Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1065 i The Week

What happened Putin’s Syrian surprise President Vladimir Putin caught the world off guard this week when he announced that Russia had “largely fulfilled” its mission in Syria and was withdrawing most of its forces. On Tuesday, Russian state TV showed fighter jets and bombers leaving the country, and being greeted at an air base in western Russia. Moscow’s full-scale involvement in the Syria civil war began last September. It sent thousands of troops, and has conducted months of air strikes on Western-backed rebels, as well as Islamic State (Isis) and other jihadi groups, helping turn the tide of the war in favour of the regime. Russian officials indicated that about 1,000 personnel would remain in Syria, and its fighter jets continued to carry out intensive bombing missions this week in…

Osborne’s Budget George Osborne unveiled a new “sugar tax” in this week’s Budget. The levy, on the manufacturers of soft drinks, will be introduced in 2018. The Chancellor said that it will raise £520m, some of which will be spent on sport in primary schools. There will also be a 2% increase in tax on cigarettes. However, fuel duty is being frozen. From April 2017, the personal tax allowance will rise to £11,500, and the threshold at which people pay the 40% rate of tax will rise from £42,385 to £45,000. Capital gains tax is to be cut next month from 28% to 20%, while the headline rate of corporation tax will fall from 20% to 17% by 2020. The Chancellor also announced more rate relief for small businesses; a…

The origins of F.U. Michael Dobbs was in a filthy mood when, in 1987, he conceived the idea for the book that made him rich. Still smarting at having been sacked as Margaret Thatcher’s chief of staff, he was on holiday in Malta, grumbling to his wife about the rubbishy novel he was reading. She told him to stop being “so bloody pompous” and try writing a better one himself. He decided to give his main character the initials F.U. – and thus was born Francis Urquhart, the Machiavellian Tory whip and anti-hero of House of Cards. It was adapted first into an acclaimed BBC drama, and then into the ongoing Netflix series (in which F.U., now Francis Underwood, schemes his way to the White House). “F.U. has transformed my…

Almost from its inception, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) – a sort of supreme court for the EU – (confusingly, nothing to do with the European Court of Human Rights), has angered national governments because of the legal power it claims for the bloc. In the 1960s, a French politician accused the ECJ of “morbid megalomania”; in the 1970s, French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing denounced its “illegal acts”. In the 1990s, Sir Patrick Neill, a leading British jurist, famously called it “uncontrollable, skewed and dangerous”. One reason the ECJ attracts so much attention is that it is the body that decides things whenever national law collides with EU law. And in a series of landmark cases going back to the 1960s, the ECJ has firmly established the primacy of…

It’s crackpots who will take us to Mars John Tamny RealClearMarkets.com It takes a curious sort of person to pioneer a world-changing innovation, says John Tamny. Talent and imagination aren’t enough; you also need the tenacity to plough on in the face of endless failure and mockery. The Wright brothers, for instance, were seen as amusing oddballs as they laboured, through relentless trial and error, to create their famous flying machine. If space travel ever becomes as ubiquitous a part of life as air travel is today, you can bet it will be down to the efforts of similar eccentrics. It’s exciting, then, that unconventional entrepreneurs such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are now getting into the space exploration game. They’re bringing fresh thinking into a sector too long…

During his time as Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg put up with a lot of criticism – not least from his own tribe. In a new memoir, former Lib Dem minister David Laws reveals that even Paddy Ashdown weighed in with unsolicited advice. “Paddy came over to see me at the weekend and said: ‘I have something important and extremely difficult to say to you,’” Clegg told Laws. “I thought it must be a party sex scandal, but he said: ‘It’s about your weight. You are too fat… As chair of the general election campaign, it’s my duty to tell you to exercise more and eat less. Also, you should wear glasses.’ Then he said I needed to open my legs more when I am on television.” The work of…

As “a once-proud graduate” of Jesus College, Cambridge, I have been following “with mounting hilarity” the debate over one of its possessions, said Tony Allen-Mills in The Sunday Times: a large brass cockerel originally from what is now called Benin City, in Nigeria. “In case you missed this sorry tale of postcolonial whimpering”, the bird in question was taken by “vengeful Brits” in 1897, during a punitive expedition against the oba (king) of Benin, during which they pillaged a fortune in magnificent bronze sculptures. The cockerel was bequeathed in 1930 to the college (whose coat of arms features three cocks), and it was proudly displayed in the dining hall – until last week, when Jesus’s students, inflamed by recent campaigns to right colonial-era wrongs, voted to return it to Nigeria.…

