The Highs and Lows of 2013

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For me personally among the highs has to be the presentation of the Bronze Medal by the Spanish Red Cross (Cruz Roja) in recognition for my charity fundraising over the years (see Photo). Talking about charity I enjoyed getting back on stage last August in Aid of Fight Against Hunger and Children of Peace with ex Miss World Rosanna Davidson at a glittering Gala held at the 5 star Melia Don Pepie Hotel (see photo)

. But it’s my radio work that gave me the most satisfaction during 2013. It’s always a privilege to be able to have on call such luminaries in the broadcasting industry as guests, including Peter Hitchens Toby Young, Jon Gaunt, Fredrick Forsyth, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Lord Jeffery Archer etc. . But when I started to look through my studio notes, an average of 80 interviews per month, and try to decide which ones deserved to be highlighted the list was just to numerous so it is suffice to say a big thank you to each and every one of my guests for giving me such amazing interviews during 2013.
The Lowes has to include putting iTalk on hold. It was a decision I took re radio licensing and to make sure when iTalkfm returns that this issue is solved. Also on my list of lows has to include my visit to hospital for a minor surgery during the later part of the year. Thankfully it was successful and feeling great. Its always sad to lose a friend and in my case it was the death of Mark Rich (see Photo)

This next low will probably make a high for those who recognise themselves here, I’m talking about the cowards that hide behind names who think they are clever by using the press and social networks that allow them to bully. Thankfully no one has taken any notice of them and they rarely achieve anything. . These cowards are a bunch of morons who rather than achieve anything in their own lives try to bring those down who try. A sad bunch of losers.
I look forward to 2014 and hope that the year brings health, happiness and prosperity to you all. A big thank you for your amazing support during 2013. xx

NOTICE: IT SEEMS FOR NO REASON THE LAST POSTING SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN DELETED. PERHAPS IT WAS SOMETHING I DID. I WILL INVESTIGATE AND GET IT BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

I Thought These People Were Weird. Then A Closer Look Left Me Absolutely Speechless.

If someone were to tell me that the people in these pictures weren’t real, I’d laugh in their face. The truth of it is, though, they’re not. They are creations of a London artist named Ron Mueck, who specializes in sculptures. He used to be a model maker and puppeteer for television and films (for example, he created Ludo the gentle giant in Labyrinth). Now, he focuses on making hyper-realistic sculptures of humans that have museum visitors staring for hours… I first came across Mueck when he exhibited some his amazing works in the newly designed Cumberland Hotel London. I became an instant fan. He is
truly UNBELIEVABLE. Here are some more of his incredible works for you to enjoy.

It ends with hyper-realistic art like this. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think this is just a picture of a couple together.

The most interesting thing about Ron’s work is that no matter how nonsensical or strange the dimensions or placement of the people are, they still look REAL.

Some of his art is very heartwarming.

Enjoy this short video

Let me introduce you to Georgia Bleu.

I first met Georgia and her brother Joe when they both entered a Charity singing concert that I staged, in fact it was the very first charity singing contests that would eventually, years later, end up as the WOW Factor. I think I called this one Reach For The Stars (maybe not I’m sure someone will remember) I remember the final well as Joe, Georgia brother, had broken his arm and had to withdraw from the final. When Georgia took to the stage she dedicated a her very emotional performance to her brother who was sitting in the front row enthusiastically encouraging his young sister after her song she ran off stage in tears and threw her arms around Joe Georgia, then 13, won the show and that was that. But there was something about this very talented kid that always made me believe that she was destined for greater things.

The family eventually moved to Austin Texas, I had kept in touch with their mum over the years mostly on Facebook and following Georgia’s career. She became a singer with the hugely popular Trans-Siberian Orchestra touring from coast to coast in America . Georgia is going to bring in 2014 with The Trans Siberian Orchestra playing to a million people LIVE!! at The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. I believe that this is only the start for what promises to be a huge future for beautiful talented young woman. Watch this space as they say Georgia Blue is on her way and you’d better believe it!

Here is a sample of what you would see if you go to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra Show:

So folks I've finally booked my winter holidays. No, not skiing this year but how about this?

The Cohens, a French family of estimable means, bought 50-acre Calivigny Island, off the south coast of Grenada in 2000 and spent more than £100 million developing it. Only in the past couple of years has the private island been available for rent.
It can accommodate 50 people, but if you want just the main house, it sleeps 20 and costs £300,000 a week, so double that for the whole confection.
You’ll find marble bathrooms, Persian rugs, Egyptian cotton, and furniture by the classy Dominican designer Oscar de la Renta.
There are Italian, French and Granadian menus each night, six sandy beaches — one for each day of your stay — and a plethora of water sports. For New Year, a band will come over from the mainland and the fireworks should be good, too.
A week’s stay on Calivigny will set you back around £300,000, calivigny-island.com.


I have room for a few more!!! OH! I forgot, anyone like to rent Casa Eden in Marbella for £350,000¨? I need the extra 50K for flights, food etc!!! So have a look around, let me know.

Here's a slide show for you enjoyment: http://mauri18.wix.com/casa-eden-marbella

I first met Ivor Perl in the synagogue in Marbella a few years ago. As a matter of interest The Marbella Synagogue was the first
purposely built synagogue in Spain since the Inquisition back in the fourteen hundreds when Jews were banished from Spain or faced been jailed or executed. Many Jews back then, in fear of there lives, changed religion to Catholicism and that's why so much Jewish blood runs through the veins of Spaniards today. I have been acting vice president of the Jewish Community for the past 8 years. Now back to Ivor, as I hadn't seen him in the synagogue before I assumed he was a visitor to Marbella and got chatting to him after the service. It wasn't long before we started chatting about his past and his survival of the Nazi death camps. People have often said to me isn't it time to move on forget the past? I have always said unless we learn from the past we wont have a future and how true that statement is today. Just look around you at atrocities carried out in the world today, 9/11, the London and Madrid bombings, The middle East and of course the savagery carried out by the war lords in Africa!!
This is his memories of those dark savage days. Please read them and learn. It's a history lesson of brutality and savagery never to be forgotten. Thank you Ivor it is a privilege to know you.

Young: Ivor Perl was sent to Hitler's camps when he was just 11 years old. In this picture, taken after he was liberated, he is 14

In February of 1945 Ivor Perl, 13, was standing in the snow cold, hungry, desperate, and dimly aware that under normal circumstances it would be time for his Barmitzvah.
But instead of a celebration, Ivor, staring through the fence of Allach, a Nazi concentration camp, had been put to work for months on end with nothing more than thin prison clothes to protect him from the bitter winter, and a slice of bread a day to sustain him.
Remembering his desperation, Ivor, now 81, recalls: 'The camp was in the middle of the forest, and a fence ran through the trees. I was praying to God “help me, if you let me get out of this place, I shall not ask anything else of you in my life.”'
But his liberation was not to come for months, when the American soldiers would sweep into Germany and, horrified, stumble upon the hellish camps where Ivor and millions like him were held.
So Ivor, suffering not only from terrible deprivation and could, but a typhus infection, worked on through the winter.
The gruelling regime hit him especially badly as, having pretended to be older than he was to avoid being killed, he had to do the work of an adult to keep up the act.
Ivor, a Hungarian, was imprisoned in 1944, after his country had been occupied by the Nazis for attempting to defect to the Allies.

