Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1084 i The Week

What happened Europe’s bloody summer Germany suffered its first jihadi suicide bombing on Sunday when a Syrian asylum seeker blew himself up outside a music festival in Ansbach, injuring 15 people. It was the second suspected Islamist attack in Bavaria in the space of a week: six days earlier, a Pakistani migrant with an axe wounded four people on a train near Würzburg. Islamic State claimed responsibility for both attacks. Over the same period, the country saw two other deadly assaults by Muslim men that were seemingly unrelated to Islamist terrorism: on Friday, a German-Iranian 18-year-old man shot nine people dead in Munich; on Sunday, a Syrian asylum seeker killed a pregnant woman with a machete in the southern city of Reutlingen. The string of violent attacks fuelled criticism of…

Rouen, France Priest murdered: One of the two men who killed an elderly Catholic priest during his morning Mass on Tuesday has been identified as an Algerian-born 19-year-old whose terrorist leanings were well known to the authorities. Adel Kermiche’s family had contacted the police when he was first radicalised, in the hopes of stopping him getting to Syria. Even so, he was able to make two attempts last year; he was caught each time by police en route and sent back. He was finally detained in May 2015, but was released this March with an electronic tag. This enabled him to leave his house for four hours each morning, and it was during this time frame that he and an accomplice stormed the church in a suburb of Rouen. Declaring…

1 Good Vibrations by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, performed by The Beach Boys 2 Give Ear, O Lord by Thomas Weelkes, performed by The Choir of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, conducted by David Skinner 3 Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune by Debussy, performed by Peter Lloyd and the London Symphony Orchestra, with André Previn 4 Un bel dì vedremo by Puccini, performed by Renata Scotto and The Chorus and Orchestra of the Rome Opera House 5 Lacrymosa by Verdi, performed by Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Martti Talvela, Chor der Wiener Staatsoper and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Georg Solti 6 Both Sides, Now, written and performed by Joni Mitchell 7* Symphony No. 4, III, Ruhevoll by Mahler, performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Georg…

Let’s stop squabbling with Russia Tony Brenton The Daily Telegraph Cool it: that’s what we need to do with Russia, says former British ambassador to Moscow, Tony Brenton. That doesn’t mean turning a blind eye to the way it flouts public morality – doping its athletes, seizing Crimea, fomenting civil war in Ukraine. Of course we must continue to back Nato and insist the Kremlin cleans up its act. What we mustn’t do, but are in danger of doing, is trigger another Cold War. Putin and co are opportunists, but they’re not “insane”. They’re not seeking to grab back former Soviet lands (Crimea was a historical exception): they know the West, whose military spending is ten times Russia’s, would retaliate. They could have taken East Ukraine. They didn’t. But they…

Why the tortoise got its shell The first reptiles to develop shells did so not for protection but to make it easier for them to burrow underground, say scientists in the US. Many palaeontologists believe that Eunotosaurus africanus, a lizard that lived 260 million years ago, was the first animal to broaden its ribcage and stiffen its back – adaptations that would eventually lead to the rigid shells found on today’s tortoises and turtles. But what has remained something of a mystery is why they would develop those traits, given that – at least to begin with – they’d have made it harder for the creatures to walk, and breathe, without conferring any obvious benefits. But after studying Eunotosaurus fossils, researchers at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science believe…

On the night of 15 July, as F-16 jets roared over Istanbul and bombs fell on Ankara, even President Erdogan’s opponents rallied behind him, said The Times. Democracy was in peril, and Turks of all persuasions risked their lives to preserve it. But the terrible irony is that the president seems now to be using the failed putsch – which he insists was orchestrated by the US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen – as an excuse to destroy that democracy, and establish a monopoly on power, said Patrick Cockburn in The Independent. In the name of ridding the state of the “virus” of Gülenist infiltration, more than 60,000 soldiers, teachers, judges and other officials have been arrested, sacked or suspended; 19 unions, 15 universities and 1,043 schools with Gülenist links have been…

