Bird flu has jumped across to cows and is rapidly spreading through herds in the USA with traces found in milk. The risk to the general population is still considered low, given H5N1 does not appear to transmit from human to human. Those most at risk are farm and poultry workers close to infected animals. … Read more
Humza Yousaf’s coalition with the Scottish Greens has collapsed after after the Scottish Government scrapped its flagship climate change target last week. He will now lead a minority government with 63 MSPs out of a total of 129 members, slightly less than half. In theory the next election will be May 2026 though presumably it … Read more
Terry Anderson, the American journalist who was held captive for six and a half years by Islamic militants affiliated with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah organisation in the 1980s/90s, has died. He was held longer than any of the several dozen other western hostages captured in Lebanon during the civil war, had to endure many months in … Read more
Peter Murrell, husband of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the Scottish National Party. He was previously arrested as a suspect on 5 April 2023 before being released without charge. This time round he was questioned for nine hours, charged and then released. Police Scotland … Read more
Roberto Cavalli, the Italian fashion designer, known as the ‘Leopard King’ for his animal prints on leather and textiles, has died aged 83. A flamboyant showman he designed for Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Kim Kardashian, Madonna, Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez and revamped the Playboy bunny outfit in 2005, updating the abbreviated tuxedo with bondage-style cuffs … Read more
Feargal Sharkey, the Irish former lead singer with the Undertones, has become a notable environmental campaigner in recent years targeting the water companies for their frequent sewage spills which contaminate waterways, while paying out billions in dividends. He was born 13 August 1958, no time. Londonderry, and is an attention-grabbing Sun and reforming Uranus in … Read more
Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born writer who has been under threat of assassination since the Iranian fatwa was issued against him in 1989 after his Satanic Verses novel was published and was nearly despatched in 2022 has written a book about his latest near brush with death – Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder. He was … Read more
The expected retaliation from Iran for the Damascus strike two weeks back came overnight as slow-moving drones were fired on Saturday evening arriving over Israel at 1.42 am on Sunday morning 99% were deflected. The US and UK helped defend Israel but according to reports, Joe Biden has said he will not participate in … Read more
“Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable even of forming such opinions”. Albert Einstein In the aftermath of the Cass report which effectively undermined much of the damaging nonsense around the transgender argument, pinpointing inadequate medical evidence for intervention, there … Read more
OJ Simpson, the celebrated former American football star, made infamous by the ‘trial of the century’ in which he was found not guilty of the murder of his divorced second wife Nicole Simpson and her friend despite a history of his spousal abuse, has died. He subsequently served a prison sentence for kidnapping and armed … Read more