General News Thread

It seems this new mutation came about after this years vaccine was prepared, so even with a jab you are vulnerable to that variety.

They are talking about this potentially being the worst flu season for a decade, or even longer.
They are also saying that the uptake of the jab is down on previous years. Given that, it surprises me that they haven't extended the availability of the free jabs to get more people covered. The fewer people getting other varieties of flu, the less favourable the conditions for this new mutation to spread.
Even extending it to the overs-60's would potentially help keep numbers down, and the cost of providing more jabs would surely be better than the costs involved in providing the healthcare for those that get infected, and the cost to the economy from lost production because of people off sick.

The London Olympic Velodrome suffers from flatulence...


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c77z50zxzyxo

Tesco are going to sell their ornamental Christmas trees under the name “evergreen trees”.

The covid Inquiry report which was published yesterday was damning and highly critical of the UK Government at every level across the UK.

I'd say the chance of any facing trial over it over are pretty slim, but certainly did say the Government was too slow to act and should have locked down earlier and 23000 more lives would have been saved. It made recommendations that should be implemented and in place to ensure that when the next pandemic strikes we are far better prepared for it which is a case of 'when' and not 'if'

When the pandemic comes,which ever government is in charge.good luck implementing a lockdown,after the last debacle will anyone conform.

BBC News - Wolverhampton SEND school to raise 'crisis' provision with MP - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crmx0k92n39o

BBC News - King Charles gives post box to Antarctic research staff - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdrnnze3mepo

I imagine it is designed in such a way so that it can withstand Antarctic temperatures

I guess the penguin in the picture was going to post his response to Trump on making his friends/cousins elsewhere pay tariffs, lol

I'm absolutely shocked to discover that David Walliams is a creep. I never saw this coming at all. Or something.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12...r-collins/

The disappointing thing is that Walliams books have often been well received by young fans and now I don't think there is any way back for him as an author, know how often he featured on the all time bestseller list. He must have known that if any allegations of that sort ever came to light, just how deeply hurt young avid readers would be.

But how it all dropped yesterday was like a bolt from the blue. Probably not the sort of news that many wanted to hear. Harper Collins I think are on of the best book publishers around and they didn't want their reputation to be shattered.