BUSINESS

Of all the concerns in the world, the demise of the Ferrero Rocher ambassador might not be top of the agenda. In days gone by, thanks to an excruciating TV advert, the chocolate with the golden wrapping was synonymous with the diplomatic circuit. You really had made it if you offered them up to your … Read more

Polanski says it is ‘unacceptable’ that people will face ‘enormous spike’ in costs due to Iran war Polanski is speaking now. He starts by talking about the Iran war, describing it as a war of choice. double quotation markThis was not a war of self-defence, there was no imminent threat. Negotiations were ongoing. It was, … Read more

Stroll through almost any town in Slovenia – or simply drive along its regional roads – and you can’t miss them. Posters cling to lamp-posts, bus stops and construction fences, proclaiming the triumphs of one political party or another. It is the unmistakable visual language of campaign season: Slovenia is heading to the polls. On … Read more

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2026/mar/17/ella-baron-donald-trump-war-iran-cartoon

Despite its canonical name, the Frankfurt School is not a school. It is, at least according to my former teacher, the critical theorist Rahel Jaeggi, a constellation. For a century, this scholarly constellation has pursued the intellectual endeavour of critique. Critique here is not the “thumbs down” or “blocking” exercised on social media. It is … Read more

The US is no longer a democracy. One of the most credible global sources on the health of democratic nations now says this outright. The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at Gothenburg University reaches the alarming conclusion in its annual report, that the US is hurtling towards autocracy at a faster rate than Hungary and … Read more

Britain is in a standoff with Brussels over a demand to cut university tuition fees for European students, in a row that threatens to scupper Keir Starmer’s planned EU reset. EU officials say European students should pay “home” fees of about £9,500 a year in England and Wales as part of the negotiations over a … Read more

British dual nationals who are EU citizens with post-Brexit settlement status in the UK will not have to use a British passport to return to the UK, the Home Office has said in a significant U-turn on its controversial dual national border rules. The change, which critics say was “hidden away” on a government webpage, … Read more