The Paris Olympics are here, at last, and it’s strange to admit that I am excited rather than nervous. It’s taken me 12 years to reach this point. I am proud to have won five gold medals at three successive Olympic Games in London, Rio and Tokyo but I’ve also got one title that you … Read more
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Israel orders the evacuation of an area designated as a humanitarian zone in Gaza Israel’s military ordered the evacuation on Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants … Read more
The grand tradition of turning the most innocuous events into global controversies continues as the Paris 2024 Olympics decided to rewrite the rulebook on cultural sensitivity. The opening ceremony, a spectacle typically reserved for national pride and athletic glory, instead featured a masterclass in stirring the pot and outraging the easily scandalized. First, let’s set … Read more
The Paris Olympics are being held at the very time of year when the City of Light is least desirable as a destination, as all those inhabitants who vacate the city in August for their summer getaways well know. Cole Porter might have recommended Paris when it sizzles, but when it sweats? An acquired taste. … Read more
It was last year, during a conference at the Eden Project, the botanic garden and conservation centre in Cornwall, that Frieda Gormley first heard the dictionary definition of nature. The businesswoman and environmental activist was answering questions about her plans to appoint a representative of nature to the board of her company, House of Hackney, … Read more
Opposition leaders have decided to boycott the meeting.. (Photo: PTI) 12:18 PM Was allowed to speak only for five minutes, this is insulting: West Bengal CM Mamata after NITI Aayog meeting On NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said, “…I said you (central government) should not discriminate against state governments. I … Read more
Four years ago, two of Mina Smallman’s grown-up daughters failed to come home from a summer evening picnic in the park. Vanishing like this was out of character for Bibaa, who had been celebrating her 46th birthday, and 27-year-old Nikki. So when the police didn’t launch an immediate search of the park, her friends and family started … Read more
The pub is empty when we arrive. “Can you fit us in?” Jess Phillips asks the barman, followed by the familiar smirk. She can’t help herself. Phillips has never been your regular MP. She’s a warm, wise-cracking, potty-mouthed, deeply serious showoff. She’s political Marmite. Lots of people love her, while a fair few hate her … Read more
The evacuation order jolted Munadil Abu Younes one morning earlier this week as he scrolled on his phone reading the news. Israeli forces ordered thousands to flee, including from the area where he was sheltering. His eighth displacement was like nothing that had come before. “Israeli forces told us about the evacuation order as they … Read more
Margaret Thatcher described him as “the most skilful of politicians” and Tony Blair thought him “Labour’s most successful leader ever”. Such elegies on the death in 1995 of Harold Wilson, 79, the twice Labour prime minister who had Alzheimer’s and colon cancer, betray nothing of the reality of his later years – spent in the … Read more