He, his parents and his eight siblings were sent first to Auschwitz, where women and children would be separated from men, and killed. Ivor was saved because he mother ordered him to join the adults despite still being a boy.
The decision saved his life, as his mother and seven of his siblings died in the camps.
'Of course at the start, I ran over to my mother's side, with the children and the women', Ivor says.
'I told her: “I want to come with you, mum.” She said: “No, don't come here.”'
He pleaded but gave in and joined one of his brothers in the other line. However, even then he was almost sent back to die by the notorious Auschwitz camp Dr Josef Mengele.
'I could see a German officer with white gloves', Ivor says, 'who we heard later on was Dr Mengele. He was pointing left and right. And as he came to me, he suddenly stopped and said “how old are you?”
'Remembering what I was told, I said I was 16. Fortunately I was big for my age.
'I've often, even now after all these years, I can remember his eyes as he was thinking to himself which side he should put me to. He must have thought that if I'm lying I won't be strong enough so it doesn't matter.'
In Allach for the bitterest months of the year, Ivor's strength was sorely tested.
An average meal in the camp was a slice of bread, a cup of hot water and, perhaps, a dab of margarine. To protect them from the weather, prisoners had only the infamous black-and-white striped prisoner underclothes and a thin cotton overcoat.

Alongside hundreds of others, he was put to work on gruelling projects such as digging underground bases for military equipment with only rudimentary tools.
Order was kept with a combination of fear and extreme force. When Nazi guards realised some prisoners were hiding in a cave to avoid work, they thought nothing of throwing grenades in after them.
When a register of prisoners was taken in the morning, everyone faced an agonising decision of which group of labourers to join. Some tasks were easier than others – and the hardest work could easily drive struggling prisoners to death.
One day Ivor made a different choice to his brother, and didn't see him for three weeks. While his brother was posted to a farm, and allowed to eat decently for a time, Ivor grew so emaciated and ill that his older sibling did not recognise him.

Alongside hundreds of others, he was put to work on gruelling projects such as digging underground bases for military equipment with only rudimentary tools.
Order was kept with a combination of fear and extreme force. When Nazi guards realised some prisoners were hiding in a cave to avoid work, they thought nothing of throwing grenades in after them.
When a register of prisoners was taken in the morning, everyone faced an agonising decision of which group of labourers to join. Some tasks were easier than others – and the hardest work could easily drive struggling prisoners to death.
One day Ivor made a different choice to his brother, and didn't see him for three weeks. While his brother was posted to a farm, and allowed to eat decently for a time, Ivor grew so emaciated and ill that his older sibling did not recognise him.

Indeed, at one point Ivor's typhus, which was ubiquitous in concentration camps, grew so bad he was referred to the camp hospital.
'The hospital block was laughable', Ivor recalls. 'Twice a day – in the morning a camp doctor would come along, you would uncover yourself, he'd see how much flesh you had on you, whether you were able to work.
'Those who were not considered workable were pointed towards, and those people had to be taken away to be killed. All of us would push our stomach out to pretend we were more healthy than we were.'
With the help of his brother, Ivor sneaked out of the hospital, where there was clearly no prospect of getting better.

But outside, in the camp, things began to change, as the noise of Allied war planes gradually began to fill the air.
But for those still inside, it wasn't a symbol of hope. 'They said the worse the Germans treated us the more we were losing the war,' Ivor remembers.
And indeed, the worst was yet to come. After weeks of restlessness in the camp, the order was given that it be abandoned. Ivor and his brother were told that they must march, for days, to a larger camp.
They were given a single loaf of bread to sustain them for several days, and warned that if they finished it too soon there would be nothing else. Part way through this gruelling journey, with a pace so uncompromising prisoners would die on their feet, it became too much.
'We were walking along in the mud and suddenly my brother and I accused each other of taking bigger bites than we should have done,' Ivor remembers. 'We started fighting and wrestling in the mud.'
'And as we were fighting in the mud suddenly I could see a pair of army boots and the butt of a gun on the floor.'
The two thought – with good reason – they would soon be brutally punished.
'Then suddenly we heard this soldier talking to us in Hungarian', Ivor says. 'He said “Don't fight, because you'll soon be liberated and then afterwards you'll be sorry you fought each other.”
'That was about the only kindness that I experienced in my camp life.'
Even this was only a blip in the otherwise unrelenting suffering of Ivor's year under Nazi persecution.
But, as he marched towards Dachau, where he would soon be liberated by the American forces, it was a sign of better things to come.
After the war, Ivor was granted a visa to come to the UK. He spent his working life in fashion retail, married and has four children and six grandchildren.
Ivor Perl shared his story in conjunction with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Visit www.hmd.org.uk for more information.

Recollection: Ivor Perl, pictured recently, was able to start a new life in Britain.

Try to Imagin Hamas (the Palestinian terror organisation who rule Gaza) offering the Jews a Happy Hanukkah !!! Sorry not imaginable!!!

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres issued Christmas greetings.

Netanyahu issued a holiday greeting on YouTube to "our Christian friends around the world."

"We celebrate Christmas with you, we know the importance you attach to our common heritage, to the State of Israel and to the city of Jerusalem, where so much of our common history was forged," Netanyahu said. "We have a great past, we have common values, we have the desire to seize a common future of security, prosperity and peace."

And this is why: WAKE UP BEFORE IT'S TO LATE IF IT'S NOT ALREADY!!!!!

A rocket fired by Gaza terrorists exploded on Wednesday night in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council in southern Israel.

The rocket exploded in an open area, causing no physical injuries or damages. The "Red Alert" siren was heard in the region prior to the explosion.

On Sunday night, Gaza terrorists fired a Kassam short-range rocket into the same area.

The rocket was located by police sappers early Monday morning. It exploded next to a transport station in a local community. No one was physically hurt.

In recent days, Arab terrorists have increased their attacks against Israelis. These attacks have come out not only from Gaza but also from the Palestinian Authority-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria.

On Tuesday, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck multiple terrorist sites throughout Gaza, hours after a Gazan sniper shot and killed a civilian IDF worker near the border.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon warned Hamas Tuesday that Israel's patience with rocket attacks - and over its role in the wave of terror rolling across Israel - has begun to wane.

On Wednesday, the IDF deployed the Iron Dome anti-missile system to protect the western Negev city of Sderot.
Statistics released Monday revealed that the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have led to an increase in terror.

