Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1214 i The Week

The world at a glance

Honolulu, Hawaii No smoking (unless you’re over 100): State legislators in Hawaii are considering a bill that would gradually raise the legal age for smoking from 21 to 100, so that by 2024 only centenarians would be able to buy cigarettes legally. Under the proposals, the age would rise to 30 in 2020, to 40 in 2021, to 50 in 2022, to 60 in 2023 and then jump to 100. In recent years, Hawaii has been at the forefront of the crackdown on tobacco use – ramping up taxes and regulation, and becoming the first US state to ban smoking for people younger than 21 (elsewhere in the US, the smoking age is 18 or 19). If adopted, the bill, which has support from both Democrats and Republicans, would make…

Castaway of the week

1 Me and Bobby McGee by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, performed by Kris Kristofferson 2 Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky, performed by André Previn with the London Symphony Orchestra 3 In Private by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, performed by Dusty Springfield 4* Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor by Beethoven, performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy 5 Crying by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson, performed by Roy Orbison and k.d. lang 6 Lord of All Hopefulness by Jan Struther, performed by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge 7 Schwanengesang by Schubert, performed by Alexander Hülshoff and Andreas Frölich 8 Love Is in the Air by Harry Vanda and George Young, performed by Rupert Everett and Colin Firth in St Trinian’s Book: The…

Bercow’s journey to enlightenment

John Bercow doesn’t have the usual background of a Tory party grandee: the son of a north London taxi driver, and the grandson of Romanian Jewish immigrants, he went to a comprehensive in Finchley and then Essex University. He started out in student politics on the most extreme wing of the Conservative Party, as a member of the hard-right Monday Club, supporting assisted repatriation for Commonwealth immigrants. But he later disowned it and, after his election as the Tory MP for Buckingham in 1997, he became one of the party’s most outspoken liberals. His conversion is ascribed by many to the influence of his wife Sally, a Labour supporter. His Speaker’s coat of arms bears the motto: “All are equal.” The Speaker, however, has allegedly been less than enlightened in…

Afghanistan: is it time to cut our losses?

The future of Afghanistan has “never looked more uncertain” – and, as so often in the past, that “is largely the fault of the US”, said Mihir Sharma on Bloomberg. The Trump administration is negotiating a potential peace deal with the Taliban in which America could withdraw its 14,000 troops from the country, in return for a commitment from the Taliban to never again offer a haven to terrorists, as it did with al-Qa’eda before 9/11. But for the US to “cut and run” in this way would be “an appalling abdication of responsibility”. The Taliban can’t be trusted to honour any pledges on terrorism – it reneged on similar assurances to the Clinton administration in the 1990s. Abandoning Afghanistan as a “lost cause” would betray all those who have…

India’s unemployment crisis: is this the end for Modi?

You’d have thought that a politician presiding over the world’s fastest-growing major economy would have no trouble getting re-elected, said the Hindustan Times (New Delhi). But it may not pan out that way for India’s PM, Narendra Modi, in the elections this spring. His party, the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), can boast about India’s 7% growth rate, but in a democracy of 814.5 million voters, growth isn’t “the be all and end all of economic policy”: the fruits of it must be spread equally. And they aren’t. In its 2014 election campaign, the BJP had made big promises about creating more jobs. In the technology sector it has done so, but in the informal economy where 80% of India’s workforce is employed, it has conspicuously failed. There are nowhere…

Carbon captured at Drax

A carbon-capture scheme has been launched at the Drax power plant in Yorkshire. Already, one tonne of carbon dioxide that would otherwise have been released straight into the atmosphere is being captured from Drax’s gas flue every day; if all goes well during the pilot, C-Capture’s technology will be scaled up, with a view to making biomass plants such as Drax (and much bigger ones) negative emissions facilities. However, at the moment the CO2, once isolated and captured, is simply being released, as the company has not yet worked out how to store it. The difficulty and expense involved in storing captured carbon have led to predictions that the technology will only play a limited role in curbing emissions. However, the firm says that as part of the six-month pilot,…

Jeremy Corbyn: too chaotic to be PM?

“Dangerous. Incompetent. Chaotic with money.” Tom Bower’s new biography of Jeremy Corbyn, Dangerous Hero, proves that the Labour leader is “totally unfit for office”, said The Mail on Sunday. Corbyn’s “destructive socialist beliefs” and “long association with terrorists and anti-Semites” are well known – but Bower’s “masterly evisceration” details for the first time “the full truth” about “this sorry excuse of a man”. Although born into privilege, he “grew up to hate the middle classes”. At his selective grammar school, he got only two A levels, both at grade E. He has been married three times, enjoying relationships “with a succession of younger women” – but for all his talk of equality, he seems to have expected his partners “to do all the chores”. He lived so frugally that he…

Football: Manchester City destroy Chelsea

It was “not so much a victory as an evisceration”, said Jason Burt in The Daily Telegraph. On Sunday, Manchester City destroyed Chelsea: they scored four times in the first 25 minutes, and went on to win 6-0, inflicting the Blues’ heaviest defeat of the Premier League era. City, meanwhile, have won 11 of their past 12 matches in all competitions, and are back at the top of the table; in their past six home games, they have scored an astonishing 33 goals. If Liverpool – who are behind City only on goal difference, with a game in hand – manage to beat them to the title, it will be “an exceptional achievement”. City produced “one of the finest team performances in Premier League history”, said Henry Winter in The…

