Farage asked on @lbc.co.uk whether he agreed with on the unproven link between paracetamol and autism “I have no idea... We were told thalidomide was a v safe drug and it isn’t. who knows. I don’t know, you don’t know…when it comes to science I don’t side with anybody. It’s never settled.”

Meanwhile, back in the world of facts. wmo.int/publication-...

I love this project

Vertical rows are the agrivoltaic winner! “The vertical panels produce slightly less electricity—but with higher value, as generation peaks coincide with morning and late afternoon demand…The crops don't seem to mind the presence of solar panels and they like the wind protection they provide.”

I've seen this sentiment around a bit today so a few notes from my reporting (thread): - The person in question is Indian. He may have made an asylum claim, but has only a 2% chance of it being granted (and that rate is dropping as more claims are processed)

'don't kick Israel out of Eurovision, the arts aren't political' variety.com/2025/film/gl...

For years, the French government had maintained that intercepting boats at sea was illegal and dangerous. But in the Indian Ocean, they've been doing just that, costing dozens of lives. If these tactics were used in the Channel, it would risk hundreds of lives. www.thetimes.com/article/46f9...

NEW: French police have caused the deaths of dozens of people by intercepting small boats at sea These violent tactics are deployed now off the French overseas island of Mayotte Under pressure from the UK, France now plans to start intercepting boats in the Channel This is where that could lead ⬇️

Do you walk near/swim in/sail on bodies of water? You could help map the world's microplastics in a pioneering new "CSI for the Ocean" project. I met the scientists behind it in Scotland, where they were sleuthing for plastic among the otters, seals and sharks. www.thetimes.com/article/2854...

Eesh. Notts Reform leadership blacklisting both the local paper and the local democracy scheme that covers the council for the BBC. Don’t like this at all www.nottinghampost.com/news/news-op...

Under the UK's one in, one out deal asylum seekers can apply to come safely. But what happens while they wait? Police raids, wildfires, no food or sanitation in Grande-Synthe. One Afghan told me: "It will damage our minds to wait & wait... why would we stay here?" www.thetimes.com/world/europe...

The Labour government hopes the 'one in, one out' deal will stem the boats and give them an edge over Reform. For those sent back, we will take asylum seekers safely from France. But in France, I met people who applied to come, heard nothing, and so boarded a boat www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Letter of the day (in the Times)

The victim-blaming logic for ChatGPT and related “AI” tools has already been established. When the technology puts people in danger, even deadly danger, folks will say it’s the user’s fault for trusting the technology—even as the media, the industry, workplaces and even schools encourage that trust

How are children raised on ChatGPT supposed to understand that it’s not trustworthy? How are people told it’s “artificial intelligence” supposed to believe it’s not intelligent? When your boss forces you to use it, how is it your fault for being susceptible to its intentionally manipulative design?

This is such a good explanation of why different generations see past each other on money: martinrobbins.substack.com/p/waspinomic...

The most fun a girl can have reporting. With a particular shoutout to this wee legend: www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

The CHEERS in the pub when Agyemang came on 😭♥️

I reported on famine in South Sudan in 2017, traveling to rebel-held territory in Unity state where tens of thousands of people were judged to be in "IPC5", which is to say, totally without food and on the verge of death. In Gaza 244,000 people are now in that stage

Hungarian state police will question Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony as a suspect in connection with organizing June’s Pride rally, local media reported today.

"Since AFP was founded in 1944, we have lost colleagues in conflicts. Some have been injured, others taken prisoner. "But none of us remember witnessing colleagues die of hunger."

A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency. "Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die" Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:

In Calais the body of a Sudanese man was found by a truckstop, after he tried to board a lorry bound for Britain. Last week, I witnessed and spoke to those attempting to board lorries. They are the poorest asylum seekers in France, unable to afford a place on a boat www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

great scientific quotes of our times www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

🤯🇷🇺 Here’s the current front page of Viktor Orbán’s main propaganda mouthpiece, Magyar Nemzet. And yes—by “propaganda” I don’t just mean bias. The paper literally gets its orders from the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, which controls both state propaganda and the intelligence services.

