David Leask

How the shooting of a Russian general could affect the Ukraine war As Vladimir Alexeyev, No 2 in military intelligence, fights for his life, Putin is losing face with extremists who want him to reject any peace deal

How the shooting of a Russian general could affect the Ukraine war

www.thetimes.com/article/4eba...

'A world where women are reduced to their genitals, and derided as bitches' NOT so long ago Donald Trump — at the behest of his then pal Elon Musk — lashed out at Keir Starmer over the supposed cover-up of grooming gangs…

www.heraldscotland.com/news/2583530...

I once interviewed elderly, heavy drinkers in a Glasgow breakfast pub and they described the kindly landlady who effectively looked after them as “her what looks like Gina Lollobrigida”, pronounced, with a lovely nasal accent, as Low-Low-Bridge-eh-Dah. Gina was huge in her day.

Has Giorgia Meloni gone soft? The crises that threaten to derail her premiership With a key defector peeling off votes on the right, name-calling and accusations of treachery, the Italian leader heads into a fraught vote on justice reform

Has Giorgia Meloni gone soft? The crises that threaten to derail her premiership

www.thetimes.com/article/a081...

Former Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman dies aged 72

Former Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman dies aged 72

Pinned lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Aug 19, 2021 Almost three years ago, my editor called me early one November morning. A wildfire had sparked near a town called Paradise, he said. Could I go? (1/13) 0:02 / 0:10 lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · 47m I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated. Quote lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Jan 25 Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.

A publisher who lays off a reporter whose pen is freezing because she's covering a frigid war zone while dodging missiles is not an editor you want to work for, in a more perfect world

I studied the latest Epstein files. As a woman, this is what I felt They show a hidden world oiled by porn-saturated misogyny. I spent two days reading them

"Those black boxes of redaction are little black boxes of power. Some men are protected because they are worth something, while the girls look like parts, not human." What a piece this is by Helen Rumbelow, though not for the faint-hearted.

The guy who owns Amazon shutting down the books section of the Washington Post is beyond parody

Allan Massie obituary: celebrated writer who defied fashion Perhaps the finest Scottish novelist of the postwar era, who won fame across Europe but who was less favoured by the literary establishment north of the border

Allan Massie obituary: celebrated writer who defied fashion

www.thetimes.com/article/7a52...

Them Stalinists are at it again.

Switzerland grapples with neutrality in a continent remade by war

www.thetimes.com/world/europe...

Is Greenland really in danger of being overrun by Russia and China?

www.thetimes.com/article/6442...

Prince Harry in court looked like a pub prowler desperate for a fight

www.thetimes.com/article/dd24...

Apparently he has a sore eye

“Why is this toddler waving a pistol?”

I’m more comfortable with natural stupidity than artificial intelligence.

Ask Gemini or ChatGPT to make a map, Peter. It’s amazing how thick AI is.

Four-year-olds taught to shoot at ‘illegal school’ run by conspiracists Hope Sussex, which Ofsted was barred from inspecting, is letting children as young as four use rifles. Its founder insists he is not seeking to build an army

Four-year-olds taught to shoot at ‘illegal school’ run by conspiracists

www.thetimes.com/article/f8d8...

This IS indeed very much worth reading.

[Gift article]

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/o...

How Europe could retaliate against Trump’s Greenland tariffs EU leaders appear to agree that inaction is not an option — but any response will be both painstakingly calibrated and probably painful for all

How Europe could retaliate against Trump’s Greenland tariffs

www.thetimes.com/article/b9ad...

Trump latest: UK and Europe will face higher tariffs over Greenland The president says the levies will start at 10 per cent, increasing to 25 per cent in June, after a group of nations sent a tiny military deployment to the territory this week

Trump: UK and Europe will face higher tariffs over Greenland

www.thetimes.com/article/b5e1...

Monday I believe in striking while the iron is hot! Unfortunately, that was last summer. Now it’s cold again. So today, I’m calling Nigel Farage. And I tell him that we should have another secret dinner. “The last one wasn’t that secret,” says Nigel. “We were in the Commons. And you kept standing up and waving at journalists.” So I tell him the next one will be even more secret. Maybe in the middle of Parliament Square. We could get somebody to set up a table there, like posh hotels do for romantic couples on the beach.

My Week: Robert Jenrick* www.thetimes.com/article/40c0...

Rise of weight-loss drugs ‘will help US airlines trim fuel bills’ Fewer obese passengers could cut 2% off the weight of an airliner, saving hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel costs each year

Rise of weight-loss drugs ‘will help US airlines trim fuel bills’

www.thetimes.com/article/6084...

Orcas blamed for yacht attacks are speaking their own language

www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Guillaume Cizeron accuses former dance partner of smear campaign Gabriella Papadakis, the female half of the former figure skating duo known as the French Torvill and Dean, has made claims of ‘controlling’ behaviour

Guillaume Cizeron accuses former dance partner of smear campaign

www.thetimes.com/world/europe...

Denmark sends troops to Greenland as talks with US stall Soldiers, navy vessels and aircraft will be sent amid Trump’s threats of a takeover. President Macron says ‘French military elements’ are also en route

France warning US that it will face a “cascade of unprecedented consequences” if Trumps tries to conquer Greenland.
www.thetimes.com/article/dbf4...

Clever people really can be very stupid about stupidity. Informed people can be very ignorant about ignorance. And this very old and unoriginal observation goes some way to explain why the smartypants sometimes don’t understand things that are clear to us dum-dums.

The diplomacy of art in Greenland, a contested nation A new national gallery aims to help the country’s artists forge their own path and sense of identity as the nation finds itself in Trump’s crosshairs

The diplomacy of art in Greenland, a contested nation

www.thetimes.com/article/931c...

As an aside, news stories on actual crime stats, on actual offending trends, are rare. And one of the ways we know they are rare is that some people - even well-informed people - are surprised by the names of crime categories.