Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1220 i The Week

Controversy of the week Preparing for no deal If there’s one thing about Brexit that most British voters and politicians seem to agree on, said Wolfgang Münchau in the FT, it’s that they don’t want to crash out of Europe without a deal. Yet even though MPs earlier this month voted by 321 votes to 278 against the no-deal option, the probability of ending up with it has “risen dramatically”. At last week’s EU summit, EU leaders were prepared to grant the UK only a two-week extension to its scheduled departure date (from 29 March to 12 April). And if no alternative plan can be agreed in that time, no deal remains the legal default – a message hammered home by the European Commission, which has warned the 27 other…

Amsterdam Shock win: In a surprise electoral breakthrough, a far-right populist party formed only three years ago took the most votes in elections for the Dutch upper house last week, robbing the ruling coalition of its majority. The Forum for Democracy, led by Thierry Baudet (pictured), 36, a flamboyant former academic and columnist, took 13 of the 75 seats in Senate, with the rest shared between no fewer than 11 other parties. The election took place days after last Monday’s attack on a tram in Utrecht, in which a Turkish man, named as Gokmen Tanis, shot dead three people. Prosecutors are treating it as a possible terrorist incident, though they have still not ruled out other motives. Ludwigshafen, Germany Family’s Nazi past: The billionaire German family behind JAB Holdings –…

The thief who stole for love Stéphane Breitwieser is perhaps the most prolific art thief in history, says Michael Finkel in GQ. Over a quarter of a century, the 47-year-old Frenchman has stolen more than £1bn worth of art. But he insists he doesn’t do it for money, but for love. It all started when his parents split up, and he and his mother moved from a grand, antique-filled home to a smaller house furnished from Ikea. Travelling across Europe in search of beautiful art and objects, he stole compulsively, hiding his loot in his bedroom, dreaming of a time when he could use it to furnish a home of his own. But in 2002, he was arrested. His mother then found his stash, and – in an attempt to…

A British teenager has made hundreds of thousands of pounds advising Chinese parents on English names for their babies. In choosing Chinese names, parents usually select two or three characters that have a particular meaning; but when it comes to English names, they can struggle to know what might be appropriate. Which is where Beau Jessup and her firm Special Name come in. Couples go to her website, and for a fee can search for names with certain traits associated with them. So far, she has helped name 677,900 babies, and made £300,000. A 26-stone (165kg) man known as The Dumpling has been crowned the champion of Russia’s first amateur male slapping contest. Vasily Kamotsky, a 28-year-old farmer, defeated all comers at the contest in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk,…

INDIA Mr Modi goes to Bollywood The Times of India (Mumbai) The world’s largest democracy is preparing for elections – and India’s film industry is finally taking sides, says Amulya Gopalakrishnan. For decades, Bollywood steered clear of politics, preferring blandness to controversy. But a high-profile group of actors and film-makers are among Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most ardent supporters – and both sides seem keen to milk their mutual admiration for all it’s worth. In January, the entire A-list of Bollywood – including Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and other stars – crowded into a mass selfie with Modi. The photo went viral. And now, days before the election, a laudatory new biopic of the PM is to be released, billed as showcasing his “remarkable courage, wisdom, patience [and]…

A New York-based design studio has come up with a novel solution to the waste mountain generated by our coffee habit: rather than drinking from plastic-lined paper cups, they propose that we drink out of biodegradable pumpkin shells. The designers at Crème were inspired by the Japanese practice of growing watermelons inside square-shaped moulds, so that they can be stacked for transportation. But rather than using melons, they used gourds – fast-growing members of the pumpkin family that have for centuries been used as drinking vessels. Placed inside cup-shaped 3D printed moulds, the fruit take six weeks to grow into the shape of a cup; once dried and hollowed out, their shells and fibrous inner flesh form a rigid, water-tight vessel that doesn’t get too hot when a warm drink…

