The court is not amused: Canadian judge rejects royal privilege argument

QUEBEC - An attempt to invoke royal privilege in a Canadian courtroom was rejected by a judge Monday.

Quebec Superior Court dismissed arguments that the province's former lieutenant-governor should be granted immunity from fraud charges.

Marc Labelle, the lawyer for Lise Thibault, had argued that his client should benefit from sovereign immunity, because the Crown's prosecution cannot prosecute the Crown.

Superior Court disagreed and said Thibault's trial will proceed on Sept. 10.
Thibault, who served as the lieutenant-governor from 1997 to 2007, has pleaded not guilty to two counts each of breach of trust, fraud and creating false or counterfeit documents.

The auditor-generals of Quebec and Canada concluded in a joint report in 2007 that Thibault was reimbursed for $700,000 in expenses that were not related to her mandate.

Labelle's novel argument was based on the principle that the Queen can do no wrong, which dates back to the Middle Ages.

 

Note: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/court+amused+Canadian+judge+rejects+royal+privilege+argument/7152310/story.html#ixzz24w95vdhL

 

Perfect example of the need for a republican state.

Libyan militants bulldoze Sufi mosque in broad daylight

Police 'stood by' as Salafi extremist group razed Tripoli mosque in most blatant sectarian attack since Gaddafi's overthrow

Armed men have bulldozed a mosque containing Sufi Muslim graves in the centre of the capital, Tripoli, in broad daylight, in what appeared to be Libya's most blatant sectarian attack since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.

Government officials condemned the demolition of the large mosque and blamed an armed group who, they said, viewed its graves and shrines to Sufi figures as unIslamic.

It was the second razing of a Sufi site in two days. Ultra-conservative Islamists wrecked Sufi shrines with bombs and another bulldozer and set fire to a mosque library in the city of Zlitan early on Friday, an official said.

Libya's rulers have struggled to control armed groups competing for power a year after Gaddafi's fall.

The president of Libya's newly elected National Congress, Mohamed al-Magariaf, called the prime minister to an emergency meeting on Sunday.

"What is truly regrettable and suspicious is that some of those who took part in these destructive activities are supposed to be of the security forces and from the revolutionaries," Magariaf told reporters.

He did not elaborate on how security forces took part.

A Reuters reporter witnessed the bulldozer level the Sha'ab mosque as police surrounded the site and prevented people from approaching. They did not stop the demolition.(1)

Very disgusting. Of course removing Qaddafi wasn't for the benefit for the population. Letting crazies like this loose is hardly in the interest of the people there.

 Note:
(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/26/libya-militants-bulldoze-sufi-mosque?fb=optOut

Olmert Investigation Ended

Israel's former PM probe into corruption has been ended by Israel's State Prosecutor's Office(1)

Took a long time. Corruption while disgusting isn't very serious, say compared to war crimes, in my opinion.

Note:
(1) http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/probe-of-olmert-s-alleged-political-appointments-closed.premium-1.459821

Missouri mosque destroyed in second fire in a month

A mosque in Joplin, Missouri, was burned to the ground early Monday, just over a month after an attempted arson at the Islamic centre, officials said.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the latest fire. The mosque's

security cameras were destroyed in the blaze, according to Sharon Rhine of the Jasper County Sheriff's Office.

"This incident should not stop us from worshiping our God," one member of the Islamic Society of Joplin told CNN affiliate KYTV. "We are going to find a place probably to continue our service to God."

Kimberly Kester, another member, said the blaze was so intense that the building's bricks were still sizzling hours after the fire.

Carl Junction Fire Chief Bill Dunn called it a "complete loss."

Though investigators haven't determined the cause, Kester suspects it to be another incident of arson.

"I think this act of hate will bring us together," she told CNN iReport.

The FBI is already investigating a fire that scorched the roof of the building on July 4 and has offered a $15,000 reward in conjunction with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The bureau has released surveillance video and a photograph of a man caught on surveillance cameras throwing some sort of incendiary device onto the building in that incident.(1)

 

Weird. Hopefully not done out of some kind of stupid hate crime, but it's possible.

 

Note:

(1)  source

Israel hand Hebron market stores over to Israeli settlers

It's disgusting, but it's happened. Once more the Israeli government hands over a Hebron market to illegal Israeli settlers in that city.(1)

Note:
(1) http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/defying-ag-ministers-decide-to-hand-hebron-market-stores-over-to-israeli-settlers.premium-1.458512?localLinksEnabled=false

Olmert refused 2007 peace offer

During his term as prime minister, Ehud Olmert rejected an invitation by former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and other Arab leaders to address an Arab League convention and set in motion a regional process based on the Saudi peace initiative.

