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America is on fire, says a climate writer. Do you have to run?

Albert Elence — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 10:08:57 +0000

IN MOTION: The overheated earth and the uprooting of Americaby Abraham Lustgarten

Of course, it’s already happening. You can see it in the fires in California, which are burning down homes and forcing residents to escape the terror of wildfires. You can glimpse it in Arizona, where drought has prompted farmers to give up growing crops and sell their fields to developers.

Tides are rising on the coasts, flooding vulnerable coastal cities, while pervasive heat is expanding ocean volumes and melting the great ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland into the water.

And finally, there are the heat waves: weeks of hellish temperatures that literally mean death for residents of Western states who spend too much time outside. “The places in the world where we think we can live now,” explains Abraham Lustgarten in “On the Move,” his fascinating new look at the population changes caused by the climate crisis, “will not be the same as the places where we will live. can live in the future.”

In a broader context, he warns, we may now be on the cusp of “the greatest demographic shift the world has ever seen.”

Where shall we go? When? And are we welcomed? To answer these questions, Lustgarten collects academic studies and examines models that simulate future migration scenarios; He then combines his insights with reporting.

He also has personal experiences to draw from. He’s a wildfire-weary Californian living in fear that insurers could make his house worthless, or that the next fire could destroy his town. Should he move his family? With each passing year, the question becomes harder to ignore. He keeps a bag packed, water and flashlights ready, knowing that the burning season means he could have to flee at any moment.

Climate-driven migrations will almost certainly become a widespread trend in the coming decades – computer models indicate extraordinary temperature extremes for many parts of the Middle East and North Africa. In the meantime, sea levels are rising and flooding will certainly become a global phenomenon.

Lustgarten’s focus is on the United States, allowing readers to understand the complexities of migration scenarios by examining catastrophes that are now becoming familiar to many of us. And yet: migration is an enormously complex dynamic that goes beyond a period of warm weather or floods. “Of course, not everyone will pack up and move in the face of these changes,” Lustgarten admits.

Some Americans will be too poor to move. Others will be reluctant to give up the familiar way of life. What seems likely based on past migrations is that younger people will be the first to uproot themselves.

The movements may not be extreme at first. Rural residents often migrate to nearby cities; those in the cities are shifting to the cities. And more dramatic movements – similar to the African American “Great Migration” of the first half of the 20th century, or those fleeing the Dust Bowl during the Depression – may not come until later.

Lustgarten’s story sometimes gets bogged down with data and research arcana: Readers are often informed about the potential vulnerabilities of different states under different climate scenarios, as well as what a particular scholar might believe could happen to the U.S. population or to agricultural yields .

What continually enlivens the book are the author’s eloquent personal insights. His visits to Guatemala in particular are both astonishing and poignant, providing great insight into why poor farm workers, ravaged by droughts and disastrous economic conditions, risk everything to come to northern neighbors who greet them with hostility. For Lustgarten, this provides a test case for how the planet’s most vulnerable populations might respond in a climate crisis.

For those of us who already live here, Lustgarten suggests that the decision to stay or go may depend on geography. He points out that for years, state and federal incentives have allowed Americans to settle in dangerous places — for example, offering them cheap flood insurance if they live in a flood zone, or offering subsidized or regulated home insurance policies even if they live in a flood area. area with wildfires or near an eroding beach. Ending such practices could allow homeowners to assess climate risks more clearly, potentially hastening moves to safer places.

But floods, heat waves and fires can have dramatic consequences for the lives of all Americans. “It will affect everyone,” one scientist tells the author. “No one escapes.”

While reading, I sometimes wondered whether Lustgarten should have further tempered the speculative nature of the migration models on which his book is based. In tone, he moves between a confident prediction of the future and caveats that the shifts he writes about are merely predictions, the “threshold of discomfort” that will force one to make difficult-to-determine moves.

After all, personal unwillingness to move is unpredictably associated with external factors. We cannot be certain that interstate politics will allow waves of relocations in, say, 2050. And if we manage to reduce CO2 emissions and avoid the worst-case scenarios for a warming climate, we may discover that human ingenuity could lead to better adaptation to water shortages and rising sea levels (or excessive heat). .

Even a massive volcanic eruption could cool things down, albeit temporarily; it is difficult to predict the future. Be that as it may, climate maps and projected patterns “above all capture the imagination,” as Lustgarten puts it, for what might unfold decades later.

In that regard, this book should fill readers’ minds with possibilities. We know that many Americans are facing a future that is either too hot, too dry, too wet or too chaotic for comfort. And – if our current immigration disputes are any indication – too mean.

When Lustgarten travels to Michigan, he wants to explore whether some Rust Belt cities, now dwindling in number, have the historic infrastructure and ability to grow again. It’s an exciting idea; Whether the region would welcome millions of newcomers is a bigger question. When he asks the city of Ann Arbor’s sustainability director if she thinks residents are more concerned about climate change or newcomers, her answer is telling: “The people coming in, hands down.”

With so much to fear, and so much work to do to make our environment livable, the thing we seem to fear most is… each other. As “On the Move” convincingly demonstrates, with all the heat and disruption coming our way, we’re going to have to do much better than that.

EN ROUTE: The overheated earth and the uprooting of America | By Abraham Lustgarten | Farrar, Straus & Giroux | 324 pages | $30

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David Seidler, Oscar-winning writer of ‘The King’s Speech,’ dies at 86

Sabir Ansary — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 23:38:22 +0000

Mr. Seidler told the site filmcritic.com that during the war his parents, with the aim of inspiring him, had tuned the family radio to George VI’s speeches as object lessons in mastering stuttering.

‘They said to me, ‘David, he stuttered much worse than you, and now listen to him. He’s not perfect. But he can give these beautiful, moving speeches that brought the free world together,” Mr. Seidler said.

At 16, he recalled, he had a “profanity-laden, F-bomb-filled emotional catharsis” as King George, known as “Bertie,” his childhood nickname, experiences in the film. “I thought if I’m stuck stuttering, you’re all stuck listening to me,” he told The Times, inserting an expletive.

Soon after, his stuttering in conversations disappeared.

David Seidler was born in London on August 4, 1937, the son of Doris (Falkoff) Seidler, a painter and printmaker, and Bernard Seidler, a fur broker. He graduated from Cornell University in 1959. He is survived by two adult children, Marc and Maya Seidler.

The screenplay for “The King’s Speech” remained in Mr. Seidler’s hands for decades. During job interviewshe said he had put the project aside for years until after the 2002 death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, widow of George VI, who asked him not to pursue it during her lifetime.

In an interview from 2011 with The Times, he compared the process of drawing on his experiences as a stutterer to remembering a severe toothache from afar.

