Twenty Years after 7/7

Twenty years ago today London experienced its worst terror attack, an event that left 52 dead and many more injured.

On that day details that emerged were sketchy with news outlets unable to report what was occurring on the morning of the 7th of July 2005.

For those with connections with the emergency services, it was clear that something terrible had occurred as early as 9:30 am [BST], less than 40 minutes after the first blast. This blog reported that there had been a major incident having occurred in London's underground system with explosions reported in Liverpool Street, Aldgate East and Edgware Road stations soon after events began to unfold [tvnewswatch]. The three tube explosions had in fact occurred at 8:49 am within 50 seconds of each other.

At 10:00 am news outlets were reporting that the chaos reported on the London Underground was as a result of a number of 'power surge incidents'.

However, I had learned from police sources as early as 09:46 am [BST] that the incidents were due to explosions and there were multiple casualties, and that the fire brigade were outside Edgware Road underground station where a bomb was believed to have exploded. Meanwhile all underground services had been suspended. It was clear from my sources that there was an ongoing terror attack. That said, even the police on the ground were confused and details concerning the nature of the event and the number of key locations were yet to be clearly established. 

Even as the reports of a bus having exploded at 09:49 [BST] emerged, police were initially under the impression that it was another explosion at the Underground Station. But at 09:53 am [BST] it was confirmed that a bus had exploded leaving multiple casualties [tvnewswatch].

By 10:20 am [BST] many news outlets had woken up to the unfolding seriousness of the incident. Sky News, ITN and the BBC were however still reporting the explosions as being caused by 'electrical surges'. The BBC had no cameras on the ground nor did the ITN news channel. Sky News were using a helicopter but were confined to an area around Aldgate East.

Meanwhile, police were in the process of blocking all routes into and out of central London.

It was only at 11:24, and as images of a wrecked bus near Edgware Road began to emerge, that the police confirmed 'multiple explosions' around London.

By 13:00 BST, the then Home Secretary Charles Clarke made a statement in the House of Commons, saying that there had been four explosions; one on a tube train between Aldgate East and Liverpool St stations, another on a bus in Woburn Place and also Russell Square, though in fact there had been only one explosion on a bus in Russell Square. A further explosion was also confirmed at Edgware Rd. The Prime Minister said the attacks were 'barbaric' and will be returning to London from the G8 summit.

In the coming hours London was effectively shut down. Workers were forced to walk long distances in order to escape the capital since the entire Underground was shut. Some mainline trains were running and traffic in and around London became gridlocked as buses and private cars conveyed people home.

The attacks came at a time when there was little or no social media. There was no Twitter. Smartphones did not exist. And even 24 hour rolling news was still in its infancy with only CNN and Sky News dominating the scene. Signs on the motorways told motorists to avoid London and to turn on the radio. Without the radio and TV people were essentially in the dark.

For many the 7/7 attacks are a distant memory. For some, they are still living with the pain or loss of loved ones [Wikipedia].

tvnewswatch, London, UK

Age checks could mark beginning of the end of online porn

A new UK law will soon force those who wish to access pornography websites to verify their age with credit card checks, open banking or facial age estimation. The rules will require major pornography sites including Pornhub and Redtube to introduce "highly effective age checks" from the 25th July in the UK for the first time [BBC].

The rules, laid out in the online safety act, are an attempt to prevent children accessing pornography online. Statistics suggest that 8% of eight to 14-year-olds in the UK visited a pornography site in one month with 19% of boys aged 13 and 14 visiting such sites. Around 11% of girls the same age are said to visit pornography sites in one month.

Without parental controls, it is easy for children to access such sites. A simple internet search can return swathes of pornography, from softcore images of to gratuitous hardcore images.

Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom's group director of online safety, says, "Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren't suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling. But for too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online."

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the UK authority for finding and removing child sexual abuse imagery from the Internet, called the announcement a "vital step" and said it welcomes platforms doing "all they can" to comply with the new rules.

"Exposure to pornography at an inappropriately early age can normalise harmful sexual behaviours, with the availability of violent pornography by children and young adults increasingly being linked to the growing rates of sexual violence against girls and young women," said Derek Ray-Hill, interim chief executive of the IWF.

There are some who believe that the legislation could push some young people towards the so-called 'dark web'. "I have cases where clients as young as 14 access the dark web," said Marcus Johnstone from PCD Solicitors which specialises in criminal defence representation for people accused of sexual offences [Sky News].

