Another setback yesterday for free speech, as Colorado car salesman Joe Gordon was sentenced in Bangkok to 2½ years jail for insulting the king of Thailand.
Articles by Charles Richardson 
Turnbull diagnoses media’s crisis — and his own party’s
Most people these days look to Malcolm Turnbull for enlightenment not on economics but on politics, and that’s where things get interesting.
Do the Liberals have a conscience on gay marriage?
The media narrative is overwhelmingly obsessed with Labor’s position on the same-s-x marriage issue and the Coalition’s much larger anti-gay contingent has mostly been given a free pass.
The great Gingrich comeback gathers pace
It looks as if Christmas has come early for Barack Obama this week.
New Zealand sticks with National
As expected, John Key’s National Party was relatively untroubled in Saturday’s New Zealand election. But a strong performance from NZ First surprised some pundits.
NZ Nats cruising to victory, but poll nerds pay attention
New Zealand prime minister John Key and his National Party are cruising towards an easy victory in tomorrow’s poll. But those who are interested in the prospects for democracy will be interested.
Flames of revolution in Yemen flicker ever closer
President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen yesterday signed an agreement to relinquish power to a government of national unity that will prepare for early elections, in return for which he has been promised immunity from prosecution.
Is there room for an anti-war Republican?
Ron Paul has many faults, but this time it’s his virtues that will sink him.
The right time for a left revival in cash-strapped Europe
Despite all the talk of crisis, there has been no sign of Europeans rejecting orthodox economic consensus that blames unsustainable levels of government debt and warns that recovery is going to be painful.
Can the peace option work in Syria?
The big news overnight from the Middle East was an announcement from the Arab League that the Syrian government has agreed to the League’s peace plan for Syria.
Herman Cain isn’t serious, but that might not stop him
Of the Republican contenders — Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain — one name stands out. America’s pundit class have been giving a lot of attention to the pizza tycoon.
UNESCO welcomes the Palestinians — at a price
After losing some of the limelight in the past fortnight due to the Israel-Hamas deal for the release of Gilad Shalit, the “official” Palestinian leadership of Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas bounced back yesterday.
Shalit swap a sign of failing peace hopes
This week’s celebrations for prisoner swaps are unable to hide the fact that Middle East peace seems further away than ever.
Greens take the agenda because no one else wants it
Offshore processing is a gigantic mistake, and until someone other than the Greens says that, Labor will continue to suffer.
French Socialists pick a candidate — now for the hard part
François Hollande is off to a good start, but there’s a long way to go.
Catholics miss out again in royal rules
Whether it’s from the presence of the Liberal Democrats or from David Cameron’s own convictions, Britain’s coalition government is steadily building up some reformist credentials.
Ukraine still teetering between east and west
This week Europe’s politicians have had the chance to put aside, if only briefly, their economic fears and join in a chorus of condemnation of Ukraine.
The government takes on violent extremism — sort of
On one hand, we want governments to be alert to the risk of an Anders Breivik appearing in our midst. On the other hand, there are some fairly obvious dangers in having the government monitoring people’s political beliefs and deciding what counts as “extremism”.
Tony Nahal deserves to stay — whatever the tabloids say
Antoun (Tony) Nahal, his wife, mother-in-law and six-year-old daughter face deportation to Egypt as early as this week — despite the fact that daughter Rita was born here and the others have lived in Australia since 2004.
For ‘dull’ Hollande, it’s ‘game over’ in French presidential race
Despite the misadventures of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, hopes are high in France’s Socialist Party as its voters go to the polls on Sunday to choose a candidate for next year’s presidential election to run against centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.
States sing the same old tune at tax forum
This week’s tax summit — sorry, forum — comes with low expectations, and so far seems to be meeting them.
Tanya Plibersek takes the pledge
Citizenship is a birthright; reciting or refusing to recite a pledge of allegiance would make zero difference to that.
Ireland set to choose a president — why can’t we?
Nominations closed this week for the Irish presidential election, to be held on October 27.
