Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1219 i The Week

Controversy of the week Prosecuting Soldier F “Bloody Sunday is a wound that has never healed,” said Martina Devlin in The Irish Independent. On 30 January 1972, soldiers of the Parachute Regiment opened fire on a protest in the Catholic district of Derry known as the Bogside, killing 13 and wounding 15 others. It was “an act of blatant injustice by the British state against people it claimed as its own”, yet the Paras who did the killing were cleared that year in a whitewash inquiry by ex-army brigadier Lord Widgery. It took almost 40 years for that lie to be exposed. In a 5,000-page report, the Saville inquiry set up by Tony Blair concluded that the marchers had not posed a threat and that some of the Paras had…

Brussels Praising Mussolini: The European Parliament’s Italian president sparked outrage last week by saying that the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini deserved credit for some of his prewar achievements. “I’m not a fascist, I was never a fascist, and I don’t share his political convictions,” said Antonio Tajani (pictured) in an interview. “But we have to be honest: Mussolini built roads, bridges, buildings, sports facilities; he has developed many parts of our Italy.” In response to criticism, he said his words had been taken out of context – but later apologised. Tajani is deputy leader of the party Forza Italia and a close ally of its founder, Silvio Berlusconi. Paris Violence returns: Paris’s chief of police was sacked this week after 5,000 riot squad officers failed to stop a band of…

Gary Kemp’s bohemianism As a teenager growing up in a council house in Islington, Gary Kemp became keenly aware of the class divide, says Tom Hodgkinson in The Idler. “I worked in a greengrocer in the holidays, and I’d sell spuds to one side and courgettes and avocados to the other side,” says the musician. “I remember bringing home a courgette, and we put it on the kitchen table and my brother and I and my mum and dad just stood there looking at it... Eventually we decided it was a miniature marrow and so the only thing to be done was to stuff it with mince. And so we sliced it open. It was like microsurgery.” Kemp got a closer look at the other side when he formed his…

Sweden’s public art body has caused outrage by commissioning an artwork that involves paying someone to do whatever they like for ever, so long as they clock in and out each day. “Whatever they choose to do constitutes work,” said the artists behind Eternal Employment. The position holder will be paid £1,770 a month indefinitely. A New Yorker who was “sucked” into her parents grave while visiting their burial plot is demanding $5m in compensation from the cemetery. Joanne Cullen says she was trying to attach a wreath when a sinkhole swallowed her into the ground. Her lawyer said the experience was “terrifying and traumatising”. Retired electrician Stephen Mckears was baffled when he went to his shed one morning and found that all the nuts, bolts and other bits and…

CANADA Trudeau is the victim of a pseudo scandal The Washington Post How typical of Canadians, says Rob Gillies. They’ve managed to get themselves a scandal that involves neither money, nor sex, nor even anything illegal, yet it still threatens to ruin the re-election chances of their PM, Justin Trudeau. He stands accused of last year asking the attorney general at the time, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to go easy on an engineering firm, SNC-Lavalin, that has been accused of paying CA$47m (£26.5m) in bribes for contracts in Libya in 2001-11. When she stood firm, his aides stepped up the pressure. She was later demoted. Now she has resigned and is kicking up a stink. Yet Trudeau only did what any leader would have done. SNC-Lavalin employs 9,000 people in Canada; a…

Scientists have put a smartphone through a blender to reveal how many rare and “conflict” elements go into the 1.4 billion phones produced each year. Analysis showed the phone contained 33g of iron, 13g of silicon and 7g of chromium, along with smaller quantities of rare elements including neodymium, and the “conflict” elements tungsten and cobalt; the latter are extracted from highly polluting, unregulated mines in DR Congo, where thousands of children are exploited as cheap labour. The phone also contained 90mg of silver and 36mg of gold. “All of these need to be mined by extracting high-value ores, which is putting a significant strain on the planet,” said Dr Arjan Dijkstra of the University of Plymouth. The study estimates that to make one phone, you’d need to mine 10-15kg…

