Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1231 i The Week

What happened The race begins Ten Tory contenders set out their stalls this week as the contest to replace Theresa May formally got under way. The front runner, Boris Johnson, came under fire from all his rivals after he announced plans to raise the threshold for higher rate income tax from £50,000 to £80,000. Michael Gove criticised the proposal, but faced awkward questions himself about his admitted use of cocaine in the past (see page 4). Although Gove insisted he was still “in it to win it”, he appeared to be losing ground to Jeremy Hunt, whose campaign was bolstered by the influential endorsements of his fellow Cabinet ministers Amber Rudd and Penny Mordaunt. Both Hunt and Gove have insisted that, unlike Johnson, they don’t regard the 31 October Brexit…

In its review of the surrogacy laws, the Law Commission has proposed that new parents should get automatic legal rights over a child born to a surrogate, rather than having to apply for the rights through the court – a process that takes at least six weeks. However, the surrogate mothers would still retain the right to object for a short period. The Commission also proposed that the requirement for at least one parent to have a genetic link to the child be scrapped in certain cases (such as where both parents are infertile). It didn’t make any recommendations about whether the law should be changed to allow surrogates to be paid, but the issue does form part of a consultation that is running until 27 September.…

Washington DC Mexican stand-off resolved: The 5% tariffs President Trump had threatened to impose on Mexican imports were “indefinitely suspended” last week, days before they were due to take effect. Trump had vowed to ratchet up the tariffs by five points a month if Mexico failed to curb the number of Central American migrants entering the US via Mexico – a threat that rattled stock markets and angered pro-business Republicans. But on Friday, Mexico agreed to send 6,000 of its newly created National Guard force to police the border with Guatemala; if that doesn’t reduce the flow of migrants within 45 days, there are plans to designate Mexico as a “safe third country”, which would mean migrants have to claim asylum there, rather than in the US. At a rally…

This week’s edition of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs featured professor and social scientist Monica McWilliams 1 Days Like This, written and performed by Van Morrison 2 The Town I Loved So Well, written and performed by Phil Coulter 3* Il Postino (Title theme), from Il Postino (1994), written and performed by Luis Enríquez Bacalov 4 You’ve Got A Friend, written and performed by Carole King 5 Bread and Roses, written by Mimi Fariña and James Oppenheim, performed by Mimi Fariña and Joan Baez 6 Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, the South African National anthem, written by Enoch Sontonga, performed by Teal Choir 7 Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars, Jeff Bhasker, Philip Lawrence, Nicholas Williams, Devon Gallaspy, Charles Wilson, Robert Wilson, Ronnie Wilson, Rudolph Taylor and Lonnie Simmons, performed by…

One effect of schools “off-rolling” low-achieving pupils has been an increase in the number of children who are home-schooled. Almost 60,000 children in England are estimated to have been educated at home last year – double the number in 2014 – though since there is no national register of home-schooled children, the exact figure is uncertain. In some areas, the rise has been staggering: in Northamptonshire, the number of children registered as home-schooled has increased 350% in the past five years. Anne Longfield, the children’s commissioner for England, explicitly blames off-rolling for this: while some parents may choose to home-school their child, she says, others have been pushed to do so by schools preoccupied by results. As home-schooling is largely unregulated, there are concerns that the pupils affected – particularly…

Invasive lionfish are being seen in the Mediterranean in ever greater numbers, and if more is not done to control them, they will devastate the marine ecosystem. So warned scientists last month, as divers and fishermen took part in the first lionfish “cull” in Cyprus. The fish, which have no natural predators in the Mediterranean and a voracious appetite, are believed to have entered the sea via the Suez Canal – an invasion facilitated by the recent widening of the waterway. In 2012, after being spotted in waters off Lebanon, they were seen off Cyprus, and divers now report seeing masses of them along both coastlines. “I can’t overstate how serious a problem this is for the whole of the Mediterranean,” marine biologist Professor Jason Hall-Spencer told The Guardian. “Lionfish…

Donald Trump went home to the US last week, having made a close new friend in Britain. Describing his rapport with the Queen as “incredible”, he told Fox News: “I think I can say I really got to know her because I sat with her many times and we had automatic chemistry... There are those that say they have never seen the Queen have a better time, a more animated time. We had a period where we were talking solid straight, I didn’t even know who the other people at the table were, never spoke to them. We just had a great time.” But while he may have enjoyed their meetings, others back home were less than impressed by his choice of suit for the banquet at Buckingham Palace. Trump…

