Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1224 i The Week

What happened Carnage in Sri Lanka Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a coordinated series of suicide bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Day that killed at least 359 people and left hundreds more wounded. The attacks hit three Catholic churches during services and three luxury hotels across the island. Most of those killed were Sri Lankan nationals, but at least 38 foreign nationals were among the dead. They included three of the four children of the Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, the UK’s biggest private landowner. Sri Lankan officials blamed a local Islamist group, but said the scale and sophistication of the suicide bombings indicated external help. Police have identified eight out of nine attackers, most of whom were apparently “well educated”. They’ve also detained around 60 suspects…

Nearly 25% of UK teachers say they are physically attacked by pupils at least once a week, a study by the NASUWT union has found. Released ahead of the National Education Union’s annual conference, the report said that 89% have suffered physical or verbal abuse in the past year, and 49% say that at their school it is considered part of the job. The NASUWT also warned that pupils as young as 11 are harassing teachers by taking “upskirting” pictures; and that teachers are being subjected to “aggressive contact” from parents, owing to schools giving out their email addresses.…

Andijk, Netherlands Floating solar panels: Dutch engineers are set to begin construction of the world’s largest archipelago of “solar panel islands”, in the Andijk reservoir in northern Holland. The 15 separate floating “islands” will be covered with a total of 73,500 photovoltaic panels (dubbed “floatovoltaics”), and will have the ability to withstand high winds and move themselves to face the Sun. The islands, each about 140 metres in diameter, are due to be completed by November. Growing resistance to large-scale onshore fields of solar panels has led the renewables industry to explore offshore alternatives. Concerns have been raised about the effect on water quality, but Arnoud van Druten, managing director of Floating Solar, the company behind the project, insists these are misplaced. “Our design has the least impact on the…

“Sipping from a little can on a train is far less antisocial than chomping on a reeking burger. Yet on Transport for London services, it breaches the law if the drink is alcoholic. As often with laws meant to stop antisocial behaviour, it’s the well behaved who are penalised. Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, said sorry after a photo of her enjoying an M&S mojito on an Overground train two weeks ago was circulated online. Yet some hulking oaf will swig away at a strong lager late at night with no one daring to interfere, and now M&S is being criticised for selling premixed cocktails cheaply. In Cuba, the home of the mojito, of course, public consumption of alcohol is generally tolerated. It’s [saying the wrong thing] that gets…

The backstop is an issue made in Dublin Liam Halligan The Spectator I’ve been called anti-Irish for saying it, says Liam Halligan, but I’ll say it again: Dublin’s ultra-legalistic approach to the Irish border question has greatly harmed Anglo-Irish relations. Consider: when the UK published a paper in August 2017 arguing that behind-the-border checks and “authorised economic operator schemes” could handle the small amount of trade across the border without need for physical infrastructure, the Irish foreign minister said he agreed with almost all of it. The head of the Irish tax authorities said he too was “practically 100% certain” no new customs posts would be needed. The chief of HMRC has repeatedly said the same, as has an ex-director of the World Customs Organisation. Only when the new Taoiseach,…

“Rebooting” dead brains Scientists in the US have “reactivated” parts of pig brains four hours after the animals were slaughtered and decapitated. By pumping synthetic blood and a cocktail of drugs through the organs, the team stopped cells from dying and restored some synaptic connections. But while there was brain activity, there is no suggestion that the brains had achieved consciousness. (In fact, mindful of the ethics of their study, the team had a plan to intervene immediately if the brains showed any sign of higher consciousness.) “This is not a living brain,” said Prof Nenad Sestan from Yale University, who led the research. The team stressed that their findings do not change the definition of death. The significance of the study is that it could open up new ways…

Donald Trump’s response was typically combative. “GAME OVER”, he tweeted last week, to mark the long-anticipated publication of the Mueller report. But if the president really thought this would finally shut down the feverish speculation about his campaign team’s links with Russia – and his own alleged attempts to obstruct justice – he was much mistaken, said The Times. While he continued to claim that the inquiry was a “hoax”, a “witch hunt”, and “total bullshit”, special counsel Robert Mueller’s 448-page report was seized on by Democrats who reckoned that far from exonerating Trump, as the attorney general, William Barr, had promised, it provided evidence of serious wrongdoing – and possible grounds for impeachment. “For the Democrats to ignore the report would be to accept what this ‘gangster’ president has…

