World
Why the Maori party keep doing the haka in parliament
Parliamentary proceedings in New Zealand once again screeched to a halt this week after an unsanctioned performance of the haka…
Happy Birthday, Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley, who was born 150 years ago today, was once one of my idols. No one else seemed to…
Who killed the London Stock Exchange?
Stock exchanges around the world compete with each other to entice the most exciting companies to sell their shares on…
It’s getting harder for scientists not to believe in God
Many Baby Boomers are sceptical about God. They think that believing in a higher power is probably incompatible with rationality.…
What Margaret Thatcher meant to Hungary
It is a most fitting tribute: an iron and steel statue of the Iron Lady in a city once behind…
Japan has a bear problem
In a scenario out of a horror film, or Werner Herzog documentary perhaps, Japan is experiencing a spate of bear…
What’s happened to the trade paperback?
What’s happened to the trade paperback? To my thinking, it provides the most pleasurable reading experience in the world. And…
Watch: Activist blasts SNP for ‘mistrust’ in party
Well, well, well. SNP conference has gotten off to a rather, er, interesting start. As one might expect, the subject…
The tyranny of ‘kindness’
The vice-chancellor of Oxford University, Professor Irene Tracey, has been giving some gloriously counterintuitive advice recently on how to safeguard…
Macron’s story has become a Shakespearean tragedy
This week has been a tale of two presidents. On the one hand there is Donald Trump, who has masterminded…
Is anyone listening to the Scottish Tories?
There may have been a decent turnout of both youthful Tory members and elderly cardholders at this year’s Conservative party…
Stephen Flynn attacks Farage over Russia
To the north of Scotland, where in Aberdeen the SNP conference has begun. Activists are gathering, once again, to try…
Britain still doesn’t have a blasphemy law
There are still some good judges left in England. Yesterday, one of them, Sir Joel Nathan Bennathan KC, granted Hamit…
In reappointing Lecornu, Macron is clinging to power
Emmanuel Macron has reappointed Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, a loyalist whose government collapsed in mere weeks, and whose resignation…
My brief career as an ‘Eye in the Sky’ airborne reporter
I was watching Slow Horses the other night and as usual, there was some sort of terrorist-related mayhem which had brought London…
Padel is a disgrace
Why the hell not? I thought to myself as a friend invited me for a game of padel at her Oxfordshire…
No wonder the Irish hate Netflix’s House of Guinness
Beer, Brits, and bad language are the few culturally accurate elements of the new Netflix series, House of Guinness. Loved by…
Taylor Swift has shattered feminism’s fragile lie
Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, has done more than dominate the charts. It’s reignited one of the oldest – and…
Let ‘Iryna’s Law’ be her legacy
We’ve seen it again and again – Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, Christina Yuna Lee, Michelle Go, Jocelyn Nungaray, Kristal Bayron-Nieves…
Why weed is the most dangerous drug in America
Weed is the most dangerous drug in America. The main reason for this is the fact that most people don’t…
Putin’s winter campaign begins
For the fourth winter in a row, Vladimir Putin believes now is the time when Ukrainians will finally break. Russia’s…
When will Labour be honest about its China spy problem?
Yvette Cooper managed to say ‘let me be clear’ twice, in a couple of minutes during her interview with Nick…
Shutdown siestas
Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday Washington is ten days into the government shutdown, and the Republicans and Democrats remain at…
By order of the non-doctor
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not say, in yesterday’s cabinet meeting, that circumcision causes autism.…
The real Gaza deal unfolds in the next 72 hours
The machine is beginning to turn. The ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas, brokered with the direct involvement of President…
