4 d. ago How to fight a fascist state – what I learned from a second world war briefing for secret agents | Zoe Williams

You can forget the advice on disguises, secret codes and spreading propaganda by dropping leaflets in train carriages. But there is something for us all here about the need for actionThe SOE Syllabus was a series of lectures given to prospective secret agents in Britain during the second world war. These “lessons in ungentlemanly warfare” were released from the top secret bit of the Public Record Office (now known as the National Archive) and published as a historical curio in 2001, when my esteemed colleague John Crace picked out the sillier bits in one of his Digested Read reviews. There was a whole lecture about how to craft a disguise, in which people with sticky-out ears were advised to use glue to pin them back.But now, 24 years later, I have picked up the book with a graver purpose – just on the off-chance that if we end up having to resist a fascist state, the past might have something to offer. They won’t know everything, these ungentlemanly gentlemen, being as they didn’t ...

Politics

2 w. ago 'World War Three will be on us if we don't fight dictators like my hero mother did'

Violette Szabo was a crack British agent who fought against the Nazis before being captured and executed. Her daughter has issued a heartfelt message as war rages again in Europe

Events

2 w. ago Trump makes rare admission of Musk’s conflicts of interest after Pentagon visit

President says plans for potential war with China would not be shared with billionaire due to his business interestsUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump said on Friday that plans for possible war with China should not be shared with Elon Musk because of his business interests, a rare admission that the billionaire faces conflicts of interests in his role as a senior adviser to the US president.Trump rejected reports that Musk would be briefed on how the United States would fight a hypothetical war with China, saying: “Elon has businesses in China. And he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that.” Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Tiny California town's fight for the right to exist as locals go to war with Elon Musk's DOGE executioners

San Francisco Presidio Trust responded to Donald Trump's executive order as the fight against Elon Musk's DOGE cuts continues.

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3 w. ago Voices: Jaw v war: How Starmer can fight Trump’s tariffs – and not take a beating

The EU has retaliated over US tariffs on steel and aluminium – but should the prime minister follow suit, asks Sean O’Grady

Politics

3 w. ago New Canadian PM Mark Carney vows to fight US trade war ‘until Trump shows respect’

Mark Carney hit out at Donald Trump for trying to ‘destroy the Canadian way of life’ as he vowed to ‘fight’ and win the US trade war

Politics

last month China vows it will ‘fight to the end’ with US in trade war – or any other war

Wolf warrior-style comments mark China’s strongest rhetoric on US president Donald Trump since he entered the White HouseChina’s ministry of foreign affairs has promised that China will “fight to the end” with the US in a “tariff war, trade war or any other war”, marking China’s strongest rhetoric on US president Donald Trump since he entered the White House.On Tuesday, in response to Trump imposing an extra 10% tariff on Chinese goods, taking the cumulative duty to 20%, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: “Exerting extreme pressure on China is the wrong target and the wrong calculation If the US has other intentions and insists on a tariff war, trade war or any other war, China will fight to the end. We advise the US to put away its bullying face and return to the right track of dialogue and cooperation as soon as possible.” Continue reading...

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