French Black Power Leader Arrested In Paris

A convicted anti-Semite with links to the controversial French comedian Dieudonne has been arrested after arriving in Paris to promote a book.

Radical black power activist Kemi Seba was held on Saturday after a public appearance at the Main d'Or theatre in the French capital, where Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala regularly performs, AFP reported.

A magistrate ordered his imprisonment on Sunday, as he was wanted for having violated the terms of a 2009 suspended sentence for violence.

Seba, real name Stellio Capo Chichi, has been living in Senegal but told followers he would be travelling to France to publicise his book.

Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala has been prosecuted for anti-Semitism in France

The head of the French branch of the New Black Panther Party posted a series of photos of himself posing with fans at the Main d'Or event on Saturday evening before he was arrested.

Two groups founded by Seba - Tribu K and later Jeunesse Kemi Saba - have been dissolved by the French justice ministry for inciting "racist and anti-Semitic" ideology.

He was also expelled from Switzerland in 2012 over fears that he would incite violence.

Seba has used Dieudonne's Main d'Or theatre in the past and staged joint press conferences with the comedian, who has been prosecuted several times in France over anti-Semitic comments.

Anelka celebrated a goal by doing the quenelle gesture

Dieudonne was banned from the UK in February following a row over footballer Nicolas Anelka's use of the comedian's quenelle gesture to celebrate a goal for West Bromwich Albion.

Many people believe the quenelle is anti-Semitic because of its similarities to a Nazi salute - but the comic and his supporters claim it is merely an anti-establishment gesture.

Anelka was banned for five matches by the Football Association and sacked by West Brom in March over the affair.

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Suicide Vests Seized In Uganda Terror Raid

Security services in Uganda say they have foiled an imminent terrorist attack after the seizure of "substantial amounts of explosives" and suicide vests in raids.

Some 19 people were arrested in the police operation, which saw the US embassy warn its citizens to take shelter.

The authorities say the suspected al Shabaab terrorist cell was planning an assault on the capital Kampala.

People in the city have been urged to remain vigilant.

The authorities say they have increased security at hotels and other sites

Information Minister Rose Namayanja said: "The operation is still going on. We just want to ensure that we exhaust all the leads so that there are no more terrorist cells."

The Ugandan authorities say they have increased security at hotels and other key sites, including Entebbe International Airport.

"Anything could have happened," if the plot had not been foiled, the minister said.

The discovery of the alleged cell came as Kenya prepared to mark the first anniversary of an al Shabaab attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall in which 67 people were killed.

In 2010, al Shabaab bombed sports bars in Uganda where people were watching the World Cup on television.

Both Kenya and Uganda contribute troops as part of the African Union peacekeeping force battling al Shabaab in Somalia.

The militant group, which is aligned with al Qaeda, has threatened more attacks since the killing of their leader Ahmed Godane in a US strike earlier this month.

Last week, the group targeted two military convoys near the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and on Saturday militants gunned down a senior Somali national security officer in his car.

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Hurricane Odile Hits Mexico: Winds Hit 125mph

Holidaymakers have been sheltering in hotels and many coastal resorts have been evacuated as Hurricane Odile batters Mexico's popular tourist region of Baja California.

The storm has reached the resort area of Los Cabos in the western state, with winds of up to 205kph (125mph) uprooting trees.

Flights were cancelled and shelters for up to 30,000 people prepared amid warnings of large waves and torrential rain that could lead to landslides and flash floods.

Another photo shows Hurricane Odile closing in on the coast

Experts said it was set to be the strongest hurricane in the region since Kiko in August 1989, which was also a category three by the time it hit the peninsula's eastern coast.

Electricity has also been turned off to avoid damage from power lines if the winds bring them down.

Denise Mellor, a tourist from Orange County, California, who is staying in San Jose del Cabo, said: "It's a little bit (unsettling) that we don't have a choice but to sit in here and hope for the best. So that makes me a little bit scared."

Odile had been rated a category four hurricane but it lost strength on Sunday afternoon just before it hit the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, the US National Hurricane Centre said.

Residents of the tourist resort and fishing town prepare for the storm

The eye of the storm is expected to move northwest by the middle of this week and US Marines are on standby.

Around 26,000 foreign tourists and 4,000 Mexicans are in the resort and fishing region, according to officials.