Sporting headlines

Six Nations Wales beat Italy 26-15 to equal their record run of 11 successive Test wins. Ireland beat Scotland 22-13. Football In the Premier League, Tottenham beat Leicester 3-1. Liverpool beat Bournemouth 3-0. Manchester United beat Fulham 3-0. Horse racing Horse racing in Britain resumed this week following a six-day shutdown over an outbreak of equine flu. Tennis In the Fed Cup, Britain’s women’s team beat Serbia 2-0 to qualify for a play-off for promotion to the competition’s second tier.…

Review of reviews: Books

Book of the week Engines of Privilege by Francis Green and David Kynaston Bloomsbury 320pp £20 The Week Bookshop £15.99 According to Alan Bennett, “private education is not fair. Those who provide it know it. Those who pay for it know it... And those who receive it know it, or should.” His words are unanswerable, said Hugo Rifkind in The Times, and they provide the “moral backbone” of Francis Green and David Kynaston’s “forensic” and “damning” examination of what the authors call “Britain’s private school problem”. The pair (an economist and a social historian) chart the evolution of Britain’s fee-paying schools, analyse their social impact and discuss how to reform the system. While private schools educate about 7% of pupils, their alumni dominate the upper echelons of British society, from…

Film

All is True Dir: Kenneth Branagh 1hr 41mins (12A) Bittersweet bardolatry from Kenneth Branagh ★★★ Films on Shakespeare have ranged from the delightfully frivolous (Shakespeare in Love) to the historically outrageous (Anonymous), said Helen O’Hara in Empire. But “long-time Bard-botherer” Kenneth Branagh takes a more sombre approach, creating a bittersweet family drama centred on the playwright’s final years. As well as directing, he plays the lead – with the dubious assistance of a large fake nose. The ageing literary lion returns home to his sceptical, considerably older wife (Judi Dench) in Stratford-upon-Avon. All agree he’s a great writer, but how does he score as a human being? Branagh delivers a “fiercely intelligent” film about grief (for Hamnet, Shakespeare’s son, who died aged 11) and the pitfalls of talent, said Kevin…

The Archers: what happened last week

Brian agrees to plead guilty. Jill tells Shula and David about Leonard Berry, a man she has met. Elizabeth snaps at Bert when he points out a problem with the guides rota. Demonstrators are waiting for Brian outside the magistrates’ court. One of them lobs a paint bomb, which hits Brian on the shoulder. Adam rushes off to buy him a new jacket. Brian pleads guilty and is fined £120,000. Shula and Alistair receive their decree nisi. Natasha and Kirsty meet for the first time. Natasha suggests a double date with her and Philip. Kirsty reluctantly agrees to ask him. Johnny asks Alistair to mentor him. Jill introduces Leonard to her family. David thinks he’s dull and finds it odd seeing his mother with a new man. Toby moans to…

Food & Drink

What the experts recommend Olle 88 Shaftesbury Avenue, Chinatown, London W1 (020-7287 1979) Olle is the word for path in the dialect spoken on an island off the coast of South Korea, says Jay Rayner in The Observer. But there’s nothing particularly “regional or niche” about the food at this inviting central London restaurant. It serves familiar Korean dishes, executed very well, with an “uncommon grace and charm”. Korean fried chicken is “everything I want it to be”, with a “double fried crunch” followed by the “confectionery-shop slap” of the sweet-savoury sauce. A seafood pajeon (like a cross between a pancake and an omelette) combines still-pert spring onions with the softness of molluscs and crustaceans. And a seafood and tofu stew is a steamy and encouraging bowlful. If you’re…

The best… winter cycling gear

Northwave Flash TH shoes Also available as ankle boots, Northwave’s heavy-duty shoes are lined with Thinsulate thermal material and are highly durable (£84; evanscycles.com). Specialized Deflect gloves Offering minimal bulk and maximum wind protection, these gloves should keep you warm in any weather. They’re also touchscreen compatible and have a padded, water-resistant suede palm for improved grip (£30; cyclestore.co.uk). Proviz REFLECT360 cycling jacket Marketed as the first 100% reflective jackets, Proviz’s range is made from fabric embedded with tiny glass beads; they look like regular jackets in the day, but glow brilliant white when illuminated by headlights (from £80; provizsports.com). Rapha Pro Team winter tights For the serious cyclist, these tights are worth the hefty price tag. With a seat pad, fleece inner layer and wind-blocking, water-repellent front panels, they…

This week’s dream: by train through the wilds of Canada

Travelling through the “extreme depths” of Canada’s western wilderness, the Skeena train plies one of the most spectacular railways in the world, says Monisha Rajesh in The Guardian. It runs between Jasper, a small mountain town in the Canadian Rockies, and the port city of Prince Rupert, on the northwest coast of British Columbia – making for a 720-mile, two-day journey. Along the way, you pass “teal-green” lakes, logging towns and old sawmill settlements; there’s plenty of wildlife to spot, and staggering views of the “ice-capped crags” of Mount Robson. The train’s name derives from the dialect of the Gitxsan First Nations people, and means river of the clouds; it is also known officially as Train Five, and affectionately by the commuters who tend to comprise its passengers as the…

