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Two hundred and fifty foreign criminals who should have been deported at the end of their prison sentences were allowed to stay in Britain on human rights grounds last year without their claims being challenged in court. In each case, the Home Office accepted their argument that deporting them would breach their human rights rather than asking a judge to decide. The number has increased fivefold in four years, throwing into doubt the commitment of Theresa May, the Home Secretary, to deporting foreign criminals. They were allowed to stay despite Damian Green, the immigration minister, telling the Commons last December...

(Reuters) - Hundreds of unemployed Spaniards who had walked hundreds of kilometres (miles) to Madrid joined protests on Saturday against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government and its handling of an economic crisis. Demonstrations have swollen across Spain since the centre-right government announced 65 billion euros in new spending cuts two weeks ago to cut its deficit and avert a full-blown bailout, with firefighters and police joining a mass protest on Thursday. Several hundred people journeyed on foot from the southern region of Andalucia, which has one of the worst unemployment rates in Spain, and from northern Catalonia and other areas...

Almost four years since the signing of the global political agreement (GPA) that brought Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) into a lopsided power-sharing arrangement with Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, the country is once again heading towards elections, now expected within a year. The GPA has achieved some stability, enabling modest progress on reform, but an array of problems remain. Spoiler behaviour, especially by Zanu-PF, has not been adequately dealt with, although the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), as co-guarantor with the African Union of the political agreement, has consistently rejected Zanu-PF efforts to fast-track elections without reforms. The EU will...

The Central government is hopeful of concluding the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) by the end of this year. According to Union Commerce Secretary S.R. Rao, the final leg of negotiations between the two parties is likely to be held in September. The deal was likely to be concluded as "we have closed most of the issues". India was exploring options for widening its engagement with ASEAN countries while negotiations with Pakistan on FTA were well on way. Mr. Rao, who was talking to reporters here on Saturday, said, "They (the EU) want us to take...

- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com - Olympic Committee On Munich Moment of Silence Refusal: ‘Muslims Tied Our Hands’Posted By Jeff Dunetz On July 18, 2012 @ 12:35 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 7 Comments Originally published at YidWithLid.Ankie Spitzer whose husband was murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics has been fighting to have a minute of silence at the London Games to remember the eleven murdered victims.Her efforts have been supported by the governments of much of the western world, but they have been rejected by the International Olympic Committee. The organisation and its president Jacques Rogge have been...

On perusing the BBC Sport website, The Commentator was disgusted to see the inherent anti-Israel bias shine through even when it comes to something as trivial as country profiles on their Olympics website. Every other nation represented on the BBC website has a profile of the country that lists ‘Key Facts’. For instance, Djibouti’s top medal sport is athletics, its population is 879,100 and its capital is Djibouti. In case you were unsure, Iranians are good at wrestling, their capital is Tehran and there are just over 75 million people living there. But if you’re interested in the state of...

Gold cup find led to graves discovery by Nick Evans AN important archaeological find by Broadstairs man Cliff Bradshaw prompted further excavations which uncovered centuries- old Anglo-Saxon graves. These later finds, thought to be the graves of women from the fifth and sixth centuries, were the subject of an inquest held last week by coroner Rebecca Cobb to decide if the finds should be declared treasure. She heard the excavations followed the discovery in 2001 by Cliff Bradshaw of what has since become known as the Ringlemere Cup, which was later declared a national treasure and is on show in...

More than 30,000 silver coins have been found by archaeologists working at the site of a new city-centre hotel. The hoard, believed to date from the third-century, was unearthed about 450 feet from the historic Roman Baths. Experts believe the “treasure trove” is the fifth largest hoard ever discovered in Britain and the largest from a Roman settlement. The coins, which have now been sent to the British Museum for further analysis, are fused together in a large block. This makes identification and counting difficult and conservators at central London Museum expect the task of analysing the coins to take...

London - In a case involving home-grown terrorists, a British husband and wife duo of Pakistani origin, who were plotting to carry out a terrorist attack in Manchester were on Friday sentenced to jail for nearly 8 years each, the police said. Hairdresser Shasta Khan, 38, and her husband Mohammed Sajid Khan, 34, were believed to have been in the early stages of building an improvised explosive device to target Jewish communities in Manchester. Khan was born in Pakistan but was raised a British national from the age of 4, while Shasta Khan was born in the United Kingdom and...

A 17-year-old shouted 'Allahu Akbar' - Arabic for 'God is Great' - as he unsuccessfully tried to grab the Olympic torch during a stretch of the flame's route through Maidstone towards Redhill. Broadcast live on the BBC, the youth lunged from the crowd to try to take the torch from the hands of its bearer Anna Skora, but was swiftly bundled away by police officers.

