Mad, bad and dangerous to know: we are witnessing the Tories' final descent into absurdity
Rafael Behr for The Guardian
The Conservative conference has been a "festival of complaint" by a party that is "no longer serious about government", writes Rafael Behr for The Guardian. The Tories "don’t like a country that is shaped by 13 years of their rule" but "prefer not to take responsibility", so "have developed a keen reflex for diverting blame". This "spectacle" is "not just the endgame of a tired government" but also "the late stages of moral and intellectual putrefaction".
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Suella Braverman's Tory conference speech was superb for its blunt honesty
The Sun Says
The Left "loathe her", and Suella Braverman's conference performance "showed why", says The Sun's leader article. The home secretary "nailed the complacency and denial at the heart of Labour’s facile approach to mass illegal immigration", in a speech that was "superb for its blunt honesty". Her critics "need only look at the vast numbers pouring illegally across the borders of the EU or America, as well as ours, to know she is right", the paper argues.
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Nato won't win a long war in Ukraine
Thomas Fazi on UnHerd
An "Afghanistan-style conflict could cripple Europe", warns Thomas Fazi. The Ukraine war "is perceived as an existential struggle" not only by Kiev, he writes for UnHerd, "but also by Russia and the US", who "know that the outcome of this conflict will have massive geopolitical ramifications". For both, "military defeat" is "not an option", but neither is a settlement that may be interpreted as "defeat". And "if American military assistance starts to wane", Europe "will need to carry more of the burden".
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The Republican Party is an unserious mess
Rex Huppke for USA Today
The Republican Party's House Members are "clearly engaged in a civil war between far-right extremists and what passes these days for moderate Republicans", writes Rex Huppke for USA Today, "with 'moderate' meaning slightly less extreme". In causing "disarray" by "ousting their own speaker", as Donald Trump was "targeting an innocent law clerk and sitting in his own fraud trial", the GOP shattered "any illusions" that America has two "functioning" political parties.
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Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
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Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
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Political cartoons for January 5Cartoons Monday’s political cartoons include drug lords, AI consuming the news, and more
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What will happen in 2026? Predictions and eventsIn Depth The new year could bring peace in Ukraine or war in Venezuela, as Donald Trump prepares to host a highly politicised World Cup and Nasa returns to the Moon
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Shots fired in the US-EU war over digital censorshipIN THE SPOTLIGHT The Trump administration risks opening a dangerous new front in the battle of real-world consequences for online action
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All roads to Ukraine-Russia peace run through the DonbasIN THE SPOTLIGHT Volodymyr Zelenskyy is floating a major concession on one of the thorniest issues in the complex negotiations between Ukraine and Russia
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Russia’s ‘weird’ campaign to boost its birth rateUnder the Radar Demographic crisis spurs lawmakers to take increasingly desperate measures
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US offers Ukraine NATO-like security pact, with caveatsSpeed Read The Trump administration has offered Ukraine security guarantees similar to those it would receive from NATO
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Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
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How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
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Normalising relations with the Taliban in AfghanistanThe Explainer The regime is coming in from the diplomatic cold, as countries lose hope of armed opposition and seek cooperation on counterterrorism, counter-narcotics and deportation of immigrants
