Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1217 i The Week

What happened The final push Britain’s attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, sought to strike a last-minute bargain with EU negotiators this week in the hope of keeping Theresa May’s Brexit deal alive. The PM has promised to hold a vote on the deal no later than Tuesday: if it is rejected, MPs will later get a vote to request an extension of the Article 50 process. But ministers think she could yet win the vote on her deal if Cox secures concessions enabling him to reverse his previous assessment that the contentious backstop could “endure indefinitely”. The European Research Group (ERG) of Tory Brexiters, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, has dropped its insistence on the outright scrapping of the backstop, but is demanding legally binding changes that remove the theoretical threat of…

17% of Britons would not feel comfortable visiting Salisbury, despite police advice that there is no risk to the public following last year’s chemical attack. 68% would feel comfortable. YouGov 90% of people in the UK believe assisted dying should be legal for those with terminal illnesses. 88% believe the same for those with dementia, provided they have consented before losing their mental capacity. NatCen Social Research/ The Guardian 36% of Remain voters and 15% of Leave voters (24% of British adults overall) have either started buying extra goods to store at home in case there is a no-deal Brexit that leads to shortages, or would consider doing so. ComRes/ITN…

Jerusalem Netanyahu to be charged: Just weeks before Israeli voters go to the polls in a crucial general election on 9 April, Israel’s attorney general has announced that the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is to be indicted on criminal charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust stemming from three separate long-running investigations. However, the charges can only be filed after a court hearing, which is likely to be held after the election. Netanyahu denies doing anything illegal, and has vowed to remain in office and fight the charges. Upending Israeli politics, the news has helped give Benny Gantz, the PM’s main rival, a big lead in a new poll conducted by a pro-Netanyahu newspaper. Analysts now expect Gantz, a former general, to become PM as head of a centrist…

“Why outer space? What is it about Jeff Bezos and his fellow billionaires that makes them so determined to send everybody to the bloody Moon? Do they really want to explore the solar system or is it just macho posturing? A way of saying, ‘This piffling planet may be big enough to contain the imaginations of normal men, but for a genius like me, only a galaxy will do’? The sad fact is, it’s a man thing, just as the accumulation of vast stupid wealth has historically tended to be. We don’t have a woman yet with £100bn to chuck around, but if we ever do, I doubt very much her first move will be to attempt the conquest of space.” Giles Coren in The Times…

Cheer up! Our economy is doing fine... Liam Halligan The Daily Telegraph You’d never guess it listening to the “endless doom-mongering” in the media, says Liam Halligan, but Britain actually has quite a lot going for it. A reminder of this came last week when Norway’s sovereign wealth fund announced plans to boost its UK holdings. One of the world’s most respected investors, it reckons Britain is a good long-term bet whatever happens with Brexit – and it has reason to think so. While Germany and France are on the brink of recession, our economy looks increasingly robust: employment is at record levels; real wage growth at a two-year high. Britain attracted “record foreign direct investment last year, with only China attracting more”. For the second year running, Forbes magazine…

World’s biggest bee rediscovered The world’s largest bee has been spotted in the wild for the first time in nearly four decades, reports The Guardian. Named after Alfred Russel Wallace, the British naturalist who discovered it in Indonesia in 1858, the Wallace’s giant bee is roughly the size of a thumb (and four times bigger than a honeybee), and has large jaws – resembling those of a stag beetle – which it uses to gather resin and wood from which to build its nests in arboreal termite mounds. Despite its size (including a wingspan of about 6cm), it is rarely seen. The bee was documented for a second time in 1981, then “vanished” again for 38 years, leading to fears that it had become extinct. But, prompted by news that…

Ranulph Fiennes is one of the world’s greatest living explorers – but it hasn’t made him rich. So on trips to London, he doesn’t check into a hotel: he simply beds down in the back of his old Ford Mondeo. Quite used to roughing it on his expeditions, he has no trouble sleeping in the estate car. “It is long enough for me to stretch out. It’s not uncomfortable. I park in a residential bay between 10pm and 8am,” he told The Sunday Times. “You save £300 [on] the nearest hotel or b&b. I’ll tell you that it’s in Queen’s Gate, but I won’t tell you more because it may not be strictly legal.” Fiennes says he makes so little money, he struggles to support his second wife and 13-year-old…

“Thank you, David Lammy, for once again laying on a toxic goat circus dressed up as a ‘much-needed public conversation’,” said Camilla Long in The Sunday Times. Last week, the “preening” Labour MP for Tottenham accused the TV presenter Stacey Dooley of perpetuating outdated stereotypes about Africa after she posted pictures of herself on social media holding an unnamed toddler in Uganda, where she has been filming with Comic Relief. “The world does not need any more white saviours,” Lammy said, condemning them as “colonial images”. Admittedly, Dooley’s pictures – one of which had the caption “OB.SESSSSSSSSSSED” and a broken heart emoji – were “ditzy”. But the idea that she had no business promoting Comic Relief’s activities in Uganda is absurd. Comic Relief depends on celebrities to win viewers for…

