Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1198 i The Week

What happened May’s Brexit impasse Theresa May headed to Brussels on Wednesday for what had been billed as a decisive Brexit summit, with the UK and the EU still deadlocked over the issue of the Irish border. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said he saw “no grounds for optimism” that the two sides could agree the terms of a “backstop” to ensure that there is no hard border in Ireland after Brexit. In the absence of a deal allowing frictionless trade, the EU wants Northern Ireland to stay in the EU customs union and its single market for goods; the UK has rejected that, since it would create a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. On Sunday, former Brexit secretary David Davis urged…

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who announced that they are expecting their first child. Harry and Meghan are said to have told their families the news last week, but to have delayed making it public so as not to overshadow the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank (see page 20). The baby, who will be seventh in line to the throne, is due in the spring. Potheads, after Canada became the second country in the world, after Uruguay, to legalise cannabis for recreational use. In promising the reform, PM Justin Trudeau said one of its aims was to divert the money flowing to criminals. The country’s retail pot market is predicted to be worth C$6bn by 2020, and hundreds of businesses, from stock market-listed producers to café owners,…

Washington DC Melania speaks: Melania Trump gave a rare TV interview last week, in which she insisted that allegations that her husband had cheated on her were not a “concern” to her (though they were not “pleasant” to read), and suggested that she was one of the “most bullied” people in the world, a reference to comments on social media. She also finally offered an explanation for the slogan on the jacket she wore earlier this year on her way to visiting a centre for migrant children separated from their parents – “I really don’t care, do u?”; this, she admitted, had been intended as a “kind of message” to her critics. Seattle, Washington “Sexist” algorithm: Amazon abandoned an attempt to use artificial intelligence to vet job applicants after the…

1 Le Freak by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, performed by Chic 2 A Day in the Life by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, performed by The Beatles 3* The End by Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore, performed by The Doors 4 Are You Experienced? by Jimi Hendrix, performed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience 5 We Are Family by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, performed by Sister Sledge 6 Let’s Dance by David Bowie, performed by David Bowie 7 Get Lucky by Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams, performed by Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams 8 Good Times by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, performed by Chic Book: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville Luxury:…

Brett Kavanaugh has an impeccable legal pedigree: he has served since 2006 on the influential US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, ruling on some of the nation’s most high-profile cases. However, he was a controversial “pick”, as much for his track record, as for the allegations of sexual impropriety made against him (Christine Blasey Ford claimed that he sexually assaulted her while they were high school students; and Deborah Ramirez, a Yale University classmate, said that he exposed himself to her). In the 1990s, Kavanaugh worked for Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel who investigated Bill Clinton, helping to draft the report urging the then president’s impeachment. He was later employed as a White House lawyer under George W. Bush, managing nominations to the judiciary and, some…

BELGIUM Topping the league for soccer sleaze De Morgen (Brussels) Belgium is making a name for itself as a great footballing nation, says Hugo Camps, but it has also acquired a reputation as the centre of football sleaze. In the 1980s, Belgian clubs were revealed to be wallowing in dirty money. In 2005, a Chinese businessman, Ye Zheyun, was charged with bribing Belgian players and officials to throw matches. But now we’re seeing the biggest scandal yet. Police have launched coordinated raids against clubs around the country, the climax of a year-long probe into money laundering and match-fixing. Top football figures have been snared, including Ivan Leko, manager of reigning champions Club Brugge. But don’t bet on a clampdown. The raids make a splendid show, but defendants usually get off…

There’s a small, little-noticed plaque on Washington’s Embassy Row, said Joshua Keating on Slate. It marks the spot where, in 1976, a car bomb killed the Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier. He had been an outspoken opponent of Chile’s military dictator, Augusto Pinochet, who directly ordered his killing. Letelier is far from the only dissident to have been bumped off on foreign soil over the years. But such brazen acts used to be exceptional. Today, however, the killing or abduction of critics by authoritarian regimes seems to be becoming “alarmingly normalised”. Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, North Korea – they’re all at it. And America is not blameless in this respect, either: Barack Obama’s covert drone campaign in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia has helped desensitise people to the targeted killing…

We need to eat – but our diets are costing the Earth, a new report has warned. In 2010, the food system emitted the equivalent of 5.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, making it a major driver of climate change. It’s also highly polluting, it depletes freshwater sources and leads to deforestation. And as population growth puts ever more pressure on resources, the problem is only going to get worse: scientists have calculated that without radical action, the environmental costs of food production will increase by 50% to 90% by 2050. This will lead to such severe degradation, the planet will no longer be a “safe operating space for humanity”: we simply won’t be able to feed its by-then ten-billion-strong population. “It is pretty shocking,” said Dr Marco Springmann of…

