The Spectator

How would we handle an avian flu pandemic?

From our UK edition

Concerns have been raised in recent months after an outbreak of avian flu caused by the virus H5N1 was detected in cattle in the US. To date, 139 affected herds have been identified, and four dairy workers have contracted the virus. The UK Health Security Agency, which previously believed there to be minimal risk of

Letters: what Biden and Ronaldo have in common

From our UK edition

True conservatism Sir: Douglas Murray claims that the Conservative party ‘will need to have some people who are actually right-wing’ (‘The Tories only have themselves to blame’, 6 July). Why? Its name isn’t ‘the right-wing party’. It has no foundational obligation to be right-wing for the sake of it. Rather its mission is to be

2659: Splitting the atom – solution

From our UK edition

Each of the six unclued pairs comprises words differing by a single change of ‘a-to-m’. First prize Patrick Holland, Shrewsbury Runners-up R.J. Green, Llangynidr, Crickhowell; Janet Hill, Eastbourne, E. Sussex

Why don’t international laws apply to Russia?

From our UK edition

The Kremlin has denied it targeted the Kyiv children’s hospital that was struck by a missile on Monday. It was aiming at legitimate military and civil infrastructure targets, it says, but the missile was intercepted by Ukraine’s Nasams defence system and the debris fell on the children’s ward. This is an easily debunked lie. The

Café Roma

From our UK edition

How many years since we ate here – nine, ten? We called it the smoky café before the ban, took the kids upstairs for pasta each time they stayed with us. Now they wake inside their lives, miles away, and we (who feared this place had shut) share pizza on our return: olives dotted over

Letters: why I’m voting Reform

From our UK edition

Back to 1976? Sir: Your leading article perfectly reflects the public’s attitude to the manifestos of the major parties (‘Challenging democracy’, 29 June). No one has a plan that can remotely be seen as likely to work. Each party promises goodies they have no idea how to pay for; the only question is who will

2658: Yackety yack – solution

From our UK edition

The unclued lights are synonyms for GOSSIP, as Brewer confirms. First prize Joanne Aston, Norby, Thirsk Runners-up Malcolm Taylor, Eskbank, Midlothian; Roderick Rhodes, oldsborough, N. Yorks

A manifesto for Labour

From our UK edition

Never has an opposition leader with ratings as dismal as Keir Starmer’s gone on to win an election. In any other year, his wooden speeches and nebulous agenda would have earned him a place on the long list of Labour losers. But this time, the real question of the election was: who has disappointed voters

A Moment in Mariupol

From our UK edition

from 20 Days in Mariupol, directed by Mstyslav Chernov After the bomb burst the hospital, her wounds were incompatible with life, the life she should have had to include dancing and, when this is history, if not a piece of theatre, chasing her laughing toddler along the beach. Yet she had life to give. They