Typical England, said Paul Newman in The Mail on Sunday. Just when you think they’re on the verge of greatness, they turn out to have an “awful performance up their sleeves”. So it was last week in their one-day international (ODI) series against West Indies. They scored an astonishing 418 runs to win the fourth match, last Wednesday, only to lose in St Lucia three days later, when they were bowled out for a “miserable” 113 – ending the series with a 2-2 draw. It was England’s worst one-day batting performance since the 2015 World Cup, when New Zealand bowled them out for 123. Now, with only two months to go until they host the next World Cup, they are still top of the one-day world rankings – but in…

Tennis Roger Federer became only the second male player in history to win 100 ATP titles, after Jimmy Connors in 1983, when he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Nick Kyrgios won the Mexican Open. Football Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Bournemouth. Liverpool drew 0-0 with Everton. Tottenham drew 1-1 with Arsenal. Rugby union In the Premiership, Saracens beat Northampton 36-17. Exeter beat Sale 20-14.…

Leon Kossoff: A London Life at Piano Nobile Although not nearly as famous as David Hockney, Bridget Riley or Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff (b.1926) is routinely cited alongside them as one of our greatest living artists. Meaningless as such a title might seem, it is unlikely anyone who visits this exhibition would argue with Kossoff’s inclusion on the list. Tracing his career from the early 1950s to 2008, shortly before he retired from painting, the show brings together an astonishing selection of his extraordinary art. Time and time again, he returns to familiar subjects – railway lines, postwar construction sites and other London landscapes, as well as trusted sitters – and creates something thrillingly new. Kossoff trowels oil paint onto the canvas until it reaches an almost sculptural thickness, the…

Eddie is despondent when his van breaks down and he can’t afford to mend it. Jennifer and Alice pass by Home Farm. Jennifer’s appalled by what the Gills have done to her garden. Tom invites his family for dinner. They all wait for Natasha, who’s held up in traffic. Unable to contain himself, Tom announces that he and Natasha are getting married next week. He’s disappointed by Pat and Tony’s muted reaction. They assure him they’re pleased, they’re just surprised by the speed of things. Elizabeth and Lily visit Freddie. Elizabeth’s happy that Freddie’s been using the prison gym and is in good spirits. Lily tells Russ that, unbeknown to Elizabeth, Freddie won’t be able to live at Lower Loxley once he is released as it is the scene of…

Leading property consultancy Strutt & Parker’s residential report for the final quarter of 2018 shows that UK property prices grew 1.3% over the course of the year. Nationally, house prices are now 16.5% above their pre-crisis peak. However, London, which historically has always had the strongest growth across the UK, had one of the lowest growth rates (-0.9%) throughout 2018. Vanessa Hale, Director in Research at Strutt & Parker, said: “Prime Central London (PCL) prices failed to stabilise in 2018. As a result, PCL performance finished closer to our downside risk forecast of -5.0% for the year. For 2019, the best case forecast predicts a growth of 2% in PCL prices followed by a return to stronger growth from 2020 onwards.” Appropriate pricing and the continued attractiveness of sterling will…

The wines of Moldova and Georgia – and, to a lesser extent, Romania and Bulgaria – have long been ignored by British drinkers, says Jane MacQuitty in The Times. Yet those countries have a lively viniculture. From tiny Moldova, try the delicious, fruity, lemon and cinnamon-spiced 2017 Château Vartely Feteasca Regala Sec Alb (£6.50; Wine Society). Or go for the 2017 Château Vartely Cabernet Sauvignon (£6.50; Wine Society), which offers extraordinary, exotic, damask rose spice, crunchy red fruit and a fine grass-green finish. From Romania, the 2015 Prince Stirbey Novac Sec (£13.95; Wine Society) is a “gorgeous, ripe, cedary, violet-scented” negru and saperavi cross. Bulgaria offers the 2015 Sant’Ilia Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Melnik (£8.29; Waitrose), a “tasty, mature, gamey, beef and truffle-laden mix of both cabernets, with a…

