Police in Beijing detained at least 20 human rightsdefenders who were celebrating the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaoboon 8 October. Up to now, at least fourteen activists are still missing.They are Wang Lihong, Wu Gan, Zhao...

The 9th of October is, as any self-respecting Beatles fan will probably tell you, the day John Lennon was born. Had he survived Mark Chapman’s bullets – and another 30 years of rock star fame and turbulence (not to mention ordinary...

For the past couple of days images have been emerging from Hungary of menacing toxic red sludge following a chemical spill from an alumina plant reservoir in Veszprem. Today the BBC has reported that the spill has contaminated water...

The Amnesty shop is selling a CD, Listen to the Banned, of music that has been banned by dictators and authorities in various places. The CD is compiled by Deeyah, an artist who has stopped performing because of frequent threats and...

Cheryl’s decision to not give Gamu a shot at the live shows was clearly a bad one. Putting through two wannabe pop stars – in fact the only two of the eight contestants who fluffed their lines – at the expense of excellent singers such...