Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1212 i The Week

What happened May wins some time Theresa May was set on a collision course with Brussels this week after MPs voted for her to renegotiate the Brexit withdrawal deal. The mandate came in the form of an amendment – proposed by senior Tory backbencher Graham Brady and, in a surprise move, belatedly backed by the Government – that called for the replacement of the contentious Irish backstop with “alternative arrangements”, to avoid a hard border on the island. It was one of several amendments voted on in the Commons on Tuesday. MPs also approved an amendment that declared the Commons’ opposition in principle to Britain leaving the EU without a deal. To the relief of No. 10, two other key amendments that aimed to delay Brexit and hand more control…

Washington DC Trump’s woes: Donald Trump blinked first in his stand-off with Democrats in Congress last Friday – and reopened the federal government after a record-breaking 35-day partial shutdown. But having failed to secured congressional agreement to release the $5.7bn in federal funding he needs to build his promised wall on the Mexican border, he vowed that he would close the government down again if no deal had been reached by 15 February, and renewed his threat to use emergency powers to fund the wall. In a separate development, Roger Stone, Trump’s friend and adviser, appeared in court in Fort Lauderdale, charged by special counsel Robert Mueller with witness tampering, obstruction of justice and lying to Congress. Mueller alleges that in 2016, Stone (pictured) was asked by Trump’s campaign team…

1 Glory to thee, my God, this night by Thomas Ken and Thomas Tallis, performed by John Rutter with The Cambridge Singers 2 On a tree by a river by Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert, performed by John Reed 3 Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen by Mozart, performed by Neville Marriner with Kiri Te Kanawa, Olaf Bär, the Ambrosian Singers and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields 4 Coulter’s Candy by Robert Coltart and Robin Hall, performed by Robin Hall, Jimmie Macgregor and The Galliards 5 Blackbird by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, performed by The Beatles 6* Concerto for Two Violins by Bach, performed by Oliver von Dohnányi with Takako Nishizaki, Alexander Jablokov and Capella Istropolitana 7 All We Do…

Soros’s beliefs and his powerful influence are fair game for criticism; liberals, after all, often vilify right-wing donors, such as the Koch brothers in the US or Arron Banks in Britain. But there can be no doubt that many attacks on Soros are overtly anti-Semitic, drawing on ancient tropes that depict Jews as sinister, secretive puppetmasters. The alt-right US radio host Alex Jones has accused Soros of being the leader of a “Jewish mafia”. The comedian Roseanne Barr claimed that he was plotting to bring about the “overthrow” of the US republic. Viktor Orbán used nearly every anti-Semitic trope in the book when he invoked “an enemy that is different from us”: “crafty” and “base”; which “speculates with money” and “does not have its own homeland but feels it owns…

Is there method in Giuliani’s madness? Jonathan Chait New York magazine Is he “a blithering imbecile, or a subtle genius carrying out a brilliant defence strategy on his client’s behalf”? It’s hard to tell with Rudy Giuliani, says Jonathan Chait. President Trump’s “attorney-of-sorts” keeps putting his foot in it. His latest faux pas came in an interview last week in which he claimed that his boss, contrary to his assertions, had indeed been negotiating to build an apartment tower in Moscow during the presidential campaign. Giuliani quoted Trump as saying the Moscow project was “going on from the day I announced to the day I won”. Challenged over this “startling” claim, Giuliani then “frantically unconfessed”, insisting his statements had been “hypothetical”. His explanation makes no sense at all, yet some…

Antibiotic resistance is a global emergency that presents as serious a threat to mankind as climate change, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said this week, as he unveiled plans to reduce the amount of antibiotics used in the UK by 15% by 2024. While doctors are under pressure not to overprescribe antibiotics, pharmaceutical companies have a clear incentive to sell as many of them as possible. To address this problem, NICE and NHS England will look at ways of paying the companies according to the value their drugs have to the service, rather than by volume. At the same time, smaller firms will be paid to develop new treatments to target drug-resistant strains. Although the use of antibiotic medicines has fallen 7% in the UK since 2014, the number of…

The Davos crowd were “downbeat” as they gathered in the Swiss mountain resort for the World Economic Forum last week, said Peter Thal Larsen on Reuters Breakingviews. The assembled executives, financiers and political leaders “spent much of their time fretting about slowing economies, angry citizens and technological clashes”. Usually in Davos there’s a star country or a star industry that everyone’s talking about, said Gideon Rachman in the FT: last time the political hero was Emmanuel Macron and the technology was blockchain. Since then, the French president’s “poll ratings have fallen almost as fast as the price of bitcoin”. Macron stayed away, to deal with protests at home. This year’s forum instead featured Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, “a president famous for insulting gay people and praising torturers”, who gave a “brief…

