Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1109 i The Week

What happened Trump takes power President Trump moved swiftly to erase his predecessor’s legacy and assert his own priorities following his inauguration last Friday (see page 22). First the White House website was scoured of all mentions of climate change and gay rights. Then, in his first executive order, Trump directed government agencies to scale back as much of President Obama’s signature healthcare reforms as possible, in preparation for the law’s repeal. Other directives followed, limiting federal hiring, banning the distribution of federal aid to foreign charities that offer abortion services, and restricting immigration. Trump also withdrew the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and announced plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta); to give the green light to two controversial oil pipelines; to start the border…

Renewable energy has a bright future Chris Goodall The Guardian Given Donald Trump’s attitude to global warming, you’d expect an environmentalist like me to be in deep despair, says Chris Goodall. Well, I’m not, I’m full of hope – because in 2016 “it finally became obvious that the world had the technology to solve the climate change problem”. Renewable energy, I used to think, would struggle to survive without subsidy: yet such is the level of investment by countries such as India and China, that clean tech is actually progressing at a dazzling rate. The cost of solar power fell by a global average of 15% last year, making it the cheapest form of energy generation in many sunny parts of the world; within a decade it could fall to…

Screen time “good” for teens Parents worry about their children being glued to screens for hours a day – but now scientists have found evidence that in moderation, it can be good for teenagers’ emotional well-being. Researchers from Oxford University’s Internet Institute analysed self-reported data from 120,000 15-year-olds across the UK, and found that using smartphones and computers, and playing video games, was associated with higher levels of well-being – at least, up to a point. With computers, well-being “peaked” at four hours and 17 minutes a day on weekdays, before starting to dip again; when it came to watching TV, this “Goldilocks” moment (not too much, not too little) came at three hours and 41 minutes; for video games, it was one hour and 40 minutes; while for smartphone…

“Put down your breakfast immediately,” said Debora Robertson in The Daily Telegraph. We’ve already been warned about the carcinogens in bacon and smoked products such as kippers. And now it seems that even toast – “that most inoffensive form of sustenance” – might be life threatening. The Food Standards Agency raised the alarm this week about the probable cancer risk posed by acrylamide, a chemical compound produced when starchy foods such as bread or potatoes are cooked for long periods at high temperatures. The FSA advised people to aim for a golden yellow or lighter shade when cooking such foods, rather than brown. So from now on, it’s anaemic toast and “resolutely uncrunchy roast potatoes” for us. This is getting ridiculous, said Dean Burnett in The Guardian. Hardly a day…

“You wait ten years for Novak Djokovic to be out of your way,” said Simon Cambers on ESPN, “and then someone else comes along to ruin your title hopes.” When the Serb crashed out in the second round of the Australian Open, to world No. 117 Denis Istomin, Andy Murray must have thought this was finally his year. The No. 1-seeded Scot has been a losing finalist in Melbourne five times, four of them at the hands of Djokovic. Alas, Murray suffered his own shock defeat in the fourth round on Sunday, just three days after his nemesis crashed out, losing in four sets to 50th-ranked German Mischa Zverev. It was a bitter blow in a competition close to Murray’s heart – if he never triumphs in Melbourne, he may…

To The Daily Telegraph In Ireland there is a fee of s40 to s60 for a GP visit, and s100 for attending an emergency department without a referral. This doesn’t seem to make much difference, as hospitals in catchment areas with higher populations can regularly have up to 60 people on trolleys for more than 24 hours. I have also lived in France, which has an excellent health service – at a price. The state covers 70% of costs from employees’ high level of contributions, with the remaining 30% coming from private health insurance paid for by the patient. At the moment the Netherlands seems to have the best service in Europe, but not necessarily the most cost-effective. The government is responsible for the accessibility and quality of the healthcare…

T2 Trainspotting ★★★ A sequel worth waiting for? Dir: Danny Boyle 1hr 57mins (18) Remember Trainspotting? Danny Boyle’s hyperactive tale of Edinburgh heroin addicts, adapted from the novel by Irvine Welsh, was one of the “seminal British films” of the 1990s, said Rob Carnevale in The Herald (Glasgow); and that makes it a hard act to follow. Yet I can honestly say this long-delayed sequel is “every bit as good” as the original; indeed, “maybe even better”. It has the same director and cast, and it shares the first film’s “profane language, outrageous sex and drug scenes, and horrific bouts of violence”. But the oddly named T2 Trainspotting also boasts a newfound maturity, which lends it “unexpected poignancy”. If Trainspotting ruefully confessed that it was “shite” to be Scottish in…

Slow-cooked pork, beef and sausage ragu Serves 8–10 425g Italian sausages 325g pork spare ribs 425g pork belly, cut into 3cm cubes 425g stewing beef, cut into 8cm chunks 5 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil 2 white or brown onions, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped 2 bay leaves 1 sprig of rosemary salt and freshly ground black pepper 300ml white or red wine 4 tbsps tomato purée 1.2kg tinned whole tomatoes, roughly chopped 1 litre chicken, meat or vegetable stock, or hot water 6 potatoes (approx. 1kg), peeled and cut in half 200g peas, frozen or fresh (optional) • In a large casserole dish over a medium heat, brown the meat in batches in the olive oil. Set aside. • Add the onions to the remaining oil…

Bosch GS-50 Power Animal 2 It’s the most expensive of the machines here, but the Power Animal 2 is really a superb vacuum cleaner. One of the quietest options on the market, it can suck fine dust from deep within a carpet – and it works very well on hard floors too (£300; www.sonicdirect.co.uk). Sebo D2 Titan Eco The energy-efficient D2 Titan Eco does a brilliant job of cleaning floorboards and laminate flooring. It uses bags, unlike these other vacuums – but they’re large and won’t need to be replaced often (£250; www.johnlewis.com). Dyson Small Ball Total Clean At 5.5kg, this Dyson machine is unusually light for an upright cleaner, so it’s easy to carry up stairs. It also takes up less storage space than many of its rivals, thanks…

Andy Street The former John Lewis boss, who is running to become the mayor of the West Midlands, declares that he is no “Trumpist” but is “quite proud to be a standard-bearer of the new politics”, says the FT. He thinks Americans warmed to Trump’s “clear approach” as a businessman. “Look around the world, look at New York: business mayors have taken their city forward dramatically.” Street, who grew up in Solihull, says that, at 53, he fancies a fresh challenge after spending his whole career at John Lewis. He toyed with running as an independent, but he is a lifelong Tory, and realised that he needs a “party machine”. Even so, “I’m campaigning very much as Andy rather than the party. Brand Andy is more prominent than the Conservatives.”…

Controversy of the week Brexit and the judges “One thing is certain,” said the Daily Mail. Tuesday was “not a good day for democracy”. It was the day when eight Supreme Court judges – opposed by three dissenters – handed MPs and peers the right to “overturn” the wishes of 17.4 million voters who opted last June to leave the EU. The court “bowed to the wishes” of Gina Miller, the “gloating investment manager” who brought the case, and ruled that only Parliament can trigger Brexit – even though both sides in the referendum campaign insisted the result would be binding. In so doing, the Court “handed a weapon to Remoaners in both Houses who are determined to frustrate the will of the people by delaying Brexit or watering it…

Irving’s net gain You might have hoped you’d heard the last of David Irving, says Carole Cadwalladr in The Observer. In 2000, the British historian lost a landmark libel case against Penguin, which had published a book by Deborah Lipstadt accusing him of being a Holocaust denier. The judge concluded that Irving was indeed a racist and anti-Semite, peddling lies about the Holocaust. His academic reputation was shattered, and his legal costs left him bankrupt. Yet some 16 years on, Irving is enjoying an alarming renaissance. “Interest in my work has risen exponentially in the last two or three years,” he boasts. “And it’s mostly young people. I’m getting messages from 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds in America. They get in touch because they want to find out the truth about Hitler…

A highway in Wisconsin turned bright red last week, after a truck carrying a leaking box left a thick trail of red Skittles in its wake. Dodge County Sheriff’s Office reassured motorists that the bizarre sight was caused by a cascade of the fruit-flavoured chewy sweets, which “were intended to be feed for cattle, as they did not make the cut for packaging at the company”. Feeding discarded confectionary to livestock has been common practice in America since 2012, when corn prices surged and farmers began looking for cheaper alternatives. A Chinese shopkeeper “tied up and shamed” a thieving rat. Lai Tiancai, who runs a convenience store in Heyuan city, in Guangdong Province, had caught the rodent taking rice. He strung it up by its limbs and photographed it with…

Most new smartphones now come with fingerprint readers to unlock them; but as a security measure, the technology is not ideal. It has always been possible to lift someone’s fingerprint, and use it to create a silicon mould with which to fool biometric devices. Now Japanese scientists have warned that the quality of digital cameras has improved to the point where it’s possible to “capture” fingerprints merely by photographing them. To prove the point, the team, at the National Institute of Informatics in Tokyo, used photos of fingerprints taken from three metres (10ft) away to create moulds, and used these to get through a fingerprint recognition system at an airport. Unlike a password, you can’t change your fingerprints, so once a thief has your prints, you’re powerless. Moreover, police hold…

In Britain, Uri Geller is best known as a spoon-bending magician. But the CIA once took his “paranormal” powers very seriously indeed. Newly declassified documents show that, over a period of eight days in 1973, US intelligence agents conducted a series of tests on Geller (right), with a view to recruiting him as a “psychic warrior”. The Israeli illusionist was placed in an “opaque, acoustically and electrically shielded room” behind two locked doors. Researchers outside the room – and in one case, on the opposite side of the country – then drew random pictures and asked him to visualise and copy them. Geller correctly drew pictures of a firecracker, a bird, a kite, and a bunch of precisely 24 grapes – the same number as the original. His CIA handlers…

“How can you expect a man who’s warm to understand a man who’s cold?” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on the Gulag, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “A man in love is incomplete until he has married. Then he’s finished.” Zsa Zsa Gabor, quoted on BBC News online “You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” Carrie Fisher, quoted on MentalFloss.com “Any fool can tell the truth, but it requires some sense to know how to lie well.” Samuel Butler, quoted on The Browser “Las Vegas is the only place I know where money really talks – it says ‘goodbye’.” Frank Sinatra, quoted in the TLS “You may always walk with the devil until you have crossed the bridge.” Russian…

Tennis British No. 1 Johanna Konta reached the quarterfinal of the Australian Open, playing Serena Williams – to whom she then lost in straight sets. Cricket India won the ODI series against England 2-1; while the three-game T20 series was scheduled to start on Thursday. Football Wayne Rooney broke Bobby Charlton’s Man Utd goal-scoring record with a last-minute equaliser against Stoke. Premier League leaders Chelsea beat Hull 2-0, Man City drew 2-2 with Spurs, and Liverpool lost 3-2 to Swansea.…

Artists Residence Penzance competition Doris & Dicky are offering the chance to win a 2-night break at the beautifully stylish Artist Residence in Penzance. Enter now at TheWeekSociety.co.uk. Competition closes: 12.02.17. In partnership with DORIS & DICKY SAVE 20% on The Week leather notebook Our beautiful red leather notebook is perfect for making lists and plans. This A5 hard cover notebook has rounded corners, matching red elastic enclosure and ribbon divider. Limited time price of £11.99, usually £14.99 Order now on 020 3176 3835 or visit THEWEEK.CO.UK/BOOKSHOP The Vintage Classic Russian Collection Published for the 100th anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, these are must-have, beautifully designed editions of six epic masterpieces that have survived controversy, censorship and suppression to influence decades of thought and artistic expression. The collection includes:…

Grenache (or garnacha in Spain) is one of those unfashionable grape varieties whose wines can be “absurdly underpriced”, says David Williams in The Observer. Here are some great deals... Bodegas Borsao Garnacha 2015 (£5.95; www.slurp.co.uk) and the Co-op’s Gran Vista Garnacha 2015 (£4.99) are astonishing value, for example. Other great supermarket grenaches include Tesco Old Vines Garnacha, Spain 2015 (£5), an “exuberant, bargain burst of juicy bramble fruit”; and Waitrose Southern French Grenache 2015 (£6.49), which is “spicy and supple, with a sprinkling of white pepper”. For a bit more money, I’d recommend the “alluring” Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache (£12; Morrisons) from South Australia, and Bodegas Aldonia Vendimia Rioja 2015 (£12.50; Vinoteca), an “elegant, super-silky red” blend of garnacha and 40% tempranillo. Or try Chris Williams’ The Foundry Grenache, Stellenbosch,…

● Even after you’ve removed the Sim card, an old smartphone has its uses: you could use it to access Wi-Fi and operate apps. ● Make the most of your phone’s screen by turning it into a smart picture frame. Picmatic, a free app, displays stored photos as a constant slide show. ● Download video-monitoring app Manything to use the phone as a security camera or baby monitor. You can then watch footage from another smartphone, or a computer. ● Whatever else you do, if your handset runs Android then it’s worth downloading the Folding@Home app. It will lend the phone’s computing power to medical research projects at Stanford University. ● If you don’t want the phone, drop it off at your local Oxfam shop; the charity will recycle, resell…

Journalist hailed for the “scoop of the century” Clare Hollingworth 1911-2017 Clare Hollingworth, who has died aged 105, was only three days into her first job in journalism when she scooped the biggest news story of the century: the outbreak of the Second World War. Sent to Poland by The Daily Telegraph in late August 1939, Hollingworth – a petite but intrepid 27-year-old – had borrowed the British consul’s car in order to drive across the German frontier (which was otherwise closed to traffic). On the way back, she noticed that a hessian screen had been erected along the road; and when a gust of wind lifted it, she saw what it was hiding in the valley below – a phalanx of German tanks. Immediately appreciating their significance, she rushed…

Who’s tipping what The week’s best buys BTG Shares Healthcare specialist BTG helps doctors provide targeted interventional treatment to patients. Numis believes its “blood clot and oncology businesses are genuinely world-class”: profits should jump. Target 900p. Buy. 604.95p. CVS Group The Daily Telegraph CVS controls 12% of Britain’s small animals’ veterinary market, and has secured £30m to continue its acquisition programme. Not cheap, but resilient, with strong growth prospects – and an obvious takeover target. Buy. £10.82. Ladbrokes Coral Group The Times Shares in the bookie and gaming firm have fallen a long way on regulatory fears. But online operations are improving, profits are ahead, and the predicted £65m merger cost-savings could be exceeded. Buy. 128.5p. Severfield The Mail on Sunday The steel specialist, renowned for its fabrication and on-site…

Uppsala, Sweden Facebook “rape”: Three men accused of live-streaming an alleged gang rape to a closed Facebook group of a few thousand members were arrested last Sunday morning, after several online witnesses called the police. Officers raced to an apartment in the Swedish city of Uppsala, where they arrested the trio, aged between 19 and 25. One is reported to have had a gun; their alleged victim was about 20, and did not appear to be fully conscious, a police spokesman said. “She was intoxicated. We’re not really sure how.” The case is being treated as an aggravated rape. Witnesses reported seeing a second video in which the victim said she had not been raped, but there was speculation that she’d been coerced; the men were still streaming that video…

KOSOVO Serbia is still stirring up trouble Danas (Belgrade) Serbia’s politicians are at it again, stirring up ethnic resentments in a bid for nationalist support, says Pedja Popovic. Earlier this month the government launched a direct train service between Belgrade and Mitrovica, a Serb-majority city in north Kosovo. It’s no faster than existing bus links, but that wasn’t its point. The train was plastered with the slogan “Kosovo is Serbia” in 21 languages; its interior adorned with images of Orthodox Christian saints, and Serbia’s national colours. All this kitsch propaganda was clearly meant to provoke a retaliation, but Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic didn’t want it seen that way: so he ordered the train to turn back before it got to the border, claiming that Kosovan police intended to arrest the…

Last year has been declared the hottest on record by the Met Office and two leading science agencies in the US. All agree that temperatures were slightly warmer than in 2015, which itself topped a record set in 2014. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), average surface temperatures in 2016 were 0.04°C warmer than in 2015; Nasa found an increase of 0.12°C. Nasa said it was 95% certain that 2016 was a record breaker; NOAA was 62% sure. The space agency also noted that since the year 2001, the planet has seen “16 of the 17 warmest years on record”. The El Niño weather pattern was a factor in driving up temperatures in 2016, but the teams stress that significant warming would have occurred without it. The…

Martin McGuinness’s retirement last week spelled “the end of an era”, said Siobhan Fenton in The Independent. Northern Ireland owes him a debt of gratitude. Along with Gerry Adams, he convinced the IRA to lay down its arms and commit to the peace process. And the unlikely friendship he formed with his opposite number, the Democratic Unionist Party’s Ian Paisley, became “iconic” for the younger “peace generation”. If a fire-breathing loyalist preacher and a former IRA commander could laugh and pray together, “then the rest of us had no excuse for clinging to prejudice and division”. McGuinness, now 66, is stepping down ahead of Northern Ireland’s March elections, due to what he called a “very serious illness”, said Suzanne Breen in the Belfast Telegraph – reportedly amyloidosis, a rare disease…

Formula 1: life after Bernie Talk about the end of an era, said Giles Richards in The Guardian. After spending almost four decades in charge of Formula 1, Bernie Ecclestone has finally been “ousted” from the top of the sport. US conglomerate Liberty Media completed its £6bn takeover of F1 this week, and replaced the 86-year-old with Chase Carey, the vice-chairman of 21st Century Fox. Ecclestone isn’t out the door entirely; he’ll stay on as “chairman emeritus”, offering advice to the board. But the British billionaire “will no longer be involved in the day-to-day running of Formula 1, for the first time since the 1970s”. Ecclestone’s impact on the sport is immeasurable, said Andrew Benson on BBC Sport online. After starting out as a team boss, he became a middleman…

Theatre Winter Solstice Playwright: Roland Schimmelpfennig Director: Ramin Gray Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Surrey (020-8940 3633) Until 11 February Running time: 1hr 50mins ★★★ “Fascism doesn’t kick the door down on arrival. It waits for an invite, then makes itself at home.” That is the message of this “chilling” play from one of Germany’s best-known contemporary playwrights, said Matt Trueman in Variety. Written in response to the resurgence of the far-right in Europe, the piece is a “comedy of manners that slowly turns cold”. Set on Christmas Eve in an impeccably liberal, bourgeois household, the hostess’s mother has invited a man she has met on her snow-bound, delayed train to call in for drinks. Rudolph is urbane, civilised and distinguished, said Paul Taylor in The Independent. But as we learn…

Best books… Rachel Cusk Writer and novelist Rachel Cusk chooses her six favourite books. Her latest novel, Transit, about a newly divorced creative writing teacher – the second book in a trilogy that began with Outline – is published by Jonathan Cape at £16.99 The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence, 1915 (Vintage £8.99). This is a book all women should read, to find out how we became what we are in the modern world. Lawrence is the great analyst of transformation and self-realisation, and this novel – about three generations of an English family – leaves readers with the skills to continue that analysis in their own life. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, 1924 (Vintage £10.99). This is something of a writer’s bible, and the general reader is often discouraged…

Temper 25 Broadwick Street, Soho W1 (020-3879 3834) “I’m not quite self-regarding enough to think people open restaurants with me in mind,” says Jay Rayner in The Observer. “But if they did, the restaurant would be Temper.” Chef Neil Rankin has been doing “grandiose things with whole animals and fire” for a while – and this is his shot at the big time, with “big London money, and bravado and punch”. The air is full of testosterone and wood smoke, the music is loud. At one point, I almost wanted to shout stop! “Stop it with your macho posturing, and your Paleo games. Stop pretending you’re all bloody cavemen.” But I was too taken with the theatre of the firepit – and with the unbelievably good food. Fabulous tacos…

New cars: what the critics say Autocar Over its 33-year history, the Nissan Micra has earned a reputation as a reliable – if unglamorous – supermini. But the last model was a mess: both “singularly undesirable” and “execrable to drive”. Fortunately, the fifth-generation Micra is a vast improvement. Developed in the UK and built in France, it’s fit to take on the heavyweights of the class – including the VW Polo and Ford Fiesta. Car magazine This is a striking car, far better-looking than “the dullard that went before”. With a floating roofline, the exterior is “undeniably cool”, though a little fussy. The cabin is a delight, too: the build might not be “Polo quality”, but it’s still impressive, and the infotainment system works well. There’s a fairly spacious, 300-litre…

Huntlands Farm, a 15th century house in Worcestershire, puts on upholstery classes. Bring your own furniture; if it’s a big project, pick one of the longer courses (£260 for a two-day course, including two nights’ b&b; www.huntlandsfarm.co.uk). West Coates, in Northumberland, has its own cookery school, run by the “excellent” chef Karen Brown. Try the fish and shellfish class: you’ll prepare (and eat) local crab and lobster (from £90 for a double room, £60 for a fish course; www.westcoates.co.uk). Low Sutton, on a smallholding in the Yorkshire Dales, produces wool yarns from its own sheep. It offers bespoke classes in knitting and crochet (from £85 for a double, £20 for a class; www.lowsutton.co.uk). Vinegar Hill, a Victorian manor house on the Hampshire coast, is filled with ceramics by David Rogers.…

BT: Italian job BT suffered its worst ever day as a public company this week, after revealing the extent of an accounting scandal in its Italian business, said John Foley on Reuters Breakingviews. Shares plunged more than 20% on Tuesday, wiping out £8bn, after a new investigation revealed a £530m hole in the accounts. BT said it had found “a complex set of improper sales, purchase, factoring and leasing transactions”, involving widespread collusion among employees and external parties. The firm also cited serious errors made by internal and external auditors – including PwC (Tesco’s auditor when it was found to have manipulated its accounts in a scandal unearthed in 2014). The collapse in shares “shows a pressing crisis of trust, not just accounting”. BT moved quickly to stem the crisis,…

Trump isn’t bluffing about protectionism Editorial Financial Times “Most politicians, whether they practise what they preach or not, use ‘protectionism’ as an insult,” says the FT. Not Donald Trump. When the new president stated in his inaugural address that “protection will lead to great prosperity and strength”, he was proposing the most dramatic changes in trade policy in years. And he wasn’t bluffing: as became clear this week, the US will indeed pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and seek to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. What becomes of Trump’s “mercantilist obsession” remains to be seen. But America’s retreat into “a zero-sum vision of the world economy”, in which trade deficits are seen as “prima facie evidence of cheating by a trading partner”, is “profoundly retrograde”. There is…