To protect and serve To The Daily Telegraph Am I being old-fashioned and naive, or is there something faintly shameful about the police response to the security problems at Angela Eagle’s constituency office, in advising her to cancel her public constituency meetings, with all that this means for the democratic process? Wasn’t there a time when the police would have offered protection, so that she could continue her work, instead of allowing the forces of disorder to dictate when and where democratic activities can occur? Paddy Allen, Crieff, Perthshire Fitness in the forces To The Times Ben Macintyre’s article on military fitness fails to acknowledge the intensity of close-quarter combat in the modern world. Aged 38, I fought in a closequarter engagement, on foot, in Helmand, Afghanistan. It was perhaps…

Theatre Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Playwright: Jack Thorne Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany Director: John Tiffany Palace Theatre, London W1 (0330-333 4813) Running time: Part one: 2hrs 45mins Part two: 2hrs 35mins (including intervals) “It is, quite simply, spellbinding,” said Matt Trueman in Variety. “The Show That Lived Up to Expectations – and Then Some.” Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which has opened to the press after weeks of previews, is “a proper theatrical blockbuster”; and not just at the box office – though it looks set to run for years – but onstage too: a “captivating story given a spectacular staging and a big, big heart”. The narrative is driven by the unlikely friendship of two bullied…

An Ideal for Living at Beetles & Huxley This group show sets out to trace the changing face of British society over the past century, and our shifting attitudes to class and identity, through the eyes of a diverse range of photographers. How successful a conceit like this can ever be is open to question, but the quality of the work is not. From Emil Otto Hoppé’s 1930s images of servants and city gents, to Mahtab Hussain’s photo of a young girl in a red hijab, via Henri Cartier-Bresson’s famous picture of a derelict man lying in front of the crowds gathering to watch George VI’s coronation procession, there isn’t a single dud shot in the show. Some convey optimism, for instance Frank Habicht’s 1960s photo of young people relaxing…

Most wine lovers know a bit about sauvignon blancs, says Susy Atkins in The Daily Telegraph. The French Loire style is light, crisp and lemony, while the stronger New World version is packed with perfumed ripe gooseberry. But this popular grape plays a more complex role in Bordeaux wines – subtly rounded but dry, without sweetness. Here are three splendid examples: Château Thieuley Bordeaux Sec 2015 (£8.50; The Wine Society). A well-judged, nicely poised white with notes of citrus peel and custard cream biscuits; mainly sauvignon blanc and semillon, with a little sauvignon gris. It is great value, too. Château Tour Léognan 2012, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux (£14.99; selected Waitrose stores). Two-thirds sauvignon blanc to one-third semillon, with spicy notes of fresh orange zest and preserved lemons, and a mineral-fresh finish. Le…

The Cary Arms, Babbacombe Bay, Devon Babbacombe Bay’s Cary Arms hotel has six new suites in the form of beach huts, says Susan d’Arcy in The Sunday Times. At first glance, they look “as traditional as a stick of rock”, with portholes, gabled roofs and clapboard walls. Inside, the two-level huts are “unashamedly luxurious”, with handmade beds, Smeg minibars and slouchy suede sofas. The laminate flooring and fake fires are less successful, but Adirondack chairs on the deck put you right in heart of the beach’s “natural drama”. This “heavenly location” is also the huts’ main flaw, however: “there always seems to be some hiker scrabbling over rocks a few feet from the terrace”. Beach huts from £375 a night b&b. www.caryarms.co.uk.…

Rakish aristocrat who founded the Port Eliot Lit Fest The 10th Earl of St Germans 1941-2016 Eccentric, rakish and a touch “Byronic”, with a distinguished lineage and a family blighted by tragedy, the 10th Earl of St Germans was everything the popular press likes the British aristocracy to be, said The Daily Telegraph. He presided over a suitably magnificent, 6,000-acre estate, where the St Germans family have lived since the mid-16th century: Port Eliot, a vast pile in Cornwall, is said to have 82 chimneys, and 11 staircases. Its kitchen lies some 350ft from the dining room, and boasts a steam-driven cherrystoner (not that the Earl visited the kitchen much; only two or three times a year, he said). In the 1980s, he hosted an annual Elephant Fayre in the…

