EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Rowling offers to give honest review of Nicola Sturgeon's memoirs
'Oh!' William blushed. 'Perhaps later!' As William's granny, the late Queen advised: 'Recollections may vary.'' Kathy!
Keir Starmer won't want Donald Trump getting wind of his rejection of free honorary membership of the Ellesborough Golf Club when he visits Scotland this week. The freebie is offered to all PMs since Chequers became the PM's country seat in 1917. From David Lloyd George to Rishi Sunak, everyone accepted until Starmer said no. It could be awkward should Trump want to play the course which once hosted Bill Clinton. Might Starmer have to fork out the £1,978 membership fee?
Reflecting on the resignation of married Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, after he was caught on camera cuddling a female colleague at a Coldplay concert, Andrew Neil cheekily quips: 'It must have come as a terrible shock/embarrassment to his wife when it was inadvertently revealed he was a fan of Coldplay.'
While Nicola Sturgeon faces ridicule after being compared to Barack Obama in an official puff for her upcoming memoirs, the politician's old foe JK Rowling offers her services. 'I am available to review Nicola Sturgeon's memoir,' the billionaire author now announces. 'No fee required, as long as you don't edit out the swear words.'
Filming The Hobbit in New Zealand, Stephen Fry defied director Peter Jackson's ban on bungee jumping.
'What had happened was Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas, this elf thing, had had a few days off and he went bungee jumping,' recalls Fry. 'And as sometimes happens it made his eyes bulge and pop.
And they bulged and they stayed bulged for a few days andso they couldn't film him when he got back. So a memo went out to say no bungee jumping. And I hadn't seen the memo, but fortunately my eyes didn't bulge.'
Looking back on accepting an invitation to Colin Tennant's Scottish borders residence, 80s TV presenter Steve Blacknell recalls: 'There clinking on the piano with a cigarette hanging out of her gob, was a very, very p***ed Princess Margaret. She was playing, rather badly, [the John Cleese song] I've Got A Ferret Sticking Up My Nose. And she's saying, 'Well come on, dance!'' Wasn't Mags a great loss to the Vaudeville stage?
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Daily Mail
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Love Island's Dejon and Megan put on a loved-up display as they join their glamorous co-stars at the boozy reunion party - after he broke his silence over 'exposé' book
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Megan F was a vision in a strapless mini dress Poppy caught the eye in a green cut out dress The former semi-professional footballer and personal trainer, 26, came under fire in the villa for his treatment of now-girlfriend Megan, with whom he failed to reach the final of the show earlier this month. In announcing news of her book, Niah said: 'Dejon is a narcissist, he's manipulative. I've been telling everyone this for the past 10 years now but no one believed me.' Following the announcement, Dejon took to Instagram to share a trio of images alongside a caption defending himself against the allegations. In his caption, Dejon penned: 'I've stayed quiet, but that doesn't mean it hasn't affected me. I hold my self accountable for my communication and everyday I'm growing as a person, so thank you for those who see the good in me... Dejon is the subject of a book - entitled Surviving Dejon - penned by Niah Sienna, who is said to be his brother's sister and no blood relation to the star. 'I'm not just a character on an entertainment reality tv show I'm also a human being with real emotions, some of the stuff I've seen said about me has been hard to deal with and they are the furthest thing from the truth... 'I questioned why people would do these things and it was getting me nowhere as I couldn't understand and is something I would never do to somebody else but what's kept me grounded is movement... 'Running, training, pushing myself when everything in my head feels heavy. It clears my mind, helps me breathe, reminds me of who I am outside of the noise. 'If you're struggling mentally, I get it. I really do. You don't have to have it all figured out just find that one thing that brings you back to yourself and take it one step at a time.' The Daily Mail has contacted Dejon for comment. It's been over a week since Toni and Cach won the twelfth series of Love Island on Monday evening, making show history in the process. 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The Guardian
29 minutes ago
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Five key points on how a long-respected US human rights report became a ‘cudgel' under Trump
