'Interest rates frozen – but it'll still be painful if you have a mortgage'
Ed Conway for Sky News
The Bank of England freezing interest rates for the first time since late 2021 "is arguably the most exciting non-event in recent economic history", writes Ed Conway for Sky News. The decision "is the most convincing signal yet that the Bank may now be close to, or even at, the peak for interest rates", he adds. But Bank insiders "suspect rates may have to stay higher for longer", says Conway. "The days of zero interest rates may be gone for good."
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'If India killed a Canadian Sikh, Trudeau and other Liberal PMs are at fault'
Andrew Mitrovica for Al Jazeera
"Canada is the world's doormat," writes Andrew Mitrovica for Al Jazeera. Desperate to be seen as a "global player", instead it is "largely considered an inconsequential afterthought". The "indictment of India" for the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar "oozes opportunism", he claims, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wanted to play up his "tough guy" credentials in the face of unrelenting criticism that he has been soft on "foreign interference".
'Shattering the Israel Taboo: Why American Jews Are Protesting Netanyahu at the UN'
Abe Silberstein for Haaretz
"For decades, most American Jews rallied to the cause of Israel whenever it faced censure at the UN" but "in a necessary and overdue correction, the UN is now a centre of American Jewish opposition to an Israeli government" writes Abe Silberstein for Haaretz. The symbolism is "uniquely powerful" and shows that there is a "mainstream precedent for setting aside the security rhetoric of Israeli political leaders and recognizing that anti-democratic currents in the country must be confronted without hesitation", says Silberstein.
'Debate the law and the age of consent all you want, but there's no doubt about what's creepy'
Emma Brockes for The Guardian
Calls for new laws around the age of consent in the UK may never come to pass, but they are "helpful in denormalising a widely held assumption that old and middle-aged men chasing schoolgirls for sex is OK", writes Emma Brockes in The Guardian. "Not just OK, in fact, but in line with the natural order of things and still able to trigger vague boasting rights." Despite what we now understand about grooming, "what remains depressing about the adult man/teenage girl dynamic is how resistant it is to the view that it's creepy at all", says Brockes.
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