Catfromcornwall

Which elections are taking place in England, Scotland and Wales on 7 May? Millions will vote in parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales, and local elections in England.

#BBCNews - A simple guide to the May elections in England, Scotland and Wales
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

An American oligarch acquires critical energy infrastructure in Germany A notorious donor to Donald Trump and the broader MAGA movement recently acquired a significant portion of Germany’s energy infrastructure. Kelcy Warren is a founder and CEO of Energy Transfer, one of...

Oh. Genius.

What Kwame Nkrumah knew about profit shifting - Tax Justice Network From colonial accounting tricks to modern tax havens, Nkrumah understood how capital escapes, and why political independence was never enough.

Neo-colonialism Nkrumah talked about 60 yrs ago remains real, Africa loses $90bn a year to illicit financial flows due to a century-old global tax system designed when most African countries were still colonies, rules written by colonial powers. Now the Africa Group is combating this at the UN

as I have said before none of this is even mentioned in the impact assessment of the change (not even the increased revenue from more passports/certificates of entitlement/renunciations. no hint of impact on travel. Worth another U-turn?

Britain’s Story: The Next Chapter - BBC Royal Charter Review, Green Paper and public consultation

This is the Gov looking for your input on the BBC. It takes a while to complete (15/20 mins) but it’s pretty comprehensive and covers most aspects.

Please share. I’m surprised many people haven’t seen it yet.

www.gov.uk/government/c...

** Self-promotion klaxon **

The paperback of my book on stress, now slightly re-titled as How Stress Work: Understanding the new science of stress hormones, is:
a/ out in April, and
b/ can be pre-ordered from Waterstones for *25% off* if you order it this week, using the code below.

To reiterate this point: during the Q&A Farage dismissed very arrogantly a perfectly fair question from the brilliant Anna Gross of the FT and then took the piss out of the paper. If you want to persuade people that you don’t have predilections towards bullying it was not ideal. It was grim.

Fake law: Barrister suing Dan Neidle relied on cases from ChatGPT Demand for £8m supported by fake legal cases generated with AI tools – but that’s not the worst part of this shocking lawsuit

The barrister Setu Kamal sued @danneidle.bsky.social for £8m for defamation. Representing himself in court, Kamal cited three cases that made Neidle’s case “untenable”.

But, in a bizarre twist, it turned out that these cases were hallucinated by ChatGPT:
https://goodlaw.social/n1cv

Kitten Rock | Wildlife Photographer of the Year | Natural History Museum Amit Eshel (Israel) has a rare encounter with a family of Pallas’s cats on a rocky outcrop in Mongolia.

Have you seen the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition yet? In the online gallery @nhm-london.bsky.social you can see 100 incredible photographs capturing everything from tender wildlife encounters to breathtaking scenes that showcase the beauty of our planet. 🌍✨ www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy/gallery

While many still try to pretend the implications of russia's war don't go further than Ukraine, Kim Jong Un has inaugurated a new residential quarter for the families of North Korean servicemen killed in this war.

Denying reality will not avert what is underway.

📸 via Grnt.

Notable message from President Zelensky. The USA is clearly putting pressure on Ukraine to hand over more of its land to dictatorial Russia.

Good to see the Ukrainian pushback--but the USA should hang its head in shame.

UK government risks ‘perpetuating’ Post Office injustice through response to Capture appeals | Computer Weekly Peers question government’s approach to wrongful conviction appeals from former users of Capture software.

The government risks perpetuating Post Office scandal through second class treatment of former Capture users www.computerweekly.com/news/3666391...

Europeans step up submarine hunting in the North Norway’s Defence Minister Tore O. Sandvik says ‘a burden-sharing arrangement’ with Germany and the UK related to submarine hunting in the north is coming into place.

A burden-sharing arrangement with Germany and the UK related to submarine hunting in the High North is coming into place, says Norway’s defence minister

Trump endorsing Orbán is an endorsement of theft.

Orbán is an economic disaster who turned Hungary into the poorest country in the region, all while building a private zoo with zebras on the public dime.

