EDITORIAL:

Is space tourism dream just pie in the sky?

KATIE SILVESTER
Richard Branson has vowed to continue with his aim of making his space tourism dream a reality, following the death of the co-pilot and serious injury to the pilot during a test flight of passenger rocket SpaceShipTwo (see page 6). The October crash was far from the first spacecraft tragedy...
INBOX: INBOX

Vanuatu receives assistance from Commonwealth countries

JADE FELL
A UK plane carrying emergency aid supplies has landed in Vanuatu. The tiny Pacific Island...

Wily coyotes spend winter in Toronto

JADE FELL
Toronto residents are reporting increased sightings of coyotes in urban neighbourhoods. But the canines –...

Energy Watch

Green coffee processing generates energy A project called Energy from Coffee Wastewater in Central America...

Election Watch

Vanuatu Baldwin Lonsdale has begun his term as President of Vanuatu after seven rounds of...

Kerala waters down liquor ban

A controversial decision to ban the sale of alcohol in the Indian state of Kerala...

Report: gender equality will take at least 80 years

Global gender equality has increased marginally but steadily over the last decade, the annual report...

New Toronto mayor aims for stability over celebrity

John Tory took up his duties as Mayor of Toronto on 1 December following the...

Chinese farmers swept away by ambitious water project

A £48-billion scheme to take water from the wet south of China to supply drought-addled...

Plea for women to abandon ISIS

A handbook allegedly published by Islamic terror group ISIS condoning the mistreatment of captured women...

Leaders pay tribute to Zambia’s Michael Sata

Tributes have been paid to President Michael Sata of Zambia, who died in a London...

News in Brief

Plane crash victim, 7, hikes for help in dark A seven-year-old girl, who was the...

Out of Africa: Ebola won’t stop Africa’s progress

ANVER VERSI
If nothing else, the Ebola crisis in three West African countries has rudely interrupted the...
GLOBAL INSIGHT: WOMEN

‘I refuse to stop fighting’

SHEIKH HASINA
Bangladesh is a male-dominated society that still believes a woman’s place is in the home....

Feminism is for men too

KATE BYSTROVA
Feminism is an emotive term that many people – men and women – don’t want...

Breaking the glass ceiling

Women have risen to become political leaders in a number of powerful nations since Sirimavo...

Painting the town orange

MOLLY RAVENSCROFT
From founding the Natal Organization of Women at the start of her career to becoming...
SPOTLIGHT: NAMIBIA

Sand, San and sacred lands

ANDREW MOURANT
In common with other African countries, Namibia’s indigenous tribes find their homelands and traditional ways...

Swapo takes easy victory

NEIL FORD
Unlike some of its African neighbours, the relatively young country of Namibia is stable and...

‘This nation will always celebrate our proud history’

BARNABY BAYSWATER
Hifikepunye Pohamba is about to complete his tenure as President, having served the maximum two...
GLOBAL ARENA: BOOKS

A man of the world

JADE FELL
Glimpses of a Global Life Shridath Ramphal, Hansib Publications, 2014, 624 pp, ISBN 978-1-906190-92-7 Shridath...

A city that finds hope in squalor

KATE BYSTROVA
Capital: A Portrait of Twenty-First Century Delhi Rana Dasgupta, Canongate, 2014, 457 pp, ISBN 085-7-860-02-X...
GLOBAL ARENA: TALKING POINTS

Keeping the peace

JOHANNES RUCKSTUHL
Swiss neutrality has helped the country avoid warfare and foreign invasion since the end of...

Hail and Farewell: Obama’s new nemesis

He sees himself as Darth Vader, but his weapon isn’t a lightsaber. It’s a withering...

Losing our marbles

JOHANNES RUCKSTUHL
The hiring of Amal Clooney – wife of Hollywood actor George Clooney – by the...

Cold war: Canada secures its Arctic borders

SARAH STARKEY
Russian manoeuvres in the Arctic have prompted Canada to increase its military presence at its...

