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  • Spain train disaster clouds Sánchez chances of re-election

    Spain train disaster clouds Sánchez chances of re-election

    A devastating high-speed rail collision south of Madrid this week has left 69 people confirmed dead, marking the second fatal high-speed rail disaster in Spain in just nine months, following a 46-fatality crash near Córdoba last January. Wreckage from the Toledo-area incident was scattered across active tracks and down adjacent embankments, leaving families of victims reeling from unfathomable personal loss, while the catastrophe has rapidly eroded public confidence in the national rail network and the ruling Socialist administration of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who called a snap general election just weeks prior to the crash.

    Even before the rail disaster unfolded, Sánchez’s government was already navigating widespread public fury over long-running unproven corruption allegations targeting the prime minister’s inner circle, soaring housing costs, a chaotic summer migrant surge into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, and viral footage of a 70-year resident pensioner being forcibly evicted from her home that sparked nationwide housing rights protests, the unrest that prompted Sánchez to schedule the early general election in the first place.

    Though formal investigative proceedings for the latest Toledo crash have only just commenced, the government moved quickly to shape public narrative in the immediate aftermath. Transport Minister Oscar Puente appeared at multiple press briefings, starting within hours of the collision, to frame the incident as a product of cascading human error rather than systemic infrastructure failures, deflecting accountability away from cabinet leadership. He pushed back fiercely against widespread claims of chronic underinvestment in rail safety, defending Spain’s LZB high-speed signalling system as fully up to standard, noting the same technology is deployed widely in Germany and Austria. Puente even disclosed that the LZB system had registered 170 failures so far in 2023, dismissing the figure as “normal” and aligned with average performance across European Union member states.

    The critical failure, according to Puente’s account, occurred when the signalling system malfunctioned and control of the line switched to manual operation: a rail traffic controller instructed a stalled train to resume travel at speeds up to 160 km/h, even though a second train was stationary on the same stretch of track ahead. Audio recordings from the Madrid control centre confirm staff monitoring the situation on live screens could clearly see the impending collision, yet no stop order was ever transmitted to the oncoming train.

    Opposition leaders from the centre-right Popular Party (PP) have publicly called for Puente’s immediate resignation on moral and ethical grounds, but the transport minister has rejected all calls to step down, framing his continued tenure as a public duty to oversee safety improvements, clarify the full sequence of events, and restore public confidence in rail travel.

    Polling experts warn the dual high-profile rail disasters, with the January Córdoba crash investigation still unresolved, have amplified widespread public distrust not just in the national rail system, but in state institutions at large, with Spanish voters historically holding ruling governments accountable for large-scale public safety failures. Leading pre-crash electoral forecasts projected the PP would secure a first-place finish and form a governing coalition with the far-right Vox party, with 95% of polling simulations pointing to that outcome even before the Toledo tragedy. Prior to the crash, Sánchez had been running an upbeat, optimistic campaign targeted at mobilizing disenchanted left-leaning non-voters, but political analysts confirm his team has now completely lost control of the electoral agenda, as public sentiment shifts toward widespread frustration that national systems are failing to function properly.

    Grassroots anger has already spurred small far-right-led protests in Madrid over the crash, with law enforcement deploying large standby police units to pre-empt potential larger demonstrations organized via social media over the coming weekend. Ordinary commuters across the country report growing fear of using the once-revered high-speed AVE rail network, with many telling reporters the recent string of crises will push them to shift their voting allegiance from left-wing parties to conservative options in the upcoming election.

  • Suited and booted: How Joseph Kabila went from president to rebel leader

    Suited and booted: How Joseph Kabila went from president to rebel leader

    The political landscape of the Democratic Republic of Congo, long defined by fleeting alliances and the persistent threat of armed power grabs, has been upended by a dramatic twist in the country’s decades-long history of shifting leadership. At 55, Joseph Kabila, who first rose to prominence as a rebel commander in the 1997 uprising that installed his father Laurent as head of state, then served 18 years as the country’s president, has reemerged as the leader of the newly formed Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN) – a coalition that includes the M23 rebel group he once fought against during his time in office.

    Most notably, the man Kabila has publicly vowed to oust is none other than Félix Tshisekedi, the very politician he handpicked as his successor following the disputed 2018 elections, with whom he formed a power-sharing coalition after stepping down. The long-rumored alignment between Kabila and M23, whose forces seized swathes of eastern DR Congo including key urban hubs Goma and Bukavu in 2024, sent shockwaves across the vast, mineral-rich nation that spans two-thirds the landmass of Western Europe. Home to vast reserves of gold, diamonds, and critical battery and electronics minerals essential to the global clean energy supply chain, the DRC’s political instability carries far-reaching regional and global ripple effects.

    The partnership delivers tangible benefits to both parties: for Kabila, it offers a viable pathway to claw back the political clout he lost after splitting from Tshisekedi’s administration in 2020, when the president moved to dismantle Kabila’s parliamentary majority. For M23, a movement whose rapid military gains have never translated to broad national legitimacy, Kabila brings the institutional experience, high-level political networks, and national name recognition of a former head of state. The alliance comes as Kabila faces a litany of personal pressures: he was sentenced to death in absentia for treason, and faces U.S. sanctions over allegations of past support for M23. Independent DRC policy analyst Henry-Pacifique Mayala noted that Kabila almost certainly secured concrete assurances from his new rebel allies before committing to the high-stakes gambit, as the M23’s hardened military strength grants him far greater leverage in any future negotiations with Kinshasa.

    While M23’s operations have until now been concentrated 1,500 kilometers from the capital in the country’s eastern provinces, Kabila’s national networks raise the untested possibility that the long-simmering eastern conflict could spread to the rest of the country. That outcome remains far from guaranteed, however: Kabila, who took power in 2001 following his father’s mysterious assassination, was long viewed as an outsider in Kinshasa political circles, far more fluent in Swahili (the lingua franca of the African Great Lakes region) than the Lingala widely spoken in the capital. His father’s 1996 rebel column marched on foot across the entire country from the east to oust longtime autocrat Mobutu Sese Seko after seven months of campaigning, but few analysts suggest Kabila’s FRN is planning to replicate that exact military campaign.

