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New Statesman
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Statesman
It's time to go long on Farage-coin
Nigel Farage has had a paradoxical week. On Tuesday, he hit Labour from the left by calling for the two-child benefit cap to go. Forty-eight hours later, he flew to Las Vegas for a conference with Bitcoin magnates to tout his plans to lower taxes on cryptocurrency. All of which poses a question: is Farage for benefits or billionaires? The Reform leader was more at home in Vegas than you might expect. One pundit – wearing bulky headphones like a UFC commentator – introduced Farage as the 'the leading UK presidential candidate'. They clearly see him as one of their own. That fame is partly down to his fluency in the lexicon of the American right. He champions pensioners in London; in Las Vegas he attacks 'globalists' and 'big' government. Keir Starmer is branded a 'socialist' – a villain for Maga, in other words – and the crux of politics becomes the decline in 'our Judeo-Christian values'. Such elasticity pays off. Farage basked in standing ovations, languidly sprawled in his chair. He has never been this certain in his domination of politics. Remember that on Brexit night he conceded defeat before the full results came in. Now, he mimics those presidential candidates who talk about 'when' they will win the election. He detailed his career, tailored for his audience, with unusual pride: commodities trader, radio presenter, GB News host. 'Frankly I think I've got much more experience than a bunch of Oxford-educated human rights lawyers to run the country,' he said. Farage's antennae are sharper than most. Where he leads, other politicians follow. He condemned China's authoritarianism in January 2021, for instance, only for parliamentarians to declare a genocide against the Uyghurs later that year. He spent the pandemic filming boats of migrants crossing the Channel, a now hegemonic issue. He first went to a crypto conference three years ago in Amsterdam as Rishi Sunak laid out plans to make the UK a crypto hub. But how many votes are in crypto? American politics usually grows rotten on its journey across the Atlantic. Ask jaundiced progressives how popular woke is now. Trump, who has his own memecoin, is his own repellent – America First, after all, means putting the US over allies. Farage had to distance himself from Elon Musk after X became a campaign headquarters for Britain's race riots last summer. This year, tariffs plunged Trump's approval ratings among British voters, even with those who support Reform. Yet Farage still calls Trump a 'friend' and has set up a 'Doge unit' to cut local government spending. He is riding two horses – and two countries – at once. Farage's gamble is that crypto is popular on the home front, not just with his American bros. The trick lies in the youth – something you couldn't often say about the populist movement a few years ago. One YouGov survey last year found that 24 per cent of 18-34 year-olds own cryptocurrency, compared to 12 per cent of the population overall. 'My message particularly to young people is help us to help you bring our country properly into the 21st Century,' Farage said. What resolves Farage's paradox is that cryptocurrency is a form of populist finance. It's a decentralised currency often used to shield money from law enforcement, central banks and Wall Street. Eric Trump said at the conference that he 'would love to see some of the big banks go extinct.' The last speaker of the day was Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, a dark-web marketplace which used Bitcoin, who was arrested for drug trafficking offenses in 2013. Trump pardoned him two days after taking office. For its acolytes, cryptocurrency is the key to a new anti-establishment economics. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Farage sees himself as a marshal within this anti-system movement, standing against the globalist elite abroad, and the Conservative-Labour consensus at home. Like Trump – whose supporters range from Elon Musk to Steve Bannon, two men who resent each other's views – Farage can glide between libertarianism and populism. He speaks the language of both and seems to think holding that coalition together is the route to No 10. That means calling for welfare one day, and hawking London as a crypto capital the next. [See also: Nigel Farage's political personality disorder] Related
Memri
3 days ago
- Politics
- Memri
AMP Chairman Hatem Bazian in California Friday Sermon: Kashmir and Palestine Are Battlegrounds for Identity; Zionists Came from Ukraine and Poland, Changed Their Names to Appear Indigenous
In a May 16, 2025 Friday sermon at the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara, CA, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) National Chairman Hatem Bazian drew parallels between the conflicts in Palestine and Kashmir, framing both as struggles over identity and land driven by religious nationalism. Bazian said that in Palestine, the land is being claimed under the pretext of a divine promise tied to Judeo-Christian civilization, while in Kashmir, he argued, the region is being framed as a 'pure land of the Hindu gods' in service of building a Hindu nation-state. Bazian rejected the notion that Palestine belongs to those who claim a divine promise tied to Judeo-Christian civilization, saying it does not belong to those who came from Ukraine or Poland and changed their last names to appear indigenous. He emphasized that the Canaanites were the original inhabitants of the land and said that they were of Arab origin. Bazian argued that the promise to Abraham was not a bloodline promise but one based on belief, citing a Quranic verse in which God tells Abraham that transgressors from his lineage are not included in the promise.