“To be married is to have the words ‘this is all your fault’ eternally poised on the tip of your tongue.” Advice columnist Heather Havrilesky, quoted in New York Magazine “You get hate from the day you become famous. The day you don’t get hate, you’re finished.” Boxer Amir Khan, quoted in The Observer “Clothes make the man. Naked people exercise little or no influence on society.” Mark Twain, quoted in The Times “Faith is what someone knows to be true, whether they believe it or not.” Flannery O’Connor, quoted on The Browser “It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.” André Gide, quoted in the I newspaper “The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority…

Rugby union Saracens beat Munster 32-16 to reach the final of the European Champions Cup. They will play Leinster, who beat Toulouse 30-12. In the semi-finals of the European Challenge Cup, La Rochelle beat Sale 24-20 and ASM Clermont Auvergne beat Harlequins 32-27. Football Juventus claimed the Serie A title with a 2-1 win over Fiorentina. It’s the first time a team in any of Europe’s five major leagues has won eight successive domestic titles. Rugby league St Helen’s beat Hull 62-16.…

Beyond the Footpath by Clare Gogerty A treasure-trove of inspiration, whether you simply love to visit beautiful places or seek the solace of a long-distance walk. Travel to enhance your connection to the world and to yourself, by discovering places of spiritual or personal significance. Our price: £12.99, usually £14.99 Incredible Journeys by David Barrie There’s a stunning diversity of animal navigators out there, often using senses and skills we humans don’t have access to ourselves. For the first time, Incredible Journeys reveals the wonders of these animals in a whole new light. Our price: £19.99, usually £25 Pie Fidelity by Pete Brown A look at archetypically British dishes - pies, fish & chips, cream teas, the Full English, crumble and more - this book explores just how fundamental they…

Loro Dir: Paolo Sorrentino 2hrs 31mins (18) Lurid, lengthy study of an ageing roué ★★★★ Can you turn a Pirelli calendar into a movie? Paolo Sorrentino “tries his damnedest” in this graphic character study of Italy’s “fabulously lurid” former PM, Silvio Berlusconi, said Tom Shone in The Sunday Times. It’s set in the mid-2000s, when the ageing, perma-tanned tycoon was out of office. We see him indulging in endless “bunga bunga” parties at his estate in Sardinia, crammed with scantily clad twenty-something women, while he plots his return to power. Toni Servillo is almost too brilliant as Berlusconi, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. This smart, likeable actor can’t help eliciting more sympathy than the old roué really deserves. I waited in vain for Loro to emerge as a scathing…

A striking 10ft bronze sculpture of a sitting bearded man has had to be removed from its setting in a beauty spot in the North York Moors National Park – because too many people were making the half-mile trek up to Castleton Rigg to visit it. A large part of its attraction, says The Daily Telegraph, was that the figure looks remarkably like Jeremy Corbyn, and, once the unintended similarity with the Labour Party leader was pointed out, tourists began turning up “in droves” to view it. “Its overwhelming popularity was leading to moorland erosion, litter and parking issues,” says a spokesperson for the national park – and the sculptor Sean Henry, who unveiled the work back in 2017, agrees that it had become an unwitting victim of its own…

Programmes The Adulterer In this Dutch psychological thriller, a chance meeting between a lawyer and a photographer leads the pair into a web of corruption, lies and murder. Sun 28 April, C4 23:00 (60mins). The Curry House Kid Dancer Akram Khan returns to the curry houses of his childhood and meets the chefs who created them, often in the face of hostility and racism. Mon 29 April, C4 22:00 (65mins). Forensics: The Real CSI A new series following serious crime investigations opens in Newcastle, as a crime scene manager gathers vital pieces of forensic evidence after a shooting. Wed 1 May, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Our Dementia Choir with Vicky McClure Two-part documentary in which the Line of Duty star begins a search for choir members, meeting people with different types…

