International politics

Saturday

Peter Hoskin

More worrying news from Iran

I’m just catching up with the latest New Yorker over brunch, and would recommend that CoffeeHousers read their eyewitness account of the Tehran protests: it captures the scale and sweep of the opposition to Ahmadinejad, as well as the brutality of the state response. Elsewhere, the latest news coming out of the country makes for a worrying addendum.  An Iranian newspaper has said that Mir Hossein Mousavi should be tried for treason; which sounds ominously like an prelude to even more oppression and antidemocratic action.  As always, it’s worth keeping an eye on developments.

Friday

Peter Hoskin

Another one for Miliband’s collection of cock-ups

Great spot by Paul Waugh, who’s got evidence of the latest Miliband cock-up over at his blog.  Basically, Miliband told the Commons earlier this week that British aid to India would be decreased and eventually stopped because “India is becoming a richer country”.  But now he’s had to sneak out a complete retraction, which even makes reference to India’s “continuing levels of poverty”: “We have no plans to scale down the provision of aid to India, nor to stop the provision of aid by 2011.  Our aid expenditure under current spending plans amounts to £285m in 2008/09, £275m in 2009/10, and £280m in 2010/11. These figures reflect India’s continuing levels