I felt very sad about the late Peaches Geldof (pictured) when her inquest was made public last week – her death having taken place in April. It was disclosed that 79 heroin syringes were found in her home in Kent, plus a large stash of high-quality heroin. Due to her death, her baby son Phaedra…

Is golf a genuine sport? A veteran sports writer, Simon Barnes, has suggested that it is not, because "sport should involve some risk". Golf is way too comfortable to be a real sport, he suggests.    It's no more a sport than croquet – a mere pastime.   I've always had mixed feelings about golf,…

Bravo to France for taking the initiative in offering asylum and protection to beleagured Iraqi Christians from Mosul. The French press has followed these dreadful persecutions much more closely than the mainstream press in the English-speaking world.    Ironic that the French Republic, so affirmatively a secular state, has been the most responsive to afflicted…

Mary Kenny looks at ‘blame’ and ‘responsibility’

Mary Kenny talks about political scandal, abortion and the World Cup

If I were to consult a psychiatrist, or a counsellor, about personal problems in my life, or associated with my family, I would do so with one expectation: that the professional shrink would keep our conversations confidential. Yes, I understand that if I did, or planned to do something seriously illegal – if, to take…

Rolf Harris joins a list of shamed names

‘Bonkers’ comment worthy of tabloids

The event is a warming collective human experience

Where there was cruelty, there was also pity