Government, law and world affairs explained — how policy and institutions actually work, and the history behind the headlines, minus the shouting.
Hurricane Katrina certainly was not a planned event, but questions continue over lack of preparation and criminally negligent response by federal agencies. Was their response one of planned genocide? Katrina and Genocide? Troubling Parallels Considered.
The green menace has replaced red menace . . . and a green veil descends from Pillars of Hercules in Atlantic to Indonesian Archipelago in Pacific’A Radical Islamic Empire: The Caliphate! THE CRUSADER vs. THE CALIPHATE...The Bush Doctrine: Defeat The Radical Islamic Empire.
Saddam Hussein’s trial starts tomorrow, trailing words such as momentous and historic, a courtroom drama with a gallows in wings. Trial of Century? Not for Iraqis.
The infighting between factions of jihadis and gives a clearer picture of role Al Qaeda plays among militant Muslims. The Far Enemy: The New Definition of Jihad.
A new law took effect over weekend in Florida that has gun control advocates scrambling to warn tourists that they could be shot if they aren’t careful. Florida’s New Stand Your Ground Law Angers Gun Control Groups.
The real but deeply hidden reason of tyrannical oppression practiced throughout Middle East and explosion of Islamic Terror is imposition by France and England of pan-Arabic nationalist cliques that intend to dictatorially arabize various peoples of Middle East, who are, all, not Arabs. To Win over Terrorism, Eradicate Pan-Arabism and Tear Down Arab League!.
The Food and Drug Administration has set new guidelines recommending that homosexual men be barred from serving as anonymous sperm donors because of risk of AIDS. FDA Recommends Barring Gay Men From Being Sperm Donors.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former union leader sworn to fighting poverty, has flown into flak after taking delivery of a £30m presidential plane. Lula Flies Into Flak With New Jet.
Felicity Lawrence: Ministers have tried to cover up their dependence on forced labour. A year ago this Saturday, 23 Chinese cocklepickers died at Morecambe Bay. The Third Way’s Dirtiest Secret.
Insurgents’ show of strength raises spectre of sectarian clashes. Mosque Bombed in Baghdad Attacks .
In their homes, in street, in UN-run schools, Palestinian youth are not safe from Israeli bullets The Death and Disorientation of Children of Gaza .
Angela Merkel is losing public support as internal conflict divides Christian Democrats, writes Luke Harding. Germany’s Thatcher Under Pressure.
The death of a protester has renewed dispute about transporting radioactive materials through France by rail, reportsAmelia Gentleman. Fatality Fuels Anti-nuclear Protest.
The UK government knew about beatings and abuses at Guantánamo Bay because Britons held there complained to UK interrogators and consular officials on numerous occasions, a lawyer for remaining detainees alleged yesterday. Louise Christian, who represents several men held at US... Officials ‘knew of Beatings at Guantánamo’.
A furious row has broken out over claims in a new book by BBC broadcaster James Naughtie that US Secretary of State Colin Powell described neo-conservatives in Bush administration as ‘fucking crazies’ during build-up to war in Iraq. Powell’s extraordinary outburst is alleged to... Colin Powell in Four-letter Neo-con ‘crazies’ Row .
Though Lord Ashdown has imposed unity on Bosnian town, Croat and Muslim politicians continue to scheme. Bridge Opens But Mostar Remains a Divided City .
Barcelona declared its opposition to bullfighting yesterday, first big Spanish city to take a decision which animal rights campaigners welcomed as a step towards getting it banned in at least part of country. City councillors carried motion in a secret ballot, a spokesman said... Barcelona Passes Symbolic Vote Against Bullfighting.
The rightwing press were too quick to crow after Baghdad fell. A year ago today, with toppling of Saddam Hussein’s statue in Baghdad, pro-war commentators couldn’t stop crowing about ease with which coalition forces had won a swift and righteous victory. Roy Greenslade: Time to Judge Iraq Pundits.
President George Bush sparked a political firestorm yesterday after making what many judged a tasteless and ill-judged joke about failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Mr Bush made joke at a black-tie event for radio and television journalists in Washington on... Bush Jokes About Search for Wmd, But It’s No Laughing Matter for Critics.
