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Government hopes of deporting dozens of terror suspects to their home countries suffered a serious setback today with the European court of human rights ruling against one such attempt.

The grand chamber of 17 judges at the Strasbourg court found unanimously that an attempt by Italy to send a man back to Tunisia violated the ban on torture or inhuman or degrading treatment in the European convention on human rights. for more click here

Britain is ignoring religious extremism for fear of causing offence to minorities, David Cameron claimed yesterday.

In an impassioned attack on the “disastrous” doctrine of multiculturalism, the Tory leader said it meant forced marriage and other unacceptable practices were not being addressed.  for more click here

WASHINGTON (AP) - For Barack Obama, it is an ember that he has doused time and again, only to see it flicker anew: links to Islam fanned by false rumors, innuendo and association. Obama and his campaign reacted strongly this week when a photo of him in Kenyan tribal garb began spreading on the Internet. for more click here

Shares in banking giant HBOS took a hammering yesterday.

Profits in its high street banking unit were down by 13%, dented by a lower share of the mortgage market, and higher funding costs. Its corporate unit also saw bad debts rise sharply.

Yet even though the results were weak, plenty of commentators lined up to say that the pounding of the shares was unjustified.

After all, on the upside, HBOS hiked its full-year dividend by 18%, and now yields more than 7% and trades on a tiny p/e. What could possibly go wrong?
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President Vladimir Putin has presided over a major “roll-back” of civil rights in Russia, which has seen freedom of expression, assembly and association seriously curtailed, Amnesty International warned yesterday.

In a report ahead of Russia’s presidential elections this Sunday the human rights group said the Kremlin was using new laws to persecute non-governmental organisations, forcibly break up opposition demonstrations and wipe out dissent. for more click here

Half a million names could be removed from the national DNA database if a case taken to the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday is successful.

The case has been brought by a teenager and a man from Sheffield who were never convicted of any offence but whose DNA was retained, along with 4.3m other people. for more click here

Government Should Unequivocally Condemn and Quell Violence

(Brussels, February 27, 2008) – Serbia’s government should act quickly to reduce the dangerously hostile climate for human rights groups, independent journalists and ethnic minority communities in the country, Human Rights Watch said today.

“The Serbian government should speak with one voice against violence as a means of protest and refrain from inflammatory rhetoric,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It is also imperative that the government protect anyone threatened with violence and bring to justice those who perpetrate it.” 
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The first sign to greet visitors to Gorey, on the east coast of Jersey, is a bright red plaque with white lettering that says, “Caution: Ducks crossing”. Tripping over a duck is about the most dangerous thing you would expect to happen in this picture-postcard village, where the hotel tourist literature boasts of how safe the streets are. for more click here

I remember my first piggy bank: a little pink piggy, made of plastic, with a little slot at the top. The slot was big enough, perhaps, to fit a half dollar, a great deal of money to me at the time. for more click here

When the history of Campaign 2008 is written, a memorable image will be Hillary Clinton’s poor imitation of Barack Obama as she strode across a stage in Rhode Island mocking the idea that change will come when the sky opens for a “celestial choir.” for more click here