Abu Qatada, the radical Islamic preacher once described as Osama bin Laden's "right hand man in Europe", will be back on the streets within days after being granted bail.

In olden days, a politician knocking a judge was something shocking. Now, heaven knows, anything goes. In Northern Ireland, anyway. Here, former Secretary of State Peter Hain gets to tell a judge who delivered a verdict he disapproved of that he's "off his rocker", while current incumbent, Owen Paterson, orders someone into prison because he reckons we'd all be better off with her out of...

Abu Qatada, the radical Islamic preacher once described as Osama bin Laden's "right hand man in Europe", will be back on the streets within days after being granted bail.

Nice piece of turnabout by Ian Black on Russia’s veto of the Syria motion at the UN these days. China’s decision has got a bit less attention. The thing is, the PRC has vetoed six Security Council motions since its...

To mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ascension to the throne in 1952, here is the leader that appeared sixty years ago on our front cover. It was written under the editorship of Wilson Harris, who had been in the position nearly 20 years. Queen and Nation, 15 February 1952 The slow days are dragging their sad length along to the climax, when the mortal remains of King George V...

Only three days into the job and Ed Davey’s first political challenge has arisen – a demand from the unreconstructed Tory back benches for a halt to onshore wind farm development. The Tories are taking aim at the subsidies onshore wind farm receive to enable them to compete with fossil fuel, claiming that they’re unaffordable

The Romanian government of Prime Minister Emil Boc resigned today (6 February), following more than 20 days of protests over austerity measures and the economic downturn in the EU newcomer.  More »

Hungarian villagers were scavenging for coal with their bare hands on Thursday (2 February) as a blast of Siberian air killed scores in Eastern Europe and looked set to keep its icy grip on the continent for days to come. More »

The inside story of President Obama's "spontaneous" Al Green moment at the Apollo Theater on January 19th. For President Obama, spending days practicing to sing one line of an Al Green song at a campaign event in New York so that it would appear spontaneous, is what passes for doing the peoples business in this White House. Remember this? Of course you do and that was the plan when this "spon...

Will they or won’t they? Most political parlour games involve a question of this kind and the one about whether Israel will strike Iran – played out regularly in Washington, London and Paris – is no exception. The last couple of days have seen more sabre-rattling than before. Israeli Vice Premier Moshe Yaalon, who heads the Strategic Affairs Ministry, and is a former commander of...