MPs delivered a scathing judgment on former BHS boss Sir Philip Green this week, accusing him of the “systematic plunder” of the retail chain. The billionaire’s role in the company’s collapse represented the “unacceptable face of capitalism”, according to the joint report from two Commons select committees. He had enriched himself “fantastically” through lavish dividends from BHS while failing to top up its pension fund. He then doomed BHS by selling it to Dominic Chappell, a “manifestly unsuitable” bankrupt. Green, it said, now had a “moral duty” to meet BHS’s £571m pension deficit. Hitting back, Green described the report as the “predetermined and inaccurate output of a biased and unfair process”. He also threatened legal action against committee chairman Frank Field. Field had described Green as “much worse” than the…

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Hillary victory: Hillary Clinton made history this week when she became the first woman to be nominated for the US presidency by a major party. In a symbolic gesture, her rival, Bernie Sanders – who had earlier spent days trying to get his supporters to rally behind her candidacy – was the one to move that Clinton be declared the nominee by acclamation. His supporters had arrived at the convention in Philadelphia in an angry mood: on its eve, WikiLeaks had published a trove of emails from the Democratic National Committee which showed that party officials – who are supposed to be neutral – had plotted ways of damaging Sanders’s candidacy. Russian hackers, possibly backed by the Kremlin, were suspected of being behind the leak. Analysts say that…

An aggressive swan has wrought misery on a group of model boat enthusiasts, by destroying eight of their vessels – some of which were worth thousands of pounds, and had taken years to build. “He is a menace on the lake,” said Cliff Galsworthy of the Gipping Valley Model Boat Club. ”He just smashes at them with his wings. He annihilates them, tries to get on top and sink them. If you sail within 30 to 50 yards of him he will attack.” One club member is so distraught, he has written to the Queen, asking her to remove the swan. An Austrian tattoo artist has been jailed for etching an image of a penis, alongside the word “f***”, on a female customer’s back. She had asked for a tattoo…

RUSSIA Boom time for sorcerers and clairvoyants Kommersant (Moscow) Depressed and disoriented, Russians have abandoned reason for magical thinking, says Vladimir Ruvinsky. With the economy stagnant and political protest suppressed, more and more profess belief in UFOs, sorcery and clairvoyance. Around a third of Russians now think aliens have visited Earth. Even traditional religious belief is on the rise… sort of. Nearly 80% identify as Orthodox Christian, yet only 40% say they believe in God, and only 4%-7% regularly attend church services. For many, it’s not so much a belief as a deep need to insure against misfortune; the same need that has fuelled a surge in the use of charms and talismans. Two-thirds of Russian women say they “turn to magicians, fortune-tellers and psychics for help”. When people feel…

The “fresh” apples on sale in supermarkets today could have been picked a year ago, reports The Times. Advances in storage technology, combined with demand for a year-round supply, have led to a high proportion of apples being stored for long periods in chilled warehouses where they are treated with a synthetic gas called SmartFresh, which blocks the effect of ethylene, a natural plant hormone that causes fruit to ripen and then decay. With both British-grown apples, and those grown overseas – which account for about twothirds of the market – liable to be stored in this way, it is estimated that more than half of the apples sold in Britain are treated with SmartFresh. And since supermarkets aren’t required to say when fruit and vegetables were picked, shoppers have…

