My mother-in-law has just arrived from Israel for her summer holiday. First she coos over her grandchild. Then we sit on the floor and unwrap the beautiful pots and cups that she has made for us. We chat about how things are in Tel Aviv – the people, the weather, new restaurants. Soon enough we turn to politics. [...]

Sweet nothings are lovely while they’re being whispered in your ear. The problem is that a sweet nothing is still nothing. The British government’s long-awaited position paper on the Irish border after Brexit is really rather lovely. It tells Irish people of all political persuasions exactly what they want to [...]

It’s been a grimly entertaining August, watching government ministers arguing about whether a transition is needed and, if so, what form they would prefer it to take. The international trade secretary, Liam Fox, appears to have bowed to the inevitable and realised that some kind of transition is the only way to make [...]

Authoritarian China is now an economic blueprint for Zuma and Maduro. Ten years ago this week, it became clear that the dread event – a run on one bank that will create a malevolent impact on others – was under way. A US investment bank had a few weeks earlier summarily closed some of its property-based hedge [...]

Across America, families, businesses, churches and other community groups are turning their back on fossil fuels – for good. There is no going back [...]

Nicola Sturgeon’s election setback has seen hitherto-loyal activists begin to question nationalist orthodoxy and rethink their [...]

Attlee and Roosevelt built a fairer world off the back of economic catastrophe. We’ve failed at that [...]

The US Department of Agriculture has forbidden the use of the words ‘climate change.’ This say-no-evil policy is doomed to [...]

About 23 million pieces of baggage were lost in airports worldwide in 2015, according to The Baggage Report [...]

Amazon’s plan to keep an eye on us will add to our shame about imperfect, messy lives. Amazon has got a new wheeze! The internet giant has had a patent granted for the next generation of drones: these won’t just deliver stuff, they’ll take photographs of your home or garden, look out for problems (“or [...]