World

Isis murder a homosexual man (but presumably it has nothing to do with Islam)

I see that Isis have begun the holiday season by ‘executing’ (or murdering) a man who they say was homosexual in Syria/Iraq. They did this in the traditional manner, by throwing him off a tall building and then stoning him to death. They have helpfully provided photos of the process online. An accompanying statement from Isis reads: ‘Following the example of Muslims Caliph Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq (ruled 632-634), the Islamic court in Al-Furat province sentenced  a man who performed acts of the people of Lot [i.e.,homosexual acts] to be cast off the highest place in the town and then stoned to death. Allah’s command [is valid] in both the past and the future.’

The Spectator at war: Fighting for peace

From President Wilson’s Message, The Spectator, 12 December 1915: We quite agree that it is the greatness and glory of America to be the true friend of all nations, to “threaten none, covet the possession of none, and desire the overthrow of none.” No ideal could be higher or better worth preserving. We also are entirely with President Wilson when he says that the American people should be specially proud of being the champions of peace and concord. But we would urge him and his fellow-citizens not to be content with general expressions, but, in America’s own vigorous language, to ” make good.” Americans must not feed themselves on the

Europeans no longer fear Germany. But do the Germans still fear themselves?

In the old Death Strip between East and West Berlin, which runs through the centre of the city, there is a graveyard full of German war heroes and a few war criminals too. From the Red Baron to Reinhard Heydrich, the best and worst of the German military are buried here. There’s also a mass grave full of civilians, killed by Allied air raids, and a memorial to the 136 East Berliners who died trying to cross the Berlin Wall — which ran through this cemetery. The Death Strip is still an empty space. Germany has been marking two anniversaries this year — one a celebration, the other a painful

Isabel Hardman

Ministers plan informal review of lessons learned from Afghanistan

British troops have now left Afghanistan, but the debate about the conflict itself and what happens next rumbles on. There have been a number of calls for a review of the conflict so that the government can learn lessons about what did and didn’t work – as well as what might happen next in the country, given there isn’t a great deal of confidence that the handover definitely heralds a new era of peace. I now understand that while there is currently no plan for a formal review or inquiry, ministers plan to hold discussions about lessons learned from the conflict as part of the regular National Security Council meetings

If you like The Godfather, you’ll love this

There can’t have been many trumpet players more nervous about their solo at the Albert Hall than the one who opened the performance there last night. His orchestral colleagues surrounding him on stage, a huge cinema screen hanging directly over his head, a full house waiting as the credits began to roll – and then he has to play the eight most famous notes in movie history. He utterly nailed them, five thousand spines tingled, and we were off. Showing The Godfather with a live musical accompaniment could feel like a gimmick, but actually it’s a wonderful way of refreshing a classic. We all know the film backwards, right down

The Kremlin thinks Russell Brand is good news. Does that not worry him?

An interesting story in today’s papers: ‘Russia’s last politically independent TV station will be forced to close at the end of this month after the state-owned company that transmits its signal said it would be taken off the air.’ This comes at the same time, as our cover story last week showed, as Putin’s propaganda station in London – Russia Today – has increased its operations and profile within the UK. Unlike the Kremlin, I am generally in favour of as diverse a media as possible. The problem with Russia Today is that it seems to have fooled an astonishingly diverse number of silly people into thinking that what they

The Spectator at war: The honourable spy

From The Honourable Spy, The Spectator, 5 December 1914: Decency is violated by the military spy when he becomes, for instance, a naturalized subject of a foreign Power only to betray his adopted country. No such charge of dishonour can be brought against the German spy Lody who was shot at the Tower. He spied, he was discovered, and he paid the penalty without repining. In his last letter he compared his fate with that of the soldier on the field, modestly claiming a slightly lower place, and with admirable fairness he did not forget to pay a tribute to the justice of his judges. He took his chances and

Ed West

Why are the Elgin Marbles going to Russia? They belong to Greece

There can’t be a better spot in the whole of London than the British Museum, the crown jewel of the city’s cultural life and a fantastic tribute to the British fascination with exploring the world around us. I recommend anyone visiting this country to take a look – and it’s free, so one of the few places in London where you won’t get fleeced. But, and as much as I love being able to see them, the Museum’s Elgin Marbles belong to Greece, and the subject will never go away. It has come up again because the British Museum is loaning one of the relics, a headless statue of the

Audio: ‘I’m called Sajid, I’m fiercely patriotic about our country’

Sajid Javid was on Question Time yesterday and gave easily one of the most confident and assured defences of the government’s immigration policy to date. In response to a question about British identity and the increasing popularity of the name ‘Mohammad’, Javid rebutted the notion that a name has anything to do with patriotism: ‘I think it’s pretty silly to suggest that someone’s name has some kind of bearing on their love for our country. I’m called Sajid. I’m fiercely patriotic about our country, I think it’s the greatest country on earth. And so name has nothing to do it.’ listen to ‘Sajid Javid defends the government’s immigration policy’ on

From the archives | 4 December 2014

From ‘The Honourable Spy’, The Spectator, 5 December 1914: Decency is violated by the military spy when he becomes, for instance, a naturalised subject of a foreign power only to betray his adopted country. No such charge of dishonour can be brought against the German spy Lody who was shot at the Tower. He spied, he was discovered, and he paid the penalty without repining. In his last letter he compared his fate with that of the soldier on the field, modestly claiming a slightly lower place, and with admirable fairness he did not forget to pay a tribute to the justice of his judges. He took his chances and

