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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/10/bbc-licence-fee-review-imminent/
A YouGov poll published on Monday night found that half of people asked believed the BBC was biased, with 31 per cent saying it was too left-wing and 19 per cent saying it was too right-wing

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/11/10/rachel-reeves-tax-rises-or-deep-cuts/

Rachel Reeves has hinted she will scrap the two-child benefit cap as she prepares to raise billions of pounds with a manifesto-breaking raid on income tax.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/1110/1543157-quinn-hallgrimsson-needs-to-put-his-stamp-on-ireland/

There was so much in there, I couldn't understand why he (Traynor) hadn't been more popular. Everyone knows Michael Collins, for instance, and his story. Why did this guy (Traynor) fall between the cracks?

"The answer in the thesis was, he didn't die young. He was a soccer man, not a GAA man. He would have taken on the Church, particularly over the Yugoslavian game in '55 when they tried to cancel and he fought and got the game to go ahead.

"He was such a steadfast defender of the game. He would point out to everybody that there were volunteers in 1916 that played football. The whole world thinks it was fellas with hurleys. It wasn't, there was a football theme to many of the battalions.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/11/10/the-tiny-rocket-that-will-protect-europe-from-putin/

Held in the hands of the chief executive of Frankenburg Technologies, the "Mark 1" looks like a scale model of a rocket.
At just 65cm from top to tail, the missile is roughly the size of a baguette and smaller than the average human arm.
As he speaks, Kusti Salm slaps the full-size foam replica into his palm and waves it through the air for emphasis.
But the scope of the project he outlines from a glass-walled office overlooking the airport in Estonia's capital, Tallinn, is monumental.
"We are not apologetic about the fact we manufacture weapons," says Mr Salm, the former chief civil servant in Estonia's defence ministry.
"We are not afraid to say we are manufacturing them to take down Russian long-range drones.
"And we are not all apologetic about the fact that this will be the most-needed capability in the Western world in the next five to 10 years.

The missiles in Western defence arsenals are typically "exquisite": rare, expensive and capable to the nth degree. By contrast, the tiny Mark 1 aims to just be "good enough".
It can fly just 2km (1.2 miles) and would struggle to function in the heat of the desert or chill of the Arctic Circle.
A balance has been struck between the pursuit of cheap parts and overall accuracy, which the company hopes to increase to 90 per cent – currently, it is around 56 per cent.
But driving the capabilities down has helped make the Mark 1 into "affordable mass", says Mr Salm. Factories have been set up in two Nato nations, with the aim of producing hundreds of missiles per day.
Although he does not give a price for the weapon, he says it comes in at roughly a tenth of existing rocket air defence systems (a Stinger missile costs around £400,000). For Western nations, it also presents a compelling use case.

In Ukraine, teams of pilots launch "interceptor" drones to take down Russia's barrages. These are cheap (around £2,500 each), but the success depends in large part on the skill of the pilot.
While Kyiv has thousands of trained experts, the West has startlingly few – certainly not enough to protect 2,100 critical infrastructure sites along Nato's eastern border around the clock.
With the Mark 1 guided to its target by AI, its launchers can, to an extent, be left to their own devices.
The Frankenburg team has experimented with "the shape, the positioning of the wings, and the centre of gravity, centre of pressure, you know, all these things" in order to maximise accuracy, Mr Salm says.
In order to solve the challenge of rocket science on a tight budget, Frankenburg hired some of the biggest brains in the field.
The chief engineer is Andreas Bappert, who designed the highly sought-after Iris-T air defence system, now in use across Nato and in Ukraine.
It plucked the chief engineer working on the Spear III missile at MBDA UK, a lynchpin project for UK defence that has been hit by delays. And "Latvian geniuses" have joined the team, says Mr Salm.
They are doing things "that you cannot learn over a weekend from YouTube videos, as you can with drones", he adds. "There are no Rocket Science for Dummies books that you can order from Amazon."