● When sound levels hit 85 decibels, you should really be wearing earplugs to protect your ears. A normal conversation is about 60 decibels, which is what earplugs should aim to reduce loud noise to. ● Earplugs are recommended for a range of activities, from swimming to flying, and can reduce the risk of developing tinnitus. ● When buying earplugs, look at the noise reduction rating (NRR); for a concert, 20-30db should suffice. Aluminium plugs, like Flare Audio’s Isolates, should maintain the sound quality (£25; amazon.co.uk). ● For earplugs to help you sleep, NRR may be less important than comfort. Silicone ones mould particularly well to the ear. ● Many swimmers wear earplugs to prevent infections. Look for mouldable, watertight ones: Zoggs Aqua Plugz (£6; zoggs.com) are good. ● Workers…

Wanås Restaurant Hotel Skåne, Sweden Set in the “lush” southern Swedish region of Skåne, the Wachtmeister family estate is known for its wonderful sculpture park, with works by Antony Gormley, Jenny Holzer and others. The family has now opened an “immaculately chic” hotel in the 18th century stables next to their castle, says Tatler. The 11 rooms have wooden floors and minimal furnishings, but are very comfortable, with great beds, deep tubs and fragrant L:a Bruket products. The restaurant serves excllent modern Swedish cuisine, using organic produce from the family farm. Only two hours from Copenhagen, Wanås makes for a fine rural add-on to a city break. Doubles from £280 b&b. 00 46 44 253 1582, wanasrh.se.…

Brilliant classical musician who won four Oscars André Previn 1929-2019 A musician of astonishing versatility, André Previn, who has died aged 89, won four Oscars for his film scores. He also wrote 14 concertos, several sonatas and two operas, played jazz piano with Ella Fitzgerald, and recorded the works of everyone from Mozart and Ravel to Vaughan Williams. But in England – where he lived for many years – he was most widely known for his appearance on Morecambe and Wise’s 1971 Christmas TV special, said The Times. Introduced as “Andrew Preview”, the maestro, who has flown in to work with Yehudi Menuhin, finds himself instead having to conduct Eric Morecambe on the piano (“I’m playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order”). An ardent Anglophile,…

Warren Buffett may be a legendary stock investor, said Miles Costello in The Times, but his reputation has taken a caning following a shock set of results at Kraft Heinz – the giant foods group he controls with the Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital. Shares sank by more than a quarter to “a new low” last month, after the maker of HP Sauce and Heinz Beans “served up a plateful of bad news” – including a hefty $11.3bn annual loss, a heavily reduced dividend, and the news that the company is being investigated by the US market watchdog for alleged accounting irregularities. “Some analysts speculated that 3G, which has a reputation for aggressive cost-cutting, had driven Kraft Heinz too hard, undermining investment in the brands.” Some notable investors “have got…

Controversy of the week The surge in knife crime In England and Wales, fatal stabbings are now “taking place at the quickest rate since records began” in 1946, said The Times. Two “senseless” murders last weekend – of Jodie Chesney, 17, as she sat listening to music and talking to friends in a park in Romford, and of Yousef Makki, also 17, in a leafy Cheshire suburb – were only the latest episodes in this horror story. “It is time the authorities treated this as the national emergency it has become.” Theresa May’s only public response was to insist that there was “no direct correlation” between the rise in knife crime and the sharp fall in police numbers since 2010 – an assertion that she rowed back on when contradicted…

Paris Feminised job titles: The Académie française, the revered custodian of the French language, sprang a surprise last week by agreeing to end its centuries-old ban on the “feminisation” of work titles. Other francophone countries, such as Belgium and Canada, have long recognised feminine endings on job titles when those jobs are done by women – so that you can have la docteure or la sapeusepompière (firefighter). And in France itself, many such forms are already in common use. But the conservative, male-dominated Académie, whose 40 members wear ornate uniforms and are known as “the immortals”, has until recently regarded the practice as “barbaric”. The acceptance of feminised forms is seen in France as a breakthrough for women’s rights – a contrast with linguistic trends in England, where forms such…

Harry Kane’s drive Harry Kane has had a stellar career – but it’s not been without upset, says Martin Daubney in The Times. Aged eight, he was dropped by Arsenal’s youth academy for being “a bit chubby”. It was, he says, an agonising blow, but one that helped him in the long run. Determined to prove himself, he worked like a demon on every aspect of his performance after that – and he still does. The result of his superman focus was evident in last year’s World Cup, when he helped England slay its penalty demons and briefly became the most valuable player in the world. “The biggest thing for me is, I never want to end my career with regrets,” Kane, 25, explains. “I never want to look back…

A vegan bride-to-be has disinvited from her wedding all those guests who refused to agree to her demand to give up meat for the rest of their lives. In a post to a Facebook group called Vegan Revolution that has now gone viral, the 20-year-old wrote that among those eliminated from her guest list were her mother and two cousins who were to act as bridesmaids. “We don’t want to host murderers,” she explained. “Our wedding is supposed to be one of the happiest days of our lives.” To mark the second summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un (see page 24) in Hanoi last week, a Vietnamese barber has been dispensing free haircuts in the style of the two leaders. Le Tuan Duong said the tonsorial giveaway was…

