DINNER PARTY INTEL: Was Bobi really the world’s oldest dog?
Members or the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons have raised doubts that it made it to the ripe old age of 31 years and five months
1. Back from the dead
Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo, a notorious janjaweed warlord in Sudan’s civil war and a recent guest of President Cyril Ramaphosa, is being funded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to a new UN report. It said he is being supplied with armed drones, howitzers and missiles, sent via secret flights and desert smuggling routes. Until his surprise visit to Ramaphosa, Hemedti was believed to be dead.
2. Right up for sale
Britain’s media regulator is expected to rule this week on whether its bibles of the political Right, The Telegraph and The Spectator, can be sold to the vice-president of the UAE, Sheikh Mansour, who is also boss of football club Manchester City. Opponents fear it will be the effective nationalisation of the publications by a foreign state.
3. It’s a dog’s afterlife
Lying about your age is common. But your dog’s? The owners of Bobi, a dog native to Portugal, claimed it was 31 years and five months when it died in October. Last February, Guinness World Records declared Bobi the world’s oldest. Now members or the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons have raised doubts and Guinness has begun a “formal review”. The dog’s owners did not comment.