Updates

The Queen's health has been monitored intensively throughout her reign, but no more so than in recent years as she has aged and experienced periods of being unwell.The royal household has its own team of medics, who are on call 24 hours a day. They are led by Prof Sir Huw Thomas, head of the medical household and physician to the Queen – a title dating back to 1557.Thomas has been part of the team of royal physicians for 16 years and became the Queen's personal physician in 2014.The role is not full-time and does not have fixed hours or sessions but Thomas is available whenever he is needed.Thomas received a knighthood in the 2021 new year honours, and was made Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) – a personal gift of the monarch. At the time of the honour, in an inter...

The operation 'London Bridge is down' (The London Bridge has fallen'), the protocol that would be activated in the event that Queen Elizabeth II died, is well known. However, there is another secret protocol: the 'Operation Unicorn', the plan designed in case the monarch dies while in Scotland (where she is at the moment). Elizabeth II is found at Balmoral Castlelocated in Aberdeen, in the Scottish Highlands, under medical supervision due to his delicate state of health. A statement from Buckingham Palace reported this Thursday that the queen's health has worsened since tuesdaywhen he receive...

When Queen Elizabeth II dies, a series of carefully constructed plans that have been in place since the 1960s will be activated in a process called 'Operation London Bridge'.In a series of documents obtained by 'POLITICAL' last year, the security plan was outlined in full, detailing everything from how news of the monarch's death will be shared with the public to when Prince Charles will ascend the throne. It also includes details on what will happen during the 10 days after the Queen's death, including where her coffin will go, how the Prime Minister will publicly address the news and how Prince Charles will spend his first days as King. Queen Elizabeth's code name is 'London Bridge'and once news of his death is communicated from the palace to the appropriate parties, the phrase "Lond...

An announcement from the Basque Health Service warns a patient that, if he does not manage the withdrawal of the member stored in a hospital, he will be finedThe Official Gazette of the Basque Country is not usually the most appropriate reading to spur curiosity, but in the one published on August 29, an unusual text was hidden, which has managed to draw bewildering questions over the heads of half the country. Almost at the end of it all, after the multiple resolutions on the oppositions to statutory Health personnel, an official announcement appeared that could have something of a short literary story, if it were not because it is linked to the dramatic reality of an amputation carried out in the Hospital del Bidasoa, in the Guipuzcoan town of Hondarribia. If we reduce it to its ess...

Yon the later years of his life, Lou Reed kept an office in Manhattan's West Village and a storage space in New York City's Chelsea district. The latter, says his former technical assistant Jason Stern, was “stacked almost floor to ceiling” with unlabelled cardboard boxes. “I had no idea what was in them. I never asked Lou.”When Reed died in 2013, the question of what to do with it all loomed large for his wife, the artist, musician and film director Laurie Anderson. No, she sighs, Reed left no instructions regarding his archive of him. “Wouldn't that be great! No, nothing. Zero. We didn't really talk about it,” she says. She even balks at the notion of calling it an archive. “I wouldn't say that because he kept things, he was aware of their value. I did n't think about his s...

DETROIT — Jeep showed off two electric SUVs this week that it plans to launch in North America in the next two years, one “inspired by the Wrangler” and the other representing an expansion of the upscale Wagoneer line.The Jeep Recon, which prompts visual comparisons to the Wrangler, and the Jeep Wagoneer S are slated for production in 2024, with customer orders beginning early next year, according to a news release from the Stellantis brand.Both will be built on the same electric vehicle platform, known as STLA Large, which brand CEO Christian Meunier said showcases Stellantis' ability to capitalize on shared resources.The company didn't provide pricing or say where either vehicle will be built, other than in North America. Both vehicles will also be sold in other markets as well, incl...

Yon her political career, Liz Truss has developed a reputation for u-turns. But even cynics were caught off guard by the new prime minister's latest ideological shift. The avowed small-state libertarian has just unveiled a massive energy relief package that will see the government intervene in markets to cap household energy bills at £2,500 a year until 2024. Coupled with an additional six months' relief for business and the public sector, the estimated cost of the intervention could reach up to £200bn.With the household price cap due to rise by 80% on 1 October, massive intervention was needed. But not all large-scale interventions are created equally. The problem with this one is not the amount being spent, but where it is being targeted and how it will be financed. Basically, it...

There are two main things to note about Liz Truss's energy costs package. First, there is a lot of detail to come. Also, it is an undeniable paradox that the first move of a prime minister surrounded by former Taxpayers' Alliance staff is a £150bn state effort to fix commercial prices.Much like Boris Johnson would never have wanted to be the prime minister to curtail people's liberties more severely than anyone since wartime, it is fair to say that Truss would rather not begin her tenure in No 10 with what is known as the energy price guarantee.One of the defining elements of Truss's successful campaign to succeed Johnson was her repeated talk of tax cuts and suspending green levies as the primary way of helping people with soaring bills.An early Truss campaign interview with the Fina...

Concealing ranch dressing in your handbag, worrying about the carbs in the soupwondering if you'll ever find a French lover who likes to Netflix and chill: here are just a few of the new world-old world challenges the protagonists face in the first episode of Real Girlfriends in Paris, a reality TV show with its debut on 6 September on Hayu and Bravo.As one may presume from the title of the show, the program follows six American women in their 20s and 30s, looking for meaning, for a change and, mostly, for love. As different as Anya Firestone, Emily Gorelik, Margaux Lignel, Kacey Margo, Adja Toure and Victoria Zito's backgrounds are (respectively: a tour guide, a design management student, an aspiring entrepreneur, an English teacher, a Cornell graduate and a fashion designer) , the on...

Graham Potter has been confirmed as Chelsea's manager on a five-year contract worth more than £50m as the club's ownership put their faith in a rising star with fresh ideas to succeed Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked on Wednesday.Potter joins from Brighton after compensation – understood to be about £16m – was paid to release him. He arrived at Chelsea's training ground on Thursday afternoon to sign his contract after a smooth series of negotiations.The hierarchy did consider the merits of other contenders, including Mauricio Pochettino, who is out of work after his departure from Paris Saint-Germain, but really there was only one choice for them, which was reflected in the speed of appointment.The decision-makers are impressed at how Potter took a risk to ignite his managerial career in ...