Free Republic

'LAST week, the man called “Jihadi John” by the world’s media was unmasked as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Muslim and naturalized British citizen from London. Not only that, but the Islamic State’s most notorious Western recruit was identified as a graduate in computer science from the University of Westminster. Many were shocked that the apparent executioner in videos made by the Islamic State, or ISIS, was an educated, middle-class metropolitan. In fact, academic institutions in Britain have been infiltrated for years by dangerous theocratic fantasists. I should know: I was one of them. The University of Westminster is well known...

A SCOTTISH council has come under fire after one of its schools handed out homework to primary pupils describing Palestinians as "terrorists". Parents from New Stevenston Primary School in Motherwell made the complaint after children in P7 received a homework assignment on terrorism and terror. One of the case studies pupils were asked questions on stated: "Palestinians feel they have the right to use terrorism against Israelis" and asks pupils to give two reasons for this. The homework also asks pupils to "describe two examples of Palestinian terrorist activities". In the accompanying information pupils are told that: "Palestinians have turned...

Ireland is considered to be one of the least friendly places for Muslims to visit, according to the Global Muslim Travel Index, which has just been published.

“We are ashamed of the shortcomings identified in this report and we are determined to do all we can to ensure nothing like this ever happens again,” said Chief Constable Sara Thornton. No, you aren’t. You did nothing because you were afraid of charges of “racism” and “Islamophobia” from the far-Left propagandists who wag the British government dog, such as Nick Lowles and Fiyaz Mughal. You let these girls’ lives be destroyed because you were afraid those vicious smear merchants would destroy your career. And they would have. “Sex Gangs May Have Abused Hundreds Of Girls,” by Lisa Dowd, Sky...

Britain’s advertising watchdog has banned an Israeli government tourism advert for suggesting that the Old City of Jerusalem was part of Israel, AFP reported. The newspaper brochure showed a panorama of the walled Old City with the text “Israel has it all”, and was ruled misleading by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which said it implied the UNESCO World Heritage Site was part of Israel. The international community regards the Old City as “occupied Palestinian territory” and has never recognized Israel’s annexation of parts of Jerusalem it liberated during the Six Day War. Following a complaint, the ASA ruled the...

It looks like Piers Morgan was no fan of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech earlier today:

'Amateur photographer Martin Le-May, from Essex, has recorded the extraordinary image of a weasel riding on the back of a green woodpecker as it flies through the air. The photograph was taken at Hornchurch Country Park in east London on Monday afternoon. Speaking to BBC News, Mr Le-May said he had managed to capture the moment while he was out walking with his wife Ann.'

President Barack Obama is holding a video conference with European leaders to discuss their push for peace in Ukraine and other global security issues. The White House says other leaders planning to be on the Tuesday morning call include British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and European Commission President Donald Tusk.

The UK government has issued a shortlist of aerodromes that could host a UK The UK government has issued a shortlist of aerodromes that could host a UK spaceport. The list reduces the number of runways first suggested as candidates when last year's consultation got under way. Still in are Campbeltown, Glasgow Prestwick, and Stornoway in Scotland; Newquay in England and Llanbedr in Wales. RAF Leuchars is confirmed as a potential temporary facility. Ministers are keen to see the spaceport established by 2018. . The list reduces the number of runways first suggested as candidates when last year's consultation got...

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that Iran should commit to a verifiable freeze of at least 10 years on its nuclear activity for a landmark atomic deal to be reached, but said the odds were still against sealing a final agreement. In an interview with Reuters at the White House, Obama said that a rift over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned speech to Congress opposing the Iran deal on Tuesday was a distraction that would not be "permanently destructive" to U.S. Israeli ties. But he said there was a "substantial disagreement" between his administration and...

Three British schoolgirls believed to have gone to Syria to become "jihadi" brides. Three young men charged in New York with plotting to join the Islamic State group and carry out attacks on American soil. A masked, knife-wielding militant from London who is the face of terror in videos showing Western hostages beheaded. President Barack Obama has insisted the militants behind a brutal campaign of beheadings, kidnappings and enslavement are "not Islamic" and only use a veneer of Islam for their own ends. Obama's critics argue the extremists are intrinsically linked to Islam. Others insist their ideology has little connection...

