US president’s attempt to control or dismantle cultural institutions plays into a long history of authoritarians using arts to push their agendaIn 1937, leaders of Germany’s Third Reich hosted two simultaneous art exhibitions in Munich. One, titled the Great German Art Exhibition, featured art viewed by the regime as appropriate and aspirational for the ideal Aryan society – orderly and triumphant, with mostly blond people in heroic poses amid pastoral German landscapes. The other showcased what Adolf Hitler and his followers deemed “degenerate art” (“Entartete Kunst”). The works, chaotically displayed and saddled with commentary disparaging “the sick brains of those who wielded the brush or pencil”, were abstract, profane, modernist and produced by the proclaimed enemies of the Reich – Jewish people, communists or those suspected of being either.The Degenerate Art exhibition, which later toured the country, opened a day after Hitler declared “merciless war” on cultural disintegrati...

Politics

The crown prince sees Hamas as a regional threat, and may propose a deal that risks sidelining PalestiniansSaudi Arabia has suddenly experienced a diplomatic awakening after lukewarm engagement with the conflict in Gaza. Today, leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will gather in Riyadh to discuss Donald Trump’s proposal for a US takeover of Gaza. (Keen to be viewed as a global deal maker, Saudi Arabia will also be hosting negotiations over Ukraine this week.)Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was alarmed by Trump’s outrageous “Riviera plan” to reconstruct Gaza following eviction of its people to neighbouring countries. Alongside Arab leaders, he hopes to propose an alternative plan with the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem its capital at its core. The crown prince has insisted that there will be no normalisation of Israel without a Palestinian state.Madawi al-Rasheed is a fellow of the British Academy and a visiting professor at the Midd...

Politics

A young academic travels to Iraq to help a British Asian who joined IS at 15, in this rollicking account of a UN deradicalisation programmeQuestions around our individual and collective beliefs, and the consequences of holding them close to our hearts, form the basis of Nussaibah Younis’s stinging and entertaining debut novel. Nadia is a lecturer in criminology at UCL whose latest academic article on Islamic State brides has garnered global attention. Now the UN has its eyes on her. Her research, which asks questions such as, “What’s the appropriate punishment for IS brides who didn’t commit any violent crimes?”, “Can we detain people just because of their beliefs?” and “Should we try to change their beliefs?”, takes her to Iraq, where she’s tasked with leading a UN deradicalisation organisation: UNDO. But, she discovers, “half the UN doesn’t believe in deradicalisation”.Escaping a “juvenile heartbreak” and a strenuous relationship with her mother, Nadia arrives in Baghdad with...

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The Scottish Labour leader said he would do ‘whatever it takes’ to reduce waiting times for patients in the NHS.

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Reform leader contradicts Trump rant, saying ‘you shouldn’t always take things Donald Trump says absolutely literally’Nigel Farage has contradicted his ally Donald Trump, saying Volodymyr Zelenskyy “is not a dictator” after the US president’s attack on the Ukrainian leader this week.Farage, who became one of the last UK party leaders to distance himself from Trump’s remarks, said he had been delayed in calling it out earlier because he was heading to the US to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Continue reading...

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US Vice President JD Vance branded his boss the "President of peace" - but warned European leaders they will only keep America's friendship if "we take our societies in the right direction"

Events

Dismissal of case against Eric Adams reflects new directive for prosecutors to toe line on White House’s policiesEmil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, moving with ruthless efficiency last week to dismiss the corruption case against the New York mayor, Eric Adams, appeared to reflect the new praxis at the justice department where Trump’s political agenda will guide prosecutorial decisions.The department filed the motion to dismiss on Friday with the signatures of Bove and two trial attorneys – the public integrity section’s senior litigation counsel Edward Sullivan and the acting head of the criminal division Antoinette Bacon – that cemented the decision. Continue reading...

Politics

The US president’s support for forcibly relocating Palestinians has laid the ground for Netanyahu’s ultimate fantasyWhen President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to Hamas last week to release all hostages by noon on 15 February, warning that otherwise “all hell [will] break loose”, the Israeli right was ecstatic. Here was a chance to finally move ahead with the complete occupation and annihilation of the Gaza Strip. The families of Israeli hostages were petrified about the prospect of the ceasefire collapsing, yet members of the ruling coalition called to kill the deal. “We have international support, give the order!” demanded the Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.But the order never came. Hamas abided by the agreement and freed three hostages; Israel then released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Trump shrugged and said that it was Israel’s decision. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, who visited Israel on Sunday, signalled that the direction of travel is not towards resuming h...

Politics

As one of the last female-run stations in the country is silenced, a former broadcaster gives an inside view of the crackdown on women working in the mediaWhen the Taliban began marching towards cities across Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, Alia*, a 22-year-old Afghan journalist, found herself doing some of the most important work of her short life and career.In the weeks leading up to the Taliban takeover in August, Alia’s voice on the radio became familiar to many in northern Afghanistan. She reported on the withdrawal of foreign troops, the siege of government offices and on the detention of former officials in her province. Above all, Alia reported on the situation for women and their fears and concerns – emotions she was experiencing herself. As the Taliban gradually began imposing restrictions on them, Alia was documenting history repeating itself. Continue reading...

Politics

After more than 100 days at the helm of a faltering Tory party and a string of high-profile gaffes, Kemi Badenoch's leadership is facing growing doubts. Do you think she has what it takes?

Politics

Sir Keir Starmer takes lead in pledging to deploy UK forces to Ukraine

Politics

The Reform leader and Kemi Badenoch have struck the wrong alliances at the wrong time. Ukrainian sovereignty is a cause close to rightwing heartsTiming is everything in politics. So when the leader of the opposition realised she was due to be making a speech heaping praise on Donald Trump, just as the president plunged her own country into a national security crisis, you might think even she would have hesitated.But seemingly nothing can keep Kemi Badenoch from a culture war, not even the threat of an actual war. So, at a rightwing conference in London on Monday morning, she duly ripped into corporate diversity policies, climate activism, Keir Starmer taking the knee four and a half years ago, and various other imagined threats to western civilisation that are not forcing Britain to consider deploying troops against them, before concluding triumphantly that when people ask her what difference a change of leader makes, her answer is, “Take a look at President Trump.”Gaby Hinsliff is ...

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Austin and London Roar in Protest Against Trump's Controversial Gaza Takeover Plan  Hoodline

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