Old-fashioned realism could have avoided the Ukrainian crisis
The truth is the West lied to Gorbachev
Not worth the price of admission
There are moments when you wish the theatre would just be swallowed up and be as if it had never…
Aussie life
Prime ministers rarely lose elections by bungling a single issue. An obvious benefit of the four-year term is that if…
Language
According to news reports Vladimir Putin expected his invasion and conquest of Ukraine to be a ‘cakewalk’. This is originally…
Silent censors
The arrest of a reporter who held up a poster during a Russian news broadcast criticising the war in Ukraine…
Enduring legends
Once upon a time there was a collection of stories that everybody loved. They involved brave heroes such as Perseus…
Establishing Rapport
Richard Rapport took first place at the Fide Grand Prix in Belgrade last weekend. The Hungarian grandmaster is now almost…
High life
If western universities were not brimming with leftist professors, the present situation in Ukraine would surprise no one. History would…
Puzzle no. 694
White to play. Rapport-Rogic, Austria 2010. Black threatens Qa1+ and then Rxf2+, so Rapport must strike at once. Which move…
Barometer
Thamesky Prospekt Who first coined the place name ‘Londongrad’? The name was used in a BBC sitcom called Comrade Dad,…
Miller’s crossing
Bloody Difficult Women is a documentary drama by the popular journalist Tim Walker, which looks at the similarities between Gina…
China’s focus is Covid, not a proxy war
It is tempting to believe that we have gone from one crisis to another: Russia invaded Ukraine hours after Covid…
Letters
Two Russias? Sir: I have been turning Owen Matthews’s article (‘Putin’s rage’, 5 March) over in my mind since I…
Slugs and snails
Slugs and snails are the bane of every gardener who tries to grow strawberries, leafy and tuberous vegetables, flowering bulbs…
Bridge
I still haven’t got over the novelty of sitting down at home, opening my laptop, and – just like fantasy…