Finally, an England team that knows “what the hell” they’re doing, said Stephen Jones in The Sunday Times. Last Saturday, England continued their 100% record under Eddie Jones with a thrilling 25-21 victory over Wales. And the following day, they became the first team to win the Six Nations with a match remaining, when Scotland’s shock victory over France handed them the title. The Wales tie was a game to savour: England dominated the first half, only to “call panic stations” as Wales almost stole the match. But England “held out”, and if they beat France in their final match this weekend, they will pull off a clean sweep – their first Grand Slam in 13 years. In the first 50 minutes, at least, England played their best rugby in…

A nuclear disaster To The Times The shambles over Hinkley Point illustrates what happens when government makes decisions based on advice from people who are not qualified engineers. In the days of the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), decisions on power supply planning would have been based on solid engineering principles, the CEGB being headed by qualified and experienced engineers. It was the CEGB that planned and built the power stations that are now keeping us supplied with electricity while political and commercial mismanagement steadily erodes the nation’s capacity margin. The CEGB is often criticised for building power stations that were “too expensive”, but it is those plants that have continued to run safely and reliably far beyond their design life. Claims that Hinkley will be built without subsidies are…

Yale University Press 176pp £16.99 The Week bookshop £14.99 (incl. p&p) Returning to New York from Europe in 1931, Groucho Marx filled out the customs form in typical style: “Born: Yes. Hair: Not much. Eyes: All the better to see you with.” Then he turned to Ruth, the first of his three wives, and asked her in a stage whisper whether she still had the opium. The couple and their two young children were immediately taken away to be strip-searched. This anecdote has often been seen as a piece of “hilarious Marx Brothers lore, another example of the gang’s antic disregard for authority”, said Victoria Segal in The Sunday Times. In fact, Lee Siegel argues in his short, critical biography, it wasn’t funny at all. The children were traumatised and…

Giorgione was the “glamorous mystery man of the Renaissance”, said Rachel Spence in the FT. His paintings “awed his contemporaries”, and no less a critic than Giorgio Vasari was moved to praise his “talent and excellence”. Yet for all this, we know almost nothing about him. He was born around 1478, and as a young man moved to Venice to become a painter; “his star burnt bright and he died young”, in his early 30s. His “untimely passing” led to a “muddle of attributions”, and we are still in the dark as to what he actually painted. Indeed, only a “handful” of paintings have ever been definitively attributed to Giorgione, the most famous of which are not allowed to travel. Despite these major complications, the Royal Academy has managed to…

The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel Scattered throughout the Bible are allusions to various books that have since vanished. Of these, the most intriguing is a history of Israel, a kingdom wiped out by the Assyrians in 722BC, and which features much less prominently in the surviving records than the southern kingdom of Judah. The autobiography of Agrippina Very few works by women have survived from classical antiquity. The memoirs of Agrippina (the Younger) – which were cited by the great Roman historian Tacitus – are a particularly grievous loss. As the sister of Caligula, the niece and wife of Claudius, and the mother of Nero, she would have provided the ultimate insider’s view of Imperial Rome. The Life of Æthelstan The grandson of Alfred the…

Programmes Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall Spike Lee’s documentary charts the life of the King of Pop’s evolution from child star to pin-up solo artist. Sat 19 Mar, BBC2 9pm (90mins). Follow the Money Double bill of the acclaimed Danish thriller series from the team behind The Killing and Borgen, starring Thomas Bo Larsen (Festen). Sat 19 Mar, BBC4 9pm (120mins). Heston’s Dinner in Space Before blasting off to the International Space Station, astronaut Tim Peake challenged Heston Blumenthal to provide food for him to eat during his time in orbit. This film follows the chef’s attempt to revolutionise the limited world of space food. Sun 20 Mar, C4 6pm (90mins). Secrets of Cadbury Six years ago, Britain’s beloved confectioner Cadbury was bought by American giant…

Ziti with broccoli and toasted pine nuts Serves 4 400g broccoli or tenderstem broccoli, separated into florets 350g dried ziti pasta, or other long pasta shape 25g slightly salted butter 1 garlic clove, crushed 2 tbsp mascarpone (optional) 100g vegetarian blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola, roughly chopped sea salt and black pepper 100g pine nuts, toasted until golden • Blanch the broccoli in plenty of boiling water for about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and refresh under ice-cold water to preserve its colour. Drain again and roughly chop. • Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water for 10-12 minutes, or according to the packet instructions, until al dente. • Meanwhile, put the butter and garlic into a cold frying pan, place over a medium heat and cook for…

