Jawad Iqbal is a broadcaster and ex-television news executive. Jawad is a former Visiting Senior Fellow in the Institute of Global Affairs at the LSE
The religious and political symbolism was unmistakable, as the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi led the consecration of a controversial new Hindu temple in Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh state, built on the ruins of a 16th century mosque. The Babri Masjid was torn down by Hindu nationalist mobs in 1992, sparking riots across the country that
Pakistan’s retaliatory military strike on suspected militant bases in Iran – in response to Iranian attacks in Pakistani territory – can only escalate tensions between the two countries. It will also ring alarm bells elsewhere across an increasingly jittery Middle East but also further afield in India and China. The Chinese have friendly relations with both
Iranian airstrikes on ‘militant bases’ in neighbouring Pakistan signal a dangerous and worrying escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. Details of what unfolded remain sketchy, but Iranian media reported that the strikes were aimed at the bases of a Sunni militant group, Jaish al-Adl. The missiles and drones landed in the Balochistan province, which lies along
How worried should British Sikhs be about the threat to their lives from forces acting on behalf of the Indian government? The question has arisen after it was revealed that some Sikhs have been issued with ‘threat to life’ warnings by West Midlands police. Such warnings – called ‘Osman warnings’ – mean there is credible intelligence of
Jose Mourinho, who has just been sacked by the Italian club AS Roma, is a once great manager on his last legs. The football his teams play is terrible, the results so-so, and his increasingly erratic behaviour on the touchline altogether disgraceful. Mourinho has gone from fighting for league titles and Champions Leagues to waging war
Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has revealed that he has cancer and, ‘at best’, about a year to live. The sad news of his terminal illness prompted an understandable outpouring of support across football. The official England team account posted on X/ Twitter: ‘Sending our love, Sven’. Meanwhile, ex-England captain Wayne Rooney paid tribute to
Is it really some kind of underhand racist smear for Labour to claim that Rishi Sunak ‘doesn’t get Britain’? This is the charge being laid by No. 10 staffers at the door of the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, who made the accusation during the first Prime Minister’s Questions of the year on Wednesday. Claire
The chairman of Channel 4 has taken a swipe at the lack of diversity of the latest appointments to its board. The appointees, who join the board for a three-year term, were announced by Ofcom and approved by Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary. In a leaked memo to staff, Sir Ian Cheshire hit out at
Questions are growing over who knew what, and when, about the hospitalisation of the American Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, the most senior official in the chain of command between the president and the military. Austin was taken to hospital on New Year’s Day but the news was kept secret. Astonishingly, even president Joe Biden does not
Politics in Bangladesh is very much a one-woman show, starring prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who has ruled the country for the last 15 years. When voters go to the polls in elections today, they face little choice but to re-elect her and the ruling Awami League party. The main opposition – the Bangladesh Nationalist party
The third round of the FA Cup, underway this weekend, is one of the highlights of the football calendar – or so we are meant to think. Premier League and Championship clubs finally enter the fray, prompting breathless talk of part-time bricklayers and plumbers getting to test their skills against elite footballers paid millions. The tantalising
Anyone who wants to strike at the heart of the Iranian regime would be hard-pressed for a more symbolic target than the memorial site for Qasem Soleimani, the senior commander who was assassinated by the United States four years ago. The memorial represents everything that the Tehran regime stands for. That’s why the bomb attacks
There was a certain inevitability to the sacking of Wayne Rooney as Birmingham City manager. The only real surprise is how swiftly the end came. Rooney lasted just 13 weeks – all of 83 days – in charge. He won only twice, picking up a grand total of ten points, and suffered nine defeats in
It seems there is a side to the former prime minister, Sir Tony Blair, that few knew existed. Until now. Newly released government documents have bizarrely revealed Blair’s keen interest in football in Northern Ireland. So much so that during his time as prime minister, he was apparently prepared to go to quite extraordinary lengths
The Premier League’s television paymasters, who plough billions into football, invariably get what they want. That is surely why the decision has been taken to schedule the Wolves-Chelsea match at Molineux stadium in the Midlands tomorrow, on Christmas Eve: so that it can be shown live on Sky Sports. The Premier League has made ‘special provisions’
Three cheers for the British Museum, which has just announced a new £50 million sponsorship deal with the oil giant BP. The news is a surprise because oil and gas companies are increasingly treated as lepers by the culture sector. The Royal Opera House, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Tate are just some of the
There is something shameful about the government’s reluctance to publicly call for the release of Jimmy Lai, a British citizen and democracy campaigner, held in solitary confinement in Hong Kong. Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, and one of the most prominent critics of China’s Communist Party, has languished in prison for more
All football matches in Turkey have been suspended after a club president invaded the pitch and punched a referee in the face. The ugly and violent assault took place at the end of a game between Ankaragucu and Caykur Rizespor, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Faruk Koca, the Ankaragucu president ran up to the referee, Halil
After three days of voting, the polls close today in Egypt’s presidential elections. The result is expected on 18 December, but voters already know there can be only one winner: president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has been in power for nearly a decade. The other candidates for the presidency (those permitted to stand against him)
No amount of presidential bluster or White House spin can disguise the fact that the Biden administration appears increasingly clueless about what to do about the war in Gaza. Having tied US policy to Israel’s war aims – specifically the destruction of Hamas – US president Joe Biden now finds himself in a tight spot as
