Published in The Independent (April 27th, 2012) The evidence was gruesome. One witness told how he watched his sister being raped and an old woman have her throat […]
Africa / Mali
Accidental coup has undone decades of steady progress
Published in The Independent (April 7th, 2012) Arriving in Timbuktu after a long, hot journey across the Sahara, you come to a striking monument to peace, with guns […]
Politics
Like it or not, the PM has never been stronger. He should exploit it
Published in The Independent (December 13th, 2011) When George Osborne addressed Cabinet last week, he compared the proposed deal to salvage the euro and safeguard our futures with […]
Economics
Big Pharma’s demise is nothing to celebrate – our health is in their hands
Published in The Independent (December 3rd, 2011) You may not have heard the screams, but this was the week the drug industry fell off a cliff. The most profitable […]
Africa / Egypt
We should not fear a Muslim Brotherhood win
Published in The Independent (November 29th, 2011) The resurgence of Egypt’s revolution has overshadowed the start of the country’s convoluted election, so long awaited after nearly six decades […]
United States
This award is premature – and potentially very foolish
Published in The Independent (October 10th, 2009) When Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, the American humourist Tom Lehrer declared that political satire was […]
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 […]
Europe / Iceland
It is counter-productive to humiliate another nation
Published in The Independent (January 7th, 2010) Sitting amid the trawlers in Reykjavik harbour is a solitary gunboat, a reminder of what happened when Britain and Iceland last […]
Economics
The economist who got it right
Published in The Independent (January 6th, 2010) As we stand on the cusp of this new decade, shivering in the snow and contemplating a general election in a […]
Europe / Iceland / Travel
The island at the heart of the world
Published in The Independent (December 26th, 2009) My hands were freezing as we lumbered across the lava fields, swaddled in several layers of clothing, clad in thick neoprene […]