Peter Bach

I lie in bed listening to the birds in the trees. Living with a true artist means no art on the bedroom walls, only in the studio. In the background is the hum of London traffic. Above all this, the first passenger jet of the morning. I have recounted this before—the birds, trees, traffic and More

I lie in bed listening to the birds in the trees. Living with a true artist means no art on the bedroom walls, only in the studio. In the background is

Somali World Cup soccer referee, Omar Artan, who was banned from entry into the US. Photo: Omar Artan's Facebook page.

You know something is amiss when a World Cup referee is denied entry to the United States while Canada and Mexico appear to present no such obstacles. That is what happened when Somali match official Omar Artan was refused entry because of “vetting concerns”. I do not know the details of the case, but after arriving at Miami International Airport on a diplomatic passport, Artan was stopped by US Customs and Border Protection. Nor was this any ordinary referee. Artan—widely regarded as Africa’s leading official—was the recipient of the 2025 CAF Men’s Referee of the Year award. He was an esteemed professional effectively shown the red card by one of the tournament’s host nations and held for eleven hours. Perhaps it was naive of him to think there would be no problems given that around eighty per cent of Somali visa applications are refused. More

Recruiting station for the British Army in London. (No lines evident.) Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair.

Over the breadth of the ocean and all the way from a noisier Murica, politics in Cuppaland once ran on instantly recognisable machinery. You could hear the engine from streets away and know precisely what was coming. Ever since Doomchoice ten years ago—though not entirely because of it—Cuppaland has looked increasingly like a place that More

One recent early evening, airstrikes hit southern Lebanon. In the hours that followed, videos purportedly showing this circulated on TikTok, Telegram and

One recent early evening, airstrikes hit southern Lebanon. In the hours that followed, videos purportedly showing this circulated on TikTok, Telegram and X. Had it not been real, it might have resembled a scene from a war film: jets overhead, explosions echoing across hills, smoke rising fast, hidden forces exchanging fire across a frontier. But […]

The water in my bath had gone lukewarm before I noticed. The book was balanced on my chest. The traffic outside the window had disappeared. Even the

The water in my bath had gone lukewarm before I noticed. The book was balanced on my chest. The traffic outside the window had disappeared. Even the condensation spreading across the glass seemed irrelevant. I was concentrating. Then I read a phrase I couldn’t stop thinking about: global water bankruptcy. Suddenly the bath didn’t feel More