The Iconoclast

If Trudeau and Freeland respond reflexively to fluctuations in the infection rate, engage in unlimited spending and remain at war with whole regions of this country over nebulous fluctuations in the weather, our economy will tank by Conrad Black The country awaits a throne speech next week ...Read More...

British drama students are unhappy with George Bernard Shaw’s offstage opinions. by Theodore Dalrymple Students at Britain’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art have demanded that the name of its theater be changed. At present, it is named for George Bernard Shaw, who left a portion of his royalties ...Read More...

by Hugh Fitzgerald Bahrain’s Interior Minister has explained that his country has not forgotten the Palestinians, but is determined, through its new ties to Israel, to strengthen Bahrain’s security against Iran. The story is here. The interior minister of Bahrain said on Monday that the ...Read More...

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...