Swiss investigators have joined US in biggest bribery investigation ever into foreign deals where millions of pounds of apparently legitimate payments by BP, Shell and others allegedly ended up in hands of Kazakhstan officials. Swiss join oil bribery inquiry.
China’s communist legislators looked certain to adopt a key capitalist principle yesterday as they began debating first constitutional protection of private property since 1949 revolution. The historic move - along with a proposal to enshrine entrepreneur-friendly theories of... China Takes Steps to Protect Private Ownership of Land .
‘Big Joey’ Massino is in jail as FBI stings and rise of new ethnic gangs destroy Mafia. Paul Harris reports from New York. Betrayal Ends Rule of New York’s Last Don.
Well, was I? Haven’t failure to uncover even a single anthrax shell, and car bombs going off every few days around Baghdad combined to show that people like me got it wrong? David Aaronovitch: Was I Wrong About Iraq?.
Undelivered text adds fuel to row over whether Bush White House took al-Qaida threat seriously. Pressure Mounts on Rice Over 9/11 Speech .
As Aristotle and John Stuart Mill observed, private sphere sets limits, both normative and empirical, to rights, powers, and obligations of others. The Encroachment of Public.
The mixed-up licensing bill won’t help this country kick its alcohol habit. As most of football pundits foresaw, not a lot happened on field in this week’s European Cup final. My Name is Britain, and I Have a Drink Problem.
The Plain English Campaign’s award for most baffling remark by a public figure yesterday went to an old master of obfuscation, Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld’s Unknown Unknowns Take Prize.
Rightwing US congressman whose liberal reforms transformed World Bank. Barber Conable, who has died aged 81, is best remembered as man who took World Bank by... Barber Conable.
Ian Traynor in Montenegro on prime minister’s denial that he made money from cigarette smuggling. In a high-security courtroom in southern Italian port of Bari, Gerardo Cuomo is accused of being a member of a mafia-style organisation. Mafia Chief Links Balkan Leader to Tobacco Scam.
International Navy News: Lead Story: Where are Carriers? Plus: Strange Sea Tales Navy Review.
The marked reduction in domestic violence in last decade and fact that different societies and cultures have widely disparate rates of intimate partner abuse - give lie to assumption that abusive conduct is inevitable outcome of mental illness. Domestic Violence Statistics.
Almost a third of Nelspruit’s 600,000 people are HIV positive. Now city has another problem, a dramatic increase in child rape caused by myth that sex with a virgin cures Aids, reports David Beresford. South Africans Rape Children As Cure for Aids.
She was beautiful, bewitching and ambitious. Not content with ruling China with her husband she dreamt of ruling world - even if it meant seducing a would-be American president. Jonathan Fenby reveals extraordinary secret of Madame Chiang Kai-shek. The Extraordinary Secret of Madame Chiang Kai-shek.
His emaciated, terrified face became an icon of Bosnian civil war. When Fikret Alic was filmed at a Serb-controlled prison camp 10 years ago this week, world watched in horror. He Was Face of Bosnia’s Civil War - What Happened Next?.
Full text of US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s speech in New York on Tuesday May 27, 2003. Full text: Donald Rumsfeld speech.
The Bush administration’s ban on funds to family planning clinics which offer abortion counselling is adversely affecting supply of condoms to countries hit by HIV/Aids, it was claimed yesterday. Clinics have had to close in a number of African countries because family planning... Condom Supply to Africa Hit By Us Abortion Policy .
Rory McCarthy reports from al-Jisr, scene of killing of three farmers at hands of US troops. It was middle of night when crack paratroopers from America’s 82nd Airborne Division arrived outside Ali Khalaf’s farmhouse in parched fields of central Iraq. Iraq: Reality and Rhetoric.
A study funded by US government has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses rooted in fear and aggression, dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity. As if that was not enough to get Republican blood boiling, report’s four authors... Study of Bush’s Psyche Touches a Nerve.
Sharia law is back - and spells disaster for Musharraf’s secular vision. When Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, gave his support to US in its war on Afghanistan 20 months ago, he took a calculated risk: Pakistan is Losing Fight Against Fundamentalism.
A St Petersburg doctor who allegedly anaesthetised 50 elderly female patients in order to steal their family heirlooms is on trial for murdering 17 of them when they awoke prematurely to hear him rifling through their possessions. Russian Dr Death ‘killed 17’.
