Online Features Editor Bryan Knight reports on the recent political developments in Africa and assesses the threats faced by the continent. In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an ambitious initiative that would revamp an ancient trade network that connected the Eastern world with the West. This ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, as it is commonly […]
Russia
Volodymyr’s Victory: The Ukrainian Elections and Their Consequences
Foreign Correspondent Coordinator, Maddie Baker, takes a look at the new Ukrainian president and what his unconventional rise to power may have in store for Ukrainian politics.
Around the World in LGBT Days
The gay community has been slowly making strides toward legislative progress in the Western world, with Australia recently having voted in support of gay marriage. Yet the world still has leaps and bounds to go when it comes to equality everywhere, whilst some countries legalize same-sex couples adoptions, others criminalize same sex relationships. Features writers explore the world of LGBTQ+ movements around the globe. […]
What is so great about Russia’s Vladimir Putin?
Vladimir Putin is set to lead Russia for another six years after securing 73.9% of the vote in Sunday’s presidential election. Yes, the same man who is currently being blamed for the attempted murder of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. The turn out for the elections this year was 63.7%, less than the number […]
Moscow: A City Haunted By Its Past?
“Please, be careful!” The parting words from a 90-year-old Russian woman I met on the metro this week. This may come across initially as nothing more than friendly advice, but it was not the first time in the conversation that she had expressed concern over my safety in Moscow. As the train pulled away I […]
What Does Putin’s Controversial Birthday Present Really Tell Us?
On Saturday 7th October, Russian president Vladimir Putin turned 65, and to mark the occasion Alexei Navalny’s campaign organised protests in around 80 cities across Russia. Ahead of a protest rally in the week leading up to Putin’s big day, Navalny was sentenced to 20 days in prison for organising unsanctioned rallies and on 7th […]
World War 3 – Should we be worried?
Ever since Kim Jong-Il threatened to withdraw North Korea from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1993, eventually leaving ten years later, in 2003, North Korea has been on a slow and steady trajectory towards nuclear weapons. This trajectory has been continued, if not quickened, by Jong-Il’s son Kim Jong-Un. The reality of this ambition has […]
James Comey’s testimony: enough to bring down Trump?
Donald Trump’s presidency has been less than stable thus far, and that is, perhaps, an understatement. Trump and his team have been plagued by rumours and accusations since he announced he would run for office. Some of these have been ridiculous fairy tales invented by political opponents; others have been worryingly likely with ominous consequences. […]
The Comey Scandal
I’d been dreading this move for weeks. It’s directly in line with everything we know about Trump and the incompetence he’s surrounded himself with, so I’m not surprised to hear that President Trump has fired the head of the FBI, James Comey. The White House press has been vigorously engaging itself in vain attempts to […]
Riding The Trans-Siberian Railway
I moved to St Petersburg on the last day of August, 2016. I had already been looking forward to my late October reading week, which I hoped to take as an opportunity to see some more of Russia. I like to think that my horizons are fairly broad; I thought I would take in couple of cities, […]