Fabian Hoffmann, a missile technology expert, says: "There are quite a lot of experts who can build warheads, or sensors or engines. But there are not that many people who can integrate all these sub-systems into a functioning, workable missile – probably a few dozen."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2025/11/10/olympics-to-ban-trans-athletes-from-all-womens-events/

The Olympics is increasingly likely to ban transgender athletes from all female competition following a science-based review of evidence.
Kirsty Coventry, the new president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), told Telegraph Sport in January that she favoured a blanket ban and, after winning the presidency in March, commissioned a review that assessed the permanent physical advantages of being born male

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/northern-ireland/companies-which-have-made-millions-from-delayed-a5-road-scheme/a7817510.html

The companies which have earned millions of pounds from the long-delayed A5 road scheme can today be revealed.
In one case, an infrastructure firm received more than £60m in consultancy fees.

Another contractor company has collected over £20m.

The total spend to date on the project - which was originally given the go-ahead in 2007, but has yet to start - has topped £150m.

The 58-mile road from Derry to Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, has been hit by a series of delays.

It was approved again by the Executive in October last year, with the final cost now estimated at £1.7bn.

However, spending on the project has continued to rise, and now stands at £153.7m.

This includes £80.6m on consultants, £56.3m on contractors' fees, £5.8m on geotechnical and archaeology investigations and £5.7m on land costs.


In response to a Freedom of Information request, the department has now revealed the biggest earners from the scheme.

In our request, we asked for a list of those who had received £1m or more.

The biggest recipient is Mouchel Limited, which was later acquired by the WSP Group. Mouchel/WSP has received £63.8m in consultancy fees - more than a third of the total expenditure to date.

Three sets of contractors' fees were paid out to companies which collaborated at various stages of the project.

Around £11m was paid as part of a joint venture between Balfour Beatty, BAM and FP McCann for section one of the scheme, between New Buildings and Sion Mills.


A further £20.5m was shared between Roadbridge, Sisk and PT McWilliams. Part of this was also a joint venture including John Sisk & Son Ltd for section two, from Sion Mills to Omagh.

And £16.5m was paid out related to section three, between Omagh and Aughnacloy, as part of a joint venture between Graham and Farrans.

Meanwhile, British Telecom received £2.3m for "utility services".

Soil Mechanics received £2.4m and Glover Site Investigations Ltd received £1.1m - both for geotechnical work.

There is no suggestion that fault lies with these companies, which took on work in good faith and the expectation the project would proceed on time.

SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan said the cost could not continue to spiral, and called for work to start immediately.

Daniel McCrossan
Daniel McCrossan

"It's regrettable that such large sums have been spent before work has even started on the A5, but our full focus needs to be on getting to a position where work can begin and this money invested can start to show its benefit," he said.

"A project of this size and importance was always going to come with significant costs, but we cannot put a price on saving lives and keeping people safe.

"That's why the Executive and Infrastructure Minister need to ensure there are no further delays and work can finally begin next year."

The current A5 is one of the most dangerous roads in Ireland. More than 50 people have been killed on it since 2006.

Brexit was about https://ft.com/content/853e78ae-1945-11e7-a53d-df09f373be87#comments...

" a handful of billionaires with no clout in Brussels, and their eurosceptic Tory sock puppets, whipping up the mob so they can screw that exact same mob with a looser regulatory regime "

Given over as well. A shower of cahnts one and all. Big Robinson not there as the heat wouldn't agree with him

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/education-minister-facing-no-confidence-motion-in-assembly-over-israel-trip/a612544799.html
Education Minister Paul Givan will face a no-confidence motion in the Assembly later today over his recent trip to Israel, with the vote among MLAs in Stormont expected to pass.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/1108/1542910-fai-says-its-now-looking-to-be-debt-free-by-2036/

The FAI has "rephased" its debt after reaching an agreement with its three main lenders to extend the timeframe for repayments.

Last year the association said it was aiming to be debt free by 2031. However after Saturday's AGM, chief executive David Courell and president Paul Cooke revealed that target has been revised.

With a windfall coming in 2028 when Ireland will be co-hosts of the Euros, the FAI say they are now looking to have debts (which currently stand at €38m) cleared by 2036.

"We have rephased our debt, which is a good thing, not a bad thing," said Courell.

