Forgiving Kanye West is Melvin Benn's personal choice. Giving him a three-night headline slot is a commercial one. This statement confuses the two spectacularly throughout.

Fascinating to read the comments on this boilerplate post, in which the word Zionist (never defined but broadly applied) serves as absolution for racism. It's such a convenient word.

Antisemitism has ‘become normalised’ on UK campuses, says Union of Jewish Students Poll of students of all faiths and none found almost a quarter had seen Jews targeted for their religion or ethnicity

'One in five students would be reluctant to, or would never, houseshare with a Jewish student, 23% have seen behaviour that targets Jewish students for their religion or ethnicity and 47% have witnessed justification of the 7 October attacks by Hamas.'

www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ma...

Thanks for the seminar. It may be that my personal connections in the middle east (more than one country and more than one religion) equip me well enough.

More than 50% Mizrahi actually. And who is trying to wipe out Palestinian food culture?

So Israeli food is Israeli precisely because it melds together the disparate roots of the people. The idea that Israelis should be denied the right to create their own blended cuisine is not useful and breeds hostility.

You may be unaware that a majority of Israelis are Mizrahi and that their cuisine is from the middle eastern countries they were expelled from as well of course as those who were already in the land. Ashkenazi food is rare among Israelis.

Graffiti reads: IN THE FUTURE, EVERYONE WILL WANT TO BE ANONYMOUS FOR FIFTEEN OUTES

Morning Bluesky.

No, the clientele for hummus and for baked goods aren't from 'completely separate worlds' and actually the food in Israel is middle eastern food. And no, the presence of a Gail's is not 'an act of aggression'. This is divisive, inflammatory nonsense that normal people have no time for.

Why China Won’t Help Iran Beijing Cares About the Oil, Not the Regime

'China’s disillusionment with Iran’s leaders means that Beijing is not inherently opposed to regime change. Because its priority is to ensure that Iran remains a viable economic partner, it is regime agnostic.'

reader.foreignaffairs.com/2026/03/05/w...

What is the Strait of Hormuz and why does it matter? Iran's threat to block the world's most vital oil transit point has raised fears of major global economic consequences.

While we wait to see if war with Iran is going to happen this BBC explainer on what happens to the world economy if Iran blocks the strait of Hormuz is very useful.

BBC News - Strait of Hormuz: What happens if Iran shuts global oil corridor?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Did the Lobby Misread the Starmer Story? Our political press can be an asset or liability

Excellent analysis from Mark Urban on how Westminster lobby correspondents drown out the real news.

Bafflement with Bezos The whole debacle of the Washington Post brand hara-kiri last week dispatched the myth that a tech billionaire could save serious journalism.

'Oligarchs gonna oligarch. And if your motto is “Move fast and break things,” it turns out that a lot of what gets broken is what the rest of us value most.'

open.substack.com/pub/tinabrow...

The 8:10 Today interview with Gordon Brown is an utter tour de force. A towering intellect matched by the deepest integrity.

Superbly well-argued @adamlangleben.bsky.social. I was in two minds but not anymore.

Rupert Murdoch’s Poisoned Dynasty Gabriel Sherman’s new book Bonfire of the Murdochs is full of juice.

For anyone still missing Succession.

open.substack.com/pub/tinabrow...

Over 36,500 killed in Iran's deadliest massacre, documents reveal More than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during the January 8-9 crackdown on nationwide protests, making it the deadliest two-day protest massacre in history, according to documents re...

'The deadliest two-day protest massacre in history, according to documents reviewed by Iran International's Editorial Board.'

www.iranintl.com/en/202601255...

Inside Iran’s brutal protest crackdown: ‘It feels like everyone is dead’ The first messages to get through the internet blackout in more than two weeks share stories of brutal and widespread violence

What an internet shutdown hid from us. Don't look away.

www.thetimes.com/article/c0bf...

'Blood-curdling accounts' of killings and sexual violence: What we know about landmark Rohingya genocide case The accounts of the Rohingya people are being heard directly in an international court for the first time as Myanmar stands accused of committing genocide.

news.sky.com/story/blood-...

@simonjackbbc.bsky.social: ‘Speech from #Carney at #Davos is quite something. Basically saying rules based order is over, other countries must band together to protect themselves against the US. That insurance against the US comes at a cost but so be it. Companies+countries must choose their side.’

Eight democratic, prosperous, sensible countries with a combined population larger than that of the United States and $15 trillion in combined GDP––all of whom whom sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002 when we asked––give an unmistakable fuck you to the dangerous clown running the U.S. government.

Iran report says 16,500 dead in ‘genocide under digital darkness’ Witnesses tell of the brutality inflicted on those taking part in anti-regime protests

My god.

www.thetimes.com/article/01ba...

The one measure that can tell us a lot about the state of the UK economy Consumer confidence levels are rebounding for some in the UK, but older generations look to be immune.

Genuinely useful and interesting amid all the political slop of whose up whose down.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Image of writer and essayist Ronald Blythe, best known for book Akenfield, which explores changing rural life in Suffolk during the 20th century.

We're delighted to have acquired the archive of writer and essayist Ronald Blythe, best known for book Akenfield, which explores changing rural life in Suffolk during the 20th century.

Discover more in this blog post by curator Helen Melody: link.bl.uk/86s

What would never happen was a nursery or primary school child being given a box of nails and left unattended with it. That's kind of what we have done with mobile phones."

Wes Streeting"No one would dispute when I was growing up that being able to use tools like hammers or a saw was a good skill set for us to learn as young people.

Ukraine: 1418 days and counting + as we hope against hope for Iran, lessons from the history of protest

'So here’s an extraordinary fact: this week, Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine will have lasted longer than the Soviet Union's war against Nazi Germany, 1418 days.'

open.substack.com/pub/timothyg...

Tehran’s streets, and cities around the world, echo with the footsteps of Iranian women and men demanding freedom.

Freedom to speak, to gather, to travel and above all to live freely.

Europe stands fully behind them.

Abbas says Ra’am party will be open to Jewish candidates, in major shift * * *

Abbas says Ra'am party will be open to Jewish candidates, in major shift

www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...