As a recent BBC series confirms, the idea of a spiritual journey has survived the decline of organised religionIn Geoffrey Chaucer’s England, the arrival of spring was taken by many as a cue to take to the road. As the prologue to The Canterbury Tales begins: “When in April the sweet showers fall/And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all/ Then people long to go on pilgrimages”.Given Britain’s increasingly damp climate, contemporary pilgrims are as likely to encounter persistent rain...
Regulating new technology is never simple, but the status quo offers inadequate protectionThe principle that some products are available to adults and not children is uncontroversial. Access to weapons, alcohol and pornography is curtailed in this way because a level of maturity is the precondition for access (but not a guarantee of responsible use).Until recently, few people put smartphones in that category. The idea of an age restriction on sales would be dismissed as luddism or state-control...
While Donald Trump is in court, House Republicans rejected their presidential nominee’s bad land-for-peace deal in Ukraine In chaos theory, the flapping of butterfly wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. This weekend, Ukraine experienced a butterfly moment. Donald Trump’s efforts to conceal the fact that he bought the silence of a porn star before the 2016 election landed him in court, facing charges that preoccupy him enough for congressional Republicans to reject his...
The radical right is set to dominate forthcoming European elections. Progressives need a fresh start and a new approachThe political signals coming from France are ominous. According to one poll last week, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party (RN) has increased its lead to a runaway 15 points ahead of June’s European elections. For Emmanuel Macron, who pledged to use the French presidency to halt the rise of the far right, all indicators point to a humiliating defeat that would overshadow the...
Both Iran and Israel are calibrating their responses. That does not mean the region should breathe easyThe danger facing the Middle East is not from wild or impulsive action, but from the considered decisions of men who believe they know what they are doing and how their opponents will respond. Their confidence is not reassuring when their judgment has previously fallen short.On Friday, Iran was quick to play down the overnight strike by Israel, suggesting that it was unclear who was responsible...
Hopes of a ceasefire have ebbed, concerns about an assault on Rafah endure, and aid remains wholly insufficientThe Middle East is “on the precipice” and “one miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable,” the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, warned on Thursday. Israel has vowed to retaliate to Iran’s weekend barrage of missiles and drones – itself a response to Israel’s killing of two generals at an Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus. It is hard to...
The last time every match ended in draws was in September 2019, and before that in September 1994 And a hearty hello to Mike Daniels in the Grace Road score box: “Covers on here after heavy morning rain.“I’ve been reading Walden by Thoreau and brought that along as any book that teaches you about how to live a solitary life in a wood cabin by a lake might be relevant today.” Continue reading
From the column: "The Minnesota Legislature’s problem is not time. The problem is a combination of human nature, brinkmanship, and partisanship."
The world does not know what’s been unleashed in the tit-for-tat attacks. But it is unlikely to be anything goodIt is troubling that what started with Israel’s attack on Iran’s consular building in Syria on 1 April may not end with Tehran’s Operation True Promise. The bombing in Damascus, which killed at least two top Iranian generals, resulted in the first-ever direct strikes launched against Israel from Iranian territory. For the Islamic regime, unpopular at home, crossing the Rubicon would...
The seeds of a forever war are being planted in the coastal strip. They must not be allowed to take rootIsrael’s war turned much of northern Gaza into an uninhabitable moonscape. Palestinians returning to their homes in the southern part of the coastal strip this week were greeted by a similar lifeless vista of destruction. It might be some relief that Israeli forces have withdrawn from much of Gaza. But one is reminded of what Tacitus said of the Roman legions: “They make a desert and call it...
While most who wrote in favoured some sort of action to reduce the damage caused by tobacco, some warned about the UK becoming a ‘nanny state’Dozens of people have shared with the Guardian how they feel about Rishi Sunak’s tobacco and vapes bill, which aims to create the UK’s first smoke-free generation. The proposed legislation would not ban smoking outright, but ensure that anyone born after 1 January 2009 would be banned from buying cigarettes.About half of respondents said they were in...
Indian voters ought to think hard about giving Narendra Modi another popular mandateThe world’s largest elections begin this weekend in India, amid claims that the race to lead the country has already been won. If Narendra Modi were to secure a third term with a big parliamentary majority, his achievement would match that of the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Whatever the outcome, the loser has been Indian democracy. Unlike Mr Nehru, who anonymously criticised his own...