"We, traditionally, have three primary lenders – UEFA, FIFA and the Bank of Ireland being the biggest one.

"In the last three years our debt repayments have been in the region of €3.9m plus serving of debt on top of that of €1.5m, give or take.

"By virtue of this negotiation we will see the repayment to Bank of Ireland reduce from €3.9m to €1.5m over the next three years. We will catch up some of that lost ground in 2028 when we have the additional hosting revenue."

Asked if he was confident they'd debt free in 11 years' time, Cooke responded: "We're not fixated on it. We view the debt as a necessary part of running an organisation. Obviously our debt is very high and we want to bring it down. Debt is part of a business.

"The aim, the intention at this time, is to be debt free by 2036, but that could move."

Courell added: "It's not unnatural for an association to carry some debt, the volume of what we've been carrying in recent years is what's wrong but as you progress and the numbers get down to single figures, there's nothing wrong with carrying a bit of debt."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/11/08/sunderland-vs-arsenal-live-score-latest-updates-premier/

"Arsenal have ticked a lot of boxes as title contenders so far this season, but they left Sunderland after this bruising draw with a question mark against them.

Could they scrap and fight for a win when things were not going well? When they were being frustrated and annoyed, could they find a way to take three points?

When they are being bullied, when they are being roughed up, when they are being dragged into a football match resembling a combat sport, in front of a partisan home crowd, a long way from home, could they bite down, stick their chin down and punch back?

The answer appeared to be a resounding yes right up until the moment, under pressure at the end, they allowed Sunderland to equalise through Brian Brobbey
Beaten up by their hosts before half-time, Arsenal looked fragile; vulnerable for the first time in a while. The way they came out in the second and took control of the contest was encouraging, but they could not hold on because they could not clear their lines. Their lead at the top of the table could be well be cut and others will look at this and believe Arsenal can be hurt.

If you get in their face, if you scratch and claw, go direct and hustle them for every second ball, is this the blueprint to derail another Arsenal title charge?"

https://www.ft.com/content/17fc151e-a2f2-47f5-b5f2-329894182eba

Democrats piled up impressive electoral wins in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City this week, the Republican party became increasingly embroiled in the row over its far-right flank. "It is the beginning of a reckoning of the American right with this dark underbelly of especially young, very online people . . . who are attracted to figures like Fuentes," said Ilya Shapiro, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute. "Those on the right have to police their own stables as well." House speaker Mike Johnson called Fuentes — whose interview has already been viewed more than 23mn times — "blatantly antisemitic, racist and anti-American". He added that he did not think Carlson should have given a platform "to that kind of speech".

Sunderland good start to the season continues with a 2-2 draw against Arsenal.

Arsenal drop 2 points. Liverpool vs Man City tomorrow. If Man City win they will be 4 points behind Arsenal. If Liverpool win they will be 5 points behind Arsenal. 

Quentin Willson off Top Gear and Fifth Gear.

Can't have been very old!

68

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2025/1108/1542874-fai-to-bring-motion-to-ban-israel-from-euro-competition/

The FAI has voted to submit a motion to UEFA to ban Israel from its European club and international competitions.

The vote - proposed by Bohemians - was put to the FAI's General Assembly at an EGM this afternoon, which was held directly before the AGM in Blanchardstown in Dublin.

The proposal for the vote cited two alleged violations of UEFA statutes by the Israel Football Association (IFA): organising clubs in occupied Palestinian territories without the consent of the Palestinian FA; and the alleged failure of the IFA to enforce an effective anti-racism policy.

The motion required support from 50% of FAI delegates to pass. It passed by a majority, with 74 votes in favour, seven against and two abstentions.

Those who ignore Reform are in danger of repeating the mistakes of Brexit. UK politics is feral atm. The next election won't be won by any single party, hung parliament way more likely.

https://www.ft.com/content/edd1f2be-db84-4223-a410-fc5771a2dbf1

"Reform would remove the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights, repeal the Human Rights Act and disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture and the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings"

Can't see many middleclass voters voting for that. Reform is also weak on the economy.. Farage is a one trick pony.

The whole of the moon. Too high too far too soon.