Sister ships
The Costa Allegra, sister ship of the Costa Corcordia, suffered a fire off the Seychelles. Are families of ships jinxed?
—The Titanic had two sister ships. The Olympic collided with a naval vessel off the Isle of Wight soon after its maiden voyage in 1911, and again with a lightship off New York in 1935. It survived both incidents, though the lightship sank, killing seven crew. The second sister ship, Britannic, was sunk after being torpedoed off the Greek island of Kea in 1916, a year after being launched, while serving as a hospital ship.
—The Lusitania, which was torpedoed by a U-boat off Ireland in 1915 with the loss of 1,198 lives, had a sister ship, the Mauretania. She survived nearly 30 years of service, though did collide with a train ferry off New York in 1929.
—The Herald of Free Enterprise, which sank off Zeebrugge in 1987 with the loss of 193 lives, had two sister ships, the Pride of Free Enterprise and the Spirit of Free Enterprise. Both survive, though the Herald of Free Enterprise did nearly suffer the ignominy of sinking a second time when en route to Taiwan to be scrapped.
The death of livestock
Eighty-three farms — 78 sheep and five cattle — were found to be infected with the Schmallenberg virus, which causes deformities to and stillbirth of lambs and calves. What are the biggest killers of farm animals?
Number culled
Foot and mouth, 1967 442,000 total
Swine fever, 2009 74,793 pigs
Foot and mouth, 2001 4.9m sheep, 700,000 cattle, 400,000 pigs
How many animals are slaughtered annually for meat in UK?
Sheep 15m
Cattle 2.2m
Pigs 9.5m
Tax gaps
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) closed two ‘aggressive and offensive’ tax avoidance schemes devised by Barclays Bank.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in