Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1090 i The Week

Theresa May had a testing debut on the international stage this week when she attended a two-day G20 summit in China. The Prime Minister tried to use the occasion to pitch the UK as “a global leader in free trade”, but other world leaders made clear their disapproval of the Brexit vote. President Obama said he thought Britain had voted the wrong way, and cautioned that the strong business links between the US and the UK could “unravel” unless Brexit was handled carefully. Japan released a memo warning that many Japanese businesses could pull out of the UK if access to the European single market was disrupted. No. 10 said the PM had an open mind on what the UK’s relationship with the EU should look like after Brexit,…

The Calais wall Work is about to begin on a £1.9m wall in Calais, to make it harder for migrants to reach Britain. A joint British-French effort, the 13ft-high, 0.6-mile-long wall will run along the port’s main approach road, and is designed to make it harder for migrants to stow away on lorries. However, haulage experts and aid workers say people will simply walk around it. Lorry drivers have long complained about migrants trying to sneak or force their way onto their vehicles; this week, hundreds blockaded the port in protest at France’s failure to close the Jungle refugee camp. Surgery ban on smokers A health authority has been forced to suspend its plans to deny surgery to obese people and smokers. The Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)…

A writer’s paranoia Ian McEwan writes novels for one reason alone. “Ah, the dopamine moment is finishing them. It’s, you know, when you’re thinking you’ve got it to where you wanted it to be,” he told Decca Aitkenhead in The Guardian. Everything else – the sales, the acclaim – is a side issue. And doing a publicity tour is torture. “I start out all right. But then you get a bit tired of your own voice. And then this feeling begins to creep in. You begin to feel a bit like a brush salesman of old, selling encyclopedias or double glazing. It’s a certain kind of self-loathing.” After a while, he starts having paranoid thoughts – even wondering whether he might get shot at a public signing. “Someone’s going to…

Ambitious plans were submitted by Christopher Wren, among others, for the rebuilding of the city. But a wholesale classical redesign was thought too difficult, legally and financially. Instead, the old street plan was reused, with some streets widened, and other improvements: the Rebuilding Act of 1667 decreed that new houses should have external walls of stone or brick, and roofs covered with tiles. A duty on coal was used to finance new public buildings. A second act, in 1670, ordered the construction of 51 new churches and a new St Paul’s Cathedral, all overseen by Wren. Rebuilding was quick, with most houses completed by the early 1670s. All the churches were in use by 1696; Wren’s cathedral was completed in 1710. Charles II decreed that a monument should be erected…

The discovery of a possibly Earth-like planet in the constellation Centaurus has been described as a “dream come true” by astronomers. Owing to the power of modern telescopes, exoplanets orbiting distant stars are spotted all the time these days. But Proxima b is different, says Scientific American magazine. It is of roughly Earthlike mass; it orbits its red dwarf parent star in the “Goldilocks zone” – where it is neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist; and, in planetary terms, it’s on our doorstep. Its star, Proxima Centauri, is our Sun’s nearest neighbour, 4.3 light years away. It’s unclear, however, if Proxima b is actually habitable. It’s only five million miles from its dim star (Earth is 93 million from the Sun), which could expose it…

“What the hell is going on with Ed Balls?” Back in the doldrums of the last Labour government, said Hugo Rifkind in The Spectator, Balls was “the most reliable total bastard around”. Built like his boss, Gordon Brown, “but with Hitler hair”, he was notorious as a bullying intellectual – his face “locked in a permanent sneer of disdain for people who didn’t know what post-neoclassical endogenous growth theory was”. But since losing his parliamentary seat in last year’s election, Balls has come over all lovable. He has written a memoir, Speaking Out, in which he reveals touching personal details – such as his struggle to overcome a stammer which caused him to seize up during Commons debates, and which earned him the Tory nickname Blinky Balls. And last…

It is pronounced “heurgha”, and we are going to be hearing a lot more about it: no fewer than nine books about the Danish concept of hygge are coming out this autumn, and it is being hailed as the biggest “wellness trend” since clean eating. But hygge requires no self-denial, said Maria Lally in The Daily Telegraph. On the contrary: it is about cherishing life’s small pleasures, and sharing them. In a country where the winters are long, dark and cold, that typically means putting on some warm socks, lighting a fire and hunkering down with friends over a pastry, or a glass of wine. Hygge – which is believed to share etymological roots with “hug” – may explain why the Danes are officially the happiest people in the…