Last-minute offers from top travel companies

Short break in Bristol Two nights at the Hilton Garden Inn Bristol City Centre, with views of the Temple Gardens, cost from £110pp b&b (based on two sharing). 01904-717362, superbreak.com. Arrive 22 March. Beachfront in Bulgaria Looking to relax? Then spend 3 nights in a 1-bed apartment at the lovely Obzor Beach Resort, from £353pp b&b, including Birmingham flights. 0800-408 0778, jet2holidays.com. Depart 6 May. Mediterranean cruise This 7-night cruise sets out from Palma, with stops in Livorno, Marseille and Barcelona. From £767pp all-inclusive, including flights from Birmingham. 020-3636 1931, tui.co.uk. Depart 9 April. All-inclusive in Cape Verde Located on the southern coast of Boa Vista island, the Hotel Riu Touareg offers a 7-night stay, all-inclusive, from £723pp with Manchester flights. 0800-408 4048, haystravel.co.uk. Depart 25 March.…

CITY

Publicis/WPP: old economy blues Shares in the advertising conglomerate Publicis suffered “their biggest one-day drop since 1992” last week, said Reuters, wiping almost s2bn off the French company’s stock market value, as analysts predicted that the group would struggle to hit its targets into 2020. The decline was led by a drop in ad spending by major fast-moving consumer goods producers, such as Procter & Gamble and Unilever, which account for 25% of Publicis’s revenues and are “particularly important” in its biggest market, the US. These clients are increasingly switching to digital marketing or bringing ad production in-house. Publicis boss Arthur Sadoun had promised to offset the decline by offering clients “technological tools” and “consulting”. That helped the group win key accounts at GSK and Fiat-Chrysler late last year, but…

Google bets

Google has morphed into “one of the slickest advertising machines in history”, generating more than $136bn in revenues last year, said Margi Murphy in The Sunday Telegraph. Yet its parent, Alphabet, has plenty of “other bets” too. None has “exactly taken off” financially yet. But some of these outfits have the power to grow “exponentially”, and could “transform Google’s business model”. Waymo Google’s driverless-car division is thought to be its biggest lossmaker, but plenty of analysts are betting that it could be “the next jewel in Alphabet’s crown” – if Intel’s prediction of a $7trna-year industry by 2050 comes to pass. Verily All about “applying technology to healthcare” – from robotic surgery to health-tracking wristbands. Investors clearly see potential. Calico, a separate health division charged with “curing death”, has suffered…

Politics

Controversy of the week Tusk’s diabolical cheek “It’s useful to be reminded every now and then just how much the Brussels oligarchy hates us,” said Brendan O’Neill on Spiked. So let’s be grateful to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, for his comment last week. At a press conference with the Irish PM, Leo Varadkar, Tusk wondered out loud “what that special place in hell looks like, for those who promoted Brexit, without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely”. The mask slipped, revealing that the Brussels elite really do view those who disagree with them as “evil beings, sinners, disrupters of decency”. It was only the latest piece of “gratuitous mud-slinging” from Tusk, said the Daily Mail. When Theresa May went to Salzburg…

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The world at a glance

Freetown Rape emergency: The president of Sierra Leone has declared the “scourge” of sexual violence in the country a national emergency, following a spate of child rapes. Addressing the State House in Freetown, Julius Maada Bio said that with immediate effect, anyone found guilty of raping a minor could be jailed for life (up from a maximum term of 15 years). He also announced a dedicated police division to investigate cases of sexual violence, and a special court to fast-track prosecutions. Police recorded 8,500 cases of sexual violence last year, from a population of 7.5 million, up from about 4,500 the year before. Activists, however, say many rapes go unreported. Public anger over the issue has been sparked by a series of high-profile cases, including the rape of a five-year-old…

Viewpoint: Extreme dieting

“I’ve just heard of something called the ‘hunger brag’. It’s when someone goes on social media to explain that they’re fasting and, not only that, goes the implication, they’re fasting harder and longer than anybody has ever done: ‘Three days now! Seventy-two hours!’ How come new regimes are nearly always so extreme and aggressive? With diets, it’s a dramatic switch to anything from vegan or paleo to fasting. With exercise, it’s marathons, cycling up mountains, hot yoga, cold yoga. What’s interesting is how rarely anything seems to be about moderation. It’s never ‘I won’t be having a second biscuit’ or ‘I think I’ll go for a little walk’.” Barbara Ellen in The Observer…

Best articles: Britain

An appalling breach of our basic freedoms Kenan Malik The Observer “There’s a long history of moral panics about music”, but until now no musician in Britain has ever been jailed for playing a particular song, says Kenan Malik. Yet a British court did just that last month, when it imposed nine-month suspended sentences on two “drill” musicians, Skengdo and AM, from the Brixton group 410, for performing their song Attempted 1.0. A “watershed moment for the censorship of culture”, their record label owner called it. He was right. Drill is a nihilistic form of hip-hop that many associate with gang violence. It clearly glamourises it, but that isn’t in itself a crime. “If it were, everything from American Psycho to Zulu could be banned.” Yes, there are laws against…