“Capital is a coward.” Adage quoted in The Daily Telegraph “Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance or a stranger.” Humorist Franklin P. Jones, quoted in the New York Post “The strong man forgets what he cannot master.” Nietzsche, quoted in The Guardian “Democracy is more important for what it prevents than for what it provides.” Clive James, quoted on The Browser “Plans are useless, planning is essential.” Dwight D. Eisenhower, quoted in the FT “A frivolous society can acquire dramatic significance only through what its frivolity destroys.” Edith Wharton, quoted on LaphamsQuarterly.org “France is a republic that creates monarchs out of its president so that it can behead them.” Old saying, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “With most…

“With one flash of magic, Callum Hudson-Odoi reminded everybody why he is such a coveted talent,” said David Hytner in The Guardian. When Chelsea’s 18-year-old winger received the ball, in a 3-0 FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday, his “first touch was true”. His second was even better: he chopped inside, killing his marker. Then he buried the ball in the net, to score his first goal in English football. It came a day after Hudson-Odoi handed in a transfer request, in a bid to force a move to Bayern Munich. It’s easy to see why the German club has taken a shine to him, said Henry Winter in The Times. In his past four starts, he has two goals and three assists. But the Blues have only started him…

Vice Dir: Adam McKay 2hrs 12mins (15) Hyperactive political satire with Christian Bale ★★★ This is a comedy charting the rise of Dick Cheney, who, under George W. Bush, became the most powerful vice-president in American history. And the fact it’s a somewhat dry topic for comedy explains director Adam McKay’s decision to splice the story with asides and surreal metaphors, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. His film also has a terrific, understated performance from Christian Bale, who gained 45lbs to play the corpulent neocon. The trouble is that Cheney is pale, fat and charisma-free, said Nigel Andrews in the FT, and that doesn’t make for a very gripping protagonist. The best lines go to Amy Adams as his ambitious wife, Lynne, and to Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld,…

Scientists have warned that old master paintings are “crusting over”, says Dominic Nicholls in The Sunday Telegraph. A study on a tiny paint sample – less than the width of a hair – taken from Rembrandt’s Homer (1663 – pictured) has found that sulphur dioxide from open fires and atmospheric pollutants has slowly altered the chemistry of the paint – reacting with the lead to create an acidic environment that disfigures the painting and leaves a white surface crust. And it’s unlikely that the discolouration can be repaired, because the crust has penetrated deep into the paint. It’s probable that many paintings of a similar age may be affected; modern works are thought to have escaped damage because they are stored in better environments. The study utilised the UK’s national…

Programmes Safe Harbour Gripping Australian thriller series about a group of friends sailing to Indonesia who come across a boat overloaded with asylum seekers. With Ewen Leslie. Sat 2 Feb, BBC4 21:00 (105mins). Africa with Ade Adepitan In this four-part series, the athlete and journalist travels from Cape Verde to Nigeria to see how Africa is changing. Sun 3 Feb, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Skipping School: Britain’s Invisible Kids Dispatches investigates the dramatic rise in children leaving school to be educated at home, and looks at the impact it is having. Mon 4 Feb, C4 22:15 (60mins). Humpback Whales: A Detective Story Tom Mustill was lucky to survive in 2015 when a 30-tonne humpback whale breached and landed on his kayak. He wondered if this was an act of sabotage…

What the experts recommend Beetroot Sauvage 33-41 Ratcliffe Terrace, Edinburgh (0131-629 4484) Beetroot Sauvage is “my sort of place”, says Grace Dent in The Guardian. More “shack than chic”, this boho café-restaurant serves thoughtful vegan food, including dhals, power porridges, homemade cakes and tagines. It evokes the “slightly anarchic” spirit of independent eateries of old: “chalk blackboards, recipes dreamt up that morning, and simple, nourishing food served by people who may or may not have once played timpani in Chumbawamba”. Truthfully, the food is decent rather than spectacular. A subtly spiced bowl of green lentil mulch with tomato and chickpeas, served with white rice and flatbread drizzled with vegan garlic butter, was “glorious” in terms of texture and presentation, but it needed bolder seasoning. More successful was the sweet,…

