World

Tuesday

Nathan Law

Beijing’s battle to crush Hong Kong’s final freedoms

The Apple Daily was born on 20 June 1995. Its opening editorial was a statement of intent, setting out its stall for what was to follow. ‘We belong to Hong Kong,’’ the paper wrote. ‘We are a newspaper for Hongkongers… If Hong Kong falls, we are not going to survive.’  From this bold start, few would have predicted that the newspaper could face closure just two and a half decades later. This Friday, the board of Next Digital Limited, the parent company to Apple Daily, will decide whether to close the newspaper’s operation after suffering the full force of Beijing’s financial might. The signs are not encouraging. The paper’s owner Jimmy

Jim Lawley

Spain’s pardoning of Catalan separatists may backfire

In one of his adventures on the highways of 17th-century Spain, Don Quixote encounters a gang of prisoners ‘manacled and strung together by the neck, like beads, on a great iron chain’. Undeterred by Sancho’s protestations that these are criminals on their way to serve as galley slaves in just punishment for their crimes, Don Quixote, declaring that it is his duty as a knight errant to provide ‘succour for the wretched’, fights off the guards and frees them. In something of the same spirit, Spain’s prime minister has just announced a pardon for Catalan separatist leaders. Nine politicians, serving sentences of up to 13 years for offences including sedition,

Katja Hoyer Katja Hoyer

The politics of Germany’s Stasi archives

‘Oh please… not the letters I sent to my mum,’ sighed the East German pastor Gernot Friedrich as he randomly pulled pages out of the 3,000-page file. Since January 1992, Germany has attempted a unique experiment in addressing its own past: anyone can request to view their Stasi file. Founded in 1950 as the Socialist party’s ‘sword and shield’, the Ministry for State Security, better known as the Stasi, spent its 40-year existence gathering information about real and imagined political opponents. It created one of the most comprehensive police states in the world, dwarfing even the Nazi’s infamous Gestapo. Where the latter operated at around one officer to 10,000 citizens,

James Cowan

Why were my colleagues murdered?

Two weeks ago, the charity I run suffered the greatest loss of life in its 33-year history. The Halo Trust was founded in Afghanistan in 1988 following the Soviet withdrawal. On witnessing the devastating impact of landmines and unexploded bombs on the population, two British soldiers set up an organisation to train young men of fighting age how to clear mines and ordnance. Since then, Halo has cleared 850,000 landmines from 24 provinces in Afghanistan, and almost 14 million mines and other explosive items worldwide. With support from Britain and other nations, Halo had been able to employ as many as 3,500 Afghan men as deminers. Many of these men joined

Andrew Tettenborn

Prepare for the EU’s ‘Hamilton moment’

The EU may boast a common currency like any other state (even if nearly a third of its 27 members do not use it). It may also have, through its regulatory jurisdiction over banks and financial services, a vast say in the running of the financial system throughout the bloc: powers at least comparable to those of a federal government such as that in Canada or Australia. But there is one thing the EU has not yet managed to get: a unified tax system.  Any attempt seriously to impinge on national tax laws still requires unanimity among member states. This irks Euro-federalists.  One reason is that it draws the centre

Monday

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Euro 2020: The joy of Dutch names

Netherlands: 3 Macedonia: 0 — Ukraine: 0 Austria 1  What’s your favourite name for a Dutch politician? I always liked Rita Verdonk, because she sounds like a bit of a goer, I don’t know why. But then there’s Wim Kok — the fleeting dream of a penis. How about Lewd Rubbers? Or was it Rude Lubbers? All their decent politicians are either under permanent house arrest, murdered or forced to flee the country. Who’d be Dutch, huh? They’re through, having beaten Macedonia (none of this ‘North’ nonsense here: Grow up, you Greeks). The first Dutch goal should not have been allowed because it began with a lunging foul on Alexander the

