The Statist Quo
¡No Pasarán! — Whether it be the Guardian, the New York Times, the Independent, BBC Radio, or other ultra-statist commentators, the issue of income "inequity" is trumpted loud and long as the most pressing issue of the day (alongside the environment, 'free' healthcare, fuel poverty, neo-protectionism, tax avoidance, 'windfall' taxation, food miles, organic farming, GMOs, too tight underwear, you name it). An issue that if not "fixed" (by higher taxation and more government, natch) ...

Richard Schiff: As My Household Shows, We're a Divided Nation
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... out into the real world and opening our eyes. It seems too much of an effort for many of us. Much to my utter shock, after eight years of what most Americans consider a disaster in the Oval Office, we again face an election that may come down to the wire, neck and neck. I can only hope that the roses and champagne do their magic and maybe this change I hope for will win by just that one vote. It may be that close. Originally published in the London Independent

Coffee With Robert Fisk
Antiwar.com Original — ... University and was able to spend about 90 minutes with me and my colleague at the Orange County Register , Steve Greenhut, over lots of coffee. We had met with him once before , just before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, against which he had advised strongly (and which the Register opposed vociferously). Fisk, who lives in Beirut, can be controversial , especially in that he tends to be more critical of Israel than most correspondents. The Independent , the newspaper for which he writes , prints opinion columns from him ...

Richard Schiff: Wondering What Will Be
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — The following piece will be published in tomorrow's Independent We are on the verge of an historical, seismic shift here in America. I write this as we citizens begin lining up by rights, today, to affect outcomes of world events not yet ready to unfold. The pundits are in full form figuring the scenarios and measuring their likelihood. People stop me on the street and ask me what it looks like. They ask me what will be. There is little debate left in our lungs--we are out of breath, exhausted and exhilarated and wondering what will ...

Richard Schiff: What's Next?
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — The following piece will be published in Saturday's Independent President Bartlett on The West Wing often said this. Usually at the end of an episode when a thing had been solved or resolved or lost or won and it was, whatever the case, time to move on. We sometimes had spiraling crane shots from above pulling up and away as the mere mortals of government left below continued on their silly work. The night was pretty nice: Election night in New York City. On Eighth Avenue, from a block away, I heard a roar of a ...

Jimmy Leach: Here to Stay?
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Over the last eighteen months, Barack Obama and his team have mastered the internet, raising unprecedented amounts of cash and raising awareness, enthusiasm and registrations amongst the digitised populace with a savvy mix of rich and social media. And in that media, he seemed to be listening. The comments button always had a tick in it and people cheerfully gave their support with varying degrees of coherence, but high levels of enthusiasm. ...

Dancing Girls Of Lahore Strike Taliban Law
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... if they had encouraged immorality, they deserved punishment. The main centre for selling CDs and DVDs in Lahore is Hall Road. But when one of the tough-looking shopkeepers received a threatening letter accusing him and others of selling risqué films, the mood was not one of defiance, but of submission. The traders heaped up the forbidden DVDs and CDs in the middle of Hall Road and made a giant bonfire. "I swear we sell no pornography," said one nervously. Read more from the Independent. ...

British Teen Gang Rape Victim Shares Her Story
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... last two, aged 14 and 16, who still cannot be named, did not physically attack the girl but helped prevent her escaping. The first was sentenced to two years and five months in secure local authority accommodation while the second got a three year and nine months detention order. All the defendants were ordered to register as sex offenders indefinitely, apart from the youngest, who was told he would have to sign for three-and-a-half years. Read more from the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

The Spies Above
Babalú Blog: an island on the net without a bearded dictator — The Spies Above The Independent from the UK has a good article today on the state of human rights in Cuba. The main subjects in Leonard Doyle's article are a man named "Carlos" and Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a leading dissident. Instead of the usual media fluff about the quaint old cars and lack of commercialism, you get a scary but real look at what ordinary Cubans have to put up with on a daily basis. Here's a sample: Care is needed because the Specialised Police are everywhere in Havana. They seem to have two functions. The first is to ensure that nothing disturbs the ...

Turkish Academics To Apologize For Armenian Genocide
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... who brought her up was born an Armenian, sparked widespread and sympathetic debate. One of the first Turks to break the taboo was the historian Halil Berktay, who received death threats for months after telling a Turkish newspaper in October 2000 that he believed the Ottoman Empire committed genocide. Today, he is convinced the space for intelligent debate is growing. "Beneath the bluster," he says, "the Turkish establishment position is crumbling." Read more from the Independent. More on Genocide<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Ban Ki-moon: We Need A Green New Deal
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... all embrace. This coming year is the year of climate change. Yes, the economic crisis is serious. Yet when it comes to climate change, the stakes are even far higher. The climate crisis affects our potential prosperity and our peoples' lives, both now and far into the future. We must keep climate change at the top of national agendas. Taken from the UN Secretary-General's address to the Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland. Read more from the Independent. More on United Nations<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Germans Campaign To Safeguard Language
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... - public health organisation *Bundespsychotherapeutenkammer - psychotherapists' association *Durchstehvermögen - stamina This year's additions to the German vocabulary... *Gammelfleischparty - the term used for a gathering of people over 30, literally meaning "rotten meat party" *Bildschirmbräune - what someone who spends too long in front of a computer ends up with, literally meaning "screen tan" Read more stories from the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> ...

Arctic Ice Melt At Point Of No Return
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... that we should see this Arctic amplification emerge as we lose the summer ice cover," Dr Stroeve said. "This is exactly what we are not starting to see in the observations. Simply put, it's a case of we hate to say we told you so, but we did," she added. Computer models have also predicted totally ice-free summers in the Arctic by 2070, but many scientists now believe that the first ice-free summer could occur far earlier than this, perhaps within the next 20 years. Read more Independent stories More on Environment<br ...

UK Troops Will Leave Iraq By Next July
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... in the most difficult and challenging of work. "The tasks of overthrowing a dictatorship, the task of building a democracy for the future and defending it against terrorism. "We have made a huge contribution and of course given people an economic stake in the future of Iraq. We leave Iraq a better place." He added: "I am proud of the contribution British forces have made. They are the pride of Britain and the best in the world." Read more from the Independent. More on War Wire<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

UK Troops Will Leave Iraq By Next July
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... in the most difficult and challenging of work. "The tasks of overthrowing a dictatorship, the task of building a democracy for the future and defending it against terrorism. "We have made a huge contribution and of course given people an economic stake in the future of Iraq. We leave Iraq a better place." He added: "I am proud of the contribution British forces have made. They are the pride of Britain and the best in the world." Read more from the Independent. ...

Iraqi Doctor Found Guilty In Britain
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... a call to the rigged phones should have lit the exposed filament, causing the match heads to ignite fuel vapour in cars packed with petrol cans and gas canisters. But due to loose connections, three of the four detonators did not work when they were called by Ahmed and Abdulla. The last detonator did ignite but the atmosphere in the cars was too short of oxygen to explode. Police said it was "only luck" that the engineer did not achieve mass murder. Read more stories from the Independent. More on Terrorism<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

