Reviewed by Mani Shankar Iyer NB: True to the ethics of the journalist profession, Nilanjan Takle has performed a public service by following the trail of questions and shadows in which this death of an upright judge is veiled. It is a matter of comfort that such journalists are still doing their work, despite all… Read More Book Review: ‘Who Killed Justice Loya’ Delves into Many Unanswered Questions
Farrukh Dhondy, who was Charles Sobhraj’s arm’s-length friend for much of his corpse-strewn career, leaves what the reader really wants to know for the epilogue: “How did he manage to seduce so many women ― is he really charismatic and charming?” Dhondy reports that he is “an average bloke”, but “there was something in his… Read More Book review: Charles Sobhraj, the Average and Slippery Bloke With Notions of Being a Super-Criminal
Around the world, many countries are becoming less democratic. This backsliding on democracy and “creeping authoritarianism,” as the U.S. State Department puts it, is often supported by the same industries that are escalating climate change. In my new book, “Global Burning: Rising Antidemocracy and the Climate Crisis,” I lay out connections between these industries and the… Read More Big Oil, Rising Authoritarianism and worsening climate. By Eve Darian-Smith
A historical study of the opium and heroin trade and its political context, based on primary and secondary sources, including interviews with some of the key players of the developments in Indochina in the 1950s through 1970s. Alfred W. McCoy; The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade, Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, Central… Read More Book review: Alfred McCoy on the Politics of Heroin & CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade
According to police in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, it was suicide. The young Muslim man they had brought into their custody had, out of despair, killed himself in the police station toilets. But, as photos of the scene emerged, so too did suspicions. The 22-year-old man, Altaf, was 165cm (5ft 5in) tall and… Read More Police in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh accused of unlawful killings
How do the banks continue to get away with it? The latest revelations about Credit Suisse provide yet another glimpse into the corrosive nexus of banks, corporations, accountants, lawyers and financial intermediaries that enables the wealthy and political elites to profit from illicit practices. The bank itself is no stranger to predatory practices. Since 2001 it has… Read More Prem Sikka: Credit Suisse leaks expose an industry that has got away with too much for too long /Joseph Stiglitz: Credit Suisse has allowed the morally bankrupt to steal from the poor
NB: The criminalisation of the state in the USA has been fairly obvious for some decades now. But our op-ed fraternity persists in spinning American interventions abroad (for example in this editorial) as attempts to ‘remake other societies in the name of US global leadership.’ Were the 1953 coup in Iran, the prolonged bombing of… Read More CHAUNCEY DEVEGA – America's political class: They knew, and did nothing / The real crime Gen. Milley exposed: the cowardice of Senate Republicans
Indian anti-smuggling intelligence officials have seized nearly three tonnes of heroin – reportedly worth around $2.7bn (£1.9bn) – in a major operation at a port in Gujarat state. Forensic testing is still under way to determine the exact value of the seized drugs, officials told the BBC. Two people have been arrested and several others… Read More Mundra Port: Nearly three tonnes of heroin seized at Gujarat port
When Jonathan Steele moved to Moscow for the Guardian in 1988, the story of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms was getting “hotter and hotter”. But with all the restrictions on foreign journalists in the Soviet Union, the question was how to report it. The sources were mainly local journalists authorised to speak to foreigners or dissidents. The… Read More Jonathan Steele: I came to Russia a political correspondent and left a crime reporter // Rafael Behr: 30 years after the Moscow coup, democracy is in a crisis of self-esteem
In April 2018, a large group of policemen arrived at the Delhi flat of Rona Wilson, a 47-year-old human rights activist. They had travelled from Pune in the western state of Maharashtra, and appeared, accompanied by Delhi police officials, at Wilson’s single-room flat at 6am. For the next eight hours, they scoured the modest premises, searching the… Read More Siddhartha Deb: The unravelling of a conspiracy: were the 16 charged with plotting to kill India’s prime minister framed? / Sudhir Chandra: More than a Judicial Murder
After the truth-shower 