Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1201 i The Week

What happened Democrats fight back Donald Trump suffered a setback in Tuesday’s midterm elections when the Democrats won back control of the US House of Representatives for the first time in eight years. The victory will enable their party to subject the president to more scrutiny and block his agenda. All 435 seats in the lower chamber of Congress were up for grabs in the election, along with 35 seats in the 100-member Senate, and 36 of the 50 state governorships. But although the Democrats picked up seats in the House and made gains in races for governor and state legislatures, they lost ground in the Senate, where the Republicans increased their majority. Trump hailed the election results as a “big victory”. There was a very high turnout for the…

In modern open-plan offices, it’s easy to be distracted by colleagues. Now, Panasonic claims to have come up with a solution: horse blinkers for humans. The Wear Space consists of a curved strip that wraps around the head, narrowing a user’s field of vision so they only see their screen and keyboard. The device is set to go on sale in Japan next year. An American firm is helping people create holograms of themselves so that they can deliver the eulogy at their own funeral. AIM Holographics offers eight-to ten-minute “personal eulogies”, with prices starting at £15,000. “Some people have described it as creepy or freaky, but many think it’s a great idea,” said Carl Minardo, the firm’s founder.…

Washington DC Racist ad: Media organisations including Fox News, NBC and Facebook cancelled an advert put out by Donald Trump’s campaign in the run-up to Tuesday’s midterm elections after it was widely condemned as racist. The advert showed Luis Bracamontes (pictured), an undocumented migrant from Mexico, boasting about killing two California police officers in 2014, then switched to footage of the “migrant caravan” travelling through Mexico. Its slogan was: “Stop the caravan, vote Republican.” A longer version of the ad, tweeted by Trump, falsely claimed that the Democrats had let Bracamontes “into our country” and “let him stay”, and ended by asking: “Who else will they let in?” Meanwhile, hundreds of the men, women and children who form the migrant caravan reached Mexico City this week. Having covered some 800…

“Why is it that so many white boys pretend to be black, but no one ever pretends to be, say, Indian? Or Chinese? With cultural fakers, it’s always dreadlocks and do-rags, but never a turban. They will adopt the intonation and slang of Jamaica or black America, but never of Hyderabad or Southall. White boys wake up to their urban environment about 12 or 13, and come home sucking their teeth at their old mum and rolling their shoulders and calling her ‘blood’, but I’ve never seen a ginger-haired honky doing the South Asian head wobble or cursing the police in Mandarin. Why not? Are they racist or something?” Giles Coren in The Times…

The EU’s “one size fits all” is bound for a fall Jeremy Warner The Daily Telegraph Is the EU doomed to collapse like the Soviet Union? It’s easy to dismiss the idea as wishful thinking by Eurosceptics, but there are “strong parallels” between the two, says Jeremy Warner. At the height of its power, the USSR seemed infallible. Its spectacular decline came about because its leaders were unwilling to adapt their “fixed system” to economic challenges; they didn’t see any need for reform until it was too late. Sound familiar? The euro, and the centralisation it demands, is at the heart of the EU’s problems. Is it any wonder, for example, that Italy has voted in a bunch of anti-EU “clowns”, given that its GDP has barely risen since it…

Sniffing out malaria Dogs have proved highly adept at detecting diseases such as prostate and thyroid cancer: new evidence suggests they could also be used to help diagnose, and stop the spread of, malaria. Even before they show the symptoms, people infected with the malaria parasite produce odours in their breath and skin that make them more attractive to mosquitoes, which then infect other people with the parasite and thus help the disease to spread. In a study funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, seemingly healthy children in Gambia, West Africa, were screened for malaria using a finger-prick test and also given nylon socks to wear overnight. After being frozen, the socks were shipped to the Medical Detection Dogs charity in Milton Keynes, where they were sniffed by…

In his new book, The Fifth Risk (see page 29), Michael Lewis reveals that a strange breach of protocol took place after President Trump’s election. Ignoring the established order in which foreign leaders are allowed to talk to the new incumbent, President Sisi of Egypt rang Trump Tower and persuaded the operator to put him straight through. Trump rose to the occasion with his usual diplomacy. “I love the The Bangles [pictured],” he declared. “You know that song Walk Like an Egyptian?” The broadcaster Gyles Brandreth was waiting for a train at Newport, Gwent, last week, when a fellow passenger came up to him and asked him if the station had a toilet. “I don’t know, I’m afraid,” Brandreth said. “On the telly,” replied the stranger, “you give the impression…