Epson EH-TW650 Offering screen sizes up to a massive 300 inches, this full HD model is easily bright enough for rooms with ambient light. It also uses LCD tech, so has good colours and contrast (£479; pcworld.co.uk). BenQ W2000 In terms of connectivity, this HD projector is great, with three HDMI ports and lots of PC and USB connections. It can cast a 100in picture at only 2.5 metres, and has 20W speakers, though it’s still best to connect external ones (£690; amazon.co.uk). RIF6 Cube Fitting in the palm of a hand, the Cube is ideal for people who need to project slides or videos for work. It comes with a handy flexible tripod that can fix it anywhere, but brightness is only 50 lumens – compared with 2,000 on…

Four nights in Montenegro Stay at the 4-star boutique Hotel Fagus in Budva, which is renowned for its sandy beaches. From £199pp half-board, including Belfast flights. 020-3617 5850, travelzoo.com. Depart 1 May. Greek beach escape Spend 11 nights at the bright and lively Atlantica Beach Resort Kos on an all-inclusive basis. From £581pp including Birmingham flights. 020-3451 2720, firstchoice.co.uk. Depart 4 May. Luxurious Sri Lanka break A 5-night stay at the idyllic beach resort of Vivanta by Taj Bentota costs from £1,200pp half-board, including London flights. 01204-806076, destinology.co.uk. Depart 19 April. Tour of western Cuba Starting and ending in Havana, this 7-day tour includes a salsa lesson and a guided walking tour in Viñales. From £702pp b&b (excluding flights). 0808-274 5111, intrepidtravel.com. Depart 3 March.…

The pound fell sharply on international exchanges as traders concluded that a series of House of Commons votes on Tuesday had increased the chances of a disorderly departure on 29 March. Sterling has been rising steadily since MPs rejected the PM’s negotiated deal with Brussels on 15 January, on hopes of an extension to Article 50. But it fell by more than a cent against the dollar on revived cliff-edge fears. Official figures were expected to show that the ailing eurozone has begun to trail Britain, even as Brexit uncertainty bites. Preliminary estimates indicate the bloc’s economy grew by only 0.2% in the last quarter of 2018, compared with a 0.3% showing from Britain. The credit-rating agency Standard & Poor’s reported that the longest government shutdown in US history, which…

Tax suit That Ingenious thing just won’t go away, said Liam Kelly in The Sunday Times. Hundreds of investors in the controversial film schemes formerly run by Ingenious Media have launched a £100m lawsuit against HSBC’s private bank – hoping to recoup the eye-watering bills they incurred when HMRC argued that the schemes were tax avoidance measures. A total of 248 wealthy and high-profile figures – including musical theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd-Webber and football manager Steven Gerrard – claim that HSBC “conspired to defraud them”. HSBC refused to comment, but a source close to the bank said it would defend the “historic” claim. Making movies When Ingenious took advantage of tax breaks set up by the Labour government at the turn of the century to launch its film finance products,…

“The rich are often castigated for not coughing up their fair share in tax,” said Robert Watts in The Sunday Times. “Plenty of them do.” The top 50 British taxpayers contributed £2bn to the Exchequer last year. Here are the biggest payers. Stephen Rubin and family Tax liability: £181.6m; 2018 wealth: £2.82bn JD Sports is just one of the big sportswear brands controlled by the country’s largest taxpayer, whose Pentland Group also owns Berghaus, Ellesse, Boxfresh, Speedo and Mitre. Stephen Rubin (pictured), 81, originally hoped to become a Liberal MP, but, after a drubbing in the 1959 election, joined the family shoe business and built an empire. He now pays “a tad more than the £19,300 or so of income tax a backbench MP stumps up annually”. Denise, John and…

Controversy of the week Dyson’s desertion James Dyson is “the most successful entrepreneur and inventor in Britain today”, said Ruth Sunderland in the Daily Mail. So his decision to shift his company’s headquarters from Wiltshire to Singapore is “a body blow” to the nation. And since Dyson was one of the few leading businessmen to actively support Brexit, it was also seen as “a hypocritical act” of desertion – “an almighty snub to Britain at a time when the country needs him most”. The firm claimed that the move was nothing to do with Brexit, said Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian. But what else did its spokespeople mean when they said the appliance maker was moving to Singapore to “future-proof” the business? The news came on the same day that…

