Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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True satire can’t be silenced
The Paddy McGuffin column
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
The maxim “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” often erroneously attributed as a direct quotation by Voltaire, has been much in usage in the last few days.
The atrocity that saw the murder of eight journalists and cartoonists, a visitor, a caretaker and two police officers at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo this week — and the hunt for the killers which at time of writing appeared to be approaching a bloody denouement yesterday — has rightly dominated the global news agenda.
It is shocking in this day and age that journalists and satirists should be gunned down merely for the act of poking fun at a concept, albeit one dear to many millions around the world.
Similar stories
RAMZY BAROUD looks at how Western media are being forced to kowtow to the Establishment’s war narratives
JOHN GREEN’s palate is tickled by useful information leavened by amusing and unusual anecdotes, incidental gossip and scare stories
Israel and the US talk as if they’ve won a victory, but the reality is that world opinion has turned decisively against the Israeli regime, says RAMZY BAROUD
April 9 1928 – July 26 2025