Scary Spice Mel B has risked creating a new rift in the Spice Girls, by confirming rumours that she once had a fling with Geri Horner (pictured). “She’s going to hate me for this, because she’s all posh with her country house, but it’s a fact,” said Scary, who is promoting a book. Geri is said to be furious, not because of the revelation (she’s hinted at it herself), but because of the suggestion that she is a social climber. Donald Trump is so skilled at kicking golf balls out of bushes and back onto the fairway, caddies call him “Pelé”, a US sports journalist has claimed. And it’s not the only way the president cheats at golf, Rick Reilly told The Sunday Times. Trump, he says, is a “hyperbole…

Philanthropy plays an increasingly crucial role in the art world, said Jawad Iqbal in The Times. The more public funding of the arts has gone into decline, the more reliant galleries have become on private donors. So last week, when the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) felt obliged to reject a £1m donation from The Sackler Trust, it must have hurt. The Sacklers, one of America’s richest families, are a vital source of sponsorship: they’ve already given some £60m to British art institutions. But they are also the owners of Purdue Pharma, whose drug OxyContin – known as “hillbilly heroin” – has contributed to a US opioid crisis that claimed 47,000 lives in 2017 alone. Eight of the Sacklers are now facing trial in New York, accused of personal responsibility for…

At the top of the table, Premiership Rugby has become predictable, said Chris Foy in the Daily Mail. Once again, Exeter and Saracens are leaving their rivals in the dust. Instead, it’s the “fight against relegation” that’s providing the real drama. And following their 15-29 home loss to Northampton last Friday, Leicester Tigers have been dragged into the battle. Only five points – equivalent to a bonus-points win – separate them from Newcastle, who sit at the bottom of the table. That may “come as a shock” to those who know the Tigers as a team who have won ten Premiership titles – four more than any other club – and have the biggest fan base in the country. It’s all the more shocking because a number of their players…

Exhibition of the week Only Human: Martin Parr National Portrait Gallery, London WC2 (020-7306 0055, npg.org.uk). Until 27 May The photographer Martin Parr (b.1952) is arguably the most accurate chronicler of life in modern Britain, said Mark Hudson in The Daily Telegraph. Since the 1970s, he has been capturing the people of this country in “high-detail, garishly coloured, hard-flash photography”, snapping subjects as diverse as “half-cut Channel ferry crossings”, “raucous hen nights” and elite Oxford colleges – all with the same “affectionate” eye for detail and eccentricity. Parr’s distinctly quirky vision is now the subject of a major new exhibition, a display that addresses the sense of “exotic familiarity” found in any number of aspects of British society – from celebrity and leisure to multiculturalism and, inevitably, Brexit. Bringing together…

Jill tells Ruth she feels down at heel compared to dapper Leonard. Ruth books Jill a session with Natasha, who’s doing makeovers in aid of the lent appeal. Jill is thrilled with the result. Kenton annoys Russ by trying to get him to wear a bunny costume at Lower Loxley’s Easter event. His mood doesn’t improve when Lily announces she has an interview for a telesales job. Lily gets the job. Pat asks Helen how things are with Lee. Helen says it didn’t work out. Natasha and Tom look at the flat above the shop. Natasha thinks it’s pokey and shows Tom a more expensive rental in Penny Hassett, which she thinks is more suitable for a “dynamic couple”. Jolene gets an email from a musician friend asking her to…

What the experts recommend Jin Go Gae 270-272 Burlington Road, New Malden, Surrey (020-8949 2506) This excellent restaurant in New Malden (something of a hub for the UK Korean community) is an “unassuming place”, says Keith Miller in The Daily Telegraph. Its small outdoor seating area affords “fine views of the A3 and a huge B&Q beyond”. Inside, though, Jin Go Gae is “homely and inviting”, with Korean calligraphy on the walls and a friendly vibe. We go in the evening, and find it filled with a “happy crowd” of couples and families. It soon becomes clear why this place is so popular: the food offers a “cavalcade of flavour and colour, shot through with theatre”. We enjoy two different (and delicious) bean sprout pickles, seaweed pickle and spinach with…