Bob Geldof wasn’t impressed by the crowd at the Brentwood Festival in Essex. Bounding on stage, the 64-year-old took one look at his audience, and laid into them for being insufficiently rock ’n’ roll. “We are mega, and you are Brentwood. How do we know? Because I am wearing a f***-off pretend snakeskin suit... On the other hand, you are wearing wall-to-wall f*****g Primark. This is a rock ’n’ roll festival. When you come to a rock ’n’ roll festival you dress for a rock ’n’ roll festival.” Whatever else he is, Donald Trump is no gentleman, says the Daily Mail. Back in 1991, the mogul answered a call from a journalist and – posing as his own press secretary – told her that The Donald was too busy to…

“When you turn an election into a three-ring circus, there’s always a chance the dancing bear will win.” Author Nancy Isenberg, quoted in the FT “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.” George Orwell, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.” Physicist Richard Feynman, quoted in The Times “Never speak ill of yourself. Your friends will always say enough on that subject.” Talleyrand, quoted on The Browser “If a chap can’t compose an epic poem while he’s weaving a tapestry, he had better shut up, he’ll never be any good at all.” William Morris, quoted in The Times “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference... And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”…

To The Guardian Your correspondents call for “free movement for all”. Were they asleep in the run-up to and after the vote of 23 June? If you are a democrat, an environmentalist and an internationalist, I fail to see how you can support completely free movement of people. All the polls show that most people in richer countries want to control migration. To encourage huge numbers to come can only increase adverse environmental impacts and virtually always entails stealing the brightest and best from poorer countries. Yet your signatories are not alone in calling for free movement for all. The normally excellent Global Justice Now and the Green Party have made similar calls. But a snapshot of the potential scale of such mass migration was provided by a recent global…

Several medieval images of Adam and Eve, which had been censored by some prudish former owner, have now been restored to their naked glory by conservators working in partnership with mathematicians and theoretical physicists. The Primer of Claude of France was commissioned in 1505, and featured images of the biblical couple naked in the Garden of Eden, and then – after eating from the Tree of Knowledge – covered by fig leaves. Their nudity is an essential part of the Bible story, yet at some point after the illuminated manuscript was created in France, and before it was brought to England by Viscount Fitzwilliam in 1808, someone painted a skirt over Adam’s genitals, and a veil over Eve’s. Now, curators at the Fitzwilliam Museum have restored the work, using a…

Toby has pulled out of the cricket match, leaving captain Harrison with only ten men. Rex thinks his absence is owing to a woman rather than injury, little knowing he has begun an affair with Pip, on whom Rex himself has a crush. The team wins the cricket match despite its disadvantage, thanks to a couple of brilliant catches by Harrison. Pip notices David has made too much silage, meaning there will no longer be enough grass for the dairy cows. Pip and Ruth agree they will have to open the silage clamp. At a meeting of the fête committee, Lynda is horrified by the newfangled suggestions of a samba band and pop-up tea room offering Brazilian treats. When Fallon disagrees, Lynda resigns from the committee. On learning that she…

Randall & Aubin 16 Brewer Street, London W1 (020-7287 4447) Soho has changed beyond recognition in the past 20 years, says Tim Hayward in the FT – but seafood restaurant Randall & Aubin has been a constant, and a joy. These days you can’t book, but if diners are still willing to queue for a restaurant after two decades, it suggests it’s doing something right. Inside, there is still tile and marble on every surface, and a maze of benches with high stools. And the food remains, for the most part, marvellous. Their crab, for example, is some of the “freshest and best-looked-after crustacea it’s been my pleasure to neck”. Lesser restaurants buy their crabs “pre-dressed, hold them like stiffs in a refrigerator and serve them with the wrinkle marks…

New cars: what the critics say Car Magazine With its new car, Hyundai has a very clear rival in its sights. The Ioniq is designed to outdo the Toyota Prius, which has dominated the hybrid market since its launch almost two decades ago. And despite its silly name, Hyundai’s “eco warrior” could pose a serious threat: it has a “less affronting” appearance than its rival, and is aggressively priced, undercutting the Prius by around £3,000. Auto Express The Ioniq is without doubt the more attractive of the two cars: while hardly groundbreaking, the design is appealingly “swoopy” and “slippery”. The “solidly built” interior is undermined by some hard plastics, which lend the car a cheap feel, but there’s a good range of gadgets on offer. The seats are fairly comfortable,…

