Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1140 i The Week

What happened North Korea ups the ante North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan this week in a move Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called an “unprecedented threat” to his country. Japan’s J-Alert warning system advised residents on Hokkaido, the nation’s second largest island, to take shelter as the missile passed over the area before falling into the sea. The White House said Pyongyang had “signalled its contempt for its neighbours”, and declared that “all options are on the table”. Theresa May, speaking on the eve of a trade trip to Japan, accused North Korea of “reckless provocation”. Prior to the missile launch, there had appeared to be an easing of tensions between the US and Pyongyang, which had opted not to follow through on its threat, issued a month…

Washington DC Notorious sheriff pardoned: Donald Trump has come under fire from all sides for issuing a presidential pardon to a notorious former sheriff recently convicted of criminal contempt of court. Joe Arpaio, 85, was one of the most divisive law enforcement figures in the US, known for his hostility towards undocumented immigrants in Arizona, and for his “tough on crime” policies, which included housing prisoners in tented encampments. Arpaio – a vocal Trump supporter – was convicted of contempt in July for flagrantly defying a court order to stop his police patrols from targeting Latinos. In a statement explaining his decision to pardon him, Trump praised Arpaio as an “American patriot” who had “kept Arizona safe” during “years of admirable service”. Unusually, Arpaio was pardoned before he’d even been…

Aberdeen Investment Trusts ISA and Share Plan At Aberdeen, we believe there’s no substitute for getting to know your investments face-to-face. That’s why we make it our goal to visit companies – wherever they are – before we invest in their shares and while we hold them. With a wide range of investment companies investing around the world – that’s an awfully big commitment. But it’s just one of the ways we aim to seek out the best investment opportunities on your behalf. Please remember, the value of shares and the income from them can go down as well as up and you may get back less than the amount invested. No recommendation is made, positive or otherwise, regarding the ISA and Share Plan. The value of tax benefits depends…

In the wake of the total eclipse of the Sun last week, patients began turning up at emergency clinic in American hospitals requiring treatment for the adverse effects of applying sun cream to their eyeballs. Apparently, they thought it would do as a “second best” to the Nasaapproved protective glasses that most people wore. Move over Mr Whippy: a new version of the 99 ice cream has gone on sale at Selfridges in London – and The Billionaire’s Soft Serve costs £99. For your money, you get salted caramel ice cream piped into a cone dipped in Madagascan chocolate and coated in edible pearls; added to that are gelato spheres of mango, ginger and passion fruit, a macaroon decorated with edible diamonds, a white chocolate truffle, a liberal sprinkling of…

Baby boomers are, in their middle age, becoming problem drinkers. A growing body of data has shown that while levels of risky alcohol use are declining among most age groups, the over-50s are drinking more than they used to… with alarming consequences. In 2015, for instance, 45% of patients admitted to hospitals in England with alcohol-related conditions were aged 55 to 74, up from 36% in 2005. That equates to more than half a million people. “We are looking at the next two decades of real hell in terms of public health burden and clinical burden,” said Dr Tony Rao, a consultant old-age psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, and the co-author of a new report on the problem. There is evidence that baby boomers are also…

If you have ever slipped up at work, remember, it could have been worse, said Stephen Bush in the New Statesman: you could have distorted seven years of British policymaking. Last week, it emerged that the Office for National Statistics has long been wildly over-estimating the number of foreign students who stay on in Britain after their visas expire. It had put the number at up to 100,000 a year and – vowing to “get numbers down” – Theresa May, when Home Secretary, had curbed the freedom of students to come to the UK. Meanwhile, the erroneous figures were included in net migration statistics, adding to public anxiety about immigration, and probably fuelling the Brexit vote. We now know that 97% of students go home – only around 4,700 stay…

Cricket: West Indies’ historic comeback In all the decades I’ve spent “watching, playing and commentating on Test cricket”, said Mike Atherton in The Times, “I cannot think of a bigger upset.” West Indies came into the second Test against England still reeling from their humiliating three-day defeat at Edgbaston. But in a stunning turnaround, the tourists successfully chased down a fourth-innings target of 322 to win the game and level the series ahead of the final Test at Lord’s next week. The undisputed stars of the show were Barbadian batsmen Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope, “following up their hundreds in the first innings with magnificent contributions in the second”. Brathwaite hit a superb 95, before Hope calmly guided West Indies home with an unbeaten 118 – becoming “the first man…