As authorities walked the street using megaphones to call for people to leave their house, Baja California Sur Gov Marcos Covarrubias said the evacuations were to "guarantee wellbeing".

Los Cabos resident Felipa Flores said she was heading for a shelter. She said: "Later on we're going to be cut off and my house of wood and laminated cardboard won't stand up to much."

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Anti-IS Coalition Agrees Military Action Plan

World leaders meeting in Paris to form a broad coalition against Islamic State have agreed to provide military aid to Iraq to fight the extremist network.

International efforts to combat the Islamist militants, who have grabbed large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, have taken on an added urgency after the beheading of British aid worker David Haines and the threat to kill a second UK hostage.

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond was at Monday's summit - spearheaded by French President Francois Hollande and Iraqi President Fuad Masum - bringing together 30 countries to co-ordinate a response to the IS threat.

Mr Hammond said Britain had yet to decide whether to launch airstrikes against IS targets and that the SAS had not been sent in to rescue British hostage Alan Henning because it was not clear exactly where he was being held.

Aid worker Mr Henning appeared at the end of an IS video released on Saturday in which fellow UK hostage David Haines was killed, with a threat that he would be next.

Speaking to Sky News Mr Hammond said he understood Mr Henning's family was "going through hell," and that the government was doing everything possible to protect him.

"We have considered every possible option to support these kidnap victims, both British and others," he said.

"If we knew where they were, it would be a different story but we do not.

Mr Hammond and US Secretary Of State John Kerry arriving in Paris

"We have to do what we can to protect the individual in question, and we also cannot be deterred from our strategic objective of crushing IS and the barbarous ideology it is trying to impose on the region."

The nations agreed to "support the Iraqi government by any means necessary - including military assistance".

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said: "When you are facing a terrorist group as dangerous as this one, a certain number of measures have to be taken of a military nature, and these will vary according to the country."

Mr Haines was taken hostage in Syria last year

Mr Hollande opened the summit, warning: "The terrorist threat is global and the response must be global. The cowardly murder of David Haines is a terrifying example of what is going on... There is no time to lose."

Some 930 French citizens or residents, including at least 60 women, are actively engaged in jihad in Iraq and Syria, or are planning to go there.

Mr Masum said there was a need for a "quick response" to the Islamist group which he said had "committed massacres and genocidal crimes".

Mr Cameron has vowed to 'hunt down' the 'monsters' who killed Mr Haines

Representatives of the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) and US Secretary of State John Kerry were also among the delegates at the conference.

However, Iran said it had rejected a request from the US to join the fight against IS because of Washington's "unclean intentions".

Sky's Europe Correspondent Robert Nisbet, in Paris, said: "This is about building a much broader alliance with regional actors, especially countries with Sunni majorities.

A central part of the plan is to engage Arab countries in the coalition

"This is now the pressing international issue and America would like to see all countries uniting against Islamic State."

Ahead of the talks, the US said several countries in the Middle East had offered to join airstrikes against the militants, while Australia said it would send aircraft and personnel and France announced it would begin reconnaissance missions over Iraq.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who is under pressure to act following the killing of Mr Haines, has given no indication over whether he would commit military forces to airstrikes.

Video footage of the British aid worker's death showed a knife-wielding militant who speaks with a British accent.

The clip also included a threat to kill a second hostage, Alan Henning, who was a volunteer on an aid convoy.

It followed the beheadings of two American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Mr Cameron vowed to "hunt down" the "monsters" who killed Mr Haines, and said the crime would "strengthen our resolve" to smash the extremist network which has seized swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Explaining Mr Cameron's dilemma, Sky's Chief Political Correspondent Jon Craig said: "He tried to get a vote in Parliament last year on missile strikes on Syria.

"Thirty or so Conservative MPs voted against, as did Labour, and he lost the vote. He was humiliated. So he doesn't particularly want to go down that route again."

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British Tourists Found Dead On Thailand Beach

FCO Advice For Thailand Tourists

Updated: 10:39am UK, Monday 15 September 2014

The latest Foreign Office advice for tourists in Thailand warns of the danger of robberies and sex assaults in areas popular with backpackers.

Here is the FCO's advice on crime in the country, which draws around 800,000 British visitors each year.

Eleven British nationals have been murdered in Thailand since January 2009.

