Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1189 i The Week

What happened Tories at war over Boris Britain’s largest Islamic organisation wrote to Theresa May this week urging her to launch an independent inquiry into the Tories’ “underbelly of Islamophobia”. The Muslim Council of Britain said there had been a spike in racist attacks since Boris Johnson’s newspaper column a week ago, in which he wrote that veiled Muslim women resembled “letter boxes” and “bank robbers”. “No one should be allowed to victimise minorities with impunity,” said the group, insisting that there should be no “whitewashing” of the disciplinary investigation into Johnson. The burqa row sparked a new round of Tory infighting. Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, condemned Johnson’s “gratuitously offensive” comments, while former attorney general Dominic Grieve said he would leave the party if Johnson ever became leader.…

Ben Stokes, who was found not guilty of affray after a six-day trial. The England cricketer had been arrested after a brawl near a nightclub during which he knocked a man unconscious. Marie Curie, who was named as the woman with the greatest impact on the world in a survey for BBC History magazine. Rosa Parks came second and Emmeline Pankhurst third. Rubber gloves, which have become fashion items. A pink pair designed by Raf Simons are in Calvin Klein’s current collection, at £385; Chanel and Prada have also featured them.…

The Tories have taken a four-point lead over Labour, with the parties now at 39% and 35% respectively. In the previous week’s poll, the parties were level at 38%. YouGov/Daily Mail Half of UK adults would not seek medical help if they found a potential symptom of cancer. 25% would be too afraid of what may be found, and 21% would worry they were wasting the doctor’s time. Populus/The Guardian 112 of the 632 Westminster parliamentary seats in England, Scotland and Wales have switched their support from Leave to Remain since the EU referendum, an analysis of YouGov polls has found. 53% of seats now support Remain and 47% Leave. Focaldata/The Observer…

Sarmada, Syria Massive blast: At least 67 people were killed, including many women and children, on Sunday in a massive explosion in the rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib, which levelled two five-storey residential buildings. More than 50 of the dead were civilians, many of them displaced people from the central province of Homs. The others were members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a jihadist group linked to al-Qa’eda that is now the main armed opposition group in Idlib. It is not yet clear what caused the blast, in a building apparently being used to store arms in the town of Sarmada. The city of Idlib and its surrounding region is the only major population centre that remains in rebel hands. Separately, it was reported that President Assad’s British-born wife, Asma, is…

The Royal Oak in Ulley, South Yorkshire, has been dubbed “Britain’s strictest pub”, after it emerged that punters wearing trainers, jogging bottoms, baseball caps, vest tops or high-vis workwear are not welcome. Motorbikes and mopeds are also banned at the pub, as is sitting on the 3ft wall outside it, while children aren’t allowed after 7pm. Rumours suggest that the new rules come right from the top of Samuel Smith Brewery. Its eccentric owner, Humphrey Smith, 73, last year banned swearing in all 300 of his pubs. A pet parrot stranded on a roof greeted firefighters who came to rescue it by telling them to “f*** off”. The fire brigade was called after Jessie the macaw spent three days perched on a house roof in Edmonton, north London. Its owner…

GERMANY We need our own nuclear deterrent – fast Die Welt (Berlin) For the first time since 1949, Germany can no longer count on America’s nuclear shield, says Christian Hacke. Germany, once a close US ally, now seems to be Donald Trump’s “arch enemy”, and America’s resentful isolationism looks set to persist, as it did between the two World Wars. This sudden reversal couldn’t come at a worse time. China and, more worryingly still, Russia, are flexing their muscles, while Germany’s own armed forces are in a state of catastrophic neglect. Only four of its 128 Eurofighter jets, it was recently revealed, are actually operational. “Nothing flies, nothing floats, nothing runs.” Germany, then, needs a nuclear deterrent, and fast. Some have argued that we could co-finance the French and British…

Is our reliance on antidepressants putting starlings off their song? About 65 million prescriptions for antidepressants are made out in the UK every year, and once the drugs pass through the human body, they often end up in sewage treatment plants or waterways. Worms, flies and maggots – a common food for many birds, including starlings – living around these places have been found to contain traces of various drugs, including antidepressants. After measuring levels of fluoxetine (or Prozac) at the plants, researchers from the University of York fed similar amounts to captured starlings and observed their behaviour. Males sang considerably less to females that had ingested the drug, and were more aggressive towards them – irrespective of whether they themselves had taken it. Although the researchers don’t know what…

