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Di Edwards Jones – a chart to match a legend
Formidable and forthright, a much loved TV director who bullied, barracked and swore with a sergeant major’s repertoire of colourful profanities, industry legend Diana Edwards Jones, has died. As ITN’s senior director she controlled immensely complex operations on special events like election specials from the production gallery – a task compared to “playing three-dimensional chess … Read more
Copenhagen fire – stressed eclipses
Denmark’s 17th Century stock exchange building in the centre of Copenhagen has been destroyed by fire. Culture minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said 400 years of Danish cultural heritage had gone up in flames. The building was being renovated, as was Notre Dame before its fire. The Denmark chart, 5 June 1849 12.15pm Copenhagen, has the … Read more
Dubai – a desert under water ++ Solar Eclipse
Dubai and the United Arab Emirates yesterday experienced its largest rainfall event since records began 75 years ago. 254.8mm (9.7in) fell over less than 24 hours, almost double the expected annual rainfall with the monthly average for April being around 8mm. There have been rumours that the authorities had been cloud-seeding – a technique which … Read more
Roberto Cavalli – Aquarius and Moon oddities
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 v greed and fouled waterways
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 – respect Art and freedom
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
Iran Israel – tit for tat, fear of what next ++ Iranian leaders
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
Simon Harris – new Ireland leader
Simon Harris was elected as taoiseach (prime minister) to become the youngest person to lead the Republic of Ireland last Tuesday April 9th. He was the only candidate following the surprise resignation of his predecessor Leo Varadkar. He leads the coalition government with a general election due by March 2025. Simon Harris, born 17 October … Read more
Paula Vennells – wrong hand on the tiller
Paula Vennells, former CEO of the Post Office from 2012 to 2019 who is being investigated for misleading parliament over the Horizon IT scandal, has come under scrutiny for her decision to spend millions of pounds to contest sub-postmasters’ claims that they were not responsible for alleged accounting shortfalls. She has already handed back her CBE … Read more