Seen in the News

[Tripps]

Something very odd about this report. Still nil in the Western press, and the aircrew chat board PPRUNE make minimum mention. This is from the Chinese Peoples Daily but the report is dated Feb 2018 and says it happened on Jan 25th . Said to have been extingushed by cabin crew with "bottled water and beverage".

Chinese cabin fire

More questions than answers - what can be the motivation to publish it now? Looks like fake news - best ignore.

[Whyperion]

Have a look at THIS news from Burscough......
A town's residents are facing the prospect of a year with no mobile phone signal after a mast operated by provider EE was taken down. The situation has arisen in Burscough, Lancashire, where EE customers had connected to the network via the mast positioned at the top of Martland Mill in the town's Mart Lane. However, the owners of the mill served telecoms infrastructure provider Cellnex with a "notice to quit" order to remove the huge antenna, in order to free up office space in August. Planning permission was granted for another mast in the area on 15 September, but EE had no plans to install it before August 2026. Shop owners described the situation as "an absolute nightmare", while local councillor Swin Purple said she was forced to buy "a burner phone" on a different network. Ms Purple added: "It's affecting so many people, it's affecting local businesses, people who work from home. I spoke to a mother who was struggling to make medical appointments." EE has apologised and said it was liaising with local authorities in the hope of finding a temporary solution. Other mobile networks that used the EE mast have also been affected, including Three and O2.
I know I am a hopeless old dinosaur but whilst our old landline system wasn't 'smart', I can't ever remember us having to face total loss of service.

Was the notice to quit because the Govt allowed mobile providers to break their price paid in the contract by about 900 percent ( well make a payment 9/10ths of contracted amounts -it annoyed a lot of churches too

[Stanley]

See THIS report and be enraged as I was.......
A 92-year-old care home resident says she's "devastated" at the thought of losing her home. Dorothy Devereux has lived at Woodlands Home for Older People in Clayton-le-Moors, Lancashire, since 2014 but is worried it could close due following a council review. Lancashire County Council runs Woodlands as well as four other care homes and five day centres. Tasked with having to make savings, the local authority is examining its provision and has yet to make a decision. "I'm frustrated, I'm angry, I thought I was going to live the rest of my life happily in Woodlands," said Dorothy. "If I go out of here, it'll either be in a box, or it'll be kicking and screaming and they'll have to force me out."
At 92 years old this question shouldn't even arise!

[Stanley]

See this BBC article about the progress or otherwise of talks on Ukraine.....
Donald Trump has said he did not want a "wasted meeting" after a plan to have face-to-face talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine were put on hold. The US president indicated that a key sticking point remained Moscow's refusal to cease fighting along the current front line, in remarks at the White House on Tuesday. Earlier, a White House official had said there were "no plans" for a Trump-Putin meeting "in the immediate future", after Trump said on Thursday that the two would hold talks in Budapest within two weeks. Key differences between US and Russian proposals for peace became increasingly clear this week, appearing to have dashed chances of a summit. Trump and Putin last met in Alaska in August, during a hastily organised summit which yielded no concrete results. The White House decision to shelve plans for a second Trump-Putin meeting may be seen as an attempt to avoid another similar scenario. "I guess the Russians wanted too much and it became evident for the Americans that there will be no deal for Trump in Budapest," a senior European diplomat told Reuters. A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" call and that a meeting was no longer "necessary".
Trump's push for the Nobel is not going well. Putin resists all calls for a cease-fire as long as he is gaining territory in Ukraine, no matter what the cost in human lives. The Gaza situation is very fluid, nobody can guarantee anything at the moment and aid is still restricted.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC In Depth article.......
There has been more than a bitter twang in the glasses at British breakfast tables. Only five years ago, a typical supermarket own-label carton of orange juice could be bought for 76p for 1 litre. It now costs £1.79. That's a rise of 134% since 2020, and it's up 29% just in the past year. In cafes and restaurants it's a similar story - with £3.50 to £4 now a standard price point for a glass of basic OJ. One colleague was outraged to be sent a bill for £9 for a glass of hangover-busting orange juice and lemonade at an unassuming little restaurant in Kent. Asked why so much, she was told that the orange juice - albeit freshly squeezed - accounted for £5.30 of the price. Yet as costs have surged, the taste is changing too, with certain manufacturers substituting oranges for mandarins to cut costs. The public is, if you like, being freshly squeezed.
There is much more in the article which traces the rise in price of just one food item. I'm sure you all have noticed that we have a form of food rationing now, no ration books needed, it's done by price.

