One day I sat down beside the track, Grand Prix about to commence, and touched a live wire. I sprang to my feet, clutching my wrist. The pain wasnt that bad but I nevertheless resolved to try and avoid electric shocks in future. This I...

Its the nightmare that weve all imagined: youre accused of a crime that you didnt commit and no matter what you say youre found guilty by the authorities. Its the classic Kafka situation - Joseph K in The Trial hauled before the...

Theres plenty of news about the clampdown on free speech online. China has reportedly stepped-up its policing of the Internet and will now have two Cyber-cop characters that pop up on the screen to remind Chinese surfers that they are...

So 10 people have been arrested over the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskayas murder last year. Its a welcome development, certainly - far too many killers of journalists and opponents of Putins government have been getting away with...

I was pleased that amid the understandable furore over shootings in the UK, the media has also widely reported Amnesty’s revelation that the Sudanese government is continuing to deploy offensive military equipment in Darfur. This...

Over the past 18 months, theres been a frightening wave of gun attacks which have resulted in many teenagers and now a pre-teen being shot and either wounded or killed. From where Im standing gun crime is far from going down, in fact...

In Burma there is severe repression of all opposition to the military government. Hundreds of people are in prison for their political views, in conditions that are very harsh. Just yesterday the government put down a small protest...

All trials are important to someone, but some of are of much greater political and symbolic importance getting human rights abusers on trial is a massive step towards ending the impunity with which most abuses are committed. Weve been...

Im particularly upset about it because it kind of works as an endorsement of big money, no matter where its from , being able to buy anything, even a precious football victory, and then maybe endure less enquiries about its legitimacy...

He never got a clear answer but the encounter was a telling one nevertheless.< The company, Trafigura finds itself being sued on behalf of more than 7,000 Ivorians who allegedly became sick when a company commissioned by Trafigura...

Other stuff in the news today is that horrific video posted on the Internet of two men being killed execution style. Detail of the killing is absolutely appalling but thankfully the videos been removed from www.livejournal.ru. The...

The Independent does go in for some pretty striking front pages , doesnt it? Todays is a corker: a moody photo of an electric chair with Bushs lethal legacy: more executions strap. The storys about how there are new moves in the US to...

The stories of millions of midnights children who were forced to flee their homes to the other side of the new Pakistan-India border in August 1947 are horrific millions of people slaughtered and made homeless . Some of these can be...

As we mentioned on Friday - big news on the Kenny Richey case. This man from Scotland whos been on death row in the USA for a staggering 20 years, has won an appeal that could see him finally released. An appeals court in Ohio said...

I can see that the MoD might want to stop staff from inadvertently giving away information that might jeopardise security Were going to be patrolling Acacia Avenue in Basra tomorrow, I hope there isnt going to be any trouble wouldnt be...

There are more and more reports overnight that Pakistans President Musharraf is about to declare a state of emergency in Pakistan, another worrying development in a country thats really suffering right now. After the killings at the...

I mentioned it in an earlier blog - the issue of the Iraqi interpreters who have worked for UK forces in Iraq and are being denied help by the UK - and the situations now really blown up. After days of coverage, including high-profile...

It’s always great to start the morning off on a positive note, it makes the day go so much better, I think. So I was delighted when after my first hour in the office I heard that the Foreign Office had requested that five British...

Confusion in the media today about 14 people on the run after breaking out from Campsfield detention centre in Oxfordshire. I picked up a copy of the Metro this morning to see the headline Asylum seekers on the run; others report that...

More unbelievably grisly news from Iraq today (when isnt there?), this time about a young boy found next to the bodies of his five brothers, all of whom had been killed while doing a painting job at a hospital. I feel almost sorry to...