Teflon Mark Rutte the everyman PM who saw the tide had turned

He was the great survivor of Dutch politics, a man whose capacity to swerve criticism and survive scandal earned him the nickname \"Teflon Mark\", combining backroom skills with everyman appeal to become the country's longest-serving leader.

Cash for teens and a four-day week: Díaz revives leftist hopes

Sumar coalition leader says practical solutions can fend off the far-right threat in snap election

After unrest and scandal, Mongolians are steeled for change

In December, temperatures, amid sub-zero thousands of Mongolians turned up in Sükhbaatar Square in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, to protest about rampant corruption, and for a moment the Asian democracy, sitting uneasily between China and Russia, looked as though it might crumble.

Small steps Washington and Beijing are back on the line... for now

When Janet Yellen left Beijing last Sunday after four days of talks, the US treasury secretary in effect admitted that the delegation achieved its main objective simply by sitting down with top Chinese officials.

Cluster ruck The end justifies the means for Biden in sending banned bombs

Linda Thomas Greenfield, America's voice at the United Nations, usually chooses her words carefully. \"We have seen videos of Russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into Ukraine, which has no place on the battlefield,\" she told the general assembly last year.

Why it's business as usual for Wagner in Africa

Four days after Wagner group mercenaries marched on Moscow, a Russian envoy flew into Benghazi to meet a worried warlord. The message from the Kremlin to Khalifa Haftar, the self-styled general who runs much of eastern Libya, was reassuring: more than 2,000 Wagner fighters, technicians, political operatives and administrators in the country would be staying.

Disaster after disaster People are dying at sea as they try to flee from climate havoc

Before the Adriana, an overcrowded B trawler, left Libya on 9 June, Sajjad Yousef spoke to his father. His family had begged him not to make the treacherous journey from Pakistan to Europe.

Hottest week on record UN warns that climate crisis is now out of control

The UN secretary-general has said that \"climate change is out of control\", as an unofficial analysis of data showed that average world temperatures in the seven days to 5 July were the hottest week on record.

Perfect storm

Climate scientists think the El Niño effect is behind sudden Atlantic sea temperature rises. But could it be a sign of something much worse?

Cricket faces an uphill battle to rid itself of its exclusionary face

What do they know of cricket who only cricket know, asked the great CLR James. He talked of cricket as a prism through which we might view society, and that remains as true now as in 1963, when Beyond a Boundary, his masterwork, was published.

Are Finns the happiest because they keep expectations in check?

We Britons have about 60 words for happiness: blissfulness, ecstasy, pleasure, delight... The list is as varied as it is surprising, given that we only just scraped into the top 20 happiest countries in the world this year.

The supreme court has done its worst, but we can fight back

The first thing to remember about the damage done by the US supreme court this June and the June before is that each majority decision overturns a right that we had won.

CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE

Thousands of children in the US city of Richmond hear or see shootings near their schools each year, yet there is little support to help them navigate the stress caused by exposure to day-to-day violence

The RUBBER BARON

It has been said that condoms share marketing characteristics with napalm and funerals. But it is Ben Wilson's mission to make them sexy.

Torn down Rightwing justices axe decades of settled law

Another momentous term has ended at the US supreme court in which the rightwing supermajority crafted by Donald Trump applied its blueprint for the radical overhaul of vast swathes of American public life to new areas, including race and LGBTQ+ rights.

'The trees are like matchsticks' A global approach to wildfires

US crews have been deployed to help Canada tackle record wildfires-prompting questions about best practice

'Tourism has been painted white on the continent'

A couple hope their five-month journey through 12 countries will inspire other black Africans to follow in their footsteps

Green peace Centenarian who built an 'allotment in the sky'

When Joan Carulla Figueres turned the roof terrace of his Barcelona apartment into a garden, it was out of nostalgia for his rural origins. Sixty-five years later, the ecological concepts he has long followed have become commonplace, and he is acclaimed as a pioneer of organic farming.

Excavation hopes to find identities of children in mass grave

On a summer day, the site of the children's mass grave in Tuam appears deceptively bucolic. There are no crosses or tombstones in the walled patch of grass. Butterflies flit over shrubs. Robins cheep from branches. It's peaceful.

From thin air The race to draw energy from the atmosphere

Scientists have generated electricity from the humidity in the air-but can we ever make enough to power our homes?

NHS at 75 How Britain's health service wound up in intensive care

Squeezed budgets, staff shortages and an ageing population have pushed hospitals to the brink. But is there cause for hope?

History repeats At the end of the day, violence in the West Bank solves nothing

Jenin 21 years ago. Jenin today. In 2002, it was attack helicopters hovering above the West Bank city's refugee camp over a week of fighting. The new offensive has been led by drone strikes as Israeli soldiers entered the city, reducing the centre of the camp to rubble.

Assault on Jenin carries hallmarks of second intifada

Violence escalates to a level that marked uprising and subsequent crackdown that erupted a generation ago

Diplomacy may yet cost Lukashenko's leadership

For a few hours on 24 June, as troops loyal to the renegade warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin marched on Moscow, the Belarusian opposition in exile believed Day X had arrived.

After the rebellion What will the wrath of a weakened Putin look like?

Four days after Vladimir Putin faced the most serious challenge to his 23-year leadership, the Russian president called in the country's top media figures for a briefing in the Kremlin.

Voice of the unheard This is the price of ignoring decades of racist police violence

Since the video went viral of the brutal killing by a police officer of Nahel M, a 17-year-old shot dead at point-blank range, the streets and housing estates of many poorer French neighbourhoods have been in a state of open revolt.

A parallel world

The police killing of a 17-year-old boy of Algerian and Moroccan descent provoked fury from sections of French society who feel trapped by segregation, social inequality, racism and poverty

Modi And Biden Bond Amid Mutual Concerns Over China

Narendra Modi arrived in Washington DC last Wednesday - the capital of a country he was once prohibited from visiting for almost 10 years - and joined the ranks of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Volodymyr Zelenskiy as one of the few leaders to address a joint session of Congress more than once.

Moscow Mirage - Putin And Prigozhin Averted Bloodshed-but For How Long?

Though they have avoided open bloodshed, it is hard to imagine Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin will ever be reconciled.

Why Is It Taking So Long To Tackle The Epidemic Of Children Vaping?

Blueberry bubblegum. Lemon pie. Caramel cheesecake. Sickly-sweet concoctions that are just a fraction of the dessert-flavoured nicotine vapes available to buy for not much more than a high-end chocolate bar, in bright packaging often adorned with cartoon illustrations designed to appeal to children.