Western tourists have been victims of vicious, unprovoked attacks by gangs in Koh Phangan.

These attacks are particularly common around the time of the Full Moon parties and generally occur late at night near bars in Haad Rin on Koh Phangan.

In January 2013 a British national was killed in a shooting incident while at a beach party in Haad Rin.

Violent assaults and robberies have been reported in Chaweng, Koh Samui.

Attacks have also occurred in other tourist districts in Thailand including in Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Krabi. Take care, especially at night.

There have been sexual assaults against foreign men and women, especially in the Koh Samui archipelago and Krabi province.

Tourists have also been robbed after bringing visitors to their hotel rooms.

In some cases their drinks were drugged. Be careful about taking drinks from strangers and at clubs and parties, particularly in Koh Samui, Pattaya and at the Full Moon party on Koh Phangan, where date rapes have been reported.

Alcohol and drugs can lead to you being less alert, less in control and less aware of your environment. If you drink, know your limit.

Drinks served in bars overseas are often stronger than those in the UK. Some British nationals have suffered severe psychiatric problems because of drug use, resulting in some suicides.

Be aware of the possibility of credit card fraud. Don't lose sight of your card during transactions.

There have been incidents of ATM skimming in Thailand. Where possible use an ATM within a bank and always protect your PIN.

Be careful to observe demarcation lines between shops and stalls, particularly in market areas and at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Taking items from one shop's area to another may be treated as suspected theft.

Be on your guard against pickpockets and bag snatchers. Foreigners have had items snatched by thieves on motorbikes when walking along busy streets or travelling in open transport like tuk tuks.

If you travel by bus, make sure cash and valuables you have are kept securely. There have been incidents where passengers have had items taken from bags while asleep.

Gem scams are common. There have been reports of visitors buying gems for inflated prices from seemingly respectable establishments then later finding out the stones are worth a tiny fraction of the purchase price.

You should report any incidents of crime to the Thai police before leaving the country.

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PM: We Will 'Hunt Down' David Haines' Killers

David Cameron has vowed that Britain will "hunt down" those responsible for the murder of British aid worker David Haines and bring them to justice.

Speaking from Downing Street after chairing a meeting of Cobra, Mr Cameron described Islamic State extremists as "monsters" who are part of a "fanatical organisation".

"We will hunt down those responsible and bring them to justice, no matter how long it takes," Mr Cameron said.

"David Haines was an aid worker. He went into harm's way, not to harm people but to help his fellow human beings in the hour of their direst need, from the Balkans to the Middle East.

A man wearing black addresses David Cameron in the video

"David Haines was a British hero. The fact that an aid worker was taken, held and brutally murdered at the hand of Islamic State sums up what this organisation stands for.

"They boast of their brutality. They claim to do this in the name of Islam. That is nonsense - Islam is a religion of peace."

Earlier in the day Mr Cameron held emergency talks with senior representatives of the military, the security services, the Foreign Office and the Home Office.

He returned to Downing Street shortly after midnight when the IS released a video which showed Mr Haines' death.

Government sources say the death will not change Britain's policy and Parliament will not be recalled.

David Haines has been described as a 'British hero' (Pic: Lance Baldwin)

But Mr Cameron said Britain's security depends upon taking action against to fight the extremists.

"It must strengthen our resolve. We must recognise that it will take time to eradicate a threat like this. It will require, as I have described, action at home and abroad," he said.

"This is not something we can do on our own. We have to work with the rest of the world.

"Ultimately, our security as a nation, the way we go about our everyday lives in this free and tolerant society that is Britain, has always depended on our readiness to act against those who stand for hatred and who stand for destruction."

The footage of Mr Haines' death shows a knife-wielding militant who speaks with a British accent.

Mr Haines was taken hostage in Syria last year

The clip also includes a threat to kill a second hostage, later named as Alan Henning, another British aid worker.

In the video, the victim looks into the camera and makes a statement, holding Mr Cameron responsible for his own "execution".

In the statement, which appears to have been made under duress, he said: "You entered voluntarily into a coalition with the United States against the Islamic State just as your predecessor Tony Blair did, following a trend against our British prime ministers who can't find the courage to say 'no' to the Americans.

"Unfortunately it is we the British public that in the end will pay the price for our Parliament's selfish decisions."