From Reuters:March 13, 1996 - BRITAIN - Gunman Thomas Hamilton burst into a primary school in the Scottish town of Dunblane and shot dead 16 children and their teacher before killing himself. April 28, 1996 - AUSTRALIA - Martin Bryant unleashed modern Australia's worst mass murder when he shot dead 35 people at the Port Arthur tourist site in the southern state of Tasmania. April 1999 - UNITED STATES - Two heavily-armed teenagers went on a rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Denver, shooting 13 students and staff before taking their own lives. July 1999 - UNITED STATES -...

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney built his $250 million fortune with the help of two of Britain's most disreputable business figures - Guinness fraudster Jack Lyons and crooked newspaper boss Robert Maxwell. In the 1980s both men invested large sums in the Republican candidate's first private equity fund, started during his years at Bain & Company, which launched his now highly controversial career in finance.

Russia's decision was expected though there had been a brief glimmer of hope that it might support the resolution and distance itself from Mr Assad after Kofi Annan, the international envoy to Syria found some encouragement in a Tuesday meeting with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. A second vote is likely to be required later on Thursday to extend the mandate of the UN military observer mission in Syria, which expires tomorrow. The mission is likely to take on a more political complexion after observers were often prevented from travelling safely around the country,. Earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry issued...

The sleepy hamlet of Mittenwalde in eastern Germany could become one of the richest towns in the world if Berlin were to repay it an outstanding debt that dates back to 1562. A certificate of debt, found in a regional archive, attests that Mittenwalde lent Berlin 400 guilders on May 28 1562, to be repaid with six percent interest per year. According to Radio Berlin Brandenburg RBB.L, the debt would amount to 11,200 guilders today, which is roughly equivalent to 112 million euros. Adjusting for compound interest and inflation, the total debt now lies in the trillions, by RBB's estimates....

Italian premier Mario Monti is mulling emergency action to take direct control of Sicily’s regional government before the island spirals into a full-blown financial crisis, fearing contagion to the rest of Italy. A woman begging in the street in Sicily. Regional councillor Andrea Vecchio has warned the island has run out of money Mr Monti held an “urgent” meeting with the country’s president Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday to grapple with the constitutional issue after it emerged that the region faces a deficit of up to €7bn (£5.49bn) this year and is in danger of default without sweeping cuts. Sicily’s regional...

When Beijing kicked off its 2008 Olympics, the ceremony celebrated an ideal China. Sweatshops, the Cultural Revolution and the absence of democracy went unmentioned. But the West is more sophisticated — so next week’s opening of the London Games will go for the gold in historical guilt, re-opening old wounds and national self-loathing. The July 27 ceremony, conceived by Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Trainspotting” director Danny Boyle, will pay careful attention to Britain’s shame, with tableaux devoted to the denial of voting rights to women, Industrial Revolution pollution, the Great Depression and exploitation of the workers.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has renewed calls for Olympic chiefs to ban anti-gay nations from the London Games and enforce the Olympic Charter by offering visiting nations the chance to renounce discrimination. An open letter to Jacques Rogge and Lord Coe published today suggests an ultimatum be put to participating states at the Games of the XXX Olympiad. Mr Tatchell said those which discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people should either renounce such discrimination or be disqualified from the Games. The International Olympic Committee and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games should, he...

They have a reputation for faultless efficiency and planning events with meticulous detail. So perhaps we should be worried that Germans already believe London 2012 will be an 'Olympic-sized disaster'. Germany's leading news magazine has launched an attack on Britain’s preparations for the Olympics, poking fun at facilities and warning that the Games are destined to go down in history as a gigantic 'soggy mess'.

As chief executive of a security firm, Nick Buckles ought to be used to hostile encounters. But the embattled head of G4S looked startled, and at times confused, as he faced questions before Parliament in London on Tuesday morning, in the aftermath of revelations that his company has failed to train sufficient security personnel for the London Olympics. Members of Parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee didn’t attempt to bite their tongues. With just 10 days to go before the Olympics, they seemed to channel the embarrassment of millions of Britons and their leaders, who have had to call in 3,500...

A respected German economics institute has suggested that wealthy people be hit with a capital tax, some of which they could get back with interest. Such a move could raise around €230 billion, it said. The German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) suggested that those with a substantial private fortune be forced to hand over 10 percent of what they have over €250,000. This would hit the richest eight percent of the population and would not lead to the feared reduction of consumer demand, it said. The tactic could be adopted to raise money in crisis-hit countries across Europe, the...