This simple yet handsome tart relies on classic sunshine flavours and colours to create something quick and delicious, says Theo A. Michaels. It works wonderfully as a light lunch with only a few dressed green leaves on the side, or can be popped on the table for all to share. I buy ready-made puff pastry, and I usually grab the pre-rolled variety for added convenience Serves 6-8 350g ready-made puff pastry 1 courgette ½ an aubergine ½ a red Romano pepper, deseeded ¼ a red onion a generous pinch of Greek dried oregano a generous pinch of ground cumin 12 baby plum tomatoes 50g halloumi cheese 2 tbsps pine nut kernels 1 tbsp Greek honey 125g Greek yoghurt 70g feta cheese salt and freshly ground black pepper olive oil, for…

Brach Paris To take a former mail-sorting office in the “bourgeois, residential” 16th arrondissement and “make it le talk of Paris” is quite an achievement, says Condé Nast Traveller. But that is what Evok Hôtels has done. With Philippe Starck as its designer, it has created a hotel that is as much a place to be seen as “a place to crash”. The restaurant buzzes with fashionable people, there’s a hip terrace bar and even the pool has a nightclub-worthy sound system. “The party continues in the rooms”, which are done up in typically “sassy” Starck styles and stocked with premade cocktails in their “mini concept store (the minibar is so 2018)”. Doubles from about £325.brachparis.com.…

The academic at the heart of the quiz show scandal Charles Van Doren 1926-2019 Charles Van Doren, who has died aged 93, was a Columbia University academic – the handsome scion of a distinguished intellectual family – whose career was destroyed by his involvement in a TV quiz show cheating scandal that rocked 1950s America. As the modest winner of the hit show Twenty One, he’d dazzled TV audiences with his erudition, been featured on the cover of Time and won the equivalent of $1.2m in prize money. But in 1959, he finally admitted what many had come to suspect: that he’d been fed his answers. He lost his academic post and, along with the others involved, he was convicted of perjury (but spared jail). Nearly 40 years later, the…

In perhaps the biggest shake-up in years, the competition watchdog has called for “rapid legislation” to end the dominance of the Big Four accounting firms and “address conflicts of interest in the scandal-hit audit sector”, said Chris Giles in the FT. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) “stopped short of demanding a break-up” of Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC, which audit 97% of Britain’s FTSE 350 companies. But it did push for reforms to address a spate of recent corporate collapses, including BHS and Carillion. The CMA wants the Big Four to separate their audit arms from their (more lucrative) consultancy divisions. To boost competition, it would require all UK-listed firms to use two auditors to check their accounts, “with one being from outside the Big Four”. Thorough accounting is…

Controversy of the week The Farage factor Nigel Farage is back, said Richard Vaughan in the I newspaper – and he’s more dangerous than ever. Five years ago, as leader of UKIP, he stormed to victory in the European elections by co-opting millions of Conservative voters. It was that election result, and the defection of two Tory MPs to UKIP, that spooked David Cameron into offering a referendum on EU membership. Cameron hoped the concession would destroy the Farage threat once and for all. But almost three years on from the Brexit poll, the Tories’ “bogeyman” has returned at the helm of a new force, the Brexit Party. And it looks set to hand the Conservatives another drubbing in next month’s European elections (assuming the PM doesn’t miraculously pass her…

From 15 July, online porn sites will be blocked to UK users under 18, the Government has confirmed. Sites can choose how to verify a user’s age, but it’s likely people will be asked to upload a scan of their passport or driving licence – which has sparked significant privacy concerns. Alternatively, shops may check users’ ID, then issue “porn passes”. Critics have said teenagers will find it easy to bypass the restrictions, which affect commercial sites (defined as those which carry adverts, or charge fees) on which more than a third of content is pornographic.…

