News and Opinion

Tchéky Karyo’s fame reaches a whole new level appearing as Baptiste

The Russian defector’s fatal poisoning has been turned into an opera, approved by his widow, says KIRSTY LANG In the 15 years since Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned drinking tea in a central London hotel, there have been numerous books, film documentaries and a stage play inspired by his story. Now for the first time, there […]

TIM WALKER reviews a theatre production that held its own against the drama provided by the Three Lions

TIM WALKER on an ebullient show that creates an emotional occasion

The murder of its president in his own home is yet another chapter in Haiti’s miserable history, says RASHMEE ROSHAN LALL, who spent three years living in the extraordinarily tragic nation Within minutes of the news flash of the assassination of Haiti’s president Jovenel Moise last week, two things became clear about the killing: it […]

Novelist WILL SELF explains why tuning in to religious station Advent Radio has renewed his faith in the medium The local pharmacist – who I call the fundamentalcist for reasons that will soon become clear – has some sort of evangelical radio station playing over the shop’s PA system all day every day, such that I’m […]

Dotted along the north west coast of Africa, the residue of Spanish empire – two sizeable cities – lies at the heart of a summer of high tension Monte Hacho, the hill that rises above the Spanish city of Ceuta on the North African coast, is often cited as one of the Pillars of Hercules […]

Jason Solomons returns to the Croisette with movie reviews of Annette, Cow,  The Worst Person In The World, Everything Went Fine, The Souvenir Part II, Jane by Charlotte and more So much for the return of glamour. My Cannes started by spitting into a plastic tube in a makeshift Covid testing centre. Due to political […]

The shooting of a prominent Dutch crime reporter has prompted a national debate about the country’s reputation as the nexus of the continent’s illegal drugs trade.  Almost from the moment the last bullet tore into the Netherlands’ best-known crime reporter Peter R. de Vries on the evening of July 6, a peculiar debate erupted among […]

Former president Donald Trump’s lawsuit suing Google, Facebook and Twitter is as crazy as it sounds – but BONNIE GREER says he is still dangerous The latest lawsuit from former president Donald Trump is as stupid as you think it is. In brief: he is suing Google, Facebook and Twitter in what he calls a […]

It’s a decade since the demise of the News of the World and today’s toothless tabloids are a shadow of their former ferocious selves. Should we mourn or celebrate their decline? And could they have stopped Brexit?  They were the cheeky chappies, rumbustious and irreverent, saucier than a Donald McGill postcard; always game to poke […]

Alastair Campbell’s article on sado-populism has struck a chord with this reader

A reader explains how the EU referendum stripped him of his Britishness

TIM WALKER's Mandrake column explores the prime minister's repetitive use of the word 'fantastic'.

MITCH BENN offers four good reasons to feel proud of England’s footballers and to look forward to the World Cup despite their Euro final defeat to Italy By the time you read this, several days will have passed since England’s defeat (on penalties, inevitably) at the Euros final on Sunday.  How are things going, up there […]

ROB HUGHES examines England’s near-miss at the Euros and finds that for all their advantages, a change of mindset is necessary at the top So near, and yet so far. England released itself from the European Union, but remain far from the world-beaters some fans imagine it is their birthright to be as the motherland of […]

A pizza restaurant with a robot as the chef has opened in Paris.

Critics of the government’s re-opening strategy need more than just carping. They need to offer their own analysis

Editor-at-large ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on a concept that helps explain the politics of Boris Johnson

It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain as we learned exactly why “Liz Truss” rhymes with “mistrust”. While Brexit continues to deliver more empty shelves for consumers, more carnage to our food and fishing sectors and more chaos to the people of Northern Ireland, the eternal sunshine of our […]

One spectator sport this summer has been watching politicians try to tie their fortunes to the England team. Such efforts are as doomed to failure as, ultimately, Gareth Southgate’s team was.

Some modern misunderstandings are a consequence of changes that have occurred in the English language over the last 300 years A regrettable and embarrassing incident has occurred in the West Midlands of England. An 11-year-old schoolboy was referred to the government’s so-called counter-radicalisation programme after the teacher asked his class what they would do if they […]

Long before Kraftwerk plugged in their synthesizers, the epic bike race has been an inspiration for musicians, writes SOPHIA DEBOICK

CHARLIE CONNELLY on a new book which offers a many-layered commentary on modern France and explores the malevolence that can lurk deep within communities  Sometimes it’s the tiny details that really get to you. A passing mention, an aside, something that should seem practically irrelevant but, wham, hits you right in the heart. In Samira Sedira’s […]

Lili Alvarez was not only one of the greatest tennis players of her era but also a tireless campaigner for equality... not to mention champion car racer and skier

In the wake of the subs-postmaster scandal, WILL SELF encounters an actual criminal at the Post Office and ponders the hierarchy of crime I ran into X in the post office queue – but then regular readers will know this is where some of MM’s most significant encounters occur; at least when it comes to […]

TIM WALKER on a musical production which ticks many boxes, but leaves uncomfortable questions in the way it treats the issue of suicide Heathers The Musical Theatre Royal Haymarket, London; till Sept 11 *** It’s almost axiomatic that edgy, cutting edge theatre will cause offence in some quarters. Productions such as Hair – the musical that came […]

Theresa May has been rated as one of the worst two post-war prime ministers in a survey of UK university academics specialising in British politics and contemporary British history.