Society

I blame Thierry Henry and I never blame Thierry for anything. He’s funny, charming and was a majestic footballer. But it was his outrageous handball assist for a France goal against the Republic of Ireland in 2009 that ushered in VAR – Video Assistant Referee – technology to rescue on-field refs from ‘clear and obvious’ errors. VAR was meant to end debates over refereeing decisions. Yet this form of VAR, usually a man in a ref’s outfit sitting behind a bank of screens in an industrial unit near Heathrow, has caused carnage in the Premier League. Some decisions take five minutes while fans chant obscenities. Football’s many Luddites blame the

The sight of runaway military horses – one covered in blood – wasn’t what any Londoner expected to encounter on their commute this morning. Seven horses from the Household Cavalry bolted during their daily exercise, having been frightened by falling concrete on a building site near Buckingham Palace. At least four people were hurt and several vehicles smashed. Two of the animals travelled five miles to Limehouse, in east London, before they were rounded up. It’s no wonder people were surprised. If you live in London, you’re unlikely to see horses regularly – and, if you do see them, they’d usually be behaving themselves and on duty, not galloping blind

The smug world of public radio in the United States received a smart slap in the face last week. It was delivered by Uri Berliner, a long-time NPR reporter, who went public with his inside story of how NPR cooks the news. NPR responded by suspending him and then securing his resignation. As this unfolded, NPR’s recently appointed president, Katherine Maher, faced ridicule for her own past statements. National Public Radio, NPR, is a cousin (or perhaps a grandchild) of the BBC. It was created in 1970, just shy of 50 years after the Beeb started sending its signals into the stratosphere. By the late 1970s, it had established itself