But we also replaced one Khamenei with another; empowered the IRGC; did nothing for the protesters, killed over a thousand civilians, including hundreds of children and lost at least 13 US service members, alongside over 500 wounded); left Iran with enough highly enriched uranium to make 10-12 nuclear weapons; gave it greater incentive to try to build them; irreparably tarnished America's reputation; did lasting damage to the US and world economies; depleted our arsenal of scarce missile-defence interceptors; diverted valuable military assets from other regions; empowered Russia with an oil price windfall; triggered further conflict in Lebanon; further eroded domestic and international law; and may have left Iran in control of the most valuable waterway in the world, in a position to earn tens of billions of dollars in revenue per year through tolls, while holding the world economy hostage.

So @jderbyshire.ft.com asked @philgordondc.bsky.social if the Iran war is the US’s Suez moment. He said no, but then pithily and pitilessly sums up how it has been a comprehensive strategic failure. Oof!
www.ft.com/content/0cbc...

I’ve watched this four times and will not be stopping anytime soon

Hollywood has gone too far this time.

Saturday's @theguardian.com cartoon
#iranwar #middleastconflict #Trump #Hegseth #Netanyahu

ME: i guess i'm just looking for something i haven't found out there yet, y'know, someone who sees through all the lies and hypocrisies of this effed up world and understands the profound truths of my heart

MY AI GIRLFRIEND: how relatable! here are seven fun — and inventive — ways to kill yourself

Israel vows to target Iran's next supreme leader as Kuwait government building hit by drone - follow live In Tehran, residents have described thick smoke over the city following heavy Israeli strikes on Iranian oil depots.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cz...

war already won says Trump

Britain’s care system promotes modern slavery. A genuinely humane government would reform it | Andrea Egan New proposals that would force poorly paid migrant workers to wait longer for earned settlement are nothing more than an assault on working-class people, says Unison’s general secretary Andrea Egan

Britain’s care system promotes modern slavery. A genuinely humane government would reform it | Andrea Egan, UNISON general secretary writes in @theguardian.com
unsn.uk/4kBe3Km

Ben Jennings on Keir Starmer, Peter Mandelson and Morgan McSweeney – cartoon The prime minister has attempted to reboot his faltering premiership, apologising for appointing Mandelson as US ambassador

Latest @theguardian.com cartoon

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A banya with a billionaire, an undeclared loan and ‘pure poison’: the many scandals of Peter Mandelson Despite his value to Starmer, the New Labour veteran has been forced into an extraordinary third resignation

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

So you've applied to become US ambassador. We need someone we can trust. Looking through your CV now. Well this is appalling. You're hired!

New entry for the most divorced man in the UK

I love Stephen. The face of a doomed WW1 officer and the wardrobe of John Travolta. #thetraitors

BBC Sounds - The History Bureau - Available Episodes Listen to the latest episodes of The History Bureau on BBC Sounds.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...

Interesting

This calls for the strongest possible response.

An unprecedented third state visit?

I would know if I was being slowly corrupted by insidious forces beyond my comprehension. I would comprehend it easily

Overseas care workers go above and beyond to support our loved ones.

How does the government show its gratitude? By making it harder for them to live and work in the UK.

I have written to the Home Secretary urging them to reverse these changes and support care workers instead!

Apparently my wife’s karate teacher’s sourdough starter exploded in the back of our car when she was giving him a ride to his mom’s bakery after his car wouldn’t start? Whew! I think I have that straight. Anyway, big mess!

I’ve got loads!

- Medieval people washed regularly, drank water, and didn’t have rotten teeth
- WW1 did not end in 1918
- Queen Victoria was a horndog
- Ancient Egyptians invented Egyptology by excavating their own ancient monuments
- We know more about Shakespeare than many other famous Tudors

A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose. "Who on earth gives that advice?"

“ChatGPT started coaching Sam on how to take drugs, recover from them and plan further binges. It gave him specific doses of illegal substances, and in one chat, it wrote, ‘Hell yes—let’s go full trippy mode’”
www.sfgate.com/tech/article...

Top Adrian Chiles Columns of 2025:

I’ve given up wild swimming. So why does my Volvo smell like mince?

Should I tell the postman he has halitosis? My first wife wouldn’t let me wear shorts.

I buried my father with my bare hands. It’s time we stopped talking about glamping. 1/3

Second anniversary of our Apple TV’s spectacular attempt to understand me asking for “Hercule Poirot’s Christmas”

The works of one monkey with a typewriter would have more insight than these BBC execs. You made the show brilliant. Good luck with your future projects.

“I was just following otters.”

FYI lads, This only works if you do it in Toast of London’s voice.

"Despite their hollow words, this Government is betraying it’s promises to millions of people who have lived and worked here for years. This is a retreat into a smaller, meaner England - one where belonging is rationed, and diversity is punished.” 2/2

Some migrants to face 20-year wait for settled status Shabana Mahmood says becoming part of the UK is

"People who arrived on post-Brexit health and social care visas would have to wait 15 years, up from five year currently"

Oh sure I'll vote Labour. On the condition my vote is counted retroactively. Delayed 15 years when a new batch of more compassionate Labour candidates are available.

Shabana Mahmood puts the signs up: Britain is full. No blacks, no dogs, no Irish We had always given sanctuary to those who needed it, she said, only now we would kick them out as soon as possible

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

"We have become the destination of choice in Europe" according to the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Data from Eurostat & the Home Office shows the UK had the fifth largest number of claims of the EU/UK area in 2025, at 108,000... assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691ae0...

corrigendum: ball, singular. FFS.