President Trump wanted to be sworn in on a copy of his book The Art of the Deal rather than the Bible, claims a former aide – as he thought it “the greatest business book of all time”, and because he hoped to boost its sales. Omarosa Manigault Newman also recalls him eating a document after a meeting with Michael Cohen, then his lawyer: “Since Trump was ever the germophobe, I was shocked... It must have been something very, very sensitive.” Meanwhile, Kathleen Turner has described what it’s like to meet Trump. “He goes to shake your hand and his index finger kind of rubs the inside of your wrist,” says the actress. “He’s trying to do some kind of seductive move. You pull your hand away and go ‘yuck’.”…

For the second major in a row, Tiger Woods came tantalisingly close to victory, only to fall at the last hurdle, said Rick Broadbent in The Times. But the US PGA Championship got “the worthiest of winners”. In the face of enormous pressure, Brooks Koepka prevailed on Sunday to triumph by two shots. The 28-year-old American is now one of only five players – Woods and Jack Nicklaus among them – to win the US Open and the US PGA in the same year. And his achievement is all the more impressive because it was only in May that he made his comeback from a partially torn wrist tendon. In an era when no single golfer has been able to dominate, Koepka has claimed three of the past six majors…

To The Times Boris Johnson should not apologise for telling the truth. His analogy is unfortunate, but he is justified in reminding everyone that the Wahhabi/Salafi-inspired fad of female facial masking has no Koranic legitimacy. It is, however, a nefarious component of a trendy gateway theology for religious extremism and militant Islam. The burqa and niqab are hideous tribal ninja-like garments that are pre-Islamic, non-Koranic and therefore un-Muslim. Although this deliberate identity-concealing contraption is banned at the Kaaba in Mecca, it is permitted in Britain, thus precipitating security risks, accelerating vitamin D deficiency, endorsing gender inequality and inhibiting cohesion. The retrogressive Islamic clergy has succeeded in persuading ill-informed Muslims through suspect secondary sources that God wants women to cover their faces, when in reality it is a toxic patriarchy controlling…

The Negotiator Dir: Brad Anderson 1hr 47mins (15) Jon Hamm excels in this intelligent thriller ★★★ The central appeal of the television series Mad Men, in which Jon Hamm played lantern-jawed adman Don Draper, was the sight of the alpha male under pressure, said Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph. This new political thriller provides us with that engrossing spectacle at feature length. Hamm plays Mason Skiles, a heavy-drinking former diplomat drafted by the US government to thrash out a high-stakes hostage dispute in 1980s Beirut. Rosamund Pike is his steely “handler” whose role is to “stir up a bit of alpha vigour in this fortysomething washout”. The script by Tony Gilroy, who wrote the Bourne films, balances political nous with brisk storytelling, said Ed Potton in The Times. Yet…

Easter Island’s indigenous people want the British Museum to return a moai statue that was taken from them and brought to Britain 150 years ago. The 2.4-metre-tall Hoa Hakananai’a was allegedly removed by Richard Powell, HMS Topaze’s captain, in 1868 and given to Queen Victoria as a gift, says Izzy Lyons in The Daily Telegraph. Now the Rapa Nui, the island’s indigenous inhabitants, have asked the Chilean government to help them recover the statue, which they think emits a mana – a spiritual force protecting their tribe. Of the 900 or so giant humanoid statues on the island, most were carved from volcanic ash; Hoa Hakananai’a, which means “the lost or stolen friend”, is unique, because it was made from basalt. The museum said that it had, as yet, received…

Programmes Dwarfs in Art: A New Perspective Presented by film-maker Richard Butchins, this documentary looks at the lives of dwarfs over the centuries through their depiction in culture. Mon 20 Aug, BBC4 21:00 (60mins). My Asian Family – The Musical This film uses song and dance to tell the story of the Thakrars, who arrived in Britain from Uganda in the 1970s. Wed 22 Aug, BBC4 22:00 (60mins). How to Lose Seven Billion Pounds Liam Halligan investigates the collapse of Carillion, the UK’s second largest construction firm. Wed 22 Aug, Channel 4 22:30 (65mins). Inside the Court of Appeal Documentary following three cases to their conclusion, offering a close look at killers, lawyers and victims. Thur 23 Aug, ITV1 21:00 (60mins). Grayson Perry: Rites of Passage In this new series,…