UFO spotting in Sedona, Arizona Visitors to Sedona may fee like extras “in a 1950s B-movie”, says Edmund Vallance in The Independent. This high desert town in Arizona is a hotspot for alien sightings; and its altitude, clear night skies and backdrop of towering red mountains – “worthy of 2001: A Space Odyssey” – contribute to its other-worldliness. Locals routinely claim to have experienced alien abduction; one of them guides a UFO-spotting tour, run by the nearby Centre for the New Age. Participants are given military-grade infrared goggles, “which absorb 20,000 times more light than the naked eye”. Peering through them highlights all kinds of curious, fast-moving lights in the night sky: satellites, military aircraft, or extraterrestrials? Whatever truth is out there, Sedona’s vast, twinkling night sky is “a heavenly…

Yahoo/Verizon: ancient history combo When former Google exec Marissa Mayer (pictured) arrived to run Yahoo four years ago, she was greeted with posters of her face emblazoned with the word “Hope”, said Leslie Hook in the Financial Times. But that hope – that she would transform the fading 1990s internet star – has since been dashed. Worth $125bn at its peak in 2000, Yahoo was this week sold to Verizon, the US’s largest mobile operator, for $4.8bn, in a deal that excludes its most valuable asset: a $30bn stake in the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. “Mayer was hired at a handsome price to provide clarity of vision and to restore Yahoo’s brand,” said The Economist. But she failed to resolve the issue of the firm’s “split personality”: is it an…

● Nintendo plunge Having nearly doubled in value since the launch of Pokémon Go earlier this month, Nintendo’s shares saw their sharpest drop in nearly 25 years on Monday, after the company warned that the game’s runaway success would have only a “limited” impact on its bottom line, said Charles Riley on CNN Money. The stock plunged by nearly 18% in Tokyo, wiping out some $6.7bn in market value. Short-sellers had been targeting Nintendo, betting that its stock rally had gone too far. Even so, some were bemused by the steepness of the plunge. Nintendo’s statement was simply a reminder of what serious investors already knew, said Macquarie analyst David Gibson: that Nintendo’s effective economic stake in the game, which was co-developed with the US firm Niantic, is only around…

If in doubt, blame it on the Brexit Ed Conway The Times The best thing about Brexit, says Ed Conway, is that “no matter how deep your problems”, you can “find a way to blame them on the referendum result”. Brexit “is Britain’s great gift to the world: a giant pre-cooked excuse for absolutely everything”: from the faltering French economy, to the teetering Italian bank system. The IMF has called it the “spanner in the works” – why almost every major global economy will grow more slowly this year. Needless to say, that’s nonsense. The problems facing the global economy have been “baked into the system” for a while. Global growth, at around 3%, has been flaccid for years, “productivity rates are falling pretty much everywhere”, and there is “a…

Who’s tipping what The week’s best buys Allergy Therapeutics Investors Chronicle This small, well-run biotech’s vaccine against severe grass allergies, Pollinex Quattro, is gaining traction in Europe. Not yet profit-making, but US trials are under way and there’s huge scope to expand the range. Buy. 19.8p. Diageo The Sunday Times The “good times are rolling again” at the spirits producer, as investors seek safe-haven consumer stocks. Strong US momentum should be boosted by favourable currency movements. Yields 3%. Buy. £21.07. Equiniti Group The Mail on Sunday Equiniti provides “vital” share scheme and pension services for customers including Royal Mail, the NHS and the Metropolitan Police. Growth is driven by regulation – there’s plenty of potential. Buy. 171.75p. Restore The Times Restore operates in a fragmented market, providing office services from…