    Kabila has framed his campaign against Tshisekedi as a fight to defend the national constitution, invoking Section 64 of the DRC’s legal framework that enshrines citizens’ right to resist leaders who violate constitutional provisions. He has accused Tshisekedi of acting as a tyrant similar to Mobutu, ending the longstanding moratorium on the death penalty that was in place during his own presidency to intimidate political opponents, civilians, and military personnel, and pushing to amend the constitution to allow a third term in office. Notably, the established C64 opposition coalition that also campaigns against Tshisekedi’s rumored third term bid has rejected Kabila’s armed rebellion, announcing it will instead push for inclusive, direct talks with both Kabila and Tshisekedi to resolve the country’s overlapping security and political crises through peaceful dialogue.

    Tshisekedi retains significant structural advantages, according to Richard Moncrieff, Great Lakes regional analyst for the International Crisis Group: he has robust U.S. government backing, control over most state financial resources, and command of the formal national political and military systems. Tshisekedi publicly denounced his former ally last week, stating Kabila’s move to lead a rebel group was definitive proof he had never loved the DRC or its people.

    The rift between the two former allies stretches back to the aftermath of the 2018 elections: leaked results from Catholic Church election observers widely indicate opposition candidate Martin Fayulu won the vote, but a pre-negotiated power-sharing deal brokered by Kabila installed Tshisekedi as president, with Kabila’s bloc retaining control of parliament. Former national electoral commission head Corneille Nangaa, who officially declared Tshisekedi the winner and now serves as one of Kabila’s top deputies in the FRN, confirmed he helped draft that 2018 power-sharing agreement, though Tshisekedi has consistently maintained he won the election legitimately. The arrangement collapsed in late 2020, prompting Kabila to enter self-imposed exile in South Africa, where his criticism of Tshisekedi’s administration steadily intensified. He returned to DRC territory earlier in 2025, appearing in rebel-held Goma shortly before the treason conviction was handed down.

    The emerging alliance also reshapes longstanding regional dynamics, particularly between DRC and Rwanda. For years, Kabila’s presidency saw fluctuating ties with Rwandan President Paul Kagame: Rwanda has long justified its repeated military interventions in eastern DRC by citing the presence of ethnic Hutu militias responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide on Congolese soil, and has long been widely accused of backing the M23 movement – allegations Kigali continues to deny despite overwhelming documentary evidence. Analysts note that the current alignment between Kabila and Kagame is one of pure convenience, not deep mutual trust: Kabila is focused on regaining national political power in the DRC, while Kagame prioritizes securing Rwanda’s border security and preserving Kigali’s strategic influence over eastern DRC. The partnership also allows Rwanda to deflect longstanding international criticism that it is meddling in DRC’s internal affairs, by framing M23 as part of a homegrown Congolese political movement led by a former national president.

    Even before Kabila’s official appointment as FRN leader, the eastern DRC conflict showed no signs of abating, despite a U.S.-brokered peace deal signed by Tshisekedi and Kagame in Washington D.C. in November 2025. The broader U.S. strategic interest in the DRC’s critical mineral reserves has led Washington to side firmly with Tshisekedi, imposing sweeping sanctions on Rwandan officials and entities accused of prolonging the eastern conflict. National elections are currently scheduled for 2028, but Tshisekedi has repeatedly warned that ongoing fighting in the east could force a delay to the vote. Kabila has openly questioned whether elections alone can resolve the DRC’s deep-rooted political crises, arguing the country needs a full overhaul of its executive and legislative institutions rather than just electoral cycles. Regional security analyst Ovigwe Eguegu notes that ordinary Congolese citizens stand to lose the most from the standoff, as neither Kabila’s rebel movement nor Tshisekedi’s administration has presented a credible, actionable plan to deliver broad economic transformation for the country’s population, or end decades of pervasive instability in eastern provinces.

  • ‘Machinery of death’: Dock workers worldwide protest against arms shipments to Israel

    ‘Machinery of death’: Dock workers worldwide protest against arms shipments to Israel

    Dozens of pro-Palestine activists launched a coordinated caravan demonstration early Friday at New Jersey’s Port of Elizabeth, timed to coincide with the global International Day of Action of Dockworkers, to condemn alleged complicity by shipping and logistics firms in what they describe as the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Many participants displayed bold signs reading “Zim ships death,” a reference to Israel’s oldest and largest shipping corporation, which protesters claim transports weapons components bound for Israeli military forces.
    Organized by Palestinian refugee advocacy group Pal-Awda alongside the collective Port Workers and Communities for Palestine, the action kicked off at 5 a.m. when demonstrators taped protest signage to their personal vehicles before forming a long, coordinated convoy that circled the port’s perimeter for hours. The procession drew waves of supportive honks from passing port truck drivers, but also drew a sustained police presence that tailed and flanked the caravan from early morning through late Friday before dispersals began. This marks the latest in a three-year series of targeted actions at the Port of Elizabeth, where activists have repeatedly protested purported arms shipments transiting the facility en route to Israel, including cargo they allege contains pallets of bullets, cartridge casings, and munition components.
    Pal-Awda representatives confirmed to Middle East Eye that the New Jersey action is part of a coordinated global mobilization spanning over 100 ports across 22 countries, with organizers projecting the day could see the largest coordinated dockworker work stoppage in recorded history if a critical mass of labor unions opt to participate. The group’s spokesperson explained the campaign’s core goal is to empower rank-and-file dock and port workers to leverage their collective labor power, strikes, and work refusals to disrupt what they call the global “machinery of death” that fuels conflict not just in Gaza, but across Yemen, Iran, Lebanon, Venezuela, Cuba, and other regions targeted by Western military and economic pressure.
    Dawood, a 29-year veteran Port of Elizabeth employee who drove his Palestine-decorated blue Subaru in the convoy, said he felt morally compelled to join the action even though port staff are typically not informed of the contents of sealed shipping containers. “We show up here just to earn a living, but that doesn’t excuse looking away from what is being shipped out from under our watch,” he shared. “Any person with a conscience has a duty to stand for what is right, even when it runs counter to their own immediate self-interest.”
    The action is part of the broader #DontMoveZIM campaign launched by Port Workers and Communities for Palestine, which has spent years lobbying members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, including port truckers and longshore crews, to formally refuse to handle all Israeli-linked cargo. 77-year-old activist Linden Jenkins, who drove four hours to join Friday’s convoy, was among a group of demonstrators arrested earlier this year during a port entrance blockade where protesters chained themselves to vehicles to block access to the facility. She told Middle East Eye she has grown deeply frustrated with mainstream U.S. progressive movements that rely heavily on symbolic rallies, vigils and marches that rarely deliver concrete policy demands and are routinely ignored by elected officials. Jenkins emphasized that escalating to targeted, supply-chain-disrupting direct action is the only viable path to halt the flow of deadly weapons and surveillance technology that fuels human rights abuses, from occupied Palestine and war-torn Sudan to domestic U.S. agencies including ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, which she accuses of eroding remaining democratic norms in the country.

