Well, at least the City folks like it. The pound shot up in value on the news that Britain is ready to settle its European bill to the tune of £50bn or more, as investors dared to glimpse some light at the end of the Brexit tunnel. Their hope is the same as Theresa May’s: that once Britain has agreed to pay up in full – including for liabilities stretching decades into the future – the remaining 27 EU leaders will allow the Brexit talks to move away, at last, from the terms of the divorce settlement, and on to the future relationship between the UK and the rest of Europe.

Published by: The Guardian

The sight of a judge in The Hague interrupted by insults and obscenities from Ratko Mladić as the court convicted the former general of genocide reached us like the light of a distant star. The jailing of the butcher of Srebrenica happened on Wednesday, but it gave off the glow of a spark lit more than two decades ago. It’s not just that Mladić’s crimes were committed in the mid-1990s. It’s that the very idea of bringing war criminals to justice seems like a memory from the distant past.

Published by: The Guardian

Related: Autumn budget 2017: Hammond scraps stamp duty for first-time buyers for homes worth up to £300,000 - updates

Published by: The Guardian

Forget the canary in the coal mine: these days, the warning comes from a cartoon pig in a dentist’s chair. And it’s no exaggeration to say it’s pointing to a threat facing all humanity.

Published by: The Guardian

The idea of cushy exile may appal. But history shows that societies in transition may be wise to sacrifice the urge to see their former dictators brought to justiceOf all the questions hanging over the dramatic, uncertain events in Zimbabwe there is on...

Published by: The Guardian

The politicians fell out after Gove torpedoed Johnson’s Tory leadership bid. Now they are back on good terms – and the reason is Brexit

Published by: The Guardian

Perhaps we should call it the new special relationship. Liberal, enlightened types on each side of the Atlantic now share a common experience. While American progressives lament their fellow citizens’ decision to make Donald Trump president a year ago this week, their British counterparts have spent the same period gnashing their teeth over Brexit. When the two groups meet, they exchange apologies: “Don’t blame me,” they tell each other, “I voted the other way.”

Published by: The Guardian

There are plenty of beneficiaries of Priti Patel’s slow-motion fall into the political abyss. The opposition, obviously, which gets to look on as the British government crumbles before its eyes. On her own side, there will be ambitious colleagues glad to see a rival cut down. The most ardent remainers might feel a special gladness at seeing a Brexiteer humbled. But none of them will have gained as much from Patel’s woes as the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson.

Published by: The Guardian

So much rubbish has been spoken by so many men about sexual harassment that it’s hard to nominate a winner. But a strong contender in a crowded field is surely Rick Perry, the US energy secretary who, when running for president, famously forgot which government department he wanted to close (it was, naturally, the department of energy).

Published by: The Guardian