Cairo Briton freed: A woman from Hull who was jailed in Egypt for taking banned painkillers into the country has been freed after serving 13 months of her three-year term. Laura Plummer, 34, said she’d been unaware that Tramadol (an opioid painkiller available on prescription in the UK) was banned in Egypt, and that the 290 tablets found in her suitcase were to relieve her Egyptian boyfriend’s back pain. Plummer, who had initially faced a drug trafficking charge carrying a 25-year sentence, has said she’ll “never set foot in an airport again”. Harare Crackdown continues: Hundreds of Zimbabwean activists and opposition officials have gone into hiding to avoid becoming the victims of an ongoing violent crackdown on dissent that has included arbitrary arrests, beatings, rapes and abductions. It is widely…

“What on earth has happened to hamburgers? When I was growing up, burgers were small, neat, efficient. They were served fast and you could eat them fast. Now look at them. Huge, teetering Jenga towers of beef and bacon and cheese and gherkin, patty piled on patty piled on patty. The typical modern burger may look great in photos. But it’s impossible to eat. Within a single bite, your cheeks are slathered in tomato sauce, your nose is splodged with mustard. Every time I attempt one I feel sorry for Ed Miliband. How could anyone laugh at that photo of him eating a bacon sandwich? Compared with me eating a burger, he looks like a vicar taking tea with the Queen.”…

The liberal contribution to hate politics John Domokos The Guardian I find it hard to talk politics with my dad, says John Domokos. I am British and work for The Guardian; he’s a native of Hungary and supports its illiberal PM, Viktor Orbán. This winter we decided to visit Hungary and explore together the “political fault line” that supposedly separates the nationalist/populist camp from the liberal/globalist one. And what struck me was that whether or not they liked Orbán, almost everyone I met – housing activists, villagers, artists – had a fierce sense of national identity and pride in Hungarian culture. People like my father, I learnt, voted not in hatred or resentment but in hope of a cultural revival. And that’s why the binary way we talk about politics…

Greenland’s ice at “tipping point” Greenland’s ice is melting faster than expected – and is doing so in regions where the ice was presumed to be “safe”, a new study has found. A team at The Ohio State University used satellite images and ground-based instruments to monitor the island’s ice, and found that 400 billion tonnes were shed in 2012, four times more than in 2003. Greenland has long been monitored by scientists concerned about rising sea levels, but previously, research has focused on the southeast and northwest of the island, where there are many large glaciers which calve in warm weather, creating icebergs that melt in the Atlantic. For this study, however, researchers examined data from a broader area, and found that an alarming amount of meltwater was now…

The former leader of the Lib Dems Nick Clegg had a challenging first few days in his new role at Facebook last week, when he was obliged publicly to defend the tech giant’s record on deleting harmful content (see right). On the other hand, he is being well rewarded for it. His salary is reported to be at least £1m, plus far more in bonuses, and this week the Daily Mail reported that he has used his new-found wealth to buy a £7m home in California. The sprawling five-bedroom house has a swimming pool and an acre of land. “California is the more European of all the states,” Miriam González Durántez, his wife, recently observed. “They are constantly looking to the future.” The couple are believed to have kept their…

It is associated with its pictures of stylish interiors, perfect weddings and beautifully iced cakes – but “the death of Molly Russell has revealed a darker side of Pinterest”, said Rosamund Urwin and Sian Griffiths in The Sunday Times. In November 2017, Molly was 14. The youngest of three sisters, she seemed well and happy: a keen rider and sailor, she’d recently won a lead part in her school play. Only after she took her own life did her parents discover that she had depression. A “caring soul”, she’d not burdened them with her anxieties; instead, she’d gone online to explore her feelings, on sites such as Pinterest and the Facebook-owned Instagram. There, her father believes she was bombarded by graphic images of self-harm and references to suicide that helped…

“How typical of England,” said Paul Newman in The Mail on Sunday. Just when you think “they have cracked it”, they let you down all over again. They went into the first Test against West Indies, in Bridgetown last week, having won eight of their previous nine matches. What followed was “an utterly brainless display”. There was the dreadful first innings, when they scored a measly 77 runs. Then, in the second innings, “they capitulated in the most abject manner” to lose by 381 runs. Apart from Rory Burns, who scored 84, no batsman managed higher than a 34. The bowling was almost as bad – especially in the second innings, when West Indies’ Jason Holder scored 202, the third-highest score by an eighth batsman in Test history. This was…