  • Canada’s central labour union says workers will not handle military cargo going to Israel

    Canada’s central labour union says workers will not handle military cargo going to Israel

    Following a historic membership vote held on Thursday, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) — the country’s largest central labour body, representing roughly 3 million workers across every province and territory — has formally adopted a policy directing its affiliated union members to refuse all handling, transport and processing of weapons and military equipment bound for Israel.
    In an official public statement, the CLC framed the resolution as a gesture of cross-border solidarity with Palestinian working people and their families, as well as with global communities advocating for a ceasefire, equitable peace, and full adherence to international humanitarian law. The federation also issued a direct, formal demand to the federal Canadian government to match its new policy, by immediately halting all direct and indirect transfers of arms and military hardware to Israeli authorities.
    The move comes more than a year after investigative reporting from Middle East Eye first revealed that the Liberal federal government had misled domestic public opinion when it claimed to have paused all new weapons export permits to Israel. Independent volunteer research compiled by a coalition of grassroots groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement, World Beyond War, and Arms Embargo Now later confirmed that military shipments from Canada not only continued after the announced pause, but were in many cases fast-tracked, with some rerouted through third countries including the United States to avoid public scrutiny.
    The 58-page collaborative report, titled *Exposing Canadian Military Exports to Israel*, documents more than 390 separate shipments originating from 21 Canadian manufacturers across six major Canadian cities. The tracked cargo included over 420,000 rounds of ammunition, 735 complete firearm cartridge assembly sets, specialized F-35 stealth jet components such as navigation sensors and radar systems, and dual-use technology including high-precision GPS antennas that can be deployed for military operations. The coalition’s analysis concluded that the Liberal government’s public pause announcement was a deliberate political tactic intended to appease a growing share of the Canadian electorate frustrated with Ottawa’s unwavering backing of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, without actually rolling back longstanding policies of unconditional military support.
    The CLC emphasized in its statement that Canadian institutions bear a binding moral and legal obligation to ensure no domestically produced weapons or military equipment are used to harm Palestinian civilians or enable breaches of international humanitarian law. “Canada must uphold international law, protect civilian lives and support a just and lasting peace for Palestinians and Israelis,” the statement read, adding that the Canadian labour movement has a decades-long legacy of advocating for the rights, safety and dignity of working people across the world, and that the resolution explicitly rejects all forms of bigotry including antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism, and Islamophobia.
    The new policy marks a further break in the CLC’s longstanding formal ties with Israel’s national labour federation Histadrut, a relationship that began to gradually deteriorate following the First Intifada, as documented in a 2014 peer-reviewed study published in the *Journal of Labor and Society*. Earlier this May, the CLC had already voted to sever formal institutional ties with Histadrut, though procedural limits prevented a full debate on a broader “hot cargo” resolution that would have barred all handling of Israeli-linked goods, services and institutional partnerships.
    Grassroots labour advocacy group Labour for Palestine – Canada, which led years of organizing to advance the arms ban policy, noted that Canadian union workers played a pivotal role in global movements to end apartheid in South Africa, support East Timorese independence, and oppose the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. “Now is the time to take a stand for Palestine,” the group stated in response to the vote.
    Leading Canadian civil society organizations also praised the historic resolution. Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East called the vote “an important way that workers can prevent Canadian weapons from facilitating genocide” in a public post on X, while activist network Independent Jewish Voices emphasized that the policy “is a clear message: Canadian labourers refuse to be complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.”
    Official data published by Global Affairs Canada, the country’s federal foreign affairs department, confirms that Ottawa authorized more than $44 million worth of military goods exports to Israel over the 2023 to 2025 period.

  • Trump’s tariffs could shutter this Canadian town – its residents are fighting to save it

    Trump’s tariffs could shutter this Canadian town – its residents are fighting to save it

