And why they keep losing.

Why are the IRGC agents allowed to hold then captive in Australia?

From Maziar Bahari: While comparing Khamenei 2.0 to his dead father, it’s important to remember that Ali Khamenei rose to power in 1989, at the age of 50, after 25 years of cultivating an image as an unworldly cleric, mainly interested in poetry and philosophy rather than political power. Even his fiercest critics recognise that…

From Maurice Black – How Ireland’s Anti-Israel Obsession Became a Case Study in Collective Intellectual Dishonesty. Long article. An extract. In a polarized environment, complexity is the enemy. The history of Jewish indigeneity to the Levant, the existential threats faced by Jews and by Israel, and the complex nature of the conflict have all become…

Thread from Hannah Barnes on the banning of cross-sex hormones for under-18s. England has – for a period at least – ended the medical transition of children on the NHS. This puts a stop to 20+ years of practice. (The former Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service [GIDS] referred 16 year olds for puberty blockers from…

If, as we’ve heard, Labour’s proposed new “anti-Muslim hostility tsar” aims to crack down on Islamist extremists, wouldn’t it make more sense to appoint a tsar directly charged with tackling Islamist extremism, rather than this Islamophobia-by-another-name nonsense? Rakib Ehsan at UnHerd: Considering that the new cohesion strategy is clear on Islamism being the UK’s most…

Iranian Australians tried to stop the bus, but the police held them back. Added: Five members of the Iranian women’s football team have taken refuge in a safe house in Australia following their elimination in the Asian Cup, sources have told the BBC. The women had been due to fly home, but supporters had raised…

Letter to the Prime Minister from Chris Moran, who’s resigning from Labour over the jury trial business. Letter to the Times: Sir, As retired judges, chairs and former chairs of the Bar and the Criminal Bar Association, we disagree with the replacement of judge and jury trials with judge-only trials for a wide range of…

London, in the hours just before sunrise or just after sunset. Photographer Chris Dorley-Brown, from his book Near Dark: Brown Bow 2019 © Chris Dorley-Brown Bromley by Bow 2009 © Chris Dorley-Brown Spitalfields 2019 © Chris Dorley-Brown Bethnal Green 2020 © Chris Dorley-Brown Queenhithe 2020 © Chris Dorley-Brown Spitalfields 2019 © Chris Dorley-Brown Blackfriars 2021…