Trump raises the alarm on socialism

Americans should be very afraid. Not only are hordes of immigrants coming to kill them, but their nation is also being stalked by another terrifying menace: socialism. That was the key message of President Trump’s State of the Union address last week, said Paul Waldman in The Washington Post, and an early indication of the political battleground on which the next presidential election will be fought. “Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” the president declared. “America was founded on liberty and independence – not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free and we will stay free.” Amid applause from Republican lawmakers and chants of “USA! USA! USA!”, Trump said: “Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will…

What the scientists are saying…

Threat to Himalayan ice caps At least a third of the Himalayas’ ice will melt by 2100, even if aggressive steps are taken to curb global warming, scientists have warned. The landmark report into the impact of climate change on the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region predicts that between 36% and 66% of the region’s ice will disappear, with the lower level of melting reliant on global temperature rises being within 1.5°C, which is considered optimistic. About 250 million people live in the HKH region – which harbours more ice than anywhere outside the Arctic and Antarctica – and a further 1.65 billion are reliant on the great rivers that flow from its peaks into China, India, Pakistan and other countries. The report predicts that river flows will first increase –…

The Bezos scandal: a billionaire stands up to “extortion”

Having built a $780bn business empire from scratch, Jeff Bezos can be no stranger to roller-coaster moments, said The Australian. But nothing can have prepared the world’s richest man for the drama that has upended his personal life in the past month, and put the previously publicity-averse Amazon founder on the front page of newspapers all over the world. Involving an affair, a divorce, intimate text messages, naked selfies, allegations of blackmail, and suggestions of political involvement from the White House to the palaces of the Saudi royal family, it’s a story that even a tabloid would struggle to make up. “Bezos built on the tactic made famous by the Duke of Wellington: ‘publish and be damned’” It all started in January, when Bezos announced that he had split up…

Liam Neeson: committing career suicide?

Liam Neeson has been “cast out”, said Brendan O’Neill in The Spectator. “Overnight he has gone from being the avuncular star of ropey American thrillers to being ‘trash’, persona non grata, a foul, nasty man Hollywood should no longer indulge.” His crime? He confessed, during an interview, “to having once had a terrible thought, a thought he is deeply ashamed of”. Neeson was promoting his latest revenge thriller, Cold Pursuit, when he revealed that, many years ago, a close female friend was raped. Having discovered that the perpetrator was black, Neeson revealed that he walked around at night with a cosh, “hoping some ‘black bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, y’know? So that I could kill him.” This is certainly a…

Six Nations: the worst French team in history?

England’s impressive Six Nations win over Ireland two weeks ago was no one-off, said Robert Kitson in The Guardian. At Twickenham on Sunday, Eddie Jones’s “rampant” team did it all over again: they beat France 44-8, to record their biggest victory over the French in 108 years. The home team were superior in every department. They “kicked cleverly, hit hard and found acres of space”. With six tries, including a hat-trick from Jonny May, this team is making the kind of progress that we haven’t seen “since England’s heyday in the early 2000s”. How France would love to turn back the clock to that era, said Andy Bull in The Observer – a time when they regularly won the Six Nations. Today, they are No. 10 in the world rankings,…

Pick of the week’s correspondence

“Ethical” fashion To The Independent In Sirena Bergman’s piece on ethical fashion, one suggestion for embracing a more sustainable approach was missed – buy less. If you want to reduce the impact your buying habits have on the planet, this is the only certain tactic. But the subject of ethical fashion is indeed complex. We throw around terms like ethical, natural, chemical and sustainable without properly understanding what they mean, and the article did contain some errors. For example, it highlights silk, linen and bamboo as more sustainable fibres, but harvesting silk causes the death of the silkworm part way through its life cycle; bamboo requires some fairly hostile chemicals to turn it into a textile fibre; and if you like white linen, this needs some quite robust chemicals to…

Theatre: Home, I’m Darling

Playwright Laura Wade is on a roll, said Ann Treneman in The Times. Last autumn her play The Watsons – a boldly playful adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel – won rave reviews in Chichester. Now another of her recent hits, Home, I’m Darling, has opened in the West End following runs at Theatr Clwyd and then the National Theatre. It tells the story – “stylised to the point of cartoon” – of Judy, a young married woman who is so afraid of modern life she tries to hold it at bay by creating a fantasy 1950s home. It isn’t exactly subtle and it’s 15 minutes too long. But it’s a strong production from Tamara Harvey; Katherine Parkinson is terrific as Judy; and it is “great to see a show…

Art

Exhibition of the week Don McCullin Tate Britain, London SW1 (020-7887 8888, tate.org.uk ). Until 6 May Don McCullin is a photographer whose pictures “bear haunting witness to the making of history”, said Rachel Campbell-Johnston in The Times. Working as a photojournalist, including for The Observer and The Sunday Times, he has “documented war and its appalling fallout the world over”, producing some of the rawest and most instantly recognisable images of the late 20th century. This exhibition is the first full retrospective of his 60-year career, taking in his distinctive, monochrome photos of everything from the bomb-ravaged streets of his native north London to famine-blighted 1970s Bangladesh and Saddam Hussein’s murderous campaigns against the Kurds. The show brings together hundreds of photographs, some world-famous, others lesser-known,…