The Daily Telegraph Once “the toast of Britain’s entrepreneurial class”, pickup trucks fell out of fashion when people started to realise they had “the agility of an elephant in a tutu and the thirst of an elephant in a sauna”. But the Nissan Navara is one of a new breed of big pickups, which claim to offer the kind of “ modern luxury driving experience” that you’d get in an SUV. Can that really be true? What Car? Well, it’s certainly far more comfortable to drive than a traditional pickup. This Navara rides and handles much better than its predecessor, making it feel more like an SUV. It really comes into its own on the motorway, blocking outside noise and giving enough performance to “ensure confident overtaking”. On rural and…

Stonehenge’s big brother There’s less to see at the Marden Henge than at Wiltshire’s two smaller “superhenges”, Stonehenge and Avebury. But archaeologists are starting to unlock its secrets – and this July, visitors can inspect their work on tours led by experts from the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, says Nigel Richardson in The Sunday Telegraph. Last year, “the bestpreserved Neolithic building south of the Orkneys” was unearthed here – possibly a “sweat lodge” used to purify the soul before worship. Tours will take in such discoveries, as well as the museum itself (home to the UK’s finest collection of Bronze Age artefacts), and address the great questions that linger over the 30-acre site and its surroundings, in an area rich in the traces of early civilisations. Contact the Wiltshire Museum…

The “Big Six”: saved by the watchdog? “It feels a very long time since Ed Miliband (remember him?) was talking about freezing energy bills,” said Nils Pratley in The Guardian. But the idea proved “so politically dangerous” that it led indirectly to an inquiry by the Competition and Markets Authority. The Big Six will be “delighted” with its findings. The CMA has ruled out a market-wide price cap; it will only apply to the 16% or so of customers on prepayment meters with limited opportunities to switch suppliers. What a “bitterly disappointing” ruling, said Jim Armitage in The Independent. Nothing has been done to reduce the thicket of different tariffs used by suppliers “to bamboozle the public”. Instead of ordering companies to put customers on their cheapest deals automatically –…

How Sunday trading was scotched Editorial The Economist Whatever the merits of Sunday trading, it has been set back in England and Wales “for the worst possible reasons”, says The Economist. The Government had hoped to loosen a rule limiting opening in large stores to just six hours on Sundays, by handing control to local councils. But the measure was defeated “by an unlikely alliance” of MPs. Labour argued that “employees could be forced to work when they do not want to”; Tory traditionalists said Sunday should remain “a day of rest”. And the most “dubious” opposition came from the SNP, which has actually approved such a measure in Scotland. A law change in England, the SNP argued, might reduce the Sunday wage “premium” enjoyed by some Scots. Odd though…

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s reputation for political impregnability was badly shaken this week when her Christian Democrat party (CDU) suffered major setbacks in three state elections – a rebuff, as many see it, of her controversial “open-door” refugee policy. The CDU was defeated in the western states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, and lost votes, though not power, in the poor eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. By contrast, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made huge gains, winning 15% and 12% of the vote in the former two states, and 24% in Saxony-Anhalt. AfD leader Frauke Petry hailed the poll – the first since Germany accepted 1.1 million migrants last year – as “a good day for democracy in Germany”. Merkel insisted she would stick to her policy and denied any “existential”…

Brussels Paris suspect killed: A suspect was shot dead at a flat in Brussels this week during a counter-terrorism raid linked to the terror attacks in Paris last November that killed 130 people. Two other suspects escaped by climbing over the rooftops. According to media reports, police were shot at when they went to search a flat in the suburb of Forest; at least one person then barricaded himself inside the property, until more police arrived and stormed the building. Witnesses spoke of an exchange of gunfire lasting several minutes. Four officers were hurt; three of them Belgian, one French. Officials have now identified most of the people they believe carried out the assaults in Paris. Many of them either died during the attacks, or were killed in subsequent police…

This week’s edition of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs featured the British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE 1 Rock Steady, written and performed by Aretha Franklin 2 Synchro System by King Sunny Adé, performed by King Sunny Adé and his African Beats 3 My Boy Lollipop by Robert Spencer, Morris Levy and Johnny Roberts, performed by Millie Small 4 Gentleman, written and performed by Fela Kuti 5 Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud by James Brown and Alfred Ellis, performed by James Brown 6 Compared to What (Live at Montreux Jazz Festival, 1969) by Gene McDaniels, performed by Les McCann and Eddie Harris 7 Addio del Passato (from La Traviata) by Verdi, by performed Anna Netrebko, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Carlo Rizzi 8* What’s Going On by Marvin…

Stop treating the homeless as criminals John Harris The Guardian Bad enough that the number of rough sleepers in England has doubled since 2010, says John Harris. Worse is that we are increasingly treating these vulnerable people as criminals. All over the country, local councils are resorting to a “draconian” measure known as a public space protection order (PSPO). Introduced by the coalition government in 2014, this order allows councils to outlaw within a designated area any activities they disapprove of. PSPOs have been used by local authorities to criminalise the feeding of pigeons in parks and to ban youths in certain areas from gathering in “groups of two or more”. And dozens of councils are now using them to target activities linked to homelessness: rough sleeping, drinking outdoors, begging…