In March last year, when PC Keith Palmer was stabbed to death by a terrorist outside the Palace of Westminster, he wasn’t the only police officer on the spot, said Rod Liddle in The Sun. On the contrary, the acting Metropolitan police commissioner was sitting in his car a few feet away. Yet rather than rush to help, Sir Craig Mackey instructed his driver to get him out of there. In doing so, Mackey told the inquest into the attack, he was following the advice of one of the officers on duty: he had no protective equipment and the jihadist, Khalid Masood, “was clearly a threat”. Maybe so. But “I thought one of the requirements for being a copper was a certain bravery”. Simply opening his door might have distracted…

“A divorce is like an amputation; you survive, but there is less of you.” Margaret Atwood, quoted on Forbes.com “A conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling stop, at a time when no one else is inclined to do so.” William F. Buckley quoted in The Daily Telegraph “I was street-smart, but unfortunately the street was Rodeo Drive.” Carrie Fisher, quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle “Students have a right and almost a duty to be foolish. Those who teach them have a mirror right and duty sometimes to tell their crass charges to take a cold bath.” Max Hastings, quoted in The Times “The misfortune of others tastes like honey.” Japanese saying, quoted in The Observer “If one could only teach the English how…

“What on earth was going through Freddie Burns’s head,” asked Clive Woodward in the Daily Mail. On Saturday, the Bath full-back blew two chances to secure victory over Toulouse. In the 74th minute of the rugby union Champions Cup tie, he missed a penalty in front of the posts. That was embarrassing enough, but what followed moments later was unforgivable. Burns was on the cusp of scoring a try when he did a strange thing. He started celebrating prematurely: he touched his badge; he blew a kiss to the crowd. But it was all in vain. Just as he was about to touch down, Maxime Médard swooped in behind him and knocked the ball away. Bath lost the match 22-20, a defeat that may have killed their European campaign “before…

To The Guardian As a left-wing feminist, I have felt alone in finding the response by journalists and women’s groups to Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court deeply troubling. This case has implications for the way institutions deal with allegations of sexual violence that go far beyond the US Senate. Institutions such as universities are increasingly conducting internal investigations into allegations of sexual violence and applying a much lower standard of proof than in a criminal court to determine the guilt of an employee or student. Destroying someone’s career over an unproven allegation or because one person’s account sounds more convincing than another’s is a dangerous trend fuelled by the #MeToo movement that can never be a good thing for society – or women, who must receive proper justice…

President Trump’s latest addition to the White House decor is “a kitschy fantasy painting that shows him relaxing with Republican presidents of the past”, says The Daily Beast. The Republican Club, by the Missouri-based artist Andy Thomas, shows a “slimmed-down” Trump sitting between Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon, directly across from Abraham Lincoln. Teddy Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and both Bushes also feature in the scene. The painting, which could be glimpsed in the background during a TV interview aired last weekend, was given to Trump by a Republican congressman, Darrell Issa. It is part of a series painted by Thomas; another shows eight Democratic presidents playing pool together. A delighted Thomas said that Trump had given him “a real gracious call to tell me how much he liked it”.…

Lilian is determined to stop Christine returning to The Lodge straight away because she thinks it’s too much for Peggy. Tom thinks that Natasha is keen on him, so gently tells Hannah that they will have to stop sleeping together. Lilian spots Glenda’s plans for BL to buy Home Farm and confronts Justin. She knows Jennifer would hate her home being turned into flats. Justin says he will vote on business grounds. Lilian refuses to join him for dinner. Elizabeth visits Freddie, who is resigned to enduring his full sentence. He’s appalled when she suggests he moves into the vulnerable prisoners’ wing – they’ll think he’s a paedophile. Freddie tells her not to visit again; her silly suggestions are not helping. Brian and Jennifer confront Elizabeth about Noluthando’s overdose. She…

Adding a note of sourness to otherwise sweet vegetable and legume-based soups makes them particularly delicious, says Sybil Kapoor. This popular Middle Eastern soup is also slightly textured, which adds further interest Persian sour lentil soup 3 tbsp cold-pressed sunflower oil 1 large onion, finely diced 1 fat garlic clove, roughly chopped 2 celery stalks, finely diced 1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced 2 tsp ground cumin 2 tsp ground turmeric 340g yellow moong dal lentils, washed 1.4l good-quality chicken stock salt and freshly ground black pepper up to 300ml boiling water freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon, or to taste a handful of parsley leaves, roughly chopped (optional) • Set a large pan over a medium-low heat. Add the oil, followed by the diced onion, garlic, celery and…

