by William A. Cook
 
What silent communion this scene holds,
Of a life lived and one yet to unfold;
What forlorn love those encircling arms portend,
That would protect against the evils that descend
From unseen missiles yet to come with unlived years,
Where hopes and dreams dissolve into unforeseen fears
That falls like a funeral pall upon this child,
Who sits so quiet, so pensive, so mild
Beneath those crescent arms as they reach to shield
This innocent lost in this barren field.

By Imran Garda

"1010 Wisconsin Avenue please," I said, as I shuffled into the back seat of my taxi, snappily pronouncing the digits as "ten-ten".

The trials of Jewish-American political scientist Norman Finkelstein.

By Anthony Gregory

The Obama administration has detained the alleged Wikileaks whistleblower under tortuous conditions—for almost a year, has has been subjected to solitary confinement in a windowless 6×12 cell for 23 hours a day, under constant surveillance, prevented from exercising, lacking a pillow or sheets. For the remaining hour every day, he is allowed to walk in circles in a somewhat larger cell, still without any human company. Every give minutes he is asked, “Are you OK?” and must answer yes. Now he is being forced to sleep naked. Put together, his treatment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment without trial, protest 250 legal scholars, including preemenent liberal law professor Laurence Tribe, a man who taught Obama constitutional law, supported his 2008 campaign, and until recently worked as a Justice Department legal adviser. The letter draws scathing conclusions about his treatment, as well as about Obama’s personal culpability in this mockery of justice:

Bradley Manning | Legal Scholars | Wikileaks

PBS NewsHour

JIM LEHRER:  And to a U.S. House hearing that's sparked a national debate. 
 
            Margaret Warner has our story.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made some news while saying that the U.S. is losing the information war globally:

Hillary Clinton | Al Jazeera

WASHINGTON – In a dramatic departure from longstanding policy, the United States intends to support a United Nations Security Council resolutions censuring Israel for building settlements in Palestinian territory.

Israel | Security Council | Barack Obama

Egypt's Vice President Omar Suleiman was long seen by Israel as the preferred candidate to succeed President Hosni Mubarak, secret U.S. diplomatic cables published Monday suggested.

Israel is appealing to the leaders to "save" Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Hebrew newspaper sources have revealed the existence of an "urgent" message sent by the Israeli government at the end of last week to a number of world leaders. Aimed particularly at the US and the EU, Israel is appealing to the leaders to "save" Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Israel | Mubarak | Egypt | Terrorism | MWC News

By Rhodri Davies

Claims are still being made that oil, amongst other products such as alcohol, are being smuggled from northern Iraq to Iran.

By Jamal Elshayyal

I arrived in Cairo on Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after tens of thousands of protesters had brought the Egyptian Capital to a standstill. I wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived, but I can safely say what I saw was far beyond my imagination. The scenes I witnessed, violent, brave, barbaric, and above all revolutionary in nature, surpassed anything I had ever seen from the Egyptian people.

by Naomi Wolf

Dear Interpol:

As a longtime feminist activist, I have been overjoyed to discover your new commitment to engaging in global manhunts to arrest and prosecute men who behave like narcissistic jerks to women they are dating.

By Casey Kauffman

Economic hardship can impact voting patterns and voter turnout. But it can affect so much more, and even tarnish the very model of upward mobility that American society is built on.

By Rosiland Jordan

"Cleveland rocks..."

...At least, that was president Barack Obama's goal on Sunday, when he and his vice-president, Joe Biden, headlined a Democratic rally in Ohio's second-largest city: to get the crowd fired up enough to head down the street from the arena and to cast a ballot in this year's midterm elections.

By Rosiland Jordan

I look at my press credentials from the five political rallies where President Barack Obama spoke in recent weeks, and their simple design gives no hint of the energy surging through the crowds who waited to see him.

By David Swanson
 
The only debate thus far between the Republican and Democratic candidates for Congress from Virginia’s Fifth District was held Wednesday evening. It excluded a third candidate who is on the ballot and was finished in 27 minutes minus the time devoted to advertisements. Somehow, I’m not overwhelmed with the health of our democracy. Have we really got this democracy thing down well enough to be bombing other nations in the name of spreading it -- something that both Robert Hurt (Republican challenger) and Tom Perriello (Democratic incumbent) support?

By John Terrett

Religious leaders - Muslim, Jewish, and Christian - met in Washington, DC, on Tuesday to denounce anti-Muslim bigotry. I took the Al Jazeera cameras to the National Press Club here in Washington to see more than 30 religious leaders in one room - with one aim: how to stop a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment that has already had violent consequences.

Forget everything your therapist told you and focus on your CV: A new study says that paycheck rules your state of mind.

By Jacky Rowland

There has been a temporary construction freeze on the White House lawn in honour of the Middle East peace talks hosted by President Obama. The bulldozers and cranes that are carrying out a refurbishment of the White House grounds drowned out our broadcasts on Tuesday. But on Wednesday they fell silent, as if paying an unconscious tribute to the better known construction freeze in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

By Teymoor Nabili

A number of mainstream news outlets have reported the verdict in the killing of 10 year-old Abir Aramin by Israeli soldiers: