Free Republic

The silhouette of one of the British Army’s Apache attack helicopters in the skies over Afghanistan is a reassuring sight for coalition forces on the battlefield. Its ungainly shape projects a menacing power that foes are unlikely to stand up to – if they haven’t already fled at the sound of its approaching rotors. But this symbol of British military power won’t be quite so British in the future. It’s almost certain that a forthcoming order for 50 updated Apaches will go to Boeing, the latest in a spate of major defence deals to go to the US. Three weeks...

Home Secretary Theresa May has launched an independent inquiry into the state of Sharia law in the UK to examine whether Islamic courts are being used to support forced marriage and issue unfair divorces. The government is concerned that some Sharia councils in Britain may be misusing the religious legal code to cause “harm” in communities. The Home Office announced the review, which will be chaired by Islam expert Professor Mona Siddiqui, on Thursday. The inquiry is part of the government’s counter-extremism strategy and is expected to be completed by 2017. May drew on incidents of discrimination when she announced...

The population of England is set surge by more than four million in the next decade as parts of the south prepare to see the number of inhabitants swell by up to a quarter, official projections show. New estimates, drawn up to help councils and the NHS plan ahead, expose the full impact of years of mass immigration on top of a revolution in life expectancy. Immigration is set to account for almost half of the expected population expansion, which would also official rank London as one of the world’s megacities – passing the 10 million mark - for the...

Bomb threats close 26 schools across Britain on GCSE exam day as one chilling call warns 'shrapnel will take children's heads off' Thousands of schoolchildren evacuated after a series of anonymous calls One warned of a bomb on school grounds that would 'children's heads off' Many students were pulled from school grounds in middle of their exams

The owner of an Indian restaurant was found guilty Monday of killing one of his customers — after he cut corners whipping up an order of chicken tikka masala. A jury in Teesside Crown Court in North Yorkshire, England, found 52-year-old Mohammed Zaman guilty of manslaughter and gross negligence because he switched out almond powder for a cheaper ground nut mix containing peanuts, according to the BBC.

Why would a “pensioner, 66,” suddenly go on a stabbing spree and try to murder four women? Maybe Ethem Aydin Orhon is mentally ill; we will certainly be told that he is, whether he is or not. But there is also the possibility — one which neither authorities nor the mainstream media are likely to pursue — that this Turkish Muslim had a different motivation, say, something like this: “If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or...

A BRAVE mum dubbed the ‘Angel of Woolwich’ has revealed her life has been ruined after confronting Lee Rigby’s killers, sobbing: “I should have been a coward”... National hero Ingrid says her son and daughter have rallied around her but feels let down by the NHS. She added: “I’ve got PTSD and I can’t find a doctor to help me. “The doctor just says ‘oh well, just a bit of willpower will do’

Oh good grief, not this again. So, there’s this feminist who writes for the Telegraph in the UK and she was on one of their news shows talking about how air-conditioning is sexist. Somehow, she managed to say this with a straight face, which is a far cry from what I was doing as I watched this clown show – So, the women in her office building are standing around resembling human popsicles and her best idea was to go on TV and complain about it? Like, you didn’t talk to whoever sets the thermostat in your building and ask...

Jude Law, Keira Knightley and Benedict Cumberbatch are among stars who have signed a letter saying Brexit would "damage" the creative industry. Almost 300 actors, musicians, writers and artists are backing calls for the UK to stay in the EU.

"The court documents also claim Pham was told to maximise the carnage by coating the bomb with metal bolts and cause as many casualties as possible." To show how much he loved Allah and Muhammad! "Former London McDonalds worker plotted suicide terror attack at Heathrow Airport, court hears," by Amita Joshi, GetWestLondon, May 16, 2016: A former McDonalds worker was trained by Al Qaeda to become a suicide bomber and attack Heathrow Airport , according to US court papers. Minh Pham, who previously lived in South London's New Cross, was taught to wear a backpack containing a bomb and target...

“I was elected on a pledge to be Mayor for all Londoners and I will work with the LGBT+ community – as I will with all communities – to do everything I can to make London a more tolerant, fairer place to live. “This is personal to me because I have been on the receiving end of hate crime, which has no place in our city, and I know how devastating it can be.”

