By Nick Lowles A middle-age, respectable looking man has emerged as a key figure behind the English Defence League. Alan Lake, a 45-year-old businessman from Highgate, North London, sees the EDL as a potential “street army” willing to be deployed against what they claim is rising Islamisation of modern Britain. Lake, who claims to have made money through computers, runs a series of intranet services for far-right groups across the world. Addressing an anti-Islam conference in Sweden last month, organised by the far-right Swedish Democrats, he told delegates it was necessary to build an anti-Jihad movement. He spoke of the … Continue reading Businessman bankrolls ‘street terrorists’ in UK

She is the ultimate predator – a sleek and stealthy killer. Pouncing on her prey, she silences the baboon with one swipe of a vicious paw. Then, suddenly, something stirs in the dead animal’s fur, and the law of the jungle is rewritten. • GALLERY: Jungle queen becomes mother From the bedraggled pelt of her kill crawls a tiny infant – a one-day-old baboon. In that moment, this young leopard forgets she is a hunter, and nurtures the baby baboon as if it were her own cub. Smelling blood, a pack of hyenas gather to finish off the kill. Legadema, as … Continue reading Animals and Compassion – The Way of The Leopard

Jasper is a moon bear. I try to practice what he teaches. Jethro was my long-time companion dog, and I also try to incorporate his lessons about compassion and love into my life. Jasper, Jethro, and many other amazing animal beings teach us numerous lessons about forgiveness, generosity, dignity, peace, trust, and love. We must listen to them carefully and incorporate them into our lives. Jasper arrived at the Moon Bear Rescue Centre outside of Chengdu, China in 2000 and given the name he proudly carries. Jill Robinson MBE (founder of Animals Asia; www.animalsasia.org) and the wonderful humans who work with her receive … Continue reading Animals and Compassion – The Way of Jasper The Bear

by Philip Atkinson A Professor’s View On the evening of Thursday, March 30th 2000, I attended a lecture by Professor Paul Wilson at Bond University advertised as Evil In The New Millennium. From the start of the talk the learned criminologist confessed that he did not know how to define evil, but this did not prevent him from immediately classifying some acts as evil, with genocide considered an ultimate evil. This was illogical but it reflects the contemporary (circa 2000) popular approach to this subject, people cannot say what evil is but they know it when they see it. This is an … Continue reading Recognising Good And Evil

CAIRO: Breast feeding. Yes, breast feeding, was the cause for controversy after Al-Azhar University lecturer Ezzat Atiyya issued a fatwa that suggested women should allow their male colleagues to breast feed in order to limit sexual harassment. “Breast feeding an adult puts an end to the problem of the private meeting, and does not ban marriage,” he ruled. “A woman at work can take off the veil or reveal her hair in front of someone whom she breastfed.” Of course, it sparked outrage from conservative and liberal Muslims alike. They questioned the sanity of the religious scholar and demanded a … Continue reading What you didn’t know about the Islamic fatwa

Jonathan Evans’ rejection of claims that MI5 helped “cover up” details in the Binyam Mohamed alleged torture case shows a hint of frustration behind a cool exterior, reflects Samira Ahmed. Jonathan Evans’ denial of a cover-up in today’s newspaper is the kind of public statement I imagine he did not expect to have to make. For the head of MI5 has marked out his leadership of the intelligence service by choosing to speak publicallyon his terms about the agency’s anti-Islamist terrorist operations. It’s been a deliberate and subtle strategy to coopt the media and through them the public into understanding, supporting … Continue reading A surprise meeting with the MI5 chief