This week’s crossword winner will receive an Ettinger (www.ettinger.co.uk) Brogue Collection nut coin purse, which retails at £150, and two Connell Guides (www.connellguides.com). ACROSS 7 Composer some opera-lover discusses (5) 8 Notice around church that tells you where to sit? (5,4) 10 Cooking oil used with Indian dish (7) 11 Better to engage old Bob as a funny man (7) 12 Crudely, there’s nothing about Dylan’s mythical town (9) 13 Shoots game (5) 14 Robin Hood ultimately rare best criminal? (9) 20 Very much regret backing currency in Greece (5) 21 Type unsuitable for the High Court? (5,4) 23 Boy singer drinking first of milk shake (7) 25 Person rowing about secluded retreat – it’s basic accommodation (3-4) 26 As before, make up US news magazine (2,3,4) 27 Football team…

What a roller-coaster month this has been for Theresa May, said Martin Kettle in The Guardian. Had the referendum result gone the other way, she’d have been “the big candidate for the chop in David Cameron’s reshuffle”. Instead she finds herself “his unchallenged successor”, hobnobbing with the leaders of Europe and triumphantly batting aside a “second-rate” leader of the opposition. Yet the question of how to arrange our exit from the EU casts a pall over her entire premiership. The choice before her is stark: should she go for a “hard Brexit” and shut down free movement of workers from the EU – as most Leavers seem to want; or should she opt for a “minimalist Brexit” along Norwegian lines, which would allow full access to the Single Market but…

Simpson’s suicide plan John Simpson has spent the past 45 years reporting from the world’s war zones, says India Sturgis in The Daily Telegraph. But he was never really afraid of dying until he became a father again at the age of 61. Rafe, his son by his second wife, is now ten; and though Simpson – who also has two adult daughters – is still going strong as the BBC’s world affairs editor, he is keenly aware of his son’s anxieties. “It is almost like sometimes the ages are reversed, and he feels he has to look after me. He makes sure I don’t fall over. He is always looking at me like I am a piece of china that is about to shatter in front of his eyes.”…

One reason Russia has been able to get away with doping for so long is that senior figures inside the governing body of athletics, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), have been party to it. The most sensational case involved Russian marathon runner Liliya Shobukhova, who revealed that top officials – including IAAF treasurer Valentin Balakhnichev (ex-president of the All-Russia Athletics Federation) and IAAF marketing consultant Papa Massata Diack – had extorted g450,000 from her to cover up a positive drug test result. Then, frightened that she might blab, they offered to return g300,000 in exchange for her silence. Both Balakhnichev and Diack have since been fined and banned from the IAAF for life. The rot didn’t stop there. It went all the way to the top – to…

Our nukes are no longer safe in Turkey Jeffrey Lewis Foreign Policy The attempted coup in Turkey raises some troubling questions for America, says Jeffrey Lewis. And perhaps the most pressing is whether Turkey can still be considered a safe country in which to store nuclear weapons. America has a few dozen nuclear bombs stashed in the joint US-Turkish air base at Incirlik. And though the base is well guarded, and anyone who tried to snatch a nuclear weapon would still need a code to arm it, the base is “not a fortress” and there’s always a risk that security protocols could be breached. In fact, it’s rather odd that US nukes were stored in Incirlik in the first place, seeing as neither Turkey nor the US has any aircraft…

People in the UK should consider taking vitamin D supplements in the darker months, public health officials have concluded. A Government commission has set the recommended daily level of vitamin D at 10mcg a day, but there are fears that this may not be achievable without supplements. It is difficult to get enough vitamin D from food, and owing to the climate, and the nature of modern life, many Britons are not much exposed to its other source: sunlight. Vitamin D is found naturally in only a small number of foods, including oily fish, red meat and egg yolks. It is added to some breakfast cereals and spreads. Even so, it is estimated that one in five Britons are deficient in the vitamin, which keeps our bones, teeth and muscles…

