Новости за 31.08.2015

The remarkable public intellectual Michael Sandel has lectured on both sides of the Atlantic about the marketisation of many aspects of contemporary society, from the supply of human organs for transplantation to the provision of clean water. The latter is a good example of the market replacing “the commons”; free public access to clean drinkable water was one of the great achievements of the Victorian age in Britain. But the market has now trumped democracy itself, at least in the country of its greatest practitioner, the United States. Читать дальше...

Plans by the schools minister, Nick Gibb, to simplify the school run by making school places mandatory for siblings of current pupils seems eminently sensible to me. Not just sensible, in fact, merciful. I have observed over the past two decades the politics and pressures surrounding ferrying offspring to and from the school gate. The time constraints, the gossipy cliques, the parking woes, the faffing about with safety seats – and the joy of doing it all again tomorrow and on and on. One stop on the school run is bad enough... Читать дальше...

Everyone will be aware of the calendar this week because it marks the end of summer. According to the Met Office, autumn starts on 1 September; holidays have come to an end, and the vast majority of children are going back to school. But here’s a radical proposition: summer has actually been over now for a fortnight – or even longer.

Although many seek to do so, it is impossible to make a definitive judgement on Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. He has not yet won, and no one knows for sure what will follow if he does. But we are in a position to make a judgement about Corbyn’s impact on Labour’s leadership contest, for that contest is almost over.

The Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo voted last month to amend the country's Constitution to enable the creation of a Special Court that will adjudicate alleged crimes committed by Kosovo Albanians during and immediately after the 1999 liberation war.

Abdul Halim Attar, a Palestinian-Syrian refugee from Yarmouk, has become the latest viral sensation to hit the Internet. A single father of two, he was photographed with his daughter slung over his shoulder, selling biros in the streets of Beirut. An activist found him, set up a crowdfunding page for him, and has now raised over $150,000. On the face of it, such outpourings of compassion demonstrate the collective power of the Internet – of humans helping each other out.

Cambridge, a city normally associated with exceptional education and punting, has been handed the rather dubious crown of being the capital of cheating.

Miley Cyrus, chameleon daughter of pop, controversy and LGBT activism, delved further into her world of breaking down barriers when she recently declared she is "pansexual".

Miley Cyrus, chameleon daughter of pop, controversy and LGBT activism, delved further into her world of breaking down barriers when she recently declared she is "pansexual".

Unless you are cycling in Beijing, air pollution is largely invisible. Since the Clean Air Acts of the early 1950s banned burning coal in the city, London’s killer smogs have gone underground, to be replaced by vehicle emissions of every kind.

I agree with Jeremy Corbyn about abolishing the House of Lords, I wrote in The Independent on Sunday. Although I prefer to think of myself as agreeing with Michael Foot, who supported the retaking of the Falklands, against Corbyn, who didn’t. 

Like the Wars of the Roses, Frank Sinatra’s much-postponed retirement and the proceedings of the Chilcot inquiry, the newspaper phone-hacking scandal seems to go on for ever. With the conclusion of the Leveson investigation into the British press, and the jailing of some journalists, many in the industry may have hoped that, using a contemporary phrase, a “line might be drawn” under this unrelenting media nightmare.

Once upon a time, we all knew what an apprentice was. Their training in ancient crafts and trades went on for many years along lines set over many generations. They and their status were protected by statute, but otherwise the state had little role in the relationship between master and trainee. Pay was low, but their preparation was usually successful and the system was stable; vestiges of it survive in the training of barristers, accountants and medics today.

The list-makers are at it again, elevating Mo Farah above every other sporting great in the history of British endeavour. Brendan Foster could not help himself, could not escape the bias of an athletic career in the excitement of Farah’s brilliant triumph in Beijing.

After work drinks? Pah. Screw sociability, last Friday night was all about watching people start massive, blister-inducing journeys on foot.