Dearest Gentle Reader, this Thursday brings news to make one weep with relief, frown with indignation, and gaze skyward in wonder - sometimes within the same paragraph. A single injection has achieved what generations of physicians could not, a television programme faces consequences it richly deserves, and two holes in a Wiltshire field turn out to be the most significant discovery in years. Your lorgnette will be required.

Dearest Gentle Reader, this Sunday has delivered a first World Cup victory in thirty-six years, a last-minute medical ceasefire, and a miniature horse who travels by taxi to the dentist - and that is merely where the morning begins. Lord Starmer prepares an announcement that will send the technology companies of this age scrambling, while Belfast answers disorder with something rather more powerful than noise. This Author has her pen, her opinions, and very strong feelings about all of it.