At the beginning of this week, Kenyan author Binyavanga Wainaina made news around the world by coming out in an article first published by Africa is a Country and then by The Guardian. After the articles were spread, Wainaina became, in the words of the BBC, "one of the most high profile Africans" to disclose that he was gay.

The Kenyan's decision to write publicly about his sexuality was inspired, in part, by Nigeria's Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, which was signed into law earlier this month. Wainaina has since tweeted: "private pains of so many africans jamming my inboxes. deaths, beatings, public shames, blackmails, overnight jail cells. betrayed love."

The law is a throwback to the days of the country's military dictatorship, and makes it illegal for gay people to even hold a meeting. It criminalises gay clubs, associations and organisations, and threatens those involved with them with 14 years in prison. And if you don't report "suspected homosexuals", you could receive up to five years in jail yourself. The law also states that anyone who "directly or indirectly makes [a] public show of [a] same-sex amorous relationship in Nigeria commits an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a term of ten years in prison".

I want to apologize for this space being blank for quite some time. I actually spent the bulk of the last two days on a long blog post about the "Dr. V." story in Grantland. But then I got all the way to the end, and realized I was completely wrong about the entire thing.

So, I spiked my own piece. Now I've been in Talk Radio-style "This is totally dead air, Barry" territory for about two weeks. I could swear I saw a cobweb when I logged on this morning.

So thank God for Neel Kashkari, and the news that this goofball footnote caricature of the bailout era has decided to run for Governor of California. Never in history has there been an easier subject for a blog post.

If you don't remember Kashkari's name, you might be excused - he was actually better known, in his 15 minutes of fame five years ago, as "The 35 year-old dingbat from Goldman someone put in charge of handing out $700 billion bailout dollars."

Now you remember. That guy! Neel Kashkari when he first entered the world of politics was a line item, usually the last entry in a list of ex-Goldman employees handed prominent government and/or regulatory positions, as in, ". . . and, lastly, Neel Kashkari, the heretofore unknown Goldman banker put in charge of the TARP bailout program . . ."

Some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it, the BBC has learnt.

Listeners have told Radio 4's Money Box they were stopped from withdrawing amounts ranging from £5,000 to £10,000.

HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of the change in policy, which was implemented in November.

The bank says it has now changed its guidance to staff.

Prince Charles may be preparing the ground to become a more outspoken and controversial monarch than his mother as the House of Windsor gets its "gentle succession" under way, constitutional experts said yesterday.

The heir to the throne is expected to take on more of the 87-year-old Queen's duties, including overseas visits, as part of a slow convergence of their roles which this weekend saw the announcement of the merger of their press offices into a single "seamless" operation.

The move was accompanied by briefings that Charles would be expected to do "less of his campaigning" as he increasingly stands in for the head of state at official events and prepares to assume the mantle of monarch.

But royal sources yesterday held out the prospect of a different approach by underlining that the Queen and her eldest son were from "very different eras" and leading constitutional experts pointed out that the prince is under no obligation to follow his mother's example in studiously avoiding expressing controversial opinions throughout her near 62 years on the throne.

Modern British monarchs have habitually adopted a position of political neutrality because of their constitutional power to call for the formation of a government. The present queen has gone further and stayed out of public debate on nearly every topic.

Colin Talbot, professor of government at Manchester University said: "This is a constitutional convention which can be changed by the simple fact of a monarch doing things differently. There is nothing written down which says the monarch cannot express opinions. Charles could quite simply be a more outspoken monarch.

"We have got very used to Elizabeth II saying nothing controversial but having a monarch who stays quiet on such matters is a very post-1945 phenomenon. Her predecessors certainly were more prepared to express opinions. It may also be difficult for Charles to stop behaving as he is used to."

The extent of the risks faced by migrant construction workers building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been laid bare by official documents revealing that 185 Nepalese men died last year alone.