MUSLIMS PERSECUTING CHRISTIANS AND THE CHRISTIAN WORLD SEEMS TO SIT BACK AND ACCEPT IT. THE ACADEMICS ASK; ‘WHY DOES IT SEEM ITS OK TO SLAUGHTER 35 INNOCENT CHRISTIANS ON CHRISTMAS DAY BUT ONE PALESTINIAN TERRORIST IS KILLED BY THE ISRAELI ARMY AND SOME HALF WITS UP IN ARMS, THE REASON BEING IS THAT THE WORLD FEARS ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS AND NOT JEWS.
NOW READ THIS STORY THAT ONLY MADE THE MINOR PAGES IN THE PRESS WHILST FOOTBALLERS, HALF NAKED MODELS ETC MADE CHRISTMAS DAY HEADLINES!!!

A car bomb targeted a church in the Iraqi capital Wednesday as worshippers left after a Christmas service, killing at least 35 people, most of them Christians, security officials said.

The blast in the Dura area of south Baghdad also wounded dozens of others.

"The attack targeted the church, and most of the martyrs are Christians," a police colonel told AFP. "The attack happened when worshippers were leaving the church" after a service.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

"Attacks distort the image of Islam and religion, if they are carrying them out in the name of religion," said Monsignor Pios Cacha of Baghdad's St. Joseph church.

"The church is a place of love and peace, and not for wars," Cacha said.

Earlier in the year, Cacha had said that "maybe we will follow in the steps of our Jewish brothers," referring to Iraq's once-thriving Jewish community that was all but wiped-out due to persecution, discrimination and violence at the hands of the country's Muslim majority.

Approximately one million Jews were forced to flee Muslim-majority countries during the twentieth century, wiping out entire Jewish communities, whose presence in the region predated Islam. Today, the Middle East's Christian population is facing similar challenges, with Christian communities - many of whom also predate the rise of Islam - targeted by Islamists throughout the region. Israel is currently the only Middle Eastern country with a growing Christian population.

Iraq has seen its Christian population sharply decline in the years since 2003.

In that year, the US-led invasion of Iraq ended dictator Saddam Hussein's rule, but also turned the country into a battleground between insurgents and foreign troops, unleashing a wave of bombings and killings by terrorists in which Christians were not only caught in the crossfire, but targeted themselves.

The bloodiest single attack on the community happened on October 31, 2010, when terrorists killed 44 worshippers and two priests in Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation church.

Estimates of the number of Christians living in Iraq before 2003 vary from just over one million to around 1.5 million; but now there are only around 400,000, according to Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako, head of one of the world's oldest Christian communities. Some 61 churches have been attacked
in the decade since the US-led invasion, Sako said, with more than 1,000 Christians killed in violence, albeit not all in targeted attacks.

Violence in Iraq has surged this year to levels not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal period of sectarian unrest.
More than 6,650 people have been killed in Iraq since the beginning of 2013, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.

Well as most of you know all is looking good for next year but it has been 5 months since my last radio show and I’ve really missed it and thankfully going by the support I’ve had over those months it seems so have you. It’s a huge thank you for all who sent

heart filled messages during my hospital stay and my recovery period from the surgery. So tomorrow, Christmas Eve, I start my warm up for next year as I will make a brief appearance on Jono Coleman’s hugely popular Australian Radio Show. A very Happy Christmas to each and every one of you and a brilliant New Year . THANK YOU

Good on the British public lashes out at retailer Marks & Spencer for Muslim policy

British retailer Marks & Spencer came under fire on Monday after it was revealed that it allowed Muslim employees to refuse to sell pork and alcohol, reported AFP.

Over 8,000 people have "liked" a Facebook page calling for a boycott of the popular chain. This came after a Muslim checkout worker told a customer buying a bottle of champagne that they would have to wait for another staff member to become available in order to make the purchase, according to AFP. Drinking alcohol and eating pork are forbidden in Islam.

In response to the massive outcry against M&S, the company has since apologized for the incident, admitting that it breached its own internal policy by forcing its staff to choose between their beliefs and their responsibilities to the supermarket, according to The Telegraph.

“Where we have an employee whose religious beliefs restrict food or drink they can handle, we work closely with our member of staff to place them in suitable role, such as in our clothing department or bakery in foods," an M&S spokesperson said. "We regret that in the case highlighted we were not following our own internal policy."

The spokesperson also added that M&S is a secular business with an inclusive policy that welcomes all religious beliefs across their employee and customer base, and that when specific requests are made regarding religious beliefs of any persuasion, "we will always make reasonable adjustments to accommodate them."

The negative public response to the incident highlighted the issue of whether staff should be allowed to refuse to sell certain products on religious grounds, reported AFP.

Muslim staff in British supermarket chains Tesco, Asda and Morrisons also have the right to refuse to work the checkout counter if they objected to handling specific foods, according to AFP.

However, the head of major retailer John Lewis said employees should not be allowed to refuse to serve customers.

"This is taking it one stage beyond common sense," managing director Andy Street told BBC radio." As I have never hear of Jewish staff refusing to serve pork or none koshire produce"

HOW WONDERFUL TO SEE THIS.

Over 10,000 people took to the streets of the Stockholm suburb of Kärrtorp Sunday to protest racism and Nazism, according to the Swedish news outlet The Local.

Due to the fact that a similar anti-racism rally on Dec. 15th was soured by violence at the hands of neo-Nazis, police presence was heavy, with over 100 officers guarding the premises.

The organizers of Sunday's demonstration estimated more than 16,000 people took part. The crowd chanted "End racism now" and "No racists on our streets", and prominent Swedish artists played on a stage set up on a soccer field.
Sweden, long seen as a bastion of tolerance, has seen a rise in support for the far right as immigration has grown. Anti-immigration party Sweden Democrats has reached around 10 percent in the polls ahead of a parliamentary election next year.

Neo-Nazi activity in Sweden is also on the rise, according to a new report by the non-profit Expo Foundation. The report counted 1,824 neo-Nazi activities in 2012, a 24 percent increase from 2011.

Parts of Karrtorp, which does not have a particularly large migrant population compared to other areas of the city, were sprayed-painted with swastikas and Nazi slogans before last week's protest.

Smaller anti-racism rallies were held in support at several other Swedish cities on Saturday and Sunday.

THE SAVAGES ARE AT IT AGAIN AND ONE WONDERS WHY ISRAEL CAN'T ACHIEVE PEACE.

A bomb detonated at the back of a bus in Bat Yam on Sunday afternoon, in what police suspect was a terrorist attack.

Passengers on Dan 240 bus that goes from the Bnei Brak to the Bat Yam cemetery noticed a suspicious package at the back of the bus.

They alerted the bus driver, who asked if the black bag belonged to anyone and when no one answered, he stopped the bus at the corner of Mivtza Sinai and Katznelson streets in Bat Yam, ordered the passengers off the bus, and alerted police, who sent bomb experts to the scene.

