One thing the coronavirus pandemic has meant for world leaders is that it has simplified their international calendars somewhat. Take the week ending November 22: Russia hosted the BRICS summit on Tuesday November 20, Malaysia held the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting on Friday November 20 and the weekend of NovemberContinue Reading
The migrant label sticks. Chief Crow Daria/Shutterstock The tragic death of four members of a Kurdish-Iranian family attempting to cross the English Channel in late October was a stark reminder of the dangerous lengths people go to try and find safety, particularly in the absence of safe, legal means toContinue Reading
A wave of knife attacks in France has come amid a government crackdown on what President Emmanuel Macron has described as “Islamist separatism”. The killings, in particular the killing of history teacher Samuel Paty in the Paris suburbs, sparked demonstrations in France, but in some Muslim countries, there have beenContinue Reading
Violence has engulfed northern Ethiopia and, as usual, it is the civilians caught in the middle of this bitter ethnic conflict who are paying the highest price. Amnesty International reported on November 12 that a brutal massacre had taken place in the town of Mai Kadra in the northwestern provinceContinue Reading
Finding common ground. Melitas/Shutterstock What do you think of your neighbours? And what do they think of you? Concerns around increasing division and polarisation in the UK have persisted stubbornly since the EU referendum in 2016. We hear a lot from academics, politicians and journalists about a supposedly fractured nation.Continue Reading
Hong Kong is rapidly developing as a widening fault-line between China and the international community after Beijing’s moves to tighten its grip on the former British territory. Reacting to the banning of four pan-democracy MPs from Hong Kong’s legislative assembly (LegCo) on November 12 and the resignation of 15 otherContinue Reading
Donald Trump asked his senior advisers to examine options for air strikes against Iran’s main nuclear installation, the New York Times reported recently. According to the report, the meeting occurred the day after inspectors reported a significant increase in the country’s stockpile of nuclear material. Key advisers reportedly counselled againstContinue Reading
Derby County's Tom Huddlestone and Swansea City's Yan Dhanda (right) battle for the ball at Pride Park, Derby, in August, 2019. Mike Egerton/PA Archive/PA Images When one of the most senior figures in English football was forced to resign over over “unacceptable” language there was renewed discussion around British football’sContinue Reading
When the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, recently told a group of MPs that devolution in Scotland has been a “disaster” he raised an interesting question. Has handing greater powers to the Scottish government been a bad move, and, if so, for whom? Johnson’s comments have been taken as aContinue Reading
Despite being busy supporting the Trump campaign in the US, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has kept one eye trained on the British political scene. Never one to miss an opportunity for disruption, Farage’s attention now turns to being “an opposition voice to lockdown”. Farage’s Brexit Party will be renamedContinue Reading
