites claim they are victims of racism Last updated at 10:16am on 12.08.08  A growing number of white people believe they are the victims of racial prejudice in Britain, official research has found. Almost one in three - 29 per cent - said they now expected to be treated worse than other races by key public services.  And the number of whites claiming to have been refused a job or discriminated against at work for reasons of race has doubled in the last five years, according to the Government study.   Flashback: Riots in Burnley, Lancs, 2001 when...

UK. Brixham Coastguard rescues intoxicated teenagers by helicopter Thursday, 07 August 2008   At quarter to one this morning Brixham Coastguard received several 999 calls from an 18 year old teenager reporting that he was in some form of distress on a cliff. The boy told the Coastguard in the operations room that he was epileptic and had suffered a fit. He and a friend that was with him could not tell the Coastguard where they were and communications with the two boys was difficult as it became apparent that they were under the influence of alcohol. Teignmouth and...

Max, the sweet-toothed boy, 3, who walked a mile at 3am to buy chocolate Last updated at 19:04pm on 07.08.08      Adventurer: Max McGrath, dressed in pyjamas and oversized shoes, headed off for a sweet hunt... at 3am   When three-year-old Max McGrath had an urge for a chocolate egg in the middle of the night, nothing was going to stop him from satisfying his craving.At 3am the sweet-toothed toddler climbed out of bed, slipped on his brother's shoes and armed himself with his pocket money and a front door key, before heading out on a mile-long walk...

Draconian rules imposed by the Chinese authorities mean that flags of any non-competing nation are likely to be confiscated from fans, who could be barred from venues if they refuse to comply. Athletes could even be disqualified from competing if they break the rules. Because Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland are not individually represented at the games, only the Union Flag of Great Britain will be allowed inside the stadiums. The regulation is widely believed to be aimed at preventing supporters of an independent Tibet from making political statements by waving its flag, but it will be enforced...

Betrayal in diplomacy among allies is rare but happens on occasion. But betrayal on the battlefield? And by our closest ally? This is from the Times Online: A secret deal between Britain and the notorious al-Mahdi militia prevented British Forces from coming to the aid of their US and Iraqi allies for nearly a week during the battle for Basra this year, The Times has learnt. Four thousand British troops - including elements of the SAS and an entire mechanised brigade - watched from the sidelines for six days because of an "accommodation" with the Iranian-backed group, according to American...

An organ grinder and his monkey were banned from the streets on health and safety grounds. Paddy Cooke, 64, from Matlock in Derbyshire, and his stuffed toy Simon cannot perform until they complete a risk assessment. Ripley Town Council in Derbyshire decided to cancel the act who were due to perform in the town centre during the summer holidays. The decision was made by licensing bosses at Amber Valley Borough Council.

Pentagon Makes Fighting Extremism Top Priority Seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pentagon on Thursday officially named "the long war" against global extremism as its top priority and pledged to avert any conventional military threat from China or Russia through dialogue. The Defense Department, in a new national defense strategy, also emphasized the need to subordinate military operations to "soft power" initiatives to undermine Islamist militancy by promoting economic, political and social development in vulnerable corners of the world. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the change would help establish permanent institutional support for counterinsurgency skills...

    Horror ... Remi Fakorede    Mum's finger horror in court     By STAFF REPORTER Published: 02 Aug 2008     A MUM caused uproar in court when she pulled two fingers from her handbag and said they belonged to one of her children. Mother-of-six Remi Fakorede, 46, now behind bars for a “breathtaking” £925,000 tax credit fraud, claimed they had fallen off as a result of a strong “voodoo” curse that had been placed on her and her family and forced her into crime. One juror burst into tears while the “horrified” judge immediately adjourned the case...

  Wife lands a whopper   What a whopper ... Gill Hudspeth and her catch   By STAFF REPORTER Published: Today     A NOVICE angler is celebrating a huge haul - on her first fishing effort. Gill Hudspeth, 58, hooked a 72lb catfish the first time she fished with a rod and reel on holiday with her husband and two friends in France. Her huge haul blew her husband Maurice’s best ever catch of 42lbs straight out of the water. Mrs Hudspeth, from Wilford, Nottinghamshire, today said she had never taken up fishing, despite the fact her husband...

British Muslims are part of the Taliban force fighting against the country's troops deployed under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, a British General said in an interview with a newspaper published Saturday. General Ed Butler, a former commander of Britain's force in Afghanistan, was quoted by the Daily Telegraph Saturday as saying that British forces "have uncovered evidence that British Muslims are actively supporting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in attacks on coalition forces in southern Afghanistan". "There are British passport holders who live in Britain, who are being found in places like Kandahar," said Butler,...