    Nestled along the Ottawa River’s Quebec shore, the small, forest-ringed municipality of Témiscaming was literally built around its sprawling pulp and paper mill more than 100 years ago, anchored by the region’s dense stands of pine, birch, spruce, and fir. For generations, the facility served as the town’s unshakable economic backbone — until a collapse in Canada-US trade negotiations and the sweeping 50% tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods last August pushed its American owner, Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM), to announce an indefinite “economic shutdown” in early October. All 360 mill employees were abruptly put out of work, kept temporarily afloat only by partial income disbursements from federal government tariff-relief programs. What began as a sudden layoff quickly unspooled into an existential crisis for the entire community. Property values plummeted virtually overnight, “For Sale” signs now line the yards of most modest middle-class homes, and residents fear the cascading collapse of local services: grocery store staff, hospital personnel, and other essential workers could soon flee the vanishing local economy, leaving Témiscaming a desolate ghost town. For lifelong local resident Nadine Suley, the closure is far more than a lost job. A self-described non-urban dweller who joins dozens of townspeople each fall for the short moose hunting season to stock up on free, sustainable meat for the winter, she describes the US tariffs as a “personal attack” on her community’s very way of life. “It’s not just a job. It’s our home,” she explains. National economic data paints a deceptively steady picture of Canada’s performance amid the ongoing US trade war: the national unemployment rate has hovered around 6.5%, paired with slow but consistent GDP growth. But beneath that aggregate stability lies acute, concentrated pain for sectors directly targeted by steep US duties: steel, aluminum, automotive, and the forestry, pulp, and paper industries that define towns like Témiscaming. Local union leader and third-generation mill worker Stéphane Lefebvre points out that a 10% job loss in major metro areas such as Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver would spark wall-to-wall national media coverage and overwhelming political pressure for swift intervention — but rural forestry communities have been largely sidelined as the federal government prioritizes support for higher-profile tariff-hit industries. The ripple effects are already spreading far beyond the mill gates: one local independent contractor has already laid off 13 employees, and sawmills, regional trucking firms, and other forestry-linked businesses face cascading collapse. This is not the first time Témiscaming has stared down total erasure. In 1973, a previous American mill owner threatened permanent closure, prompting a historic grassroots mobilization: workers and local managers coordinated a voluntary 10% pay cut to collectively purchase the facility, rebranding it as Tembec, a proudly Quebec-owned international enterprise that expanded operations across North America and into France. Now, the current generation of residents is hoping history will repeat itself, organizing a broad local coalition to raise funds and buy the mill back from RYAM, which acquired the facility in 2017. “We’re hoping that lightning will hit twice,” Lefebvre says from the town’s packed union hall. But local leaders emphasize the grassroots effort cannot succeed without targeted, substantial support from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s federal government and the provincial Quebec government, in the form of expanded tariff relief, low-interest financing, or targeted industry grants. Suley notes Carney ran and won on a public platform prioritizing “buy local” policies and support for Canadian blue-collar workers, and backing Témiscaming’s community buyout would be a tangible, high-impact way to deliver on that campaign promise. RYAM has declined all public comment on potential sales of the facility or prospective buyers, per a statement shared with the BBC. Témiscaming Mayor Alain Gauthier places no blame on RYAM for the shutdown, framing the US tariffs as a deliberate “bomb to shut down our Canadian manufacturing capacity.” He has called on Ottawa to impose retaliatory duties on currently tariff-free US wood panel imports entering the Canadian market, criticizing the federal government’s response as drastically underpowered. “Politicians keep saying we are in an economic war with the US, but in reality we see absolutely no evidence of war measures being taken,” he argues. “We feel we showed up to a fight with kid’s water guns.” The gap in policy focus is starkly visible in recent federal spending announcements: the Carney government rolled out a nearly C$9 billion support package for Ontario’s steel and automotive sectors last week, earmarked for facility modernization, expanded domestic demand, and new overseas market development, while Industry Minister Mélanie Joly publicly threatened major Canadian steel producer Stelco with financial penalties or forced asset sales if it followed through on planned layoffs of 500 workers amid tariff pressure. Bloc Québécois MP Sébastien Lemire, who represents the Témiscaming riding, has publicly voiced deep alarm over what he describes as federal inaction to protect the town and Quebec’s broader forestry industry. A spokesperson for Minister Joly pushed back on those criticisms in an official statement, noting the government has already allocated C$400 million in targeted support for remote and rural forestry operations, plus new cash-flow support programs for tariff-impacted businesses pivoting away from overreliance on US markets. The statement added that officials “are actively working with all parties involved to find a viable solution to the issues facing the company, while responsibly managing Canadians’ dollars.” The Témiscaming mill produces food-grade paperboard for frozen food packaging and the scratch-off card stock used in convenience store lotteries across North America, with roughly 75% of its total output exported to the United States. The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the steep 50% tariffs as a policy tool to revitalize domestic US manufacturing and protect American blue-collar jobs, even as the measures cause widespread collateral damage to cross-border communities. Eighty-something Frank Dottori, the retired former Tembec CEO who was a lead organizer of the 1973 community mill buyout, knows this crisis firsthand. He recalls being “politely ejected” from the office of the then-Quebec premier when he first sought public support for the seemingly impossible worker-led purchase, before the coalition prevailed with backing from the union and a charismatic, seasoned ex-industry executive. Dottori argues the current generation of organizers will need that same level of bold, decisive leadership to pull off a repeat victory, while also stressing that near-term relief from US tariffs is non-negotiable to restore the mill’s long-term operational viability. Many local residents are clinging to cautious hope that upcoming US midterm elections will force Trump — whose public approval ratings have slipped in recent national polls — to roll back some of the Canadian import duties, after successful lobbying from Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins (facing a tight re-election race) led to narrow, targeted tariff carve-outs for some Canadian goods last week, though none apply to the Témiscaming mill’s product lines. Residents are racing to reach a resolution before the harsh Quebec winter sets in, when sub-zero temperatures could freeze and crack idle plant equipment, causing millions in avoidable damage that would make reopening the facility functionally impossible. For Lefebvre and his fellow organizers, the fight is already in its final stretch. “We’re in Game Seven right now,” he says. “We’re gonna play till the last whistle.”

