LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday police will crack down hard to quell a wave of rioting and looting across London over the past three nights — the worst violence in the British capital in decades.

“This is criminality pure and simple and it has to be confronted and defeated,” Cameron told reporters outside his Downing Street office after returning from a family holiday in Tuscany to deal with a crisis that has stunned Londoners.

“People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain’s streets,” he said.

Indicating the intensity of the crisis, Cameron was also recalling parliament from its summer recess on Thursday to make a statement on the unrest, which has spread to Britain’s second-largest city, Birmingham, and other centres.

LONDON (Reuters) – Their spirit and convictions undiminished by age, British veterans of the Spanish Civil War were honoured this weekend at a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the epic conflict.

The International Brigades fought for the Republican side against fascism. And though General Francisco Franco won the 1936-39 war, the deaths of their colleagues was not vain and the eventual return of democracy in Spain had made it all worthwhile, speakers said.

The event took place at the International Brigade Memorial in a park by the River Thames in London. Relatives and supporters of veterans raised one-fisted salutes, laid wreaths and sang songs of solidarity.

The guests of honour were David Lomon and Thomas Watters, two of only four known British volunteers still living.

LONDON (Reuters) – Their spirit and convictions undiminished by age, British veterans of the Spanish Civil War were honoured this weekend at a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the epic conflict.

The International Brigades fought for the Republican side against fascism. And though General Francisco Franco won the 1936-39 war, the deaths of their colleagues was not vain and the eventual return of democracy in Spain had made it all worthwhile, speakers said.

The event took place at the International Brigade Memorial in a park by the River Thames in London. Relatives and supporters of veterans raised one-fisted salutes, laid wreaths and sang songs of solidarity.

The guests of honour were David Lomon and Thomas Watters, two of only four known British volunteers still living.

LONDON (Reuters) – The pavement outside a tapas bar in London’s Old Brompton Road is a far cry from a bullring in Spain.

But that doesn’t stop British writer, actor and amateur matador Alexander Fiske-Harrison from leaping to his feet mid-conversation and demonstrating a series of sweeping passes.

“There is no winning. It’s not a fight,” he says of the bloody Spanish spectacle. “It’s a tragic play in three acts.”

Fiske-Harrison, an Old Etonion and Oxford graduate, is following a line of non-Spanish artists to have been captivated by the “corrida de toros” that includes film-maker Orson Welles, critic Kenneth Tynan and, of course, Ernest Hemingway.

By Angus MacSwan

LONDON (Reuters Life!) – The pavement outside a tapas bar in London’s Old Brompton Road is a far cry from a bullring in Spain.

But that doesn’t stop British writer, actor and amateur matador Alexander Fiske-Harrison from leaping to his feet mid-conversation and demonstrating a series of sweeping passes.

“There is no winning. It’s not a fight,” he says of the bloody Spanish spectacle. “It’s a tragic play in three acts.”

LONDON (Reuters) – Nigerian singer Femi Kuti was named Best Artist in Songlines magazine’s annual world music awards, winning praise for dynamic songs that railed against corruption and repression in Africa.

Kuti had stepped out of the shadow of his father, the legendary Fela Kuti, with his album “Africa for Africa,” Songlines said.

“Songs like “Politics in Africa,” “Can’t Buy Me” and “Bad Government” all serve to underline his utter disdain for the corrupt politicians of his native Nigeria and other African nations — a theme that continues to be pertinent today with events happening across North Africa and Ivory Coast,” it said.

English folk band Bellowhead was named as Best Group, AfroCubism as Best Cross-Cultural Collaboration, and Indian singer Raghu Dixit as Best Newcomer.

TOBRUK, Libya (Reuters) – As tank and artillery fire booms over the Libyan desert once more and soldiers fight over desolate towns, the graves of the dead from World War Two battles are a reminder of past struggles against oppression.

A total of 3,651 soldiers, mostly from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa lie in the Knightsbridge War Cemetery near Acroma, 25 km west of Tobruk.

There are several other such cemeteries in the area, including one for the German dead.

Tobruk itself was the site of a celebrated siege by German and Italian troops which began on April 11, 1941 — 70 years ago on Monday.

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Nearly two months into their struggle to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s rebels lack a charismatic political or military leader who can articulate their cause and act as a flag-bearer for the people.

The revolutionary movement has set up a transitional national council headed by Mustafa Abdul Jaleel and an “emergency crisis” team led by Mahmoud Jibreel.

But they and other senior officials keep a low profile and have barely spoken to media, let alone turned out on the streets to mix with the people who clamour every day for Gaddafi to go.

There is no equivalent of Fidel Castro, who masterminded the Cuban revolution, or even Corazon Aquino, a figurehead for the Philippine popular revolt of 1986 despite her lack of political experience.

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Nearly two months into their struggle to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s rebels lack a charismatic political or military leader who can articulate their cause and act as a flag-bearer for the people.

The revolutionary movement has set up a transitional national council headed by Mustafa Abdul Jaleel and an “emergency crisis” team led by Mahmoud Jibreel.

But they and other senior officials keep a low profile and have barely spoken to media, let alone turned out on the streets to mix with the people who clamour every day for Gaddafi to go.

There is no equivalent of Fidel Castro, who masterminded the Cuban revolution, or even Corazon Aquino, a figurehead for the Philippine popular revolt of 1986 despite her lack of political experience.

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Production at rebel-held oilfields in eastern Libya has stopped after they came under attack from forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, a rebel spokesman said on Wednesday.

Oilfields in Misla and the Waha area were hit by Gaddafi’s artillery on Tuesday and Wednesday, spokesman Hafiz Ghoga told reporters in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

“These oilfields are the ones that pump oil to Tobruk,” said Ghoga. “They stopped pumping today.”

Both fields are in the desert, hundreds of kilometers south of the rebel-held town of Ajdabiyah. Rebels have been trying to resume exports to raise revenue for their uprising.