Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1232 i The Week

What happened The battle for No. 10 Boris Johnson looked certain to be shortlisted as one of the two candidates from which Tory members will pick their next leader – and Britain’s next prime minister – in July. The former foreign secretary established himself as the runaway favourite in the first round of voting by Tory MPs last week. He subsequently built on that support, winning the backing of Andrea Leadsom and Dominic Raab, who were eliminated in the first and second ballots respectively, and Matt Hancock, who withdrew after the first vote. Johnson skipped a TV debate with the other candidates on Channel 4 on Sunday night, but took part in a similar BBC event on Tuesday, during which he appeared to soften his Brexit stance, declining to guarantee…

Two more people were reported to have died after eating contaminated salads and sandwiches in NHS hospitals, bringing the total number of deaths linked to the listeria outbreak to five. The first patient fell ill on 25 April, but the products were not withdrawn until 25 May, because no link was made until other patients had died. Infections caused by the listeria bacteria usually have mild symptoms, but listeriosis can be fatal in children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. Eight hospitals in seven NHS trusts across England have reported cases. The sandwiches were supplied by The Good Food Chain to 43 NHS trusts. It has since ceased production, as has its own meat supplier.…

Orlando, Florida Trump launches 2020 campaign: With 16 months to go before the next US presidential election, Donald Trump officially launched his re-election campaign this week at a rally attended by 20,000 cheering supporters in Orlando, Florida. “We are going to keep making America great again and then we will indeed keep America great,” said the president, in a 78-minute speech. Despite the president’s confidence, and the growing economy, polls suggest he is lagging behind his main likely Democrat challengers in key battleground states. (“Only Fake Polls show us behind the Motley Crew,” he tweeted in response.) Separately, he sparked a fresh controversy by saying “I think I’d take it”, if a foreign country offered him damaging information on an election rival, and would probably not feel obliged to inform…

This week’s edition of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs featured musician, producer and composer Nitin Sawhney 1* Mustt Mustt (Massive Attack remix) by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, performed Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Massive Attack 2 Guajiras de Lucía, written and performed by Paco de Lucía 3 A Fistful of Dollars by Ennio Morricone, performed by The Ennio Morricone Orchestra 4 Big Yellow Taxi, written and performed by Joni Mitchell 5 Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune by Claude Debussy, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by André Previn 6 Mind Ecology by John McLaughlin, performed by Shakti 7 Moussoulou, written and performed by Oumou Sangaré 8 Life on Mars by David Bowie, performed by Seu Jorge Book: The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch Luxury: desalinating water bottle *…

Rare earths may be at the forefront of green technology – wind turbines, fuel cells, batteries, energy-efficient lightbulbs – but they don’t come out of the ground easily. They are usually found in haphazard batches, hidden inside exotic and sometimes radioactive minerals. Cerium, for instance, is extracted by crushing mineral mixtures and dissolving them in sulphuric and nitric acid, and that results in a vast amount of poisonous waste. Part of the reason for China’s near-monopoly is the lack, until recently, of environmental safeguards. In the race to the bottom of the global market, China was prepared to win. At Baotou, Inner Mongolia, there is a five-mile wide tailing lake, described by the BBC as “like hell on Earth”: filled with a “black, barely-liquid, toxic sludge” pumped out by the…

The intact head of a 40,000-year-old wolf has been recovered from the Siberian permafrost. The 40cm-long head (about 25% bigger than a modern wolf’s head), which is currently being exhibited in Tokyo, was found on the banks of the Tirekhtyakh River in Yakutia by locals looking for mammoth tusks. Having dated the head to around 40 millennia ago, scientists are now building a digital model of its brain and analysing its DNA. Although the animal’s overall size remains unclear, Prof Albert Protopopov, of the Yakutia Academy of Sciences, said it definitely possessed stronger jaws than today’s wolves. “They could kill bigger animals – probably the biggest was a bison,” he told The Daily Telegraph. The gradual thawing of the permafrost in Yakutia has given rise to a lucrative mammoth-tusk hunting…

