News Round-Up

• “Assad may be on the brink, but would Syria’s rebels be any better?” – Even if its advance towards Damascus is successful, the coalition of forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham might not bring the freedom the war-ravaged nation craves, says Samuel Ramani in the Times.
• “Why Syria’s army has collapsed so suddenly” – Regime forces have fallen back from Aleppo, Hama and Homs in quick succession – and it’s all Assad’s fault, according to the Telegraph.
• “Religious charities are promoting Islamic extremism ‘with impunity’, warn campaigners” – The Home Office has been told that the “toothless” Charity Commission must do more to rein in “hateful” Islamist ideology spread by registered groups and their members, says the Telegraph.
• “‘If we don’t defend our culture, who will?’” – Conservative Home has published the text of Kemi Badenoch’s Washington speech in which she says she’s proud to be called a “culture warrior”.
• “Tories were too ‘laissez-faire’ over Gaza demonstrations, Badenoch says” – The Conservative Party should “champion our values” rather than allow protests that were “used as cover for intimidation”, according to the Leader of the Opposition, reports the Telegraph.
• “Why do the Left march against Israel but not Russia, Iran’s mullahs, or the Taliban?” – In the Telegraph, Zoe Strimpel takes aim at the hypocrisy of the British Left
• “Anti-Jewish hatred has become normal in Britain. We need decisive action” – Why is this country, with its proud history of standing against racism, not furious about the record-breaking rise in racism against Jews? asks Karen Pollock in the Telegraph.
• “Oxford Union speaker who ‘expressed support’ for Hamas faces counter-terror investigation” – The son of a Holocaust survivor accuses Oxford’s oldest debating society of letting “forces of bigotry” rule after pro-Palestinian activist’s Oct 7th comments, reports the Telegraph.
• “Emmanuel Macron owns his despair” – The French President, Emmanuel Macron, is reported to be depressed, disagreeable with colleagues and sulking in his palace, writes Jonathan Miller in Spectator World.
• “Inside the awe-inspiring new Notre-Dame, the pride of Paris once again” – Five years after the devastating fire, the interior of the restored Gothic cathedral is a luminous joy to behold, says Henry Samuel in the Telegraph.
• “We all know Britain is broken. The answer is less red tape, not more” – We are so addicted to legislation that even those things we do well – like English football – risk being strangled by bureaucrats, writes Dan Hannan in his Telegraph column.
• “Labour transport advisers back Extinction Rebellion and 20mph zones” – Labour has appointed three “anti-motorist activists” at the Department for Transport who want to bring traffic to a halt, according to the Telegraph.
• “London council ‘unlawfully’ used LTNs to balance books with fines, court to hear” – Croydon council made six Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to raise millions of pounds, yet the zones had “no environmental benefit and dispersed traffic” to nearby roads, according to the Telegraph.
• “School counsellor sacked for ‘misogynist views on traditional marriage’” – A teacher sacked by a Catholic school for posts on Instagram expressing her Christian beliefs is taking her former employer to the Employment Tribunal, reports the Telegraph.
• “With a push from the polls and Elon Musk, is Reform U.K. edging ahead?” – As Sir Keir Starmer trudges towards his ‘milestones’, Nigel Farage is winning support, writes Tim Shipman in the Sunday Times. But it’s the Tories who should be looking over their shoulder?
• “The post-war consensus is in tatters – no liberal leader is safe from the fallout” – Western leaders are struggling to grasp the anger which is spreading like wildfire among their populations, writes Janet Daley in the Telegraph. How many will survive?
• “Ignore the BBC’s woke list. Here are the real women of the year” – The BBC included a male scientist on its list of 2024’s 100 most ‘inspiring’ women. Michael Deacon in the Telegraph has a go at compiling a better list.
• “How Ricky Gervais took on the ‘woke brigade’ – and won” – The comedian’s provocative stand-up tour Mortality is a sellout, despite lukewarm reviews, because he’s a fearless anti-woke warrior, reports Will Lloyd in the Sunday Times.
• “Police have grown too powerful and scornful of public” – “For years I have feared that the police have grown too powerful and too scornful of the public they are supposed to serve,” reflects Peter Hitchens in the Mail on Sunday. He’s right, obviously.
• “Knock, knock. It’s the thought police” – On the Triggernometry podcast, Allison Pearson tells Konstantin Kisin and Francis Fosterabout her run-in with Essex Police over a year-old tweet.
• “De-transitioner, 20, claims doctor pushed her into sex change” – A 20-year-old has filed a lawsuit against a top, yet controversial transgender youth doctor claiming the practitioner forced her into a sex change at age 12, reports the Mail.
• “Richard Reeves on the Gender Gap” – Yascha Mounk and Richard Reeves in Persuasion discuss why most young men aren’t becoming reactionary.
• “Michael Gove vs Lionel Shriver: are politicians due a Covid reckoning?” – On Spectator TV, Michael Gove and Lionel Shriver debate the lockdown policy.
• “More pointers that something is stirring in the Chicken Pot” – Will influenza H5N1 finally arrive? ask Drs. Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson on Trust the Evidence.
• “The Man Who Fought Fauci – and Won” – In the Wall St Journal, Tunku Varadarajan interviews Jay Bhattacharya about Trump nominating him to be the head of the NIH.
• “The science behind winning a Nobel Prize? Being a man from a wealthy family | Torsten Bell” – A lot of talent is wasted in a world where more than half of laureates come from households in the richest 5%, argues Torsten Bell in the Guardian.
• “Live not by lies” — Michael Shellenberger exposes some of the outright lies the mainstream media and liberal politicians are demanding we believe.

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