While accessing the dark web is relatively easy, it does require jumping over through a few hurdles with a need to use specialised browsers. There will be some young people attempting to seek out content on the dark web, but they will be a relative minority.

For the vast majority of under 18s, accessing content will be through a conventional browser such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari, if using a Mac.

It is unclear whether the rules will work given the enormous number of platforms offering salacious content. Pornography exists not only on major sites such as PornHub, but also blogging platforms. The likes of Blogger, Twitter, Flickr and similar sites also host dubious content.

Since the advent of the Internet, regulations concerning the making and distribution of pornography have been eroded or become meaningless.

Prior to online access a person wishing to access pornography would need to buy a magazine often from the 'top shelf' of a newsagent or go to a specialist sex or private shop. Moreover, the pictures published would be highly regulated. Those wanting hardcore porn would often be forced to seek out illegally imported magazines from parts of Europe.

Now, with just a few clicks one can access hardcore images, some of which are borderline illegal.

In this regard it is a no-brainer that efforts should be made to stop children accessing such material.

However the purveyors of this content have pushed back at the regulation. When France recently implemented similar age verification rules Aylo, the company which runs a number of pornographic websites, including Pornhub, stopped operating in the country [BBC]. Pornhub also stopped operating in a number of US states, again over the issue of checking the ages of its users [BBC]. At the last count the porn site had shut down in 17 states across the US to avoid compliance with age verification child protection laws [Twitter/X Laila Mickelwait].

The new rules in the UK legislation has also banned porn depicting strangulation in an attempt to protect women from violence. It is unclear how this will be policed or enforced.

In this regard it is perhaps time to work towards creating a black and white list of websites. Whilst some might argue that curtailing an adult's right to access pornography, there is little or no justification for some of the easily accessible hardcore imagery posted online.

Pornography is heavily censored beyond the US, the Americas and Europe with some countries imposing an almost blanket ban [Wikipedia]. 

There might be a case for an adult having access to the likes of Mayfair or Playboy, but the Internet has become the wild west.

Across much of Africa pornography is highly regulated or even banned altogether though in some cases does not go far enough especially with regards to child pornography. Across Asia too there are strict rules concerning pornography. The selling and distribution of pornographic material is illegal in India. In China pornography is also illegal, though it is available via the Internet where surveys reveal that more than 70% of men aged 18 to 29 are said to access pornography at some point over the course of a year. That said there is an ongoing cat and mouse game between online content providers and the authorities blocking sites and adding IP addresses to an ever increasing list of banned sites.

Even across parts of Europe there are some outliers when it comes to the restriction of access to pornography. Ukraine restricts online pornography while Belarus and Turkey ban or block the content entirely.

But with the rise of the use of VPNs which can circumvent territorial controls, blocking is becoming more problematic.

Currently most liberal democracies are concerned with younger children accessing inappropriate content. But there is also a rising concern that adults, particularly younger men, accessing extreme and violent pornography is brewing problems for the future.

Pornography has long been associated with misogyny and objectifying women. But there are clearly levels beyond which one might see content as being relatively harmless to material that could prove dangerous.

The UK age verification rules that come into force in July 2025 may be just the beginning. Over time one might well see a ban on all online pornography as countries come together to agree on blocks of sites around the globe.

This isn't as far-fetched as it might sound. China has already effectively banned most content from outside China unless placed on a 'white list' and continues to add sites deemed inappropriate — for whatever reason — to a 'black list'.

With both France and the UK, as well as some US states, now insisting upon age verification in order to access certain sites it is likely that internet blocking will soon be needed to enforce such rules should sites not comply.

In the long term such regulations might mean blocks on an entire country or region should that country not make sufficient efforts to police their online content providers.

In years to come, accessing pornography on the Internet could become a distant memory with those wanting to fulfill their carnal desires once again having to discreetly ask for a top shelf magazine before secreting it away in a brown paper bag. But at least in those days access to porn by under-18s was almost impossible, except for the few that might come across "some tacky little pamphlet in your daddy's bottom drawer," as Zappa alluded to in his '70s track 'Dirty Love'.

tvnewswatch, London, UK

Israel's Operation Rising Lion hits Iran hard

World leaders have urged restraint after Israel pummeled Iran in an attempt to destroy its nuclear facilities [Wikipedia]. But with apparent US backing, Israel seems set on pushing forward and neutralising any Iranian threat.

