Was the driver being cheeky? They have probably ended up with a large fine and a driving ban as they were travelling at almost double the speed limit and even passed a patrol Police Car.
The car involved was a Mitsubushi Evo, which apparently is a very popular model on used car sites like PistonHeads UK and Auto Trader UK. They are known for their speed and rally car performance. Less well known for Fast Food Delivery.
There is no lesson here, just a lot of expense and disruption and thankfully avoidance of a fatal accident. Was it worth it? Even for a fancy Chinese Five Spice?
Thanks to Meghan Owen and BBC Online News for the Headline.
I know people personally who have been given “no fault eviction” notices even though they were good tenants.
It all went wrong with the 1988 Housing Act which was enacted by the Conservative Government led by Margaret Thatcher. It was suppose to invigorate the “rental housing market”, but really was a disguise for the Buy to Let Boom in mortgages resulting in many people buying up multiple properties to rent at a profit, while not having a clue how to manage them.
Those very same people will face financial difficulities now,because they are being asked with the new act to provide tennants with “rights” that they themselves would expect if they lived in rented property.
Also ,historically, these new rental owning paper millionaires , who relied on a healthy balance sheet of an increase in capital value of their properties will be hit by actually having to ensure the properties are fit for purpose, that they cannot evict a tenant just because they don’t like them and that they will be responsible landlords.
Yes some are going to leave the market because that was never in their remit , to actually do the job properly. However, those that do rent out in a professional manner will survive and hopefully we will not have a Law Change back to the bad old days when all rights lay with the Landlord and the renter was very exposed to abuse.
Will this reduce available supply, I’m not so sure. There are so many new builds going up that maybe we will create a new layer of owners and not renters. Whether this is good and maybe our view on owning property and land is skewed remains to be seen.
Nevertheless the 1988 Act was misguided and encouraged disreputable landlords and irresponsible mortgage lending. Roll on May the first when the Renters Rights Act 2026 becomes Law.
A wooden scale balances a model house against legal documents, symbolizing real estate law.
Thanks to Samantha Granville and BBC News for the Headline
A French Peacekeeper on duty in Lebanon was killed by small arms fire while on patrol removing explosive devices from roads connecting isolated villages from each other.
The organisation called Unifil ( United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) has been in place since 1978 and was brought into being following the UN Security Council ‘s resolution after Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon, with a mandate to confirm Israeli withdrawal , restore peace and assist the Lebanese government in regaining authority in the south.
It seems that their presence has not stopped Israel’s actions and that Hezbollah continues to act as a terrorist organisation even though it denies any involvement in this particular incident.
Another life lost and for what , because vested interests won’t talk to each other and want to encourage unrest and instability. Who put the ordnance on the roads to begin with and why don’t they want villages to communicate with each other? The Lebanese Security forces need to help Unifil by solving these issues and identifying the culprits and let the people live Peaceful lives. My condolences to the family of the Peacekeeper who lost his life.
A farmer whose family has bred Highland Cows for generations is considering “out breeding” them to make them ugly and stop them attracting hoards of walkers and social media influencers traipsing across his fields and risking life and limb in order give them a hug.
The farmer’s grandfather is upset that his grandson will have to take this action, but understands that it is inevitable because should one of the animals attack a “hugger” then the farmer would be responsible and it would be the farmer breaking the law and having to suffer the consequences.
We are so image reliant that we can’t just enjoy the fact that these animals have their role on a farm where they have been looked after for years, and yes they are cute but it’s not part of their DNA to be chased across fields and grabbed by the neck in order to make a Public Statement that ” I have hugged a Highland Cow. “
It’s as bad as that woman in Australia who thought it was OK, to take a baby wombat from it’s mother.
Thanks to Tauseef Ahmad and Sajid Raina and Aljazeera Online for the Headline
Kashmir has six centuries of history linked with Iran ( formerly Persia). Kashmir has historically been referred to as Iran-e-Sagheer or Little Iran.
The Kashmiris are donating aid to Iran in an effort to alleviate the human suffering caused by the onset of the conflict between the US and Iranian Governments.
The Indian Government through various administrative methods and recommendations to the donors are trying to ensure that the goods that are donated do not end up in the hands of any agressors .
The religious element of these donations are for humanitarian and also because of the historic link to Iran. The current estimate is that 2000 Iranian civilians have been killed in the conflict. The donations include cash, gold , jewellery, household goods, livestock and vehicles. The estimated monetary value is $64million.
There are also donations of medical kits assembled by local doctors and educational establishments .
Interesting to learn that Countries that you imagine are quite poor can raise significant amounts of money for Humanitarian aid and that there is a connection through History among the peoples in that area.
Thanks to Chris Mason and BBC News Online for the Headline
I neither care or am concerned about the future of Keir Starmer or Peter Mandleson.
What I am concerned about is the process that lead to the debacle of someone who was blatantly never fit for office but was some sort of Media Guru worshipped by the Labour Party and appointed their Ambassador to the United States.
The machinations existed to ensure Mandleson got the post that he wanted even though he was totally unsuited to the role and also as it seems was a worry to the Service that looks after the Security of the UK.
As I say I don’t give a fig for Starmer or Mandleson.
However, instead of some Media Personality like Mandleson, we imagine the debacle of inappropriate and possibly corrupt decsion making applying to an old person in a care home, a baby cruelly murdered by drug hazed parents or a young child accused of misbehaviour and excluded from school with no option other than to be home schooled.
