News Round-Up

• “Israel-Gaza war latest: ground forces ‘expanding activity’” – Israeli tanks crossed into Gaza overnight as the conflict intensifies, reports the Times.
• “IDF launches ‘unprecedented’ airstrikes in Gaza” – Israel ratcheted up its aerial onslaught in preparation for a ground invasion, according to the Mail.
• “Iran is hijacking UK pro-Palestinian protests, police warn” – Iranian agents are creating unrest in Britain by stoking Gaza protests, senior police have said as they prepare for a fresh round of demonstrations today, says the Times.
• “Protesters chanting ‘Jihad’ may not be arrested, say Met ahead of pro-Palestine march” – The Metropolitan Police have warned protestors they may arrest people for chanting ‘Jihad’, but it will depend on the exact meaning of ‘Jihad’ that officers (and their advisors from the Crown Prosecution Service sitting in control rooms and reviewing footage) think they’ve intended, according to the Telegraph.
• “Sumption: it’s not illegal to chant for Palestine” – In an interview in UnHerd, Lord Sumption says there’s been an “an awful lot of nonsense” talked about whether pro-Palestine supporters should be allowed to protest in the UK. Of course they should, he tells James Billot.
• “Calling for jihad is not an automatic hate crime, says CPS chief” – Max Hill KC, the new Director of Public Prosecutions, says ‘Jihad’ chants “mean a lot of things to a lot of people” and are not necessarily against the law, reports the Telegraph.
• “Deranged defence of Hamas on campuses could finally loosen wokeism” – Has wokeism jumped the shark? In an essay for the Mail, Niall Fergusson dares to hope that the explosion of support for Hamas by progressive radicals on university campuses may wake people up to how dangerous woke-ism is.
• “Eliminating Hamas is a legitimate Israeli war aim backed by international law” – According to Jeremy Brier KC in the Telegraph, states are allowed to defend themselves against those who wish to destroy them
• “‘I just prayed they wouldn’t be killed’: Families of the Hamas hostages share their stories” – The Telegraph has pulled together photographs and descriptions of the 200-plus people being held hostage in Gaza.
• “Please can we stop equating Hamas and Israel” – In his Mail column, Boris Johnson says Hamas and Israel’s armed forces are not morally equivalent.
• “Boris Johnson joins GB News as presenter and commentator” – The former Prime Minister is joining GB News next year, where he’ll act as a pundit and present a new series about “the power of Britain”, according to the Telegraph.
• “The challenges ahead for GB News as Ofcom gears up for battle” – Britain’s youngest broadcaster could finally be tamed by Ofcom, warns the Telegraph.
• “The race against time to stop Xi Jinping from putting an end to Taiwan’s ambiguous freedom” – The Taiwanese case is different from Ukraine, and Beijing may have learnt from Putin’s mistakes, says Charles Moore in the Telegraph.
• “We live in dark times – but now is no time to despair” – If we look to the data, the world is better than it was, says Jordan Peterson in the Telegraph.
• “Regulator Didn’t Tell Public About Post COVID-19 Vaccination Myocarditis for Four Months” – The MHRA said it needed to assess data from multiple sources before adding warnings to COVID shots, according to the Epoch Times.
• “Teacher who refused to test or wear a face mask loses her legal battle” – Teacher Ijeomi Onyebalu refused to comply with her primary school’s policies of testing twice a week and covering her face and was fired, reports the Mail.
• “Face masks let thugs, thieves and other criminals hide in plain sight. Ban them” – This poisonous legacy of lockdown should be restricted at public protests and in some other settings, argues Isabel Oakeshott in her Telegraph column.
• “Further reflections on the Hallett Inquiry” – We need to take the opportunity of shedding light on events for all of our and our descendants’ sake, argue Drs Carl Heneghan and Tom Jefferson in Trust the Evidence.
• “City watchdog to review NatWest over Farage failings” – The Financial Conduct Authority is to interview Coutts’s staff to “to identify and address any significant shortcomings” in the bank’s treatment of Nigel Farage, reports the Telegraph.
• “NatWest suffers its steepest share fall since Brexit” – The banking group that de-banked Farage suffers ‘disappointing’ third-quarter results, missing analyst profit expectations and trimming its lending margins guidance, says the Mail. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of people.
• “Alison Rose: Former NatWest boss fights to keep £10m bonuses” – Dame Alison Rose, the former NatWest boss, has hired the law firm that handled Princess Diana’s divorce in her battle to keep her £10m golden parachute, reports the Times.
• “The public still isn’t being told the full truth about net zero” – Debate over green trade-offs is needed to avoid a destructive path to a sustainable future, writes Kate Andrews in the Telegraph.
• “Auto execs are coming clean: EVs aren’t working” – From GM to Tesla to Mercedes, execs across the auto industry are lowering expectations on electric vehicles, reports Business Insider.
• “Ford hits the brakes on $12 billion in EV spending because EVs are too expensive” – Customers don’t want to spend extra on Ford’s EVs, says the Verge.
• “The climate scaremongers: Babet, a pretty normal sort of storm” – In TCW: Defending Freedom, Paul Homewood says storm Babet wasn’t all that unusual.
• “‘Britain’s A Goner With The Wind” – Watch investment advisor Barry Norris’s ‘stockumentary’ about why wind power won’t solve Britain’s energy needs.
• “First Nord Stream, now Balticconnector: What is happening to European Baltic gas pipelines?” – On his Substack, Eugyppius takes a deep dive into the destruction of two Baltic gas lines, the latest being the Balticconnector, where foul play was almost certainly involved.
• “City turns its back on ethical investing as geopolitical upheaval removes its shine” – Investors are ditching ESG for old-fashioned profits, reports the Telegraph.
• “Diners hit with ‘carbon footprint charge’ on restaurant bills” – Scheme aims to tackle global warming by charging £1.23 per cover
• “Elon Musk calls Humza Yousaf a ‘blatant racist’ in response to Scottish parliament speech” – The world’s richest man has called Scotland’s First Minister a “blatant racist” after watching a video of his speech in which he complained about too many white people in top jobs in Scotland, which is 95.4% white.
• “Baroness Falkner: how I survived the ‘witch-hunt’ at my equality watchdog” – The saga that has dominated Baroness Falkner’s life for the past eight months finally came to an end on Tuesday morning. She’s given an interview to the Times.
• “Stephen King’s shining plug of JK Rowling novel could signal end of trans row” – Horror author offers olive branch after he was snubbed by Harry Potter writer for his wishy washy views on trans, reports the Telegraph.
• “Trigger warning: museum of banned art opens in Barcelona” – To be on the walls of the Museo del Arte Prohibido, the art has to have been banned at some point in the past, reports the Times.
• “‘Activist teachers’ questioned pupils every term about their gender, parents claim” – At yesterday’s LGB Alliance conference, attendees heard horror stories from parents of school-aged children, including children being punished for ‘misgendering’ their teacher, says the Telegraph.
• “The most brutal Downfall parody you’ll ever see” – Eylon Levy, an Israeli Government spokesperson, has flagged up a Downfall parody showing Hitler furious that Hamas managed to kill so many Jews in one day.

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