Baroness Warnock 1924-2019 A moral philosopher and former Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, Mary Warnock, who has died aged 94, was for several decades a leading member of “the great and the good”. She was called upon to sit on countless committees and lead all manner of official inquiries, said The Daily Telegraph, but she was best known for the Warnock Report of 1984. The committee she chaired had the “godlike” task of deciding whether human embryos should be used for laboratory research, and to consider – six years after the birth of the first “test-tube baby”– the social and ethical implications of IVF. These questions aroused strong feelings, said Jane O’Grady in The Guardian. Warnock believed that “those dealing with public morality should respect ordinary people’s moral intuitions”, and…

For the first time since 2007, the US bond “yield curve” inverted – a development seen by many as an indicator of a coming recession – spooking stock markets, which fell heavily. The FTSE 100 fell by 2%, its sharpest daily drop this year. Investors were also rattled by weak German manufacturing data, which fell at the sharpest rate in seven years; the sector has been hit hard by a slowdown in demand for cars, raising questions about the wider global growth outlook. The US Fed kept interest rates on hold, and abandoned its projection of two more rate rises this year. The era of cheap money, it seems, is here to stay. In Britain, the gloomy news surrounding Brexit was lightened by exceptionally strong employment figures. Despite survey evidence…

Vernon Hill When the American billionaire behind Metro Bank burst onto the British banking scene in 2010, his timing stood out as much as his taste for vaudeville, said Katherine Griffiths in The Times. “Alighting from his private jet with his Yorkshire terrier, Sir Duffield, in tow”, Vernon Hill hired “stilt-walkers and a brass band” to mark the first London branch. “In the raw days after the financial crisis”, he cut an eccentric figure, and his proposition seemed “contrarian”. While rivals were exiting the high street to compete online, Metro majored on old-fashioned service: opening glossy branches with quirky touches like “safety deposit boxes” and “dog bowls”. It struck a chord with customers. Having grown to 66 sites, Metro hit a peak £3.5bn market valuation a year ago. For many…

90% of people think the Government’s handling of Brexit has been a national humiliation, according to a Sky Data poll. A ComRes poll for The Daily Telegraph and the Express found that 35% of people support abandoning Brexit and staying in the EU: 48% say they “just want Brexit sorted and don’t really care how”. Meanwhile, the favourability scores of both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have hit new lows. Only 26% of people have a favourable opinion of the PM, and 65% have a negative opinion, giving her a net score of -39, a YouGov poll found. The Labour leader’s rating is even lower: he is on -53, down from -29 last October. A third of British couples sleep in separate beds. Nanu/the I newspaper…

Chicago, Illinois Charges dropped: Jussie Smollett, the TV actor who was accused of falsely claiming to have been the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago earlier this year, has had all charges against him dropped. The shock decision marks an astonishing twist in a case that already resembled the plot of a TV drama. From early on, police had been convinced that Smollett had staged the attack, and he was indicted last month on 16 felony counts of filing a false report. But this week, prosecutors announced that given Smollett’s “volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his [$10,000] bond”, they now believed that dropping the charges was fair. The city’s mayor, Rahm Emanuel, attacked the decision as a “whitewash of justice”, while the police…

1* Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys, Salaam Remi, Jeff Bhasker and Billy Squier, performed by Alicia Keys 2 Sugar, Sugar by Andy Kim and Jeff Barry, performed by The Archies 3 China Girl by David Bowie and Iggy Pop, performed by David Bowie 4 Lily Was Here by David A. Stewart, performed by David A. Stewart and Candy Dulfer 5 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Ewan MacColl, performed by Roberta Flack 6 Everything I Own by David Gates, performed by Bread 7 Chi Mai by Ennio Morricone, featured in The Life and Times of David Lloyd George 8 Perfect Symphony, written and performed by Ed Sheeran and Andrea Bocelli Book: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Luxury: saxophone * Choice if allowed only one record…

Gropius is now famed for his austere facade, but as Fiona MacCarthy makes clear in her new biography of the Bauhaus’s founding director, he was initially regarded as a strikingly charismatic figure. He twice won the Iron Cross during the First World War, though exposure to the horror of the Western Front – in one attack he lost 116 of 250 men under his command – left him deeply traumatised. The painter Paul Klee nicknamed him “the Silver Prince” for his handsome, meticulous bearing. And Alma Mahler, a renowned beauty and the wife of composer Gustav Mahler, fell in love with him (“There is not one spot on your body I would not like to caress with my tongue,” she wrote to him in one letter). They had a passionate…