France's 'Terrorist Grocers:' Could They Be Behind Department Store Bomb?
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... read too many books." He confesses to left-wing "militant" views but rejects the accusation that the Tarnac commune was a kind of terrorist base camp. By using the word "terrorist" as "a kind of badge of infamy", he said, the government was trying to undermine "anyone who opposes its policies, anyone who has a different vision of the world". Both investigations - the Printemps toilet bomb and the "terrorist" grocers of Corrèze - continue... Read more from the Independent. More on France<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Mexico's Drug Wars Have Killed 7,000 In 2 Years
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... for 20 years as a friend, adding that he had been the head of the city's homicide squad, and an honest policeman. "You know, this is the 10th member of Culiacan's homicide squad to be killed since May. Almost the entire unit has been wiped out. The cartels have targeted the homicide squad because they don't want any of the gang murders investigated. When you see police officers getting killed every day it means there is no guarantee of safety for anybody." Read more on the Independent. More on Mexico<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Rachel Nickell: Britain's Most Notorious Unsolved Murder Case Finally Closes
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... come and go. To say one man has destroyed our lives is too strong. But that one man has changed it forever. You learn to accommodate these changes but the pain remains with you every minute of every day. Every day Rachel's name is mentioned, her photograph published or her home videos shown, everything comes flooding back. We hope the man who committed the crime will spend the rest of his life in prison. That is the sentence he has given us. Read more on the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Johannes Heesters: Singer Known As Hitler's Favorite Has Libel Case Thrown Out
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... on a current affairs show what he thought of Hitler. "A good guy, that's what he was," he said. His second wife, the actress Simone Rethel, corrected him, saying that Hitler was the worst criminal in the world. "I know, doll," Heesters responded, "but he was nice to me."The singer subsequently apologised on German TV, admitting he had said "something stupid, something horrible. For that I ask for forgiveness." He may have a long wait, particularly in Holland. Read more in the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

'Greek Syndrome' Is Catching In Other European Cities
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Brussels and Washington". The real motive was to take money out of the French education budget to "refloat the banks". The Greek, French and Swedish protests do have common characteristics: a contempt for governments and business institutions, deepened by the greed-fired meltdown of the banks; a loose, uneasy alliance between mostly, white left-wing students and young second-generation immigrants; the sense of being part of a "sacrificed generation". Read more from the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Nicole Kidman's Sydney Neigbors Not Happy With Her
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... had a baby daughter, Sunday Rose, with her husband, the country singer Keith Urban, lives mainly in Nashville. She jets into Sydney frequently to see family, and usually spends Christmas there but said recently that she would be staying in Nashville because she was upset by negative reviews of her role in Australia, directed by Baz Luhrmann. One friend was quoted in the Australian media as saying: "She's been so upset. It really has devastated her." Read more from the Independent. ...

Animal Rights 4 Guilty Of Terror Spree
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... started targeting his family home. They poured paint-stripper over his car and punctured its tyres. Then, like in Mr Denison's case, a letter was sent to 30 people in his village falsely stating he was a convicted paedophile. The campaign was brought to an abrupt halt by a massive police raid involving 700 officers targeting addresses across the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium in May last year. All seven will be sentenced on 19 January. Read more in the Independent. More on Animals<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> ...

Iranian Leader's Christmas Message Prompts Outcry
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Ahmadinejad has during his time in office made a series of appalling anti-Semitic statements. The British media are rightly free to make their own editorial choices, but this invitation will cause offence and bemusement not just at home but amongst friendly countries abroad." Israel called the message a "sick and twisted irony". Ron Prosor, the Israeli ambassador to Britain, said: "In Iran, converts to Christianity face the death penalty." Read more from the Independent. ...

Iranian Leader's Christmas Message Prompts Outcry
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Ahmadinejad has during his time in office made a series of appalling anti-Semitic statements. The British media are rightly free to make their own editorial choices, but this invitation will cause offence and bemusement not just at home but amongst friendly countries abroad." Israel called the message a "sick and twisted irony". Ron Prosor, the Israeli ambassador to Britain, said: "In Iran, converts to Christianity face the death penalty." Read more from the Independent. More on Iran<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> ...

Why Did Israel Attack Gaza?
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... moderate political leaders. Can Israel achieve its security aims by attacking Hamas so forcefully? It is difficult to see Israel's action as being anything other than counterproductive, particularly if it escalates and widens the assault. Unless a fresh truce can be negotiated quickly, the hopes raised by the election of Barack Obama to the US Presidency and the possibility of a more engaged US policy seem to have dimmed again. Read more at The Independent More on Israel<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

UK Sees Sharp Rise In Fatal Knife Attacks
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... than 2,200 knives have been seized [in] targeted stop-and-search operations." Ministers want to tighten penalties for people found guilty of carrying knives. Under new sentencing guidelines, a jobless offender given a community punishment for a knife offence would have to perform at least 18 hours of unpaid work a week, instead of the present one day a week. David Hanson, the Prisons minister, said such a sentence would be "tougher and more effective". Read more at The Independent More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

British Bill To Ban 'Extreme' Porn Infuriates Critics
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... a spokeswoman from the Ministry of Justice said the new law would only be used to target the most extreme cases. "The new offence only covers the possession of images, it does not limit private sexual behaviour," she said. It is little consolation for Westwood who has vowed to continue his erotic photography regardless: "I'm not going to stop what I do and nor should anyone else. There are already laws in place to stop people harming each other." Read more on the Independent. More on Sex<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> ...

Humanitarian Crisis In Gaza As Israeli Raids Intensify
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister said "We are doing our utmost to avoid unnecessary suffering for civilians. What we cannot understand is the claim by officials from the ministries there that they cannot take part in the relief effort because they will be targeted. This is nonsense, perhaps the real reason is that it is in the interest of Hamas to ensure that food does not get to the people due to their own particular agenda." Read more from the Independent. More on Palestinian Territories<br clear="both" ...

Gas War Prompts Crisis Talks In Brussels
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... and cannot afford to disrupt energy export revenues. With Urals oil prices at one-quarter of last year's highs, the energy supply balance has shifted against Moscow." Russia, the world's biggest energy supplier, is anxious not to tarnish its reputation as a stable alternative to Middle Eastern producers, just five months after the war in Georgia. Ukraine, for its part, is keen not to upset Germany and France by allowing gas supplies to be disrupted. Read more on the Independent. More on Russia<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Living In Gaza: Information A Scarce Resource
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... they look in the beds and the corridors of the hospitals. If the remains are recognised by friends or relatives, they are taken away." Dr Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor working at Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, said: "We are doing surgery around the clock. The hospital is completely overcrowded and we're seeing injuries that you don't want to see in this world. A child just came in and we had to amputate both arms and legs. It's like hell here now." Read more on the Independent. More on Palestinian Territories<br clear="both" ...

Bhutto's Daughter Pays Tribute With Rap (VIDEO)
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... is also studying abroad. When Ms Bhutto returned to Pakistan from exile in October 2007, Mr Zardari remained in Dubai. In her final book, book 'Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West', that was published after her death, Ms Bhutto wrote of the decision: "We understood the dangers and the risks of my return, and we wanted to make sure that no matter what happened, our daughters and our son, Bilawal, would have one of us to take care of them." Read more on the Independent. More on Video On HuffPost<br clear="both" ...

Hamas's Secret Weapon: Tunnels
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... an Islamic state on all of historic Palestine. *How is Hamas viewed? A 2007 Pew survey found that almost two-thirds of Palestinians had a favourable opinion of the group. Iran and Syria both support Hamas, while all other Arab countries formally back the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas. The US and the EU have branded Hamas a terrorist organisation, but have sought an easing of the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Read more on the Independent. More on Israel<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> ...

