Should you ever confess a crime you haven’t committed?

They’ve been described as show trials, but that hasn’t stopped yet another “confession” in Iran. This time it’s French national Clothilde Reiss, a young teacher who was charged by Iranian authorities  for spying and helping the West to overthrow the government. And she’s not alone, the number of “false confessions” in Iran since the protests earlier this year is on the rise.

On air: Is justice for Aung San Suu Kyi the world’s problem?

There are two clear debates taking place in response to Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest sentence – and neither concern whether she deserves to be punished. I can’t find anyone arguing that she deserves to be under house arrest (though that doesn’t mean those views don’t exist), so a programme revolving around the verdict may only get us so far. It gets far more animated though on these two issues:

Holidaying near home this year?

Hello, it’s Lucy from Europe Today here – later in the week we’ll be thinking about holidays, and we want to hear from you if you’ve decided to stay closer to home during your summer break.

Has the world failed Aung San Suu Kyi?

“There was an outcry when the trial started, now those fine words must now be turned into practical action,” said Zoya Phana a refugee from Burma now living in the UK.

“The soft diplomacy of the UN and Asian countries has failed. A global arms embargo is the most effective way of showing this military dictatorship that it can no longer defy the international community.”

And according to the blog ,Moses Onlus in English, a global arms embargo is how the world needs to respond to the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Is the Danish army right to ban the headscarf for Muslim women on duty?

The Danish Home Guard, a home defence corps of thousands of volunteer soldiers, has become embroiled in a dispute about Muslim headscarves after it allowed a Maria Mawla , a Muslim woman of Lebanese origins to complete a training course wearing the Hijab.

On air: Would you want the US military to operate out of your country?

Colombia’s planning to do what Ecuador decided it wouldn’t, and allow America access to the facilities at some of its military bases. Unsurprisingly, next door in Venezuela, the plan has gone down with Hugo Chavez about as well as a dinner to celebrate the Bush presidency.

Can the Pakistan Taliban survive the “death” of Baitullah Mehsud?

“We both are alive,” says Taliban commander Wali-ur-Rehman. He might find that the US, Pakistan and its neighbours  in the region beg to differ. They are pretty confident that the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud is very much dead.

That’s what so  many of you have been talking about around the world and on this blog.  We touched on this story on Friday during the first half of our programme, but unfortunately telephone lines didn’t work in our favour. It’s still been one of the biggest stories of the weekend. Is he dead? If he isn’t should Taliban prove it? And if he is, can the Taliban survive his death or is the leadership of this organisation more than just about one man?

Is the credit crunch reshaping our values?

Today in Newshour’s meeting we were chatting about how and if the credit crunch has changed our lives? Is having less money changing our values and our behaviour? Are we becoming less materialistic and is it possible that the credit crunch could actually be good for us?

Have we stopped caring about cheats in sport ?

Here’s an excellent article by the Guardian’s Lawrence Donegan about doping in sport.

He says the news that Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz (right) – of the Boston Red Sox- tested positive for drugs in 2003 has been greeted by the U.S public with :

” … a level of indifference it usually reserves for French political affairs.”

Are you celebrating Baitullah Mehsud’s death?

There are strong indications that a top Pakistani Taliban leader was killed in a US air attack in the South Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan. The White House has just said although they can’t confirm the death, there seems to be a growing consensus that Baitullah Mehsud had been killed.