Fun fact: for an hour a day, the Pitcairns are the reason why, technically, the sun still does not set on the British Empire.

Homosexuality criminalised in Iraq this week to popular acclaim. There's an alternative history of that country where Hashemite kings somehow held on, as in neighbouring Jordan. The rule of law under a stable crown has protected minority rights there, including gays', since 1951.

“This is a full-time role and includes some weekends and late nights/early mornings.”
Paul Goodman sometimes seemed to write until 4.00am to get an early morning headline; and I remember the days when Samuel Coates used to get up at that hour to scour the newspapers (hardcopy).

You are tweeting this on the Elon Musk owned platform which is banned in China.

Who’d be a politician?

I assumed all day - from headlines and X - that Chris Philp MP somehow didn’t know Congo was a different country to Rwanda.

But in the clip it was plainly a misunderstanding of a niche qu about ‘warring with people from Rwanda’.

V interesting from Jack Detsch. 'Russia is on track to produce 3.5 million rounds in 2024 and might be able to surge to produce 4.5 million rounds by the end of the year.' foreignpolicy.com/2024/04/23/ukr…

Was fortunate to visit Sudan just before conflict erupted last year. The pyramids there must be some of the most under-visited sites in the world.

Definitely reading Rob’s latest WW2 book: The Illusionist

Although I remain rock-solid in my conviction that St Cuthbert should be England’s national saint, I do grant that he never fought a pterodactyl…

#StGeorgesDay

What’s up with YouTube’s X account

Right to retract. Unfortunately if operational leaders are reluctant to make (difficult) values judgments, they default to ‘keeping the peace’ - which results in the people carrying the big sticks winning the day.

A tweet that made a billionaire

Congrats Justin! Top tier family reveal

Was struck by this over dinner in le marais in Paris last week.

Warm lighting is so much more relaxing in the evenings but the rollout of LED lights are taking us the other way. White glare is bad for the retina, circadian rhythms, and light pollution.

Imagine being a wartime leader and having Kamala Harris dictating how you should fight your existential war of survival in order to maximise her own re-election chances. Farcical.

- Opens first page of new book
- Immediately starts crying