For the 1,700 workers at Ford’s Bridgend plant, the news was a “crushing blow”, said Alan Tovey in The Daily Telegraph. Last week, the car giant announced that the South Wales factory – which builds petrol engines for the Fiesta and Focus models, as well as some for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) vehicles – will close next year, as production shifts to India and Mexico. Ford is only the latest carmaker to slash its UK operations this year. Honda revealed in February that it will shut its Swindon plant in 2021, with the loss of 3,500 jobs; Nissan has reversed its decision to build a new vehicle in Sunderland; while JLR, the Indian-owned company that runs Britain’s largest car-making operation, is also cutting thousands of jobs. The latest news had…

On Friday night, the Women’s World Cup got off to a roaring start, said Katie Whyatt in The Daily Telegraph. In the first match of the tournament, 45,000 people filled the Parc des Princes in Paris to watch a slick France side demolish South Korea 4-0. Two days later, England, who entered the competition as one of the favourites, won an exciting 2-1 victory over Scotland. The Lionesses were comfortably the better side overall, yet the Scots gave them a real fright in the second half. But perhaps the most exciting thing about the tournament is that it’s happening at all, said Louise Taylor in The Guardian. Before the Second World War, France had a thriving women’s league, but women’s football was banned as a competitive sport under the Vichy…

By rights, Frank Bowling (b.1934) should be one of Britain’s most celebrated painters, said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. Born in what is now Guyana, he moved to Britain in his teens and later studied art alongside David Hockney and R.B. Kitaj. And while recognition of the sort accorded to his peers eluded him, this was not for want of talent; rather, Bowling’s “sin” was to be a predominantly abstract painter in pop culture-obsessed 1960s London, where his serious, highly individual canvases could barely have been more “unfashionable”. Although he found deserved success when he moved to New York in 1966, it is only now that he is being honoured with a major retrospective in this country – and it does not disappoint. The show contains dozens of thrilling canvases…

Best books… Minette Walters The crime writer picks five stories that gripped her imagination as she grew up. She’s talking about her new novel, The Turn of Midnight, set during the plague, on 29 June at the Chalke Valley History Festival, Wiltshire (cvhf.org.uk) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in The Strand Magazine, 1891-92 (Collins £6.99). I read these stories when I was ten years old, in copies of The Strand Magazine that my great-grandfather collected. They were my first introduction to crime writing, and I still consider Sherlock Holmes to be the best detective ever invented. King Solomon’s Mines by Henry Rider Haggard, 1885 (Penguin £7.99). A terrific adventure story, completed in only six weeks and billed as “the most amazing book ever written”.…

Bourgogne aligoté is a white burgundy grape that few Britons have heard of, says Jane MacQuitty in The Times. Which is puzzling, as its crisp, fresh, floral, citrus zing offers exactly what today’s drinkers crave, and makes for a “great summer sip”. The bourgogne aligoté that started the current buzz is the 2016 Domaine de Villaine Bouzeron Aligoté, with masses of elegant, floral, yellow plum fruit (£20.68; Justerinis.com). Another top example is Les Champs Tions, Moron-Garcia 2017 (£27.99; LibertyWines.co.uk), with notes of quince, lemon and apple. Or try Louis Jadot’s stylish, smoky, citrus blossom-styled 2015 Bouzeron (£17.99; WimbledonWineCellar.com). A little less money brings you the nutty, lemon zest of the Desfontaine family’s 2016 Château de Chamilly Bourgogne Aligoté (£14.95; DavyWine.co.uk), or you can try Doudet-Naudin’s 2016 Bouzeron (£14.99; Majestic Wine),…

Eco-friendly Netherlands A four-night stay at the Hotel Casa Amsterdam, with the Heineken Experience a short drive away, costs from £356pp b&b, including Bristol flights. 020-8974 7200, travelrepublic.co.uk. Depart 20 July. Four nights in Switzerland The lovely Hôtel Mon Repos enjoys a scenic location by the banks of Lake Geneva. Room-only from £465pp, including Glasgow flights. 020-8705 0071, southalltravel.co.uk. Depart 17 July. Picturesque Cyprus village A 7-night self-catering stay in a 2-bed apartment in the Leonidas Village Houses, Goudi, costs from £615pp, including Liverpool flights. 020-3424 9724, olympic holidays.com. Depart 16 July. Exotic Thailand getaway Spend 7 nights, all-inclusive, in the chic Apsara Beachfront Resort and Villa in Khao Lak from £1,139pp, including London flights. 020-3451 2720, firstchoice.co.uk. Depart 14 July.…

