The Iconoclast

by Theodore Dalrymple As I write this introduction to Brian Lee Crowley’s book, the full effects on the western world, both economic and social, of the COVID-19 epidemic have yet to be revealed, but there is already no shortage of calls for a thorough change in economic and social models. The ...Read More...

by Hugh Fitzgerald While Emiratis have been enthusiastic about their government’s decision to normalize relations with Israel, and a dozen agreements to collaborate have already been announced, between Emirati and Israeli universities, research institutes, and businesses, in Bahrain the popular ...Read More...

by Michael Curtis In a broadcast on October 1, 1939, Winston Churchill spoke of Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” The same comment has been made about the individual who began life as Ioseb Jughashvili and evolved as Soso and Koba, into Joseph Stalin. In his new book, ...Read More...

From Radio France International An MP from President Macron’s centrist LREM party led a walkout after a student union leader appeared for a parliamentary inquiry hearing wearing a hijab. But when Maryam Pougetoux, leader of the main students’ union, Unef, appeared in a hijab for a hearing at the ...Read More...

Walking out in early autumn sunshine. The hips of a wild rose.  ...Read More...

Joe Biden is not a political bumblebee, he is a lumbering guided-missile whose engine has failed. by Conrad Black I have railed in this and in other outlets many times in recent months against what I have described as a pantomime horse of the Democratic campaign conducted by a “decayed servitor, ...Read More...

Kenneth Hanson discusses the latest archaeological evidence and the recent history of its finding. ...Read More...

by Hugh Fitzgerald Hezbollah is now, and has been for several decades, the most powerful political and military force in Lebanon. Yet it is also, following the Beirut bast for which it was entirely responsible, at the nadir of its popularity among the Lebanese. It is suffering financially, too, ...Read More...

From The Indian Express and Vanguard Omar Farouq was convicted in a Sharia court . . for using foul language while talking about Allah during an argument with his friend . . .  in Kano State in northwest Nigeria... Kano is among the 12 Nigerian states that practice the Sharia law along with the African ...Read More...

The annual Vanenburg meeting of the Center for European Renewal was online this year. Below is Theodore Dalrymple’s 24-minute speech from the porch of his French country house addressing the topic of human rights. ...Read More...

Probably not, but some Democrats are trying. by Conrad Black In the torrid final weeks of the long presidential campaign, the unique confluence of legal, procedural, and constitutional initiatives to alter the electoral process has been publicly glimpsed only occasionally. These are all activities ...Read More...

by Hugh Fitzgerald The imam of Mecca’s Grand Mosque has given a hint that Saudi Arabia may be moving toward normalization of ties with Israel. The story of his unusual sermon is here. The imam of Mecca’s Grand Mosque appeared to hint at normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia in a ...Read More...

by Michael Rectenwald Reading the news, one might come to believe that US higher education has devolved into nothing more than a “social justice” indoctrination camp and that any deviation from the orthodoxy is impermissible. And one would be right. The American academy, once deemed “the ...Read More...

by Hugh Fitzgerald We are all familiar with the blasphemy charges that, in Pakistan as in some other Muslim states, can lead to a death sentence. Such charges are often brought by those who have a private score to settle, or for some other reason want to punish the entirely innocent person they’ve ...Read More...

From the Express and Star A roadside bombing has targeted British diplomatic vehicles in Baghdad, the British Embassy and Iraqi officials said. There were no injuries but the attack fuelled concerns over armed groups outside of the state’s control. The attack targeted an embassy convoy on a ...Read More...