The shock of an assassination attempt could heal deep divisions Fico exploited, but the omens are not promising, says author and broadcaster John Kampfner
“It is a total outrage that there are people who are attacking and looting these convoys coming from Jordan, going to Gaza to deliver humanitarian assistance,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
"We are looking at the tools that we have to respond to this,” he added. “We are also raising our concerns at the highest level of the Israeli government and it’s something that we make no bones about – this is completely and utterly unacceptable behaviour.”
I find the far-right fear-mongering over 15 minute cities is such a bizarre battle for them to choose to fight.
To the average voter, if you tell them that urban planners want to ensure more of the key amenities people need - GPs, schools, shops, parks, etc - are within walking distance of their home, they would tell you that's a great idea. Why on earth would anyone pick that as a thing to oppose, unless they're a moron or they're paid for by carmakers?
The designation could allow Germany's intelligence agency to surveil and investigate members of the far-right party. The AfD says it plans to appeal the ruling.
Human-rights lawyers hope to close some gaps in international law, whether by new agreements (some call for a special tribunal to prosecute Russia for aggression) or by existing courts extending their remit. They also want new curbs on ai and autonomous weapons. But they cannot hold back states bent on violence. Arrest warrants limit leaders’ international travel. But don’t expect to see Mr Putin in the dock.
So what is the point of the court battles? Lawyers offer three answers: to impose a reputational and perhaps economic cost on those who spill blood wantonly; to strengthen the negotiating hand of their victims in future diplomatic talks; and, at a minimum, to establish a credible historical record of atrocities. Confronted with an “epidemic of inhumanity”, Mr Khan has argued, the world must “cling to the law” more tightly. The unspoken danger is that, should he and others fail to curb the horrors, the law will collapse and there will be little left to hold onto.
Whilst my first preference is to see the Tories fade into obscurity, I do think that moderates like Street reclaiming their party (something that is probably almost impossible at this stage) would do enormous good for the quality of political debate and long-term policymaking in Britain.
A familiar horror reached Pooja Kanda first on social media: There had been a sword attack in London. And then Kanda, who was home alone at the time, saw a detail she dreaded and knew all too well....
The UK is a society where violent crime is pretty uncommon. The homicide rate in the UK was 1.0 per 100,000 population in 2023. That has been broadly trending downwards in recent decades, after rising during the late 20th century and hitting a peak at c1.8 per 100,000 in 2003. The US is a much more violent society: their homicide rate is around 6.4 per 100,000 population.
Killers are always going to find weapons - if you ban guns they'll find knives, if you ban knives they'll kill with something else. One difference is that a killer on a knife rampage is going to kill a lot fewer people before they're stopped than a killer with a gun. I guess killing with a knife is a more 'involved' act than just pointing a gun and clicking the trigger, so the bar for someone stabbing with a knife is probably a bit higher than killing from several metres away with a gun.
But part of it is a societal thing - my hunch is that (in relative terms) society in the UK and most other rich Western liberal democracies just instills in people an instinctively higher value on human life. You see it in US exceptionalism in use of the death penalty, the frequency of police killings, etc. I don't want to exaggerate the difference - the US still has far fewer murders than Colombia or South Africa or Brazil - but there are other Western countries like Canada or Finland where guns are still pretty widely owned (albeit not quite to the extent of the US) that don't have the same problem of violence as the US.
The homicide rate in the US is about 6-7 times that in the UK per 100,000 population. I'd take our situation any day of the week.
Last time I looked into this properly, knife crime in the US was actually roughly the same frequency as that in the UK. The difference is that knife-based murders stand out in the UK, whereas in the US nobody pays attention because the problem is dwarfed by the much greater problem of rampant gun crime.
The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to protect Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from a conservative coup, torpedoing an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to oust the GOP leader from the top job.
The PM has danced to their tune and the dreadful election results were the inevitable outcome. The solution can’t be more of the same, says the former Conservative MP Justine Greening
Labour: 1,158 councillors elected and control of 51 councils
Lib Dems: 522 councillors and 12 councils
Conservatives: 515 councillors and 6 councils
Greens: 181 councillors and 0 councils
Reform: 2 councillors and 0 councils
The way council elections work is that they're staggered over a four-year cycle. The places that voted this year were only in parts of England, hence no SNP or PC numbers. By my count, the total split of councils controlled by each party is now roughly:
Labour 116 (almost back to 2015 levels - Corbyn's leadership did a real number on Labour...)
Conservatives 58 (down from a recent peak of 197 in 2017)
Lib Dems 39 (up from 6 in 2015 and the now highest number they've controlled since the late 90s)
Greens 1
Reform 0
The rest are mostly No Overall Control (no party has a majority) or a few run by independents.
Somehow, from this, far-right Tories like Braverman have reached the bizarre conclusion that Reform are the electoral threat they need to worry most about...
Three councillors resign over Labour's ‘lily-livered stand’ on Gaza (morningstaronline.co.uk)
Whether Robert Fico survives and resumes office or not, Slovakia stands on the brink (www.theguardian.com)
The shock of an assassination attempt could heal deep divisions Fico exploited, but the omens are not promising, says author and broadcaster John Kampfner
Biden hikes tariffs on Chinese EVs, solar cells, steel, aluminum (apnews.com)
Climate change and inflation are both important, so we’re going to make it as expensive as possible to switch away from fossil fuels.
‘Total outrage’: White House condemns Israeli settlers’ attack on Gaza aid trucks (www.theguardian.com)
Protesters block convoy, throw food into road and set fire to vehicles at Tarqumiya checkpoint near Hebron
Maria Caulfield faces calls to refer herself to ethics adviser over false ‘15-minute city’ claims (www.theguardian.com)
UK health minister ‘spreading baseless claims’ by saying local council planned to restrict freedom to drive, say Lib Dems
Trading democracy for prosperity is a false choice for Indians (www.ft.com)
Modi’s government is popular despite the lived economic experience of people, not because of it
German court upholds AfD 'suspected' extremist status (www.dw.com)
The designation could allow Germany's intelligence agency to surveil and investigate members of the far-right party. The AfD says it plans to appeal the ruling.
How “judge-mandering” is eroding trust in America’s judiciary (www.economist.com)
The assignment of judges to cases should be random, not political
The world’s rules-based order is cracking (www.economist.com)
Human-rights lawyers are trying to save laws meant to tame violent rulers
Centrist Tories urge Andy Street to stand for parliament – and maybe one day for leader (www.theguardian.com)
One Nation moderates call on defeated West Midlands mayor to take ‘brand Andy’ to Westminster
Rise in UK knife attacks leads to a crackdown and stokes public anxiety (apnews.com)
A familiar horror reached Pooja Kanda first on social media: There had been a sword attack in London. And then Kanda, who was home alone at the time, saw a detail she dreaded and knew all too well....
Discussion thread - May 2024
The discussion thread is for casual and off-topic conversation that doesn't merit its own submission.
House blocks Greene’s resolution to oust Johnson (thehill.com)
The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to protect Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from a conservative coup, torpedoing an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to oust the GOP leader from the top job.
Weird, right? (lemmy.world)
How Michelin stars explain the world (www.ft.com)
The west’s relative loss of power is reflected in fine dining
Tories must face hard truths: Reform-lite wreckers like Braverman are why the public just don’t like us (www.theguardian.com)
The PM has danced to their tune and the dreadful election results were the inevitable outcome. The solution can’t be more of the same, says the former Conservative MP Justine Greening