Washington DC Millionaire Sanders: Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist known for his attacks on America’s “millionaires and billionaires”, raised eyebrows last week when he released tax returns showing that he and his wife earned more than a million dollars in both 2016 and 2017, and more than half a million in 2018. Sanders, who leads the field of declared Democrat candidates for president in some opinion polls, became rich by writing a bestselling book about his failed bid for the Democratic nomination in 2016. He said his new-found wealth had not changed his political outlook, but that it was a relief that he no longer had to worry over paying bills. “I have spent my entire life – and hopefully will conclude my political life in the White House –…

What was damaged in the fire? “Everything is burning, nothing will remain in the frame,” declared a church spokesman an hour after the fire broke out. But once it was extinguished, it soon became clear that the main structure was still intact – as were the exquisite rose windows and the 15th century Emmanuel bell, which has chimed to mark the city’s liberation from the Nazis and other stirring moments of French history. But the cathedral’s dramatic arrow-pointed spire (the product of 19th century restoration work) has been lost, as have two-thirds of its 100 metre-long, rib-vaulted timber roof, known as “the forest”. Then there’s the psychological toll of the near destruction of a national monument. As President Macron put it: “Notre Dame is our history, our literature, our imagination……

Two suspected piranha fish have been found in a lake in South Yorkshire – which may explain the recent disappearance of a number of ducks from the former clay pit. The flesh-eating, razor-toothed fish, more normally found in the Amazon, were spotted dead in the water by a local man while fishing. “We couldn’t believe that we’d found a piranha fish,” said his partner. “It’s not the kind of thing you expect to find in Doncaster.” Two orphaned gorillas in DR Congo have been photographed posing for a selfie with the rangers who have cared for them since infancy, and apparently mimicking their posture. Ranger Mathieu Shamavu posted the photograph alongside the caption: “Another day at the office”. The picture has since gone viral, and attracted thousands of responses and…

RWANDA Reliving the horrors of genocide The New Times (Kigali) “The season of sorrow is upon us,” says Pan Butamire. Our nation is marking the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, when ethnic Hutu mobs methodically slaughtered men, women and children, mostly ethnic Tutsis. We know that more than 800,000 Rwandans were murdered, and countless thousands more raped or maimed. The killers burnt worshippers alive in churches. They smashed babies against walls. They raped women to death. Some people were “buried up to their necks and left at the mercy of vultures, wild beasts and dogs”. One little girl saw her family butchered and managed to escape, only to be captured by a man who kept her locked in his house as his personal sex slave. The horror was almost…

The remains of a previously unknown, and very tiny, ancient human species have been found in caves in the Philippines. The fossilised bones and teeth, thought to have belonged to two adults and a juvenile, suggest that the newly named Homo luzonensis lived about 50,000 years ago, on the island of Luzon. That would mean it was alive at the same time as the diminutive “hobbit” species Homo floresiensis was roaming the Indonesian island of Flores. The “hobbits” were no more than about a metre tall; the new species, which probably still swung from trees, could have been even smaller. And though distinct, it’s possible that they’re both descendants of Homo erectus that ended up isolated on their islands, and experienced a shrinking process known as “island dwarfing” as a…

A lot of people would be nervous meeting Bill Gates – and that includes his daughters’ boyfriends. In an interview in The Times, Melinda Gates recalled one young man’s first visit. “We have a tradition in our family that when we sit down to dinner we all go round and say one thing we’re thankful for. We had this kid go last, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him that we also hold hands because he was next to my husband, and I thought, ‘God, this boy is going to pass out.’” The former Labour leader Ed Miliband grew up in a firmly socialist household – but that doesn’t mean he and his brother, David, didn’t have fun. In a podcast, Miliband revealed that one of the games…

Football: how to fix Manchester United? Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s honeymoon is well and truly over, said Alan Smith in The Times. Last week, the new Manchester United manager saw his side beaten 3-0 by Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals (they lost 4-0 on aggregate). And on Sunday, in a truly “abject” performance, they were thrashed 4-0 by Everton. United’s spineless players were “outfought and out-thought in every department”; they displayed “no fight, no hunger”. It was their sixth defeat in eight matches – “and by some distance the most damning”. The result left them two points outside the top four and, with Manchester City due to visit Old Trafford on Wednesday, qualifying for the Champions League now looks like a pipe dream. Solskjær was only hired on a permanent…

