Did Putin’s allies flee Moscow?
As soon as the Wagner coup started, Ukrainian social media was full of memes of Vladimir Putin saying ‘I don’t…
Afghanistan’s fall and the flaw of unadulterated idealism
Two years since America’s calamitous and reckless withdrawal from Afghanistan, turning it over to the Taliban, the country has experienced…
Prigozhin’s bid for death or glory
Up until this point, it was possible to believe that Putin was tolerating, or even orchestrating Yevgeny Prigozhin’s increasingly outspoken…
I’m from the government, and I’m here to threaten you
These days I try to limit my TV viewing to sport. Every other genre, from drama to game-show to (especially)…
Why Prigozhin rebelled
Civil war broke on Russia like a thunderstorm, replacing weeks of mounting political heat with a deluge of fire and…
A trophy hunting ban won’t save Africa’s wildlife
British rule over South Africa ended in 1910, but now parliament is busy with legislation that could have a devastating effect…
The self-delusion of ‘Bomber’ Harris
The scene in the German port was like a vision of hell. As the incendiary bombs rained down on Hamburg…
UFOs or not – something is up
As famous capital cities of world-straddling superpowers go, Washington DC is somewhat disappointing. The grandiose urbanism is surely meant to…
Putin faces challenge from his own creation
It took a characteristically long time for Vladimir Putin to respond to the coup-that-dare-not-speak-its-name launched by Yevgeny Prigozhin, but when…
Rostov-on-Don: scenes from an occupation
The main thoroughfare of Rostov-on-Don is today crawling with military vehicles and masked soldiers carrying automatics, and the entrance to…
Exiled Belarusian opposition calls for army to rise against Moscow
With Vladimir Putin facing armed insurrection from Prigozhin’s Wagner Group, the exiled opposition in Belarus has called for its military…
This failed coup will be just the beginning
Yevgeny Prigozhin has just exposed the full extent of Vladimir Putin’s weakness. In less than 24 hours, the leader of…
Full text: Putin on Wagner coup
Vladimir Putin has just released a speech to Russians after the Wagner mercenary group took over Russian military headquarters in…
My dog has been cancelled by Pride
Bella is a three-year-old dog of indeterminate breed. I found her by the side of the road. She is fearless,…
Why do we hate billionaires?
Sometimes it takes a crisis and its accompanying trending news headlines to reveal the murky ideological creatures swimming under the…
Japan’s dark history of forced sterilisation
A Japanese government report has revealed that over a 50-year period, under a policy of forced sterilisation, 16,500 people were…
Prigozhin leaves Rostov
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, has left Rostov-on-Don and ended the armed insurrection against Vladimir Putin.…
Could the election herald the rise of the small party?
These are heady times for Britain’s smaller political parties. Seldom has there been as much interest from voters in breaking…
My battle with bureaucracy behind bars
On my first night in prison, I slept well. Perhaps the previous day’s stress and exhaustion played a part. Neither…
The French Connection and the trouble with streaming censorship
We are ten minutes into William Friedkin’s The French Connection and we’ve just seen our two heroes beat the shit out of…
No
‘Just say No,’ was the catchphrase of Nancy Reagan back in the 1980s. The slogan was used to encourage people…
Moroccan diary
Most Australians know little about Morocco because it’s one of those places that rarely makes the news. Not much goes…
