My taxi driver laughed as the newsreader concluded the announcement that Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal against his conviction for sodomy had been refused, and that the leader of Malaysia’s fragmentary opposition…
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As a group led by Conservative MP Fiona Bruce attempts to clarify the law on abortions based on a foetus’s gender, there have been many assertions that a change would play no useful role in ending gender…
General elections are the great democratic leveller. Every citizen – however wealthy, educated or interested – gets an opportunity to pass judgement on the performance of the government and the direction…
On January 31, Harith al-Nadhari, a senior al-Qaeda figure who praised the Charlie Hebdo attackers, was killed by a US drone strike. This is the first drone strike in Yemen for a number of weeks, and it…
This week our series on Russia’s relations with its neighbours reaches China, Moscow’s one-time great communist rival with whom it found much in common in the opening years of the 21st century. Neil Munro…
February 2015 has already seen some major developments in Syria’s four-year conflict. At the start of February, rebels launched more than 100 rockets into Damascus and the Assad regime fired mortars on…
A Green Budget for 2015 was released recently by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The detailed report on social security spending shows that a future government would have to implement much deeper cuts…
As we celebrate 800 years since the signing of the Magna Carta, many believe that it is time British values were clarified in a codified document for our age. The place to define them could be in a written…
The current predictions for the 2015 election place Conservatives and Labour neck and neck with projections of around 280 seats each. The most likely outcome of the general election would seem to be another…
Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire will meet in the final of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations on February 8, bringing to a close a tournament that has had its fair share of both beauty and bile. Chaotic scenes during…
News that the Conservative Party has been spending more than £100,000 a month on Facebook advertising has its supporters and rivals all wondering if this is money well spent. It seems like a lot of money…
The killing of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh by Islamic State has been explained as an act of retaliation for the air campaign against it. But there have been many questions about whether immolation…
As the general election approaches, an overall majority government is looking about as likely as a second Nick Clegg pledge on tuition fees. Attention has now turned to the potential make-up of a coalition…
Argentina’s president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has announced plans to dissolve her country’s intelligence services. President Fernandez de Kirchner’s move comes after the controversial death of…
On both sides of the Atlantic it would appear that evidence-based policy is in jeopardy. The scientific advice that government and regulators rely upon to inform their decision-making is under attack…
Following intense pressure from consumer groups, politicians and the media, the UK’s Big Six power companies have all announced price reductions on some of their gas tariffs. Cuts ranged from Npower’s…
It is bitterly ironic that in this, the 800th anniversary year of Magna Carta, there are threats from the UK to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. This convention is Europe’s own Magna…
After 35 years of consistently strict government control over family size, China’s so-called “one child policy” seems to be winding down – at least for some. Recent headlines quote the authorities in Shanghai…
We are becoming very familiar with repeated warnings that citizens in Britain are increasingly disillusioned with democratic politics, rejecting the institutions of national government, and leaving British…
Two noteworthy things happened in Milton Keynes on Monday morning. Ed Miliband chaired the first meeting of Labour’s English Regional Shadow Cabinet – comprising mainly leaders of councils and combined…
What makes someone want to travel to some of the most dangerous places on earth to fight alongside terrorists? It’s a question we’ve been asking about young people for more than a decade. But the rise…
The home secretary, Theresa May, has announced a series of major developments in the beleaguered and faltering historical child abuse inquiry – the investigation into claims that political figures, and…
The execution of the Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh by Islamic State was both horrific and barbarous – and part of a well-calculated strategy. By killing this young man in this manner, and with maximum…
The British Army is bringing in a new brigade, specialising in psychological warfare, and particularly the use of social media. Whereas the infantry, cavalry, artillery and engineers have been staple units…
Recent figures suggest nearly one million people – many of them university students – have fallen off the voters’ register over the past year. With a general election looming, this is an alarming statistic…