Since the explosion in Beirut I’ve listened repeatedly to the song Ya Beirut (Oh Beirut) by the Lebanese diva Majida al-Roumi, while obsessively reading the news and checking on extended family members – like any other expatriate Lebanese. The song, which was originally a poem by the Syrian poet NizarContinue Reading
If we look at a map, the world appears neatly organised into a patchwork of states. They are clearly named and have clear borders. Yet, a closer looks reveals a much more complicated picture. Across the globe, groups are in various stages of claiming and gaining independence and recognition. AsContinue Reading
Knife crime is at record levels across the UK. SpeedKingz/Shutterstock Knife crime hit a record high in England and Wales before the COVID-19 lockdown came into place – with police reporting 46,265 cases for the year to March. The recent report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said thisContinue Reading
At the time of writing at least 100 people have lost their lives and a further 4,000 have been wounded following an explosion in the Port of Beirut. While the actual cause remains uncertain, the tragedy calls to attention the tremendous consequences of a lack of port security. The explosion,Continue Reading
Visitors in 2018 at the Dark Hedges in Northern Ireland, used as a filming location for Game of Thrones. Nick Fox/Shutterstock Fan tourism has been on the rise in recent years, as people seek out sites featured in the books, TV series or films they feel a connection with. InContinue Reading
Alexander Lukashenko, the longest-serving leader in the former Soviet Union, will seek re-election as president of Belarus on August 9 for the sixth time since 1994. But amid the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have attended rallies to show their support for Lukashenko’s opponents – including Svetlana Tikhanovskaya,Continue Reading
Reflection has taken place in isolation during lockdown but coming together is vital to deal with what we have lost. EPA/Facundo Arrizabalaga At the end of July, the charity Marie Curie UK launched a campaign for a national day to “reflect, grieve and remember” the thousands of people who haveContinue Reading
Among the raft of changes following the UK’s coronavirus lockdown in March 2020 was the closure of pubs – an integral part of British cultural life. While the 1990s heyday of pubs is long gone, they remain unique spaces where people can meet in a familiar environment and feel connectedContinue Reading
Several hundred people assembled in London’s Hyde Park in July 2020 to protest rules making face masks mandatory in shops and supermarkets to help control the spread of COVID-19. This was not an isolated event. Similar protests have occurred in many places around the world in reaction to the prospectContinue Reading
There are two sets of people who nobody has really wanted to challenge. Jewish and KKK … Red Necks are the KKK and Jewish people are the Law … Work that out. This was one of the weirder recent tweets from the grime artist Wiley which caused outrage and resultedContinue Reading
