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In the history of expensive software mistakes, Mariner 1 was probably the most notorious. The unmanned spacecraft was destroyed seconds after launch from Cape Canaveral in 1962 when it veered dangerously off-course due to a line of dodgy code. But nobody died and the only hits were to Nasa’s budget and pride. Imperial College’s modelling of non-pharmaceutical interventions for Covid-19 which helped persuade the UK and other countries to bring in draconian lockdowns will supersede the failed Venus space probe and could go down in history as the most devastating software mistake of all time, in terms of economic costs...

The coronavirus death-forecast model that apparently convinced President Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to shift to a policy featuring unprecedented lockdowns of the healthy "could go down in history as the most devastating software mistake of all time, in terms of economic costs and lives lost." That's according to two software company executives writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper of London. David Richards, CEO of the British-American software firm WANdisco, and Konstantin Boudnik, the company's vice president of open source development, were referring to the Imperial College of London report March 16 forecasting 2.2 million deaths in the...

Dubliner John Hemingway (100) fought in the Battle of Britain Irishman John Hemingway is now the last of the second World War “Few” who fought in the Battle of Britain still alive. It follows the death in a Yorkshire care home of Flight Lieutenant Terry Clark (101) on the eve of the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day on Thursday. The “Few” were so called by Britain’s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill in reference to the 3,000 men from the Royal Air Force (RAF) who repulsed the German Luftwaffe during the summer and autumn of 1940 and prevented...

Amid increasing frustration over lockdown measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, multiple protests took place across Europe on Saturday to demand businesses reopen. In Warsaw, Poland, law enforcement used tear gas on protesters, while police made arrests at a demonstration in London's Hyde Park. Police in several German cities enforced distancing rules as thousands of people gathered to vent anger over economies in freefall and perceived losses of freedom. Police in Stuttgart said that the number of demonstrators exceeded the permitted threshold of 5,000; they directed other protesters to another open space. Police said they were enforcing a mask requirement...

The most striking feature about the impact of Covid-19 on children is how little research has been conducted in the field. Only a handful of studies have been carried out across the world, and scientists are divided over their interpretation. As a result, politicians are now being asked to decide if they should open schools in order to protect children’s mental health and education without any clear scientific guidance about the risks of triggering a second wave of Covid-19 and infecting school staff in the process. It is known that children are less likely to become ill if infected with...

The ban - part of a European Union initiative to discourage young people from taking up smoking - will come into effect on Wednesday, May 20Menthol cigarettes will be banned in the United Kingdom from next week in a bid to discourage young people from taking up smoking. The ban - part of a European Union initiative - will come into effect on Wednesday, May 20. Under the new directive, flavoured rolling tobacco and "skinny" cigarettes will be outlawed. Experts believe youngsters use flavoured cigarettes as they relax airways and lower the severity of smoke. While it is commonly believed...

Just because Stonehenge is thousands of years old doesn’t mean it can’t adapt to the virtual age. The ancient, mystical site typically hosts one of the world’s most popular summer solstice celebrations, attracting thousands of people, including the druid and pagan community, on the longest day of the year to watch the sun rise behind the Heel Stone. This year, however, the usual celebration won’t be possible. The English Heritage organization, which manages Stonehenge, is asking people not to visit the site, and is instead offering a livestream of the sunrise. Nichola Tasker, the director of Stonehenge, said, “We have...

Take the Roman Britain coin, known as a radiate, found in Headbourne Worthy, Hampshire. "On the face of it, it looks a grotty old coin, which it is, I guess," said Lewis. But it helps tell the story of Carausius who declared himself emperor of Britain and northern Gaul between AD286-93, breaking away from the Roman empire. He was assassinated by his treasurer Allectus. The newly found coin is just one from an astonishing variety of nearly 4,000 which were struck during Carausius' reign. Other finds include a pure gold arm ring weighing 300g and dating from the eighth century...

"Wear your mouth cover, Its a sign of your surrender" Gavin Seim For Liberty Facebook Post 5/12/2020 "Under instructions to enforce social distancing, maintain proper hygiene and have children grade four and up wear face masks, it was up to municipalities to decide when each school in its jurisdiction was full prepared to open, Netanyahu said" In Israel children are allowed to go back to school at all grade levels starting Sunday the details of restrictions remind us that masks prevent complete breathing and cut off air from people of all ages. Small children will not be required to wear...

The cubes were tiny - small enough to hold between the finger and thumb - and weighed 125g each. The symbols on them appeared to be some form of Sanskrit. Curious to know more, Read posted photographs of his discovery up on social media. "There were all sorts of stories flying around at first, the cubes really captured people's imaginations," he said. "What I learned is that they are Indian in origin and they show incantations for prayers which take effect when they are thrown in running water." Exactly how old the cubes are, however, continues to remain a mystery.

