The needless interrogation of a Belgian academic is exactly what Isis wants from us
Watching our Parliament’s grotesque debate on Syrian airstrikes last week (which had more to do with the destruction of Corbyn than the destruction of Isis), I do wonder what the future holds for Britain
Now that we’re all supposedly involved in the world battle against the worst enemy since Hitler – not climate change, of course, but Isis – it’s time to understand just how the forces of law, order and security, who are supposed to protect us, can do more to recruit European Muslims to the Islamist cause than all the Isis videos combined.
It’s a tale of how policemen, through ignorance and racism, provoked Isis into sending sneering messages to a young man who probably does more to prevent “terror” on the streets of Brussels than anyone else.
Montasser al-De’emeh is a Palestinian academic and writer, a Belgian citizen and specialist in that one subject of which all policemen now regard themselves as experts: “radicalised” or “home grown” Isis “terrorists”.
Opinion: Impeaching Rousseff, destabilizing Brazil
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is unpopular - but that in itself is not a crime. Plans to instigate impeachment proceedings against her are only deepening the country's political crisis, Rodrigo Abdelmalack writes.
The ice has begun to melt in Brasilia. After months of threatening to do so, National Congress President Eduardo Cunha has instigated impeachment proceedings against Dilma Rousseff. It is a clear abuse of Cunha's political power in order to save his own skin. Cunha is at the heart of a corruption scandal involving Brazil's state-run oil company, Petrobras, which has shocked the whole country. He is being investigated by the parliamentary ethics commission.
It is no coincidence that Cunha gave the go-ahead to the impeachment proceedings on the very day that members of the governing Workers' Party voted in favor of the investigation into his activities.Cunha does not acknowledge any connection. He stated on Facebook that the impeachment proceedings were in response to "the voice of the street" and the protests of March, April and August. Given that several months have passed since then, this suggests a delay atypical for a politician who is otherwise capable of very swift maneuvers.
Devastation unfolds as flood waters recede in Chennai
As flood waters receded in some parts of rain-ravaged Chennai, the impact of the devastation has slowly begun to emerge with rescue teams stumbling upon a few bodies inside buildings that were marooned.
The most tragic among them was the drowning of an engineer-couple trapped inside their office in Ekkatuthangal here. Just two days ago, rescue personnel found the body of an elderly couple at Defence Colony in Nandambakkam.
With many parts of Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Cuddalore still submerged, it is feared that the scale of such human tragedy could be higher. Sunday’s rains and the forecast of a wet Monday and Tuesday have heightened the anxiety of the National Disaster Response Force, the Coastal Security Group and the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services personnel making their rescue and relief missions much more complex.
Venezuela's opposition party wins parliament in a blow to Maduro
Updated 0658 GMT (1458 HKT) December 7, 2015
Venezuela's opposition party has claimed the majority of seats in the National Assembly in elections held Sunday, the first major shift in power in the legislative branch since the late President Hugo Chavez took office in 1999.
The Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) took 99 seats to just 46 for the United Social Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Tibisay Lucena, president of Consejo Nacional Electoral announced.
"Venezuela, we won!" said opposition key figure Henrique Capriles, governor of the state of Miranda. "I always told you all, this was the way! Humility, maturity and serenity. Long live the people of Venezuela!"
The mysterious Islamic movement quietly sweeping the Middle East
An ultraconservative Muslim order that preaches nonmilitancy is gaining followers across the region. Does Dawah represent an antidote to Islamic State or another threat to the West?
AMMAN, JORDAN; AND CAIRO — Abu Murad surveys the captive audience in the mosque in West Amman, Jordan. Several latecomers kneel for the sunset Maghrib prayer, while others perform individual Sunna prayers in the corner. A handful of old men whisper passages from the Quran in the back. “I was a Muslim,” Abu Murad begins, gazing at the crowd. “But I did not know Islam.”
For 15 minutes, Abu Murad works the crowd of 60. He talks about his past failings, of being too distracted by worldly pleasures to pray regularly. He evokes tales of the prophet Muhammad’s companions who trekked hundreds of miles and braved bandits and armies to spread the word of Islam back in the 7th century.
Now, in the age of mass transit and modern technology, the hardships are fewer, but the Islamic world has never been more in need of a spiritual revival. If the prophet’s companions sacrificed their lives to preach Islam, he argues, surely Arab Muslims can do the same thing.
France's far-right girl wonder takes National Front to new heights
December 7, 2015 - 4:53PM
Paris: France's far-right National Front has pulled off a historic win in regional French elections following the terrorist attacks that traumatised the country last month.
Boosted by fears over the Islamic State attacks that killed 130 people in Paris on November 13, and by record unemployment and immigration, the breakthrough win has shaken up the country's political map.
The party secured 29.4 per cent of the vote nationally in the first round of regional elections, with more than 85 per cent of the votes counted.
That is the highest score ever for the anti-Europe, anti-immigration party, which came first in six regions out of 13.
"This is a historic, extraordinary result," National Front politician Marion Marechal-Le Pen told TF1 television. "The old system died tonight."
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