Trump seems determined to square the circle of making anti-science work, no matter what the cost
Firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics chief could fatally undermine trust in an organisation crucial to transparency of US markets
Every Irish person contributes €53.20 a month to the EU. We should be prepared to pay more
Worldview: Courtesy of our growing relative wealth, we displaced Luxembourg in 2024 in paying the most to the EU budget on a gross per capita basis
Donald Trump doesn’t want much - just a Nobel Prize and his face on Mount Rushmore
After the No Kings protests, Trump complained that, unlike a king, he had to ‘go through hell’ to get things approved. ‘No, we’re not a king,’ he said. Note the royal we
Ireland will have to commit substantial funds to arms procurement whether it approves or not
As a net contributor to the multiannual financial framework, we cannot stand on the sidelines
Haiti paid France a costly ransom for independence. Some say it must be paid back
Worldview: Violence-ridden Haiti’s “double debt” and the borrowing to pay it, has pushed the country down a spiral of indebtedness
Turkish Trump Erdogan didn’t reckon with the power of a younger generation
Worldview: Erdogan’s Turkey is sliding decisively into autocracy, with a pliant judiciary co-opted, democratic norms abandoned, and media muzzled. But the young are standing up
Trump’s rebranding of Afrikaners as victims is calculated to appeal to the American far right
Worldview: When Trump or Musk talk about the murders of white farmers, they’re sending a signal in support of white nationalism
Storyteller’s shadow: Patrick Smyth on his mother Jennifer Johnston
Jennifer Johnston’s relationship with her father is far from her whole story but she remained wrongly convinced she was still in his shadow
By flirting with the far right, Europe’s centre-right parties play a dangerous game
Worldview: History suggests that such pacts with the devil end badly
Tensions are already emerging in Camp Trump between populists and libertarians
Worldview: Ayn Rand’s articulation of a brutal, amoral ‘greed-is good’ philosophy embodies the spirit of the new administration
Mercosur will not be the cataclysm for Irish farmers they predict
World view: There are always winners and losers in any free trade agreement, but is this accord to be brought down at the behest of the powerful farm lobby’s limited sectoral interest?
Giorgia Meloni masquerades as the ‘acceptable’ face of the far right, but nobody should be fooled
Worldview: Meloni is not bringing Italian post-fascism back to the centre ground and moderating it, but is polishing up a dangerous anti-democratic throwback
EU needs to be less ‘polite’ in resisting Russian attempts to sway elections
Worldview: Attacks include sabotage, assassinations, parcel bombs, cyber attacks, electoral interference, social media disinformation campaigns and the testing of military preparedness
How the US ‘broke Congo’ is vividly retold in a pacy new documentary
Worldview: Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat weaves extraordinary archive footage, personal testimonies and jazz into a compelling account of the killing of Patrice Lumumba
Japan’s reliable, stable democracy has been shaken by snap election gamble
Worldview: Dissatisfaction with democracy and a return to recession has left Japan’s mighty Liberal Democratic Party floundering