The Daily Telegraph The new Suzuki Jimny looks set to be “the surprise hit of the year”. It would be easy to write it off as a frivolous “bonsai 4x4”, but being small and light makes it very agile, which gives it an advantage over technically superior vehicles. It only scored three points on the Euro NCAP safety test, but it’s an undeniably capable car for those who need a “tiny-but-tough, go-everywhere” machine. Auto Express The first all-new Jimny in 20 years has been upgraded in all the right ways. It’s simple but modern, and can take on just about any hill or ditch. Only a 1.5-litre, naturally aspirated petrol engine is on offer, but it’s more economical and lighter than the old one, and produces 101bhp. The ride quality,…

The Jaffa Hotel, Tel Aviv Almost 25 years in the making, this exclusive hotel in Israel has been “carved out from an old convent and hospital”, says Mehul Srivastava in the FT. The works revealed “layers of the city buried beneath”, including a stone wall built by 13th century crusaders, which takes pride of place in the lobby alongside a Damien Hirst. Some of the 120 rooms have sea views, and there’s a pool in the courtyard and a buzzing restaurant. There is also an “obscenely beautiful nightclub” in a desanctified chapel, but be warned: the queues are long and being a hotel resident “is not enough to get you on the guest list”. Doubles from about £420.thejaffahotel.com .…

The last surviving member of the Manouchian network Arsène Tchakarian 1916-2018 Arsène Tchakarian, who has died aged 101, was the last surviving member of the Manouchian network, an anti-fascist immigrant group that fought alongside the French Resistance during the Second World War, said The Independent. Led by Missak Manouchian, an Armenian poet and communist, the cell was made up of about 100 fighters – some Jewish – many of whom had come to France from European nations affected by Nazi expansionism. “There was such a friendship between us, between all these people coming from everywhere,” said Tchakarian, in 2002. “A brotherly friendship that surpassed all that you can imagine.” An ethnic Armenian, he was born in 1916 in Sapanca, in what was then the Ottoman Empire and is now Turkey.…

The global business backlash against Saudi Arabia following the reported killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is causing problems for Masayoshi Son, founder of the giant Japanese tech incubator SoftBank. Son’s strong Saudi ties – SoftBank’s $100bn Vision Fund is “almost half-financed” by the oil-rich kingdom – prompted nervous investors to punish shares on Monday, exacerbating last week’s broader tech sell-off, said Sam Nussey on Reuters. SoftBank is now 20%, or some $22bn, off its recent high, spelling trouble for some of the world’s most prominent start-ups in which SoftBank holds big stakes, including Uber, WeWork, Didi Chuxing and Slack. Call it a “$22bn test of values”, said Yuji Nakamura and Peter Elstrom on Bloomberg. The trouble for Son, who is betting big on AI, autonomous driving and other hot technologies,…

How can you tell if a company’s shares are about to collapse? There are usually “subtle telltale clues for those who know how to spot them”, said The Daily Telegraph. In his new book, The Signs Were There, the accountant Tim Steer analysed the collapse of 22 companies including Carillion, Autonomy, AO World and Northern Rock. Here are some of his suggestions for spotting red flags Start from the back “Annual reports are hefty tomes and dry as dust” – deliberately so, “a cynic might suggest”. Ignore the opening income statement – it’s just the shop window – and start with the actual balance sheet. “Pay particular attention to footnotes because this is where some of the juiciest stuff is often found.” Monitor the quality of assets One of the…

The week’s best shares Burberry Group Investors Chronicle The luxury group has a promising new design head and is closing sites to focus on an online partnership with designer marketplace Farfetch. Share price weakness offers an opportunity. Buy. £18.66p. Marston’s The Times Hit by the vagaries of consumer spending, weather and wage costs, shares in the pub group and brewer are at a seven-year low. But profits are improving and the 7.6% dividend is well covered. Buy. 99p. Mondi The Times Shares in the packaging specialist have been hurt by a deteriorating Chinese market. But fears seem overdone. Profits are up 30% and Mondi is well positioned to capitalise from the rise of online shopping. Buy. £17.75. National Grid The Daily Telegraph Overblown renationalisation fears have made Britain’s energy network…

Controversy of the week A Tory welfare nightmare When two former prime ministers from different parties say you are facing a “poll tax moment”, you know you’ve a crisis on your hands, said James Kirkup in The Daily Telegraph. People took to the streets after Margaret Thatcher introduced the hated poll tax, and they’ll do so again, warned Sir John Major and Gordon Brown last week, if the Tories don’t do more to rescue their core welfare policy. Universal credit (UC) is the brainchild of Iain Duncan Smith, who launched it in 2013 when he was works and pensions secretary. IDS wanted to bring “fairness and simplicity” to the social security system by amalgamating six different benefits (jobseeker’s and work allowances, income support, housing benefit, working tax credit and child…

