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Hamas must not be allowed to win its conflict with the Israel Defense Forces, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told a delegation of European foreign ministers in a closed conversation Monday.

THE Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain routinely to hack into people’s personal computers without a warrant. The move, which follows a decision by the European Union’s council of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and opposition MPs. They described it as a sinister extension of the surveillance state which drives “a coach and horses” through privacy laws. The hacking is known as “remote searching”. It allows police or MI5 officers who may be hundreds of miles away to examine covertly the hard drive of someone’s PC at his home, office...

Perhaps nothing so clearly highlights the differences in perspective between Old Europe and the still first generation free Eastern Europeans like the current conflict in Israel. The Western Europeans who were given their freedom by hundreds of thousands of American soldiers are busy condemning Israel and ignoring hundreds of rockets fired by Hamas into Israel. The French, who hate everything good, lead the way...

EU President Czech Republic: Israeli ground incursion defensive, not offensive actionEurope backs IDF incursion EU President Czech Republic: Israeli ground incursion defensive, not offensive action European Union president, the Czech Republic, said on Saturday an Israeli ground incursion in Gaza was "defensive, not offensive" action. "At the moment, from the perspective of the last days, we understand this step as a defensive, not offensive, action," Czech EU presidency spokesman Jiri Potuznik said. Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg is leading an EU delegation to the region on Sunday, and Potuznik said the presidency will wait to see the results of that...

Brussels/Prague - The Czech EU presidency perceives in the context of the past days the operation by Israeli ground forces in the Palestinian Gaza Strip as a defensive, not offensive policy, Jiri Potuznik, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's spokesman for the presidency, told CTK today. The Foreign Ministry then said in a statement sent to CTK that this was not a surprising step by Israel. "There were indications that Israel had been considering this step," Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said in the statement. He said, however, that not even the indisputable right of a state to defend itself allows actions which...

There is something especially nauseating about the latest Middle East war — scenes of worldwide Islamic protests with photos of Jews as apes, protesters (in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida of all places!) screaming about nuking Israel and putting Jews in ovens, parades of children dressed up with suicide vests and fake rockets, near constant anti-Semitic vicious sloganeering, Gaza mosques stuffed with rockets to be used against civilians — all to be collated with creepy Hamas rhetoric about the annihilation of Israel. This is the world in which we now live. Almost no other issue in recent memory has illustrated the moral...

The European Union's new figurehead believes that climate change is a dangerous myth and has compared the union to a Communist state. The views of President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, 67, have left the government of Mirek Topolanek, his bitter opponent, determined to keep him as far away as possible from the EU presidency, which it took over from France yesterday.

The European Union's new figurehead believes that climate change is a dangerous myth and has compared the union to a Communist state. The views of President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, 67, have left the government of Mirek Topolanek, his bitter opponent, determined to keep him as far away as possible from the EU presidency, which it took over from France yesterday. The Czech president, who caused a diplomatic incident by dining with opponents of the EU’s Lisbon treaty on a recent visit to Ireland, has a largely ceremonial role. But there are already fears that, after the dynamic...

George Orwell once quipped, "The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it." Since Tuesday it has become clear that the Olmert-Livni-Barak government has decided to end the war with Iran's Hamas proxy army in Gaza as quickly as possible. That is, the government has decided to lose the war. Most Israelis are unaware of this state of affairs. In an obvious attempt to bolster the popularity of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak ahead of the February 10 general elections, the local media have spent the six days since the government launched Operation Cast...

George Orwell once quipped, "The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it." Since Tuesday it has become clear that the Olmert-Livni-Barak government has decided to end the war with Iran's Hamas proxy army in Gaza as quickly as possible. That is, the government has decided to lose the war. Most Israelis are unaware of this state of affairs. In an obvious attempt to bolster the popularity of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak ahead of the February 10 general elections, the local media have spent the six days since the government launched Operation Cast...

