In the late evening on 18 and 19 April , student demonstrators, their number swelled by onlookers, gathered at Xinhuamen, the ceremonial main entrance to Zhongnanhai, calling for democracy, freedom and dialogue with the leaders. In the...

A Problem from Hell – America and the Age of Genocide , Samantha Power (Paperback, 656 pages, Flamingo, rrp £10.99, available £7.69) Genocide is back in the news. Who would have thought ? There are allegations of genocide on Tamils...

Hu Yaobang’s death on 15 April triggered student protests in Beijing in 1989. Many wall posters appeared in universities campuses, to mourn Hu Yaobang’s death and promote democracy. In the afternoon on 17 April, hundreds of teachers...

President Obama has his foot firmly on the brake. In fact, he's already been footling around with the reverse gear. Famously fast out of the traps with his second-day-in-office “executive orders” against torture and Guantánamo Bay...

The Iranian media is reporting that Delara Darabi, an Iranian girl facing execution whom Amnesty’s been been campaigning for since 2007, could be executed as soon as Monday 20th April. We’re asking people to take urgent action to try...