Perhaps businesses are collecting too much data for their own good. “Each morning at 10am, I get an email from Caroline in the finance team showing the cash we have in the bank compared with the same day last year. This fact offers no hiding place.”

One of the greats of Scottish rugby who went on to have a successful broadcasting career

Scott Hastings, the most capped centre in the history of Scotland’s rugby union side, played a key role in his country’s epic 1990 grand slam victory over England at Murrayfield. Scott, whose name will be forever linked with his elder brother Gavin, was a defensive bulwark of the Scottish team and his astonishing tackle from behind that day on Rory Underwood helped secure his country’s finest ever victory.

In many ways Scott, who has died aged 61 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and Gavin were chalk and cheese. The full-back Gavin was affable enough but quiet and earnest while Scott always had a smile on his face. He was a practical joker in his playing days, the dying era of amateurism. “In the end,” he once said, “I recognise that rugby is still all about fun.”

Continue reading...

Health minister in Nuuk condemns doctor’s presence in US delegation as ‘deeply problematic’

Greenland’s government has criticised the arrival of a US doctor in Nuuk alongside Donald Trump’s special envoy, Jeff Landry, saying that Greenlanders are not “experimental subjects”.

Joseph Griffin said he had joined the delegation as a volunteer to “assess the medical needs” of the Arctic island, which the US president has repeatedly threatened to invade.

Continue reading...

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum denies any links between her Morena party and organized crime

Pressure is mounting on Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, after two former top officials from the country’s Sinaloa state – both members of her Morena party – gave themselves up to US authorities over alleged ties to the Sinaloa cartel.

The state’s former security minister, Gerardo Mérida Sánchez, crossed the border into Arizona last week and was taken into custody by US marshals, Mexico’s security ministry said. Sinaloa’s former finance minister, Enrique Díaz Vega, was taken into custody in New York.

Continue reading...

US comedian has a remarkable ability to transform amusing, if somewhat banal, anecdotes into meticulously crafted joy and preposterousness

In terms of both quality and quantity, Josh Johnson is producing standup at a more prolific rate than any other comedian on the globe. How often would you expect a professional comedian to release an hour-long filmed and edited set consisting of 100% brand new gear? Once a year? Every two years?

For Johnson, it’s every week. Every Tuesday since 2023, the American comic and rotating host-correspondent of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show has uploaded fully fledged, highly topical routines to his YouTube channel. Filmed from his own tours and club drop-ins, many have eclipsed the 5m view mark. To call him a disruptor of the conventional comedy career path would be a heavy understatement; Johnson is playing by his own rules and the comedy cognoscenti around the world are undoubtedly watching with a keen eye.

Continue reading...

Red Roses showed the hunger needed to defend World Cup in 2029 by clinching an eighth successive Six Nations

If the top of the pyramid is defending their Rugby World Cup title in 2029 then this Women’s Six Nations has formed the base from which England can build. The world champions won their eighth straight Six Nations and proved they can succeed even when they have to stretch their squad to the maximum.

Blooding new talent was always the plan for the head coach, John Mitchell, but not in the manner it happened. The team knew they would be without some of the pillars of their side because of retirement or pregnancy but the sheer volume of injuries is not something they could have foreseen. Stars such as Hannah Botterman, Alex Matthews and Morwenna Talling were ruled out for either all or large chunks of the tournament with others like Sadia Kabeya and Maddie Feaunati missing the odd game.

Continue reading...

Meermaals wilden advocaten Ridouan Taghi niet meer verdedigen, omdat ze van het hof te weinig voorbereidingstijd zouden krijgen. Nu blijken Ronald van der Horst en Anique Slijters bereid om Taghi bij te staan. Voorwaarde is wel dat ze voldoende inleestijd in het strafdossier krijgen.

Elke week legt Annemiek Leclaire een lezersvraag voor aan deskundigen. Deze week: kun je je oppaskinderen op de mond kussen?

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Er is geen geld gevonden voor een nieuw, innovatief sirenesysteem en daarmee zal vanaf 2028 een einde komen aan het maandelijkse luchtalarm. Dat schrijft minister David van Weel (Justitie en Veiligheid, VVD) maandag aan de Tweede Kamer.

Twee jaar geleden nam een ruime meerderheid van de Tweede Kamer nog een motie aan om het luchtalarm voor de toekomst veilig te stellen. Toen dreigde het waarschuwings- en alarmeringssysteem eind 2025 te verdwijnen. Het kabinet liet toen weten dat het systeem sterk verouderd is en NL-Alert een effectiever alerteringsmiddel is.

Eind vorig jaar is het contract met de leveranciers van de sirenes toch nog verlengd tot 1 januari 2028. Daarna zal de "uitfasering (...) conform eerder besluit vanaf dan uitgevoerd moeten gaan worden", aldus minister Van Weel. Hij gaat overleggen met het Nederlands Instituut Publieke Veiligheid (dat zorgt voor de kwaliteit van het luchtalarm) en de veiligheidsregio's over de aanpak van de uitfasering.

Toen hij vijftien was liep hij op straat met een mes, naar eigen zeggen omdat hij geen vuurwapen kon betalen. Nu is rapper Blacka 23 en heeft hij vijf maanden celstraf gekregen voor het bezit van een revolver en een pistool.