GERMANY This hopeless envoy isn’t helping Trump Der Spiegel (Hamburg) If you thought Donald Trump was bad, his chosen US ambassador to Germany is “unbearable”, says Christiane Hoffmann. Since Richard Grenell arrived last year he’s strutted around like a “governor-general”, scolding those who fail to do his master’s bidding. He’s threatened firms that ignore US sanctions on Iran or contribute to the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia. This month, he told Economics Minister Peter Altmaier that the US would stop sharing intelligence with Germany if it awarded a contract to Chinese mobile-phone operator Huawei. Now he’s tweeting angrily that the government’s latest budget allocates far too little to defence, infuriating politicians, many of whom want him sent home. Can’t he see how counterproductive it is? He’s not…

Britain is one of the few countries in the world where contentment levels have risen in the past few years, reports The Times. In the latest edition of the World Happiness Report, compiled by the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, Britain’s ranking rose from 19th to 15th. The researchers found that since 2016, the country has become slightly happier overall, bucking the international trend: overall happiness levels are at their lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis. In the table of 156 countries, Nordic nations once again came top, led by Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. South Sudan, meanwhile, came bottom. Researchers said Britain’s improved scores might be linked to the 2016 referendum, although a gloomy outlook was a strong predictor of pro-Brexit beliefs: low-scoring respondents were found to…

“There are moments in history when it is worth raising a glass in celebration, even if what comes next is uncertain,” said The Sunday Telegraph. Such a moment came last week when US-backed fighters captured the last piece of territory in the hands of Islamic State, in the village of Baghuz in eastern Syria. The enclave was all that remained of a “genocidal caliphate” that in its heyday in late 2014 controlled a swathe of Syria and Iraq roughly the size of Britain. Like the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, whose ousting in 1979 was an equal cause for celebration, Isis spread “hate and destruction” in a bid to turn back the clock. But the barbaric regime has finally had its day. After the last fighter surrendered in Baghuz on Saturday,…

England were “good at the World Cup”, said Henry Winter in The Times. They’re even better now. In their first two qualifiers for Euro 2020 – a 5-0 win against the Czech Republic last Friday, followed by a 5-1 victory against Montenegro on Monday – Gareth Southgate’s team confirmed that they are “maturing into a genuinely world-class side”. England already look far more threatening than they did last summer, said Paul Joyce in the same paper. In the World Cup, they struggled to find the net from open play – but they have now scored 18 goals in their past five matches. That’s down to a crucial tactical change by Southgate, which has made the side “more fluid, less functional”: he has swapped the 3-5-2 formation he previously favoured for…

A lesson in democracy To the New Statesman The fiasco of the Brexit process is not only down to Theresa May’s ineptitude as PM and the irreconcilable aspirations of the Brexit dream. Ever since the referendum in 2016, the ugly we-won, get-over-it triumphalism of the Brexiters has been their, and everyone else’s, undoing. Constantly trumpeting their 52% victory as if it had been a landslide – “the British people have decided!” – their definition of democracy has been throughout that it exists only to serve their inchoate and incoherent interests, with no regard for anyone else. The European Union and some of the Remain camp have been no better. The flagrant disregard for legitimate concerns about how the EU is run and the consequences of unregulated one-way immigration handed the…

In the third instalment of her magnificent Seasonal Quartet, Ali Smith “weaves a story around the most pressing issues of our time”, said Melissa Katsoulis in The Times: Brexit, the environment, immigration. Richard, an ageing TV producer, is “in mourning” for several things – his stalling career, his estranged daughter, and the recent death of his “writing partner and erstwhile lover”. In despair, he travels to a small Scottish town, where a “trio of women – not quite witches” (and all connected to refugee detention) give him a renewed sense of hope. Although very much a story of our times, Spring is “rooted” in the culture of the past, said Susannah Butter in the London Evening Standard. Richard is a Periclean figure; there are references to Rilke, Chaplin and Dickens.…