Thomas Cook: slow boat to China The top brass at Thomas Cook probably won’t be jetting off for an early summer holiday, said Christopher Williams in The Daily Telegraph. The world’s oldest tour operator “is in the grip of a deep crisis from which the only escape route will involve a fraught summer of complex negotiations” – and, ultimately, “break-up”. Confirmation of talks with Cook’s largest shareholder, the Chinese conglomerate Fosun, saw shares jump by 15% on Monday, signalling “a glimmer of hope” for investors “adrift on a slow boat towards zero”. But the stock is still down 90% in a year. Fosun, which already owns Club Med, wants to acquire “basically all the company” except the airline, which is up for sale separately for £600m. Given Cook’s massive…

The Fed should beware a “Powell put” Editorial Financial Times “Life has become considerably tougher” for the US Federal Reserve and its chairman Jay Powell, says the FT. Having firmly indicated this year that it “was standing pat on interest rates”, the world’s most influential central bank is now contemplating cutting them. Some cite “a now familiar aspect of Trump’s America – potential shocks to the economy delivered out of the blue by the White House”. Markets have certainly reacted sharply to the president’s recent tariff threats, but cutting rates in response to these jitters would be unwise. The Fed cannot be there to save the markets “every time the unexpected happens” – as former chairman Alan Greenspan is alleged to have done in the 1990s in what became known…

Controversy of the week Gove’s cocaine blues On the face of it, Michael Gove makes “an unlikely hedonist”, said Ian Birrell in the I newspaper. Cerebral, bespectacled and married with two children, the Environment Secretary is better known for a “love of Germanic opera” than a taste for “Colombian marching powder”. But rewind 20 years, and it was a different story. Last week, the 51-year-old MP for Surrey Heath confessed to having snorted cocaine on “several occasions” as a journalist in the 1990s. He even, it seems, hosted a “cocaine-fuelled” party at his flat on the very day in 1999 that he wrote a Times column condemning illegal drug use. Gove is far from alone among Tory leadership candidates in having dallied with drugs. Boris Johnson has admitted that he…

55% of British adults say they do not trust Michael Gove, and 53% say the same of Boris Johnson. Gove was rated last of the ten Tory leadership candidates for strength as a leader, ability to deliver Brexit and understanding of ordinary people’s problems. The poll suggested Johnson was the candidate best placed to win back voters who had abandoned the Tories in favour of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. BMG/The Independent Concern for the planet has reached a record high, with a quarter of Britons naming the environment as the UK’s third most pressing issue, behind Brexit and health, but ahead of the economy, crime and immigration. For 18- to 24-year-olds, the environment ranks second. YouGov/The Guardian…

Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan Rigged election: Kazakhstan’s presidential election on Sunday was won by the handpicked successor of Nursultan Nazarbayev, who resigned earlier this year after almost 30 years as ruler of the oil-rich former Soviet republic. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev – who was made interim president after Nazarbayev stood down, and renamed the capital, Astana, as Nursultan, in honour of his mentor – won with 70% of the vote. That was less than the 98% Nazarbayev had secured in 2015, but election observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said the result still reflected “scant respect for democratic standards”. The election had been accompanied by rare public protests and hundreds of arrests. It is widely believed that the 78-year-old Nazarbayev views Tokayev as a seat-warmer for his daughter, Dariga. Sobame…

“All new electric cars from 2021 will be fitted with noise generators, or ‘acoustic vehicle alert systems’. The sound will be ersatz engine roar or loud beeping. Now, I appreciate that safety is paramount, but do we really want the same old noise pollution we’ve always had? Could these cars not broadcast the clip-clop noise of trotting horses? Or moo like cows or other livestock? Cities would then be returned, aurally at least, to the pastoral tranquillity of yore. And for anyone who still failed to heed the traffic, there would be the novelty of being the first person for many years to die believing you were mown down on Oxford Street by a runaway pig.” Giles Coren in The Times…

The human ghosts in our machines Hettie O’Brien New Statesman Will intelligent robots soon be doing our thinking for us? To listen to the media, you’d think they already are, says Hettie O’Brien. But as a new book (Ghost Work by Mary L. Gray and Siddharth Suri) makes plain, artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t nearly as artificial as it’s made out to be. Much of it is an illusion sustained by human intervention. “Beyond the Amazon Echo assistant in your kitchen or the disembodied apps glowing on your iPhone screen are a hidden army of ‘ghost workers’ who intervene when algorithms trip up.” Around the world, some 20 million of these ghosts are said to be at work. It is they who process tricky takeaway orders, they who verify your Uber…

