On Wednesday a Muslim army psychiatrist shot and killed 13 soldiers at the Fort Hood military base in Texas. Our Observer Ernesto Haibi knew the shooter: he worked as a medic in the same base. He tells us about the killer's personality, and how security conditions in the camp may have allowed for this to happen. Read more...

On November 1 the streets of the Kosovan capital Pristina were crowded with people waiting to see one of their favourite icons, former US president Bill Clinton. During his visit, a three-metre-tall bronze statue was unveiled on a corner of the same street that carries his name. The bronze Clinton clutches documents with the date 24 March 1999 stamped on them, marking the day NATO began its bombing of Serbian posts in Kosovo. Read more and see the photos...

Political satire and Halloween often come hand in hand. Last year, one of the trendiest October 31 looks was undoubtedly that of Sarah Palin. As the US braces itself for a new Halloween season, one particular disguise has sparked an uproar: the “illegal alien” costume. Read more…

Obama reaffirmed his promise to repeal the US Army's ban on homosexual soldiers this month. But while gay activists across the country wait patiently for their right to serve in the army as openly homosexual, our Observer, a gay soldier who served in the sixties and seventies, explains why Obama needs the backing of Congress to fulfil his promise. Read more...

Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz weren’t expecting anyone but friends and family to watch when they posted a video of their wedding on YouTube.

It's never been a problem for older men to have a young woman hanging off their arm, but when it's the other way round, then toy boys have long been best kept a secret. Until now... "Cougar women" in the US are coming out of the dark and flaunting their younger boyfriends. The only problem is, everybody's laughing at them. Read more...

When a rancher from northwest Denver went looking for lost cattle a couple of weeks ago, he stumbled upon what appeared to be a mass of weeds in the middle of a state forest. In fact, it was a mass of weed - over 5,100 plants, weighing in at over a tonne. Read more...

The following video shows a 16-year-old being brutally beaten to death in a fight between two Chicago gangs. The shocking footage is far from rare - Derrion Albert is the 47th Chicago schoolchild to be killed in the city this year. Read more and watch the video...

Photo :"azrainman" on Flickr.

One of our Israeli Observers, Joel Schalit, sent us his analysis of the recent developments of the tough Iran-Israel negotiations. Read more...

One thousand protesters gathered outside the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Thursday. When they hurled bricks, police responded with a new, painful weapon: a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) used in Iraq and against Somali pirates. Read more...