“As long as you have a toothache, all you think about is it, but once you go to the dentist and he or she takes away the pain, the last thing you want to think about is how that tooth hurt,” he said. . ‘You put it out of your mind and forget about it. Same with stuttering. So it was only by waiting until I had reached the stage of… let me use the euphemism of adulthood… when you naturally start to look back on your life, that I was able to look again at that pain, at that feeling of isolation and loneliness, which I think helped the script immensely.

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Literary magazine withdraws essay by Israeli writer after staffers quit

Sabir Ansary — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 23:51:40 +0000

Guernica, a small but prestigious online literary magazine, has been in turmoil in recent days after publishing – and then retracting – a personal essay on coexistence and war in the Middle East by an Israeli writer, leading to several resignation of its volunteer staff members. who said they objected to its publication.

In a essay Entitled ‘From the Edges of a Broken World’, Joanna Chen, a translator of Hebrew and Arabic poetry and prose, had written about her experiences trying to bridge the gap with the Palestinians, including by volunteering to expel Palestinian children from the West Bank to care in Israeli hospitals, and how its efforts to find common ground failed after Hamas’ attack on October 7 and Israel’s subsequent attacks on Gaza.

It was replaced on Guernica’s web page with a note attributed to “admin” that said: “Guernica regrets publishing this piece and has retracted it,” and promised further explanation. Since the essay’s publication, at least 10 members of the magazine’s all-volunteer staff have resigned, including former co-publisher Madhuri Sastry. who wrote on social media that the essay “seeks to mitigate the violence of colonialism and genocide” and called for a cultural boycott of Israeli institutions.

Chen said in an email that she believed her critics had “misunderstood the meaning of my essay, which is about clinging to empathy when there is no human decency in sight.”

“It’s about the willingness to listen,” she said, “and the idea that turning a deaf ear to voices other than your own isn’t going to solve the problem.”

Michael Archer, Guernica’s founder, said the magazine would publish a response in the coming days. “The time we are taking to prepare this statement reflects both our understanding of the seriousness of the concerns raised and our commitment to addressing them in a meaningful way,” he wrote in a text.

The essay was published on March 4 and removed a few days later, according to the Wayback Machine, where the first person essay is still available in archived form.

Chen, who was born in England and moved to Israel with her family at the age of 16, writes in the essay about trying to reconnect with a Palestinian friend and former colleague after the October 7 attacks and not knowing how to should respond as her A friend texted back messages about Israeli attacks on a hospital complex in Gaza.

“More than terrible, Ultimately, I wrote, knowing that our conversation was over,” Chen’s essay said. “I felt inexplicably ashamed, as if she was pointing a finger at me. I also felt stupid: this was war, and whether I liked it or not, Nuha and I stood on opposite sides of the bridge I hoped to cross. I had been naive; this conflict was bigger than both of us.”

Chen said in the email that she worked on the essay — her second for Guernica — with the magazine’s editor-in-chief and publisher Jina Moore Ngarambe. Through emails and in an hour-long phone conversation, Chen said, “I got the distinct impression that my essay was appreciated. I received no indication that the editors were not on board.”

She still hasn’t heard from anyone at Guernica, she said Tuesday.

Ngarambe, who worked at The New York Times as East Africa bureau chief in 2017 and 2018, did not respond to requests for comment on Monday and Tuesday.

In the days following the essay’s online publication last week, several Guernica employees announced their resignations from X, calling the essay a betrayal of the editorial principles of the magazine, a nonprofit founded in 2004.

April Zhu, who resigned as editor-in-chief, wrote that she believed the article “fails or refuses to trace the form of power – in this case a violent, imperialist, colonial power – that makes the systematic and historical dehumanization of Palestinians the tacit condition for why it feels the need for ‘shared humanity’ in the first place ‘ to confirm. ‘) a non-problem.”

Summer Lopez, head of free speech programs at the writers group PEN America, said that “a writer’s published work should not be withdrawn from circulation because it arouses public outrage or sharp disagreement.”

“The pressure on American cultural institutions is enormous right now,” Lopez said in a statement. “Those on a mission to advance discourse must do so by safeguarding the freedom to write, read, imagine and tell stories.”

In a mission statement on its website, Guernica says it is “a home for sharp ideas and necessary questions.”

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William Whitworth, respected writer and editor, has died aged 87

Sabir Ansary — Sat, 09 Mar 2024 23:24:56 +0000

William Whitworth, who wrote revealing profiles in The New Yorker expressing his idiomatic subjects and honed the prose of some of the country’s celebrated writers as an associate editor before bringing that magazine’s meticulous standards to The Atlantic, where he was editor-in-chief for twenty years, died Friday in Conway, Ark., near Little Rock. He was 87.

His daughter, Katherine Whitworth Stewart, announced the death. She said he was treated at a hospital after several falls and surgeries.

As a young college graduate, Mr. Whitworth left a promising career as a jazz trumpeter to pursue a different kind of improvisation as a journalist.

He reported breaking news for The Arkansas Gazette and later for The New York Herald Tribune, where his colleagues eventually included some of the most exciting voices in American journalism, including Dick Schaap, Jimmy Breslin and Tom Wolfe.

In 1966, William Shawn, the prim but dictatorial editor of The New Yorker, invited Mr. Whitworth to the venerated weekly. He took the job even though he had already accepted one at The New York Times.

At The New Yorker, he injected humor into pensive “Talk of the Town” vignettes. He also profiled the well-known and the lesser-known, including jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Mingus (accompanied by photos by his former Herald Tribune colleague Jill Krementz) and foreign policy adviser Eugene V. Rostow. He expanded his profile of Mr. Rostow into a 1970 book, “Naïve Questions about War and Peace.”

Mr. Whitworth provided ample opportunity for each individual he profiled to be quoted, and provided each with equally ample petards on which to hoist himself.

In 1966 he wrote with characteristic detachment about Bishop Homer A. Tomlinson, an amiable man from Queens who had run a small advertising agency and now, as president of a flock of the Church of God, had declared himself King of the World. Bishop Tomlinson claimed millions of church members – including all Pentecostals. “He thinks they are his,” Mr. Whitworth wrote, “whether they know it or not.”

Of Joe Franklin, the enduring television and radio host, Mr. Whitworth wrote in 1971 that his office “if it were a person, it would be a bum” — but that “on the air, Joe is more cheerful and positive than Norman.” Vincent Peale and Lawrence Welk combined.”

From 1973 to 1980 at The New Yorker and then at the venerable Atlantic Monthly, where he was editor until his retirement in 1999, and later, when he worked on books, Mr. Whitworth was most respected as a nonfiction editor.

