Portside

Protests expanded across the country this week in reminiscence of the Arab Spring. Unemployment is high, and citizens are unhappy with the pace and direction of reform.

Shortly after turning 90, Hedy was arrested in a demonstration over the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson. She has also visited the Israeli-Occupied West Bank five times, and been turned away from visiting Gaza the same amount of times by Israeli authorities. “It’s part and parcel of my entire political philosophy, when there is something wrong being done I can’t stand idly by … I have to be out there.”

The people stuck in Calais are caught between two major colonial powers which must bear responsibility for much of the violence and destruction which has driven refugees from their homes in the Middle East and beyond. Their awful situation is relevant in trying to understand the colonial legacy and Europe's obsession with borders and fear of the immense efforts by civil society to help, even as they are curbed by Europe's governments. Why is Europe so scared these days?

Tsering Sherpa, a Queens resident who said he drove for Uber six days a week, eight hours a day, predicted the fare cuts would force him to work 10 to 14 hours a day to make his rent and car payments. “New York City just keeps getting more and more expensive,” Mr. Sherpa said at the rally. “How are we supposed to survive with less money?” “They call us partners,” he added. “But they’re treating us like slaves.”

With a million new refugees expected in Europe this year, Greece faces a diplomatic onslaught and an existential crisis

Historical blindness has been much on display in the primary season. On the Republican side, candidates promised to “kick ass” in Iraq, make the “sand glow” in Syria, and face down the Russians in Europe. While the Democratic aspirants were a little more measured, they generally share the pervasive ideology that binds together all but “cranks” like Ron Paul: America has the right, indeed the duty, to order the world’s affairs.

The Iowa results demonstrate how polarised and volatile American politics has become – from left to right, old certainties have been swept aside.

Now the pace accelerates: New Hampshire next week, followed by South Carolina, Nevada and the Super Tuesday states, as more and more Americans discover that a presidential campaign has begun. Iowa will be dissected over the next days, but here are five quick takeaways the morning after.

Ta-ta, Twitter; Faux News war pig; Megyn Kelly without tears; Kochs spook Jane Meyer; Drug ad backlash; The new Birth of a Nation

After premiering to prolonged standing ovations and plenty of critical acclaim, the slave revolt drama, Birth of a Nation, set off the fiercest bidding war Sundance has ever seen. Fox Searchlight has come out on top, landing the drama in a record-breaking $17.5 million deal, the biggest purchase in Sundance history.