Reading November’s spending review, local leaders will be left with many questions. They “live to fight another year” perhaps, but uncertainty surrounding local government finances continues. Local authorities will see their core spending power boosted by 4.5% in cash terms over the next year. This avoids disaster, but will meanContinue Reading
PERO studio/Shutterstock.com Leo* is a 22-year-old living in Edinburgh. He was working part-time in hospitality and waiting to begin university when we spoke during the UK’s nationwide lockdown earlier this year. Like many young people, the pandemic had significantly affected Leo financially. Furloughed and unable to access overtime as heContinue Reading
More than a quarter of Muslim members and supporters of the Labour Party have experienced Islamophobia within the ranks of the party, a report from the Labour Muslim Network (LMN) claims. With some members or supporters being referred to as “terrorists” or “foreigners”, others have been accused of plotting toContinue Reading
The insidious problem of online violence against women journalists is increasingly spilling offline with potentially deadly consequences, a new global survey suggests. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of female respondents to our survey – taken by 1210 international media workers – said they had experienced online abuse, harassment, threats and attacks. AndContinue Reading
When I picture Syria, the first thing I see in my mind’s eye are the statues of the late Syrian president, Hafez al-Assad, in military attire – there’s one in almost every square. But it’s not just statues in the urban spaces, this muscular image of the nation permeates popularContinue Reading
The UK is to withdraw from the European Arrest Warrant after the end of the Brexit transition period – currently scheduled for the end of 2020. The European Arrest Warrant is a framework designed to make it easier for European Union nations to transfer people to either face prosecution orContinue Reading
The decision of Hong Kong’s opposition legislators to resign en masse after the government disqualified four of their colleagues on allegations of threatening national security has caused dismay around the world. But another important resignation in Hong Kong, a couple of months ago, received less media coverage. In September, AustralianContinue Reading
A wave of knife attacks in France has come amid a government crackdown on what President Emmanuel Macron has described as “Islamist separatism”. The killings, in particular the killing of history teacher Samuel Paty in the Paris suburbs, sparked demonstrations in France, but in some Muslim countries, there have beenContinue Reading
When Fox News called the state of Arizona for Joe Biden, it sent shockwaves through Donald Trump’s campaign team. Since 1952, the state had only voted for a Democrat nominee once before. But as the counting in the state moved into its final stage the narrow nature of Joe Biden’sContinue Reading
During the COVID-19 emergency, contact with others for many of us is conducted through windows. We talk through them but also use them to display our hopes, emotions and frustrations. The windows on my own terraced street have become a gallery of rainbows, thank-yous to diverse workers, climate worries, BlackContinue Reading