What’s not to like? To The Times The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has taken it upon itself to prioritise “hate crime”. In this regard, it offers its definition of “hostility” on its website and includes “resentment and dislike”. That there is even a suggestion that “dislike” is ground for investigation and prosecution defies belief: the CPS must be urgently and robustly challenged on this. No rational argument can be offered to legally require universal liking, especially where this nonsense places perception above fact. That our police officers and courts could spend any time whatsoever addressing a perceived dislike for a “victim” confirms that this legislation and those responsible for prosecution are not remotely fit for purpose. Both must be reviewed immediately. Hamish Hossick, Broughty Ferry, Dundee Corbyn’s courtesy…

Theatre Loot Playwright: Joe Orton Director: Michael Fentiman Park Theatre, Finsbury Park, London N4 (020-7870 6876) until 24 September; then The Watermill Theatre, Newbury, Berkshire (01635-46044), from 28 September to 21 October Running time: 2hrs (including interval) ★★★ The trouble with Loot, as indeed with all Joe Orton plays, is that it’s weighed down, said Aleks Sierz on TheArtsDesk.com, by its reputation as “a scandalous and subversive piece of political farce”. Fifty years ago, the play’s plot (in which a young robber and his accomplice and gay lover conceal their ill-gotten gains in the coffin of his just-dead mother), and its relentless attacks on everything from the Catholic Church to police corruption, must have felt shocking. Today they don’t. So the best thing for modern audiences to do is to…

Best books… Ian Mortimer The author and historian Ian Mortimer selects his six favourite books. His own latest book, The Outcasts of Time, is available from Simon & Schuster at £12.99. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, 1957 (Vintage £8.99). It’s both history and fiction, interwoven with poetry and philosophy: a great summation of the individual, love and human society, and what they mean to each other. A Picture History of Archaeology by C.W. Ceram, 1958 (out of print). From about the age of five, the pictures had me spellbound: the ruins of Pompeii, pharaohs’ grimacing corpses, Aztec skulls. Exotic, haunting, and much more powerful than normal history lessons. Shogun by James Clavell, 1975 (Hodder £9.99). This breathtakingly ambitious novel, which I read as a teenager, deeply affected how I think…

This wonderful salad is based on two salads I once ate on a rooftop overlooking Marrakech, says Alexandra Dudley. It is equally delicious warm or cold. Charred fennel, chicory and fig salad Serves 4 4 chicory heads, sliced in half lengthways 2 fennel bulbs, sliced into about 2cm slices 3 tbsps olive oil juice of ½ a lemon 6-8 small fresh figs (about 400g) sea salt and black pepper, to taste 50g pecans or walnuts, toasted and chopped, to serve For the dressing: 1-2 tbsps balsamic vinegar 4 tbsps walnut or cold-pressed olive oil 3 tbsps pomegranate molasses 1 tsp wholegrain mustard thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated • Rub the chopped chicory and fennel in the oil before heating a large frying or griddle pan. When the pan…

A meeting of central bankers in Wyoming failed to address the two big questions facing traders: the path of short-term interest rates and the pace of the Fed’s balance sheet reductions. Fed chair Janet Yellen instead delivered a defence of post-crisis regulation. As the end of her term approaches, there is speculation she may be replaced by Gary Cohn, currently head of President Trump’s National Economic Council. The euro hit an 18-month high against the dollar. The pound fell to a fresh eight-year low against the euro; the currencies are now approaching parity. PM Theresa May embarked on a trade trip to Japan in hope of hammering out a post-Brexit trading relationship. Ahead of the third round of Brexit talks this week, German business urged European negotiators to “put shared…

Missile? Meh… “The FTSE 100 tumbled to a 16-week low on Tuesday as investors reacted to North Korea’s latest missile tests by dumping shares,” said Phillip Inman and Angela Monaghan in The Guardian. Markets across Europe and Asia fell as investors “fled to safe haven assets like gold”, pushing up the price by $4 an ounce to $1,321. But the funk in the markets didn’t last long. Within a day, haven assets were on the retreat and equities were rising again. Given the lingering concerns over North Korea it was, as Charles Diebel of Aviva Investors noted, a “remarkable reassertion of risk appetite”. And, as Diebel added, it also highlights “the degree of comfort markets have about central bank policy remaining benign”. Long in the tooth For “comfort” many read…

