Born on this day in 1931, the heroic revolutionary faces a dangerous new wave of White House aggression. We must treat his birthday as a rallying cry to resist the illegal siege of Cuba, writes ROGER McKENZIE
FEW people would ever mistake the former health minister Matt Hancock for Keanu Reeves. However, his involvement in the I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here TV series has become almost as mind-bending as the plot of The Matrix.
Having discharged care home patients from hospitals without any pre-screening for Covid, Hancock deserves having slurry and insects poured over him. Those who suffered the bereavement and trauma that followed might wish this to continue indefinitely. But there are wider issues about Britain’s descent into dystopian politics that the game show should not distract from.
Britain’s care system remains massively overstretched and under-resourced; the NHS even more so. The decision of NHS nursing staff to go on strike is unprecedented. It reflects the desperation of those who held other’s lives together throughout the Covid pandemic, but who are now leaving or retiring early in droves through sheer exhaustion and overwork.
While politicians fixate on defence budgets, the real answers lie in peace-building and economic justice, says ALAN SIMPSON
Fertiliser chaos triggered by Gulf conflict could send prices soaring and leave millions facing devastating hunger, writes DYLAN MURPHY
As the dollar falters and US power turns predatory, Britain and Europe must abandon transatlantic illusions and build a collectivist alternative before the system implodes, writes ALAN SIMPSON
The collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation poses an existential threat — but do today’s politicians have the capacity to deliver the more resilient and sustainable economics of tomorrow, wonders ALAN SIMPSON