We’re told it’s a lifestyle that will save the planet, avoid cruelty to animals and keep us healthy. So here’s a question, said Rose Prince in The Mail on Sunday: how can veganism, with all its claims to compassion, spawn a vengeful mob intent on bringing down anyone who disagrees with it? The editor of Waitrose Food magazine, William Sitwell, is its latest victim, forced out of his job for joking to a freelance journalist who pitched an idea about plant-based meals that he’d rather run a series on “killing vegans, one by one”. Waitrose should have stood by an excellent editor who believes in free speech and holds independent views on the food industry: that it capitulated to social media activists accusing him of a hate crime “is shameful…

“What a difference one point makes,” said Chris Foy in the Daily Mail. At Twickenham last Saturday, England beat South Africa by “the finest of margins”: having fallen behind in the first half, they came back to win 12-11. It was a “momentous triumph of tenacity and spirit and defiance in the face of all logic”. And it served as a “pressure-release valve” for head coach Eddie Jones and his side, who had lost all but one of their previous six Tests. They were flawed – not to mention lucky – but any team who can “withstand the punishment that England did in the opening 40 minutes and still escape to victory deserve heady praise”. This was a team of “outcasts and offcuts”, said Nik Simon in The Mail on…

Don’t overlook colleges To The Times You are right to argue against a reduction in university tuition fees. Too much of the debate has been focused on relatively well-heeled university students rather than further education (FE) colleges. There is a huge difference between the amount spent on those 18- to 21-year-olds who go to university as compared with 18- to 21-year-olds who do not. In 2016, a Lords select committee on social mobility found that in 2012, a “home” university undergraduate was funded at about £8,400 a year; a full-time FE college student at about £2,150 a year. Not much has changed since then. In Scotland, the position is even worse, since the SNP government financed free university tuition by cutting the FE sector. In her first speech as Prime…

Opera Lucia di Lammermoor Composer: Gaetano Donizetti Director: David Alden Conductor: Stuart Stratford English National Opera, London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, London WC2 (020-7845 9300). Until 5 December Running time: 2hrs 50mins (including interval) ★★★★ The ENO’s first two productions this season weren’t much to write home about, said William Hartston in the Daily Express. A “distinctly dodgy” production of Richard Strauss’s Salome was followed by an only moderately persuasive stab at Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin. But with its third outing, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, the ENO has “hit pure gold”. Based on a Walter Scott novel, it tells the tragic tale of Lucia, a Scottish noblewoman brutally forced into a political marriage by her brother, who stabs her new husband to death on their wedding night. The…

Richard Smith at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert Although his reputation has waned in recent decades, the late Richard Smith (1931-2016) can probably be counted among the most interesting British painters of his generation. Smith has routinely been described as a pop artist, chiefly on the strength of the colourful, zesty paintings he created in the 1960s – many of which took small, and apparently dull, details from consumer products and turned them into magnificent abstractions that were closer in spirit to the work of Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko than to that of Richard Hamilton or Andy Warhol. A selection of these pictures is on display at this new show, which casts a look at Smith’s wildly inventive, infectiously optimistic early work. In his hands, cigarette packaging becomes totemic, while the pockets…

In the mid-1990s, Chilean winemakers discovered that many of the vines they had thought were merlot were in fact carménère. Given that carménère was rare elsewhere, it gave the Chileans the chance to develop something distinctive – and two decades on, their efforts are paying off beautifully, says David Williams in The Observer. A great place to start is the Co-op’s “winningly vibrant” fresh currant and black cherry-filled Irresistible Chilean Carménère, Maipo 2017 (£7). Following that, the “plummy richness” of Viña Ventisquero Root 1 Carménère 2017 (Morrisons; £7.50) is enhanced by “a wisp of tobacco leaf”. And the sumptuous Errazuriz Max Reserva Carménère, Aconcagua 2014 (ocado.com; £15.99) has a pleasing “savouriness and balsamic edge”, making it a great match for red meat and mushroom dishes. De Martino Legado Carménère 2016…

Adare Manor, Co Limerick This “magnificent” neo-Gothic manor, in the “postcard-perfect” village of Adare, 45 minutes from Shannon Airport, was once the seat of the Earls of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, says Mary Lussiana in the London Evening Standard. It has a great hall, soaring ceilings and stained-glass windows, while a restoration has left the original features intact, and added a ballroom and cinema. The rooms are “superbly comfortable”, and there’s also a golf course, archery and a spa, stocking La Mer products. The breakfast menu of kippers and black pudding is “appropriately Irish” and, with 450 staff, Adare has the “biggest staff-to-guest ratio in Ireland”. Doubles from £285 b&b. adaremanor.com .…