Aside from the writers he guided, encouraged, and protected, his role outside the publishing world was largely unknown. To colleagues who often wondered why he had given up reporting, he suggested that he couldn’t lick them, so he joined then: he had simply grown tired of editors, especially newspaper editors, mangling his prose, that would nevertheless be published under his direction. byline.

“You want to fail on your own terms, not with the voice of someone else who looks like you,” he said at the meeting Oxford American Summit for Aspiring Writers in 2011.

Mr. Whitworth edited in grim perfectionists like film critic Pauline Kael (who nearly came to blows with Mr. Shawn) and Robert A. Caro (who was ultimately so pleased with the final excerpts from “The Power Broker,” his biography of Robert Moses , published in The New Yorker — after Mr. Whitworth intervened with Mr. Shawn — that when The Atlantic published a summary of the first volume of his Lyndon B. Johnson biography, he asked Mr. Whitworth to edit it).

How did he win over recalcitrant writers?

“As long as you kept them in the game and didn’t do things behind their backs, and slowly explained why this would help them, whatever it would do, it protected them and not us, and they came around,” he said. the Oxford American Summit.

For Mr. Whitworth, said the essayist Anne Fadiman, who worked with him at The American Scholar after he left The Atlantic, “editing was a conversation and also a form of teaching.”

At times, Mr. Whitworth offered wise counsel that went beyond editing.

After Garrison Keillor wrote an article for The New Yorker about the Grand Ole Opry, “he pushed me to do a Saturday night variety show of my own, modeled on the Opry, which led to ‘A Prairie Home Companion,’ which is my work for years to come,” Mr. Keillor said by email. “Unusual. Like a sportswriter who becomes a major league pitcher, or an obituary writer who opens a mortuary. I’ve been grateful ever since.”

New Yorker writer Hendrik Hertzberg wrote on his blog in 2011 that, despite Mr. Whitworth’s capacity for self-deprecation, he and Mr. Shawn had much in common, “including a gentle manner, a keen understanding of writerly neuroses and a deep love of jazz.”

In 1980, Mr. Whitworth was considered the most likely candidate to succeed Mr. Shawn, who was stubbornly unwilling to be succeeded. Rather than being complicit in what he described to a friend as “parricide” in a plot to oust Mr. Shawn, he accepted the editorship of The Atlantic from its new owner, Mortimer Zuckerman. He didn’t regret it.

“I got over The New Yorker a long time ago.” he wrote in a letter to Corby Kummer, former editor-in-chief and food columnist at The Atlantic — which, he said, “fulfilled all my expectations and hopes.”

“I couldn’t have been so happy and proud in any other job,” he added.

Under Mr. Whitworth’s editorship, The Atlantic won nine National Magazine Awards, including the 1993 Citation for Overall Excellence.

He also spent months editing copy of Renée C. Fox’s “In the Field: A Sociologist’s Journey” (2011) in a mail exchange that lasted for months without them ever meeting in person.

Mr. Whitworth’s suggestions, Professor Fox recalled Commentary in 2011, “are usually written in his characteristic spicy style, always courteous, friendly and modest in tone, sometimes self-mockery and often dryly witty.”

“The editor,” she continued, “taught the author about intellectual, grammatical, aesthetic, historical, and moral components of writing and editing that were previously imperceptible or unknown to her.”

William Alvin Whitworth was born on February 13, 1937 in Hot Springs, Ark. His mother, Lois (McNabb) Whitworth, was a china and silver buyer at Cave’s Jewelers (where she often assisted Bill Clinton in buying gifts for Hillary). His father, William C. Whitworth, was an advertising executive.

He attended Central High School while working part-time as a copy boy in the advertising department of The Arkansas Democrat. After graduating, he studied English and minored in philosophy at the University of Oklahoma, but dropped out before his senior year to play trumpet in a six-piece jazz band.

He married Carolyn Hubbard; she died in 2005. In addition to their daughter, he is survived by a half-brother, F. Brooks Whitworth. A son, Matthew, died in 2022. Mr. Whitworth had lived in Conway since retiring from The Atlantic.

Literary agent Lynn Nesbit remembered Mr. Whitworth as a “stunningly brilliant and critical editor” whose “own ego never got in the way of his editorial genius.” Charles McGrath, another former New Yorker editor who later edited The New York Times Book Review, said that Mr. Whitworth, unlike Mr. Shawn, was “more loved than feared.”

But he was not a braggart. Although he often quoted Mr. Shawn as saying that “the failure to achieve perfection is merely an endless process,” he more or less replicated what he called The New Yorker’s “neurotic system” of meticulous editing at The Atlantic.

“He taught me that the worst approach for an editor is to do your entire piece with your hands in the hair because you knew how to organize and write it better,” says Mr. Kummer, who is now executive director of Food & Society at the Aspen Institute. .

“The writer’s name was on the piece, not yours,” he continued, “and no matter how fierce the arguments about phrasing, punctuation, paragraph order, or word choice, the writer had to be happy with a piece or it wouldn’t to work. .”

When he assigned Mr. Kummer to edit an article by George F. Kennan, the eminent diplomat and historian, Mr. Whitworth warned Mr. Kummer in no uncertain terms: “No matter how much work you think is needed, remember: he is a giant. ”

But when Mr. Kennan later complained that Mr. Kummer “gave me as much trouble as he gave The New Yorker,” Mr. Whitworth responded, “That’s exactly what I pay him for.”

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Is the Lake District's Hardknott Pass too dangerous to drive? Travel writer SIMON HEPTINSTALL describes the joys of taking the extreme route – as some call for avoiding cars altogether

Albert Elence — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 22:38:18 +0000

Tight hairpin bends lead to a terrifyingly steep gradient. The crumbling asphalt seems to rise before you like a tidal wave.

A stream of rainwater splashes across the middle of the road like a mountain stream.

The last time I climbed the road I reached the steepest part, reached down to shift gears, but found myself already in first. At that moment, a sheep walked nonchalantly in front of me.

On a rainy day it seems incredible that the Hardknott Pass in England's Lake District is officially classified as a normal public road. It is so steep and difficult that motorists are often warned to take huge detours that can double the distance and add an hour to the journey.

Now some are calling on motorists to avoid the road altogether.

The hairpins on the east side of Hardknott Pass, a road that can surprise motorists

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) tells road users: 'It has steep gradients and is a single track road, so depending on the rider or driver experience it may be a road to avoid. It is not advisable to put yourself in danger.'

IAM spokeswoman Heather Butcher said: 'You can read online reviews from various sources confirming that it is a challenging road, a thrill etc, but we would advise all motorcyclists and motorists to approach such roads with caution.'

Even Cumbria Police say that 'people should not look to challenge themselves'.

'We are discouraging guests from coming over the Hardknott Pass,' says local multi-holiday home owner Greg Poole, and even Gill Haigh, MD of Cumbria Tourism, warns: 'We advise everyone to check the weather before heading out, and taking into account the time of year as the highs can be treacherous.'

