Recent news that David Cameron has been placed on the naughty step by China after his meeting with the Dalai Lama caused much concern in UK business circles.
Reports suggested the Chinese sovereign wealth…
More of the same: the UK government’s banking reform bill is merely another capitulation to the banking lobby.
AAP
Some four and-a-half years after the banking crisis that has resulted in massive public debt and a deep austerity program, the UK government has finally unveiled its Financial Services (Banking Reform…
These bones have prompted a discussion about how the English view the monarchy.
AAP/University of Leicester
The story is almost unbelievable: a king buried for five centuries under what is now a car park, identified through mtDNA analysis with the last surviving matrilineal descendants of his sister.
But it…
Should William and Kate’s baby get more options, or be stuck as the future monarch?
AAP/Tal Cohen
It’s been a big winter here in Cambridge for fans of the Royal Family. First we had the Duke and Duchess themselves, Will and Kate, making their debut visit to the city, bringing some welcome cheer to…
Policies of austerity are a fundamental burden on low-income earning women in the UK.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
Since 2010, many European governments have adopted austerity policies in an attempt to reduce the budget deficits and increases in government borrowing that were caused by the 2007/8 financial crisis…
Families of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster have never given up their campaign for justice.
EPA/Lee Sanders
The release of Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report into the death of 96 football fans at the 1989 FA Cup Semi Final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest is not just a landmark in British history…
Who’s your sports minister? Australian Kate Ellis and Britain’s Sport Minister Gerry Sutcliffe at the Paralympics.
AAP/Australian Paralympic Committee/Roger Bool
It happens at every Olympics (or Paralympics) and Ashes series – the Hamlet-like behaviour that comes with having two passports.
It’s not enough to sit on the fence at times of hysterical national fervour…
The UK and Australia have both looked at reforming their counter-terrorism laws, but which country has been more rigorous?
Flickr/neeravbhatt
Within a couple of weeks of each other, the independent monitors of counter-terrorism laws in both the UK and Australia have delivered their reports assessing the operation of national security legislation…
The Sun is facing a crisis of its own as revelations of police bribery emerge.
EPA
It is difficult not to supress a satisfying shiver of schadenfreude as one watches the saga of the self-immolating Murdoch Empire play itself out.
The latest episode – breath-taking in its sheer chutzpah…
Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is part of a renewed push to reclaim the Falkland Islands.
EPA/Leo La Valle
Argentinean wordsmith Jorge Luis Borges could be cryptic. But his powers of perception were always daunting. Borges came up with an excellent description of the 10 week conflict in 1982 that took place…
First Minister Alex Salmond could be the man who regained Scotland’s independence.
AAP
Scotland has always been a distinct nation but since the Act of Union in 1707, it has been a nation within a larger political entity: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The election…
Jubiliant Libyans celebrate the arrival of rebel forces in central Tripoli.
AAP
The situation in Libya remains fluid but with armed rebel fighters now in Green Square in central Tripoli, it appears the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is in its final hours.
Two of the dictator’s…
As the streets of England have calmed, the political debate over what to do with the rioters has been brought to a boil. A steady stream of individuals continues to flow into the court system, some being…
London’s burning: but the rioters had a point.
EPA/Kerim Okten
The powers that be describe the street violence and social upheaval which took place in England’s major cities last week as “mindless”. Yet it was anything but.
Prime Minister David Cameron, among others…
English police have defended their tactics in the riots.
AFP/Leon Neal
English police officers have defended their handling of the riots which erupted in several cities across the country last week.
After the worst urban disorder in living memory, leading politicians are…
Social media is helping, not hindering, police efforts in the UK.
AAP
By Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology
There’s a colourful and evocative term among regular users of social media: “headdesking”.
It’s what you do when somebody says or does something so stupid that your instant reaction is to smack your head…
A shop in Manchester city centre boarded after being attacked by looters.
AAP
By Robert Ralphs, Manchester Metropolitan University
The recent riots in major English cities like London have seen the media focus on the involvement of young people.
In particular, many media outlets have claimed that organised youth gangs have orchestrated…
Using strong arm tactics like water cannon and tear gas won’t deal with the wider problem.
EPA/Kerim Okten
The violence that took hold of London at the weekend has spread to other English cities. Sixteen thousand police were on the streets of the capital on Tuesday night, but the trouble has extended to Manchester…
By Brian McNair, Queensland University of Technology
The announcement that the 168-year old British newspaper title News of the World will cease to exist after this Sunday represents a landmark moment in journalism.
The British public reacted with revulsion…
It’s easier to sell a Green Deal in the UK’s political climate.
Cabinet Office/Flickr
The UK government has released a Green Deal that, at face value, seems impossible to replicate in Australia. But how radical and ambitious is this policy?
The first thing to note is that the Green Deal…