Philip Green turned 67 last Friday – so The Mail on Sunday decided to find out how the tycoon was celebrating. It found him enjoying a solitary cup of coffee outside a café in Monaco. For his 60th birthday, Green famously spent £6m on a party attended by Kate Moss, Leonardo DiCaprio and Gwyneth Paltrow. But he said he was planning no such event this year. “I don’t want a party and I didn’t get any presents,” he said. “I just want to be left alone for three months.” As the Brexit crisis rumbles on, Europeans continue to watch in shocked fascination. Audiences over the Channel are reportedly gripped by broadcasts of House of Commons debates – and the Speaker is the star of the show. “He fascinates me,” said…

Racing is unique among the major spectator sports, said Greg Wood in The Observer. It is the only one in which “men and women can compete on equal terms”. And last week, Bryony Frost became the first female rider in the history of the Cheltenham Festival to win a Grade One race over jumps: riding Frodon, the 23-year-old triumphed in the Ryanair Chase. It was one of the “most memorable victories” of recent years. And the following day, the feat was matched by Rachael Blackmore, said Marcus Armytage in The Daily Telegraph. The Irish rider won the Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle on Minella Indo, a 50-1 outsider. Blackmore competed in 17 events, in total – and her record was the fifth-best of any rider at the festival. If British racegoers…

To The Times You suggest in your leading article that the Conservative Party may decide that only a new leader can find a path through the question of Britain’s relationship with Europe. But there is no clear path for a new leader. One by-product of the 2017 general election is that the Conservative Party is far more dependent on workers, non-graduates and former UKIP voters who back the one thing that looks set to be taken off the table by Parliament: a no-deal Brexit. That is why there is little chance that a new leader will ever satisfy the grass roots. Inside Parliament the probabilities of a soft Brexit or no Brexit at all are rising, but outside Parliament so too are the odds of another populist revolt. In some…

Ben Is Back Dir: Peter Hedges 1hr 43mins (15) Addiction drama with Julia Roberts ★★★ Since the rise of America’s opioid epidemic, we’ve started to see a new kind of addiction movie being made in Hollywood – one that, instead of featuring those on the margins of society, focuses on more affluent types, said Geoffrey Macnab in The Independent. This latest example is a “dark family melodrama” starring Lucas Hedges as an addict paying a surprise visit to his middle-class family on Christmas Eve. His mother (Julia Roberts) welcomes him tearfully; the others are more wary. Is he still using? Roberts is as “watchable” as ever, and Hedges excels as a charming, manipulative kid whose motives are impossible to read, said Liz Beardsworth in Empire. Only in the third act,…

Best books… Paul Stewart The co-author, with Chris Riddell, of the bestselling children’s book series The Edge Chronicles, picks his favourite books. The Descenders, the 13th and final book in the series, has just been published by Doubleday, at £14.99 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, 1961 (HarperCollins £6.99). This book, set in a fantasy world where nothing is what it seems, inspired me to become a children’s author. It’s chock-a-block with puns, jokes and a cast of unforgettable characters. I read it time and again as a boy; then, as an adult, to my kids. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes, 2009 (Corvus £9.99). An affecting, visceral novel about the Vietnam War. Told from a soldier’s perspective, and written by a Vietnam vet, it illuminates perfectly how a GI’s experiences on…

A long-awaited Jaguar: “the best electric car on sale” The I-Pace marks a “giant leap” forward for Jaguar and for electric cars in general, said Auto Express. The maker has poured billions into the development of its long-anticipated fully electric SUV, and it doesn’t disappoint. It may not be faster than a Tesla, but it’s cheaper, and has a “poise, agility and precision that you won’t find in any other mainstream electric car”. The market for luxury electric SUVs will soon be saturated – but for now, this is “the best electric car on sale”. Under the I-Pace’s floor lies a massive 90kWh battery pack, said What Car?, which makes the car big and heavy. Even so, handling is impressive, thanks in part to the vehicle’s low centre of gravity.…

