The US is planning a future in which pilotless drones do the killing, remotely controlled. It looks and plays like an Xbox game, but it’s for real. It may not defeat its intended enemies, though.

The global market for drones was worth around £4.4bn in 2009, the lion’s share of which (70%) went to US companies such as Northrop Grumman and General Atomics.

This month the UN will publish the findings of its inquiry into Israel’s possible war crimes in Gaza in 2008-9. These are unlikely to lead to legal proceedings, so there are calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions to force Israel to comply with international law

America is waking up to the reality of peak oil and climate change. In California there are very different responses to the crisis: some pin their hopes on new technology, while others advocate a radical change of lifestyle.

The world economic meltdown was foreshadowed in many countries by food riots, protests against unemployment, government ineptitude and failure to address the needs of the poor. That anger and fear may outlive the end of the current crisis

France’s new anti-delinquency bill has challenged the 1945 edict that set up the nation’s social security system and established a separate legal regime for minors. Nicolas Sarkozy has clearly aimed it at young people of immigrant origin concentrated in the problem banlieues.