4/ Russian milbloggers continue to warn that Ukrainian counterattacks and false reports of advances in other areas of the frontline are creating difficult situations to which the Russian military command cannot adequately respond.

NEW: The seniormost Russian military command presented a highly inaccurate assessment of the battlefield situation for the fifth consecutive month, absurdly claiming that Russian forces are advancing west of Kupyansk, which they have not, in fact, taken. More: isw.pub/UkrWar051626

I thought I'd have some fun with Facebook and type in a search for "male pattern baldness" Let's see what happens to my timeline over the next day or two 😅

Manchester, 1976, photo by John Bulmer.

Morning all Photograph by Steve Daniels, Ice cream van on the beach Whitby Tuesday, 17 May, 2016.

“The first-past-the-post system has provided Britain with stable government for generations.” — Margaret Thatcher, Jan 1998. “FPTP has served Britain well. It has usually produced strong governments capable of taking decisive action” — John Major, Feb 2011. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Farage literally wrote the book on this…

The oxygen that keeps us alive comes from natural ecosystems: half on land, half at sea. It's not complicated: we are TOTALLY dependent on the living world. Yet it's still treated as nothing but 'resources', to exploit and destroy for profit.

The UK has avoided the need for gas imports worth £1.7bn since the start of the Iran war, as a result of record electricity generation from wind and solar. 🔎 This is according to a new analysis by Carbon Brief. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-win... #DonaldTrump #ActOnClimate #ClimateActionNow

Immigration make Britain brilliant

"King Arthur* is said to have transformed into a chough when he died" - The Guardian enters an alternative facts universe *Who never existed www.theguardian.com/environment/...

36% chance that Starmer will not be challenged by Burnham?

A Blairite, Brownite, Corbynite and a Starmerite went into a bar. The barman said "So, what are you drinking Mr. Burnham?"

Why are cybertruck drivers the WORST at parking

Sneaking a giant screen into the flagshagger march is one of the funniest things @ledbydonkeys.org have ever done. "STAY HYDRATED" 😂🤣😂

Posted by Chinese media in the wake of Trump's failed summit.

Cartoon by Nick Anderson. (Follow him on Substack: https://nickanderson.substack.com/)

2023 “I can’t see a credible route back into EU” - Wes Streeting 2025 "I see this country rejoining the European Union.” - Andy Burnham Today: “I hope one day Britain rejoins the European Union.” - Wes Streeting* #CopyCat *When he heard that Andy Burnham had a chance of a by-election

“The rapid spread demands a rapid response, says @annerimoin.bsky.social , an epidemiologist at UCLA who has worked on disease outbreaks in the DRC for many years. ‘You want to be able to get in there and extinguish that fire as soon as you possibly can,’ she says.”

Another two gone! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Updated list: www.markpack.org.uk/176783/how-m...

Lib Dems top the Ipsos net favourability ratings for first time in this or previous Parliament.

…or just don't buy an SUV tank to drive to work? www.theguardian.com/money/2026/m...

Home instant fingerprick blood test for Alzheimer's is almost as reliable as GP venous draw www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Starmer out by September, say the bookies

Lib Dem MPs and Lib Dem Council? First approved Thames safe bathing area bsky.app/profile/muni...

Amazing news!!! Ham & Kingston is the first-ever official bathing water site on the River Thames in London. Massive thanks to the tireless work of local campaigners who made this happen.

Very cool analysis of names for geographic features in the UK. My former PhD student Tom Peterken may have moved on from astrophysics, but great to see him still using those data analysis and visualisation skills on such interesting things. 🧪 www.linkedin.com/posts/tom-pe...

The crown prince is annointed... www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

We won every seat on Richmond upon Thames Council last week. But that doesn’t mean we’ve changed our mind on electoral reform. It’s time the Government stopped defending a broken system out of self-interest and backed proportional representation.

"Sick leave among patients reduced by 50%" www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

9/ Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Slovyansk, Oleksandrivka, and Hulyaipole directions and in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area. Read more:

"Ukraine’s recent successes are accomplishing tactical, operational, and strategic battlespace effects that undermine Putin’s narrative" - ISW understandingwar.org/research/rus...

Trump's Secretary of Commerce, Lutnick, had a lunchtime 'date' at Epstein's house three years after Epstein was convicted of sex offences against minors. Lutnick's wife was not present during the private event www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

BREAKING Labour’s Josh Simons MP to stand down so Andy Burnham could stand www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

So the UK Health secretary has resigned and this means that a decision on prostate cancer screening that was expected this month may very well be put back by months, even years...

Meanwhile, on X:

3/ Iran’s growing emphasis on the Strait of Hormuz reflects a broader, emerging consensus around the idea that the Strait of Hormuz must be central to Iranian strategy and deterrence in the future.

When flying through tight spaces, bees quickly scan for larger openings -- slowing down for close inspection when spaces become very small! 🧪 royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article...

Is "B" a repeat of "A" ?

Streeting (pictured left) appears about to resign.

That Wes Streeting leadership bid in full:

"Coronation Streeting" was RIGHT THERE

Sewage is anything but waste. Scientific advances make it possible to detect diseases in wastewater—from respiratory & gastrointestinal viruses to fungal infections. Data collected by @wastewaterscan.bsky.social informs public & personal health decisions. 🧪 Learn more: www.wastewaterscan.org/en

good will always prevail. 🧪⚒️

Been watching 'Believe Me' on ITV? The only reason a judicial review was allowed on the behaviour of the police in the Worboys taxi attacks on over 100 women was because of the Human rights act. And the Conservatives and Reform want to get rid of the Human rights act.

Been watching 'Believe Me' on ITV? The only reason a judicial review was allowed on the behaviour of the police in the Worboys taxi attacks on over 100 women was because of the Human rights act. And the Conservatives and Reform want to get rid of the Human rights act.

Believe me ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for importance ⭐⭐⭐ for script adaptation ITVx Drama series Relating the horrible series of attacks that black cab driver John Worboys carried out on over 100 women The concatenation of cases into three women's experiences loses some detail, but an important case to understand

Neanderthals drilled cavities to treat a toothache 59,000 years ago arstechnica.com/science/2026...

Despite copious evidence as to the viral dangers of large cruise ships, old people still flock to them in large numbers Why? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Imagine discovering a 500-million-year-old animal covered in spikes, with feathery arms that looked almost impossible to explain. For decades, paleontologists wondered what these bizarre creatures were actually doing in Cambrian oceans. 🧪 #SciComm