Short break in Darlington Spend 2 nights at the elegant Blackwell Grange Hotel, a 17th century mansion, with b&b and free dinner on the first night, from £90pp. 01904-717362, superbreak.com. Arrive 20 April. Czech city break The 4-star Assenzio Prague, a former neoclassical stately home near Wenceslas Square, offers a 3-night stay from £210pp b&b, including Bristol flights. 020-3897 1185, love holidays.com. Depart 7 May. Treasures of Tuscany Explore Siena and Florence from Montecatini Terme with a group tour. Seven nights cost from £1,189pp half board, including London flights.01483-791100, inghams.co.uk. Depart 11 May. A week in New York The Row NYC in midtown Manhattan is within easy reach of Times Square and Bryant Park. Seven nights room-only and Newcastle flights cost from £1,207pp. 020-3636 1931, tui.co.uk. Depart 8 May.…

Worldpay/FIS: robbed of a bonanza? It’s all about “scale”, said Gary Norcross of Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) as he snapped up the British payment processor Worldpay for a whopping $43bn this week. The American giant has certainly landed a useful asset, said City AM. Originally founded as a division of Royal Bank of Scotland, Worldpay processes about 40 billion transactions a year, across 300 payment types and currencies. On last year’s figures, the combined outfit will enjoy revenues of $12.3bn. “Scale and volume have made running capitalism’s plumbing extremely lucrative,” said Patrick Hosking in The Times. What a shame the Treasury lost out on the bonanza. RBS was forced to divest Worldpay in 2010 in a package of “remedies” forced by the EU competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, as…

Preparing for the big flip in China Editorial The Economist Every year for the past quarter-century, China has run a current account surplus, reflecting the fact it sells more to the world than it buys, says The Economist. Blamed for various evils – from the decline of Western manufacturing, to fuelling of the sub-prime housing bubble – this surplus has seemed “an immutable feature of the economic landscape”. Yet it may soon disappear. In 2019, China could run its first deficit since 1993, and will soon face “a new reality in which deficits are the norm”. For decades, China has been able to save more than it invested thanks to its “thrifty households” and rising manufacturing export industry. But those trends are changing. The Middle Kingdom is switching from being…

Brexit markets “Market prices swung on each and every political twist and turn last week, as investors tried to get their heads around the constantly shifting set of possible outcomes,” said Liam Halligan in The Daily Telegraph. That shows every sign of continuing. But for all the “volatility”, the “overwhelming trend” is one of UK shares, “and the pound, steadily rising”. There’s further to go in this rally. Prolonged Article 50 uncertainties have weighed down UK share prices. “As and when Brexit clarity emerges, British stocks – and the pound – are set to soar.” Trading the pound “Despite the seemingly endless flow of confusing political noise,” the pound is actually “the best performing major currency in the world against the dollar so far in 2019”, said the FT. Expectations…

Sales of self-help books rose by 20% in the UK last year, suggesting that in uncertain times, more and more people are turning to assorted celebrities and gurus for advice. Booksellers say the genre is one of the fastest-growing, and note that the more successful books often take a frank tone. The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck has sold more than three million copies globally. China’s millennials are finding refuge in “positive-only” chat groups where they know they will only get validation and encouragement, and can even request compliments for specific accomplishments. The groups proliferating on the social app WeChat tend to have in their titles the phrase kuakua qun – “in need of praise”.…

Washington DC Tough talk: Donald Trump has caused widespread indignation by appearing to suggest that he could use force against his political enemies. In an interview, Trump noted how “tough” right-wingers are, compared with left-wingers, and said: “I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump. I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough – until they [his opponents] go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad.” Separately, Trump warmly welcomed Brazil’s new far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, to the Oval Office, saying he was “honoured” that Bolsonaro’s victory had been compared to his own. Meanwhile, Trump remains locked in a stand-off with Congress over his plans for a border…

“It used to be there were hardly any same-sex relationships on screen and very few lesbian ones in particular. But in the past year, audiences have flocked to Colette, Disobedience and The Favourite. Next up is a film about [fossil hunter] Mary Anning. Anning was a rock star. She was not, as far as anyone knows, a lesbian. But she will be when played by Kate Winslet in Ammonite. The lesbian love affairs in The Favourite seem to have been exaggerated for cinematic effect. Now they are being made up altogether. Are producers saying history is not sexy enough? Or that women aren’t interesting enough? I’m all for lesbians on screen, but it is damaging that LGBTQ relationships are being fetishised for entertainment.” Hannah Jane Parkinson in The Guardian…

