• Guide/About........................ 102
• UK/World News...................... 300
• Bamboozle.......................... 452
• Chess.............................. 453
• Knightmare......................... 458
• Digitiser.......................... 470
• Turner the Worm.................... 496

Key:
To be implemented
Available

HELP

To advance (quickly) through the pages, press right square bracket key (located near the enter key), otherwise the pages will move forward every minute

To pause a page press "h" and then again to unpause

To move to another page (like 470) just type it in

NIGHT NETWORK

From 12am till 6am the site will play easy listening music to simulate the closedown of TV from the early eighties. This was initially started by Ceefax (the BBC teletext service) but did get picked up by Teletext.

FASTTEXT

Fasttext now added. This helped to jump to pages quickly without the need to key in the numbers. Bamboozle used this to great effect - to see this key in 452.

REVEAL

To be implemented.

ABOUT

I originally wanted to write a Windows 95 simulator as a follow-on homage to LGR's DOS portion of website - https://www.lazygamereviews.com/prompt/. I figured it should work quite well with the advancement in javascript over the years and it meant that I could utilise more JS programming skills as I don't do much of that currently.

I didn't want to use jQuery as I would only be using a small portion of that code and I wanted to try and keep the site as tightly written as possible, without excessive code. I have seen another website that does use jQuery and interestingly that is based more on Ceefax rather than mine which is Teletext based. You can find the site here: https://worldofpaul.com/teletext/.

SO WHY DIGITISER?

Around 2017, Mr Biffo (Paul Rose) of Digitiser fame, surfaced back into the "limelight" and was attending retro gaming events talking about the old Digitiser days. I thought it'd be pretty cool to make an online teletext simulator using nothing but HTML, CSS and Javascript. This would be a cut down challenge from the Windows based one and so here we are.

You stand before Knightmare Castle. With you is Treguard, Master of the Quest.

"Welcome, Adventurer! Your quest will take you to the Great Northern Ice Field, a frozen realm inhabited by ferocious Polar Bears! You travel to rescue a captive maiden. I will aid you when I can: you will hear my voice at time of need. Hold to the adventurer's code:

Answer truthfully, choose wisely, use force only in direst need. And remember

Cheats never prosper!

Treguard indicates the northern trail. Pulling your cloak tightly about you, you stride into the freezing wind. Ahead you see a tall figure: it is Hordriss the Confuser, magician extraordinary.

"Imprecations! Is this the best Treguard could find? One doubts if you are wise enough for such a Quest: one will test you. Tell me, puny adventurer those who dwell in this land are known to outsiders as Eskimos. How are they more properly called?"

Hordriss shakes his head sadly.

"One's worst fears are confirmed. One must go and find another to undertake this task. Farewell, ignorant adventurer."

He turns and leaves you standing alone in the freezing wind as the snows fall more heavily around you.

You wander through the snow as it falls ever harder and harder. All paths vanish in the white torrent that swirls about you. You tire rapidly as the warmth drains from your body. After long, confused wandering you feel yourself losing consciousness and falling into the deep, soft snow.....

You have been found wanting. This time, your Quest may not succeed. But take courage. You have journeyed far and attempted that of which many only dream

Next time you set foot beyond the walls of Castle Knightmare, who knows whence your path may lead?

"Ah," says Hordriss, " an enlightened Adventurer. Remarkable! Listen then: one's foolish daughter Sidriss has been captured by Aesandre the Ice Sorceress. Her palace lies far to the North. She awaits my rescue mission and has set magic traps for me. She will not expect YOU. There is a slight chance you might get through...

"One gifts you with a spell: HEAT. You may use it only once. Good fortune!"

You set out across the ice sheet along the path Hordriss indicates. Soon he is lost behind and you can see nothing but ice and snow in every direction. The chill enters your bones and you shiver in every limb.

Then ahead you spot a small white dome: An igloo!

Do you:

The valley path is filled with snowdrifts and as you push forward you find the snow reaches your knees. The fur coat is weighed down by heavy ice. You step boldly forward onto a slab of ice. It gives way beneath you and frozen snow closes over your head...

"Oh dear," says Treguard. "Frosted Adventurer! And not a microwave in sight!"

Inside the igloo it is slightly warmer. You find a collection of objects left behind by the owner.

A sack. Opening it you find it to be full of greasy, smelly lumps of something unpleasant.

A pair of snowshoes.

A white fur coat.

Which do you take?

Wrapping the coat around you and feeling warm and snug, you step out into the snow again. Heading ever northwards, you come to a divide in the path. You may travel down the valley or along a high rocky ledge.

