Durham on Monday was a grey day, but my world was brightened up by my beautiful younger daughter Kirsty who had her graduation ceremony then. She had studied human geography at Durham University. How I am proud of my little girl, who has grown from that little timid girl into day’s tall and confident young… Continue reading Graduation

I’ve just watched the BBC documentary Putin: the New Tsar, which charts the dictator’s unstoppable rise to power. I am impressed by the extraordinary collection of participants, which includes Garry Kasparov, the chess grandmaster turned political opponent, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oligarch, Sergei Pugachev, a former member of Putin’s inner circle, Mikheil Saakashvili the former president… Continue reading Putin documentary

China Media Coverage of Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine “The first casualty of war is truth.” How true! I’ve been following China’s coverage with fascination and disgust. Although China claims to be neutral on the matter and even offers itself as a peace maker, its media coverage has more or less been following the Russian line.… Continue reading Chinese media and the invasion