Play fair, Remainers To The Times Nick King is right to point out that “small and family businesses make up 99% of the UK’s business population and create over three-quarters of new jobs”. Moreover, most of these businesses are also domestic-only and therefore do not trade with the EU, yet are still bound by its restrictive regulatory regime. To listen to the apocalyptic siren calls of the Confederation of British Industry, the Bank of England, the Treasury and other usual Remain suspects about Brexit, one could be misled into assuming that our trade with the EU accounts for the majority of our GDP. In fact, the true figure is about 8%, and it continues to decline fast. It would be nice to have more honesty from the Remain lobby about…

The Irish-born, New York-based abstract painter Sean Scully is one of the most respected artists working today, said Rachel Campbell-Johnston in The Times. His story is certainly an inspiring one: born to an impoverished family in Dublin in 1945 and raised in a poor part of south London, he spent his youth working as a plasterer’s labourer before committing himself to art in the 1970s.Renowned for his distinctive and deceptively simple compositions typically formed of coloured stripes and blocks, he has risen “to artistic fame through the sheer pugilistic power of his self-belief”: his canvases now command seven-figure sums at auction. Curiously though, he remains “relatively overlooked” in this country – a status that this exhibition at The National Gallery sets out to redress. The show itself is basically Scully’s…

Best books… Henry Marsh The neurosurgeon and author of Admissions: A Life in Brain Surgery picks his favourite books. He will be talking about his life and work at the Stratford Literary Festival (stratfordliteraryfestival.co.uk) on 3 May The Open Society and Its Enemies by Karl Popper, 1945 (Routledge £21.99). A seminal text against ideology and in defence of liberalism. The enemies may no longer be Plato, Hegel and Marx, but the book is as relevant today as it was in 1945. The purpose of government, Popper wrote, should be to reduce suffering by means of “piecemeal social engineering”. Behave by Robert Sapolsky, 2017 (Vintage £10.99). Often very witty, this is by far the best account of the biological bases of human behaviour, ranging from the molecular to the anthropological. It…

The all-new Vantage: ”poise, purpose and a barely contained menace” The new Aston Martin Vantage looked pretty “boring” in pictures, said Ed Wiseman in The Daily Telegraph. But as soon as I saw it in real life, I realised I’d got that wrong – and everyone I met while I had the car fell in love with it. There’s something about the way it moves, with “poise, purposefulness” and a “barely contained menace”. Added to that, it has “one of my favourite engines in the world”, Mercedes’ 4-litre V8, with its “epic, orchestral wail”. Take the Vantage onto a slip road or dual carriageway, and it “evolves from something moderately cool to something that you desperately want to be in or near every single day”. The interior “reeks” of quality,…

A surfer’s hotel on wheels Committed surfers dedicate their lives to searching for the perfect wave. And on Portugal’s southwest coast, that has just got a little easier, thanks to the launch of the Truck Surf Hotel, says Jacob Little in The Guardian. This hotel on wheels was created by Daniela Carneiro and Eduardo Ribeiro, surfers who fell in love with the camper-van lifestyle – “from beach to beach and seeking out under-the-radar surf spots” – and wanted to share it with others. A converted truck, their “19-tonne bunkhouse” has five double rooms, a bathroom, shower and kitchen. At secret spots like Praia do Beliche, “hidden in the crevices” of giant cliffs, guests wait for the tide, ride “wave after wave” until the sun sinks “into the horizon”, then end…

Thomas Cook: circling predators After a string of profit warnings and an 80% fall in its share price this year, “Britain’s oldest package holiday operator” is being “circled by potential bidders”, said Jasper Jolly in The Guardian. A break-up may now be on the cards for Thomas Cook. Leading the charge is the company’s largest shareholder, the Chinese conglomerate Fosun, which holds a 17% stake. “EU rules banning majority foreign ownership [of European airlines] would block Fosun from running Thomas Cook’s airline arm” – but it might profitably combine the company’s tour operations with its 2015 purchase of Club Med. We’ve been here before: “Thomas Cook faced similar doubts about its survival in 2012, when it was forced to dispose of hotels and part of its airline.” The tour…