Which route do you take now?

You climb up above the snowy valley, across bare rock jutting through the ice. At the top of the rise you pause to look down...

And turn at a snarling sound behind you

A large polar bear is growling and forcing you back towards the edge of the ledge.

"Very tactless to go around wearing one of his relatives," whispers Treguard as you fall from the rock-face. Oh dear

Strapping the huge snowshoes onto your feet, step out into the snow again. Heading ever northwards you come to a divide in the path. You may travel down a valley or along a high rocky ledge.

Which route do you take now?

Slinging the weight of the of the sack over one shoulder, you step out into the snow again. Moving north again you come to a divide in the path. You may travel down a valley or along a high rocky ledge.

Which route do you take now?

You climb up above the snowy valley, across the rocks jutting out of the ice. At the top of the rise you pause to look down...

A hideous snarling sounds behind you.

A large polar bear is growling and forcing you back towards the edge of the ledge.

"Decide quickly," says Tregaurd. "He looks hungry."

The valley path is filled with snowdrifts and as you push forward you find the snow spilling over your snowshoes. Once or twice you feel the ice below shifting as you step onto solid-looking surfaces but moving carefully with your snowshoes you manage to make your way to the easier path beyond the valley.

You climb up above the snowy valley, across bare rock jutting through the ice. At the top of the rise you pause..

A hideous snarling sounds behind you.

A large polar bear is growling, forcing you back towards the edge of the ledge. It leaps towards you...

...and rips the sack from your back. As you hurry away Treguard whispers: "You may not like the smell - but some regard two-week old whale blubber as quite a delicacy!"

The valley path is filled with ever deeper snowdrifts and as you push forward you find the snow reaches to your knees. The heavy sack makes you sink deeper in.

As you step boldly forward onto a frozen slab it gives way beneath you and the freezing snows close over your head.....

"Oh dear," says Treguard. "Now you know how a frozen beefburger feels!"

You trip over the heavy snowshoes you are wearing as the bear pounces on you. You have a last impression of its mighty jaws, gaping wide....

"Oh dear," mutters Treguard. "Still never mind: think of it as doing your bit to preserve an endangered species."

You are temporarily refreshed, but the icy wind blows you harder from the north. Your fingers and toes go numb and your vision blurs. The icy cold extends its reach into your very lungs. It seems that you can go no further.

What do you do?

Summoning your last reserves, you push forward and suddenly the blizzard falters. Ahead of you is, miraculously revealed, the ice palace of the sorceress! Its crystal walls, carved from ice tower hundreds of feet into the air. Within, lie the captive - and the enemy!

A desperate final effort propels you to the entrance.

The spell conjures a glowing ball of red light. You step through it and an invigorating rush of warmth floods your limbs and seems to cause the blizzard to falter for a moment. Ahead of you is suddenly revealed the ice palace of the sorceress! Its walls, carved from ice, tower hundreds of feet into the air. Within, lie the captive - and the enemy

You make for the entrance.

Inside the palace, a great hall of ice stretches out before you. At the far end Aesandre stands on a high platform beneath a glittering ice-chandelier. Beside her, frozen in a block of ice is Sidriss.

"So," cries Aesandre, "That old fool Hordriss thinks he can outwit me by sending a young fool in his place. Absurd!"

She raises her hands above her head: she is casting a spell! Do you:

Tregaurd whispers in your ear: "You used your only spell outside. Do you think you can cheat the Quest?"

A bolt of magic force strikes you as you stand there dithering and blackness falls around you.

"And thus fail all who try to cheat their fate." Tregaurd adds. "Be off with you!"

Inside the palace, a great hall of ice stretches out before you. At the far end Aesandre stands on a high platform beneath a glittering ice-chandelier. Beside her, frozen in a block of ice is Sidriss.

"So," cries Aesandre, "that old fool thinks he can outwit me by sending a young fool in his place. Absurd!"

And she raises her hands above her head to cast a spell at you. What do you do?

But before you can manage a single step a bolt of mystic energy flies from Aesandre's fingertips and strikes you full upon the chest. You feel a strange tingling spread through your body...

In this arctic wasteland you cannot survive long without food. Sheltering in a frozen ice-cave you come across a ragged hermit.

"I have food - but share it only with the wise," he says. "You may eat of my bread but only if you can answer me this: The North people believe in a hammer-god.

Which day is his?"

Invoking the spell conjures a ball of red light to form in your right hand. It pulses with warmth as you look up and try to identify a target upon which to use it.