The 2013 death toll, which is expected to rise as new cases come to light, is likely to spark fresh concern over the treatment of migrant workers in Qatar and increase the pressure on Fifa to force meaningful change. According to the documents the total number of verified deaths among workers from Nepal - just one of several countries that supply hundreds of thousands of migrant workers to the gas-rich state - is now at least 382 in two years alone. At least 36 of those deaths were registered in the weeks following the global outcry after the Guardian's original revelations in September.

The newest venue at Davos - the Swiss ski resort where hundreds of heads of state and CEOs are spending the week to discuss business and the state of the global economy - is an architectural bauble with an unusually loud symbolism for the high-level conference: it's a giant fortress chalet in the shape of a golden egg.

Enveloped by 790 gold-colored undulating bands of steel and overlooking Lake Davos, the new Intercontinental Davos is an architectural stunner. "It's like a luxury space ship has landed in this tiny town," John Newton of Conde Nast Traveler raved in November, a month ahead of its opening. Designed by the Munich-based firm Oikios and engineer Seele to reflect the feel of a chalet, the 216-room hotel features all the amenities found at Davos's other luxury hotels, but will be the first hotel in town with its own helipad.

It also comes surrounded by barbed wire, security cameras, and motion sensors: during the World Economic Forum, a spokesman told Bloomberg that the hotel will play host to 7 world leaders and dozens of CEOs. Rooms, which are fully booked and normally go for around $720 per night, are likely to command prices multiples higher during the WEF. In a video, a Bloomberg reporter asks the general manager how much the rooms are likely to be. He snaps back, "I can't tell you."

Never let it be said that Pope Francis doesn't know how to bring the battle to the battleground. In an address to the CEOs and assorted financial hangers-on gathered this week in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual World Economic Forum, he admonished that "modern business activity," for all its virtues, often has led to "a widespread social exclusion."

He continued, "Indeed, the majority of the men and women of our time still continue to experience daily insecurity." In the speech read by a proxy, he observed that the business community often fails to take into "the dignity of every human person and the common good. I am referring to a concern that ought to shape every political and economic decision, but which at times seems to be little more than an afterthought."

The pontiff's words largely replicate the critique of capitalism in his apostolic exhortation last November. ("Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless.") What was special this time around was the audience and its setting, the faintly ridiculous yearly financial glamorfest of Davos.

The new mayor of New York City has told members of the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that part of his "job description is to be a defender of Israel."

Bill de Blasio, who took office on January 1, made the remarks during an unannounced speech at an AIPAC gathering on Thursday, The New York Times reported.

According to the Times, reporters were denied attendance and even a reporter who tried to attend the gathering was escorted away by security guards.

Blasio, who faced sharp criticism from reporters, has said the organizers of the event did not want any journalists to attend the gathering.

The AIPAC is the most powerful pro-Israel lobby group in the US that has recently intensified its anti-Iran efforts on Capitol Hill in order to convince US senators to co-sponsor a new sanctions bill against Iran.

As he's done umpteen times before, President Obama is kicking an important issue over to Congress. The last time, it was whether to bomb Syria. Now it's about how the National Security Agency should conduct surveillance and under what rules. The NSA's supporters on Capitol Hill are not happy.

In his speech last week in support of most NSA programs, Obama left open such critical issues as how the NSA should collect telephone metadata - perhaps the most controversial part of its surveillance program - saying the two solutions proposed by his own special task force last month were problematic. He asked Attorney General Eric Holder and the intelligence community to "report back to me with options for alternative approaches." Obama added, "I will consult with the relevant committees in Congress to seek their views and then seek congressional authorization for the new program as needed." He also said he has "taken the unprecedented step of extending certain protections that we have for the American people to people overseas."

The National Security Agency's program collecting records on virtually all U.S. phone calls violates the law, according to a government privacy board.

In a 238-page report released Thursday, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board calls for an end to the program, saying it has never stopped a terrorist attack and threatens the privacy of millions of Americans.

The report is yet another blow to the controversial program, which was first revealed by Edward Snowden last year.