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Image description: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives in Doha, Qatar, cite of US-Taliban peace talks In an historic moment, the United States signed a peace agreement with the Taliban. The move ends a conflict that had raged bitterly for the better part of two decades. Nearly five thousand troops are set to exit […]
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The United Kingdom must lead mediation Qasem Soleimani is no martyr. To lament his death would be to turn a blind eye on the fact that, as highlighted by PM Boris Johnson, he had ‘British blood on his hands’. Mr. Johnson, however, fails at accurately displaying the sheer barbarity of Mr. Soleimani’s actions while serving […]
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Image description: Qasem Soleimani International co-operation is the only solution Boris Johnson’s government is right to offer cautious support to the U.S. over the Iran issue, but moving forward we must seek an international solution to promote peace across the wider region of the Middle East. It is, of course, important to recognise that the […]
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The liberation of Mosul and the continued fight against the last few pockets of Daesh resistance in Iraq is at best a bittersweet affair. While Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider Al-Abadi, attempted to bask in his term’ s most shining moment, it must have been clear to him that the fight for Iraq’ s security had […]
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Oft repeated is that standing on the beach at Calais on a clear day you can see the English coastline. Therefore it is puzzling that it has taken months for 387 children to travel across 20.6 miles of water to safety who, under the Dubs amendment or Dublin III agreement, have a legal right to […]
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It is undeniable that we have been facing a refugee crisis in Europe – over a million people travelled here in 2015 hoping to build a new life. This year, the numbers entering are not as overwhelming, but we are still left with the challenge of how to cope with the hundreds of thousands of […]
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This is my first time in Iran – the streets are heaving with mustachioed men and women in flares, above the squawks of megaphones and chanting crowds, boom-boxes are playing illegally obtained copies of speeches by Khomeini and Shariatmadari that collide with the sound of heavy-metal in the air. There is a profound sense that […]
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Reports published towards the end of last year suggested that somewhere in the region of 30,000 foreign fighters have now joined the so-called Islamic State (IS). Many in the West have been left astonished by this figure; mystified as to how IS is able to attract so many people to its murderous enterprise. Unfortunately, the […]
Continue ReadingYes – Claire Simms: Ever since the launch of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in June 2015, he has dominated the headlines in both the USA and the world at large. For a man whose commercial empire has been built upon publicity, Trump must be thrilled – exposure, both good and bad, can only aid his […]
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The execution of Nimr Al-Nimr, a Shia sheikh and political dissenter who called for free elections in Saudi Arabia and for better treatment of the oppressed Shia minority in the kingdom represents the same violent repression of ideological diversity as the beheadings enacted by the Islamic State. Both the Islamic State and the House of […]
Continue ReadingIn recent weeks, Russia has fulfilled its promise to make use of its military hardware in order to suppress the influence of ISIL in the region. This was a measure that was undertaken on the condition that the Western powers recognised Bashar Al-Assad’s right to lead the Syrian people, and to cease arming and desist […]
Continue ReadingTen years ago to the day the first coalition troops entered Iraq; a month later, George W. Bush declared the end of combat operations, against the backdrop of a banner reading ‘Mission Accomplished’. Yesterday, car bombings in Baghdad killed 56 and injured over 200, the latest victims in a decade of violence estimated to have […]
Continue ReadingLast week, JCRs and MCRs across Oxford voted overwhelmingly to leave OUSU’s name off the NUS motion to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. However, the BDS motion will still be discussed at the NUS conference this year, with endorsements from the student unions at the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield […]
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