“Let’s see how long that lasts,” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday night, addressing his attempts to de-escalate in Lebanon following Israel’s intensified military campaign. Within hours, Israeli drone strikes had killed eight people in the south, including a father and his two children, and damaged a hospital. Hezbollah continued launching rockets and…
In a nation seemingly unable to agree on anything, people appear to be converging on one idea: Taxes are bad. In addition to the calls for broad-based middle-class tax cuts, we’re seeing proposed exemptions for teachers, law enforcement officials and boat owners. Call it the Oprah tax code: Tipped workers, YOU get a tax break!…
The Epstein files fatally damaged Peter Mandelson. Gone was his reputation as Westminster’s great survivor: the politician who could weather any scandal and return to the centre of power. Allegations that he leaked market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after the financial crash led to a criminal investigation. The peer was sacked…
It has never been easier to be intoxicated all day, every day in the United States. Consider a few trends: In 1950, the typical American would have had to spend 75 percent of his or her daily pay (after taxes) to buy a bottle of vodka. Today, that number is less than 5 percent. Atrophying…
In considering the release of Alan Milburn’s report, we need to take into account the support structures in the home nations of the UK (Number of young people out of work or training in UK could hit 1.25m by early 2030s, 27 May). In the 1970s, 80s and 90s, UK governments had a effective tool…
It’s the year 2026, and sometimes it feels as if we’re taking a nice leisurely walk through a Museum of Wretched Ideas. Consider what’s happening at home. Tariffs raise prices and restrain economic growth, while the federal government embraces both Gilded Age corruption and a version of the spoils system. A disturbing number of young…
For more than a century, Massachusetts state law has allowed town and city governments to dictate what housing can be built within their limits. From the 1950s to the mid-1970s, Massachusetts towns, particularly affluent suburbs, passed a flood of zoning rules that limited the construction of apartments and small homes. These rules often exacerbated economic…
In 1972, the great German novelist Heinrich Böll described the campaign of violence launched by the Red Army Faction (RAF) since its foundation two years earlier as a war of “six against 60 million”. The writer was vilified for the phrase, accused of sympathy for bombers and murderers. But Böll had highlighted the most important…
“He’ll do whatever I want him to do,” said Donald Trump, addressing his discussions with Benjamin Netanyahu over their illegal war on Iran. The US president said on Friday that he was making his final determination on a deal – of sorts – with Tehran. As chief ally, funder and arms supplier for Israel, the…
Things in Cuba have gotten really, really bad. “I do believe I’ll be having the honor of taking Cuba.” The United States has imposed a punishing full trade embargo on Cuba since —— And now the Trump administration is doubling down by putting another embargo on top of that embargo. For months now, the U.S….