A particularly taxing tax To The Guardian One way to help stem the loss of small businesses from our high streets would be to raise the level at which businesses have to register to pay VAT from £85,000 to £250,000 and reduce the rate, currently 20%, which adds to the cost of living for all working people, as well as making it near impossible for small businesses to make even a small profit. To pay minimum-wage salaries to two or three employees, plus the employer’s national insurance contribution, plus rent and business rates, requires even a very small high street business to achieve a turnover that takes it into the range where VAT must be paid. VAT is not paid on profits but on total turnover, so a firm can…

This year the host of the Academy Awards will be… nobody, said Alissa Wilkinson on Vox. The comedian Kevin Hart had been lined up to compère the 2019 Oscars, but he pulled out after homophobic tweets he’d posted years ago resurfaced online. But what’s weird is that the organisers haven’t found anyone willing to replace him. Admittedly, the MC of the Oscars is paid comparatively little: $15,000 according to one-time host Jimmy Kimmel. But given that even a low-ratings Oscars is watched by 26 million viewers, you’d think someone would be glad of the exposure. There are countless reasons why stars say no to the gig, said Caroline Iggulden in The Sun. For one thing, as Hart has discovered, the host inevitably comes under intense scrutiny. For another, it’s a…

Best books… Martin Rees The Astronomer Royal picks his six favourite books. His latest book, On the Future: Prospects for Humanity, is published by Princeton University Press at £14.99, and is also available as an e-book and an audiobook The Times Complete History of the World, 1978 (William Collins £75). This was one of my favourite books when it was first published. It graphically portrays the history of exploration and how empires have come and gone. For those with visual memories, it’s an easy way to learn both history and geography. This Boy by Alan Johnson, 2013 (Corgi £8.99). This is the first of three memoirs by the former Labour home secretary. It describes his impoverished upbringing with his mother, a charlady, who was abandoned by her husband and died…

Puttanesca aubergine parmigiana Serves 4-6 olive oil, for frying 2 red onions, sliced 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 175ml white wine 1 tbsp tomato puree 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes 2 tbsps capers, chopped 100g green olives, sliced 200ml water 4 aubergines, cut lengthways into 1cm-thick slices 20g basil leaves, torn 50g sourdough breadcrumbs 1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes zest of ½ a lemon pinch of salt 80g vegan mozzarella, torn (optional) pepper • Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and cook the onion over a medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until starting to soften. • Stir in the garlic, wine and tomato puree, then let the mixture bubble away until reduced by half. • Stir in the chopped tomatoes, capers, olives and measured water.…

● If you’re a complete novice, it’s safer to focus on battery-powered devices and steer clear of those that are mains-powered. If you do work with the latter, always disconnect them first. ● Look out for scorch marks – they could indicate an electrical fault, which is not safe for amateurs to tackle. ● Take photos as you go so you can put everything back in the right place. ● If a headphone socket is faulty, it could just be because of a build-up of dust. Try gently digging it out with a toothpick. ● To stop your computer overheating, you can clean the fan using compressed air or a brush. There are simple instructions online. ● If your oven is not heating up properly, you could try replacing the…

São Lourenço do Barrocal Portugal Set amid the meadows and olive groves of the “unspoilt” Alentejo region, this “village-sized” farm-turned-hotel is a “bucolic” retreat that is also fantastic for families with children, says Tatler. Its “low-slung”, whitewashed barns and workers’ cottages now house guest rooms with brick floors, bespoke wooden furniture and “snuggly” blankets. The “cosy” dining room serves the estate’s own wine, beef, freshwater fish and more. There’s good hiking, biking and riding all around, as well as a swimming pool, a spa and an amazing array of children’s activities – from pony treks to archaeological digs. Doubles from £165 b&b. 00 351 266 247 140, barrocal.pt.…

Revered editor known for her painfully honest memoirs Diana Athill 1917-2019 One of the most revered editors in British publishing, Diana Athill, who has died aged 101, helped her friend André Deutsch found his company in 1951, and proceeded over the next 40 years to nurture the talents of a roster of authors, from Jean Rhys to V.S. Naipaul. Beady-eyed and unsentimental, she urged her writers to be as honest as possible, “to write the truth, however indecent”. Then, in the 1960s, she picked up a pen herself to produce the first in a series of acclaimed memoirs in which she chronicled, with painful candour, her many and often catastrophic relationships, and exposed the “wrecking effects of love”, said The Daily Telegraph. The daughter of an officer in the Royal…

