Allegations that the CIA set up secret jails in eastern Europe and elsewhere to interrogate al Qaida suspects today triggered a flurry of denials from governments in the former Soviet bloc and prompted European Union officials, the continent’s top human rights organisation and the international Red Cross to investigate.

PRIVATE Lynndie England, 21, was brought before a court in North Carolina this week to decide whether to court martial her for abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. She could face up to 38 years in jail.

RECENT press pictures showed hooded and blindfolded Afghans strapped to the bare metal floor of an aircraft with legs chained and an elaborate network of straps preventing them from sliding.

At least 10 Europeans were killed and 25 injured today when a powerful bomb destroyed a bus in Karachi, Pakistan.