An independent inquiry into bullying in the House of Commons has found a “pervasive” culture of harassment, in which MPs enjoy a “godlike status”, and abuse is “tolerated and concealed”. Female staffers in particular experience “frequent inappropriate touching” and are “abused in vulgar, gender-related terms”, Dame Laura Cox, a retired High Court judge, said in her report. Cox also expressed doubts that the senior House administration, including John Bercow, the Speaker (who himself has been accused of bullying), would make the changes required. Bercow (pictured) faced multiple calls to resign in the wake of the inquiry, but he reportedly plans to hang on until next summer.…

Dar es Salaam Billionaire seized: A Tanzanian businessman said to be Africa’s youngest billionaire remained missing this week, after being kidnapped last Thursday. Mohammed Dewji, 43, runs the pan-African conglomerate MeTL, founded by his father. Known as Mo, he is famous for launching Mo Cola, to rival Coca-Cola, and for his philanthropy (he has signed the Giving Pledge). Police believe his abductors, who bundled him into a car at gunpoint as he arrived for a dawn workout at a hotel in Dar es Salaam, were foreign. Baikonur, Kazakhstan Mission aborted: Two astronauts were forced to make a harrowing emergency descent last week when, 90 seconds after take off, their Soyuz rocket began to malfunction 30 miles above Earth. Nasa’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin experienced forces of up…

“Dividing my time between the capital and the Midlands, I can see that the gap is widening. You can’t move for ‘STOP BREXIT’ posters in London, but in Wolverhampton people just want Brexit to START. Yet the divide that upsets me most is between bakeries. The eatery of choice in north London is Gail’s, where a £5 Parmesan chicken sandwich can be eaten in one bite. In the Midlands, Greggs will provide all your daily calories in giant sausage roll form for a few quid. What this nation needs is a centrist baking outfit. We could call it Grail’s and it would sell soya latte macchiatos and iced doughnuts at affordable prices.” Sathnam Sanghera in The Times…

Scrap HS2, it’s a huge waste of money Dominic Lawson Daily Mail Taxpayers beware, says Dominic Lawson: the coming Budget could be painful. Chancellor Philip Hammond is said to be eyeing up controversial measures to pay for £20bn of extra spending on the NHS. But there’s a measure he could take that might actually prove popular. Scrap HS2. Its cost was meant to be “only” £56bn: now we’re told it could exceed £100bn. For what? The original justification – shaving 30 minutes off the journey time between London and Birmingham – was too feeble to take seriously, so the Government changed tack and claimed that without HS2, the west coast main line would reach capacity by the 2020s. Untrue. When ministers were made to reveal the figures, it emerged that…

Fatherless mice Chinese scientists have succeeded in breeding healthy mice with two biological mothers and no fathers. The mice lived into adulthood, and had pups of their own in the normal way. The scientists also succeeded in breeding mice from two fathers, but these died within days. Reproduction without fertilisation (parthenogenesis) is not uncommon in the animal world, but it doesn’t extend to placental mammals, because in mammals, certain maternal and paternal genes are shut off during germ-line development by a mechanism known as genetic imprinting. The result is that unless there is genetic material from both a mother and a father, the offspring becomes non-viable, or develops abnormally. To create bi-maternal mice, the researchers took cells known as haploid embryonic stem cells, which contain DNA from only one parent…

As he struggled to keep his government on track, Emmanuel Macron suffered a further blow last week when it was alleged that even his wife, Brigitte, finds him “high-handed”. According to a new book, Mrs Macron has urged the president’s entourage to stand up to him, and has told her friends that he is “too arrogant, too snappy”. Donald Trump knows how to command attention – but he has nothing on Kanye West. The rapper (pictured) visited the White House last week, and – in front of the assembled press – reduced the president to a startled silence with a ten-minute rant in which he praised Trump for stopping “the war” with North Korea; said he’d been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder; suggested replacing Air Force One with a hydrogen-powered “iPlane”;…

“The strange case of the £16m Harrods shopping spree may be a turning point in Britain’s efforts to wean itself off suspect foreign money,” said The Times. This month, Britain’s first unexplained wealth order (UWO) survived a challenge at the High Court. The suspect it targets – whose identity had been shielded by an anonymity order, now lifted – is Zamira Hajiyeva, the wife of an Azerbaijani banker who was jailed for defrauding a state-owned bank out of the equivalent of tens of millions of pounds. Mrs Hajiyeva owns a house in Knightsbridge worth £11.5m, a golf club in Ascot worth £10m and a Gulfstream jet; she also spent £16m at Harrods in the decade up to 2016. On one visit alone, she blew more than £150,000 on jewellery. The…