Brilliant mandarin who served four prime ministers Lord Heywood 1961-2018 As cabinet secretary until last month, Jeremy Heywood, who has died aged 56, was an essential figure at Downing Street, said The Times – a “fixer, enforcer, confidant, coordinator, crisis manager and keeper of secrets”. Britain’s most senior civil servant, he was the person who was always in the room during the prime minister’s meetings, always on the phone during conference calls. He was a behind-the-scenes player in major political events from Black Wednesday to the Brexit negotiations; and served as trusted adviser to four PMs. Calm, softly spoken, relentlessly hard-working and incredibly organised, he had a knack for making himself “indispensable”, said The Daily Telegraph. “Jeremy’s like a drug, people get addicted to him quickly,” remarked one of his…

“Big Blue” – IBM – was once the world’s biggest force in information technology, but in recent years it has been battling to stem its decline, said The Economist. How should it counter the rivals who ate its lunch during the great shift to cloud computing? The answer, according to CEO Ginni Rometty, is for Big Blue to don “red headgear”. In the biggest deal ever seen in the software sector, IBM is paying $34bn in cash to acquire Red Hat, the world’s biggest vendor of open-source software. Red Hat is no household name, but it’s a big hitter in computing – a fast-growing company attracting corporate clients who don’t want “to be tied into Amazon, Google or Microsoft”, said Robert Cyran and Liam Proud on Reuters Breakingviews. Still, it’s…

US sanctions against Iran Worries that this would create a supply shortage propelled the price up, but it has fallen as “the market has reassessed the situation”. US output has risen faster than expected and Saudi Arabia has also upped production, making traders “a lot more relaxed about the availability of crude”. The Saudi position The Saudis are keen “to placate the US” by keeping production pumping, but face “a delicate balancing act” if too much supply sends prices much lower – particularly given evidence that demand may be falling as the world economy weakens. Opec recently revised down its demand forecasts for 2019. A weak buffer There are “lingering concerns” about Opec’s lack of spare capacity. As trader Neil Beveridge at Bernstein points out, “it is possible to envisage…

The week’s best shares Aston Martin Lagonda The Daily Telegraph The newly floated famous marque intends to double output with a “super luxury” SUV aimed at China. Risky, but Aston is impressively managed and has a promising electric model in the pipeline. Buy. £14.77. Clinigen Group The Sunday Times The medicine distributer’s “extremely smart” European acquisition spree makes it a compelling partner for pharma giants. Recent acquisitions should add £15m profit in 2019 and £23m in 2020. Buy. 902.5p. Gfinity The Times Gfinity hosts fantasy battles and sports tournaments for “egamers” – including the inaugural ePremier League and an eFormula One series. Loss-making, but a “promising punt”. Buy. 8p. CareTech Investors Chronicle This “impressive” care home operator is renowned for making good acquisitions. The latest deal with Cambian expands its…

Controversy of the week Policing hate crime “In an ideal world, all crimes would be investigated thoroughly and offenders brought to book,” said The Times. In the real world, the police have to set priorities. At present, they are under serious strain: there has been a worrying increase in recorded crime in England and Wales, which rose by 9% in the year to June. The murder rate is at a ten-year high. Only 5% of all robberies and burglaries in Britain are solved. So Sara Thornton, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, was surely right when she urged that police be allowed to focus on “core policing”, rather than, for example, allegations of historical abuse or offensive but not necessarily criminal behaviour. She expressed particular concern about proposals that…

54% of people would vote to stay in the EU if a second referendum were held. 46% would vote to leave. In the event of Britain failing to reach a Brexit deal with the EU, 36% would want to leave without a deal; 35% would want to remain in the EU, while 19% would back delaying Brexit to allow for further negotiations. Survation/Channel 4 61% of British 18- to 29-year-olds get their news from social media. 19% never watch the news on television; 35% never read newspapers in print. Pew/The Guardian 6% of British people have never said “I love you” to their partner. 25% have never told their mother they love her and 32% have never told their father. Interflora/Mail on Sunday…

