New Delhi’s sunshine economic prospects seem out of sync with the sort of thuggishness suggested by Ottawa — The India-Canada spat is best viewed in split screen. To one side is India’s angry denial of Justin Trudeau’s explosive charge that Indian agents were involved in the murder in Vancouver of a Canadian citizen sympathetic to India’s Sikh separatist movement. On the other is JPMorgan promising to add India…

Three real-world stories help us truly understand global problems — Welcome to This Week, Those Books, your rundown on books new and old that resonate with the week’s big news story. The few minutes it takes to read this newsletter will make you smarter, faster…guaranteed. If you’d rather listen, click on the audio button above for a human, not AI…

Is this amicable competitiveness part of Riyadh’s return on investment in football superstars? — There are several reasons to take careful note of one particular football match in one particular Middle Eastern capital. The venue is Tehran’s gigantic Azadi stadium, which can comfortably accommodate some 90,000 people. Persepolis, one of Iran and the region’s most successful clubs, plays Al Nassr from Saudi Arabia.

The royal state visit is pretty standard but the UK opposition leader’s trip to France is anything but — For Britain, this is France week. Not only is King Charles making a three-day state visit to France (from Wednesday, September 20), but Labour leader Keir Starmer meets President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday (September 19). The King’s visit was rescheduled from last year when pension-reform protests turned violent, preventing Charles and…

Here’s the full version of the Sept 6 This Week, Those Books. Sign up for free at https://thisweekthosebooks.com/ and get the post the day it drops — Welcome to This Week, Those Books, your rundown on books new and old that resonate with the week’s big news story. The few minutes it takes to read this newsletter will make you smarter, faster…guaranteed. If you’d rather listen, click on the audio button above for a human (not AI)…

Eight years on from the grand bargain, Libya’s situation is even more woeful — In the tragic aftermath of the deluge that has engulfed Derna in eastern Libya, it’s worth thinking back to how far back its misfortune goes. Back in December 2015, when the Americans and Italians tried to corral Libya’s fractious parties into a deal, it was meant to end the absurdity…

All the empathy and all of Libya’s oil riches cannot fix the hole in the heart of its body politic — The Libyan Red Crescent says the death toll in the flooded city of Derna is at least 11,300 and a further 10,000 people are missing. You know who else is missing in action? A guy named Faiez Al-Serraj. He’s supposed to be Chairman of the Presidential Council of Libya, a…

Dreams, nightmares and America’s first Black designer to high society — The Big Story: It’s fashion month. New York Fashion Week ends September 13. London starts September 15. Milan becomes one big catwalk from September 19. Paris starts September 25, finishing off the sashay into spring/summer 2024. Odd to be thinking of what to wear next spring as the northern hemisphere prepares for winter…

Thanks for your comments. That makes absolute sense. If they have the will, they might be able to do it. Or not. But it would be patronising to write them off at the outset just because of their genes! Thanks for reading,