Opinion

Six years ago Scotland voted by a 10-point margin to stay part of the UK. Yet the last nine consecutive opinion polls show the backing for leave as high as 58 per cent, and averaging at 53 per cent. This sustained lead for independence spells trouble for Boris Johnson’s government, which fears demands for a second referendum will become overwhelming. ...

Both presidential candidates were on better behaviour for the second debate than for the first, which meant each could speak in full sentences without being interrupted by the other’s insults. As different as the debates were, though, the upshot was the same. Most of the evidence we have suggests that President Donald Trump came into each debate significantly behind Joe ...

One takeaway from the third-quarter earnings we’ve seen so far is that consumers are still spending — and they’re reaching for big, well-known brands for everything from food to face cream. This has played out most dramatically in high-end retail, where in some cases wealthy shoppers are buying more expensive goods than they were a year ago. There are a ...

We all suffer multiple bouts of the common cold throughout our lives and never think twice about it. We live with recurring influenza seasons despite a vaccine. But what about Covid-19? Repeat occurrences of cold and flu happen because our immune systems seem to “forget” the previous infection. Sometimes, a case isn’t serious enough for the body to develop an ...

With Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court all but certain, Democrats are toying with ways to reform the court. Former Vice President Joe Biden plans to suggest a bipartisan commission to study the options. Unfortunately, the proposals all have serious flaws. Either their constitutionality is doubtful or they would undercut the tremendously valuable role that the court ...

For an airline built in an era of globe-spanning cosmopolitanism, a pandemic that’s shut the world’s borders is particularly brutal. No wonder Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd is struggling. Just four months after receiving a HK$40.95 billion ($5.3 billion) bailout package from Hong Kong’s government, the carrier is planning to cut a quarter of its workforce and close the Cathay Dragon ...

Last spring, as the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic swept through Europe, Sweden became the continent’s controversial exception on how to tackle the virus. As other countries — from Italy to the UK — enforced draconian lockdowns, the Swedes went for a light touch. That sparked outrage among people concerned by a seemingly cavalier approach to the death toll ...

Optimism is in the air. People are lining up like ants for what might be the world’s biggest initial public offering. But who says buying into Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co is a sure win? No doubt, the Chinese fintech giant is a rare gem, boasting enviable sales growth and profitability. Yet making money off hot IPOs is a delicate ...

Newly announced reforms to the H-1B immigrant visa system have the potential to reduce the number of foreign workers allowed into the US, just as the Donald Trump administration intends. The problem is that goal makes no sense. If implemented, the changes will seriously harm many businesses — small firms and healthcare providers especially. Overall, they’ll harm US workers, not ...

Despite some last-minute negotiations, Congress seems unlikely to pass a new round of Covid stimulus this year. The contrast between the speed with which Democrats and Republicans came together to pass the first relief package last March, and the embarrassing failure to pass a second, couldn’t be starker. It didn’t have to be this way — and Congress doesn’t need ...