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  1. Blackleaf

    Joshua beats Klitschko in record bout

    Anthony Joshua produced the performance of his career to add the WBA world heavyweight title to his IBF crown with an enthralling knockout win over Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium. A British post-war record 90,000 fans at the national stadium were treated to a see-saw contest...
  2. Blackleaf

    What if Brexit is too successful?

    Brexit is embarrassingly successful so far. Since the vote, Britain’s stockmarkets have surged. Its politics is unifying for the coming election, according to polls. And now new figures are in on the all-important foreign direct investment (FDI). FDI measures real physical investments...
  3. Blackleaf

    Edmund Ironside: Anglo-Saxon warrior king

    Few Anglo-Saxon leaders who went to war with the Vikings in the early years of the 11th century emerged with their reputations enhanced. King Edmund II, who ruled the English for seven tempestuous months in 1016, was one of those who did. Such was Edmund’s reputed martial prowess that...
  4. Blackleaf

    WWI trenches... at Stonehenge

    For a century its secrets have lain undisturbed — along with large amounts of live ammunition and a surprisingly large stash of empty whisky bottles. But in recent days they have been uncovered, from old tins of tobacco and boot polish to names etched into walls by men who wondered if...
  5. Blackleaf

    Tim Farron is a Christian, so of course he’s not allowed an opinion

    Farron’s enormous crime in the eyes of the establishment was to refuse to deny (for a while, at least) that he thought homosexual sex was a sin. Farron is a born-again evangelical Christian, so of course he thinks homosexual sex is a sin. My guess is that this view is shared by at least...
  6. Blackleaf

    Our warring Queens should be remembered for their battles, not their bodices

    Never underestimate a woman’s steeliness – especially if she happens to be royal. A study has revealed that, throughout history, Europe’s queens have been significantly more bellicose and battle-hungry than its kings. Of the monarchs who ruled between 1480 and 1913, the queens were...
  7. Blackleaf

    'Secret' Dambusters photos to go under hammer

    A set of rare photographs showing the impact of the Dambusters' "bouncing bomb" raids is to go under the hammer. The raids by 19 RAF Lancaster bombers destroyed two strategically significant German dams and damaged a third. Taken by the Nazi authorities before and after the raids - on 16 and...
  8. Blackleaf

    The fears that fuelled an ancient border wall

    President Donald Trump has promised to builf a “great, great wall” between the United States and Mexico, ostensibly to prevent illegal immigration. But this isn’t the first time a world leader constructed a wall between himself and those he deemed imminent threats. In 122 A.D., Roman...
  9. Blackleaf

    The Iron Maydy

    Theresa May is now seen as a better leader than even Margaret Thatcher — posting the highest rating for a PM in nearly 40 years. A survey gave her 61 per cent backing when voters were asked who would be most capable as Prime Minister. Just 23 per cent picked Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, who came...
  10. Blackleaf

    What would Britain be like with a Coalition of Chaos in charge?

    Never mind Brexit, here comes Exit. England should UDI from the EU, in line with the wishes of the overwhelming 2016 Leave vote, and setabout becoming a dynamic, low-tax, low-regulation, outward-looking global trading nation — in control of our own borders and laws. No more truculent...
  11. Blackleaf

    Does Brexit mean England can have Englishness?

    Scotland has shown the plasticity of national identities. A new version of Scottishness has been conjured up by the SNP in the past few years, framed by the modern independence project. Could Brexit do the same for England? Coffee House Does Brexit mean England can have Englishness...
  12. Blackleaf

    Britain's Empire was a matter for pride, not guilt - as Indians know

    With Britain preparing to rebuild trade links with its former empire post-Brexit, does it really need to apologise for its imperial past? Or could it take new pride in what it did to modernise and democratise the world? Britain's Empire was a matter for pride, not guilt - as we Indians...
  13. Blackleaf

    Royal send-off for London Marathon runners

    A record number of competitors in the London Marathon were given a royal send-off as they started their gruelling 26.2 mile run. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were joined by Prince Harry to start the elite men's and mass races. The royal trio, who champion the race's official charity Head...
  14. Blackleaf

    Britain has its first coal-free day since 1882

    Britain went a full day without using coal to generate electricity for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, the National Grid says. The energy provider said Friday's lack of coal usage was a "watershed" moment. Britain's longest continuous energy period without coal until now was...
  15. Blackleaf

    Kensington Palace's 300-year-old pathways were carved to align with solstices

    The gardens of Prince William and Kate Middleton are riddled with pathways carved to symoblically align with the solstices, researchers have discovered. The 300-year-old paths wind across Kensington Palace Garden's 265 acres of land. Physicists from Italy reexamined the complex networks of...
  16. Blackleaf

    May calls snap general election to provide strong leadership in Brexit negotiations

    Just two years after the last general election Britain is to go to the polls in exactly seven weeks time today after Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday called a surprise snap general election. Theresa May sprung the massive surprise on the nation and her own ministers on Tuesday by...
  17. Blackleaf

    How jousting made a man of Henry VIII

    Here, Emma Levitt explores Henry's love of jousting and reveals how, denied the opportunity to prove his worth on the battlefield, Henry VIII chose to display his masculinity in the tiltyard, bedecked in shining armour and with lance in hand... How jousting made a man of Henry VIII...
  18. Blackleaf

    Grave of medieval priest with mysterious head injury uncovered in Lincolnshire

    The body of a medieval priest with a mysterious head injury has been discovered 700 years after he died in a grave at Thornton Abbey. Archaeologists from the University of Sheffield uncovered the coffin and skeleton at the abbey, which was founded as a monastery in 1139 and went onto...
  19. Blackleaf

    Prince Harry 'in total chaos' over mother Diana's death

    Prince Harry has revealed he sought counselling after spending nearly 20 years "not thinking" about the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said it was not until his late 20s that he processed the grief - after two years of "total...
  20. Blackleaf

    Remains of five 'lost' Archbishops of Canterbury found

    The remains of five Archbishops of Canterbury have been found beneath a medieval parish church next to Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop of Canterbury's official London residence. Builders renovating the Garden Museum, housed at the deconsecrated church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, found a hidden crypt...