WUFOOB … (Jan – Mar 2015)

BBC News, Monday 16th March 2015
Currently Britain does not have a national bird, but ornithologist David Lindo believes that should change. Mr Lindo will close the vote on the day of the general election, 7 May, and ask the new government to officially appoint the winner as national bird. The RSPB welcomed the initiative and said the lack of a national bird for Britain was a “glaring omission”.

Government guarantees aid money despite claims it is funding corruption overseas

BBC News, Tuesday 10th March 2015
Peers have approved legislation which would make it a legal requirement for 0.7% of UK’s annual national income to be spent on international development. The proposed legislation is likely to receive its Royal Assent in the coming days. Both the coalition government and its Labour predecessor committed the UK to meeting the UN-inspired aspiration on overseas aid but the bill will bind all future governments.

Eagles may soar, but weasels…

BBC News, Tuesday 3rd March 2015
Amateur photographer Martin Le-May, from Essex, has recorded the extraordinary image of a weasel riding on the back of a green woodpecker as it flies through the air. The photograph was taken at Hornchurch Country Park in East London on Monday afternoon.

Syria-bound girls – authorities should have properly monitored social media

ITV News, Sunday 22nd February 2015
The family of a British woman suspected of trying to recruit three London schoolgirls to join Islamic State (IS) in Syria have accused the security services of “failing” to stop them leaving. Authorities should have properly monitored social media, according to the parents of “jihadi bride” Aqsa Mahmood.

Men must prove a woman said ‘Yes’ under tough new rape rules

Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 28th January 2015
Men accused of date rape will need to convince police that a woman consented to sex as part of a major change in the way sex offences are investigated. The Director of Public Prosecutions said it was time for the legal system to move beyond the concept of “no means no” to recognise situations where women may have been unable to give consent.

OUP bans use of pig, sausage or pork-related words to avoid offending Muslims

“The creatures outside looked from camel to man, and from man to camel, and from camel to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 14th January 2015
The Oxford University Press has warned its writers not to mention pigs, sausages or pork-related words in children’s books, in an apparent bid to avoid offending Jews and Muslims. The existence of the publisher’s guidelines emerged after a radio discussion on free speech in the wake of the Paris attacks.

NHS crisis: A&E performance dipped to new lows during New Year week

Daily Mail, Wednesday 7th January 2015
With headlines screaming that the NHS is in meltdown, a plethora of English hospitals have suddenly declared ‘major incidents’, unable to cope with the influx of patients swamping accident and emergency wards. Andy Burnham, Labour’s health spokesman, rants about the evils of privatisation even though Labour extended the use of private providers while they were in office, and he himself promoted the ‘powerful value-for-money argument’ behind such policies, which he said ‘most people in the country would celebrate’.

Media condemn Charlie Hebdo attack as assault on freedom of expression

The Guardian, Thursday 8th January 2015
French newspapers have united in condemning the killing of journalists at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo as an unacceptable assault on freedom of expression. Le Parisien’s front-page headline on Thursday read “They shall not kill freedom”.