“It really looks like Mordor,” Greta Thunberg said this past weekend as she gazed down upon a vast, open-cast coal mine in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. The Swedish climate activist had joined over 6,000 fellow demonstrators in an attempt to prevent the village of Lützerath from being swallowed up by expansion of the mine. Their defences were bricks, tree branches and tall wooden tripods placed in roads; in one widely-shared clip a “mud wizard” robed in a hooded brown cloak appeared to taunt police officers trying to pull their boots loose from the water-logged ground. Down in the mine’s scarred crater, meanwhile, the teeth of a giant circular digger cut ever further into the earth. The comparison to The Lord of ...

The NEU, the UK’s largest education union, announced this week that teaching staff will strike over seven days in February and March in a dispute over pay. Much has been written already about the impact this will have on students’ learning, especially after years of disruption due to lockdowns. Many teachers and school leaders have responded that students’ learning is already affected every day by underfunding, overly ambitious targets and data crunching, the pressures of Ofsted and league tables, an ever-increasing workload and a demoralised, diminishing workforce. The problem is that the NEU’s demand for an above-inflation pay rise won’t actually solve any of the above problems. Of course, pay can be seen as a reflection of value, and extra money in ...

The passage of the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill has started a multi-dimensional scrap between Westminster and Holyrood. One aspect is the substantive changes of the act, and the debate around trans rights. Then there is a drier, more technical, but equally important constitutional conflict. Though the act would only apply to Scotland the UK government feels that its effects would be felt beyond those borders. Differing gender recognition regimes within the United Kingdom would mean similar people being treated differently depending which jurisdiction they fall into, with implications for UK-wide law. If the Scottish act comes into force, English and Welsh people would require a diagnosis of gender dysphoria to live as their assumed gender, while Scots would not. People between ...

This article was originally published on 4 July 2022. It has been republished in light of the news that teachers across England and Wales will take strike action on seven dates in February and March 2023. “Sir, not you as well”, cried Kaihan. “That’s five of my 11 teachers.” I had just told my Year 10 English class that I, like so many others, will not be returning to the classroom in September. I’ve been teaching for five years, having trained through Teach First (a charity that develops and supports teachers) shortly after graduating from university, and have ostensibly ticked a lot of boxes in my short time in the classroom: my classes’ grades are good, I get on well with my ...

In November, Benjamin Netanyahu regained power in the fifth Israeli election in under four years by partnering with far-right and religious parties. Many warned about the dangers of the new coalition – some partners hold extreme racist, homophobic and Jewish supremacist views – for Israel’s already fragile (and some would argue, questionable) democracy. Indeed, since the government was sworn in at the end of December, it has been busy living up to the reputation that preceded its existence. Netanyahu’s new-old Israel is one of authoritarian lurch. Dominating the headlines are sweeping reforms to the justice system that the coalition is proposing in the name of protecting democracy and fighting “judicial activism”. These changes would limit the power of Israel’s Supreme Court ...

This weekend saw a horrific shooting take place in London. An attacker injured six by firing a shotgun from a car outside St Aloysius Church, near Euston. Those shot were attending a memorial service for a mother and daughter.   One of the shooter’s victims was a seven-year-old girl, who is now in hospital. The Metropolitan Police said it arrested a 22-year-old man for attempted murder. Authorities described the shooting as a "senseless" act and asked the rhetorical question of who could do such a thing.   This morning’s reporting appears to suggest a reason: violence between criminal gangs, in this case related to the Colombian Cali cartel. One of the two women mourned at the memorial service, Fresia Calderon, the mother of Sara Sanchez, used to be married ...

In Sweden it’s a new year with a new-ish government, but many of the same problems remain. Particularly when it comes to gang violence. Though the country set a dark record in 2022 – with more than 60 people killed by guns – 2023 hasn’t seen much in the way of improvements. A spate of attacks over the New Year’s period and in the first week of January has resulted in further fatal shootings and destruction caused by explosives set off in the suburbs of Stockholm. None of this is new for Swedes. The Nordic nation has long been grappling with surging gun violence, largely related to the organised crime networks operating throughout the country. What is newer is the political ...

The headline from GB News couldn’t be clearer. “JK Rowling’s name REMOVED from Harry Potter novels over ‘transphobic’ views”. It’s a bold claim that did its job: the reaction to a tweet promoting the article was foaming outrage – the usual, tedious back-and-forth in this familiar battle in the culture wars with added indignation. To be clear, JK Rowling’s publishers are not removing her name from the Harry Potter book series. The world's best-selling living author is still a brand with value to booksellers. In fact the only person officially removing JK Rowling’s name from JK Rowling’s books is JK Rowling, who publishers her popular “Strike” crime novels under a pseudonym. Here’s what’s actually happening. A young Canadian artist and Potter fan ...