The subject of “digital trust” was ubiquitous at Davos this year, said Alex Lawson in the London Evening Standard. Sadly, it doesn’t appear to have done much to ease worsening China-US relations. The latest to feel the heat is Microsoft. Most big US consumer sites – Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo – have been blocked by the “Great Firewall of China” for years. The exception was Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, which was allowed to operate provided it censored “sensitive topics”. Now even Bing has been banned. Microsoft boss Satya Nadella says the firm is “engaged to determine the next steps”. The same might be said of every other company operating in China these days.…

Although the FTSE 100 fell in 2018, it was a bumper year for dividends, said Mark Atherton in The Times. Pay-outs reached a record level of £99.8bn last year, pushing the yield on FTSE 100 shares to 5% – “the highest since 2009”. So where was the best value to be had and what’s the outlook for 2019? The payouts in 2018 “A small number of giant stocks contributed a huge share of the total payouts.” The top five – Royal Dutch Shell, HSBC, BP, British American Tobacco (BAT) and GlaxoSmithKline – paid out £33.8bn, more than a third of the total. BAT made the biggest contribution to dividend growth as it reaped the rewards of its 2017 takeover of the US tobacco firm Reynolds American. Its £4.4bn payout “was…

The week’s best shares Blue Prism Group The Mail on Sunday A pioneer in robotic process automation. Blue Prism’s clients include Coca-Cola and the NHS, for which it installs queue-busting self-check-in kiosks. Loss-making, but at the forefront of a growing market. Buy. £13.44. Joules Group Investors Chronicle E-commerce investment has “taken a bite out of margins” at the clothing chain. But Joules’ licensing arm offers “huge growth potential”, with “top-line momentum” continuing over the festive period. Buy. 255p. Mondi Investors Chronicle Mondi’s global reach and vertically integrated operations put it in a great position to ride the sustainable packaging wave. Margins are improving and shares have fallen too far on containerboard worries. Buy. £18.26. Diploma Investors Chronicle A new CEO has brought stability to this resilient industrial equipment distributor, which…

Brussels Nato members up their spending: Nato’s non-US members have agreed to increase their defence spending by a total of $100bn in response to the urgings of America’s President Trump, the alliance’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said this week. Trump’s warnings, he added, had been heard “loud and clear”. Trump has repeatedly complained that Nato members are failing to honour their commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence. Last month, The New York Times reported that several times over the course of 2018, Trump had privately told officials that he wanted the US to withdraw from the defence alliance – which would effectively destroy it. However, his ambivalence to Nato is not shared by US legislators. Last week, the House of Representatives passed (by 357 to 22) a cross-party…

From drugs to kangaroo pie When, at 17, Jock Zonfrillo fare-dodged his way from Ayrshire to London to ask Marco Pierre White for a job, nobody could have predicted that he’d end up as one of Australia’s top chefs, says Joanna Moorhead in the Financial Times. A heroin addict since the age of 14, he confessed to White that he’d just been fired from his last job for swearing so loudly in the kitchen the diners could hear – and when White rang his ex-boss to ask for a reference, it could hardly have been more damning. “The conversation was on loudspeaker and I was in tears. I knew I wouldn’t be getting a job. All I could think was, how the f*** am I going to get back to…

An Irish man who swallowed a $40,000 diamond ring at a jewellery store in Turkey has told prosecutors that he “fell into a trance” when he saw it. Ian Campbell, 54, was arrested after ingesting the 2.5-carat diamond ring while on holiday in Marmaris, and was given laxatives to help him “return” it (this didn’t work; it had to be removed surgically). Campbell explained that his wife had died in a car accident after falling into a lake; her wedding ring had never been found. Now, he said, whenever he sees diamond rings, he feels “a strong urge” to take them, “especially the ones with higher carat diamonds”. Vaev Tissue, a Los Angeles start-up, claims to have sold nearly a thousand tissues that have been sneezed into by someone with…

GREECE Selling off citizenship is a Greek tragedy To Vima (Athens) Greece is in danger of losing its national character, says Giannis Zoumboulakis. Greeks may soon be a minority in their own land. And it’s all because of a law passed by the Greek government in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis in a desperate attempt to attract foreign investment – and thereby mitigate the crippling austerity imposed on us by international creditors. The law grants a residence permit to anyone spending more than s250,000 on Greek real estate, a permit which eventually bestows Greek citizenship, and, thus, citizenship of the EU. And to get that benefit, foreigners are now buying up Greece – and in so doing, they are pricing locals out of the housing market. When foreign…

