World

Much to the ire of many a financial institution, I am self-employed. Those two dirty words which mean it is near impossible to get a mortgage, earn a regular income, and save for retirement. On the upside, I have four private pensions accrued by working for various companies over the past 20 years. What is she complaining about? you cry. Not one but four private pensions, which will all pay out a hefty retirement income when I reach the new state retirement age of 68. Wrong. When I started my first proper job with Pearson and I got my first defined contribution (DC) pension at 26 (I sadly just missed final salary

I’m not sure how it is with the BBC and Sky, but here in the United States the news channels prefer to cover a few stories obsessively rather than many stories thoroughly. Things have become even worse since Donald Trump was inaugurated, as that already-myopic keyhole view has narrowed into a monomaniacal focus on Russia. MSNBC and CNN discovered they could boost their ratings by catering to liberals with a 24-hour potboiler about Trump’s alleged collusion with the Kremlin, and proceeded accordingly. An establishment conspiracy industry took hold, detecting Russian fingerprints everywhere, led by your former MP Louise Mensch. It was into this febrile atmosphere on Monday that Trump’s son-in-law and

The sisterhood is, apparently, ‘in full flow’ at the BBC. Since the publication last week of the salaries of its 96 highest paid presenters, discussion of the institution’s gender pay gap has filled air time and column inches. How can it be right that Clare Balding is paid less than Gary Lineker? Or that John Humphrys earns more than Sarah Montague? But if being paid less than their male colleagues wasn’t bad enough, female presenters must, it seems, also use their ‘strong and loud voices’ on ‘behalf of all’ to tackle the entrenched sexism endemic not just within the BBC but everywhere. In an open letter to the BBC’s Director

Anyone who has followed the free-speech wars in America over recent years will know that by now, basically, nobody can speak anywhere. Especially at centres like that one-time home of free speech, Berkeley, California, you now cannot speak in public if you’re a man or a woman, if you’re gay or straight and if your skin is white or not. Now to the great list of categories of people who should not be allowed to speak in America we can add scientists. Richard Dawkins is, by any standards, one of the most famous scientists on the planet. His books have brought writing about science to a world-wide audience. One recognition

Well Boots has climbed down in a battle it was never going to win against Twitter, the mouthy MP Jess Philips and the abortion providers, BPAS, about giving out the morning-after pill ad lib, and as cheap as chips. But in what way, exactly, was Boots ‘infantilising women’, as Ms Philips had it, by being reluctant to make it as accessible as Nurofen? It all began when BPAS wrote to Boots’ head pharmacist, Marc Donovan, pointing out that generic versions of the Levonelle brand of emergency hormonal contraception can be bought cheaply by pharmacies and can retail for as little as £5.50 in France. By comparison, Boots charges £26.75 for

These days nobody much bothers denying that the Trump administration is chaotic, aside that is from the Donald’s inner circle and a few hardcore loyalists who believe that the 45th president really is Making America Great Again. The Trumpists say that reports of strife and discord in the White House are elite media spin. But what to make of the news that Sean Spicer has stood down as White House Press Secretary? Perhaps it’s not that significant – press secretaries come and go – but the briefing wars surrounding Spicer’s departure suggest once again that Team Trump may be tearing itself apart. Spicer, it’s said, has gone because he was

Charlie Gard is incurably brain-damaged, blind, deaf, cannot cry, and cannot move or breathe without help. At the request of his parents, he has been kept alive in hope of a minimal improvement. Ancients did not feel about babies as we do. About one in three died within a month, and about half by the age of five. Putting disabled babies out to die was probably common. There are about 55,000 inscriptions on tombstones referring to ages at death, yet only a handful relate to those under six months. Few ancient authors describe babies behaving like babies; indeed, Latin had no specific word for ‘baby’. Cicero remarked that nature granted

Oh to be a fly-on-the-wall at BBC Broadcasting House this morning. The broadcaster has had to publish the salaries of its top earners – and it makes for an interesting read. Gary Lineker – the people’s champion who recently boasted of his loyalty for staying at the BBC when he could earn more elsewhere – is in the £1,750,000 – £1,799,999 pay bracket. However, it’s Chris Evans – the man who ruined Top Gear – who has the dubious honour of being the Beeb’s top earner, he is in the £2,200,000 – £2,249,999 bracket. Meanwhile, the next Today programme will be fun. John Humphrys earns over £600,000 while his colleague Mishal Husain

Here we go again. NBC News is reporting that Donald Trump Jnr. somehow forgot to mention that a former Soviet counterintelligence officer was also present at his pow-wow with a Russian lawyer. The man in question, Rinat Akhmetsin, has denied ever being affiliated with Russian spy agencies. But as NBC politely put it, “the presence at the meeting of a Russian-American with suspected intelligence ties is likely to be of interest to special counsel Robert Mueller and the House and Senate panels investigating the Russian election interference campaign.” Indeed it is. As former Obama administration ethics chief Norman Eisen, among others, suggests, it looks as though Moscow was probing to see whether

For the title of world’s most benighted city, Mosul takes some beating. Liberated from Saddam Hussein by US forces in 2003, the ancient Assyrian town was pummelled by years of insurgency before being seized by Isis in 2014 and its population subjected to militant theocracy. It has no water supply, no infrastructure, it has been gutted by occupation and there are some 850,000 displaced citizens. The Iraqi government’s long and bloody battle to regain what remains of Mosul culminated this week in a visit by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to declare victory. Many will find it hard to see anything to celebrate, given the destruction that has been wrought in

Political scandals sometimes throw up deliciously eccentric minor characters. Trump-Russia — a scandal or merely a crisis, according to taste — now has one: Rob Goldstone. He is described as a British former tabloid journalist, a music promoter, former Miss Universe pageant judge, and friend of the Trumps. Facebook videos reveal a short, tubby man with a northern accent and voice that seems a couple of octaves too high for his bulk. Twitter photos show him in a black shirt with a shiny gold tie; or holding velvet loafers up to his double chin, the word ‘Sex!’ embroidered on the toecaps; or wearing a gold baseball hat bearing the legend