Free Republic

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says it's going to take a one-world government to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. It's a two-part problem, the former Labor leader explained: first the medical crises and then the economic shutdown imposed in response. "This is not something that can be dealt with in one country," Brown told the Guardian newspaper of London. "There has to be a coordinated global response." That means at least a temporary form of global government, Brown said. It should start with a task force of world leaders, health experts and the heads of international groups that would have...

A fundamentalist group is trying to enforce Muslim Shariah law in eastern parts of London and expand the enforcement to other areas, according to recent reports in British media. The Telegraph reported, on Sunday, that the group put up signs last month in the boroughs of Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and Newham that people were entering a “Sharia-controlled zone” where Islamic rules were enforced and gambling, alcohol and music was banned. The newspaper said police removed the posters. The group's website said the signs were part of a fight against "the crusaders", and residents of Waltham Forest were sent veiled...

AN Australian navy boarding crew in the Gulf of Persia repelled an Iranian gunboat that threatened them a matter of weeks before 15 British sailors were captured in a similar incident, a BBC reporter says. The capture of the British crew in March developed into a major diplomatic incident before their release was negotiated. But BBC reporter Frank Gardner, a security specialist, reported the Australians managed to avoid a similar incident - pointing their guns at the Iranians and used "colourful language" before a gunboat withdrew. "What I've been told by several sources, military sources, (is that) there was a...

SAS soldier quits Army in disgust at 'illegal' American tactics in Iraq By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 12/03/2006) An SAS soldier has refused to fight in Iraq and has left the Army over the "illegal" tactics of United States troops and the policies of coalition forces. After three months in Baghdad, Ben Griffin told his commander that he was no longer prepared to fight alongside American forces. Ben Griffin told commanders that he thought the Iraq war was illegal He said he had witnessed "dozens of illegal acts" by US troops, claiming they viewed all Iraqis as "untermenschen" -...

AN army of senior golfers have shot down a former US president in the Battle of Medway. Maidstone's Medway Golf Club refused former president Bill Clinton a round of golf on Thursday because the crowded course was hosting its midweek championships. The rejected Mr Clinton instead played at Sanctuary Lakes Golf Club at Point Cook, where he happily signed autographs and posed for photos. The incident has left Medway red-faced, but yesterday members were standing firm on their presidential snub. "We can't deprive the paying members of their golf, even for an ex-president," said 62-year-old member Wendy Alley. "But it...

Designer Julien Macdonald and heiress Paris Hilton were pelted with flour by anti-fur protesters after his show at London Fashion Week. They were attacked by campaigners from PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - after a catwalk show which featured a series of models dressed in fur. Macdonald was covered from head to toe in flour as he posed for pictures with Hilton, who escaped with a sprinkling on her shoulder. She had made a surprise appearance on the catwalk of Macdonald's show at Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden, wearing a number of his gowns. But when...

LONDON (Reuters) - Western foreign policy has fuelled the Islamist radicalism behind the bomb attacks which killed more than 50 people in London, the capital's mayor Ken Livingstone said on Wednesday. Livingstone, who earned the nickname "Red Ken" for his left-wing views, won widespread praise for a defiant response which helped unite London after the bombings. But he has revived his reputation for courting controversy in recent days. Asked on Wednesday what he thought had motivated the four suspected suicide bombers, Livingstone cited Western policy in the Middle East and early American backing for Osama bin Laden. "A lot of...

Last Wednesday the Kyoto Protocol kicked in and Greenpeace decided to mark the event in Britain by storming London's International Petroleum Exchange, the world's second-largest energy market, with the modest ambition of closing down trading for the day. Around 35 dolphin-huggers stormed the exchange just after the 2 pm resumption of trading. The sortie was well-planned. One male protester lurked around the door to the building. When he spotted an employee about to use his swipe card to exit, he accidentally dropped some coins and bent to pick them up and, as the employee, not noticing him, strode out onto...

The British Government has been accused of contravening fundamental human rights with the anti-terrorist laws established in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Amnesty International said the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act, passed in November 2001, breached fundamental human rights. In a report published on Thursday, the charity attacks the power given to the home secretary to detain foreign nationals indefinitely, without charge or trial, if they are deemed to be a risk to national security. Amnesty is also demanding the release of terrorist suspects being held by the US at Camp X-Ray in Cuba unless they were charged...