In the News this Week - 3/2/26

Well I'm trying to keep my blogging up so I'm resurrecting this idea which I was doing 10 years ago!  The idea is to find stories under the headings of:

LOCAL

INTERNATIONAL

SPORT

ENTERTAINMENT and

MISCELLANEOUS

LOCALLY the big talk seems to be about the works that Thames Water are doing in our area.  This has led to various temporary traffic lights all over the place where the road is restricted to single file traffic.  There are also some roads that have been completely closed involving diversions.  These are often planned works - our Victorian infrastructure is gradually being updated but.....then add in works due to burst pipes here and we have chaos, particularly when some bus routes are on not one, but often 2 diversions.  It's produced some heated discussions on Facebook and there is no end to this in sight. Sigh!

One of the big INTERNATIONAL story that keeps rumbling on is all about the Jeffrey Epstein files and why no one is being prosecuted despite their clear associations with Epstein.  Prominent figures here in the UK are of course Andrew Mountbatten (the former Prince) and Peter Mandelson (former US Ambassador).   Although it seems clear that if any prosecution were to be brought against Andrew he would not be getting any support from the royal family.

In SPORT - well who knew that the production of cricket bats was such a complicated thing?  Not me for sure.  But the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) which seems to be the authority on all things cricket, will be amending Law 5.8, entitled "categories of bat" to allow bats that were previously illegal to be used.  As well as 72 other changes to the Laws.  And I thought it was just a game lol.  People do seem to take it very seriously though. 

One big ENTERTAINMENT event this week was of course The Grammys.  Obviously a star studded affair with all sorts of wonderful (?) outfits on display which you can read about here.  Many of the names were completely unknown to me including that of Olivia Dean (winner of the Best New Artist award) despite the fact that apparently she grew up in Highams Park where I live.

And for MISCELLANEOUS  I give you SKIPTON, apparently the happiest place to live in the UK.  Not in the news this week, the poll results were back in December but hey my blog, my rules.

As you can see I've stayed away from too much doom and gloom or anything contentious but I'm working my way back into this gradually.

And did you know that the BBC are about to air a four part dramatisation of William Golding's "Lord of the Flies"?  There's an article about it here but personally having read the book I'll be giving it a miss.