Stormzy and “the twang” At 25, Stormzy has earned a fortune as a grime rapper, says Jonathan Dean in The Sunday Times. However, it’s his recent work as a philanthropist that has earned him yet more respect. He has promised to fund black students through Cambridge and started a publishing imprint, #Merky Books, to encourage new writers. He got into publishing because he felt there was a dearth of black writing talent. Too many “young black people all over England have been subjected to a big psychological structural twang”, he says – a feeling that being a writer or an engineer is somehow not for them. Growing up in south London, Stormzy (real name Michael Omari) felt the same limitations: he just assumed, for example, that getting into knife fights…

A CV listing the achievements of a five-year-old boy has gone viral in China. The 15-page document, apparently prepared for entry to an elite school in Shanghai, claims that the child has a “unique” personality, and “rich and varied experience”; he has memorised about 100 classic Chinese poems, reads 500 English books a year, never cries when receiving injections and enjoys lab experiments. His timetable includes playing the piano, logic training, calculation practice and hip-hop dancing. But he’s emotionally intelligent too: “I write three English essays per week to express my feelings.” A new statue of Mo Salah has been unveiled in Sharm El Sheikh in his native Egypt, to global ridicule. It features the Liverpool striker in his trademark celebration pose, with arms outstretched, but there the likeness ends.…

IRAN Tehran’s pot is as black as the Saudi kettle Neue Zürcher Zeitung Iran’s ruling mullahs gleefully joined in the condemnation of Saudi Arabia over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, says Daniel Steinvorth. They’ve got a nerve. Have they forgotten that for decades they have ordered regime opponents to be abducted and murdered abroad? It’s only a year since Ahmad Mola Nissi, who belonged to a separatist group from the Arabic-speaking Iranian province of Khuzestan, was gunned down in The Hague. Then in June, police in Paris foiled a plot – suspected to have been ordered by a senior Iranian intelligence official – to set off a bomb at a rally organised by an Iranian opposition group. In fact, Iranian exiles have been warning for some time that the regime…

In the remote southern Indian Ocean, unlicensed fishing is common – mainly because its waters are rich in Patagonian toothfish (or “Chilean sea bass”), a slow-growing fish prized for its buttery taste. The trade, however, has a second victim – albatrosses, which often become entangled in the longlines used by trawlers. Now an initiative overseen by the French navy (which patrols a large zone in the sea) is to deploy the seabirds against their adversaries. Some 250 of the huge birds are to have small transceivers, designed to pick up radar signals from illegal vessels, glued to their backs: the trawlers usually turn their automatic tracking systems off to evade detection, but generally keep their radars on. The devices can pick up signals within a three-mile range: these will be…

When Pakistan’s Supreme Court overturned the death sentence against Asia Bibi, some pundits welcomed it as a hopeful sign, said Melanie McDonagh in The Spectator. It was now possible, they said, to imagine Pakistan developing into a modern, progressive society. Really? In 2009, Bibi, a poor farm labourer and a Christian, had the “temerity” to drink from the same water vessel as some of her Muslim neighbours in Punjab. In the confrontation that followed, they insisted she convert to Islam; she refused, prompting a mob to accuse her of insulting Mohammed (she has always denied doing so, and said her accusers were just being vengeful). Convicted of blasphemy in 2010, she was sentenced to die. Last week, the court ruled that the evidence against her was fabricated and that, if…

“What do you get up to when you’re bored,” asked Rod Liddle in The Sunday Times. Perhaps you do the crossword, or weed the garden. I like to wander around the house killing wasps with elastic bands. But “what I’ve never done, so far, is ‘become foreign secretary’. The thought has not even occurred.” That is probably because among the many things I lack – tact, decorum, etc. – “I am also without the immense sense of entitlement and self-regard that would allow such a notion to invade my skull”. Not so David Cameron. The former PM has confessed to friends that he is “bored shitless”. At 52, he reckons he has one “big job” left in him, but he doesn’t want to go through the hassle of becoming an…

Take a look at the Premier League table, said Riath Al-Samarrai in The Mail on Sunday. You’ll see that Bournemouth, a team who were facing relegation from League Two ten years ago, sit above Manchester United, the three-time champions of Europe. It’s the kind of “gloriously remote possibility” that can only be realised in a domestic competition like the Premier League. And it’s the kind of thing that will never be allowed to happen if the architects of a European Super League (ESL) get their way. According to leaked documents released by Der Spiegel magazine, 11 giants of European football – including Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs – have been holding secret talks about creating a breakaway league. If that were to go ahead, those 11 clubs…