Haaretz has learned that the initiative first took place in a conference hosted by the Spanish Foreign Ministry in Madrid in 2007, marking 15 years to the original Madrid conference, where talks between Israel, the Palestinians, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria were initiated. The 2007 convention was attended by senior officials from Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, as well as Palestinians and Israelis.

The Israeli delegation included Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor (who did not hold an official position at the time), former ministers Moshe Shahal and Shlomo Ben Ami, Member of Knesset Yisrael Hasson (Kadima) and former MKs Dalia Rabin, Ophir Pines and Colette Avital.

The Palestinian Authority was represented by Fatah leaders Jibril Rajoub and Nabil Shaath. Several European foreign ministers also attended the assembly, along with the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

In a speech delivered in Arabic, Shahal called on the Arab League to invite officials of the "Peace Circle," which he headed at the time, to present their response to the Arab peace initiative, as well as the Saudi Peace initiative from 2002. Such invitation, Shahal suggested, would helpful in exploring the possibility to advance toward a comprehensive solution based on the Arab initiative, which offered Israel peace and the normalization of relationship with all Arab League nations in return for an Israeli withdrawal from the territories captured in 1967, and an agreed-upon solution of the refugee problem based on UN resolution 194.

In a meeting with Osama El-Baz, Mubarak's advisor at the time, Shahal was asked if there was a possibility of mobilizing the Olmert government to support the Arab initiative. Shahal expressed willingness to offer Olmert to declare that, in principle, Israel was ready to hold talks with all Arab states concerning a regional agreement, based on the frameworks of the initiative, on condition that Olmert be invited to present the declaration in a special Arab League assembly, as former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat was invited to address the Knesset in Jerusalem in 1977(1)

Very predictable if you accept Olmert was never really in favour of a fair peace. By backing down from this offer he may have blown the prospects for a fair peace. 

Footnote:
(1) http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/olmert-refused-2007-invite-to-address-arab-league-support-saudi-peace-offer.premium-1.457133

Republican dissidents join forces to form a new IRA

Three of the four main dissident republican terror groups in Northern Ireland are to merge and reclaim the banner of the IRA, in an escalation of attempts to de-stabilise power sharing.

The Real IRA has been joined by Republican Action Against Drugs, which has been running a violent vigilante campaign in Derry, and a coalition of independent armed republican groups – leaving only the Continuity IRA outside the new group.

In a statement released to the Guardian, the new organisation claimed it had formed a "unified structure, under a single leadership". It said the organisation would be "subservient to the constitution of the Irish Republican Army".

This is the first time since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that a majority of the forces of dissident republicanism has coalesced.

Republican sources told the Guardian that the new paramilitary force included several hundred armed dissidents, including some former members of the now disbanded Provisional IRA who have been conducting a campaign of shooting and forcible exile of men in Derry City whom they accuse of drug dealing.

It also includes what the statement calls "non-conformist republicans", or smaller independent groups from Belfast and rural parts of Northern Ireland.

Republican Action Against Drugs and the Real IRA will cease to exist, one source close to the dissidents said.

The new organisation is planning to intensify terror attacks on the security forces and other targets related to what it regards as symbols of the British presence, according to the source.

Such targets could include police stations, regional headquarters of Ulster Bank, and the UK City of Culture 2013 celebration in Derry – which the dissidents have dubbed "normalising British rule".

In its statement the new group said: "In recent years the establishment of a free and independent Ireland has suffered setbacks due to the failure among the leadership of Irish nationalism and fractures within republicanism." This is a reference to the split between hardline republicans opposed to the peace settlement and Sinn Féin, which has followed a political strategy. Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, was a leading figure in the Provisional IRA.

In a clear dig at Sinn Féin's participation in the power-sharing executive with unionists, the dissidents' statement said: "The Irish people have been sold a phoney peace, rubber-stamped by a token legislature in Stormont."

It said that the "necessity of armed struggle in pursuit of Irish freedom" against what it described as "the forces of the British crown", would only be avoided by the removal of the British military presence in Northern Ireland. It demanded "an internationally observed timescale that details the dismantling of British political interference in our country".(1) 

It's dissapointing, but not wholly surprising. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement wasn't wholesale. Therefore by leaving out people opens the way for more alienation and violent outbreaks.

Note: 

(1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jul/26/ira-northern-ireland-dissident-republican-groups