Jonathan Miller Jonathan Miller

France’s silent majority has rejected Macron – and Le Pen

I popped down to the Salle du Peuple on Sunday to see how the voting was going in the departmental and regional elections. Although I’m no longer a municipal councillor – à cause de Brexit – and am no longer required to help invigilate the polling, I thought I’d take the temperature. Which was frosty. The French have a reputation for strong participation in elections, but not this time. By the time the votes were tallied, the winner was clear. Abstention won by a landslide. Two-thirds of my commune’s voters stayed at home, reflecting the national turnout. It was the lowest participation in at least 25 years and a vivid illustration of

Jonathan Sacerdoti

What’s the real reason Israel’s vaccines were rejected by Palestinians?

Sipping an iced coffee in a Tel Aviv café this week, it felt like it was 2018 again. Nobody wears a face mask, tables are close together and there’s no hand gel in sight. Very few people one meets even talk about Covid-19. Though a tiny increase in the occurrence of the Indian variant has been noted in recent days, Israel is rightly proud of its vaccination and mass immunity success. It is therefore surprising that Israel’s offer to advance over one million Pfizer vaccines to the Palestinians has been rejected by the Palestinian Authority only hours after they initially accepted the deal. Many countries are still grappling with the ethical

Gabriel Gavin Gabriel Gavin

How Russia lurched from vaccine victory to Covid crisis

Russia made headlines last August when it triumphantly unveiled its pioneering coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V. But now, nearly a year on, it has a more dubious claim to fame – as the anti-vax capital of the world. For months now, sparkling clean pop-up clinics offering jabs to the public, with no appointment needed, have been open for business in shopping centres and food halls across the country. With three domestic formulas approved and millions of vials in reserve, there is no shortage of doses for anyone who wants one. And yet, Russians just aren’t signing up.  New data from research giant Morning Consult, based on 75,000 weekly interviews with people

Tim Ogden

Inside the city under Russian siege

Had I been on the pier just a few days earlier, strolling past the penny arcades, I would have heard the distinctive whompf of Russian artillery fire. Ukrainian politicians are keen to turn the city of Mariupol (population 440,000) into a resort akin to those in Crimea and Turkey. Yet despite the pleasant climate, it feels more like Port Talbot than a subtropical holiday spot. The vast industrial limbs of the city’s deep water port, built by Tsar Alexander III in the 1880s, crawl across the horizon. By the time the Azov Sea reaches the town, its clear blue waters have been tinged a muddy brown. Ukraine’s most recent casualties

Sunday

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Euro 2021: Even Italy’s reserves are looking good

Italy 1 (Peroni, or Ciao, or something) Wales 0 Switzerland 3 (Albanian Gnome 2, Bosnian Gnome) Turkey 1 (Who cares?) Gallant Wales got themselves outplayed by Italy’s reserves but still go through to the next round, courtesy of not being thumped as badly as the Swiss were when they played Italy’s first team. Switzerland will probably go through too – so everybody’s happy, apart from the Turks. And that’s the kind of world I’d like to live in. One in which the Turks are embittered and taught a lesson and everyone else has a smile on their face. The Welsh knew it was about keeping the ‘goals against’ column down,

Steerpike Steerpike

Pope puts EU founder on the road to sainthood

To many in Brussels, the French statesman is already a saint. But now Pope Francis has decided to put Robert Schuman — the foundering father of the European Union — on the path to sainthood. A decree has been issued by the Vatican recognising his ‘heroic virtues’, the first step in the formal process of canonisation. Two miracles now have to be attributed to him in order for Schuman to achieve full sainthood — a task that might prove difficult given the EU’s track record. Schuman began plans for a Council of Europe in 1948 during his final days as Prime Minister of France, establishing a long-standing tradition of late-career politicians securing new European sinecures. And it’s