[Tizer]

Just appeared on the BBC News web page...
`Thames Water given lowest one star rating for repeated sewage spills' LINK
Thames Water has been given a one star rating for its poor environmental performance by the Environment Agency (EA) in 2024, as part of a scathing assessment of England's water companies. All but one of the nine English water and sewerage companies were rated as "requiring improvement" - or worse - by the EA, in a year where serious pollution rose by 60% versus 2023. It is their worst combined score since the assessment process began in 2011....

[Stanley]

An interesting report Peter. I wonder how Severn Trent managed to do so well compared with all the other companies?

THIS election report dominates the news this morning.
Plaid Cymru wins the Caerphilly by-election, with Lindsay Whittle taking 47.38% of the vote - Reform UK came second with 35.9%. It's 14th time lucky for Whittle - he has stood for the seat 13 times before in Westminster and Welsh Parliament elections since 1983. Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says locals have voted "loud and clear" for the party's "positive, pro-Wales vision". Reform's candidate Llyr Powell says despite the loss, his party will form the next Welsh government in 2026. The by-election had seen 50.43% of voters take part - the first time a Welsh Parliament by-election had achieved a turnout of over 50% It was Labour's first defeat in the area for 100 years, after dominating Westminster and Welsh Parliament elections. The by-election followed the sudden death of Labour's Hefin David in August

[Tizer]

`Trump says all Canada trade talks ‘terminated’ over ad criticising tariffs: US president accuses Canada of ‘egregious behaviour’ after release of ad featuring Ronald Reagan criticising tariffs' Guardian
Donald Trump has announced an immediate end to “all trade negotiations” with Canada over a television advertisement opposing US tariffs that quoted the former US president Ronald Reagan. The ad, which was paid for by the government of the Canadian province of Ontario, uses excerpts of a 1987 speech where Reagan says “trade barriers hurt every American worker”. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Canada had “fraudulently used an advertisment[sic]”, which he called “FAKE”, and accused the country of trying to interfere with US court decisions on the levies. “Based on their egregious behavior, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated,” he wrote. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, confirmed on Friday that all trade negotiations with Ottawa had been suspended. Trump later posted on Truth Social that “Canada cheated and got caught”. He claimed the ad was an attempt to influence the US supreme court hearings on the legality of his global tariffs, which begin on 5 November...

I think it's time the rest of the world should waken up to the fact that America is heading towards a big crisis which will radiate out and seriously damage the rest of the world. Why, at best, are we just standing by and watching the decline and, at worst, kowtowing to him all the time which just encourages him into further lies and stupid actions! It's time we all started telling Trump and America that they are a disgrace and that they'll end up being the world's biggest failed state and Trump the worst President in America's history.

[Whyperion]

See THIS BBC In Depth article.......
There has been more than a bitter twang in the glasses at British breakfast tables. Only five years ago, a typical supermarket own-label carton of orange juice could be bought for 76p for 1 litre. It now costs £1.79. That's a rise of 134% since 2020, and it's up 29% just in the past year. In cafes and restaurants it's a similar story - with £3.50 to £4 now a standard price point for a glass of basic OJ. One colleague was outraged to be sent a bill for £9 for a glass of hangover-busting orange juice and lemonade at an unassuming little restaurant in Kent. Asked why so much, she was told that the orange juice - albeit freshly squeezed - accounted for £5.30 of the price. Yet as costs have surged, the taste is changing too, with certain manufacturers substituting oranges for mandarins to cut costs. The public is, if you like, being freshly squeezed.
There is much more in the article which traces the rise in price of just one food item. I'm sure you all have noticed that we have a form of food rationing now, no ration books needed, it's done by price.

Dont know what the article says but I think there have been poor harvests (Global Warming?) In California and Spain for the last couple of years. I stayed in Spain once on land that had culivated oranges but had ceased to work it , there is a need for unfortunately pestiticides and its quite labour and water intensive. I suspect the English apples this year will be plentiful but dry and sweet.

[Stanley]

THIS headed the news this morning....
Police have launched a manhunt after a former asylum seeker who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl was mistakenly released from prison. Ethiopian national Hadush Kebatu, who arrived in the UK on a small boat, was jailed for 12 months over the attack in Epping, Essex, last month. Prison sources said Kebatu was meant to be sent to an immigration detention centre from HMP Chelmsford ahead of a planned deportation. An investigation has been launched by the Prison Service, and an officer has been removed from discharging duties while it takes place. Essex Police said "fast-paced inquiries" showed that he boarded a London-bound train at Chelmsford station. Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was "appalled" and "livid on behalf of the public that Kebatu is at large".
Can anything else go wrong. Once you have someone captured and sentenced it shouldn't be a big ask to keep the cell door closed....