By Marcus Hunt Iraq is a state composed of at least three separate nations: Sunni Arabs, Shia Arabs and Kurds. Unlike in Eastern Europe in the aftermath of World War I, the Sykes-Picot agreement drew borders that ignored national and religious affiliations. It was a grave mistake to do so, its consequence has been a society riven by sectarianism and held together only by the grip of dictatorship. It is at last unravelling, and that is to be welcomed. The...

By Pip Cole  At around 21:40 last night a wave of disappointment swept the nation as Luis Suarez netted the second Uruguay goal, sinking England to its second defeat in as many matches. Italy sussed us out and the Uruguayans managed to contain England's attack while their talisman seized on two chances to net twice, effectively condemning the lads to an early flight home. After only a week in Brazil, Coleen Rooney might not have needed seven bags after all!...

By Gregory Taylor On 8th June 2013 the British government made a pledge at the ‘Conference on Nutrition for Growth’ held in London committing £375 million towards feeding some of the poorest people in the world. This was a huge amount of money for the British Government to promise, but since then only around five per cent of this money has been accounted for in its spending. Although better than nothing, more could be done on this important issue. Of...

By Chris Brown When attempting to prepare a withering summary of a game of football involving an African team, the rhythmic temptation to drift from one cliché to the next is stronger than Heaven 17* in 1982 or New Order in ’87. So I why bother to resist. Objectivity? Pah. Yes, Cameroon were assertive in the challenge; yes, their stopper was as erratic as a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man**; yes, they were arguing amongst themselves at fulltime....

Best Newsnight Moments from the past 25 years.  Jeremy Paxman has stepped down as presenter of Newsnight after 25 glorious years of expertly intimidating politicians as the people's voice. Leeds-born Paxman has been criticised over the years for being overly aggressive, intimidating and condescending, but in confronting the secretive world of politics he has been equally lauded for being tough and incisive. Over the past quarter of a century we have been entertained and shocked in equal measure as he ruthlessly tore apart...

By Valentina Magri Lowered rates were expected, but Mario Draghi made them real. On 5th June 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB) set a 0.15 per cent intervention rate and a minus 0.1 per cent rate on banks’ deposits. But this time, the ECB has taken also unconventional measures to address deflation and credit crunch. One of them, labelled as TLTRO, is “copied from the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending Scheme”, as Martin Wolf wrote on the “Financial Times”....

We have always lived in a world where humans attack other humans due to religion, power struggles, hatred or a combination of all three.  During these troubled times it feels as if there is anger around every corner, and love and compassion, has been forced to hide in the shadows. The TLE has decided to turn to Gandhi and revisit his famous sayings, to try and remember that the human race doesn’t have to destroy itself.  Remember hope not hate…...

Anonymous  I currently work within the online marketing industry with a variety of websites all focused on driving a massive online presence to attract more visitors. The reason I wrote this anonymously is not to advertise my company or skills, but to voice my anger at how the internet is being changed for the worse thanks to companies like the one I work for. Those of you who work in online marketing or search marketing this is going to come...

By Be Kaler of digital recruitment specialists, Futureheads According to a study by digital education company Hyper Island, addressing what digital talent will look like in the years to come, the biggest overall industry challenge is finding, keeping, and developing the right talent. In fact of the 500 business leaders asked, 20% listed technical and digital development as the top challenge. This is hardly surprising as we continue to scale new heights in digital innovation and is precisely why we...