"We know that the situation is very complicated but there is no other solution than a diplomatic one," the Italian foreign minister said following the strikes. The UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meanwhile called for "restraint" on Friday morning after Israel struck Iran overnight killing top regime officials and key nuclear scientists. British Foreign Minister David Lammy also said that any further escalation was "a serious threat to peace & stability in the region and in no one's interest."

The strikes came just days after the US had pulled back diplomats and other personnel from the region, a signal that US officials were already aware of imminent military action.

The decision to pull out personnel from the region came amid increasing concerns that nuclear talks between the US and Iran had become deadlocked.

By early Thursday evening UK time there were suggestions that an Israeli strike on nuclear facilities in Iran was imminent, though most media outlets continued to focus on the deadly plane crash in India.

As early as the 11th June there were reports indicating a military strike was imminent. The US State Department said on Wednesday that it had decided to shrink the US "footprint" in Baghdad and the United Kingdom issued a warning about "increased tensions within the region." [NYT / NYT archived] The UK also raised concerns issuing a warning of new threats to Middle East commercial shipping [UKMTO].

All this came in the midst of inflammatory comments from Iran's defense minister, General Aziz Nasirzadeh, who warned on Wednesday that in the event of a conflict following failed nuclear talks, the United States would suffer heavy losses from Iranian attacks on US bases in the Middle East.

In what was clearly a long planned operation Netanyahu launched Operation Rising Lion in the early hours of Friday 12th of June.

While the US said they were not involved militarily, it was clear that a green light was given or at least tacit approval that Israel could go ahead with its mission.

While UK government ministers would neither confirm or deny that Britain were aware of Israeli plans, the US President Donald Trump was more forthcoming, telling Fox News on Friday morning that he was aware in advance of Israel's Operation Rising Lion.

"Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we are hoping to get back to the negotiating table. We will see. There are several people in leadership that will not be coming back," Trump added.

Israel's operation, which involved more than 200 fighter jets, struck multiple targets, including Iran's nuclear facilities and high-ranking military leaders.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the attack as the beginning of a multi-day offensive.

In retaliation, Iran launched a swarm of more than 100 drones toward Israel, according to an Israeli military spokesperson, though all were said to have been shot down.

The dramatic escalation raised fears that the Middle East could be on the brink of a devastating new regional conflict.

"The reports of these strikes are concerning and we urge all parties to step back and reduce tensions urgently," Starmer said Friday, urging parties to show "restraint, calm and a return to diplomacy."

That prospect seemed unlikely with Netanyahu committed in his resolve to continue his military operation until Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon was destroyed.

The damage inflicted was significant. Several top military officials were killed in the attacks as well as a number of scientists involved in Iran's nuclear program.

Of those confirmed dead were Golami Ali Rashid, commander of Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, General Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran's highest-ranking military officer, and Ali Shamkhani, an Iranian naval officer and politician who served as the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran from 2013 to 2023. While they will soon be replaced, the shock to the Iranian administration will be profound.

So too will the taking out of a significant number of assets connected to Iran's nuclear ambitions as well as a number of key scientists including Fereydoun Abbasi, the former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, a physicist who also served as president of Islamic Azad University.

John Bolton, a long time hawk in American politics was clear that military action was the only language that Iran understood.

Speaking to CNN on Friday, Bolton pointed to the fact that the "war started on October 7th 2023" and "what Israel has done is simply open a new front in that war."

This action was "far from over," he continued but it was a "good start" given Israel's actions had stifled Iran's terror surrogates and severely curtailed the country's ballistic missile manufacturing facilities.

The attacks could also result in a major destabilising of the Iranian regime, Bolton asserted. As for a continuation of talks to persuade Iran to stop its nuclear program, Bolton was adamant concerning his position. "These talks are a waste of oxygen."

tvnewswatch, London, UK

Iberian power outage should be a wake up call

Electrical supplies have returned to much of Spain and Portugal after a power outage effectively sent much of the two countries back to the stone age.

According to the two major power companies, Red Eléctrica de España and Ren in Portugal, 99% of the electrical grid was back up and running early Tuesday [29th April].

