The Queen meets her representative in Barbados, Dame Sandra Mason, at Windsor Castle. Steve Parsons/PA Archive “If you want a republic, a referendum is a risky option, sir,” I told Ralph Everard Gonsalves, the prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a small Caribbean state ahead of a referendumContinue Reading
One of my earliest memories is of violence and death. It happened in Harare in 1984 when I was about seven years old. I was supposed to meet a friend to play at a dump site together. He got there before me and started playing with what turned out toContinue Reading
A Moroccan UN peacekeeper in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo helps raise awareness about COVID-19. MONUSCO Photos/Flickr, CC BY-SA As the world’s leaders and their diplomats prepare to meet for the 75th session of the UN general assembly, much of the discussion will be virtual – and dominated byContinue Reading
Shutterstock Sharia councils across the UK could be facing a potentially significant rise in their workload as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and many don’t have the resources to cope. The predicted rise in divorce rates and reported increase in cases of domestic violence associated with lockdown measures willContinue Reading
Bad food: it's addictive and cheaper. Ekaterina Markelova/Shutterstock Under some estimates, airplane emissions could be down by almost 40% in 2020 because of COVID-19 lockdowns. We’ve been told not to fly so much for years by campaigners, researchers, even governments – that it’s our responsibility to reduce carbon emissions. UntilContinue Reading
After the end of the war, millions of servicemen and women needed a job. Coxy58/Shutterstock The present government’s struggle to get Britain back to work amid the pandemic looks a little less daunting when compared to the challenge that faced its predecessor in 1945. In her fine account of theContinue Reading
Footballer and food poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford has rebuked Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake on Twitter for suggesting that parents who need help to feed their children are failing in their responsibilities. Children growing up in poverty today recognise it is their parents’ duty to make sure they are fed adequately.Continue Reading
In spiritual warfare, the battle against demons is constant. Kotroz/Shutterstock Are demons active forces in American life and politics? That is what a large number of evangelicals in the US believe and are increasingly vocal about. Since the 1980s, growing numbers of evangelicals have given the fight against demons aContinue Reading
Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, has led a volley of warnings by senior American politicians that the UK government should not undo the Brexit withdrawal agreement it has signed with the European Union. Pelosi stated: If the UK violates its international agreements and Brexit underminesContinue Reading
Since India overtook Brazil in September to become the country with the second largest number of coronavirus cases in the world (after the US), the response of the government of Narendra Modi has come under even tighter scrutiny. In late March, Prime Minister Modi announced the formation of a specialContinue Reading
