I’ve never seen such clampdowns in Istanbul. Turkey’s democracy is fighting for its life | Orhan Pamuk

Since the arrest earlier this month of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, on what are clearly trumped-up charges of corruption and terrorism, Taksim Square, the city’s biggest tourist site and hub of political protest, has been lying empty, cordoned off by police. In my 50 years living in Istanbul, … Read more

Zelenskyy employs strategic optimism to highlight Russia’s abundant bad faith | Ukraine

At a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday, explaining where initial US brokered peace negotiations had got to, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, struck a notably different tone. Long gone is the tetchiness on display in London in the aftermath of the Ukrainian leaders’ catastrophic trip to the White House. In its place was a degree … Read more

NASA’s Webb Telescope Spots Auroras on Neptune for the First Time

The vermilion, amethyst and jade ribbons of the northern and southern lights are some of Earth’s most distinctive features. But our planet doesn’t have a monopoly on auroras. Scientists have spied them throughout the solar system, weaving through the skies of Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and even on some of Jupiter’s fiery and icy moons. Lights … Read more

In Turkey, we are showing the world how to challenge a callous, authoritarian leader | Ece Temelkuran

After 22 years of power grabs, the seizure of all state institutions and severe oppression aimed at reshaping Turkish citizens into Islamofascist minions, Turkey is striking back against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s authoritarianism. In cities across the country, including the regime’s strongholds, protests have been ongoing for the past week. Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s detention … Read more

Trump’s show of support for Conor McGregor is making fertile ground for Ireland’s far right | Justine McCarthy

Middle Ireland feels grievously insulted by the US president. On St Patrick’s Day, when the globe traditionally turns green, Donald Trump’s official guest at the White House was not the taoiseach bearing a bowl of shamrock, but an unelected stooge recently found by a civil court jury liable for the rape of a woman in … Read more

White House security leak: who’s who in the Signal group chat | US politics

Pete Hegseth Pete Hegseth Photograph: Reuters The appointment of the Fox News host to head the Pentagon was highly controversial. A former Army National Guard officer, Pete Hegseth, 44, has faced allegations of sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement and alcohol abuse. His contributions to the group chat include suggesting that because Americans were unfamiliar with the … Read more