By Frank Arnold(1). Burnt with metal rods and cigarette butts? Maybe so, says the Border Agency, but you paid someone to do this to you. A surgeon with expertise in torture scars argues that 'self-torture by proxy' is a dangerous fiction. The photo with this article is the back of a Tamil man, photographed in London soon after he arrived here and just before he claimed asylum this year. I examined him recen ...

In her May 9th, 2013 article by Alice K Ross for The Bureau of Investigative Journalism  explains: 'In the first major Pakistani court ruling on the legality of the CIA’s drone campaign in the country, a Peshawar High Court judge said this morning that strikes are ‘criminal offences’. Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan ordered Pakistan’s government to ‘use force if need be’ to end drone attacks in the country ...

On a visit to Scotland, the home of UK nuclear weapons, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron said, "We cannot be sure on issues of nuclear proliferation, and to me having that nuclear deterrent is quite simply the best insurance policy that you can have, that you will never be subject to nuclear blackmail."  Pressenza publishes the response by the UK Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. David Cameron's co ...

Stop the War Coalition opposes lifting of arms embargo on Syria - Letter to PM and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Corbyn MP will be joined by peace campaigners and activists in handing a letter in to the Foreign Office at 10.15am on Wednesday morning. The letter calls on David Cameron, William Hague and the British government to refrain from exacerbating the conflict in Syria by supplying even more arms to the re ...

(Here, Tony Robinson writies in a personal capacity about the recent Falkland islands referendum and issues of ownership) The issue of the Falkland Islands comes up frequently among my many Argentinean friends and as fierce patriots they proclaim their sovereignty of the islands and denounce in the strongest terms the British “occupation”.  They uphold not only the history they learn in schools but also the ...

British Foreign Secretary, William Hague has pressed the EU to amend the arms embargo on Syria so that military equipment could be supplied to opposition forces. On 18 February the EU agreed to maintain the embargo, but on 6 March Hague confirmed EU agreement for UK training of opposition forces and the supply to them of"non-lethal" military equipment such as armoured vehicles. Press release by CAAT Campaig ...

Campaigners say this shows why a ban treaty must go ahead without them  The UK has said today that it will not be participating in next week’s international conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapon use. The meeting will look at the immediate and long-term impacts of nuclear weapon detonations, as well as international capacities to respond to such incidents. The UK’s decision to line up ...

London’s attempts to put up obstacles over Scotland’s independence bid have been aborted after a poll recorded a boost in support for the country’s independence. According to the poll’s results, the number of young Scots supporting the country’s independence has doubled to 58 per cent from 27 per cent in October. The poll also gave Scottish Deputy Minister Nicola Sturgeon a higher approval rating than Alist ...

The real value of British workers’ wages has fallen back to 2003 levels in 2012, raising fresh concerns at the time of the country’s ailing economy, a new report suggests. According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), British workers are earning no more than they were 10 years ago because of the current inflation rate. The ONS has blamed the fall on a number of causes, saying, “ ...

Following the announcement today that Joseph Ratzinger will resign from the position as Spiritual leader for the world's one billion catholics, Pressenza republishes this article questioning the authority of the Catholic Church to give out lessons in morality. Tony Robinson writes in a personal capacity about proposals in the UK to legalise same sex marriages. Debate has been raging for months now about the ...