A cheating scandal has rocked the World Stone-Skimming Championships after several competitors were disqualified for tampering. Rules state that the stones must come from the slate on the Scottish isle, Easdale, where the contest is held. But some competitors filed rough edges off stones to make them easier to send hopping out to sea. Contest organiser Kyle Mathews, known as the “Toss Master”, said that the cheats “admitted their transgressions”.
BBC (Amanda Welles)
Gorilla warfare
A fuming homeowner is fighting her council after it ordered her to remove the 4ft-high gorilla statue that is mounted to the front of her house. “Gorilla-mad” Adele Teale, 58, erected the 4kg resin figure outside her two-bedroom terraced home last year and it instantly became a popular feature with locals. But now she has been told that her “beloved” gorilla must be removed by Wakefield Council because it is “out of character with the surrounding area”.
Daily Mail (Daragh Brady)
One man’s trash…
A local businessman has criticised the controversial Carbuncle Awards after Port Glasgow was named Scotland’s “most dismal” town. Urban Realm, the architecture journal behind the awards, called it an area of “squandered potential”. But Kevin Green refused to accept it. He said, “I know you’re looking for someone to award it to and we have a bin sitting here. I’m quite happy to place it in the bin for you.”
BBC (Steve Morley)
[Further reading: The rise and rise of Zohran Mamdani]
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This article appears in the 25 Sep 2025 issue of the New Statesman, “Are you up for it?” – Andy Burnham’s plan for Britain
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