Boris Johnson’s housemaster at Eton, Martin Hammond, was not entirely convinced that he was a good fit for a leadership position. “Boris sometimes seems affronted when criticised for what amounts to a gross failure of responsibility, and surprised at the same time that he was not appointed captain of the school for next half,” he wrote in a letter to Johnson’s father Stanley in 1982. “I think he honestly believes it is churlish of us not to regard him as an exception, one who should be free of the network of obligation which binds everyone else.” Anneka Rice was fired by her agent for refusing to appear on a TV cookery show alongside the former Blue Peter presenter Mark Curry, to be called Curry and Rice. With no one to…

“If we say politicians cannot have done anything racy at university, the only politician you would have left is me.” Jacob Rees-Mogg, quoted in The Sunday Times “To the British, a stranger is simply an enemy we haven’t made yet. And if that stranger is the sort of person who strikes up conversation on public transport, he or she is the most deadly enemy of all.” Michael Deacon in The Daily Telegraph “No man ever distinguished himself who could not bear to be laughed at.” Maria Edgeworth, quoted in Forbes “It is best to act with confidence, no matter how little right you have to it.” Lillian Hellman, quoted in the Associated Press “Wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good.” Gabriel García Márquez, quoted in…

Of all the world’s sporting rivalries, the one between the India and Pakistan cricket teams may be the most intense, said Tim Wigmore in The Sunday Telegraph. But relations between the two countries are so dire that they rarely face each other: since 2013, India’s government has refused to give the team permission to play a series against Pakistan. It’s only in international competitions that the two meet – and that’s why their World Cup tie, in Manchester on Sunday, was the biggest sporting event of the year. More than half a million people had scrambled to buy tickets; a billion reportedly tuned in on television to watch India’s victory – as big as the audience for the football World Cup final last year. The India and Pakistan fans have…

To the Financial Times Britain’s decision to lead in going greenhouse-neutral is likely to bring advantage, not cost. When Churchill switched the Royal Navy fleet from coal to oil before the First World War, he incurred large costs and put miners out of business. But the decision not only brought naval superiority but also created BP, with a technical and economic profit that lasted a century. There are simple changes we can make: heat electric; insist that retail warehouses have solar panels on their airfield-wide roofs; replace imported produce with solar-heated local greenhouse production. But the key is innovation: research into better generation, batteries and storage, better transport. Going green brings jobs and security – costs come down and we become less dependent on imports. Coal-dependent nations suffer air pollution…

Peter Archer at The Art Stable The landscape paintings of Peter Archer (b.1946) will seem instantly evocative to anyone familiar with the strange urban fringes that ring this country’s cities, where man-made infrastructure begins to give way to what passes for rural wildness. On the one hand, the paintings are rooted in the present: a number of canvases in this exhibition, Farewell to the Seas, depict motorway flyovers cutting incongruous divisions between treeline and sky, while exhaust smog muddies the sublime colours of the twilight. On the other, however, they look back directly to romanticism and the traditions that sprung from it, capturing the splendour and savagery of the British coast and countryside with all the passion of Caspar David Friedrich or J.M.W. Turner; indeed, if you ignore the (rather…

Lilian spots Peggy in a 4x4 driven by a silver-haired stranger. Later, Lilian is upset to learn that she is one of the few family members not invited to Peggy’s mystery meeting. Leonard shows Jill round his bungalow. He says she can use the spare room if ever they’re out late, before telling her he likes her a lot. Jill says she likes him too. Lynda drops in on Jim with a folder of the speeches that his friends were going to make at his party. He bins the folder and leaves. Lilian visits Peggy, who doesn’t mention Friday’s meeting. Alistair tries to talk to Jim about how rude he’s being. When Jim brushes him off, Alistair tells him he’s arrogant. Jim says if he’s so insufferable, perhaps Alistair should…