Really chuffed: First full-size British steam locomotive for 50 years fires up Last updated at 22:25pm on 01.08.08  First came the sweet toot of the whistle, then a steady hiss. Finally, sporting her battleship-grey undercoat, Britain's first new steam locomotive in almost half a century emerged in all her majesty. It was a sight that took those old enough to remember back to a golden age of rail travel. Even though Tornado only had 120 yards of track to cover as she chugged into action in a Darlington rail yard, the moment was, with good reason, marked with a...

Clive Crook's blog: I went to my first gun show recently - part of my ongoing remedial education in American cultural literacy, which my (American) wife has lately taken in hand - and I have been turning the experience over in my mind these past few days. As a Brit, of course, I was conditioned to expect that the first time I saw an unholstered pistol would be when a mugger stuck one in my face. That is how it works in a civilised country. So for me it was passing strange to see many hundreds of pistols - not...

Cops save 45 girls from tribal abuse   By ANTHONY FRANCE Crime Reporter Published: Today     COPS rescued 45 British girls from horrific African tribal abuse in the past year, it has been revealed. Kids as young as four have had their genitals sewn up because parents believe it will protect their virginity until marriage. The practice is popular in many African countries but banned in the UK. Scotland Yard believes that 6,500 girls in London are at risk. Ages of victims rescued range from a few days old to 16. The total saved by the Met’s Project...

Hijackers steal British passport stash LONDON (AFP) - Hijackers made off with boxes of blank British passports worth a fortune on the black market in a raid on a delivery van, police said Tuesday, in the latest blow to the government's record on security. Detectives said the 24 boxes of about 3,000 passports and visa documents, destined for British embassies around the world, were worth some 2.5 million pounds (five million dollars, 3.2 million euros). A hijacker sped off with the vehicle Monday when the driver stopped to buy a newspaper in the Manchester suburb of Oldham in northwest England....

Almost third of Muslim students on Britain's campuses believe killing in the name of religion can be justified, according to a controversial survey described as the most comprehensive of its kind. The poll, conducted for Islam on Campus, a new report from the Centre for Social Cohesion think-tank, also found that 40 percent of those interviewed supported the introduction of sharia law for British Muslims...

Women try to open door mid-flight A plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Germany after two British women tried to open a cabin door mid-flight, police have said. The women, aged 26 and 27, were drinking heavily and had to be held in their seats by security staff until the plane landed in Frankfurt. They were arrested and released after two hours, Frankfurt police said. The XL Airways plane was flying from the Greek island of Kos to Manchester when Wednesday's incident happened. An airline spokeswoman said the women were thought to have been smoking in the...

Health and safety killjoys tell war veterans they are too old to hoist the Union Flag over town hall Last updated at 02:38am on 26.07.08      Up in arms: Veterans John Ireland (right) and Keith Hutchins in front of the town hall In their younger days, they risked death and injury to fight for their country against the Nazis and other enemies.  But, now, war veterans who want to fly the Union Flag proudly above their town hall are being defeated by a barrage of health and safety rules.  Royal British Legion members had scented victory after fighting...

    Major gongs for heroic Our Boys   Award ... Captain Paul Britton is congratulated by Major General Gary Robison    By TOM NEWTON DUNN Defence Editor Published: Today     AN Army officer who led a battle despite a lump of burning shrapnel in his shoulder was one of 19 forces heroes awarded the Military Cross yesterday.   Praise ... Lieutenant General Graeme Lamb  Captain Paul Britton, 28, refused morphine so he could control artillery and air strikes to beat off Taliban attackers in Helmand province, Afghanistan. The Royal Artillery officer was wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade...

Things wouldn't be so bad now if we had listened to Frank Field By Simon Heffer Last Updated: 12:01am BST 23/07/2008 Have your say Read comments When one talks to older politicians they often observe that their lives consist of cyclical re-runs of the same old film. After 15 years of boom, the cycles have become somewhat extended. Now, the impending bust brings back to our screens a rather scary old favourite: unemployment. Barely a day passes that some analyst doesn't pitch in with a projection for the additional numbers that will go on the dole in the next year...

Bluetooth Big Brother uses mobiles and laptops to track thousands of Britons Last updated at 12:04pm on 21.07.08    Thousands of people in Bath are unaware their movements may have been tracked through their bluetooth mobiles Thousands of Britons' movements have been covertly tracked by scanners placed in streets, pubs and offices for a technology experiment.  The Cityware project run by the University of Bath has secretly placed scanners around the Somerset city, with the first 10 installed 2006. The scanners pick up bluetooth radio signals transmitted from mobile phones and laptops. In a scene reminiscent of the Will Smith...

