A drizzly walk through Queen’s Wood and Highgate Wood this morning – some views, some gnarly hornbeams:

Jonathan Spyer in the Spectator – Israel is turning the screws on Hezbollah: The killing of Lebanese Hezbollah military chief Haytham Ali Tababtabai by Israel this week reflects how much the balance of power between Jerusalem and the Iran-backed Shia Islamist group has shifted since the year-long war between the two in 2023 and 2024.…

I wonder how many people still support the Greens, in the fond belief that they’re the party for people who care about the environment. Those days are long gone. It’s the Trans Party now. The leader of the Green group on Herefordshire Council has claimed she has been banned from her own party for her…

In Newcastle: A woman who was molested as a child has told a court her life was destroyed by the abuser’s actions. Newcastle Crown Court heard the woman was 13 when she was groped and feared she was going to be raped by Ryan Haley, a biological male who now identifies as a woman called…

Some welcome news from Iran. In the face of widespread dissatisfaction with the regime, it appears that they’re no longer enforcing the hijab rules. From the Times of Israel: As you enter Iran’s capital, it starts with only occasional glimpses — a passenger in a car speeding by or a pedestrian trying to leapfrog through Tehran’s…

If Russia wins, there’ll be no Ukraine. If the West wins, there’ll also be no Ukraine – because it’ll be nuked by Russia. The logic of Russian “philosopher” Alexander Dugin. From MEMRI TV: Prominent Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin said in a November 22, 2025 interview on Al-Mashhad TV (UAE) about the war in Ukraine that…

This would be funny if it wasn’t so serious. From the Times: A clinical trial giving puberty blockers to children will ask participants from the age of 12 if they identify as “two spirit”. “Two-spirit”, for those at the back, is a label coined in 1990 at a Native American gay and lesbian conference in…

I’ve no idea why Brazil – and Latin America generally – should be so in thrall to gender ideology, but here we are. From Reduxx: A female university student in Brazil was arrested after telling a male who identifies as “non-binary” to leave the women’s restroom. According to a press release from the Military Police, the…

Another offering from Cafe Royal Books, this time with photographer Granville Horner and Cafes & Snack Bars South West London 1975–1976: [Photos © Cafe Royal Books/Granville Horner] London cafes previously here, here, and here.