Watermelon and beetroot with “miso wow” sauce Serves 4 1-2 Chioggia beetroot, peeled, thinly sliced and cut to bite-sized triangle pieces 200g watermelon flesh, cut into bite-sized triangle pieces “miso wow sauce”: 1 tbsp red miso paste (aka miso) or brown rice miso paste (genmai) 1 tsp drained capers 1 tbsp shoyu soy or tamari sauce 1 tsp lemon juice ¼ tsp honey or agave syrup 2 tbsps nutritional yeast or grated Parmesan 100ml water 1 tsp kuzu (optional) ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper 100g mayonnaise or crème fraîche 1 tbsp microgreens, such as red-vein sorrel leaves and shiso leaves, or delicate herbs, such as baby basil leaves, to serve 1 tsp black sesame seeds, to serve • Sauce: put all ingredients except the mayonnaise…

Auto Express Kia may finally have produced a capable alternative to the reigning family hatchbacks: the VW Golf and the Ford Focus. In its third generation, the Ceed is more sophisticated and the quality is better all round. Even its name – formerly Cee’d – no longer includes a bizarrely placed apostrophe. Given Kia’s market-leading seven-year warranty, and a price that undercuts its rivals, this car is a practical choice. The Daily Telegraph The Ceed’s design is “far from outstanding”, though. Everything is neat and tidy, and the impressive 395-litre boot is big enough for a family’s luggage. The materials are posher and the cabin is spacious, but it’s still “unremittingly grey and unexciting” – which is not helped by the chromium trim. The new touchscreen also looks like an…

Cow Hollow Hotel, Manchester “Once a ragbag of sex shops” and rough music venues, Manchester’s Northern Quarter has traded its “edgy” appeal for “empty gentrification”, says Tony Naylor in The Guardian. So this “chic” yet “easy-going” 16-bed warehouse conversion is a real “find”. The renovation “makes fantastic use of the building’s industrial heritage”, softened with “diverting art and interesting decorative objects”. Bedrooms have “luxurious touches” with “handsome stone-clad bathrooms”, free prosecco and nibbles, plus “complimentary milk and cookies before bed”. It’s just a shame that the “grab ’n’ go” breakfast is a bit “disappointing”. Doubles from £99 B&B. 0161-228 7277, www.cowhollow.co.uk .…

“His final years were marked by an epic spat with his former travelling companion, Paul Theroux” V.S. Naipaul 1932-2018 V.S. Naipaul, who has died aged 85, was “often cited as the greatest living writer in the English language”, said The Daily Telegraph. A master storyteller with a unique grasp of style and structure, the author won almost every literary prize going, including the Nobel. His work – which explored Caribbean life, the themes of exile and self-determination, and the disintegration of post-colonial societies – was hailed around the world for its piercing insight and subtle comedy. Yet Naipaul’s undeniable talent for writing was matched by his almost preternatural ability to get up people’s noses. Irascible and curmudgeonly, he took great pleasure in offending anyone and everyone, be it female writers…

Financial markets were said to be facing their most serious crisis since the global crash a decade ago as turmoil in Turkey threatened to engulf other emerging markets. The Turkish lira lost a fifth of its value last week after the US announced new tariffs against Turkey, prompting stock markets globally to fall. Further sharp falls in the currency on Monday caused vulnerable currencies, from the Russian rouble to the Indonesian rupiah, to shudder as traders warned of a “textbook currency crisis”. A measure of calm was restored on signs that contagion from the crisis was easing. But Turkey vowed to continue its “economic war” against the US, announcing tariffs on US cars, alcohol and cigarettes. New UK growth figures showed that the economy bounced back in the second quarter,…

On the ball “Football clubs were once notorious for being poor investments,” said Miles Johnson in the FT. But that “received wisdom” is looking increasingly wrong. Thanks to ballooning broadcast revenues, shares in some publicly quoted European teams have beaten the wider market handsomely over five years. Leading the pack is the Italian club Juventus, whose shares have jumped “almost fourfold” in the period. Arsenal’s value has doubled, and Scotland’s Celtic and Portugal’s Porto have also performed strongly. By contrast, Manchester United shares, which are listed in New York, have generated only “a small return”. That looks like a buying opportunity, says UK fund manager Nick Train, who has lifted his holding, arguing that “sports franchises with global appeal” can only benefit from the “aggressive” battle for content between rival…

Michael Murray The takeover of House of Fraser could mean “another step up” for Mike Ashley’s future son-in-law, who currently glories in the title “head of elevation” at Sports Direct, says Sarah Butler in The Observer. Michael Murray, 28, who has run the group’s property portfolio since 2015, is likely to be at the forefront of cutting deals with landlords – and in attracting luxury brands. His mission to make Sports Direct “the Selfridges of sport” fits nicely with Ashley’s dream of creating “the Harrods of the high street”. Originally from Doncaster, where his father has big property interests, Murray ran festivals and bought two bars while a student. But “arguably the biggest boost to his career” was meeting Ashley’s daughter Anna in 2011. Stan Kroenke Victory at last for…

