Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1179 i The Week

What happened A new trade war? The US fired the opening shot in a potential trade war with some of its closest allies last week by slapping large tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium from the EU, Canada and Mexico. President Trump had initially exempted them from the 25% duty on steel and 10% duty on aluminium that he announced in March, as part of a bid to stop China flooding global markets with cheap metals. But last Thursday, the US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, declared an end to the temporary reprieve for Europe, Canada and Mexico, claiming that insufficient progress had been made in talks and citing national security concerns. In response, Brussels said that it would take the case to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and enact…

Seebach, Germany Nazi era just “bird poo”: The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has caused outrage by describing the Nazi era as “just bird poo in 1,000 years of successful German history”. Alexander Gauland – who has previously generated headlines by saying Germans should be proud of their compatriots who fought in the two World Wars – made the comment to a meeting of the party’s youth wing in the town of Seebach, in Thuringia, on Saturday. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s president, accused him of trying to shrug off the Nazi atrocities, while a group of self-proclaimed moderates in AfD issued a statement condemning his remarks. Gauland denies trivialising the Holocaust – a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. AfD is the country’s biggest…

1 September by Maurice White, Al McKay and Allee Willis, performed by Earth, Wind & Fire 2 Coronation Scot by Vivian Ellis, performed by Sidney Torch with the Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra, featured in Paul Temple 3 Godchild by George Wallington, performed by Miles Davis 4 What’d I Say, written and performed by Ray Charles 5 Violin Concerto No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich, performed by Neeme Järvi with Lydia Mordkovitch and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra 6 Speak Low by Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash, performed by John Eliot Gardiner with Anne Sofie von Otter and the NDR Symphony Orchestra 7 Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas, performed by Richard Burton 8* Piano Concerto No. 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven, performed by…

The ancient Greeks used clay and stone. The Romans used sponges on sticks, kept in pails of salt water or vinegar. Around the world, people have used whatever came to hand: water, leaves, moss, hay, corn cobs – or, for the rich, wool and hemp. In medieval China scholars used paper – which later became popular in Europe, after the invention of the printing press. But dedicated toilet paper is another US invention. In 1857, a New York entrepreneur named Joseph Gayetty made soft hemp sheets infused with aloe, which he claimed prevented haemorrhoids; he was so proud of his product, he had his name printed on each sheet. The toilet roll followed in 1890, again in the US, but it was still an uphill struggle to get people to…

Hidden dangers of fruit juice Drinking fruit juice at breakfast may sound healthy, but children who do so regularly have a greater chance of becoming overweight, new research suggests. Scientists in Austria examined the breakfast habits of 652 children aged about 13, and then used data on their height and weight to work out which foods had the greatest influence on weight. Most appeared to make little difference, but children who drank juice more than three times a week were found to be 50% likelier to be overweight or obese than those who didn’t. Presenting the findings to the European Congress on Obesity in Vienna, Maria Luger, of the Medical University of Vienna, said that fruit juice’s surprisingly high sugar content means that it can be as calorific as fizzy…

Islamophobia: a problem for the Tories “As Labour’s disastrous floundering over anti-Semitism has shown, when a representative body for a minority group tells a political party that it has a problem,” that party really should listen, said The Times. Last week, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) asked the Tories to investigate Islamophobia in the party. Its response should have been to act, not to “bristle”. And yet on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, not only denied the existence of the problem, but turned on the MCB, claiming that the group did not represent British Muslims and was associated with extremism. As the MCB’s secretary general Harun Khan put it: “Rather than address the serious concerns raised by our message, Mr Javid has chosen…

Last week, Arkady Babchenko “rose from the dead”, said The Guardian. The Russian journalist, a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin who was living in exile in Ukraine, had apparently been shot dead outside his apartment in Kiev the day before. Ukrainian officials pointed the finger at Russia and leaked gruesome photos of him lying in a pool of blood. But at a press conference about the murder investigation, there was an unexpected star guest: Babchenko himself, sheepish but very much alive. His “death” had been concocted by the SBU, Ukraine’s security service, as part of an elaborate sting operation to expose a genuine attempt on his life, said The Independent. One person, a Ukrainian arms manufacturer, has been arrested as a result; Borys Herman had allegedly been paid $40,000 by…

