One of the most common mistakes people make about cultural and politics is suggesting that history is inevitably heading in one direction. We hear it most commonly in the argument made that “we can’t turn the clock back” to the 1950s, as if anyone is planning to ban garlic bread or continental lager. (I don’t…
Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, director of Muslim spiritual care provision in the NHS, a trustee of the major British charity Muslim Aid and a central figure in setting up the Muslim Council of Britain, fiercely denies any involvement in a number of abductions and “disappearances” during Bangladesh’s independence struggle in the 1970s. He says the claims are…
LONDON — One sports an unruly blond mop, spouts Latin aphorisms and loves to ride his bicycle. The other is a neat, newt-loving socialist who prefers to travel by subway. Their contest is an Olympic-size grudge match. Meet Boris and Ken — hometown celebrities known universally by their first names. When the 2012 London Games…
Successive British governments have always said they were never complicit in illegal rendition and torture but that may not be the case. The BBC has obtained documents that suggest that MI6 was involved in the rendition of Abdel Hakim Belhaj who was believed to be helping recruit British jihadis for Iraq. The BBC also now…
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has warned against Islamic extremism and praised Indonesia as living proof that Islam is compatible with democracy. Speaking to students in Jakarta on the latest stop of his trade mission to South East Asia, he said extremists only wanted to impose a particular and radical version of Islam on society.
