The man behind torture
Writing in the New York Review of Books, David Cole profiles the lawyer David Addington. A former counsel to Dick Cheney, Addington wields private power while maintaining public silence, masterminding many of the controversial policies adopted by the Bush administration in its prosecution of the "war on terrorism".
London's Sunday Times has unveiled flight logs that show how five European countries allowed American officials to transport terrorism suspects across their territory to secret locations or to Guantanamo Bay.
Rod Liddle, in The Spectator, is deeply concerned by the imprisonment of 23 year-old Samina Malik, the London rapper whose verses lionising Osama bin Laden and the Islamist extremism landed her in jail. Liddle is surprised that the "liberal left" is paying little attention to the severe crackdown on Muslims for simply speaking or writing radically, while protesting endlessly about the extension of the period of detention of terrorist suspects without trial.
Alex Carlile in Prospect magazine criticises the rights-group Liberty for campaigning too stridently against some of the British government's anti-terror measures.
Turkey's Alevi question Keep up to date with the latest developments and sharpest perspectives in a world of strife and struggle.
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As the current Turkish government slowly seeks ways of better accommodating the country's Kurdish minority, the relationship of the Alevi religious minority to the state has also come into question. Alevis, followers of a humanistic branch of Shia Islam, have in large part been suppressed by Ankara. The ruling moderate AK Party hopes to diffuse tensions by carving a clearer space for Alevi practice and belief in the country. Some Alevi groups, however, are suspicious of attempts at reconciliation with the state, seeing "assimilation" as a worse alternative to ostracism.
The mosques of New York
In this slideshow, Edward Grazda captures moments of worship in the scattered and various mosques of New York City.
No return to POTA
In the wake of serial blasts in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh last week, Indian chief ministers are soon meeting to discuss strengthening internal security and better coordinating counter-terrorism practices. Government officials stress that no new law similar to the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act enacted by the previous government (and subsequently stripped down by the government of Manmohan Singh) is on the cards.
In the Uttar Pradesh, site of the deadly blasts, the local administration has set up an anti-terrorist unit similar to the one in the state of Maharashtra where terrorists have routinely targeted the metropolis of Mumbai.
Instability and violence in Pakistan
CNN-IBN covers a series of suicide attacks in Rawalpindi over the weekend. Watch as news of the blasts unfolded.
The Pakistani military reports major gains in the northwestern valley of Swat, the former tourist paradise now turned into an extremist camp under the sway of the inveterate radical Mullah Falzullah.
Iran looks for friends
Power and Interest News Report follows Tehran's quest for allies in Asia and Latin America.
Paris riots
The deaths of two teenagers in Paris' troubled banlieues have kicked off another round of riots, with mostly "immigrant" youth torching cars and schools and clashing with police. A police car allegedly rammed into the motorcycle carrying the two teens before fleeing the scene.