One of the passengers on the bus, David Papo, opened the bag. He said the big black bag had what looked like a pressure cooker inside of it with red wire coming out of it.

The 12 passengers that were on the bus and its driver were evacuated from the area and were 15 meters away when the bomb went off. The blast occurred 10 minutes after passengers were evacuated, the driver said.

The bomb went off before police bomb experts had a chance to defuse it.

One policeman was lightly injured in his ear from the blast noise.

Police are saying that while they are not yet sure if the motive was criminal or nationalist, they are suspecting a terror attack.

In wake of the bus blast, the national police chief ordered an increase in police presence in public places, and called for public to increase awareness and notify the police of any suspicious packages.

Wreaths were been laid at Dryfesdale Cemetery in Lockerbie to mark the 25th anniversary of the bombing of an aircraft above the town.

Memorial events are also to be held in the UK and the US to mark the attack in which 270 people were killed. The south of Scotland town was devastated when Pan Am flight 103 was blown from the skies in 1988.

Over the years since the tragedy of Lockerbie I have interviewed many of the relatives that had lost loved ones that fateful night. But the one who stood out most to me was Dr Jim Squire who lost his daughter Flora who was only 23 and on her way to meet her American boyfriend that night. Jim always made it clear to me he never believed that Megrahi was responsible for the bombing. This has not always endeared him to the other relatives who have always believed it was a Libyan plot by Col Gaddafi carried out by Megrahi. Dr Swires endless investigations it took until 2001 to discover, that Heathrow Airport’s “airside” had been broken into 16 hours before Pan Am Flight 103 exploded – and just where the bags converging for the Lockerbie flight were to be assembled on 21 December, 1988. He explained: “Try to imagine what it is like to know that your daughter went, unaware of her danger, through the corridors of an airport which knew that its “secure” airside had been broken into, and knew that there was a high terrorist threat to US aircraft at the time and yet still decided not to investigate who had broken in or what his motive might have been. Then try to imagine that you have tried in every way you can think of for 25 years to get an inquiry into why Lockerbie was not prevented and how things could be improved for the future, and been blocked at every stage.”

At one stage during 2009 I remember that Jim had told me he was preparing to sue the Scottish prosecution service because he was convinced it deliberately blocked attempts to bring his daughter's "real" killers to court. He was planning the action under human rights legislation just three days after it was disclosed that the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is likely to be released later this month. I don’t know if he finally persuade this action. From what I remember Dr Swire told me the evidence that eventually found Megrahi guilty was based on a suitcase bought in Malta that was alleged to have made its way on to the doomed Pan Am flight. Many, including Dr Swire, now believe that the most likely to group to have carried out the bombing was the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC).
At the time, the group was headed by Ahmed Jibril, a former Syrian Army captain, who was based in Damascus and funded by Iran.
Dr Swire suspects Iran was seeking revenge for the shooting-down of Iran Air Flight 655, with the loss of 290 lives, by the USS Vincennes in July 1988 – just five months before Lockerbie. Iran did not accept the US's claim that the incident was a mistake.
Dr Swire believes the families of the victims have been "pawns in a political scenario that had nothing to do with truth".
He added: "The Heathrow break-in would have been the perfect scenario for the Syrian-backed PFLP-GC to put one of its bombs on the aircraft. The grieving father also suspects that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who went on to become the anti-Western president of Iran but then reportedly an ambitious figure in Iran's Republican Guard, may have been involved in Lockerbie.
Another suspect is Abu Talb, a Palestinian later arrested and jailed in Sweden for terrorist bombings: he had circled the date of December 21 1988 in a calendar found at his flat. Other relatives, particularly those in the US seeking "closure" over the tragedy.
Critics say the evidence against Megrahi was, at best, circumstantial, and, at worst, flimsy. His lawyers have dismissed the evidence of Tony Gauci, a Maltese shopkeeper and the key prosecution witness.
He said he had sold clothes to Megrahi which had supposedly been in the suitcase that contained the bomb.
But it later emerged that Mr Gauci had seen a photograph of the suspect in a magazine linking him to the bombing. Other witnesses, it is alleged, were paid or offered money to give damaging evidence against the Libyan.
Dr Swire had controversially visited Gaddafi.

Will the truth be every known? What I do know every Christmas since that tragic day in 1988 hundreds of families will continue to mourn those who they lost so tragically.

BREAKING NEWS: Tributes have been paid to one of the giants of British sports broadcasting, David Coleman, who has died at the age of 87.

The Grandstand and Sportsnight presenter, who retired in 2000, died peacefully with his family at his bedside after a short illness.

The BBC's director general Tony Hall said: "David Coleman was one of this country's greatest and most respected broadcasters.

"Generations grew up listening to his distinctive and knowledgeable commentary. Whether presenting, commentating or offering analysis, he set the standard for all of today's sports broadcasters."

The renowned athletics commentator worked for the corporation for almost 50 years, covering 11 summer Olympic Games, his final one in Sydney in 2000.

He also covered six football World Cups and was the host of the Question Of Sport for 18 years. He was awarded an OBE in 1992.

Prime Minister David Cameron wrote on Twitter: "Sad to hear David Coleman has died - the voice of BBC Sport for as long as I can remember."
Sky News Sports Editor Nick Powell described Mr Coleman as a "giant" of sports broadcasting.

He said: "A lot of sports broadcasting has been shaped by what David Coleman did all those years ago."

Olympic athlete Linford Christie said: "My deepest condolences go out to David's family at this sad time.

"David was a no nonsense, straight-talking true gentleman and an iconic voice of sport, but at the heart of it all was a massive sports fan and supporter of good performances."

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett described him as "a thoroughly decent guy", having been quizzed by Mr Coleman 45 years ago on BBC1's Feedback show.

"David Coleman had to deal with a man who couldn't see talking about a film which David Dimbleby had produced and which had caused enormous controversy by displaying dead and naked bodies.

"Why I ever wrote in I shall never know, but it was certainly a way of being blooded in terms of future interviews over the past 45 years.
"I know that as well as his family and friends, many of us will mourn him as someone who represented the best in broadcasting and of decency in public life."

Former England striker Gary Lineker was among those remembering Mr Coleman - whose brevity at the microphone, including his signature "one-nil" catchphrase, earned him many fans.

He wrote on Twitter: "Sad to hear, David Coleman has died. A giant of sports broadcasting. Brilliant, gifted, precise and concise. Much more than 'one-nil' #RIP"

The father-of-six, who lived in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, was awarded the Olympic Order in 2000. The award is the highest honour of the Olympic movement.

Mr Coleman also found himself the subject of a regular column in satirical magazine Private Eye, with its Colemanballs feature documenting commentators' gaffes to this day.

One of his comments the magazine immortalised was: "That's the fastest time ever run, but it's not as fast as the world record."

