Let’s make the uncounted millions count
Through hospital windows and news bulletins, personal loss opens a window onto the world’s wider suffering as the season, and the year itself, reminds us all why class solidarity matters now more than ever, writes MATT KERR
The welcome news that Cuba has finally been removed from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list is tempered by the fact that Donald Trump, the man who put it there, is returning to the White House, warns NATASHA HICKMAN
Thanks to impressive progress in Britain with wind and solar generation, clean electricity now costs a fraction of the price of gas — yet the current system keeps bills artificially high to protect fossil fuels, writes TOM HARDY
By spreading race-based conspiracy theories, the billionaire tycoon turned right-wing provocateur has been seriously undermining the case against those who really did let victims of the grooming gangs down, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Many Western countries are grappling with deep political instability. What are the causes of this, and what could be a possible way forward? asks MARC VANDEPITTE
KEITH BENNETT explains why, despite its present meagre economic outcomes, an honest and fruitful partnership with China is worth pursuing
Nick Wright talks to photographer and author JANINA STRUK
WHEN the nights are long, the days short, and a gale howls outside, it gives a little time to reflect on the year gone by.
I’ve always had a thing for numbers. A few decades and several stone ago, I was a pretty useful time trialist. It’s an odd kind of bike race, just the road, your breath, the thump of your heart as you race against time itself.
On the best of days, 50 miles seems to pass in a few minutes, an otherworldly experience that sends you floating above the road and yourself, and all the time, every pebble, bump, and curve on the highway noticed, noted, and understood in minute detail.
More from this author
Mismanagement, privatisation and EU rules have strangled vital ferry services, leaving Scotland’s island communities stranded and the once-bustling ports of my youth in what feels like terminal decline, laments MATT KERR
While farmers win support against inheritance tax changes, refinery workers seeking to save their jobs and community face deafening silence from Holyrood, writes MATT KERR
MATT KERR argues that endless constitutional squabbles and feigned outrage over symbolic slights distract from real issues, as both SNP and opposition parties shirk responsibility for using the powers they already have
The closure of Edinburgh’s working-class People’s Story Museum contrasts sharply with lavish funding for aristocratic heritage sites. No-one will fight for our history — or our future — but us, writes MATT KERR
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LYNNE WALSH gets the view from the ground about the relentless tide of misogyny affecting women, young or old – and asks when we’re going to get angry enough to do something about it