Finally, British tennis has ceased to be a “Murrayled monoculture”, said Simon Briggs in The Daily Telegraph. The US Open has seen an unexpected “blossoming”. For the first time, the Scot was joined in the fourth round of a Grand Slam by another British man, Kyle Edmund; while in the round before, Dan Evans came agonisingly close to beating Stan Wawrinka. And in the women’s competition, Johanna Konta also made the last 16. By the quarter-finals, normal business had resumed – only Murray remained – but that didn’t detract from a rash of “superb victories”. Edmund has been the real revelation, said Barry Flatman in The Sunday Times. Long tipped as a future star, the 21-year-old has repeatedly “buckled under top-flight pressure”; in June, he crashed out of Wimbledon in…

To The Daily Telegraph We are adjured to adopt the Mediterranean diet and eat as healthily as Italians do. What is perplexing about this is that Italians, though they do indeed have the longest life expectancy in Europe, seldom embrace this diet themselves. The Mediterranean diet, we are told, is rich in fruit, vegetables and fish, as well as nuts and pulses, wholemeal grains and olive oil. It also eschews meat and dairy. Yet an Italian’s typical breakfast comprises sticky pastries laden with forbidden sugar. Pizza and pasta are national dishes, but neither is a healthy option; the latter is made from the same ingredients as white supermarket bread. Fish is not a prominent feature of Italian cuisine, and most of it is frozen or farmed. Meat consumption includes a…

Sausage Party Dirs: Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon 1hr 29mins (15) The secret life of supermarket food “Alleluia for something original,” said Henry Fitzherbert in the Sunday Express. Scripted by and starring Seth Rogen, this animated feature for adults – one of only a handful of films released this summer that isn’t a sequel or remake – is based on the “droll” premise that supermarket food is alive, kicking and obsessed with sex. Our hero is a randy sausage, Frank (voiced by Rogen), interested only in bedding Brenda, a saucy bun (Kristen Wiig). That is until he learns that his religious beliefs are a lie concealing the grisly fate that awaits all food. This “joyously profane” comedy doesn’t shy away from controversy, said Nigel Andrew in the FT –…

Abdoulaye Konaté at Blain|Southern Over the course of his four-decade career, Malian artist Abdoulaye Konaté has come to be regarded as one of the major figures of African contemporary art. His renown rests on the extraordinary, frameless compositions he creates from colourful textiles, which call to mind both the ordered grids of European modernism and the colourful energy of traditional West African art. This is the first substantial solo show of his to be held in this country – and it doesn’t disappoint. The works here are composed of thousands of strips of brightly hued cotton, sewn together to create monumental, tapestry-like tableaux that seem to shimmer in the sunlight coming in through the gallery windows. If there seems to be something almost rhythmic about them, it’s no accident; according…

Not every expensive bottle of wine is a rip-off, says David Williams in The Observer. And truthfully, of the really memorable wines I’ve drunk, most were nudging towards £100 or more. Here are three pricier wines that are worth every penny… Luca Roagna La Pira Barolo Italy 2010 (from £66, www.bentleyswine.com). Barolo was never cheap, and rising star Roagna is not as dear as some; but the elusive, allusive qualities of this haunting, pure nebbiolo are as gorgeous as they come. Domaine Patrick Jasmin, Côte-Rôtie, Rhône, France 2013 (£35, www.yapp.co.uk). How to account for the price here? The care, attention and talent of Monsieur Jasmin – and the irresistibly silky texture and mingling of classic cool-climate syrah peppery and floral notes and perfectly ripe red and black berries. Charles Heidsieck…

Il Sereno, Lake Como, Italy Luxury hotels on Lake Como are typically set in historic villas, with traditional decor: this stylish new opening breaks the mould, says Kiki Deere in The Daily Telegraph. Renowned Milanese designer Patricia Urquiola makes use of local wood, stone and fabrics in the “understated” interiors, where floor-to-ceiling windows offer wonderful lake views. Spread over six floors, the 30 rooms all have their own waterfront terraces. Fourstar Michelin chef Andrea Berton offers a contemporary twist on simple Italian dishes in the restaurant; and there’s a freshwater infinity pool, a small private beach and three motorboats for rent. Doubles from s750 b&b. +39 031 5477 800, www.ilsereno.com.…