He sells out the West to Putin and Xi, and the White House cheers him on

This is what electoral interference in European elections looks like - per the USG NSS strategy last year

Great piece from @dsquareddigest.bsky.social, which touches on one of the big theories for why English-speaking countries do especially badly at housebuilding:

Adversarial and litigious common law systems (Anglo) vs judge-led civil law systems elsewhere.

samf.substack.com/p/build-the-...

Feel like this should have got bigger pick-up last week

The General Secretary of Labour's largest affiliated union and biggest donor over last 10 years writing in the @financialtimes.com they might disaffiliate in 2027.

And if this is happening in Unite, other unions will be considering similar...

At long last, we’re launching in Leeds! Ever since I started The Mill, people have asked us to create a publication across the Pennines.

If 500 people pledge to become members, we’re going to hire two journalists and do it. Please share with Leeds friends.

leeds.ghost.io

This weeks by-elections consist of a trio of Labour defences:

🌹 Van (Caerphilly)
🌹 Stoneygate (Leicester)
🌹 Zetland (Redcar & Cleveland)

electionmaps.uk/byelections-...

A black and white photograph of Malcolm X. It shows his head and shoulders. He has his hand on top of his hand. A lamp is next to him.

This Week in Literary History: Malcolm X was Assassinated in New York City

“Whatever hand pulled the trigger did not buy the bullet.”

lithub.com/this-week-in...

#blackhistorymonth #books #ushistory

'Mini Switzerland' plan for Peak District transport network The idea would see buses arriving before trains pull into stations to improve connectivity.

Fantastic to see my Mini Switzerland idea covered by the BBC.

It captures so many people’s imaginations because it’s both obvious, simple and yet - from where we are today - unspeakably radical.

Please share!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The war in Ukraine won’t end as long as we act as if it’s about to end.

Our lack of equipment is not an acceptable excuse.

We need to place long-term orders for Ukraine.

That would support Ukraine, send a clear message to Russia, and strengthen our defense industry

Eight years of Jeffrey Epstein coverage The Miami Herald's original series, videos, timeline and more

Eight years of Jeffrey Epstein Coverage by the Miami Herald
How we got here
jkbjournalist.substack.com/p/eight-year...

Black-and-white cat with half-closed eyes resting its head on the back of a brown textured couch.

I’m late to the game but allow me to post this photo of my cat.

#LazySunday #CatsOfMastodon

Alice Wong Writer, editor, and disability justice activist. Born on March 27, 1974 in Indianapolis, IN, USA, she died from an infection on Nov 14, 2025 in San Francisco, CA, USA, aged 51 years.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Myself and @sesmith.lol and others were interviewed for the Lancet’s obituary of our friend Alice. <3

Shattered dreams: Why the battle for Sunderland’s glass centre has turned into a political flashpoint Custodian University of Sunderland says renovation costs of £45m are too high and building must be pulled down. Not without a fight, say locals, who believe they’re being taken for fools

'The “little pieces of Sunderland” produced by the city’s glassmaking factory for more than a century can be traced back to an even older story that began in the seventh century, when English glassmaking began at a monastery beside the River Wear, run by abbott and later saint Benedict Biscop.' 1/3

This isn't something distant or far away. Super-agent & close Epstein ally, John Brockman had huge influence. His 'rockstar' writers, scientists and academics dominated our book pages & broadsheets.

We need nothing less than a total revisionist history of the last 20 years.
2/

The billionaires' eugenics project: how Epstein infiltrated Harvard, muzzled the humanities and preached master-race science Edge - Jeffrey Epstein's favourite intellectual salon - was sold to me as a gathering of the world's finest minds, writes Virginia Heffernan. The files reveal it was something far darker: a decades-lo...

NEW: Read this terrific piece @virginiaheffernan.bsky.social for @thenerve.news in which she unpicks Edge.org, the hugely influential 'salon' funded by Epstein & threaded through with race science & eugenics.
1/

www.thenerve.news/p/epstein-bi...

Good read! So good to play something that feels like home for a change.

Favourite Stations - Barons Court

Meet Anna Campbell-Jones, an interior designer, TV presenter, and a creative who helped design the interiors of London Underground and Glasgow Subway trains.

Her favourite station is Barons Court.