A ‘bloodbath’ and a massacre’ were two of the diplomatic responses to the 58 Palestinian dead and more than 1000 injured, most of them unarmed, as they protested inside the Gaza border fence with Israel yesterday. They were demonstrating about the US shift of the embassy to Jerusalem and also marking Nakba (catastrophe) … Read more
Melania Trump is in hospital having undergone surgery for what the White House describe as a benign kidney condition. She does look fairly stressed this year though living in the DC goldfish bowl with scandals swirling that’s hardly surprising. She does have tr Uranus square her Mars/Pluto midpoint exactly now which is a … Read more
Kanye West, the most successful rapper of the 21st Century, seems to have gone off the rails again, causing outrage among fellow musicians and civil rights activists by implying black people were to blame for their enslavement. In an interview he said: ‘Slavery – for 400 years? That sounds like a choice. It’s … Read more
Germaine Greer has followed up her critical comments on the “whingeing” #MeToo movement by blaming women for the prevalence of sexual violence and rape on television for which they are the largest audience. She says women are drawn to dramas about the victimisation of women in murder and rape. There’s always a nugget … Read more
Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s most senior Catholic and the third-ranking official in the Vatican, will stand trial on historical sexual offences, starting May 2nd. It’s a critical announcement for Pope Francis, who has been accused of failing to come to grips with the abuse scandals enveloping the church. Pell, born 8 June 1941, … Read more
Armenia, a former Soviet Republic, has undergone a bloodless velvet revolution with the former long-term leader resigning. The protest leader Nikol Pashinyan has insisted that only he can take charge, though the present government, voted in on disputed elections and accused of being corrupt, now appears to have the backing of Putin and … Read more
Sajid Javid is the new Home Secretary as Amber Rudd departs. The Home Office is known as the graveyard of political careers and Theresa May is the first to step from thence to No 10 since Jim Callaghan nearly 50 years ago. Javid, born 5 December 1969 to Pakistani parents was brought up … Read more
Michelle Wolf, the comedian, caused sharp intakes of breath with her caustic jokes while hosting last night’s White House correspondents dinner. The WP described her performance as ‘a routine that swerved from raunchy to downright nasty.’ One journalist remarked that “the spirit of the event had always been jokes that singe but don’t … Read more
Historic talks between the leaders of North and South Korea have agreed to work to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons. Details of how denuclearisation would be achieved were not made clear and many analysts remain sceptical about the North’s apparent enthusiasm for engagement. Previous inter-Korean agreements have included similar pledges but were … Read more
Mike Pompeo survived a bruising confirmation hearing to be sworn in as Secretary of State at 2pm 26 April 2018. That puts the ferociously determined and ruthless Pluto Mars in the grandstanding 5th square Uranus in the foreign-affairs 9th. Since Uranus is all about radical change it does suggest a new direction in … Read more