Gene Wilder 1933-2016 With his shock of curly hair, mischievous smile and large, twinkling blue eyes, Gene Wilder was one of the most recognisable actors in Hollywood, said The Independent. He made his name in The Producers, but is perhaps best remembered for his performance as Willy Wonka in the first film version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (made in 1971, just seven years after the book’s publication). Dressed in a brown top hat and purple frock coat, he captured both Wonka’s whimsical charm and his moral ambiguity. He himself dictated how the character should make his entrance. Wonka, he told the director, would emerge from his factory gates, limp towards the waiting crowd with a cane, then fall forward – before effecting a perfect somersault and bouncing back…

The pound jumped on news that the UK services industry rebounded strongly in August, recording the biggest month-onmonth rise in the Markit survey’s history. The return to growth in services, which accounts for nearly 80% of the UK economy, added to signs of recovery in manufacturing and construction. Markit said it suggested that the country would “avoid recession”. At the G20 summit in Hangzhou, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that the global economy was threatened by rising protectionism and highly leveraged financial markets. Japan warned Britain against making too hasty a Brexit; there are fears about how it might affect Japanese investments in the motor and banking industries. A survey from the Bank for International Settlements showed that the City’s dominance of foreign exchange trading is waning. Tokyo, Hong Kong…

Tim Throsby No prizes for guessing where Barclays chief Jes Staley has sourced his latest star recruit, said Nils Pratley in The Guardian. The bank’s new head of investment banking, Tim Throsby, comes from Staley’s “old shop”, J.P. Morgan. “They usually do.” Since taking over at Barclays last year, three out of five of Staley’s top hires have been Morganites. “It’s been a quiet takeover – though not necessarily one that will upset investors.” Staley’s latest “mini-me” is described as a “Posh Australian” by one Antipodean, who jokes that “the bar isn’t set very high”, said Jonathan Guthrie in the FT. But he’ll need application to turn around Barclays’s most troubled division. “Membership of an alumni network can help you get into a job. Without results, it cannot keep you…

The total cost of educating a child privately from Reception to Year 13 (upper sixth form) now averages £156,653 across Britain – having roughly doubled in 13 years, says Richard Dyson in The Sunday Telegraph. But there are ways of making the process more affordable. Start early and enlist help. Thanks to “increasingly generous” tax-free savings allowances, parents and grandparents can save large sums in Isas (annual allowances rise to £20,000 per person in 2017). The problem is “obtaining meaningful returns at a time of ultra-low interest rates”: £200 a month, saved from a child’s birth and invested for an average annual return of 4% compounded until age 12, results in almost £37,000 – “about half the sum needed to foot average day-school fees for the whole of a child’s…

An Ettinger travel pass holder and two Connell Guides will be given to the sender of the first correct solution to the crossword and the clue of the week opened on Monday 19 September. Send it to: The Week Crossword 1021, 2nd floor, 32 Queensway, London W2 3RX, or email the answers to crossword@theweek.co.uk. Set by Tim Moorey (www.timmoorey.info) This week’s crossword winner will receive an Ettinger (www.ettinger.co.uk) Bridle Hide Red Travel Pass Holder, which retails at £95, and two Connell Guides (www.connellguides.com). ACROSS 1 Diplomacy, say shown by second mate primarily on a boat (13) 7 Abuse boss and it’s the end of the line (4-4) 9 Six cutting rib of a cow (6) 10 Shed worker in the Paris Metro finally (4-2) 11 _____ Head in Parana could…

The British Medical Association (BMA) has called off the five-day strike by junior doctors planned for next week, after coming under heavy pressure from senior colleagues, regulators and junior doctors themselves, who warned it could compromise patient safety. The strike was to protest against the new employment contract that the Government wants to introduce, which is designed to ensure junior doctors work longer hours at weekends. The contract had been agreed with the BMA leadership in May but was then rejected by the doctors in a ballot. The BMA – which had proposed a “full withdrawal of labour”, including from A&E and maternity units – said the strike had been cancelled in recognition of the NHS’s need for more time (the BMA had given just 12 days’ notice) to…

