Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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No cogent answers from Jean-Claude Juncker
The European Commission president’s speech this week betrayed a lack of meaningful options for the future of the
EU, says KEVIN OVENDEN
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
IT was billed as a historic speech by the president of the European Commission.
But when he addressed the European Parliament with his white paper for the future of the European Union on Wednesday, all that Jean-Claude Juncker did was to kick the can further down the road.
That has become the standard EU practice in these crisis years. Only now the can resembles a grenade with the pin out.
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