Torture matter of policy under BushA Senate inquiry published on Wednesday directly implicates senior members of the Bush administration in the extensive use of harsh interrogation methods against al-Qaida suspects and other prisoners round the world. The 232-page report, the most detailed investigation yet into the background of torture, undercuts the claim of the then deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, that the abuse of prisoners in Iraq was the work…

UK scholar advocates women imams for Britain's MuslimsThis week Ruth Gledhill The Times Religious Correspondent reported that South African-born Dr Hargey a Muslim scholar supports the right of Muslim women to become imams. Dr Hargey is currently raising £2 million to build Britain's first progressive mosque, in Oxford, where he hopes to have a woman imam leading prayers for mixed congregations. He is no stranger to controversy, and made headlines…

US preparing to establish internment camps for US citizensIn January a bill entitled the National Emergency Centres Establishment Act (HR 645) was introduced in the US Congress. It calls for the establishment of six national emergency centres in major regions in the US to be located on existing military installations. The stated purpose of the "national emergency centres" is to provide "temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and…

Capitalism destroyed 45% of the world's wealth in 1.5 years On March 10 2009 the CEO of the private equity company Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) Stephen Schwarzman said that up to 45 percent of the world's wealth has been destroyed by the global credit crisis. "Between 40 and 45 percent of the world's wealth has been destroyed in little less than a year and a half," Schwarzman told an audience…