From heat acclimatization to disturbing war footage from 2007

Could not sleep, so returned to work for until 3am, which was sufficiently soporific to induce sleep upon my return to bed. Work for Mr Scholz completed and dispatched over the web, including an excellent recording of Mr Straus's exposition on the United Kingdom's beverage industry at the end of May.

In anticipation of a possible trip to Egypt later in the year, the fear is that the excessive heat there may cause problems without acclimatization. The incident sunlight and its radiant heat in my office certainly raised ambient temperature when the door was closed. This suggested a route to familiarisation with elevated temperatures; I found myself spending the afternoon at a balmy 27 degrees Centigrade on a partially clouded day. No doubt further opportunities will arise as the summer progresses.

The media are still full of the E. coli outbreak in Germany, with some degree of Schadenfreude, as the authorities there seem to bumble from identifying possible sources and then failing to provide evidence. Spain had now been discarded – after a collapse of its salad vegetable industry, a restaurant in Northern Germany and then a bean sprout factory were next. With salad vegetables now off the menu throughout most of Europe, it is the farmer who are taking the economic consequences in drastic losses in what should be their peak period. The news from the UK is that local grown vegetables and salads have not been affected and are safe.

Today saw the broadcast of the first of a series of programs compiled using cameras attached to soldiers helmets in the conflict in Afghanistan. It was gripping and moving to see young men in action in 2007, in a dangerous environment, and the traumatic impact and consequences of a death in battle on fellow soldiers and the family back in Britain. A battle that resulted in 23 deaths in total, 22 of them Taliban.

Volcanoes continue to make their impact worldwide, with the Chilean eruption disrupting flights in South America.