  • The Indian chef who brought curry to America – then vanished

    The Indian chef who brought curry to America – then vanished

    Long before Indian curries, masala dosas and spiced biryanis became ubiquitous staples across American dining landscapes, a mysterious, endlessly inventive Indian chef named Ranji Smile etched his name into the unlikeliest chapters of US food history. Exactly 125 years ago, in 1901, Smile launched what historians now widely recognize as the very first full Indian restaurant on American soil, a milestone that would set the stage for the billion-dollar South Asian food industry that thrives across the country today. Almost nothing concrete is documented about Smile’s origins, not even his birth name. His adopted first name “Ranji” was almost certainly a playful tribute to KS Ranjitsinhji, the legendary Indian cricketer who was a household name across British Test cricket circuits at the turn of the 20th century, while his surname “Smile” is believed to be an anglicized rendering of the common South Asian name Ismail. When he arrived at Ellis Island in the summer of 1899 after sailing from London, where he had previously worked as a curry chef at the iconic Cecil and Savoy hotels, he added a new all-American first name to his persona: Joe. The newly minted Joe Ranji Smile was handpicked by Louis Sherry, owner of New York’s ultra-luxurious Sherry’s Restaurant on Fifth Avenue, a Gilded Age fine-dining institution that rivaled the legendary Delmonico’s as the go-to dining spot for Manhattan’s wealthiest plutocrats, including the powerful Astor family. At the time, New Yorkers had barely any exposure to South Asian spices, but widespread cultural fascination with India — stoked by the wildly popular speaking tours of spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda, and a steady trickle of Indian students, sailors and professionals settling in the city — made Sherry eager to add a dedicated Indian curry chef to his star-studded kitchen team. A natural showman who thrived amid Sherry’s over-the-top, theatrical dining events (which once included a party where guests dined while seated on horseback in the restaurant’s ballroom), Smile turned every cooking and serving interaction into a performance. Draped in a lustrous satin coat and vibrant blue silk turban, he would greet diners with a traditional salaam, asking them “Will you have the curry hot or mild, sahib?” before serving up exotic delicacies including Bombay duck, a pungent dried lizardfish from India’s western coast, and his own signature creation “Lettuce Ceylon.” His fame exploded across local media, with one newspaper headline famously declaring “New York women go wild over him.” Buoyed by his massive popularity, Smile left Sherry’s in 1901 to launch his own standalone Indian restaurant, securing financial backing from prominent financier and early motorhome inventor Roland R Conklin. Named Omar Khayyam, the lavish eatery opened on prime Fifth Avenue real estate just one block away from the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel (the site where the Empire State Building would later be constructed 29 years later), decorated with rich Indian draperies, hanging lanterns, a staff of turbaned Indian waiters and a live troupe of Indian musicians. But the ambitious venture quickly flopped: New York diners dismissed Indian food as a fleeting novelty, and the restaurant shuttered within 12 months. As his public stardom faded, Smile’s flair for theatrical reinvention curdled into a series of elaborate deceptions. He began claiming he was the son of the Emir of Baluchistan, a completely fabricated royal title, and during a 1901 trip to Bombay he told locals he was a personal guest at King Edward VII’s upcoming coronation, recruiting a large retinue of valets, a dancing girl and elephant handlers to bring back to New York to staff his restaurant. This act landed him in federal court on charges of illegally trafficking foreign workers into the US, and while Smile narrowly avoided deportation, many of the staff he recruited were forcibly removed from the country. Over the following decades, Smile continued to churn out increasingly outlandish personas — at one point claiming he was the brother of the fictional “Great Beglerberg of Baluchistan” — while touring the US to host public Indian cooking demonstrations, marrying a string of young American women, and marketing South Asian food as a secret beauty elixir that could “make the eye grow lustrous and the complexion lovely.” A string of subsequent legal troubles, ranging from allegations of unlawfully confining his dancing girl performer to refusing to pay a Manhattan Italian restaurant bill, pushed him out of the public spotlight by the 1920s, when he abandoned cooking entirely to list his occupation as a general merchant. The last confirmed public record of Smile dates to 1937, when his fourth or fifth wife filed for an annulment at the New York Supreme Court after he vanished without a trace, pulling off one final, mysterious act of self-reinvention. Though his own career ended in infamy and obscurity, Smile’s trailblazing efforts laid critical groundwork for the future of Indian food in the US. A string of subsequent immigrant restaurateurs built on his early experiments, most notably KY Kira, a Sri Lankan performer who opened the long-running Ceylon India Inn in 1913, a wildly popular establishment that operated until the late 1980s and catered to Broadway and Hollywood celebrities. Today, more than 125 years after the short-lived Omar Khayyam first opened its doors, Smile’s little-remembered legacy lives on in the more than 5,000 thriving Indian restaurants spread across every corner of the United States.

  • UN must investigate death of UAE poet and writer Habib al-Sayegh, advocacy group says

    UN must investigate death of UAE poet and writer Habib al-Sayegh, advocacy group says

    A prominent U.S.-based Arab human rights advocacy organization is formally petitioning three United Nations special rapporteurs to launch a full, impartial probe into the alleged 2019 torture and extrajudicial killing of celebrated Emirati literary figure Habib al-Sayegh, citing explosive new evidence laid out in a recently released investigative nonfiction work. The call for action was issued Thursday by Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a group co-founded by slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi — who was assassinated inside his country’s Istanbul consulate exactly one year prior to al-Sayegh’s reported death. Matthew Cole’s newly published book *Princes and Thieves* lays out detailed, unreported accounts of the 64-year-old poet and writer’s final days: a decorated public intellectual who once served as chairman of the Emirates Writers Union, secretary-general of the General Union of Arab Writers, and editor-in-chief of prominent regional newspaper Al Khaleeg, al-Sayegh was forcibly abducted from his UAE residence, transferred to a state detention facility, and tortured to death between August 16 and 19, 2019. The book’s sourced accounts describe interrogators using pliers to yank out multiple of al-Sayegh’s teeth, and repeatedly striking him with a sharp metal implement to inflict severe, permanent injury. DAWN’s advocacy director Raed Jarrar emphasized in his formal letter to the UN experts that the distinct, heavy physical traces of such abuse would be clearly identifiable via a professional forensic examination of the writer’s remains. According to Cole’s findings, Emirati authorities held al-Sayegh’s body for more than 24 hours and prohibited his grieving family from accessing it before first interring him in an Abu Dhabi public cemetery, then secretly exhuming his remains to re-bury them in an unmarked, remote desert grave to prevent his loved ones from conducting traditional Islamic funeral prayers at his resting site. DAWN is demanding the UN special rapporteurs compel the UAE government to produce al-Sayegh’s official death certificate, full documented cause of death, any existing records of his detention, and an official formal response to the book’s damning allegations, as well as grant his family and an independent, court-approved forensic expert full access to locate and examine his final grave. The organization further requested that the UN panel submit all verified findings to the UN Human Rights Council, and pursue formal accountability for any confirmed breaches of international human rights law, noting that the UAE is a signatory state to the UN Convention Against Torture, despite a well-documented longstanding pattern of enforced disappearances targeting dissident voices within its borders. The respected literary figure, who was awarded a state honor in 2012 for his contributions to preserving and advancing Emirati national cultural identity, had published a public column just days before his 2019 disappearance, in which he labeled Israel a “real and natural enemy” and publicly questioned the legitimacy of political actors pushing for unapproved normalization with the state, asking “Who authorized the normalizers to speak on behalf of everyone?” The UAE’s official state news agency announced al-Sayegh’s sudden death days later, but never released any public details on the circumstances or medical cause of his passing. Barely more than 12 months after al-Sayegh’s death, the UAE formally signed the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords to fully normalize diplomatic and economic relations with Israel during a 2020 White House ceremony overseen by then-U.S. President Donald Trump. Bilateral ties between Abu Dhabi and Jerusalem have deepened dramatically in the years since, even after the UN formally designated Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as a potential genocide, with the two states forging expanding defence and security partnerships amid shifting regional geopolitical tensions. The UAE has taken an unusually divergent stance from most other Arab states following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel: its U.S.-based ambassador stated on public record last year that Abu Dhabi saw no viable alternative to Trump’s controversial “Gaza Riviera” redevelopment proposal, widely condemned across the Arab world as a blueprint for mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinian residents. Previous investigative reporting from Middle East Eye has also documented that Emirati officials have actively lobbied U.S. policymakers to reject a formal Arab League-backed peace plan for Gaza, and have openly supported Israeli proposals to forcibly displace large swathes of Gaza’s Palestinian population into neighbouring Egypt.

