Free Republic

Hardline takeover of British mosques       Andrew Norfolk   Almost half of Britain’s mosques are under the control of a hardline Islamic sect whose leading preacher loathes Western values and has called on Muslims to “shed blood” for Allah, an investigation by The Times has found. Riyadh ul Haq, who supports armed jihad and preaches contempt for Jews, Christians and Hindus, is in line to become the spiritual leader of the Deobandi sect in Britain. The ultra-conservative movement, which gave birth to the Taleban in Afghanistan, now runs more than 600 of Britain’s 1,350 mosques, according to...

Just heard eyewitness report on Australian radio station that truck has 'blown up' in Melbourne's citylink tunnel. Tunnels are closed, smoke is being seen coming from smoke stacks, but little confirmed information as of yet. The citylink tunnels are major transport infrastructure. If something has exploded in one, it could be very serious.

Spending at least $1.6 million in taxpayer funds on professional artwork instead of building or repairing city schools is raising questions about the school district's spending decisions. Spending bond money on art is not illegal but unusual. School officials in Chicago, Philadelphia and other large cities say they don't spend large sums on art for their schools... Most of the Detroit art was purchased under former schools chief Kenneth Burnley, but the payments continued after William Coleman was named superintendent in July 2005. It's unclear how many art pieces were bought. The money was a sliver of the $1.5 billion...