Huawei, which last year replaced Apple as the world’s second-largest smartphone manufacturer (Samsung is the first), was charged in the US in January with encouraging employees, with the promise of bonuses, to gather confidential information on competitors. Prosecutors said Huawei was worried that its handsets were failing too often and was desperate to replicate its US partner T-Mobile’s robot, Tappy, which mimics how people use phones to help engineers detect software bugs. When Huawei employees failed to get enough information by questioning their T-Mobile counterparts, a Huawei engineer allegedly broke off Tappy’s arm and stole it from the lab. Security is an even bigger concern. The US, Australia and New Zealand – but not the UK – have banned telecoms firms from using Huawei’s market-leading gear in next-generation 5G mobile…

It’s high time we got tough with Israel Andrew Sullivan New York magazine I know anti-Semitism when I see it, says Andrew Sullivan. And it’s clear for all to see in the “crude and freighted language” recently used by Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar. To claim that US support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins [$100 bills], baby”; to accuse Israel of having “hypnotised the world”, and its supporters of demanding “allegiance to a foreign country” – this kind of talk is unacceptable, and Omar has rightly been condemned for it. But alert as we must be to such bigotry, at a time of rising anti-Semitism in the West, this should not deter us from criticising American policy with regards to Israel. For, in many ways, it is rather extraordinary.…

More than four thousand years ago, people flocked from all over Britain to participate in huge feasts at sites such as Stonehenge, new research suggests. And intriguingly, they brought their pigs with them. Scientists in the UK performed isotope analysis on pig skulls and bones found around four late Neolithic henge enclosures: Durrington Walls, Marden and West Kennet Palisade Enclosures in Wiltshire, and Mount Pleasant in Dorset. This revealed that many of the animals hadn’t been reared locally, but had somehow been transported live (meat would probably have spoilt en route) from all over the country, including the northeast of England, Wales and Scotland. Pigs are notoriously hard to move, and they could have been acquired locally, suggesting that bringing home-reared animals to these events had some kind of ritual…

“The four most beautiful words in our common language: I told you so.” Gore Vidal, quoted in the LA Times “The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word.” Mata Hari, quoted in the I newspaper “Gentility is what is left over from rich ancestors after the money is gone.” American poet John Ciardi, quoted in Forbes “I want a man who’s kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?” Zsa Zsa Gabor, quoted on AL.com “A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.” Comedian Steven Wright, quoted in The San Francisco Chronicle “Unsolved problems are one of the great signs of progress.” Economist Kenneth Arrow, quoted on The Browser “The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative on the…

Football Wolves beat Manchester United 2-1 to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League table, following their 2-1 win over Fulham. Formula One Valtteri Bottas won the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the season. His Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton, came second. Golf Rory McIlroy claimed his first title in a year, with victory in the Players Championship. Tennis Dominic Thiem beat Roger Federer in three sets to win the Indian Wells title.…

Programmes Victoria Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes are back as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the third series of the lavish period drama. Sun 24 Mar, ITV1 21:00 (60mins). Expenses: The Scandal That Changed Britain Ten years on from the MPs expenses scandal, Newsnight looks at the impact it had on trust in the political class. Mon 25 Mar, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Don McCullin: Looking for England Repeat of this assignment-cum-profile in which the celebrated photojournalist, now 83, revisits the places, from Eastbourne and London to Bradford, that he first photographed in the 1960s and 1970s. Tue 26 Mar, BBC4 23:00 (60mins). The Good Fight The sharp, witty US legal drama – a spin-off from The Good Wife – returns for a third series. With Christine Baranski. Thur 28…

What the experts recommend Waterside Bistro & Bar 7 Wharf Street, Shipley, Bradford (01274-594444) “This is what is technically known as an amuse-bouche,” observed the waiter at this charming canal-side bistro, as he served up two deep-fried battered mushrooms with a swirl of wettish duxelles. “But up here we call it ‘summat tasty’.” I have no idea how this chap rumbled that “I wasn’t from these parts”, says Giles Coren in The Times. But the mushrooms were “delicious, thank you very much”. And so was what followed: a “lovely” rare pigeon breast with a crispy, spicy pigeon samosa, and a pretty bubble and squeak cake with perfect duck yolk, chanterelles and white bean purée. My main was great, too – butter-poached local venison loin, with a bubbling skillet of…

