Rhodes on our hot ancestral home, Nostradamus's prediction on war and the hard history of Ukraine's warriors

Scientists in Oxford have traced the roots of “a vast family tree” to a sun-scorched corner of Sudan that may be the ancestral homeland of everyone alive today, including you and me. Maybe that's why England feels so perishing cold.

As Vladimir Putin fights his war on “genocide” by whamming missiles into apartment blocks, this is a very good time to bury bad news. Glued to the telly and fascinated by the conflict in Ukraine, I was suddenly surprised by an email from E.ON informing me that my electricity next year is going up by £615.23. Ouch.

According to some reports. Vladimir Putin is prepared to accept thousands of casualties in his demented invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainians will be only too happy to help him reach this figure. A nation is shaped by its history and Ukraine's history, especially in the Second World War, was bloody and brutal and fought without any rules. About six million perished under Nazi occupation and hundreds of thousands fought back in partisan units.

The Ukrainians have not forgotten their war. Many of the males aged 18-60 flocking to the colours today are hard men. You would probably find some of them rough diamonds and their politics a tad right-wing but they love their country, believe in God, hate their invaders and are armed to the teeth. Only a lunatic would invade such a country. And that's the problem.

Barely had the shooting begun than some hacks began looking for proof of a prediction by Nostradamus. The medieval French astrologer produced a number of predictions 500 years ago which are so vague that they can be used to forecast almost any event. The line seized upon this time as a forecast that the Ukraine conflict will reach France is: “Blue-head shall white-head harm in such degree, As France's good to both shall e'er amount.” Well, it could be a dazzlingly prescient insight from half a millennium ago. Or it could be a snooker match.

Ukraine, with its endless prairies of waving corn, is Europe's breadbasket. Tip for British farmers: start growing wheat.

Still on farms, the Government's latest package for farmers in England will reward them for providing the sort of habitat in which creatures such as voles can thrive. Has anyone explained this policy to the farm cats?