http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/uk-news/ en-us Fri, 1 Jan 2010 03:51:01 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418785/posts Now UK To Have Body Scanners At Airports: It Will Mean Longer Queues For Flights... But You Will Be Safer TIM SHIPMAN, KIRSTY WALKER 01st January 2010 Millions of airline passengers will have to pass through body scanners in a major security crackdown, Gordon Brown will say today. The UK and U.S. will use every possible technology to fight the Al Qaeda threat. Introducing scanners, on transatlantic flights at least, will provide protection against terrorists but could lead to delays. Hi-tech security: How the scanners reveal suspect items The £100,000 machines produce what is effectively a nude picture of the... Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418785/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 03:51:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418776/posts Archbishop of York Condemns Ugandan Anti-Gay Bill Ugandan-born Dr Sentamu said gay people were valued by God The Archbishop of York has condemned an anti-homosexuality bill going through parliament in Uganda. Dr John Sentamu, who was born in the African country, said the laws being debated were "victimising". Under the plans gays and lesbians would be jailed for life if convicted of having sex, and gay people who had sex with a minor would be put to death. Dr Sentamu told the BBC the Anglican communion was committed to recognising that gay people were valued by God. Under the bill,... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418776/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 03:16:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418740/posts The grainy black-and-white images look as if they belong in a Keystone Kops silent comedy. But their intention was deadly serious. These pictures feature real police officers demonstrating the art of self defence in a force instruction manual issued more than 100 years ago. REGAINING YOUR TRUNCHEON, PART ONE: 'Take hold of truncheon, back of one hand upwards and other downwards, force truncheon upwards to full extent of the arms then turn your back on the assailant and throw him on his back.' REGAINING YOUR TRUNCHEON, PART TWO: ‘Should he still retain hold of the truncheon, place your foot on... Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418740/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 02:01:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418738/posts A park ranger sacked for asking a black colleague if he 'put polish' on his legs has won £40,000 compensation after a judge ruled that skin colour is a 'fact of life'. Michael Farmer said he was branded racist and even falsely accused of being a member of the British National Party after making the comment. Lambeth Council sacked him under its 'zero tolerance' policy on racism after two disciplinary hearings. But employment judge Lindsay Hall-Smith has ruled that he was unfairly dismissed, saying: 'An individual's race or colour is a fact of life. It does not follow that alluding... Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418738/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 01:54:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418588/posts SAN'A, Yemen (AP) - The Nigerian suspected of trying to bring down a U.S. airliner with explosives might have used Arabic studies as a pretext for entering Yemen before disappearing for months, perhaps into one of the lawless country's al-Qaida strongholds, fellow students and teachers said. Interviews with staff and students at the Institute for the Arabic Language this week have revealed that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was frequently absent from classes and spent at most one month at the school in Yemen's capital, San'a, starting in late August before vanishing. Authorities say he didn't leave the country until December and... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418588/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:41:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418169/posts The British hostage Peter Moore was dramatically set free yesterday after the United States handed over an Iraqi insurgent suspected of planning the deaths of five American servicemen. Mr Moore, an IT consultant, was freed by League of the Righteous, or Asaib al-Haq (AAH) — an extremist Shia group allied to Iran — after 31 months and spent his first night of freedom at the British Embassy in Baghdad. He is expected to fly home today. Times on line http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418169/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:24:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417947/posts Lady Thatcher responded that “in her view all those who wrote letters in this sense should be invited to accept one into their homes," the minutes disclose. "She thought it quite wrong that immigrants should be given council housing whereas white citizens were not." Lady Thatcher asked what the implications of such a move could be given that an exodus of the white population from Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe – was expected once majority rule was established. She made clear, however, that she had "less objection to refugees such as Rhodesians, Poles and Hungarians, since they could more easily be... Daily Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417947/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:43:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417935/posts LORD of the Rings director Peter Jackson has been knighted for services to film. Sir Peter was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit after the New Zealand government announced in its New Year Honors today. Since starting out in film with cult classics the likes of Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles, Jackson's popular work has included the Lord of The Rings trilogy, a King Kong remake and most recently, a film adaptation of the best-selling Alice Sebold novel The Lovely Bones. news.com.au http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417935/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:28:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417920/posts Margaret Thatcher arrived in Downing Street like a whirlwind - swinging her handbag at the French, the Russians, the Americans and her own Cabinet as she fought to put Britain back on its feet. Papers released by the National Archives reveal a stirring portrait of how the first woman prime minister transformed Britain's relations at home and abroad through sheer determination. In an echo of the challenge facing David Cameron if he wins the next election, Mrs Thatcher fought to push through tough spending cuts and reforms after inheriting an economy brought to its knees by Labour. She held no... Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417920/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:12:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417735/posts The other night, I found myself homeless. It wasn't the sort of homelessness that meant I was fleeing an abusive home, or had found myself unable to cope with normal life due to drugs or drink. But I was still cold, stranded, ostracised. It was the Monday before Christmas and I'd caught the train to London for work. Knowing I had to be in town the following day, I turned up at the fairly cheap hotel in Shepherd's Bush I always stay in for work. They know me here: they valet-park and clean my BMW and understand I require soya... MailOnline http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417735/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:11:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417572/posts Newly-released documents have revealed the UK's "special relationship" with the US was under strain at the height of the Northern Ireland Troubles. The National Archives files show the murder of Lord Mountbatten by the IRA in 1979 did not prompt the response from the US that the UK had hoped for. While president Jimmy Carter expressed his "profound sadness" at the death, he made no reference to terrorism. Downing St privately said his failure to condemn the IRA was a "deficiency". The murder of Lord Mountbatten by the IRA on 27 August 1979 sparked shock and anger around the world.... BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417572/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:35:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417467/posts escaped British prisoner is taunting police and attracting a growing Internet fan base from his Facebook profile, mocking authorities for failing to find him and openly musing about moving across the Atlantic. But police say the convicted burglar's antics on the popular social networking site haven't gone unnoticed and have appealed to his more than 3,800 Facebook friends to help track him down. Craig "Lazie" Lynch, 28, escaped from the minimum-security Hollesley Bay Prison near the village of Woodbridge in southern England three months ago. Since then, he's been regularly updating his Facebook page with ungrammatical digs at police, as... FOXNews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417467/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 07:05:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417342/posts Keying off an article in the UK Times Online about Northwest Airlines flight 253 bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab organizing an antiwar seminar called "War on Terror Week", I did some quick research before the links get scrubbed.From the Times:According to isocnews.com, an online magazine for Muslim students, War on Terror Week at University College London was one of the events of the year in 2007. There was a slick video advertisement for the event, an eye-catching poster and packed lecture theatres for five days of discussions about Guantánamo Bay, allegations of torture and the subject of “Jihad v Terrorism”. The... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417342/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:44:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417236/posts December 29, 2009 Top Catholic School Condemned Over Admissions Policy Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent A top Roman Catholic comprehensive has been ordered to change its admissions procedure after being told that parts of it are "unlawful" and "unfair" and have the potential for racial discrimination. In an unprecedented case the diocese of Westminster complained about its own Cardinal Vaughan School because of an admissions policy that included selection on the basis of ability. The sought-after school which is oversubscribed by as many as four times regularly comes near the top of the league tables and sends its top students to... London Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417236/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:54:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417230/posts December 29, 2009 Top Catholic School Condemned Over Admissions Policy Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent A top Roman Catholic comprehensive has been ordered to change its admissions procedure after being told that parts of it are "unlawful" and "unfair" and have the potential for racial discrimination. In an unprecedented case the diocese of Westminster complained about its own Cardinal Vaughan School because of an admissions policy that included selection on the basis of ability. The sought-after school which is oversubscribed by as many as four times regularly comes near the top of the league tables and sends its top students to... London Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417230/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:45:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417083/posts Television   Spooked by IslamistsNICK COHEN January/February 2010  Matt Damon as Jason Bourne: Killing machine who became a target A year after the 9/11 atrocities, I made a documentary for Channel 4 which involved trying to discover what had happened to terrorist suspects the prison service was holding without charge. The director filmed me putting questions to a low-level functionary at the Home Office press office. We hoped he would stonewall and thus unwittingly illustrate a sequence about Whitehall secrecy. Fortunately for us, he obfuscated like a true PR. Channel 4 wanted a witty line in the commentary to emphasise how hard it was... StandpointMag http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417083/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:42:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416802/posts Surgeons saved a baby's life after removing a tumour while he was still in the womb. Arthur Fountain would have suffocated if an orange-sized growth in his neck had not been removed. Doctors decided on the operation after a routine pregnancy scan found the growth on the front of his neck. Arthur Fountain with his sisters Lottie and Harriet Photo: ROSS PARRY Telegraph.