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cover of George Orwell’s Animal Farm

Animal Farm has turned 80, but we still don’t know who wrote the best line

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a crucial book for understanding rising authoritarianism. We need it more than ever.

  • Anna Funder

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Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, and Vice President J.D. Vance during their explosive meeting in the Oval Office.

Putin is ready to carve up the world. Trump just handed him the knife

When Donald Trump threatened Volodymyr Zelensky with the potential for World War III, he may have been drawing a more accurate historical parallel than he realised.

  • M. Gessen
The many shades of Franz Kafa.

One hundred years since his death, this author is a must-read more than ever

Indeed, posterity has paid Kafka the greatest tribute a writer can receive. His name has become an adjective.

  • David Free
Sergi Andrijenko, survivor, turns 100 next week, but doesn’t call his life a celebration.

Beggar, slave labourer, refugee and widower: Sergi on a childhood stolen and 100 years of solitude

Sergi Andrijenko doesn’t use the word celebrate when he talks about turning 100. Nor does he thank God for his long life. “I wouldn’t want anyone to have a life like mine.”

  • Tony Wright
Former Chinese top leader Hu Jintao was unexpectedly led out of the closing ceremony of a major meeting of China’s ruling Communist Party on Saturday.

Manhandled and erased: Confusion surrounds Hu’s ignominious exit from Xi’s stage

The undignified removal of the former Chinese president suggests it was a display of Xi Jinping’s powerful grip on the country.

  • Con Coughlin
Sanadze has subverted the meaning of the original sculpture, which celebrated victory in war, to an anti-war statement.

Melbourne monument of woman raging against war is ‘like a prayer’

A towering sculpture, designed as a symbol of peace and hope, has been unveiled in South Melbourne.

  • Kerrie O'Brien
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In an undated photo, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks at a front-line position from a shelter as he visits eastern Ukraine.

The memories that fire the courage of Ukraine’s freedom fighters

Past horrors are never far from the lives of Ukrainians. Now, as their country is invaded, the memories feed their tenacity.

  • Tony Wright
US President Donald Trump, left, with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2019.

China-US rivalry poses world's greatest challenge, but we can prosper

We have, for the first time in China, a true peer competitor to the US. And this is going to drive almost everything that happens on the planet.

  • Fareed Zakaria
Russian President Vladimir Putin has laid the groundwork to stay in the Kremlin until 2036.

The power of one: Putin settles in for an extended stay

The Russian President's popularity has nosedived since the coronavirus pandemic but he could still control the Kremlin until 2036.

  • Bevan Shields
Illustration by Liz Rowland.

The getting of wisdom: a letter to my daughter

A mother salutes her daughter's strengths and abilities, while sharing some of life's secrets.

  • Julia Baird