This weekend, we're looking at power: who wields it, who resents it, and who demands it – a dizzying thread that is coursing through politics, celebrity and culture right now.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Donald "the disruptor" Trump seemed to be enjoying the chaos he had created, doubling down on his long-standing interest in Greenland. In The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, dozens of mental health experts warned that aspects of the US president's personality could pose a danger in high office. A year into his second term, after a chaotic and erratic week, some of those observations feel more relevant than ever. Alex Hannaford spoke to social psychiatrist and the book's editor, Bandy Lee, about who, if anyone, is left to rein him in.
Meanwhile, in another bizarre speech on the world stage, Trump appeared to want other world leaders to refer to him as "daddy". It isn't the first time he has used the term, and Tanith Carey looks at how Trump's "daddy" fixation has shaped his personality – and the issues it could be hiding, too.
This all matters because Trump's second-term ambitions are bigger than ever before – and potentially more dangerous. Nowhere is that clearer than in Trump's plans for Gaza, which were presented at his newly formed Board of Peace as a beachside property opportunity. Are Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, building peace – or a property deal on the graves of Palestinians? Alex Hannaford looks at the back-room business deals being done.
And could Norway be the next prize in a looming Arctic power struggle between Russia and America? Richard Williams, who is based in Stavanger, reports on the escalating tensions there, and what Norwegians fear could come next.
Power struggles closer to home are on the mind of Colin Drury, who looks at Andy Burnham's potential return to Westminster. Burnham's popularity in the north exposes Starmer's vulnerability: a prime minister who performs well on the world stage, but risks losing ground where elections are actually won. Read Colin's analysis in Starmer Versus Burnham: Inside Keir's plan to take back control of the Red Wall.
And then there are the two dynastic dramas that have gripped the nation. Brooklyn Beckham's Instagram broadside against his parents became the celebrity tea-spiller we'd all been waiting for – apart from his mum maybe, who was the focus of much of his anger. But, as Chloe Combi notes in her piece this weekend, this is entirely in keeping with online culture, which has become fixated on "toxic boy mums", while fathers often escape equivalent scrutiny.
Did Brooklyn take a leaf out of Prince Harry's playbook? Probably, says Tessa Dunlop, but, as she notes, Harry is the product of both inherited privilege and millennial oversharing. Read her piece on Harry's double entitlement problem here.
And while it doesn't feel like there is much love in the air right now, ahead of Valentine's Day, here are the best alternative romantic breaks to book in 2026. Au revoir, "city of love": whether it's a cosy Nordic capital, a medieval castle in Scotland or a winter weekend in summer favourite Santorini, here are the places to head if you want to swerve Paris this year.
À bientôt!
Victoria Harper
Executive Editor
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.