Tiny particles of plastic are everywhere – not only in the food we eat and the water we drink, but also floating in the air. Last October, microplastics were found in the faecal samples of people taking part in a pilot study to determine how much plastic is ending up inside us. Now, researchers have tried to put a number to the problem: in a Canadian study published in Environmental Science and Technology, they estimate that we’re consuming 39,000 to 52,000 microplastic particles a year – and inhaling a further 20-30,000 or so. Most are likely to be microfibres of the sort that are shed by polyester clothing, but they could also be shards from packaging. It’s unclear to what extent these plastics are building up in the body and…

“Where just weeks ago the scent of freedom was in the air, there came the smell of smoke and cordite,” said The Economist. Since April, pro-democracy protesters had been holding a sit-in outside the army headquarters in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. Having finally managed to topple the “brutal dictator”, Omar al-Bashir, they were determined to ensure that their democratic revolution bore fruit – and were calling for the Transitional Military Council (TMC) that orchestrated the putsch to immediately give way to a civilian-led interim government (rather than holding elections at some unspecified point in the future). With negotiations stalled, the protesters redoubled their efforts to force the issue – triggering a devastating response. On 3 June, the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary unit mainly made up of the “Janjaweed” militia,…

It’s easy to forget how much television means to many pensioners, said Serina Sandhu in the I newspaper. It offers companionship to those who don’t get out much, and “fills the silence for people who live on their own”. So it’s no wonder the BBC’s announcement that it’s scrapping the universal free licence for over-75s has caused so much dismay. Those receiving pension credit will be able to apply for an exemption from the fee, but 3.7 million over-75s will have to find an extra £154.50 a year. It’s just one more example of the way benefits for older people are being cruelly whittled away. This is an outrageous decision on the part of the BBC, said The Sun. As part of its 2015 funding agreement, it had agreed to…

Has Johanna Konta blown her best chance of winning a major, asked Simon Briggs in The Daily Telegraph. By the time the British No. 1 faced Markéta Vondroušová in the French Open semifinals last Friday, all the favourites had been knocked out. But against an unseeded Czech 19-year-old, she “botched her opportunities”. Konta went 5-3 up in the first set, and again in the second, only to lose both sets. It was as if her racket arm had been “loaded with lead weights”. In the earlier rounds, she had produced “a relaxed brand of tennis”. But in the semis, her old “tendency to tense up at the decisive moments” came back to haunt her. Still, Konta should take pride in “a great clay season”, said Kevin Mitchell in The Guardian.…

To The Guardian I do not want to detract from the valour of those who landed in Normandy, but after seeing Steve Bell’s cartoon I was reminded that the real war in terms of numbers was being fought in the east, where millions, not hundreds of thousands, were fighting. There were also already British soldiers fighting on the mainland of Europe who had, in fact, already defeated one Axis power. Just one mention of these facts in all the coverage on TV and in newspapers would have been welcome. I heard and saw nothing. Michael Prior, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire To The Guardian Attempts by Steve Bell and Michael Prior, among others, to lionise the Russian contribution to the Allied cause should remember that it was a belated attempt to…

Bruce Springsteen’s excellent new studio album is a “lushly orchestrated set of throwback, country-tinged folk pop” that, despite some resemblance to his seminal folk-infused career highs Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad, sounds like little else in his back catalogue, said Will Hermes in Rolling Stone. The vocals here are “often revelatory, more Neil Diamond” than Woody Guthrie. And, frankly, the unprecedented “sheen” of the production is off-putting at first. But “once you settle in”, Western Stars offers “some of Springsteen’s most beguiling work ever”. With its strings and French horn, “cooing female backing vocals, guitars that shimmer and quiver with tremolo effects”, and mournful pedal steel, this cracking album is grounded in that distinctive late 1960s/early 1970s hybrid that mixed Nashville with west coast pop and sophisticated arrangements,…

Graham Little at Alison Jacques Gallery Graham Little (b.1972) is one of the more interesting figurative artists to emerge from this country in recent decades. His soft-edged, meticulously detailed gouache drawings generally depict people in the midst of cinematic scenes that resemble moments of eerie calm immediately prior to a tumultuous event. These new works, five years in the making, are arguably the most interesting he has created to date, variously depicting a nattily-dressed young man in a second-hand boutique, a woman holding a baby in a well-appointed modernist bathroom, and a trio of children in cod-Renaissance clothing picnicking in a moody autumnal landscape that is weirdly evocative of Paul Nash’s battlefield scenes. Little’s style nods to a baffling range of influences, from John Currin to the late Rex Whistler…

