On 13 January, Mark Zuckerberg announced the appointment of Dina Powell McCormick as president and vice chairman of Meta. Powell McCormick — who previously served on Meta’s board of directors and was a key advocate for deeper ai integration across the company’s platforms — brings an extensive background as a senior finance executive. Her appointment,… Continue reading The silent coup of American public discourse
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) remains one of the most debated and scrutinised federal agencies in the US. Established in 2003 under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 following the 11 September attacks, ICE consolidated immigration enforcement and customs investigative functions previously housed in the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the US Customs… Continue reading The current state of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement — ICE
The conflict between Venezuela and the United States is not a conventional war, but rather a prolonged political, economic and diplomatic standoff rooted in ideological differences, contested elections, sanctions policy, energy geopolitics and regional security concerns. Over the past decade, tensions have intensified, eased at moments and then resurfaced—particularly around Venezuela’s electoral legitimacy, US sanctions,… Continue reading Oil, sanctions and sovereignty — the ongoing conflict between Venezuela and the United States
An email from the Gita Bhavan Hindu Temple brings far-right Hindutva organising in the UK into question On the 10th of May 2026, a prominent Manchester mandir sent an email to its mailing list advertising an event that took place twenty days later, on the 30th of May. Alarmingly, it said the event was being… Continue reading VHP-linked Hindu temple in Manchester lists event “Sponsored by Bajrangdal”
In the way it is being played in England and across the UK, contemporary politics has almost become something unreal to many people. The complaint of the sceptics and the wide disillusionment about the current premiership of Keir Starmer is that politics, politicians and promises mean nothing to many. For some, it is a game… Continue reading Farage’s warnings and Starmer’s fears — Britain waits for vindication
A reaction to being kettled and reflection on the authoritarian turn of the British state through policing It produces a horrible feeling. Animal instincts and feelings swell up as you are trapped in an enclosed space by other animals. They form a tight circle around you and slowly constrict that circle, coming closer to you,… Continue reading The kettle and the cage —rising authoritarianism in the UK
At a time when the vocabulary of the progressive left feels hollowed out and political participation continues to decline, a handful of figures are trying to reverse the slide. In today’s shifting political landscape, progressive voices are redefining what it means to advocate for social change. Two leaders at the forefront of this movement are… Continue reading TwoFaces of the New Progressive Politics — Zohran Mamdani and Zack Polanski
Around the fifth century BCE, in ancient China, one notorious commander declared that “all warfare is based on deception”, and ultimate success purely stems from tactics of evasion and subtlety. The work which this quote has been acquired from, The Art of War, is attributed to Sun Tzu; however, by 1469, the year Niccolò Machiavelli… Continue reading The art of the prince — Machiavelli and the endurance of deception
I was on the toilet when I first became acquainted with Zohran Mamdani. I wasn’t reading an article or listening to a campaign speech, but rather I was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. Despite initially swiping up, it was perhaps the warmth of his smile I had glimpsed for a half second that compelled me to… Continue reading How Mamdani reeled me in
Throughout 2025, mostly thanks to the film A Complete Unknown hitting cinemas and a further exploration of his career, there has been a rekindling of interest in Bob Dylan. A whole new generation of youngsters has discovered that nasally voiced, mysterious Jewish boy who roamed Greenwich Village in the folk clubs and coffeehouses all those… Continue reading The politics of Dylan
