The 25th anniversary meeting of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation in the Kyrgyz capital may offer a glimmer of hope that international relations do not need to be defined by endless confrontation, writes KENNY COYLE
Latest editorial
Gardening under lockdown
The history of houseplants explored with ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and JOEL HELLEWELL
The Eden Project in Cornwall
[Jürgen Matern / CC]
The artist, who has just died, is embedded in the subconscious of the Palestinian people
The five young men killed in the A66 crash were responsible for a devastating tragedy — but the crash should force us to ask difficult questions about wider society, argues RENATA MEDEIROS MIRRA
Britain funds the policing of black culture 16 times better than the culture itself. The Diamond Jubilee is the moment to end that, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Despite Andy Burnham’s declaration defending the continued partition of the island, all major international and internal trends are converging to make Irish reunification inevitable
Humans are part of the ‘animal kingdom’ – and of nature in general – but also distinct from it and labour (work) is part of what makes us unique, declared Engels. His insights 150 years ago into how our species came to be and how we differ from the rest of nature, are as important today as they were then, says the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY
Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People’s Rights general secretary GAWAIN LITTLE discusses the impact of the US-Israeli war on the Iranian people and economy
AS LIFE under lockdown continues, we’ve been turning to domestic hobbies. Those fortunate and wealthy enough to have a garden have had more time to spend in it, a particular advantage in the recent fine weather.
For many of those without a garden, houseplants have become an increasing source of solace.
Even before the pandemic, houseplants had seen a resurgence in popularity, with Swiss cheese plants the most Instagrammed plant, according to one 2019 survey.
The earliest attested usage of the term “house plant” to refer to the plants we keep in our homes is dated from 1824, in a botanical guide called Flora Historica by Henry Phillips, a botanist from Brighton.
Similar stories
Hot and dry conditions are threatening British species unequipped for drought, explains PAUL ASHTON
Rising temperatures and human activity are making life far harder for these vital pollinators. ALEX DITTRICH explains
Extreme heat is now one of the defining public health challenges of a warming world, explains Prof IAN WILLIAMS
One of the major criticisms of China’s breakneck development in recent decades has been the impact on nature — returning after 15 years away, BEN CHACKO assessed whether the government’s recent turn to environmentalism has yielded results