A recent Tripadvisor reviewer who innocently drove up the pass with her family reported that she “thought we were all going to die.” Her ten-year-old son asked for his inhaler due to a panic attack. “Do yourself a favor and walk,” she wrote.

The west side of Hardknott Pass, with slopes up to 33 percent. The Institute of Advanced Motorists tells road users: 'It has steep gradients and is a single track road, so depending on the rider or driver experience it may be a road to avoid. We advise you not to put yourself in danger'

At the same time as all these concerns, the infamous route has become something of a landmark. Some consider it a rare example of an old-fashioned road worth celebrating.

Hardknott is a short stretch in very mountainous terrain, just behind England's highest peak, Scafell Pike, and our deepest lake, Wastwater.

The colorful owner of nearby Muncaster Castle, Peter Frost-Pennington, regularly drives via Hardknott and calls it 'one of the most exciting and incredible roads to drive, cycle or walk in the whole world', adding: 'It should be on everyone's bucket list.'

And Lakes holiday home owner Greg Poole may warn his visiting guests to take a different route, but choose to take Hardknott himself. “I love driving,” he says. 'It is exciting, challenging, beautiful, sometimes scary but never boring; you certainly won't fall asleep behind the wheel.'

This beautiful photo shows the view westwards from Hardknott Pass towards the village of Eskdale

The problem for Hardknott is that naive tourists take the scenic drive west from the chic atmosphere of Ambleside's tea rooms. Often they drive straight into Hardknott – one of the most challenging stretches of road in Europe, with a succession of one in three hairpin bends.

How does Hardknott Pass really drive?

The road approaching Hardknott initially rises gently from a small lake. Signs warn motorists: 'Narrow road. Heavy turns.' By then it's too late. There is no alternative route.

The road quickly becomes a series of ridiculous hairpins the width of a bridleway, with a constantly disintegrating surface and unguarded gradients of hundreds of metres.

The most difficult section of Hardknott is less than a few kilometers long, but rises 316 meters at a gradient of 25 percent. The last scary part is a breathtaking 33 percent. The sign 'unsuitable for caravans' next to it seems a humorous understatement.

These slopes are steeper than most Alpine passes and cross the famous mountain stages of the Tour de France cycling race.

A few elite cyclists manage to climb the pass. Mailonline travel editor Ted Thornhill bravely attempted the pass on two wheels last summer, telling how he had to dismount and push his bike at several points.

Wild road: A recent Tripadvisor reviewer who innocently drove up the pass with her family reported that she 'thought we were all going to die'

A 2019 Eurosport documentary followed a cyclist through a rigorous six-week training regime in preparation for Hardknott's approach. In the end, probably to the horror of the program makers, he still failed to catch up.

My own experience of Hardknott was as a car passenger with a super-confident military team on their way to climb Scafell Pike. Unaware of the dangers of the pass, we hit the switchbacks in the early hours amid torrential rain. The driving officer struggled as the wheels strained repeatedly and the engine screamed.

Amid a tsunami of special swear words we made up, but the driver stayed in the car to recover while we climbed the peak and then he took the longer route back.

My second visit was winding down – with a businessman in his new Jaguar. I had warned about the Hardknott descent, but he thought his shiny Jag could easily tackle a small Cumbrian gradient.

Mailonline travel editor Ted Thornhill (above) bravely attempted to make the pass on two wheels last summer

However, within seconds of reaching the edge of the pass, he discovered a type of road he had never encountered before. His wide luxury limousine was completely inappropriate.

He pulled up the rocky edge to catch his breath. Red-faced and silent, he made his way to the foot of the hill at a speed of several kilometers per hour.

Finally I set out to tackle Hardknott both down and up in my own car.

Yes, sometimes it feels like you're falling backwards, but when your car is 100 percent fine, the weather is good and your revs and gears are good, it's all quite fun.

For drivers in this age of health and safety, smart highways and self-driving cars, Hardknott seems like a flashback to a time when you had to concentrate as if your life depended on it (it does).

The reward for all that hectic steering and shifting is access to a mountain landscape of wild beauty. Waterfalls, steep cliffs and views must be the same as they were for the Romans who first built the road.

On either side of Hardknott, cliffs rise into the clouds, while strong mountain sheep roam confidently across the road. They don't worry about 'traffic'. To them it must seem as if the cars are the outsiders.

Devon Moods: Landscape Photography Inspired by Devon, with photographs by Gary Holpin and text by Simon Heptinstall, is now available from Amazonpriced £15.99.

Devon Moods: Landscape Photography Inspired by Devon, with photographs by Gary Holpin and text by Simon Heptinstall, is now available from Amazonpriced £15.99

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Publisher Harry Potter sees profits rise thanks to a novel by a female science fiction writer

Jeffrey Bailey — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 23:56:49 +0000

BOOM times are back at Harry Potter book publisher Bloomsbury – thanks to fantasy fiction writer Sarah J Maas.

The company said profits and revenues will be higher than expected if readers pick up its latest novel, House of Flame and Shadow.

Sarah J Maas' latest novel House of Flame and Shadow was a hit around the world

Harry Potter remains one of Bloomsbury's best-selling seriesCredit: Capital Pictures

It was a hit in the UK, US, Australia and elsewhere, boosting sales of the author's previous 15 books.

The company's shares rose 7 percent yesterday.

Bloomsbury has six more titles in the pipeline as part of the contract with Maas, who has been with them for more than a decade.

According to Nielsen Bookscan, the fantasy and sci-fi genre in Britain has grown by more than 50 percent in the past five years.

Harry Potter remains one of Bloomsbury's best-selling series.

Top sellers recently included The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac gift book.

Other recent bestsellers include Ghosts, the companion book to the BBC series, and Pub Kitchen by Tom Kerridge.

Harry Potter fans will be enchanted by the Wizarding World at Universal Studios

Thin good

THOUSANDS of price cuts helped home furnishing store Dunelm's half-year profits rise by almost five percent to £123 million.

It warned that “the outlook for consumers remains uncertain” but said it can appeal to customers because it has “a firm grip on operating costs”.

Nick Wilkinson told The Sun: 'We actually cut prices by a few thousand this time last year and over the summer'Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd

Boss Nick Wilkinson told The Sun: “We actually cut prices by a few thousand this time last year and over the summer.”

Sales rose 4.5 per cent in the six months to the end of December, while the average price for an item fell slightly to just £14.

On a volume basis (number of items), sales increased by six percent.

Mr Wilkinson said he was pleased with the “wide variety” of new customers, while existing customers were returning “more often”.

