A groundbreaking research project has mapped the US government’s global kidnap and secret detention programme, shedding unprecedented light on one of the most controversial secret operations of recent years.

The interactive online project – by two British universities and a legal charity – has uncovered new details of the way in which the so-called extraordinary rendition programme operated for years in the wake of the September 11 attacks, and the techniques used by the Central Intelligence …

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Facebook is on the defensive again. Members of the social networking site sued the company for co-opting their identities in online ads, and Facebook agreed to revise its “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities” and offer a $20 million settlement. The case has drawn less attention than the dorm disputes portrayed in “The Social Network,” but the impact is far wider. An underpublicized aspect of the dispute concerns the power of online contracts, and ultimately, whether …

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Many heroes asserted themselves in Oklahoma yesterday, from the first responders digging through the rubble for survivors, to the teachers who shielded children from the massive tornado that touched down as the school day was ending.

While perhaps not as heralded, certainly the experts at the National Weather Service deserve some credit for saving lives as well. One of the best ways to prevent high body counts when tornadoes barrel through populated areas is to warn …

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Iceland’s new government will target measures to help households cut their debt loads, including forcing write downs on assets held by the creditors of the island’s failed banks.

“It’s right to use the space, which will likely be formed in the winding up proceedings of the estates” of the three failed banks “to accommodate borrowers and those that put their savings into their homes,” the government said in its economic program released today.

Measures will include ending …

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The Pentagon is asking Congress for more than $450 million for maintaining and upgrading the Guantanamo Bay prison that President Barack Obama wants to close.

New details on the administration’s budget request emerged on Tuesday and underscored the contradiction of the president waging a political fight to shutter the facility while the military calculates the financial requirements to keep the installation operating, AP news agency reported.

The budget request for the fiscal year beginning October 1 calls …

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Around 200 people hurled rocks at police and set cars ablaze in a Stockholm suburb during the second day of rioting, which was triggered by the fatal police shooting of a man wielding a knife.

Dozens of windows were smashed, 10 cars and several containers were set on fire, and seven police officers were injured on Tuesday.

Six people were arrested early in the day, but two were released after questioning, police spokesman Jorgen Karlsson said.

Cars and …

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QUEULE, Chile — One beautiful morning in late spring, the ocean’s bounty had been especially plentiful, yet Luis Baez was in a foul mood.

At dawn, dozens of fishing boats under his stewardship returned from a midnight outing, heavy with silvery-grey fish called southern rays bream. With clear skies forecast for days ahead, crews might have readied for another trip, but with southern rays selling for just 75 cents per kilo, another excursion wasn’t worth the …

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Laborers digging a water ditch just 200 yards from a former US Special Forces outpost in Afghanistan have discovered the body of a missing Afghan man, Sayid Mohammad, who was last seen being taken to the base after being taken into custody by men associated with the US military.

The discovery of the mutilated body is just the latest development in a bizarre but pivotal series of events that have pitted the authority of Afghan President …

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Champions of equality slammed Democratic members on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday after it succumbed to the pressure of rightwing threats by removing a crucial amendment to the immigration reform package that would have provided inclusion and protection of LGBT members of immigrant and binational families.

“I’m committed to ending that discrimination,” Leahy said before withdrawing the amendment which Republican lawmakers said would essentially kill the legislation either at the committee level or in the …

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Progressive protests against a wave of conservative legislation in the North Carolina State House show little sign of weakening at the one month milestone. Case in point, Monday evening, more than 600 supporters gathered out the General Assembly in Raleigh as 60 demonstrators were arrested, after pre-planned acts of civil disobedience.

The arrests were part of the “Moral Monday” series of protests that include civil rights advocates, students, clergy, and other progressive types fighting a …

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