By Jessica Shiraz 7/31/12 1:57pm

Golden Banter

Andy Zaltzman: the man, the comedian and battalion chief for Great Britain

Let the Games Begin, Mr. Romney! Golden Banter from British Comics

Last week’s sparring or casual willy-wagging between Mitt Romney, David Cameron and Boris Johnson – Mayor of London and King of the Clangers – didn’t quite give Romney the kind of publicity he was hoping for, but it certainly was lovely jubbly for the comedians and comedy writers from Great Britain, providing them with plenty of juicy material. And welcome relief for Mr. Johnson, who must have been all too pleased to give up his crown for a few hours. Next to Mr. Romney, he must have felt like the yardstick of cool.

The Observer decided to reach out to some of these fearless ninjas of British Comedy, as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival kicked off in time for the Olympics. Yes, that’s right. There are other major events besides The Games happening in Great Britain. Read More

By Hunter Walker 9:10am

Foreign Affairs

Vladimir Putin striking a pose with the other world leaders at the G20 Summit. (Photo: Getty)

Vladimir Putin Waves For No One

World leaders gathered in Los Cabos, Mexico for the seventh annual Group of 20 summit on Monday. As part of the festivities, all of the assembled heads of state posed for a cheerful family photo–except for one. According to the White House pool report from the photo shoot filed by the Wall Street Journal’s Carol Lee, photographers asked the leaders to wave for the cameras and Russia’s once and future strongman Vladimir Putin declined to pose for the picture.

“They all said to wave to the cameras, and most of them did. President Putin didn’t wave,” Ms. Lee wrote. Read More

By Colin Campbell 3/23/12 2:53pm

upper east side

Hill Krishann asking his question (Photo: YouTube)

British Prime Minister Gives Advice to City Council Candidate [Video]

At a recent forum for New York University, British Prime Minister David Cameron fielded a question from Hill Krishnan, a City Council candidate for the Upper East Side.

Mr. Krishnan, an adjunct professor at NYU in global affairs, first wanted to know what the United Kingdom was doing to reduce its nuclear stockpile, and second, what advice Mr. Cameron would be able to provide him for his first political campaign. Read More