The chain employs more than 11,000 employees and four new stores will be opened in six months, bringing the total to 183.

It hopes to open another four this year and the same again next year, with a focus on London and Scotland, where there are gaps in coverage.

It pleased shareholders by announcing a £71m special dividend of 35p per share, to be paid in April.

It says it is on track for full-year profit guidance of £202 million in 2023-2024.

Russ Mold analyst AJ Bell said: “The steady performance is impressive given the pressure on household budgets in Britain. It suggests that the company is finding the right balance in terms of price, quality and product.”

A Lyft of blooper

SHARES in a taxi company Lyft rose more than 60 percent on Tuesday after making a crucial mistake in its results.

Lyft said margins would grow by “500 basis points,” or 5 percent, when it should have said 50 basis points, or 0.5 percent.

Shares fell as bosses confessed.

But shares still finished 16 percent higher on news that cost cuts had been successful.

Lyft cut 1,200 employees last year and cut costs by 12 percent.

A fall in house prices of £4,000

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the average UK house price fell by £4,000 last year.

It's a drop of almost £11 a day.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the average UK house price fell by £4,000 last yearCredit: PA

The typical house price in December 2023 was £285,000, 1.4 percent lower than in 2022.

It was also the sixth month in a row with price falls.

Property values fell by 2.1 percent annually in England and 2.5 percent in Wales, but rose by 3.3 percent in Scotland and 1.4 percent in Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, London was hardest hit in Britain, with house prices falling 4.8 percent.

Propertymark's Nathan Emerson said the housing market has gone through a period of disruption.

He said: “It means people cannot afford houses in the same way they could during a period of economic growth.”

Private rents paid by tenants also rose by 6.2 percent in the year to January.

Virgo in buyout

FIVE years after teaming up with Abrdn to launch an investment business, major bank Virgin Money is investing £20m to buy out the fund manager.

Virgin Money Investments manages approximately £3.7 billion of client assets and has more than 150,000 client accounts.

Virgin Money, which has around 6.6 million UK customers, said the deal would help it achieve its growth ambitions.

Stocks are buzzing

COCA-COLA'S European bottling company saw its shares rise by almost 8 percent yesterday after posting a record profit of £815 million.

Coca-Cola HBC said sales rose 17 percent last year as there was strong demand for its energy drinks and coffee products.

It increased its dividend by a fifth after initially forecasting earnings would rise 7 percent this year.

It said future growth will be boosted by the purchase of Finlandia Vodka in November for £153m.

HMRC has told taxpayers to be wary of false tax refund offers.

In the year to January it received 207,800 referrals from the public about suspicious emails, text messages or phone calls.

The number of reports increased by 14 percent compared to the previous year.

£25m rainy discount

Last year's series of storms will leave North West water supplier United Utilities £25 million worse off, the report says.

High rainfall has negatively affected its performance, meaning it will receive a smaller service payment from water regulator Ofwat.

The company said: “There have been fourteen named storms since the start of 2023, nine of which have occurred since the end of September.”

But the water company will still receive a £40 million Ofwat payment that rewards companies for providing good service to customers.

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Chinese-Australian writer detained by China receives suspended death sentence

Jeffrey Bailey — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 06:34:12 +0000

An Australian writer and businessman held in China since 2019 on national security charges was found guilty and given a death sentence on Monday, suspended for two years, according to the Australian government, in a blow to warming Australian-Australian relations. China.

If the businessman, Yang Hengjun, does not commit crimes in those two years, the sentence could be commuted to life imprisonment, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. said in a statement. She described the verdict as 'harrowing'.

The lengthy detention of Mr Yang – also known by his legal name Yang Jun – is one of the sources of tension between Australia and China. Now the harsh sentence could once again weigh on relations, which had improved following the election of a new, centre-left Labor government in Australia in 2022. The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, visited Beijing late last year and has urged the support of the Mr Yang. Edition.

“The Australian Government will communicate our response in the strongest terms,” Ms Wong said, adding: “We have consistently called for basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment for Dr. Yang, in accordance with international standards and Chinese standards. legal obligations.” She said she had instructed officials to bring in Xiao Qian, the Chinese ambassador to Australia.

Ms Wong's statement did not provide details of the specific charges against Mr Yang or what crime he was found guilty of. The severity of the sentence suggests that a Chinese court has found him guilty of espionage. for which he was tried in 2021.

Mr Yang, 58, was born in China and became an Australian citizen in 2000. He completed a dissertation there that focused on the Internet and democratization in China. Mr. Yang, who described himself as a former employee of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. He had been critical of human rights abuses under the Chinese government, but became more cautious in his public comments in the years before his detention, as dissent in China came under tighter scrutiny.

He disappeared in early 2019, shortly after arriving in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou from New York, where he had been a visiting scholar at Columbia University. According to Ms Wong's statement, he was held for more than two years before undergoing a closed-door trial in May 2021. The final verdict and sentence had been repeatedly postponed.

The espionage charges Yang faced were “fabricated,” his friend Feng Chongyi, a professor at Sydney University of Technology who was himself detained by Chinese authorities in 2017, said in an email.

“This is a serious case of injustice, but Dr. Yang cannot appeal due to his poor health,” he said. “Five years of arbitrary detention and torture have taken a heavy toll on his health. He is now seriously ill. The top priority for Dr. Yang is to immediately receive proper medical treatment under medical condition.”

Mr. Yang told the supporters the previous year, a large cyst had developed in his kidney that he feared would kill him in prison without adequate treatment.

“The entire prosecution, which lasted five years, was shrouded in secrecy and fraught with allegations of torture and ill-treatment,” said Yaqiu Wang, the China research director for Freedom House, an advocacy group critical of the Chinese government's record. in the field of human rights. , according to a written response to questions. “Beijing's complete disregard for international human rights laws and norms is now extending to citizens of other countries.”

In a September 2020 message relayed to his family and supporters from a Beijing detention center, Mr Yang proclaimed his innocence and vowed to fight to the end. “I will never admit to something I didn't do,” he said.

The verdict comes as once-icy relations between Australia and China showed signs of thawing, with the two nations taking steps toward rapprochement for months, starting with the change in Australia's government. That was followed by meetings between the two countries' foreign ministers, the release in October of a detained Australian journalist and, in November, the first visit by an Australian Prime Minister to Beijing since 2016.

Speaking in Beijing in November 2023, Australian Prime Minister Mr Albanese said it was in the interests of both countries, their economies and the security of the wider region to 'stabilize' their relationship.

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The city break that’ll bring even the surliest of teens to life: Inside Washington DC – the capital of cool for youngsters. It’ll even distract them from their phones, our writer discovers…

Albert Elence — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 08:40:19 +0000

‘Welcome to the capital of the world!’ exclaimed our taxi driver as we crossed the Potomac into Washington DC.