Berlin Merkel humbled: Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a humiliating defeat in German regional elections this week, when her CDU party came third in her own home region, beaten by both the SPD and Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) – the anti-immigrant party whose popularity has surged in the wake of the refugee crisis. The SPD topped the poll, but also lost votes to the insurgent party. “We are writing history in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,” claimed AfD’s Leif-Erik Holm. “Perhaps today is the beginning of the end of the chancellorship of Angela Merkel.” AfD – which started life in 2013 as a Eurosceptic party but then became explicitly anti-Islam – took 20.8% of the vote. It is now represented in nine of Germany’s 16 regions, and scores around 12% in national opinion polls. In…

“People do not fear the dentist. What frightens them is the dental practice’s first line of defence – the hygienist. We live in tender times. We’re supposed to be gentle in criticism. We don’t tell people they are lazy and fat and it’s all their fault. We are encouraged to be understanding, acknowledge there are mitigating factors and nudge them gently towards the paths of righteousness. Dental hygienists have not got that message. They go in hard. Whose fault is it that things are not as they should be? It’s yours. Have you been flossing regularly? Those little brushes they sold you last time – have you been using them? After the hygienist, the dentist comes as a merciful relief, the good cop in a good-cop-bad-cop game.” David Robson in…

The shameless greed of our former leaders John Harris The Guardian At a time when voters are raging about greedy, self-serving elites, you’d think those in power would want to avoid playing to type, says John Harris. You’d be wrong. José Manuel Barroso, former president of the European Commission, has just waltzed into a new job at Goldman Sachs, the bank that “helped Greece mask its fatal debt problems”. He has company. “Between 2009 and 2010 alone, six out of 13 departing EU commissioners moved into new corporate or lobbying roles.” And such revolving-door practices aren’t confined to Brussels. The UK has long been “the market leader when it comes to ex-politicians and civil servants taking handsomely paid roles related directly to their former jobs”. A recent report found 25…

Since the 1990s, schools all over the world have been giving teenage girls baby-simulating dolls to look after, in the hope that it will show them how exhausting being a mother is – and encourage them to delay sex or use contraception. But a new study suggests that if teenage pregnancy rates are falling, it is in spite of – not because of – these initiatives. The researchers, from the University of Western Australia, found that although some girls hated looking after the dolls (which cry, scream and sleep, and have to be constantly changed, soothed and fed), many of them grew very attached to their “baby”, and enjoyed the attention and support they received while caring for it. Possibly as a result, the Lancetpublished study found that girls given…

The Brexit vote is looking wiser all the time, said The Spectator. Although leaving the EU is not without risks, it’s increasingly clear that these are outweighed by the perils of remaining in this flailing institution. Just look at Brussels’s arbitrary decree last week that the Irish government should recover a whopping s13bn in back taxes from Apple, whose European headquarters is based in Cork. For years, the EU has been trying to browbeat Ireland into raising its level of corporation tax from the low rate of 12.5%. Having failed in that effort, it has come up with “a new line of attack”: declaring that tax breaks extended to Apple under deals first reached 25 years ago contravened EU competition law. Both Apple and the Irish government are appealing against…

“The problem with beauty is that it’s like being born rich and getting poorer.” Joan Collins, quoted in The Times “You never see a man walking down the street with a woman who has a little pot belly and a bald spot.” US comic Elayne Boosler, quoted in The Times “The older I get, the better I used to be.” Baseball star Connie Hawkins, quoted in Harper’s Magazine “We can be knowledgeable with other men’s knowledge, but we cannot be wise with other men’s wisdom.” Michel de Montaigne, quoted on Forbes.com “The best remedy for worry is disaster.” US author Steven Carter, quoted on The Browser “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” Friedrich Nietzsche, quoted in The New York Times “Few thought he…

“Welcome to the Impossible Job,” said Jason Burt in The Daily Telegraph. On Sunday, Sam Allardyce became the ninth successive England manager to get off to a winning start. Yet the victory – 1-0 over Slovakia in a World Cup qualifier – was hardly resounding. Despite playing against a ten-man team for the final 30 minutes, England couldn’t score until the fifth minute of injury time. This was no “new dawn”: eight members of the first XI had lined up against Iceland in June, and their “unconvincing and ponderous” football on Sunday was all too familiar. England deserved to win, “just about”, but there can be no doubt that Allardyce faces an enormous challenge. First of all, he must confront a familiar conundrum, said Michael Cox in The…