Neil Woodford It has been a “cruel summer” for investment guru Neil Woodford, says Patrick Hosking in The Times. “Nothing seems to have gone right for Britain’s foremost stock-picker, and some of his less loyal fans are starting to wobble” – a startling turn of events for a fund manager “habituated to plaudits and adulation”. In recent weeks, a string of pet Woodford stocks – ranging from AstraZeneca to the lender Provident Financial – have taken heavy hits, which have dramatically affected the performance of his eponymous funds. Plenty of top fund managers have stumbled and then come good, and investors will give Woodford more time. “But in the back of their minds lurks an unpalatable niggle. Sometimes even the most brilliant fund managers just don’t get their mojo back.”…

Controversy of the week The statue topplers A few years ago nobody paid much mind to the “drab grey monuments” in our public spaces, said David Olusoga in The Observer. Yet almost overnight, the statues of “great men” have become the front line in what are now being characterised as the “history wars”. In the US, where memorials to Confederate generals are being removed in more than 30 cities, a woman was killed while protesting against the white supremacists who’d rallied to prevent the toppling of a statue of General Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville (see page 44). Here in Britain, furious rows have broken out over proposals to pull down statues of the imperialist Cecil Rhodes and the slave trader Edward Colston. The statues’ defenders regard their adversaries as…

Tal Afar, Iraq City recaptured: Iraqi forces, supported by US-led air strikes, have recaptured the city of Tal Afar – a key Islamic State stronghold in the northwest of Iraq. Tal Afar, which was home to 200,000 people before occupation, most of them Shia Turkmen, lies 60km west of Mosul and around 100km from the Syrian border and was a key strategic asset: holding the city allowed the group to transport weapons, goods and people across the border to their de facto capital, Raqqa, in Syria. The recapture of Tal Afar came quicker than expected, following a battle that lasted just a week. However, fighting was ongoing this week in Al-Ayadiya, a town 11km northwest of the city, where some Isis fighters were making a last stand; and Isis still…

Gum disease linked to Alzheimer’s People who suffer from gum disease are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, a new study has found. For the research, a team in Taiwan looked at a national health database to identify people with a form of gum disease called chronic periodontitis (CP), and then worked out how many had later been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. When they compared the CP patients’ outcomes with those of a control sample, they found that having CP for ten years increased the risk of Alzheimer’s by 70%. Gum disease, and associated inflammation, has been linked to diabetes and heart disease; and earlier studies have suggested it may play a role in dementia, too. However, in the latest study, only one in 100 of the people with CP went on…

“As she herself rightly surmised: the British people needed someone to give them affection” “By her own account, Diana was not clever,” said Hilary Mantel in The Guardian. “Nor was she especially good.” Quixotic, manipulative and “given to infatuation”, the late Princess of Wales was a “woman of scant personal resources”. Yet she turned herself into a phenomenon “bigger than all of us”, so that, 20 years after her death, we still “gossip about her as if she had just left the room”. In part, the Diana myth came about through a quirk of timing. “She arrived on the scene in an era of gross self-interest, to distract the nation from the hardness of its own character.” Compared with Britain’s other matriarchs – the distant monarch and the Iron Lady…

“August is a cruel mistress to politicians,” said Labour MP Jess Phillips in The Observer. “Silly season means that if you say anything you will find yourself splashed all over the papers.” So it was for my colleague Laura Pidcock after she declared last week that her “visceral” disgust at the way the Conservatives (“the enemy”) are running the country meant she could never be friends with a Tory MP. From the reaction to her comments, you’d have thought she had “expressed a desire to steal the first-born children of anyone who had ever voted Conservative”, rather than taken a slightly unforgiving line on cross-party fraternisation. Pidcock has made clear that she will work with Tories; she just won’t be “necking champagne at the Conservative black and white ball any…

Men’s tennis is facing an “injury crisis”, said Simon Briggs in The Daily Telegraph. Just before the US Open began this week, Andy Murray pulled out with a long-running hip problem. Also injured are both of last year’s finalists, Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic, along with 2014 runner-up Kei Nishikori, and 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic. Is this long list of crocked players a coincidence – or evidence of deeper problems within the modern game? Today’s tennis stars aren’t actually playing more than their predecessors, said Russell Fuller on BBC Sport online. Murray had 87 matches last year, only two more than John McEnroe played in 1984. But the game is far more “physically demanding” than it used to be, with longer sets and more intense points. Technology also plays…