Gordon Brown aide a victim of honeytrap operation by Chinese agents David Leppard and Claire Newell A top aide to Gordon Brown has been a suspected victim of a “honeytrap” operation by Chinese intelligence agents. The aide, a senior Downing Street adviser who was with the prime minister on a trip to China earlier this year, had his BlackBerry phone stolen after being picked up by a Chinese woman who had approached him in a Shanghai hotel disco. The aide agreed to return to his hotel with the woman. He reported the BlackBerry missing the next morning. The aide, whose...

Gordon Brown’s rule book goes into dustbin of history Economic Outlook: David Smith ON my bookshelf there is a tome I have been meaning to dip back into for some time. It is called Reforming Britain’s Economic and Financial Policy. Written by Ed Balls, then Treasury chief economic adviser, now in charge of what used to be the education department, and Gus O’Donnell, then head of the government’s economic service, now head of the civil service, it was intended to be the bible of new Labour macroeconomic policy. The foreword was by Gordon Brown, who was inspired by his own...

UK economy heads for ‘horror movie’ David Smith and Dominic O’Connell BRITAIN is facing an “economic horror movie” because of a “toxic mixture” of a moribund credit market and volatile oil prices, according to a leading forecasting group. The Ernst & Young Item club, which uses the Treasury’s economic model, will argue in a report tomorrow that the economy will struggle to avoid recession. This comes as a survey by the Institute of Directors shows that business confidence has slumped to the lowest level ever recorded, with company chiefs increasingly gloomy about the investment climate. These reports follow an interview...

‘Harassed for being a Christian’- the policeman who objected to gay ribbons and is turning to a tribunal Last updated at 01:08am on 20.07.08    A policeman is taking his force to an employment tribunal, claiming that he has been harassed because of his Christian beliefs.Constable Graham Cogman says he has been persecuted since he objected to wearing ribbons to mark a gay event.The controversy echoes the case of Lillian Ladele, the Christian registrar who successfully took on Islington Council in London over her refusal to conduct civil-partnership ceremonies for gay couples.  Making a stand: PC Graham Cogman says...

Exclusive: US rocker Ted Nugent's outrageous rant on UK knife crime By Jody Thompson, 17/07/2008 (What's this?)American rock star Ted Nugent has followed in Lily Allen's footsteps to be the latest celebrity to comment on the UK's knife crime problem. However, unlike Lily, he's set to spark controversy with his outrageous views. An advocate of hunting and gun-ownership rights, Nugent currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association and thinks the problem would stop if Britons were allowed to arm themselves with guns. Talking mid-set during his gig at London's Indigo venue in the 02 Arena...

"Two policemen were attacked by a 30-strong mob including schoolchildren after asking a 15-year-old to pick up her litter. They were bitten, punched and kicked and had to call for back-up to escape serious injury. Witnesses to the attack, on a busy shopping street in Croydon, South London, feared that the uniformed officers would be beaten to death."

On July 17, 1946, sixty-two years ago, the life of General Draza Mihailovich came to an end. Why should we care? Why did his life and death matter? He was a military officer who lived at a time in history when his dedication to democratic ideals would bring him into conflict with the fascists, the Nazis and, in the end, the communists. It would be the communists who would finally silence him, but not before he and his people fought valiantly to prevent his country, Yugoslavia, from falling into communist hands after the war. It would be too easy to...

A man who was found with his head severed by a chainsaw was fighting to stay in a block of 70 flats in Hampshire cleared for redevelopment. David Phyall, 50, was the last tenant at the Atlantic Housing Ltd housing association flats in Eastleigh. His body was found by police on 5 July, who said his death was not suspicious. Post-mortem tests showed he died of a "complete transection of the neck". An inquest was opened and adjourned at Winchester Coroner's Court on Friday. A spokesman for the coroner said: "As far as we know nobody else was involved. "There's...

Drivers who cause fatal accidents while on mobile phones face up to 14 years in jail Last updated at 11:09am on 15.07.08   Getting tough: The new sentencing rules target mobile phone use by drivers. Posed by model. Motorists who cause fatal accidents while texting or talking on mobiles could face up to 14 years in prison from today. Drivers involved in death crashes after drinking or taking drugs face similar penalties, as will those who were driving at greatly excessive speed over long distances. Under new sentencing guidelines sent to the courts today which come into immediate effect, there...