Saturn hasn’t always had its distinctive rings; in fact, the translucent bands, made up of countless particles of ice and rock, probably only formed about 100 million years ago, according to an analysis of the final tranche of data sent back by Nasa’s Cassini spacecraft. In 2017, with its fuel running out, the probe repeatedly wove in and out of Saturn’s rings, and this has allowed astronomers to calculate their mass with far greater accuracy than had previously been possible. Had the rings proved extremely massive, that would have suggested that they formed when Saturn did, 4.6 billion years ago. But they’re surprisingly small – with roughly half the mass of the Antarctic ice shelf. Astronomers say this suggests their emergence occurred fairly recently, probably after a comet strayed too…

One of many things we’ve learnt from Netflix’s new documentary about the Fyre Festival fraud of 2017 is how much money “influencers” can make, said Sam Wolfson in The Guardian. In an attempt to create an online buzz about the festival, its organisers paid celebrities tens of thousands of dollars to endorse it on social media. Kendall Jenner was allegedly paid $250,000 for one post. And so it was that US millennials were duped into buying tickets for a festival that didn’t exist. They were told they’d be spending three days partying on a paradise island in the Bahamas; a promo video showed supermodels posing on white sand and diving into azure waters. But when the punters who were flogged this fantasy turned up, they found that their “luxury” lodges…

Forget Davos and its WEF (World Economic Forum), said Charles Moore in The Daily Telegraph. For sound common sense, you’re better off listening to Sandringham’s WI (Women’s Institute). It was while speaking to this august body last week that the Queen made an appeal for more harmonious public discourse. “As we look for new answers in the modern age,” she said, “I for one prefer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view; coming together to seek out the common ground; and never losing sight of the bigger picture.” She didn’t mention Brexit, but it was clear what our monarch, whose reign began 20 years before we even entered the European Economic Community, was referring to. The Queen was wrong to…

Women’s tennis has long been searching for a “new superstar”, said Mike Dickson in the Daily Mail. The sport has been dominated by Serena Williams for years; other players have won a Grand Slam, or topped the world rankings, only to fade from view. But Naomi Osaka’s victory in the Australian Open final last Saturday may have inaugurated a new era. In her three-set win over Petra Kvitová, the 21-year-old from Japan displayed the composure of a “true champion”. It made her the first woman since 2015 to win two consecutive Grand Slams – her previous victory came in the US Open, last September. Having risen to No. 1 in the world, she is now the first Asian player, of either sex, to top the rankings. Born in Japan, to…

To The Times Matthew Parris was right to say that the Queen has made a mistake by expressing an opinion relating to Brexit, as was your leading article in the same edition. Furthermore, he was correct in saying that “calling for compromise is taking a position, it is not standing back from the fray”, and that it is “an approach that is commendable in some circumstances and not in others”. Perhaps the most outstanding illustration of this truth was in 1940. Lord Halifax, the foreign secretary, told Bjorn Prytz, the Swedish minister plenipotentiary in London, that common sense would prevail over bravado, and that an opportunity to make a reasonable compromise for peace would not be missed in spite of what his undersecretary of state, R.A. Butler, described as the…

Jim worries he’s missed Alistair in the half marathon, but Jazzer explains that Alistair and Philip are dressed as a pantomime horse. Jennifer calls a partnership meeting to discuss Brian’s decision to plead not guilty. Adam cheers her with news of Lexi’s pregnancy. Helen and Lee walk up Heydown Berrow. They bump into Ruth and Helen becomes self-concious. She’s grateful when Lee introduces himself as her fitness trainer. Kenton drops in on Elizabeth, who hasn’t got dressed. When he asks about the licence appeal, Elizabeth breaks down and admits she missed the deadline and will have to start the process again. She thinks it’ll be the end for Lower Loxley if they don’t get the licence. Kenton tells David, who suspects she’s depressed. The Montbéliardes arrive. Kenton tries to get…

Liberty are the best known importers of Italian wines into this country so it is no surprise that half of this month’s offering are from Italy. The main difficulty with Italian wines is the profusion of regions and grape varieties, which always makes it a bit hit or miss when ordering them in a restaurant. I recently visited Sicily and was hugely impressed with the quality of both whites and reds literally on the slopes of Mount Etna, where occasionally a tumble of rubble and lava would smother half of a vineyard. The two standout wines in my February collection are the Pomino and the Lepus, which both have the ability to excite your palate — one with its charm and balance and the other, its freshness and liveliness. This…