The White Crow Dir: Ralph Fiennes 2hrs 7mins (12A) An elegant biopic of Rudolf Nureyev ★★★ The White Crow is an “athletic, confident”, albeit somewhat “undemanding”, film about the defection to the West in 1961 of the Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. Director Ralph Fiennes casts the real-life ballet star Oleg Ivenko as the lead, while he himself plays his sad-eyed mentor Alexander Pushkin, whose wife takes it upon herself to seduce the young dancer. Nureyev was gay, but you would be “hard-pressed” to tell it from this “elegant but sanitised” biopic, said Phil de Semlyen in Time Out. The dance sequences in this “serious-minded” film have “a crucial ring of truth”, said Mark Monahan in The Daily Telegraph, which is not surprising given…

The British Museum may be holding onto the Elgin Marbles – but another major UK institution has offered a different response to growing international calls that cultural artefacts be returned to their “rightful homes”, says Jack Malvern in The Times. Following a request from the Ethiopian government, the National Army Museum (NAM) has agreed to return two locks of hair cut from the head of Emperor Tewodros II (pictured) – who killed himself when British forces defeated his troops at the Battle of Magdala in 1868. Ethiopia’s minister of culture, Hirut Kassaw, is also calling for up to 1,500 other items looted after the battle to be returned by British institutions, including items held by the Royal Library in Windsor, the Bodleian Library in Oxford and London’s V&A. Last year,…

Programmes Britain’s Hidden War Dispatches investigates the UK’s involvement in the war in Yemen. British personnel, employed by BAE, are helping keep Saudi fighter jets flying, while British military officers are working in the Saudi Air Operations Centre from where bombing is directed. Mon 1 April, C4 20:00 (30mins). The Brexit Storm: Laura Kuenssberg’s Inside Story In this documentary filmed over nine months, the BBC’s political editor examines every twist and turn of the Government’s Brexit negotiations. Mon 1 April, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). The Trial of Ratko Mladic In 2017, the Bosnian Serb general was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison. Made over five years, this film follows the trial and gives a fascinating insight into the Bosnian War. Mon 1 April, BBC4 22:00…

If you still associate Australian wines with over-oaked chardonnays and turbo-charged shirazes, take another look, says Jane MacQuitty in The Times. The reason Oz is by far our most popular wine producer is that its new-wave wines are simply outstanding. Here are three for you to try: Xanadu Fusion Chardonnay, Margaret River, 2017 (£12.99; Majestic) is a “beautiful, nutty, buttered toast” of a wine from the top spot in Western Australia; a great example of how Aussie chardonnays have been transformed into wines with “texture, fruit and complexity”. Or try Finest SR, McLaren Vale-Adelaide Hills, 2017 (£9; Tesco) – a zingy, off-dry, new-wave, “spritzy lime pickle and lemon sherbet dab” blend of a mostly sauvignon and riesling-based white. Cabernet is making a comeback too. Taste the Difference Château Tanunda Barossa…

Kosmos Healing Stay Ulleungdo, South Korea This “swirling white structure”, perched on a mountain overlooking the sea on a remote island off the coast of South Korea, is built on feng shui principles, says The Independent. It has eight sparsely decorated guest rooms representing the elements, with furniture and views “carefully configured” to match. Ulleungdo Island is hard to reach, but stunningly beautiful. Guests can follow hiking trails through cedar forests and along craggy cliffs, go scuba diving or just relax in the spa. Even if you’re not a believer in feng shui, the resort’s location and “groundbreaking architecture” set it apart. Doubles from £240 b&b.thekosmos.co.kr.…

Scott Walker 1943-2019 Scott Walker, who has died aged 76, was one of the rock and pop world’s more extraordinary figures. Blessed with a “golden” baritone voice, he had a succession of hits with his band The Walker Brothers in the 1960s, including Make It Easy on Yourself, and became a bona fide teen idol (at one point, their fan club had more members than The Beatles’), said The Daily Telegraph. But Walker, a thoughtful, introspective man, was never at ease in the spotlight, and in the late 1960s, he stepped away from the mainstream, to concentrate on experimental projects with decidedly dark themes. His 1995 album Tilt had songs about Pier Paolo Pasolini’s murder, the first Gulf War and the trial of Adolf Eichmann, said the NME. Eleven years…

