South Africa’s military meltdown
On the face of it, life continues as normal, but behind the scenes the South African military has been cut to the point where it's doubtful it will be able to live up to its African...
View ArticleMamphela Ramphele: ‘‘Mandela said: never accept anyone telling you one sole...
The politician and anti-apartheid activist talks to Nana Yaa Mensah.You’ve had a hugely varied career. Which bits have given you most political insight? Each part brought a different strand to what’s...
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Transition: Contested landscapes in South Africa
A photography essay including work by Philippe Chancel, Raphaël Dallaporta, Pieter Hugo, Santu Mofokeng, Zanele Muholi, Jo Ractliffe, Thabiso Sekgala and Alain Willaume. In Southern Africa, landscape...
View ArticleD H Lawrence: A Letter from Germany
"We have brought it about ourselves—by a Ruhr occupation, by an English nullity, and by a German false will. We have done it ourselves. But apparently it was not to be helped."This letter by D H...
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China and Japan: the struggle for supremacy in the East China Sea
History and politics are coming together in a potentially toxic fashion in the East China Sea as China, motivated by memories of Japanese wartime atrocities, agitates for dominance in the region. The...
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Britain leaves its Eritrean community at the mercy of government extortion
The Eritean community in the UK faces a relentless campaign to pay taxes both to the Eritrean government and to its armed forces on income they earn in Britain.The British government is ignoring the...
View ArticleIsrael-Palestine: Forget the peace talks, follow the rail tracks
While the Israeli government's plans for a rail network linking Israel to the West Bank and Gaza may bring a slight improvement in living standards, it also has the potential to erase Palestinian...
View ArticleLetter from Detroit: "All there is now is crackhouses and churches"
With Motor City finally declared bankrupt, the Midwest’s industrial powerhouse has turned into a production line for drink, drugs and deprivation.For most of the world, Detroit is America’s most...
View ArticleThe courage of Bradley Manning will inspire others to seize their moment of...
In 2010, Private Manning did his duty to humanity and supplied proof from within the murder machine. This is his triumph, and his show trial merely expresses corrupt power’s abiding fear of people...
View ArticleThe less we remember about Nelson Mandela, the more we love him
Will Self's "Madness of Crowds" column.‘‘Free Nelson Mandela with every large public building,” my wife wryly observed one evening as we trudged up the stairs to the Royal Festival Hall, passing a...
View ArticleThe death of a "freeloader": When will we accept the results of austerity?
As an eighteen year old dies trying to flee a ticket inspector in Athens, police in Britain boast of apprehending a mother shoplifting to feed her two children. All across Europe, people are struggling...
View ArticleThe Twitter jihadis: how terror groups have turned to social media
Pakistan’s militant and extremist organisations are increasingly aware of the importance of the internet, says Samira Shackle.On 22 November last year, a new magazine sought writers through an advert...
View ArticleFormer NS editor John Freeman reacts to JFK's death: The man we trusted
29 November 1963: "The shock and the grief are universal and so great. Emotions have poured out - and they have gilded the truth." The most grievous assassination in modern history has transformed John...
View ArticleIn Portugal: Requiem for O Manel
Manuel Simões is being forced to close his 70-year-old family business, a restaurant on the outskirts of Lisbon. Since VAT rose for businesses like his, 75,000 jobs has disappeared from the...
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The crackdown in Bahrain is an embarrassment for David Cameron
After David Cameron's recent meeting with King Hamad at Downing Street, the Bahrain authorities began a punitive clampdown on pro-democracy campaigners. Sooner or later, the PM's links with repressive...
View ArticleEgypt in crisis: "The body is evidence of the massacre, how can I put it in...
Bel Trew goes inside the Cairo morgue where the bodies of Morsi supporters, massacred by the army, are waiting to be buried.Egypt is bracing itself for another day of protests by supporters of toppled...
View ArticlePutin's "war on gays" is a desperate search for scapegoats
Russia is not a particularly homophobic culture, but its government is looking to divert attention from recent political discontent. Now that Russia’s “war on gays” is an established narrative, one...
View ArticleA to B: Cars like tanks
Travel through Pakistan is intimately segregated by class, writes Samira Shackle. If you're rich, you just keep driving.We are driving along the highway, a big, multi-laned road that could be in any...
View ArticleJohn Kerry needs to understand day-to-day life in the West Bank is there is...
The state of roads in the West Bank tells you everything you need to know about the possibility of Middle East peace, writes Nabila Ramdani. The state of the roads in the West Bank gives a good idea of...
View ArticleWhat's fair about Private Manning's sentence?
Nicky Woolf is glad that there are still people such as Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning around.Bradley Manning was young. Alienated by the ultra-macho culture of the US military, and horrified by...
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