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "All the signs are that the video is genuine. We have no reason to believe it is not."

Mr Cameron returned to Downing Street for crisis talks

The aid agency that Mr Haines was working for when he was taken hostage in 2013 said it was "appalled and horrified" by the killing.

"ACTED strongly condemns with the utmost of force these crimes. In this tragic moment, our thoughts are with his family, friends and loved ones," the agency said.

"All of the ACTED team empathise and share their pain."

The killing comes just weeks after American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were beheaded by Islamic State (IS). Those deaths were also filmed, and the videos were released on the internet.

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Australian Special Forces Join Fight Against IS

Australia will send 600 troops - including special forces - and 10 military aircraft to the Middle East to bolster international efforts to fight the "death cult" of Islamic State.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the commitment comes after a formal request from US President Barack Obama for partners in the global coalition against IS.

Mr Abbott said Australia's contribution would include 400 air force personnel and a further 200 military troops.

A contingent of special forces operatives is among those being prepared to assist Iraq's security forces, a statement from Mr Abbott's office confirmed.

Mr Kerry speaks at a press conference in Cairo on Saturday

The contingent could be deployed to the United Arab Emirates as early as this week.

"For some time now the Australian government has been considering how best to respond to the ISIL (Islamic State) movement at home and abroad," Mr Abbott told reporters in Darwin.

"I can advise that we have, within about the last 24 hours, received a specific request from the United States government to contribute forces to possible military action in Iraq.

"The government has decided to prepare and to deploy to the United Arab Emirates a military force, a military force that could, subject to further decisions, contribute to military operations inside Iraq."

It comes as the international community condemned the murder of British aid worker David Haines, who was beheaded by IS militants.

British aid worker David Haines has been murdered by IS extremists

The United States has been seeking to establish a global coalition to fight IS extremists in Iraq and Syria.

On Monday, an international conference will be held in Paris to address the ongoing crisis in Iraq and the threat from the Islamist group.

US Secretary of State John Kerry met Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al Sisi on Saturday as he continued to press the case for striking IS.

The Egyptian president told Mr Kerry that any global coalition should not just battle IS, but also other take on other terror groups.

On Friday Mr Kerry also held a two-hour meeting with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mr Kerry met Arab foreign ministers in Jeddah last week

Speaking in Ankara, Mr Kerry spoke of a "broad-based coalition with Arab nations, European nations, the United States and others".

Key Arab allies last week promised to "do their share" to fight IS, including stopping the flow of fighters and funding to the militants.

Some 40 countries have so far agreed to contribute to what Mr Kerry says will be a worldwide effort to defeat the militants.

The US has already carried out more than 150 airstrikes in Iraq since early August, including a strike on Friday near the country's largest dam.

The CIA estimates Islamic State has as many as 31,500 fighters in Syria and Iraq.

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IS: Beheading Is Revenge For UK Helping Kurds

The beheading of British hostage David Haines was in retaliation for David Cameron promising to arm Kurdish fighters in Iraq, says Islamic State.

Aid worker Mr Haines was killed by the insurgent group in a video where he is pictured kneeling in front of an IS extremist who is holding a knife.

The jihadist, who appears to have a British accent, said: "This British man has to pay the price for your promise, Cameron, to arm the peshmerga against the Islamic State."

He criticised the UK's "evil alliance with America", calling the Prime Minister an "obedient lapdog".

He also said the US "continues to strike the Muslims of Iraq and most recently bombed the Haditha Dam (which) will only accelerate your destruction".

"And playing the role of the obedient lapdog Cameron will only drag you and your people into another bloody and unwinnable war".

The militant added: "If you, Cameron, persist in fighting the Islamic State then you like your master Obama will have the blood of your people on your hands."

David Cameron returns to Downing Street for crisis talks

Appearing to speak under duress, Mr Haines said he held the Prime Minister "entirely responsible for my execution".

He added: "You entered voluntarily into a coalition with the United States against the Islamic State just as your predecessor Tony Blair did, following a trend against our British prime ministers who can't find the courage to say no to the Americans.

"Unfortunately it is we the British public that in the end will pay the price for our Parliament's selfish decisions."

The video began with an interview clip of the Prime Minister and then featured Mr Haines, dressed in orange overalls, making his remarks.

