As someone who has always been against austerity, I find France, with a national debt at 114% of GDP and a budget deficit of 5.8% of GDP, a conundrum. Despite years of denunciation from his left and far-right opponents that Macron has engaged in “ultraneoliberalism”, there hasn’t been any. Not on a macro level, anyway, … Read more
Donald Trump’s imperial tendencies see the US president wield tariffs and sanctions in the expectation that America will receive tributes. Yet his latest move – punishing India with 50% tariffs for Russian oil purchases once encouraged by the US – has produced not submission but spectacle. It has sent India’s Narendra Modi to China for … Read more
Severe storms linked to a deep upper air trough, formed from the ex-hurricane Erin, lashed parts of western and southern Europe last week. Italy was hit by a deluge of severe rain on Thursday that caused flooding in the Lombardy region. The commune of Busto Arsizio was badly affected, with more than 100mm of rain … Read more
Hundreds of people from 44 countries are sailing to Gaza in the Global Sumud Flotilla this week. I am among them. We aim to non-violently break Israel’s illegal siege by delivering much-needed supplies. I joined the mission because, as an Irish person, I have watched my government meet what our taoiseach acknowledges to be a … Read more
The past few weeks have seen a flurry of activity billed as progress in the Russia-Ukraine peace process. Yet for Ukrainians, the reality remains unchanged: airstrikes still thunder across their cities, homes still burn, lives are still lost. Against this grim backdrop, the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, has seemed more than content to bask in … Read more
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2025/aug/29/rebecca-hendin-vladimir-putin-benjamin-netanyahu-cartoon
Wednesday night brought a grim return to Russia’s form: one of the heaviest air raids on Kyiv since the full-scale invasion began. Moscow eased off its strikes on major cities in the run-up to the Alaska summit, and it held off its attack on the Ukrainian capital until Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy, had … Read more
Fresh threats of sanctions have just emerged from across the Atlantic, targeting Europe and any official who dares to enforce the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU’s flagship law regulating tech platforms and digital operations. These sanctions come with new trade barriers and unprecedented export restrictions. How long are we, citizens of the EU, going … Read more
Keir Starmer’s lead negotiator on Europe has enthused about how excited he is by the prospect of an EU youth mobility scheme, as he signalled a broader government shift towards embracing closer ties with the bloc. Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of negotiating Britain’s relationship with the EU, said on Wednesday he … Read more
Puccini’s Tosca is high on the list of operas I don’t much care if I never see again. So the fact that the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, unquestionably one of our era’s exceptional opera singers, is due to sing Tosca in a new production at Covent Garden next month does not present me with a … Read more