The Londoner

1.  Why the Republican Candidates Don't Do Substance John Cassidy, The New Yorker 2.  The Media's Potemkin Village Starts to Topple Michael Walsh, PJ Media 3.  Was the Third Debate Bush's Last Stand? Eugene Robinson, Washington Post 4.  The Improbable Speaker Ryan   Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard 5.  Paul Ryan, the Radical Now Running the House   Jonathan Alter, The Daily Beast 6.  Republicans Are the Real Big-Tent Party Mitchell Blatt, The Federalist 7.  Once, Talk of an Enemies List Was Shocking George Condon, National Journal 8.  The Closing of a Newsroom's Mind Donald Graham, Wall Street Journal 9.  An American Hostage in Iran--Again   Robin Wright, The New Yorker 10.  AIPAC's Devastating Decision Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post 11.  Bipartisanship Still Matters Jon Huntsman Jr. and Joe Lieberman, RealClearPoli...

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush announced that he was dropping out of the race for the Republican Presidential nomination, while standing in front of a “Mission Accomplished” banner draped over the façade of his campaign headquarters, in Miami. Speaking to his remaining staff members who were seated in a dozen folding chairs, Bush thanked them for the hard work that led to the triumphant completion of their mission. “Our work is done,” Bush said. “Thanks to you, we have prevailed.” While acknowledging that he took pride in the impressive success of his campaign, Bush stressed that victory did not belong to him alone. “This is a great day for America,” he said. Upon the conclusion of his remarks, Bush bade farewell to his staffers with a military-style salute before stepping into a waiting helicopter and ascending to the skies. Minutes after Bush flew away, however, reporters asked senior Bush staffers to define more clearly the mission that Bush had deemed accomplished. ...

By Sikander Hayat No, he should not retire because Pakistan needs him to perform and until such time when he stops performing or Pakistan starts losing,  Misbah  should captain Pakistan. He is the greatest cricket captain in terms of his own performance and the impact he has on the team in terms of leadership.   Misbah  has given Pakistan stability when team was in the midst of multiple crises and needed a calm hand to steer it away from the abyss. In  Misbah ’s case, age has proved to be just a number and is a template for what an ideal Pakistan captain should look & behave like. People will understand what they have lost only when he will leave the stage and they will miss his  touch. People like Imran Khan were able to succeed in an atmosphere where they were surrounded by great players like Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Salim Malik, Abdul Qadir e.t.c but  Misbah ’s team was full of half-baked players like Akmal ...

Many people’s fixation with the central London property market is on how to scramble on to its bottom rung. For others, the consideration is the opposite: namely whether to cash in and flee the capital. Leaving is not a simple decision. As my family drove north in 1989 to start a new life in a Cumbrian village after selling our home in Bayswater, my father warned: “This is a one-way ticket. We’ll never be able to move back to London.” Fast forward 26 years and my wife and I faced the quandary of whether to jump off the  central London property  ladder. We are moving to Nairobi for the Financial Times and had to decide what to do with our 2,000-square-foot house in Fulham. Should we sell or let it? Have London house prices peaked? If we sell, what would we do with the money? But if we rent, would the hassle be more than it’s worth? Our decision is one that faces not only Londoners working abroad, but couples marrying who both own a home, those thinking of ...

For many people in their twenties, the dream of a debt-free existence in a comfortable house near their place of work has given way to more modest hopes for a tiny flat in the middle of nowhere , and the occasional meal out with friends. With  interest rates  stuck at 0.5 per cent since the financial crisis,  bond yields  at or around zero and a property ladder that is increasingly out of reach, many young professionals with good intentions and decent salaries find themselves stuck between what feels like an undeserved rock on one side, and a very hard place on the other. For these savers, putting money away for the future might seem like a hopelessly unrewarding pursuit — especially while they still have student debt to repay. But wealth managers insist that as people live longer and the population ages, young adults need more than ever to plan ahead. “A few of my friends think taking out a mortgage is completely impossible,” says Lauren Ingram, a 27-yea...