The Middle East on the brink - New Statesman
WEB2 days ago · On 21 August the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced that it had completed its operations in Rafah, the last remaining Hamas stronghold. The army began to move from the southern to the northern front. One option was to test Hezbollah’s claim that it would follow a ceasefire in Gaza with one of its own.
Lebanon braces itself for what comes next - New Statesman
WEB1 day ago · Monday was Lebanon’s deadliest day in nearly two decades. Lebanese authorities said the Israeli strikes killed at least 569 people, including 50 children, and injured 1,835. The number killed in one day was almost half of those killed in the entire 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. “The past two days were harder than …
The intolerant age - New Statesman
WEB2 days ago · Edward Skidelsky, a senior lecturer in philosophy at Exeter, launched the Committee for Academic Freedom in February 2024. He was alerted to a new censoriousness in 2019, when a student told him about an incident: “He had been on his own in his room talking on the phone to a friend, in the course of which he had said….
In Britain, free speech dies in darkness - New Statesman
WEB2 days ago · International Politics. Society. 25 September 2024. In Britain, free speech dies in darkness. In the pursuit of offence-less discourse, we are enabling a creeping censorship that denies us the power of free thinking. By Hannah Barnes. Illustration by Gary Waters / Ikon Images. Britain has a problem with free speech.
Joe Biden bids farewell to a world on the edge of war
WEB3 days ago · Biden himself has infuriated other leaders by blocking efforts at the UN to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, and reports suggest his White House knows that a ceasefire will not come before he vacates power. His boast that the US will donate mpox vaccines to the developing world will grate against the widespread anger at the West’s vaccine …
Volodymyr Zelensky takes his war to small-town America
WEB3 days ago · Volodymyr Zelensky understands that time and American political capital are not on his side. As the Ukrainian president arrived in the United States on 22 September, at the start of a critical week of diplomacy, he recorded a video message on board his plane. “This fall will determine the future of this war,” Zelensky said.
Will the new government change tack on Europe? - New Statesman
WEB4 days ago · The new EU entry-exit border system should come into force this November, with the risk of growing queues for travellers. And in 2025 and 2026, important decisions and agreements on data sharing, energy and fisheries will need revisiting, or else they will expire. The previous government chose to duck many of these difficult issues – but the ...