England desperately needed a win against one of the world’s great teams, said Phil McNulty on BBC Sport online. Much as they impressed at the World Cup, it was “a cold fact” that when they faced “countries with real quality” – Belgium, twice, and Croatia – they came up short. But in the Nations League on Monday night they finally got the statement result they craved: a “thrilling” 3-2 victory over Spain. It was the Spaniards’ first home defeat in a competitive match in 15 years. In the “stunning” first half, England scored three goals, with Raheem Sterling contributing two and Marcus Rashford the other; in the second half, they “showed courage” to protect their lead as Spain kept piling on pressure. The performance was all the more remarkable because,…

Golf English golfer Eddie Pepperell won his second European Tour title with a two-shot victory at the British Masters. It took him up to a career-high No. 33 in the world rankings. Rugby union Billy Vunipola was ruled out of England’s autumn internationals after breaking his left arm in Saracens’ 13-3 Champions Cup win over Glasgow. Newcastle beat Toulon 26-25. Exeter drew 10-10 with Munster. Tennis Novak Djokovic beat Borna Coric in straight sets to win the Shanghai Masters.…

The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth by E.O. Wilson, 2006 (Norton £10.99). Wilson was the first to draw our attention to the human-caused sixth mass extinction event. This book prompted Giles to give up most gainful employment and lawn care in order to work instead on transforming our one-acre garden into a biodiversity hotspot. Inglorious by Mark Avery, 2015 (Bloomsbury £9.99). A scientist and naturalist who worked for the RSPB, Avery explores the negative impact of grouse shooting, not least on hen harriers. Giles is one of the few Britons to have actually seen hen harriers (on Anglesey) and has fallen under their spell. Which should survive, hen harriers or grouse moors? Avery gives fair hearings to both sides and comes down against the grouse moors. Putney…

Programmes 54 Hours: The Gladbeck Hostage Crisis Acclaimed two-part drama based on the true story of a hostage crisis that shocked Germany in 1988, when a bank robbery turned into a human tragedy and a police fiasco. Sat 20 Oct, BBC4 21:00 (90mins). Royal Opera House: Lessons in Love and Violence George Benjamin conducts his acclaimed new opera, a beautiful account of Edward II’s downfall. Sun 21 Oct, BBC4 21:00 (95mins). Dispatches: Cannabis – Time to End the Ban? Former Met Police chief Lord Hogan-Howe, who has always been tough on cannabis, looks at whether it is time to decriminalise it in the UK. Mon 22 Oct, C4 20:00 (30mins). Storyville: A Woman Captured Traumatic and much-praised documentary from Bernadett Tuza-Ritter about a Hungarian woman forced to work as a…

Liberty Wines have maintained their original purpose – selling the finest Italian wines – while diversifying to discover the best wines elsewhere. They are now offering a number of exceptional Indian wines, which are rarely seen in this country (except for a couple of sparkling wines) and I’ve included a fascinating example in my selection this month. David Gleave MW started Liberty Wines 20 years ago and his business is primarily aimed at premium restaurants including high-end places such as the River Café or The Ledbury. They don’t have any High Street presence but such is their reputation, their staff of more than 100 are kept fully occupied dealing with their behind the scenes customers. They have diversified into other fine Italian produce and offer a wide range of the…

Syrah (or shiraz) leapfrogged merlot a few years ago to become the UK’s top-selling red, says Jane MacQuitty in The Times. “Shiraz” tends to be used for big, bold New World wines, as well as similar wines from Italy and France. “Syrah” tends to indicate “more restrained, violet-perfumed and savoury-styled reds”, like those produced in the ancient, steep, granite soil terraces of the northern Rhône. For a bargain blended wine, I’d recommend 2016 Lot Series Minervois La Livinière (Aldi; £8.99), a delicious, beefy, syrah-led minervois. Or Sainsbury’s robust, peppery, red-fruited 2016 Taste the Difference Côtes du Rhône Villages (£8), a 50:50 syrahgrenache blend. For a classy all-syrah, try the volcanic soil-derived 2016 Coteaux de l’Ardèche Basalte Syrah (yapp.co.uk; £11.95). From Waitrose, the 2016 Cave de Saint-Desirat Saint-Joseph (£15.99) is packed…

Bradleys Heritage Leather Knee Pads These classic leather knee pads are made by hand at Bradleys, a small Shropshire-based tannery. They’re tough, adjustable and available in three colours (£28; bradleysthetannery.co.uk). Showa Floreo 370 Gloves Gardeners “swear by” these skintight, lightweight gardening gloves. They’re comfortable and grippy, and you can stick them in the washing machine (£6; amazon.co.uk). Roo Apron Named for its kangaroo-like pouch, the Roo is a versatile harvesting apron that can be used for collecting vegetables, weeding or just tidying up. You can release the bottom to empty its contents into your chosen receptacle (£25; rooapron.com). Esschert Design Toolstool Grab this folding stool, with its removable tool bag, on your way out to the garden and you’ll have everything you need (£22; amazon.co.uk). S3 Thyone Safety Shoes These…

