Published in The Guardian (17th January, 2014) It has become a January ritual: the nation’s retailers reporting one after another how they performed over the crucial Christmas period. […]
Israel, West Bank & Gaza / World
Summer on a kibbutz as Sharon dragged Israel into a quagmire
Published in The Independent (January 13th, 2014) In 1982, facing the long summer of a second-year student in the days of student grants, I followed a friend – […]
Israel, West Bank & Gaza / World
Ariel Sharon, the Butcher of Beirut turned peacemaker, dies at the age of 85
Published in The Mail on Sunday (January 12th, 2014) Ariel Sharon, the Israeli general and former prime minister who proved such a controversial figure across the Middle East […]
Aid / China / World
World hunger has fallen. Now what do we do about the planet’s expanding waistline?
Published in The Independent (January 11th, 2014) In the year of my birth China was engulfed in the worst famine of modern history. One chronicler remembers rushing home […]
Aid / Economics
Bill Gates preaches the aid gospel, but is he just a hypocrite?
Published in The Guardian (January 6th, 2014) He made his name as a sharp-elbowed businessman who rode the technology revolution with such style. But these days he is […]
Arts / Books
Last train to oblivion
Published in The Mail on Sunday (January 5th, 2014) The Beast: Riding The Rails And Dodging Narcos On The Migrant Trail by Oscar Martinez (Verso) The two young […]
Africa / Rwanda / South Africa
Kagame’s enemies have a strange habit of dying
Published in The Independent (January 3rd, 2014) Patrick Karegeya knew Paul Kagame well. The pair went to school together, worked alongside each other in Ugandan intelligence and then […]
Travel / Turkey / World
Go cold Turkey
Published in The Daily Mail (January 1st, 2014) As arrived at our flat in the heart of Istanbul, big fat flakes of snow fell around us. The medieval landmark […]
Politics
Tories should stop carping and revive optimism
Published in ‘i’ newspaper (December 30th, 2013) The surest sign that a political party is on the rise comes at party conference, when a new generation of bright […]
Policy / Politics
The tide is turning against homophobia
Published in The Guardian (December 27th, 2013) In Uganda, two people who have sex could end up serving life sentences in prison if they happen to be the […]
Health / Policy / Politics
At last, a Health Secretary who puts patients first
Published in The Daily Mail (December 27th, 2013) As in every other walk of life, the ending of the political year offers an opportunity to pause and reflect […]
Immigration / Policy
Families that need £18,600 to spend Christmas together
Published in The Independent (December 19th, 2013) Like any father, Ethan James Feltham was looking forward to Christmas with his wife and their new son. But instead he […]