Living without Kevin
A new dawn for World Have Your Say. Thanks for all your farewell messages to Kevin - it is an example to the rest of us (well, me anyway) about how he has talked to you. It's up to the rest of us to pick up the baton...
For today, the stories I'm most interested in are one in ten British Asians under-35s telling ICM (for the Asian Network) that honour killings can be justified.
Also, a tax expert has declared that Britain, America and Switzerland are more corrupt than developing countries because their tax havens do more damage. More details on that one down below, along with a proposal to pay young Britons for doing well in maths A-levels.
In the meantime, here are the (selected) top stories:
Sudan tells peacekeepers to leave
Sudan says AU peacekeepers must leave Darfur by the end of September, as it builds up troops in the region. And it says the Sudanese army will ensure security in the region.
Along the same lines, in The Washington Post - Accommodating Genocide
In the face of ongoing genocide in Darfur, the international community's failure to accept the "responsibility to protect" (that's United Nations language, officially adopted) innocent civilian lives has taken its last, abject form. The National Islamic Front (NIF) regime in Khartoum, made up of the very men who have for more than three years orchestrated the systematic destruction of Darfur's African tribal populations, has been told directly and unambiguously that there will be no U.N. peacemaking force without its consent.
Kabul suicide bomber kills five
A UK soldier is among five people killed in an Afghan suicide attack, while a Nato soldier dies in "friendly fire". This is very big news here, coming on the back of 14 military personnel dying when their surveillance aircraft crashed in southern Afghanistan. So far this year, more British troops have died in Afghanistan than in Iraq.
One hundred and thirty-seven women among South Africa's delegation to an Aids conference in Canada have sought asylum, according to reports. A total of 151 delegates - including El Salvadorans, Eritreans, Zimbabweans and Ugandans - have applied, a Canadian newspaper reported. South Africa says it is investigating the reports.
Britain is 'as corrupt as worst African states' - Britain, US and Switzerland should rank among the world's most corrupt countries. The failure of these and other developed countries to clamp down on offshore tax havens is responsible for more hardship than any corrupt acts by third world leaders, a leading tax expert said.
A proposal to solve Britain's lack of scientists: pay cash to top maths pupils - Pupils who get top grades in maths A-levels should be given a £500 reward, according to the head of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The former economist and journalist, Frances Cairncross, is echoing the concerns of business leaders by expressing concerns that the supply of scientists in Britain is drying up.
US troops could face execution - A US army officer has recommended that four American troops face the death penalty if convicted of killing three detainees during a raid in Iraq.
And finally, on Labor Day in the United States, an NYT Editorial:
A One-Day Respite - What we really need is Labor Week, a seven-day antidote to the very American habit of overworking.
Who can argue with more time off?
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