Trump calls in a favour from the Saudis George Hay Reuters Breakingviews Oil prices have soared to their highest in a year following the US decision to tighten sanctions on Iran – complicating President Trump’s “own task of keeping a lid on gas prices as he prepares for 2020 elections”, says George Hay. Time to call in a favour. Last November, the US president “publicly exonerated” the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, over his alleged role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Five months on, “Trump’s quid pro quo” looks “clear-cut”: MbS must help “mitigate the effect on oil prices of stymieing Iran”, which has been pumping one million barrels a day to countries including India and China. The oil market’s fundamentals are currently tilted upwards. After production…

In her “brilliant” new book, Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men, Caroline Criado Perez reveals the many subtle ways in which discrimination plays out in the workplace, says Bartleby in The Economist. Here are some examples: Recruitment Women are put off from applying for job adverts that use words like “aggressive” or “ambitious”. When one company changed its ad to focus on “enthusiasm” and “innovation” – and used a photo of a woman rather than a man – the proportion of female applicants rose from 5% to 40%. Work stress Research suggests women experience more work-related stress than men – perhaps because they also often care for children and elderly relatives. “Unencumbered people of both sexes” cope “equally well”. Physical health Male and female bodies…

Network Rail has warned passengers of another possible blight to their travel plans: helium balloons. Last year, it recorded 619 balloon-related incidents in Britain. Most were caused by balloons becoming tangled around overhead power lines, which have to be switched off while the balloons are removed. Rockeries are coming back into fashion, thanks to their popularity with a new generation of time-poor gardeners. Wyevale, the garden centre chain, says sales of heathers, mini-conifers and alpines have surged by 156% in the first three months of 2019 because people with “busy lifestyles... appreciate the low maintenance and Instagrammable aesthetic” of rock gardens.…

46% of people in the UK feel guilty about the amount of plastic they use; among those aged 18 to 24, the proportion rises, but only slightly, to 51%. YouGov/The Guardian 28% of doctors and medical students under 25 have been diagnosed with a mental health condition in the past year, as have 22% of those aged 25 to 34. 38% of male doctors and students, and 28% of female ones, say they self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. British Medical Association/ The Times 14% of British GCSE pupils admit to having taken “study drugs” (stimulants such as Adderall) to boost their stamina and focus as they revise for exams. YouGov/The Daily Telegraph…

Ian McEwan’s war Ian McEwan knows about the havoc that war wreaks on families, says Tim Adams in The Observer. His parents, David and Rose, met in 1941; although Rose was already married and had two children by her husband Ernest, who was serving overseas, they embarked on an affair and had a son who was given up for adoption. Ernest was then killed in action, and the lovers were able to marry – but David insisted that Rose send her first two children away, one to a grandparent, the other to a boarding school – so Ian, born in 1948, was brought up as an only child. Not until his 50s did he learn the whole story, and it gave him a new understanding of his parents – “especially…

It was the romantic novelist Victor Hugo, a staunch critic of the Catholic Church, who did more than any other figure in recent history to restore the appeal – and the fabric – of the great Catholic cathedral. His 1831 novel Notre-Dame de Paris (or, in its English version, The Hunchback of Notre Dame) became hugely popular. Commissioned by a little-known publishing house to imitate the hugely successful novels of Walter Scott, the 29-year-old Hugo dashed it off in five months. And though the critics gave it a frosty reception, the public loved this tale in which the dilapidated old cathedral – so badly damaged during the French Revolution – is as much the hero as the disfigured bell-ringer, Quasimodo. Hugo, a passionate admirer of Gothic architecture, despised the new…