“It’s show time,” read the invitation to Apple’s glitzy launch at a star-studded event in Cupertino, California. “In the face of flagging iPhone sales”, the tech giant launched “an audacious plan to dominate the digital services that run on its devices” – rolling out a news service, video gaming and even a credit card, reported DealBook in The New York Times. The biggest draw of the event, which was attended by Hollywood luminaries ranging from Steven Spielberg to Sesame Street ’s Big Bird, was a long-awaited push into video content, via the new Apple TV+ service, through which Apple hopes to challenge the might of established streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon. The line from Cupertino is that “this is not just another streaming service”. Whether viewers, already spoilt for…

In my 20 years as a financial adviser, “I have seen many foolish things (and done a few myself)”, says Michael Martin in the FT. Here are some traps to avoid Being too nervous to invest Cash isn’t “safe” when inflation outstrips returns by about 2%. And even stagnant markets can return. In the past year, the FTSE 100 made zero price gains in aggregate, but “kicked out a 5% return from dividends”. Insuring your phone but not your life A 30-year-old can get £100,000 of life cover for less than £5 a month. “You are the most valuable thing in your house”: take insurance seriously if others count on you. Ignoring pensions Why miss out on a free “tax uplift”? Many people still think – incorrectly – that a…

As the pressure to keep up with the Joneses on social media grows ever more intense, people are resorting to subterfuge to impress their followers. One in six British adults have posted photos of someone else’s home on Instagram and pretended it’s their own, according to a survey. Nearly half of 25- to 35-year-olds say they’d buy an item purely to make their home look better on social media. Tottenham Hotspur FC is reported to have paid Transport for London £14m to have White Hart Lane – the Victorian-era railway station closest to its new stadium – renamed after the club. This kind of branding is not unprecedented, however. Arsenal FC’s local tube station was called Gillespie Road until it was renamed in 1932.…

Gaza Strip, Palestinian territories Air strikes: Israel launched air strikes on what it said were Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza on Monday – its most significant bombing campaign on the densely populated Strip since 2014. The targets included a multistorey building that Israel said was the HQ of Hamas’s military intelligence, and the office of its leader, Ismail Haniyeh. The strikes were launched in response to a rocket attack from Gaza that hit Mishmeret, north of Tel Aviv, wounding seven people. In recent weeks there have been rare protests in Gaza against Hamas, the Islamist militant group that runs the territory, calling for better living conditions. Hamas has responded with a fierce and sometimes violent crackdown; about 1,000 people have been arrested.…

“England before Thatcher was not a meritocracy, but it was, perhaps, something like a Herrenvolk meritocracy: even if only the upper middle classes were allowed to run the country, competition within those classes was unremitting. They did not have the option of failing upwards. This was not just a matter of the discomfort and occasional danger of wartime and postwar Britain. There was also a constant moral and social discomfort at the thought of falling short of the highest standards. My mother’s school had as its motto, ‘I can, I ought, I must, I will’, and that sense of being impelled to action by duty shaped the whole generation. It did not make for ease.” Andrew Brown in The Guardian…

Why our MPs are at each other’s throats Mary Dejevsky The Independent Why has the Brexit process been quite so shambolic? It’s not just because our political parties are hopelessly divided on the issue, says Mary Dejevsky. It’s because it’s an issue that calls for collaboration: something the Westminster system, based on “adversarial debate and winner takes all”, isn’t cut out for. In almost every other modern legislature, “compromise and concession” are inbuilt features: they are fostered by the layout of their political chambers (usually hemispheres) and by electoral systems that give more weight to smaller parties. But in the bear pit of the Commons, our MPs get habituated to fighting rhetorical duels with opponents across the chamber, rather than engaging in the sort of “give-and-take that is second nature…

Are eggs bad for you after all? Should you go to work on an egg – or not? Anxieties that eggs might be bad for the heart, owing to their high level of cholesterol, started developing in the 1970s, but in the light of subsequent research, had largely disappeared by the 2000s. Now, however, the debate has been reignited by a study in the US. A team from Northwestern Medicine pooled data on nearly 30,000 American adults who had been tracked for an average of 17 years, and found that eating just three to four eggs per week was associated with a 6% increased risk of cardiovascular disease and an 8% higher risk of dying from any cause over the study period. “Our study showed that if two people had…

