World

Sometimes what a politician leaves unsaid tells us more than what he does say. Take the different reactions to the wave of Islamist terror attacks across Europe by Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron. The Prime Minister’s statement of sympathy with Austria over the atrocities in Vienna last night may seem at first glance to cover the bases: ‘I am deeply shocked by the terrible attacks in Vienna tonight. The UK’s thoughts are with the people of Austria — we stand united with you against terror.’ But compare it to that from the president of France: ‘Europe is in mourning. One of our own has been hit hard by Islamist terrorism. We think of

With Austria’s latest Covid lockdown due to begin at midnight, Viennese citizens were enjoying a final night of freedom. And then the shooting started. The temperature was warm for this time of year, and people were sitting at pavement tables outside the bars and cafes, enjoying the balmy weather and obeying the coronavirus guidelines. What followed was what the Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, called a ‘repulsive terror attack.’ So far, four civilians are reported dead – two men and two women. Seventeen more are in hospital with serious injuries, including one policeman. Seven of these injuries are reported as critical. An attacker was shot dead by police. At least one

By tomorrow morning, he should be back on one of his golf courses. Or prepping for a new series of the Apprentice. Or quite possibly spending more time with his lawyers. Either way, if the polls and bookmakers are to be trusted, Donald Trump will be the first sitting president to be ejected from office since George Bush Senior, way back in 1992. In truth, he won’t be much missed. His bullying, narcissistic manner demeaned the office. His estranged relationship with the truth made him an unreliable ally. And his lack of empathy made him a poor leader at a time of crisis. But in one respect at least he

Imagine there’s no Covid. It’s not that easy even if you try, since the pandemic fogs up everything now. But what would the presidential election look like if the novel coronavirus had never escaped Wuhan? Who would be winning? It‘s easy to think that President Trump would be cruising towards re-election. He would be swanning around the country touting his Greatest Economy Ever. The crisis would not have revealed his eccentric attitudes towards the human body and medicinal cures. His strange and erratic reactions to the virus would not have left voters wondering how America ended up with a conspiracy theorist billionaire in charge. Trump would probably still be talking

It’s easy to turn on CNN or take a quick glimpse at the polls and just assume that Donald Trump is destined to become the first one-term president in nearly three decades. Some of my proud Democrat friends keep insisting to me that the former vice president Joe Biden will humiliate Trump with a margin of victory past presidential aspirants only dreamt of. Democratic strategists are confident of regime change in Washington DC — so confident, in fact, that they are starting to discuss possible candidates for key posts in a future Biden administration. You can’t blame them for believing the Trump era is irrepressibly doomed. Public surveys show Trump barely holding water

As the US enters the final straight of what has been — to put it mildly — a highly unusual election campaign, something akin to panic is taking hold among observers on both sides of the Atlantic. The premise is that the United States is in a highly fragile state, that the election could easily tip it into widespread violence, and that the social and political divisions currently dubbed the ‘culture wars’ could escalate into a real war. One scenario suggests blood on the streets were Donald Trump and his supporters to resist defeat. A respected think tank, the International Crisis Group, which usually analyses places such as Somalia has