It is a curious sport that sees a team obliterated one week, then “dominant to equal degree the next”, said Mike Atherton in The Times. But having been hammered at Lord’s by Pakistan last week, England recovered on Sunday to win the second and final Test at Headingley by an innings and 55 runs. It was a welcome victory, after a sorry run of six defeats in their previous eight Tests. It would be wrong, however, to draw too many conclusions from the match: “desperate” in the first Test, excellent in the second, England are really somewhere in the middle. It was Jos Buttler who made the difference, said Ali Martin in The Guardian. Recalled after an 18-month exile from Test cricket, this “uber-talent” scored 80 not out, his second…

The new way of striking To The Guardian Only 33,000 workers went on strike in 2017. Even now, critics of trade unions still refer to the 1978-79 “winter of discontent”. But that was decades ago, and post-Thatcher industrial relations are radically different. Less than 25% of employees are now trade union members. The draconian Trade Union Act 2016 further restricts strikes and should be scrapped. Attacks on the right to strike are undemocratic, especially when too many workers already have so little collective bargaining power, evidenced by falling wages and even by the rising food bank use by the low-paid. The power pendulum has swung too sharply towards employers. Many non-unionised workers are largely unprotected from exploitation, with worrying echoes of Victorian Britain in today’s “modern, flexible labour market”. It…

Theatre Translations Playwright: Brian Friel Director: Ian Rickson Olivier, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 (020-7452 3000). Until 11 August Running time: 2hrs 30mins (including interval) ★★★★ Brian Friel’s “masterly” 1980 play, in which British army engineers arrive to map 1830s Donegal and to anglicise Irish place names, is a stone-cold modern classic, said Michael Billington in The Guardian. Here, in a flawless production, it “seems to expand to fill the vast space of the Olivier”: it’s one of the best things staged at the National in recent years. The setting is an Irish-language rural school, or hedge school, run by “learned old soak” Hugh, which is under threat from the introduction of compulsory English-language education, said Paul Taylor in The Independent. Ciarán Hinds plays Hugh with a “wonderful dilapidated…

Julien Nguyen at Modern Art The American painter Julien Nguyen is not one to shy away from a bold gesture. His stock in trade is taking the imagery of Italian Renaissance religious scenes and transporting them to morally murky present-day Los Angeles, throwing a bit of German expressionism in for good measure. A typical painting in this show of new work, titled Ex Forti Dulcedo, will portray a resurrected Jesus looking for all the world like a stoned rock star, or depict the Virgin complete with tan and A-list bone structure. References to the old masters are coated in seediness and lightly sexualised, a trick that occasionally reduces things to the level of gimmickry. Yet while the Bronzinomeets-Bret Easton Ellis formula can seem a little laboured, Nguyen is an…

The Daily Telegraph This is “the most fun you can have in a car at almost any price”. The Ford Fiesta ST has always been special among hot hatchbacks, but the newest generation is a step up still. There are three trims, ST1, 2 and 3, and the latter is as “close to as good as it gets anywhere”. And the cherry on top? It sounds great, with a sound imposer and valves in the exhaust that will make you think “you’re on your way to the Moon”. What Car? The interior quality has taken a “huge leap forward”. Of course the ST isn’t a luxury car, but the quality of all the plastics and switches inside feels much better this time around. The driver gets a supportive Recaro sports…

Amberley Castle in the South Downs, now a luxury hotel where the Queen has stayed, was also visited by Henry VIII (doubles from £195 per night; www.amberleycastle.co.uk). Astley Castle in Warwickshire is one for the architecture buffs: it has a RIBA award-winning modern house built into its 16th century fire-damaged ruins (four nights from £1,098; www.landmarktrust.org.uk). Caerhays Castle in Cornwall has famous spring gardens with 600 magnolias. Stay in the Rabbit Warren in the castle’s west wing (from £596 per week; www.caerhays.co.uk). Travel back in time at Warwick Castle with some medieval woodland glamping in the Knight’s Village, between 30 June and 9 September (from £167 per night; www.warwickcastlebreaks.com). Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, the atmospheric former home of the treacherous Mortimers, opens up apartments in Castle House within its outer bailey…