FRANCE The hijab that was forced to do a runner Le Temps (Geneva) In matters of Islamic clothing, the French seem guaranteed to kick up a fuss, says Florian Delafoi. In 2016 there was an almighty row over Muslim women being allowed to bathe in public in “burkinis” that cover them head to toe. Now there’s another controversy, over the decision by Decathlon, the French sporting goods retailer, to market a special hijab for use while running. The product sold well in Morocco so it decided to introduce it into its stores in France. That has ignited a storm of abuse on Twitter, where the company has been denounced for “contributing to the Islamist invasion”. One MP, a member of the ruling En Marche, said: “My choice as a woman…

Plastic has been found in the sea creatures that live in some of the deepest places on Earth – further evidence of the disturbing spread of plastic pollution around our planet. A team led by scientists at Newcastle University used deep-sea landers to collect amphipods (tiny scavenging crustaceans) from six trenches at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Plastic fibres and fragments were found in over 72% of the creatures, and at least some samples from every trench contained plastic. In the deepest trench of all, the 10,995-metre-deep Mariana Trench –every specimen had at least one plastic microparticle in its gut. It’s not the first time plastic waste has been found in ocean trenches: last year, a plastic bag was found in the Mariana Trench. They may in fact be…

“Oh, that difficult second date,” said The Economist. In the months leading up to Donald Trump’s reunion with Kim Jong Un in Vietnam last week, the US president had boasted about the “beautiful letters” he had received from the North Korean leader since their first summit. “We fell in love,” he declared. But when the two leaders met again, the spark failed to reignite. Confident of his abilities as a dealmaker, Trump had gone to Hanoi hoping to “succeed where three previous presidents had failed” by persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, material and facilities in exchange for a lifting of sanctions, said David E. Sanger and Edward Wong in The New York Times. Intelligence agencies had warned him that Kim would never forego his complete arsenal,…

What does Transport Secretary Chris Grayling have to do for Theresa May to sack him, asked Michael Deacon in The Daily Telegraph. “Reroute HS2 through Buckingham Palace? Award the east coast railway franchise to al-Qa’eda?” “Failing Grayling”, as he’s widely known, has blundered his way through a succession of cabinet posts – at a substantial cost to the public purse. Last week, the National Audit Office revealed that his part-privatisation of probation services in 2013 had “wasted” £467m of taxpayer money; and on the same day, it emerged that his department had agreed to shell out £33m in an out-of-court settlement with Eurotunnel over the tendering of contracts to ferry firms in advance of a possible no-deal Brexit. (He had famously awarded a £13.8m contract to a firm that had…

There are sports in which we have come to expect “a certain amount of doping”, said Matt Bonesteel in The Washington Post. Cycling, say, or weightlifting. “Then there are sports (games? pastimes?) that would seem immune to doping.” You might put bridge – “a card game played while seated” – at the top of that list. Think again. Last week, Geir Helgemo, the 49-year-old Norwegian-born bridge player, who is ranked first in the world, was suspended for a year after testing positive for synthetic testosterone and a female fertility drug. Helgemo is not the first “bridge player to fall foul of anti-doping regulations”, said Oliver Moody in The Times. Disa Eythorsdottir was stripped of the silver medal she won at the 2002 world championship after she refused to take a…

Hooked on opioids To The Sunday Times You are right to expose the scandalous overprescribing of opioids in the UK. Opioid dependency has been driven by guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence that encouraged prescribing, and by the naive acceptance of marketing claims that patients did not develop dependency. GPs have been reluctant to confront dependency for fear of patient complaints. The opioid epidemic is only part of a wider problem: the medicalisation of unhappiness. Antidepressant prescriptions reached more than 60 million in 2016. More than one million patients are addicted to prescribed benzodiazepines or related drugs. The slow-motion collapse of primary care, struggling to cope with ever-rising demand, is in part due to the confusion of unhappiness with illness. Dr Douglas Salmon, GP (retired), Birmingham…

It sounds an attractive proposition: endless classic TV shows from the BBC’s archives, made available in return for a small subscription fee. But the news last week that BritBox – a joint BBC and ITV streaming service – will launch this year has had a frosty reception, said Andrew Jameson in the Daily Express. Viewers will have to pay an extra fee – rumoured to be more than £5 per month or £60 per year – to sign up to the service. The Beeb stands accused of “rinsing” viewers by making them fork out a second time for material they’ve already bought with the £150.50 annual licence fee and – in the case of older shows or episodes – have up until now been able to watch on iPlayer. The…

