JONATHAN MANTHORPEApril 25, 2014 As the West fixates on what Vladimir Putin is doing in eastern Ukraine, perhaps not enough attention is being paid to his other hand, which is hovering greedily over neighbouring Moldova. Moldova and its three-and-a-half million people, sandwiched
Increasingly, Big Pharma is betting on new blockbuster cancer drugs that cost billions to develop and can be sold for thousands of dollars a dose. In 2010, each of the top 10 cancer drugs topped more than $1 billion in sales, according
Scots will vote in a referendum on September 18 on separation from the United Kingdom. But the division of assets and liabilities in the break-up of a country is complex and vexatious – and in the case of Scotland, these matters are particularly
JONATHAN MANTHORPEApril 23, 2014 Scotland’s First Minister and Nationalist Party leader Alex Salmond is generally reckoned to be the canniest politician in the British Isles. So it was entirely in keeping that he chose today, the day when the English patron saint
In honour of Earth Day and all this week, the BBC is running archive clips celebrating more than 50 years of natural history film-making by Sir David Attenborough. In the video below, from the BBC’s Blue Planet series, a leopard seal hunts
For Canadian journalist Cheryl Hawkes, Rubin (Hurricane) Carter’s death over Easter brought back memories about the quiet, private and powerful man who was, for a while, her neighbour in Toronto. You will find her column in our Loose Leaf salon — along
Weibo, “China’s Twitter,” has begun offering shares on one of America’s free market stock exchanges. But unlike in the United States, where freedom of expression is protected, in China social media companies rely on censorship for their business model. Weibo’s regulatory disclosures
A report that astronomers have found a planet in the constellation Cygnus, which they named Kepler-186f, turned Chris Wood’s thoughts to humanity’s chance of escaping earth. “Star Trek childhoods and a present of holodeck-quality technology inspire dreams of the ultimate geographic cure.
CHRIS WOOD: NATURAL SECURITYPublished April 18, 2014 It is Good Friday where I live, in the most Catholic part of old Mexico. The entire week and weekend to come are turned over to a passionate mix of Christian and not-so-Christian rituals: an
International affairs analyst Jonathan Manthorpe has reported on the doings of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief, since the prince was a fixture in the American administrations of Ronald Reagan and both Bushes. “Many saw him as a pernicious influence