Tall, slim… and well-off Men genetically predisposed to tallness earn more, on average, than those whose DNA meant they were always destined to be short; and women whose genes make them likely to be overweight typically earn less than those who are genetically slim. Those are the two key findings of an Exeter University study into the correlation between height, body mass index (BMI) and earning power. Unlike previous studies showing similar correlations, this one focused exclusively on genetic information: the scientists studied data on 120,000 people from the UK biobank, and compared their DNA profiles to their salaries. This approach meant that, for the first time, genetic and environmental factors could be teased apart. “Although we knew there was a strong association [with earnings], most people assumed that shorter…

It’s two decades since IBM’s Deep Blue defeated the chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, said Madhumita Murgia in The Daily Telegraph. But experts had predicted that it would be another decade before a machine would be able to beat man at the ancient Chinese board game Go. With players using an unlimited number of pieces to encircle territory on a 19-by-19 grid, the game has “more potential moves than there are atoms in the universe, so it can’t be cracked by raw computing power alone”. To win, you also need intuition; and for decades, the best programs couldn’t even come close to beating human novices. But last week, a computer program called AlphaGo confounded all expectations by defeating the world’s best Go player. Renowned for his highly creative playing style, Lee…

“Does Labour, my party, have a problem with anti-Semitism?” I fear so, said former MP Tom Harris in The Daily Telegraph. “Hatred of Israel – real, blind, vicious hatred” – has long been a feature of those on “the extreme Left”, and the influx of such types into Labour since Jeremy Corbyn became leader has given their opinions a new prominence. This is a hot topic today, said Owen Jones in The Guardian, owing to revelations about a Labour Party activist named Vicki Kirby. She was suspended from Labour back in 2014 over a series of tweets in which she apparently described Jews as having “big noses” and called Adolf Hitler the “Zionist God”. Yet after a warning, she was readmitted and has since become vice-chair of her local party.…

This is the moment when “championship-winning sides” come into their own, said Sami Mokbel in the Daily Mail. As the end of the football season approaches, they rise and flourish. Alas, not Arsenal. As their season “implodes”, they seem to be heading in the opposite direction. On Sunday, a 2-1 loss to Watford knocked them out of the FA Cup. It was the Gunners’ third consecutive home defeat; they have won just two of their last nine Premier League matches, and are 11 points off the top spot. A top-four finish is now “the only target left this season”, and even that is by no means guaranteed. This “shell” of a team has “lost its bottle”. It should have been Arsenal’s season, said Phil McNulty on BBC Sport online. Their…

To The Guardian I never thought I’d be ashamed of my old college at Cambridge. But the decision of Jesus College to remove the ancient bronze cockerel from the hall, following the calls from undergraduates to send it back to Africa, is both short-sighted and cowardly. The college claims to act “in loco parentis” with regard to its undergraduates, but only the most inadequate parents bow before the childish demands of their offspring. What will be next? Will the college tear down the statue of its episcopal founder from over the main gateway? After all, Bishop Alcock (1430-1500) did not ordain women, and that must annoy the youngsters, too. Why have the backbones of Oxbridge dons been removed? Francis Bown, London To The Times Students’ criticism of Trinity Hall, Cambridge,…

Freya Jonathan Cape 464pp £14.99 The Week bookshop £12.99 (incl. p&p) Anthony Quinn is a historical novelist who is very good at “absenting himself and letting his characters come to life”, said Andrew Wilson in The Independent. His latest starts on VE Day and ends in the early 1960s. It follows two friends, Freya and Nancy, who establish themselves as, respectively, a journalist and a novelist. “Quinn explores the big issues of the century – feminism, homosexuality, immigration, the individual versus society – but does so with a deceptively light touch. He draws us into the consciousness of his protagonists in an utterly compelling way.” Freya is “an attractive creation”, said Nick Curtis in the London Evening Standard. Slender and headstrong, she “likes Benzedrine and Martinis, swears like a sailor”…

This “stunning debut feature” is “one of the scariest horror movies in years”, said Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph. In 17th century New England, a devout Puritan family, led by patriarch William (Ralph Ineson), are exiled by their New World community, and forced to live by themselves, at the edge of a tangled forest. Inevitably, it’s not long before things start to turn unpleasant, and when the youngest, infant child disappears, blame falls on pretty teenager Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy). Has Satan got hold of her – or is there a yet more sinister evil lurking in the woods? Favouring “creeping dread over cheap jump scares”, The Witch will strike some horror lovers as rather slow-moving, said Chris Hewitt in Empire. Moreover, its dialogue – partly lifted verbatim from historical…