THE VERY BEST OF DAVID COLEMAN. R.I.P

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

BREAKING NEWS: A Daily Mail report: Nigella aides found NOT GUILTY of defrauding couple of £685,000 in four-year designer spending spree
Italian sisters found NOT GUILTY of carrying out £685,000 credit card fraud. Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo were trusted members of Team Cupcake. Elisabetta, 41, was taken ill as the jury considered their verdicts. Nigella admitted snorting cocaine and smoking cannabis during the trial. Jury returned their verdict after a three-week trial at Isleworth Crown Court

Two of Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi's former aides were today found not guilty of defrauding the celebrity couple of nearly £700,000.
It follows a three-week trial in which the court heard astonishing allegations that Miss Lawson snorted cocaine and smoked cannabis.
Italian sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo used company credit cards to spend £685,000 on items for themselves including designer shoes and clothes.
They maintained throughout that the spending had been authorised.

The jury of 12 were earlier given a direction by the judge that they could reach a majority verdict - meaning up to two members of the panel could dissent against the overall decision.
Elisabetta, 41, was taken ill yesterday and an ambulance was called to the court while the jury were deliberating.
She was suffering from panic attacks and high blood pressure as the jury deliberated and was seen apparently collapsing in the court reception area this morning.
When the panel were sent out again this morning the sisters were not in the dock as Judge Robin Johnson explained that one of them was unwell because a criminal trial is stressful.

The judge said: 'You will notice that neither defendant is in the dock. They are in the building.
'One of them is not feeling well, is very anxious and you will appreciate that a criminal trial is a stressful business for many people, no more stressful than for the person on trial, in this case, herself.
'I have said that the defendants can be in another room while court proceedings proceed, with the consent of the barristers.'

Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo stood trial charged with spending £685,000 on themselves using Charles Saatchi's company credit cards.
The court heard they went on a shop til you drop trip to New York, stayed at the Ritz Hotel in Paris and spent thousands of pounds on designer clothes.

The jury reached their verdict today after a three-week trial at Isleworth Crown Court.
During the case, Nigella Lawson dramatically revealed that she had smoked cannabis in front of her children and snorted cocaine.
The TV cook, 53, told the court she had turned to cocaine in 2010 after being subjected to 'intimate terrorism' by Charles Saatchi.
She also admitted snorting the drug six times while married to her late husband John Diamond who died from throat cancer in 2001.

However, Miss Lawson denied claims by the Grillo sisters that she had taken drugs regularly over the last 10 years.
Mr Saatchi and Miss Lawson divorced earlier this year after pictures were published in June which appeared to show the millionaire art dealer 'throttling' his wife outside Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, central London.
Despite the 'heartbreak' of their divorce, Mr Saatchi told the jury he still 'adores' his former wife. However, Miss Lawson made clear that she was happy to move on with her life.
The Grillo sisters, from Bayswater, west London, maintained throughout their trial that all the money they spent on the millionaire's Concaro company credit cards was authorised.
Please forgive us, urgent and important, private and confidential

AN EMAIL FROM THE SISTERS TO CHARLES AND NIGELA

Dear Charles and Nigella,
We are at our utmost despair and reaching out to you for help and hope that somewhere in your hearts you will find a way to forgive us and realise that we never meant in any way to seem to be disloyal.
We truly believe that we had a bond like a family.
You were, as you often said to us, our English family and we saw you like a mother and father figure in our lives over these 10-14 years that we have known you.
There is not a worst feeling thinking we have in any way let down our family and we are deeply sorry and full of regret.
All we want to do is put this right and make amends. We have asked our lawyers to try and settle this ongoing nightmare and we plead with you to find a way in your hearts so that we can stop the fighting which is destroying us and make amends with you as soon as possible.
This is all we wanted to do from the beginning of this whole nightmare. From the bottom of our hearts we extend an olive branch in the hope that you will understand we never ever meant to hurt in any way.
Please forgive us and help us put this right.
From Francesca and Elisabetta

TIME FOR US TO WAKE UP AND SPEAK OUT. THESE ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS CONTINUE TO USE ISRAEL, THE US AND UK AS A SMOKE SCREEN FOR THEIR SAVAGERY WHEN THEIR REAL PURPOSE IS TO BRING THE WESTERN WORLD TO THEIR KNEES. WAKE UP WORLD IT COULD BE ONE OF YOUR FAMILY NEXT. BE SHOCKED BY TODAY'S HEADLINE!!!!

'If my son did what Michael Adebolajo did, I would be happy': Hate preacher Omar Bakri Muhammad says he is proud of Lee Rigby killer. Omar Bakri Muhammad said e would be 'happy' if son killed a soldier. Adebolajo spoke at radical group Al-Muhajiroun's demonstrations. Muhammad said he did not feel sympathy for Lee Rigby's family.
He said that Adebolajo, 29, was a 'quiet, shy person' looking for answers.
Muhammad said he did not feel sympathy for Lee Rigby and was 'proud' of what Adebolajo did.
The interview provoked criticism from people on Twitter who said Channel 4 should not be giving the preacher 'oxygen'.
Former MP Tony McNulty said: 'C4 interview with Omar Bakri Mohammed just disgraceful - why give this idiot any oxygen of publicity at all - total puff interview. Woeful.'
The journalist who recorded the interview, Paraic O'Brien, replied: 'Disagree. His inability to engage with LeeRigby as a human/Dad told us lots about the radical mindset.'
He also added: 'Thanks for all feedback.I know many disagree but I felt Bakri's inability to engage with personal tragedy & his online reach = newsworthy.'
As Adebolajo was convicted of murder, he refused to show any remorse.
During the trial, he told Lee Rigby’s family how he will never regret killing the fusilier because he is a ‘soldier of Allah’.

Adebolajo kissed the Koran when he and Adebowale were convicted of murdering Fusilier Rigby at the end of an astonishing four-week Old Bailey trial.
The victim’s parents, estranged wife and fiancée were overcome with emotion as the jury of eight women and four men returned their verdicts in just 90 minutes.
His mother Lyn and sister Sara sobbed as others hugged.
Mr Justice Sweeney told of his gratitude and admiration for the soldier’s family who, he said, had shown great dignity throughout the most harrowing of evidence.

THEATER COLLAPSE

23.11 Hrs News Update. London ambulance saying 81 walking wounded and seven more seriously wounded after part of ceiling fell in taking part of the upper balcony. "Fortunately all those who were trapped have been rescued and treated for injuries or taken to hospital," London Fire Brigade said.



2220: Lots of theatre stars are at the after party for the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical nearby. Impresario Bill Kenwright said he was "shocked", while comedian Jimmy Carr said: "My heart goes out to everyone involved at the theatre".
Simon Usborne features writer at The Independent tweets: Back home after Apollo theatre collapse. Terrifying. Sheltered in stalls by upper circle. Loud bangs, cracks. Thought was part of show...
He added: ... then whole interior of theatre filled with curtain of dark grey dust and debris, falling on heads of anyone not sheltered....
VIDEO
2215: Police, rescue and emergency crews reached the Apollo Theatre within minutes of the collapse, eyewitnesses have told the BBC.
Eyewitness Khalil Anjarwalla, who was watching the performance with his heavily-pregnant wife, ‏said he was "shocked" by the incident.
Ross Hawkins BBC political correspondent tweets from the scene: First response 3 mins after call, 85 casualties, taken to 3 hospitals
LISTEN:
2211: Lucy Atherton was watching the show with her family.
Speaking to the BBC she said the theatre was packed when the roof crumbled.
2210: Specialist urban search and rescue crews were called to the scene who searched the theatre for people who might be trapped.