NDTV
23-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Israeli Embassy Staff Victim Yaron Lischinsky Was "Brilliant, Curious": Envoy
Yaron Lischinsky, one of the two Israeli staff members killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in DC, was a brilliant and curious student, Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to Germany, said on Thursday. Mr Prosor said he taught Mr Lischinsky during his master's at the Reichman University. In a long post on X, Mr Prosor wrote, "Yaron, born in Nuremberg, wasn't just a colleague. I had the privilege of having him as my master's student at Reichman University. Bright, curious, engaged." Describing Mr Lischinsky, he said that he was a Christian who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and chose to dedicate his life to the State of Israel and the Zionist movement, supporting the Jewish people's right to have their own state. He further said that Mr Lischinsky represented Judeo-Christian values and set an example for young people around the world. "Chanting "Free Palestine" is not just a slogan, it's a call to action to target Jews wherever they are," Mr Prosor said, adding, "We will not let terror win." "May the memory of Yaron and Sarah be a blessing." Yaron and Sarah— working together at the Israeli Embassy in Washington D.C.— were murdered in a terrorist attack outside the Jewish Museum. A young couple with a bright future planning their life together. Yaron, born in Nuremberg, wasn't just a colleague. I had the privilege of… — Ambassador Ron Prosor (@Ron_Prosor) May 22, 2025 Nissim Otmazgin, a humanities professor at the Hebrew University, said Mr Lischinsky dreamt of becoming a diplomat. According to the German-Israeli Friendship Society, Mr Lischinsky was fluent in German. Volker Beck, the president of the society, paid tribute to Mr Lischinsky, saying, "His interest in German-Israeli relations and ways to achieve peaceful coexistence in the Middle East brightened the environment around him." According to the BBC, one of his friends, Jenny Havemann, called Mr Lischensky a nice, modest, calm, and friendly man. Mr Lischinsky and his colleague and partner, Sarah Milgrim, an American working for the Israeli embassy, were shot dead on Wednesday night by a man named Elias Rodriguez. According to the reports, Rodriguez walked past the victims and shot them in the back multiple times. He reloaded and fired again, shooting a total of 21 bullets. As police arrived, Rodriguez admitted to the shooting, saying, "I did it for Palestine; I did it for Gaza." Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the US, said the couple was set to get engaged in 10 days.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bonded by work and love, Israeli Embassy colleagues' lives cut short by gunman
They were colleagues, and they were a couple, days away from a marriage proposal. But the interwoven lives of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were brutally cut short Wednesday evening, when the two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot while leaving a reception for young diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum. The suspect told police he 'did it for Palestine,' according to court documents filed Thursday as he was charged with murder. Milgrim, a 26-year-old American from Kansas, had devoted her burgeoning career to bringing people together to look for ways to promote peace and combat climate change, those who knew her say. Lischinsky, a 30-year-old Israeli citizen who spent some of his childhood in Germany, had a deep attachment to Israel and an interest in bridging cultural and religious divides. He had bought an engagement ring and was just days away from proposing to Milgrim on a planned trip to Jerusalem, according to Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter. 'A young couple with a bright future, planning their life together,' said Ron Prosor, a veteran Israeli diplomat who knew Lischinsky. Yaron Lischinsky Lischinsky grew up partly in the German city of Nuremberg and moved to Israel at 16. He served in the Jewish state's military 'and chose to dedicate his life to the state of Israel," said Prosor, who taught Lischinsky at Israel's Reichman University. Lischinsky earned a master's degree in government, diplomacy and strategy there. 'He embodied the Judeo-Christian values and set an example for young people worldwide,' Prosor said on X. A friend, David Boskey, recalled Lischinsky as someone unafraid to broach hard questions in order to interrogate his own convictions. He met Lischinsky in 2017 in Jerusalem at a Messianic Jewish congregation, where they would often end up talking together about life and faith, Boskey said. The Messianic movement — popularly known as Jews for Jesus — incorporates Jewish symbols and practices, but Israel considers Messianic Jews to be practicing another faith. 'He was looking to see where he was going to go in life, asking questions about calling and about identity and about what he was going to study, where he was going to work, what he wanted to pursue in life,' Boskey said. He described Lischinsky as 'a truth-seeking type of person, mixed with a very, very kind and gracious willingness to serve other people.' Lischinsky helped found the Israeli-German Society's youth forum, according to its counterpart in Germany, and he took a job at the Israeli Embassy in Washington in 2022. There, he worked as a research assistant whose responsibilities included keeping track of important events and trends in the Middle East and North Africa, his LinkedIn profile said. He said he advocated for interfaith dialogue and intercultural understanding and was an 'ardent believer' in deepening Israel's ties with the Arab world through the U.S.-brokered agreements known as the Abraham Accords. On Instagram, his bio included a yellow ribbon symbolizing the struggle to free the hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip. Milgrim's Instagram bio also had a yellow ribbon, as well as a passage, in Hebrew, from the biblical Book of Deuteronomy: 'Justice, justice you shall pursue.' Sarah Milgrim Milgrim was an American citizen, according to Israel's former ambassador to the U.S., Mike Herzog. She hailed from Overland Park, Kansas, where a former youth director at Congregation Beth Torah remembers a brilliant girl with a perpetual smile and a sense of purpose. 