Andy Owen

6 days ago | thenewworld.co.uk | Andy Owen

A couple of days before the US bombs fell on Iran, I was trying to get out of Tel Aviv. Israeli air space was closed, so I evacuated by land, travelling south down through the Negev Desert, crossing the Jordanian border at Aqaba, before heading back north to Amman. As I arrived in the Jordanian capital, air raid sirens rang out. Looking up, it was as if some inhuman-sized djinn of Arabic folklore was playing with molten copper in the dark night sky above us.

2 weeks ago | thenewworld.co.uk | Andy Owen

There had been rumours all day Thursday, after the US government announced they were removing non-essential personnel from Iraq and other locations in the region. People were contacting relatives in government and in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) to ask if this was “the big one” that the populations of Israel and Iran had been waiting for. At 3am on Friday morning people had their answer. I was woken by air raid sirens sounding across Tel-Aviv, followed shortly after by the alarm in the hotel.

1 month ago | theneweuropean.co.uk | Andy Owen

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson, has been released from prison after serving a sentence for contempt of court. Bearded and with a cross around his neck, he appeared outside HMP Woodhill to deliver a rambling 20-minute monologue for a crowd of supporters, which was streamed on X. His legal troubles are far from over, however: he is due to appear at Westminster Crown Court next week to face separate charges of harassing a journalist.

1 month ago | theneweuropean.co.uk | Andy Owen

Last Wednesday, three British neo-Nazis were convicted of planning to carry out a terrorist attack at mosques or synagogues as part of a “race war” – yet more evidence of a growing UK terror threat from far right extremists. If you missed the story, it may have been because you were distracted by rising temperatures in the country’s ongoing and increasingly feretic debate on migration.

1 month ago | theneweuropean.co.uk | Andy Owen

Pictures of Chinese nationals being held as prisoners of war in Ukraine have raised questions about the extent of China’s support to Russia. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman has stated that China is “a staunch supporter and active promoter of the peaceful resolution of the crisis”, and suggested that Chinese soldiers fighting for Russia were doing so in their private capacity. President Zelensky claims there are at least 155 Chinese citizens doing so.