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Utter disbelief at the intensity of the fire. PHOTO: Mahmud Hossain / AP
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At least 70 people died when a fire incinerated Dhaka's old city
- Report: most Americans wouldn't pass the U.S. citizenship test
- Australian mining giant Glencore revealed a self-imposed cap on coal
- The newest fight between Western fashion labels and China: freckles
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- Chanel and Fendi fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld died
- U.K. lawmakers savaged Facebook for acting like 'digital gangsters'
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16 states sued Trump's administration over border wall 'emergency'
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The Independent Group are rebels with a cause. PHOTO: Chris Ratcliffe / Getty
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How long, you ask? Not long now. Britain is a week closer to Brexit and it's all beginning to feel like manifest destiny. Or perhaps... we've just found the limit of Britain's vaunted parliamentary democracy. Either way, this week a handful of MPs did the seemingly unthinkable: they tried something new.
There's jam on your stiff upper lip
During a cabinet meeting last week British PM Theresa May revealed that she scrapes off the top when her jam at home gets mouldy, rather than throwing out the jar. An act of frugality, no doubt. And an odd admission that led some to question whether or not this constituted medically-sound action, while others wondered who was leaving the lid off at Number 10. All of this missed the point of course, which was really an attempt to borrow valour from those tough and resourceful Londoners who had lived through the Blitz.
There is an emerging narrative emanating from some quarters of the government that Brexit demands a show of 'quintessentially British' resolve in the face of adversity (a la the Blitz). It's a narrative that casts Brexit as some externally-inflicted phenomenon to be heroically endured. But in reality the narrative is just another sign that a significant minority of MPs are trying to kill the clock until a no-deal Brexit becomes inevitable. And the Blitz analogy doesn't apply in any case: in 1940 those responsible for the homeland's defence were busy manning anti-aircraft cannons; not standing around, checking their watches, while waiting for the Luftwaffe to flatten the joint.
The sensible centre
The good news is that whiling away the days may not be an option for much longer. This week members of both major parties broke rank. On Monday, after week of rumbling, seven MPs resigned from the Labour Party. They were soon joined by an eighth, and they have formed a new Independent Group. The defectors are self-described moderates who apparently could no longer abide Jeremy Corbyn's inaction on a second referendum: they are all vehemently opposed to Brexit. And some – particularly Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna – believe that Labour has drifted too far to the left under a leader who has steadfastly ignored or even downplayed anti-Semitism within the party.
It's an historic split, and one that echoes the formation of the Social Democratic Party in 1981. That was similarly a case of four moderate MPs leaving behind an increasingly-leftist Labour Party. Funnily enough, the catalyst back then was a Labour conference which had voted in favour of leaving the European Economic Committee. Swings and roundabouts.
But that's where the historical comparisons end, because this is not 1981 and the Independent Group have gone one better: by welcoming three Tory MPs. On Wednesday Anna Soubry, Sarah Wollaston and Heidi Allen gave their final verdict on May's stewardship and jumped ship. It's early in the piece but, given the right incentives, the Independent Group might just cleave a considerable chunk off from both parties. There are senior figures on both sides of the aisle who've shown sympathy for the rebels; Home Secretary Amber Rudd being the most significant of them. But, as we mentioned, the incentives would have to be right: a coherent policy of Brexit would be a start, not to mention an electoral platform.
Tick, tock
In case you missed the link at the top of this piece (a countdown timer) only 34 days remain until the British exit from the European Union. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon believes that a three-month delay is "almost inevitable". There is – as she rightly puts it – no stomach for a disorderly exit. So everything old is new again and we should gird ourselves for another delay. And while we're talking about Sturgeon, guess who is talking up the chance of another referendum on Scottish independence?
Meanwhile, in other Brexit news this week: at least 3,500 jobs will go as Honda moves its Swindon plant across the Channel, the government has admitted that it doesn't have enough time to seal promised trade pacts with Japan and Turkey before March 29, and the latest talks in Brussels have ended without an agreement.
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Desecrated graves at the Jewish cemetery in Quatzenheim. PHOTO: AFP
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French anti-Semitism and the defence of Israel
As the British punditry became increasingly exercised over allegations of anti-Semitism within U.K. Labour, a more concrete example manifested on the other side of the Channel. It may surprise you to learn that France is home to Europe's largest Jewish population. And now the nation is grappling with a rash of anti-Semitic attacks (500 last year, up 76% on 2017). The incidents have been shockingly public; the 'Yellow Vest' protests have been tarred by accounts of abuse being hurled at the Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut. And just this week 96 tombstones in a Jewish graveyard were daubed with swastikas near Strasbourg. It is noxious behaviour that deserves to be condemned.