Vaclav Klaus believes that climate change is dangerous myth, has compared the European Union to a Communist state and refuses to fly its blue and gold flag over Prague Castle. Mr Klaus, 67, makes an unlikely figurehead for the EU which is why the Czech government is desperate to keep its head of state as far away as possible from the EU presidency which it took over from France yesterday . The Czech government is desperate to keep its head of state as far away as possible from the EU presidency The Czech president, who caused a diplomatic incident by...

(CNSNews.com) – As European Union foreign ministers met late Tuesday to push for a humanitarian truce between Israel and Hamas, Israel received a rare expression of support from the government due to assume the E.U.’s rotating presidency on Thursday. Israel had the right to defend itself against rocket attacks launched by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg told a Czech daily, Mlada Fronta Dnes. “Let us realize one thing,” he said. “Hamas increased steeply the number of rockets fired at Israel since the ceasefire ended on December 19. That is not acceptable any more.” Schwarzenberg asked,...

BRUSSELS -- Kosovo's unilateral independence declaration turned into a debacle and a bad precedent, European Voice writes. In her column for this independent Brussels-based publication, Ilana Bet-El criticizes the EU for what she describes as "disarray over Kosovo, starting from the unilateral declaration of independence in February". "It was an ill-conceived, amateurishly handled move, lacking consensus in the EU and in the international arena. Regardless of whether Kosovo deserved independence or not, the reasoning behind it was contorted at the best of times, laying open the deep global divisions over international law and its application," Bet-El says. "From a narrowly...

A year of chocolate box politics By John Thornhill Published: December 23 2008 19:57 | Last updated: December 23 2008 19:57 This was the year when political labels lost all meaning. With governments of all persuasions nationalising banks and pumping money into the economy what now distinguishes left from right, liberal from conservative, socialist from capitalist, Keynesian from monetarist? The only meaningful classification – particularly apt at this time of year – is to sort politicians according to the contents of your chocolate box. The great political divides of our times are clearly between milk and dark chocolate, and the...

Russia and Serbia have signed a controversial energy deal that will hand Russian gas giant Gazprom control of NIS, Serbia's oil monopoly. Under the deal, Gazprom is to build a gas pipeline through Serbia and an underground gas storage facility there. Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic signed the agreement in Moscow. The plan is for Serbia to host part of a new pipeline called South Stream, to deliver Russian gas to southern Europe. Gazprom is taking a 51% stake in NIS for 400m euros (£380m; $560m), officials say. Diplomatic tensions Both countries signed an energy...

Fishermen on Scotland's west coast say they face being wiped out by the drastic cuts to their quotas being put forward by the European Union. Skip related content Related photos / videos EU Ban Could Sink Fishing Trade Unions say dozens of coastal communities are under threat from the proposed changes which are expected to be confirmed in Brussels. EU scientists have called for a complete ban on fishing for cod, haddock and whiting - the three main white fish stocks - because their numbers are now so low off the west coast of Scotland. And while that could drive...

<p>GENEVA (AP) - Islamic proposals to ban criticism of religion, which have gathered strength since the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad two years ago, threaten to derail an already troubled U.N. anti-racism conference planned for next year. The European Union rejects suggestions by Algeria—backed by other Muslim and African countries—that limits on free speech are needed to stop the publication of offensive articles and images.</p>

Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked a diplomatic row by attacking the 'wounding and outrageous' refusal of the Czech president to fly a European Union flag from Prague Castle. The French president sided with federalist Euro-MPs who are engaged in a bitter feud with Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president and a Eurosceptic. Senior MEPs, including the president of the European Parliament, Hans Gert Poettering, caused a diplomatic incident ten days ago after demanding that Mr Klaus hoist the European flag over his residence during bad tempered talks in Prague. "It was a wound, it was an outrage to see that flags had...

Millions of workers are facing a potentially crippling overtime ban after Euro MPs voted to scrap Britain's cherished opt-out from the 48-hour working week. On the day UK unemployment neared two million, 13 of 19 Labour MEPs defied Gordon Brown and backed the move to end our special deal. The vote horrified ministers and business leaders, who say scrapping the right to earn extra cash would deal a devastating blow to families hit by the growing economic downturn. It would also restrict firms desperate to beat the recession by putting in extra time to complete orders, they warned. But unions...