The cause for the blackout has yet to be established. Ren, the Portuguese supplier, pointed to a "rare atmospheric phenomenon" while the Spanish PM said the cause was yet to be established. "This has never happened before," said Pedro Sánchez.  "And what caused it is something that the experts have not yet established — but they will."

"No hypothesis has been rejected, and every possible cause is being investigated," Sánchez said during a national broadcast late Monday afternoon.

Many people would not hear that message since much of the country was without power for more than 10 hours with many not seeing power restored for up to 19 hours.

A powercut is not unusual for anyone. Local substations or electrical faults are not uncommon in many western countries. But such a widespread outage is almost unprecedented.

For those on the ground it took a while to sink in that the problem went beyond their local area.

"I was in Murcia, Spain, in the middle of a Zoom work call when plash [sic], the power went out. Well, that's not so rare," one Twitter use later posted as power was restored. It was only when he attempted to communicate with others that he realised the problem went beyond his small enclave in southeastern Spain.

Friends in Málaga some 400 km away were also affected. "But it can't have gone out everywhere in the country, right?" Javi exclaimed on his Twitter/X post.

It suddenly seemed as though he was in an episode of Black Mirror, a dystopian television series that features a futuristic world where technology backfires and targets its creators.

This wasn't the future though. This was the 21st century where everything is interconnected and wired together with electricity.

It soon dawned on Javi and millions of others across the continent that there was no electricity and that without it everyday life would soon be entirely disrupted. There were perhaps others who were suddenly reminded of the 1950s science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still [Twitter/X].

In the major cities passengers found themselves trapped on stationary subway trains whilst others came to a halt in elevators. The numbers of those finding themselves in such a predicament has yet to be established but it likely ran into thousands across the country. For some it could have been hours. Unable to make an emergency call as the mobile networks gradually failed, some may have been trapped for many hours.

High speed trains across the country also ground to a halt. Passengers were forced to disembark as the air conditioning in the trains failed and they sought relative comfort in the blazing spring sunshine with temperatures topping 25°C.

The Civil Guard were soon being dispatched to these stranded trains to distribute water and help rescue a number of individuals needing medical attention [Twitter/X].

Locals near to the small town of Brazatortas came to hand out water to passengers of a stranded Madrid–Seville high-speed train that had come to a halt half way along its 472 km journey [Twitter/X]. 

Back in the major cities motorists were feeling the impact as traffic lights failed causing chaos on the roads. "The most amazing part is that there were no major accidents," Javi said, though his vision of what was going across the country was somewhat blinkered.

There were some people posting images to social media in the first hour or so after the power outage began. But soon even the mobile networks failed leaving everyone in the dark.

Not only were people without electricity, but also water since supplies rely on electricity to pump it to people's homes.

"Mobile data started to work only sporadically, and calls began to collapse until they completely stopped working. In fact, as the hours passed, it went from 'mobile data works a bit' to 'nothing at all'," Javi wrote on a social media post.

With the mobile networks down, Internet inaccessible and TV unavailable, some reached for their radio. But in this modern world many access radio via the Internet using smart speakers.

Battery powered and wind-up radios were now hot items being bought up at supermarkets which were now being stripped of essential supplies. Within hours bottled water, canned food and toilet paper had all been emptied from stores by those fortunate to have cash after card payments went down along with ATMs. 

"A whole army of doomsday preppers rushed to the supermarkets to buy toilet paper, water jugs, and dog food. Pandemic 2.0," Javi observed.

Meanwhile the sounds of sirens broke the silence as ambulances and emergency personnel responded to those trapped in lifts and stationary underground trains. Hospitals reportedly coped with back up supplies though it is probable that non-emergency procedures were cancelled or postponed.

By late afternoon many people were resigned to the fact that there was little to do other than enjoy an extended siesta, their only concern being that beer still on sale at the remaining open bars was getting warmer as the refrigerators, along with everything else, had failed.

Streets and promenades in many towns and cities were now packed with people walking, chatting about the situation, complaining about not having Internet, walking their dogs, sunbathing, and drinking beers at the bars nonstop!

Restaurants and supermarkets were now facing other challenges as they were forced to dispose of perishable items from raw fish and meat to ice cream as their refrigeration failed after backup power supplies also failed.