Tacheles: Bohemian Berlin's Coolest Landmark To Be Sold Off To The Highest Bidder
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... artists was set up illegally and has no right to speak for Tacheles. Berlin property experts are convinced that market pressure will eventually force projects like Tacheles from the city's increasingly mainstream-looking centre. After the Berlin Wall fell there were 200 squatted properties in Berlin. Now that figure is down to a handful. "Time and trends are just not on the side of Tacheles," said Frank Noack, a seasoned Berlin estate agent. Read more on the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Russia Turns Off European Gas Supplies Sparking Fears Of New Cold War
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... need to return to the negotiating table, and with disruption starting to hit Europe, pressure for a deal is mounting. The EU is sending a mission to meet separately with Ukrainian and Russian officials, and if all else fails there could be a three-way EU gas summit. In the meantime, affected countries will have to rely on their gas stocks, which vary in size; for some, it's a matter of weeks, for others just days. Claire Soares, Deputy Foreign Editor Read more from the Independent. More on Russia<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Fatah Supporters Unite With Hamas Against Israel
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... of us has increased. This is more than people can bear. We are mad at the Palestinian Authority and we are mad at the Arab regimes. When there is a call to convene an Arab meeting it looks like they are giving Israel a free hand to do whatever it wants" Another PA employee, from the northern West Bank city of Nablus, said: "I want to educate my kids to hate Israel. If I can't do something maybe my kids can. I will educate them to fight the Israelis." Read more from the Independent. More on Israel<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Asia's Las Vegas, Macau, Fights The Economic Crisis
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... the US's third richest man, but at the end of last year he topped a different Forbes list: "America's 25 Biggest Billionaire Losers". Steve Wynn Wynn first visited Las Vegas at 10, and when he took over the Golden Nugget aged 31 he became the US's youngest casino operator, developing the Bellagio and the Mirage. In 2006, Wynn, who suffers from an eye disease, accidentally put his elbow through a Picasso painting that he had agreed to sell for $139m. Read more from the Independent. More on China<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Indonesia's Ferry Disaster: Victims Saved By Bananas
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... survivors and authorities have played down the chance of finding any more passengers alive. Currently at least 34 of the more than 250 on board have been rescued, and one body recovered. The 700-tonne vessel was travelling overnight to Samarinda in East Kalimantan. It capsized around 30 miles off western Sulawesi. Indonesian authorities said an investigation has already started into why the captain of the ferry had apparently ignored weather warnings. Read more on the Independent. ...

'Germany's First Internet Killer,' Christian G, Admits Murdering Women He Met Online
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... had taken Regina B's dachshund for a walk and she then called him a rapist and threatened to bring rape charges against him. In testimony, Christian G claimed to have suffered a mental blackout when he subsequently attacked her. "I felt as if I was under remote control," he said in his statement. "I can only say that if Regina had not said these things and accused me of being a rapist, she would be alive today," he said. The trial continues. Read more from the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Was Jack The Ripper A Woman?
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... the detective who led the investigation, thought it possible the killer was a woman. This was because the fifth victim, Mary Kelly, was "seen" by witnesses hours after she was killed. Abberline thought this was the murderer running away, in Kelly's clothes. The only female suspect was Mary Pearcey, who was convicted of murdering her lover's wife, Phoebe Hogg, in 1890 and hanged. She apparently employed a similar modus operandi to the Ripper. Read more from the Independent. ...

Amanda Knox Murder Trial Captivates Italy
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... game, "being the only person in a position to know that that evening Meredith would be alone in the house". The trial will drag on in the traditional Italian way for months. This week, lawyers for Ms Knox demanded the withdrawal of a new book of sexy gossip about her, plus €500,000 in damages. The publishers, Bompiani, refused, saying the book was already in circulation. Italy already knows plenty about "Foxy Knoxy", but it is keen to learn more. Read more from the Independent. ...

Poetry Group Searches For Aussie Truckers With A Sensitive Side
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... inspiration from an American singer, Tim White, who recorded an album called The Possum Tapes. One song begins: "My children are hungry, my dog ain't gotta bone/ Ain't got no job and I'm just travellin' on/It's an hour after sundown, what to my delight/There's five pounds of possum in my headlights tonight." The six poets' work will be exhibited in March at suitably macho locations: construction sites, and car parks at Sydney's former Olympic site. Read more from the Independent. ...

Cab Driver, John Worboys, 'Drugged And Raped' Passengers In London's West End
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... police their stories following press reports of his arrest. Detectives discovered many of the women's journeys home took considerably longer than necessary. They found he targeted women who had been drinking and on some occasions dropped off their friends before pouncing, the court heard. Miss Cutts said: "He always waited until he dropped one off before he began to tell his utterly bogus story of winning cash to the one remaining." Read more from the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Gaza Tunnels: Smugglers Back At Work
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... added: "It was dangerous before the war." Collapses were already costing about three workers' lives a week last year. Some operators have given up. Abdul Majid Shaer, 20 said he and his three partners had sunk $20,000 each into a tunnel they were still building when the war started. He had financed his own stake from the $100 a day he had been earning as a tunnel worker. Now it was too badly damaged to continue. "We have no alternative," he added. Read more from the Independent. More on Israel<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Dutch MP, Geert Wilders, To Be Tried For Comparing Muslims To Nazis
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... But yesterday, the appeals court argued that the criminal prosecution did not conflict with Mr Wilders' right to freedom of expression and said it based its decision on the standards set by the European Court of Human Rights. "This is my finest hour," said Gerard Spong, the lawyer who filed the complaints. "The American President Barack Obama said 'we are free in diversity' but you can't have diversity if you brand one group as extremists." Read more from the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: both;"/> ...

TD Blog Interview with Almerindo Ojeda
the talking dog — ... was in seeking out witnesses, be they prisoners or their captors, that would tell a more personal story. The kind that human rights organizations focus on. Although much can be gleaned from what the figures of authority, military or civilian, have to say, much is lost as well, particularly in how policy translates into fact. Notable exceptions are Andy Worthington 's Guantanamo Files , Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!, the British Guardian and the Independent , and the massive but belated McClatchy interviews . Bloggers like The ...

Obama Ready To Cut Karzai Adrift
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... after the Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1979. He took US citizenship and spent 20 years broadcasting for Voice of America. Dr Ashraf Ghani An ethnic Pashtun, he studied in America, at Colombia University. He worked at the World Bank from 1991 to 2001, when he returned to Afghanistan for the first time in 24 years. From 2002-04 he was Finance Minister and oversaw the successful transition to Afghanistan's new currency. Read more from the Independent. More on Afghanistan<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Obama Ready To Cut Karzai Adrift
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... after the Russians invaded Afghanistan in 1979. He took US citizenship and spent 20 years broadcasting for Voice of America. Dr Ashraf Ghani An ethnic Pashtun, he studied in America, at Colombia University. He worked at the World Bank from 1991 to 2001, when he returned to Afghanistan for the first time in 24 years. From 2002-04 he was Finance Minister and oversaw the successful transition to Afghanistan's new currency. Read more from the Independent. ...

Jerome Kerviel, Alleged Rogue Trader, Got "Orgasmic Pleasure" From Playing The Market
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... 'that's what everyone should be doing'." M. Kerviel said that his dearest wish now was to return to obscurity. He said that his obsessive behaviour as a banker had destroyed his relationship with a girl-friend and distanced him from his mother. But he said that he and his mother had become "much closer again" since he was arrested last year. "If I had a bit of money," he said, "I would go off with my mum for a holiday so she could calm down a bit." Read more from the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Fears Grow That US Could Become Isolated In Afghanistan
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... British troops were doing in Afghanistan, "when in fact this is a positive development which could have a dramatic effect on the counter-insurgency campaign". Rusi's Mr Smyth, who is preparing a study of the Taliban's progress in 2008, said its greatest success had been in "creating the impression it did well". Despite a high rate of attacks, he said it was not "a homogenous, unified group whose ability to cause violence extends across the country". Read more from the Independent. ...

Fears Grow That US Could Become Isolated In Afghanistan
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... British troops were doing in Afghanistan, "when in fact this is a positive development which could have a dramatic effect on the counter-insurgency campaign". Rusi's Mr Smyth, who is preparing a study of the Taliban's progress in 2008, said its greatest success had been in "creating the impression it did well". Despite a high rate of attacks, he said it was not "a homogenous, unified group whose ability to cause violence extends across the country". Read more from the Independent. More on Afghanistan<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

UK Cabinet Papers On Iraq Invasion Must Be Released
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... each case would have to be considered on its merits, the ruling added. Liberal Democrat MP Sir Menzies Campbell said: "This is a major step forward in explaining the supine attitude of members of the Cabinet towards military action and is clearly in the public interest. "The Government only have themselves to blame for this. By procrastinating over an inquiry into the political events before the Iraq war they have left themselves wide open." Read more from the Independent. More on Iraq<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

UK Cabinet Papers On Iraq Invasion Must Be Released
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... each case would have to be considered on its merits, the ruling added. Liberal Democrat MP Sir Menzies Campbell said: "This is a major step forward in explaining the supine attitude of members of the Cabinet towards military action and is clearly in the public interest. "The Government only have themselves to blame for this. By procrastinating over an inquiry into the political events before the Iraq war they have left themselves wide open." Read more from the Independent. ...

