World
What is the Bank of England playing at?
Last week, the Bank of England sent a number of confused messages. One was almost shocking: Andrew Bailey said that…
Will Ethiopia’s capital fall?
There have been stunning developments recently in Ethiopia’s grinding conflict between the national government and Tigrayan rebels in the north.…
'Climategate' still matters – but not how the BBC thinks it does
It is 12 years now since a tranche of emails were scraped from the server of the University of East…
The Tice is right: is Reform about to break through?
History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes, said Mark Twain. Right now the commentariat is looking for something that…
British MPs in the dark about Beijing's threats
Following the killing of Sir David Amess, there has been much discussion in recent weeks about the safety of elected representatives. But…
Pfizer’s Covid pill breakthrough
After the UK medicines regulator yesterday approved Merck’s Covid pill for use on recently infected, vulnerable patients, Pfizer announced its…
Cold War, hot planet
Chelyabinsk is one of the most polluted places in the world. On 29 September 1957, an explosion ripped through the…
The Council of Europe was right to pull its hijab campaign
This week, the Council of Europe was forced to pull an advertising campaign promoting the hijab following a backlash from…
Why is Mermaids promoting breast binding at events for young people?
Mermaids is arguably the most influential charity focusing on transgender rights in the UK. It claims to have been supporting…
China’s great log forward
Every year, China plants trees over an area the size of Ireland. The country may be the biggest polluter on…
The green case for Bitcoin
Of all the arguments against Bitcoin, one of the most popular these days is that it is bad for the…
Is Eric Zemmour running or not?
Eric Zemmour, the right-wing journalist and self-declared populist, is at a crossroads. Will he or won’t he declare himself a…
Let’s hear it for Winsome Sears
Of all the improbable outcomes in this week’s elections, a couple struck me as worthy of a Hollywood movie script.…
Manchin and Sinema: Cassandras of the Senate
Tuesday was a very bad night for the Democratic Party. They lost the Virginia governorship and House of Delegates, almost lost the New Jersey governorship, and lost several…
Maryland gubernatorial candidates push child vax mandates
There were plenty of lessons for Democrats to learn from the shock victory of Republican Glenn Youngkin in Tuesday night’s…
I’m a racist, you’re a racist, we are racists all
What news network did you watch on election night? Thankfully we all had plenty of options. There was CNN, where…
COP's awkward reliance on coal
It’s day four of COP26 and while the big names have already departed, the speeches carry on. This morning some…
Peng Shuai and the limits of China’s #MeToo movement
China’s #MeToo movement has taken a step closer to the centre of power in Beijing, after sexual abuse allegations by…
The perverse fantasies of Extinction Rebellion's founder
If we don’t cut carbon emissions, your mother will be raped. This is the deranged prediction of Roger Hallam, the…
The Bank of England’s inflation rate stunt
He isn’t Canadian. He doesn’t dominate the Davos circuit with platitudes about climate change. And he isn’t constantly warning that…
Owen Paterson quits the Commons – what next?
Owen Paterson has resigned as an MP. In a dramatic turn of events, Paterson has in the past 24 hours…
New Jersey’s nothingburger governor underperforms
By removing Donald Trump from social media and New York governor Andrew Cuomo from office, progressives unwittingly gave an opening…
I’m with Durr: trucker who spent $153 on campaign could be new NJ Senate president
Think of a newcomer who delivered a shock upset against an establishment insider and triggered a political earthquake. No, not…
Where is the climate plan B?
The COP26 summit is unlikely to be an outright flop. There has been no shortage of drama, with speakersseeming to…
I failed my country at COP
I’m on my way to Glasgow for COP26. It’s the first time I have been abroad since before Covid. Conveniently…