The acting is terrible, the directing dire. Yet when I saw Jesus VR: The Story of Christ at the Venice Film Festival, I was gripped, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. Why? Because this was the first ever screening in history of a virtual reality (VR) feature film. In practice, this meant that I was perched upon a swivel chair, wearing a bulky VR headset, with the film seemingly going on all around me. During the Nativity scene, for example, I glanced over my shoulder to find a cow staring back at me. And as Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, I watched two men laboriously fixing a cart. But in a film on this subject, why would viewers wish to be distracted from the figure of…

The director of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum resigned this week to return to his native Germany, “in a decision fuelled by his disillusionment at the Brexit vote”, says Mark Brown in The Guardian. Martin Roth, 61, was the first foreign director of the V&A, and was highly respected. During his five-year tenure, he put on some of its most successful exhibitions, and in 2016 the V&A was named the UK’s museum of the year. Roth recently told the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that he felt the referendum result as a “personal defeat”, like “a separation in a relationship”. In particular, he found the “war rhetoric” during the campaign very “aggressive – so untypically English”. Roth, born in Stuttgart in 1955, said that he “didn’t want to be av…

Kaz is out of danger after self-harming, and is coming back to the MBU. Rob’s unsought advice goes down badly with Adam at the cricket match. Ian blames Rob for Adam’s subsequent poor form. Pat and Johnny tell Ian about Rob’s statement for the family court hearing. Ian decides to visit Helen. When Rob confronts Ian about being a character witness, Ian snaps. Rob goads Ian, asking whether he’s man enough to testify. After saying that Rob is “vicious, scheming and lying”, Ian calms down and says he won’t let Helen down. Anna persuades her ex-girlfriend Max to go for a drink. She begs to see her again, but Max wants a clean break. Ian tells Pat that his visit with Helen was all hugs and tears. Kaz apologises to…

Foolproof guacamole There is nothing more glorious, more addictive, more crave-worthy than a good guacamole, says Florence Cornish Serves 2-4 2 large ripe avocados juice of 1 lime 1 small red onion, finely diced 1 garlic clove, crushed 6 cherry tomatoes, quartered 1 red chilli, finely diced a small handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste • Cut the avocados in half, remove the stones and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Cover with the lime juice (this stops it from going brown) and add the onion. • Mix in the garlic and tomatoes. I like to use cherry tomatoes because you don’t need to deseed them and they have a sumptuously sweet flavour. • Pop the chilli and coriander into the…

New cars: what the critics say Kia Optima Sportswagon from £22,295 The Daily Telegraph With the Sportswagon, Kia has “finally entered the world of large estate cars”. A “long overdue addition” to the Korean firm’s stable, the sibling of the Optima saloon has been designed specifically for Europe – the only continent where there’s a market for such a vehicle. It comes with just one choice of engine – the 1.7-litre diesel previously seen in the saloon – and also shares that car’s front end. Autocar By the utilitarian standards of estates, the Sportswagon is “a handsome beast”. And although the cabin isn’t exactly upmarket – the materials are dark and “tough-feeling” – the standard equipment is generous, with even the basic model offering satnav. Crucially, there’s a huge, 552-litre…

Arthur Ransome’s Lakes First published in 1930 – and newly adapted for the cinema – Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons was inspired by the writer’s own holidays in the Lake District. And a break spent swimming and sailing there lets children recreate the book’s adventures, says Sarah Urwin Jones in The Times. Start by cruising Coniston Water in the steam yacht Gondola – the model for Captain Flint’s houseboat. Swim the 750 metres from the lake’s “idyllic” wooded banks to Peel Island (Ransome’s Wild Cat Island) with openwater expert Pete Kelly of Swim the Lakes. And take sailing lessons on Ullswater with the Glenridding Sailing Centre, whose traditional boats are much like Ransome’s own Amazon, on display in the Ruskin Museum. See www.swimthelakes.co.uk, www.glenriddingsailingcentre.co.uk and www.nationaltrust.org.uk (for the Gondola). Deluxe…

Islam Karimov 1938-2016 The first president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov ruled his landlocked country with an iron fist for 25 years. By maintaining his tight grip on power, he spared the mainly Muslim country the instability that rocked many of its neighbours, said The Washington Post; and in Moscow and the West, he was often regarded as a useful bulwark against radical Islam. But he disdained democratic principles, brutally suppressed dissent, and stifled the press; and while reports that he had political prisoners boiled alive have never been substantiated, he made no secret of the lengths to which he would go to retain control. In a televised address about the threat of Islamic extremism, he once warned: “I’m prepared to rip off the heads of 200 people… in order to…

