Free Republic

Tony Benn, a passionate orator, prolific diarist and provocative leader of the British left who became the first peer to surrender an aristocratic title to remain in the House of Commons, died Friday at his home in west London. He was 88... In November 1960, he inherited the title Viscount Stansgate on the death of his father, William Wedgwood Benn. The elevation to hereditary nobility automatically barred him from sitting among the elected commoners in the House of Commons. His effort to reject his newly minted title became a cause célèbre... Under the laws of the time, Parliament refused to...

To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor Contact: Connie Julian, 917-449-9064, Janet Yip 212-941-8086 or commission@nion.us News Advisory: From: International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration WHEN: January 10, 2006 at 1:30 p.m. WHERE: The White House, Walk-in Gate, across from Lafayette Park WEBSITE: http://www.bushcommission.org An unprecedented series of indictments alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity, in five separate areas, on moral, political, and legal grounds, will be delivered by a citizens' tribunal to President Bush at the front gate of the White House this Tuesday, January 10th. Named in the indictments are: President of...

Speaking to up to 1,500 anti-war protesters and activists, Mr Benn condemned the conflict in Iraq as "illegal, immoral and unwinnable". The event at the Royal Horticultural Hall in central London was organised by the Stop the War Coalition. Convenor Lindsey German hopes to find ways to progress the peace movement. "This is a day of people coming together to talk about how we can take the troops out of Iraq and allow the Iraqi people to run their country," she said. 'Positive movement' The morning was dominated by Mr Benn's speech, in which he said the current peace movement...

With a star-studded team of certified, dyed-in-the-wool progressive nutbars of every flavor, including Medea Benjamin, Tony Benn, Helen Caldicott, Linda Foley (yes!), Janeane Garofalo, Naomi Klein, Gore Vidal, and Howard Zinn, Independent World Television is poised to capture the enormous, heretofore-untapped global market for demented leftist raving. (Hat tip: Chrenkoff.) The network is raising a $7 million start-up budget from individual donors and foundations. The MacArthur, Ford and Phoebe Haas Trust foundations and the Canadian Auto Workers Union have contributed to a planning study. In its next phase, IWTnews will build the online community necessary for an international mass fundraising...

MP's wife introduced him to Saddam sympathiser, writes CAMERON SIMPSON and AARON HICKLIN GEORGE Galloway first met the shadowy figure of Fawaz Zureikat through his Palestinian wife. The fateful meeting was to propel the man who goes under the soubriquets of "Gorgeous George" and the "MP for Baghdad Central" into one of the biggest crises of his colourful career. Dr Amineh Abu-Zayyad, 36, a Jerusalem-born scientist who married Mr Galloway in a secret ceremony in London in February 2000, had gone to the same university in Jordan as Mr Zureikat. Mr Zureikat's name first surfaced in a letter from Mr...