Controversy of the week Death on the high street I “felt a pang” last week on hearing that House of Fraser had gone into administration, and would be rescued by Mike Ashley, the billionaire owner of Sports Direct, said Jenny McCartney in The Sunday Times. Ashley snapped up all 59 of House of Fraser’s department stores and its stock for £90m. Any kind of rescue is good for the chain’s 16,000 staff, I suppose, but “what a sign of the times”: it’s like hearing that your “genteel great aunt” has signed her house over to a “ruthless local businessman”. A “chill wind” is blowing through the high street, and department stores are particularly vulnerable: BHS has disappeared, and Marks & Spencer and Debenhams are closing stores. So far this year,…

Cornwall, after the local tourist authority asked visitors to stay away from two of its beaches. Kynance Cove and Porthcurno have become so popular since being featured in the BBC’s Poldark that the roads leading to them are often gridlocked. Rail travellers, with the news that fares will rise by 3.2% next year despite this summer’s disruptions. Which? has found that only car dealerships are trusted less than rail companies. Kangaroos, after farmers whose pastures they have been grazing during Australia’s continuing drought were given greater powers to shoot them (see page 9). Kangaroo experts described the move as “the worst possible outcome”. Devon County Council, whose head of education sent a penalty notice containing seven spelling mistakes to a parent who had taken his son out of school for…

Paris Honour, and money: An aristocrat has asked for s351m in damages from the French state for allegedly depriving his family of the throne of Monaco. The dispute dates from the early 1900s, when Prince Louis II, of the House of Grimaldi, had no legitimate heirs, meaning that the throne ought to have passed to a German cousin, Karl, the Second Duke of Urach. Instead, under pressure from France – which feared the principality falling into German hands – Louis changed the laws of succession in 1911 and adopted his illegitimate daughter, Charlotte. Her son eventually succeeded to the throne in 1949 as Rainier III (the current king, Albert II, is Rainier’s son). Count Louis de Causans, 44, a French citizen who lives in Paris, is a relative of the…

Harari’s big questions Yuval Noah Harari grew up in the most polluted place in Israel, says David Aaronovitch in The Times: the town of Kiryat Ata, next to a large petrochemical plant. “We would drive to my grandmother’s in Jerusalem,” remembers the author of the bestselling Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, “and on the way back we could tell from the smell we were approaching home.” His school, by contrast, was on the airy heights of Mount Carmel – but he hated it. “We were pressured to excel. The kids were merciless to one another. Every year, they tried to get some girls in, and every year they ran away very quickly: they understood what was happening there.” He was a gloomy student, convinced that the world didn’t make…

Since the 1980s, used clothing has flooded into nations such as Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. Clothes are exported in bales and bought by wholesalers; they are then sold in markets across these countries, in very large volumes. In Uganda, it was estimated that cast-offs accounted for 80% of all clothing purchases in 2015. But obroni wawu – dead white men’s clothes, as they are known in Ghana – arouse decidedly mixed feelings. “It is killing our culture,” says the Ghanaian historian Osei-Bonsu Safo Kantanka. “If there was no obroni wawu, a lot of people would turn to the local type of dress.” And there is evidence that local textile industries have been severely affected, too. One 2006 study from Germany found that Ghana had suffered…

A mega-donor turns on the president Jim Geraghty National Review President Trump and the highly influential Republican mega-donor Charles Koch were never more than “allies of convenience”, says Jim Geraghty, and now they’re headed for an angry divorce. Koch, who is worth about $50bn, did not support either Trump or Hillary Clinton in the presidential race, likening it to a choice between “cancer or a heart attack”. He and his now-retired brother David have always been more committed to free markets and other libertarian principles than the Republican Party itself, and were appalled when the Trump administration ran up a near-$1trn deficit, and “charged full speed ahead on tariffs and trade wars”. As a result, the Koch donor network has just announced that it won’t back Republican congressional candidates who…

Superdrug will soon stock HIV self-testing kits, making it the first big high-street retailer in the UK to do so, reports The Guardian. The BioSURE HIV Self Test, which will be sold for £33.99, has a 99.7% accuracy rate, and uses a small amount of blood from a finger-prick sample to give a result in 15 minutes. It was legally approved for sale in the UK in 2015, but until now hasn’t been available on the high street. While HIV has become much more manageable in recent years, it is estimated that one in eight people with the virus in Britain remain undiagnosed – a total of about 10,000. Superdrug’s move was welcomed by the Terrence Higgins Trust, which said it should increase early diagnosis rates. The charity’s health improvement…

“Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.” Albert Einstein, quoted on InvestingDaily.com “Patriarchy is putting Jane Austen on £10 notes the same time as bringing in contactless.” Comedian Athena Kugblenu, quoted in The Guardian “Opinion columns were designed by God to have the same lifespan as a croissant.” Alexander Cockburn, quoted on The Browser “Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.” James Baldwin, quoted in Forbes “As long as one lives, one can learn.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg, quoted in The New York Times “Only the educated are free.” Epictetus, quoted on WNCT.com “People who love to eat are always the best people.” Julia Child, quoted in the…

Football In the opening weekend of the Premier League season, Manchester City beat Arsenal 2-0. Liverpool beat West Ham 4-0. Manchester United beat Leicester 2-1. Tennis In the Rogers Cup, Rafael Nadal took the men’s singles title with a win against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Simona Halep won the women’s event with a victory over Sloane Stephens. Athletics Jakob Ingebrigtsen, a 17-year-old Norwegian, became the first athlete to win the 1,500m and 5,000m in the same European Championships.…

And the prize for worst ever Oscars category goes to… the new one announced last week by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said Tim Robey in The Daily Telegraph. Next year, a prize will be awarded for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film. The news was met with outrage by many in the industry. For some, it was pure snobbery: by shunting blockbusters into the “popular” category, the academy will ensure terrific films such as Black Panther will never win best picture. For others, it was dumbing down. “Blockbusters already have their rewards,” opined Ryan Gilbey in The Guardian. “It’s called money.” Let’s not forget: the first Oscars ceremony, in 1929, gave two best picture awards – one for Outstanding Picture and another for Best Unique and Artistic…

Best books… Stig Abell Stig Abell, the editor of The Times Literary Supplement and presenter on Front Row on Radio 4, chooses his favourites. His first book, How Britain Really Works, is published by John Murray at £20 American Tabloid by James Ellroy, 1995 (Windmill £9.99). The moment Ellroy went from genre writer to supreme stylist: a viciously, viscerally violent portrayal of the Kennedy assassination. It’s a conspiracy theory that makes all too much sense. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, 1932 (Penguin £7.99). I had somehow lived 38 years without reading this. On one level, it is a sophisticated parody of British provincial novels, on another, a fabulously written wish-fulfilment tale of what happens when impoverished society girl Flora Poste sets out to “fix” the lives of her rural…

There’s never been a better summer to dive into beaujolais, says Jane MacQuitty in The Times. It’s the perfect red for a warm day (taking nicely to a ten-minute dip in the ice bucket), and the quality of the 2016 wines now widely available on the high street has never been higher. At the lower end, the 2016 Tesco Beaujolais-Villages (£7) is a “terrific” red cherry, easy-swigging beaujolais. At Morrison’s, Georges Duboeuf’s 2016 Juliénas (£8) has a “rich, hibiscus pizzazz”. From Sainsbury’s, the “light, juicy, red plum-packed” 2016 Taste the Difference Beaujolais-Villages, Coteaux Granitiques (£9) is great value – as is the “delicate but elegant, floral” 2016 Beaujolais-Lantignié, Louis Jadot (£11.99; Majestic Wine). Up a notch or two in price, 2016 Château des Jacques, Moulin-à-Vent (£13.50; Sainsbury’s) is rich and…

Vitamix® Ascent Series A3500i Much more than a blender, this cooks as well, so you can make anything from hot soup to ice cream. It’s expensive but durable, and comes with a ten-year warranty (£675; www.vitamix.com). Magimix 5200XL Premium This model can do just about everything you might think of: it blends, slices, chops, grates, whisks and whips. It even holds three different-sized bowls so you can carry out several tasks at the same time (£400; www.johnlewis.com). Andrew James Food Processor with Blender A versatile budget model that comes with seven different attachments as well as a 2-litre processing bowl and a 1.8-litre blending jug to use on the same base (£42; www.andrewjamesworldwide.com). KitchenAid 3.1L This “workhorse” processor with a retro design and large volume has two speeds, three feeding…

Bulgaria’s second city Just like Rome, Plovdiv was “built on seven hills”, says Anita Isalska in The Independent. And here, you’ll also find plenty of impressive Roman ruins. Its second century Roman theatre, which once seated audiences of 6,000, is one of the “world’s best preserved”. Today, after “painstaking restoration”, it is once again hosting performances: it is a focal point of the city’s annual opera festival. The nearby Roman Stadium is another highlight, but there’s more to Plovdiv than ruins: it has “all the right ingredients for a city break”. The Old Town, with its cobbled streets and “charming” 19th century buildings, has “never looked better”, with a “lively” atmosphere and lovely National Revival-era museums. Best of all, “prices are still low and the crowds haven’t yet arrived”. Ryanair…

