Drowning your cares with a glass of rich, sweet wine with rosy-cheeked nuns? In the world of Belgian novelist Georges Rochenbach, it marks the loss of innocence
“While no longer accepting any special responsibility on the world stage, Obama pretends that we are all citizens together. Like Hamlet the President soliloquises; he does not act”
Much hoo-ha was made of the BBC’s “censorship” of Nigel Kennedy’s remarks about Palestine at the Proms. In truth, Kennedy knew all along he’d be taken off air
In 64BC, Roman general Pompey annexed a potentially volatile Syria. Then, as now, where Western concerns are paramount, intervention needs to be diplomatic and risk-taking