“... Royal Mail. The bitter postal rumble between the Netherlands and Germany in the late Noughties may have had nothing to do with these figures, but it looked like the symptom of something rotten. When I say bitter, I mean bitter. TNT’s Almast Diedrich was courteous in the face of my rather cheeky questions about the company’s activities in Britain, but ...”

“... They reminded me of the South African roads that skirted the black townships; I recall driving in May 1991 from Cape Town to Stellenbosch on such a road without noticing those townships until – only very momentarily glimpsed around a curve – they were pointed out to me by an ANC friend. As Wadie and I entered Bethlehem itself a new road and concrete ...”

“... that you will never tease her or say anything mean to her about that. There’ll be times when you may get in a fight and disagree with each other the way sisters do but that is one thing you never must say. And if other kids say it you never take their side.’ For the sake of argument, I said that I did not have a mother and nobody said anything mean to ...”

“... we do the same thing they say our definition of “principle” and “justice” is flawed.’ It may therefore be right to read honour crimes in terms of a pull between the traditional values of a migrant community and life in the metropolis, but this does not have to involve giving the West a monopoly on the forward march of history, or assigning immigrant ...”

“... putting themselves at considerable risk of being treated by the regime as political activists. In May, four women catechists who worked with them were abducted and never seen again. The bishop of the diocese withdrew their licences to say mass. When they appealed to Bergoglio, he said they could say mass in private. A week later, both men were abducted, it ...”

“... a point of refusing invitations from feminist, gay and lesbian, and Jewish film festivals – this may be the only recording of her speaking with other women about a ‘woman’s cinema’. Akerman is slouching on a sofa, along from Marguerite Duras; they are separated by Duras’s handbag and a packet of cigarettes, which Akerman chain-smokes, bringing her ...”

“... set in Switzerland, Cyprus entered the EU politically intact a week after the referendum, on 1 May 2004. In the four years since, the scene on the island has altered significantly for the better. Physical partition has diminished since the opening of checkpoints by Denktash in 2003, allowing travel across the Green Line between north and south. The ...”