3 h. ago ‘It’s something that happens’: are we doing enough to save Earth from a devastating asteroid strike?

With close encounters due in 2029 and 2032, space scientists are getting to grips with an existential threatIt is a scenario beloved of Hollywood: a huge asteroid, several miles wide, is on a collision course with Earth. Scientists check and recheck their calculations but there is no mistake – civilisation is facing a cataclysmic end unless the space rock can be deflected.It may sound like science fiction, but it is a threat that is being taken seriously by scientists. Continue reading...

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3 h. ago Are we doing enough to save Earth from a devastating asteroid strike?

With close encounters due in 2029 and 2032, space scientists are getting to grips with an existential threatIt is a scenario beloved of Hollywood: a huge asteroid, several miles wide, is on a collision course with Earth. Scientists check and recheck their calculations but there is no mistake – civilisation is facing a cataclysmic end unless the space rock can be deflected.It may sound like science fiction, but it is a threat that is being taken seriously by scientists. Continue reading...

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9 d. ago America is sleepwalking into another unnecessary war | Eli Clifton and Eldar Mamedov

Here we are, on the brink of another Middle East conflict with Iran – one that was entirely preventableAs the United States inches closer to direct military confrontation with Iran, it is critical to recognize how avoidable this escalation has been. “We knew everything [about Israel’s plans to strike Iran], and I tried to save Iran humiliation and death,” said Donald Trump on Friday. “I tried to save them very hard because I would have loved to have seen a deal worked out.”As two of the last analysts from an American thinktank to visit Iran, just three weeks ago, we can report that Iran’s own foreign ministry and members of the nuclear negotiating team were eager to work out a deal with Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, and showed no indication they were interested in slow-walking talks. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago 250 days on hunger strike: Can Laila Soueif secure her son’s freedom? – podcast

Who is Alaa Abd el-Fattah and why are British diplomats trying to obtain his release? Patrick Wintour reportsLaila Soueif, 69, has been on hunger strike in London for more than 250 days in an effort to secure the release of her son, the activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, from jail in Egypt. As diplomatic pressure mounts, she is now in a critical condition.Alaa’s sister Mona Seif describes to Michael Safi the toll that imprisonment has taken on her brother, her mother’s determination to do whatever she can to secure his release, and the difficulty of coming to terms with her mother’s decision to risk her life. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Voices: I went on hunger strike to save my wife – why won’t Starmer help Laila Soueif like he helped us?

While Richard was sitting hungry and cold on the London pavement, he had a visit from Keir Starmer, then leader of the opposition. Days later, he called Nazanin – on house arrest in Tehran – and committed to do what he could to help get her home, recall Richard Ratcliffe and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

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3 w. ago Laila Soueif’s survival despite nearly 250 day hunger strike is a ‘miracle’, says family

Laila Soueif, 69, is currently at St Thomas’s Hospital suffering from extremely low blood sugar levels as she protests the imprisonment of her son

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3 w. ago Exclusive: Emily Watson urges Keir Starmer to ‘save’ mother of jailed activist on 245

Emily Watson has appealed to Sir Keir Starmer to intensify efforts to “save” the mother of an imprisoned British-Egyptian activist who has been on hunger strike for more than 245 days.

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3 w. ago Jailed activist’s mother says she is prepared to die on hunger strike as she reaches nearly 250 days

“Don’t let my death be in vain,” the 69-year-old said

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3 w. ago Mum of activist jailed in Egypt 'miraculously' alive on day 247 of hunger strike

Laila Soueif, 69, stopped eating on September 29 last year after her British-Egyptian son, Alaa Abd el Fattah, was due to be released after more than a decade in an Egyptian jail cell

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3 w. ago Must Laila Soueif die from her hunger strike in London before her son Alaa Abd el

Egypt’s lack of respect for the rule of law is alarming and Britain should impose sanctions to ensure his freedomUK should impose sanctions on Egypt over jailed activist, says Helena KennedyLaila Soueif is one of the most determined people I know, and for that reason, she is in grave danger. The grandmother, 69, is lying in a hospital bed in central London, perilously close to death after 245 days on hunger strike. She could still survive, but it will depend on the UK government taking strong action.Soueif stopped eating to try to save her son, the imprisoned British-Egyptian national Alaa Abd el-Fattah, an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience and winner of the 2024 English PEN writer of courage award. He has spent more than a decade in an Egyptian jail cell because of his writings on democracy. Soueif wants more than anything else to reunite him with his own son, 13, who lives in Brighton and has barely been able to spend time with his father.Helena Kennedy KC is a Labour p...

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4 w. ago Mother of jailed British activist at risk of ‘sudden death’ from hunger strike, doctors warn

Laila’s daughter Sanaa said it was a ‘miracle’ her mother survived the night

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4 w. ago Mother of jailed British activist admitted to hospital while on hunger strike

Laila Soueif has been on hunger strike for 242 days in protest against the imprisonment of her son, Alaa Abd El-Fattah.

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