Loch Lomond spa break The luxurious Macdonald Forest Hills Hotel & Spa is offering 3 nights’ b&b and a 25-minute treatment, from £254pp. 01904-717362, www.superbreak.com. Arrive 17 July. Historic Bucharest The RIN Central Hotel is an ideal base to explore the Romanian capital. Four nights from £355pp b&b, including Bristol flights. 020-8588 9513, www.travelinteraction.com.Depart 24 July. Five-star Mexican getaway A 7-night, all-inclusive stay at the award-winning Dreams Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa costs from £819pp, including London flights. 020-3542 8888, www.travelplanners.co.uk. Depart 13 September. Seven nights in Barbados An all-inclusive stay at the Sugar Cane Club Hotel & Spa, with Heywood Beach down the road, costs from £1,498pp, including Manchester flights. 020-3897 1152, www.loveholidays.com. Depart 5 July.…

The World Bank warned that a ramp-up in the pace and scope of tariffs could have “severe consequences” on global trade levels, equivalent to the 2008 financial crisis. Equity markets marched higher, soothed by the improved political situation in Italy and a set of rosy US jobs figures. Business leaders clamouring for the softest possible Brexit found support from Labour, which, in a policy shift, called for “full access” to the single market and for “shared institutions and regulations” with Brussels. The freight and logistics industries accused ministers of having no plan for how their operations would function after March 2019. Recruitment agencies warned that they cannot secure the number of workers needed by British farmers to pick their fruit and vegetables. There was better news on the high street:…

In the cross hairs Last week’s systems failure at Visa, which left many consumers and businesses unable to make or accept payments, will have brought back bad memories for many of TSB’s five million customers, said the FT. Six weeks after the botched transition to an IT platform run by the bank’s new Spanish parent, Sabadell, some are still having trouble accessing accounts. And the incident has proved a bonanza for fraudsters. Police report “a tenfold increase in reports of ‘phishing’ attempts that mention the bank” between April and May. The Financial Conduct Authority has now launched an investigation, amid calls in some quarters for CEO Paul Pester’s resignation. Totally shambolic Given the scandalous way that the “Totally Shambolic Bank” has treated customers, it deserves to have the book thrown…

Howard Schultz The Starbucks executive chairman is stepping down, said the FT – marking the end of a 35-year run during which he turned a 20-person Seattle firm into the world’s largest coffee chain. Next step, US president? Howard Schultz, 64, has hinted strongly that he is thinking of running as the Democratic challenger in 2020. His left-wing views have “deep roots” in his Brooklyn childhood; he grew up on a housing project. But, said Christopher Matthews on Dealbreaker, the idea of a presidential run is madness. Schultz was one of the US’s “most visibly progressive CEOs”, who has offered low-skilled workers educational subsidies and family leave. But his $2.8bn fortune would make him poisonous to the Democrats’ key constituency – the working poor. Schultz has nothing to offer but…

Controversy of the week The battle of Heathrow “In the annals of government procrastination, a special place is reserved for the saga of London’s airport expansion,” said Philip Johnston in The Daily Telegraph. It is almost 50 years since the idea of building a third runway at Heathrow was first seriously proposed. For as long as I can remember, politicians – from Ted Heath to David Cameron – have “hummed and hawed around the London airport question before doing nothing at all”. But now, according to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, the end is in sight. The Cabinet has formally backed the plan to build a new runway at Heathrow northwest of the existing two, increasing take-offs and landings from 480,000 per year to around 740,000. There will be a Commons…

Washington DC Trump’s power: Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has declared that the president “probably” has the power to stop special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into his links with Russia, and that even if Trump shot James Comey, the former FBI director who was in charge of the inquiry, Congress would have to impeach him before he could be prosecuted. The day before, The New York Times had published a leaked letter to Mueller from Trump’s lawyers, in which they argued that, as president, Trump can terminate any judicial inquiry and can even pardon himself. Trump later bragged of his “absolute right” to pardon himself – while noting that he never would, because he had “done nothing wrong”. However, he has said that he may pardon his friend Martha Stewart,…

“Does anyone live a life of quiet despair these days? The question struck me with some force, one Sunday evening last summer, when I found myself on the Leatherhead bypass. These proud detached villas, still with their net curtains and tidy front gardens, were exactly the sort of houses where people sighed in Betjeman’s poems over missing the fun. Brief Encounter territory. But our modern world is one of clamour and din. Everyone is busy shouting into their mobile phones, or chanting the name of Jeremy Corbyn, or sobbing on telly because their cake didn’t rise. Extroverts have taken over. Quiet despair has been all but forgotten, like headscarves or sardine-and-tomato paste.” Cressida Connolly in The Oldie…

Walking back to happiness: it was better then John Rentoul The Independent Remember the good old days, when British politics was all about the future? When Tony Blair and David Cameron presented themselves as modernisers who would pull the country out of the past? When the titles of party manifestos invariably contained the word “forward”? How distant they seem today, says John Rentoul. The two main parties’ leaders are now both decidedly “backward-looking”. What did Theresa May promise at the last election? To bring back hunting and grammar schools; to resuscitate the idea of an “industrial strategy”. Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto was equally full of “bring-backery”: he called for the return of trade union rights, and the renationalisation of the railways and utilities. And if a survey by the Demos think…

The puffin population of the Farne Islands, one of Britain’s most important habitats for the seabird, appears to be falling sharply. The National Trust’s latest five-yearly census of birds on the archipelago, off Northumberland, is still under way, but rangers are calling the initial numbers “concerning”: they have found an average decline of 12%, which would put the population at about 35,000 breeding pairs, down from 39,962 in 2013 and a drop of more than a third from a peak of 55,674 in 2003. In 2015, after a big fall in worldwide numbers, the puffin was given vulnerable status by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It is thought to be struggling because climate change and overfishing are affecting populations of the small fish it feeds on. If the…

Benedict Cumberbatch was hailed as a real-life hero after jumping out of a cab to wrestle four men who were mugging a cyclist in central London. The star’s Uber driver, Manuel Dias, said he only recognised his famous passenger when he suddenly leapt out of the vehicle. “Then it all got a bit surreal,” he said. “Here was Sherlock Holmes fighting off four attackers just round the corner from Baker Street.” He said the men ran away when they recognised the star, who then gave the cyclist a hug. Asked about the incident, Cumberbatch replied: “I did it out of, well, I had to, you know...” George Clooney is recognised wherever he goes – but to some people, he is not the most interesting member of the family. Amal Clooney…

“You can’t stop war being sexy, any more than you can stop sex being sexy.” Photographer Don McCullin, quoted in the FT “Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.” George Orwell, quoted on Slate “A ruffled mind makes for a restless pillow.” Charlotte Brontë, quoted in The Times “Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.” US writer Elbert Hubbard quoted in Forbes “All men are cremated equal.” Spike Milligan, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you never can tell.” Joan Crawford, ibid “Literature isn’t a moral beauty contest.” Philip Roth, quoted in The Guardian “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans…

The French Open is yet another reminder of how British tennis is missing Andy Murray, said Simon Briggs in The Sunday Telegraph. With the Scot still recovering from hip surgery, Britain has struggled at the tournament: for the first time in five years, it has no players in the second week. Johanna Konta, the top British woman, was knocked out in the first round; Kyle Edmund, Britain’s highest-ranked man, lost his third-round tie to Fabio Fognini. Defeated in five sets, the 23-year-old was “short of inspiration or timing”. This was a “missed chance” for Edmund, said Mike Dickson in The Mail on Sunday. But he can still take “plenty of encouragement” from the season so far. In January, he enjoyed his best run in a Grand Slam when he made…

To The Times Alex Massie says that the intellectual case for Scottish independence is “coherent” and “robust” (“Brexit hasn’t put Scots independence to bed”), and can be summed up in the phrase “control must be taken back”. One wonders, then, what the English are supposed to make of the fact that, in the view of the SNP, taking back control involves leaving one union (the UK), but remaining part of another union (the EU)? This is especially puzzling because the union they want to leave is one forged of family ties, a common language and shared history, whereas the one they want to be part of is none of these. One doesn’t necessarily expect nationalism of whatever stripe to be logically consistent, and maybe that isn’t necessary for it to…

L’Amant Double Dir: François Ozon 1hr 48mins (18) Silly but sexy erotic thriller ★★★★ It’s never clear how much François Ozon is “in on the campness” of his latest movie, said Olly Richards in Time Out. But if the aim was to make an erotic thriller “as silly as it is sexy”, then “mission accomplished”. L’Amant Double features a “subtle” performance from Marine Vacth as a troubled woman named Chloé who embarks on an affair with her kindly psychotherapist, Paul (Jérémie Renier). Later she learns he has an identical twin brother, Louis (also Renier), a rival psychotherapist whose unorthodox methods involve a startling amount of S&M. She has an affair with him, too. But when is she with Paul and when is she with Louis? It’s all “shiveringly sexy”, said…

When the Victoria & Albert Museum salvaged a chunk of a half-demolished council estate last year, it hailed its new exhibit as “a real opportunity to maintain conversations about social housing”. But the conversation in Venice, where the V&A has reassembled this three-storey slice of 1970s brutalism for the Architecture Biennale display, has been far from civil. The problem is that the Robin Hood Gardens estate in Poplar, east London, of which the slice was part, is being “redeveloped”, said The Times. As a result, the V&A stands accused of “art-washing”: using art and the prestige of an art gallery’s name to help gentrify a deprived area. The online magazine Mute called the Venice exhibit a “monument to the social cleansing of London”, and it has become a rallying point…

At the single wicket, Susan thinks she’s supporting Shula by being rude about Alistair. By the end of the day, Shula’s fed up with Susan’s “support” and, along with Alistair, asks her to keep out of their business. Fallon decides to make the Tea Room and her wedding plastic-free. Ed admires his Texel ram lamb; Poppy wants to call it Peppa Pig. Robert takes Lynda to the dog shelter where she falls for a Dobermann. Jennifer offers Home Farm as a venue for Ruth’s birthday party, quizzing David on the minutiae of the arrangements. The ram knocks Poppy over and Will worries that this may reflect badly on his parenting; he wants custody of Jake and Mia. Freddie agrees to cover for Lily when she meets Russ, who has told…

Scully St James 4 St James’s Market, London SW1 (020-3911 6840) Ramael Scully was head chef at Nopi for years, says Tim Hayward in the FT. In terms of London grub, that marks him out as “a firebrand young general in the broader revolutionary movement of Ottolenghism, which aims to create global joy” via fearless eclecticism. Now Scully has opened his own “utterly brilliant” place off Haymarket, where he’s creating “brilliant combinations of exotic flavours” that freely mine his own “personal cultural melange” of Chinese/Indian meets Irish/ Balinese meets Australian-raised. Achar, a piccalilli-like raw veg salad in a spiced peanut sauce, “jangled every jaded taste bud to life”. “Forbidden” black rice with a “vegetable XO sauce” is sensational. There’s monkfish with sambal belacan and sothi; there’s halibut with wild…

GoPro HERO6 Black GoPro continues to “reign supreme” in the action camera market, and if you have the budget, you’ll want the HERO6. It’s great quality, waterproof, and controlled by touch screen or voice (£399; www.argos.co.uk) Polaroid Cube+ For those less into extreme sports, and more simply looking to capture their fun moments, the tiny Cube+ will do the trick. It’s simple, but Wi-Fi-enabled and weatherproof (£98; www.amazon.co.uk). Veho Muvi K-2 Pro Unlike a GoPro, the Muvi – already a budget option – ships with a load of accessories, like various mounts and a carry case. Its four-hour battery life is also longer than most competitors’ (£119; www.amazon.co.uk). TomTom Bandit A great shape for strapping onto a helmet, the Bandit is robust, if a little on the heavy side. Its…

Historian and broadcaster who visited Venice 200 times John Julius Norwich 1929-2018 John Julius Norwich, who has died aged 88, called his memoir Trying to Please, and in his long and varied life, he usually “pulled it off”, said The Independent. One of the best-known cultural commentators of his generation, he was a successful popular historian, who also compiled for his friends commonplace books – Christmas Crackers – that were so entertaining they became bestsellers. He made numerous television documentaries, was a stalwart of radio panel games (including the Round Britain Quiz) and chaired various cultural organisations, to which he brought his gifts of “energy, enthusiasm and charm”. Yet he was modest about his talents. Critics of his books sometimes complained that they were unoriginal, even trivial – and he…

Renewed angst in eurozone bond markets has raised questions about the stability of Europe’s banks. Yet arguably the bloc’s most pressing banking problem “isn’t in Italy or the periphery, but at its core”, said Reuters’ Jamie McGeever on Twitter. Shares in Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank, hit a record low last week after two events stateside shook confidence. First came word that the US Federal Reserve had “secretly” put the bank’s American ops on its “troubled” watch list, said Tyler Durden on Zero Hedge. Then Standard & Poor’s cut Deutsche’s credit rating to BBB+, the third lowest investment grade, citing significant “execution risk”. “This is nothing that keeps us awake at night,” shrugged a spokesman, noting that Deutsche has already refinanced successfully this year. Still, it’s a “fresh setback” to…

Last week, some 230 Chinese stocks joined the MSCI emerging-markets share index, opening up a new way to tap potential growth in the world’s second largest economy. China’s $7.4trn stock market has a singular culture, says Bloomberg. Here’s a quick primer. Names matter Investors sometimes buy stocks just because they sound right. They piled into companies with “king” and “emperor” in their names after China moved to let President Xi stay in power indefinitely. And Chuan Da Zhi Sheng, a stock that sounds like the Chinese for “Trump wins big” jumped after the 2016 US presidential election. IPOs are a lottery Stocks tend to surge on the first day of trading: all new listings this year have closed up by the 44% limit. But the odds of getting an allocation…

The week’s best buys Avesoro Resources The Daily Telegraph The gold miner is breaking into profit as costs and debt fall, and output targets come on track. Speculative, but would benefit from a new downturn and more quantitative easing. Buy. 262.5p. De La Rue The Mail on Sunday Despite disappointment over losing out on the blue post-Brexit passport contract, the banknote printer has delivered results that are better than expected. Investec finds “encouraging signs” that investment is generating growth. Buy. 532p. Ediston Property Investment Company The Mail on Sunday Ediston has an expanding £325m portfolio of out-of-town retail parks across Britain. Sites are carefully analysed and managed, and seem to appeal to both store owners and shoppers. Yields 5.2%. Buy. 111p. Shoe Zone Investors Chronicle The discount shoe retailer is…

In this busy world, even Mount Everest is dirty and overcrowded: last week, China revealed that since April, volunteers have cleared 8.5 tonnes of rubbish off the mountain, including 2.3 tonnes of human faeces. Meanwhile, over at the Hay Festival, climber Chris Bonington warned anyone dreaming of reaching the top of the world to “be prepared to stand in a long queue, as you’ll be doing it with about 600 other people”. As part of a stricter uniform policy, Chiltern Edge School in Oxfordshire has said boys can no longer wear shorts; however, boys worried about getting too hot in trousers this summer have been told that they can make use of the school’s gender neutral uniform and wear skirts instead.…

Planning a wonderful death Now 85, Sheila Hancock believes in preparing for the worst, says Jenny Johnston in the Daily Mail. She has worked out where to put the stairlift in her home if her legs give way; she has even chosen the nursing home she wants to go to if she gets dementia: “It’s a marvellous Quaker place in York, state of the art. Everything is immaculate.” It’s also a long way from London, where her daughters live, because she wants to spare them the distress of visiting her. Having nursed two husbands who died from cancer – actors Alec Ross and John Thaw – she knows how painful the decline of a loved one can be. Thaw was in denial about his death – “He was choosing the…

An American televangelist is appealing for help to fund the purchase of a $54m private jet. Jesse Duplantis, a Louisiana-based minister, has already gone through three planes, “burning them up for the Lord Jesus Christ”. But God, it seems, wants him to get a new Dassault Falcon 7X jet. “He said, ‘Jesse, do you want to come up where I’m at?’” Duplantis explained. “And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘I want you to believe in me for a Falcon 7X.’” If Jesus were alive today, Duplantis added, “he wouldn’t be riding a donkey”. Thomas J. Mace-Archer-Mills (pictured) has built up a reputation as a leading expert on the British monarchy, and commented on the Royal wedding for a number of overseas TV channels. But he admitted last…

“Americans are less inclined than ever, it seems, to be fruitful and multiply,” said Jeff Jacoby in The Boston Globe. New figures show that the US birth rate, which has been “on the skids for a decade”, hit the lowest level on record last year, with just 60.2 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age. “That should trouble anyone who hopes that America’s best days are yet to come.” In Japan and other countries, plummeting birth rates have led to economic stagnation and social malaise, with fewer workers to replenish a shrinking labour force and care for the elderly. It’s normal for birth rates to decline during recessions, said Christine Emba in The Washington Post, but “potential parents usually get back to business once the economy rebounds”. Yet there hasn’t…

Scientists have called for iodine to be added to salt in the wake of research suggesting that many pregnant women in the UK aren’t getting enough of the mineral. The nutrient is essential for foetal brain development: maternal iodine deficiency is the leading cause of preventable mental impairment worldwide, and there is evidence that even a mild deficiency can reduce a child’s IQ by two or three points. Although research on iodine levels in the UK is patchy, studies have indicated that at least half of expectant mothers are deficient in it, possibly because many avoid iodine-rich dairy products. “Iodisation of salt has been done in more than 100 countries,” Professor John Lazarus, an endocrinologist at Cardiff University medical school, told The Daily Telegraph. “The UK is one of only…

Who speaks for today’s working class? Not the Labour Party, said Frank Furedi on Spiked: it’s obsessed with identity politics and “seems to find industrial issues boring”. Nor, it appears, the trade unions – not least because they lack the muscle to do so. They’ve been “on life support” since the 1990s and are losing influence by the day. As the Trades Union Congress celebrated its 150th anniversary this week, it emerged that union membership levels among under-30s fell to 15.7% last year, down from 20.1% in 2001. Frances O’Grady, the TUC’s general secretary, admitted the union movement had to “change or die”. Official figures also showed that industrial action is becoming ever rarer. There were only 79 stoppages last year, the lowest figure since records began. It seems paradoxical…

England no longer expects, said Paul Wilson in The Guardian. Not after the last World Cup, where they “crashed out” before the group stage had even concluded; not after Euro 2016, where they were humiliated by Iceland. So disappointing have the national side been in recent years that it’s tempting to conclude they’ve simply “lost the knack of playing well in tournaments”. But last Saturday, in their penultimate friendly before the World Cup, England showed that they are at least heading “in the right direction”, said Sam Wallace in The Sunday Telegraph. Rarely has the side looked “more cohesive” than in the first half of their 2-1 win over Nigeria. In the second half, however, they found themselves “stretched”. Since Gareth Southgate became manager in 2016, he has experimented with…

Tennis Serena Williams pulled out of the French Open ahead of the fourth round because of a pectoral muscle problem. It was her first major in a year, after the birth of her daughter. Second seed Caroline Wozniacki was knocked out in the fourth round by Daria Kasatkina. Racing Masar, ridden by William Buick, won the Derby at Epsom. It had been given odds of 16-1; the favourite, Saxon Warrior, came fourth. Rugby league In the quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup, St Helens beat the holders Hull FC 25-22. They will play Catalans in the semi-finals.…

Best books… Don Jordan Don Jordan, the historical author, whose books include White Cargo (with Michael Walsh), chooses books on human history and the human condition. His latest work, The King’s City, is out in hardback (Little, Brown, £20) Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, c.1320 (Penguin Classics £10.99). Read with a lightness of mind, this solemn medieval religious poem becomes an unintended comic masterpiece. Dante devises hellish torments for those he disdains, asserts his pity for them, then claims Paradise for himself. Maliciously divine comedy indeed. Bruegel: The Complete Paintings, Drawings and Prints by Manfred Sellink, 2007 (out of print). Bruegel the Elder’s characters are 16th century Flemish, yet we know them well. To carry this book under your arm is to carry humanity with you. The Necessity of Art…

