“A Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria has been effectively stopped in its tracks off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was cancelled at the behest of the British government.

British security officials confirmed they had told Standard Club that providing insurance to the shipment was likely to be a breach of European Union sanctions against the Syrian regime.”

“The police in Britain said that they had arrested five men under anti-terrorism laws near the Sellafield nuclear site in the north of England.

The men were stopped in a vehicle ‘close to the site’ on the Irish Sea coast on Monday afternoon according to a statement from West Cumbria police. All are aged in their 20s, the statement said, and all are from London.

They were arrested under a provision of Britain’s terrorism laws that allows suspects to be questioned without charge.

A spokeswoman for the unit, which works closely with Britain’s domestic intelligence service, MI5, declined to confirm the report or provide further details because ‘the investigation is at an early stage,’ and questioning is under way.”

“Pro-Palestinian activists in Britain have sought the arrest of Israeli officials under the principle, which allows courts to prosecute alleged war crimes from elsewhere in the world…

…a spokesman for the British Foreign Office said Hague’s comments did not reflect a change in British law regarding universal jurisdiction, but sought to clarify that officials on state business are immune to arrest.”

“An al-Jazeera report appears to show western special forces on the frontline in Libya, in what the TV channel said was ‘evidence for the first time of allied boots on the ground’.

The subject is sensitive as the March UN security council resolution authorising the use of force in Libya specifically excludes ‘a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory’.”

“Liu Xiaobo’s prize on October 8th has made Western governments almost as uncomfortable as China’s. Since the early 1990s the West and China have largely managed to accommodate their differences over human rights while pursuing closer economic ties. ‘Pressure’ has consisted of polite but unproductive ‘human-rights dialogues’ between lower-ranking Chinese and Western officials. The peace prize has pushed the issue back to the fore…

… China rather than the West is playing up Mr Liu’s case. On November 5th Cui Tiankai, a deputy foreign minister, said that other countries faced a stark choice: either take part in ‘this political game’ over Mr Liu or develop friendly relations with China. Make the wrong choice, he threatened, and ‘they will have to bear the consequences.’ On the same day the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s main mouthpiece, said that Mr Liu’s award was an attempt to ‘topple China’. Westerners eager for business will hurry to explain that they want nothing of the sort.”

“’This is a big moment for the U.K. welfare state,’ said Patrick Nolan, an economist at Reform, a free-market-oriented advocacy group in London. ‘The fact that the government is saying that it can’t afford universal benefits is very important. It’s where the money is, but it is also where the votes are. That is the conundrum.’

In his speech, Mr. Osborne, whose job is the equivalent of a finance minister, said that as of 2013, families making $70,000 a year would not qualify for the benefit, which pays $32 a week for a first child and $21 for each subsequent one.”