The "And in other news..." thread

[edwin_m]

With this error on their chocolate bar, other parties should be milking it

They must remember to put next year's conference date in the dairy.

 

[brad465]

What a "drain" of resources this was:

Richmond Council U-turn on £150 fine for coffee poured in drain

Burcu Yesilyurt, who poured coffee down a drain in Richmond, welcomed the cancellation of the "disproportionate" fine.

www.bbc.co.uk

A south-west London council has reversed its decision to fine a woman £150 for pouring the remnants of her coffee down a gully.
Burcu Yesilyurt, who lives in Kew, said she thought she was acting responsibly when she poured a small amount from her reusable cup down the drain - rather than risk spilling it on the bus she was about to catch to work.
She was stopped by three enforcement officers at the bus stop near Richmond station and given a fine under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which makes it an offence to deposit or dispose of waste in a way likely to pollute land or water, including pouring liquids into street drains.
Richmond-Upon-Thames Council has now said said it had cancelled the fine as it was "likely" that Ms Yesilyurt's appeal would have been successful.
The council also said the contravention was "minor" and Ms Yesilyurt had "agreed not to repeat it".
Before the council cancelled the fine, Ms Yesilyurt told BBC News she had noticed her bus approaching, and just poured away "just a tiny little bit".
"As soon as I turned around, I noticed three men, enforcement officers, chasing me, and they stopped me immediately."
Ms Yesilyurt said she thought they were going to speak with her about an issue with the bus - and had no idea pouring liquid into a road gully was illegal.
She said the encounter was quite intimidating and she was left feeling "shaky" as she went into work.
"It was quite a shock," she said.
Ms Yesilyurt added she had asked the enforcement officers if there were any signs or information warning people of the law but received no response.
A Richmond Council spokesperson said the body-worn footage of the incident had been reviewed and the council was satisfied the enforcement officers acted appropriately.

Ms Yesilyurt said when she asked the officers what she was supposed to have done with her remaining coffee, she was told to pour it in a nearby bin.
She said she had been trying to act responsibly and avoid littering.
"It feels quite unfair. I think the fine is extreme. It's not proportionate," she added.
On Wednesday, an email sent from the council at 15:00 BST to Ms Yesilyurt, and seen by the BBC, said: "I can advise that on review the Fixed Penalty Notice has been cancelled.
"Please accept my apologies for any upset or inconvenience this has caused you," it read.

 

[edwin_m]

What a "drain" of resources this was:

Richmond Council U-turn on £150 fine for coffee poured in drain

Burcu Yesilyurt, who poured coffee down a drain in Richmond, welcomed the cancellation of the "disproportionate" fine.

www.bbc.co.uk

Storm in a teacup.

 

[PG]

What a "drain" of resources this was:

Richmond Council U-turn on £150 fine for coffee poured in drain

Burcu Yesilyurt, who poured coffee down a drain in Richmond, welcomed the cancellation of the "disproportionate" fine.

www.bbc.co.uk

On a side note - 3 enforcement officers!! Were they expecting a convoy of fly tippers around Richmond station? Do they hunt in packs ...

 

[D6130]

On a side note - 3 enforcement officers!! Were they expecting a convoy of fly tippers around Richmond station? Do they hunt in packs ...

Maybe they had received a PG Tip-off?

 

[najaB]

On a side note - 3 enforcement officers!!

A triplet instead of a Twin[n]ings?

 

[bleeder4]

What a "drain" of resources this was:

Richmond Council U-turn on £150 fine for coffee poured in drain

Burcu Yesilyurt, who poured coffee down a drain in Richmond, welcomed the cancellation of the "disproportionate" fine.

www.bbc.co.uk

It's served its purpose from an awareness perspective though. I, and probably many others, had no idea that pouring coffee down a drain was an offence.

 

[najaB]

I, and probably many others, had no idea that pouring coffee down a drain was an offence.

That's questionable. I believe the actual offence is depositing "controlled waste or extractive waste" - I'm less that convinced that coffee is either controlled or extractive waste.

Link: Environmental Protection Act (1990) § 33

 

[edwin_m]

That's questionable. I believe the actual offence is depositing "controlled waste or extractive waste" - I'm less that convinced that coffee is either controlled or extractive waste.

Link: Environmental Protection Act (1990) § 33

The price you pay at Costbucks would probably count as extractive.

 

[brad465]

Sir Michael Take is a well-known parody account, or as it turns out, not well known, because the account wrote an opinion "praising" Michelle Mone and the Lady herself reposted it not realising:

https://x.com/MichaelTakeMP/status/1982793198360494259?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

It truly is an honour that Michelle Mone has retweeted my post about her and her wonderful husband. This bright, intelligent woman stands defiant. You have to admire her judgment and bravery.

 

[styles]

Slovakia introduces speed limits for pedestrians on sidewalks: https://www.politico.eu/article/slovakia-adopts-speed-limit-pedestrians/

Slovakia adopts speed limit for pedestrians

Power walking will soon be illegal in Slovakia as law changes to prevent sidewalk accidents.