  • ‘The necktie is dead’: How US midterm candidates are dressing for votes

    ‘The necktie is dead’: How US midterm candidates are dressing for votes

    As millions of American voters prepare to cast their ballots in the 2026 US midterm elections, congressional hopefuls are no longer relying solely on policy pledges and public appearances to win over constituents. In an era defined by short-form social media content and split-second voter attention spans, carefully curated personal style has emerged as a deliberate, high-stakes strategic tool to signal authenticity, shared values, and alignment with local community identities.
    Celebrity fashion stylist and Arizona State University Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising faculty associate Joe Zee summed up the dual pressure facing candidates today: “Politicians are dressing for two jobs at once: to look capable of holding office but to also look connected to the people they want to represent.” Across every corner of the country, candidates from both major parties are deploying sartorial choices tailored to their districts’ unique cultural landscapes to cut through crowded campaign noise.
    In Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a former auto repair shop owner who flipped a long-held Republican seat in 2022, leans into a no-fuss, workwear-heavy wardrobe of durable work jackets, well-worn flannel shirts, jeans, and practical, scuffed work boots. Conservative public policy adviser and former Capitol Hill Clothiers owner Robert Ordway praised her styling as one of the most authentic on the current campaign trail, noting it perfectly aligns with the Pacific Northwest’s rugged, forest-heavy outdoor cultural identity. Public policy expert and content creator Tashira Halyard added that her low-key aesthetic sends an unmissable message that she is a champion of working-class and small business communities, the core of her re-election platform.
    Alaska Democratic Senate hopeful Mary Peltola follows a similar community-rooted styling playbook. Peltola made national headlines in 2022 when she wore traditional Yup’ik mukluks during her swearing-in as the first Alaska Native woman to serve in Congress, and this cycle she has doubled down on rugged fishing gear, flannel shirts, and pieces featuring Indigenous design details that nod to her decades working on commercial fishing boats on the Kuskokwim River, directly tying her visual identity to her campaign slogan of “fish, family and freedom.” Conservative journalist Bonnie Kristian noted the deliberate choice ensures voters immediately recognize her as both a lifelong Alaskan and a member of the state’s Indigenous community.
    For Iowa Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, sartorial messaging leans into unapologetic, nostalgic Americana. Her wardrobe blends polished conservative formal wear with casual, folksy touches including denim dresses, red bandanas, and a pair of bedazzled high heels emblazoned with the American flag, which she wore to a packed primary election celebration in June. Halyard pointed out the bold look lets Hinson “literally wear her patriotism on her sleeve,” while Kristian emphasized its strategic value in a hyper-competitive race: the instantly recognizable, flag-themed pieces create a split-second visual signal that resonates deeply with rural Republican voters scrolling social media feeds, leaving no room for misinterpretation of her political brand.
    In increasingly purple Texas, two high-profile rivals locked in a heated statewide race have converged on a surprisingly similar sartorial choice: relaxed, unstructured blazers paired with iconic Texas cowboy boots, ditching the traditional necktie that Ordway confirms is now effectively obsolete on campaign trails across both parties. 37-year-old Democratic state legislator James Talarico wears handcrafted Lucchese boots, a style famously favored by former Republican President George W. Bush. Fashion critic Friedman explained the choice carries deep regional semiotic weight, letting Talarico cross traditional partisan lines to appeal to a broad cross-section of Texas voters who associate the boots with state pride, not party affiliation. His 63-year-old opponent, incumbent Republican state attorney general Ken Paxton, also opts for cowboy boots to signal approachability, but his styling has drawn widespread backlash: former President Donald Trump publicly criticized the ill-fitting suits he has worn to events, while opponents slammed him for sporting a luxury Four Seasons branded polo shirt and an unconfirmed high-value watch at a time when cost of living pressures dominate voter concerns. Zee noted the incident highlights a critical risk for candidates: casual styling choices can backfire spectacularly if they accidentally signal elite privilege instead of working-class relatability.
    Longtime Tennessee Republican Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn, meanwhile, has cultivated a timeless, unchanging uniform of structured tailored jackets, modest knee-length skirts, and signature pearl necklaces that she has worn consistently for decades. Ordway, who worked as a legislative director on Capitol Hill, recalled her polished, unvarying look was already a staple of her public persona 20 years ago, and Kristian noted her classic, 1990s-era conservative styling is deliberately designed to feel familiar and trustworthy to long-time Tennessee voters.
    Michigan Democratic US Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed, a left-wing outsider running on a platform of removing corporate money from politics, has adopted a deliberately stripped-down uniform of plain black V-neck t-shirts and blue jeans, which he dubs “minimal look, maximal politics.” Ordway compared the aesthetic to that of a scrappy startup founder, designed to appeal to young, urban working-class voters, while Zee noted the apparent “unstyled” look is a carefully calculated branding choice that strips away the unnecessary ceremony of traditional political appearances, directing voter attention to his policy proposals rather than his wardrobe.
    The most famous example of a standardized political uniform belongs to Donald Trump, whose signature navy power suit, crisp white shirt, and bright red tie is so instantly recognizable it has become a Pavlovian visual signal for partisan alignment. Friedman noted that the look, first cultivated during his reality television career long before his presidential run, has spread through Republican ranks, with dozens of GOP senators, cabinet members, and candidates adopting the exact same outfit to signal loyalty to Trump’s political brand. As campaigns increasingly prioritize short social media clips and television appearances to reach voters, Friedman predicts that these kinds of highly distinct, instantly recognizable sartorial branding strategies will only grow more widespread by the 2028 presidential election cycle.

  • Israel: Tibi urges Eisenkot to show ‘courage’ and form minority government with Palestinians

    Israel: Tibi urges Eisenkot to show ‘courage’ and form minority government with Palestinians