Television

Programmes Trapped The compelling lcelandic thriller featuring Ólafur Darri Ólafsson’s stoic police chief returns for a second series. Sat 16 Feb, BBC4 21:00 (100mins). Baptiste The French detective in The Missing, Julien Baptiste (Tchéky Karyo), has been given his own six-part series. The tormented sleuth is called in to help find a missing sex worker in Amsterdam. Sun 17 Feb, BBC1 21:00 (60mins). Traitors Six-part spy thriller starring Keeley Hawes. Set at the end of WWII, it follows British operatives as they try to identify the spy who is passing classified information to the Americans. Sun 17 Feb, C4 21:00 (60mins). A Very British History: The First Black Brummies Poet Sue Brown, whose parents left Jamaica in the 1950s, looks at what life was like for the Caribbean community in…

Recipe of the week

If you’ve never eaten the classic combination of beef and oysters, says James Martin, you have missed out. On a recent culinary tour of Britain, I made this dish in Cornwall using amazingly good oysters that chef Paul Ainsworth and I acquired from Porthilly Farm, near Rock. It is a perfect spot for oysters thanks to a tidal stream that brings seawater to feed and filter them Individual beef pies with oysters Serves 6 (you will need 6 x 12.5cm pie dishes) 3 tbsps vegetable oil 2kg shin of beef, diced sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 shallots, peeled and diced 500ml beef stock 250ml British bitter a little plain flour, for rolling out 500g ready-made puff pastry 2 egg yolks, for egg wash…

Tips of the week… how to Brexit-proof your holiday

● Watch out for the “Brexit surcharges” of up to 8% that some operators have added to their terms and conditions. They’ll apply if there is a “demonstrable increase” in the cost of providing the holiday after Brexit. ● British citizens are likely to need at least six months’ validity on their passports to enter the EU after Brexit. Renew your passport now if it’s close to expiry, because there may be a surge in applications. ● You may want to get travel insurance. The Government is “confident” it will reach a deal for the European health insurance card to continue, but it’s not guaranteed. ● Consider booking an all-inclusive break to minimise your spending abroad in case the pound falls after 29 March. ● You are likely to need…

Hotel of the week

Ashford Castle County Mayo, Ireland A former residence of the Guinness family, this huge castle has hosted notable guests, from Oscar Wilde to Ronald Reagan – though it’s “anything but stiff”, says Tatler. Staff are “wonderfully friendly” (some have worked here their whole lives), and there’s no end of fun to be had both inside (with a cinema, a Lego butler service for children and an “elegant” spa) and outside (horse and bike rides, zip-lining, fishing trips on the “salmon-stuffed” Lough Corrib and more). Each of the “wildly patterned” rooms is “a winner”, and the food is great, including formal dining focused on French and Irish dishes. Rooms from £710 b&b. 00 353 94 954 6003, ashford-castle.com .…

Working-class actor who helped bring about a revolution

Albert Finney 1936-2019 On arriving at Rada in the early 1950s, Albert Finney was convinced he didn’t belong, said The Times. The son of a bookmaker from Salford, he felt “unsophisticated, ungainly, clumsy and uncouth”; the idea that he could become a professional actor seemed preposterous. But the 17-year-old’s timing was perfect. The “era of the ‘angry young man’ was dawning”, and rugged male actors with working-class swagger were about to become all the rage. Handsome, stocky and proudly Lancastrian, Finney was, with Tom Courtenay, at the head of a new generation of working-class and regional actors who transformed British cinema and theatre in the 1960s – starting with his portrayal of the disillusioned, brawling, womanising factory worker Arthur Seaton, in the 1960 film adaption of Alan Sillitoe’s novel Saturday…

Seven days in the Square Mile

The Bank of England downgraded its outlook for Britain’s economy to its weakest level for a decade, estimating that there is a “one in four” chance of recession in the first half of 2019. The later release of worse-than-expected GDP figures for the past quarter – showing that the economy actually contracted in December – intensified the gloom. Governor Mark Carney described Brexit as an “acid test” for the future of global trade, claiming that trade conflicts are more of a threat to the world economy than a financial crisis. Markets jumped midweek on news that the US might extend the 1 March deadline to reach a trade deal with China, if a “real deal” is a prospect. Britain signed a trade deal with Switzerland – a “continuity agreement” guaranteeing…

Issue of the week: a bazooka for the economy?