My teenagers’ eyes shone with excitement.

Given that eight hours earlier they’d barely been speaking to me as I informed the British Airways stewardess I was a nervous flyer and therefore quite keen for a gin and tonic, things were looking up.

‘Look left and you’ll see the White House,’ continued the driver, and we peered through the dark to see the famous building lit up like a wedding cake, before he segued into the best sneaker (trainer) stores in the city and where to go for ‘half smoke’ hot dogs, a local delicacy.

Thus began our week in DC, and the sheer cheerful brilliance of the American capital never let up.

MailOnline Travel’s Harriet Arkell visited Washington DC with her two teenage boys, describing the U.S capital as being cheerfully brilliant. Above – the eastern facade of the Capitol Building, the seat of the United States Congress

Harriet and her boys went on an informative and gripping guided tour of the Capitol Building, which included hearing about how the Rotunda frieze (above) was painted by Italian artist Constantino Brumidi

‘America’s front yard’: The National Mall stretches two miles from the Lincoln Memorial in the west to the Capitol in the east

Culture, sport, trainers and chili dogs: Washington DC promised it all.

It turns out the city is compact and easy to navigate, whether on foot, via the cheap (and architecturally stunning) Metro, buses, or via the plentiful Ubers, whose drivers were all huge fans of their city and full of advice.

They said we’d be safe in tourist areas, but that there were areas in the south-east of the city they wouldn’t go to for fear of being car-jacked or accidentally shot in crossfire. (‘OMG, GTA’, whispered my 16-year-old.)

The Washington Monument, pictured, is located between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol Building

Stunning Brutalist architecture: The Metro is beautiful to look at, cheap and easy to use

But we were here for culture, not computer games, so we stayed firmly in the tourist areas and never felt unsafe for a second as we tackled what we were really there to see: the American capital’s world-famous museums, monuments and galleries, most of which are contained within, or bordered by, the landscaped National Mall.

Whatever you’re interested in, there’s a museum dedicated to it in DC, from harmonicas to the Bible to spying.

Thanks to a rich Englishman named James Smithson, who left his fortune to the cause of furthering education in the United States (bizarrely without ever setting foot in the country), the mighty Smithsonian Institution now runs 17 museums and galleries in DC, all of them free, and they are the best of the best.

Even the surliest of teens will come alive when they see the treasures in DC, as I discovered.

So, at the National Air and Space Museum we saw Neil Armstrong’s NASA spacesuit from his 1969 moon landing, as well as the Spirit of St Louis, the actual (tiny) plane flown solo across the Atlantic in 1927 by 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh (it took him 33 and a half hours).

The National Air and Space Museum was one of many highlights. It houses myriad treasures, including the Spirit of St Louis, the actual (tiny) plane flown solo across the Atlantic in 1927 by 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh

LEFT: Out of this world: Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit from the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing at the National Air and Space Museum. RIGHT: The very first Kermit at the National Museum of American History – another spellbinding experience. The original green Muppet was made by Jim Henson in 1955

At the National Museum of American History we enjoyed seeing the very first Kermit, made out of Jim Henson’s jeans and his mum’s old coat, the original Star-Spangled Banner, and Dorothy’s actual ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz.

The National Museum of African American History & Culture houses the coffin of Emmett Till Jnr, whose story shocked us to tears: lynched aged just 14, accused of offending a white woman in a shop.

We wanted to see American art, and were spoilt for choice with an array of world-class galleries. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is stuffed with unmissable works by Edward Hopper, Albert Bierstadt, and Agnes Tait, while the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) next door captivated us with its presidential portraits.

Harriet gazed upon Edward Hopper’s People In The Sun (1960), inspired by NYC sunbathers, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Harriet found the National Portrait Gallery ‘captivating’. Above is the gallery’s portrait of Michelle Obama, the first African American first lady of the United States

In fact so enthralled were my sons by the cultural jewels of DC that not once all week did they whip out their phones in any of the museums or galleries other than to photograph things – an incredible feat that parents of teenagers will understand.

‘Watch out for the Presidential cavalcade,’ our Uber driver warned us as we headed to the very cool Planet Word museum. ‘If you don’t get out the way soon enough, the Secret Service won’t hesitate to shoot.’

We never got the chance to test this. Or see the inside of where the President works. For security reasons, Brits (and other foreign nationals) can’t go inside the White House at the moment, but the Capitol Building more than makes up for it with an informative and gripping guided tour.

Inside the Rotunda, we stood, rapt, as our enthusiastic female guide described how the 70-something Italian artist Constantino Brumidi fell in 1879 while painting the 48ft-high frieze, grabbing onto scaffolding and dangling for several minutes before he was rescued. The old man, who spent 25 years of his life painting the Capitol, was so shaken by the incident he gave up the next day.

Washington DC is also packed with monuments and memorials to former presidents, war veterans and key characters from the nation’s history.

The best way to see them all without spending all day trekking up and down the National Mall is on a guided bike tour (unlimitedbiking.com/tours/monuments-and-memorials-bike-tour), which takes three (leisurely) hours and is led by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide.

Most of the American capital’s world-famous museums, monuments and galleries are contained within, or bordered by, the landscaped National Mall (above)

We also loved hiring Lime electric scooters, ubiquitous on DC’s wide and empty streets, to zip around the city.

No visit to DC is complete without a trip to the enormous Capital One Arena, home to the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals, who were playing the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs (n.b not ‘leaves’) when we visited.

The ice hockey was addictive to watch: fast and furious, aggressive yet balletic. And it was impossible not to join in with the home crowd hollering for their team. For sheer full-on American good fun, this was hard to beat.

The ultimate in American fun: A night watching ice hockey at Capital One Arena (above) is hard to beat, says Harriet

Undercover billionaire: Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards

Earlier, browsing the gift shop, a charming older American man had approached us, and his female companion asked if we wanted our photo taken with him. Given that everyone in DC is incredibly friendly and polite, we accepted graciously.

Only later did we discover the man was in fact Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Caps, the Washington Wizards, and the arena we were in. A billionaire twice over.

In contrast to the din of the ice hockey game, a peaceful cruise along the Potomac to Georgetown showed the fall colours in all their tranquil glory against a bright blue sky.

DC’s oldest and most charming neighbourhood, Georgetown has upmarket boutiques, pretty painted townhouses, and smart bars and restaurants along the waterfront. Bring your credit card – the locals have deep pockets, and there are prices in the shops to match.

DC’s oldest and most charming neighbourhood, Georgetown (above) has upmarket boutiques, pretty painted townhouses, and smart bars and restaurants along the waterfront, says Harriet

Bring your credit card to Georgetown (above), suggests Harriet – ‘the locals have deep pockets, and there are prices in the shops to match’

Harriet with sons John, 13, and Rupert, 16, on the National Mall

We had dinner at Sequoia, a super-friendly American restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the river, on which Georgetown University rowers sculled.