To The Times As a vegan for the past 20 years, I find it puzzling why we are subjected to the fury of people such as William Sitwell, who has just quit as editor of Waitrose Food [after joking about “killing vegans”]. There are extremists among us, but the majority of vegans are simply asking why welfare standards that are illegal for pet animals are acceptable for farmed animals. No answer is ever forthcoming from our opponents, because none exists. Gandhi once said: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” Mr Sitwell’s remarks show that we are midway between the second and third stages. The recent boom in veganism suggests the final one is just around the corner. James Dixon, Stanningfield,…

Widows  ★★★★ One of the slickest studio thrillers in years Dir: Steve McQueen 2hrs 10mins (15) The British director Steve McQueen made his name with serious, gruelling and “unavoidably humourless” films such as the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave, said Benjamin Lee in The Guardian. So it was far from an obvious next move for him to take the story of Lynda La Plante’s “pulpy” 1980s TV drama series Widows and give it a 21st century, feature-length update. Yet the result is a triumph. Interweaving beautiful cinematography, slick action sequences, incisive social commentary, droll black comedy and pin-sharp characterisation, this is, quite simply, “one of the most deliriously entertaining studio thrillers in years”. Viola Davis leads the “blue-chip cast” in this blistering remake, which is set in present-day Chicago, said…

India’s new Statue of Unity (pictured) was unveiled last week by PM Narendra Modi in a lavish ceremony featuring fireworks, fighter jets and helicopters, says The Guardian. Situated in a remote corner of Gujarat state and depicting the independence leader Vallabhbhai Patel, it is 182 metres high –making it the world’s tallest statue, nearly four times as high as the Statue of Liberty. Patel is revered for persuading more than 550 princely states to join the new India upon independence. The bronze-clad figure, which houses a museum in its base, cost an estimated 29.8bn rupees (£314m) and has taken four years to build. Local leaders have protested, because 185 families were moved to make room for the structure. It dwarfs the 128-metre Spring Temple Buddha in China, the world’s next-largest…

Will spots Ben and Ruairi driving the Home Farm pickup and is furious with them for scaring the birds. Ruairi assures Will that it was all his idea and convinces him not to tell David and Ruth. When Will is out of sight, Ruairi gets back behind the wheel. Helen and Johnny buy ten Montbéliardes from a farm in Stafford. Elizabeth forgets to pay the deposit for the acting troupe for Halloween. Geraldine finds a last-minute replacement. Will tells Brian about the joyriding. Brian’s initially cross, but calms down when he remembers how he was at Ruairi’s age. With Martyn Gibson in charge, Brian feels left out at the shoot and leaves early. Lynda holds her first Canterbury Tales rehearsal in Brookfield’s freezing barn, keeping the only heater by her…

Cook House Ouse Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne ( cookhouse.org ) Every neighbourhood needs a Cook House, says Tom Parker Bowles in The Mail on Sunday. “Food that makes the senses sing. Without making the wallet sting.” This truly “special” Ouseburn restaurant, sitting in a couple of old shipping containers arranged in an L-shape, has pretty blue tables, a wood-fired stove, a blackboard menu and bottles of homemade pickles. Oh, and a tiny kitchen, cooking up properly “splendid” grub at breakfast and lunchtime. A thick, comforting, brick-red roast red pepper soup is simple but “exquisite”. A great tin plate of roast chicken salad – with an assortment of interesting greenery, chunks of toasted sourdough, and a “sharp, serious dressing” – is a “magnificent” take on an often run-of-the-mill dish. Best…

New cars: what the critics say Autocar Despite its quite ordinary looks, the GLC F-Cell is a “fairly significant thing indeed”. Hydrogen fuel cells – which emit only water, and are much quicker to fill up than batteries are to charge – are usually tough to fit into a car. But Mercedes’ new one fits within the regular GLC’s engine bay. It’s not currently available in the UK (we only have 13 hydrogen filling stations), but it’s a big step forward. The Daily Telegraph The F-Cell uses liquid hydrogen stored beneath its floor to power the fuel cell, which in turn powers an electric motor. The system works as a hybrid with a lithium-ion battery. Yet because both power sources supply electricity, switching between the two is more “natural” than…

