It was quite a year of surprises. And definitely not a good one for opinion-poll companies and forecasters. From Brexit to Trump, refugee athletes to the rock ‘n’ roll Nobel Literature laureate, we look back at 2016. Election forecasters are probably having a long rest, or thinking about a new career about now. Last January, … Continue reading “2016: That Was the Year the Was”
In an exceptional electoral year, there is one more chapter to come in the saga of the 2016 Presidential election. The electoral college, normally a very discreet part of the electoral process, could be the scene of unusual drama on 19 December. Until the recent past, the electoral college was barely mentioned in descriptions of … Continue reading “Electoral College: the Final Hurdle?”
John Glenn was both the American to orbit the Earth, and the oldest human to go into space, when he participated in a Space Shuttle mission at the age of 77. He died on 8 December at the venerable age of 95. In 1962, the U.S.A. was losing the Space Race. The previous April, the … Continue reading “Space Pioneer Dies”
Britain voted to leave the European Union in the 23 June referendum. Prime Minister Theresa May has said repeatedly that the government will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, to start the negotiation process to leave, by the end of March. But a legal appeal in front of the Supreme Court could hold up … Continue reading “Brexit Update”
When they see injustice in the world, some teenagers take to the streets, or social media to demonstrate. And some take to the science lab. A group of high-school students in Australia have just synthesised an essential medical drug that is at the centre of a pharmaceutical pricing scandal in the U.S.A. In September 2015, … Continue reading “High-School Science Heroes”
Seventy-five years ago, just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes launched a surprise attack on the American naval base of Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. It was the signal for America to join World War II. Unexpected Attack The raid came with no warning and no declaration of war. … Continue reading “The Attack on Pearl Harbor”
Donald J. Trump has been elected the 45th President of the United States of America as part of a Republican landslide that sees the party keep its majority in both Houses of Congress. It has been an election campaign full of surprises. In the run-up to the primaries last autumn, no one seriously expected Donald … Continue reading “President Trump”
On 11 November, the House of Commons debating chamber will be full as usual. But the elected representatives present will be a lot younger than the usual MPS. It is the annual sitting of the UK Youth Parliament: more than 300 11-18-year-olds will debate five subjects that were chosen in a vote by almost a … Continue reading “Young Brits Speak Out in Parliament”
This is it. After more than a year of one of the most vicious campaigns in living memory, Americans will finally go to the polls on Tuesday 8 November. Or will they? Only about 65% of Americans are registered to vote. Of those who are registered, there tends to be a high turnout for Presidential … Continue reading “The Race for the White House: Into the Final Straight”
Each year, since 1215, a new Lord Mayor has been appointed in London and the city likes to welcome him or her with an all-day-long event. The Lord Mayor’s show, which is the world’s oldest event of its kind, is staged every year, usually the early part of November, on the Saturday before Remembrance Sunday. … Continue reading “801 years of the Lord Mayor’s Show”