The Government’s preparations for a no-deal Brexit “sometimes sound as if they have come from the imagination of a pulp-fiction novelist”, said The Economist. Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, boasts that, in an effort to ward off medical shortages, “he is now the world’s largest buyer of fridges”. Meanwhile, one online outfit is offering a “Deluxe Brexit Box” containing “157 portions of not very appetising meals” for £595. “What better way to watch the riots than with a packet of freeze-dried beef and potato stew?” Unfortunately, these preparations are no longer just theoretical, which makes the latest dire economic statistics all the more worrying. Government figures suggest that the UK economy expanded by only 1.4% last year – its slowest pace since 2012 – and “actually contracted in December”, said…

Commentators

Taking back control of the boring stuff Fintan O’Toole The Irish Times Since last Friday, freighters leaving UK ports for Australia and New Zealand have been “sailing into the unknown”, says Fintan O’Toole. The voyage takes 50 days, so they will arrive after 29 March, having departed “with no idea of what trading regime will apply when they try to land their goods”. Assuming “you’re not a real exporter”, there’s something rather “thrilling” about this. “Every captain is a Captain Cook” heading for “the trading equivalent of terra incognita”. What a refreshing change from the “day-to-day tediousness” of the EU. In fact, Brussels’ stultifying bureaucracy may be its greatest gift. One great boon of the EU is that it has lifted “vast burdens” of form-filling and box-ticking from business and…

Who’s tipping what

The week’s best shares Amazon The Times The online giant is taking advantage of “tax-cut dollars” to invest in capital-intensive projects – notably, expanding its grocery and advertising business, which is now generating “impressive income”. Buy. $1,659. Compass Group The Times The world’s biggest caterer continues to grow steadily, with revenues from defence, education and healthcare – and margins are increasing. Not cheap, but an “undisputed market-share winner”. Buy. £17.58p. Intertek Group The Times Intertek provides testing and assurance services for retailers and manufacturers, particularly those involved with home appliances and lighting. “High-quality”, with stable long-term structural growth potential. Buy. £50.70. City Pub Group Investors Chronicle This top-notch, drinks-led pub group is run by an experienced team. Currently focused on London and the southeast, expansion plans are on track and…

Europe at a glance

Nuremberg, Germany Hitler art flop: An auction of paintings attributed to Adolf Hitler ended in disarray last weekend, after police confiscated 63 works suspected of being fakes, and the five remaining watercolours (which had starting prices ranging from s19,000 to s45,000) failed to attract any bids. The only items to sell at the auction in Nuremberg were a tablecloth that had belonged to Hitler (it fetched s630) and a Meissen vase, which sold for s5,500. The trade in Hitler’s art and personal effects is not illegal in Germany, but the sale at Weidler auction house received heavy criticism, including from the city’s mayor, Ulrich Maly, who called it “naff and tasteless”. Prosecutors have now opened a fraud inquiry into the seized paintings. The same auction house sold more than a…

People

How Grant got Withnail At 61, Richard E. Grant has reached a career peak of sorts, with his first Oscar nomination. But he knows that he owes it all to a piece of luck right at the start, when Daniel Day-Lewis (then a rising star) turned down the lead role in Withnail and I, says Michael Hodges in The Mail on Sunday. This gave Grant – then making ends meet as a painter and decorator – a chance to audition for the film that changed his life. Five years later, he met Day-Lewis when they were both cast in The Age of Innocence – and literally threw himself at the actor’s feet. “I said, ‘Oh Daniel, I owe you my career.’ And he said, ‘Arise!’ Then he didn’t acknowledge me…

Order! Order!

Why do we have a Speaker? The office dates back to the 14th century: the Speaker was originally an agent of the Crown, driving the King’s business through the House of Commons. The job meant communicating the Commons’ opinions to the monarch. And that could be dangerous. Seven early Speakers were executed – hence the tradition of the new incumbent having to be dragged reluctantly to the Speaker’s chair. Today, the Speaker represents the Commons to the sovereign, rather than vice versa. In 1642, Speaker William Lenthall famously told King Charles I, when he tried to arrest five MPs in the Commons: “I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here.” But…

IT MUST BE TRUE…

A Japanese man has been charged with stealing more than 70 pairs of shoes that he allegedly sniffed for his own “sexual pleasure”. Makoto Endo, 40, is on trial for the theft of shoes worth about £2,100 in Tochigi and Saitama, eastern Japan. Police found the shoes after raiding his house last September. Endo reportedly told police officers: “I did it to get pleasure by sniffing the smell of well-worn shoes, regardless of their owners being men or women.” Marks & Spencer announced the launch of a new product for Valentine’s Day: the “Love Sausage” , a “heart-shaped, lightly truffled” pork sausage wrapped in bacon. The retailer described the sausage, which costs £5, as the “ultimate meaty delight for Valentine’s breakfast in bed”. Not to be outdone, Morrison’s responded with…

Best articles: International

THE NETHERLANDS How a far-right MP converted to... Islam De Telegraaf (Amsterdam) What made him do it, asked De Telegraaf. Why would a far-right anti-Islam politician suddenly convert to Islam? Joram van Klaveren was an outspoken MP in Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom. He agitated for a ban on minarets; he called Islam “the biggest disease to have hit our country in the past hundred years”. But in 2014, he resigned in protest at Wilders’ ever more extreme hate speech. And now, halfway through writing a book excoriating Islam, he’s had a complete change of heart and decided to join it. There’s “cheering in mosques”. But to bewildered friends, it’s “as if a black man had joined the Ku Klux Klan” and they’re trying to uncover his motives. Is it…