Sports Direct’s billionaire founder, Mike Ashley, used to dismiss City investors as “crybabies” when they moaned about his maverick approach to corporate governance. But a “calamitous” 60% drop in shares has focused minds, said Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail. “Big battalion investors”, including Hermes, L&G and Aberdeen Asset Management, steamed up to Derbyshire to give Ashley “a bloody nose” at this week’s AGM in the “notorious” Shirebrook warehouse. Chairman Keith Hellawell and “a cadre of ineffectual non-executives” looked to be heading for the scrap heap. “But shouldn’t the investors be after the organ grinder, Ashley himself, rather than the monkeys?” No chance of that, given Ashley’s 55% majority stake, said Nils Pratley in The Guardian. What’s needed is a chairman who can rein him in, but the rap sheet…

The week’s best buys 888 Holdings The Times The key to 888’s strong cashflow performance is ownership of its own technology, making it “less a gaming company and more a tech hub”. Driven by organic growth, revenues are, reassuringly, increasingly from regulated markets. Buy. 218p. Be Heard Group The Mail on Sunday Founded by ad veteran Peter Scott, this digital marketing specialist is buying web design, e-commerce and social media advertising firms. Customers include Vodafone and the AA. An impressive outfit in a growing sector. Buy. 3.05p. Charles Taylor Investors Chronicle Providing services to insurers, Charles Taylor has proven adept at venturing into growth markets. Technical capabilities are improving and it has added several blue-chip clients. Yields 3.6%. Buy. 289p. John Laing Shares John Laing invests in and manages a…

You only had to watch Keith Vaz in action to realise that he was “as fishy as a rotting sardine”, said Quentin Letts in the Daily Mail. Despite a history of questionable financial dealings, the Labour MP for Leicester East rose up through the ranks to become chair of the powerful Home Affairs Select Committee, where he took an “ostentatious delight in roasting Scotland Yard commanders and in ridiculing serious Whitehall mandarins”. Garrulous, oily and bitchy, Vaz was addicted to publicity: he invited Russell Brand to give evidence, and was seen sashaying around Westminster with Bollywood stars. In July, his committee published its report on prostitution in Britain, said The Times – concluding, after extensive research, that the industry should be legalised. Now it turns out that Vaz had been…

Washington DC Slave shame: Georgetown University is seeking to atone for its involvement in the slave trade by establishing a centre for the study of slavery, and naming a building in honour of one of the 272 slaves it sold in 1838 to rescue it from a financial crisis. The slaves, who worked on its plantations in Maryland, were sold to the owners of plantations in Louisiana, a transaction that was controversial even then, owing to the brutal treatment meted out to slaves in the Deep South. The then president of the Washington DC-based university, founded by Jesuits, was called to Rome and sacked: soon after, Pope Gregory XVI banned Catholics from trading in slaves, “no matter what pretext or excuse”. In a bid to make amends, the university will…

Prams are the latest musthave accessory for animal lovers in Japan. Dogs and cats peeking out from pushchairs are becoming an increasingly common sight in Tokyo, and as with new parents, proud owners vie to have the latest, most upmarket models. Combi, which also makes baby buggies, says sales of its “pet carts” have doubled in the past year, with prices ranging from ¥33,000 (£240) for a simple cat chair, to ¥54,000 (£395) for the most expensive dog buggy. An Indian minister has made an official complaint about the “loose moral character” of the imported Western bulls living as strays in his northern state of Haryana. Om Prakash Dhankar told the state assembly that the foreign bulls were prone to “indiscriminate wantonness”, and “violate more animals” than local bulls. It…

Dogs understand us – or try to It’s not yet clear how much they actually understand, but new research has revealed that when dogs are spoken to by their owners, they do listen – and their brains process what they hear in much the same way as humans’ brains do. When people are interpreting speech, they take account of both words and intonation. A team of Hungarian scientists wanted to find out if dogs do the same – so they recruited 13 animals, and monitored their brain activity while they were played recordings of their owners speaking, using various combinations of words and tones. The team’s findings, published in the journal Science, suggest not only that the dogs were paying attention to both, but that they used the left side…