Saturday

Mary Dejevsky

Biden and Putin have left Britain out in the cold

It would probably be wrong to say that Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin got on like a house on fire. But the results of the Geneva summit, which observed all the rules of Cold-War era summitry – from the venue to the formality of the arms-control and confidence-building agenda – far exceeded the deliberately doom-laden forecasts. In the space of around four hours at the Villa La Grange, the leaders of the United States and Russia effectively normalised relations that for the best part of four years had been bouncing around at rock-bottom, and dangerously so. The Russian and American ambassadors are returning to their capitals, working groups are being

Friday

David Patrikarakos David Patrikarakos

The dark past of Iran’s new presidential favourite

‘Each vote counts…come and vote and choose your president. This is important for the future of your country.’ These were the words of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this morning as he urged people to make their voices heard in today’s presidential election. Each vote doesn’t count, of course. The regime makes sure of that. Iran ‘manages’ its elections. This year, 600 people registered as candidates, now only seven remain. The unelected Guardian Council, which consists of 12 ‘jurists’ (clerics), is responsible for ensuring all candidates are compatible with ‘Islamic values’.  What this means is that it can disqualify pretty much anyone it doesn’t like, and the real reasons

Dominic Green Dominic Green

1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything

16 min listen

In this week’s edition of The Green Room, Deputy Editor of The Spectator’s world edition Dominic Green and co-host Arsalan Mohammad take a look back half a century to 1971, a year currently being explored in a magnificent eight-part documentary series on Apple+ TV. The series goes deep into that epochal year’s music and social upheavals around the worldand is highly recommended. However, Dom and Arsalan soon veer off into a debate on nostalgia, the whys and wherefores of the corporatisation of rock music, the astonishing impact of Black artists such as Marvin Gaye, Sly Stone and James Brown versus the pomp-rock of West Coast hippies like Crosby, Stills, Nash

Thursday

Steven Barrett

Is the EU breaching its UK treaty by failing to protect LGBT rights?

Has the EU Commission lost any sense of moral value? This week, Hungary, an EU member state, voted to impose bigoted and oppressive laws on its LGBT citizens. This amounted to a clear breach of many of our domestic laws – and it is a breach of the shared Human Rights laws. Yet the EU’s response has been dismal. Is it time for Britain to show solidarity with LGBT Hungarians – and walk away from its treaty with the EU? The EU Commission said it is aware of what is unfolding in Hungary and that:  ‘When protecting children from harmful content it is important for member states to find the right balance

Matthew Lynn

The EU’s debt bondage expansion

In the global market for government debt, worth an estimated $92 trillion (£66 trillion), it amounts to little more than a drop in the ocean. The European Union this week issued the first €20 billion (£17 billion) of bonds to pay for its Coronavirus Rescue Fund. The money itself doesn’t amount to very much one way or another. And yet, the Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen was surely right when she described it as a ‘truly historic day’. Why? Because, the Commission is already using it to seize control of fiscal policy, just as it used vaccine procurement to take control of health policy. Its enthusiasts have already hailed the

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

How Les Bleus united France by not taking the knee

For those who lean to the right and live in France, Tuesday night was magnificent. Not only did Les Bleus open their European Championship campaign with a 1-0 victory against Germany, but their boys defied expectation by not taking the knee before kick-off. The build-up to the match had been overshadowed by an announcement on Monday by the team captain, Hugo Lloris, that France would follow England and Wales in taking the knee. Cue 24 hours of controversy. On social media, in TV studios and in the National Assembly it was ‘La question du jour’. Should they or shouldn’t they? The issue proved as divisive in France as it has in

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The new leviathan: the big state is back

‘In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem,’ proclaimed Ronald Reagan in his inaugural speech as American president. Forty years on, the leaders of the G7 have reversed this mantra. In Cornwall last week they declared that the government, and more specifically its $12 trillion of economic support, had not only been the answer during the pandemic but would continue to be the answer during the recovery. They committed ‘to support our economies for as long as is necessary, shifting the focus of our support from crisis response to promoting growth into the future’. It would have been quite possible for leaders