United Kingdom

Mohammad Siddique Khan is one of the terrorists responsible for the July 2005 London train bombings. A few months before the attacks, while in training in Pakistan, the young man made this video to explain to his six-year-old daughter why he had to go fight. See the video…

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Team Observers

The Olympic flame had to be put out for half an hour during its tour around Paris because of havoc caused by mainly pro-Tibetan protesters. ChinaWolf, who set up a YouTube channel to "defend the Chinese reputation", explains to us why he thinks the protests were unacceptable. Read more...

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Chinawolf

The British public was wowed by Carla Sarkozy's elegance and beauty yesterday when she met the Queen. And they didn't miss out on the chance to compare the French president's wife with that of Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles, who rarely enjoys any praise. We hear the view of a British "appearance management" consultant on each woman's choice of style. Read more...

Photos © "rashdas"

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Angela Marshall

If you have a long-lens camera, more then one mobile phone or a peculiar home life then you could be branded a terrorist in London. The Metropolitan Police have just stepped up their campaign against terrorist activity by increasing “stop and search” powers and reminding the public to keep their eyes peeled for “odd” people. Our Observer in London is apparently one of them. Read more…

One of the campaign posters

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Nick Fine

The use of a high-pitched alarm to drive British teenagers away from public places is under dispute on the blogosphere after a campaign against the alarms was launched by the Children's Commissioner for England yesterday. The ‘mosquito' alarm which is so high-pitched that only young ears are able to pick it up has been installed by 3,500 shopkeepers and supermarkets in the UK since it was invented in 2005. Now, the ‘Buzz off' campaign says that the £500 product should be prohibited from use. Test your hearing to find out if you're a public nuisance here...

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Team Observers

Jade Bailey

Bristol, UK. Posted by 'Dr Dog' on flickr, 6 February 2006

When the idea of Tony Blair as president of the Council of Europe emerged, so did an online petition against the idea. The European Tribune blog launched the ‘Stop Blair' petition on Tuesday. Already signed by 3600 people, the whole blogosphere is talking about it. Here we publish commentary from Jérôme Guillet, one of the campaign's organisers, and the reaction of a British blogger specialised in European issues, for who Blair ‘would have been a good spokesman for the EU ten years ago'. Read more...

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Jérôme Guillet

Carl Konigel

'Until now, Iran and Burma were the only countries to ban the British Council'.

Russians react to the closure of the British Council by the Russian authorities. One of them remembers when it was closed down once before in the past. That was in 1947, and it marked the beginning of the Cold War. Another says that the Russian authorities are becoming schizophrenic: "They close the British Council, but buy houses in London." Read more...

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Allena Ponom...

Material compiled by Team Observers

Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right British National Party (BNP) was invited to speak at the venerable Oxford Union debating society on Monday, Nov. 26, sparking protests and heated debates across the country. Nearly a thousand students turned up to demonstrate against the politician. A group of around 50 managed to break into the building where the debate was to take place and staged a sit-down protest for over an hour. Outside, the crowds chanted, "BNP – off the streets" and "Nazi scum - go home". Griffin was invited along with the controversial historian David Irving, who was imprisoned in Austria for denying the Holocaust. The event has fuelled debate in the UK, which has seen the popularity of the far-right rise since the 2005 London bombings. You can post questions about the issue to our observer David Berry, university lecturer in ethical issues surrounding free speech.

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Team Observers

David McQueen

David Berry