Ana Prata, Stefanie Heinze and David Roeder at Pippy Houldsworth It’s easy to make wild claims about emerging talent, but the paintings of the three young artists represented in this show are some of the most exciting you’ll see in any British gallery this month. Look at German painter Stefanie Heinze’s works and, from a certain angle, they resemble Francis Bacon’s later paintings; all anguished figures and monstrous, hallucinatory chaos. Move a metre or two further away, though, and you may think of Miró, or even cartoonist Gerald Scarfe’s grotesque political caricatures. The overall effect is marvellous. Glasgowbased artist David Roeder, meanwhile, has a far more naive style, contorting deceptively childish pictures of everyday objects into strange, colourful, map-like compositions. Finally, the runic shapes of Brazilian Ana Prata’s paintings give…

Ten or 20 years ago, most people viewed the vegan and vegetarian wine movement as a lunatic fringe, says Jane MacQuitty in The Times. Now veggie wines – made without animal-derived fining agents – are everywhere. The Co-op was early into this market, and its tasty, vegetarian 2013 Truly Irresistible Malbec (£6.99), from the excellent La Riojana winery in Argentina, is a “Fairtrade cracker, with lots of bold, spiced plum and mocha fruit”. Vintage Roots’ 2015-16 list features lots of veggie wines, including Paul Mas’s “bold, bosky, red-fruited” 2014 Cuvée Secrete, Pays d’Oc (£9.75; www.vintageroots.co.uk). Waitrose sells the leafy, juicy 2014 Feiler-Artinger Blaufränkisch from Austria’s Burgenland, and the fine 2013 Domaine Font de Michelle Châteauneuf-du-Pape (£11.29 and £25.99 respectively) – both are red triumphs. For a bargain white, try Sainsbury’s…

Blenheim Palace break A 2-night stay at The Lambert Arms, at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, costs from £129pp b&b, and includes a dinner, afternoon tea and entry to Blenheim. 01905-792801, www.greatlittlebreaks.com. Dog-friendly Devon Bring the dog on a 7-night stay at the stylish Dufour Barn (sleeps 6), Totnes – set within gated grounds. Arrive 1 April for an offer price of £730 (plus £20 per dog). 01237-426256, www.holidaycottages.co.uk. Loch-side Easter break Spend Easter in Lomond House, Helensburgh (sleeps 10), and explore the Highland Way and Loch Lomond. A 4-night stay from 26 March costs from £1,545. 0800-133 7999, www.oliverstravels.com. Boutique Brecon Beacons The Plough Rhosmaen Hotel, Towy Valley, offers a 2-night b&b stay with a 3-course dinner from £210. 01558-823431 (quote “Stay and Dine”), www.ploughrhosmaen.com. Until 30 June.…

The Chancellor delivered his eighth Budget in the teeth of worsening figures for the UK economy and what he described as “a cocktail of risks” emanating from the global economy. A ray of sunshine was the latest jobs data: unemployment held steady at 5.1% in January, the lowest figure in a decade. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell had earlier outlined Labour’s new fiscal rules, pledging a five-year rolling target to balance the budget, which excluded capital investment on infrastructure. Ahead of this week’s US Fed decision on interest rates, markets were buoyed by the European Central Bank, which launched another stimulus blast: cutting the main eurozone interest rates to zero, expanding its quantitative easing programme, and cutting the deposit rate for banks by ten basis points to -0.4%. The CBI reported…

● Advice gap The Financial Conduct Authority and the Treasury have published a review of financial advice, and reached the none-toosurprising conclusion that there is “a gap in provision”, said Jonathan Guthrie in the FT. Since this was mainly caused by the regulators’ abolition of commissions for independent financial advisors, it’s rather like the authorities standing beside “the smoking ruins, matches in hand, sorrowfully agreeing the house has burned down”. Financial advisor numbers dropped by 25% to 30,000 in the four years to 2014, leaving hordes of “orphaned clients”. The old system was far from perfect – “bungs distorted advice”. But at least it enabled punters to pay for advice “on the nevernever”, rather than upfront in cash – an unenticing prospect when fees can run to £200 an hour.…

