For most of human history, the North and South Poles were literally and metaphorically at the ends of the Earth, visited only by hardy adventurers like Amundsen or Scott. Now, however, military and commercial ships are steaming to these distant …
Iran’s expat opposition is a joke
On 28 June, the people of London were greeted by an unusual sight. That Friday, not far from the Iranian embassy, a woman filmed herself chasing an old lady across the street. “I am the daughter of Reza!” the attacker …
My day in the life of Boris Johnson
When Boris Johnson’s Unleashed was announced there were arguably grounds for believing it might be, in the Daily Mail’s hyperventilating guff, “Political Memoir of the Century!” Surely this self-caricaturing rogue, this Falstaff of British politics, would have some crazy stories …
Nature is coming for America
The American wilderness has been fighting back. Less than a fortnight ago, Hurricane Helene swept across the South, leaving death, wreckage, and shattered livelihoods in its wake. It’s about to be followed by Hurricane Milton, which meteorologists warn will be …
What Harris learned from Hillary
With less than a month to go until Election Day, if the White House were awarded on the basis of professional political competence, then Kamala Harris would be the next president already.
The shrewd strategic moves began early. As soon …
Can Lebanon survive without Hezbollah?
Over the last fortnight, everything has changed in Lebanon. Hezbollah, which had dominated the country’s politics for more than 20 years, has seen its leadership decapitated, its arsenal diminished, its anti-Zionist credentials tarnished. All the while, its civilian base, huddled …
America is grooming Meloni
Two years ago, a neo-fascist gained power in Rome. That, at least, is the impression you’d have gained from the Western establishment’s paroxysm of hand-wringing at Giorgia Meloni’s elevation. From her erstwhile praise for Mussolini to her fierce Euroscepticism, Meloni …
Biden must unleash Israel
Having been attacked by almost 200 ballistic missiles — launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and each the size of a tanker truck — Israel must now decide how to respond. Whatever happens, one thing is obvious: the Jewish State’s reaction …
Do the Tories want an Everyman or an Ideologue?
In his essay on Tolstoy, the philosopher Isaiah Berlin divides the world’s great thinkers into “foxes” and “hedgehogs”. Remember, according to the poet Archilochus, the fox knows many things, while the hedgehog knows one big thing. The hedgehog, that is, …
The legendary debauchery of Dubai
For a certain type of person, it is the centre of the world. A vast, shining city in the desert, a sprawl of shopping centres and Instagrammable restaurants. Dubai is a J.G. Ballard nightmare; frozen, Botoxed faces communing in neon-lit …
A year of hatred
Of the images I have not been able to clear from my mind over these past 12 terrible months the most tenacious is that of two young women: one in an elegant hijab, one not, laughing for the camera as …
Who killed Sue Gray?
And so, the power struggle is over: Sue Gray has lost and Morgan McSweeney has won. Keir Starmer did what he had to — but now there can be no more excuses.
The Prime Minister’s decision to replace Gray so …
Why Israel deserves our support
New York. London. Paris. Madrid. Over the past three decades, at various times, these cities have been yoked together under a pall of terror that has spread right across the West. It has set populations against each other, leaving everyone …
Saudi Arabia is stealing snooker’s soul
By now, snooker should have died out. The game seems squarely at odds with a modern world ruled by speed — where facts are onscreen at our fingertips, and the patience required for slow-moving stories is increasingly on the wane. …
Britain has learned nothing from Palestine
When I walk to my local supermarket in north Belfast, the journey takes me through a Catholic, Nationalist area, marked by Palestinian flags, to the edge of a Protestant, Loyalist area, where Israeli flags flutter, alongside Union flags, from the …