It's been a year since the last presidential elections in Belarus. As Alexander Lukashenko was being crowned for the 6th consecutive time, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest. I remember seeing photos and video footage and realising how much courage it took to just be out there in a country where a violently repressive regime has all but wiped out independent media, arrested political opposition leaders forcing them out of the country and where any

According to the Financial Times, Abu Dhabi is planning to spend $6bn on various cultural projects to diversify from oil. This is not a new strategy. After the emergence of Dubai as the playground of the Middle East in the early 1990s, the Abu Dhabi government set out to develop a vision that would transform the UAE into a world-class cultural powerhouse. Culture is thus a tool in a long-term political-economic strategy that aims to diversify revenues and address concerns aro

"The measures in the Bill will allow the police to take a more proactive approach in managing highly disruptive protests ... broaden the range of circumstances in which police may impose conditions on a protest." This from the British govt website. The Policing Bill is being discussed today and I'd like to take a moment to reflect on what it means and why it is both dangerous and undemocratic. Firstly, we would all do well to remember that it is protest that has delivered soc

Over 15,000 human beings are stranded on the Greek island of Lesbos waiting to continue their journey to a better and safer life. They come from Siria, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Congo - countries we probably just associate with wars and unspeakable hardships. They are far away from home and even farther away from Bruxelles, where decisions are made (or not) and their fate is decided. They are in limbo, and have been for months, years for some of them. They live in camps with n