Published in The Spectator (July 24th, 2010) Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer (Harper Press) Maqbool Sheikh dreaded hearing a knock at the door of his home. For he […]
Haiti / World
Throw open our doors to Haitians
Published in The Independent (January 28th, 2010) Two weeks on, and they are still pulling people from the living hell of entombment in the rubble of Port-au-Prince. Each […]
Aid / Haiti
Death, disaster and a shocking reality
Published in The Independent (January 16th, 2010) Around the world, presidents and prime ministers mouth platitudes about sharing the pain of Haiti. But they should consider a simple […]
Afghanistan / World
False hopes and phoney democracy
Published in The Independent (July 15th, 2009) And so the charade begins once again. A state ripped apart by war, poverty and corruption promises to hold elections, and […]
Travel / United States / World
Virginia and Maryland: On the trail of the lonesome pine
Published in The Independent (September 24th, 2005) First there was the twang of country music, which turned out to be an apposite version of “Take Me Home, Country […]
Sri Lanka / Travel
The calm after the storm
Published in The Independent (March 26th, 2005) The two elderly ladies, with their blue rinses and bubble-perms, were explaining how they ended up going on holiday to Sri […]
Travel / United States / World
Summer in New England
Published in The Independent (May 22nd, 2004) Things began badly. After 15 years, I had finally persuaded my wife to go on holiday to the United States. I […]