Iraq – over to you…

The Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has given Shia gunmen in the country’s second city, Basra, a deadline of seventy-two hours to lay down their weapons.

Democracy in Africa

Here’s an interesting piece I came across in this morning’s Independent newspaper.

 William Gumede looks ahead to the presedential election in Zimbabwe this weekend, and says that African leaders must overcome their obsession of a divine right to rule forever.

A journalistic boycott ?

We’ve talked about China a lot recently and in every programme the suggestion of a boycott of the Beijing Games always comes up.

Talking points for 26th March

It’s not exactly a quiet day – with more violence in Iraq, and warnings of an impending catastrophe in Somalia, where hostilities continue between government forces and Islamist insurgents – but in terms of talking points, the most interesting possibilities seem to lie around the edges of the main news agenda.