“A symbolic casualty of Britain’s Brexit debacle is the ‘commemorative’ 50p coin bearing the date 29 March 2019, which the Government had planned to release.” To commemorate such a divisive event as Brexit on a coin was always an “idiotic idea”, said Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer. Now it is as “redundant as the Prime Minister who signed off on it”. Theresa May swore 100 times that Brexit would take place on 29 March; that she was forced last week to ask for an extension to that deadline was one illustration of “the failure of her broken Brexit strategy”. Her ill-tempered address from Downing Street, in which she sought to blame MPs for the Brexit deadlock, was another. Her own chief whip let it be known he thought her speech…

“Anyone that wants to be prime minister should be automatically disqualified at the moment because they are clearly not of sound mind.” Unnamed Cabinet member, quoted in The Times “Happiness is not an absolute value. It is a state of comparison.” Zadie Smith, quoted in Elle “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.” Charles Lamb, quoted in Forbes “A real Christian is one who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip.” Billy Graham, quoted in Standpoint “His is a lonely job and he needs all the amusement he can get…

These are uncertain times for Serena Williams, said Stuart Fraser in The Times. Since returning from maternity leave last year, she has “struggled for consistency”. And in the space of a fortnight, she has withdrawn from two different tournaments: first Indian Wells, over a viral illness; then the Miami Open, last Saturday, because of a knee injury. Having won an astonishing 23 Grand Slam singles titles, Williams is just one major short of equalling Margaret Court’s record. But at 37, she may be running out of chances. Two decades into her career, her “supremacy” finally seems to be fading. In the years before she went on maternity leave, Williams was utterly dominant, said Simon Briggs in The Daily Telegraph. She won ten majors in less than five years – including…

To The Times Philip Collins is correct in his analysis of the failings of the Prime Minister (“MPs are as much to blame for this Brexit mess as Theresa May”). Nevertheless, MPs can point to the lack of leadership provided on both sides of the House as an excuse for the impasse and rightly feel slighted by May’s speech to the nation. This does not, however, justify a hissy fit and the withdrawal of intended cooperation that would otherwise have led to a solution of the crisis. They owe us the maturity to be able to jump over their own egos. Dr Stephen Hey, Ilkley, West Yorkshire To The Times Collins recalls Harold Macmillan’s collective noun for a group of statesmen: “a lack of principals”. It is a moot point.…

It’s the “business equivalent of a sex scene between Alien and Predator,” said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. The entertainment giant Disney has just spent $71.3bn acquiring the big-beast film company 21st Century Fox. Disney already owns Pixar and Marvel. It also owns Lucasfilm, which makes the Star Wars movies. With Fox in its embrace, it has added the X-Men, Deadpool, Kingsman and Avatar franchises to its roster. In a stroke, its share of the US box office has risen from 26% to 35%. Its nearest rival, Warner Brothers, controls a mere 16%. Later this year, Disney plans to launch Disney+, a streaming service to rival Netflix, said David Sims in The Atlantic. And the huge library of Fox films stretching back 80 years will boost its arsenal in the…

Best books… Angie Thomas The author of the bestselling young adult novel The Hate U Give (which was turned into an acclaimed film last year) selects her favourite books. Her latest novel, On the Come Up, is published by Walker Books at £7.99 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, 1976 (Penguin £6.99). This was my favourite book as a child, mainly because it was the first time I saw myself in a book. It was historical fiction, set decades before I was even thought of, but the fact that it was about a black girl living in poverty in Mississippi made Cassie Logan the hero I aspired to be. Monster by Walter Dean Myers, 1999 (Harper Tempest £7.99). This tale of a sixteen-year-old boy on trial…