Do you aim for the:

The red sphere flies straight and true towards the evil figure of your enemy.. She deftly bats it aside, causing it to crash out through the ice wall. With a malicious grin she unleashes her own spell which strikes you full in the chest. You feel a strange tingling spread through your body...

You look down at yourself. You seem to be wearing an ill-fitting dinner jacket and baggy trousers. Then you notice that your nose seems to have got longer your arms shorter and the floor closer.

Yes, you have been turned into a PENGUIN!

"Oh dear," says Treguard. "I hope you like fish dinners...."

Your heat spell flies off above the sorceress' head but misses the chandelier. It strikes the ceiling and for a moment there is silence. Then the great sheets of ice above your head shiver and crack. You hurry for the door but before you can reach safety...

CRRRRRRRASSSSSHHHHHHH!!!!!

"Well," says Treguard, "that certainly brought the house down!"

The Sorceress blinks with surprise as the ball of HEAT flashes past her. She turns with alarm as the block the ice containing Sidriss shatters, exploding under pressure from within. The heat ball turns upon Aesandre and she abandons her attack on you to raise a hasty defence.

For a few moments you watch anxiously as the fight rages at the far end of the hall. But then the floor there melts, and with a hideous curse Aesandre sinks from view.

Sidriss conjures the ice to reform and runs towards you.

"At last one of my spells has worked! Now we must hurry from here. I doubt my magic will hold her long. Spellcasting: H.O.M.E........."

In the merest instant you are returned to Castle Knightmare. Hordriss is reunited with his daughter.

"Foolish one to risk the perils of the Ice Palace," he chides her.

"Well Done, brave traveller," says Treguard. "You have proven worthy and have achieved your Quest. You may now count yourself among the Knights of Knightmare Castle."

Written by Mike Cule. "Knightmare" is a Broadsword Production for Anglia TV

Digitext would like to thank castleteletext.com for permission in allowing this on here

Credits

Story written by Mike Cule

Original Teletext artwork by Mr Biffo

Thanks to Al for archiving the original Teletext pages. ROBOTFUZZ

Thanks to Mark from ‘Fighting Fantasy (and other gamebooks)’ for mapping it out FFAOGB

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Revealed: The secret files on UK arms exports to Israel 301

Nvidia shares plummet – Jensen Huang ‘spy’ affair scandal explained | the breakdown 302

Mississippi elects first Black senator as Scott Colom makes history 303

COP31: Burnham announces appointment of world’s first special representative for climate security 304

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Revealed: The secret files on UK arms exports to Israel

After a months-long investigation, Channel 4 News’s FactCheck team has obtained a dossier of exclusive new files on UK arms export licences to Israel.

The files give us major new insights into UK companies’ arms sales to the Israeli government during its war on Gaza, which has killed at least 75,000 Palestinians.

Our revelations raise questions about the former Conservative government’s policy on arms sales, as well as the current Labour government’s stated policy on the ongoing export of military aircraft parts.

We’re going to take you through the files step by step.

The basics – what is an export licence?

When a UK company wants to sell arms abroad, it needs to apply to the UK government for an arms export licence – this document is like a permission slip.

Public data on these licences is limited. It doesn’t tell us whether the licences have actually been used to export weapons, or who in a given country would be using them.

But through repeated Freedom of Information requests to the Department for Business and Trade, FactCheck has now obtained several line-by-line snapshots of active arms export licences for Israel. The snapshots are from July 2024, July 2025 and July 2026.

Our new data captures which licences were active, not just for the country of Israel, but specifically for use by the Israeli government – which we understand means the Israeli military. And it also includes “usage notes”, which tell us whether a given licence has been used to export goods during a specific period of time.

The Conservative government

On 7 October 2023, attacks on Israel by Hamas – which is proscribed as a terror group by the UK – left 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage. Israel then began its biggest ever bombardment of Gaza.

By January 2024, at least 26,000 Palestinians had already been killed in Israeli attacks.

It was then that the International Court of Justice ruled there was a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza. Soon after, in April 2024, hundreds of UK lawyers, including former Supreme Court justices, issued a legal opinion saying that the UK must urgently suspend arms sales to Israel.

The then-Conservative UK government did not suspend arms sales.

Our first snapshot of new data reveals that, as the Conservatives were leaving office in July 2024, there were still 67 military export licenses left active where the Israeli government was an end user.

Those licences permitted the sale of a wide range of items – including parts for:

• combat aircraft
• military helicopters
• combat vehicles
• equipment for the launch and control of munitions
• military communications equipment
• military navigation equipment
• other military aircraft
• training ammunition, and more.

