A friend in China messaged me on WeChat. ‘What are your thoughts on the plagiarism scandal?’
‘What scandal?’ I asked.
‘How could you not know? It’s all over the internet.’ They meant the Chinese internet: in particular, social media platforms such as WeChat Moments, Weibo, RedNote and Bilibili. They sent me some links.
Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté in the men's single skating, short programme, at the Winter Olympics in Milan, 10 February 2026 (Joosep Martinson/Stringer/Getty)
‘Let the Minion skate!’ people were urging on social media days before the start of the Winter Olympics. Universal Pictures had refused Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté permission to perform his Minions-inspired figure-skating programme in Milan. Eventually ‘the internet did its thing’ and he was allowed to go ahead with his performance.
No discussion in British defence and security circles gets very far without someone mentioning the post-Cold War ‘peace dividend’. The idea that the collapse of the Soviet Union bequeathed to Western Europe safe conditions that allowed for lower military spending and higher social spending has become commonplace.
I recently applied for a job at a large publishing house and was pleased to clear the first hurdle. They sent me an email: ‘We were impressed with your application for our Editorial Assistant role, and would like to invite you to our Hirevue stage. You may have already used this virtual platform before, but it may be useful anyway to hear the info below.’ I had to film myself answering three questions.
The High Court has ruled that the British government’s proscription of Palestine Action – which has led to the arrest of more than 2700 peaceful protesters – is unlawful: it contradicts the home secretary’s own policy on proscription and violates the UK’s human rights framework.
In late December, as demonstrations swelled across Iran, I was frantically trying to get in touch with my family when a friend returning from the protests wrote to me: ‘We are full of hope. There is no going back.’
Protesters outside the Bishop Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis on Saturday, 7 February 2026 (AP/Ryan Murphy/Alamy)
ICE have gone from wearing tactical army gear to civilian garb; I have even seen photos of agents in keffiyehs. They have changed their cars and their licence plates: from out-of-state to in-state, to blotted plates or none at all. We have adapted too. South Minneapolis is alive with community defence practices. There are patrols and rapid response networks, people stationed at schools and bus stops, parents taking shifts watching daycare centres, protests and general strikes, grief ceremonies and rides.