“And when he was attacking him he was shouting all this Muslim stuff but no one wants to hear that.” Indeed — least of all the gay community. Woe to you — from the gay community — if you dare to point out Sharia persecution of gays. When AFDI ran ads highlighting the mistreatment of gays in Islamic law, the San Francisco City Council issued a resolution condemning not that mistreatment, but our ads. Gay advocates such as Theresa Sparks and Chris Stedman attacked us for daring to call attention to the institutionalized mistreatment of gays under Islamic law. Their...

The BBC’s religious output is too Christian, an internal review by the Corporation has concluded, opening the way for more programmes on other faiths. One Muslim leader suggested the review could lead to Friday prayers from a mosque being broadcast in the same way that Christian church services currently feature in the BBC’s schedules. The report is now being considered by Lord Hall, the director general, who could make changes to make religious output less “disproportionate”, the Sunday Times (£) reported. Ibrahim Mogra, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the BBC could televise Friday prayers from a mosque and...

Speakers at a Wednesday evening University of London Student Union (ULSU)-sponsored panel called for the destruction of Israel as a solution to ridding the world of antisemitism, The Algemeiner has learned from a British watchdog group. According to a UK Media Watch report, several panelists issued the calls during an event centered on the theme of antisemitism in the Labour Party and how the current scandal is being used to silence critics of Israel and bring down party leader Jeremy Corbyn. A leaflet handed out at the beginning of the panel, titled “Labour Jews Assert,” stated, “some people…are wielding ‘antisemitism’...

Following the swearing in of London’s first Muslim mayor, many of the city’s buses will sport advertisements that read “Subhan Allah,” which translates to “Glory be to God.” The paid advertisements are part of a push by England’s largest Islamic charity group, “Islamic Relief,” to help victims of the Syrian war. The ads will run throughout the Muslim holy week of Ramadan. …

London’s new mayor, Sadiq Khan, was already a global media darling but remarks he made this morning about presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump will make him a world-wide hero of the left.In an interview with Time, Khan claimed he had serious reservations about the rise of Trump and the prospects of his presidency: (emphasis mine) Clearly [I’ll visit] before January in case Donald Trump wins … Hope, I think, is a good way of persuading people to vote for you, energize and enthuse people. I think to try and look for differences, to try and turn communities against each...

A group of Jewish families that included elderly people, pregnant women and children were taken off an EasyJet passenger plane in Barcelona waiting to depart for Paris, according to a report on the European Jewish Press. One of the passengers, a Holocaust survivor, said the behavior of police who came to take the travelers off the flight was similar to that of the German Nazi SS police during World War II. The families were removed after the plane had been sitting on the tarmac for more than two hours, waiting for departure. Many of the Jewish men were wearing kippahs,...

Councils across the UK are set to consider banning people who already own homes from buying holiday cottages after a historic vote yesterday. More than 80 per cent of voters in St Ives, Cornwall, backed proposals that will mean new housing developments will only get planning permission if homes there are reserved for full-time residents. And now councils in the Lake District, Derbyshire Dales, north Devon and the Isle of Wight are all looking at schemes to prevent outsiders buying holiday homes. But ministers are poised to oppose the ban, saying it could be regarded as unfair and discriminatory. Tory...

HS2 has been accused of “dictator-like arrogance” after demanding that more than 600 people and groups — including the Attorney General, Jeremy Wright, and the Commons Speaker, John Bercow — be banned from objecting to the controversial high-speed rail scheme. In a document slipped out on election day, the Government has applied to bar residents close to the route, anti-HS2 action groups and even MPs on the line from making parliamentary objections as the legislation to build the route passes through the Lords. Eight MPs for seats along the proposed route, four of them ministers, are covered by the ban....

Saudi Arabia's government has authorized the housing ministry to seek the assistance of Britain, France and China in building hundreds of thousands of homes to ease a shortage of affordable housing in the kingdom. The housing minister and his deputy were given the power to sign memorandums of understanding with those countries, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday. It gave no details of what the agreements might contain, but in March the ministry signed memorandums with South Korea and a Saudi-South Korean consortium to develop 100,000 housing units in northern Riyadh over 10 years. The consortium includes Daewoo...