The total value of the active licences was around £164m. That represents an upper limit on what could have been exported under single issue licences. But the data also includes other types of open licence, which allow an unlimited value of exports.

We can reveal for the first time that, by July 2024, at least 25 of those 67 active licences had actually been used to send military parts to the Israeli government, since October 2023.

The licences that were used by UK companies to export goods during the war included licences for parts for:

• targeting equipment
• military aero engines
• combat aircraft
• military aircraft
• trainer aircraft
• parts for surface-to-air missiles.
• Targeting equipment refers to equipment which allows you to find, and aim weapons at, a target on the ground.

One of the used licences was a high value £25m licence for parts and software for “military aero engines”, which could include engines for military aircraft or drones. The data does not reveal the exact value that was actually exported. Another was an £88m licence for parts of “combat aircraft”.

The combined value of the used licences was around £150m. Again, this represents an upper limit on what would have been exported, and the actual value of the items sent was likely lower.

Two of the licences had been exhausted, meaning their full value was exported. These included one worth around £66,000 for trainer aircraft parts, and another worth around £109,000 for combat aircraft parts. It’s not clear whether the full value was exported during the war on Gaza.

We spoke to Professor Janina Dill, Dame Louise Richardson Chair in Global Security at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. She told FactCheck that the UK “should have used [its] leverage” as a major arms exporter to Israel and “while there is a great deal of contestation around the question whether Israel is commiting genocide in Gaza”, it was “hardly contestable in 2024” that it was “committing grave breaches and war crimes”.

The Conservative Party did not respond to our repeated requests for comment about this story.

Israel has repeatedly denied the accusations that it has committed genocide or breaches of international law in Gaza.

The Labour government

In July 2024, Keir Starmer’s Labour government entered power.

And by September 2024, the new administration said it wanted to suspend around 30 arms export licences for Israel, citing concerns over breaches of international law.

It said it was suspending exports that could be used by the Israeli military in Gaza. And it explicitly mentioned targeting equipment, and parts for military aircraft, including helicopters, fighter jets and drones.

But there were two big carve outs in the policy.

Firstly, Labour said it would continue to allow the sale of military training items, because they wouldn’t be used directly in conflict.

And secondly, the Labour government said it wouldn’t try to stop all exports of parts for the F-35 — a type of fighter jet used by Israel and NATO allies — because the exports went to a global pool that benefited multiple countries.

The Labour government refused to give us the full list of licences it suspended – even under Freedom of Information laws. It cited commercial sensitivity and confidentiality. It said if we figured out the names of the companies holding the suspended licences, we might, “potentially incorrectly”, link those firms to potential war crimes.

But by looking at the snapshots which the government did release, and comparing the active licences before and after Labour’s suspensions, we can corroborate some of what Labour announced about its suspensions.

For example, targeting equipment did disappear from later lists of active export licences, after Labour’s suspensions. As did other licences covering parts for military helicopters and combat vehicles. So that data fits with what Labour said it would do.

But many export permissions remained active under the Labour government.

By July 2025, 55 arms export licences remained active where the Israeli government was an end user. And we can reveal that at least 10 of those had already been used to export military goods under the Labour government.

Some of the licences that remained active for the Israeli government under Labour included parts for:

• combat aircraft
• military aero-engines
• military aircraft ground equipment
• military aircraft head-up/down displays
• military aircraft communications equipment
• surface-to-air missiles
• trainer aircraft
• training ammunition, and more.

And we can confirm that some licences to export parts for surface-to-air missiles, combat aircraft, trainer aircraft, and military aircraft displays had all been used since September 2024.

We understand that the surface-to-air missiles are likely for use in Israel’s defence systems.

While the number of active licences had decreased by 2025, the overall value of the licences had actually increased – from £164m under the Conservatives, to around £498m under Labour.

Most of this extra value seems to come from large licences for “combat aircraft” parts, which we understand are part of that F-35 global pool which the government said it couldn’t back out of. Just five such licences for combat aircraft parts account for £454m of the remaining value.

To be clear, these licence values don’t tell us how much was exported, just the maximum that could be exported. But remember, this doesn’t capture the value of the open licences, which allow exports of unlimited value.

As of July 2025, the combined value of the licences used under the Labour government came to £2.3m.

“Trainer aircraft” parts

Our new data raises questions over parts the Labour government is allowing to be exported for the Israeli military’s trainer aircraft.

In a November 2025 letter to the sub committee on export controls, the then-Minister Chris Bryant said that 33 of the remaining 55 licences for the Israeli government were for “trainer aircraft”.

