His latest deal for the U.S.? Get out of Iraq, or else be prepared for more attacks on U.S. soil.

Wilson Pickett, the legendary Stax-Volt soul singer, has died of a heart attack at age 64.

The EU will look into whether the CIA ran secret 'war-on-terror' prisons on the soil of EU members.

Human Rights Watch criticizes the European Union for putting business concerns ahead of human rights issues.

This NYT story talks about the Bukharians, one of the most isolated Jewish communities in the world, and how upheaval in Central Asia has brought them -- and their unique cuisine -- to New York. Great read!

This NYT editorial takes aim at the Bush administration's disregard for civil liberties vis a vis the NSA spying scandal.

Hikkomori are mainly young men in Japan who basically isolate themselves from society. It's quite a sad story.

A bit of a late posting, but I've been busy with the CTV election blog too (six more days, and this blog gets my full attention again):

Three and possibly four al Qaeda leaders were killed in a U.S. missile attack in northeast Pakistan last Friday, the NYT is reporting.