Mike Ashley They tried asking nicely; now they’re talking tough. MPs on the Commons’ business, innovation and skills select committee have threatened Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley with “contempt of Parliament” if he ducks a summons to answer questions about the firm’s working conditions, says The Independent. Ashley has so far refused point-blank, accusing MPs of being “deliberately antagonistic” and creating “a media circus”. He’s “disgusted” that they won’t accept an invitation to a fact-finding tour of his Derbyshire HQ instead. The stand-off is a test for Parliament: “no one has ever refused to appear before”, and it’s unclear whether MPs have the power to compel witnesses. “The last person to be fined by the Commons was in 1666” – a judge would probably rule the power has “lapsed”. Vijay…

“We took them out to this restaurant just off Manchester Square,” recalled Martin. “This was the autumn of 1962. The waiter arrived with some mangetout and John Lennon took one look and said: ‘Can you put that over there, away from the food?’ We were from very similar backgrounds actually, but because of my southern counties accent they thought I was a bit of a toff. Ringo always used to say, [salutes sarcastically]: ‘I can see you in the cockpit of a Spitfire: Saaah!’” George Martin was 81 when I interviewed him in his splendid old stone house in 2007. You could see Wiltshire from one window and Oxfordshire from another, out beyond a tree house and a trampoline for his six grandchildren. Occasionally a gardener trundled past with a…

David Cameron has been “lining up foreign heads of state”, including Barack Obama and François Hollande, to warn us of the “dire consequences” if we vote to leave the EU, said Dominic Lawson in The Sunday Times. So it’s not surprising that the fiercely Eurosceptic Sun newspaper was excited to discover that our own head of state is apparently in the opposite camp. “Queen backs Brexit” was its “screamer” of a front-page headline last Wednesday. According to what it called a “highly reliable source” – rumoured to be the Justice Secretary Michael Gove – Her Majesty had a “bust-up” with Nick Clegg at lunch at Windsor Castle in 2011. She reportedly “let rip” at the pro-EU deputy PM, telling him in no uncertain terms that Europe was heading in the…

Mourners at a funeral in Puerto Rico were surprised to be greeted by the dead man sitting cross-legged in a chair, with a cigarette between his fingers. Fernando de Jesús Díaz Beato, 26, was shot dead earlier this month. His family asked for him to be sat up, and dressed in his favourite clothes for his funeral, because they wanted people to remember him as he had been in life. However, it was the funeral director’s idea to leave his eyes open. “We gave [the family] a surprise,” said the owner of the Marin Funeral Home. People trying to rent rooms in London have been offered garden sheds and cupboards under stairs. Now, a landlord in Euston is advertising a single mattress at the foot of someone else’s double bed.…

BRAZIL Lula’s arrest could tip us into turmoil El País (Madrid) Brazil’s 30-year-old democracy has rarely looked so precarious, says Juan Arias. The nation has been rocked by the arrest of the hugely popular former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the latest twist in a long-running bribery scandal in which ministers stand accused of siphoning cash from the stateowned energy company Petrobras. Having been hammered for months, President Dilma Rousseff and her ministers feel “beleaguered and alone”; and now Lula himself has been interrogated about receiving luxury properties from construction firms in exchange for getting them juicy contracts with Petrobras. The evidence appears flimsy: there’s nothing to show he used his influence improperly or that he owns the properties (he denies ownership and insists the charges are politically motivated).…

It was touted as the biggest breakthrough for women’s sexual fulfilment since the invention of the pill, but the launch of libido-boosting drug flibanserin – dubbed “pink Viagra” – has proved something of an anticlimax. The drug, marketed as Addyi, was approved in the US in August as a treatment for hypoactive sexual desire disorder. With an estimated 8.6 million women in the US suffering from the condition, the drug’s makers boasted it was “a multi-hundred-million-dollar” project. But that prediction now looks way off the mark: with doctors writing fewer than 300 prescriptions a week for flibanserin, on average, it is expected to bring in just $11m this year. Unlike Viagra, which treats sexual dysfunction in men by increasing blood flow to the genitals, flibanserin works like an anti-depressant to…

The Special Relationship is “often fraught” but usually polite, said Charles Moore in The Daily Telegraph. So Barack Obama’s stinging attack on David Cameron is a serious break with convention. Last week, The Atlantic magazine published the first of several in-depth interviews with the US president, in which he criticised Cameron for helping to turn Libya into a “shit show”. The British Prime Minister, he said, had failed to invest properly in reconstructing Libya after the 2011 conflict that toppled Colonel Gaddafi, because he was “distracted by a range of other things”. Obama said he had been “wrong” to trust Britain and France to clean up the mess in their own backyard. “I had more faith in the Europeans, given Libya’s proximity, being invested in the follow-up.” It is a…