Pakistan's Swat Valley: Taliban Broadcast "Wanted" Lists
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... valley. Yet local residents and politicians, forced from the area by the militants' threats, say not enough is being done. Local officials said that a curfew had been imposed in an attempt to try to help the troops impose law and order. "A curfew has been imposed ... for an indefinite period," said a statement by the local government. "Anybody violating the curfew will be shot on sight. No vehicle is allowed tomove in these areas," it said. Read more from the Independent. More on Pakistan<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

UK Will Be Hardest Hit By Global Recession: IMF
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... vital. He said: "Gordon Brown cannot answer the simplest question of all: if Britain is well prepared as he claims, why are we facing the worst recession in the world? "Let us hope these forecasts are wrong. But if they are not, Britain is set to endure the worst downturn of any major country and the worst year for the economy since 1948. "Without a change of direction we will be living with Labour's debt crisis for a generation." Read more from the Independent. More on Economy<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

French Strikes: Sarkozy Vs The Street
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... living in Dubai. They were not present at their home at the time. "The amount of jewellery stolen was [worth] €50,000," said Corinne Debury, a friend of the couple. Ms Attias, who divorced M. Sarkozy five months after he took office, married M. Attias last March - a month after M. Sarkozy married Carla Bruni. After a period out of the limelight, the former first lady has begun to appear once again on the front cover of glossy French magazines. Read more from the Independent. More on France<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Father Stabbed To Death Hours After Baby Born
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... CCTV. He added: "I cannot at this moment rule out a random attack." Mr Lyons said police were still establishing the man's background, but confirmed that he was local to the area. He said 80 to 100 police staff, including 50 detectives, were currently working on the case. A post-mortem examination was being carried out on the man. The man was treated at the hospital where his partner had just given birth, said Mr Lyons. Read more from the Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

North Korea: We Are On Brink Of War With The South
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... of the Obama administration must have had some impact on the thinking of North Korea on global issues, as well as the issue of the Korean peninsula." The US State Department said the Obama administration was still reviewing its policy toward North Korea. Masao Okonogi, a Korea expert at Keio University in Tokyo, said the North hoped by cutting ties with the South and Japan, it could more quickly push itself on to Mr Obama's agenda. Read more from the Independent. ...

North Korea: We Are On Brink Of War With The South
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... of the Obama administration must have had some impact on the thinking of North Korea on global issues, as well as the issue of the Korean peninsula." The US State Department said the Obama administration was still reviewing its policy toward North Korea. Masao Okonogi, a Korea expert at Keio University in Tokyo, said the North hoped by cutting ties with the South and Japan, it could more quickly push itself on to Mr Obama's agenda. Read more from the Independent. More on North Korea<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Russia's Economic Crisis Leads To Mounting Protests
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... President Medvedev suggested the rouble would become a major world currency. Now, the ailing rouble has lost 30 per cent of its value against the dollar and euro. *Inflation: Officially, inflation for 2009 is forecast to be 13 per cent, but many expect the actual figure to be much higher. *Unemployment: Unemployment grew grew by a quarter to nearly six million in 2008, and, with the grim economic climate, could rocket higher this year. Read more from the Independent. More on Russia<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Afghanistan: British Push Deeper Into Taliban Territory
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... operational maps did not indicate what lay ahead. "We simply did not expect to be so far south," said Captain Tom Bewick. The return to the safety of the Viking vehicles was a hurried affair. As we fell back, the militants advanced along the ditch, spraying fire which intensified as we ran, without cover, across an open field. On the way I glimpsed the farmer, standing silently at the doorway of his farm, his children crowded around him, watching the departing troops. Read more at The Independent. More on Europe<br clear="both" ...

Angela Merkel Attacks Pope Over Holocaust Bishop
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... official version, there is another version based on the observations of the first Allied technicians to enter." Gerhard Maria Wagner Appointed auxiliary bishop in the Austrian city of Linz last week. In 2005 he suggested that disasters such as Hurricane Katrina were the result of "spiritual environmental pollution". "It is surely not an accident," he added, "that all five of New Orleans's abortion clinics... were destroyed." Read more from the Independent. More on Pope<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Avigdor Lieberman, Hard Man Of The Right, Is Israel's Kingmaker In Waiting
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... in [the Knesset]." "We'll move the border. We won't have to pay for their unemployment, or health, or education. We won't have to subsidise them any longer." "When there is a contradiction between democratic and Jewish values, the Jewish and Zionist values are more important." "A real victory can be achieved only by breaking the will and motivation of Hamas to fight us, as was done to the Japanese in the last days of World War Two." Read more from the Independent. More on Israel<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Putin Claims He Didn't Dance To Abba
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... dressed up. Mr Putin was in a bow tie and the woman was in a really pretty, long, cream dress," said Ms McLaughlin. "I assume it was his wife but I only got a glimpse of her because of the netting." Security at the gig was tight, with a guard in the front row keeping a close eye on the band throughout. Mr Stephen said that he was advised not to go for a walk in the grounds afterwards, as snipers had been deployed on the rooftops around the theatre. Read more from the Independent. More on Russia<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Lasantha Wickrematunga's Wife On A Mission To Bring Justice To Sri Lanka
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Woman suicide bomber kills dozens in Sri Lanka ...

Avigdor Lieberman, Kingmaker Of Israel's Right, Courted By Rivals
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Anne Penketh: Obama will need all of his 'out-of-the-box' thinking to tackle Israel ...

US Envoy In Afghanistan To Map Out Surge
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Related articles: Secret talks with Taliban gather pace as surge looms ...

US Envoy In Afghanistan To Map Out Surge
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related articles: Secret talks with Taliban gather pace as surge looms ...

Britain's Toxic Waste Dumped In Africa (Multimedia)
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: How a tagged television set uncovered a deadly trade ...

Baghdad Real Estate Booms With Return Of Refugees
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... land on which they built. This secured their loyalty and also defused popular anger over the high price of housing. But this course may not be so easy for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki because of the fall in the price of oil. As the price of oil has dropped to below $40 a barrel, he is seriously short of money. The housing price boom is a sign that peace is returning to Iraq, but it is also underlining the vast gap between rich and poor in the country. Read more from the Independent. More on Iraq<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Former Nun Tells Of Sex, Suffering Inside Indian Convent
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... with the killing of Sister Abhaya in a notorious 1992 murder. Last night, a spokesman for the Syro-Malabar order of the Catholic Church, Dr Paul Thelakkat, dismissed Sister Jesme's allegations as a "book of trivialities". "It's her experiences, but these are things that might creep into a society of communal living," he said. Asked if the church would be shocked by the allegations, he replied: "Absolutely not. The church knows about these things." Read more from the Independent. More on India<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Obama's Refusal To Reverse Bush Policy In Afghanistan Angers Human Rights Groups
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... pushed out the wider questions about the US policy on detaining terror suspects and supporters of the Taliban in Afghanistan until the summer, ordering a review that will take six months to complete. The administration is weighing the likely increase in prisoners from an expanded fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, against the international perception that it is embedding extra-judicial detention into its policies for years to come. Related articles: What lies ahead for Binyam ...

