“... All we get by way of analysis is: ‘The grievances upon which propagandists can draw may be real or perceived, although clearly none of them justify terrorism.’ The year 2010 was just as bad, with 13,000 fatalities from ‘over 11,500 terrorist attacks … the vast majority … still carried out by al-Qaida and associated terrorist groups’ in ...”

“... would be higher: this year abstention rose to more than 55 per cent in the second round. That may be because the recent cantonals, unusually, weren’t held in tandem with other polls (regionals or municipals). In any case, the local repercussions – the ones that are supposed to count – mean less to the commentators than the big picture. In their ...”

“... and shadow, how does it behave in different lighting conditions? So the end of Kodachrome may be regretted as an abrupt extinction of techniques, practices and knowledge. Digital cameras are quite different, binding together the optics and mechanical elements of analogue cameras with a light-sensitive array which, alongside elaborate software ...”

“... overstated: the buildings are too big, the fires and lava flows too bright. The paint in both may have depicted the might of rough nature, but Martin’s is garish. It is as though he was preparing a travel agent’s advertisement: ‘Join Heaven and Hell Tours for the thrill of a ...”

“... techno-authoritarianism and mass surveillance will speak to Chinese visitors in a way that Cubism may not. Outside the museum, the pedestrian crossing consoles use facial recognition to identify and publicly shame jaywalkers: their photos flash up on a screen, along with their personal details. The Xuhui district, which surrounds the art quarter, has been ...”

“... and orders. Any retaliation or punitive action is bound to target civilians, among whom there may be a handful of people who are involved in active resistance against Israel. Haifa was treated as an enemy base in 1948, as was Jenin in 2002; now Beit Hanoun, Rafah and Gaza are regarded that way. When you have the firepower, and no moral inhibitions against ...”

“... Ian Hislop’s Search for Dissent (until 20 January 2019) as Hislop’s personal contribution. In May 1989 Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the Yorkshire Ripper, was awarded record-breaking libel damages of £600,000 against Private Eye. Standing outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the decision, Hislop, the Eye’s editor, told the press that if this was ...”

“... so strong, till the birds bring back their song I’d like to sleep all Winter long – but once May weakens Winter’s powers from this frostbound ground I’ll pick you ...”

“... grotesque: full-dress aliens, perfectly wardrobed as the Other, ranting fire and brimstone. But it may be safer, in trying to explain why a free press is so important – and a press that is free to give offence – not to fall back on the word ‘democracy’. Many people who think like the demonstrators, and millions who don’t, remember the Islamic ...”

“... on the screen: MICKEY BARNES. The only one. Except, of course, that name is quite common. We may have to start thinking ...”

“... I believe that people are more important than genes, whatever geneticists and sociobiologists may preach. Such ex cathedra statements are really an insult, particularly to the non-specialist reader, as is also Dawkins’s statement in the same article that ‘behaviour is movement produced by muscle or its functional equivalent.’ The word ...”

“... and provoke, so that his readers will think about the issues he presents – an aim in which he may well be successful, for he has the peculiar distinction of being able to persuade the lay public to read books about civil law. I have no idea whether he plans further contributions, but the best of Lord Denning is surely to be found not in such ephemeral ...”

“... Write here the names of those you pray for. 70. Write here to whom you pray. 71. From here on you may add optional questions, and need not supply answers. (Success or failure in the above paper will lead inevitably to riches or poverty; define these in your own ...”

“... to the Brighton of little antique shops: a town that loves things. The big Edward Lear landscape may not be as brisk and decisive as his watercolour sketches, but it’s only fair to take his own preferences seriously once in a while. Pictures – certainly the pictures here – were, on the whole, made for middle-class walls. Solid, churchgoing ...”

“... the planet Venus will pass directly enough between us and the sun for its shadow to be visible. It may seem premature to announce this now, but four years isn’t so much on the grand scale, and Eli Maor, a mathematician from Chicago, has written a book about it: Venus in Transit is published this month. These transits happen twice a century or so, the last ...”