A dog-friendly break in the Alps You might not think of taking your pet on an overseas trip, says Mia Aimaro Ogden in The Sunday Times. But Chamonix in France is a “canine paradise” where “furry friends are welcomed in Michelin-starred restaurants” and there are “glorious” Alpine walks in every direction. My rescue dog, Parker, “deserved a holiday”, so we sorted out his paperwork and booked Chalet Scierie, driving there over two days. He found that the chalet’s garden had “excellent romping potential”. Further afield, we took the railway up to Montenvers, emerging at Mer de Glace, where Frankenstein re-encounters his monster in Mary Shelley’s novel. Parker was “transfixed by the views” of mountains and paragliders – “giant birds in fluoro Gore-Tex”. It’s doubtful “walkies” will ever be this thrilling…

Sears: new start? “It was inevitable, but feels shocking and weird all the same,” said Jon Shazar on Dealbreaker: “Sears is bankrupt.” What was once the world’s largest retailer – “the place where everyone went to buy everything and have awkward family photos taken in the meantime” – has since “withered to a skeleton crew of 700 empty, dirty and depressing stores”. Now the fight is on to prevent the quintessential all-American department store chain becoming just “a memory”. The retailer has filed for bankruptcy protection, hoping to emerge more streamlined and shorn of its $5bn debt load. Who or what was to blame? Hedge-funder Eddie Lampert talked of revolutionising retail when he merged Sears with the bankrupt Kmart in 2005. But his attempt to revitalise the group “has to…

Is the Fed America’s biggest threat? Jeremy Warner The Sunday Telegraph Donald Trump has escalated his war of words against America’s central bank by claiming that his “biggest threat” is the Federal Reserve, because “the Fed is raising rates too fast”. The US president worries that the current round of tightening will bring “his” bull market crashing down, says Jeremy Warner in The Sunday Telegraph. “When the Dow was soaring” he was “more than happy to claim the credit”. Now he blames Fed chairman Jerome Powell for “going loco”. The president has plenty of form when it comes to “Fed bashing”, but his “supposedly compliant” new appointment is refusing to be cowed. Trump argues that rates should be held low to counter the negative consequences of his own trade war…

The student union at the University of Kent has issued new guidelines – designed to ensure that the campus is a safe and inclusive space – stating which costumes students can, and cannot, wear to fancy dress parties. Among those they are told to avoid are cowboys, Crusaders, Nazis, priests and nuns, Islamic State bombers, Native Americans and disgraced celebrities such as Harvey Weinstein. Deemed acceptable are cave people, medics, aliens, the United Nations, and Ancient Greeks and Romans. The Wellcome Collection museum has apologised for adopting the term “womxn” to refer to women and gender-nonconforming people. Its critics had pointed out that nobody calls men “mxn”.…

Munich, Germany Political earthquake threatens Merkel: Chancellor Angela Merkel’s fragile coalition government was reported to be at risk of collapsing this week, following her coalition partners’ disastrous performance in regional elections in Bavaria. The Christian Social Union (CSU) – the Bavarian sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which has ruled the right-leaning state for the past 60 years – had its share of the vote fall to 37%, down from 48% five years ago. The loss of its majority – it took only 85 seats in the 205-seat regional parliament – has triggered bitter internal recriminations. Merkel’s other partner, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) – Germany’s oldest political party – fared even worse. The SPD, which has been the main opposition in Bavaria since 1954, had its vote…

Norton’s missing skill As a TV presenter, Graham Norton makes everything look effortless. But there is one key skill he lacks. “I wish I could catch or throw a ball,” he told Decca Aitkenhead in The Guardian. “It’s a boy thing, and it’s [affected me] all my life. My dogs aren’t interested in playing because they look at me and they’re thinking: ‘He’s aiming over there – it could end up behind his shoulder, it could end up at his feet.’” Why doesn’t he just use a plastic ball-chucker? “Because I doubt I could do that either,” says Norton, 55. “I was in my late 40s when I learnt how to flick [skim] stones, and it was one of the proudest days of my life. It’s pathetic, isn’t it?” A…

A Peruvian man has divorced his wife after discovering evidence of her infidelity on Google Street View five years after the event. The resident of Lima was planning his route to the Puente de los Suspiros, or Bridge of Sighs, when he noticed a woman sitting on a bench with a man’s head in her lap, apparently stroking his hair. Although the couple’s faces had been pixelated in the photograph, he recognised his wife by her clothes and forced her to admit to the affair. A flight from Orlando International Airport was delayed for two hours by a passenger who wouldn’t be parted from her pet squirrel. Cindy Torok had informed Frontier Airlines that she was bringing an “emotional support animal” with her, but not what kind; when told that…