Introducing… Nicola Sturgeon: first lady of Scotland

LESLEY CURWEN
The place: a small chilly country in Northern Europe; the star: a feisty female head...

Africa: human development is on a high, while security takes a nosedive

MOLLY RAVENSCROFT
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance ranks countries according to the effectiveness of their governance....

Davos: king of the hill

ANNA WOLVERINE
Bankers, business leaders and politicians will be flocking to the Swiss town of Davos-Klosters for...

Flying the flag for New Zealand

CHRIS PRITCHARD
Christchurch is still recovering from its 2011 earthquake, with town planners now saying that reconstruction...

When a virus goes viral

TREVOR GRUNDY
Superstition and a slow response created a perfect storm that led to the spread of...

Escaping the shadows of the past

JOHANNES RUCKSTUHL
The deployment of German troops outside its borders, even for peacekeeping missions, still prompts nervous...

Malaysia’s Islamisation

KATE BYSTROVA
Sharia law is becoming more dominant in Malaysia, with Muslims no longer allowed to change...

Unholy wars in the Holy Land

KATIE SILVESTER
When Israeli bombs and Palestinian rockets explode on to international TV news channels, it’s hard...
IN FOCUS: BANGLADESH

When indigenous people come second

JADE FELL
The ‘indigenous’ people of Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts have a long history of persecution. Not...

Bangladesh: Shaking up the political patriarchy

KATIE SILVESTER AND RITA PAYNE
Two women have dominated the country’s political scene since independence – Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda...
IN FOCUS: SAINT LUCIA

Saint Lucia’s search for a national identity

JULIET HIGHET
Once a British colony where the local Patwa was frowned upon as a backward tongue,...

Weathering the storm

TERRY LESS
Prime Minister Kenny Anthony is focusing on restoring the island’s economy and its infrastructure after...

Bi-party politics bring stability to island state

NEIL FORD
The small nation of Saint Lucia has explored the idea of forming closer relationships with...
COMMONWEALTH NETWORK: CLOSE-UP

Royal Over-Seas League

For more than 100 years, members have supported arts, welfare and humanitarian activities in the...
COMMONWEALTH NETWORK: COLLOQUIA

Living on an island

A Small Island Developing States (SIDS) conference in Samoa in late 2014 shone a spotlight...
COMMONWEALTH NETWORK: COMMONWEALTH IN ACTION

Teamwork inspires young writers

LOUISE GUILLAUME
The 2014 Commonwealth Essay Competition sees 10,000 entrants from more than 500 schools putting their...

Game, set and match

CARL KONADU
Young people can gain immensely from living in the host nation of a major sports...
COMMONWEALTH NETWORK: INBOX

Guyana gets legal aid

The Commonwealth Secretariat attended a seminar in Guyana in November, aimed at improving the process...

Secretariat plans recruitment drive for young professionals

Young professionals from around the Commonwealth are to be invited to apply for roles at...

Student House marks 60th anniversary

The Victoria League Student House, in Bayswater, London, has been celebrating the 60th anniversary of...

Officials talk tax in Botswana

Inadequate tax legislation that lags behind business practice is one of the biggest challenges to...

Indian football league kicks off

India, famous for its love of cricket, has finally embraced the ‘beautiful game’ with the...

From the Commonwealth Secretary-General

KAMALESH SHARMA
I recently had the pleasure of taking part in the Commonwealth Science Conference. It brought...
COMMONWEALTH NETWORK: POSTSCRIPT

Flowers, shadows and the age of magic

JADE FELL
Nigerian author Ben Okri reflects on how moving from the UK to Africa as a...
COMMONWEALTH NETWORK: THE LONG VIEW

Civil society and the modern Commonwealth

KATIE SILVESTER AND JADE FELL
Representatives of Commonwealth organisations met in London to discuss their changing relationship with the Secretariat...
Amnesty International