Obama's Refusal To Reverse Bush Policy In Afghanistan Angers Human Rights Groups
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... pushed out the wider questions about the US policy on detaining terror suspects and supporters of the Taliban in Afghanistan until the summer, ordering a review that will take six months to complete. The administration is weighing the likely increase in prisoners from an expanded fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, against the international perception that it is embedding extra-judicial detention into its policies for years to come. Related articles: What lies ahead for Binyam ...

Iraq Faces A New War That Threatens To Complicate Obama's Withdrawal Plans
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related Article: Leading article: Renewed bloodshed shows peace remains elusive in Iraq ...

Iraq Faces A New War That Threatens To Complicate Obama's Withdrawal Plans
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Related Article: Leading article: Renewed bloodshed shows peace remains elusive in Iraq ...

Binyam Mohamed: Release Of Detainee Fuels Demands For UK To Clarify Its Role In Gitmo Detention
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Related Article: Binyam Mohamed: 'I wish I could say that it is all over, but it is not' ...

Binyam Mohamed: Release Of Detainee Fuels Demands For UK To Clarify Its Role In Gitmo Detention
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related Article: Binyam Mohamed: 'I wish I could say that it is all over, but it is not' ...

Smile Pinki: The Other Indian Oscar Winner
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... disfigured her. That has also been the case of Pinki, the beaming star of the Oscar-winning movie. But while she was flown to Los Angeles to enjoy the ceremony, fatigue got the better of her before the award was announced. Dr Subodh Kumar Singh, the Varanasi-based surgeon who performed her operation, told the BBC: "Before the awards, she was very good on the red carpet and posed for pictures with the rest of the team. But she got tired and fell asleep." Read more at The Independent. More on India<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Bishop Richard Williamson Back In Britain After Argentine Expulsion
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... properly as a woman. Did this lawyeress check her hairdo before coming into court? If she did, she is a distracted lawyer. If she did not, she is one distorted woman." * On the failure of "white men" to remain true to Catholicism: "If the white men still refuse to convert, let us pray for some great conversions among Jews, Muslims and blacks so that they may take over where the whites have left off, and may continue to show us the way to Heaven." Read more from the Independent. More on Pope<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Iran's Women Are Taking On The Mullahs
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... not control." But curiously, it is not only the mullahs who are fearful of insurrectionist talk. "The experience of revolution showed us that women were not necessarily the winners from violent change," says Ardalan, "We need to take one step at a time". Katayoon Shahabi agrees: "We saw the revolution and we saw war. We know that sudden change is not Iran's solution. But things are moving, like a river. And rivers, as you know, are unstoppable." Read more from the Independent. More on Iran<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Genital Mutilation: African Women Risk Lives To Fight For Others
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... children are also practitioners. Others have seen the error of their ways. "I regret it now," says another sowei who has vowed to stop. But it is not always easy to hang up the knife. One woman practitioner who said she would stop the cutting was kidnapped by members of the bundu society. Both her and her baby were beaten and taken to the bush for three days without food or water; the mother was raped. Her life was saved only by Ms Turay's intervention. Read more at The Independent. More on Africa<br clear="both" style="clear: ...

Israel's Death Squads: A Former Soldier Breaks His Silence
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Middle East envoy Tony Blair in Gaza for first time ...

Gordon Brown Faces Humiliation After Obama 'Snub'
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... Related article: Brown takes gift to Obama and hopes for finance pact ...

Gordon Brown Faces Humiliation After Obama 'Snub'
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Brown takes gift to Obama and hopes for finance pact ...

Ukraine: Nation On The Brink Of Bankruptcy
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Kiev *Currency grivnya (fallen to 9.7 to US$1 from 5 in Jan 2008) *Per capita GDP US$7,800 (2008) *GDP growth rate 5.3 per cent in 2008; projected (2009) -5 to -10 per cent *Inflation rate (2008) 23 per cent *Main exports Steel, machine-tools, grain *Leaders Viktor Yushchenko (President); Yulia Timoshenko (Prime Minister) *Next presidential election Nov/Dec of this year (but could be postponed) Read more from the Independent. More on Economy ...

Cricket Attack: Suspicions Grow That Ambush Was An 'Inside Job'
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Chris Broad: 'There were no security forces to be seen. They had clearly left us there to be sitting ducks...' ...

Pakistan Identifies Cricket Culprits: Officials
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... not to clear the route of traffic and line it with marksmen, and not using alternative routes and vehicles. The team was steered to safety within the grounds of the Gaddafi cricket stadium by the driver, Mohammed Mehar Khalil. Yesterday, as Mr Khalil was being garlanded and financially rewarded for the heroism that may have saved the Sri Lankans' lives, it emerged that his brother had been killed in 1995 while fighting as a jihadist in Kashmir. Related article: IPL will go ahead say organisers ...

UN Condemns Britain's Role In US Torture Cases
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... bodies or judicial authorities, or to protect itself from criticism, embarrassment and - most importantly - liability". The Foreign Office said: "We unreservedly condemn any practice of 'extraordinary rendition' to torture. We have always condemned torture. The UK Government, including its intelligence and security agencies, never uses torture for any purpose, including obtaining information. Nor would we instigate action by others to do so." Read more from the Independent. More on England ...

Russia Finally Admits To Its Hidden Heroin Epidemic
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related articles: UN summit torn over pursuit of 'war on drugs' ...

Crocodile Bites Off 10-Year-Old's Head
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... which is huge, even for the large salt water crocodiles known to inhabit the lake. Attacks are rare. But the lake's waters have been swollen for the past several months, causing fish to scatter to others parts. With little to feed on, the crocodiles have become aggressive, he said. The crocodile attack has prompted the temporary closure of the school and the evacuation of about 100 residents of houses on stilts on the lake, Hipulan added. Read more from the Independent. More on Animals ...

London Cab Driver Convicted Of Drugging, Sexually Assaulting Passengers
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... of the review. She said: "It is clearly concerning that despite the Metropolitan Police arresting Worboys in the summer of 2007, he went on to attack more women. "The Metropolitan Police has already conducted a review into the investigation as a whole. "There were, however, very specific concerns about the investigation into the July 2007 attack. "As a result the IPCC will be examining the investigation and the issues that raises." Read more at The Independent. More on England ...

Darfur Asylum-Seeker Kicked Out Of UK, Then 'Murdered' In Sudan
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... under the voluntary scheme from 2003 and have been offered deals to go back to Baghdad. Under the terms, those returning to Iraq sign a waiver releasing the International Organisation for Migration from any responsibility for or liability towards them. Zimbabwe In 2006, 200 failed asylum-seekers voluntarily returned to Zimbabwe. Last year, the Government stopped forced returns but Zimbabweans can still take advantage of the voluntary programme to return. Read more at the Independent More on Darfur ...

London's Gay Cinema Steps Into The Limelight
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... figure. 3. 'The Devil's Cleavage' Cult 1975 film from George Kuchar parodying 1940s and 1950s Hollywood melodrama 4. Experimental Visions A sidebar celebrating avant garde work. Titles include 'A Horse Is Not A Metaphor' by Barbara Hammer and John Di Stefano's '(tell me why): The Epistemology of Disco'. 5. 'I Could Go On Singing' Judy Garland's final film in which she plays a brilliant, emotionally vulnerable singer. Read more from the Independent. Become a fan of HuffPost World on Facebook. More on ...

Amanda Knox Stepfather: My Daughter Was Beaten
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... And her coach looked at Amanda and said, 'I bet you wouldn't jump into that mud puddle. I'd give you five bucks if you did.' And he hadn't even finished the sentence and she went and bellyflopped into it and splashed everybody. These are the things that are just her; she has a unique quality to her." The essence of his case is that Amanda Knox may be extremely scatty, woefully insensitive even, but no murderer. And so far no one has proved otherwise. Read more from the Independent. More on Italy ...

