It takes a brave man to show anything less than reverence for the god-like figure of David Attenborough – but Dermot Gates was clearly feeling brave. Or possibly just fed up. As managing director of Boxmore Plastics in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, he has little time for those who seek to villainise his products in the […]

In his opening statement on Thursday, the last day of the scheduled public hearings in the House’s impeachment inquiry, Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, expressed his hope that “today’s hearing marks the merciful end of this spectacle in the impeachment committee.” One can understand Mr. Nunes’s eagerness to be done […]

On Oct. 10, Donald Trump Jr. and the former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle gave a speech at the University of Florida for $50,000 at the invitation of our student body president, Michael Murphy. Students protested, and normally that would have been the end of the story. Instead, last week, a group of other student […]

Good morning. We’re covering explosive impeachment testimony by an American ambassador, Prince Andrew’s withdrawal from public duties, and Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year. Pivotal testimony in the impeachment hearings The American ambassador to the E.U. delivered blunt testimony that implicated President Trump and top U.S. officials — including the vice president, the secretary of […]

Are we becoming catastrophists? Climate change and Brexit are two things causing concerns that sudden and wrenching change could happen in short order. Political upheavals around the world in recent times have led many people to believe the 1930s are about to be replayed. Street demonstrations in recent weeks in Chile and Bolivia in South […]

(Reuters) – Canada’s Teck Resources Ltd (TECKb.TO) has hired Barclays (BARC.L) to sell all of its 80% stake in its Zafranal copper asset in Peru, as the diversified miner accelerates efforts to exit advanced projects and focus on its massive Chilean expansion, two banking sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Teck is likely to sell or […]

In the same way Montgomery, Ala., is widely viewed as the birthplace of the civil rights movement, Alcatraz Island should be recognized as the launchpad for the current era of Native American rights and activism. Fifty years ago, on Nov. 20, 1969, a group of Indigenous activists known as the Indians of All Tribes arrived […]

Under pressure, Elizabeth Warren has retreated from the idea of immediate implementation of Medicare for All, but she remains committed to the progressive core of her candidacy. As she put it in a speech to Iowa Democrats on Nov. 1: If we’re going to meet the challenges of our time, we need big ideas. Big […]

(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) Good morning. We’re covering more testimony in the impeachment inquiry, Beijing’s warning to Hong Kong and a tale of survival in Texas. Trump donor is next up in impeachment inquiry The House investigation hears testimony today from perhaps the most significant witness on the public […]

This article is part of David Leonhardt’s newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it each weekday. Health care is a great political issue for Democrats — or at least it should be. Many Americans are anxious about medical costs, and yet Republicans have spent years pushing plans that would increase costs for most […]