The British finally take a step to wake up their country by showing the Islam truth movie Fitna and the EU turns around and helps the enemy out by banning the screening. The reason that they gave for banning the film was that there were protests in Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia and Afghanistan after a Dutch screening. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calls the film "offensively anti-Islamic".

In the first of what may be frequent joint statements and efforts, Catholic and orthodox Leaders defend true marriage and the family founded upon it.

STRASBOURG (AFP) – The European Parliament on Wednesday approved the EU's climate change package, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, lifting the last hurdle to the ambitious plan. Six texts on the package, already agreed by the 27 European Union member states, were passed by a large majority of the MEPs present. "We have sealed the climate package," said European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering, after the vote. The so-called "20-20-20" climate package, which Europe hopes will serve as a model to other nations, will oblige EU nations to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent...

At least in this case study from Absurd Britannia, the backtracking began almost immediately. "Mother told to take down her Christmas lights... in case they offend her non-Christian neighbours," from the Daily Mail, December 16 (thanks to James): A woman has spoken of how she was told to remove her Christmas lights by a housing association worker - in case they offended her non-Christian neighbours. Dorothy Glenn decorates her home in South Shields with hundreds of festive lights every year, including a giant tree and a 4ft Santa Claus. But she was left stunned this year when a South Tyneside...

Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked a diplomatic row by attacking the 'wounding and outrageous' refusal of the Czech president to fly a European Union flag from Prague Castle. The French president sided with federalist Euro-MPs who are engaged in a bitter feud with Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president and a Eurosceptic. Senior MEPs, including the president of the European Parliament, Hans Gert Poettering, caused a diplomatic incident ten days ago after demanding that Mr Klaus hoist the European flag over his residence during bad tempered talks in Prague. "It was a wound, it was an outrage to see that flags had...

Innocent British citizens may be drawn into foreign criminal investigations after the Government agreed to EU-wide access to its 'Big Brother' databases, the Conservatives have warned. All 26 other member countries will be able to check against sensitive personal information held on driver registration, DNA and fingerprint computer systems. Where there is a match, a suspect-could be extradited to face trial abroad or - at the least - be forced to explain their movements or provide an alibi to prove their innocence. An example of the DNA kits used to take swabs from 4.6m members of the public, 800,000 of...

Pictures of the new currency that will supposedly replace the US dollar have appeared on the Russian Internet. The United States is reportedly working on the new currency, the amero, which will be common for the USA, Mexico and Canada. The unstable financial situation in the world, the collapsing oil prices and the growing foreign debt of the United States may eventually crush the US dollar as the world’s major currency. Needless to say that the US authorities reject the rumors and promise to keep the dollar afloat. Amero notes have no portraits of US presidents on them and resemble...

Angela Merkel today joined the rest of the EU in signing up to an €200 billion rescue plan for Europe’s economy – as the British ambassador in Berlin complained formally about her finance minister’s outspoken criticism of Gordon Brown’s VAT cut. Mrs Merkel, the German Chancellor, gave her support to an EU-wide recovery plan across the 27 member states, suggesting that she is planning to increase the level of tax cuts in Germany in the New Year as the recession deepens. Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, called for talks with the incoming US administration of Barack...

But with a new Ireland deal done, diplomats have confirmed secret talks on the job description of the EU President and the size of a new European diplomatic service, will now begin – months before the Irish vote again. "Preparatory work can now continue," said a diplomat. William Hague, the shadow Foreign Secretary, said: "It would be a serious mistake to take the Irish people for granted. It would be democratically illegitimate to start putting the renamed EU Constitution into force when the Irish people have yet to give their democratic consent." Candidates for the two top EU jobs will...