Erotic Comics Ban Proposed By British Parliament Faces Stiff Criticism
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Ministry of Justice has denied suggestions that Britain's comic industry would suffer from the law. A spokesperson said: "The clauses in the Bill are to tackle pornographic and obscene images of child sexual abuse which have no place in our society. It is not our intention to criminalise the possession of material that does not fall foul of the Obscene Publications Act or to criminalise the legal entertainment industry, the art industry or pornographic cartoons." Read more at The Independent. More on England ...

Melting Snow Prompts Change In Italian-Swiss Border
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... drastically different approaches to global warming. In Switzerland the government has been fully aware of the problem for years, and is actively engaged in reducing atmospheric pollution and energy use to minimise human impact on the atmosphere. In Italy, on the other hand, scepticism prevails. The Berlusconi government threatened to veto the EU Energy and Climate Package last October, and Italy is among the worst-performing states in the Climate Change Performance Index. Read more from The Independent here. More on Italy ...

Ireland: Crime Boss Shooting Caught On Tape
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... faction. Both sides were in talks last year to secure a ceasefire after an escalation in the eight-year bloody turf war. Collopy was a suspect in the murder in 2000 of criminal Eddie Ryan, whose family then forged strong links with the Dundon-McCarthy faction. Ireland's CAB, which was set up after the gangland killing of journalist Veronica Guerin, last year seized a house, two cars and a substantial amount of cash from Collopy's gang. Read more at The Independent. More on Ireland ...

'Honor Killings' Have Morphed Into 'Honor Suicides' in Turkey
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... conservatively is become more acute. And of course there are more temptations." Ms Yirmibesoglu believes that the entrenched belief in the notion of honour - at all levels of society - is impeding any progress. "Honour killings aren't always properly investigated because some police and prosecutors share the same views as the honour killers," she said. "For things to change, police, prosecutors and even judges need to be educated on gender equality." Read more from the Independent. More on Turkey ...

'Honor Killings' Have Morphed Into 'Honor Suicides' in Turkey
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... conservatively is become more acute. And of course there are more temptations." Ms Yirmibesoglu believes that the entrenched belief in the notion of honour - at all levels of society - is impeding any progress. "Honour killings aren't always properly investigated because some police and prosecutors share the same views as the honour killers," she said. "For things to change, police, prosecutors and even judges need to be educated on gender equality." Read more from the Independent.

Afghanistan War: The West's 'Fatal Mistakes'
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... son of the economist JK, will oversee the "civilian surge" which will accompany additional troop numbers. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Famed Jihadi commander in charge of Hezb-i-Islami, Hekmatyar's people have indicated to Kabul and the international community that they are willing to negotiate. Distinct from the Taliban, Hekmatyar was one of the anti-Soviet commanders backed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and sidelined when the Taliban swept to power. Read more from The Independent. More on Afghanistan ...

Google Launches China Music Download Service In Bid To Fight Pirating
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... struggled to expand in China, where it says it has about 30 percent of the search market. Baidu's market share is just over 60 percent, according to research firm Analysys International. Google's Lee declined to comment on Beijing's blocking of its YouTube video-sharing service last week. China occasionally bars its Internet users from seeing YouTube to prevent access to videos considered critical of communist rule or unflattering to the government. Read more from the Independent. More on Google ...

Sulim Yamadayev, Former Chechen Rebel Boss, Assassinated In Dubai
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... as a possible suspect in the murder of the investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, rejected those accusations with the unsettling defence that he did not kill women. Chechen officials denied that Mr Yamadayev's killing was related to Mr Kadyrov and suggested that it was a provocation designed to implicate the Chechen President falsely, and cause friction ahead of a visit of the Dubai ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, to Moscow. Read more from the Independent. More on Russia ...

Karzai Accused Of Bid To 'Legalise Rape'
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... ago. They are Afghanistan's third largest ethnic group, and potential kingmakers, because their leaders will likely back a mainstream candidate. Even the law's sponsors admit Mr Karzai rushed it through to win their votes. Ustad Mohammad Akbari, a prominent Shia political leader, said: "It's electioneering. Most of the Hazara people are unhappy with Mr Karzai." A British Embassy spokesman said diplomats had raised concerns "at a senior level". Related Article: US and Iran at Afghan talks ...

Australian Woman Killed Man Over Her Barking Dog
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... a knife. "Katrina was standing behind the guy (who was) on the ground trying to get up," said witness Adam Duncan. "He got up (and I'm) pretty sure Katrina stabbed him in the neck." Whitmore has acknowledged there was a struggle but denied wielding a knife. She will be sentenced on 29 May. Co-accused Steven Spiro Sotiropoulos, who was involved in the fight and charged alongside Whitmore, was found not guilty of murder. Read more from the Independent. More on Australia ...

Taliban Easing Beard, Burqa And Bollywood Rules
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... rounded up and smashed. Cassette tapes were strung up on telegraph poles as a warning. Music with instruments was banned. Images of people and animals were officially outlawed. Girls' schools were closed and women were only allowed to work in their homes. Starving widows weren't even allowed out to beg. Today Taliban rule where it prevails, such as in Wardak, remains brutal but inconsistent. Some men are spared the need for fist-length beards, if they travel to Kabul. Read more from The Independent ------ Keep in touch with Huffington ...

G-20 Police Officer Suspended After Video Of Brutality Emerged (VIDEO)
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... were published clearly showing cameras in the area, the IPCC was forced to change its stance, saying Mr Hardwick had been mistaken. "At this point, Mr Hardwick believed that he was correct in this assertion - we know now this may not be accurate," the IPCC said in a statement. "There are cameras in the surrounding area." A Scotland Yard spokesman said that the evidence had been passed to the IPCC with the identified officer suspended pending investigation. Read more from The Independent More on England ...

Roberto Saviano: Mafia Out To Make A Killing From Italy Quake
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... times of crisis like this, is that the criminal organisations arrive to divide up the great business opportunities of Italy between them... "Franco Arminio, one of the leading poets of this region, the best who has ever written about earthquakes and what they generate, writes in one of his poems: 'Twenty-five years after the earthquake, little remains of the dead. And of the living, even less.' "We are still in time to prevent this happening in Abruzzo." Read more from The Independent. ------ Keep in touch with Huffington ...

Indian Elections: World's Biggest Democracy Heads To The Polls
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: India starts marathon vote marred by Maoist attacks ...

Jacob Zuma's First Lady Remains A Mystery For South Africa
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... have had children by the politician. Mr Zuma's camp has refused to comment on who is ahead in the race to be first lady, and told people to wait until after his inauguration. There can be only one name admitted to the spousal office of the presidency at Pretoria. MaNtuli is the pundits' favourite after a speaking appearance last month and could well be in the photograph with Carla Bruni or Michelle Obama when the new president goes on tour. Read more from the Independent. More on South Africa ...

Delara Darabi, Executed Iranian Woman, Spurs Human Rights Outrage
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... not done," the prisoner wrote in the exhibition's blurb. "From behind the walls, I say hello to you, who has come to see my paintings." As her family buried her at the weekend and the EU joined the chorus of criticism against the Iranian authorities, the human rights lawyer, Mr Mostafaei, recalled the personal gift Ms Darabi had bestowed on him. "She painted a picture of an old man playing the violin," he said. "I did not know that he was playing her death song." Read more from The Independent. More on Iran ...

Congratulations to Patrick Cockburn, Winner of the 2009 Orwell Prize
The Washington Note — ... Congratulations to Patrick Cockburn, whose award-winning articles for the ...

Mount Athos Treasures On View To Women After 1,000 Years
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... slows their path towards spiritual enlightenment. Particularly spectacular are the displays of imperial gifts which include "one of the most remarkable objects of metalwork of the Byzantine world": a chalice belonging to Manuel Cantacuzène (1349-1380), the son of Emperor Jean VI Cantacuzène, made from a single piece of jasper and most likely of Venetian origin. The exhibition will remain at the Petit Palais until 5 July. Read more from the Independent. Get HuffPost World On Facebook and Twitter! ...