For more than 30 years, Robert Parker has been the most powerful wine critic on the planet, so his retirement marks the end of an era in the world of wine. His influence was so great that leading Bordeaux chateaux wouldn’t release their prices until he had pronounced on their latest vintage. Parker was fearless in his comments and should be praised for raising the standards of wine-making throughout the world. The downside however, was that too many winemakers sought to “Parkerise” their wines – i.e. make them in a style they imagined would appeal to his presumed preference for high alcoholic fruit bombs. Fortunately this craze is in full retreat. Point scoring shouldn’t have a place in deciding what we like – instead, each wine should be judged on…

Lee’s cooking is known for its robust generosity, and its focus on the character of the principal ingredient. This dish sits squarely within that tradition: it is “something of a must at Quo Vadis”, says Lee – “ensconced on the menu for all time”. Jeremy Lee, chef-proprietor at that venerable Soho institution Quo Vadis, “represents an almost forgotten line of British cooking”, says the food writer Matthew Fort. “He sources his primary materials with enthusiastic discrimination, and then treats them with rare respect.” Lee began his career in Scotland, then came to London to hone his skills under Simon Hopkinson and Alastair Little – major names in the resurgence of modern British cooking. In 1994, he took over at the Blueprint Café at the Design Museum, where his “killer combination…

Goal Zero Nomad 7 Plus solar panel Never be without your tech with this large, solar-powered USB charger. You can leave it outside your tent, or attach it to the back of your rucksack (£91; outdoorsupply.co.uk). My First Deluxe ReadyBed Perfect for camping and sleepovers, this is a portable airbed and sleeping bag in one. It comes with a battery pump and a carry bag. Adult versions are also available (£60; readybed.com). MPOWERD Luci Solar String Lights Use these solar-charged lights to create a relaxing ambience inside or around your tent. Rolled up, they’re easily packed, and when you get home, you can use them in the garden (£36; gooutdoors.co.uk). Fatboy Lamzac 2.0 Inflating this lounger couldn’t be easier. You just open it up, waft it through the air (or…

Riga’s great revival Anyone who visited Riga in the communist era would struggle to recognise it now, says Robin McKelvie in The Daily Telegraph. Since Latvia joined the EU in 2004, its capital has shed its Soviet “shackles”, and is now full of “gleaming renovated buildings” and swish bars. Older than St Petersburg and Stockholm, Riga remains “awash with history” and boasts Europe’s “most impressive” collection of German Art Nouveau architecture; incredibly ornate confections line the streets of the business district, which is Unesco-recognised. Also listed is the “chocolate-box pretty” Old Town, with its vaulting church spires and elegant squares. Strolling along its cobbled streets feels “like sifting through the dusty pages of a historical novel”. Sea swimming in Cork The great pity about Ireland’s beaches is that, while they…

In 1978, Louise Brown, the world’s first “test tube” baby, was born. That some eight million children have been born since then via in-vitro fertilisation is down to the work of pioneering doctors like Ian Craft, a boundary-pushing gynaecologist who achieved a number of firsts in a controversial field. Among other things, Craft, who has died aged 81, achieved the first successful pregnancy using a donor egg, in 1987, and the first using a frozen embryo, in 1990. Some regarded him as “a trailblazer”, said The Times; others as “a maverick”, exploiting people’s desperation. He saw himself as bringing happiness to people. Whether his patients were old or young, single or married, he didn’t mind, provided they could pay for his services. And for “many who had been turned away”…

Sotheby’s has gone under the hammer for $3.7bn having being bought by Patrick Drahi, the billionaire founder of the telecoms group Altice, said the Financial Times. The deal, cemented over lunch at Art Basel in Switzerland last week, ends three decades of public ownership – and will see the “venerable auction house” sold to the French tycoon for a 61% premium over its closing price last Friday. Drahi has a sizeable art collection, which includes works by Picasso and Matisse. Yet he remains “relatively unknown both on the art scene and among Sotheby’s investors”. The deal is seen as something of a “vindication” for Daniel Loeb, the activist hedge-fund manager whose Third Point group has owned shares since 2013. He stands to make a $125m profit. Many had expected Sotheby’s…