Sir John Richardson 1924-2019 Sir John Richardson, who has died aged 95, spent five decades learning about Picasso, and the next four writing his magisterial, four-volume biography of the artist, said The Times. He was one of the last people alive to have been friends with Picasso, whom he’d first met in the 1940s; he had rare access to his family; and until recently, regularly had lunch in New York with his former mistress, Françoise Gilot (now 97). A funny, gossipy man, Richardson was not short of interesting aperçus about his subject (“Regardless of whether you were male or female, young or old, he would always stroke you,” he said), but writing about him presented numerous challenges. For one thing, the artist did not like to talk about his work.…

After rising to a high above $1.33, the pound was hit again by turbulence, falling sharply midweek after a leaked paper indicated that Brussels would strongly oppose the PM’s proposal of an extension of the Brexit date to the end of June. Prof Charlie Bean of the Office for Budget Responsibility warned that panicked hoarding and stockpiling before Brexit could exacerbate potential shortages of basic commodities. Wall Street stocks hit a four-month high ahead of a meeting of the US Fed, which was expected to leave interest rates unchanged. The US and China scheduled a new round of trade talks, aimed at closing a deal by late April. The troubled government outsourcer Interserve went into administration at the behest of its banking creditors. Some 16,000 small shareholders are thought to…

Gary Grant The founder of The Entertainer, Britain’s largest independent toy shop chain, once “considered becoming a missionary”, says The Times. Happily for the nation’s toddlers, he stuck with toys, last week scooping up the Early Learning Centre for £13.5m from the ailing Mothercare group. Grant, 60, left school with one O level and was fired from his first job, at a bike shop, for selling skateboard parts on the side. He saw an opportunity in a struggling Amersham toy shop and never looked back. He continues to run The Entertainer in line with his “Christian principles”: shops are closed on Sundays, and don’t sell toy weapons or anything “occult”, including Harry Potter merchandise. It hasn’t affected performance: in a difficult market, profits surged 38% last year. Victoria Beckham When…

With less than a fortnight until the end of the financial year, time is running out to take advantage of your £20,000 Isa allowance, says Mark Atherton in The Times. Here are five ways to boost your chances of picking a long-term winner Invest in smaller companies Whether you’re investing in the UK, the US, Europe or Japan, the potential for growth is so much greater. This year Adrian Lowcock of Willis Owen likes Merian UK Smaller Companies. Spread your money widely The 20-year tables of top-performing Isa funds and sectors are notable for one thing: “the absence of the UK” in all but smaller company funds. So spread your net. Patrick Connolly of Chase de Vere favours Rathbone Global Opportunities. Think long-term Successful long-term managers identify key themes in…

47% of head teachers who responded to a survey on pupil poverty say they or their staff have had to wash their pupils’ clothes, and 75% say so many children turn up hungry, they offer free breakfasts. 91% have given clothes to pupils. 96% think pupil poverty has increased in recent years. 60% say their school has endured “severe” budget cuts. Some 3,000 schools were asked to take part in the survey; 407 responded. Association of School and College Leaders/The Times In the past month, 17% of Britons have had a dream about sex. 13% have dreamt that they’re on holiday, 12% about being chased, 7% about winning the lottery and 4% about being naked in public. Nectar Sleep/the I newspaper…

Beira, Mozambique Killer cyclone: The UN has warned that the cyclone that hit Mozambique last week, devastating the port city of Beira, may prove to be one of the deadliest weather events ever recorded in the southern hemisphere. Although the extent of the damage was still unclear by the middle of this week, there were fears that more than 1,000 people could have lost their lives; local officials estimated that 100,000 people had been left in urgent need of assistance, and that 1.7 million people across three countries had been affected by the disaster. Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall near the densely populated city of Beira late last Thursday, bringing fierce winds of up to 120mph and heavy rain. As rivers burst their banks, a 30-mile stretch of land was…

