20 June

The ones that stayed behind Stefan Simanowitz on the untold story of human shields in Iraq

Drawing back the curtain Wherever he has found himself - with the freedom fighters in the mountains of northern Iraq, as a prisoner in an Iranian jail, and now filling a whole room at the Imperial War Museum - Osman Ahmed has always gone on drawing. He spoke to Amanda Sebestyen about his passionate journey to make his art bear witness for the hidden people of Kurdistan

A different picture An American soldier walks into a mosque, aims at an injured civilian and shoots, killing the man instantly. This is television news report number one. In the second report a military unit enters a mosque and patches up the wounded. Then a second unit arrives and speaks to the civilians. One man isn't responding and fearing the man's booby-trapped body will explode if he touches it, the soldier shoots the man in self defence. You don't have to be an expert in media studies to recognise the handiwork of networks with irreconcilable editorial positions in the presentation of this news item. The first was broadcast by Al-Jazeera Arabic, the second by the American Fox News Channel. How do we know which one is 'true'? And how should journalists go about their job of reporting in a situation such as Iraq? Claire Davenport spoke to western and Iraqi journalists to gauge some of their views on how the media is reporting the Iraq war and occupation

February 15, 2003: The day the world said no to war Phyllis Bennis argues that while the day of mass protest did not stop the war, it did change history

Egypt: The revolution is alive Just before the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, Emma Hughes spoke to Ola Shahba, an activist who has spent 15 years organising in Egypt

Workfare: a policy on the brink Warren Clark explains how the success of the campaign against workfare has put the policy’s future in doubt

Tenant troubles The past year has seen the beginnings of a vibrant private tenants’ movement emerging. Christine Haigh reports

Co-operating with cuts in Lambeth Isabelle Koksal reports on how Lambeth’s ‘co-operative council’ is riding roughshod over co-operative principles in its drive for sell-offs and cuts in local services