Lynne O'Donnell
04 March 2026
The return of slavery
The Taliban government in Afghanistan has just released a new penal code. The rules it sets out are relentlessly brutal and backward
Read the full article01 March 2026
Attacks on Iran: this is going to spread
The US and Israeli assault on Iran has the potential to escalate into a broader international conflict. Not only that, but Trump has put the entire global economy in danger
Read the full article25 February 2026
This is what happens when the rule of law dies
In Pakistan, the courts are no longer there to administer the law – they have become extensions of the security state. It is a worrying indicator of where the US may be heading
Read the full article11 February 2026
Using the dead to justify war against Iran
News reports that emerged from outside Iran put the number of dead protesters in the tens of thousands. Iranians inside the country, who took part in the demonstrations, tell a very different story
Read the full article04 February 2026
The message to Trump, Putin and Xi: big countries lose wars
It’s the one lesson that power-mad authoritarians always forget – and nowhere embodies that truth more than Afghanistan
Read the full article14 October 2025
When the Taliban shut off the internet
In an attempt to control the flow of information, the rulers of Afghanistan plunged the country into darkness. That decision has backfired
Read the full article12 September 2025
Afghanistan, the land of catastrophe
A devastating earthquake hit Afghanistan, and the call for aid has gone out. But if it’s all being stolen by the Taliban, what’s the point?
Read the full article25 August 2025
Bashir Noorzai, the Taliban’s godfather
Drug tycoon Bashir Noorzai was seized and jailed for life by the US. Yet somehow he is free - and has reinvented himself as gatekeeper to Afghanistan’s trillion-dollar rare earth treasure trove
Read the full article30 July 2025
Trump’s own Afghan scandal
The country’s ‘Freedom Pilots’ flew alongside American colleagues before being given refuge in the US when the Taliban returned. Now the MAGA regime wants to send them home – to what fate?
Read the full article17 July 2025
Afghan data leak: one part of a great betrayal
The Afghans who served with western forces have been let down by ignorant politicians with no idea who the Taliban truly are
Read the full article14 June 2025
Trump and Netanyahu – two authoritarians in search of a legacy
The Israeli leader has scored a tactical victory against Iran. But that alone is unlikely to bring him victory, either at home or abroad
Read the full article17 April 2025
New York watches Trump crash the world
It was hard to find anyone who had a good word to say about the president in New York. The tariffs have made that impossible
Read the full article07 February 2025
If Trump’s plan for Gaza is insane, what does sane look like?
His ideas to redevelop Gaza are horrifying and absurd. But the strip is a warzone of rubble and bodies – if not this, then what?
Read the full article01 January 2025
A Gaza peace deal to believe in
Could a plan put together by a former Israeli PM and a nephew of Yasser Arafat finally break the deadly cycle of retribution and reprisal?
Read the full article09 October 2024
A world at war
We live in a time of conflict. Stuck in this doom loop of grievance and warfare, is the idea of peace in our time now little more than an impossible dream?
Read the full article22 May 2024
Europe is walking the terror tightrope
As tensions rise, Islamist groups are once again quietly preparing attacks in Europe – with the Olympics and Euro 2024 as possible targets
Read the full article15 November 2023
Israel, Gaza, and the rise of global insecurity
As the death toll continues to mount, the Gaza war has the potential to destabilise the region – and the world
Read the full article19 August 2023
Is the Taliban getting hooked on fentanyl?
The militant fighters running Afghanistan have shut down the heroin trade – but what happens to drugs in Europe as a result could be a disaster
Read the full article31 May 2023
Imran Khan, Pakistan’s populist insurgent
The former prime minister will do and say whatever it takes to make people love him – but he is the only alternative to the incumbent administration
Read the full article25 August 2022
The Taliban called me a high value target and threatened to have me killed… just for writing the truth
A year on from the fall of Afghanistan, one journalist’s terrifying return...
Read the full article