Peter Rhodes on war in Ukraine, flying taxis and the perils (again) of social media

In one heated exchange recently, a judge called a transgender-rights campaigner a “stupid, condescending fool” making “idiotic statements.” Two activists complained and the judge has now been disciplined for “misconduct". Misconduct? Do you remember a blessed time, not so long ago, when this sort of thing was called a conversation?

Vladimir Putin is at his most lyrical when speaking of Mother Russia's sacred duty to save her land, her religion and her traditions from the corrupt, warmongering West. So remember this. When his security officers arrested suspects for the concert-hall massacre this week, they not only tortured and beat them but sliced off the ear of one terrorist and forced him to eat it. In Putin's book, these bestial torturers are the good guys.