Showing 21 - 30 of 40
Asean media under attack
News, Editorial, Published on 22/01/2018
» A free press is the key test of whether a nation has true freedom of speech. Across the region, every country is failing the test. In communist Vietnam and all the way to the resurgent army controllers in Myanmar, governments are arresting, imprisoning and strongly intimidating the media.
Myanmar tragedy
News, Editorial, Published on 23/01/2018
» A pair of highly respected envoys are to arrive in Myanmar today, and it is hoped the government and army are ready to listen. Top priority for ex-foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai and the former US ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, is the fate of two Reuters reporters who face trial on absurd national security charges. Myanmar has already asked the Thai and American experts for help with their self-made crisis over the Rohingya of Rakhine state.
From Trump to Europe crises, what to watch in 2018
News, Peter Apps, Published on 29/12/2017
» Professional forecasters like to say that making predictions is difficult, particularly about the future. As we reach the end of 2017, however, here are some of the key themes -- and questions -- that look set to shape global events next year.
How the Catalonia vote threatens the EU
News, John Lloyd, Published on 06/11/2017
» The struggles for and against independence in the Spanish province of Catalonia are emblematic of the European Union's present strength and its future weakness. They also display the weaknesses, present and future, of the two leaders of the contending parties: Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister and Carles Puigdemont, president of Catalonia.
Britain's current mess extends well beyond Brexit
News, John Lloyd, Published on 13/11/2017
» Britain -- ever-ready to boast stable politics and a faultless, often-called "Rolls-Royce" civil service -- is in a mess. Between scandals over sex, secret meetings, political donors and the royal family, the government is melting down.
Merkel sets direction for Europe
News, John Lloyd, Published on 11/09/2017
» Germans will choose a government on Sept 24, and that government is likely to be headed, for the twelfth year running, by Angela Merkel. The uncharismatic 63-year-old from East Germany may not have captured her fellow Germans' hearts, but she has appealed so strongly to their rational selves that polls suggest they find no reason to replace her.
Europe struggles over Trump plan
News, John Lloyd, Published on 07/08/2017
» 'We have to understand, that we Europeans must fight for our own future and destiny," said Angela Merkel. This was the German chancellor speaking to a crowd of supporters in May, after a testy few days of a G7 summit that included reports in German news media that Donald Trump had called her country "very bad" for selling so many cars to the United States -- and which saw the US president emerge as the only G7 dissenter on combating climate change.
Calm down, America. Attacks won't break Britain
News, Peter Apps, Published on 08/06/2017
» When I rolled my wheelchair out of my apartment block on Sunday morning -- mere hours after three attackers killed seven a few hundred yards away in London Bridge and Borough Market -- the most striking thing was the sense of calm.
France finds it tough to rid itself of political corruption
News, John Lloyd, Published on 09/03/2017
» Political corruption in France is common, and usually -- if the politician is at or near the top of the political game -- unpunished by law. Yet the 2017 presidential election may mark something of a revolt against a semi-aristocratic disdain for the public whose tax euros have long been plundered for private or party use.
Trump tweets show disturbing side of social media
News, John Lloyd, Published on 06/02/2017
» Last March, three months before Britons voted to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union, then Prime Minister David Cameron asked Daily Mail proprietor Lord Rothermere to fire the newspaper's editor, Paul Dacre. The press baron, descendant of the family which did more than any other to create the British tabloid press, refused, and did not even tell Dacre of the request until after the result of the referendum. The incident, reported by the BBC, has not been denied by any of the parties involved.