Early Closing

Major UK-funded climate project in Bangladesh to close over aid cuts

A UK-funded climate project in Bangladesh is being forced to close two years early after foreign aid cuts, leaving thousands of vulnerable people without support and threatening to undo work that has already been carried out, The Independent has learnt...

Practical Action was supposed to have received £2.2m by 2026, but ended up receiving “far less than this”, says Rahma. The project was supposed to reach 57,000 people by the end of this year, but will in the end only reach 37,000 people.

“This abrupt cut has threatened our reputation in the community, which we have carefully built up over the past two and a half years,” Rahma says. “It has also impacted the long-term stability of the interventions that we have made, and limited our ability to plan for an effective exit.”


Not that we are supposed to make sense of emotional string-pullers like this, but how do we make sense of -

“It has also impacted the long-term stability of the interventions that we have made, and limited our ability to plan for an effective exit.”

The reference to "long-term stability" does suggest that there was no great appetite for "an effective exit" or any exit at all as long as the money kept coming it. Long-term stability of the funding perhaps.

Sounds familiar

German trauma surgeons record sharp rise in life-threatening stab injuries

A 12-year analysis of Germany's national trauma registry has found the number of patients admitted with severe stab wounds up by almost 60 per cent, with the increase concentrated in densely populated regions.

German trauma surgeons have recorded a 58.8 per cent increase in life-threatening stab injuries over the past 12 years, according to an analysis of the national trauma registry published on August 20.

A sarcastic chap is bound to wonder if the UK government has any practical advice to offer on this issue. 

Probably not.

St Kilda it is then

Violent and sexual offenders to be confined to zones of 'a few miles' after release from prison

Victims are expected to have their say in setting the boundaries to limit the chances of encountering their perpetrator unexpectedly.

Under new government plans, victims are expected to have their say in setting the boundaries to limit the chances of encountering perpetrators unexpectedly.

St Kilda fits the proposal very well. 

HF

From Blackout News. 

Large storage system batteries can release dangerous amounts of hydrogen fluoride gas (HF) if a thermal runaway fire occurs. It sounds as if it is caused by thermal degradation of the PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) binder in the cathode. These are computed scenarios, but do firefighters need to know more chemistry now? 

Battery fire in the data center: Study simulates high hydrogen fluoride contamination

Singapore – A technical study published on July 31, 2026, examines a battery fire in a 485.52 kWh NMC storage system at the Equinix SG4-4A data center. The researchers modeled 10,000 cases of a complete thermal runaway and took into account ventilation, extinguishing and the division of the storage tank. In all simulations, hydrogen fluoride exposure exceeded the NIOSH hazard value for concentrations that are immediately hazardous to life or health. However, there were no real victims or damage, because the investigation mathematically maps a possible accident scenario. Therefore, the study focuses on the effect of technical protection systems.

Battery fire releases toxic hydrogen fluoride

A thermal runaway occurs when a battery cell heats up in a self-reinforcing manner and triggers further chemical reactions. In the process, neighboring cells can also fail, while toxic and flammable gases are produced. In the NMC cells studied, this includes hydrogen fluoride, or HF for short. NIOSH sets the IDLH threshold for HF at 25 milligrams per cubic meter, or 30 ppm. Therefore, a quick evacuation of closed battery compartments is crucial.

The simulation calculated an average of 1,161 milligrams of HF per cubic metre for ten minutes of exposure in the one-room model. In the two-room model, the value dropped to 580 milligrams, but remained well above the IDLH threshold. A battery fire of this magnitude could therefore make the affected room inaccessible to emergency services without suitable respiratory protection. The mean time to fall below the limit value fell from 599 to 301 minutes as a result of the split. Even the cheaper concept thus took around five hours mathematically.

Uniparty v Uniparty

Phillipson branded 'stupid' by senior Tory after claiming racism and sexism 'normal' in Britain

Bridget Phillipson was branded 'stupid' by a top Conservative yesterday amid a furious racism row.


Racism and sexism have become normalised in Britain, says equalities minister

Exclusive: Bridget Phillipson says politicians have helped fuel hatred and that police are not taking violence against women and girls seriously enough

Or we could say -

Two headlines - one attacks the woke propaganda 'business', one promotes it. Bridget Phillipson promotes it of course. Maybe it's her contribution to 'growth'. 

The hidden costs of compliance

A useful TPA piece on the Financial Conduct Authority written by a professional working in the City of London who wishes to remain anonymous. The whole piece is well worth reading.

The hidden costs of compliance

The TaxPayers’ Alliance has done some fantastic work on the costs that regulators are placing on businesses around the country and the burden this places on us employees who are forced to spend our time getting cosy with all the various regulations imposed upon us.

The FCA is the most notorious example in my industry of a regulator that keeps piling new initiatives and regulations onto our businesses. It routinely goes beyond its remit and implements new regulations which take staff away from their productive day jobs and turn our attention to the latest fad that the FCA wants us to adopt.

Usually, the regulation is hidden behind an innocent sounding title, but the connection to the core goal of “financial conduct” is spurious at best, or covered by a myriad of other regulators which already give us enough grief as it is.

The FCA’s non-financial misconduct regulation is one of the most obvious examples of where it has overreached, with the regulator now acting as a social crusader rather than a financial regulator. Non-financial misconduct includes behaviour that is not clearly financial in nature, such as bullying, harassment and violence.

They walk among us

Pair arrested after police called to barbecue fire in Ilkeston flat

A cordon remained in place in Burns Street on Friday morning (August 21), more than 16 hours after fire crews were first called out at 4.40am the previous day.

A police statement said: "At the scene, a man and a woman, both in their 30s, were arrested on suspicion of arson and remain in police custody...

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service has now issued a statement which said: "A joint police and fire investigation into a flat fire in Ilkeston has concluded the most likely cause to be the deliberate ignition of a barbecue on soft furnishings.