World

Television isn’t gay enough, says New York Times

16 January 2021 8:46 pm

It’s headline news at the New York Times: television is getting less gay! America’s paper of record may be uninterested…

France's Covid response is a source of national shame

16 January 2021 6:15 pm

France is the only permanent member of the UN Security Council not to have developed a coronavirus vaccine, and it…

Is Joe Biden’s administration fit for the 2020s?

16 January 2021 6:09 pm

Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees have been warmly received by the massed ranks of anti-Trumpists in Washington. But the warmth stateside…

Is the one shot jab a game changer?

16 January 2021 6:01 pm

The UK’s decision to lengthen the gap between first and second doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines has been…

What does Trump want now? Revenge — and a second term

15 January 2021 6:30 pm

The figure of the ex-president is one of the most endearingly republican features of American politics. He who was the…

Why Merlina, the Tower of London raven, was so remarkable

15 January 2021 3:02 am

Merlin (or Merlina), the cleverest and most sociable of the Tower of London ravens is missing. It’s a bad omen…

Are we witnessing the birth of an African Islamic State?

15 January 2021 2:24 am

On Monday, 13 soldiers were killedby the Islamic State in northeastern Nigeria. A week ago, just after midnight on Friday…

Donald Trump is impeached again – now what?

14 January 2021 9:48 am

Today Donald Trump became the first president in United States history to be impeached twice. He was first impeached in…

free speech

Donald Trump and the limits of free speech

13 January 2021 3:21 am

Is Donald Trump’s expulsion from Twitter an attack on free speech? A great many Republicans are saying so. You certainly…

jack dorsey

@jack is the giant

13 January 2021 3:09 am

Where is Jack? You know, Jack-the-Giant-Killer? The little fellow who caught the giant Cormaran in a deadfall and dispatched him…

yeltsin

America’s Yeltsin moment

13 January 2021 1:12 am

The end of the Cold War was as great a shock to US politics as it was to the Soviet Union’s. The…

Tony Blair is deluding himself on a 'De Gaulle-style comeback'

12 January 2021 8:38 pm

Tony Blair has made a tentative return to the heart of British politics by offering Matt Hancock strategic advice on…

trump

How will Trump leave office?

12 January 2021 12:52 pm

Send in the troops. The nation must restore order. The military stands ready. Aficionados of the New York Times may recall…

parler tech

The Big Tech backfire

12 January 2021 7:43 am

If your aim is to stop America descending into civil conflict, it’s hard to think of a less effective method…

The delicate balancing act of lockdown messaging

12 January 2021 7:14 am

Matt Hancock spent Monday evening trying to explain a very delicate tension to the public. There’s the good news of…

Did Boris's bike ride breach lockdown rules?

12 January 2021 5:14 am

Exercise is a dangerous game these days. As two women recently discovered, drive five miles for a walk at a beauty…

middle america

The trouble with alienating Middle America

12 January 2021 2:22 am

You’ve got to admire the left. Granted, they own the internet, the media, the courts (apparently) and now the government,…

overlords benevolent

Praise be to our benevolent Big Tech Overlords

11 January 2021 4:11 am

It is done. The Dark Lord has been vanquished. His threatening aura has been purged from Twitter, along with many…

What Amnesty International gets wrong about Israel's vaccine programme

10 January 2021 7:00 pm

Israel’s remarkable vaccine rollout has been deservedly praised. But not everyone is full of goodwill. Depressingly and inevitably, commentators and human…

Despite Covid, things really are getting better

10 January 2021 6:00 pm

If Covid-19 had swept Britain in 1800, the chances are that no one would have noticed. The clinical signatures of…

cooler heads

So much for cooler heads prevailing

10 January 2021 7:33 am

There was a glimmer of hope amid the events at the US Capitol building on Wednesday. Could this be the…

game

MAGA arrives at the last level of the video game

10 January 2021 4:51 am

I played my share of video games when I was a kid and there was nothing quite like getting to…

ban

Trump’s social media ban sets a dangerous precedent

10 January 2021 4:11 am

Facebook and Twitter’s decision to suspend Donald Trump is, legally speaking, fairly clear-cut. Both are private companies which set the…

Iran's people will pay a heavy price for Khamenei's vaccine politics

9 January 2021 9:05 pm

The Middle East is changing. Israelis now splurge at Gucci and Rolex in Dubai. Saudi women speed down desert highways;…

Joe Biden’s Big Tech takeover

9 January 2021 7:26 pm

Twitter’s banning of Donald Trump is like bolting the stable door after the QAnon shaman has gone. The damage was…