Free Republic

New Zealand is conducting mass surveillance over its Pacific neighbours, reports citing documents leaked by US whistleblower Edward Snowden say. Calls, emails and social media messages were being collected from Pacific nations, the New Zealand Herald said. The data was shared with other members of the "Five Eyes" network - the US, Australia, Britain and Canada.

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:

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.

If there is one British space project that has the capacity to inspire at the moment then surely it is Skylon.

Engine technology being developed for a British space plane could also find its way into hypersonic aircraft built by the U.S. military. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is studying hypersonic vehicles that would use the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), which the English company Reaction Engines Ltd. is working on to power the Skylon space plane, AFRL officials said. "AFRL is formulating plans to look at advanced vehicle concepts based on Reaction Engine's heat-exchanger technology and SABRE engine concept," officials with AFRL, which is based in Ohio, told Space.com via email last month. ... SABRE burns hydrogen and oxygen....

Launching into orbit could become a little easier and cheaper, thanks to a futuristic space plane that looks like it might have flown straight out of a Star Wars film. The European Space Agency and British government have awarded $1 million euros ($1.28 million dollars) to Reaction Engines Limited (REL), a British aerospace company, as part of a multi-million dollar development program for an air-breathing rocket engine that could power the Skylon spaceplane. The unpiloted, reusable vehicle is designed to take off from an airstrip, deliver cargo into orbit and return to the same runway.

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...

House Speaker John Boehner plans to present Prime Minister Netanyahu with a gift when Netanyahu speaks to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. The gift is a bust of a politician whom Netanyahu greatly admires: Winston Churchill. House Speaker John Boehner plans to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a bust of Winston Churchill when he speaks to a joint meeting of Congress about the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran. The gift was chosen because Netanyahu and the former prime minister of Britain are the only foreign leaders who have addressed Congress three separate times. ... Boehner also...

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...

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...

**SNIP** The British couple is hoping to launch a protest movement in the aftermath of a recent tax scandal in the UK, during which it was alleged staff at the Swiss arm of the bank HSBC helped clients avoid hefty bills in Britain. Thompson and Wise hope a mass tax boycott will convince bosses at Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the government department responsible for collecting the money, to penalise wealthy citizens and companies who avoid paying their fair share. Wise tells London's Evening Standard newspaper, "I want to stop paying tax, until everyone pays tax... I have actively...

The UKIP leader will share a stage with high-profile US conservatives including Sarah Palin and NRA gun lobbyists.UKIP leader Nigel Farage is expected to get a celebrity reception in Washington when he addresses America's most high-profile right-wing conference this week. Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush and the National Rifle Association (NRA) gun lobby will be sharing a stage with the British politician after he was invited to address the Conservative Political Action Committee in the US capital. Aides told Sky News his philosophy has much in common with his republican hosts, who also focus on "the battle for smaller...

British jihadis involved in the brutal beheading of American reporter James Foley callously boasted of making personal fortunes from ransoms paid for other released hostages, openly talked of making so much money they could retire to Kuwait or Qatar, The four Islamic State jihadis – nicknamed The Beatles by their Western captives – were reported to be ‘interested in money’ from the start. American hostages – especially Foley, whose brother was discovered to be serving in the US Air Force – were picked out for the most brutal beatings.

MI5 and MI6 have identified the British fighter suspected of murdering the American journalist James Foley, senior government sources confirmed last night. The masked man with a London accent, who is said to be known to fellow fighters as “Jihadi John”, was seen in the shocking video of Foley’s death released by the Isis extremist army last week. While sources gave no details of the man they have identified, a key suspect is Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, 23, who left his family’s £1m home in Maida Vale, west London, last year. He recently tweeted a picture of himself holding up a...

British and American intelligence services have identified the man suspected of beheading US journalist James Foley as a UK citizen who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State, the Sunday Times reported. Government sources said the masked man seen in a video of Foley’s death is known as “Jihadi John” among Islamic State fighters. In the video, released by IS last week, a man with a London accent can be seen brandishing a knife while standing next to a kneeling Foley before beheading him. The gruesome clip ended with footage of Foley’s decapitated body lying on the ground. Although...

FBI Director James Comey said the agency has identified the ISIS executioner who beheaded American journalists James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker John Haines. Comey would not identify the executioner’s nationality or identity to the media, though you’ll remember he spoke with a British accent in the videos. The man, dubbed ‘Jihadi John,’ is one of four British jihadis known as the ‘Beatles’ that are currently holding hostages in Syria.  The Daily Mail has more details: British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond revealed intelligence agencies were closing the net on Jihadi John. Hammond, who just ten days ago admitted...

The administration confirmed over the weekend that US aid worker Peter Kassig was recently killed by beheading. He is the fifth Westerner to be murdered on camera by the British accented representative of the Islamic State known as “Jihadi John.” British authorities indicated the formerly anonymous ISIS killer is suspected to be 23-year-old Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, a U.K. citizen of Egyptian descent and an amateur rapper from West London. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Bary has been an active malcontent for some time. A video recently surfaced of the suspected ISIS militant speaking with an Australian television reporter during the London riots...