To The Guardian Afua Hirsch’s article, “Why not topple Nelson?” has the argument back to front when she says the purpose of statues of “figures like Nelson” is to energise “white supremacist groups”. On the contrary, it is those agitating to remove such statues who are trying to import into the UK the US’s “frenzied debate”, in the hope of stirring up conflict and hostility even though our “white supremacist groups” are insignificant at present, thanks to what she calls our “inertia, arrogance and intellectual laziness”. Her anger would be better directed at current discrimination, not at absurd historical claims such as the suggestion that “the brutalisation of black slaves made Britain the global power it then was”. Sure, it played a part, and should be commemorated – but so…

Detroit Dir: Kathryn Bigelow 2hrs 23mins (15) Searing race drama from the director of Zero Dark Thirty ★★★ When Hollywood makes films about racial strife in America, it tends to look for some note of redemption to ensure the story isn’t too relentlessly downbeat, said Kevin Maher in The Times. But not in Kathryn Bigelow’s case. Her latest film is among “the most bleak, most harrowing” movies ever made on the subject. It “comes out of its corner slugging and barely stops”, said Nigel Andrews in the FT. From the start, we’re flung into the midst of the 1967 Detroit race riots and, in particular, the notorious Algiers Motel incident, when a police raid on a private party ended with three young black men dead, in circumstances still hotly debated…

This summer has produced the “best crop of wine boxes in decades”, says Jane MacQuitty in The Times. Oxidation no longer seems to be a problem, and the quality of wines has vastly improved. But be warned: they don’t last as long unopened as bottles; and once open, the wine will probably only stay fresh for three or four weeks, not the six some manufacturers claim. For my money the “best bag-in-box white wine in Britain” is Marlborough Springs, Sauvignon Blanc, South Island, New Zealand (Waitrose, £20.99 for 2.25 litres). It brims with bright, zesty, easy-quaffing gooseberry, guava and nettle fruit. Or try the Wine Society’s delicate, floral organic 2016 Coffele Soave, £27 for 3 litres (equivalent to just £6.75 a bottle; 01438-741177). For a tasty white burgundy, check out…

The divisive comedian who starred in The Nutty Professor Jerry Lewis 1926-2017 In the postwar period, Jerry Lewis, who has died aged 91, was one of America’s most successful entertainers. For five consecutive years from 1952, Lewis and his onscreen partner, Dean Martin, were among the top ten money-making stars in the world, said Michael Burleigh in the Daily Mail. Then, following their acrimonious split, Lewis defied predictions by carving out a similarly successful solo career, with hit films such as The Nutty Professor (1963) and The Bellboy (1960). Yet his brand of comedy was always an acquired taste: for everyone who laughed at his goofball antics, nerdish persona and rubbery face, there were others who found them wearying in the extreme. The critic Milton Shulman once said…

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong’s conviction for corruption marks “a turning point in South Korea’s political economy”, said The Wall Street Journal. The country’s powerful family conglomerates (“chaebols”) were the vital drivers of its post-WWII development, but they have become “notorious for abusing power” – ultimately, to their own detriment. Investors have long applied a “Korea discount”, marking down the chaebols’ market value relative to their international peers. Thanks to the “clean up” operation now under way, that is now “shrinking”. The fact that the leader of the country’s best-known and most valuable business group is now in prison shows just how clearly “the tide has turned”. The political will for reform is certainly there, said Richard Lloyd Parry in The Times. South Korea’s leftish new president, Moon Jae-in, has appointed…

If you’ve already had your fill of phone calls offering “untold riches” in compensation from mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) policies, prepare for another media blitz, said Rob Davies in The Observer. The Financial Conduct Authority has set a deadline of 29 August 2019 “to mop up the last victims of the UK’s biggest mis-selling scandal”, and has employed an animatronic head of Hollywood’s famed “Terminator”, Arnie Schwarzenegger, to front a campaign urging people to act now. So far, around £27bn has been paid out in compensation for PPI policies that customers neither wanted or needed, said The Times. But the City watchdog reckons that the majority of people who were mis-sold policies have yet to make a claim. With Arnie’s help, the final bill socked to building societies, credit…