On academia “Bogus students taking bogus courses in bogus writing. I would take poison rather than do this for a living.” On E.M. Forster’s India “He just knew a few middle-class Indians and the garden boys whom he wished to seduce.” On Salman Rushdie’s fatwa “An extreme form of literary criticism.” On multiculturalism “It’s all absurd, you know. I think if a man picks himself up and comes to another country, he must meet it halfway.” On life “The melancholy thing about the world is that it is full of stupid people; and the world is run for the benefit of the stupid and common.” On family “I love solitude, I love space, I love privacy. That’s why I was determined never to have…

Was Tesla founder Elon Musk “winging it” when he tweeted that he may take the New York-listed carmaker private for $70bn, “with funding secured”. Judging by the hand he showed this week, very possibly, said The New York Times. On the basis of “past discussions” and “a meeting this year”, Musk seems convinced that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, PIF, will back a bid to delist Tesla in one of the largest private buyouts yet seen. But while the Saudis have indeed built a stake of almost 5% in the carmaker, both they, and Tesla’s own “blindsided” board, seemed unprepared for the scale of his announcement – suggesting that Musk’s definition of “secured” rather “differs from everyone else’s”. A lot could ride on that, said Tabby Kinder in The Times.…

Accounts for apprentices The banks, it seems, have finally woken up to the idea that not all school leavers go directly into full-time jobs or degree courses. Both Santander and HSBC have extended their student accounts to include apprentices – though Santander only covers those classed “level 4” or above (i.e. equivalent to a degree). Overdrafts Fee-free overdrafts feature in most student accounts, but they are not always what they seem. “Every bank advertising the freebie talks about ‘arranged’ overdrafts, meaning you risk being charged if you dip into the overdraft without the bank’s approval.” The fines can be punishing. NatWest and RBS charge up to £72 a month. Challenger banks Although none of the so-called challengers offer student accounts, their digital-only services are appealing to the smartphone generation. Mobile-only…

“At least part of the excitement came from the fruit’s spiked form, which sent Europeans into rapture” “There is no nobler fruit in the universe,” Jean de Léry wrote of the pineapple. Charles Lamb loved the fruit erotically: “Pleasure bordering on pain, from the fierceness and insanity of her relish, like a lover’s kisses she biteth.” Pieter de la Court professed: “One can never be tire’d with looking on it.” How did these men, and so many others, become so enraptured with the pineapple? And how have we forgotten its former grandeur? When Christopher Columbus was returning from his second voyage to the Americas in 1496, he brought back a consignment of pineapples. Little did he know that this golden gift, nestled among the tame parrots, tomatoes, tobacco and pumpkins,…

Last year, for the first time, Humanist Society Scotland married more people than the Church of Scotland. While humanist ceremonies, classified as “non-religious belief ceremonies”, are not legally recognised in England, celebrants have been allowed to carry them out in Scotland since 2005. Students are increasingly abandoning lives of late-night revelry and requesting quiet or alcohol-free accommodation, leading universities report. Last year, Cardiff University filled all 150 of its “quiet living” rooms, while the University of Manchester provides “lifestyle moderated” halls, which provide an “alternative lifestyle” to the “usual undergraduate experience... in respect of alcohol, parties and noise etc.”.…

In a suspected terrorist incident, a car drove at pedestrians and cyclists outside Parliament on Tuesday morning, injuring three. The silver hatchback driven by Salih Khater, a 29-year-old Birmingham shop manager, hit people waiting at traffic lights before crashing into a barrier. The car was then surrounded by armed police and the suspect taken into custody. Two people were treated in hospital and discharged, and a third was treated at the scene. Police said the act appeared deliberate, and searched properties in Birmingham and Nottingham. Khater, a British citizen originally from Sudan, is not thought to be known to counterterrorism police and is not cooperating with officials.…

Seattle, Washington Fatal aeroplane “joyride”: A 29-year-old worker at Seattle airport stole an empty commercial plane last Friday and took it for a 75-minute flight – travelling perilously close to densely populated areas and performing dangerous manoeuvres including barrel rolls – before crashing onto a small island, killing only himself. Richard Russell was not a trained pilot: his duties at the airport included handling luggage and cleaning out planes, as well as towing, de-icing and directing them towards runways and gates. However, in a running conversation with air control during the flight, he claimed he had picked up enough from video games to work out how to fly the Bombardier Q400. Paul Pastor, the Pierce County sheriff, said that the episode appeared to be “a joyride gone terribly wrong”, noting…