The week’s best shares Chemring Group The Daily Telegraph A “heavyweight” management team at the aerospace and defence group (“countermeasures” are a speciality) is focused on higher-margin, longer-term contracts. Capex is doubling, and the order book is up by a third. Buy. 170.2p. Codemasters Group Investors Chronicle This video games developer is shifting towards a higher-margin digital-led model. Debt is down, and a deal for a new smartphone game with Chinese giant NetEase promises “significant upside potential”. Buy. 251p. CYBG The Sunday Times Shares in the challenger bank are in the doldrums, but it has scaled up with the acquisition of Virgin Money and has grand “fintech” ambitions. There’s also cost-cutting on the horizon. Buy. 179p. Greggs The Times Britain’s biggest bakery chain is a “tasty prospect” that’s still delivering.…

Controversy of the week May’s green legacy If Theresa May is “remembered at all”, it will mainly be for mucking up Brexit, said James Kirkup in The Spectator. Little wonder that the outgoing PM is devoting her last weeks in office to trying to come up with something else for us to remember her by. Last Thursday, she announced that her “legacy list” of policies would include an amendment to the Climate Change Act 2008 requiring the UK to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to “net zero” by 2050: any emissions after that date would have to be offset by removing a corresponding amount of CO2 from the atmosphere – by planting trees, for example. The amendment will not only raise the bar from the current target of an 80%…

59% of Britons would not buy a used car from Boris Johnson – a more damning verdict than for any of the other Tory leadership candidates. 13% say they would. Nonetheless, 47% think Johnson could win a general election. YouGov/The Sunday Times 63% of Tory party members would want Brexit to take place even if it meant breaking up the Union. 54% say they’d want Brexit even if it would destroy the Conservative Party. YouGov Two-thirds of Britons feel pessimistic about rising poverty and homelessness in the UK. Only 52% of over-65s feel optimistic about the country’s future, a proportion that slumps to just 24% among under-34s. BritainThinks/The Guardian…

Cairo Ex-president dies in court: Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, collapsed and died in court on Monday while on trial on espionage charges. Backed by the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi was elected in 2012 following the Arab Spring, but served for only a year before being ousted in a military coup led by the current president, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. The 67-year-old had been in jail ever since. Morsi’s family and activists had repeatedly raised concerns about his health and his treatment in custody, which included long periods in solitary confinement. Kasese, Uganda Ebola spreads: The current Ebola epidemic in eastern DR Congo has entered a “truly frightening” phase, and is threatening to spread to other countries in the region, experts have warned. Last week, three people died of the…

“The first time I saw a contactless card reader on a stand next to a busker’s guitar case, I thought it was a joke. Not anymore: I’m seeing ‘tap to donate £2’ signs everywhere. Where else will the swipe threaten to wipe out the pennies? We could have contactless payment at wishing wells, and a card reader in the Christmas pudding. When coins are gone, we will realise the true meaning of the word ‘contactless’. It’s such a perfect word for our 21st century society, isn’t it? I crave more contact, coins or otherwise. Instead, we have less sex, less talking, less meeting ‘IRL’. No more grandmas pushing a warm coin into your cardigan pocket.” Helen Rumbelow in The Times…

Have we really ceased to care about Grenfell? Gary Younge The Guardian The Grenfell fire happened exactly two years ago last week, says Gary Younge – and how little has changed since the tragedy. Tens of thousands of people still live in tower blocks covered in the same dangerous cladding. Theresa May promised that the Grenfell survivors would all be rehoused within three weeks, yet 17 families are still languishing in temporary accommodation. “Nobody has been held accountable and the police investigations into potential manslaughter and health and safety violations aren’t expected until 2021.” Why such a slow response, ask the victim groups: is it “incompetence or indifference”? The answer, sadly, is both. The nation’s capacity for indignation is limited: it’s appalled by injustice, but as time elapses, it gets…

A huge crater created when a meteor struck Earth 1.2 billion years ago may be hidden beneath the sea off the west coast of Scotland. Evidence for the strike was unearthed in 2008, when scientists on a field trip stopped to look at the Stac Fada Member, an unusual rock formation near Ullapool. Spotting green fragments in it that indicate an asteroid strike, they took samples for analysis and found quartz crystals, deformed by an impact. Now, they have used “directional” measures within the rock – such as the orientation of magnetic particles – to work out where the strike took place. The spot is believed to be about ten miles off the coast near Lochinver – although at the time of the strike, what is now Scotland was close…