A robot that taught itself to play Jenga

Robots have already eclipsed humans at chess and Go, says The Times. Now scientists are focusing on a still tougher challenge: Jenga. Despite its apparent simplicity, the building game is extremely hard for robots to master, because it hinges not on cognitive power, but on sensory perception and manual dexterity. Since such skills are virtually impossible to simulate, robots can’t play millions of games against themselves, but instead have to learn in the “real world”, through trial and error. To create their Jenga-playing robot, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology equipped an industrial arm with a soft-pronged gripper, an external camera and a force-sensing wrist cuff. The machine was placed in front of a Jenga pile, and began pushing and pulling blocks at random, gradually teaching itself what worked.…

Pick of the week’s Gossip

Before she turned to acting, Brigitte Nielsen was a model – and found it an unexpectedly risky business. Preparing for a shoot in the Seychelles in 1981, she came face to face with a band of mercenaries who had just stormed the islands in an attempted coup. She was hustled into a small room at the airport and held there for more than 12 hours with 40 other hostages. “I feel like I can smell the moment,” she says: “the gunpowder and the heat and the humidity. People were very ill. There was glass everywhere.” Once freed, Nielsen (left) made her way back to the shoot, expecting a sympathetic reception. But no: “Where have you f***ing been?” demanded the photographer. As the US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright was the…

Wit & Wisdom

“Why don’t people just accept that life is sad and cheer up? After all, it’s not going to last forever.” Jeremy Hardy, quoted in the I newspaper “Fortune favours the prepared mind.” Louis Pasteur, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it.” George Bernard Shaw, quoted in the LA Times “One of the hardest things in life to learn is which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn.” Oprah Winfrey, quoted in the New York Post “An honest man speaks the truth, though it may give offence; a vain man, in order that it may.” William Hazlitt, quoted on Spiked “Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this, that you…

The England cricketer who bowls at 95mph

“What a difference pace makes,” said Mike Atherton in The Times. It was what England’s bowlers so badly lacked in the first two Tests of their Caribbean tour, when they were drubbed by West Indies. But in their victorious third Test, in St Lucia this week, Mark Wood showed the team just what they had been missing. In the first innings, making his first appearance of the series, he took five wickets – four of them in “a single eight-over blast” – for only 41 runs. Even more impressive was the sheer speed of his bowling: he hit 94.6mph, the fastest ball by any bowler in this series. That took his average in Test cricket to 85.54mph, the highest by any England bowler since speeds were first recorded in 2005.…

What is gained by excluding children from school?

To The Times The well-informed comment on excluded pupils by Rachel Sylvester is a challenge to us all. Excluding a child from school may be a short-term expedient, but it usually comes with a substantial longterm cost. The behaviour that gives rise to the possibility of exclusion must surely be taken as a cry for help. Unless this is met with a clear and rigorous plan of help and support it is likely to result in greater vulnerability and alienation, which will have a marked and lasting impact on the adult of the future. Missing this opportunity to change young lives at this stage is in the interests of no one. Lord Laming, House of Lords To The Times Schools exclude pupils as a last resort, to enable them to…

Opera: Katya Kabanova

His Czech contemporaries would be astonished to discover that Leoš Janácek would one day be viewed as one of the greatest opera composers of the 20th century, said Jan Smaczny in The Guardian. Until the hugely successful Prague premiere of Jenufa in 1916, when the composer was 61, he was very much a neglected outsider – seen as a “wild and woolly ‘backwoodsman’” from the eastern region of Moravia. Today, though, Janácek’s stock is higher than ever. His dark, pessimistic operas can “shock, even wound, but they are often ravishingly beautiful, powerfully emotive and, above all, true”. They are recognised, a century on, for the “masterpieces” they are, said Richard Fairman in the FT. And over the next few weeks, no fewer than three UK companies are presenting stagings of…

The List

Best books… J.S. Monroe The author of the bestselling novel Find Me picks his five favourite psychological thrillers. His new book, Forget My Name, is published by Head of Zeus at £18.99 The Magus by John Fowles, 1965 (Vintage £10.99). The book’s sheer delight in Scheherazade-style storytelling – tales within tales – is infectious, as layer upon layer of falsehoods are peeled back to reveal “truths” that prove to be anything but. I read it again this year, having first devoured it as a student, and realised that this is the book that made me want to write. The Secret History by Donna Tartt, 1992 (Penguin £8.99). This cool, erudite page-turner also has a magus at its centre: Julian Morrow, a university lecturer in Greek myths. Tartt taps into that…

Best properties on the market

Romantic hideaways under £500,000 Suffolk: The Little House, Gislingham. This Grade II property, believed to date from the mid-15th century, has recently been meticulously renovated, but retains many period features, such as an impressive inglenook fireplace in the sitting room, exposed timbers, and the crown post in the master bedroom. Vaulted master bed with dressing room above, 2 further beds, family bath, kitchen/ breakfast room, dining room, sitting room, study, large barn with adjoining store, garden, 0.3 acres. £475,000; David Burr (01359-245245). Cornwall: Christmas Cottage, Helford, Helston. A renovated former fisherman’s cottage in the heart of the village, with off-street parking, a terrace and lawned quay fronting a stream, plus a further south-facing rear garden with a private sun terrace. 2 beds, family bath, kitchen, sitting room, dining room with…

