Many ECHR judges never spent a day on the bench in their home countries. What specific benefits accrue to the United Kingdom as a result of our adhesion to the European Convention on Human Rights? It ought to be the most basic question of all, yet it is almost never asked. Most politicians, together with virtually the entire legal establishment, take our continued membership as a datum or given; yet... 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has censured multiculturalism a failure, joining other western leaders that have already rejected the notion despite boasting freedom as a founding principle. Sarkozy declared in a televised interview on Thursday that “I don’t want a society where communities coexist side by side” and that “France will not welcome people... 

The crewmembers will soon step out on a simulated Martian surface. The crew of the Mars500 simulated mission to the Red Planet have reached a key milestone. The six men, sealed since June inside steel containers representing a spacecraft, have “gone into orbit” at their destination. Three of the group will now “descend” to the planet, don real spacesuits and walk on the “surface”... 

The former President had been due to address a dinner next weekend. Former US President George W Bush has cancelled a visit to Switzerland amid concerns he could be arrested. The former leader had been due to speak at a charity gala, making the keynote speech at Keren Hayesod’s annual dinner on February 12. But human rights groups in the country have been calling for the Swiss government to arrest... 

Petrol price relief? Stephen Voller, chief executive of Cella Energy said he is confident the new fuel will work in existing cars. Artificial petrol that costs 19p per litre could be on forecourts in as little as three years. British scientists are refining the recipe for a hydrogen-based fuel that will run in existing cars and engines at the fraction of the cost of conventional petrol. With hydrogen... 

The 200 robed and bearded men gathered at dusk on the market square, rolled out their prayer rugs and intoned Allah’s praises as dismayed townspeople looked on. It was Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month, and the group that calls itself “Invitation to Paradise” was mounting a defiant response to weeks of public protests against construction of a religious school to teach its austere,... 

As predicted, the Swiss People’s Party (which actually fights for the interests of the Swiss People) has won its latest battle. Foreigners who commit serious crimes or benefit fraud will be automatically deported. The law passed with 52.9% of the vote. Leftists, who love both crime and destroying Western countries, were predictably upset. For example, Marcelo Kohen, a professor of international... 

Russian company Orbital Technologies has announced it will have a space hotel in orbit possibly by the end of 2015. This will be the first hotel of its kind, revolutionising tourism and launching the massive commercialisation of space travel, another first for Russia’s eternally pioneering space program. Russia was the first nation to conquer space, was the first to orbit the Earth and the Moon,... 

Marine Le Pen says she is not racist but a multicultural country can never live in peace. Marine Le Pen was late back from lunch. This is a common condition among French politicians but unusual for Le Pen. She is known for being on time and being polite, charming and, unlike her father, difficult to dislike. She arrived “only” 20 minutes late. The National Front, she says, is not a racist... 

Rene holding a speech in Berlin. His friend Wilders can be seen in the background. Few people outside of Germany paid much attention when a little-known Berlin politician named Rene Stadtkewitz convened a news conference last week and announced the formation of a new “Freedom” party. But in the German capital, the founding of a movement modelled on the anti-immigrant party of Dutch populist... 

Jens John raising a variation of the German flag in his garden in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany. A truck driver, Mr. John has often been without work in the economic downturn. As a youth in the 1950s, the film director Volker Schlöndorff tried to hide his German origins by learning to speak unaccented French. This summer, his daughter painted German flags on her cheeks and joined crowds of thousands... 

A beggar on the streets of Venice. The Italian remarks come hot on the heels of Roma expulsions in France. Italy has said it intends to expel citizens from other EU states if they are not able to support themselves, in a move apparently inspired by France’s current crackdown on Roma. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni told daily newspaper Corriere della Sera on Saturday (21 August) that French... 

700 Roma gypsies living in France face deportation by the end of August. The French government has announced plans to deport 700 Roma gypsies as Romania warns about the possibility of a xenophobic backlash. “I am worried about the risks of populism and xenophobic reactions in a context of economic crisis,” Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi said in an interview with Radio France... 

Economic argument behind proposed immigration restrictions The nationalist Danish People’s Party announced yesterday that it is ready to put a complete stop to all immigration to Denmark from non-Western countries. On Tuesday the party began its 2010 summer group meeting in Vejle, Jutland, where its top members such as Pia Kjærsgaard, Kristian Thulesen Dahl and Peter Skaarup met to discuss current... 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday ordered authorities to expel Gypsy illegal immigrants and dismantle their camps, amid accusations that his government is acting racist in its treatment of the group known as Roma. Sarkozy called a government meeting Wednesday after Gypsies clashed with police this month following the shooting death of a youth fleeing officers in the Loire Valley. Sarkozy...