IS militants previously beheaded two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, posting the evidence online in videos featuring a masked jihadist with a British accent.

Mr Cameron described Mr Haines' beheading as "an act of pure evil".

He added: "My heart goes out to the family of David Haines who have shown extraordinary courage and fortitude throughout this ordeal.

"We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes."

The Foreign Office said it was offering the Haines family "every support possible".

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North Korea Sentences American To Hard Labour

A 24-year-old US citizen has been sentenced to six years' hard labour in North Korea after being convicted of entering the country illegally and trying to commit espionage.

The country's Supreme Court said during a 90-minute hearing that Miller, of of Bakersfield, California, tore up his tourist visa after landing at the airport in the capital, Pyongyang, on April 10.

Prosecutors said he had admitted having the "wild ambition" of experiencing life in the country's notorious prison system so that he could secretly investigate the human rights situation.

Miller, who apparently refused the right to a lawyer, was handcuffed and led away after the passing of the sentence - against which the court said there was no possibility of appeal.

Earlier, it had been believed Miller had sought asylum when he entered North Korea.

During the trial, however, the prosecution argued that this was was a ruse, adding that Miller also falsely claimed to have smuggled in secrets about the US military in South Korea on his iPad and iPod.

Miller is one of three Americans now being held in North Korea.

A trial is expected soon for Jeffrey Fowle, a 56-year-old equipment operator for the city of Moraine, Ohio, who entered the North as a tourist but was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a provincial club.

The third American, Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae, is currently serving a 15-year sentence for alleged "hostile acts".

All three have appealed to the White House to send a senior statesman to Pyongyang to intervene on their behalf.

Miller has told the Associated Press news agency he has written to President Barack Obama but had not received a reply.

The US has repeatedly offered to send Robert King, its envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to Pyongyang to seek the freedom of the detainees, but without success.

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Air Power Could Have Stopped IS Two Years Ago

Every red-blooded Brit will be feeling the body blow of the murder of David Haines and the need for revenge, now.

The temptation to insist that Britain go back to war in the Middle East is a visceral as it is understandable. But now is not the time for sudden action.

That was more than two years ago, before so called Islamic State was much more than a small group of fanatics.

Syrian leader Bashar al Assad

Back then it was as clear as day that if non-radical rebel groups in Syria were not given serious military support, probably in the form of a no-fly zone and aerial support to ground troops, then they will have been betrayed by the West.

Radical groups inevitably filled the vacuum left by what was seen as Western hypocrisy.

The West could and should have come to the aid of Syria rebels. It would have been unpopular with the electorates, it would have been messy, but it would in the long term have controlled a region that has now spun, almost, out of control.

In Paris, Francois Hollande is sponsoring an international conference on Iraq and Syria this week. Joining it will be the coalition of Arab nations who have joined some Nato allies plus Australia and others to agree to try to put an end to Islamic State.

David Haines was taken hostage in Syria before he was killed

There has been a rush to condemn Mr Haines' murder. And just as big a rush to insist that there can be no foreign 'boots on the ground' - as Lord Dannatt, former head of the British army said, putting western troops especially into these arenas frequently means they become part of the problem.

But there now is also an opportunity to think the unthinkable. To try to use the evil tactics of IS against it.

Not by emulation but through revulsion.

The IS has murdered wholesale. It has forced young Syrian and Iraqis to queue to be shot, garrotted and beheaded - in their thousands. Just like Mr Haines, Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff.

David Cameron warned the UK was battling a 'poisonous ideology'

There is equally considerable evidence that Bashar al Assad was complicit in the emergence of the IS.

He released hundreds of hardcore fundamentalists from his jails to try to split the rebel movement and there has been, until recently, clear evidence that IS has held back attacks against his forces in favour of driving other rebel groups out of territory they had liberated.

So the Assad regime could properly be considered part of the problem by the West and its allies across the Middle East.

As a coalition is built to deal with IS leaders, it may wish to consider that now that there is international revulsion at both the so called 'Caliphate' and for the Damascus regime, that both should bear the brunt of an international counter attack inside Syria.

Arab states, who have most to lose from Syrian instability and from the spread of the IS ideology, might like to take the lead in conducting airstrikes against both Assad and the IS - allowing local forces on the ground to move forward.

Once this was unlikely. Now it may, just, be conceivable.

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