There are only 68 Caravaggios in existence, and on 27 June in Toulouse, one will be up for auction... if indeed it really is a Caravaggio, said David Sanderson in The Times. The painting, which depicts the biblical scene of Judith beheading Holofernes, was discovered five years ago in the attic of a family home in the French city, an attic that a few years previously had been raided by burglars. Art historians soon identified it as a “lost Caravaggio”, painted when the artist was hitting his peak. But others insisted the painting was a worthless work by a little-known contemporary that “even the burglars ignored”. Authentic or not, it carries an estimate of s100m (£86m) to s150m (£129m), and is likely to fetch a good price. Other works ascribed…

Programmes The Brexit Millionaires Dispatches investigates the people who have reportedly made millions since the referendum by betting against Britain. Mon 11 Mar, C4 20:00 (30mins). Cheat A case of academic deception spirals out of control in this four-part thriller starring Katherine Kelly and Molly Windsor. Mon 11-Thur 14 Mar, ITV1 21:00 (60mins). Shadow Commander: Iran’s Military Mastermind Documentary telling the story of Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian general dominating the struggle for power in the Middle East. Thur 14 Mar, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). 60 Days on the Streets Rough sleeping in the UK is at its highest level since WWII. In response to the crisis, former soldier Ed Stafford took a camera and spent 60 days and nights on the street to get a first-hand impression of the situation.…

What the experts recommend Host 60 The Grove, Ilkley, West Yorkshire (01943-605337) This place in Ilkley is not like some London sharing restaurants, where you “find yourself eyeing kebab shops on the way home”, says Marina O’Loughlin in The Sunday Times. Serving proper Yorkshire-sized sharing plates, Host is more likely to leave you needing a lie down in a dark room to recover. I came here on spec after travelling north to review another restaurant, only to find it shut owing to cold weather. And I quickly realised that Host – with a menu that read “like a psalm to soothe my panicked soul” – was a real find. The frilliest, laciest fritters of monkfish with malt vinegar mayonnaise and scattered seaweed powders was a “hugely effective” play on…

New cars: what the critics say Top Gear Although it is the world’s bestselling car, the Corolla hasn’t been on sale in the UK since 2006, when Toyota replaced it with the Auris. Now, though, the old favourite is back, in its 12th generation. The Corolla has always been sensible but dull, and remains short on fun, but in its new incarnation it is better looking than ever, and buyers may be won over by the savings its hybrid versions can bring. The Daily Telegraph The Corolla is an attractive, “coherently designed” car, though the saloon and estate models are less exciting than the hatchback. Inside, there are high-quality materials, but the software is disappointing, and at 361 litres, the boot in the hatchback is a bit small (the other…

Rather than rating a restaurant, users of Eaten rate the dishes they have eaten so that you can, for example, find the best pad thai near you (free; Android, iOS). HappyCow – a trusted online vegetarian and vegan restaurant guide since the late 1990s – now has an app containing recommendations from its creators and other diners (free; Android, iOS). Wine Events is a comprehensive “what’s on” page for all things wine-related. Find tastings, talks and all kinds of wine events near you (free; Android, iOS). Based on the hefty guidebook of the same name, Where Chefs Eat contains 7,000 recommendations from Yotam Ottolenghi, Jason Atherton and the like, spanning all price ranges (from £9.99; Android, iOS). Tackling the ten million tonnes of food that go to waste each year,…

Africa’s first high-speed railway At a cost of £2bn and after nearly ten years’ construction work, Africa now has its first high-speed railway, running from Tangier to Casablanca. It has slashed the journey time between the Moroccan cities from eight hours to two, which means it is now easy to combine them in “an intriguing short break”, says Jeremy Head in The Times. Fly into Tangier and out of Casablanca, perhaps stopping at Rabat, the country’s “tranquil” capital, in-between. The “hash smoke” may have receded in Tangier since the days when members of the beat generation hung out here, but the city’s labyrinthine medina is still a wildly atmospheric time warp. Casablanca offers contrasting delights – the early 20th century architecture of its old colonial core, mingling Islamic and European…

Aston Martin: reverse gear When Aston Martin floated last year, CEO Andy Palmer was notably relaxed about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, arguing that the British luxury carmaker was “less exposed to the possibility of extra tariffs and supply disruption” than others, because so many of its parts were sourced in Britain, said Sky News. Yet no company, it seems, is immune. Shares in the carmaker tumbled by 20% last week after it posted a £68m annual loss. That was mainly down to the costs of the float, said Christopher Jasper on Bloomberg. But sentiment hasn’t been helped by evidence that “some UK and European buyers are delaying purchases amid uncertainty around Brexit”. Palmer has now set aside a £30m contingency fund to cope. The good news, said Nils…

