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A British firm has developed an armored, robotic speedboat that sailors can use for target practice. This enables sailors to learn how to aim their heavy machine-guns and small arms accurately enough to take down hostile speedboats quickly. The $45,000 FMTDs (Fast Marine Target Drones) move at up to 60 kilometers an hour, and are guided by remote (up to ten kilometers away) operators, using cameras in a moveable mast. The five meter (15.5 foot) boats have sensors that record hits. Data travels two ways between the operator (who can control up to six boats at a time) and the...

Next year could be a milestone for space exploration. The world's major spacefaring nations should be fleshing out plans for a new era of collaborative missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. And, finally, the UK - that ancient island of world explorers and landmark scientists - looks set to join them.

Anyone who thinks murder is better than suffering the indignation of a community needs more than a softly-softly approach The dust has barely settled on the case of Tulay Goren – the Turkish schoolgirl murdered by her own father. Tulay's murder will not be the last of its kind, but she should be the last who was failed by a system that tiptoes around cultural sensitivity.

A ROYAL British Legion boss says vandals have “dishonoured those who have given their lives for our country” by defacing Burtonʼs war memorial. Roy Whenman, vice-chairman of the town’s Legion branch, received calls from members saying an extremist message had been written on the statue. Having been informed at 9.20am, borough council chiefs had cleaned the graffiti from the relic, situated outside Burton College, in Lichfield Street, by 9.40am. Mr Whenman, of Birches Close, Stretton, has described whoever committed the offence as “diabolical”. He said: “There’s nothing worse, in my eyes, than discrediting a war memorial. It dishonours those who...

COPS are hunting a pervert who smelt a supermarket worker's BUM at least 20 times. The bespectacled man, who is around 40, repeatedly sneaked up behind a 20-year-old employee on consecutive weekends. CCTV footage shows the 5ft 9in balding ginger weirdo pretending to pick items off shelves before crouching behind the shelf stacker. With his face near his victim's bum, he seemed to be taking a sniff - and once got so close his nose touched the man. The unnamed Co-op worker, of Plymouth, Devon, said: "I thought it was all a bit strange. I was shocked and couldn't believe...

Scotland Yard has warned businesses in London to expect a Mumbai-style attack on the capital. In a briefing in the City of London 12 days ago, a senior detective from SO15, the Metropolitan police counter-terrorism command, said: “Mumbai is coming to London.” The detective said companies should anticipate a shooting and hostage-taking raid “involving a small number of gunmen with handguns and improvised explosive devices”. The warning — the bluntest issued by police — has underlined an assessment that a terrorist cell may be preparing an attack on London early next year.

A devout Christian teacher has lost her job after discussing her faith with a mother and her sick child and offering to pray for them. Olive Jones, a 54-year-old mother of two, who taught maths to children too ill to attend school, was dismissed following a complaint from the girl’s mother. She was visiting the home of the child when she spoke about her belief in miracles and asked whether she could say a prayer, but when the mother indicated they were not believers she did not go ahead. Mrs Jones was then called in by her managers who, she...

SNIPPET: "Security sources said concerns had been raised by "chatter" on a prominent jihadist website two weeks ago."

The U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley said there is a danger that Britain’s toxic mix of problems will come to a head as soon as next year, triggered by fears that Westminster may prove unable to restore fiscal credibility. “Growing fears over a hung parliament would likely weigh on both the currency and gilt yields as it would represent something of a leap into the unknown, and would increase the probability that some of the rating agencies remove the UK’s AAA status,” said the report, written by the bank’s European investment team of Ronan Carr, Teun Draaisma, and Graham Secker....

<p>"NatWest handed Al Qaeda terrorist 100% mortgage to buy £93,000 home he turned into a bomb factory"</p> <p>SNIPPET: "A bank has sparked outrage by handing over a 100 per cent mortgage to an Al Qaeda terrorist who smuggled himself into Britain.</p>

LONDON, England - Former President Ronald Reagan said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' Yet the size of America's government is exploding and if you want to see where big government will lead the U.S., take a look at Britain. ..... Police State Britain today is almost a police state. The British people are under more government surveillance than the Chinese. There are cameras everywhere. Dr. Eamonn Butler, Director of the Adam Smith Institute in London and author of The Rotten State of Britain, said, "in the...