A gourmet bus tour of London Tour buses of the capital are usually only for visitors, but there’s one that may just tempt London dwellers to hop aboard. Bustronome is the city’s “latest offbeat attraction”, says Helen Coffey in The Independent: a tour with an “upscale dining experience” in a bus that’s been converted to a restaurant with booths and mood lighting. The service starts off with champagne, as guests are handed a map and an audio guide of the passing landmarks. This is no “cheap gimmick” either – it’s genuine fine dining. Everything’s delicious and the wines are excellent, but what’s really clever is the “magnetic place mats” for cutlery and the stands to steady glasses against jolts. It may be all that wine, but the city looks “charming”…

SoftBank: Saudi dilemma SoftBank shareholders had a “list of urgent questions” for chief executive Masayoshi Son when he reported the Japanese tech giant’s latest quarterly results this week, said Kana Inagaki in the Financial Times. Topping the list was the future of SoftBank’s Saudi-backed $100bn Vision Fund following the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Shares in the Japanese group – which owns the UK chip designer Arm, as well as holding big stakes in Uber, WeWork and the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba – have fallen 22% since Khashoggi’s death last month. How would Son resolve the situation? By attempting to steer a middle course, said DealBook in The New York Times. Thus, while he spoke out for the first time against the “horrible” Khashoggi murder, he added that SoftBank…

The economic winds are getting chillier David Smith The Times Autumn’s here, and there’s a renewed chill in the economy, says David Smith. Recent weeks have been “hard going” for retailers. Still more worrying are surveys suggesting that both services and manufacturing have “caught a cold”, while business confidence has “slumped”. The patient, it seems, is “suffering from a nasty dose of ‘Brexititis’”. Assuming the Government negotiates an EU withdrawal agreement that it can get through Parliament, the condition could be treated – “though nobody pretends it will be easy”. But the economy is facing “other headwinds” too, including a broader global slowdown, trade wars, geopolitical uncertainty and tightening financial markets. What’s more, “the strong growth in the EU that provided Britain with a post-referendum boost has faded”. It’s important…

Six men have been arrested in connection with video footage showing a crowd of people laughing and joking as a cardboard model of Grenfell Tower, complete with figures at the windows, is set on fire. The men, aged 19 to 55, were arrested in south London after the film was circulated online, causing widespread outrage. They have been arrested on suspicion of violating section 4a of the Public Order Act, which makes it a crime intentionally to cause harassment, alarm or distress via the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or signs. If the case goes to court, legal experts have warned it may be difficult to show intent: much will depend on how and why the video ended up online.…

Morhange, France Commemoration tour: President Emmanuel Macron embarked on a seven-day tour of First World War battle sites this week, to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the armistice. His commemorations began with an unexpected visit to Morhange, where some 40,000 French soldiers were killed over three days in August 1914. On Tuesday he visited Verdun, and on Friday he was due to accompany Theresa May on a visit to the Somme. His Bristol-born great-grandfather, George William Robertson, fought at the Somme, and in 1919, married a Frenchwoman near Amiens. The following day, Macron was scheduled to take part in a ceremony with Angela Merkel in the Compiègne forest, where the armistice was signed on 11 November 1918 (see page 13). Macron’s 14-stop tour of the region also…

This week’s edition of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs featured the photographer Vanley Burke 1 Field recording of Jamaican revival music 2 Man in the Hills by Winston Rodney, performed by Burning Spear 3 My Boy Lollipop by Robert Spencer and Johnny Roberts, performed by Millie Small 4 Sonny’s Lettah (Anti-Sus Poem), written and performed by Linton Kwesi Johnson 5 Haile Selassie’s address to the United Nations, 4 October 1963 6* Blue in Green by Miles Davis and Bill Evans, performed by Miles Davis 7 I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free by Billy Taylor, performed by Nina Simone 8 Not Giving Up by Joe Gibbs and Leo Graham, performed by Leo Graham Book: Encyclopedia of Tropical Plants by…

Nearly ten million men were killed in combat during the First World War, and another 21 million were wounded. Six million men were mobilised from the UK, and three million from the colonies: just over 700,000 of the former were killed, along with 300,000 of the latter. On the first anniversary of the armistice, the tradition of Remembrance Day was inaugurated by George V at Buckingham Palace, observing the first two minutes’ silence at 11am. The remembrance poppy, inspired by the Canadian doctor John McCrae’s 1915 poem In Flanders Fields (“In Flanders fields the poppies blow/ Between the crosses, row on row”), was actually first used by the American Legion in 1920, and was adopted by the Royal British Legion in 1921. Nevertheless, in this country the War remained remarkably…

