Struan Stevenson

The unravelling horror story of alleged rape and sexual abuse involving the former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, contains a familiar trademark. Al Fayed used non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to gag victims of his sexual crimes.

Fourteen years in power. Five prime ministers in eight years, including ‘strong and stable’ Theresa May, ‘get Brexit done’ Boris and Liz Truss, the PM whose premiership was outlived by a lettuce. It was all too much for the British public to swallow. But when Rishi Sunak stood in the pouring rain to announce a snap election, while ‘Things can only get better’ blared at the gates of Downing Street, Keir Starmer must have thought the Gods were smiling on him.

When Kings Arms Farm was invited to host Scotsheep, Scotland's biennial national sheep event, in May 2018, more than 5,000 sheep farmers from around Scotland descended on the village of Ballantrae, in south-west Scotland. They were there to admire the work and expertise of Robert Dalrymple, a renowned Ayrshire farmer and countryman.

A massive peat slide took place in Shetland at the start of this month. A spokesman for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) confirmed that the slip happened “in an area of hillside between Upper Kergord and the B9075, where work on our Kergord to Gremista Connection Project is taking place”.

The EU’s answer to Donald Trump is Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary. He is gearing up for a head-on confrontation with the EU.

Groans of dismay can already be heard from Scotland to Strasbourg as the prospect of a second Trump presidency looms. So, what might Trump 2 look like for the UK, EU and the rest of the world?

The innocent animal victims of Houthi Red Sea attacks Attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, have had a direct impact on live sheep and cattle exports, creating an animal welfare crisis. A ship carrying around 14,000 sheep and 2,000 cattle was marooned off the Australian coast in sweltering heat after it was forced to abandon its trip through the Red Sea because of the danger of drone or missile strikes.

Fighting back tears at the UK Covid Inquiry today, an emotional Nicola Sturgeon said she had felt “overwhelmed by the scale” of what she had to deal with in the pandemic.

Elections are due not only in the UK, but across the whole of the EU and in major nations like Russia, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, Taiwan and Indonesia.

As we embrace 2024, many people may look back over the past two decades at calamity after calamity and wonder when the next crisis will occur.