FANS OF MRS BROWNS BOYS WILL ENJOY THIS. I HOPE THAT THOSE WHO BAD MOUTH ISRAEL, 95% HAVE NEVER EVEN BEEN THERE AND MOST WHO WRITE ABOUT ISRAEL NO NOTHING EXCEPT THE PROPAGANDA IN THE PRESS. SO LISTEN TO RORY COWAN WHO'S NOT JEWISH. HE'S BEEN THERE.

THIS IS BOTH DISGUSTING AND POTENTLY DANGEROUS

.

Neo-Nazi symbol spreads in Europe!!! Thanks to my friend and correspondent Ruth Dudley Edwards for bringing this to our attention:
Modern 'Hitler salute' gaining momentum among anti-Semites, who pose for pictures in sensitive sites worldwide and in Israel, including alongside IDF soldiers who are unaware of gesture's meaning
This VIDEO shows the right hand and its fingers are stretched downwards along the body, while the left hand performs a "salute" movement on the opposite arm. Sound like an aerobic exercise for beginners? According to anti-Semitism researchers, it is actually a clear anti-Semitic symbol, a modern Nazi salute, spreading among Jew haters across Europe.



n recent months, the researchers warn, anti-Semites have been taking advantage of the lack of public awareness of the new "salute" and taking pictures of themselves performing the salute in particularly symbolic and sensitive places around the world like the Treblinka extermination camp,
the Western Wall plaza and next to IDFsoldiers, as well as alongside Jews who are unaware of the "trick." They then post the photos on the Internet.

The phenomenon was revealed in a conference held earlier this week in New York by theWorld Zionist Organization's Department for Countering Anti-Semitism, in the presence of senior officials involved in researching and countering anti-Semitism in Israel and the United States.

'It's reaching Israel and must be stopped'
In order to expose the public to the new movement, which many have encountered but were unaware of its meaning, the conference organizers presented pictures and videos of neo-Nazis documenting themselves performing it in different places around the world.

As part of a more concrete effort, the Defense Ministry has been asked to warn IDF soldiers against the phenomenon in a bid to prevent them from unknowingly participating in further embarrassing photographs.
The new salute, based on a reverse Nazi symbol, was created by a French comedian called Dieudonné, who is known for his anti-Semitic acts and statements and has even been convicted by courts in France several times in the past. The physical gesture, which he dubbed "quenelle," has spread in the country, but the government has yet to define it as illegal.

Different sources have been arguing whether it is seen as anti-Semitic gesture in all cases. There are those who say that some of those photographed doing the "quenelle" gesture are doing it for "anti-establishment" motives which are not necessarily anti-Semitic. Among anti-Semites, however, as the WZO indicates, it is a common anti-Semitic gesture, and media outlets have even been apologizing for mistakenly exposing it.

Neo-Nazis do 'quenelle'
Yaakov Haguel, head of the WZO's Department for Countering Anti-Semitism and the conference's organizer, told Ynet that the department's Red Email received initial pictures of the new salute several months ago, but "we didn't understand what it was about."

They later realized the meaning of the gesture and were then exposed to cases in which neo-Nazis performed it in Jewish holy sites in Israel and around the world.

"It's gaining more and more momentum, spreading on the Internet and social networks and turning into a clear Nazi symbol, and it doesn't appear to be a passing phenomenon," says Haguel. "It's spreading to Israel too these days, and we must acknowledge that and stop it."

Eitan Behar, director of the Center for Diaspora Communications and Countering Anti-Semitism at the WZO, told Ynet that the phenomenon he defined as "extremely troubling was gaining momentum in recent weeks.

"Saluting with raised hands is banned in the European Union, and people even get arrested for it, so the neo-Nazi activists perform the same gesture in a different angle," he noted.

Popular Facebook page
A special Facebook page is updated very frequently, particularly with photos from around the world documenting the new salute in places with religious and national significance to Jews. It has accumulated tens of thousands of regular followers, and almost 100% of them are active – through "likes," shares and comments. A special website has also been launched for the same purpose.

In the center led by Behar, volunteers from all over the world monitor anti-Semitic incidents in the media, Internet and social networks. As an expert on the issue, he asserts that the new phenomenon is significant and linked to hatred of Jews.

"It has some general anti-establishment aspects, and the person who invented it is a comedian, but one cannot escape its main message as a new, unhumorous Nazi symbol," he said.
The "saluters" take advantage of many people's innocence and ask them to perform the gesture as they take a picture of them – including IDF soldiers and Holocaust survivors.

The sites where they choose to do so leave no room for doubt: The Anne Frank House, synagogues and Jewish cemeteries, the Western Wall plaza, against the backdrop of German and Israeli flags, on streets with "Jewish" names. They have also posted processed photos of famous characters, like Superman and Santa Claus, performing the salute.

Rise in anti-Semitic incidents
The Countering Anti-Semitism and Delegitimization of Israel Conference is held every two years in a different country. This year it took place in the United States, following the rise in the number of anti-Semitic events recorded in New York, Louisiana, Long Island, Miami Beach and Michigan, which include violent assaults, vandalism, harassment and threats against Jews.

The conference was initiated by the Department for Countering Anti-Semitism of the WZO in collaboration with the American Zionist Movement and the Israeli Consulate in New York. It was attended by Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Ira Forman, former Harvard Professor Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, who wrote "The Devil That Never Dies: The Rise and Threat of Global Anti-Semitism," and others.

The issues discussed during the conference included "anti-Semitism in Zionist ideology," anti-Semitic expressions in arts and culture, the role of the US in fighting global anti-Semitism and the war on anti-Semitism on the Internet and social networks.

The organizers presented hate crimes from recent months, including an attack on Jewish school students in Pine Bush, New York, anti-Semitic statements by an American rap singer in a radio station interview, and more.

'Alarming trend of hatred of Jews'
Yaakov Haguel said during the conference that "anti-Semitism is a sore evil. We must fight it in any way possible. The hypocrisy of countries in the world must end. It's time to join forces, Jews and non-Jews, governments and organizations, and put an end to rising anti-Semitism.

"The recent anti-Semitic incidents point to an alarming trend of hatred of Jews around the world and particularly in the US, which is considered by many the safest place for Jews. Unfortunately, we are witnessing dozens of anti-Semitic incidents on average within one week across the US.

