Free Republic

Iran is making good on its threats. Last Thursday’s bombing of two oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz was just the latest in a string of attacks that have taken place in the maritime choke point in the past month. Thirty percent of global petroleum exports transit the Straits of Hormuz annually. On April 22, Alireza Tangsiri, the Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval force, announced that if the U.S. went ahead with placing a full embargo on Iranian petroleum exports, Iran would close the Straits of Hormuz. “If we are prevented from using it, we will...

A van has reportedly crashed into pedestrians outside a mosque in London, causing a "number of casualties". Officers arrested one person after they were called shortly after midnight to the incident on Seven Sisters Road, near Finsbury Park station. Police said they were responding to a "major incident" with "a number of casualties being worked on at the scene". Witnesses reported seeing six people on the ground after the van ploughed into worshippers who had been attending evening prayers at the Muslim Welfare House. London Ambulance Service said they had sent "a number of resources" to the incident.

One person arrested and "a number of casualties" as a vehicle hits pedestrians in Finsbury Park, London, police say This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. If you want to receive Breaking News alerts via email, or on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App then details on how to do so are available on this help page. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts.

SEVERAL people have reportedly been injured after a van hit “a crowd” of pedestrians near Finsbury Park. There are a “number of casualties” and one person has been arrested, police said. Armed cops swooped on the scene at Seven Sisters Road in North London at 12.20am and the police helicopter was seen circling overhead. Photos posted on social media showed a huge police response with dozens of police cars and riot vans pictured within a cordon.

One of Britain’s top public schools is the subject of scandal Sunday, after it was revealed that a teacher threatened to send a Jewish student to “one of your gas chambers” for skipping the lunch line. The student, a seventeen year-old girl at the highly prestigious North London Collegiate School, later received an apology from the teacher in private over the remark, according to the Daily Mail. The school has refused to identify the offending teacher, however, or what—if any—disciplinary action had been taken over the remark. The girl’s parents urged the headmistress on Saturday night to make a public...

Three men have been jailed for an arson attack at the home of a publisher days before his novel about the Prophet Mohammed was due to be published. Martin Rynja's home in Lonsdale Square, Islington, north London, was targeted on 27 September last year. Abbas Taj, 30, Ali Beheshti, 41, and Abrar Mirza, 23, from east London, were each jailed for four-and-a-half years. They were convicted of conspiracy to commit arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered. The attack took place as the Jewel of Medina, a novel about the Prophet's child bride A'isha, was to be published...

Note: The following text is a quote: June 19, 2009 Student jailed for trying to fight British in Afghanistan His fellow traveler, on the other hand, was "acquitted after claiming he thought he was going on a trekking holiday' when he travelled to Turkey, and that he had been deceived by his co-defendant." "Student jailed for trying to fight British in Afghanistan," from Military World, June 19: A gap-year student who vowed to battle British soldiers with a Koran in one hand and a Kalashnikov in the other has been jailed. Mohamed Abushamma, 21, was intercepted by anti-terror police in...

Excerpt - LONDON (Reuters) - Police arrested two men in northern England under the country's security laws on Tuesday and were searching five properties. The men, aged 25 and 29, were arrested at separate locations in Halifax at about 6 a.m. by detectives from London's Counter Terrorism Command and local West Yorkshire officers under the Terrorism Act 2000, police said in statement. Police were examining four properties in Halifax and an address in north London. The arrested men are being taken to the capital for questioning later on Tuesday. ~ snip ~

The search continued today for a missing London woman after a strange series of events which led to the stunning discovery of radioactive materials iher north end home last night. ( Sept 5th ). Police have been scouring the city's north end and have even brought in a helicopter to help in the search for 68 year old Annette Serdarevich who suffers from dementia. The area around 1643 Kathryn Ave. was shut down for most of the night as the hazardous materials unit responded to a level three emergency - the most serious type. During a search of the premises,...