Five guards from US private military firm Blackwater were charged Monday with the killing of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad last year. As the group faces growing criticism on several fronts, an audio transcript from the cockpit tape of one of the company's planes, which crashed in November 2007, as well as amateur video footage, reveal that the contractor's reckless behaviour can have sometimes disastrous consequences. Read more...

A year and a half after US soldiers were banned from using YouTube and MySpace, the army has come up with an alternative. Forget the all-singing all-dancing mindless, amusing rubbish - this one's loaded with pep talks and shout-outs. Not convinced? Neither are our Observers, former soldiers in Iraq. Read more...

A group of crime-busting Texan sheriffs has launched an online surveillance system that makes it possible for the public to watch the Mexican border on CCTV 24 hours a day. Since its launch last Thursday... nothing has happened. So what's the point? Read more...

Since same-sex marriage was banned in California last Tuesday, gay activists have rallied against the vote with daily protests, blaming the Mormon Church for swaying the electorate with a cash-crammed campaign. One blogger is calling for a "boycott of the State of Utah" and all business owners who donated to the cause. Read more...

One of our Observers in Indonesia has alerted us to the launch of Hidaya, a Muslim-certified mobile phone. Meanwhile, over in the US, the "Jewberry" - a Blackberry on which you can read the Torah - is selling like hotcakes. Read more...

On the day that Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, our Observer Olaf Koens happened to be in Tehran. He tells us how the Iranian capital reacted to the news. Read more...

Whether it's the end of an embargo or fairer distribution of wealth, most of our Observers, from Havana to Ramallah, are hoping for something from Barack Obama. Read more…

Mike Huckabee and the floating crucifix...

This year's race to the White House has seen the most aggressive and expensive election campaigns in history, with video clips taking shape as the best weapons. Here's our selection of the best...

A group of Californian campaigners is using France as a model society on the evolution of the family. Their aim: to get gay marriage banned in a referendum on Tuesday, US election day. And yet, it seems that they misinterpreted the findings of a French report. Read more and watch the campaign clips...

UPDATE (6 Nov. 08 10am): Proposition 8 was passed after 52% of voters supported the ban on same-sex message. As a result, over a thousand gay-rights activists demonstrated in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

In a video for his classmates, a 10-year-old schoolboy interviewed Joe Biden about the job of vice-president. Happy with the Democrat's response, fifth-grader Damon Weaver exclaims "Senator Biden is now my homeboy!" See the video.