We’ve identified that only 16 licences in that data were described as parts for trainer aircraft. A further 5 licences are open licences which appear to cover trainer aircraft parts as well as other kinds of combat or military aircraft parts.

And a number of the remaining licences are described explicitly as parts for “combat aircraft” and “military aero engines”, with no mention of training. We understand these licences were included in the “trainer aircraft” category in Mr Bryant’s letter.

We understand that this is because some of the parts have been manufactured or designed for use in combat aircraft or drones – but the UK government has only given permission for them to be exported for trainer aircraft.

But the fact that the individual parts may have potential combat utility may raise questions over how Mr Bryant presented this data to the committee. In the then-Minister’s November 2025 letter, an annex had described the parts as: “Components for trainer aircraft, which have no combat utility.”

Speaking on the export of these kinds of parts, Professor Janina Dill told us: “I think when it comes to the larger duties of prevention and protection that flow from the Genocide Convention and the Geneva Conventions, we have to contend with the fungibility of weapons and the awareness that the government must have that other states are unwilling to suspend their own licences. And so the United States and Germany continue to supply Israel with weapons. And so that if the UK government then sends weapons to Israel for training, that other weapons are more available to be used in Gaza and the West Bank in violation of international law.”

“Fungibility” refers to the idea that when parts are supplied for one purpose, they may free up other parts to be used in combat.

The latest data for 2026

Our snapshot of data from July 2026 also includes 55 active licences, with a combined value of about £492m.

The very large combat aircraft licences, which we understand to be part of the F-35 global pool, still made up the bulk of this value.

There is no evidence in our data of the five very large combat aircraft licences being used yet, though the government was clear that the data may not capture all licence usage.

One or two new licences appeared in the 2026 snapshot, including for military guidance and navigation equipment. Some licences had disappeared by 2026, including those for training ammunition. Usage notes are incomplete for the 2026 snapshot.

Government response

The Labour government said it disputed our characterisation of its export licensing system, saying we only had a partial view of the data.

It said: “Our suspension of licences that might be used by the IDF in Gaza remains fully in place, and we have suspended or refused over 80 export licences on this basis.

“All existing licences have been rigorously assessed to ensure they can neither be used by the IDF in Gaza, nor materially contribute to the Occupation. The remaining licences for Israel are largely made up of training items, submarine parts and missile defence items.”

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Nvidia shares plummet – Jensen Huang ‘spy’ affair scandal explained | the breakdown

Shares in one of the world’s biggest AI chip makers – Nvidia – plummeted, after its boss Jensen Huang admitted having an affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.

The Nvidia CEO has apologised for the affair with Alice Huang – no relation – and later resigned after it was revealed he had also had an affair with a company employee.

Beijing strongly rejected claims of spying as “totally unfounded”, after US said the FBI was investigating.

Alice Huang has not publicly commented.

And, before all that, the midterm hammering of Donald Trump’s Republican party already had investors rattled. That dramatic sell-off wiped trillions of dollars off stock markets in the AI and tech sector.

In this episode of the breakdown, we look at why one scandal, involving one man, has sent shockwaves through the entire AI industry, and whether this is just another wobble – or if it’s the moment that the bubble finally bursts.

And we speak to Robin Wigglesworth, editor of the Financial Times’ Alphaville blog and author of A Fabulous Debt: The Epic Story of How Bonds Built the Modern World.

Presenter: Andrew Misra / Producer: Tyler Anderson /
Series Producer: Joseph Keith / Motion graphics: Ian Watkins

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Mississippi elects first Black senator as Scott Colom makes history

It has long been the US state with the highest percentage of Black residents, currently just shy of 40%, but it was also the epicentre of the Jim Crow system of segregation.

When Martin Luther King addressed a quarter of a million people in Washington in August 1963, he described Mississippi as a state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression – and longed for the day it would be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

This week, for the first time since the aftermath of the American Civil War, a Black man addressed his own victory rally in Mississippi in a statewide election.

Scott Colom will take office as a US senator in January, a stunning result, even in a round of midterm elections full of them.

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COP31: Burnham announces appointment of world’s first special representative for climate security

Before Andy Burnham travelled to Dublin for a meeting of the European Political Community, he started the day in Turkey.

The Prime Minister told the COP31 conference that climate change was a matter of national security.

He said that this summer, which saw multiple wildfires, droughts and heatwaves, “was not normal”’

In a world first, he also announced he had appointed a former Chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee as a new Special Representative for Climate Security.