“It was an age-old custom that brought innocent pleasure to millions of British people, year after year. Yet now, it seems, it’s gone for ever. Remember the silly season? Every August, politicians would leave us all in peace and we’d have a blissful month of light-hearted non-news. We’d read about runaway cows (2011) and killer chipmunks (2009). Today, the misery never ends. One side is furiously denouncing the other for anti-Semitism, while being furiously denounced for Islamophobia. Silly things just don’t get noticed. Last week a man was charged for ‘taking an untethered pig into Norwich city centre’. In a healthy society, that story would have led every bulletin.” Michael Deacon in The Daily Telegraph…

Donating organs should remain a gift Dominic Lawson The Sunday Times The Government received rare praise across the board last week when it announced plans for a new system of organ donation, says Dominic Lawson. Under the new “opt-out” policy, it will be presumed that any organs in the bodies of the brain-dead will be available for transplant, unless the person has stated otherwise. This seems sensible, but evidence suggests it may actually “have a negative effect”. Currently, many donated organs come not from those on a register, but from those whose family has given consent because their preferences were not known. In this sense, the new system changes little. But the “sting” is that it will provoke large numbers of people, who object to “the state having assumed rights…

Ethnicity and dementia Black people in Britain are much likelier to develop dementia than white people and Asians, scientists have found. The research, led by University College London, is the first nationwide study into how the condition affects different ethnic groups in the UK, analysing data on more than 2.5 million people, including 66,000 diagnosed with dementia. Diagnosed cases were 28% higher for black than white men, and 25% higher for black than white women. But Asian women and men were 18% and 12% less likely to be diagnosed with the disease than white women and men. The researchers believe both genes and environment account for the raised incidence among black people: previous studies have suggested that a gene associated with dementia is more prevalent among black ethnic groups; and…

Jeremy Corbyn: honouring terrorists? “In one picture, he holds a memorial wreath,” said the Daily Mail. In another, Jeremy Corbyn’s head is bowed and his hands are upturned, apparently in prayer. The photos were taken only four years ago, when Corbyn attended a ceremony in Tunis that honoured, among others, Salah Khalaf, an alleged mastermind of Black September, the Palestinian terrorist group that killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Olympics. “Even for a man with a long history of apologising for terror, who cosied up to the IRA and called Hamas his ‘friends’, this is a sickening new low.” Corbyn’s explanation was that he had been at the event only to commemorate the 47 people killed in an Israeli air strike on a Palestinian Liberation Organisation…

Dina Asher-Smith: the best sprinter on the planet? Last week, “British sprinting entered uncharted territory”, said Ben Bloom in The Sunday Telegraph. At the European Championships in Berlin, Dina Asher-Smith triumphed in both the 100 metres and the 200 metres, “destroying everyone who dared stand in her path”. Then, on Sunday night, the 22-year-old from south London rescued the 4x100-metre relay team to secure a third gold medal. The first British runner to win a sprint treble at a major championships, “she is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best sprinter anywhere on the planet right now”. Asher-Smith’s British-record times in both the 100m and 200m – 10.85 seconds and 21.89 seconds respectively – were the fastest in the world this year. “She may yet become the first British…

In defence of offence To The Times As a lifelong beneficiary of the freedom to make jokes about religion, I do think that Boris Johnson’s joke about wearers of the burqa resembling letter boxes is a pretty good one. An almost perfect visual simile and a joke that, whether Johnson apologises for it or not, will stay in the public consciousness for some time to come. All jokes about religion cause offence, so it’s pointless apologising for them. You should really only apologise for a bad joke. On that basis, no apology is required. Rowan Atkinson, London Religious equality To The Daily Telegraph If Johnson had made an equally “light-hearted” reference to the appearance of, say, an Orthodox Jew, I wonder what the reaction would have been. John Newman, Hinckley,…

The term “magic realism” is normally associated with Latin American literature, but in fact it was first coined to describe a style of visual art that emerged in Germany between the Wars, said Nancy Durrant in The Times. At the time, artists such as Otto Dix, George Grosz and Max Beckmann – many of them war veterans – were creating work that kept one foot in the real world, but which also showed how reality had been warped by “the chaotic politics and economic hardship of the era”. As this free-to-enter exhibition at Tate Modern demonstrates, the style was not much concerned with beauty. Instead, it bared “the scars of war”, depicting the physically and mentally “disfigured” character of post-armistice Germany. The show charts the period fromv the end of…