DNA Records Of Thousands Of Innocent Brits To Be Kept
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Matthew Norman: How we'll all miss Jacqui Smith ...

Moonlit Path: Queen Elizabeth's Racehorse Fails Drug Test
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... might enable him to win. But South Easter (2.15) has the potential to approach Drumbeat's standard sooner rather than later. Sadly, Free Agent misses his first scheduled appearance since his success at Royal Ascot, having bruised a foot. In the circumstances, his owner is likely to have greeted the news rather less stoically than her subjects might expect. For Free Agent runs in the same colours as Moonlit Path. It seems safe to suggest that one was not amused. Read more from The Independent. More on England ...

4 British Soldiers Die In Afghanistan In One Day
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... be lost. "Afghan and international forces will not be deterred by these irrational insurgent tactics." Another British soldier, from 2nd Battalion the Rifles, was killed when his Jackal patrol vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device near Sangin last night. The fourth soldier, from the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, died from a gunshot wound sustained during a patrol with the Afghan National Army near Musa Qala. Read more from The Independent. Get HuffPost World On ...

Pakistan Cracking Down On Banned Charity
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... The reemergence of Jamaat comes as the Pakistani military steps-up it operation against militants who have seized control of areas just 60 miles from Islamabad. Yesterday Prime Minister Yousaf Gilani said the country could beat the Taliban but lose the public relations war if it failed to help hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes. "Militarily we will win the war but it will be unfortunate if we loose it publicly," he told the parliament. Read more from The Independent More on Pakistan ...

Extremists Threaten To Unseat Mainstream Rivals In European Parliament
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Mary Dejevsky: My generation has failed to promote vision of Europe ...

Tamil Tiger Leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran Survival Conspiracy Theories Emerging
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... of mine who told me that it has been buzzing through Tamil cyberspace all day. For all we know it's a fake, or a lookalike pretending to be Prabhakaran (he employed many lookalikes). It doesn't really matter either way. As long as Tamils believe Prabhakaran is still alive, they have something to rally around, something to cling on to. The war against the LTTE may have been won, but it'll take a long, long time before the peace is also won. Read more from the Independent. Get HuffPost World On Facebook and ...

Putin's First Column: 'Why It's Hard To Fire People'
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... back, and it's impermissible to fire somebody and toss them aside just because somebody has told you something bad about them." Mr Putin also claims that he always gives people the right to fight their corner. "In contrast to previous, Soviet rulers, I always do it personally. I usually call the person into my office, look them in the eye, and say: 'There are concrete complaints. If you think this isn't true, then please, you can fight against it; argue your case'." Read more from The Independent Get HuffPost World On ...

Media Alerts on GM and Obama's Middle East Adventure & Homage to POA's "Jake"
The Washington Note — ... in the morning. I am back from China and Japan -- the world's two top surplus nations -- and enjoyed an interesting dinner this evening with Ian Hargreaves who works as the head of strategic communications for David Miliband's operations at the British Foreign Ministry. Hargreaves approves of blogging best I can tell -- though I haven't seen any of his own 'blogcraft' yet. He previously served as editor of both The New Statesman and The Independent in London. Hargreaves was reaching out to bloggers and media ...

Alleged Cuban Spies Given Praise From Castro
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... become so bitter these past few months. Watching the evening news is a radicalizing experience," he wrote in a diary entry from the trip, released in court documents. Castro's Cuba, by contrast, was "so exciting" and the revolution had "released enormous potential and liberated the Cuban spirit". The couple are due in court for a bail hearing on Wednesday. They have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, fraud and being agents of a foreign government. Read more from the Independent. More on Cuba ...

Sandy Cane: Italy's First Black Mayor Belongs To Anti-Immigration Party
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... the leader of the British National Party, which does not accept non-whites as members. Ms Cane said she knew of no racist or xenophobic members of her party, adding that all she wanted to do was "clean up this town which is beautiful but very dirty". "I want to think about the elderly and the young," she said. She regarded as a "joke" suggestions by the Northern League secretary in Milan, Matteo Salvini, that the city should segregate train passengers by race. Read more from The Independent. More on Italy ...

Iran Election: Ahmadinejad Chances Threatened By Leading Clerics
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... present economic and political views remain largely a mystery. Mehdi Karoubi A moderate cleric and former parliamentary speaker, he switched to the reformist camp during the eight-year Khatami presidency. But he has been criticised for sometimes buckling under pressure from Iran's hardline religious establishment. Karoubi was defeated in the 2005 presidential vote despite pledging to give $50 of Iran's oil wealth each month to every Iranian over 18. Read more from The Independent. More on Iran ...

Peru's Tribal Chief Flees Country After Killings Over Oil, Logging Laws
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Nuria Garcia: Let this violence mark the end of decades of discrimination ...

Iraq Prepares For U.S. Troop Withdrawal
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... probably suicidal, for the Sunni community to go back to war. Al-Qa'ida would like to provoke Shia retaliation by repeated atrocities but so far this has not happened. Iraqi society and the economy remain shattered by 30 years of war and sanctions. But one of the main destabilising factors in Iraq for the last six years has been the presence of a large US army, and with its departure Iraq's many simmering conflicts might just be kept under control. Read more from the Independent.

Inside Iran: Tehran Student Mourns For Her Country
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... lions, so taking anything from us will be harder in future. I will never lose my hope and as long as I live in Iran, I will do my best for it. America must try to negotiate with Iran. President Obama has offered Iran a chance. This election is a setback, but he must not give up. It is just a moment in time, the blink of an eye. Time will expose the liars' lies and history will be its witness." "Maryam" is not the author's real name Read more from the Independent. More on Iran ...

Carter's visit gives Obama a hotline to Hamas: Former US president condemns continuing Israeli block
Democratic Underground Latest Breaking News — Source: The Independent www.independent.co.uk The former US president Jimmy Carter is to give a full report to Barack Obama after becoming easily the highest-profile Western figure to meet Hamas leaders in Gaza since the international boycott imposed after the party's election victory in 2006. ... Earlier, at a UN Relief and Works Agency event north of Gaza City, Mr Carter – who has campaigned for peace in the Middle East since he brokered the talks which led to the 1978 treaty between Egypt and Israel – said he had urged Hamas to accept the three conditions, reiterated by Mr ...

Turkish Boy Miraculously Survives Car Strike (VIDEO)
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... taken last Saturday captured the dramatic moments when a car left the road and hit a pedestrian standing on the pavement. The runaway car threw Muhammet Dirlik down a flight of steps in a shopping area in Sanliurfa, Turkey. The car then crashed into a shop window, while Dirlik fell to the ground, luckily alongside the vehicle. When he was asked if he had been hurt Dirlik said "No." Read more from The Independent. Get HuffPost World On ...

India's Gays Prepare To Join The Rainbow Nation
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... ones. *China China has not been quick off the mark about gay rights: homosexuality was classified as a "hooligan act" until 1997 and a "mental disorder" until 2001. But in the past few years it has been making up for lost time. Gay tourism to the country is growing. The launch of Go Pink China saw the first China-based travel company offering gay-friendly tours, and this month Shanghai celebrated its first Gay Pride week. Read more from the Independent. More on India ...

Mousavi Faces Prison Threat
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Adrian Hamilton: How can Iranians mend their broken Islamic Republic? ...

Decapitated Monks Mystery May Be Solved With New Evidence
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Some of the most violent attacks, they said, were carried out by groups loyal to the army in order to diminish support for the Islamist cause. The six monks were kidnapped on 26 April 1996. Their heads - but not the rest of their bodies - were found on 30 May. According to the leaked evidence given to Judge Trevidic by General Buchwalter, the killings were a clumsy accident. The monks were killed by automatic fire from Algerian military helicopters. Read more from the Independent. More on France ...