And condemned it was, when thousands took to the streets in Paris and beyond. #JeSuisJuif became the just the latest cry of support for a targeted group within the Republic. President Emmanuel Macron bluntly said that anti-Semitism is the worst it's been since the Second World War and announced new "red lines" to combat anti-Semitism (acting with a level of decisiveness that Corbyn would do well to take note of). Troublingly, he also touted a new bill that would treat anti-Zionism as a form of modern day anti-Semitism.
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It folds. PHOTO: Justin Sullivan / EPA
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Folding phones and musical chairs
Samsung has released its heavily-teased Galaxy Fold S10: a smartphone that folds in half. It doesn't flip, it doesn't slide; it folds. After nearly a decade in the works we have a tablet-sized screen that folds into a smart-phone. As Samsung's DJ Koh (not an actual DJ) said, "To those who say they’ve seen it all, I say, buckle your seatbelt, the future is about to begin". And this piece of the future can be yours for a cool $2,000. It is not just a spectacular engineering feat, it's a gauntlet thrown at the feet of Samsung's competitors.
Kenny Rogers once crooned of gamblers, "You've got to know when to hold 'em / know when to fold 'em". In the great gamble of the tech race Samsung's folded theirs and Apple's been caught holding theirs. Despite what we continue to hear from the reliably-glowing American tech press, it seems the folks at Cupertino have lost the edge. Perhaps it was inevitable. After all, no matter how good Apple's engineers are, they cannot be expected to forever stay a step ahead over the combined thinking power of every one of their competitors.
It's now assumed that Apple's handset sales will not drastically rise from their current slump; 12 years after it conquered the world we may have reached peak iPhone. It's this growing headwind in the handset market that has prompted Tim Cook's behemoth to start grasping at every other market it can reach, from cars to credit cards to streaming.
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Not an actual zebra. PHOTO: Tim Caro / UC Davis
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Flies and stripes
We can close the book on zebra stripes. Researchers at University of Bristol have published a convincing case for the stripes being a fly-deterrent. After spending all day in a paddock with horses and zebras the team found that horseflies struggled to perfect a controlled landing on the zebras. It appears that at close-range the striped pattern causes significant confusion to the flies which either overshoot their targets or fly straight into the side of them.
No-brainer
If you think a phone that folds is amazing, you might want to sit down for this next one: a boy born without a brain has grown one. Six years ago Rob and Shelley Wall discovered during routine scans that their unborn son was lacking this rather important organ. Despite being warned that their son had a 100% chance of living a short and cruelly debilitated life, they decided against terminating the pregnancy. Their severely disabled son Noah struggled through life until the age of 3 when extraordinary scans showed that his brain mass had increased from 2% to 80%. He's now 6 and can manage rudimentary movements by himself; his parents hope that he will one day be able to walk.
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Wasting away. PHOTO: Esam Omran al-Fetori / Reuters
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Busted-up busts
In the ancient Greek and Roman city of Cyrene – in modern-day Libya – the vestiges of two great civilisations are falling into disrepair. Having stood for 2,600 years the fluted columns and marble baths are crumbling. A lack of tourism has sapped all funds for restoration and conservation from local authorities. Libya may be an exception, it is still riven by civil strife, but the degradation of ancient sites is rife all around the Mediterranean. They are bombed in Syria, graffitied in Rome, toppled in Lebanon and stained with pollution in Athens. What happens when they disappear from their places of pride and end up behind museum cabinets?
NOTE: This is not an argument in favour of Western nations who scoop up marble for 'safe-keeping'. Britain's refusal to relinquish the 'Elgin marbles' should be treated as the national shame that it is.
Cardinal sins
On the subject of decaying ancients, the Catholic church meets this week in the Vatican to discuss the perennial issue of child sex abuse amongst the clergy. Pope Francis has called for change but... don't hold your breath for institutional reform.
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Quote of the week
"Whether it's commercial photo shoots, product placements, or Instagram posts thanking 'friends' for a useful item, attendees including fashion models and social media 'influencers' are wearing and tagging brands in their playa photos. This means they are using Black Rock City to increase their popularity; to appeal to customers and sell more 'stuff'".
- Burning Man's Marian Goodell disinvites social media influencers from attending the famously money-free, anti-consumerist event. Now we just need to disinvite them from everything else.
Headline of the week
Chinese schoolgirl shamed for using robot to write homework. Now everybody wants one - New Zealand Herald
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Nuance is the first thing lost in any instance of anti-Semitism – it is the great conversation-squasher. There are people who wish to ensure that these necessary, painful and complex conversations are replaced by platitudes. Last week a U.S. congresswoman was branded an anti-Semite for suggesting that the Israel lobby in Washington lobbies for Israeli interests. It should not need be said that this is a truism.
It's this sensitivity to Israeli interests – here defined as Jewish interests – that muddies the water. In France a bill explicitly conflating anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism does more than muddy the water. It sucks the air out of constructive and good-faith criticism. Nuance matters, doubly so when people try to erase it.
Tom Wharton
@trwinwriting
P.S. Don't forget to follow inkl on Twitter and Facebook.
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