Polar bears use sea ice as a platform for hunting, trekking for miles in search of their main food source – seals. Since they’re picky animals, when the ice breaks up in the summer, many will simply fast on land until the ice reforms and they can start hunting again. But as the world warms up, the Arctic is melting earlier and freezing later – with potentially dire consequences for the bears’ survival. Yet since these predators split off from brown bears 150,000 years ago, there have been other warm periods. How did they survive then? The answer, according to a study at the University of Washington, is probably that they turned from ice-based hunters to land-based scavengers, feasting on washed-up whale carcasses. The team drew on many years’ worth…

It was a blustery day, but the sun shone, the crowds waved and the bride looked radiant in white. The marriage of Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank was a happy occasion, said The Daily Telegraph: a “Royal Wedding on display to the world” that felt like a “family affair”. And like any family wedding, it had its share of tensions. The bride’s aunt, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, had declined to attend. This was said to be due to a prior engagement – a visit to a primary school in Aberdeenshire – but her no-show inevitably sparked rumours of a rift. On a happier note, the bride’s mother, Sarah, Duchess of York, was photographed alongside the Duke of Edinburgh, suggesting that he has, at 97, finally forgiven her for the “toe-sucking”…

It was a “delicious” moment, said Waldemar Januszczak in The Sunday Times. The bewildered auctioneer, the gasping crowd, the jaws dropping as Banksy’s Girl with Balloon, having just sold for £1.04m at Sotheby’s, slipped down its frame and emerged in shreds. Enigmatic as ever, Banksy has not explained the stunt, but it’s quite clear what he meant by it: its timing alone – during the Frieze art fair, when billionaires descend on London to engage in an art spending contest – tells us that it was a satirical protest against the transformation of art into a “gewgaw” for the rich. But here’s the kicker: since the shredded picture – retitled Love is in the Bin – is said to be worth more than it was before it was destroyed, hasn’t…

On Saturday, the rugby league season got a fairy-tale finale, said Aaron Bower in The Observer. Yet it was “unlike any other fairy tale you are likely to have experienced”; there was blood and sweat, as well as “plenty of tears”. Thirty-five years after joining his home-town club, Shaun Wane was coaching Wigan one last time before leaving. He got the “perfect ending” in the Grand Final, as his players beat Warrington 12-4 to win the Super League trophy. It was their third championship in Wane’s seven years as head coach. Like a boa constrictor, Wigan “coiled themselves around the Wolves and throttled the life from them”, said Christopher Irvine in The Times. It was a win that “encapsulated” their coach – “rugged, remorseless and indefatigable”. Wane started life at…

A symbol of freedom... To The Daily Telegraph Marks & Spencer is selling hijabs in the children’s school uniform section. Islam has absolutely no rule or law that would even suggest – let alone enforce – the wearing of the hijab by little girls. The hijab should no longer be up for debate; we must engage in open dialogue with Muslim women to learn why they wear it. Young girls wearing the hijab is usually about trying to emulate their mothers. As a young girl, I would play with my mother’s hijabs in the same way that I played with her lipstick and high heels. Unless we decide to ban all make-up that is marketed towards young girls, and high-heeled shoes in children’s sizes, I don’t see why the hijab…

Theatre Twelfth Night Playwright: William Shakespeare, Adaptation: Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub Directors: Kwame Kwei-Armah and Oskar Eustis Young Vic, The Cut, London SE1 (020-7922 2922). Until 17 November Running time: 1hr 45mins (no interval) ★★★ Kwame Kwei-Armah, the new artistic director of the Young Vic, has giant shoes to fill, said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. His predecessor, David Lan, presided over “a golden age”, with famous actors and directors “flocking to the smartly renovated, insistently experimental venue”. Kwei-Armah’s opening show – a bright, breezy, sunshine-filled musical version of Twelfth Night (first seen in New York in 2016) – suggests he has decided to “go with his instincts, not try to second-guess others’ tastes”. And his instinct, clearly, is to treat us to an “all-singing, all-dancing, all-capering nonstop…

Mary Kelly: Face-to-Face at Pippy Houldsworth Mary Kelly (b.1941) is probably one of the most revered conceptual artists alive today. Since the 1960s, she has pursued projects exploring feminism, geopolitics and identity, creating encyclopaedic installations that often incorporate unusual materials. This show brings together work spanning the US artist’s career, from an early series of pop art-informed collages addressing the Vietnam war to a harrowing new piece exploring the impact of drone strikes on civilians. Most striking, perhaps, is Circa 1940, an image recreating a Blitz-era photograph of men examining the books in a bombed-out library. The picture is created almost entirely from lint – the fluff one finds stuck to clothes when retrieved from the washing machine – an unlikely material that Kelly frequently uses as a metaphor…