When They Stand Up...They'll Shoot At Us
Newshoggers.com — ... of "when they stand up, we can stand down". Policemen are now getting eight weeks of training meant to cure them of their behaviour, but when they're only earning $150 a month.  (Nor can the Afghans even afford that measly stipend on their own.) Thus police officers are suplementing their incomes with bribes, drug smuggling and petty larceny...and well, brigands will be brigands.Do we really want to stay another decade just to turn them into well trained brigands? The Independent's cartoon today is as good a stratergy as the current one: ...

Adulterous Saudi Princess Granted British Asylum For Fears Of Death Penalty
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... woman who was about to marry another man, but as they drove along a street they were stopped and seized by seven men who raped them both. The woman was originally sentenced to 90 lashes but the sentence was increased when she appealed. Eventually, after an international outcry, she was pardoned. In 2007, King Abdullah II of Saudi Arabia was jeered during a state visit to Britain as dozens of demonstrators turned out to protest at his country's human rights record. Read more from The Independent More on Saudi Arabia ...

James Wharton, Gay British Soldier, Makes Cover Of Army Mag
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... of one recruiter who informed a potential candidate that he could not be openly gay in the Royal Marines. The recruiter was spoken to and reminded that the British military no longer has any issue with sexual orientation. "We educate as much as possible but we can't get rid of all the prejudices," she said: "It has been a big learning process for everybody. The forum is there to help people if they find themselves in an uncomfortable position." Read more at the Independent. Get HuffPost World On Facebook and ...

Afghanistan War: British Voters Turn Against UK Troop Presence
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... strategy" for stabilising Afghanistan. He said: "It must include clear, tightly drawn, realistic objectives that are regularly reviewed, more rapid development of Afghan security forces and ensuring battlefield gains are swiftly followed by reconstruction." ComRes telephoned 1,008 British adults on 24-26 July 2009. Data were weighted by past vote recall. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Full tables at www.comres.co.uk. Read more from The Independent More on England ...

German Third Reich Training Center Planned By Pro-Hitler Party
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... 80-room property. A foretaste came at the weekend when shots were fired near the hotel and young people from the left and right faced off with pepper sprays and batons. Police have mobilised 24-hour patrols. Mr Rieger is also trying to open a museum in Wolfsburg dedicated to the Nazi leisure organisation Strength Through Joy. The NPD has about 7,000 members and lawmakers sitting in regional parliaments, but none in the Bundestag. Read more at The Independent. Get HuffPost World On Facebook and ...

Hamid Karzai, Ashraf Ghani Form Secret Deal To Win Afghan Election, Prevent Iran-Style Protests
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... the September 11 attacks, has increased in the run-up to the poll. Yesterday brought news of a bomb attack on a family heading to a wedding in Garmsir, in Helmand province. Five people were reported killed. In a separate attack, in Naad Ali, five policemen died when a bomb exploded near their vehicle. In western Afghanistan, a roadside bomb killed four US Marines, bringing the death toll of Western troops for the first week of August to at least 15. Related article: Three Paras killed in Afghanistan ...

One Young Captain Offers Brutally Honest Account Of Dealing With Life, And Death, In Afghanistan
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Rupert Thorneloe was a 39 year old from Oxfordshire. He was killed by an IED in Lashkar Gah on 1 July. Major Sean Birchall a 33-year-old, was killed in an explosion on 19 June while on patrol in Basharan near Lashkar Gah. Lieutenant Mark Evison, 26-year-old from London, died in hospital in Birmingham on 12 May after being shot in Helmand. Lance Sergeant Tobie Fasfous was killed by an explosion while on patrol in Helmand on 28 April. Read more at The Independent. Get HuffPost World On Facebook ...

Tracey Connelly And Steven Barker, Identities Of Baby P's Killers Finally Revealed
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: The killers: a lethal pairing of inadequacy and sadism ...

London Jewelry Heist: 1 Man Arrested
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... ports and airports but police believe they would have organised an escape route and may have already left the country. The first suspect is described as white, about 30 years old, with a slim build, dark hair, light stubble and between 5ft10in and 6ft tall. His accomplice is black, in his 30s, 6ft tall, more well built and with short Afro hair. It is believed they spoke with London accents. A spokeswoman for Graff refused to comment on the robbery. Read more from the Independent. Get HuffPost World On Facebook and ...

German Jews Want 'Mein Kampf' Reprinted
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... treatise would somehow constitute a threat to society," he said in an interview with Germany's Stern magazine. He pointed out that the internet meant that attempts to ban Mein Kampf were a waste of time. The internet is also one of the reasons for the new stance taken by Germany's Central Council of Jews: "It is all the more important that young people should see the critical version when they click on to Mein Kampf on the web," Mr Kramer said. Read more from the Independent. More on Germany ...

Millions Of Afghan Women Will Be Denied Vote Due To Female Staff Shortage
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: A make or break election in Afghanistan ...

Terrorist Facebook: Intelligence Agencies Adopt Controversial New Technique To Identify Terrorists
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Steve Connor: Run the program, join the dots and find the terrorist ...

Afghan Elections: Abdullah Supporters Threaten Violence Over Alleged Rigging
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... one of the financial officers for museum project, said: "Yes, President Karzai came here and he said he would unify the country and work for all the people. But what has happened since? "We don't have a proper president, there is violence, unemployment, the economy is bad. People want change and that is why so many of us voted for a change. "This change cannot be stopped by corruption. If that happens there is a real danger of a conflict." Read more at The Independent. Get HuffPost World On Facebook ...

China Concubines Return Thanks To Increasing Capitalism
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... in Jiangsu province, who amassed 140. Taking a leaf out of the book of bed-hopping British Tory Alan Clark, they included a mother and daughter. Nor are the sort of exotic obsessions redolent of the remote Chinese past unheard of: an official in the state textile industry in Hainan kept four steel closets which were found to contain 95 diaries in which he recorded all of his sexual relationships, as well as hair samples from 236 different women. Read more at the Independent. Get HuffPost World On Facebook and ...

Italian Mafia Group Camorra Suspected Of Blue Grotto Sewage Contamination
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... rocky wall some two metres wide by two metres high, requiring tourists, arriving two or three to a rowing boat, to enter lying down while the boatman hauls his craft inside with a chain. The uniquely vivid blue of the light inside the cavern is caused by daylight entering through an underwater opening beneath the above-water entrance. The light is filtered by the water which absorbs the red tones, leaving the light in the cave a startlingly blue hue. Read more at The Independent. Get HuffPost World On Facebook and ...

Giampaolo Tarantini, Italian Linked To Berlusconi Sex 'Scandal,' Arrested
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... to this Ms D'Addario". Tarantini has denied supplying drugs to the Prime Minister's parties. Investigators have also indicated there is no intention to press criminal charges against the Prime Minister. But the Bari "entrepreneur" is also being investigated on suspicion of supplying prostitutes to centre-Left politicians in Bari and the Puglia region in connection with corrupt contracts to supply health equipment to the region's hospitals. Read more from the Independent. More on Silvio Berlusconi ...

Burma: Suu Kyi Backs U.S. Move To Open Talks With Junta
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... was raised, it was speculated that energy companies would be champing to enter Burma. "With regards to Myanmar it will not have escaped the attention of Obama and Clinton that the Chinese have dug in deep," an unidentified official with a Western embassy in Bangkok told the Asia Oil & Gas Monitor. "Burma is now not only a rich source of raw essentials for China, it's become an important geo-strategic client state, giving Beijing access to the Indian Ocean." Read more at the Independent More on Burma ...

Arab States Have Launched Secret Moves To Stop Using U.S. Currency For Oil Trading
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — ... Related article: Econoblog: The markets have spoken on the future of the dollar ...