"It's as simple as this: If we put our heads down – we'll get hit in the head. I call on leaders of the Jewish communities in the US, of all streams, on heads of the Jewish student organizations in the US and the world, to join forces with us in this important struggle. We have no other people, we have no other past, and we have a shared future. We must put an end to anti-Semitism."


Deputy Defense Minister Danon said, "The anti-Semites of the new era attack Israel incessantly. They are not shocked by the horrors in Syria and are not crying out, but when the State of Israel defends its citizens against merciless terrorists and missiles launched on school, they cry out that it's a 'massacre.' They are characterized by indifference, hypocrisy and racism. They must be renounced by every modern society."

GAYS FIND A PLACE TO CALL HOME IN JERUSALEM. ISRAEL THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE MIDDLE EAST TO SUPPORT THE GAY MOVEMENT.

On a chilly Monday night, gays and lesbians hang out in an upstairs bar while the bartender serves drinks and loud music makes the walls shake. This scene may be reminiscent of Tel Aviv, Israel's gay capital, but it is taking place in the holy city of Jerusalem.

The center of the world's monotheistic religions hosts a growing yet intimate gay scene, while its sister city on the Mediterranean has become a world hub of gay culture.

"Jerusalem is not like the other cities, it's like a family here," Ofir Margalit, a 28-year-old lifetime Jerusalemite and a bartender at the city's only gay bar, the Video Pub, told The Media Line. "The community is so small, and we have so many enemies."

Members of the tight-knit LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community in the nation's capital face many challenges, both from without and within, as they try to meld their sexual identities with the complexity and friction of the city.

Even as Israel's LGBTQ community has rapidly expanded in the last decade, due to the country's growing tolerance and intense activism in Tel Aviv, gays and lesbians have struggled to maintain a hold in Jerusalem.

Despite the challenges, gays from across the spectrum have been attracted to Jerusalem's unique diversity.

"As a queer person living here and as a religious Jew, I've run into a lot of challenges in terms of being able to integrate my queer identity with my Jewish identity and my religious practice," queer activist Sarah Weil told The Media Line. "As someone who grew up Reform and with strong liberal American values, it's been challenging as a woman and a lesbian to integrate my religious life, my religious self and my gay queer woman self."

Weil moved to Jerusalem from Fresno, Calif., when she was 22 and already out. After arriving, she joined the Haredi community -- the most religious segment of Israeli Jewish society -- and, in her words, went back into the closet. She left the ultra-Orthodox world two years later, struggling with identity while trying to make a new space for herself.

"You can only work on something so much until you realize that you need to accept yourself for who you are," she explained. "Claim it, own it, and try to do the best with it."

What an extraordinary country Israel is. Where else in the Middle East that one can live peacefully among Jews, Christians and Muslims, where gay people can live openly without fear of retribution. We love Israel.

MY ALL TIME ROCK AND ROLL HERO, MR KEITH RICHARDS. A TRUE GENTLEMAN, ALWAYS HAS TIME FOR A COFFEE AND A CHAT.

There are some great stories about Keif told to me by Mandy Smith. The Stones were in Barbados at Eddy Grants studio hanging on the wall was an extremely valuable painting of Beethoven. When Keif spotted it he borrowed someone’s lipstick and wrote over the masterpiece ' Roll Over You Motha Fucka'
After a lifetime of legendary debauchery, you might not think Keith could remember much. The truth is he remembers everything, just not always in the right order. He once claimed on an American TV show; 'I snorted my dad by mixing his ashes with cocaine'
Not sure if he was been honest or just, as his way, having fun with the interviewer?
He tells the funny tale about a house he accidentally burned down in LA in 1978, escaping naked with a woman, not his (then) partner, Anita Pallenberg. . Keith recalled, “everything had burned down, except for one wooden stump of a pillar, and in the bedroom this little portion of a chest of drawers, which had my passport, all my
favourite tapes, jewellery, a shooter with five hundred rounds of ammunition. All untouched. And a friend of mine went back the next day when everything else was still too hot to touch, smouldering, and came back with my stuff. So what am I supposed to gather from my life? That I’m blessed? Should I count on it?”
In 1989, he was hailed as a “living legend” at an awards ceremony. “That’s all right,” Richards responded “but immortal is even better.” At times he really has seemed unstoppable. With his lifestyle, few would have bet on him making it to 67. Anita Pallenberg once said she thought he would die onstage. “If I had my way, I probably would,” he told me. “I can think of worse places to croak.

Keith Richards' best one-liners
'I never knew the chick.’ - on hearing of Princess Diana’s death.
'Put the f---ers in a pan and let them rock’ - his recipe for bangers and mash.
'Her Majesty. Brenda.’ - his nicknames for Jagger.
'I’ve never had a problem with drugs. I’ve had problems with the police.’
'Passing the vodka bottle. And playing the guitar.’ - on keeping fit.
'I don’t think John [Lennon] ever left my house, except horizontally.’
'Marianne [Faithfull] had no fun with Mick’s tiny todger. I know he’s got an enormous pair of balls - but it doesn’t quite fill the gap.’
'I’ve given up everything now - which is a trip in itself’ - on coming off hard drugs.

This is probably one of the saddest stories of 2013.
It was announced yesterday that a British doctor who traveled to Syria to treat wounded children has been murdered by the country’s security forces just four days before he was due to be released from prison the Government indicated yesterday..

Now Syrian officials, who have been accused of beating and torturing Dr Abbas Khan during more than a year of captivity, claimed the 32-year-old ‘COMMITTED SUICIDE’ by hanging himself with his own pajamas in the state interrogation center in Damascus.

So why would Dr Khan commit suicide just 4 days before his release,? Well you can make your own minds up about this! Remember Dr Khan was a VOLUNTEER and his CRIME? Treating wounded Syrian children!!

In a statement the British Foreign Office minister Hugh Robertson said that the death of the London-born orthopaedic surgeon was at best 'extremely suspicious’ and it appeared the father-of-two had ‘in effect been murdered’ by the Syrian regime. Last night Mr Robertson said the Government was seeking ‘urgent clarification’ of the circumstances of the death.

The surgeon’s sister, Sara, insisted: ‘He did not commit suicide.’
His relatives described him as a ‘brave’ humanitarian who had been killed by members of President Bashar al-Assad’s ‘barbaric’ regime.

My question is had anyone heard of Dr Abbas Khan and his imprisonment before yesterdays announcement that he was dead? I certainly hadn’t .

His brother Dr Afroze Khan, 34, said: ‘We are devastated. We had assurances from the Syrian government that he was going to be released by the end of the week, but obviously they have changed their minds. They contacted her and told her he was dead. It is just barbaric, it is medieval.’
Dr Khan travelled to the rebel-held part of the frontline city of Aleppo in November last year to treat civilians at a field hospital, but he was arrested within 48 hours for crossing the border from Turkey without a visa.

