She returned to the Netherlands with this assurance, won a seat in parliament and became a tireless advocate for women, for civil society and for reason.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, abandoned to fanatics

For this reason, Iranian civil engineers are interested in using it in structures as diverse as dams and sewage pipes and are working on improving it.

ECONOMIST: Bunker-busting

Look at history, and you can see the religious left at the heart of America's great social-reform movements, from the fight against slavery to the New Deal to the civil-rights movement (for some reason, Prohibition is usually left off the list).

ECONOMIST: Can the Democrats close the God gap?

Clearly so, but then Mr Clinton and his legal aides presumably fear that any straightforward admission of perjury, suborning perjury or obstruction of justice would leave the president open to criminal indictment, quite apart from giving Paula Jones added reason to seek the revival of her civil case alleging sexual harrassment.

ECONOMIST: The president carries on

Does she stand to gain financially from a conviction (by filing a civil suit), and if so, is there reason to think that she is the sort of person who would bring a false criminal charge for that reason?

CNN: Can Kobe Bryant be convicted on 'he said/she said' evidence alone?

It's one reason why he's introducing a plan for civil service reform, including greater accountability for the top officials in government departments.

BBC: Cabinet Office has no records of obstructive officials

For some reason it took 10 years for South Asia's most efficient civil service to notice that anything was awry.

CNN: Going Nowhere

One reason why Anson Chan, Hong Kong's chief secretary, or senior civil servant, left her job in April last year was her belief (though never stated publicly) that the proposed ministerial system would lead to the politicisation of the civil service.

ECONOMIST: Five years in China | The

One reason why many people distrust nuclear power is because they believe it is impossible to separate civil reactors from weapons-grade fissile material.

BBC: Sellafield saved - for now