A suspected al Qaeda-inspired cell was caught filming potential terrorist targets, police claimed today. Senior officers said two Algerian brothers may have been employed to prepare the ground for an atrocity in London or at major regional shopping centres. The footage was released today in response to a backlash against police for stopping and searching innocent people taking photographs at tourist hotspots. But the move could backfire as critics will point to the fact that the men involved in the alleged plot were not charged with terrorism offences.

A 15-year-old British girl murdered by her father in so-called honour killing was reportedly pregnant at the time of her death. Tulay Goren disappeared in January 1999, shortly after her father told his eight-year-old son to kiss his sister goodbye as he would never see her again. Her body was never found. Mehmet Goren, 49, was yesterday handed a life sentence for killing his daughter because of her relationship with an older man who belonged to a different branch of Islam. As detectives admitted police had ignored “tell-tale signs� before the murder, an old school friend of Tulay’s told the...

Retail Sales Fall As Shoppers Hold Off For Christmas BargainShoppers holding off buying Christmas presents in the hope that stores will cut prices in the next few days have been warned that they are likely to be disappointed. By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor Published: 2:16PM GMT 17 Dec 2009 The ONS blamed an unexpected drop in retail sales in November on shoppers staying away from department stores. Suggestions that consumers are refusing to spend until stores offer discounts were given support by statistics showing that retail sales declined last month. The Office for National Statistics reported a 0.3 per...

Islam4UK an organization that is promoting a Jesus4Sharia debate with Christian and Jewish leaders, has postponed the event. The reason is that they have not even received a response from Church “leaders”. Past Popes fought Islam head on, but today the Church sits around and watches as Islam slowly devours Western civilization. Grow a spine already! JESUS4SHARIAH DEBATE POSTPONED

A bizarre accident on a moving walkway in a British shopping centre has almost killed a four-year-old boy and left his face temporarily discoloured. Darren Webb said his son Stevie Webb looks "like an extra out of that new Avatar film" after his head became trapped between two travelators at the Sainsbury's Savacentre in Colliers Wood, south London. Stevie was playing near the walkways when his jacket became snagged — violently snapping his head backwards. He was not breathing when his mother hit the emergency stop button but later regained consciousness. While Stevie is expected to make a full recovery,...

A London court of appeals ruled Tuesday against a Christian registrar who refused to conduct a same-sex civil union ceremony because it violated her religious beliefs. Lillian Ladele claimed she suffered discrimination, including being ridiculed and bullied, while working for the Islington City Council. Ladele had worked for the council for nearly 16 years, but did not experience discrimination until after she refused to perform the gay civil union. Ladele’s attorney said she never wanted to undermine the rights of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender community. But human rights laws don’t only protect members of the LGBT...

A ‘sharp decline’ in religious belief has seen the number of people who consider themselves Christian drop to half. According to a new academic study, an increasing majority are described as the ‘fuzzy faithful’ who have only a vague belief in God. These do not belong to a particular denomination or attend services. Nearly 4,500 people were questioned for the 2008 British Social Attitudes survey, which revealed 37 per cent of Britons do not believe in God – compared to 35 per cent who do. While 50 per cent of respondents now call themselves Christian, down from 66 per cent...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.jihadwatch.org/2009/12/uk-jihadists-who-plotted-to-blow-up-shopping-center-had-been-granted-permission-to-work-as-security.html UK: Jihadists who plotted to blow up shopping center had been granted permission to work as security guards Why not? To disallow them would have been "Islamophobic." "Manchester terror suspects cleared to work as guards," by David Leppard for The Sunday Times, December 13: Ten members of a suspected Islamist terror cell, said by MI5 to be plotting to blow up a shopping centre and a nightclub in Manchester, had been granted permission by the Home Office to work as security guards in Britain. The Pakistani students -- who were never charged...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/December/09-nsd-1338.html FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, December 14, 2009 Terrorism Defendants Sentenced in Atlanta Ehsanul Islam Sadequee Receives 17 Years in Prison; Co-defendant Syed Haris Ahmed Receives 13 Years Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 23, of Roswell, Ga., and Syed Haris Ahmed, 25, of Atlanta, were sentenced today in federal court following their convictions earlier this year in separate but related criminal trials, the Justice Department announced. "With their words and their actions, these defendants supported the wrongheaded but very dangerous idea that armed violence aimed at American interests will force our Government and our people...

Senior officials in Israel confirmed reports on Monday that a British court issued an arrest warrant against opposition chairwoman Tzipi Livni for her role in orchestrating Israel's military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip nearly a year ago. The request for the warrant was submitted by a pro-Palestinian organization. Livni served as foreign minister alongside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak during the Israel Defense Forces offensive in Gaza. The three figures comprised the "troika" of top decision-makers who charted the course of the war. A Earlier Monday, Arab-language media reported that Livni canceled her participation...

