Category: Europe
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A letter from Kyiv
CN: war, trauma When I woke up on 24 February, I was expecting a day like any other. I’d have breakfast, make coffee, and head to work. I’d smile at our customers, trade anecdotes with my colleagues, call my friends and family to ask them about their plans for the upcoming weekend. “Maybe we can…
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Invasion or not, Russian imperialism is a threat to Ukraine
ANALYSIS Whispers of another Russian invasion of Ukraine began to swirl when Russian troops posted along Ukraine’s border reached 100 000. Earlier this week the number was estimated to have reached at least 130 000. Today, Russia’s defence ministry announced its plans to withdraw some of its troops from the border; words that are yet…
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‘The Tories are overthrowing democracy’: an interview with Britain’s new socialist party
INTERVIEW When Corbynist Labour lost their second election in 2019, many socialists were left scratching their heads. Jeremy Corbyn, the man whose feverish popularity among hardline socialists had seen him survive the party’s greatest antisemitism crisis in decades, was gone. As the nationalist right bathed in its post-victory hubris, it was socialists who were left…
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‘We cannot afford to be onlookers’: Holocaust survivor recalls horrors of genocide, and warns of repeated failures
CN: the Holocaust, genocide, antisemitism, torture, trauma, war INTERVIEW As the world marks 77 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, the dwindling number of Holocaust survivors becomes more and more apparent. With it, the burden of responsibility to preserve and honour the truth of what happened to Europe’s Jews falls on allies and those among…
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The Nationality and Borders Bill is a threat to human life
OPINION A moral and ethical debate has been stirred across the UK in the wake of the Nationality and Borders Bill that passed the House of Commons in December 2021 and is currently in the Committee Stage in the House of Lords. The bill drastically redesigns the UK’s asylum system by implementing catastrophic barriers for…
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‘The PRC must know it will pay for its crimes’: calls mount for diplomatic boycott of Winter Olympics in Beijing
CN: genocide, torture, genocide denial INTERVIEW In just over a month’s time, Beijing will attempt to pull off its biggest PR stunt yet when it welcomes the world’s athletes to its Winter Olympics in February 2022. Ostentatious ceremonies, bright lights and smiling faces will play their familiar role in dazzling audiences through their television screens.…
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International leaders play dubious role in Bosnia’s ethno-nationalist terror
ANALYSIS As Bosnians look towards the new year, the list of challenges facing their country grows ever longer. Despite 26 years of peace-building by war survivors and activists, actors both within and without the country threaten to tear its fragile peace apart. EU officials appear to dither on imposing sanctions against the country’s far-right secessionist…
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On Islamophobia, enlightened France is spoilt for choice in the 2022 election
CN: Islamophobia, xenophobia OPINION Don’t be misled by the French liberal outrage at Eric Zemmour. The foundations of his presidential campaign, swollen with the pus of supremacist yearnings and anti-Muslim intent, were laid long ago when a dangerous rhetoric was co-opted by the very voices now denouncing his campaign. The process of legitimising some of…
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‘It’s about seeing who will die first’: Hong Kong’s students await freedom from CCP
CN: police violence INTERVIEW The summer of 2019 in Hong Kong saw an explosion of protests, defending the city’s autonomy that had become threatened by the overarching arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Awakening the political conscience of a new generation of students across the region, this marked a turning point for Hong Kong’s…
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The French far right has never been stronger in my lifetime
CN: xenophobia, Islamophobia OPINION Out of sheer curiosity, I opened YouTube and watched Eric Zemmour’s campaign video for the 2022 presidential elections. Filled to the brim with nostalgia for a France that never was and apocalyptic warnings, the Beethoven symphony playing in the background was at least soothing. Ten minutes is a long time, especially…
the scroll 