A northern cold war is hotting up with Russia ratcheting up “hybrid” operations of cyberattacks and signal-jamming in Norway affecting military, government and commercial operations. The fear is that conflict in Ukraine could spill over to the north. Sweden has sent hundreds of extra troops to the Baltic island of Gotland after Russia deployed … Read more
Ronnie Spector, lead singer of the Ronettes in 1957, the girl band which shot to stardom under the producing talents of Phil Spector has died. Their string of hits in the early-to-mid–1960s, included “Be My Baby”, “Baby, I Love You”, “The Best Part of Breakin’ Up” and “Walking in the Rain”. She was referred to … Read more
Tone deaf or doesn’t care? Washington watchers are mystified by Melania Trump’s brazen attempt to make money out of her husband’s presidency by auctioning off a white hat she wore for the 2018 state visit of the French President. It is part of her “Head of State” collection, with a letter of authenticity from Trump, … Read more
The waiting begins – unfit to lead, dead man walking, the party is over – as Boris finally appears to have crossed the line of no return. The penny may not have dropped with him but the general feeling is that even he cannot survive the cumulative damage of the mountain of bad behaviour that … Read more
Lizzo, the US rapper, singer, songwriter, and poster girl for fat-positivism has celebrated her recent weight gain on Instagram. She was born in Detroit on 27 April 1988 at 2.30pm (rectified) and is eight days younger than Adele so has the same Sun Jupiter in Taurus opposition Pluto square Mars. In Lizzo’s case the … Read more
Golda Meir, the “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics who was one of the signatories of the 1948 declaration of independence and prime Minister over the Yom Kippur War is the subject of a bio pic, controversially starring Helen Mirren. The casting seemed an odd choice but the photos on the net indicate Mirren has managed … Read more
Was Tony Blair the key trailblazer of Britain’s future path, pulling the country irrevocably away from the past? It’s not a question I would linger on except for one intriguing astro-pointer. When he was first elected in 1997 and handed the prime ministerial remit by the Queen on 2 May around 11am, there was … Read more
Peter Bogdanovich, described as ‘the blazing night-sky comet of the New Hollywood generation,’ has died. He had a life of calamitous lows as well as spectacular highs, was twice bankrupt, a drug addict accused of seducing the 13-year-old half-sister of his murdered girlfriend and was also a revered director, a respected actor and an accomplished … Read more
The January 6th anniversary of the Capitol attack by an angry mob, cheer-leaded on by Trump’s false claim the election had been stolen, has come and gone. The House select committee set up in July 2021 to investigate, after an attempt to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection fell short of the two thirds majority … Read more
Sidney Poitier, the trailblazing actor and a respected humanitarian and diplomat, the first black man to win a best actor Oscar, has died at 94. Barack Obama said he “epitomised dignity and grace” and had “singular talent” and he opened doors for a generation of actors to follow like Denzel Washington. He combated prejudice and … Read more