They call it “post-truth politics”. In the UK, the Brexiters were accused of peddling fear and falsehoods to win votes, said Roger Cohen in The New York Times. Maybe they took their lead from Donald Trump. Like his “pal” Vladimir Putin, the blue-collar billionaire traffics in lies, and in his snarling speech to the Republican convention last week, he delivered a typically misleading, doom-laden message: America is lawless and falling apart; the ruling elite is made up of liars and crooks; and only a tough Washington outsider can stop the tide of menace – from Isis to immigrants – and make America great again. “We have been here before. Fascism was a backlash against dysfunctional democracies. It invited belief in the leadership of the strongman against enemies within and without.…

Cycling: Froome’s Tour de France hat-trick As Chris Froome rode down the Champs-Elysées on Sunday, donning the yellow jersey that he has made his own, “it was clear that this was more than just victory”, said Josh Burrows in The Times. With a staggering third Tour de France title in four years, the British cyclist confirmed that “this is the Froome era”. Only four cyclists in history are ahead of him; at 31, he could yet surpass the record of five titles. Winning by four minutes, Froome didn’t even need to launch the intense mountain attacks that defined his previous victories – had he done so, “the margin of victory might have been gargantuan”. He will now try to extend his winning streak at the Olympics, where he will compete…

Hardbacks The Girls by Emma Cline Chatto & Windus £12.99 (£10.99) A 27-year-old author, a seven-figure deal, and a thriller inspired by the Charles Manson murders: “that is, crudely put, the recipe for a summer bestseller”, said The Times. A fictionalised account of life in the cult, told from the perspective of an unhappy 14-year-old, Cline’s debut is a “thrilling read, and not merely because of the sensationalist content”. For a first novel, it’s “shockingly assured”, said The Observer. Guilty Thing by Frances Wilson Bloomsbury £25 (£22.50, incl. p&p) This “quirky” biography of Thomas De Quincey, “literary history’s most famous drug addict”, follows the laudanum-quaffing author from “brilliant childhood” through to “rackety adulthood”, said The Times. “Ingeniously structured” and “beautifully written”, it’s “full of arresting insights into celebrity and hero-worship”,…

It seems extraordinary to think there was ever a debate about the validity of colour photography as art, said Ben Luke in the London Evening Standard. Yet as recently as the 1970s, many considered the medium “frivolous” and unworthy of serious attention. At the “eye of the storm” was the “famously enigmatic” American photographer William Eggleston, whose images of life in the Deep South captured a “shifting world” in which the conservative traditions of the Bible Belt collided with “shiny modern motor cars”, fast-food joints and the trappings of youth culture. At the time, critics savaged his work for its “apparent banality”, but Eggleston had the last laugh. This new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery brings together around 100 of his portraits from the 1960s to the present day.…

Through the Glass Mountain by Martina Evans, 2013 (Bloom Books £4.99). Martina Evans has a wonderfully witty view on the world. This story of a young girl wrestling with growing up and unwanted pregnancy is beautifully lyrical. It made me both laugh out loud and want to cry. Talking It Over by Julian Barnes, 1991 (Vintage £9.99). It would be a struggle to choose a favourite book by Julian Barnes. This one demonstrates his astonishing versatility when it comes to style and form. Three endlessly amusing narrators present their own account of their complex relationship in a tale that unfolds teasingly. In the Forest by Edna O’Brien, 2002 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson £8.99). I find Edna O’Brien to be wildly brave. Her books often draw on real events, as this one…

Programmes Britain’s Pompeii: A Village Lost in Time Professor Alice Roberts presents the treasures of a Bronze Age village, which were found miraculously preserved in the peat of the Cambridgeshire fens. Tue 2 Aug, BBC4 9pm (60mins). NYPD: Biggest Gang in New York? An unflinching look at the controversial issue of police brutality in the US, focusing on the force known as “New York’s finest”. Tue 2 Aug, BBC1 10.45pm (45mins). Mo Farah: Race of His Life A documentary charting Mo Farah’s extreme training regime in the build-up to this year’s Rio Olympics. Thur 4 Aug, BBC1 9pm (60mins). The 80s with Dominic Sandbrook: The Sound of the Crowd Historian Dominic Sandbrook explains how consumerism swept the UK, giving rise to the excesses of yuppie culture. Thur 4 Aug, BBC2…