The Good Place The delightful sitcom set in the afterlife – from Parks and Recreation’s Michael Schur – has returned for a third series. The central foursome has been sent back to Earth to see if they can lead better lives. On Netflix. The Romanoffs The follow-up to Mad Men from Matthew Weiner is eight interconnecting dramas about people claiming to be descended from the Russian royal family. With Christina Hendricks. Reviews have been mixed, but it is beautifully acted. On Amazon.…

Rovi 59 Wells Street, Fitzrovia, London W1 (020-3963 8270) Yotam Ottolenghi’s brilliance is in producing “piles of things heaped in bowls” – whether charred vegetables or “big-shouldered salads”, says Jay Rayner in The Observer. But at Rovi, his latest opening, there’s an “uncluttered simplicity” to the cooking – as well as “modish” touches such as a live fire kitchen, lots of fermentation and very “un-Ottolenghi” Japanese references. Sweetheart cabbage has been slow-roasted until it has “collapsed into louche, buttery petals”, and is dressed with dashi broth. The Jerusalem mixed grill – a dark, seared pile of lamb sweetbreads, chicken livers and hearts, and more – manages to be “light and brisk”, helped along by colourful ferments and pickles. And the celeriac shawarma is a “killer idea, brilliantly executed” –…

Tips of the week… how to deal with mould ● Dress like a murder investigator: rubber gloves, plastic poncho, goggles and dust mask: you do not want to breathe in spores. ● A mixture of one part bleach to four parts water is effective for clearing mould, or for a specialist cleaner, try HG Mould Spray. ● Just scrub the cleaning solution onto the affected area until the mould has gone, then rinse and dry. ● To prevent mould, use a kitchen extractor fan when cooking, and/or open windows. ● Mould will occur in dark, damp spaces, so keep rooms as light as possible in the day. ● Dry washing outside if at all possible. ● Dry condensation on walls and windows as soon as you can, and disinfect surfaces…

Isle of Purbeck getaway Just a mile from Dorset’s stunning Jurassic Coast, the Worth Matravers Studio offers a 4-night self-catering stay for two from £249pp. 01237-459888, holidaycottages.co.uk. Arrive 13 December. Idyllic Canada break Spend a week at the Beach Club Resort in Parksville on Vancouver Island, room-only from £888pp. London flights incl. 0344-739 9404, virginholidays.co.uk. Depart 28 November. Luxurious stay in Phuket Enjoy a Thailand holiday with 6 nights all-inclusive at the 5-star Centara Grand Beach Resort, from £1,758pp. Manchester flights incl. 020-3139 7074, travelbag.co.uk. Depart 21 November. Iconic Palm Jumeirah Stay in an Ocean King Room at the Atlantis, The Palm Dubai for 4 nights half-board from £1,390pp. Glasgow flights incl. 01204-824493, destinology.co.uk. Depart 4 December.…

The FTSE 100 dropped below 7,000 for the first time in more than six months as stock markets globally sold off, amid the fears of rising US interest rates. Japan’s Nikkei and bourses in China and Hong Kong also endured their worst weeks since February. In the US, where the Dow Jones lost more than 1,300 points in two days, highly valued tech shares bore the brunt of the sell-off, but later staged a recovery. As markets stabilised this week, traders were left pondering whether the rout had been a wobble or the start of something more serious. The breakdown of Brexit talks ahead of this week’s crucial summit caused the pound to slip only slightly. The US budget deficit hit a six-year high of $779bn as Donald Trump’s tax…

End of the bull... “Market corrections are messy, particularly when they begin by taking the elevator down rather than the stairs,” said Michael Mackenzie in the FT. And last week’s sharp slide in global stock markets has certainly inflicted some damage. After a two-day rout, the US S&P index was down by some 6.9% from last month’s record close. The FTSE 100, meanwhile, is also firmly in “correction” territory, having fallen 10% from its 52-week high to hit a fresh six-month low. Selling snowballed because of a range of factors, including rising interest rates and trade tensions. “It was more a cocktail than a smoking gun,” observed Phil Orlando of Federated Investors. Markets appeared calmer this week, raising the question of whether this was just a squall or the end…

James Murdoch Tesla is “looking to hire a work daddy” for its mercurial founder, Elon Musk, to stop him from doing any further damage to himself and the carmaker, said Dealbreaker. Names being floated include former US vice-president Al Gore, and former bosses of Ford and Boeing. But James Murdoch, currently a Tesla non-executive director, is thought to be the front runner for the job. With his family media empire now sold, Murdoch, 45, is apparently mustard keen on the idea, said the FT, not least because he’s also considering setting up a tech investment fund. The job is “perfect for James”, notes an insider. “Sitting next to Elon... he’s going to get access to so much deal flow.” The only fly in the ointment is that Musk reportedly doesn’t…