Leftist George Soros has reached a new low, as he is looking to give a good name to the Sharia loving Muslims of the UK. Sure Muslims there consider themselves British, as they think that they own the place. Calling for war from the Sharia Courts is a perfect example of this. Next time mind your own business George, some of us actually know what is going on there.

What links the Copenhagen conference with the steelworks closing in Redcar? The carbon credits boom is already costing British jobs, says Christopher Booker. By Christopher Booker 12 Dec 2009 Comments 114 | Comment on this article The Corus steelworks in Redcar, North Yorkshire, the town's main employer, is to be closed Photo: SCOTT HEPPELL/PA What is the connection between Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the Indian railway engineer who has been much in evidence at the Copenhagen climate conference, as chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and an Indian-owned steel company's decision to mothball its giant Teesside steel works...

The Harrow Times is reporting: ANTI-fascist and anti-Islam protesters are facing off this afternoon in opposing demonstrations in Harrow. Around two hundred people under of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) started to arrive outside Harrow Central Mosque at midday for a protest to “defend Harrow's community”.

Miliband Ordered A Ban On Helping MEPs Who Have Far Right Views David Miliband has secretly banned British embassy staff from giving help to BNP leader Nick Griffin. The Foreign Secretary has also ordered diplomats not to assist the far-Right party’s other MEP, former National Front leader Andrew Brons. A letter, entitled ‘Handling Extremist MEPs’ and marked ‘Restricted’, was circulated to the heads of Britain’s European embassies after the pair were elected to the European Parliament in June. Written by Matthew Rycroft, the UK’s top European Union diplomat, it says far-Right MEPs, like other British members of the European Parliament,...

Britain’s financiers and entrepreneurs are quitting the UK at a rate of 10 a week to avoid Labour’s new 50% taxes. The burgeoning exodus threatens to deepen a £178 billion black hole in the public finances and leave middle-class voters with higher taxes for years to come, figures obtained from Companies House reveal. The number of directors of British businesses registered as living in the low-tax centres of Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man has risen by almost 500 to 6,729 in the past 12 months. The British Virgin Islands is also a popular destination, with 615 directors of...

A toll bridge over the River Thames was sold for £1,080,000 at auction today. Swinford Toll Bridge, near Eynsham, Oxfordshire, is governed by its own Act of Parliament which makes it a tax haven. The bridge, in Conservative Party leader David Cameron's Witney constituency, is one of the last toll bridges in Britain still in private hands. Its buyer is exempt from paying income tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax or VAT on the bridge because of the act passed in 1767 by George III granting private ownership to the Earl of Abingdon. Motorists pay 5p per car, and up...

YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHO WAS A GUEST AT OBAMA’s FIRST STATE DINNER….. Mr. Ratan Tata [The chairman of the Tata Group - India's biggest conglomerate] A story emerging out of Britain suggests “follow the money” may explain the enthusiasm of the United Nations to pursue caps on carbon emissions, despite doubts surfacing in the scientific community about the validity of the underlying global warming hypothesis. A Mumbai-based Indian multinational conglomerate with business ties to Rajendra K. Pachauri, the chairman since 2002 of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, stands to make several hundred million dollars in...

The Queen is to hand over a substantial part of her public duties to Prince William to help him prepare for the day when he becomes King, according to a confidential document obtained by The Mail on Sunday. Secret papers reveal that plans to ease the strain on the 83-year-old monarch and her 88-year-old husband, Prince Philip, are at an advanced stage. The disclosures come despite months of denials from the Palace that the Queen was planning to step back from her official work in favour of her 27-year-old grandson.

Don’t get mad at me that is not what I believe, but the pro-Sharia Muslims of Islam4UK are looking top stir things up again. Just the other day I posted about their upcoming Jesus 4 Sharia debate. They are challenging UK Christian leaders on the issue of who Jesus really was. Is Jesus really the man as Christians know him or will he come back as a Muslim and destroy Christianity as taught in Islam? I know where I stand. There is a lot of hussle and bussle all around us, many of us have been shopping, singing, decorating the...

