Press release me, let me go

Ive written in this blog before that Im a very cautious Obama-ite. (Booo!) With due acknowledgment of the historic and symbolic significance of a black American of (half) Kenyan parentage actually becoming US president (a big change)...

Terry Jones of Monty Python fame (he’s not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy) has CiF comment out today laying into the dubious behaviour of the international arms industry. He might not have been expecting the Spanish Inquisition...

After the excitement of the Olympics, and the supposed loosening of restrictions on protest and free speech that came with them, it’s business as usual in China. There have been reports of new crackdowns on the Internet , justified by...

With Kate Winslet , Prince Harry and admittedly Israel dominating the news pages, it’s been really difficult for other stories to get a look in. That’s very much the case with Thailand – and even when stories from the Asian state have...

So said Bugie, a gang member from St Kitts according to an article in Saturday’s Daily Mail. Well Bugie, you and I may well disagree on several matters but on this one we’re in agreement. I check! The Daily Mail’s three-page feature on...

The conflict and the killing in Gaza continues. Worryingly, Amnesty has uncovered evidence, reported in the Guardian today, that the specially-designed engines for ‘drones’ – small, unmanned aircraft used by Israeli forces to target...

As the daily carnage out of Gaza dominates news coverage, you could have missed this story in the Times today. It says: the USA and the UK are effectively negotiating an arrangement for Britain to take Guantánamo prisoners who need to...

While the media spotlight beams on the Israel-Gaza conflict, there is a danger of other human rights and humanitarian crises elsewhere in the world being overlooked. And for many people living in Zimbabwe the situation remains...

SteveB pretty much said it all yesterday – the situation in Gaza is hugely depressing and a terrible start to the year. I’ve just come back from Italy where the national television channel Canale 5 always started every evening’s news (...

What a miserable start to the new year. Just when you’ve sobered up and mustered all your enthusiasm to come bounding into 2009, the news gets more depressing than ever. It seems that ‘Make things worse’ has made it to the top of some...

Just some of the things we’ve blogged on this year … … the Olympics; unfolding terror and devastation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur and Zimbabwe; Obama; the Secret Policeman’s Ball 2008; the 60th anniversary of the UDHR...

Today is my last day in the office for 2008 and it’s eerily quiet. The phones have rung only once all morning, and it’s pretty obvious that much of the media has packed up for the Christmas break. But as the wheels of politics and...

The Conservative Party is all over the headlines with their row with the Met’s assistant commissioner Bob Quick – but that’s not all! The Conservatives are also making news today with their call for more funding for 15 new rape crisis...

John Lennon begins his seasonal hit Happy Christmas (War is Over) with the words : “So this is Christmas and what have you done?” Hopefully that’s not just me, or even all of us at Amnesty International, but the world. I’d feel better...

I may have mentioned this in a post before (after a while you DO begin to repeat yourself!), but if you haven’t done already – check out Lilya 4-Ever . It is, in my humble opinion, quite simply one the best films of this (or any)...

When I’m tootling about on the blogs of an evening I’m aware of the possibility of embarrassing myself – ie I could fire off a poorly thought out comment that immediately gets jumped on by other commentators. Or, when I rattle off an...

The One Shows special feature on the use of Tasers in the UK kickstarted a lively discussion both online and in the studio. Bette Midler thinks that theyre terrible and doesnt think that British police officers should be carrying them...

Having been laid low (low-ish) with illness this past fortnight I’ve been breaking a rule and forcing myself to take Paracetamol and Strepsils. (I’m a classic bad patient who won’t submit to sensible medication until I’m barking my...

Two British Christians are looking at spending Christmas behind bars in Gambian prisons. The west African state of Gambia is one of Africa’s smallest countries, with a population of only 1.7 million. It doesn’t generally have the...

Not wanting to be a “government-tethered 'goat'”, Lord Lester’s resignation as constitution reform advisor and his attack on the government’s human rights record has set the cat amongst the pigeons. In a UDHR anniversary speech...