Those having made it home now faced issues concerning cooking their evening meal. While some reached for the bread and cheese, others improvised, attempting to cook using a number of candles in a saucepan to provide heat to a frying pan [Twitter/X].

But across the country others were stranded. Motorists found themselves unable to fill up at petrol stations since the pumps were reliant on electricity. Meanwhile electric vehicles were also caught short since car charges were also without power.

Others were meanwhile stranded at airports as flights were cancelled with many passengers forced to sleep on airport floors as hotels were overwhelmed with an influx of people. The situation was compounded as they could only accept cash and were forced to turn people away.

By early evening power had been restored to around a fifth of the country. But for many people were still without electricity and were reliant on candles for lighting.

In the morning, power had been restored to most people across both Portugal and Spain, though for some charging their electric vehicle or boiling a kettle for their morning brew was still proving difficult with some resorting once again to candlepower to get their caffeine fix.

For a few who lived through the 28th April blackout it was a novelty, the biggest frustration being expressed by some was their inability to access the Internet.

Others however found themselves in far more difficult or even life threatening situations. It could of course have been much worse.

Those stranded after high-speed trains came to a halt were fortunate to be provided water by emergency services and local residents. But should this have been at the height of summer when temperatures in Spain and Portugal reach up to 40°C, there could well have been fatalities.

As to the cause many have speculated - especially on social media - that the outage was caused by a cyberattack. While the national cybersecurity institute was investigating the possibility of a cyberattack, António Costa, the European Council president and a former Portuguese prime minister, said there were "no indications of any cyberattack" whilst Spain's Teresa Ribera, a European Commission vice-president, said there was no evidence the incident was deliberate [Guardian].

Other suggestions, much touted by media outlets opposed to the so-called Net-Zero agenda, have alluded to the outage being caused by heavy reliance on solar and wind farms [Daily Telegraph].

The outage was initially attributed, by the Portuguese operator REN, to a rare atmospheric phenomenon called "induced atmospheric vibration". This phenomenon, caused by extreme temperature variations, led to anomalous oscillations in very high-voltage lines, potentially disrupting the synchronisation of the interconnected power grids.

The actual reason may not be known for some time. But the outage does raise alarm bells for all of us. Only a few weeks ago the European Commission was accused by the far-right of sowing fear, after its presentation of the resilience kit which aims to provide self-sufficiency in case of crisis [Euronews].   

The suggested items in the emergency kit included photocopies of identification documents, cash, a radio with batteries, a charger and a phone battery, a flashlight, matches and a lighter in case of power failure, a first aid kit, water, food, and board games to pass the time.

The emergency kit was, for many, seen as a response to a potential Russian threat. However the power outage seen in Spain, Portugal, as well as parts of France and Andorra, should be a wake up call for anyone who isn't already prepped.

tvnewswatch, London, UK

Power outage hits much of Spain and Portugal

Major areas in Spain and Portugal are without electricity as the grid fails.

Every single part of digital life from shops, to traffic lights, hospitals, airports, phones, have all reported to be hit.

Some residents have managed to get messages out using the internet and the mobile phone system though even parts of that are said to have experienced problems.

Reports of long queues at cash points have been seen as card payments are not working in retail outlets.

The mayor of Madrid has asked people to keep their movements to a minimum, saying, "I ask all residents of Madrid to keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are. We want to keep all roads clear."

With the outage affecting subway trains many passengers are said to still be trapped, several hours after the power went out shortly after 11:00 a.m. local time in Portugal, midday in Spain.

Main railways have also been affected with  trains coming to a halt and bewildered passengers seen disembarking in remote locations.

Air traffic in Spain and Portugal is also being impacted by widespread electrical outages affecting both countries though it is unclear at present whether flights are being diverted. Lisbon's main airport is shut and several flights have been cancelled according to one stranded passenger Joseph Henshaw who spoke to Sky News using a sketchy cellphone service.

There are unconfirmed reports that parts of southern France and Andorra have also been affected.

Further unconfirmed reports on social media have said that the power outage across Spain has triggered chaos in supermarkets, with some stores closing to prevent looting, and long queues forming at those still open as panicked shoppers rush to stock up on supplies.

Meanwhile the Spanish power operator has said power is unlikely to be restored for up to 10 hours with some estimates being as long as a week.

As to the cause, speculation is rife on social media that it was a cyberattack. Power companies, including Spanish power grid operator Red Electrica, have said that a rare environmental phenomenon due to extreme temperature variations caused the outage. 