During the next eight months the surgeon, from Streatham, South London, claimed he was put in an underground cell in total darkness, tortured and forced to hurt other prisoners.
His mother Fatima, 57, from Mitcham, South London, tracked him down to the notorious Far’ Falastin detention centre after travelling alone to Damascus in July, and found her son weighing about five stone and hardly able to walk.
She was told he had been accused of treating dying civilians, which has been classed as an act of terrorism.
Dr Khan was married with a six year-old son Abdullah and seven year-old daughter Rurayya. A hand and nerve trauma specialist, he was on a six-month sabbatical from Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in South London when he left for Aleppo.
In harrowing handwritten letters passed to Foreign Secretary William Hague by his mother, Dr Khan wrote: ‘I have been violently forced to beat other prisoners, kept in squalid conditions, denied access to toilets or medical treatment.’

Last night Sara Khan, 23, said: ‘My brother wrote two letters to Mr Hague asking him for help. He snuck them out through the prison bars when my mother visited him.
‘He didn’t reply, and he is yet to speak to us about it. He should be ashamed, he should be embarrassed.’
President Assad is said to have personally ordered the release of Dr Khan and observers said the death was an indication of how he has lost control of some aspects of the security forces.
More than 1,000 people are believed to have died in the custody of the Syrian security forces since the start of the civil war in March 2011, according to Amnesty.
Mr Robertson said: ‘We can’t at the moment be absolutely certain about the circumstances in which Dr Khan met his death, but what is clear is that he met his death while he was in prison in circumstances that are at best extremely suspicious.
‘There is no excuse whatsoever for the treatment that he has suffered by the Syrian authorities who have in effect murdered a British national who was in their country to help people who were injured during their civil war.’

RONNIE BIGGS DEAD AGED 84:

I first interviewed Ronnie on my radio show whilst he was still in hiding out in Brazil after escaping a UK jail where he was serving a 30 year sentence for his part in the 1963 Great Train Robbery and made off with £2.6million in cash - worth £40million today. He wasn't hard to find, in fact he had a webpage for tourists to visit him. He made money out of posing for photographs etc. He stayed on the phone for a good 30 minutes and sounded in top form. As you know he finally handed himself in and it was then I tracked down his son Michael and have kept in touch with him over the years, speaking to me on my radio show about his life as Ronnie Biggs's son and finally about his fathers illness. It has always been debated whether the 30 year sentence fitted the crime. The driver Jack Mills died 1970 from Leukemia but it was said that it all resulted from the head wound he suffered at the hand of one of the train robbers (not Biggs as his job was the driver of the getaway car)
Biggs and 11 other robbers were jailed for a combined total of more than 300 years after they stopped the Glasgow to Euston overnight mail train, which was carrying huge numbers of used bank notes, as it passed close to Cheddington on August 8 1963.
The train was stopped at a set of signals which the gang had switched.
No guns were used, but driver Jack Mills was coshed and left unconscious by an unidentified assailant, suffered constant headaches for the rest of his life and died in 1970 from leukaemia.
Two of the robbers, Charlie Wilson and Biggs, escaped from Wandsworth Prison within two years of being jailed - Biggs scaled a wall with a rope ladder.
Biggs then spent 36 years on the run, living mainly in Brazil where he would taunt the British police and boast about his notoriety to unsuspecting tourists.

However, in 2001 he returned home to face arrest, having apparently grown tired of his life in exile.
He was eventually freed from jail in 2009 on 'compassionate grounds' by then Justice Secretary Jack Straw.
In July, just days before the 50th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery, Biggs said he had few regrets about the crime that made him a household name.
A new two-part drama series was due to start tonight on BBC1 to mark the 50th anniversary of the 'crime of the century'.
The first film, A Robber's Tale, focuses on the story of Bruce Reynolds as he masterminds the raid on the Royal Mail train.
The second installment, A Copper's Tale, tells the story from the perspective of DCS Tommy Butler, the police officer leading the investigation aimed at bringing the gang to justice

Be prepared to be disgusted and if you are true to yourself spread this article...

50 CHRISTIANS BURNED TO DEATH IN PASTOR’S HOME Nation becoming ‘killing fields’ as Islamists declare, ‘Convert or die’
Islam is at it again the so called religion of peace, this time with the burning alive of over 50 Christians. Christianity has always been a persecuted religion, it started with Nero, and continues all the way up to present day Islam. However, why is it that the main stream media is not covering these kind of disasters, but every day they are talking about Obama Care. To make matters worse the churches are silent, they are not taking up offerings to send to our persecuted brothers, and sisters. In stead they are building bigger buildings, worth millions.I have watched as our politicians have labeled Islam, a religion of peace, and every time I began to think how stupid our these politicians. Islam is the worst threat that the world has ever seen, over Islams centuries of founding they have killed millions in the name of Allah. This heartless religion, that kills both women and children, we are collecting donations if you want to support our outreach to this cause. We are also starting a petition to raise awareness, to try to help our brothers, and sisters as much as possible. The bible predicts that in the End Time, persecution would increase, because Satan knows that he has a short time left.

we as believers have to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters daily, and help them financially. Fifty members of a northern Nigerian church were burned to death in their pastor’s house. The attack by armed gunmen was only the first in a 12-village spree of violence that left over 100 dead in northern Nigeria’s Plateau State, a region that had previously been outside Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram’s operational area and is the largely Muslim Fulani tribesmen’s homeland. The Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the attacks and threatened even more violence. Nigeria is become the new death zone for Christianity, this Satanic group is determined to covert or die, which is not new for Islam this is how Islam spread threw the middle east. Islam has never been a religion that gives people, the right to choice, its a religion of death a violence. The Boko Haram is a fanatic Islamic group lead by Satan, trying to exterminate God’s people. America is also seeing a rise of the presence of Islam which is not a good thing, Islams End Time goal is to conquer the world for Allah, and this they believe can not be done without America. Our goal is to raise awareness in America of this great threat. Below you are going to see a petition, and also our radio show that I would like you to listen to please repost on social media, to spread this message God Bless

As many of you will know Peter Hitchens has been a correspondent and most valued guest on my radio shows over the years. He was outstanding yesterday evening on BBC's Newsnight the one where Matthew Perry meets Peter Hitchens . . . Friends star and Mail writer go head-to-head on Newsnight in heated row over drugs. The Friends star argued in favour of specialist courts for drugs addicts. Peter Hitchens argued law is failing, by being 'nice'. Newsnight editor says both men were escorted out via different exits!!! At one point the actor referred to Mr Hitchens as 'Santa' Mr Peter hit back: 'This is a very serious subject and you treat it with immense levity' At height of troubles Perry drank bottle of vodka per night and 30 tablets
He told Hitchens: 'I'm a drug addict and if I have a drink I can't stop,' he said, adding: '(you say) I'm choosing to do that'
Hitchens responded: 'There is a fashion for dismissing the ability of people to take control over their own lives and make excuses for them'.

Good on you Peter. I rang him this morning and tell him so.

Please watch. It's a classic.