Meanwhile, in Ukraine: Nato to ‘urgently’ get air defences for Ukraine, as Zelenskyy warns of surge in Russian missile production www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Nato to ‘urgently’ get air defences for Ukraine, as Zelenskyy warns of surge in Russian missile production

After Ukraine failed to shoot down a single ballistic missile fired by Russia on Wednesday, the president urged allies to increase supplies of Patriot interceptors

theguardian.com

Latest from @phillipspobrien.bsky.social. Trump has burned through the US's strategic stockpile of missiles and other artillery, to the point where it can no longer operate in the Middle East. phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/midweek-up...

Midweek Update #22: The American Age in the Persian Gulf Is Over

The US is Running Out Of Weapons, Pulling Out Forces, And Losing The Faith Of The Region's States. That Will Not Be Easily Undone

phillipspobrien.substack.com

www.maptap.gg August 4 100🎯 90🎉 96🏅 95🏆 96🏅 Final score: 955

Behind the bewildering transformation of British universities, are management consultants being paid millions Really proud to have this vital piece on our unis are being gutted from the inside by @jheathershaw.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale. Do read democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-bri...

Inside Britain's university crisis

As teaching staff face job loss, their bosses have netted pay rises and bought advice from a “vampiric” management consultancy, writes Prof. John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter

democracyforsale.substack.com

I see the BBC is helping Farage with his "for f*** sake we need a silly season story to divert attention from this sleaze I'm covered in" efforts. I will not be providing a link to the story but here's a screenshot. Cue Navy bods saying they won't be getting involved. Now, back to that sleaze.

I'm not sure folks have realized just how crazy the second half of 2026 and 2027 will be for global temperatures – on the back of a record-smashing El Niño event. Here is my latest estimate of where both years will end up compared to global temperatures since 1850.

NFU calls for tax-breaks for reservoirs, as drought hits production. Food Security is a slippery concept though. Potatoes are a particularly thirsty crop. But nearly half go into making frozen oven chips/French Fries; & Crisps. Are these really vital food products? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Prolonged drought could cause shortage of some foods, farmers' union head says

NFU president Tom Bradshaw calls on the government to take action to prevent extreme weather affecting the UK's food supply.

bbc.co.uk

And it doesn’t stop… Reform given six-figure donation by firm that received £67m loans from unnamed sources observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Reform given six-figure donation by firm that received £6...

Nigel Farage’s party is facing questions about the lack of transparency over £100,000 in funds donated by a management consultancy

observer.co.uk

Terrible framing from You Gov. Despite 63% of people saying they hope there isn't another heatwave, You Gov leads with the 26% who do want one.

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · 7d ago

As Britain's fourth heatwave of the year dies down, 26% of Britons are already hoping for a fifth hot spell in 2026 Hoping there's another heatwave: 26% (no change from 29 June) Hoping there's not another heatwave: 63% (-1) yougov.com/en-gb/daily-...

Stewart Lee's brief obituary to Bill Oddie. For me, The Goodies was a formative part of my childhood. I was always in stitches of laughter watching their shows. Sheer gleeful silliness.

"Undercover police unit closed down over unjustified surveillance, spycops inquiry told" www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Undercover police unit closed down over unjustified surveillance, spycops inquiry told

Senior officer behind closure says SDS caused ‘incalculable harm’ by infiltrating groups that posed no threat

theguardian.com

Reform scores hat trick of losses in Manchester despite the hype, the polling and the noise around Farage. Over to you now, Clacton. Deal the killer blow and vote Count Binface in August. The country could do with the laugh. And without that grifting loser. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Latest from Stewart Lee for @thenerve.news is a critical analysis of the "joke" about a guillotined Nigel Farage. Turns out it isn't funny & gives Farage an opportunity to get back in the game. Zack, put your phone down: now Nigel’s making plans to get off the hook www.thenerve.news/p/stewart-le...

