
Britain Does Indeed Have a Free Speech Problem
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the Irish rap group Kneecap should be barred from playing the flagship Glastonbury Festival, after a member of the group was charged with terrorism offenses for shouting 'Up Hezbollah, up Hamas' at a gig.
By coincidence, a day after rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh appeared in court last week charged with promoting banned terrorist groups, a new law protecting freedom of speech on university campuses was greenlit by the British government. Arif Ahmed, who will police the regulations as a kind of college-free-speech tsar, issued a warning to students that they should: 'expect to face views you might find shocking or offensive…'
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Wall Street Journal
an hour ago
- Wall Street Journal
Why Shouldn't Europe Seize Russia's Assets?
Your editorial 'Trump Wins the Battle of NATO' (June 26) notes the good news: Our European allies are finally going to pony up more for their security. But when it comes to Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, our treaty allies shouldn't only commit additional billions to defense. They should also seize frozen Russian sovereign assets as a powerful form of deterrence. Having immobilized an estimated €210 billion of Russian funds, Europe can impose additional costs on Moscow through confiscation, diverting many of these resources to Ukraine's defense. I co-authored the REPO Act, which allows for the seizure of Russian sovereign assets in the U.S. Though President Biden signed the bill in April 2024, the White House chose not to use it for months. With President Trump at the helm, we can end the Biden-era policy of hesitation and move swiftly to implement the law—starting by transferring $5 billion in immobilized Russian funds held in the U.S. to Ukraine. If NATO countries are making the significant choice to spend more on defense, using Russia's frozen assets should be an easy decision. How can NATO members urge their taxpayers to chip in more while letting Vladimir Putin off the hook?


Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Read One Of These Books On Your Summer Vacation: Become A More Hopeful And Compassionate Leader
Trade out one trashy novel for learning about leadership. Compassionate Leadership is using your head and heart to inspire and influence others, so they can, in turn, inspire and influence others. This approach to leadership has proven to improve ROI, morale, innovation and retention. As a contributor focused on compassionate leadership, I continually scan the media for positive and hopeful stories featuring inspiring leaders. In the current swirl of war, political unrest, violence, and economic uncertainty, it can be difficult to find hope in the news media. Therefore, I have turned to books that focus on solving problems through analysis and innovation, to keep hope alive. I love nonfiction books and years ago, I read a book that spurred me on by Tom Corley, in his book Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals (2010), found in his five-year study of 177 self-made millionaires that: I have been striving to read one nonfiction book a month since and I may meet my goal this year, thanks to my efforts to reduce my news consumption. Here are three of the six I have read so far that I highly recommend, for people wanting to become better global citizens and leaders: Book #1 Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference By Rutger Bregman (2025): The author is a Dutch Philospher who argues that many bright, capable individuals—especially in fields like finance and consulting, the so-called 'Bermuda Triangle of talent'—are squandering their potential on high‑paying but low‐impact roles. He urges readers to embrace 'moral ambition', a mindset that defines success by societal impact rather than salary or prestige. It may sound boring, but he expertly makes the argument for a new professional path as the answer to many problems using historical references and present-day heroes. He has even created a school to help people transition into careers that make a difference called The School of Morale Ambition, which offers fellowships to professionals ready to work on world problems, such as food scarcity. Book #2: A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir by Jacinda Ardern (2025): Read this raw and raw book, a master class in compassionate leadership. Travel with the author as she tells her life story from her small-town upbringing to global leadership as New Zealand's Prime Minister (2017–2023), all while raising her daughter as the second-ever elected head of government to give birth in office The memoir highlights how empathy and kindness shaped her leadership style and include her experience leading through the worst mass shooting in her country as well as her response to the the COVID‑19 pandemic. It also chronicles the story of what led her to leave public life after dealing with personal and political challenges that left her 'having nothing left in her tank'. For those of you who prefer biographies told through documentary, you can soon watch her story on Apple TV. Book #3:Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant (2023) In the introduction of his brilliant book, Grant reminds us that 'all talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not'. I read this book during our government's overzealous DEI reforms, and it gave me hope that we will return to common-sense policies that provide all our citizens with a chance at education and professional equity. He challenges the myth that talent alone determines success. Instead, he argues that growth, character, and opportunity play an even more significant role in realizing our potential. He emphasizes that: The book weaves together stories of unsung achievers, research studies, and insights from psychology and education to demonstrate that the most successful people often started from behind—and achieved success not by raw talent, but by capitalizing on overlooked opportunities. This book reveals how anyone can rise to achieve greater things and offers compassionate leaders a thoughtful roadmap for helping everyone reach their potential. I hope this helps you to escape the grind of the news cycle and find more inspiration through reading. You can find more resources about Compassionate Leadership here.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The S&P 500 has retaken all-time highs. Here's how much European and Chinese stocks raced ahead while U.S. markets regained lost ground
U.S. stocks have completed a massive round trip, with the S&P 500 returning back to where it was about four months ago. That's after an epic selloff triggered by President Donald Trump's steeper-than-expected tariffs, which have since been put on hold. Meanwhile, stocks in Europe and China have soared as investors turned away from 'American exceptionalism.' The S&P 500 retook the all-time high set on Feb. 19 and surpassed it on Friday, completing a massive roundtrip that saw U.S. stocks crash on President Donald Trump's trade war then claw their way back a few months later. But while investors can feel whole again after witnessing their portfolios get obliterated, there's also lingering regret over what they missed out on—or what could have been. For example, where would the S&P 500 be today if Trump hadn't shocked Wall Street with much steeper than expected tariffs that sent it crashing nearly 20%? At the end of 2024, many Wall Street forecasters expected the broad market index to soar to 7,000 this year or finish just below that threshold, building on two straight years with gains of more than 20% each. Back then, the notion of continued 'American exceptionalism' in the global economy and financial markets remained the dominant narrative, as investors focused more on Trump's tax cuts and deregulation than his tariffs. That contrasted with views for more stagnation in Europe and further slowing in China. Fast-forward to today, and the script has flipped. Investors plowed capital into overseas markets, especially after 'Liberation Day' in early April. The U.S. Dollar Index is down 10% this year as investors no longer see America as exceptional and doubt the safe-haven status of the greenback. Meanwhile, Europe and China are looking for ways to boost growth and offset an expected drag from weaker exports to the U.S. Europe is eyeing ways to deregulate and plans a big dose of fiscal stimulus in the form of more defense spending. That's as NATO allies rush to rearm amid Trump's demands for more burden-sharing, fears of Russian aggression, and doubts about the U.S. security shield. China, the top target of Trump's trade war, has also unleashed more fiscal stimulus and vowed increased support for consumers as Beijing seeks to shift its economy more toward domestic demand and away from export-oriented growth. At the same time, China's gains in AI, as demonstrated by DeepSeek's stunning advances, have added to the bullishness. Those policy pivots have fueled stock rallies that are largely beating U.S. markets, meaning investors who shunned Europe and China missed out on big gains. The DAX stock market index in Germany is up 20% year to date, and the MSCI Europe stock index has surged 21%. Other European indexes have made more modest gains but still are outperforming the U.S., with the FTSE 100 up 8%. In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is up 21% this year, and the iShares MSCI China ETF is up 18%. (But the Shanghai index has only eked out a 2% gain so far in 2025.) For its part, the S&P 500 is now ahead 5% this year. That's after Trump put his most aggressive tariff rates on hold and reached trade deals with the U.K. and China. Meanwhile, corporate earnings held up, inflation readings didn't spike, and some Federal Reserve policymakers pushed for earlier rate cuts. But the U.S. stock market recovery is built on hope as much as actual results. Investors are hoping the trade war doesn't escalate again, inflation stays in check, earnings can power through, and the economy doesn't tip into a recession—not to mention containing tension in the Middle East. To be sure, it's still possible for the S&P 500 to reach those upbeat forecasts that Wall Street saw before Trump's trade war. But the key question for investors is whether U.S. stocks can return to long-term outperformance over other markets. This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio