I’ve had a soft spot for Fiji ever since my dad took me to see my first rugby international at Twickenham when I was about 10 – England versus this island that I’d never heard of. They played a really exciting, open passing game, they...

The Columbine High School tragedy of ten years ago is being remembered. Two students killed 12 classmates and a teacher. Others were injured. Ten years on have lessons been learned in the USA about lax gun laws? No, and so every so...

It’s Monday morning, I’m just back from holiday – and sadly some things just seem to show no sign of getting any better. What am I talking about? Sri Lanka of course. The humanitarian disaster there has once more brought London’s Tamil...

In the late evening on 18 and 19 April , student demonstrators, their number swelled by onlookers, gathered at Xinhuamen, the ceremonial main entrance to Zhongnanhai, calling for democracy, freedom and dialogue with the leaders. In the...

A Problem from Hell – America and the Age of Genocide , Samantha Power (Paperback, 656 pages, Flamingo, rrp £10.99, available £7.69) Genocide is back in the news. Who would have thought ? There are allegations of genocide on Tamils...