Stewart Lee: Zack, put your phone down – now Nigel’s making plans to get off the hook

‘Jokes’ like the one the Greens’ leader shared on social media only help the beleaguered Reform leader deflect scrutiny

thenerve.news

Happy August 1st! Weather stats for July 2026 in our parched bit of Dorset. A hot and dry month, mean Temperature 21.3°C, 1.7°C hotter than the previous hottest July, 2022. Max Temp 35°C (11th). Lowest day max 25.0° (19th). So heatwave conditions on all 31 days. Overnight low of 8.3°C (20th) 1/2

www.maptap.gg July 31 98🔥 94🏆 92👑 99🔥 87🎓 Final score: 934 great stories as ever

Labour says Reform ‘up to its neck in sleaze’ and demands investigation into donations www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Labour says Reform ‘up to its neck in sleaze’ and demands investigation into donations

Exclusive: Electoral Commission urged to look into donations made by mother of convicted fraudster

theguardian.com

More on that Mediterranean lifestyle

“Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK” And Where did fraudster George get the money ? https:/www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jul/29/george-cottrell-transferred-2m-mother-beforer-reform-uk-donations?CMP=share_btn_url Sent from my iPhone

Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK

Exclusive: Sources say Fiona Cottrell told bankers the transfers, received 24-72 hours before her donations to Reform, came from her son

theguardian.com

⚖️ it is "unlikely that the sharing of the image online would constitute a criminal offence". Police considered telecommunications, public order and other offences, including incitement 👮‍♀️the statement suggests consideration of proportionality and intent, noting the image was 18th out of 20 in post

The Metropolitan Police have announced they're taking no further action against Zack Polanski over the Nigel Farage guillotine t-shirt Instagram post, although the man who wore it has been referred to Avon and Somerset Police Key points from their statement 🧵

“I had a million doses of Joker venom that my henchmen and I were prepared to pour into Gotham’s water supply. And the Bat-Man got Commissioner Gordon to stop me from doing that.”

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last wk.

Peter Navarro: "I had a million doses of hydroxychloroquine in warehouses as the defense policy coordinator that I was trying to distribute to hospitals. And Fauci got the FDA stop me from doing that."

Such a dumb question! 🤯 & it's not just here that changes. Everywhere does! If London is like Barcelona, Madrid is like Marrakesh! But all with infrastructure unfit for the new climate! & it's not just cities, but whole landscapes that move - with catastrophic impacts on agriculture & ecosystems

Miles King@milesking.bsky.social · last wk.

Wrong question. All the predictions from actual climate scientists point to this Summer being one of the coolest ones we will experience. Will these same 38% happy people be happy when the summer temperatures regularly exceed 40°C??

Another day record falls. 34.8°C recorded at Writtle, beats the record previously held from 1948, at 34.4°C.

Wrong question. All the predictions from actual climate scientists point to this Summer being one of the coolest ones we will experience. Will these same 38% happy people be happy when the summer temperatures regularly exceed 40°C??

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · last wk.

Would you be happy if this summer's weather became the norm? Happy: 38% Neither: 22% Unhappy: 38% yougov.com/en-gb/daily-...

In everything Farage does, he looks ridiculous or dangerous inews.co.uk/opinion/nige...

Farage looks drunk on hatred and self-pity

Ian Dunt: In everything he does, he looks ridiculous or dangerous

inews.co.uk

Wow. Makes the June heatwave even more extreme.

Simon Lee@simonleewx.com · last wk.

So, it turns out 38.0°C was the maximum on 26 June 2026, not the provisional 37.7°C www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/new... 5th hottest day by maximum temperature on record in the UK.

Trying not to share X content on here. But rules exist to be broken and this is just too funny.

Utter insanity. Hopefully Burnham will overturn the decision and demand a review of UKRI's spending priorities.

Kirsty Grainger @kirstygrainger.bsky.social · last wk.

Earlier this year UKRI launched a funding call to invest £40M in ONE AI lab. www.ukri.org/opportunity/... For some unknown reason they decided to fund TWO AI labs at the cost of £60M. An extra £20M. Just found. That's the equivalent of 7 more years of Jodrell Bank. www.ukri.org/news/ukri-la...

If I was an agency wanting to be disbanded, I would choose the moment just after a new man of the ppl PM from the NW arrived - with a defining mission to rebalance the country and make agencies accountable - to pull £ from the world renowned telescope visited by generation upon generation of NW kids