In the News this Week - 10/2/26

Locally it seems that Kier Starmer's days as Prime Minister may be numbered, particularly given that he appointed Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the USA, but Starmer's Chief of Staff seems to have taken the fall for that one.  However with Mandelson's homes being searched at the weekend that may not be enough to keep Starmer in office despite his Cabinet members rallying behind him.  

I know I've been guilty of moaning about the amount of rain we've had - it's miserable again today - but at least we don't face the prospect of the flooding that's happened in some areas.  Please say Spring is on the way.

It's difficult to find an International news story that isn't likely to upset someone.  I did manage to find this uplifting story of how a 13 year old Australian managed to swim to shore and raise the alarm after his family were swept out to sea.

In Sport of course the big story is the Winter Olympics.  I've enjoyed watching the Ice Skating and the Curling has been worth a watch as our mixed pair started off well but lost in the semi finals so now they are competing for Bronze.  One of the big upsets though was Lindsey Vonn crashing out of the Downhill Skiing events.  Personally I can't imagine why she even wanted to attempt the downhill run with ruptured ligaments but competing in the Olympics means so much to some athletes that they are prepared to take big risks.  The fall Lindsey sustained has led to a really bad injury to her leg which will require multiple surgeries and a long recovery period.  But she has no regrets as stated in this article.

In Entertainment news the release of the film adaptation of Wuthering Heights has received mixed reviews. I've struggled to read the book - I've started it twice but have yet to finish it.  I do prefer to read before I watch so I won't be rushing to watch this version.

And for Miscellaneous I have worked out why the Foodbank is getting such huge donations of potatoes from the charity Felix.  (Felix takes surplus food that would be destined for waste and either makes meals from it or passes it on to Foodbanks.)  Anyway according to an article I read in the paper at the weekend, farmers estimate that demand for potatoes is down by as much as 10% and they blame this on the rapid increase in people taking weight loss drugs who are eating less and avoiding snacks which include potatoes as well as frozen chips and starchy foods.  It's estimated that between 1.5 and 1.6 million people in the UK have used weight loss jabs in the past year.  Well their weight loss is our gain as we are being given crates of potatoes each week.  The trouble is we're finding it hard to pass them on - our demand seems to have dropped too.  Beneficiaries are still enjoying the jacket potatoes we provide each week though.

And finally, Glasgow's Tree of the Year will now be competing against trees from Europe to be named best in Europe.  Personally I wouldn't want it right outside my window!