The week’s best buys Cairn Energy The Times The Edinburgh-based explorer has delivered a 19% upgrade to oil estimates in Senegal, and sees “significant untested prospectivity” in the North Sea and Mexico. A healthy balance sheet adds to the attraction. Buy. 180.2p. Headlam Group Investors Chronicle The floor coverings specialist has expanded to operate out of 60 UK and European trade counters. Warehousing and inventory management is improving, cash generation is strong and a special dividend is possible. Buy. 574p. ITM Power The Times ITM turns electricity into hydrogen to provide “clean” vehicle fuel. “More than just a speculative punt,” ITM is a bet that Government policy will include hydrogen in its plan to eliminate petrol and diesel engines. Buy. 28.38p. Michelmersh Brick Holdings The Daily Telegraph The value of…

Brussels Soldiers attacked: A 30-year-old Belgian of Somali origin attacked two patrolling soldiers with a knife in the centre of Brussels last Friday night, before being shot dead. The man reportedly shouted “Allahu akbar” as he ran at the soldiers from behind. Islamic State was quick to claim him as one of its “soldiers”; however, the Belgian authorities described the man, who had arrived in the country in 2004, as a “lone individual”. Over the past 18 months, Brussels has suffered a series of atrocities, including the bombings that killed 32 people at Brussels Airport and a metro station in March 2016, and an attempted bombing at Brussels Central station two months ago. This latest attack took place on the same evening as a 26-year-old from Luton jumped out of…

Cameron’s iconic creation James Cameron is nothing if not tough. On the set of The Abyss, the director’s outbursts were so volcanic, crew wore T-shirts reading “You can’t scare me, I work for Jim Cameron”. And when he is not working, he relaxes by exploring the ocean depths in submersibles. Yet for all his machismo, he has stood out as a writer/director for creating strong female characters, says Hadley Freeman in The Guardian, and it infuriates him that more directors aren’t doing likewise – even when they claim they are. “All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywood’s been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided,” he says. “She’s an objectified icon, and it’s just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! To me, it’s a step backwards. [Terminator character] Sarah…

Put not your trust in these ersatz princes Hugh Muir The Guardian One of the malign side effects of our celebrity culture, says Hugh Muir, is that we’ve come to think the only way to get things done is to entrust projects to “turbo-empowered” leaders blessed with awesome “knowledge, drive and networking prowess”. Not that we should discourage “audacity in pursuit of the public good”: but without adequate oversight it soon morphs into recklessness and arrogance. Look how university vice chancellors and the “deified” super-heads of academy schools have won huge salaries with no obvious improvement in the services they supervise. Or consider Boris Johnson. During his two terms as London’s mayor, he blew £940m on “vanity projects” like the scrapped garden bridge and the little-used cable car over the…

You wouldn’t think that an EU member state would tamely do the bidding of Turkey’s autocratic president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But that is what Spain is in danger of doing, said Johannes Welte in Merkur.de (Munich) . Turkish exiles had thought they’d be safe from Erdogan’s vengeance anywhere in Europe. Now they’re not so sure. Along with thousands of other German citizens, Dogan Akhanlı, a 60-year-old Turkish-born writer, had gone on holiday with his wife to Spain. But on arrival at his hotel in Granada, he was arrested – at Turkey’s request – by police armed with an Interpol warrant. There was a furious reaction in Germany, and the amazed Akhanlı was released the next day. But he’s been ordered to stay in Spain until a court decides whether to…

Scientists are uncovering new details about the lives of dodos, centuries after they were driven to extinction. First recorded by Dutch sailors who visited Mauritius in 1598, the large flightless birds were last seen just 64 years later. Sailors had hunted them for meat, but it was probably the introduction of rats and other mammals, which ate their eggs and outcompeted them for food, that did it for them. In death, the dodos became famous. Yet remarkably little is known about how the 3ft-tall pigeons lived. Now, an analysis of dodo skeletons has provided some clues. One of the key findings is that their bones had large cavities in the outer cortex, probably caused by calcium being absorbed by new feathers. This suggests that dodos were a moulting species –…

Laura Pidcock was not the only Labour MP to boast last week of a “visceral” dislike of the Tories (see opposite). In an interview with the BBC, the party’s former deputy leader Harriet Harman (pictured) described how she once hid in a room in the Palace of Westminster to shield her six-week-old baby from the gaze of Margaret Thatcher , who was approaching down a corridor. “I had this feeling that I didn’t want her eyes to fall on my perfect baby – that it would be horrific. And I think if I hadn’t been able to find that room I would have literally drawn the cover over the baby’s face for her eyes not to fall on it.” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a gushing letter on his social…