A new classic: “the world’s most famous sports car” Depending on your point of view, the Porsche 911 is either a “jumped-up VW Beetle” or the “most useable of supercars”, said Andrew English in The Daily Telegraph. Either way, it is “the world’s most famous sports car”. In its eighth incarnation, it is faster, more efficient and more powerful – and a pleasure to drive fast or slow, over distances long or short. It’s often hard to predict the mark each new 911 will make on motoring history. They age like wine – some well, some less so – but this one is set to be a “classic”. The interior looks familiar, but only “at a glance”, said John Barker in Auto Express. There’s now only one analogue dial, the…

The Asian and Middle Eastern recipes from Feast Box come with helpful “chef’s tips”, and there are plenty of vegan options. Try the red Thai duck curry (from £3.50 per serving; feastbox.co.uk). Upmarket meals from Pasta Evangelists are small but “delicious”, and quick to prepare. The crab and squid ink tortelloni is particularly good (from £12.50 per meal for two; pastaevangelists.com). Gousto sends recipes that come with loads of “hacks” for making hearty ingredients into quick dinners, e.g. an easy lamb tagine (from £2.98 per serving; gousto.co.uk). HelloFresh makes recipes a novice can really nail. The portions are generous, but the estimated cooking times are hit and miss. The turkey forestière is a highlight (from £5 per serving; hellofresh.co.uk). Riverford has good organic produce, but its recipes could be clearer.…

Liming on Tobago Owing to its oil wealth, Trinidad and Tobago is less developed for tourism than other Caribbean island nations. Trinidad is relatively “big and brash”, but Tobago, which is smaller than the Isle of Wight, is very “chilled”, says Mike Atkins in The Times. Stay at the “gorgeous” Castara Retreats, which overlooks a “smashing” beach that’s as popular with locals as tourists. Scarborough, the “utilitarian” capital, is worth visiting for its excellent street food – try the “fluffy” rotis filled with curried chicken, potato and chickpeas. Hiking the forested Gilpin Trace path, you’ll spot “bewitching” wildlife, including birds with names worthy of Roald Dahl (fuscous flycatchers, grey-throated leaftossers, olivaceous woodcreepers). And the rest of the time, if you’re not content with just relaxing (or “liming”, as the locals…

Tesco/M&S/Ocado: supermarket sweep-out Another week, another “bleak” moment for British retail, said The Times. Oddbins, the vintner, is fighting collapse; stationer Paperchase is looking to close stores; and some 9,000 jobs are to go at Tesco – “the biggest cull yet” under the leadership of Dave Lewis, known in the industry as “Drastic Dave”. Tesco – still Britain’s biggest supermarket – plans to ditch meat, fish and delicatessen counters in 90 stores in an effort to build what it called “a simpler, more sustainable” business. The move is likely to cheer “independent butchers, bakers and candlestick-makers across the land”, analyst Clive Black of Shore Capital told the London Evening Standard. Rival Morrisons, which remains committed to selling “served counter” fresh food, could also benefit. Clearly, Tesco is on “a drive…

How GDP is fuelling populism Russell Lynch London Evening Standard The IMF’s Christine Lagarde kicked off the World Economic Forum with a downgrade to the global growth forecast. What “the average person” made of news of a likely “0.2 percentage point slowdown” in gross domestic product is “moot”, says Russell Lynch. But the fact we still religiously follow these forecasts “underlines” how the GDP measure, which was invented by Simon Kuznets in the 1930s, continues to hold the world’s policymakers and economists in its thrall. There are big dangers to this. Indeed, there’s a strong argument that our “obsession” with the number has helped create and underpin “the populist morass much of the world finds itself in” because GDP is such a “flawed measure of social good”. When malaises like…

Maurice, four or five years old at the time, made a boat out of a carrot as a birthday gift for his little sister, Millie. But the birthday never came. Millie had gone. Manfred, aged 13, went out one morning to work. He left his brother, Hermie, behind because he was 11 and too young to do so. But Hermie was not there when he returned. The women in the kitchen told him two soldiers had taken him away. When Susan, aged 14, was told she was to be resettled, she decided to take her portable sewing machine with her. She was good at sewing and, with her mother, she walked for miles with the heavy machine on her back. When they reached their final destination, she was separated from…