The minister tasked with cracking down on metal thefts has indicated the government is planning new legislation

A cracking little story of greed, sex, and murder in Beijing with a side order of media gagging on top. To get a sense of how common this is and the media environment here, consider what the coverage of this...

Official data casts doubt on the government's response of cracking down on gangs in the wake of England's summer wave of violence

Cracking bit of Chinese wingnuttery over at Global Times, as an op ed calls for China to declare war on Vietnam and the Philippines. But not all out war, you'll be relieved to hear: For those who infringe upon our...

Iranian police have started cracking down on water fights springing up across the country, arresting several young men and women who took part in the latest organized water-pistol battles....Seriously Iran!?

The Observer has a cracking scoop: a brief document detailing a new Labour plan to attack Cameron. The memo has been written by Shaun Woodward, the former Tory MP and Labour cabinet minister who now heads Labour’s anti-Tory unit. He will report to the shadow cabinet in the next few weeks. He says: ‘At the last election we faced a Conservative party (and a Conservative leader in David C...

A cracking, little story that we arrived at via the Daily Mail website: thanks to an FoI request, the Department for Transport has revealed which websites its staff visited on work computers between January 1st and May 31st this year. The full list is here, and there are some eye-catching entries to say the least. Take the role-play site bearsfaction.org.uk, where you are advised to "conduct ...

A cracking post by Ambush Predator about the iniquity of squatters' rights, and the squatters' smugness. Were they going out to work each week to earn their keep? Somehow I doubt it. Anyway, read and enjoy.

Helen has pointed to a cracking piece by one of my favourite commentators, Irwin Stelzer. All he is doing is analysing - gently but devastatingly - incoherences in the government's policies. Enjoyable to read in full, the piece is long - but to judge by his three final paragraphs he was just getting started. The government is groaning under the burden of its incoherence, he says. [It] so ofte...

It’s hard to raise the subject of Lembit Opik without somebody cracking a joke. He’s certainly not loved by our own party’s leadership and many see him as more of a celebrity than a politician. I can, however, name two other people who are hated by their party’s leadership and seem to be two parts