World | Business Post

Ireland needs to ditch its ‘nod and wink’ policy towards China

The head of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong is lobbying politicians around the world to take a tougher approach to the Asian superpower

Marion McKeone: Palin plots an unlikely comeback after years in Alaskan wilderness

She shot to fame as John McCain’s folksy running mate in the 2008 US presidential election. Now Sarah Palin is ready for her close-up again – even if large swathes of her own party are left unmoved by the prospect of her return to the political fray

Aidan Regan: Ukraine war exposes lie at the heart of global ‘free trade’ myth

Globalisation doesn’t lead to free and fair societies, instead it helps to prop up dictators and the democratic world needs to wake up to this reality

Why China’s own interests will decide whether it supports Putin’s Ukraine invasion or not

There is a long history of border disputes between China and Russia, and one which almost led to all-out war in 1969. Whether the ‘friendship’ between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will lead to actual Chinese support for the assault on Ukraine may come down to more practical matters

Marion Mckeone: Not even a Covid diagnosis can dampen Irish spirits after a successful week in DC

This year’s St Patrick’s Day events in Washington DC will be deemed a diplomatic success, despite Micheál Martin contracting the virus

A million goodbyes: The terrible toll taken on America by Covid

The US’s death toll from the pandemic is about to surpass the symbolic one million mark, with casualty figures cleaving sharply among class and racial lines. And yet, even after two years, both sides of the country’s political divide remain at loggerheads over what to do next

Comment: China cannot fudge the Ukraine question indefinitely

Xi Jinping wants to present his country as a responsible stakeholder in a peaceful, prosperous world, but this is not possible if he is an ally of Putin

Kenneth Rogoff: Is the peace dividend over?

Increased spending on defence is a necessity, not a luxury, if Western nations wish to maintain their way of life

Lucinda Creighton: Far right and hard left make strange bedfellows in their support of Putin

The truth is that there is no such thing as Nato expansionism, it is a fiction which is being used by the radical left as an excuse for Russia’s unconscionable invasion of a sovereign nation

Ukraine: courage under fire

As thousands of Ukrainians flee the advance of Russian troops and others shelter at home, the diaspora in Ireland are trying desperately to help from afar while lines of communication remain open

Senators in ‘full-scale mutiny’ over Uyghur report rejection

McDowell says senate members were ‘ashamed’ of government’s refusal to endorse account of China’s treatment of minority community

Marion McKeone: PAC attack paves the way for Trump’s 2024 presidential tilt

Donald Trump’s various political action committees are proving fiendishly effective at raising hundreds of millions of dollars for his campaign to wrest back the US presidency

Marion McKeone: How Donald Trump continues to rake in cash through an endless barrage of missives

A barrage of texts and emails are being sent from Trumpland to would-be supporters seeking financial contributions. I received upwards of 40 in the last week alone

Marion McKeone: Pence distances himself from Trump in quest for nomination

Mike Pence has finally condemned Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results, but his statement may be more to do with his own tilt at the presidency than moral conviction

Big Read: Marion McKeone on the inner tensions gripping the US Supreme Court as it continues to lurch to the right

Like so many of the other cracks beneath the veneer of US democracy, Supreme Court dysfunction didn’t start with Donald Trump’s presidency, but it was a whole lot worse by the end of it

Marion McKeone: Biden holds fire on Ukraine for now as border tensions mount

The American president appears unlikely to send combat troops to the troubled region, but there are clear differences amongst the US and its allies as to how they should proceed in the event of a Russian invasion

Big read: The silencing of Hong Kong – how a superpower cracked down on its crown jewel

Long a place of free political expression and economic prosperity, Hong Kong has gone eerily silent since the National Security Law suppressed criticism of Beijing. While many protesters have gone to ground others, like Nathan Law, have fled the country to plead their cause abroad

Ukraine preparing for ‘full-scale invasion’ by Russia

Western countries must impose sanctions on Russia now, according to Ukraine’s ambassador to Ireland

Lucinda Creighton: US, Britain and and EU must unite in an allied pushback against Russian aggression

An uncertain US acting alone, a divided EU watching from the sidelines and Britain on its own path plays into Putin’s hands

Trump family counting the costs of fighting legal battles on all fronts

Problems are mounting for Donald Trump, his children and the Trump Organisation, as legal investigations continue into the events of January 6, 2021, business deals in New York and an accusation of rape