Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Who is the West backing in Libya?
IAN SINCLAIR reminds us of the terrible situation in Libya and the West’s backing of a potential war criminal
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
Britain joined the Nato military intervention in Libya “to uphold the will of the United Nations security council,” former prime minister David Cameron told the House of Commons on the eve of the war.
Six years on and the British government continues to cite the authority of the UN to justify its actions in Libya, with the Foreign Office noting last month that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had visited Tripoli “to discuss what more the UK can do to support the [UN-backed] government of National Accord (GNA) and the UN-led political process to help stabilise Libya.”
A bit of background. There are currently two rival power centres competing for legitimacy and control in Libya — the GNA, led by Fayez al-Sarraj, and a rival authority in the east of the country under the control of General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA).
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