The fury of history

A year of war and bloodshed

The situation in the Middle East is only getting more dangerous.

Letter of the week: Not so Nice

Write to [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced in the New Statesman magazine.

Starmer is losing his cool

Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.

Can Hezbollah survive the death of Hassan Nasrallah?

The long-time leader of the Iran-backed militia was one of the region’s most significant figures in decades.

Life after retirement at the BBC

Also this week: savage cuts at Radio 4, and woman as temptress.

Sharone Lifschitz: “On 7 October, my father saw his life’s work going up in flames”

The film-maker on her father Oded Lifschitz and the plight of the 7 October hostages.

The row over Labour’s “freebies” will carry on

Handouts stick with voters inured to thinking of politicians as greedy.

The “Catholic vote” is powerful, considering it doesn’t really exist

The Church’s ability to bring partisans together in a polarised nation is indispensable.

Google’s days of monopolising the web may be numbered

Also this week: Michael Gove’s delight at Spectator editorship, and the BBC’s Strictly bullying claims.

Austria’s hard-right victory is a warning signal

Centrists need to re-design their economic agenda.

The menopause industry is a murky area of women’s healthcare

There is little evidence to back up claims made about symptoms, treatment and care.

The fall of a Stuart spin doctor

The Duke of Buckingham served King James I better as a lover than a statesman – and his blunders…

How India made the ancient world

William Dalrymple’s The Golden Road places India, not China or Europe, as the global wellspring of learning and power.

The battle after Brexit

Alan Halsall was persecuted by the Electoral Commission for his part in the Leave campaign. His story reveals the…

From Lauren Elkin to Elizabeth Strout: new books reviewed in short

Also featuring Immaculate Forms by Helen King and Augustus the Strong by Tim Blanning.

How Green Day’s American Idiot pitted punk against George W Bush

Twenty years ago, a trio of Calfornian stoners released a polemic against Republican America that politicised a generation.

The Outrun almost makes a great success of an improbable adaptation

This tale of addiction and healing on Orkney is faithful to Amy Liptrot’s memoir – at the cost of…

The horrors of Storyville’s Surviving October 7th: We Will Dance Again

Yariv Mozer’s 90-minute BBC documentary is an astonishing thing, almost beyond description. It will destroy you.

The National’s modern Coriolanus

David Oyelowo is best as Rome’s greatest soldier when he loses his temper.

In Georgia, politics and wine collide again

The future of the wine world’s matriarch is under threat.

Severely provoked, I retain my chastity with bittersweet regret

Experience has taught me that the best way to behave when being shouted at by a woman is to…

In defence of my £600 coffee machine

I, like millions of others, abide by the principle of buying something for life.

Has social media pushed fandom to a point of no return?

It used to be people would respect your personal space – now, it’s all a bit sinister.

Pep Guardiola’s gift to his team is a world away from the football of old

I remember the days when footballers earned £10k a year and lived in a modest semi-detached.

This England: Pennies from Lenham

This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain…

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John Nichol Q&A: “I’ve been bloody lucky in my life”

The former RAF navigator on his favourite Queen song and selling farm machinery.