Ed Douglas

Xi Jinping is preparing to go toe to toe with Donald Trump – and there will only be one winner | Simon Tisdall Beijing has realised that reckless America First policies are alienating old and new friends alike, creating a vacuum it can fill, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall

Labour has disappointed in so many ways but it’s failure to understand China is especially annoying. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This.

Wage war on nature to build new homes: that’s Labour’s offer, but it’s a con trick | George Monbiot The government’s new planning bill is tearing down environmental protections to benefit developers. This nation of nature lovers won’t stand for it, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

And if you’re wondering who Labour is listening to? “Reeves boasted she hatched plan to rip down our nature protections over a “smoked salmon & scrambled eggs breakfast” with corporate lobbyists”. While Starmer’s resolve to kick down planning rules are result of his “conversations with leading CEOs”

A story in the parts

A story in three parts

Oh, that’s very good.

Trying to remember who described him as a pair of compasses.

Country diary: An easy-going bunch doing hard work on the moor | Ed Douglas Big Moor, Derbyshire​: The change from sheep to cattle grazing here was intended to restore wildlife – and it’s working

Goldfinches, whinchats and life-giving cattle on the moor in today's @theguardian.com country diary by @calmandfearless.bsky.social.

#countrydiary #naturewriting

Senior Labour MPs Demand Crackdown on X After Elon Musk’s ‘Dangerous’ Rally Comments Senior Labour MPs are urging the government to take urgent action against hate speech, misinformation and violent rhetoric on Elon Musk’s X platfor...

Excellent to see Labour MPs call on the government to leave Elon Musk's hate-filled X. Doing so would spark an exodus of journalists & public bodies.

Thank you @bengoldsborough.bsky.social @sarahowen.org.uk @alexballingermp.bsky.social

www.politicshome.com/news/article...

Despite decades of setbacks, Nepal still dreams of democracy A new generation of Nepalis is yet to figure out what no previous generation has: how to make democracy serve the people

What do you do with a democracy that refuses to serve the demos – the people?

For 75 years now, following Nepal’s short-lived experiment with democracy in 1950, each generation has had to answer this question anew.

My view on where Nepal stands now:
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/b6403fe...

Obvs, leave X, because it's mad. But also, is one of the differences between the hard left and right the amount of drugs being hoovered up? Tiny Tommy and his coke rages, Elon and his k-holes, Nige and his anxious fag breaks.

From producing cars that catch fire, to trying to burn down democracies.

UPEND THE ESTABLISHMENT, by voting for a party composed entirely of rejects from the oldest party in the country that was in power for 14 years. 😂

Reform UK increasingly look like the Tories just ran off stage, then ran back on wearing a comedy glasses-nose-moustache disguise.

Mind you, Ant Middleton was always a twat.

Madam Prime Minister of Nepal

Nepal has its first female prime minister, in her 70s, but a former chief justice who will be a big advance on the men in their 70s who were throttling the country. nepalitimes.com/news/madam-p...

Fewer than half the calories grown on farms now reach our plates In 2020, the world produced more than enough calories to feed the global population, but only half of those calories reached people’s plates due to rising meat and biofuel production

Fewer than half the calories grown on farms now reach our plates

The world produced enough calories in 2020 to feed 15 billion people – but only 50 per cent of those calories ended up reaching people's plates.

www.newscientist.com/article/2493...

‘A last resort’: is culling foxes the only way to save Britain’s vanishing curlews? Keeping predator numbers down may be last hope for the ground-nesting birds – but critics say real problem is farming practices

Such a complicated issue but I’m with Ruth Tingay here. If you put 60 million pheasants and partridges into the countryside, foxes will do well. And curlews won’t. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The empire as expression of psychopathy.

😬

Completed in 1908, it was built by Chandra Shumsher Rana, then the prime minister, who immediately sold it to the Nepali state. Chandra, a hardliner, replaced a reformist regime in a coup, ushered into power by his mate Lord Curzon...

If it goes wrong there's always the option of being raised from the dead?

Yeah, that was bollocks. The scandal in the home ministry and the lack of resignations was infuriating.

Astonishing to see Singha Durbar burning in Kathmandu. Symbol of a systemic failure of government.

More excellent news: UK government bans burning on deep peat in England Press release from Defra (9 September 2025) BURNING BANNED ON ENGLAND’S DEEP PEAT TO PROTECT WILDLIFE Ban on burning heather and grass on deep peat extended to improve air quality for local c…

More excellent news: UK government bans burning on deep peat in England – Raptor Persecution UK raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/09/09/m...

I love hearing them chat to each other.

Great footage and a mesmerising bird.

Country diary: What exactly does a grey seal see? | Ed Douglas Ynys Môn (Anglesey): Caught in a staring contest with these distinguished creatures, I consider how they cope in their monochrome world

Me looking at seals looking at me. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Nineteen killed in Nepal in 'Gen Z' protest over social media ban Unrest killed at least 19 people in Nepal on Monday, authorities said, as police in the capital fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to storm parliament in anger at a social media shutdown and corruption.

I've been watching Nepali politics for 30 years now, and the cry from young people has been pretty much the same: stop the corruption. www.reuters.com/business/med...

19 dead in Gen Z protests across Nepal Hundreds injured as police open fire; curfews imposed in multiple cities.

Police open fire on demonstrators across Nepal killing 19. That death toll will rise, I'm sure. Banning WhatsApp was the inciting incident but government corruption lies at the heart of unrest. kathmandupost.com/national/202...

Had a hangover yesterday so did something unusual and bought an actual newspaper, The Observer, which I hugely enjoyed, as opposed to news online. Will do that again. Although without the hangover.