The boys are still talking about the pudding we shared: a ‘skillet chocolate cookie’ served hot in the pan with white chocolate chips and vanilla ice cream.

Which brings me on to the only downside to our trip: you will not return home feeling slimmer than you left. You may, like us, only have eaten vegetables twice all week.

But the food was fabulous – a glory of all the American favourites we’d hoped for, and a teenage boy’s dream.

At Founding Farmers & Distillers (on Massachusetts Avenue), fried chicken came with a freshly-cooked hot cinnamon sugar waffle – sounds weird, it worked – and mac n cheese. While for brunch on our last day we feasted on spicy breakfast tacos with Mexican cotija cheese.

Ben’s Chili Bowl is a must-visit, declares Harriet. Obama and the Pope have also beaten a track to this DC institution on U Street

Yum’s the word: Harriet tucked into Ben’s Original Chili Half-Smoke and Chili Cheese Fries

At Founding Farmers & Distillers on Massachusetts Avenue (above two images), Harriet and the boys ordered fried chicken, which came with a freshly-cooked hot cinnamon sugar waffle. ‘Sounds weird, it worked’, concludes Harriet

Ben’s Chili Bowl, best known for its ‘original half-smoke’ hot dog with chili sauce and original 1950s decor, is a must-visit (Obama and the Pope have also beaten a track to this DC institution on U Street), and we all loved the ‘puffy eggs’ for breakfast at Piccolina da Centrolina.

Waldorf Astoria Washington DC: Impossibly glamorous old-school luxe

Hotel heaven: The impressive Waldorf Astoria and its fairytale turrets

Donald Trump once ran this town and his presence is still very much felt, from the schoolchildren wearing orange Trump wigs as they tour the sights, and the occasional ‘Wanted for President 2024’ T-shirt bearing the former President’s mugshot, to the ‘Roving Anti-Trumpism Bandwagon’ outside the Lincoln Memorial selling $4 badges saying, ‘He’s indicted and it feels so good.’

One place you won’t find a trace of Trump, however, is the legendary hotel that once bore his name – the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, formerly the Trump International Hotel.

Opened in its new guise in 2022, this glorious building, the Old Post Office, boasts fairytale turrets, a famous clock tower, and an unbeatable location on Pennsylvania Avenue, aka ‘America’s Main Street’, which links the White House to the United States Capitol.

Staying here feels like the very essence of the American capital.

The ‘breath-taking’ atrium at Waldorf Astoria Washington DC

Bought from Trump for $375million, Waldorf Astoria Washington DC ‘is one of the grandest and most luxurious hotels in the U.S, and the ultimate place to stay in DC’

The opulent rooms are next level in terms of luxe and glamour

Beds at the Waldorf Astoria are ‘enormous and incredibly comfortable’

Bought from Trump for $375million, it is one of the grandest and most luxurious hotels in the U.S, and the ultimate place to stay in DC.

The huge, soaring atrium takes your breath away, with an enormous Stars and Stripes flag hanging at one end, sharp-suited DC power brokers murmuring over $18 bowls of granola beneath it, and the beautiful Bazaar restaurant at the other.

The opulent rooms are next level in terms of luxe and glamour: beds are enormous and incredibly comfortable, marble bathrooms boast goodies by Aesop, and many of the rooms have fantastic views – my boys were thrilled to see the FBI headquarters from theirs. You can see even further from the 270ft-tall deck of the Old Post Office Tower, which is free to enter for residents and non-residents alike.

A taste of Spain: The jamonero at The Bazaar by José Andrés restaurant carved Harriet and her clan jamon iberico at their table

The current President, sadly, is nowhere to be seen, while a staff member admitted to me that he missed the last one, saying Trump and his chums ‘spent a lot of money’ and tipped well. But the money doesn’t appear to disappeared entirely, judging by the enormous luxury SUVs we saw parked outside.

The Bazaar by José Andrés is one of the hottest restaurant tickets in DC right now – and was one of the most memorable aspects of our stay.

Featuring tapas with a nod to American history and a large dose of theatrics, from cocktails that arrive in a puff of nitrogen to tiny ‘Crab Louie Cones’ and jamon Iberico carved at your table by a ‘jamonero’, our dinner here was the foodie highlight of our trip.

If you possibly can get a table here (book well in advance), it’s worth it. The food and service were phenomenal.

The hotel was the icing on the cake for this break.

Washington DC as a tourist destination? It got the thumbs up from my boys, who said it was the ‘best trip ever’.

But it deserves a presidential seal of approval.

WASHINGTON DC TOP TIPS

OTHER HILTON OPTIONS

For the ultimate luxe you can’t beat the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC – this place oozes old-school glamour.

If style and modern comfort are your priorities, put the stunningly beautiful Conrad Washington DC on your radar. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the architects famous for London’s Tate Modern, this hotel offers low-key luxury with charming staff, fabulous food, and a very smart gym.

If style and modern comfort are your priorities, put the stunningly beautiful Conrad Washington DC (above) on your radar, urges Harriet

Embassy Suites by Hilton Washington DC Convention Center is aimed at families on a budget. It’s very centrally located and offers two-room suites with sitting rooms and kitchenettes. There’s a small gym, a pool, and breakfast is included.

RESTAURANTS

Founding Farmers & Distillers won our vote for friendly service and and delicious full-on American food. Packed with locals ordering huge plates of BBQ ribs, chicken pot pie and crispy shrimp with cornbread and coleslaw, this is majority owned by American farmers and prides itself on cooking everything from scratch. There’s also an onsite distillery, and homemade chocolates to take home.

Mi Vida is a loud, fun and authentic Mexican restaurant (actually there are three in DC). We loved the enchiladas (much spicier than we’re used to back home) and the ‘La Medicina’ cocktail made with Sotol, a Mexican spirit made from a shrub in the Chihuahuan desert.

Beloved BBQ at Love, Makoto is a Japanese steakhouse that is a real treat for the serious meat-lover, with smokeless grills in the middle of every table. You’re brought platters of raw Wagyu and Japanese A5 steak and then cook them to your liking using the tongs provided. The puddings here are incredible.

WHEN TO GO

Spring is when most visitors go to DC, to see the famous blossom on the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin. And the weather is perfect. Summer can be hot and humid, while winters are cold and snow is not uncommon.

Autumn is a perfect time to visit, with warm temperatures and beautiful fall colours in front of a bright blue sky.

Harriet Arkell travelled to Washington DC as a guest of Destination DC and Hilton Hotels. For help on planning your trip and more information visit washington.org.