    In a Friday exclusive interview with Middle East Eye, prominent Palestinian-Israeli legislator and Ta’al (Arab Movement for Renewal) party founder Ahmad Tibi has issued a direct, high-stakes call to Israeli opposition head Gadi Eisenkot to summon the historic political bravery of late former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin to collaborate with Arab parliamentary blocs and end Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-running tenure as prime minister. Tibi drew a direct parallel to 1993, when Rabin’s 56-seat minority administration relied on Palestinian-aligned parties for critical parliamentary backing to advance the landmark Oslo Accords, arguing there is no valid democratic rationale to exclude Palestinian Knesset representatives from such collaborative efforts in the current political landscape. A minority government in Israel’s 120-seat parliament is defined as an administration whose core coalition holds fewer than the 61 seats required for an absolute majority, sustained by a formal “safety net” arrangement where external supporting parties vote down no-confidence motions against the government without formally joining the cabinet. Tibi’s Ta’al party is part of the broader Joint List alliance, which includes fellow Palestinian-led factions Hadash and Balad; the three secured a combined 11 Knesset seats in the latest election, while the separate Palestinian party Ra’am won 8 seats, bringing the total Palestinian parliamentary representation to 19 seats — an all-time record for Arab parties in Israeli legislative history. This unprecedented seat distribution means neither Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc nor Eisenkot’s opposition faction can hit the 61-seat majority threshold required to form a government without the support of Palestinian legislators. Tibi emphasized that the Joint List’s core strategic priority is backing any political force committed to removing Netanyahu from office to clear the path for a new, alternative governing arrangement, explicitly stating, “We prefer a new government by Eisenkot, as a minority government, and we are ready to help.” He firmly rejected proposals for a cross-party national unity government that would unite Netanyahu’s Likud, the parliament’s single largest party, with mainstream opposition factions to secure a majority while sidelining far-right figures such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir. Tibi argued that such a unity arrangement would allow Netanyahu’s hardline policies to continue unimpeded, with a new non-Likud leader tasked with repackaging those policies to appear more palatable to Western governments. “We don’t like a unity government, because one side will continue his brutal policy and the second will help him market this policy,” he explained. Tibi hailed the record-high turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel as the decisive electoral force that blocked Netanyahu from securing a new outright majority, noting that the prime minister’s right-wing bloc secured only 53 seats in the latest Tuesday election, a sharp drop from the 64 seats it won in 2022 to form what was widely condemned as the most far-right administration in Israel’s history. That outgoing government’s tenure was marked by widespread international condemnation for overseeing mass atrocities in Gaza, large-scale forced displacement and surging settler violence across the occupied West Bank, multiple regional military conflicts, and a dramatic spike in state-backed discrimination and incitement targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel. Palestinian citizens of Israel are the descendants of the indigenous Arab population of historic Palestine, who survived the 1948 mass expulsion and ethnic cleansing campaigns carried out by Zionist militias and remained within the borders of the newly established state of Israel; today they number roughly two million people, making up approximately 20 percent of the country’s total population. Tibi paid tribute to Palestinian voters who turned out to cast ballots despite advanced age, chronic illness, and mobility barriers, describing their collective participation as a historic democratic milestone. He noted the immediate top priority for the Arab parliamentary blocs is leveraging these unprecedented electoral gains to dismantle what he called Netanyahu’s “criminal government” and advance tangible improvements to the civil and political status of Palestinian citizens across Israel. Tibi also forcefully dismissed unsubstantiated allegations that Qatar had funded efforts to boost turnout among Palestinian voters, framing the claims as transparently politically motivated and predicting the manufactured controversy would fade within days with no measurable impact on final election results or the government formation process. “Two, three, four, five days, everything will be relieved. It will be a minor issue; it will have zero effect on the results and on the process,” he stated. He accused Netanyahu of peddling these false foreign financing claims for two clear purposes: to intimidate Palestinian voters and to pressure Eisenkot to reject any potential collaboration with Arab legislative blocs. Tibi framed the record high Arab voter turnout as an act of collective political self-defence against rising state-sanctioned racism and violent incitement targeting Palestinian communities. He went on to reject Netanyahu’s repeated attempts to delegitimize the Arab vote, pointing to well-documented allegations of improper foreign financing surrounding the prime minister’s own office to argue the Likud leader had no moral standing to question electoral integrity. “The only corrupted party here is the prime minister and the prime minister’s office,” Tibi said. The veteran legislator also called on mainstream opposition parties to move with urgency to oust sitting Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a senior Likud lawmaker, accusing Ohana of transforming the Israeli parliament into a racist institution and systematically fomenting hostility and discrimination against Palestinian elected representatives. “Amir Ohana made the Knesset racist,” Tibi said, describing the speaker as a primary driver of collapsing cross-communal relations in the legislature, particularly through his repeated discriminatory treatment of Palestinian Knesset members. He pledged that the full slate of Palestinian legislators would throw their support behind the opposition’s nominee for a new Knesset speaker, urging no delay in the procedural vote to remove Ohana. Tibi concluded by noting that the combined 67 seats held by the mainstream opposition and Palestinian parties represented a clear democratic majority, arguing that Palestinian citizens, who make up one fifth of Israel’s population, hold an unassailable democratic right to play a formal role in determining the country’s next governing leadership.

  • He questioned Thailand’s monarchy dressed as Harry Potter. Now he’s in jail for 34 years

    He questioned Thailand’s monarchy dressed as Harry Potter. Now he’s in jail for 34 years

