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TaiwanTaiwan considers joining international criminal court to deter potential China invasionJoining court would allow investigation of Xi Jinping if he were to order act of war against Taiwan Taiwan’s government is considering joining the international criminal court, in part to increase deterrence of a Chinese attack or invasion. Supporters also say it would help universalise the international legal system, which has a low presence in Asia, and increase Taiwan’s global participation at a time when Beijing works to keep it as isolated as possible.

OperaObituaryGraham Clark obituaryTenor who loved exploring dramatic possibilities in Wagner with imaginative directors at Bayreuth and Covent GardenThe terrifying sight of Graham Clark as the dwarf Mime, deranged by power lust, staring at the audience with penetrating, unblinking eyes and wearing the dress that belonged to Siegfried’s mother, Sieglinde, is an abiding image of Richard Jones’s controversial 1995 Royal Opera production of Wagner’s Ring. The characters of Mime and the fire god, Loge, were two of Clark’s best known roles, but the 122 performances he gave at the Bayreuth festival over 16 seasons also included David in Die Meistersinger, the Steersman in Der Fliegende Holländer and both Melot and the Young Sailor in Tristan und Isolde.

Pass notesEmojisThe gay dating app has introduced its own, quite graphic, graphics to help their users communicate. But one symbol went a little too close to the bone Name: Gaymoji. Appearance: Bright, cute, lewd. Age: One week. Gaymoji … is that like gay emoji? Got it in one! Now that the world communicates mostly using little cartoon symbols, the gay dating app Grindr has introduced its own symbols – or “gaymoji” – to represent gay life.

Children's booksChildren's booksManga comics: where to startWith manga becoming more popular than ever we take a look at some of the most popular series and recommend top choices for teensWalk into any large bookshop and you are sure to find colourful shelves packed full of "backwards" stories. For those who don't already know, they're manga comics, and one of their features is that - in keeping with the Japanese originals - they are printed backwards.

World newsRunaway princess can stay in USThe Bahraini princess whose elopement disguised as an American marine caused a diplomatic incident and inspired a television film has won the right to remain in the US. The ruling will prompt other would-be immigrants to allege double standards. Meriam al-Khalifa was given a green card, which allows her to stay with her husband, Jason Johnson, a former marine. They meet when he was stationed in Bahrain, and her family insisted the relationship must end.

Emma Watson This article is more than 4 years old‘Self-partnered’ Emma Watson is right: we need more ways to be singleThis article is more than 4 years oldBrigid DelaneyBeing alone has been stigmatised by the language of it. By finding new words to describe our lives, we can find new ways to live it When Emma Watson described herself as “self-partnered” in an interview with British Vogue this week, the term was met with a mixture of ridicule and praise.

History booksReviewThe author of the bestselling Hanns and Rudolf has taken a slice of family history and made it all encompassing“In the sand of Brandenburg, every square foot of ground has its story and is telling it, too – but one has to be willing to listen to these often quiet voices.” Thomas Harding chooses this quote, from Theodor Fontane, to open his personal, yet historically wide-ranging, account. One of Harding’s strengths is his willingness to listen and to record without fanfare the tales of generations of families who lived in the same lakeside house, of winters both beautiful and harrowing, of a garden’s way of counting time, of dreams fulfilled and broken.

ClassicsThe Naked and the DeadNorman Mailer (Wingate, pp. 721, 15s.)In the matter of The Naked and the Dead our duty as liberal and educated people is clear. If it comes to a showdown we stand by Norman Mailer. His book is tremendously good, and perhaps better than that. There has been some conjuring up of the ghost of what Henry James called "that Rhadamanthus of English literature - the Young Person.

Climate crisisIn her new book, Adrienne Buller argues the desire to eke profit out of climate policy is wilfully naive A few years ago, a group of my students told me they thought capitalism would fix the climate crisis. It was the end of term and we had spent weeks debating world politics; they were not uncritical or naive. But as fires ripped through homes and flood water lapped at people’s stairs, with extreme weather driven by the climate crisis hitting countries around the world, they looked at the global scale of the economic and political forces driving capitalism and asked if that might be our best chance.