Shockwaves expose the fragility of finance in Europe Noriko Hama (Maincihi) How has an integrated Europe responded to the current financial upheaval? Has it displayed its unity as a community? While various perspectives on these questions have livened up the pages of Europe's financial newspapers and publications, what is the real story? It is my belief that Europe, to put it bluntly, has hardly demonstrated unity and instead has put its lack of teamwork and institutional flaws on display. The financial turmoil spread in full force from the U.S. to Europe at the end of September. The bankruptcy of Lehman...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More than 170 people around the globe, including at least 61 in the United States, have been arrested in a major operation targeting international child pornographers, officials said Friday.</p>

Thursday December 11, 2008 Pro-Life World Coming to the Defence of Luxembourg Monarch’s Stand against Euthanasia By Hilary WhiteROME, December 11, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The US-based Alliance Defence Fund (ADF) has announced they will be launching a legal challenge to a new law in Luxembourg legalizing euthanasia. Last week, the world was shocked when the parliament of the tiny but venerable European state of Luxembourg proposed to strip its head of state, the Grand Duke Henri, of his veto powers when the latter announced he would refuse to give royal assent to the law. The ADF, a network of...

POZNAN, Poland (AFP) – US Senator John Kerry, president-elect Barack Obama's point man at UN environment talks in Poland, said on Friday the EU's new climate pact was "an enormous act of leadership" that blazes a path for the entire world. "The EU today said, 'yes, we can and here's how,' and that's pretty good," Kerry told AFP as ministers prepared to wrap up 12 days of talks in Poznan, Poland on preparing a global climate pact to be signed in Copenhagen next December. The pact is "very exciting," he said. "It represents an enormous act of leadership which will...

BRUSSELS — At a summit meeting of European Union ministers on Thursday, Ireland agreed in principle to hold a second vote on an accord intended to strengthen the union, but opponents vowed to defeat any such measure. The accord, called the Lisbon Treaty, was rejected by Irish voters in June. Alone among the union’s 27 member states, Ireland put the treaty up for referendum, but because all members must ratify the treaty, it cannot pass unless the voters of Ireland can be persuaded to change their minds. Opponents of the treaty, including Libertas, a group that led the first “no”...

Leaders of the European Union are said to be close to a compromise agreement on how to achieve ambitious targets to fight global warming. They are attempting to agree a mechanism whereby the EU could cut carbon emissions by 20% by 2020. They have also agreed in principal a 200bn-euro economic stimulus package..... ------------------------- ....At the end of a first day of talks at the summit in Brussels, EU leaders moved closer towards agreement on the so-called "20-20-20" package to tackle climate change after concessions were made to limit its impact on struggling industries. Patnow power plant near Konin, Poland...

European Union leaders are set to sign a deal to effectively bribe Irish voters to back the Lisbon Treaty. The country's Government is likely to allow a second vote on the controversial document next year. And to get the treaty back on the table, it appears Brussels has caved in on some of the demands that leaders believe led to its original rejection. Main concerns included the retention of a permanent EU commissioner and Ireland's military neutrality. There are also reportedly guarantees on taxation policy, workers' rights and on abortion. The new draft document will be considered by EU leaders...

FOURTEEN suspected al-Qaeda terrorists were detained in Brussels today before Gordon Brown was due to meet EU leaders. The sweep came just hours before a summit brought together the heads of the 27 EU countries in Brussels. One of the suspects is believed to be a suicide bomber mounting an operation "from which he was not expected to come back". It is thought a terror attack was being planned – but the target has not been revealed. Nearly 250 police officers raided 16 locations in the capital and one in the eastern city of Liege overnight. Computers, data storage equipment...

"Belgian police arrest Al Qaeda terror suspects," from Agence France-Presse, December 11 (thanks to Alex): AFP - Belgian police on Thursday arrested 14 suspected Al-Qaeda members, including a man believed to have been planning a suicide attack, officials announced, as EU leaders gathered in Brussels. "We don't know where the suicide attack was to take place," federal prosecutor Johan Delmulle told reporters. "It could have been an operation in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but it can't be ruled out that Belgium or

A Royal Navy admiral took charge yesterday of the European Union’s first naval task force, assembled to protect international shipping in the waters off Somalia amid calls for a United Nations pirate court to be set up to try those apprehended at sea. Six warships and three surveillance aircraft from eight countries will be co-ordinated by Rear Admiral Phillip Jones to patrol a million square kilometres of the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, where heavily armed pirates have captured nearly 30 vessels and taken 300 hostages this year alone.... ...The first EU warships, including a British frigate, are due...

