MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
Whither Lebanon: a nation on the brink
Foreign actors are looking to exploit Lebanon's crisis, says JOHN WIGHT – where does this leave the Middle East's most powerful Shi'ite militia, Hezbollah?
Damaged buildings are seen in a neighbourhood near the site of last week's explosion that devastated the seaport of Beirut
President Maduro mobilises the 4.5 million-strong Bolivarian National Militia in response to US ‘threats’, vowing to defend the country’s sovereignty and independence, DEVIN B MARTINEZ reports
Washington plays innocent bystander while pouring weapons and intelligence into Ukraine, just as it enables the Gaza genocide — but every US escalation leaves Ukraine weaker than the neutrality deal rejected in 2022, argue MEDEA BENJAMIN and NICOLAS JS DAVIES
For those in the West, hunger is often just the familiar feeling of a growling stomach between meals — in Gaza, it has become a strategic weapon of slow, systematic and deadly destruction, writes MARC VANDEPITTE
After almost two decades of rule by the Movement Toward Socialism, once led by Evo Morales, right-wing parties have emerged in the lead after the first round of elections on August 17 and are now in control of the legislature, reports PABLO MERIGUET
DAVID MATTHEWS looks at what a collective future for welfare might have in store for us
The last time a French president arrived in an Arab country in the midst of a crisis, he did so bearing the gift of democracy. That was back in 2011 when Nicolas Sarkozy descended on Benghazi along with his then British counterpart, David Cameron, to cheer on the “revolution” that had erupted in the city, desperate as both leaders were to ride the wave of the so-called Arab Spring all the way to the rocks of Western hegemony.
Nine years later you would find it impossible to locate democracy in Libya using the Hubble Space Telescope. What exists there instead is murder, mayhem and slave markets — the grim fruits of yet another country sacrificed on the altar of human rights.
If Libya’s travails prove anything it is that no matter how bad things may be, they could always be worse. It is why the sight of current French leader Emanuel Macron descending on Beirut in response to the horrific blast that destroyed a large swathe of the city, pledging aid while demanding political reform, should send a shiver up the spine of every Lebanese citizen with any understanding of the Western colonial mind.
Of course, it would be churlish to question the right of the Lebanese people to accept aid from any quarter given the nature of the crisis to befall the country, but the idea that Washington, Paris, and even more outrageously, Tel Aviv, care one whit for the welfare of the citizens of a country each of the aforementioned has specialised in attacking in various ways down through the years and also in the present, is manifestly absurd.
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In recently published book Baddest Man, Mark Kriegel revisits the Faustian pact at the heart of Mike Tyson’s rise and the emotional fallout that followed, writes JOHN WIGHT
As we mark the anniversaries of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, JOHN WIGHT reflects on the enormity of the US decision to drop the atom bombs
From humble beginnings to becoming the undisputed super lightweight champion of the world, Josh Taylor’s career was marked by fire, ferocity, and national pride, writes JOHN WIGHT
Mary Kom’s fists made history in the boxing world. Malak Mesleh’s never got the chance. One story ends in glory, the other in grief — but both highlight the defiance of women who dare to fight, writes JOHN WIGHT
