David Hill reports in the Guardian, ‘Sadiq Khan’s speech to the Labour conference was carefully crafted to win audience applause but also, and most of all, to make point after point about the need to win elections and wield power. … read more

Warren S. Warren of Duke University remembers Ahmed Hassan Zewail (1946-2016) in an obituary published in Nature, September 2016. That the first science Nobel prizewinner from the Arabic-speaking world, Ahmed Hassan Zewail, pioneer of ultrafast chemistry, was also a diplomat … read more

Robert Fisk remembers in The Independent, ‘When the world heard that Shimon Peres had died, it shouted “Peacemaker!” But when I heard that Peres was dead, I thought of blood and fire and slaughter. I saw the results: babies torn … read more

Paul Vallely in thecairoreview.com When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the bishop of Rome in 2013, he took the name Francis. He was the first man to do so in the two-thousand-year history of the papacy. He was the first, … read more

Wide-ranging and erudite discourse by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad (Dr Tim Winter) at the Cambridge Muslim College with critiques of the Enlightenment and a lament on modern times. The talk provides invaluable insights  on dissenting voices within the European philosophical tradition … read more

Beatrix Campbell in the Guardian, ‘Lowell Goddard has told us what we know – that sexual crimes against children are too big, too tolerated and altogether too much. Goddard, the New Zealand judge who resigned from the inquiry into historical … read more

From http://www.baronesswarsifoundation.org/ Baroness Warsi’s Initiative We’re back on the road again! On 13 September, our ‘Modern Places of Worship’ debate series will make its second stop in Woking. As home to the Shah Jahan, the UK’s first purpose-built mosque, we … read more

Makkah Live read more

Philip Oltermann in the Guardian, ‘The German government has written to the British Home Office asking for the Pitchford inquiry into undercover policing to be extended to covert operations by British police in Germany.  The inquiry, which was set up … read more