    Shackles clink in steady, unmistakeable rhythm down the narrow corridor leading to Bangkok’s criminal court, as five long-time political detainees make their way to yet another procedural hearing, navigating a years-long maze of overlapping criminal prosecutions that have defined nearly half a decade of their lives. Among them is 42-year-old human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, a greying, bespectacled man who breaks away from the group the moment he spots his three-year-old son Karl, brought to the courtroom by his partner for a rare in-person visit.
    Arnon’s path to incarceration traces back to a landmark 2020 Harry Potter-themed rally in central Bangkok, where he donned the iconic young wizard’s signature round glasses and cloak to deliver the first ever public, unapologetic call for Thailand’s powerful monarchy to be subjected to public scrutiny and formal accountability. Last Friday, a Bangkok court handed down a 2-year and 8-month prison sentence for his actions, a conviction under the kingdom’s sweeping lèse majesté legislation, formally known as Article 112. To date, more people have been jailed under this single law for perceived insults against the royal family than across every other country with comparable royal defamation statutes combined.
    This latest ruling is just one of 14 separate lèse majesté cases filed against Arnon, pushing his total accumulated prison sentence to over 34 years, with two additional verdicts still pending. Speaking to reporters immediately after the ruling, Arnon remained stoic: “To me, this isn’t a surprise. If the country was more open, we would be able to talk about these issues freely.” His three-year-old son currently believes the courtroom is simply where his father goes to work, unaware that the only other glimpses of his dad he gets come from hand-drawn illustrations his 10-year-old sister Pran creates, many of which depict their father behind bars or at court hearings, emblazoned with the slogan “Free my dad.”
    The past six years mark the most aggressive period of lèse majesté enforcement in Thai history, a direct response to the 2020 wave of student-led mass protests that shattered a centuries-old national taboo by demanding open public discussion of the monarchy’s role in governance. Since that wave of demonstrations began, 294 people – 20 of them under the age of 18 – have been prosecuted under Article 112, with some receiving sentences as long as 50 years, and dozens still awaiting trial. The vast majority of those charged are denied bail, left to languish in pre-trial detention for years as their cases drag on. Thai government officials routinely defend the law as a core reflection of national identity, noting that the monarchy is one of the three foundational pillars of Thai society and widely revered by the population.
    On paper, Article 112 is brief, stating that anyone who defames, insults, or threatens the King, Queen, Heir-apparent, or Regent faces 3 to 15 years in prison. In practice, however, enforcement has stretched far beyond that narrow text, targeting commentary on nearly every aspect of the royal institution, from critiques of long-dead monarchs to public jokes about the king’s pet dog. “If you ask me what the text of the law says, I can tell you,” explains Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, assistant director of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, an organization that provides legal defence for Article 112 defendants. “If you ask me how the courts interpret the words ‘defame’ or ‘insult’, I don’t think I can give you a definition, because it’s so ambiguous, it’s so vague. Even questioning the law itself, for example, can constitute lèse majesté under Section 112.”
    For the past three years, Arnon has been held in Bangkok Remand Prison, where he sends regular handwritten letters to his two young children. One recent message reads: “Dear Pran and Karl, my beloved children, The winter wind has not only brought us cool weather, but also brings back stories from the past. I miss the time we travelled outside Bangkok that first winter after Karl came into this world. It was such a magical time for me. I shall miss it every winter I spend here until I regain my freedom.”
    The sweeping crackdown on free speech under Article 112 has effectively erased nearly all public discussion of the monarchy, which for decades was only ever whispered in private, unrecorded conversations. One widely cited case saw a taxi driver jailed after a passenger reported critical comments he had made about the royal family during a ride. That long-standing silence was broken on August 3, 2020, when public frustration boiled over against the military-backed conservative government led by 2014 coup leader Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha. A year prior, millions of Thai voters had cast ballots for the progressive Future Forward Party, which promised sweeping military reform, only for the Constitutional Court to dissolve the party on a procedural technicality in February 2020. COVID-19 lockdowns paused public demonstrations for three months, but once infection rates fell, student organizers launched rallies demanding an end to military interference in civilian politics. Arnon argued these demands did not go far enough, and his Harry Potter-themed speech calling for scrutiny of the monarchy’s opaque wealth and unaccountable power – including King Vajiralongkorn’s decision to seize direct personal control of the multi-billion dollar Crown Property Bureau and key royal army units – shattered a taboo that had stood unbroken for generations of Thai society.
    At the time Arnon gave that speech, lèse majesté prosecutions had been suspended for three years, with palace insiders acknowledging that the negative international publicity generated by high-profile convictions was doing far more harm to the monarchy’s reputation than any critical public commentary. But the unprecedented scale of the 2020 protests forced a sudden policy reversal, and by the end of that year, Article 112 prosecutions had restarted and accelerated at a rapid pace, pushing dozens of young activists to flee the country to avoid decades of jail time.
    Among those exiled activists is 24-year-old Supitcha “Melinn” Chailom, who now lives in Montreal, Canada, after fleeing four separate lèse majesté charges against her. She was an 18-year-old high school student when she delivered a speech at a Chiang Mai University protest just three weeks after Arnon’s landmark 2020 speech, raising the iconic Hunger Games three-finger salute in a photograph that became one of the defining visual symbols of the pro-reform movement. The young activist, who once dreamed of working as a video game designer, traveled across the country leading rallies, organizing public opinion polls about the monarchy, and demanding sweeping overhauls of Thailand’s rigid, outdated education system. “I felt that, as a young person, I could not question, or have a discussion with people older than me. The monarchy gave me the same vibe,” she recalled in a recent interview from her Canadian asylum home.
    Her legal troubles began after a 2020 Hat Yai protest where she compared the special royal treatment afforded to the king’s pet dog to the struggles faced by ordinary Thai citizens. Nine months later, police arrived at her family home to serve her a lèse majesté summons. “It was a shock. I wasn’t expecting it because I only talked about the dog,” she said. “They tried to stay calm, but I nearly lost my mind.” After receiving two additional lèse majesté charges in 2022, she was placed under home detention, forced to wear an electronic ankle monitor, and barred from leaving her home between 4pm and 6am, with her parents required to sign a formal document promising to report any unapproved activity to authorities. Facing the prospect of decades behind bars, she fled the country with a friend, eventually securing refugee status in Canada.
    While Article 112 is technically a piece of ordinary legislation that could be amended by elected members of parliament, the Thai Constitutional Court has since ruled that the law – and the royal institution it protects – is effectively untouchable. The progressive Move Forward Party, the direct successor to the dissolved Future Forward, was disbanded in 2024, and its party leader banned from public office entirely, for the sole act of proposing modest reforms to reduce the harshness of lèse majesté prison sentences. Courts have also systematically blocked defendants from mounting meaningful defences: “In many cases, like the one against Arnon Nampa, prosecutors accuse the defendant of lying about the monarchy,” Akarachai noted. “But when we ask the judge to subpoena documents or witnesses who could show the truth of what the defendant says, the judge refuses to do it. When one lawyer protested against the court deciding that the trial would be held in secret, she was warned by the judge to be quiet or face a contempt of court charge.”
    Even with 34 years of accumulated sentences hanging over him, Arnon continues to meticulously prepare for every court appearance, representing himself and offering legal guidance to fellow detainees, all without being allowed to bring written notes into the courtroom, forcing him to memorize every line of his legal arguments. The judges often object to the sight of him acting as a defence lawyer while dressed in standard brown prison shorts, barefoot and still wearing his ankle shackles, but these rare court appearances are his only chance to see his children in person. In a letter to his family last year, he wrote: “Since the first day that we made up our mind to take up this mission, we knew of the dangers. Speaking the truth is not difficult. What is difficult is speaking a forbidden truth. I remember well that on the evening of 3 August 2020, after speaking at the Harry Potter event, I felt very good, content, and relieved to have finally begun speaking about the truth, in public.” A more recent letter adds: “Living here is a struggle. But it is just a dot in the bigger picture of our movement’s struggle. We must play a part in writing our own history. Become a drop of water that will one day become an ocean.”