These are all scenarios that happen in modern Britain, we have the same faceless ,nameless committees driven by unknown influences and concerns about budgets who should be working together to solve problems but hide behind their organisations and their job titles until something really does go terribly wrong and then the “case” is blasted all over the media and some head must roll.
In the case of Mandleson it’s some top bloke from the Foreign Office , Sir Olly no less, has to go.
In the other cases agencies, including Social Services, Charities, Health and Educational organisations, digging must be done and committees formed and enquiries started to determine who was actually responsible. It is always someone else’s fault.
Yet , my point is that the facts were there but were somehow shoved under a carpet or got lost in translation. I wasn’t really impressed by the journalist who seemed to have contacts to find out how the Foreign Office “reacted”, because it was too late. No lives were saved and the damage had been done.
We need to have talented and responsible people in office, no more hangers on or nepotisitically appointed good mates and friends of the media. And yes they need to be “cleared by security ” so they’re not a risk to themselves or us.Yes they can be human but not inhumane.
Thanks to Paul Kirby and BBC Online News for the Headline
The Hungarian election was boosted by a two day campaign visit to back Hungarian Prime Minister ( Now ex Prime Minister) Victor Orbἀn by Vice-President of America JD Vance.
Vance’s visit was pointless and did not stop the opposition party ‘s leader Peter Magyar winning the election, indeed,it’s possible that the Hungarian’s were not happy with the American Vice President interfering in their election given the recent actions by the American Government on Foreign Policy .
No harm done, Vance has said that he will work with the new Hungarian Prime Minister, who in turn will be trying to undo a lot of the buddy buddy corruption that Orbἀn put in place and take his rightful democratically elected spot in ensuring Hungary is run for the benefit of everyone not the benefit of the few.
JD Vance showed himself up by backing Orbἀn. I wish the new Government success.
The Hungarian Parliament building glows warmly along the Danube River as storm clouds gather above.
Thanks to Justin Rowlatt and Ema Sajljak and BBC News Online for the Headline
This Headline hit me like a brick , as we had a very sick pigeon in the garden who we brought to a wildlife centre who diagnosed it as having trichomonosis. The poor thing could hardly move and had been blown off the fence. So unfortunately it had to be euthanised .
The latest series of BBC Springwatch hinted at this aswell , with Chris Packham being very brave in saying that feeding the birds may not be good for them and that maybe we should stop doing it , but he also said that it gave such a lot of pleasure to people that maybe it would be a step to far.
However, bird populations are declining , particularly finches and sparrows. Pigeons on the whole are hardy creatures , and we thought the poor bird had “bird flu” but pigeons are nearly totally resistant to ” bird flu” and the main carriers are wildfowl, seabirds and raptors.
Trichomonosis or “Tricc” as the girl called it is very contagious , and her advice was not to feed the birds for a few days until they had dispersed. However, as it is getting warmer and they are probably better searching for their own food, we’ve decided not to feed until the weather gets colder again.
Thank you to Diana Resnik from Online Euronews for the Headline
I was fascinated to hear the results of a survey completed in Aberdeen Bay which measured actual behaviour in the immediate vicinity of wind turbines combining AI-powered (is this not virtual reality?) and detailed expert analysis to prove that not one bird was injured in a collision with one of the blades. Result eh?
Also the German Offshore Wind Energy Association(BWO ) has commissioned a study involving one and a half years of research and monitored with the help of radar and AI based cameras four million bird movements which showed that 99.8per cent of migratory birds reliably avoided the wind turbines. Clever birds!
It seems that there is a conflict between the Bird Watchers and the Climate Change Protestors, both support the idea of “wind farms” and both want to work together to protect Nature and the Environment
The Bird Watchers in Germany have suggested politely keeping the site of a wind turbine at least 6000 metres from the nest of a “lesser spotted eagle” as they say there is a danger to native bird species. This recommendation is included in the “Helgoland Paper”. Have you heard of it ? Neither have I?
However, the first survey referred to in the article comes from Vattenfall(One of Europe’s largest producers and retailers of electricity and heat) and Spoor( a High tech AI and Camera Visualisation method for analysing Bird Behaviour near Windfarm Blades).
The Vattenfall and Spoor survey, the name which sounds a bit like a weird Dickens Law Firm in “Bleak House” comes out , not surprisingly in favour of the Wind Farms and their rotating blades. It also has the gravitas for the cameras , but perhaps not the conclusions of the full report to be verified by the British Ornithological society.
This is by no means the end of the story , let’s face it common sense would say that birds are going to collide with things that are flying through the air that they aren’t expecting to be there. Just like whales will always get stranded and animals will fall sick.
It’s keeping people busy finding out what the real impacts are. Humans are the bees in this, the reward the nectar of low-cost , sustainable energy, hopefully the results will not be bleak.
Seagulls fly over offshore wind turbines glowing in the sunset light
Thanks to Naj odak and Mike Zeller and BBC News Online for the Headline
Believe it or not a “Red List” of endangered crafts was created in 2017 to highlight skills that were being lost.
Glass Crystal Cutting was one of those crafts, unfortunately due to the recent rise in energy costs, a Company who employs these highly skilled crafts people has had to close down one of their furnaces, reduce people’s hours and cut non- essential staff, including the CEO who is now putting what would have been his salary towards keeping the business going. What would William Morris have thought?
The admirable CEO has said that there are contracts to keep the business going and that hopefully they can ride the storm. I wish them well.
A skilled craftsman carefully engraves a crystal glass using a rotating wheel.
thenotsomightyom 