A heat burst, a rare environmental phenomenon characterised by sudden and extreme temperature changes, could be a potential cause for an outage. Heat bursts, which can occur during the late spring and summer, are often accompanied by strong winds and a sharp decrease in humidity, all of which could disrupt power lines or equipment. Additionally, extreme heat can lead to increased demand for electricity, potentially straining the power grid and contributing to outages.

tvnewswatch, London, UK

Egg prices may hurt, but H5N1 pandemic could break the economy

Trump's trade policy with tariffs will likely hit American consumers hard over the coming months as imported goods - especially from the likes of China - are hit with punitive tariffs that for some items will see prices more than double.

And while some groceries may also increase there has been a particular focus, by much of the media, on the cost of eggs with comedians egging it up with jokes about the cost of a Denver omelette.

Eggs have risen considerably in the US and stand at $6 per dozen, an almost tripling of prices from the year before. That is about £4.50 in UK prices where a dozen eggs is about £3.00 on average.

But while many have pointed to Trump's economic policies concerning the rise in the price of eggs, the cost for consumers has risen steadily over the past year mostly due to the fallout of bird flu.

Similar issues have affected UK and EU egg production though most eggs are free range across the EU.

In 2022, a substantial portion of eggs produced in the UK were from free-range systems, accounting for 65% of the total. While barn systems made up 7%, and battery cages produced 28%. In the EU, a significant shift towards cage-free systems is underway, with a goal of phasing out all cage systems by 2025.

In the US only 40% of hens used for eggs in the US are now cage-free. The vast majority of avian flu outbreaks have been on factory farms where hundreds of thousands or sometimes millions of egg-laying hens are caged in close proximity, creating ideal conditions for the rapid spread of infectious diseases.

Bird flu has wiped out more than 30 million chickens so far this year in the US.  And since the virus began spreading through commercial flocks in early 2022 more than 166 million poultry have been culled.

High-pathogenicity avian influenza subtype H5N1 is now present throughout the US, and possibly beyond. More cattle infections have elevated the risk of the virus evolving the capacity to transmit between humans, potentially with high fatality rates [Independent / Science].

Research has shown that the spill over to cattle likely occurred as long ago as 2003 and has since been transmitted to various other species, including raccoons and cats as well as poultry [Gavi].

The jump to cats has brought further concerns. Most people have little contact with chickens or other birds. But in the United States, approximately 32.1% of households own at least one cat.

Anyone who has a cat will be aware that their instinct is to hunt, be it rodents or indeed birds. But while the risk of catching and transmitting bird flu to humans is small, some experts and veterinary specialists have advised keeping cats indoors.

Dr. Michael Q. Bailey, president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association, speaking on Fox 5 Atlanta last year was suggesting pet owners watch out for symptoms and proactively prevent their cat from contracting the disease by keeping them inside, avoid feeding them raw meat and unpasteurised milk products.

But what's all this got to do with the price of eggs?

Simply put, the culling of chickens and the cost of dealing with the disease has hit the cost of production as well as creating a shortage of eggs.

That in turn has caused the price to increase. Bird flu outbreaks have significantly impacted egg prices in the UK and the US, leading to a surge in costs for consumers. In the UK, some egg prices have risen by as much as 20%. In the US, the average price for a dozen eggs reached $5 in January 2025, a 53% increase from 2024, with the USDA anticipating further price increases [Guardian].

But the real threat is not a hit to people's finances and the threat to farming, but the risk to human health.

So far 70 human cases have been confirmed in the US. One person has died and another three have required hospital treatment. Almost 1,000 cattle herds have been infected, and the virus has been detected in poultry in almost every single US territory.

The alarm bells may not be ringing quite yet. But having just emerged from a deadly pandemic that killed more than 7 million people and devastated the global economy, the world should already be preparing for the possibility that H5N1 could become the next pandemic [CEPI].

"Pandemic preparedness initiatives should be urgently resourced and implemented," CEPI's Executive Director for Preparedness and Response Dr Nicole Lurie and six other experts said of the bird flu virus. "Enhancing readiness now can save lives and reduce societal and economic disruption if H5N1 or another outbreak becomes a pandemic."

