Free Republic

The Nov. 4 headline of the online version of Le Figaro, a leading French daily, translates as follows: "After a week of riots, the violence continues." The next eight sub-headlines all refer to the riots as well. They all suggest just how serious a situation this is: "Tonight: A bus depot and 400 cars destroyed." "Cars burned and vandalized; city dwellers are exasperated." "Firemen grow increasingly angry." On this same day, none of the major left-leaning European English language media – the BBC, Guardian and Times in Britain and the Irish Times – chose to report on the frightening chaos...

Medieval Sourcebook: Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732: Three Accounts [Davis Introduction] The following opinion was expressed about the Franks by the emir who conquered Spain, and who---had he not been recalled---might have commanded at Tours. It shows what the Arab leaders thought of the men of the North up to the moment of their great disillusionment by "The Hammer."From an Arabian Chronicler Musa being returned to Damascus, the Caliph Abd-el Melek asked of him about his conquests, saying "Now tell me about these Franks---what is their nature?" "They," replied Musa, "are a folk right numerous, and full...

AULNAY-SOUS-BOIS, France (Reuters) - With every night that France's rundown suburbs burn, officials grow increasingly convinced that drug traffickers and Islamist militants are using frustrated youths to challenge law and order here. ADVERTISEMENT Many people who watch their cars, shops and schools go up in flames, however, are not buying it. They blame unemployment, racial prejudice and widespread youth boredom for the outbursts. Finding "hidden hands" behind the unrest seems like trying to catch the rioters as they rampage through the night. Some may get caught, but far more slip away in the darkness. "Everybody is fed up seeing our...

AUBERVILLIERS, France - Marauding youths torched nearly 900 vehicles, stoned paramedics and burned a nursery school in a ninth night of violence that spread from Paris suburbs to towns around France, police said Saturday. Authorities arrested more than 250 people overnight — a sweep unprecedented since the unrest began. ADVERTISEMENT For the first time, authorities used a helicopter to chase down youths armed with gasoline bombs who raced from arson attack to arson attack, national police spokesman Patrick Hamon said. The violence, which was concentrated in neighborhoods with large African and Muslim populations but has since spread, has forced France...