Following his arrest, Freddie is interviewed by the police. He insists it was the first time he offered someone drugs. Later, he owns up to Elizabeth about Ellis, and Noluthando’s overdose. Kate discovers that Freddie gave Noluthando the pill. She doesn’t want him to speak to Noluthando again. Elizabeth learns that their alcohol licence has been suspended because of Freddie’s dealing. Before Lexi flies to Bulgaria, she tells Ian she’ll return for the next transfer. She has an emotional parting with Roy. Robin offers Toby the family engagement ring, but Toby insists he isn’t the right guy for Pip. Shula discovers that Alistair has been gambling again. The whole village now knows about his past gambling addiction. Shula no longer trusts him and decides to hire a divorce lawyer. In…

The Purefoy Arms Preston Candover, Hampshire (01256-389514) This nicely done-over pub – “buffed to a shine, with a big beer garden out the back” – in a pretty Hampshire village makes such a virtue of being dog-friendly, they even serve honey-and-banana “doggy ice cream”, says Michael Deacon in The Daily Telegraph. I hadn’t realised dogs had such sophisticated palates – do the canine punters like it? “Well,” said the barmaid, “we haven’t had any complaints.” Turns out they know how to feed humans, too. The Purefoy is run by Gordon Stott, last year’s winner of UK Pub Chef of the Year, and his new place takes food “very seriously, while still managing to be unpretentious, relaxed and friendly”. There are two six-course tasting menus (one meat, one veggie) if…

Tips of the week… how and when to haggle ● When selling your house, try negotiating your estate agent’s rate. Getting from 1.25% to 1% could save you well over £1,000. ● If you never switch household bill providers, you’re unlikely to be on the best available rate. Look for deals elsewhere and then call your company and negotiate. ● The same goes for mobile phones. Once you’ve paid off the handset through a fixed contract, you should be able to pay less. Find the best price elsewhere, and tell your provider you’ll switch unless they match it. ● A junior member of staff may not have the flexibility to offer discounts. Ask to speak to a supervisor, or the retention team, if you’re negotiating for a service. ● Offer…

Majestic Nile cruise See the splendour of ancient Egypt from a luxurious cruise ship. 7 nights full-board from £1,699pp, including London flights. 020-7887 2772, www.secretescapes.com. Depart 17 September. Sensational Snowdonia Revel in the Welsh landscape on a 3-night guided walking tour. Full-board National Trust accommodation, from £309pp. 0345-470 8558, www.hfholidays.co.uk.Depart 31 August. Autumn colours tour A 14-day adventure by rail and sea in New York, Canada and New England. From 2,899pp, including 22 meals and London flights. 01858-897278, www.travelsphere.co.uk.Depart 16 September. Contemporary Corsica The modern La Pinède villa sleeps up to 6 and is a short walk from Calvi bay. Stay 7 nights from £1,837pp, including flights. 020-3740 4672, www.simpsontravel.com. Depart 9 September.…

Bayer/Monsanto: killer blow Shares in the German pharma Bayer have plunged following a landmark “weedkiller cancer ruling” against Monsanto, the US agricultural giant that it bought in 2016, said Will Martin on Business Insider. Investors, who knocked 11% off the shares on Monday, are anxious that the ruling in favour of a school groundsman could prompt an avalanche of similar claims by users of Roundup and Ranger Pro, which both contain the allegedly carcinogenic chemical glyphosate. When Bayer bought Monsanto for $66bn in 2016, environmentalists dubbed it a “marriage made in hell”. The US firm, renowned for pioneering genetically modified crops, was vilified in the 1960s when its deadly herbicide, Agent Orange, was deployed in the Vietnam War. The risk now for Bayer is that farmers shun both Monsanto and…

The fat cats’ pay packets fill up again Nils Pratley The Guardian “Normal service” has been restored for “members of the FTSE 100 chief executive club”, says Nils Pratley. After suffering a “shocking” 12% pay fall in 2016, they enjoyed a collective 11% pay rise last year, with the average boss pocketing £3.9m, according to the High Pay Centre’s annual tally. The report’s compilers “sound surprised by their numbers”; they’d been expecting “greater downward pressure”. But any “real government pressure” to curb pay “evaporated as soon as Theresa May abandoned her tough talk about putting workers on boards”. From 2020, the publication of pay ratios will be mandatory, but many companies may simply “baffle outsiders” with the complexity of their remuneration reports. “That leaves shareholders to apply the brake.” The…