Jill and David confront Josh about his girlfriend, Liberty, and ask how long she’s staying. Josh feels this is rich, as Jill has virtually moved Leonard in to Brookfield. Jill sees his point. They’re won over when Liberty cooks lunch. Elizabeth tells Kenton she’s ready to take back control of Lower Loxley and wants the truth about the finances. Kenton says losing the alcohol licence has been disastrous. Clarrie tells Will she’s worried about Poppy; her teacher said she fell asleep at school. Instructed by Kate’s pre-baby bucket list, Adam and Ian go for a naked swim in the Am. As they get out, they hear a car crash, but are in no state to help. Will finds Ed by his crumpled van, which is leaking chemicals. Ed sees Poppy…

Araceli’s 16 Commercial Way, Woking, Surrey (01483-772655) At a time when “mediocre middle-market chains” are falling like flies, this fantastic independent – serving “serious” Mexican street food with “lashings of warmth and soul” – is an object lesson in getting things right, says Tom Parker Bowles in The Mail on Sunday. Araceli’s started as a food truck, and is now a “briskly utilitarian” restaurant: there’s a concrete floor, whitewashed walls and a “queue winding out of the door” for Mexican dishes of a quality that’s vanishingly rare in Britain. Suadero (slow-cooked beef brisket) has a “joyous combination of bovine depth and glorious grease”, and comes in a fresh tortilla with some chilli oil, a splodge of guacamole and a “lusty slug” of habanero-spiked El Yucateco sauce. There are superb…

Tips of the week… how not to behave on a date ● Even if the conversation has run dry within 15 minutes, do not do a runner. It’s just mean and rude. ● No “negging” – handing out backhanded compliments to gain the psychological upper hand. Although recommended by pick-up “experts”, it usually backfires for those looking for long-term romance. ● Even if you are getting on brilliantly, rein in your fantasies about the future. Don’t make jokes about your wedding, and do not invite them to an event too far in the future. ● Don’t treat it like a job interview. “How did you choose to spend your time during the career gap you had in 2017?” is not an appropriate question. Try to make the sharing of personal…

Merchants Manor Falmouth, Cornwall “Halfway between Falmouth’s beaches and its high street, this luxury spa hotel offers sea views, fabulous food and stylish decor,” says Ellie Ross in The Times. The house was built in 1913 by the Carnes, a local brewing family, and it provides a balance of “heritage and modernity” following a six-year restoration programme. It offers nine rooms in the original house, 30 in a newer wing and two “boutique residences”, each sleeping four, with rustic oak floors and walls, floor-to-ceiling windows and outdoor hot tubs. In the restaurant, the signature dish is one of lamb, crab and samphire – unusual but “divine”. Doubles from £140 b&b. 01326-312734, merchantsmanor.com.…

Malcolm Rebennack 1941-2019 Malcolm “Mac” Rebennack, who has died aged 77, was better known as Dr. John – the flamboyant New Orleans-born singer-songwriter recognised as one of the most distinctive and talented exponents of that city’s “polyglot musical traditions”, said The Daily Telegraph. Described by the record producer Jerry Wexler as “the blackest white man I know”, he was a master of the “stride” and boogie-woogie piano styles, and a performer whose gravelly voice and voodoo stage persona were as New Orleans as his swampy grooves. In a long career, he collaborated with everyone from Professor Longhair to the Grateful Dead and Aretha Franklin, won six Grammys and sold millions of records, but had just one top-ten single – the heady, funk-infused Right Place Wrong Time. Malcolm John Rebennack was…

Questions over trade and the direction of US monetary policy continued to weigh on investors. Wall Street rallied after the US dropped plans to impose tariffs on Mexico, and on hopes that the US Fed will become more “accommodative” – to blunt the impact of trade tensions. The US-China dispute rumbled on: Beijing cautioned global tech companies that complying with a ban on Huawei would mean sector-wide complications. The pound ticked up to its highest level against the dollar since mid-May, but some analysts warned it would probably drop if the Tory leadership front runner, Boris Johnson, becomes PM – because of his pledge to push through Brexit by the end of October, without an exit deal if necessary. Britain’s economy contracted by 0.4% between March and April, far more…

