News

By David Binder What do the recent 'gay cake' case, the same sex marriage referendum in Ireland and the British government's aspirations for ‘’snooper’s charter' all have in common? The answer lies in the fact that they all bring into question how we define and uphold both equality and liberty. It seems that these two values are increasingly being seen as diametric opposites when in actual fact they should be seen as bedfellows. Whilst I don't wish to discuss the...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor I remember when I was boy and I misbehaved with my mates, my mum would say “stop showing off in front of your friends,” and it had the desired effect, of shaming me into silence. It ruined my self-confidence and I barely spoke to another human until years of counselling, but that’s another story. Well this was the trick Harriet Harman used on the PM today, and it worked…a bit. Obviously the PM is fully...

 By Dani Porter, Literary Editor Ah, you can almost hear the gleeful rubbing of tabloid editors’ sweaty palms from the reports on Kate Moss's recent Easyjet altercation. How they must have thrilled at her slip-up, her daring to be a bit pissed on a plane. Because no one likes a woman who doesn't mind behaving a bit badly in public, do they? It's not as if she doesn't lead the rock and roll lifestyle that often produces this – a...

By Rohan Chatterjee This March the National Civil Police (PNC) recorded 481 homicides as El Salvador continued its steady regression to levels of violence once hoped confined to the country’s ultraviolent past. March concluded as the deadliest month in over a decade, recording an average of 16 murders a day, including six separate massacres, as the Central American nation grapples with escalating gang violence. So far this year there have been more than 1,800 homicides in a country of just over...

By Jacqueline de Rojas, area vice president, Northern Europe at Citrix Tackling the shortfall of highly skilled workers is an increasingly important concern for safeguarding the future of British industry. Recent research from the CBI found that nearly 40 per cent of companies looking for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professionals are struggling to recruit and around half believe the situation will just get worse. If the UK wishes to be global leader in these fields, a significant investment...

By Dr Robin Andrews The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a chain of fifteen islands adrift in the Pacific Ocean owned and administered by the United States. Due to rising tensions between China and America in the Pacific, one of these small landmasses is suddenly facing two very different futures. On one hand, it could become the site of unique ecological haven; on the other, it could be bombed to oblivion by the U.S. military. This is quite...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor It’s almost the same amount of time between the start of Sepp Blatter’s presidency of FIFA and the last majority Tory Government. Then the football dictator stepped down the day before the first pure-blooded Conservative PMQs, some coincidence surely? “Wow, they made Michael Gove  Justice Secretary? I can’t compete with that level of malevolence,” he was heard to say, as he handed himself into the Feds. When they were last in power people sent text...

By Jack Peat, TLE Editor On Friday, Sepp Blatter was re-elected president of Fifa to a standing ovation. His Jordanian challenger Prince Ali bin Al Hussein conceded after receiving only 73 votes, granting a fifth term to the man at the helm of an organisation besieged by corruption allegations and suffering the worst crisis in its 111-year history. But cash isn't the only factor behind the current turmoil. To an outsider looking in, Fifa has become nothing more than a...

By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent  Media power was a focal topic in the run up to the General Election. Sat in Russell Brand’s London apartment, Ed Miliband outlined an aggressive stance on media ownership in an effort to win over the non-voting nonconformist comedian who had passionately campaigned against oligarchs such as Rupert Murdoch. But he needn’t have bothered. According to new research, power in the media industry no longer rests with the publications. The marriage of social media and...