'She had a passion for Judaism and for Israel, and she wanted to do some good,' said Marcia Rittmaster, the former youth director. She recommended Milgrim for a Jewish leadership internship upon the young woman's graduation from high school. Milgrim went on to the University of Kansas, where she earned a bachelor's degree in environmental studies in 2021 and was a warm, uplifting presence at Shabbat dinners and holiday gatherings at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life. 'She believed in connections, in building community and bringing people together,' Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel said. He said she loved asking questions, enjoyed insightful conversations and 'was filled with so much love.' After graduating, Milgrim worked at at a Tel Aviv-based organization centered on technology training, entrepreneurial and conflict dialogue for young Palestinians and Israelis, according to her LinkedIn profile. It said she had been trained in religious engagement and peacebuilding by the United States Institute of Peace, an organization that promotes conflict resolution and was created by the U.S. Congress. After earning a master's degree in international affairs from American University in 2023, she went to work at the Israeli Embassy, where her job involved organizing events and missions to Israel. Among them was an Earth Day gathering last month that highlighted Israeli companies and nonprofit groups doing climate work, recalled attendee Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, a philanthropist and a Maryland Commission on Climate Change member. She said she and Milgrim brainstormed by phone just this past week about ways to inform journalists about climate-related innovations in Israel. 'She was exceptionally talented, exceptionally passionate, really kind, extremely well-organized and very effective. And she's the kind of young leader that, really, this nation and the world needs,' Mizrahi said. 'She wanted to create a better future for everyone.' ___ Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Contributing were Geir Moulson in Berlin; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv; Jennifer Peltz in New York; Sarah Brumfeld in Cockeysville, Maryland; Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, and Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire. Tia Goldenberg, The Associated Press
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Peppa Pig's family just got bigger: The sweet meaning behind her baby sister's name
After more than two decades of delighting young audiences, has entered a brand new chapter — with the arrival of a baby girl in the beloved cartoon family. Earlier this year, and Daddy Pig revealed they were expecting their third child, sparking global excitement among fans. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Today, the mystery is over. The world has officially met Peppa's baby sister: Evie. The announcement was made with all the pomp of a royal birth. Inspired by traditional royal protocols, the Peppa Pig team rolled out a town crier, a scroll-style proclamation, and even an official birth certificate — a fitting nod, considering baby Evie was born at the prestigious Lindo Wing in London. At the same hospital, Kate Middleton gave birth to all three of her children. 'I'm feeling fantastic,' Mummy Pig told People. 'I'm so thrilled Evie is finally here, happy and healthy! I won't say it was an easy birth, because I'm not sure such a thing exists — oink! But it was all worth it once she was snug and safe in my arms, and the family got to meet her properly." Credit: X/@wgeeez A name with emotional significance As for how they landed on the name, Mummy Pig shared that it wasn't an easy decision. 'It was quite a process to find the perfect name, let me tell you,' she said. 'For a while, it seemed like we might just call her 'Baby' forever! Oink! But Evie is a perfect fit – it was the name of my Great Aunt, and our little one's eyes just lit up when we first suggested it, like she knew it was her name already." The name Evie holds a special place in the Pig family's history, even if Aunt Evie has never made an appearance in the Peppa Pig series, which already features Grandpa and Granny Pig. The emotional connection is clear — Mummy Pig's fondness for her great aunt carried into the next generation with a name full of both meaning and charm. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now What does 'Evie' mean? While for Papa Pig and Mumma Pig, the name has more of a emotional significance, Evie is a common name which is rooted in the Hebrew name Chava (חַוָּה), Evie is a derivative of Eve, which means 'life' or 'living one.' Further, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, Eve is known as the first woman created by God, making the name symbolically tied to the origin of humanity and the beginning of life itself. In many ways, it's a fitting name for the family's newest member — a symbol of joy, renewal, and warmth. Credit: X/@wgeeez Mummy Pig, who spends her days doing 'very important work' on her computer, and Daddy Pig, who 'takes big numbers, transmutes them and calculates their load-bearing tangents,' are now parents of three: Peppa, four; George, two; and newborn Evie. Since coming home from the hospital, the family of five has been adjusting to life with a newborn. Mummy Pig says she especially loved watching Peppa and George bond with their new sister. "It's an ongoing change for sure! They both take their responsibility as 'Big Brother' and 'Even Bigger Sister' very seriously," Mummy Pig explains. "There's been some wobbles here and there — sometimes, it can be tricky for little ones to understand that babies need a lot of Mummy and Daddy's time and attention." Not just Peppa Pig's family, all the fans are excited to watch baby Evie grow up.