Luke Johnson The business guru – whose reputation crumbled along with his café chain, Patisserie Valerie, last year – has admitted that the disaster shattered his self-belief and made him “physically ill”, said The Guardian. “I had chronic insomnia and felt exhausted and despairing. I rarely ventured out – I had a paranoid sense that people would be staring at me,” he wrote last week. “If I was arrogant at times before, my ego has taken quite a battering since.” Just over 900 workers lost their jobs and investors, including Johnson, were wiped out when the supposedly thriving £450m chain he chaired collapsed. The finance director was later arrested for fraud. Maintaining he was “betrayed”, a chastened Johnson is now plotting a comeback: entrepreneurs “should not be shunned” when failures…

● Win or lose “Most savers with direct or indirect holdings in funds run by Neil Woodford are nursing nasty losses,” said Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail. As the ripples spread, so too are investors in two of the listed firms that “promoted the Woodford cult” – St James’s Place and Hargreaves Lansdown (HL). By Monday this week, shares in HL – which has been criticised for plugging Woodford’s funds in its influential Wealth 50 list long after his poor performance became clear – had fallen by 20%. Still, “not everyone is a loser”. Hargreaves’ head of research Mark Dampier, together with his spouse and another colleague, collected £6m in mid-May by cashing in on HL shares as these reached peak levels. “Whatever personal or regulatory reasons triggered these…

The week’s best shares Biffa Investors Chronicle Biffa has adapted well to offset the adverse impact of ongoing waste import restrictions in China. A promising new joint venture has plugged a hole in Britain’s energy-from-waste infrastructure, and there are consolidation opportunities for its I&C business. Buy. 230p. discoverIE Investors Chronicle The electronics group is proving resilient in a difficult market, with recent acquisitions funded through a £2.8m equity placing. Poised to make further forays into the sensing technology market. Buy. 452p. Essensys The Daily Telegraph This software supplier has carved a productive niche designing technology for flexible workspaces. Tends to hang onto customers, which are themselves growing and opening more sites. One for the long term. Buy. 181.5p. Marstons Shares The pub and brewing company has repositioned itself well in…

Nearly one in five Britons have phoned in sick to work in order to binge-watch a TV show, according to a Radio Times survey. Half admit to having watched a show for eight hours in a single sitting; 80% have lost out on sleep as a result of binge-watching; and 23% have falsely claimed to have seen a programme that everyone else has seen. Young people seeking an escape from relentless negativity are fuelling a boom in an entertainment genre dubbed “hopepunk”. Encompassing upbeat TV shows such as Queer Eye, it is the opposite of “grimdark” – an example of which would be the crime drama Breaking Bad. This week, the BBC unveiled plans to spend £150,000 on a series of “hopepunk” podcasts.…

Copenhagen Social Democrats win: Denmark’s centre-left Social Democrats (SD) won a narrow victory in the recent general election, after campaigning on an anti-immigrant platform. The SD took 26% of the vote, and 48 seats in the 179-seat parliament, putting them just ahead of outgoing prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s Liberal Party. The nationalist Danish People’s Party (DPP) – which became Denmark’s second-biggest party four years ago – saw its share of the vote fall to just 8.6%. The country’s new PM, Mette Frederiksen, has tried to win back working-class voters from the DPP without stigmatising Muslims. Even so, her tough stance on immigration has put her at odds with other parties in Denmark’s “red bloc”. Instead of trying to form a coalition, she says she will lead a minority government,…

Patti Smith looks back It’s 44 years since Patti Smith released her genre-busting debut album Horses, says Holly Williams in The Independent. At 72, she is still working – most recently on a trio of albums blending poetry with evocative soundscapes (poetry has always been her passion). But the industry has changed radically. “I grew up in the 1950s when we had no way to share things, you had to really seek things,” she says. Even an Édith Piaf record had to be hunted out. “And in some ways, I would hate to think that people are losing their adventurous spirit of seeking things. But on the other hand, a lot of things are made available that weren’t when I was young. You’d only get a chance to see a…

A female passenger caused chaos at Manchester airport last week after she opened a plane’s emergency exit in the belief that it led to the lavatory. The woman was boarding the Pakistan International flight to Islamabad when she opened the wrong door, causing the deployment of the emergency chute, and forcing the plane to be evacuated. The flight, which had been scheduled to leave at 9.20pm on Friday, eventually left Manchester at 5am on Saturday. Visitors to a Jurassic Park event in Cambridgeshire were disappointed last weekend to be greeted by a man in an inflatable dinosaur suit and a few puppets. On social media, scores of parents said they’d queued in traffic for ages to get into the event, only to find no sign of the 18-foot-high Tyrannosaurus rex…