“I believe that every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.” Astronaut Neil Armstrong, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “Power worship blurs political judgement. Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.” George Orwell, quoted in The New York Times “The best time to plant a tree is 25 years ago. The next best time is today.” Chinese proverb, quoted in The Independent on Sunday “An emotion will shoot electrically through a crowd which might have appealed to each man by himself in vain.” Lord Salisbury, quoted in The Times “The only people we think of as normal are those we don’t know very well.” Sigmund Freud, quoted on The Browser “Genius is the…

Like most students, Lee McCoy is rather hard up, said Erik Matuszewski in Forbes. The 22-year-old amateur golfer, who attends the University of Georgia, says he only has about $350 in his bank account. But he had one great advantage in this week’s Valspar Championship: he grew up near the Copperhead course, in Florida, and knows it inside out. And so, to the astonishment of many, he finished the tournament in fourth place – which brings with it $292,800 in prize money. Alas for McCoy, one of the United States Golf Association rules is that amateurs aren’t allowed to receive prize money, so he went home with nothing – and had to swallow hard as the two pro golfers behind him split the booty. But we shouldn’t feel too bad…

Theatre Great Expectations Adapted by Michael Eaton from the novel by Charles Dickens Director: Lucy Bailey West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds (0113-213 7700) Until 2 April Running time: 3hrs (including interval) It has been voted the nation’s favourite Dickens novel several times, but Great Expectations is “no cinch to adapt for the stage”, said Dominic Maxwell in The Times. The book is rather a “sprawling yarn” which takes the hero, Pip, from boyhood in rural Kent to a “fragile stint” as a London gent, with stops at Miss Havisham’s airless lair along the way. “Can you bind these elements? Can you make it all feel urgent?” In Michael Eaton’s adaptation and Lucy Bailey’s incisive production, the answer is a resounding yes: this is the best stage version I’ve ever seen. It’s…

This clever psychological thriller explores “the perils of parenthood for young, upwardly mobile Londoners”, said Geoffrey Macnab in The Independent. A likeable if slightly smug couple, Kate (Clémence Poésy) and Justin (Stephen Campbell Moore), live in a north London flat above some rather more dubious neighbours – banker Jon (David Morrissey) and his flashy wife Theresa (Laura Birn). Both women are pregnant, which creates an emotional bond between them, until one night after dinner. Theresa trips in the hallway, and loses her child. After that, things start to turn dark, as a series of unsettling events leave sleep-deprived Kate feeling increasingly paranoid about her neighbour’s intentions. Although there are no Hitchcockian shadows, the master of suspense’s influence is everywhere, said Kate Muir in The Times: there’s even a rear window…

A gang of art thieves has reportedly stolen five Francis Bacon paintings worth an estimated g30m from the home of a Spanish banker, says The Times. In one of the country’s biggest art heists in decades, the group broke into the Madrid house of José Capelo – a close friend of the late artist – and removed the works in less than two hours. Sources close to the investigation said it was a highly professional operation, which involved disabling the alarm system, and tracking the owner to ensure that he did not return to his home. “This type of thing does not happen in Spain, it only happens in films,” said a police source. The works were apparently taken last June, but the theft was only made public by investigators…

Helen’s not keen on going to The Bull for Mother’s Day, and is clearly upset when Rob takes Henry off with him and Ursula. Ursula tells Rob that Helen can’t be trusted with one child, let alone two. She advises sending Henry to boarding school and says it was the making of Rob. Rob reminds her that things weren’t great at home at the time. Josh meets Toby to discuss the egg business. Josh drives a hard bargain for his share. They settle on a 50-50 deal, without Rex’s approval. Ursula nips out and leaves Helen watching the dinner. Helen’s mortified when the food burns after the timer fails to go off. She overhears Ursula telling Rob that ruining meals is a trait of anorexics. Helen visits Pat, who brings…

The Fat Duck High Street, Bray, Berkshire (01628-580333) I came away from my third visit to Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck somewhat the poorer, said Nicholas Lander in the FT. The four-hour gastronomic “journey” it now offers costs £255 a head, with winepairing another £155. But what I ate there, from a tasting “map menu” built around the idea of a family day out at the seaside, constituted not merely the best meal I have yet enjoyed from Blumenthal, but “probably the most exciting meal I have ever eaten anywhere”. The experience begins the “night before” the imaginary trip, with thrilling nitro-poached cocktails. For “breakfast”, there are little boxed “cereals” served with a bacon-infused “milk”. There are dainty ice lollies – one of salmon and avocado, the other of crab and…

Tips of the week… how to grow a bonsai tree ● Bonsai trees dry out very easily. If you keep yours outside, make sure you water it at least once a day, and more frequently in hot weather. Indoor bonsai, which tend to be tropical or semi-tropical species, also need to be watered regularly – when the soil feels just a bit damp (rather than wet). ● The plants need to be trimmed regularly. Rather than chopping off big branches, delicately snip off individual leaves. When a new shoot has six leaves or more, trim it back to between two and four leaves. ● Bonsai shouldn’t get too much sunlight. Outdoors, they need shelter; inside, keep them out of direct sunlight. You should also avoid draughts and radiators. ● A…