In May, Donald Trump took to the stage at a business conference in Saudi Arabia's capital, promising that the US would no longer chastise other governments over human rights issues or lecture them on 'how to live and how to govern your own affairs'. With the release this week of the US government's annual report on human rights worldwide, the president has – in part – followed though on that pledge. The report – compiled by the state department – softens its criticism of nations that have sought closer ties with the US president, while alleging 'significant' human rights breaches among traditional allies across Europe, all while vastly scaling back criticism of discrimination against minority groups. The report's claims of 'no credible' human rights abuses in Hungary and El Salvador sit at odds with the state department's own report from a year earlier, which described the situation in Hungary as 'deteriorating', while highlighting 'arbitrary killings', 'enforced disappearance' and 'torture' in El Salvador. In April, a delegation of EU lawmakers warned that the rule of law in Hungary is 'rapidly going in the wrong direction' under Viktor Orbán's government. They highlighted threats to press freedom and targeting of minorities. In June a law banning content about LGBTQ+ people from schools and TV was found to violate basic human rights and freedom of expression by a scholar at the European court of justice. Meanwhile, activists and opposition leaders in El Salvador have warned the country is on the path towards dictatorship after its congress scrapped presidential term limits, paving the way for President Nayib Bukele to seek indefinite re-election. Bukele's hardline approach to crime has been accompanied by an assault on civil society and democratic institutions. Orbán and Bukele have both positioned themselves as Trump adherents – with El Salvador opening up a notorious mega-prison to detain US deportees. Orbán, who came to power in 2010, was once described as 'Trump before Trump' by the US president's former adviser Steve Bannon. France, Germany and the United Kingdom are among the European countries singled out as having seen a worsening human rights situation. The picture is a far cry from the previous report, which saw no significant changes. Criticism over the handling of free speech – in particular relating to regulations on online hate speech – was directed at the governments of the UK, Germany and France. The criticism comes despite the US itself moving aggressively to deny or strip visas of foreign nationals over their statements and social media postings, especially student activists who have criticised Israel. Since being returning to power, Trump and his administration have stepped up criticism of traditional allies – in February the vice-president, JD Vance, accused European leaders of suppressing free speech, failing to halt illegal migration and running in fear from voters' true beliefs. The report also singles out Brazil, where Trump has decried the prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Brazil, the report says, has 'undermined democratic debate by restricting access to online content deemed to 'undermine democracy.'' The report's section on Israel and the Palestinian territories is much shorter than last year's edition and contains no mention of the severe humanitarian crisis or death toll in Gaza. It acknowledges cases of arbitrary arrests and killings by Israel but says authorities took 'credible steps' to identify those responsible. More than 61,000 people have been killed in Gaza, the Gaza health ministry says, as a result of Israel's military assault after an attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas in October 2023 in which 1,200 people were killed. Sections within the report highlighting discrimination have been vastly pared back. Any criticism focused on LGBTQI rights, gender-based violence or racial and ethnic violence which appeared in Biden administration editions of the report, appear to have been largely removed. A group of former state department officials called some omissions 'shocking,' particularly highlighting the lack of detail on Uganda, which in 2023 saw the passing of some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world, including the death penalty for some homosexual acts. For decades, the report has been used as a blueprint of reference for global rights advocacy – but critics have labelled this year's edition politically driven. 'The report demonstrates what happens when political agendas take priority over the facts,' says Josh Paul, a former state department official, adding 'the outcome is a much-abbreviated product that is more reflective of a Soviet propaganda.' In April, secretary of state Marco Rubio wrote an opinion piece saying the bureau that prepares the report had become a platform for 'left-wing activists,' and vowed that the Trump administration would reorient it to focus on 'western values'. State department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the report was restructured to improve readability and was no longer an expansive list of 'politically biased demands and assertions'. Democratic party lawmakers, however, have accused Trump and Rubio of treating human rights only as a 'cudgel' against adversaries, in a statement released this week. Rubio's state department has 'shamelessly turned a once-credible tool of US foreign policy mandated by Congress into yet another instrument to advance Maga political grievances and culture war obsessions,' said Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. With Reuters