Green light for lots of coffee You might not sleep very well, but even drinking 25 cups of coffee a day does not appear to damage the heart, new research has found. Previous research into the impact of coffee-drinking has found that it stiffens the vessels that carry blood away from the heart, forcing the heart to pump harder and raising blood pressure. But when researchers from Queen Mary University of London examined the arteries of 8,412 adults in the UK, they found that their coffee-drinking habits made no difference to their arteries. Once factors such as age, weight and smoking had been taken into account, they found that the arteries of the heavy-drinking participants (who drank more than three cups a day, and in a few cases, as many…

“If ever any group had it coming, it’s the giants of the tech industry,” said Joel Kotkin on The Daily Beast. “As in the Gilded Age a century ago, the industry epitomises capitalism run amok, with huge concentrations of wealth, power and control over key markets, like search (Google), cellphone operating systems (Apple and Google) and social media (Facebook).” Lack of government oversight has allowed these firms “to grow to gargantuan size and consolidate their monopolistic control”. But now, it seems, the mood is changing where it matters: in Washington. Last week, the House of Representatives subcommittee on antitrust – competition law – announced the launch of an investigation into the digital economy; at the same time, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission will be looking at…

“A politician is an animal that can sit on a fence and yet keep both ears to the ground.” H.L. Mencken, quoted in The Economist “Recalling past wars is the most dangerous thing a nation can do. Too much remembering has lain at the root of almost every conflict in Europe’s history.” Simon Jenkins in The Guardian “It’s useless to hold a person to anything he says while he’s in love, drunk or running for office.” Actress Shirley MacLaine, quoted in the LA Times “Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.” Author Robert J. Sawyer, quoted in the I newspaper “The only person who listens to both sides of a husband-and-wife argument is the woman in the next apartment.” American humorist Sam Levenson, quoted…

They may have lost to the Netherlands in the semi-finals, but England could still take positives from their Nations League campaign, said Dominic Fifield in The Guardian. They beat Switzerland to come third in Uefa’s new competition – their best showing at a major tournament since Euro 1968. And they even managed to do it by winning on penalties. Penalty shoot-outs used to be England’s undoing – before Gareth Southgate took over as manager, they lost five in a row – but they have now won their last two attempts. Well, let’s not overdo it, said Jonathan Northcroft in The Sunday Times. That dismal 3-1 loss to the Netherlands marked a return to the bad old days of English football. The team attempted to pass out from the back, “but…

Late Night Dir: Nisha Ganatra 1hr 42mins (15) A comedy about comedy with Emma Thompson ★★★ There’s something wonderfully old-fashioned about this smartly written workplace comedy, said Kevin Maher in The Times. Like Working Girl or The Devil Wears Prada, Late Night charts the rise of a naive but talented young woman in a dog-eat-dog industry – in this case, that of the US talk show, where our heroine (Mindy Kaling) gets a job writing for Emma Thompson’s acerbic presenter. Kaling, who also wrote the script, crafted that role with Thompson in mind, and it’s certainly a plum, said Tom Shone in The Sunday Times. Thompson’s disdain as her largely male writing team strive to amuse her is a joy to behold. The film largely turns on the relationship between…

Emily Young has been called the country’s “greatest living stone sculptor” – but few fans will be able to view her latest work, says Tom Kington in The Times. The celebrated 68-year-old artist has been creating ten-tonne marble heads (each with a value of £500,000), then dropping them into the Mediterranean near her home in Tuscany, where “no one will see them unless they put on flippers and goggles”. Her agent thinks she’s “crazy”, but there is method to her madness: Young is one of a group of sculptors who have been littering the seabed off the coast of Talamone with artworks to snag the nets of the illegal bottom-trawling fishing boats that have devastated local fish stocks. As well as creating a unique underwater art exhibit, the project has…