A baptism of fire awaits the winner of the Tory leadership contest, said Oliver Wiseman on CapX. Assuming the race goes the distance, there will be no more than 100 days between the new PM taking office and Britain’s scheduled departure from the EU at the end of October. All the candidates bar Rory Stewart have pledged to seek better terms from the EU during that period. If whoever becomes PM fails – which seems likely given the pressing time constraints and Brussels’ insistence that renegotiation of the withdrawal deal is not an option – he’ll have to choose between seeking another Brexit extension or pressing ahead with a no-deal exit. The former course would invite further retribution from angry Leave voters, sending more into the embrace of the Brexit…

“The entrance to the Chelsea manager’s office might as well be a revolving door,” said Simon Stone on BBC Sport. This time, the club has said goodbye to Maurizio Sarri, who has left for Juventus just a year after joining the Blues. Since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, an astonishing 11 managers have come and gone: eight of them permanent, three temporary. The fans won’t miss Sarri, said Matt Hughes in The Times. True, he finished the season on a high: the club won the Europa League and came third in the Premier League. But he was still “the wrong appointment”. His combination of “emotional intensity and technical rigidity” was never going to win over Chelsea’s “powerful dressing room”, where players dig in to get their own way.…

Cricket England scored 397 runs – their highest total in a World Cup match – in their 150-run win over Bangladesh. They hit 25 sixes, a record for a one-day international; Eoin Morgan’s 17 sixes were a record for an ODI innings. Football In the Women’s World Cup, France beat Nigeria 1-0 and Germany beat South Africa 4-0. Boxing Tyson Fury stopped Tom Schwarz, a previously undefeated heavyweight, in the second round. British boxer Josh Warrington retained his IBF world featherweight title with a points win over Kid Galahad.…

As well as painting the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci “fathered air travel, architecture, palaeontology and solar power”, says Harriet Walker in The Times. But the polymath’s talents didn’t end there: he may also have invented “one of the fashion industry’s bestselling items – the It bag”. In a new book on the hidden history of our wardrobes, the academic Shahidha Bari points to a Leonardo doodle from 1497 as one of the earliest designs for a handbag. The tiny sketch (in the 12-volume set of drawings and writings known as the Codex Atlanticus) shows his idea for a leather pouch – which, with its “swirling curlicues”, “top-frame” and “flap-over fastening”, is reminiscent of designer bags now produced by the likes of Prada and Dolce & Gabbana. “The idea that…

Programmes Beecham House Gurinder Chadha’s six-part drama set in pre-Raj India. Tom Bateman plays enigmatic soldier John Beecham, who buys the titular mansion to begin a new life. Sun 23-Mon 24 June, then weekly, ITV1 21:00 (65mins). Tonight with Vladimir Putin A 3D cartoon Putin hosts a “live” chat show – with Alastair Campbell and June Sarpong as guests. Sun 23 June, BBC2 23:00 (30mins). Walter Presents: The Lawyer New Scandi crime series from the writer of The Bridge, Hans Rosenfeldt. A lawyer and his police officer sister investigate their parents’ murder years earlier. Sun 23 June, C4 23:00 (60mins). The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files David Olusoga opens government files to explore the Windrush scandal. Mon 24 June, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Trans Athletes: a Fair Playing Field? Former tennis…

Domaine Horgelus Gros Manseng and Sauvignon Blanc 2018 – France, 12% This wine is from the same producer as La Valse des Mansengs, which was my favourite wine from this column last year and was also a bestseller with readers. From the Pyrenean foothills of South West France, it's a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Gros Manseng, which is the main white grape variety in Jurançon. It has a refreshing citric flavour with lovely traces of apricot and quince and is ready for immediate consumption. It works either as an aperitif or with shellfish, while also strong enough to complement an aromatic garlic and chilli squid dish. PRICE PER CASE: £102, saving £17.40 Belasco de Baquedano Llama Malbec 2017 – Argentina, 13.5% This award-winning wine is made from Malbec vines…