The real reason for the border crisis Ishaan Tharoor The Washington Post You can’t blame President Trump for banging on about the migration crisis on the US southern border, says Ishaan Tharoor. It’s a serious problem: “by one estimate, if current trends continue, 1% of the entire population of Guatemala and Honduras may be apprehended along the US-Mexico border this fiscal year”. No, Trump’s real crime is ignoring – indeed, denying the very existence of – the driving force behind this mass migration: climate change. People are fleeing Central America’s cities to escape poverty, corruption and gang violence, but many of them only settled in those cities in the first place because climatic factors had driven them off the land. “Central America – where a third of all jobs remain…

A new study has found that cholesterol-lowering statins do not work effectively in half of the patients to whom they are prescribed. A team from the University of Nottingham looked at GP data on 165,000 patients taking statins, and found that in about 50% of cases they had not, after two years, lowered the patients’ levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by the 40% mandated by Nice guidelines. However, it is not clear why this should be so – and it could be that many of the patients for whom the statins didn’t work had not taken them as prescribed, or had been prescribed them at too low a dose. (The non-responsive patients were more likely to have been taking lower doses than the responsive ones.) Experts stressed that people…

Notre Dame: the fallout from the fire Even before the smoke cleared around Notre Dame, the first rounds were being fired in a new French “culture war”, said Caroline Roux in The Daily Telegraph. First to heed President Macron’s emotional call for the fire-ravaged cathedral to be rebuilt “by all of us together” was Kering tycoon François-Henri Pinault. His “moving and generous” gift of s100m was swiftly countered by a “doubly moving” contribution of s200m from his arch-rival, Bernard Arnault, France’s richest man. Next up were the Bettencourt Meyers family, owners of L’Oréal, with a s200m donation, followed by the energy group Total (s100m) and other big firms. They helped bring the first day’s total to a staggering s700m. But even as the government congratulated the elite for their…

After 26 years of waiting, Britain is back among the elite of women’s tennis, said Stuart Fraser in The Times. Last weekend, it defeated Kazakhstan 3-1 to secure promotion to the World Group level of the Fed Cup, “the largest annual team competition in women’s sport”. There were moments at the weekend when it looked as if Team GB would lose their fifth play-off in eight years. But Johanna Konta battled back from a set down, and then Katie Boulter repeated that feat. It was “one of the most significant moments in the recent history of British women’s tennis”. By the end of her match, Boulter’s back was so painful that she had to sit with a hot water bottle during changeovers, said Mike Dickson in the Daily Mail. But…

To The Times I was appalled to hear from one of the Extinction rebels at Marble Arch that not a single MP, let alone representative of the Government, had been down to hear what they had to say. They may be a nuisance, but they deserve to be listened to. As one of their slogans says: “If not me, who? If not now, when?” Peter Prendergast, London To The Independent The questions posed by the Extinction Rebellion protest will not be answered by Emma Thompson telling the crowd that it was OK for her to be a frequent flyer because for years she had been calling for cleaner ways to fly, and for action on climate change. Did it not occur to her just to stop flying and immediately reduce…

Musical: West Side Story Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester (0161-833 9833). Until 25 May Running time: 2hrs 30mins ★★★★★ It’s easy to forget how groundbreaking West Side Story was on its 1957 premiere, said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. Leonard Bernstein’s “jagged, ingenious, symphonic” score and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics “ripped a streak of bleak-ness” across the cosy Broadway stage with their placing of Romeo and Juliet in the ganglands of New York. For the past 60 years, said Natasha Tripney in The Stage, revivals have been required to follow the choreography of Jerome Robbins, director of that 1957 premiere and co-director of the 1961 film – with its “balletic aggression” and finger clicks. But the estate has loosened its grip, and we’re in for a crop of new versions, with…

New Mythologies at Huxley-Parlour The slightly forbidding subtitle of this exhibition – Figurative Abstraction in Contemporary Painting – belies a show of 20 arresting works by seven artists who might be described as “painter’s painters”. All straddle the boundary between representation and abstraction, nodding to the latter while keeping their compositions firmly anchored in recognisable imagery. There are some familiar names here – notably Royal Academicians Eileen Cooper and Stephen Chambers – but it’s the work of the emerging artists that really stands out. Emma Fineman’s pictures evoke John Piper on a particularly neurotic day, while Goan artist Karishma D’Souza incorporates elements of the “colour field” paintings of Rothko or Barnett Newman into scenes that could almost be sketches for stage sets. Best of all is Ella Walker, who creates…

