Black in the day
A new book claims William Shakespeare’s works were really written by a black woman and were stolen by a semi-literate chancer from Stratford-upon-Avon. Other historic figures who have been claimed to be black:
— Queen Charlotte, wife of George III. Was born Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1744, and was thoroughly German, unless you happen to believe that she was descended from 13th-century Portuguese king Alfonso III and his African mistress.
— Beachy Head Woman. Skeleton of Roman-era young woman discovered near Eastbourne in the 1950s. A study of her skull claimed she was the first known black person in Britain, until DNA analysis found she probably came from southern England.
— Inventor of the lightbulb. In 2020 Joe Biden claimed the lightbulb wasn’t invented ‘by a white guy named Edison’ but by a black man called Lewis Howard Latimer. Latimer did exist, and did make subsequent improvements to the lightbulb.
Murder capitals
There was another killing by ICE agents in Minneapolis. Where does it rank among the 200 largest US cities for violence? Homicide rate per 100,000 people:
Birmingham, Alabama 58.85
St Louis 54.09
Memphis 40.61
Baltimore 34.77
Detroit 31.17
Cleveland 30.05
At 17.95, Minneapolis is 14th on the list.
Sovereign debtors
Which countries owe Britain the most cash?
Qatar £1bn
Sudan £956m
Poland £506m
Zimbabwe £372m
Ghana £330m
Uganda £299m
Iraq £298m
Source: HM Treasury
Talking trash
The government wants to rationalise waste collections to increase recycling. What is happening to ‘residual waste’ (i.e. that which does not get recycled or reused)?
— In 2023, England produced 58.7m tons of residual waste, a fall of 8.9% on 2019, or 11.2% per person.
— 38.5m tons went to landfill, a 15.3% fall on 2019, or 17.4% per person.
– 18.6m tons were incinerated, a 15.2% rise on 2019, or 12.3% per person.
— The amount of municipal residual waste (i.e. from households) fell by 1% on 2019, or 3.5% per person.
Source: Defra
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