World

On 27 July millions will drown in syrup as Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, delivers his usual platitudes about international togetherness and sport without boundaries. He might, for example, do something close to reciting the mission statement of the IOC’s world conference on Sport for All, held in Beijing last September: ‘to build a better world by encouraging the practice of sport for all, particularly in the developing world’. Then, once the last firework has been discharged and the stands are cleared away, we can get on with the business of the Olympics: rich countries hauling in the medals which they bought with mountains of public and

Fulminating against the government’s economic policies, the Observer complained recently that: For a generation, business and finance, cheered on by US neoconservatives and free market fundamentalists, have argued that the less capitalism is governed, regulated and shaped by the state, the better it works. Markets do everything best – managing business and systemic risk, innovating, investing, organising executive reward – without the intervention of the supposed dead hand of the state and without any acknowledgement of wider social obligations. Gosh, is there nothing that can’t be blamed on those dastardly neoconservatives? I suppose the term has now been detached from its original meaning and is instead a catch-all label for

Mike Tomasky enters the Veepstakes with a variation on a well-worn theme: Will Barack Obama replace Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton? This is a Question To Which The Answer Is No. To be fair Tomasky, whose piece is supported by a single shoogly opinion poll showing Romney leading Obama amongst women voters, all but admits it’s a close-to-garbage notion: The one question is this: How is it justified publicly? This is one of those situations when you just obviously can’t tell the truth. The truth is: With Clinton, we win in a near-landslide, and with Biden, it’s iffy, and we want to win. What you say is something like: This

Here is a selection of articles and discussions from this week on Spectator.co.uk… Fraser Nelson writes why choice matters more than tuck shops and says this is no time to tinker. James Forsyth says Boris is continuing to charm his party, reports on the battle for the 1922 committee and thinks Miliband’s shuffle might not neccessarily be to the left. Peter Hoskin says Greece is still the word and reveals the union’s lazy opposition to schools reform. Jonathan Jones says Romney is looking for an average white guy for vice president and reports the public don’t want the government to drop Lords reform or gay marriage. Sebastian Payne looks at the worsening situation in

An auction of French government ten-year bonds three days before the triumph of François Hollande met strong demand from investors and produced a borrowing cost of 2.96 per cent, a fraction cheaper than a similar issue in April. This fact told those who noticed it that France was not the story to watch last weekend. Markets had already assessed Hollande as a closet moderate who would rapidly be forced to back-pedal on his socialist rhetoric and embrace Angela Merkel. Flag-waving Bastille crowds made good television, but it was the Greek election and the rumblings from Spain — where Bankia, a conglomerate of savings banks, is heading for a multibillion bailout

Place names If François Hollande is elected French president this week, he will join a very small group: world leaders whose surnames match the names of foreign countries (although Holland is strictly only a region of the Netherlands).       — The closest world leader currently to bear this distinction is Co-Prince Joan Enric Vives Sicilia, the head of state of Andorra, whose surname matches the name of a former kingdom. Nahas Angula, prime minister of Namibia, nearly bears the name of a neighbouring country. — France has, however, had a prime minister called France: Pierre Mendes France, leader of the Radical Socialists and PM between 1954 and 55. Going with

The Prime Minister’s supporters will hope that this detail in Peter Oborne’s column today is not true: A fresh embarrassment concerns Rebekah Brooks, who providentially retained the text messages she received from the Prime Minister, which I’m told could exceed a dozen a day. These may now be published, a horrible thought. Now “I’m told” and “could” allow for some doubt. But the quantity of texts zipping between Ms Brooks and Mr Cameron is not the only problem, so too is their frequency. I cannot think the Prime Minister’s reputation will be enhanced by the disclosure that he was in contact with Ms Brooks almost every day. Indeed, if what