The crash of the ruble — and what’s next for Russia

Since the Russian invasion of Crimea last February, many different phrases have been used to describe the tactics of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Some have spoken of a ‘new Cold War’. Others have described him as ‘anti-western’ or ‘anti-American’. But there is another adjective one could also use to describe his behaviour: ‘experimental’. For apart from everything else he has said and done, Putin has, in effect, launched a vast experiment into whether it is possible to extract a large and relatively well-integrated country from the global mainstream, and to reject the rules by which that mainstream runs. In truth, the experiment began long before Crimea. For several years

The grim state of South Africa one year after Nelson Mandela

 Cape Town Nelson Mandela was so much the father of our new democracy that when he died a year ago South Africans felt like orphans. The joyful moment when he became our president 20 years ago has been replaced with a sombre mood now. South Africa has political stability, a fairly healthy democracy and has lifted millions of her people from the lowest rungs of poverty, but economic growth has been pitifully low, unemployment is at 37 per cent, and dreadful levels of violent crime terrorise the whole population, particularly the poor. The education of black children is among the worst on earth. The civil service, central and local, is

Ross Clark

Why Vladimir Putin’s threats about cutting off Europe’s gas supply are all bluff

Has the West found a secret new weapon in its battle with Putin’s expansionist ambitions: reversible gas pipelines? Putin has never made a secret of his willingness to use energy as bludgeon against his neighbours. In 1999, the year before he became Russian leader, he wrote a pamphlet making the case that energy exports provided the means by which his country’s greatness could be restored. Putin’s behaviour over Ukraine has been typical. Over the past 15 years Russia has constructed a network of pipelines which can be used to bypass Ukraine. Starve Ukraine of energy, goes Putin’s thinking, and it might be forced back into Russia’s fold. What he didn’t

Ross Clark

How the US shale gas industry has changed the global economy

The year 2014 will be remembered for an unprecedented juxtaposition of events. Two oil-producing countries in the Middle East were in a state of crisis. Relations between the West and Russia slumped to a new Cold War low. And oil prices have slumped, to $66 a barrel for Brent Crude this morning, half its recent peak. This didn’t used to happen. The modern history of oil prices is characterised by a series of spikes, each one coinciding with a crisis in the Middle East. It is a mark of how US shale gas and oil production has changed the oil market – and thus the prospects for the global economy.

Nick Cohen

A Putinesque world of cronyism and fear: life in BBC News

I’ve a piece in the current issue of Standpoint  on the disastrous rule of James Harding as the BBC’s Head of News. He was a former editor of the Times, who didn’t strike me as a bad man as editors go, if you can forget about the moment when he turned down the chance to break the MPs’ expenses scandal, one of the biggest stories of his career. Since moving to the BBC, however, his seedy behaviour has become a threat to British culture. Harding is a sinecure-dispenser, who has stuffed his friends and associates into senior positions, without requiring them to compete in front of BBC boards. Open appointments

Isabel Hardman

The menace of memes: how pictures can paint a thousand lies

It’s very fashionable these days to be despondent about the quality of our politicians. They’re all lazy liars who look only to their interests and neglect their duties to their constituents because they’d rather be grunting and snorting around a trough before sticking their snouts in it. And while the expenses scandal, resignations and court cases show that a lot of anti-politics sentiment has been provoked by the politicians themselves, it’s worth remembering that not every accusation levelled at Westminster is fair. Over the past couple of years, a trend for internet memes about politicians has grown. Those graphics tend to juxtapose two images from Parliament, one showing lots of MPs

Ed West

Hugo Chavez – the ballet

Here’s something to watch next time you’re visiting Venezuela, if you can avoid getting murdered while you’re there – a ballet based on the life of the glorious late president Hugo Chavez: ‘The piece, From Spider-Seller to Liberator, is roughly based on a series of personal reminiscences culled from the late president’s speeches and his weekly TV show Aló Presidente. A team of Cuban journalists combed through thousands of hours, selecting the folksy childhood anecdotes which he would drop in among state decrees and political announcements. The work begins with a recording of Chávez’s voice saying: “I was like a seed which fell on hard ground,” before a female character

Playing chicken with Vladimir Putin

An official end to the Cold War was declared at a summit between President George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev on a Soviet cruise ship moored at Malta on 2 December 1989. It is only a matter of time before western governments will have to admit that it has recommenced. While the rhetoric against Islamic State has been at full volume for the past few months, a soft and diminishing response has greeted Vladimir Putin’s escalating aggression. It is as if, Crimea having been ceded, western governments want their citizens to think that the rest of Ukraine is settling down into a mere domestic disagreement. The truth is very different:

Isabel Hardman

What next for Andrew Mitchell?

Toby Rowland didn’t have the ‘wit, imagination or inclination’ to invent the account he produced of Andrew Mitchell calling police officers ‘plebs’ at the gates of Downing Street. In any other circumstances that description would be rather devastating, but today it must have sounded rather sweet for the police officer when Mr Justice Mitting uttered those words as he ruled that Andrew Mitchell probably ‘did speak the words alleged or something so close to them as to amount to the same including the politically toxic word “pleb”.’ Mitchell has lost his libel case against News Group Newspapers and must pay £300,000 in costs. The former chief whip said outside the

Is Nicolas Sarkozy headed back to the Elysée – or to jail?

In his more hyperactive moods Nicolas Sarkozy, former president of France, has been known to compare himself to Charles de Gaulle. Following defeat in the 2012 presidential elections ‘Sarko’ made a dignified exit from the national stage, stating that in future his personal commitment to the well-being of France would be in some loftier sphere. De Gaulle did the same thing in 1946; he retired to his country estate for 12 years of reflection and study, before being summoned back at a time of national crisis to found the Fifth Republic. Mr Sarkozy is clearly hoping for a similar resurrection, though there are a number of differences in the two