Raffaele Sollecito has insisted his former girlfriend Amanda Knox is 'sweet' and not a killer, in his first interview from prison since being convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher. Speaking through his lawyer Luca Maori, Sollecito told the newspaper Il Messaggero: "Amanda is a very dear person to me even if we were only together for a short while. "She is also living a nightmare - we both find ourselves in a tremendous situation. I am not in love with Amanda but I feel close to her as she is my companion in a misadventure. "Amanda is not capable of killing...

Someone posted that original link broke, hence this repeat. “In a startling disclosure from an exchange at an East London mosque, Imam Abdul Makin and a leading Muslim lawyer have supported the killing and raping of non-Muslims, declaring all non-Muslims as guilty and subject to lethal abuse.”

* Print * ShareThis A suspected Albanian gangster carrying a loaded pistol and silencer has been arrested outside the home of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, police have said, Sky News reported. There was no threat to Blair's safety, it is understood. The suspect, 56, was stopped in his car as he drove in Connaught Street, central London, on Monday at 11.15 p.m. local time. Officers on patrol became suspicious and arrested him for alleged traffic and documentation offences. About 25 minutes later, a passer-by approached a uniformed officer on guard outside Blair's £3.5m Connaught Square townhouse. He handed the...

Every child, Muslim or not, KNOWS Islam hates what America stands for. As a European, I understand why many Americans wonder why we don't give more support to the US than we do. You, indeed, supported US, even in our darkest hour; at a point in history we Europeans didn't even support our own freedom. This was just some decades ago. One sort of answer to this question is that deep somewhere in the intrinsic soul of Europe, there is true resistence to evil and enslavement, but after having experienced so much of it, we are somewhat unable of expressing...

Alistair Darling today gambled Labour's future on a highly-political Pre-Budget Report that targets the better-off to help reduce Britain's collossal debt. In what the Tories branded his 'pre-election report', the Chancellor slapped a £560million 50% 'super tax' on bankers' bonuses, affecting any payouts over £25,000. And he sought to draw up the battle lines of the next general election by announcing thousands more high earners would be clobbered by the new top tax rate of 50% which comes in next year. It was due to hit people earning more than £150,000 when it comes into force next April but today...

He insults our troops and PM while sucking up to the French and Germans. But, says NILE GARDINER, the President needs to remember who his friends are . . . For decades, Britain and the U.S. have been the closest of allies, enjoying a transatlantic alliance forged on the 'special relationship' that sprang up between those great wartime leaders, Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt. Over 70 years, the special relationship has certainly had its ups and downs. The cast has changed - Thatcher and Reagan, Blair and Bush - as have the problems and crises that it has had...

Baroness Vadera: 'I Still Have Nightmares About The Financial Crisis'Baroness Vadera, the adviser to the G20 Presidency, has warned that some of Europe's biggest banks have yet to "come clean" on the extent of their losses and could still provide shocks to the financial system. By Louise Armitstead Published: 9:14PM GMT 08 Dec 2009 The former Government minister and one of the architects of the British efforts to rescue the financial system, told a high-level business conference in Sussex: "I don't think we are through it yet… an IMF study showed at the middle of this year that banks had...

The Copenhagen climate talks have been rocked by the leak of a draft final agreement which weakens the role of the United Nations in climate change negotiations and abandons the Kyoto Protocol. The "Danish text" draft agreement, published by the UK's Guardian newspaper, has been described as a dangerous document for developing countries. Over the past week, parts of Denmark's proposal have leaked into the public domain, but this is the first time it has been published in its entirety. According to the Guardian, the secret agreement has been worked on by a group of individuals known as the 'circle...

Police have seen 'honour' crime surge by 40 per cent due to rising fundamentalism, new figures show. Honour-based violence, including crimes like murder, rape and kidnap has rocketed in London during the past year. Reported instances of intimidation and attempts at forced marriage have also increased by 60 per cent.

Batman knife lands man in prison Published Date: 08 December 2009 A film souvenir Batman knife landed an Atherton man behind bars for four months. Todd Rushworth, who had never been in trouble before, was told by a judge that knife crime was so serious a deterrent sentence had to be imposed. "The message needs to go out loud and clear to anyone who carries a knife that there is zero tolerance as far as this court is concerned," said Judge Nigel Gilmour QC. "This knife is extraordinarily sharp and very pointed. Both blades can be taken out and locked...