If H5N1 does mutate into a deadly strain, the cost of a dozen eggs will be the last thing on people's minds [Morning Star].

tvnewswatch, London, UK

Meloni achieves little in naive attempt to sway Trump

Meloni's meeting with Trump triggered varied responses. The Spectator suggested her mission to "make the West great again" would infuriate Macron. Sky News meanwhile pointed to her playing the 'role of political peacekeeper'. However, while many news outlets attempted to elevate her visit to one of diplomacy and soothing words in order to win over the US president, Le Monde noted that she ended up without anything to show for her visit. 

During the meeting Meloni offered Trump a visit to Rome, though there wasn't a sweetener with the meeting of a monarch which the UK PM Starmer attempted a few weeks previously. Italy is no longer a monarchy and it wasn't perhaps the best idea to suggest a meeting with the ailing pope.

The announcement of the visit to Italy was by way of an attempt to kick start negotiations with the EU and come to a deal in order to mitigate US tariffs. The invite did not spark Trump's enthusiasm, nor did he even begin to confirm the trip.

There was some sense of comradery with Giorgia Meloni being warmly welcomed by Trump who called her a "great prime minister" and said she had "taken Europe by storm".

Some cynical observers might suggest this was more about her being a woman and Trump was showing his misogynistic colours as he fawned over the 48 year old blonde as she arrived at the White House in a dazzling white trouser suit.

There was some awkward body language on display however. Meloni sat cross-legged throughout the meeting, her hand folded gripping a pen with a notepad on her lap. At times her foot folded behind her grounded leg pointing to even more awkwardness or defensiveness as Trump watched her intently all the while.

There were further awkward moments. After Trump suggested they take questions from reporters Meloni practically leapt from her chair in shock as journalists threw a barrage of demands at the pair, the cacophony overwhelming the Italian PM. Briefly thrown back into her chair, her eyes wide open like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car on a dark country road, Meloni composed herself. But further uncomfortable moments were to come.

 
When an Italian journalist insisted on asking Meloni a question in her native Italian she looked disgusted. Reluctantly she answered in Italian, her features relaxing slightly as she embarked on an extended discourse. Her body language betrayed her as she lifted both feet off the ground, one crossed leg folding behind the other once again. As she finished and an American journalist tried to ask another question, Trump interjected. "No, wait, I want to hear what you said," the president insisted.

Meloni's female interpreter, sitting nearby, revealed. "Prime Minister Meloni was asked … what she thinks about the fact that President Trump holds Zelenskyy responsible for the war in Ukraine."

Sensing the moment could have worsened, Meloni intervened in a moment of damage limitation and reinterpreted her own answer in Italian, steering her comments towards her vow to in raising Italy's contributions to NATO.

Trump, reading between the lines concerning her response, attempted to defend his position concerning Zelenskyy. "I don't hold Zelenskyy responsible," he insisted, a full retreat from his previous false accusations that Ukraine started the war [BBC]. "But I'm not exactly thrilled with the fact that that war started. I'm not happy with anybody involved."

Meloni may have visited Washington DC with good intent to kick start negotiation with the EU and to temper the fallout of Trump's trade war. But there is clearly a sense of naivety if she, or any other leader, believes they can tame the savage beast that is Donald J. Trump and his pack of loyal doberman pinschers.

With his launch of his Trade War there is clearly a shift in geopolitics. Trump's flip-flopping concerning tariffs has created uncertainty in financial markets. His stance on Gaza and the possibility of building a Mediterranean resort has caused consternation in the Middle East. And then there's the president's attempt to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. He has been accused of aligning himself too closely with Russia's Vladimir Putin and appeasing his demands in order to bring about a ceasefire. Meanwhile his bullying of Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy whilst trying to force him to sign over mineral rights has been likened to Hitler's forcing of the Czech leader Hacha to hand over his country to the Reich in 1939 [Dominic Grieve Twitter/X]. 

There is no certainty in this new world order. While the world beyond the American borders may want to calm the savage beast, it is probably best just to look beyond the US, as China appears to be doing. Europe has already been shocked into creating a so-called coalition of the willing to ward off the Russian threat and help defend Ukraine as the US shows signs of withdrawal.

And so too with trade. Europe, and the rest of the world need to focus on trade partners outside of the US and leave Trump’s America withdraw into its own borders if that’s what he has planned or wishes to do.

tvnewswatch, London, UK