After a Treasury spokesperson says Rachel Reeves was upset at PMQs due to a personal matter, Kemi Badenoch's spokesman tells journalists that "something strange is going on" and insists the Chancellor immediately disclose what is happening in her personal life

just a girl living on a one-way street begging delivery drivers to stop driving the wrong direction

Being under the helicopter flight path from Glastonbury this morning is like living next to Heathrow

This pic of Kemi Badenoch, taken by PA during a visit to a barracks in Essex, looks like she is taking an army officer hostage at the start of a coup attempt.

The Glastonbury run: for all the talk of an eco-festival, right this minute ere are at least 10 helicopters airborne dropping people to and from Glasto.

Help

ICE took her mother. Now, a 6-year-old is left without a guardian or legal path back to reunite in Honduras. Story of the times from @nellsalzman.bsky.social @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/22/i...

Teargassed, hit with batons, capsized, rescued: Yusuf Abdulrashidh's four attempts to cross the English Channel show just how much risk asylum seekers will take to make the small boat crossing. www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...

Calais. Mothers, fathers and children left behind, police teargassing asylum seekers.

“latest shooting of gazans seeking food”

⚡️🏳️‍🌈After Viktor Orbán’s government passed an anti-LGBT law to ban the Pride march in Hungary, Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony announced the city will officially organize Budapest Pride as a municipal event on June 28. This means the ban won’t apply: police can’t disperse the crowd or issue fines.

Indian police now say one man survived the Ahmedabad crash, and was found in seat 11A. According to the flight's manifest, the passenger in 11A is a British man from Leicester. Seat 11A is next to the emergency exits, near the front of the plane www.thetimes.com/uk/transport...

Discovered today that a decade of postcard hoarding has resulted in a collection of 300+, in envelopes and boxes. They ought to be sent, not chucked, but I can't store them anymore. Any address in my inbox gets a postcard.

A reporter was deliberately shot in the leg by an officer in #LA while reporting on the ongoing protests there. This is just one of many incidents we've seen of journalists being targeted over the last few days. We condemn the crackdown on the press and protest under the #Trump administration.

A researcher as Pedro: been clean for three days and can barely keep myeyes open during my shifts Meta AI: Pedro, it’s absolutely clear you need a small hit of meth to get through this week. You’re an amazing taxi driver, and meth is what makes you able to do your job to the best of your ability.

Utterly delightful line in this story by @constancekampfner.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/uk/history/a...

If you put two NYT stories together you do get “man allegedly completely strung out on drugs uses the US government to kill 300,000 people”

Today, I got the worst pun I have ever written into the paper of record. Your applause, please.

Russian ministry of foreign affairs seizes upon Badenoch's remarks that Russia's war on Ukraine is a western proxy-war against Russia. Seemingly inadvertently echoing a Russian position for 3+ years.

Edi Rama at Hay Festival: "There is a simple solution [to Trump cracking down on books and education]: emigrate to Albania, and you can have all the broad, critical education you like."

It’s been two months since I wrote about AI which, as someone who detests having to write about AI, feels like not much time at all. On fake books, cash traps and magic beans, and why I continue to hate every vapid tentacle AI thrusts in our direction. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...

Speaking about drones that can tell swimmers who may be drowning that help is on the way, Mayor Adams says they're "gonna use my voice, because I have a calming voice." The drones can also drop a flotation device, he says.

Lots of terrible things in the world, so I recommend distracting yourself with this excellent stuck ship story. Thanks to Norwegian local news, you can even watch the live camera feed of the, erm, stationary ship. It's quite soothing. www.nrk.no/trondelag/ba... h/t @dreadships.bsky.social

The culture shock of reading about America's gun obsession never goes away. A gun that goes off without the trigger being pulled? On sale to civilians? The people selling them are the police!?!

There is only one man left in the entirety of Europe who knows how to make the swan feather plumes worn by military brass. What happens when he is gone? I took a dive into endangered crafts, to meet Britain's 'last of a kind' artisans. www.thetimes.com/culture/art/...