Road Split in Homeland Security Bethany Stotts, December 8, 2009 Are Americans well-prepared to deal with megadisasters? And, if so, should disaster preparedness strategies focus on local implementation or central federal prescripts? These questions and others were raised at recent Heritage Foundation conference on “Homeland Security’s Wicked Problems.” Panelist Irwin Redlener, M.D., outlined what he saw as “four enduring barriers to having a prepared country,” which were a) “[V]ery, very little evidence of evidence-based policies;” b)“[A] phenomenal disconnect between what we need to do and what the money is available;” c) “[S]ystemic political paralysis;” and d) That “the civilian population...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Credit-rating agency Moody's Investor Services on Tuesday warned that the United States and Great Britain may test the limits of their Aaa sovereign ratings due to deteriorating public finances. "These are the Aaa countries whose public finances are deteriorating considerably and may therefore test the Aaa boundaries, but which display, in our opinion, an adequate reaction capacity to rise to the challenge and rebound," wrote Pierre Cailleteau, managing director of Moody's sovereign risk group, in the report. Cailleteau divided the Aaa countries into three categories -- resistant, resilient and vulnerable. The United States and Great Britain both...

This lends cred to WUWT’s previous analysis done by our own Charles the moderator: The CRUtape Letters™, an Alternative Explanation, Climate-Gate: Leaked – courtesy of Small Dead Animals http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/indoors/leak.jpg Introduction Some time starting in mid November 2009, ten million teletypes all started their deet-ditta-dot chatter reeling off the following headline: “Hackers broke into the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit….” I hate that. It annoys me because just like everything else about climate-gate it’s been ‘value-added’; simplified and distilled. The contents of FOIA2009.zip demand more attention to this detail and as someone once heard Professor Jones mutter darkly, “The...

"75% support for the ban on minarets in London Daily News poll," from the London Daily News, December 4" http://www.thelondondailynews.com/londoners-support-calls-minarets-capital-p-3609.html

Wheelie bins with microchips which measure how much rubbish they contain could be introduced to make householders cut down on their waste. Alternatively, under plans outlined by council leaders today, people could be charged according to the size of their bin or of their rubbish bags which they would buy from the local authority. The Local Government Association denied the plans would be a stealth tax to raise extra cash for councils.

Pre-Budget report: UK ‘faces decades of debt’, warns Treasury Britain faces decades of rising public sector debt, increasing taxes and, potentially, falling living standards unless it tackles the growing costs of its pensions and health bill, the Treasury will warn this week. By Edmund Conway Published: 9:20PM GMT 05 Dec 2009 In a paper to be printed alongside the pre-Budget report (PBR), the Treasury will warn that the costs of paying for state pensions and the National Health Service are set to rocket between now and 2059 unless action is taken to reduce the bill. The paper on long-term fiscal...

Gordon Brown was snubbed by badly injured Afghan veterans when they closed curtains round their beds during a hospital visit and refused to speak to him. More than half the soldiers being treated at the Selly Oak hospital ward in Birmingham either asked for the curtains to be closed or deliberately avoided the prime minister, according to several of those present. The soldiers, who have sustained some of the worst injuries seen in Afghanistan, described his visit as “opportunistic” and a “waste of time”. Furious about equipment shortages and poor compensation for their injuries, one soldier said: “It is almost...

SOCIAL workers took a two-year-old into care after his mother refused to give him junk food. Zak Hessey was 8kg (17lb 6oz) when mum Lisa took him to hospital, telling doctors he was a "fussy eater" and not gaining weight. Medics said he should weigh 9kg (19lb 8oz) and advised the mum of five to bulk him up on crisps, chocolate and cakes. When she said no, social workers were called in and her tot put into foster care to assess if his eating improved. Healthy eater Lisa, 28, and her HGV driver husband Paul, 48, battled through the courts...

The Environment Agency will argue today that carbon rationing is the fairest and most effective way for the UK to meet its legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Agency’s chairman, Lord Smith, will propose at the organisation's annual conference in London that every citizen be provided with a "carbon account" and unique number that they submit when buying carbon-intensive items such as petrol, electricity or airline tickets. Individuals would then periodically receive statements that show the carbon impact of each purchase and how much of their annual ration has been used up. If they exceeded this ration,...

Future historians will see that speech – the culmination of a decade of Labour's fiscal incontinence – as the moment when the UK was irrevocably relegated from the world's economic premier league. Amidst audible gasps in the Commons, Darling revealed the UK's national debt would swell from 37pc to 80pc of GDP by 2014, not including the bank bail-outs. Just 12 months before, he'd claimed that sovereign debt would stay below its 40pc ceiling. This country would borrow £703bn over the coming five years, Darling announced in April – a head-spinning 62pc more than his estimate five months earlier. Borrowing...