1 Ring the Alarm by Clive Bright, performed by Tenor Saw 2 Things Behind The Sun, written and performed by Nick Drake 3 Mercy Street, written and performed by Peter Gabriel 4 Manchild by Neneh Cherry, Cameron “Booga Bear” McVey and Robert “3D” Del Naja, performed by Neneh Cherry 5 Summertime Rolls by Perry Farrell and Jane’s Addiction, performed by Jane’s Addiction 6 Smells Like Teen Spirit by Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, performed by Nirvana 7* When Doves Cry, written and performed by Prince 8 In Limbo by Colin Greenwood, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien, Philip Selway and Thom Yorke, performed by Radiohead Book: The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding Luxury: pressure cooker * Choice if allowed only one record…

A long, sad decline of local voices John Harris The Guardian We in Britain are losing our sense of place, says John Harris. We have had a net loss of 245 local newspapers since 2005, and now local radio is going the same way. Car journeys were once marked out “by what crackled in and out of range as you drove: Leicester Sound, Red Dragon, Marcher Sound, Lakeland Radio”. But these small operators are being subsumed by Capital, Heart and Smooth – nationwide brands that, in turn, are owned by a conglomerate called Global. Since Ofcom’s recent decision to loosen the rules on how much programming needs to be from local areas, Global has closed studios in cities across the land and axed about 60 local programmes. Scottish breakfast shows…

The fake drugs pandemic A global “pandemic” of counterfeit and low-quality medicines is causing hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths every year, scientists have warned. According to a report produced by doctors in the US with the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, criminal gangs are putting into the market fake drugs that may contain anything from printer ink to arsenic; but poorly manufactured medicines that do not have their supposed clinical effects are also a serious problem. In low- and middle-income countries, where there are often high levels of disease and low levels of regulation, such products are thought to make up about 10% of the drugs sold. Two areas of concern are antimalarial therapies and antibiotics used to treat pneumonia: the scientists estimate “bad” versions of these drugs alone cause 250,000…

Six Nations: a glorious Wales Grand Slam “How quickly modern rugby’s wheel of fortune spins,” said Robert Kitson in The Guardian. Having won the Six Nations last year, and defeated the mighty All Blacks in the autumn, Ireland entered this year’s tournament as favourites. When they were felled by England in the opening match, the momentum suddenly shifted to the English. On Saturday, however, it was Wales who finished the competition “gloriously on top”: their 25-7 victory over Ireland, in Cardiff, completed a clean sweep of wins to give them their first Six Nations title since 2013. It was their 14th Test win in a row, four short of the world record, taking them to second in the world rankings – behind only New Zealand. This is undoubtedly an exceptional…

Art keeps us alive To The Guardian In your interview with the writer Valeria Luiselli, one minute she makes an admirable case for the value of fiction, and the next she asks, “If you’re going to devote your life to something as questionably useful as literature or art, I think there’s a commitment that you make to understanding others”. Questionably useful? I was tearing at the paper in frustration. Why do we feel that the arts are inferior to science? Who made us believe that? I am a doctor; I work in a hospice. I am painfully aware that science keeps us alive. But what keeps us living is art. The overstretched, underfunded NHS still finances an art therapist and a music therapist at my hospice. When patients need something…

A group of thieves in the Italian town of Castelnuovo Magra thought their plan to steal a 17th century masterpiece had worked a treat, says Angela Giuffrida in The Guardian. Last week, they broke into the church of Santa Maria Maddalena, and made off with The Crucifixion, a painting by Flemish artist Pieter Brueghel the Younger, valued at m3m (£2.5m). There was just one hitch: the work snatched was a copy. Police, alerted to the plan by underworld gossip, had replaced the painting with a reproduction and set up cameras to catch the thieves in the act. The theft of works of art in Italy has fallen in recent years (from 906 in 2011 to 449 in 2016), but the Carabinieri TPC, Italy’s art theft unit, still has its work…

