From Uncle Tom to Uncle Sam: a jubilant Democrat delegate, dressed
head-to-foot in the Stars and Stripes

Today the United States of America is celebrating its Independence Day. But at 237 years old, Uncle Sam is actually relatively elderly. Here are the four young whippersnappers of international relations:

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Interpol is hunting the Turkish surgeon Yusuf Sonmez, ‘Dr Frankenstein’, who fled detention in Istanbul

Kosovo organ trafficking scandal widens

EU prosecutors to  investigate if key government figures were involved

Arban Dervishi, the son of Pristina's prominent urologist Lutfi Dervishi attends the trial at the district court in Pristina for his trial on organ trafficking charges

Five jailed over Kosovo organ-trafficking ring

Poor eastern Europeans were promised large payments for kidneys and then abandoned

Serbian President asks for pardon over Srebrenica massacre

The Serbian President has apologised for the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, saying he was on his knees and “asking for a pardon” for Europe's worst atrocity since the end of the Second World War.

Kosovo deal paves way for Serbia to join the EU

Serbia and its former province of Kosovo struck a historic accord to settle relations, potentially setting Belgrade on the path to membership of the European Union – in a major milestone in the region’s recovery from the collapse of Yugoslavia.

Serbia to reject EU's deal over Kosovo recognition

Serbia said today it will reject an EU-brokered deal for Kosovo and will ask for more negotiations with ethnic Albanian leaders.

Death toll from Swiss Menznau shooting rises to five

A man wounded in a February shooting at a wood-processing company in central Switzerland has died — bringing the death toll to five including the suspected attacker.

Not in our name: Demonstrators against the Iraq war, in London on 15 February 2003

Have the lessons of Iraq really been learnt?

Over a million of us marched 10 years ago against the invasion, to no avail. A leading opponent suggests how to avoid similar mistakes

Kosovo's Arta Dobroshi starred in the Dardennes brothers' The Silence of Lorna.

Brits absent from European Shooting Stars at the Berlin Film Festival

Daniel Craig and Carey Mulligan have scooped the accolade in past years

Editorial: No votes are to be had in Syria

Almost two years on from the first protests against Bashar Assad's regime, in late January 2011, Western leaders, David Cameron among them, are desperate for the civil war in Syria to end. Deeply hostile to the regime in Damascus, but alarmed by the growing prominence of al-Qa'ida supporters in the ranks of the opposition, they yearn for Mr Assad to go before the Islamists become unstoppable.

In the search for justice in the former Yugoslavia, are we ignoring the Serbian victims of war crimes?

Serbia is to blame for the vast majority of atrocities committed during the 90s wars in the Balkans, but Serbs were also murdered and expelled from their homes

Flash point: Aleksandar Kolarov

Now Kolarov is caught in race storm

Police probe Manchester City's Serbian defender after apparent row with fan brandishing an Albanian flag

Ex-Kosovo PM Ramush Haradinaj cleared of war crimes

A UN war crimes tribunal in the Netherlands has acquitted the former prime minister of Kosovo and two of his former Kosovo Liberation Army comrades for the second time on charges of murdering and torturing Serbs and their supporters in Kosovo's war for independence.

Postcard from... Belgrade

When I visited Borko's 15th floor flat in Belgrade, I commented on the stunning view from his rooftop terrace. He laughed: “Yeah it was a great spot to watch the Nato air raids too.”

August 12, 2012: LeBron James of the United States dunks during the men's basketball gold medal game against Spain

Basketball: US 'Dream Team' (2012 edition) defend their Olympic title against Spain

United States 107 Spain 100: Kevin Durant scored 30 points to lead the Americans while LeBron James had 19 and Kobe Bryant 17

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end