Elizabeth admits to Lily that she’s not looking forward to her next therapy session. Freddie and Johnny catch up and Freddie explains that he needs to find a job. Shula apologises to Jakob for an inappropriate comment at church. Tom and Natasha are under pressure between moving house and Jazzer quitting. Later, Natasha is taken aback when Fallon lays into her over how she and Tom treated Jazzer. Ed and Emma discuss various ways of making money now that they are both short of work. Freddie has another dig at Russ, but when he panics that he’ll be late for his offender manager, Russ gives him a lift and shares some home truths. Jakob and Chris go for a drink. Russ tells Elizabeth that he will move out of Lower…

EartH Kitchen 11-17 Stoke Newington Road, London N16 (020-3873 2345) I don’t know what the capital H in EartH Kitchen is all about, says Jay Rayner in The Observer. But this outstanding addition to Hackney’s dining scene can call itself “Hairy Baboon’s Arse” for all I care, just as long as they carry on doing what they do – serving “big, muscular dishes” at reasonable prices. Head chef Chris Gillard was previously in charge of the St John Group’s kitchens, and his passion for robust flavours is clearly undimmed. A gamey roast pigeon comes on a “fiery heap” of roasted carrots and spiced red peppers. A salad of sweet-salty brown shrimps has the crunch of kohlrabi and bitter leaves. Thin-sliced ox heart is jerk-spiced and seared, with long-roasted aubergine…

Glasgow spa-cation Two nights at the Macdonald Crutherland House with a 2-course dinner on the first night, a choice of treatments and afternoon tea, costs from £150pp b&b. 0800-260 6291, spabreaks.com. Arrive 5 June. Budapest city break Spend 4 nights at the Bo33 Hotel Family & Suites, situated close to the city centre. From £240pp b&b (2 sharing), including Nottingham flights. 020-3897 1185, loveholidays.com. Depart 24 June. Five nights by Lake Garda Offering beautiful views of the lake, a 2-bed self-catering apartment for 4 at Residence Poiano Resort costs from s193pp, excluding flights. 0870-026 7145, pierreet vacances.com. Depart 15 June. Island hopping in Greece This 14-night break stops in Athens, Poros and Spetses, and costs from £1,339pp b&b (2 sharing), including transfers and London flights. 020-8492 6868, olympicholidays.com. Depart 11…

US stock markets hit new record highs, cementing the reversal of last year’s steep falls. The impressive rally has had an impact globally: the FTSE All-World index has climbed by more than 14% – its best start to a year since 1998. Oil prices rose to their highest level since last November, with Brent crude topping $74.50/barrel, following renewed sanctions on Iran. UK house price growth is increasing at its slowest rate in seven years, amid evidence that the property slowdown now extends beyond London. Chancellor Philip Hammond kicked off the search for the next Bank of England governor, to replace Mark Carney, who leaves in January. Several BoE insiders are in the running. The most prominent international candidate, former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, has declared he…

Travis Kalanick Two years after leaving Uber under a cloud, co-founder Travis Kalanick is back in business, “flush with cash” and a plan to build a global network of “dark kitchens”, said Olivia Rudgard in The Sunday Telegraph. The new venture, CloudKitchens, claims to offer “smart kitchens for delivery-only restaurants” – tapping into a trend already being mined by Uber Eats and Deliveroo. Having reportedly “raided Uber for some key staff”, Kalanick seems bent on the same kind of “supercharged growth”, noted the FT. The $8.6bn he stands to net when Uber floats should come in handy. Uber’s new boss, Dara Khosrowshahi, describes CloudKitchens as a “super-interesting partner”, smoothing over Kalanick’s bitter ousting from the firm. All seems conciliatory for now. That may not last. Terry Gou “The man who…