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Should there be a law that makes cats wear bells? GMB descends into chaos as writer claims she's happy '1,000 birds are being slaughtered' to keep her pet happy amid debate over wildlife protection

Sabir Ansary — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 05:02:58 +0000

A fiery debate has erupted on Good Morning Britain today over whether domestic cats should wear bells to stop them killing birds.

Seasoned presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls seemed puzzled by the arguments of 'bird lover' Sally Jones and British journalist Flora Gill – who shouted that she would 'slaughter a thousand birds if it would keep my cat happy!'.

The chaos intensified when Sally admitted using 'air guns' to 'shoot' and kill mice from her daughter's bedroom window, making cats redundant.

Ed revealed that a recent study found that cats kill around 75 million birds and small animals every year. To combat this, places like Amsterdam could soon pass a law making it mandatory for cats to wear bells.

During an appearance on Good Morning Britain today, British journalist Flora Gill (pictured) exclaimed that she would 'slaughter a thousand birds if it kept my cat happy!'

'Bird lover' Sally Jones (pictured) shockingly admitted shooting mice from her daughter's bedroom window, making cats redundant

A poll was opened for viewers who voted for birds and said cats should be forced to wear bells.

Flora kicked off the debate, saying, “I mean, I can't force my cat to wear a bell. The cats don't do anything they don't want to do, including wearing a bell.

'It seems like a lot of fun, but I don't think it's feasible. I don't want to keep my cat indoors because he won't wear a bell.'

When Susanna asked if her cat, Panda, regularly kills birds, the reporter admitted that it has happened “maybe once.”

Dismayed by this, Sally quickly said, “Ring a bell on Panda. I've heard people say that cats only kill birds and mice and oh “you know it's fine if the cat is near your bird, it only kills rats and mice”.

'And then you know that five minutes later you have a cat sitting there with a beautiful bullfinch in its mouth. I would go crazy.

'I love birds. I love cats very much, I have nothing against them. If a cat puts a collar around its neck, if it doesn't like it, it can't take it off.'

The back and forth turned up a notch when Flora responded that Sally's words weren't true.

Seasoned presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls seemed surprised by the arguments of today's guests

A debate arose over whether domestic cats should wear bells to prevent them from killing birds

“My cat takes it off all the time,” she added, noting that many cat collars are designed to pop open to avoid getting tangled in branches.

Susanna came up with the idea that cats are useful because they get rid of rats and mice, but Sally had other ideas.

'There are plenty of other ways to kill rats and mice. I actually shoot from my daughter's bedroom window. Rats out the window.

Her words left the entire panel stunned, especially Susanna, who seemed speechless.

“Thank God,” Ed said. While Susanna asked, “Do you have a permit for that?”

The poll was taken to X, where 59 percent of users agreed that cats should be forced to wear bells, while 41 percent disagreed

Flora then added that she no longer has a rodent problem thanks to her crafty cat, who she jokingly said was outside “killing birds.”

“I have to say I would kill a thousand birds if it made my cat happy,” she concluded.

Both guests went back and forth in anger, causing Susana to intervene.

“I didn't really expect this testimony to be so controversial on both sides,” she admitted.

She then closed the segment by taking the survey to viewers, where 59 percent agreed that cats should be forced to wear bells, while 41 percent disagreed.

Take to Xformerly known as Twitter, one person said: 'The woman who says she would kill a thousand birds to make her cat happy is an absolute psychopath. How disgusting'.

Another asked: 'She shoots rats from the bedroom window?! Is that legal?'

Meanwhile, one person had no problem with it, adding: “My cats always wore bells.”

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Princess Diana WOULD still have done an impressive interview even if she hadn't been duped by disgraced BBC man Martin Bashir – but it might not have been so inflammatory, claims royal writer Tina Brown

Sabir Ansary — Fri, 19 Jan 2024 05:31:34 +0000

The TV interview with Bashir was watched by 23 million people in 1995
Diana told now disgraced journalist 'there were three people in this marriage'

By Harry Howard, History Correspondent

Published: 07:06 EST, January 18, 2024 | Updated: 07:19 EST, January 18, 2024

Princess Diana would still have done an impressive interview even if she hadn't been duped by BBC journalist Martin Bashir, claims royal writer Tina Brown.

The late Royal's TV interview with Bashir was watched by 23 million people in 1995 and caused a global media frenzy.

She told Bashir 'there were three people in this marriage' – a reference to then Prince Charles's affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, now Queen Consort.

By then, Diana and Charles had been separated for three years and would divorce in 1996.

It later emerged that to secure access to the princess, Bashir showed her brother, Earl Spencer, fake bank statements showing that his former head of security had received money from tabloids and the security services to spy on his sister.

Once he gained access, Bashir told Diana a series of lies, convincing her that Prince Charles was having an affair with then-royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke and that she became pregnant and had an abortion as a result.

However, Ms Brown, 70, who has published a series of books about Diana and the royal family, believes the princess would still have spoken to the press even if she had not been misled by Bashir.

Princess Diana would still have done an impressive interview even if she had not been duped by BBC journalist Martin Bashir, claims royal writer Tina Brown.

The late Royal's TV interview with Bashir was watched by 23 million people in 1995 and caused a global media frenzy

She told the Scandal Mongers podcast: 'I believe that Diana still said everything she wanted to say in that interview, and I actually believe that she would have given an interview to someone else. wanted to unload all that.

“But maybe it wouldn't have been the kind of bridge-burning tension it was if she hadn't had the illusion that all those people were spying on her.”

Bashir also ordered false bank statements purporting to show how payments into the account of Diana's private secretary, Patrick Jephson, were made by intelligence services monitoring Diana's movements.

Mr Jephson resigned in January 1996 after what he later called a “very awkward” final meeting with Diana.

In 2022, the BBC paid him significant compensation and apologized 'unreservedly'.

Speaking about the incident involving Ms Legge-Bourke, who she approached at a party and said 'sorry about the baby' under the false belief she had been pregnant with Charles' child, Ms Brown added: 'That all sounded like that's how she went. , you know, crazy, basically.

Ms. Brown's most recent book, The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor, the Truth and the Turmoil, was published in 2022

“But of course we now understand that Charles had told her that Tiggy Legge-Bourke had aborted a child and that Patrick Jephson was her chief spy.”

A bombshell report revealed that Bashir lied to obtain his interview with Diana.

The independent investigation found the disgraced journalist used 'deceptive' methods which were later covered up by a 'woefully ineffective' internal investigation by Tony Hall, who later became director general of the BBC.

Ms. Brown's most recent book, The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor, the Truth and the Turmoil, was published in 2022.

In 2007 she published the biographical work The Diana Chronicles.

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