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” H. L. Mencken, quoted in the Financial Times “What goodness we have reached is a house built on piles driven into black slime and always slipping down into it unless we are building night and day.” Historian R.H. Tawney, quoted in the New Statesman “People have no chance to grow up. A lifetime is not long enough.” Ivy Compton Burnett, quoted in The Guardian “For me dying is a lot like going camping. I don’t want to do it.” Phil Wang at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, quoted on BBC News online “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” Plato, quoted in the New…

Tennis Johanna Konta suffered a shock first-round defeat in the US Open. Maria Sharapova, in her first Grand Slam match after a 15-month doping suspension, beat No. 2 seed Simona Halep. Football Wayne Rooney announced his international retirement. Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-0; Spurs drew 1-1 with Burnley. Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea all won. Rugby New Zealand beat England 41-32 in the Women’s World Cup final. Formula 1 Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian GP; Sebastian Vettel’s lead in the championship is now seven points.…

Exhibition of the week Dreamers Awake White Cube Bermondsey, London SE1 (020-7930 5373, whitecube.com ). Until 17 September “Surrealism was a movement dominated by men and obsessed with women,” said Louisa Buck in The Daily Telegraph. In its most famous images, the female form is rarely shown as anything other than an “object of masculine desire and fantasy”. Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and the rest tended to depict women as little more than erotic set dressing. Even so, surrealism was immensely appealing to female artists. A standout among them is photographer Jo Ann Callis, whose work, in particular the haunting Untitled (c.1976), is “intense, unsettling and erotically-charged”. This “terrific” show at White Cube demonstrates how such women carved their own space within the macho surrealist…

What the experts recommend The Oystermen 32 Henrietta Street, London WC2 (020-7240 4417) A chef who truly “respected and loved the crab would poach it to the point where the white meat just flaked, and the brown meat had the texture of barely scrambled eggs”, says Tim Hayward in the FT. Such a chef would “crack the shell judiciously, leaving you with the pleasure of the dissection”, and serve the brown meat on the side with dense brown bread, mayonnaise and a muslin-wrapped half of lemon. And happily such chefs do exist, at The Oystermen. This extraordinary (and tiny) fish restaurant in Covent Garden was rammed on the day I visited, with about 20 “enthusiastic shellfish slurpers in full flow” – and not surprisingly. Here, they treat crabs “with…

New cars: what the critics say Car magazine The X-Trail is “an important car for Nissan”. The company claims that its flagship crossover is the bestselling SUV in the world, with 766,000 purchased last year. The X-Trail is not unlike its popular sibling, the family-friendly Qashqai, but the ride is a bit higher, and there’s more room inside. Now it has had an upgrade, albeit a modest one, limited to cosmetic tweaks and new gadgets. Auto Express The changes to the car’s design “need to be pointed out to be noticed”: the front grille is wider, and there are new tail lights. Inside, too, the updates are slight. The cabin feels “well made”, and DAB now comes as standard, but the infotainment system is dated. Still, practicality “remains a strength”:…

Dixons Carphone: smartphone fatigue Talk about an August electric storm, said Ashley Armstrong in The Daily Telegraph. Nearly a third of the value of Dixons Carphone was wiped out last week after the group – one of Europe’s largest electricals and telecoms retailers – shocked the City with a surprise profit warning. The chief cause, according to CEO Seb James, was a slowdown in the UK’s smartphone market, exacerbated by “the weakness of sterling since the Brexit vote” which, he claimed, had made handsets 16% more expensive. The upshot is that punters are holding on to their phones for longer, “replacing them after 29 months rather than 24”: and that has dire consequences for the group’s bottom line. “The warning marks a sharp reversal in fortunes for the FTSE 250…

Don’t put your trust in central bankers Merryn Somerset Webb Financial Times When the world’s central bankers met for their annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming last weekend, markets, as ever, hung on their every word, says Merryn Somerset Webb. Does this “tiny group of unelected economists” really merit such respect? Central bankers, after all, “played a large part in causing” the financial crisis by failing to regulate the system adequately, and by “keeping interest rates far too low for far too long”. And their post-crisis measures have made economies even more dysfunctional. Ultra-low interest rates and quantitative easing were intended to push up asset prices. And they did… but not in a good way: the only gainers from soaring equity, bond and housing prices are those already holding assets.…