This could be the saddest story you'll ever read. Oh, the humanity!

One thing that allowed the Taliban some measure of popular support in its early years was its hardline stance against corruption -- something that obviously came at a price. Since the group got deposed, corruption ...   more »

The U.S. military can't account for the whereabouts of 194,000 firearms they had given to their brothers-in-arms in the Iraqi security services, according to new report.

Are you having the same disquieting thought as me over who might have gotten their hands on those missing weapons?

From AP via CTV.ca:

Police detained journalists at a rare protest Monday in Beijing, staged by a free-press advocacy group that accuses the government of failing to meet promises for greater media freedom a year before the 2008 Olympic Games.

The detentions, which came during a visit to Beijing by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, followed the unfurling of posters depicting the Olympic rings made from handcuffs by members of Reporters Without Borders on a pedestrian bridge outside the headquarters of the Beijing Olympics planning committee.

The Paris-based group said China continues to restrict press freedoms and lock up journalists, political dissidents and activists who publish on the Internet -- despite pledges to liberalize made when bidding to stage the Games.

"Most important is that we didn't come to call for a boycott,'' said Vincent Brossel of the group. "We are calling for concrete achievements, the release of political prisoners, opening of web access and an end to radio jamming.''

The Toronto Star had this last week:

New rules fail to free reporting in China
Despite Beijing's pledge, foreign journalists still experience intimidation, harassment, arrest

Aug 01, 2007 04:30 AM

Bill Schiller
ASIA BUREAU

BEIJING–Despite a much-publicized Olympic pledge to give foreign journalists "complete freedom" to do their job in China, the government has yet to deliver, a new report says.

In fact, rather than open China up entirely, as promised, there is ample evidence Chinese authorities continue to tail foreign correspondents, intimidate their sources, and even reprimand reporters after their stories are published, according to a new survey released today by the Foreign Correspondents Club of China.