Donald Macintyre

Just caught up with this. Springsteen nails it as only Springsteen can.

This is a great piece.

$1 Billion in Cash Buys a Permanent Seat on Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’

The NYT, leading on the $1bn "fee" for joining Trump's "Board of Peace", understandably airs speculation that it "could even be aimed at creating a U.S.-dominated alternative to the United Nations Security Council."

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/w...

Full text: Charter of Trump’s Board of Peace No mention of Gaza, which bolsters ToI's reporting that US also envisions panel helping resolve other conflicts worldwide; member countries must pay $1 billion for permanent spot

This reads like a spoof but if it's authentic, and I'm told it is, it's gobsmacking.
www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-ch...

This intro to David Frost's Telegraph column sums up so much that is wrong with British politics.

Iran in Crisis: Time for a Change from Within | International Crisis Group Once again, Iran is experiencing nationwide upheaval and, as on past occasions, the state has responded with brute force. This time, however, U.S. threats of military intervention create additional da...

Three days is a long time in geopolitics right now but this from earlier in the week still worth a read.
www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-...

This is a devastating film on every level

whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online/defau...

Tehran morgue videos show the brutality of Iran's crackdown on protesters Distressing footage reveals nearly 200 bodies with one victim identified as young as 16.

This, like so much else emerging from Iran, is horrifying.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Amid the ruins It has been ten years since I was in the rapturous audience for the highlight of Gaza’s first film festival – a glossy feature about Mohammed Assaf and

Jonathan Dimbleby, in his new introduction to his and Don McCullin's 1979 "The Palestinians" observes “a growing tendency to regard what they used to consider a fine nation in peril from multiple enemies as a rogue state under demonic leadership”
www.the-tls.com/politics-soc...

Stop calling Iranian protesters ‘foreign‑backed’ – they’re not puppets As Iranians, particularly the women, risk everything for freedom, too many in the West prefer conspiracy theories and scepticism to solidarity – and are repeating the language of the regime they claim...

Yes! Salutary, this.
www.independent.co.uk/voices/iran-...

Israeli and foreign banks block aid to Gaza, pushing donors into crypto Several Financial Institutions Fear That the Money Will Reach Terrorist Organizations and Are Legally Obligated to Prevent This

This seems to explain why HSBC, the biggest British bank and one of the top ten in the world, blocked modest donations to individuals in Gaza who I have known and worked with for 20 years and have absolutely nothing to do with Hamas.
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

An, exemplary, human being, in every way.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, visits the community of the Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza City, ahead of Christmas Mass he will deliver there.

lpj.org/en/news/pres...

Marco Rubio Stands by Cuts That Killed Hundreds of Thousands of People

Marco Rubio Stands by Cuts That Killed Hundreds of Thousands of People

‘A Chilling Assertion’: Trump Officials Falsely Claim Citizens Must Carry Immigration Docs to Prove Their Status

“There is no legal requirement that US citizens carry papers or have proof of their citizenship on them,” said an attorney at the ACLU Northern CA.

www.commondreams.org/news/bovino-...

The FT notes that delusional claims about London from Trump, Musk and others are having a reputational impact.

The paper points out the capital's murder rate is a third of that in Berlin, a quarter of New York's, and 5% of that in Washington DC

Just seen “It was just an accident” Jafar Panahi’s brave and riveting film bringing in the most human of ways to the screen the brutal repressiveness and corruption of the Iranian regime and the courage of "ordinary" Iranians who oppose it at such personal cost. Definitely my movie of 2025.

ICC 'in limbo' as chief prosecutor's fate uncertain ahead of member states assembly UN inquiry into allegations against Karim Khan missed October submission date with no explanation as key annual meeting by International Criminal Court's governing body due to begin

Maybe someone can explain why it isn't seriously irresponsible for the ICC to let this drag on for so long.

www.middleeasteye.net/news/icc-lim...

Barred from Gaza for 2 years, international journalists are still fighting for access Israel's Supreme Court has again pressed the government to explain why, more than two years into the war, it still bars independent journalists from entering Gaza.

This is about the best breakdown on the restrictions of foreign reporters into Gaza, and how outlets like NPR report the conflict: with the excellent, tireless work of our Palestinian reporter, Anas Baba.

www.npr.org/2025/11/25/n...

Gaza : au moins 345 personnes tuées depuis la mise en œuvre du cessez-le-feu du 11 octobre, selon le ministère de la santé local Le ministère de la santé de la bande de Gaza a rapporté mardi que 17 corps (trois nouveaux morts, 14 corps récupérés des décombres) sont arrivés dans les hôpitaux du territoire palestinien au cours des dernières vingt-quatre heures.

🚨🚨🚨 La #LDH dénonce la persistance de frappes israéliennes sur les populations civiles #gazaouïes malgré l’accord de cessez-le-feu. Le #génocide doit cesser et la justice être rendue aux victimes, pour qu’une paix durable puisse enfin se construire.

Academic boycott of Israel persists despite Gaza cease-fire, report finds A Report by Israel's Association of University Heads Found That European Academic Institutions That Cut Ties With Israel After October 7, 2023, Have Yet to Restore Them, With a Quarter of the Boycotts...

This is good for no one.

European academic boycotts of Israel have intensified despite the Gaza cease-fire, with a new report warning they risk sending Israeli academia into "dangerous isolation

www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

the price of populism

Nigel Farage's racism denials are dishonest, says ex-classmate Peter Ettedgui tells the BBC Nigel Farage targeted antisemitic abuse at him when they were teenagers.

Peter Etedgui, a Jewish former classmate of Nigel Farage, says he is angered by Reform leader claiming his recollection of racist bullying is untrue. Two former classmates bsck Etedgui's challenge to Farage's (partial) denial among 20 who recalled Farage's conduct then
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Yesterday, millions of voters refused to go along with the cruelty of the Trump regime.

They repudiated the formula Trump and his billionaire backers have used to distract and divide us.

Democrats must build off of this moment. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-true-test-of-our-progress

Train company LNER 'extremely proud' of rail worker in critical condition after mass stabbing as family call him 'hero' The "extraordinary bravery" of the LNER worker who intervened during the train mass stabbing attack on Saturday has been hailed by his company.

I’m sure Matt Goodwin will be along shortly to tell us all whether LNER Customer Service Host Samir Zitouni counts as British or not. news.sky.com/story/train-...

The Taliban have gutted Afghan media since taking control of the country in August 2021.

HRW's @fereshtaabbasi.bsky.social details the harsh conditions and growing challenges journalists are facing in Afghanistan ⤵️

Trump gave Amazon a $16 billion tax break to accelerate its investments this year.

Now, Amazon will replace 600,000 workers with robots as Jeff Bezos accelerates his plan to automate warehouses.

No. Corporate tax breaks do not trickle down to workers. Never have. Never will.

The timing is accidental but this revised edition has just gone on online. www.amazon.co.uk/Gaza-Prepari...

Greater Manchester Muslims show solidarity in wake of synagogue attack The Manchester Council of Mosques and the Anwaarul Haramain Jam’e Masjid have released statements.

quite right.
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...

Manchester Council of Mosques have issued this statement in sadness, shock and solidarity with the Jewish community about this attack at the synagogue in Manchester

Palestinian statehood is the bare minimum - what Starmer needs to do next Every diplomat knows there is a menu of options if the Government chooses to enact them

A thought or two on what might follow the latest multilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood
inews.co.uk/news/world/p...