Halcyon House, Byron Bay, Australia The Italian Riviera meets “swaggering Australian surf culture” at this seaside hotel in trendy Byron Bay, says Ralph Bestic in Condé Nast Traveller. Formerly a “bland” 1960s motel, it has been “transformed” by Brisbane hotelier sisters Elisha and Siobhan Bickle. The 21 rooms and suites feature refurbished antiques, intricately patterned fabric wallcoverings, polished oak floors and “quirky” art. The restaurant, Paper Daisy, is often booked up weeks in advance, so popular are chef Ben Devlin’s creations. A “magnificent” palmfrond chandelier dominates the bar, and there’s a 25-metre pool, and a beach a minute’s walk away. Doubles from £270. +61 2 6676 1444, www.halcyonhouse.com.au…

The creator of the world’s longest-running TV soap opera Tony Warren 1936-2016 Tony Warren was just 24 years old when he came up with an idea for a new drama, said The Independent. It would be set in the cobbled backstreet of a northern town, with a shop at one end, and a pub at the other. He wanted, he said, to depict a working-class community of the sort he had grown up in – and in particular, to give a voice to its women. Launched in 1960, the first episode of what would become the world’s longest-running TV soap featured a formidable trio – Elsie Tanner, Annie Walker and Ena Sharples – women whose names have gone down in TV history, along with those of many Coronation Street favourites,…

Last November, when Marriott International swooped on its rival Starwood Hotels, it claimed it was creating “the world’s largest hotel company by rooms”, said the Financial Times. But the all-American bid for Starwood – which owns the Sheraton, St. Regis and W hotel chains – has been thrown into disarray by a Chinese gatecrasher. The new kid on the block is Anbang, a once obscure Beijing insurance conglomerate with a taste for luxury hotels, which has trumped Marriott with a $13bn offer pitched at a 20% premium. If it succeeds in besting a company so “deeply connected” to America’s business establishment, “it will mark China’s biggest upset ever in a foreign takeover battle”. Anbang’s “rapid-fire dealmaking” is typical of “a striking surge in foreign acquisitions” by Chinese companies across all…

Move fast. “There is a huge difference between the best and worst accounts,” said Rachel Springall of Moneyfacts in The Independent. The average rate offered by “best buy” variable Isas (at 1.51%) is currently four times higher than the 0.38% paid by the ten lowest. But “decent rates don’t tend to hang around for very long”. Know your goals. It’s crucial to chose the right type of Isa. Don’t invest in a stocks and shares Isa “just because you are dissatisfied with the low interest rates on cash”, said financial planner Francis Klonowski in The Times. If you want to be able to dip into your savings, “you’ll have to sell holdings every time you need money”. Don’t try and time the market. If you’ve opted for an investment Isa,…

Who’s tipping what The week’s best buys Aviva The Times The insurer’s cautious stance on capital has resulted in a £9.7bn surplus, which could be used for acquisitions or dividend growth. Improvements from the Friends Life deal are ahead of forecast, and it yields nearly 5%. Buy. 465.75p. Breedon Aggregates The Times Increased infrastructure spending in the UK promises to boost this building materials supplier, which is growing with bolt-on acquisitions. The purchase of Hope Construction should mean margins hit 15%. Buy. 67.75p. Greggs Shares The food-on-the-go baker is set for growth. Margins have increased, thanks to cost savings and a deflationary input environment; and strong cash-generation will support expansion. Buy. £11.26. John Laing Group The Times John Laing – a specialist in public-private infrastructure partnerships and renewable energy projects…

This week’s crossword winner will receive an Ettinger (www.ettinger.co.uk) Brogue Collection coin purse in black, which retails at £150, and two Connell Guides (www.connellguides.com). ACROSS 1 Ducks seen behind slim, toothless so-and-sos (13) 10 Occupying a number in portable shelter (9) 11 Drying equipment is lighter after front’s removed (5) 12 Bottom of skirt’s elevated, revealing this? (5) 13 Taking day off, Denis spent wildly showing foolishness (9) 14 Wilde takes superior line on bussing (7) 16 Rotten delivery in shed (7) 18 Weakling gets all possible advantage from a little work (4-3) 20 Asked to keep equipment for army unit (7) 21 Checks outside hot air valves (4-5) 23 Change of direction in gated parts of canals and wharves (5) 25 It may cause you to go cold avoiding…