In the Holy Father’s written message to the pontifical councils, he discussed the importance of Christianity’s role in the building of Europe and emphasized the necessity of reflecting on the ancient Christian traditions that have permeated Western society for centuries.

Study finds depression suffered by 80% of women who abort Madrid, Dec 9, 2008 / 03:52 pm (CNA).- A study by a group of experts in Spain has revealed that 80% of women who have had an abortion suffer symptoms of depression, while 40% have considered suicide.The study, carried out by psychiatrist Carmen Gomez-Lavin of the University of Navarre, also uncovered other symptoms that affect women who suffer from Post-Abortion Syndrome.  These include sexual dysfunction (40%), drug abuse, especially among adolescents (30%), behavioral changes (60%) or irritability (70%).During the process and in the year that follows an abortion, the study...

And now for a world government By Gideon Rachman Published: December 8 2008 19:13 | Last updated: December 8 2008 19:13 I have never believed that there is a secret United Nations plot to take over the US. I have never seen black helicopters hovering in the sky above Montana. But, for the first time in my life, I think the formation of some sort of world government is plausible. A “world government” would involve much more than co-operation between nations. It would be an entity with state-like characteristics, backed by a body of laws. The European Union has already...

Granting that secularism has led to some increased acceptance of Catholics, he criticized the new intolerance directed against those who maintain pro-life and pro-family views.

A "gay" Dutch group has plans to hijack a traditionally Christian holiday by hosting its own "Pink Christmas" festival – complete with church services and a homosexual Nativity featuring two Josephs and two Marys.

Following the implementation of a U.K. law requiring adoption agencies to serve homosexual couples, Cardinal Keith O’Brien has resigned as head of the St. Andrew’s Children’s Society.

Britain could be signed up to a controversial European Union Constitution within a year, it has emerged. Ireland - which derailed the so-called Lisbon Treaty when voters rejected it in June - has been forced into holding a second referendum on the agreement. One diplomat said: 'There is still some tweaking to do, but there is an understanding.' Critics say that the Treaty is almost identical to the EU Constitution, rejected by the French and Dutch in 2005. The EU insists that the document is needed to help ease decision-making in Brussels, but opponents say it will hand over sovereign...

Prague - Czech President Vaclav Klaus' meeting with leaders of the European Parliament Friday ended in a rift, a transcript of the meeting released by his office showed. The president, who is an outspoken critic of the European Union and its reform treaty, was angered by questions from Daniel Cohn- Bendit, the head of the European Greens. Klaus' aide told reporters after the meeting that the president considers Cohn-Bendit's behaviour 'a big provocation.' According to the transcript, Cohn-Bendit first presented Klaus with an EU flag, which the president has so far refused to hang at his seat, Prague Castle. The...

In a statement the bishops condemned “this action against life and freedom,” and recalled that “terrorism is a radical No to the law of God and to the most basic aspect of the dignity of the human person.”

The Swiss Guard's new commander said he was willing to consider the possibility of allowing female recruits...

Thursday November 20, 2008 German Court Orders Children to Be Returned to Homeschooling Family against State Advice The court handed down the order on condition that the children are enrolled in state schools By Hilary WhiteNovember 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Family Court judge in Germany has ruled that the children of a homeschooling family should be returned to the parental home on the condition that their school-aged children be enrolled in a state-approved school and the three-year-old in a “playgroup” for “socialization outside the family.” The Homeschool Legal Defence Association (HSLDA) reports that the decision of the judge...

the European Union’s patent office has rejected a patent on the grounds that the application would involve the destruction of human embryos...