Author: rrn69

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Betrayals not easily forgiven or forgotten

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Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s former deputy prime minister, a renowned journalist, activist, adviser and policymaker, gives a provocative and rare insider account of how a new generation of Western plutocrats manoeuvre power from behind closed doors – and how liberal democracy can fight back against Trump’s increasingly predatory behaviour. Freeland spent decades reporting how foreign dissidents and oligarchs from Moscow to China and beyond exploit economic upheaval and hollow out the lives of ordinary people. As a political leader and fierce negotiator, she brought these lessons into halls of power, only to encounter a new order of global elites and tyrannical … Continue reading Betrayals not easily forgiven or forgotten

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Father and Daughter stranded in an Airport..

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Passenger by Alexander Maksik is a piercing portrait of a father and daughter as Nina who is a smart and cynical daughter in the twilight of her twenties and Ivan a solitary man in his seventies, set in his ways and haunted by the failures of his past, navigate not only their fractured bond but also a world teetering on the brink of collapse. A story of loving across gaps-between parent and child, between things said and unsaid- and about what happens when the outside world finally mirrors the chaos within, passengers is Maksik’s most timely and accomplished novel yet. … Continue reading Father and Daughter stranded in an Airport..

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Power of humanity

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Peck & Peck is the story about a young man whose life turns upside down when he is hired by the most prestigious secretive, and dysfunctional poetry journal in the world: the renowned Peck & Peck of New York City. Batter Gray is worried about his future. Even when he was eleven, his classmates seem to have settled on a goal: doctor, lawyer, broker, engineer. Good jobs that automatically command respect, security, 401Ks. Now Batter is in his early twenties, living in New York City, and he wants something different, something that alienates some readers and bores most. Poetry. And … Continue reading Power of humanity

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He came home every night from the pub using both sides of the road

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Eoin McNamee, Northern Irish writer from Kilkeel, County Down, whose novels are mostly based on real crimes (although his 2007 novel 12:23 was about the death of Princess Diana), The Comets, is his first collection of short fiction, which includes two novellas and 15 punchy shorts. A fairground dodgems ride, “poles struck blue fire from the roof grid and the comets blazed across the rink”. In several stories an abandoned aerodrome acquires sinister, Ballardian quality.  In “Walking North, Walking Home,” a woman, adopted in childhood, sets out to find her birth mother, but finds instead a kindred spirit in a … Continue reading He came home every night from the pub using both sides of the road

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Nobel Peace Prize winner

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Durban-born, Navi Pillay, a renowned South African Indian origin Tamil Jurists and Human rights advocate, the first black woman to be appointed in 1995 to the High Court of South Africa, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October, 9, 2026, for her efforts to promote International law and peace. She served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014 and played a key role in advancing accountability for war crimes and genocide. Her journey highlights the importance of justice, human dignity and the rule of law in building a more peaceful, world. Donald Trump rages … Continue reading Nobel Peace Prize winner

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Invigorating survey of British fiction

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Philip Hensher  begins in “A History of the Novel in Britain”, a new history of both an art and an industry, in the eighteenth century, when people began to read in ever greater numbers, seeking words that helped explain their hopes and desires. A new kind of literature was needed for this growing market for readers, one that reflected as many different lives in its pages as there were people to buy them, that could change with the times and do something new: something novel. Hensher describes how the evolutionary scramble by writers and publishers to get attention drove constant innovation … Continue reading Invigorating survey of British fiction

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People who stood up to Elon Musk’s mission 

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Michael Lewis drills into the early days of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, as told by public servants it targeted and one of America’s best storytellers. In the new Washington, it was the worst thing you could be- especially if you worked in the federal government and wanted to keep your job. A Blocker was a holdover, an impediment someone who didn’t get the message- and most of all, someone who didn’t belong. Blockers is the story of people who believed they had a calling, who are convinced they were doing something the country could not do without, and then … Continue reading People who stood up to Elon Musk’s mission 

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Billionaires secretive networks

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A seat inside The Global Family Office Community (GFOC), one of the most discreet and secretive networks in the world, where community of families that control fortunes worth billions of pounds is effectively a floating private members’ Clun for the world’s  wealthiest families meeting around the world at  private dinners, retreats, seminars and conferences. Over 2, 500 families are now members of this elite exclusive club. They are not chasing the next big deal, but advice, perspective and this is one place they discuss the problems money cannot solve, “No one is pitching anything at them, it’s a safe place where they can come … Continue reading Billionaires secretive networks

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Paramount merges with Warner Bros

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Paramount’s parent company Skydance completed its £61.31 billion ($81billion) takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery making a new entertainment giant encompassing Warner Bros HBO, DC, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim,  all under one roof, valued at  £85 billion ($112)billion including debts. Skydance already owns HBO Max, Paramount+, Discovery+ and Pluto TV. This merger effectively reduces Hollywood’s five major studios to four. Continue reading Paramount merges with Warner Bros

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Alone and betrayed

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THE TURNING POINT  – A short story by Penny Nair Price The newsagent opened his door at 7 am and waited for his favourite and most reliable customer, serving one or two others before his arrival.  At 7.45, or as near as dammit, the white stick poked round the door and Frederick Orange entered, with his familiar expression of a mixture of pleasure and distaste playing round his mouth, as he tapped his way to the counter and bought his lucky dip ticket for the Friday draw, and a pack of his favourite cigarettes, together with some extra strong mints. The newsagent … Continue reading Alone and betrayed