Aubergine gratin Serves 4-6 2 red onions, sliced 10 ripe cherry tomatoes extra virgin olive oil balsamic vinegar 3 aubergines, topped, tailed and cut into 1cm slices a handful of fresh basil leaves 100ml single cream sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • Preheat the oven to 200°C. In an ovenproof dish, toss the onions and tomatoes with some oil, salt and a drizzle of balsamic. Roast in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until the skins of the tomatoes crack open and the onions are beginning to caramelise. Remove but leave the oven on. • Heat a saucepan over a medium heat. Using a pastry brush, coat the aubergine slices with oil on both sides. Fry in the hot pan until golden brown on both sides and…

Golfing in St Andrews Stay at Garden Cottage, Cupar, and pop over to St Andrews for a round. A week at the cottage (sleeps five) costs from £600 (offer code pr10). 01738-451610, www.cottages-andcastles.co.uk. Until end Nov. Discover the Lake District A 7-night break at Monk Coniston for a family walking break costs from £795pp (£397 for 11-16s; under-11s free), full board. 020-3424 6162, www.hfholidays.co.uk. Depart 13 August. Austen’s Hampshire Mark 200 years since the publication of Emma with a stay in the Jane Austen suite at Audleys Wood Hotel. From £216 b&b with 3-course dinner. 0845-458 0901, www.handpickedhotels.co.uk. Explore South Shields Walk the rugged and dramatic coast by Souter Lighthouse during a 3-night stay at Keeper’s Cottage 1 (sleeps 4), from £589.50. 0344-800 2070, www.nationaltrustholidays.org.uk. Arrive 5 August.…

Business and economic surveys continued to paint a mixed picture of the Brexit fallout. A report from the Bank of England’s regional monitors showed “no clear evidence of a sharp general slowing in activity”; and ONS figures showed that the economy expanded at a good 0.6% pace in the quarter leading up to the vote. A Markit purchasing managers’ survey in mid-July, however, pointed to a “dramatic deterioration”. Martin Weale, a “hawkish” member of the BoE’s policymaking committee, signalled the likelihood of a rate cut next week. Chancellor Philip Hammond said he may “reset” fiscal policy in the Autumn Statement. The US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan both met to decide on monetary policy. The Fed was expected to keep rates on hold. Investors expected the BoJ to…

Avoid airport moneychangers. They charge more than anywhere else. Far better to order your cash online and collect it at the airport. Buying g100 at Terminal 5 cost £97.96 from Travelex last week; ordering online, at least four hours in advance, cost £87.45. The current best-buy bureau de change, ICE on London’s Embankment, was offering g100 for £83.89 when bought online. Supermarkets offer “decent rates”, too. Get a special credit card. The Halifax Clarity Card “consistently offers the best currency rates”: g100 on the card will cost you £83.59, with no additional fees for buying items overseas, or using foreign ATMs. MBNA’s Everyday Plus card hasn’t got quite such a good exchange rate, but also waives fees – unlike regular debit and credit cards. Never pay in sterling. If asked…

Roger Ailes The “sudden and ignominious downfall” of the Fox News chief, following allegations of sexual harassment, marks the end of the line for America’s most influential “kingmaker”, says The Economist. “The preeminent master of the dark arts of politics and television” had been helping Republicans get elected since the days of Richard Nixon. He built Fox News – “a joke” when Rupert Murdoch started it in 1996 – into the “number-one powerhouse in cable, eventually collecting profits of more than $1bn a year”. The son of a factory worker, Ailes, 76, “instinctively knew how to appeal to white, working-class voters, disaffected, as he was himself, with liberal elites and political correctness”. His brand of “angry, conspiracy-driven political news and opinion set Fox News apart”. Few felt they could challenge…