Programmes Germaine Bloody Greer Documentary in which Greer looks back at the publication of The Female Eunuch in 1970 and reflects upon the position of women today. Sat 9 June, BBC2 21:00 (60mins) Poldark The fourth series of the acclaimed drama based on Winston Graham’s series of Cornish novels. Ross watches the county suffer under the powerful Warleggans. Sun 10 June, BBC1 21:00 (60mins). Grenfell Filmed during the year following the fire at Grenfell Tower, this documentary draws on hundreds of hours of interviews to hear from those affected by the devastation. Mon 11 June, BBC1 20:30 (90mins). Flowers The first two episodes of the second series of the dark and cinematic comedy-drama starring Olivia Colman and Julian Barratt as the dysfunctional Flowers family. Mon 11 June, C4 22:00 (60mins)…

I especially like the way the sweet and crunchy watermelon balances with the crumbly saltiness of Greek manouri cheese in this salad, while the sharpness of the salsa verde really ties the whole dish together, says Josh Katz of Berber & Q. This is a great summer salad that is both light and fresh Serves 2 as a small main or 4 as a side salad mint salsa verde: 2 tbsps lemon juice ½ tsp Dijon mustard ½ shallot, finely chopped 6-8 pitted green olives, finely chopped 1 anchovy fillet, minced 1 tbsp capers, drained, rinsed…

● Stay away from gas cooking, despite all the claims that it makes barbecuing easy. Gas releases moisture that makes it harder to get a proper sear. Wood chunks will give a much richer flavour. ● In particular, adding fruit wood can create some wonderful, sweet, smoky notes. Try wild cherry, orange or sweet chestnut, but avoid pine and elderflower wood – both let off an acrid smoke that will taint your meat. ● If you’re looking to speed up the process, get a chimney starter – a metal cylinder into which you stack charcoal before lighting it. You’ll have hot coals in five minutes. ● Use a “half-and-half” set-up: charcoal on one half of the grill and none on the other. Char the meat to the right colour over…

Hotel Tresanton, St Mawes, Cornwall When hotelier Olga Polizzi opened Hotel Tresanton 20 years ago, it was “the first truly fashionable boutique seaside hotel”. Two decades on, it still holds its own, says Fiona Duncan in The Sunday Telegraph – at once “effortlessly chic” and “naturally homely”, an “oasis” for toddlers and grannies, “the trendy and the tweedy” alike. Set across five fishermen’s cottages, the 30 bedrooms are “heaven”, with their generous supplies of P.G. Wodehouse books and nautical decor. The seafood in the restaurant is “just right”. And there’s the new Beach Club, carved into the cliff across the road, that’s “straight from the Amalfi Coast”. Doubles from £285 b&b. 01326-270055, tresanton.com .…

Sky/Fox/Comcast/Disney: let battle commence Some 18 months after Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox launched a bid to buy the 61% of Sky it doesn’t already own, the Government has finally given the go-ahead for the merger, said Catherine Neilan in City AM. The condition is that Fox must divest itself of Sky News – to assuage fears over what Culture Secretary Matt Hancock called the “potential erosion” of its editorial independence and the “possibility of an increased influence of the Murdoch Family Trust” on “the UK’s political agenda”. Hancock also waved through a bid for Sky from the US challenger Comcast, thereby “setting up a bidding war”, said Matthew Garrahan in the FT. Fox’s current bid values the pan-European media company at about £18.5bn; Comcast’s competing offer at about £22bn.…

The euro is a recipe for EU discord Andreas Kluth Handelsblatt It’s time pro-Europeans started talking “honestly” about the euro, says Andreas Kluth. A common currency that was supposed to unite has instead succeeded in dividing, as the recent example of Italy has shown. While the south “clamours for stimulus”, Germany fears a “transfer union” in which “northern money permanently subsidises bad loans and fiscal licentiousness”. No matter what the short-term fudges, these approaches can never be reconciled in the long run, and they perpetuate the worst national stereotypes of “lazy Italians” and “ugly Germans”. The time has come for supporters of the European idea “to contemplate loosening, and even shrinking, the eurozone”. Integration in other areas – security, foreign policy – should proceed. But any country that so decides…