Showing 1 - 10 of 47
When journalism still exists -- but no longer matters
News, Carla Norrlöf, Published on 14/02/2026
» 'Democracy Dies in Darkness" became the motto of the Washington Post in 2017, four years after Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and one of the world's richest men, purchased the newspaper. Today, however, Mr Bezos, who has throttled the Post's opinion page and now slashed the newspaper's staff, seems determined to demonstrate that a free press, an essential component of democracy, can be killed off in broad daylight.
Let's hope 2026 is not too amazing
Roger Crutchley, Published on 04/01/2026
» Well here we are on the fourth day of a brand new year. I trust everyone is holding up well after the festivities because it can be quite gruelling pretending to behave in a jovial fashion if you are not feeling jovial at all.
As US retreats, will it be China's world or Europe's?
Oped, Orville Schell, Published on 11/04/2025
» 'Today we're in one era, and tomorrow we'll be in a different era," President Donald Trump loudly proclaimed from the White House Rose Garden as he hiked US tariffs to their highest level since 1909. "No one's done anything quite like this!"
Agent of insurrection Trump's 'Cultural Revolution'
Oped, Orville Schell, Published on 21/02/2025
» When US President Donald Trump's factotum, JD Vance, held forth on Europe's "threat from within" at the recent Munich Security Conference, his audience was left struggling to make sense of America's confounding new approach to foreign policy. Chinese President Xi Jinping, for his part, has been relatively silent since Mr Trump's return to the White House -- but that doesn't mean he is any less vexed by what it portends. Nor could he have been reassured by Mr Trump's brazen response to a question last October about what he would do if Mr Xi blockaded Taiwan: "Xi knows I'm f***ing crazy!"
Playing cat and mouse at Downing Street
Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/10/2024
» Important news from London. Larry the Cat has a new housemate at Downing Street. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the arrival of a white Siberian kitten called Prince. This breed of cat is apparently "good at problem solving" so considering the state of the UK at the moment it should be kept very busy in the PM's office. It is unclear if it will attend Cabinet meetings as being a Russian breed it may face security issues.
Simone Biles is redefining athletic resilience
News, Lisa Jarvis, Published on 31/07/2024
» With the Olympics underway in Paris, the world has a front seat to something truly magical: the gravity-defying skills of US gymnast Simone Biles. And although I'm, of course, looking forward to watching her attempt the Yurchenko double pike vault -- a jump she is the only woman to even attempt in competition, and which she smashed during practice in Paris last week -- I'm really just glad to see her back in a leotard, beaming while high-fiving her teammates.
A perfectly British public paradox
Roger Crutchley, Published on 14/07/2024
» Much has been made of the "working class" background of the newly-elected government in the UK and how very few of Sir Keir Starmer's Cabinet attended posh "public schools". This brings us to one of the paradoxes of British and particularly English culture. The institutions which are called "public schools" in England are anything but public and are actually elite private fee-paying institutions.
We can always live in a dollhouse
Roger Crutchley, Published on 07/07/2024
» Thai tourism authorities are always quick to make the most of any new fad, which might explain the appearance of a life-sized Labubu doll on the front page of the Bangkok Post this week. Apparently, the mascot is part of a promotion to attract Chinese tourists. I confess to not knowing anything about the Labubu craze although the Post's doll correspondent informs me the designer doll is a "kind-hearted monster with pointed ears and serrated teeth". Hmmm.
Asterisk more than just a footnote
Roger Crutchley, Published on 09/06/2024
» In the ladies golf major tournament last weekend one of the top American amateurs was 15-year-old Asterisk Talley. I don't recall ever coming across Asterisk as a name before. Apparently her mother is Greek and the word asterisk in Greek means "little star". So it would seem quite an acceptable name for a baby.
Telling fortunes 'a nice little earner'
Roger Crutchley, Published on 26/05/2024
» A recent Thai news story concerned a man nabbed in an online fortune-telling scam. He would inform customers suffering from misfortune that their situation would dramatically improve if for a small fee he made a few prayers on his "direct line" to the deities in heaven.