It's official: in the coming weeks a technical delegation from Argentina's Air Force will be travelling to China to assess the convenience of purchasing Chinese jet fighters to replace the obsolete French made Mirages. Only a month ago president Cristina Fernandez was in Beijing where she sealed an “integral strategic alliance” with China. Negotiations remain secret but according to Argentine sources the purchase could range between 14 and 20 aircraft, basically the FC-1/F-17 'Thunder' which is manufactured by Chendu Aircraft Corporation in association with Pakistan. The single engine fighter is considered modern, affordable for developing countries, and has been tested...

Sen. John McCain is charging the Obama administration’s foreign policy is “delusional” and says Secretary of State John Kerry’s global diplomacy has “accomplished nothing except mileage.” In an appearance on MSNBC, the Arizona Republican also calls Russian President Vladimir Putin a “meglomaniac” and “pariah.”

When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker compared labor unions to ISIS his audience cheered. At the end of the speech he got a standing ovation, reported FOX News in an article entitled “Walker draws standing ovation in CPAC address”. His wealthy audience hated labor unions that much. In fact, the 1% despises unions much more than they hate ISIS. Islamic extremists in the Syrian desert pose no threat to anyone in the U.S., while labor unions pose a direct threat to the profits of the super rich. Conversely, the average U.S. worker has much more to fear from Scott Walker than...

UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced on February 24 that Britain would send military personnel to Ukraine soon to help train its army. RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak spoke to Judy Dempsey, senior associate at Carnegie Europe and editor-in-chief of the blog Strategic Europe about the significance of the move. RFE/RL: British Prime Minister David Cameron announced this week that his country will send 75 military personnel to Ukraine. Do you think this might be a game changer in the Ukraine conflict? Judy Dempsey: No. They are sending them for training, for civilian-military relations, for sorting how the military on some levels...

The next phase of work on the Navy's largest ever warship is underway, with the upper decks of the huge vessel gradually taking form. Workers were seen on board HMS Queen Elizabeth in Rosyth Dock in Fife, some seven months after being first floated on the River Forth. She was unveiled by the Queen in 2014 after the ordinarily dry dock was flooded with water. The ship is Britain's largest ever maritime vessel weighing 65,000 tonnes and measuring 918ft from bow to stern. At almost 230ft, she stands as tall as Niagara Falls from the keel to the masthead. Once...

In a recent interview, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that to fight terrorism, “we need to go after the root causes that lead people to join these groups, whether it’s a lack of opportunity for jobs….” In other words, we can fight terrorism with a jobs program, sort of a stimulus program for the jihadists. If we only have enough shovel ready jobs for the jihadists, there will be no terrorism. How amazing naïve and how terrifyingly stupid, but this is the mentality that is prevalent throughout the Obama administration. The history of Islamic terrorism is replete with examples...

UK membership of the EU was in “fundamental Irish national interest”, and would adversely affect the whole EU, the Irish Ambassdor in London told EurActiv. Ireland will do “all that we can” to ensure the UK remains in the EU, stated Dan Mulhall. “A British exit would inevitably weaken the Union, which is something that cannot be in Ireland’s interests,” said the diplomat. […] Mulhall said Ireland would back reforms that make the European Union “work better”, but warned now was not the time to engage in “radical treaty change”. “I don’t think full blown treaty reform is appropriate or...

Speaking at the EEF National Manufacturing Conference in London, Miliband said yesterday (26 February) that “(t)here is no greater threat to the long-term stability and prosperity of Britain and British business than leaving the European Union.” Leaving the European Union is not in Britain’s national interest, the UK opposition leader added. Taking aim at the Conservatives, Miliband said it was, “wrong to play fast and loose with our membership of the European Union.” …

For one thing, with his identity known, and the global distribution of pictures of him looking slightly goofy in an ill-fitting Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap, Emwazi may become less sinister to viewers, less able to send chills up the spines of people who abhor Islamic State's claim to be killing civilians in the name of Islam. If he kills again on camera, the element of surprise will be gone and the reaction may well be, "Oh, him again."