The EU should brace for Brexit turmoil Anna Isaac The Daily Telegraph “Everyone’s heard about the UK’s Brexit bill,” says Anna Isaac. But what about the “real-world impact” on European consumers and firms? As the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, has often pointed out, “the UK is the EU’s banker” – and a no deal on Brexit means the bloc stands to be cut off overnight from some £20trn of uncleared derivatives contracts. These contracts sound “complex”, but their rationale is actually quite simple – “they are a means to mitigate risk in financial deals of many kinds, such as mortgages”. In an effort “to shave competitive advantage from the City”, the EU plans to restrict this business to member states. That has huge implications for both financial stability…

Roaring ahead Last year was the worst since the financial crisis for stocks globally, said Tom Rees in The Sunday Telegraph. But, despite struggling economic growth, markets have bounced back so strongly that they have chalked up “their best start to a year in almost three decades”. The MSCI World Index rallied by 11% in January and February, adding more than $3trn to the value of world stocks. There hasn’t been such a bonanza since 1991. What’s fuelling it? Signs of an ending to the US-China trade war have heartened investors. But so too, said Robert McAdie of BNP Paribas, has the more “dovish tone” emanating from the world’s central banks. The People’s Bank of China is injecting “swathes of stimulus to rescue its sinking economy”. Meanwhile, the US Fed…

Funds and investment trusts “make a very good foundation” for any Isa, says Investors Chronicle. But many investors also like to buy individual shares to give their portfolios an additional boost. Here’s a selection of “reasonably priced” shares with “potential to deliver solid returns over time”. GlaxoSmithKline The £4bn acquisition of US oncology expert Tesaro has “signalled GSK’s re-entry into the high-risk, high-reward drug development market”. Meanwhile, a joint venture with Pfizer will create a standalone consumer health business – confirming suspicions that GSK could break itself up into smaller specialised firms. Relx The information and analytics giant’s share price trajectory in 2018 was “uninspiring”. But it has a strong record of cash generation, “inspiring confidence in future dividend payouts”. BAE Systems Still the “go-to defence contractor for governments around…

The week’s best shares Anglo American Investors Chronicle Despite inflationary pressures and a major production stoppage, the miner’s return on capital has held firm at 19%. Capex is expected to rise by 46%, while debt falls, costs are cut and output increases. Buy. £20.30. Mondi The Times Mondi manages forests and mills, producing pulp, paper and plastics for industrial and commercial packaging. The world’s biggest producer of paper bags is well positioned for structural change. Yields 3.7%. Buy. £17.29. Treatt Investors Chronicle Given its focus on sugar reduction, the ingredients specialist is set to benefit from the consumer shift to healthier products. US expansion and investment in UK operations promise “exciting times ahead”. Buy. 440p. Ashtead Group The Sunday Times The plant hire giant was “on a roll” last year…

Smart tech to help animal lovers “never feel apart” from their pets is on the rise. Among the many such devices on show at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona were health sensors, location trackers and even litter trays linked wirelessly to phones. “Find them. Follow them. Stay even closer to them,” urged Vodafone as it launched its V-Pet Tracker, which informs owners where their pet is and what it is doing (walking, sleeping, playing). Royal Ascot will this year allow all racegoers to dress according to either the male or female dress code – as long as they stick strictly to that code. In the Royal Enclosure, this means either top hats and ties – not cravats – or dresses that must be neither strapless nor off the shoulder.…

Westchester, New York Opioid haul “enough to kill two million”: A raid on a home in the leafy county of Westchester, outside New York City, has recovered enough fentanyl (five kilograms) to kill two million people, the Drug Enforcement Administration has said. Six kilos of heroin were also found in the raid, last Friday. Five people have been arrested. “I think they came into a quiet neighbourhood and just figured this might be a safe place for them, but I guess not,” a neighbour told a local TV station. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine, but 50 to 100 times more powerful – and much cheaper to produce. Heroin sold in the US is now frequently laced with fentanyl, though even minuscule doses can prove fatal.…

1 Last Train to San Fernando by Randolph Padmore, Sylvester Devere and Kenneth St. Bernard “Dictator”, performed by Johnny Duncan and The Blue Grass Boys 2 Pull Up to the Bumper by Kookoo Baya, Grace Jones and Dana Mano, performed by Grace Jones 3 September by Maurice White, Al McKay and Allee Willis, performed by Earth, Wind & Fire 4 Dancing Queen by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, performed by Abba 5* My Sweet Lord, written and performed by George Harrison 6 Mercy by Aimée Ann Duffy and Steve Booker, performed by Duffy 7 I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford) by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, performed by Elton John 8 Father Figure, written and…

