United States

Authored by Ben Tanosborn,

When last we checked in on the dispute over Beijing’s land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea, several dozen protesters from the Philippines were camped out on Pagasa island in a demonstration aimed at raising awareness of what they say is an illegal occupation of the Spratlys.

To let China tell it, it’s the other way around.

That is, the Filipino troop presence in the archipelago represents an illegal occupation of territory that belongs to Beijing and China would be well within its rights to forcibly expel the occupying army.

Submitted by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,

The New Year’s execution by Saudi Arabia of the Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr was a deliberate provocation.

Its first purpose: Signal the new ruthlessness and resolve of the Saudi monarchy where the power behind the throne is the octogenarian King Salman’s son, the 30-year-old Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

 

Second, crystallize, widen and deepen a national-religious divide between Sunni and Shiite, Arab and Persian, Riyadh and Tehran.

 

Submitted by Judith Bergman via The Gatestone Institute,

• Is this House Resolution a prelude? Has Attorney General Lynch seen the potential for someone lifting her "mantle of anti-Muslim rhetoric"? And what is "anti-Muslim rhetoric" exactly? Criticizing Islam? Debating Mohammed? Discussing whether ISIS is a true manifestation of Islam? Who decides the definition of "hate speech" against Muslims?

British MPs have decided to hold a debate in Parliament about whether U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump should be allowed into the UK following a petition that attracted 565,000 signatures calling for Trump to be barred from the UK. The House of Commons petitions committee announced that a debate would be held on January 18th, in Parliament’s secondary debating chamber. Politico.eu reports: A rival petition opposing a ban has been signed by nearly 40,000 people. It will also be debated.