Rory McIlroy already had expressed doubts about any future rounds of golf with President Trump, saying in April 2017 that he’d have to “think twice” about it after receiving a considerable amount of heat for his round with the president two months earlier at Trump’s club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

An ancient figure of Christ has been unearthed in a Lincolnshire field. The near-complete copper artefact dating from the 13th Century is the first of its kind to be found in the county. A metal detector enthusiast found the precious object at East Torrington, near Wragby. The figure would have been mounted on a processional cross used in church services between 1200 and 1300AD, according to Lincolnshire finds liaison officer Adam Daubney. "It would have been made in Limoges in France around the time of the Third Crusade," he said. "Similar crosses are well known in France and England but...

Donald Trump has ratcheted up his “Obamagate” conspiracy theory to implicate Joe Biden and other former White House officials in what critics say is a desperate attempt to distract from the coronavirus pandemic. Ric Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, on Wednesday sent Congress a list of high-ranking Obama administration members he alleged were involved in the “unmasking” of retired general Michael Flynn, in intelligence reports dating from the presidential transition.... Unmasking is a routine practice used to identify a person anonymously referred to in an intelligence document. It takes place hundreds of times a year, without controversy.

The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board Jerome Powell says more stimulus spending is needed to prevent a slow and painful economic recovery...... In Washington state authorities are gearing up for testing, contact tracing and quarantine efforts that will include children's "camps" in the name of fighting Covid-19..... More clashes tonight in the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem as Orthodox Jewish residents sought to meet publicly in spite of Israeli government restrictions.... "Gestapo" was the message shouted at police in Lakewood, New Jersey Monday..... Police in Ukraine asking for the addresses of all the Jews in one community.... The family...

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly condemns Orthodox Jewish bonfires that have drawn large crowds in Israel tonight..... The lines are being drawn here in Pennsylvania over a regulated re-opening of business in the state... Four south-central Pennsylvania counties with Republican majority commissioners (Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York) setting this Friday as the date for moving to a 'yellow' phase but Wolf warning of consequences including loss of state funding.... Interpol has issues a 'red notice' for the arrest of the wife of a US diplomat accused by British police in the killing of a motorcyclist in 2019..... An...

The opening shot - exactly one hundred years ago in 1920. Exactly one hundred years ago, in April, 1920, marked the opening shot of the Arab Israeli conflict. It was a pogrom against Jews in Jerusalem and its surrounding areas. The pogrom, also called by some the Nebi Musa riots, took place between Sunday, April 4, and Wednesday, April 7, 1920. It cost the lives of five Jews, and 200 others were injured. The violence was instigated by the British occupation administration and led by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el-Husseini, who later became Hitler’s ally. The Jaffa riots a...

A restaruant where customers can sit down has been open for business in Kendrick, Idaho since May 1st in violation of the coronavirus martial law house arrest order of Republican Governor Brad Little. Now the Hardware Brewing Company being threatened with an alcohol license suspension by the Idaho State Police..... Anti-house arrest lockdown protests in several German cities today Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne..... An incident being called "fatal" involving an Iranian logistics ship near the port of Jask with unofficial reports calling it a "friendly fire" incident..... Al Qaeda affiliated jihadists in northwestern Syria launched a surprise attack on government...

SECONDARY school pupils are told that Winston Churchill was a “war criminal” and “a blundering reactionary” in a teaching tutorial shared by thousands of teachers. It is also claimed the wartime leader’s speeches were “poorly received”, he was “drunk” during his “finest hour” message and Bob Geldof is more important to our history. The lesson plan, Winston Churchill: Hero or War Criminal?” appears on the website of global education company Tes. Using halos and red devils’ horns as bullet points, the lesson contains a potted history of the career of what it calls “an intensely controversial figure”. Part of it...

Well here we are in the Year of our Lord Anthony Fauci.....OK......well a set of songs ending with Noel Paul Stookey "wherever two or more are gathered...there is love" and we need "love" right now that reaches out to help others be free..... In Iowa yesterday a Republican photo op with VP Pence and GOP Governor Kim Reynolds, the GOP Senators Grassley and Ernst. They were with religious leaders and Iowa will allow regulated worship services that comply with social distancing and sanitary rules. The government regulating churches. That is so like China... And it was so like the USSR...the...

This is the largest interference with personal liberty in our history”Lord Sumption Virtually overnight our world has turned into a wasteland of closed towns, deserted streets and a few people scuttling along with masks and stricken faces. It’s a place bereft of imagination, the light sucked out; a padded cell in Psych Ward B.The so-called new normal is anything but normal. On March 23rd, when Boris Johnson declared a lockdown in the UK, it was a beyond surreal moment for me. With no debate, our freedoms, social life and jobs were gone.The reasons given for the lockdown were to...