It has been almost fifty years since I lived in what used to be North Yemen. It was united with the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (the former British colony of Aden for over a century) in 1990 into what is now Yemen.

Language does not merely limit what we can express. It can also change what we feel able to express. I notice this when moving between Arabic and English. Certain emotions become easier to examine in English, as though the slight distance between myself and the words gives me room to think. In Arabic, a familiar expression can carry years of affection, irritation, or mischief without needing a single explanation.

“The overwhelming majority of French people believe that retirees don’t cost the public too much, that France can still spend much more on its public services, that it can raise taxes on business owners and shareholders, that Putin’s Russia isn’t our enemy, and that the European Union costs us far more than we get from it.”

The year 2026 is the 500th anniversary of one of the most significant developments in England. In 1526 for the first time, ordinary people, provided that they were literate, could have access to Scripture in the English language 2. The man responsible for this was William Tyndale

Oh dear, Donald. A lame duck president writ so large, he is more of a lame dodo. “Vote” said Donald, “as if I were on the ballot.” So they did, giving a spectacular raspberry to the 45th and 47th president.

It’s a bonanza year for the Bayeux. Currently on show at the British Museum, it’s being seen in England for the first time in almost a thousand years. And let’s get something straight before we go any further: the Bayeux Tapestry is no such thing. It’s an embroidery, but it has always been known by the T-word.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua has been dominated by a brouhaha concerning the role of Britain in the international slave trade and demands for an apology and possibly reparations. This has been a recurrent and increasingly important topic for many of the member states present and has a particular resonance in Antigua – one of the sugar-producing islands which in the 18th century depended heavily on slave labour and were the main destinations