The main obstacle that the Independent Group will face, as the SDP did in its day, is the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, which has long been the bane of political start-ups. FPTP, in which seats are awarded to the candidate with the most votes in every constituency, is used in about a third of democracies around the world, mainly those with British heritage, such as the US and India (the rest use some form of proportional representation). It tends to establish two big parties, and to be brutal to smaller parties, unless they have a geographical base, like the SNP: in 2015, the Lib Dems, UKIP and the Greens won almost a quarter of the votes between them, but ended up sharing 1.6% of seats in the Commons. FPTP also has…

Do we work to live or live to work? Derek Thompson The Atlantic Fifteen hours a week. That’s how long the economist John Maynard Keynes predicted people would work in the 21st century. He wasn’t entirely wrong, says Derek Thompson. By some counts, Americans are working less than they used to, but not much. “Between 1950 and 2012, annual hours worked per employee fell by about 40% in Germany and the Netherlands – but by only 10% in the US.” Rich Americans are actually working more. Indeed, they’ve transformed themselves into “the world’s premier workaholics, toiling longer hours than poorer men in the US and rich men in similarly rich countries”. It’s partly “an arms race for status”, but it’s also because work, for many of them, has become a…

Today’s teenagers are almost twice as likely to be depressed as their counterparts ten years ago – despite being generally more clean-living. That’s the conclusion of a University College London study comparing two cohorts of teenagers, one born in 1991-92, the other in 2001-02. When both groups were 14, they completed a standard questionnaire on moods and feelings. Their answers suggest that rates of depression among this age group rose from 9% to 15% between 2005 and 2015; the study also found that the members of the more recent cohort were also more likely to self-harm, skip sleep and be obese. Yet they were less likely to indulge in a variety of other behaviours traditionally associated with depression – including trying drugs and alcohol. Dr Praveetha Patalay, a co-author of…

Smallpox was effectively eradicated in 1977; great progress has also been made in the drive to eradicate polio; and until recently it seemed that measles, another deadly infectious disease that in 2017 killed an estimated 110,000 people (mostly children in Africa and Asia), would be added to the list. But now it’s back with a vengeance, said Imogen Shaw on UnHerd.com. Outbreaks have been reported not only in Africa (in Madagascar more than 900 people have been killed by the disease since October), but in the US, Canada, Japan, France, Italy, Greece and Ireland. Cases of measles in Europe hit the 80,000 mark last year – three times the 2017 figure. And for this we have largely one man to thank: the British former doctor Andrew Wakefield. He was struck…

“Child psychologists generally do a good job, but I tend to find they’re more helpful once they’re a bit older.” Matt Lucas on Twitter, quoted in The Times “Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard there’s nothing you can do.” Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, quoted in Forbes “There are always going to be 500,000 people in this country who are off-the-page nuts. The problem we’ve got is that they’ve all joined the Labour Party because of Jeremy Corbyn.” Anonymous Labour MP, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “Everyone has regrets, and people who say they haven’t are either liars or narcissists.” Socialite Lee Radziwill, quoted in People “Art and love are the same thing: it’s the process of seeing yourself in things…

They call it the “double-double”, said Riath Al-Samarrai in the Daily Mail. An athlete wins two events at an elite competition, and then repeats the feat all over again the next time the competition takes place. And on Sunday, Laura Muir became the first person to pull off the double-double in the 49-year history of the European Indoor Championships. Following the 25-year-old Scot’s stunning victory in the 3,000m three days earlier, she successfully defended her 1,500m title by a “monumental margin”. What was perhaps most remarkable about her achievement was just how “marvellously predictable” it was, “such is the world-class talent” in her legs and lungs. The competition in Glasgow was only modest, but Muir’s performances bode well for the tougher races ahead. “She ought to fear no one.” This…

To The Times Knife crime is not new: the 1953 Prevention of Crime Act was intended to combat the carrying of knives and knuckledusters, given the rise of postwar street crime and gangs such as the Teddy boys. It was effective and easily enforced. There have since been plenty of other localised violent incidents (fights between mods and rockers, inner-city riots in Toxteth and Brixton, etc.). All were dealt with by firm policing. The use of the 1953 act, supported by the 1863 Offences Against the Person Act and the 1847 Town Police Clauses Act, backed up by the right of officers to stop and search, were extremely effective, especially in the short-term control of such crimes. Stop and search works, especially when used in areas prone to violent offences.…