You can only walk 6 kilometers per hour if you want to follow the law in Slovakia.

The Slovak parliament Tuesday afternoon adopted an amendment to the traffic law that sets a maximum permitted speed on sidewalks in urban areas at 6 kph.

The limit applies to pedestrians, cyclists, skaters, and scooter and e-scooter riders — all of who are allowed on sidewalks — and aims to avoid frequent collisions.

 

[frankmoh]

Slovakia introduces speed limits for pedestrians on sidewalks: https://www.politico.eu/article/slovakia-adopts-speed-limit-pedestrians/

How on earth will they enforce that?

 

[najaB]

How on earth will they enforce that?

It be fair, it's almost certainly aimed at bikes, scooters, etc. rather than pedestrians but was easier to write as "all pavement users" rather than trying to list different types of wheeled conveyances.

 

[styles]

It be fair, it's almost certainly aimed at bikes, scooters, etc. rather than pedestrians but was easier to write as "all pavement users" rather than trying to list different types of wheeled conveyances.

Indeed.

Though I don't really see a great justification for not just saying you can't cycle or scoot on the pavement.

I mean, cycling at 6kmph is a bit crap and at that point you might as well be walking anyway.

 

[edwin_m]

There might be people who would prefer to cycle or scoot (very slowly) on the footway rather than taking their chances on the carriageway. This seems like the best way of giving them that choice without people on foot being assailed by fast-moving and largely silent cyclists and electric mobility users.

 

[styles]

There might be people who would prefer to cycle or scoot (very slowly) on the footway rather than taking their chances on the carriageway. This seems like the best way of giving them that choice without people on foot being assailed by fast-moving and largely silent cyclists and electric mobility users.

But walking pace is around 5kmph. If you're only legally allowed to do 6kmph on a bicycle, and you don't want to be on the road, you may as well dismount and walk it.

Shared pedestrian and cycling/scootering spaces put pedestrians at risk, even if it's at 6kmph (which you're never going to know because bicycles and many e-scooters don't have speedometers). In the UK, the DfT guidance on designing active travel infrastructure puts these combined spaces as a last resort, for this very reason.

Worth noting that while it is an offence to cycle on the pavement in the UK, when the fixed penalty notice for it was introduced, the transport minister made clear that discretion should be used, and cyclists riding on the pavement to avoid a particularly dangerous stretch of road, as long as they do so considerately, shouldn't be penalised. Bar some edge cases, I think UK police apply that principle fairly well and wouldn't normally give an FPN for someone cycling on an empty pavement to avoid being on an unlit national speed limit single carriageway with tight corners and blind summits; or a very busy dual carriageway.

Slovakia have effectively outlawed power walking and jogging on sidewalks, which is just silly.

 

[najaB]

Slovakia have effectively outlawed power walking and jogging on sidewalks, which is just silly.

Do people tend to go jogging on sidewalks in urban areas anyway?

Can't say I have seen many people out for a jog on Princes Street in Edinburgh for example.

 

[styles]

Do people tend to go jogging on sidewalks in urban areas anyway?

I've seen people do it in busy cities.

You've also then got people who are just late for a bus or a train, children skipping, etc.

 

[Ted633]

Article has been updated to say it won’t apply to pedestrians

 

[High Dyke]

German soccer match cancelled after child bites referee’s testicle | SB Nation https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2025/3/3/24376886/child-bites-testicle-german-soccer-match

Over the weekend a match between FC Taxi Duisburg II and SV Rot-Weiss Mülheim in the German eighth division had to be cancelled after a small child on the field ran up to referee Stefan Kahler and bit his testicle — causing enough pain that he wasn’t able to continue.

 

[AlterEgo]

German soccer match cancelled after child bites referee’s testicle | SB Nation https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2025/3/3/24376886/child-bites-testicle-german-soccer-match

Game's gone soft. Got the ball.

 

[Trackman]

German soccer match cancelled after child bites referee’s testicle | SB Nation https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2025/3/3/24376886/child-bites-testicle-german-soccer-match

Probably the ball boy.

 

[Gloster]

German soccer match cancelled after child bites referee’s testicle | SB Nation https://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2025/3/3/24376886/child-bites-testicle-german-soccer-match

They often call refs little Hitlers and this one has only got one ball now.

 

[brad465]

Bet that caused some unexpected hap-penis for those watching.

 

[Thirteen]

I'm trying to picture this in my head but I just can't.

 

[Darandio]

I'd hope the referee has recovered by now though, it happened in March!

 

[generalnerd]

How do you bite a singular ball as a child?

 

[Trackman]

I've clicked the link and found this quote!

It’s unclear whether Kahler has the balls to try to officiate it a second time.

 

[Tester]

I must say that this sounds like a rather strange thing for a child to do!

 

[High Dyke]

I must say that this sounds like a rather strange thing for a child to do!

Sprogs can be unpredictable...a bit like pets.