Daily Express protest misses the point – and doesn’t help Zac A real gay asylum seeker has had his life endangered by the Sun. So what are you going to do about it? Paul Canning guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 July 2010 13.59 BST Article history There’s a protest happening outside the Daily Express office in London this afternoon. Any protest against the Express gets two thumbs up from me. It’s a vile, nasty rag. But this one seems a tad pointless and the anger misplaced. Last week’s supreme court decision on gay and lesbian asylum seekers generated the Express front-page headline: … Continue reading Daily Express gets bored with Muslims and starts up on Gays!

So long as Afghan troops are worse treated and more in the firing line than foreign mentors, they remain a risk to UK soldiers Zuhra Bahman guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 July 2010 18.00 BST Article history Afghan and US army officers in Marjah, Helmand, earlier this year. Photograph: Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty ImagesThe killing of three British soldiers by a member of the Afghan national army (ANA) may not tell us much about the success of the Taliban but it says a lot about the shortcomings of security sector reform in Afghanistan. Recruits to the ANA go through basic training that is often … Continue reading Afghan and Nato forces: working together yet worlds apart

Britain’s Machiavellian torture policy Documents show security services to be more concerned about secrecy and reputation than the plight of prisoner Clive Stafford Smith guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 July 2010 12.00 BST Article history This week, new revelations have emerged about the security services and their attitudes to torture. While shocking, it is worth noting that these documents still do not include the contentious “torture policy” documents from 2004. However, judging by the 2006 policies that have come to light, it is unlikely that the earlier ones will set the security services or the government in a very happy light. Legal … Continue reading Britain’s torture policy?

Raoul Moat, this troubled man David Cameron should realise that, no matter how depraved the crimes, sympathy is normal Tanya Gold The Guardian, Thursday 15 July 2010 Article history David Cameron turned away from defending public service-ocide yesterday, to address the subject of Raoul Moat at prime minister’s questions. I do not understand why politicians feel they must contribute to every crime drama that screams across the tabloids (remember Tony Blair’s attempts to intervene in the plot lines of Coronation Street?), but even so, Cameron paused to express his bewilderment – at the flowers left where Moat took his own … Continue reading Raoul Moat – David Cameron should realise that sympathy is normal

THE BEAR’S LAIR The changing face of emergence By Martin Hutchinson There’s a new acronym for favored emerging markets – CIVETS. Coined again by Goldman Sachs’ chief economist Jim O’Neill (who in 2001 invented the BRIC acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China) it stands for Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa. However, the new acronym’s enthusiasts may have missed out on one thing: the face of emergence is changing. A different set of skills and factor endowments is needed today to achieve the takeoff into rapid growth than was needed a decade ago. The traditional emerging market … Continue reading The changing face of emergence

By Jian Junbo SHANGHAI – With its first explicit declaration that the South China Sea is one of its national “core interests”, the Chinese government is taking a tougher stand on safeguarding its rights in what it sees as its territorial waters. Beijing’s stance on the South China Sea is a proclamation that China will no longer tolerate activity deemed unfriendly or hostile there, since no country would compromise on any issue concerning its core national interests. In the Yellow Sea too, China has reacted with unprecedented strength over a planned United States -South Korean joint naval maneuver, which reportedly … Continue reading China takes new tack in maritime diplomacy

By George Friedman The United States has captured a group of Russian spies and exchanged them for four individuals held by the Russians on espionage charges. The way the media has reported on the issue falls into three groups: That the Cold War is back. That, given that the Cold War is over, the point of such outmoded intelligence operations is questionable. That the Russian spy ring was spending its time aimlessly nosing around in think-tanks and open meetings in an archaic and incompetent effort. It is said that the world is global and interdependent. This makes // <![CDATA[// <![CDATA[ … Continue reading Spying’s sleepers