Bombing in Istanbul main square injures dozens and rattles nerves. Nato to reduce its Kosovo force by half. Iraqi hostage situation ends in bloody tragedy with at least 52 killed. All this and more in today’s security briefing.
UK anti-terror laws can place people under draconian control orders that are more intrusive than house arrest without any charges made that the accused may learn of. Is the American alliance one of the reasons?
The recently published Russian government strategy paper for the North Caucasus chooses to focus solely on the socio-economic development of the region. The refusal to address key political or religious issues undermines the whole rationale for the document, laments Sergei Markedonov
Encounters with Sudanese in Abyei underline the urgent need for referendum preparation and the scope of tensions on the ground, given the failure of political processes so far
" We’re not interested in making war safe for women… There are many substitutes for oil, but I can't think of a single substitute for a peace woman." Cora Weiss
Hassan Nasrallah calls for a boycott of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. A diplomatic row between China and Japan over disputed island territories flares up at an Asean summit. Iran has agreed to renew negotiations over its nuclear programme. Gunfire breaks out along the border between North and
A reductive and tendentious portrayal of Islam and its followers is spreading across Europe and America. It is all too reminiscent of the chilling world imagined by George Orwell, says Arshin Adib-Moghaddam
A number of initiatives around the world, for example in Bosnia and Guatemala, seeks to record the details of every victim of violent conflict. The new revelations of civilian deaths in Iraq could advance a project whose wider ambition is to change warfare itself.
Blackwater trials failing to produce convictions. Yemen resource conflict highlighted in two reports. Arms thought to be destined for Nigerian Delta intercepted. Karzai presses ahead with ban on private military companies, drawing mixed response. All this and more in today's security briefing.
We must not allow the development of the EU’s new External Action Service to succumb to short-termism, argues Erik Brattberg
Former Iraqi foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, sentenced to death. Ex-‘child soldier’ pleads guilty at Guantanamo. UK police receive terror training. Transparency international ranks war-torn countries as 'most corrupt'. All this and more in today’s security briefing.
Charles Shaw is on the road this week, working on the Unheard Voices Project, so I have the honor of leading the Front Line Report. This week we lead with a roundup of news from Mexico, and of the latest battleground in the multilateral war between drug-trafficking gangs and the authorities.
