Three men have been arrested in connection with the shooting of a top Northern Ireland policeman in Omagh last night, which investigators think may have been a targeted attack by dissident republicans. Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell is in a critical but stable condition in hospital. Thousands of asylum seekers will have their applications fast-tracked under new plans to deal with the 166,000-person waiting list. About 12,000 claimants, all from war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Syria, will be assessed via a 10-page questionnaire rather than an interview. Robots will cut time wasted on household chores by 39% âwithin a decadeâ, according to researchers in Britain and Japan, by fully automating everyday tasks like ordering groceries and feeding pets. âIf robots will take our jobsâ, say the tech boffins, they can at least âalso take out the trash for usâ.
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Forbes: the SNPâs âmost gifted young ministerâ. Ken Jack/Getty |
The SNP is facing an existential crisis |
In Evelyn Waughâs Second World War Sword of Honour trilogy, the Scottish nationalists were âa tiny fringe group of anti-English plotters living on remote islands in draughty castlesâ, says Iain Martin in The Times. They were âdotty dreamers, high on romantic tales of Jacobitism and Bonnie Prince Charlieâ. Until the 1960s, when the SNP began its long march to power, this portrayal of Scottish nationalism had a grain of truth to it. The party was seen as a âtwee tartan jokeâ, and how unionists laughed. Theyâve had little to laugh about since. But now, after Nicola Sturgeonâs resignation last week, theyâve been cheered by the âfarcical spectacleâ of seeing the SNPâs most talented leadership candidate â 32-year-old Kate Forbes â all but out of the running after saying she opposed same-sex marriage because of her devout Christianity. âHow on earth has the party managed to ostracise its most gifted young minister?â
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Itâs a reminder of the SNPâs fatal flaw: it is simply too broad a church. Members share just one basic belief â independence from England. Beyond that narrow obsession it is âdeeply dividedâ, encompassing candidates from everywhere on the political spectrum, from the radical left to the socially conservative right. Without a âstrong, cult-style leaderâ like Sturgeon, this unnatural coalition cannot hold. It all stems from the SNPâs âpeculiar historyâ. What started as a largely rural, conservative grouping â mocked by Labour in the 1970s as âtartan Toriesâ â became âobsessively progressiveâ in order to win over Scotlandâs increasingly secular urban areas. In doing so, it totally isolated itself from the middle ground. The SNP isnât finished, but its grip on Scotland may be. âEras do end. And the nationalists are in the process of being found out.â
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This video of the âvia ferrataâ at MĂŒrren in Switzerland has racked up more than four million views on Twitter. Climbers are clipped on to a support cable at waist height, and walk along the cliffside on metal steps hammered (hopefully very carefully) into the stone. Many of these âiron pathsâ were originally built during the First World War, to help soldiers move across the mountains in extreme conditions. Watch the full clip here.
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Britainâs finances have received an unexpected ÂŁ30bn windfall, says the FT. In November, economists forecast that the government would borrow ÂŁ177bn in the 2022-23 financial year, but now weâre on track for around 20% less. About a third of the saving comes from higher-than-expected tax revenues; a little under a third from local authorities and nationalised industries needing less money; and the rest from lower-than-anticipated subsidies for energy bills, thanks to gas prices falling. Itâs a âdouble-edged swordâ for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt: he has more wiggle room on tax and spending, but âcan no longer say there is no spare cash availableâ.
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Rogers (left) with Lloyd after the ceremony |
One of the most memorable film award gaffes was at the 1934 Oscars, says Patrick Kidd in The Times. When host Will Rogers opened the envelope to see that his friend Frank Lloyd had won best director, he just said: âCome up and get it, Frank.â Problem was, Frank Capra had also been nominated. As the two Franks made their way to the stage, the spotlight settled on Lloyd. âI stood in the dark in utter disbelief,â Capra later recalled, âuntil an irate voice shouted, âDown in the front!ââ
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Wang Yi with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty |
Russia and China arenât as close as they seem |
This weekâs visit to Moscow by Chinaâs top diplomat Wang Yi was supposed to broadcast âthe closeness of the two powersâ, says Raffaello Pantucci in Nikkei Asia. It may be no coincidence that Chinese and Russian vessels are noisily engaged in a 10-day joint military exercise off the South African coast. But for all the âgrand rhetoricâ about the strength of their bond, and renewed US handwringing about the risk of China boosting military support for Russian troops, the two countries are on âvery different tracksâ. Moscow and Beijing are happy to âmutually antagoniseâ their shared enemies, but below the surface there is no serious cooperation.
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Russiaâs massively increased mercenary clout in Africa has done nothing to help the many Chinese businessmen who âkeep getting kidnapped by militant groupsâ. Both countries have military posts on the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border, but they donât work together, and the Russians complain that the Chinese wonât even speak to them. Itâs the same story on the economy â headlines about a jump in bilateral trade are merely the result of unscrupulous Chinese firms buying up Russian gas and coal on the cheap when nobody else will touch it. And since the invasion, many Chinese tech conglomerates that had built up substantial Russian businesses have âquietly scaled back operations dramaticallyâ. Whatever Moscow would like us to believe, Russia is becoming a captive client of the Chinese Communist Party.
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A sealed, first-generation iPhone from 2007 has fetched a record $63,356 at auction, more than 105 times its original $599 retail price. The deviceâs previous owner, Karen Green, was given it as a gift, but didnât open the box because she already had another phone. After wrapping it up in a pair of pyjamas to avoid any knocks, she stowed it away â until years later she read about a similar gadget listed for $10,000 on eBay. âI called my son,â she tells Insider, âand I was like: âGo get that phone, and make sure itâs not opened.ââ
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London has the worst traffic of any city centre in the world, according to the GPS maker TomTom. Data from the companyâs devices found that it took an average of 36 minutes and 20 seconds to travel 10km in the capital last year. In a distant second is the chaotic Indian metropolis Bangalore, where you typically cover the same distance in a mere 29 mins and 10 seconds â though TomTom doesnât specify whether you get there in one piece. See the full rankings here.
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Itâs a pair of ÂŁ570 JW Anderson suede slippers, as worn by Rishi Sunakâs wife Akshata Murty on the school run. Given the Indian heiress and former fashion designer holds ÂŁ430m in shares in her familyâs IT business, the blingy footwear âhardly broke the bankâ, says Amy Watkins in the Evening Standard. âExpect plenty more off-duty looks from the UKâs first lady.â |
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âAll the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal, or fattening.â
American journalist Alexander Woollcott |
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