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Common cold, flu, Covid: Why is Britain so sick right now?

Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 44m

Cold, flu, Covid: Why is everyone sick right now?

It's autumn and the treble combo of these viruses are circulating more at this time of year as the warmth of summer has gone and the colder weather begins to have an impact.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Why coughs and colds seem to be taking hold currently - and what you can do to protect yourself.

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 49m

Just realised what this creature reminded me of:

Jeremy Clarkson rushed to hospital in 'painful' ordeal days after slamming NHS

Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1h

Jeremy Clarkson rushed to hospital in 'painful' ordeal days after calling NHS a 'monster'

He was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment just days after he wrote a scathing column in which he claimed the NHS is unaffordable and needs to be scrapped.

www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrit...

Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment just days after he wrote a scathing column in which he claimed the NHS is unaffordable and needs to be scrapped

www.mirror.co.uk

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 12h

Two more arrests over hate crime attack

"One victim sustained a broken jaw, internal injuries and a fractured eye socket during the attack, which took place in Sarah Street, Lawrence Hill, on the evening of 22 September."

Probably incited by social media rhetoric.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Two more arrests over suspected hate crime attack in Bristol

Police are treating the incident, in which two men were assaulted, as a suspected hate crime.

‘Brummies united against racism’: poster campaign takes on the far right

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 13h

‘Brummies united against racism’: poster campaign takes on the far right

A message of neighbourly solidarity is thriving in Birmingham against a backdrop of racist intimidation

This followed two high profile cases of rape and violence around the city by racists

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

A message of neighbourly solidarity is thriving in Birmingham against a backdrop of racist intimidation

www.theguardian.com

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 14h

"Greater Anglia transfers to public ownership"

It has become the latest rail operator to enter into public ownership as part of the government's renationalisation of the network.

Long overdue but another welcome step.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Rail operator Greater Anglia transfers to public ownership

Greater Anglia describes renationalisation as a step towards a

Starmer to attend Gaza peace summit in Egypt, No 10 says

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 14h

"Starmer to attend Egypt summit on Gaza peace plan, No 10 says"

"Sir Keir Starmer will pay "particular tribute" in Sharm El-Sheikh to US President Donald Trump, No 10 added."

Great - later Trump will use this to complain he was denied the Nobel Peace Prize.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

President Trump will lead Monday's summit, where No 10 says the peace plan will be signed.

Pakistan closes border with Afghanistan as Taliban claims 58 soldiers killed

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 14h

"Pakistan closes border with Afghanistan as Taliban claims 58 soldiers killed in major attack"

Political tensions with Pakistan plus the Taliban mishandling various domestic crises all seems to have been a precursor to this major escalation in violence.

www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-a...

Pakistan shuts its border crossings with Afghanistan as it promises ‘befitting reply like India’

'No survivors' in munitions factory explosion after 18 reported missing, police say

Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 14h

If only she'd mentioned having a cat in this interview.

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 15h

Before she speaks it looks like it could almost be Donald Trump replacing his orange facepaint with some talc and a wig.

But it's actually his mother.

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 23h

So that's what Q stands for.

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 23h

"There are people I don’t like, and I would like to put them on one of Musk’s spaceships and send them all off to the planet he’s sure he’s going to discover."

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with Elon Musk as their host.

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

I thought Britain's Brexit foolishness could not be topped but America now has a far worse situation. In the end Britain had to relax visa restrictions, workers originating from - Nepal, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine all helped to bail out UK agriculture.

Post-Brexit labour shortages could lead to 'permanent damage' to UK food and farming, MPs warn
6 April, 2022
Posted by: William Barns-Graham
Trade Nawa
Food production in the UK could shrink permanently as a result of post-Brexit labour shortages, a select committee has warned.
A report from the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee says food and farming sectors face "permanent damage if a failure to address its acute labour shortages leads to wage rises, price increases, reduced competitiveness and, ultimately, food production being exported abroad".
The FT reports the committee finds the mitigations by ministers to have been "too little, too late", with lack of butchers leading to the mass cull of pigs and crops unpicked in fields.

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

"No survivors in munitions factory explosion after 18 reported missing."

The terrible blast took 18 lives and impacted many more in the community however Accurate Energetic Systems was involved in arms exports, perhaps bringing home the horrific nature of such weapons.

news.sky.com/story/no-sur...

The blast, which people reported hearing and feeling up to 15 miles away, was at a plant that supplies military explosives.

news.sky.com

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

Naked mole rats' DNA could hold key to long life

"A new study of the bizarre naked mole rat shows that the animals have evolved a DNA repair mechanism that could explain their longevity." They live for 40 years compared to about three for a mouse.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Naked mole rats reveal genetic secret to long life

The bald, subterranean rats are the world's longest-lived rodent.

Arrests at pro-Palestinian protest after violence flares in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

"Arrests at pro-Palestinian protest after violence flares in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore"

Odd timing, at the very time that an end to the conflict seems in sight, protestors took to the street - however these weren't typical anti-war protesters.

www.independent.co.uk/news/pakista...

Pakistani police say they have arrested more than 100 people following violence in Lahore

Outcry after Taliban ‘restrict entry of women’ at press event in India

Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

Taliban’s restriction on women at press event in India sparks anger: Unacceptable

The Indian government is keen to boost and upgrade ties with the Taliban but this has (quite rightly) drawn the ire of many in the country due to their behaviour and restrictions

www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/t...

India is hosting the Taliban minister during a high profile but controversial visit as it seeks to upgrade its diplomatic ties with Afghanistan’s hardline Islamist regime

Italians mistakenly identify as Roma in Scotland's census

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah - it doesn't ring true to me.
Seems very odd that Italians would just tick "Roma".

Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

"Italians mistakenly identify as Roma in Scotland's census"

Officials concluded that some census respondents born in Rome, which is called Roma in Italian, may have ticked the Roma ethnicity category in error.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Italians born in Rome may have accidently selected the Roma ethnicity category in the country's last census, officials say.

Ancient Roman artifact uncovered in overgrown garden

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

Ancient Roman artifact uncovered in overgrown garden in ....

..... America.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

The tablet had been in an ancient cemetery of around 20 graves of military personnel

King's coat of arms to feature on new UK passports

Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

King's coat of arms to feature on new UK passports

It is the first full redesign of British passports in five years, when they changed from burgundy to dark blue following the UK's departure from the European Union.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The full redesign, coming into effect from December, will be the first since passports turned dark blue after Brexit.

Hamas recalls fighters amid fears of internal violence in Gaza as Israelis await hostages' release

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

"Hamas recalls fighters amid fears of internal violence in Gaza"

Predictably with a common external foe removed, the shattered territory will likely see a rise in internal tension as well as anger against Hamas. Netanyahu is also likely to be forced out of power soon.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...

Elsewhere, Gaza's Hamas-run civil defense agency says it's continuing to search through the rubble for thousands of missing Palestinians.

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Imran Bristol @imranicus.bsky.social · 1d

"Sadiq Khan rejects calls to exclude Hindu nationalist group from Diwali celebrations"

Khan has received criticism from various groups about this - probably though he may have been concerned that banning the group would be seen as a partisan communal decision.

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/u...

MSN

www.msn.com