'Big Brother' warning over Government database that records EVERY phone call and e-mail in Britain Last updated at 16:09pm on 15.07.08    Cautious: Information Commissioner Richard Thomas warns a 'Big Brother' database would threaten the British way of life A 'Big Brother' database recording every single phone call and e-mail made in Britain would threaten the British way of life, the information watchdog has warned.Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said such a Government-run database would have serious data protection implications.Amid speculation a massive database is already being planned, he declared it would be a 'step too far'.May's draft legislative programme...

Public Diplomacy by: Ben Giles, July 14, 2008 Jim Murphy, Great Britain’s Minister for Europe, spoke at the Brookings Institution< as part of a trip to Washington D.C. for the release of his new publication on public diplomacy. The July 11 speech highlighted many of the concepts in Murphy’s publication, Engagement: Public Diplomacy in a Globalised World, a compilation of essays and papers stressing better communication as the future of global politics. “We have to stop equating public diplomacy with public relations,” said Murphy, “shouting our core messages and top lines, louder and louder, in the false belief that people...

Three men accused of plotting to blow up transatlantic planes have admitted to conspiring to cause explosions. Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain also admitted conspiring to cause a public nuisance by making videos threatening bombings. Two other defendants, Ibrahim Savant and Umar Islam, also pleaded guilty to the public nuisance charges. The Woolwich Crown Court jury has yet to rule on conspiracy to murder charges which the five and three others deny. The men deny two charges, which have been amended, of conspiracy to murder between 1 January and 11 August 2006. One specifies the attacks would...

  Jack Straw ... law will back heroes            New law to back 'have-a-go-heroes'     By CLODAGH HARTLEY Home Affairs Correspondent Published: 12 Jul 2008     NEW legislation will protect “have-a-go heroes” who intervene in crimes or use force to defend themselves, Justice Secretary Jack Straw vowed last night. From Monday a person’s actions will be judged on the situation “as they saw it at the time” — even if in hindsight the force could be classed as unreasonable, according to insiders. Mr Straw told The Sun: “We’re not going to have a...

British spying chief Alex Allan, the chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, has regained consciousness having been in a coma for 10 days. Mr Allan's committee collates information from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and briefs the prime minister, ministers and officials on intelligence assessments on issues such as security, defence and foreign affairs.

A rare white stag has been observed on the west coast of the Highlands. The animal has been seen with other red deer by a member of the John Muir Trust, which has kept its location a secret to protect it from poachers. The killing of a white stag on the Devon and Cornwall border last year sparked outrage. Fran Lockhart, partnership manager for the trust, caught the young Highland deer on camera. She described it as "ghost-like". She said: "I am thrilled to know that there is a white stag roaming free out there in the Scottish Highlands and...

The importance of Kingmakers for a wide American audience emerges slowly. At first, the book appears to be a quaint reminiscence of eccentric and often familiar British colonials of the early 20th century, strutting across Middle Eastern deserts in pith helmets, instructing the benighted native tribesmen about the fundamentals of governing. But as this beautifully written and researched book proceeds, it becomes abundantly clear that these skilled English soldier-diplomats are the progenitors of (and in some cases, role models for) the current crop of American diplomats and soldiers on the same turf. The issues that this country is now debating...

Modified Media Mea Culpa by: Malcolm A. Kline, July 09, 2008 A veteran journalist has found his profession wanting in fulfilling its basic mission—in Great Britain. Oddly, his book, Flat Earth News, is unavailable in the United States, although many American media critics might find that his findings hold true on this side of the Atlantic as well. Nick Davies asked researchers at Cardiff University to analyze coverage at The London Times, the Guardian, the Independent and the Daily Mail. “They found that a massive 60 percent of these quality-print stories consisted wholly or mainly of wire copy and/or PR...

In his address Lord Phillips praised the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who famously said last February that it was “inevitable” that Sharia would come to Britain. “An approach to law which simply said – there’s one law for everybody – I think that’s a bit of a danger,” said the Archbishop. He had apparently forgotten, if he ever knew, that the idea of “one law for everybody” was one of the great achievements of Judeo-Christian civilization, and was rooted in the idea of the dignity of all human beings as created in the image of God.

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

UK: CONSERVATIVE LEADER David Cameron called for "a presumption to prison" for people found carrying knives yesterday as he launched his party's campaign in what he called Britain's "broken society by-election" in Glasgow East. FRANK MILLAR , London Editor reports Scottish first minister Alex Salmond claimed a political earthquake could see his Scottish National Party win the previously "safe" Labour seat, amid speculation that failure to hold his Scottish stronghold could finally precipitate a challenge to prime minister Gordon Brown's leadership.