The Balkans' price fightback

Nikola Teodosić in Budapest

The repression behind Turkey's 'Year of the Family'

At 6.30am on February 18th, Turkish police arrived at the home of journalist Yıldız Tar with a search warrant, detaining them on charges of ‘membership of a terrorist organisation’. According to Kaos GL, the LGBTI+ media platform where Tar is Editor-in Chief, the work phone calls used as evidence

Israel's Austria ambassador calls for the 'death sentence' for Gazan children

In a secret video filmed during a closed-door meeting with the local Jewish community in Innsbruck, Austria last week, Israel’s ambassador David Roet suggested Gazan children should be executed. ‘There should be a death sentence to be killed-off in war if you’re holding a gun. Even if you

Transgender acceptance at India's largest spiritual gathering

‘It wasn’t always like this,’ recalls Rishikesh Nandgiri, a member of Indian transgender spiritual group Kinnar Akhara, as worshippers line up for their blessings. Once excluded from the Kumbh Mela, India’s biggest Hindu festival, Nandgiri and other trans people now stand at its centre. The Mela, held once

Is your insurance company funding Israeli war crimes?

A new report has exposed the extent of the insurance sector’s financial support for Israel’s assault on Palestine.  The newly-launched Boycott Bloody Insurance campaign reveals investments totalling over $1.7 billion, from a range of multinational insurers, into companies supplying military equipment used by Israel since 7 October

Georgian protests surpass 100-day milestone

Rustaveli Avenue, known as the ‘political heart’ of Tbilisi, has witnessed its fair share of anti-government protests over the years. But for the past six months, the Georgian capital has been the site of historic protests. In October, tens of thousands took to the street after the ruling Georgian Dream

Israel's siege on the Golan Heights

In the town of Madinat Al-Salam, in the Syrian Golan Heights, few have had time to celebrate the fall of the Assad regime. On 8 December, as the dictator fled the country, Israel invaded Syria for the first time in half a century. Since then, much of the buffer zone

Coca's Comeback

Almost 75 years after the UN called for the ‘suppression’ of traditional coca chewing in the Andes, in July 2025 the World Health Organization is set to publish its ‘critical’ health review of the coca leaf – from which both cocaine and Coca-Cola derive key ingredients. The mildly stimulating medicinal plant,

Danish government to stand trial over arms exports to Israel

The Danish government will stand trial today over its arms exports to Israel. The case, which is being heard in Denmark’s Eastern High Court, comes after the state was sued by a group of human rights organizations who argue that arms sales to Israel will have contributed to possible

Inside Rojava’s resistance against Turkish drone attacks

‘I saw some of my friends die in front of my eyes,’ says Manije, a women’s rights activist from the Kurdish city of Kobane in North East Syria. Manije had been protesting with dozens of other civilians at the Tishreen dam on 16 January when they were hit by

Egypt criminalizes those on the move

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has extended his war on dissent to Egypt’s growing refugee population. Under a new law ratified in December, refugees fleeing violence in Sudan and Palestine could have their status cancelled for participating in political or union activities. Although the law purports to standardize Egypt’s

Big Oil's Exodus from the Niger Delta

Nearly a century after plundering the Niger Delta for the black gold, fossil fuel giants have finalized plans to ditch their onshore oil fields and move drilling far into the Gulf of Guinea, where a massive haul remains untapped. This divestment, which received the nod from Nigeria’s regulatory bodies

In the West Bank, Israel continues its collective punishment of Palestinians

For two-year-old Layla Khateeb, there was no time for goodbyes — just a sniper’s bullet to the head as her family scrambled for cover during an Israeli military raid on Muthallath Al-Shuhada village in the occupied West Bank on 25 January. Khateeb was killed during operation ‘Iron Wall’ – an Israeli

Is the UK one step closer to ending arms sales to Israel?

A legal challenge by Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), could be pushing the British government one step closer to restricting arms sales to Israel. The High Court has allowed a full hearing for the case, proposed for May 2025. The focus will be

Photo Essay: Nickel mines are destroying Indonesia's environment

Just after sunrise in Labola village, a mass of traffic crawls towards the Chinese-owned Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, the country’s epicenter of nickel production. Once a fishing village, 50 nickel factories now sprawl across the area. Indonesia is the world's largest nickel producer, with 15 per cent

'This cycle of suicides must end': Indian farmers demand further reform of agricultural sector

‘If my sacrifice can prevent the suicides of more farmers, I am ready to give my life,’ says Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a farmer from Punjab. He hasn’t eaten for two months as part of a bid to demand the Indian government protect farmers’ livelihoods. Earlier this month, more than

Serbians turn sadness into anti-government rage

On Monday evening, Iva Bakračlić sat among tens of thousands of protestors blockading an intersection leading into Belgrade, Serbia’s capital. Months of student-led anti-government protests against the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) came to a head as the populist Prime Minister Milos Vucevic announced his resignation on 27 January.

Facing death threats, Mauritanian TikTokers seek asylum in Senegal

Two Mauritanian TikTokers are seeking political asylum in Senegal after facing death threats from speaking out against electoral fraud in their home country. Malick Ba and Bocar Diallo (known respectively as Procureur General and Commissaire Diallo on TikTok) have together garnered hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views

'No ethics? No Wi-Fi': Internet cut off to UK insurers in climate-motivated sabotage

Early this morning, the UK offices of over 400 insurance companies, brokers and managing agents woke up to a new and highly disruptive form of non-violent direct action against them — cutting off their internet. Overnight, activists from the underground climate group Shut The System posing as electrical engineers gained access

Leicester students to show solidarity with Palestine in hunger strike

Students at the University of Leicester are protesting in support of Palestinians in Gaza by going on a hunger strike according to a Leicester Action for Palestine statement seen by the Leicester Gazette. This hunger strike follows a previous occupation of Attenborough Tower in November, which resulted in 11 arrests.

Is Britain complicit in West Papua violence?

The Indonesian military has been accused of carrying out a wave of brutal extra-judicial killings and torture in West Papua in recent months. The Workers for West Papua campaign has highlighted the complicity of countries like Britain, Australia, the US and others in the violence, calling on workers in Britain

Our books editor on what to read in 2025

As X, the artist formerly known as Twitter, continues to degenerate, so too does the quality of its dominant discourse. This week, a thread proposing that classic works of literature should be re-written to be ‘accessible’ to young people went viral. Starting to feel like a big barrier to undergrads

Surviving a massacre in Myanmar

By Ahtaram Shin The sun was setting over Tamay Chaung village in Rakhine State, Myanmar, when 10-year-old Robina Bi Bi heard the sound of explosions. Her father had gone to the paddy fields to bring the cattle home, and her mother was somewhere near the village. But that evening in

Kazakhstan’s shrinking lakes

Lake Balkhash, Kazakhstan’s largest lake, is facing a crisis that threatens its very existence. Increased economic activity in China’s Xinjiang province, where the Ille River – which provides 80 per cent of the water to Balkhash – originates, is reducing water flows. This, combined with increased evaporation due to climate

Climate repression in Canada

In the early hours of 22 October two environmental activists scaled the Jacques-Cartier bridge in Montreal, a vast steel structure over 340 feet tall and 9,000 feet long. The third busiest bridge in Canada and primary point of access to the island, the crossing was shut down for several