Smog and the suffering city
by Paul Johnson “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window panes… the yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window panes… ” – T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Substitute...
View ArticleOur day with Charles
Although those of us privileged to be London correspondents often do stories on the Royal Family, we rarely have the opportunity to see them in person. The really important events are shot by the Royal...
View ArticleWaiting for Richard
Just as Richard III was the most delicious of Shakespearean villains, so was the discovery of his bones under a parking lot the most delightful of stories. My introduction to the dramatic and...
View ArticleFriends and enemies and Islam’s schism
by Tom Popyk For all the preaching about Islamic unity, tension and often outright violence between Sunni and Shia sects in the Arabic world is nothing new. Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad’s...
View ArticleWho’s afraid of Ai Weiwei?
by Paul Johnson Arriving for an interview with Ai Weiwei at his Beijing compound, you get the sense you are about to enter the home of a successful artist. Amid the drab, grey concrete and brick walls...
View ArticleCzech horsemeat hoopla
Perhaps it was living for four decades under the hardships of communism that explains the cynical yet humorous attitude Czechs have taken towards the latest twist in Europe’s growing horsemeat scandal....
View ArticleBlog: Passages
On the Via della Conciliazione, the broad boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Square, there is a large banner with a picture of the pope. Not Benedict XVI, but John Paul II — the one who has been...
View ArticleLanguage police tongue-lashings
It’s pretty easy to be uncomfortable about the Office Quebecoise de la Langue Française. This is an organization dedicated to making sure people see English – the language that I speak – as little as...
View ArticleTo approve or not approve?
Will U.S. President Barack Obama approve the Keystone XL pipeline? For a long time, the answer tilted towards “yes.” First, it requires a determination by the U.S. State Department that the pipeline is...
View ArticleU.S. same sex marriage debate hits roadblocks
One of the debates about the two same sex marriage cases being argued in Washington is whether U-S Supreme Court decisions should lag behind public opinion, reflect current views, or lead the way and...
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