Labour’s leadership election has caused a bitter divide – among 1980s pop stars. Jeremy Corbyn this week held a press conference to announce that he had the backing of UB40. But his critics were swift to point out that the reggae band split acrimoniously some years ago. The other half of the group – including former lead singer Ali Campbell – have declined to back Corbyn. Soul singer Mick Hucknall then joined the melee, tweeting: “Jeremy Corbyn has much in common with UB40. They are currently as divided as his Labour Party.” John Humphrys has a reputation as a seriousminded – even curmudgeonly – broadcaster. But it wasn’t always thus, says the Daily Mail. Once, after recording a bulletin with the newsreader Moira Stuart, Humphrys turned to his co-presenter (pictured)…

Islamic State once boasted that its swift victories were “a sign of divine assistance”, said Patrick Cockburn in The Independent. By the summer of 2015, against all the odds, it had conquered an area of eastern Syria and western Iraq the size of Great Britain. Since then, “it has suffered nothing but defeats on the ground, and the deaths of senior leaders”. Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria have been retaken. The militant group was recently driven out of Jarablus, its last stronghold on Syria’s Turkish border. Iraqi forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga are closing in on Mosul, its Iraqi capital. Even its Syrian headquarters, Raqqa, may soon be under threat. Last week Isis’s leading propagandist, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, was killed in an air strike. Isis is now…

Just 18 months ago, England’s one-day side were a “laughing stock”, said Paul Newman in the Daily Mail. They “stank out” the World Cup with embarrassing, outdated cricket, and were knocked out in the group stage. Yet since then, the team have undergone an extraordinary transformation – and last week they reached “a new high”. In their third one-day international (ODI) against Pakistan, they made an astonishing 444 runs – the highest score, by any team, in the history of the format. Record after record tumbled: Alex Hales hit 171, a record for an Englishman in an ODI; Jos Buttler reached 50 off just 22 balls, England’s fastest half-century in an ODI. They may have lost their fifth match, but the hosts still won the series 4-1, confirming that they…

No reversing Brexit vote To the Financial Times show how Brexit could be overturned. Good luck with that. His case is partly based on the proposition that, legally, the referendum result is only advisory. Yet Parliament enacted a bill delegating its sovereignty to the British people by asking them to decide whether to remain in the EU or not, and they decided not to. We have no written constitution but we do have constitutional conventions, and by now the constitutional convention must be that the results of referendums are always binding. Is Mr Piris seriously suggesting that Parliament could overturn a vote for Scottish independence after a referendum? Constitutional lawyers have to live in the real world. Parliamentary sovereignty is a fine doctrine but one that surely has been amended…

Theatre The Entertainer Playwright: John Osborne Director: Rob Ashford Garrick, London WC2 (0330-333 4811) Until 12 November Running time: 2hrs 30mins (including interval) Kenneth Branagh has “never been shy” about following in the footsteps of Laurence Olivier, said Paul Taylor in The Independent. So it was almost inevitable that he would one day take on the role of Archie Rice, one of Olivier’s most celebrated stage triumphs. Rice is the clapped-out music hall artiste who “personifies the decline” of Suez-era Britain in Osborne’s 1957 play (“Don’t clap too hard, we’re all in a very old building”). Branagh “rises to the occasion with a performance that is never less than thoroughly arresting” – and in which he brilliantly conveys Archie’s louche “handon-hip suggestiveness”. Is he as good as Olivier? No, said…

The King of a Rainy Country by Brigid Brophy, 1956 (The Coelacanth Press £10). A brilliant coming-of-age novel, set in grey London and dazzling Venice, about love and identity, passion and uncertainty. Brophy’s prose is simple and spare, her observations intense. She was the queen of ambiguity, years ahead of her time. The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch, 1973 (Vintage £9.99). Bradley Pearson, a “blocked” writer, has retired to the country for inspiration. Like all of Murdoch’s work, the story is rich with idea and metaphor, and its structure ingenious, but the heart is this wonderfully grotesque anti-hero. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler, 1988 (Vintage £8.99). A single car journey and a relationship laid bare; no one else unpicks as neatly as Tyler the tiny poignant details that make…

