In a country flooded with narcotics traffickers and corrupt government officials, one of Afghanistan’s few remaining ‘clean’ governors, Mohammed Daud, has been removed from his position, and many are blaming the drug mafia and the CIA for his abrupt dismissal.

Democrats ushered in a new era of Congress yesterday by electing the first woman to one of the nation’s top political offices, then making sweeping changes to lobbying and ethics laws, touting them as a necessary response to last year’s scandal-tainted congressional session.

MPs are demanding a statement from the Prime Minister about the taunting and unauthorised filming of the former Iraqi dictator just before he was hanged last Saturday. They recalled that Mr Blair has commented on the deaths of footballers, musicians and disc jockeys as well as speaking for the nation after the death of the Princess of Wales and the Queen Mother.

Downing Street has welcomed the Iraqi government’s decision to hold an inquiry into the fiasco over the execution of Saddam Hussein and admitted that mistakes had been made.

The UN chief started his first day on the job by departing from the traditional opposition of the international organisation to the death penalty, saying nations can make their own decisions.

Like a blue-blood version of a Mob family with global reach, the Bushes have eliminated one more key witness to the important historical events that led the U.S. military into a bloody stalemate in Iraq and pushed the Middle East to the brink of calamity.

The rapid moves by Iraq’s government to execute Saddam Hussein were questioned by US officials, according to an article in today’s New York Times.

Fidel Castro has rebutted American claims about his health failing, saying his recovery was far from being a “lost battle”.

The execution of Saddam Hussein closes an agonizing chapter in history that began with President Bush’s vow to achieve a “regime change” with the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Saddam Hussein, who is being held in American custody, has been tried by an American-appointed court which has ensured that all evidence pertaining to the massive Anglo-American support given to Saddam during the worst years of his savage reign has been completely supressed.

The White House recently announced that President Bush issued pardons to 16 individuals. Their offenses included bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the government, possession of marijuana and cocaine, and mail fraud.

John McTernan, the Prime Minister’s political secretary, has been interviewed under caution by the Metropolitan Police over a Downing Street e-mail trail in the “cash for peerages” inquiry.

On December 15, the Labour government called off the three-year long investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) into the alleged bribery of the Saudi ruling family by British Aerospace (BAe) in the multibillion-pound Al Yamamah defence contract.

U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia was the only Democrat to tell it like it is. She was ousted by the party bigwigs because she was so outspoken. Her last act was to introduce a bill to impeach Bush.

Labour’s flagship freedom of information laws are being blocked by ministers who are increasingly refusing to answer routine inquiries about government policy, new figures show.