Politics (Page 514)

In its new white paper on the economics of independence, the Scottish government made it clear that rejoining the EU was central to its vision of how Scotland could prosper outside the UK. Rather than simply being a question of whether Scotland should be part of the UK, the firstContinue Reading

Resistance leader: the NRF's Ahmad Massoud. NRF/Twitter It has become axiomatic that in Afghanistan, once an armed resistance group gains a foothold in an area it becomes hard to route out. This is more so if it musters a degree of local support and is in a geographically remote region.Continue Reading

Gardaí are investigating the discovery of a man’s body in unexplained circumstances in Co Westmeath. Shortly after 6pm on Tuesday, the body of a man in his 60s was discovered in a house at Rattin near Milltownpass. He was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. The OfficeContinue Reading

No one who has lived in central Europe forgets the winters. From November to April, you can be fairly certain that every time you step out of your usually well-heated apartment block, you’ll be walking into what amounts to a freezer. It is this, perhaps more than any other factor,Continue Reading

It is only right to explain why I’m standing here as your new prime minister. These were some of the first words spoken by Rishi Sunak as he made a speech outside Downing Street shortly after coming to office. Sunak is the fifth prime minister since 2016 and the thirdContinue Reading

Amid the ongoing turmoil of UK politics, there has been much talk of how fair the British social security system is. In the wake of a series of mini-budget U-turns, the chancellor of the exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, has affirmed that “there will be more difficult decisions to take on bothContinue Reading

From the start of his invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has employed the threat of escalation to the use of nuclear weapons as a means to deter western support. He has aimed to spread fear in Europe as a means to undermining solidarity with Kyiv. And asContinue Reading

tommaso79 / Shutterstock Discrimination against and repression of women is a global problem. In authoritarian states, it is also intertwined with regime survival. Take recent events in Iran, where women-led protests against strict hijab laws are challenging the country’s ruling powers. Nearly 3,000 miles away in China, a different feministContinue Reading

Following his uncontested run at the top job, Rishi Sunak acquires the less-than-coveted title of second successive un-elected British prime minister to take office in 2022. However, coming from Punjabi heritage, he also takes on the more esteemed title of the nation’s first British Asian leader. Sunak was born inContinue Reading