Best books… Melvyn Bragg The writer and broadcaster picks his six favourite books. He will be talking about his new novel, Love Without End: A Story of Heloise and Abelard, on 28 March at the Essex Book Festival (essexbookfestival.org.uk) Cannery Row by John Steinbeck, 1945 (Penguin £8.99). My father and I shared few books, but this was one. In the charmed layabouts of Cannery Row we saw “the lads” in Wigton where I grew up. Both had the same loafing philosophy. Steinbeck gave to the near destitute a plausible romantic destiny – gentle knights in their way. Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (Bravo £14.50). It’s impossible to pick one. I first read them when I was about 16. His quiet genius made me…

Menchi katsu are sort of like a burger, sort of like a meatball, but are possibly better than both because they’re breaded and deep-fried, says Tim Anderson. The panko shell locks in the meaty juice, which gushes out when you take a bite. Menchi katsu (Japanese meat patties) Makes 8 menchi for the burgers: 50g of panko breadcrumbs 2 egg yolks 4 tbsps double cream 250g minced beef 250g minced pork 1 leek, diced 50g shiitake mushrooms, de-stemmed and finely chopped pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional) salt and black pepper handful of fresh parsley, finely…

G-RO Carry-on Classic G-RO claims this futuristic-looking case can go over anything from snow to stairs, making it great for adventurers tired of lugging around a backpack. It also has a battery (removable, to comply with airline rules) for charging your phone (£449; uk.g-ro.com). Horizn Studios M5 Dubbed the first luggage with a “personal travel assistant”, Horizn cases come with a year’s subscription to its GO service, which can help arrange your trip. The M5 also has a removable smart charger and a water-resistant front laptop pocket (£350; horizn-studios.co.uk). Modobag Instead of dragging a case around after you, why not climb aboard and let it carry you? Be aware though – you might feel silly driving through the airport on a motorised scooter-case (at a maximum of 7mph), which weighs…

French capital escape Spend 4 nights at the Novotel Paris 14 Porte d’Orléans, which is close to the centre of the city, from £416pp b&b, including Liverpool flights. 020-3897 1152, loveholidays.com. Depart 18 April. Short stay in Iceland Located in the city centre, the Reykjavík Centrum Hotel offers 4 nights b&b from £510pp, including Manchester flights. 020-8974 7200, travelrepublic.co.uk. Depart 17 April. Sampling Buenos Aires The chic Mine Hotel Boutique in the Palermo district is offering six nights b&b from £720pp (based on two sharing), including London flights. 020-3788 4844, ebookers.com. Depart 22 May. 11-day Thai adventure Combine the historical and the cultural with stays in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket. From £1,099pp b&b, including Edinburgh flights. 020-3011 1520, citrusholidays.co.uk. Depart 27 April.…

Chancellor Philip Hammond was reported to be preparing to offer MPs a multibillion-pound “Brexit deal dividend” in his spring statement next week, if they approve the withdrawal agreement with Brussels. The extra cash – sourced from higher-than-expected tax receipts – would be used to boost public spending. But the move was criticised by some as an attempt to “blackmail” Brexiters. Car-makers BMW and Toyota issued their starkest warning yet of a potential exodus in the event of a no deal. The US trade deficit rose to $621bn last year, its highest level in a decade, “dealing a blow to Donald Trump’s ambitions to slash an imbalance” that he has often described as a primary threat to the US economy, said the FT. The opening of the National People’s Congress in…

Sir Michael Moritz When the hedge fund Man Group announced in January that it would no longer back Britain’s leading literary prize, some thought the Booker might struggle to find a new sponsor. Not a bit of it, says the FT. Step forward Sir Michael Moritz – the Welsh-born Silicon Valley billionaire, who has pledged to stump up the cash. The son of refugees from Nazi Germany, Moritz arrived in the US in the 1970s and became a journalist at Time before joining Sequoia Capital, where his roster of investments includes Yahoo, Google, YouTube, PayPal and LinkedIn. “After funding some of the world’s most disruptive companies”, Moritz’s interest in a rather traditional literary prize seems almost “perverse”. But, as he says, “I don’t think anyone’s lost their appetite for good…

It’s exactly 6am, a cold December morning, and the sun has not yet risen over the Ashland Federal Correctional Institution in Kentucky. This sprawling prison complex is home to some 1,200 inmates – who are, at this moment, being roused for the start of another day. But at least one of them is already up. Dressed in prison-issue khaki trousers and matching shirt, a slim 34-year-old named Nicholas “Nico” Walker has made sure he is the first inmate of the day to access the telephone in his unit’s communal area. I know this because it’s what we have arranged. I am 4,000 miles away, at my desk in London, waiting for him to ring. My phone goes off and, when I answer, a gentle voice says: “Thanks for taking my…