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416802/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:26:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416760/posts A charity campaigner has become the first black high sheriff since the post was created 1,000 years ago. Peaches Golding will take the ceremonial office of Bristol's High Sheriff in March. The 56-year-old, who is regional director of Prince Charles's Business in the Community charity, will be expected to attend all royal visits in the area. She can also act as a returning officer in Parliamentary elections. Mrs Golding, whose charitable work involves building relations between minority ethnic communities and society, said she was 'absolutely thrilled'. 'I hope to use the title to have good influence over things in the... Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416760/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:56:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416535/posts Security officials in Yemen said today that 29 al-Qaida suspects had been arrested as part of a new crackdown on the terrorist group. "There is a steady stream of people travelling to Yemen and travel to Yemen is something that is of concern to us," said a UK security source. guardian.co.uk/ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416535/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:58:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416514/posts The NHS arouses international interest because it is an especially stark example of a state-run and publicly financed medical-care system. Along with countries like Sweden, Britain uses tax finance to pay for over 80% of health spending. Elsewhere in Europe—in Germany, for instance—social-insurance schemes shoulder most of the financial burden. As an increasingly affluent electorate became dissatisfied with a bargain-basement health system, the state of the NHS rose to the top of the political agenda during the 1990s. Since Tony Blair brought Labour to power in 1997, the government has thrown everything it can at the NHS, love-bombing it with... Economist.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416514/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:15:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416393/posts * Bomber tells FBI more terrorists are waiting in Yemen * He tried to board without a passport, claims passenger * It's unlikely to be single-handed plot, says Alan Johnson * Suspect on UK watch list after applying to bogus college * Family warned security services two months ago * MI5 in hunt for accomplices and links in London Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab In custody: US Marshals today released the first picture of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab since his attempt to blow up a transatlantic flight The would-be bomber accused of trying to blow up a flight to the U.S. on Christmas... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416393/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:14:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416339/posts LONDON — The British government said Monday that it had acted earlier this year to reject a bid for a renewed student visa from the Nigerian man accused in the failed Detroit airliner bombing plot, and that the man was placed on an official watch list to prevent him from re-entering Britain. In a BBC radio interview, Home Secretary Alan Johnson also said he did not believe the suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was acting alone in the plot that investigators say involved him trying to set off an explosive package taped to his leg as a Northwest Airlines plane approached... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416339/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:59:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416243/posts Does this photo show John F. Kennedy on a boat surrounded by naked women? According to celebrity website TMZ, the man sunning himself on deck alongside naked women while others leap into the water is none other than JFK. The black and white picture shows four naked women in total, two bathing on board while another two launch themselves from a large yacht into the water. TMZ is claiming that JFK, who went on to stand up to the Russians in the Cuban Missile Crisis and make the iconic 'Ich bin ein Berliner' speech, is shown dozing in the far... London Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416243/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:49:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416204/posts A MOTHER and father with an incredible 14 kids who prove Britain's benefits system has gone bonkers, showering them with a whopping tax-free £36,847 (US$58,815) a year Pregnant Dawn and Sean Cain's huge family, aged 21 years to 19 months, have just enjoyed a very merry Christmas, with every mouthful of their turkey dinner, and every present stuffed under their tree, paid for by taxpayers. To match their breathtaking haul from the public purse Sean would have to clinch a job paying a gross salary of £51,500 ($82,200). Britain's average salary is just £21,320 ($34,000). He and wife Dawn admit... news.com.au http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416204/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:30:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416168/posts GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — British and American soldiers soon could be hard to tell apart if the U.S. Army adopts a camouflage pattern similar to one that the British have already picked out to conceal their troops in Afghanistan. U.S. soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment in eastern Afghanistan are wearing new uniforms featuring the "MultiCam" camouflage pattern as part of a trial conducted by the Army to determine the best way to help troops blend in with their environment. Last week the British Ministry of Defence announced that its troops would soon start wearing a new uniform with a... Stars and Stripes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416168/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:02:06 GMT