Programmes New York: America’s Busiest City Final two parts in the series revealing the hidden systems and organisational miracles that enable America’s biggest and busiest city to function. With Dan Snow and Anita Rani. BBC2, Sun 11 Sept, 7pm and Tue 13 Sept, 9pm (60mins). 9/11: Truth, Lies and Conspiracies Half of Americans believe they’ve not been told the truth about 9/11 – a belief fuelled by the fact that thousands of documents on the attacks have been withheld. This film explores the conspiracy theories, and speaks to victims’ relatives and intelligence insiders. Tue 13 Sept, ITV1 9pm (60mins). Ingenious Animals Fascinating series looking at the most surprising animal stories from across the world. In this episode, zoologists examine the extraordinary bonds that animals can develop with each other. Thur…

Moya 97 St Clement’s Street, Oxford (01865-200111) As far as I can tell, Moya is this country’s only Slovakian (“as opposed to Czech and Slovakian”) restaurant, says Keith Miller in The Daily Telegraph. And it’s an excellent ambassador for the cuisine. This is “hearty, stodgy and profoundly pigcentric” cookery, with a few pungent flavours (mustard, horseradish) and the “clever use of fruit and pickles to give an edge to coma-inducingly rich meat dishes” such as slow-roast pork knuckle in beer. My pork shank was everything I had hoped it would be: “huge, shivering like a felled ox before collapsing under the fork into small, glossy nuggets”. This is the meat from just above the trotter, “much darker and more full-flavoured” than the cuts of pork we tend to cook here.…

Highlights of Jordan Book by 30 September for a 5-night tour that includes Amman city and a climb up Mount Nebo. From £1,785pp b&b incl. flights. 020-7838 5892, www.wexas.com, 3 September-22 October. Tour Poldark country Downs Barn Farm Cottages – luxury barn conversions for couples – make the perfect base for walking tours of Penzance. Four nights cost from £320 in October. 01736-810295, www.premiercottages.co.uk. Norway’s Arctic islands Cruise on the Hurtigruten coastal steamer to Svolvær, on the Lofoten Islands, with stays on Senja and Tromsø. 7 nights from £1,650 b&b incl. flights. 01653-617005,www.inntravel.co.uk. 15 January-3 April. Romance in the Maldives Stay 7 nights for the price of 5 at the Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort and Spa, from £1,299pp b&b incl. Heathrow flights and transfers. 01293-762404, www.hayesandjarvis.co.uk. Depart 23 November.…

Formula 1: pole position The Monza paddock at the Italian Grand Prix was “awash with speculation” last weekend, said Kevin Eason in The Times. Rumour had it that Bernie Ecclestone, who has ruled Formula 1 for four decades, “was at his last race in control”. The US cable TV group Liberty Media is rumoured to be in advanced talks with the private equity group CVC Partners, which owns F1’s parent company, to buy a 15-20% stake in the outfit for up to $2bn, giving the company effective control. The exact situation is unclear: some insiders claimed that a deal has already “been completed”, but Ecclestone dismissed the reports as “bulls***”, and at least two more potential bidders may still be in the frame. Nonetheless, Liberty’s ambitious billionaire owner, John Malone,…

Echoes of 2008 at Jackson Hole Gillian Tett Financial Times The 2008 financial crisis made it “painfully clear” that arcane financial markets can have a devastating effect on the “real” economy, says Gillian Tett. That lesson seemed forgotten at this year’s gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the “peculiar distortions” currently preoccupying financial markets went undiscussed. “Asset prices are extraordinarily elevated.” That’s apparent from record-high US equities, and the $13trn of bonds globally now carrying negative rates. “Numerous tiny signals” are being ignored: the fact that Danish mortgages are carrying negative rates; and that Japan’s central bank owns about 15% of the free float of some key companies. These peculiarities are creating big headaches for pension companies, insurance groups and banks. Indeed, the Bank for International Settlements…

● Shiny metals “Precious metals have shone this year,” said The Economist – partly because Brexit-related uncertainty has “increased demand for safe assets”, and partly because “rock-bottom interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding an investment that produces no income”. The price of gold has risen by 24% over the past eight months, jumping to more than $1,300/ounce; and “silver has done better still”, jumping by 35% this year. That leap reflects silver’s industrial uses as well as its appeal as an investment: the metal has benefited from rising smartphone use, especially in China, and from solar-panel installations. Platinum and palladium – both used by carmakers in catalytic converters – have also “been boosted by rising car sales in China and America”. ● Gold bounce Investors have been…