If a woman can be raped in broad daylight on a train, there are tough questions for all of us
Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian
Ryan Johnston was sentenced to nine years in prison for raping a 20-year-old woman on the Tube in front of a horrified French tourist and his young son, a "horrific crime" that "shatters any illusions we may still have about when, where and how such things can happen", writes Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian. It "punches through all women's comforting illusions about when and how we are safe".
US should join the world's nations in demanding a Gaza cease-fire
Los Angeles Times editorial board
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Hamas atrocities, "no matter how evil", do not justify Israel's "casual conflation of legitimate militant targets and Palestinian civilians", says the Los Angeles Times. Since a brief ceasefire last month, Israel's bombing of Gaza has been – "difficult as it is to fathom – even more brutal". The United States "should choose a path that might make peace in the future still possible. It should reverse its position against a cease-fire."
Britain is paying the deadly price for telling the public to 'protect the NHS'
Fraser Nelson in The Telegraph
"Thousands of people" are dying from preventable causes and missed diagnoses, writes Fraser Nelson in The Telegraph, and "too few are willing to ask why". So far this year, he notes, an "astonishing" 32,000 more have died in the UK than would be expected from the five-year average. The Covid inquiry should look at "excess deaths" and "consider it a pandemic in its own right", but "this will never happen".
Here's some Christmas cheer: Trump may fail
Gerard Baker in The Times
"Let me end 2023 with an exercise in the audacity of hope and make the case that there is just – just – a chance that [Donald] Trump loses the Republican primary," writes Gerard Baker in The Times. "History tells us" the former president's lead in the race for his party's nomination could "crumble" once the primaries start. "Is it possible? Barely. Is it conceivable? Yes. It is conceivable. Happy Christmas!"
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Disarming Hezbollah: Lebanon's risky missionTalking Point Iran-backed militia has brought 'nothing but war, division and misery', but rooting them out for good is a daunting and dangerous task
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Woof! Britain's love affair with dogsThe Explainer The UK's canine population is booming. What does that mean for man's best friend?
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Crossword: August 31, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
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Russian strike on Kyiv kills 23, hits EU officesSpeed Read The strike was the second-largest since Russia invaded in 2022
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How Israel's 'Legitimisation Cell' is justifying journalist killings in GazaThe Explainer Evidence suggests a secret intelligence unit is portraying Palestinian journalists as Hamas operatives
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Israeli double strike on Gaza hospital kills 20Speed Read The dead include five journalists who worked for The Associated Press, Reuters and Al Jazeera
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China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
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Kyiv marks independence as Russia downplays peaceSpeed Read President Vladimir Putin has no plans to meet with Zelenskyy for peace talks pushed by President Donald Trump
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Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
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The IDF's manpower problemThe Explainer Israeli military's shortage of up to 12,000 troops results in call-up for tens of thousands of reservists
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What will security guarantees for Ukraine look like?Today's Big Question From boots on the ground to economic sanctions, here are the measures that might stop Russia taking another bite out of Ukraine
