The War on Minds: Inside the Iranian Regime’s Coordinated Arrests of Left Scholars

By Siyavash Shahabi on November 4, 2025 In the past 24 hours, security forces carried out coordinated raids on the homes of several left-wing researchers and translators in Tehran, arresting Parviz Sedaghat, Mahsa Asadollahnejad, and Shirin Karimi. They confiscated the belongings of Mohammad Maljoo and summoned him for questioning; the home of Heiman Rahimi was also searched, and… Read More The War on Minds: Inside the Iranian Regime’s Coordinated Arrests of Left Scholars

The Disaster Correspondent: Why I stopped explaining the Middle East to Americans

NB: The phrase ‘the fundamental racism of their editorial line’, sums up what it feels to be the perennial object of dehumanisation by the Western establishments and a sizeable part of their populations. Lina Mounzer has said something very important here, and it has lessons not only for the West and Israel, but also for… Read More The Disaster Correspondent: Why I stopped explaining the Middle East to Americans

Chris Hedges: The National Press Club of Australia, caving to the Israel lobby, cancels my talk on our betrayal of Palestinian Journalists

 October 4, 2025  I was scheduled to give a talk at the National Press Club of Australia on October 20 called “The Betrayal of Palestinian Journalists.” It was to focus on the amplification of Israeli lies in the press, which most reporters know are lies, betraying Palestinian colleagues who are slandered, targeted and killed by Israel. But,… Read More Chris Hedges: The National Press Club of Australia, caving to the Israel lobby, cancels my talk on our betrayal of Palestinian Journalists

Stopping Francesca Orsini From Entering India is an Insult to the Very Concept and Culture of Knowledge

NB: Vishwaguru’s India: Thou shalt not think without prior clearance from the Headquarters of Truth, located in Nagpur. DS What happened to Orsini may appear, on the surface, to be an ordinary incident, but the signs it carries are deeply frightening. Yogesh Pratap Shekhar The morning after the festival of lights, Diwali, came news of… Read More Stopping Francesca Orsini From Entering India is an Insult to the Very Concept and Culture of Knowledge

Chris Hedges and Rashid Khalidi: Inside America’s Academic Gulags

Historian Rashid Khalidi, author of The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, joins host Chris Hedges to detail the dwindling academic freedom in American universities and society at large as Donald Trump’s grip on free speech tightens. Khalidi notes that while the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism is an old tactic to stifle academic scrutiny of Israel,… Read More Chris Hedges and Rashid Khalidi: Inside America’s Academic Gulags

‘She didn’t realise how dangerous it was’: London-bound student held in China over Tibet support

Zhang Yadi was due to begin a degree in the UK but the activist vanished on holiday amid tensions over Dalai Lama Jessie Lau As Zhang Yadi toured remote villages in the Chinese province of Sichuan last year, she updated her friends with messages and photos of lush forest landscapes, colourful streets and locals wearing… Read More ‘She didn’t realise how dangerous it was’: London-bound student held in China over Tibet support

I have now been a journalist for 40 years. The forces ranged against my profession have never been so powerful

Once, I believed that humanity’s problem was an information deficit. Now, I know you can’t speak truth to power if power controls your words.. But perhaps the ground is shifting. Citizen journalism is flowering, through the Bylines network, openDemocracy, Double Down News , Novara, Declassified and DeSmog, and in particular at the local level.  George Monbiot The BBC I joined on my first… Read More I have now been a journalist for 40 years. The forces ranged against my profession have never been so powerful

Mukul Kesavan: Delhi University and the purging of Ramanujan

First posted October 27, 2011 ‘The essay is a marvellous account of the hundreds of ways in which the Ramayana has been told, complete with examples of this narrative diversity. I can’t imagine that the vice-chancellor, a member of that urbane cohort, the Class of ’75, wanted the essay removed because he agreed with the Akhil Bharatiya… Read More Mukul Kesavan: Delhi University and the purging of Ramanujan

Revolutionary upsurge in Nepal; as govt lifts social media ban. 19 killed in protests against corruption. All political parties under attack

Young protesters clash with police after breaking barricades outside the Federal Parliament in Kathmandu, on September 8, 2025. Demonstrators rallied against corruption and the government’s social media shutdown, while security forces responded with tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets. Photos: Skanda Gautam/THT Nepal has lifted a ban on social media platforms following mass protests against systemic… Read More Revolutionary upsurge in Nepal; as govt lifts social media ban. 19 killed in protests against corruption. All political parties under attack