Third time lucky for Hillary? Andrew Prokop Vox Could Hillary Clinton run for president again? Two recent comments have fanned speculation that she may indeed be considering it, says Andrew Prokop. In an interview last month, Clinton said that, while she wasn’t planning another White House bid, she still liked the idea of being president and considered herself well equipped for the role. This came a week after a Politico article in which one of her former aides made the case for why – hypothetically – Clinton would be a strong 2020 candidate, citing her fan base, experience and fundraising powers. These remarks may be evidence that the Clinton camp is testing the water. Then again, they could mean nothing at all. The one thing we can say for sure…

The HS2 rail link between London and Birmingham may not be popular with everyone, but it is already proving a boon to archaeologists, says The Guardian. The 140-mile route passes through numerous sites of historical interest, and before the main building work gets under way next year, archaeologists are busy excavating 60 sites. They include a Wars of the Roses battleground in Northamptonshire, and, in Buckinghamshire, an Anglo-Saxon burial ground in Stoke Mandeville and a Romano-British town near Aylesbury. A dig in London will excavate St James’s Gardens, a Georgian burial ground near Euston station, where some 61,000 people are buried – including Bill “The Terror” Richmond, a freed slave who became Lord Byron’s boxing coach. More than 1,000 people are working on the project, which is believed to be…

Budgets have a nasty habit of unravelling on chancellors, said Andrew Grice in The Independent. But after Philip Hammond’s speech last week, it was Labour that was left floundering as the party’s leaders sent “confusing and contradictory messages”. Jeremy Corbyn attacked Hammond’s plans to raise the threshold for personal tax allowances to £12,500, and the higher-rate level of income tax to £50,000, as “ideological tax cuts”. Yet the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, voiced support for the changes, saying a future Labour government would stick to imposing tax rises on the top 5% of earners (i.e. those on £80,000 and more). The muddled response is a symptom of a growing rift between Corbyn and McDonnell. According to The Sunday Times, the demotion of Corbyn’s son Seb, who used to be McDonnell’s…

“Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate of people other than your own comes first.” Charles de Gaulle, quoted in The Washington Post “Importance in literature is unimportant. Good writing matters, and only good writing.” Kingsley Amis, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “Everything we can’t bear in this world, some day we find in one person, and love it all at once.” Novelist Djuna Barnes, quoted in The New York Times “The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” Cosmologist Carl Sagan, quoted on TheDay.com “The human mind is programmed for survival, not for truth.” Philosopher John Gray, quoted in The New Republic “The worst part of success is trying…

England used to be the “nearly men” of rugby league, said Kate Rowan in The Daily Telegraph. They made it to three World Cup finals – most recently last year – and lost each time. But in the first two Tests against New Zealand, they have gone a long way to “casting off” that reputation. On both occasions, the Kiwis – the world’s second best team, behind Australia –took the lead, only for England to overturn the deficit and win. Their 20-14 victory in the second Test, at Anfield last Sunday, “clinched” the series with one match still to play. This was a “hugely impressive win”, said John Drayton in the Daily Mail. There were a host of heroes: prop Luke Thompson looks “a natural at this level”; Jake Connor,…

“Prepare to enter an Aladdin’s cave,” said Rachel Campbell-Johnston in The Times. The British Museum’s new Islamic gallery aims to communicate the “astonishing, multifaceted variety of the many civilisations in which the religion of Islam has played a shaping role”. And it does so wonderfully well – telling the story of the Muslim world through state-of-the-art displays packed with fascinating exhibits that offer endless revelations and no small amount of visual splendour. Covering the period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the present day, and a geographical area stretching from Morocco to Indonesia, it brings together about 1,500 objects – from pre-Islamic Byzantine art that caught the eye of Muslim patrons to medieval ceramics and calligraphic scripts to brand new contemporary artworks. “This new gallery opens up a…

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier, 1951 (Virago £8.99). I first discovered the joy of reading with books like this one. It’s about not knowing what to believe, and is immensely skilful. When young Philip falls in love with his late cousin’s wife, has she bewitched him, or is she as innocent as she claims to be? Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh, 1928 (Penguin £9.99). One of the best comic novels of all time, treating the cosmic injustices suffered by one Paul Pennyfeather. Brilliant characters abound, and the set piece of the school sports day at Llanabba, when little Lord Tangent is accidentally shot in the foot with a starting pistol, makes me crease up just to think of it. Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty, 2013 (Faber…