Consumer

New cars: what the critics say Auto Express In designing family SUVs, manufacturers have started focusing on a sporty dynamic – although these cars are unlikely to be going on any racetracks. The “unpretentious” C5 Aircross aims instead for “solid comfort”. Citroën’s largest SUV, it comes with a choice of two petrol and two diesel engines. The PureTech 130 tested here ticked along nicely on the motorway, and none will break the bank to run. What Car? The exterior certainly has some “design flair” and inside it’s a comfortable place to sit. But there are too many “scratchy plastics”, which make it look and feel a bit cheap, and the controls for the infotainment system are not at all intuitive. It’s spacious though, with a 580-litre boot that expands in…

Where to find… classical music festivals in Europe

Each year, the Munich Opera Festival reprises the season’s productions and premieres new ones. Among this year’s 14 shows are Strauss’s Salome and Bellini’s Norma (27 June-31 July; staatsoper.de). Gearing up for its centenary in 2020, the Salzburg Festival this year is based on the theme of myths. The 199 performances include Mozart’s Idomeneo (20 July-31 August; salzburgfestival.at). The Lucerne Festival, set in Jean Nouvel’s striking lakeside concert hall, will this year focus on Russian symphonic music (16 August-15 September; lucernefestival.ch). Staatsoper Unter den Linden is holding its second baroque opera festival, Barocktage Berlin, with works by Scarlatti and Purcell (1-10 November; staatsoper-berlin.de). The eclectic Ravenna Festival includes classical music, dance and drama set around the city’s ancient monuments, historic theatres, cloisters and palaces (5 June-16 July; ravennafestival.org). SOURCE: THE…

Getting the flavour of…

A palatial escape from New Delhi A five-hour train journey from the Indian capital, the 18th century palace of Bhainsrorgarh makes for a fascinating and relaxing long-weekend retreat from the city, says Alex Travelli in 1843 magazine. “Breathe a sigh of relief” as the “unhurried” locals and their livestock make way for you on the approach to this fortified royal residence, built in the 1740s on a crook of the Chambal River in the deep south of Rajasthan. It is closed to sightseers, but is open as a hotel, where guests can enjoy “opulent” local cuisine and fine views over the countryside. Paddle down the “unspoilt” Chambal or explore the beautiful 11th century ruins of Baroli (reminiscent of the more famous temples of Khajuraho), and the frescoes and palaces of…

One of the last of South Korea’s “comfort women”

Kim Bok-dong spent 25 years campaigning for justice for the tens of thousands of women who were forced into sexual Kim Bok-dong 1926-2019 slavery by the occupying Japanese army before and during the Second World War. Although she did much to draw attention to the atrocities perpetrated on the “comfort women”, she died last month, aged 92, still furious that the Japanese government had not (she felt) properly atoned for this institutionalised mass rape. Kim Bok-dong was born in Yangsan, in what is now South Korea, in 1926. Korea was then a Japanese colony, and when she was 14, officials came and took her away. They told her mother she was being conscripted to work in a textile factory. Instead, she was taken to work in one of the “comfort…

SoftBank/Nuro: things are hotting up in robo-delivery

For the past two months, a pair of “funny-looking, toaster-like creatures” have been “busily toting groceries” around the suburbs of Scottsdale, Arizona, said Alex Davies on Wired. Residents can expect to see a lot more of these electric delivery “bots” now that Nuro, the robo-delivery start-up that builds them, has won a $940m investment from Japan’s giant SoftBank Vision Fund. The company, founded by two ex-members of Google’s self-driving car team, says it will use the cash “to build a proper fleet”. Nuro is “eyeing a nice niche”. So far, self-driving technology has mostly focused on taxi services and long-distance trucking. But, as PwC notes, “last-mile delivery is a massively growing business”. No doubt of that. Even “the great deliverer itself”, Amazon, has taken “a big step” into this space,…

The palladium party: what the experts think

Investors’ pal? Palladium, the metal most known for its use in catalytic converters, has been on a tear of late, said David Hodari in The Wall Street Journal. Prices have climbed by more than 50% since mid-August – making palladium “more expensive than gold”. The UK online dealer Bullion By Post was this week quoting a price of £1,096/per ounce, compared with £1,022 for gold. Palladium’s soaring price has spawned a mini crime spree – thieves in America are increasingly targeting cars for their catalytic converters. But the question for investors is whether there is any more mileage in the boom. Has the palladium bandwagon already left town? Supply tightness The market will probably remain strong, said Bloomberg. In November, analysts at Citigroup described “an extreme tightness” in supply –…

City profiles

Michael O’Leary “As seasons pass with barely a penny-pinching stunt, it’s tempting to conclude that Michael O’Leary’s heart is just not in it any more,” said The Observer. But “the unfriendly face of Ryanair” has signed up for another five years at Europe’s largest no-frills carrier – though he will step back from daily ops to run a new holding company similar to that of British Airways’ parent, IAG. The Ryanair brand may have softened, but its abrasive boss remains as contentious as ever, said the FT. Pilot unions are up in arms about a new share option plan that could give O’Leary, 57, a s99m “windfall”. Shareholders aren’t happy either, claiming that O’Leary’s bonus targets have been set ludicrously low. Royal London called the option “wholly inappropriate”. David Malpass…