New cars: what the critics say The Daily Telegraph A small hatchback with the high driving position of an SUV, the 500X is aimed at people who have grown out of their fun city car, and need something a bit more family friendly, with five doors and a larger boot. Funky and engaging, the 500X has bags of character, and the revamped interior is smart and comfortable; but if practicality is your priority, there are better options out there. What Car? The 500X looks like “a 500 city car that has eaten a few too many pies”, but it has retained enough of its sibling’s friendly face, retro styling and charm. The interior feels more expensive than Fiats often do, with a big body-coloured slab across the dashboard. It’s spacious,…

Brockenhurst break Stay at the 4-star, family owned-and-run Balmer Lawn Hotel in Brockenhurst, with breakfast and dinner, from £169pp. 01590-623116, balmerlawnhotel.com. Arrive 19 May. Dubrovnik beach stay Four nights at the lovely Hotel Argosy, with pleasant views of the crystal-clear sea, cost from £322pp b&b, with Belfast flights. 020-8631 2803, teletextholidays.co.uk. Depart 8 May. All-inclusive in Egypt Spend 7 nights at the 5-star adults-only Premier Le Reve in Hurghada, on the edge of a private beach, from £743pp, including Birmingham flights. 020-3451 2720, firstchoice.co.uk. Depart 13 May. Delightful Grenada break Enjoy first-class luxury during a week-long stay at the Coyaba Beach Resort on the “Island of Spice”. From £1,249pp all-inclusive, with London flights. 020-7644 1789, holidayplace.co.uk. Depart 3 June.…

Debenhams/Sports Direct: an endgame? Call it the Mike Ashley effect, said Sebastian McCarthy in City AM. Debenhams shares jumped by a meaty 41% on Tuesday (albeit from a very low base) after Ashley’s Sports Direct said it was “weighing up an offer” for the troubled department store chain. The move is “the latest in a series of attempts” by the retail tycoon to take control of Debenhams, which has so far rejected all his blandishments – and still doesn’t seem inclined to budge. Last week, the board announced it was seeking £200m in extra funds from lenders, to implement “a restructuring plan” that could save the chain but “wipe out shareholders”. No wonder Ashley, whose Sports Direct owns a 29.7% stake, wants change, said Alex Brummer in the Daily…

An end to pension perks for bosses Ben Marlow The Sunday Telegraph There is something very “peculiar” about a system that enables Britain’s best-paid business chiefs “to bank enormous pension top-ups each year through special schemes that are not open to ordinary staff”, says Ben Marlow. Thankfully, there is now considerable pressure to end this “one rule for bosses” regime. An Investment Association report, which suggests around 75% of FTSE 100 companies are flouting new guidelines, has called for senior executives to receive the same pension, as a percentage of their salaries, as their workers. “Rightly so. Instead of having to lock savings away in a retirement scheme like us mortal souls, bosses at these companies are given a large cash sum on top of their already bumper annual salaries.”…

Caught short Steve Eisman – the former hedge-fund manager whose bet on the collapse of the US sub-prime property market was immortalised in the movie The Big Short – has launched a fund for UK investors, said Mark Atherton in The Times. The Neuberger Berman Absolute Alpha fund “is understood to be going short on UK and Canadian banks”. Betting that troubled stocks will fall further can be very lucrative. When the construction giant Carillion, which topped the list of “most-shorted” stocks in 2017, collapsed in January 2018, it meant “big profits” for short-sellers. But fingers can get badly burnt if a “heavily shorted” stock rallies suddenly – as happened recently with Ocado. UK short-sellers have been having a lean time of late. All but eight of the 30 most-shorted…

The week’s best shares Cineworld Group Investors Chronicle The cinema operator is on track to deliver £113m in cost synergies following its acquisition of the American group Regal Entertainment. With profits ahead of forecasts, shares have found a “new lease of life”. Buy. 308p. Lancashire The Daily Telegraph This specialist insurer operates in a diverse range of profitable areas such as catastrophe, marine, aviation and energy. Returns are not linked to the economic cycle and excess cash boosts the yield. Buy. 652p. Law Debenture Corporation The Mail on Sunday This investment trust and professional services firm has wide-ranging clients (from accountants to whistle-blowers) and determined new management. Outperforming and expanding, with a growing dividend. Buy. 576p. Marshalls Investors Chronicle The UK-focused building materials firm is “steaming on through the troubled…