Programmes Life Is Wonderful: Mandela’s Unsung Heroes Former judge Nick Stadlen’s inspiring film about the Rivonia Trial that led to the incarceration on Robben Island of Nelson Mandela and his fellow fighters against apartheid. Sat 10 Nov, C5 22:30 (100mins). They Shall Not Grow Old For this extraordinary documentary, Peter Jackson used technical wizardry to turn black-and-white footage of the First World War into colour film, giving a visceral idea of life on the Western Front. Sun 11 Nov, BBC2 21:30 (95mins). Quest: Surviving in America Storyville documentary following an African-American family in Philadelphia during Obama’s presidency. Mon 12 Nov, BBC4 22:30 (90mins). Inside the Foreign Office Over a turbulent year, the BBC was given access to British diplomats and their staff for this three-part series. Thur 15 Nov,…

Bedtime pudding with tahini cream Serves 4 1kg pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into matchbox-sized rectangles, about 5cm x 3.5cm, and 1.5cm thick (butternut squash can be used as an alternative) 250g caster sugar juice of 1 lemon 1 tbsp tahini 4 tbsps Turkish kaymak, crème fraiche or clotted cream 225g walnuts, toasted and roughly crushed, to serve • Spread the pumpkin out evenly in a high-sided roasting dish. Pour over the sugar, toss the pumpkin to coat it evenly, then add the lemon juice and toss again. Cover the dish with a tea towel and let it rest overnight. • The following day, the sugar should have dissolved and the pumpkin should have released its juices, leaving a good amount of liquid in the tray. Preheat the oven to…

Poland city break The Queen Boutique Hotel, close to the most popular attractions in Kraków, offers a 3-night stay from £282pp b&b, including flights. 020-3897 1146, loveholidays.com. Depart 10 December. 5-star all-inclusive stay Spend 7 nights in Tenerife’s sophisticated Costa Adeje Gran Hotel, minutes from the beach, from £1,142pp, including Cardiff flights. 020-8974 7200, travelrepublic.co.uk. Depart 20 December. Short stay in NYC Stay at the 4-star boutique Hudson New York near Central Park, room-only for 4 nights, from £552pp, including London flights. 020-3767 1996, teletextholidays.co.uk. Depart 9 December. Golden Triangle India tour Experience New Delhi, Agra and the “Pink City” of Jaipur over the course of a 7-day trip. From £899pp b&b, including Manchester flights, 020-3011 1520, citrusholidays.co.uk. Depart 18 December.…

Markets in the US and Europe rallied on the outcome of the US midterm elections, with attention now switching to this month’s G20 meeting, in which President Trump is scheduled to discuss trade tensions with China’s President Xi. The latter repeated his commitment to free trade and globalisation. It emerged that China has granted Ivanka Trump initial approval for 16 new trademarks for items including shoes, sunglasses – and voting machines. Renewed US sanctions against Iran took effect: the country’s energy, shipping and banking sectors are likely to be hard hit. In Britain, the pound jumped on rumours that the City is close to a Brexit deal. But the UK services sector suffered its worst month since March, as business optimism faded to its lowest level since the aftermath of…

A sea of crimson “Stock markets ended October on a positive note,” said The Economist. “But that wasn’t enough to stop the month from being one of the worst for equities since the financial crisis.” Some $5trn was wiped off shares globally as investors pondered “a jumble of anxieties”, including rising interest rates, the slowing Chinese economy and uncertainty over global trade tensions. Although the sell-off on Wall Street grabbed attention – particularly the “brutal” sell-off of tech stocks – “bourses elsewhere have been struggling for months”. The Euro Stoxx 50 index is down by 10% this year; China’s stock market is off by more than 20%. With western companies increasingly “citing China as a factor behind weak revenue growth”, it is “events in the East, not the West, that…

Steve Eisman The Wall Street money manager, who made a fortune shorting mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 crash, is training his guns on Britain, says The Times. Eisman, 56, whose bets were chronicled in Michael Lewis’s book The Big Short, is betting against two British banks in anticipation of a no-deal Brexit. “But I’ve got a screen of about 50 [stocks], and I might short all 50 if I think Jeremy Corbyn is going to be PM. Corbyn’s a Trotskyite. I know my Trotskyites well and I know you don’t want to be invested in the UK if a Trotskyite is PM.” Eisman declined to name his targets, but traders pointed the finger at challenger banks Metro and CYBG – two of the most shorted stocks on the FTSE 350.…