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"As a jealous sheikh veils his favourite wife, so the British authorities shroud conditions in the Arab states in such thick mystery that ill-disposed propagandists might almost be excused for thinking that something dreadful is going on there."

On top of that there is still an ideological bond between the leadership of the two countries; Mr Xi and Mr Trong are both hardliners steeped in the authoritarian ideologies of their parties, ill-disposed towards Western democratic values and determined to maintain the iron grip of their parties on political life.

Yet the last several weeks have been a stressful blur of long days, back-to-back gigs and Zoom sessions, with awkward conversations about vaccination status and the near-constant worry about a virus that seems especially ill-disposed toward Christmas and older, Santa-sized gentlemen in particular.

Nothing happened, but the Dear Sister said the gift might still be delivered if Trump or another American “spits out ill-disposed words” and “clings to useless things such as economic pressure or military threats towards us.”

Casca Highbottom: Dean of the Academy and ill-disposed to Coriolanus on account of an old grudge held against his father, Casca shares a name with one of Julius Caesar’s assassins, but given his addiction to the Panem painkiller “morphling,” his last name may be more pertinent: It’s a term used in the recovery movement to describe someone who resolves to become sober before losing such mainstays as job, marriage, and position.