Helen asks Tom whether he has had any second thoughts since getting married. Tom assures her he hasn’t. Elizabeth snaps at Lily when she suggests they go for a walk. Later, Elizabeth goes on a walk with Russ and Lily feels rejected. Lilian asks Kate to move out. Kate asks Peggy if she can move into the Lodge. Peggy says no. Helen opens up to Kirsty about her date with Lee and says the ghost of Rob is still with her. Kirsty says that unless she tells Lee about her past, Rob’s won. Lily tells Phoebe she’s worried how Freddie will react to Russ when he’s home. Adam lets Kate stay while Ian’s in Bulgaria. Susan tells Natasha about Helen and Rob. When Natasha asks Tom why he hadn’t told…

Muscadet, made from grapes grown around Nantes at the western end of the River Loire, is one of France’s more underappreciated wine styles, and therefore outstanding value, says David Williams in The Observer. A good place to start is the Fief Guérin Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu Sur Lie, Loire, 2017 (£7.49; Waitrose), which has an “almost tart, lipsmacking salted-citrussiness” that makes it the perfect accompaniment to shellfish. In the right conditions, the muscadet grape, the melon de bourgogne, can be almost “chablis-esque”. The pristine, subtly herbal Domaine Bruno Cormerais Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Vieilles Vignes Sur Lie, Loire, 2015 (£12.95; leaandsandeman.co.uk) is a prime example. Alternatively, try the “precise, long and fine” Jo Landron Clos de la Carizière, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie 2017 (£14.95; vinovero.co.uk), or the “thrilling…

Manor House Lindley, West Yorkshire This once “semi-derelict” Georgian mansion has been named the “north of England’s best hotel for interior design” following a £5m restoration, says Stephen McClarence in The Times. Situated on the “leafy outskirts” of Huddersfield, it has 11 bedrooms, a range of bars, cafés and restaurants, a roof terrace and a gym. It’s all “glitz and glamour” here – “even the gents’ loo feels like a design statement”. Rooms have Nespresso machines, Roberts radios and Temple Spa toiletries. Dishes in the restaurant lean towards “minimalist portions with Instagram-friendly presentation”, but the afternoon tea is “superb”. Doubles from £159 b&b. 01484-504000, manorhouselindley.co.uk.…

Jack Lyon 1917-2019 Jack Lyon, who has died aged 101, was one of the last surviving war veterans to have taken part in the Great Escape in 1944. Although he helped to prepare the mass breakout of Stalag Luft III camp, he didn’t make it into a tunnel. Yet he always thought he was lucky – lucky to have been captured rather than killed in a bombing raid, and probably lucky not to have got out of the camp. Of the 76 prisoners who escaped, 73 were recaptured and 50 were shot dead by the Gestapo. Lyon devoted much of the rest of his life to honouring the memory of those that died, said The Times, and to making sure that their story was truthfully told. Born in Bexhill, the…

“Fans of underdog sports teams can feel oddly destabilised if their side starts winning,” said Lex in the Financial Times. Deutsche Bank shareholders may now be experiencing the same “frisson”. After falling by three-quarters since 2015, shares have leapt upwards on news of formal merger talks with rival Commerzbank. The deal would create Europe’s second-largest bank. And it could prove just the tonic for Germany’s flagship 150-year-old lender, following a string of losses, boardroom battles and the forfeiture of billions of dollars in fines. Could this be “the moment when the luck of investors begins to turn”? Don’t count on it, said Juliet Samuel in The Daily Telegraph. This local marriage, “blessed” by the German government, is “a classic case of something that looks great on paper, but is actually…

The week’s best shares Alfa Financial Software The Times This software group, which specialises in asset financing, has emerged from a “truly dreadful year”. Second-half revenues have grown 16% and there are some promising contracts. Buy. 160p. Elementis The Times The acquisition of the Dutch talc additives producer Mondo Minerals has given the speciality chemicals firm a growth-boosting complementary new division. Solid longterm potential, and yields 4.7%. Buy. 166p. FairFX Group The Daily Telegraph Brexit fears have depressed shares in this foreign currency specialist. But all parts are growing well, and profits were up from £229,000 in 2017 to £6.9m. Could be a bid target. Buy. 97.5p. Fuller, Smith & Turner Investors Chronicle The sale of Fuller’s “structurally challenged” brewing business gives the group scope to invest in its higher-margin…