The war of words, if not worse, is escalating between China and the USA, as a US warship sailed near a disputed island in the South China Sea which the Chinese called “a serious political and military provocation”. The US has repeatedly warned China against its occupation and aggressive reclamation of islands in disputed … Read more
Canada is celebrating its 150th anniversary in buoyant mood as the younger Trudeau, now PM, has managed to propel Canada onto the world stage again, courtesy of Trump’s election. Trump bans Muslim immigrants and Trudeau instantly tweets them a welcome. Yet Trudeau has still managed to keep harmony with the White House, … Read more
Never has Plato’s thought, that the problem with democracy is that it elevates opinion above knowledge, seemed more true. What with Trump being elected by precisely those voters his policies will damage most. Macron shoehorned into the Elysee Palace with no experience, but spurred to victory because he wasn’t like his rivals (except … Read more
Emmanuel Macron, newly elected president of France, is rapidly gaining a reputation for hubris. His team have developed a “Jupiterian” concept to illustrate his vision of the presidency – Jupiter being the supreme god of Roman mythology, god of the sky, thunder and lightning. This Monday he has insisted MPs traipse out … Read more
There are fears that Liu Xiaobo, the renowned democracy activist and Nobel laureate, is close to death after being moved from a Chinese prison into hospital. He has served seven years of an 11-year sentence for inciting subversion of state power, after penning a democracy manifesto calling for an end to one-party rule in … Read more
A tainted jury pool is causing problems at the start of the Federal securities fraud trial of Martin Shkreli, infamous for raising the cost of a life-saving drug by 5000%. Comments from potential jurors who were excused included: “the face of corporate greed”; “the most hated man in America”; ”a snake”. He’s American born … Read more
Democrats licking their wounds after the failure of Jon Ossoff to win the congressional seat in Georgia in a strongly Republican area have turned their ire on House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. The New York Times describes her as “one of the most successful congressional leaders in the modern era. She is the … Read more
Boris Johnson, UK Foreign Secretary with the Trump hair, has joined Diane Abbott in the car-crash interviews stakes after a punishing doing-over by Eddie Mair about the Queen’s Speech, when he sighed, hummed and hawed, shuffled his papers and didn’t appear to have a clue what he was supposed to say. Boris … Read more
As Saudi Arabia moves through the most testing and transformational time in its history with Pluto pulverising its way across a conjunction to its Saturn Sun Jupiter over the next five years, a new king-in-waiting has been announced. The ailing Saudi monarch, who holds near absolute powers, moved his son, the 31-year-old … Read more
“Events, dear boy, events” was what former UK PM Harold MacMillan probably never said in response to a question about what blows governments off course and they most fear. But like most clichés it holds more than a grain of truth. Theresa May, already tottering after a series of political blunders, has been … Read more