Programmes Tyson Fury: Rise and Fall of the Gypsy King Documentary following the turbulent career of the 6’9” heavyweight boxer. Sat 15 June, C5 21:00 (60mins). Hometown: A Killing Journalist Mobeen Azhar goes home to Huddersfield to cover the police shooting of Mohammed Yassar Yaqub in 2017. Yaqub was described as a devoted father and son, and his death led to protests – but it becomes apparent that his life was darker than it seems. Sat 15 June, BBC1 22:40 (30mins). Britain’s Next PM – The C4 Debate Krishnan Guru-Murthy hosts a live debate between the Tory MPs hoping to become the next PM. Sun 16 June, C4 18:30 (90mins). Catch-22 George Clooney co-directs and stars in this visually striking six-part adaptation of Joseph Heller’s satirical WWII novel. With Hugh…

Gjelina, in Venice, Los Angeles, is one of the great restaurants in which to eat true California cooking, says Eleanor Maidment. Chef Travis Lett is famed for his effortlessly elegant dishes, and this glorious, simple summer dessert is based on his strawberry and rhubarb polenta crisp Rhubarb and strawberry crumble Serves 4 250g rhubarb, cut into 1cm pieces 2 tbsps water 1 tbsp golden caster sugar 200g strawberries, sliced 50g soft light brown sugar 50g plain flour 50g jumbo oats pinch of fine sea salt 50g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled (the dessert also works well with autumnal fruits, such as apple, pear and blackberry) • Place the rhubarb, water and caster sugar in a small saucepan, place over a medium heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Tip into the…

The Daily Telegraph The Mercedes EQC is the fourth car to join “that most modern of ecomotoring clans” – the battery-electric SUV. It’s just as fast and well honed as its rivals: the Jaguar iPace, Audi eTron and Tesla Model X. But the thing about these heavy, powerful cars is that the CO2 released in making batteries big enough to give them a decent range means they’re just “not going to save the planet”. Auto Express Unlike its purpose-built rivals, the EQC is based on the existing platform of the GLC, so its design isn’t “groundbreaking”. The high-quality interior is busy, and the graphics on the twin screens likewise “contain huge amounts of information”. The tech, though, is futuristic – with “augmented-reality navigation” and a voice-activated assistant. Just say: “Hey…

A gourmet Swedish eco-camp A rural retreat with strong ecological values – and a fine restaurant – deep in the forests of southern Sweden, Stedsans in the Woods is an Instagram hit and has the feeling of a “modern-day fairy tale”, says Ingrid K. Williams in The New York Times. Set on the shores of Lake Halla, and easily accessed from both Gothenburg and Copenhagen, it was founded in 2017 by a couple who used to run a restaurant in the latter city. Guests stay in “cosy, carefully styled cabins” with large windows but no electricity or running water, and eat together around campfires or in a glass-walled tent. Ingredients are all foraged or locally sourced, and the multinational staff (who tend to go barefoot) are largely volunteers. It’s “magical”,…

Max Arthur 1939-2019 For a military historian, Max Arthur, who has died aged 80, had surprisingly little interest in warfare, said Ruth Cowen in The Guardian. As he often pointed out, he didn’t write about high command, or military strategy. His fascination was with how ordinary people cope in the extreme conditions of war; and for his books – which included the bestselling Forgotten Voices of the Great War – he travelled around Britain, meeting former servicemen, and assiduously gathering their memories. Max Arthur was born in West Sussex in 1939, the son of a middle-class woman who had run away from an abusive marriage and who, as he observed, had “had a good war”. He never knew his own father and had two brothers with different fathers. Money was…

Having already reinvented itself once as a software provider, Ocado is planning a new future as a 21st century farmer, said Alex Ralph in The Times. The FTSE 250 grocer is ploughing £17m into a new “vertical farming” venture which will use a series of stacked levels to produce crops indoors. To that end, it has taken a 58% stake in “Europe’s largest operating vertical farm” – the Scunthorpe-based Jones Food Company. Analysts seem keen. “Advances in robotics and LED lighting” could transform this “nascent industry”, said Numis. Ocado’s own pitch is more homespun. It says it will offer “tastier and fresher products all year round, picked when ripe and virtually untouched by human hands”.…

According to StockX founder Josh Luber, “a stock market is the most efficient way to create a market price for any asset”. And he should know, says Zoe Wood in The Guardian. StockX is a fast-growing trading platform for “sneakerheads” who collect, or trade, limited-edition trainer shoes, often endorsed by celebrities. With demand far outstripping supply, StockX bills itself as a place “to speculate on the most sought-after”, as if they are shares in quoted companies. There are no profit warnings on StockX – but “market forces still apply as celebrity stock rises and falls,” says Wood. For example, Justin Timberlake gave the price of Air Jordan 3s a boost when he wore them to the Superbowl. But the “personal travails” of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo “made his Nikes hard to…