Tips of the week… how to avoid travel sickness ● If you’re on a boat, keep to the centre, where there’s less movement. ● In a car, it helps to look at the horizon (to reduce the “sensory conflict” between what you see and the movement you feel). Drive if you can. Failing that, sit in the passenger seat so you see more out of the window. ● Avoid nicotine or alcohol before travel. ● Motion sickness tablets containing cinnarizine should work for long journeys, but take them two hours beforehand – most pills are useless once you already feel sick. ● Medications containing hyoscine or antihistamines can also help, but might make you drowsy or blur your vision. ● Concentrating on your breathing can inhibit vomiting. Try to keep…

Self-catering in Corsica Enjoy wonderful sea views during a 7-night stay in the charming 1-bed A Casetta cottage. From £883pp, including London flights. 020-3918 3320, simpsontravel.com. Depart 22 September. Luxurious Croatian stay Spend 7 nights at the unique 4-star Hotel Nautica, situated next to Novigrad marina, from £947pp half-board, including Edinburgh flights. 020-3474 3075, blueseaholidays.co.uk. Depart 3 August. Relaxation in Marrakech Located in the heart of the huge medina, the Ryad Amiran offers a 5-night stay from £439pp half-board, including Manchester flights. 01708-412134, travelsoon.com. Depart 3 August. All-inclusive Mexico Seven nights at the bright Canto del Sol Plaza Vallarta, right on Mexico’s popular Las Glorias beach, cost from £694pp, including Manchester flights. 020-3636 1931, tui.co.uk. Depart 29 August.…

Kier Group: stopping the rot “What were they smoking in Kier Group’s boardroom last September”, when directors decided to up the shareholders’ annual dividend by 2%, asked Nils Pratley in The Guardian. Nine months on, the builder/outsourcer group’s shares have crashed from 900p to 108p – and comparisons keep being made with fellow contractor Carillion, which collapsed with the loss of thousands of jobs early last year. Kier’s debt position has become so alarming that suppliers have begun demanding payment in advance. Hence the move by new boss Andrew Davies to sell large chunks of the business – and to cut 1,200 jobs – “to get borrowings under control”. The rescue strategy looks sensible. Kier will ditch two divisions – housebuilding and commercial property – that have both played…

Who wants to run the Bank of England? Stephen King London Evening Standard A fortnight ago, the application deadline passed for those who hope to become the next governor of the Bank of England. “It won’t be an easy task,” says Stephen King. “From a central banker’s perspective, the political backdrop has become distinctly weird.” As well as having to “pick up the pieces once we’re out of the EU”, Mark Carney’s successor (who will take over on 31 January 2020) will have to cope with a new government and “a possible change in the Bank’s mandate”. The next Tory PM may well “encourage” the Bank to let the price of sterling drop – particularly if there’s a no-deal Brexit: Britain will need all the help it can get in…

● Deepening funds crisis The ripples from the collapse of Neil Woodford’s investment empire continue to spread across the fund-management industry, said Daniel Grote on Citywire. Woodford Patient Capital, the former star stock-picker’s listed early-stage company investment trust, has “tumbled to the bottom of the FTSE 250”. But others have also taken big reputational hits. In particular, Hargreaves Lansdown – Britain’s biggest investment platform – “risks paying a heavy price for Woodford cheerleading”, said Kate Beioley in the FT. Shares in the firm – co-founded by Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown in 1981 from a spare bedroom in Bristol – have fallen by a fifth. As a rival noted last week: “There is clearly now a major trust issue between Hargreaves and its customers. And trust is absolutely front and…

Copthorne Primary school in West Yorkshire has banned its pupils from using the word “like” as a filler. In future, those who pepper their sentences with “likes” will be asked to spend five minutes thinking about how they might have expressed themselves better. The verbal tic is thought to be spreading thanks to shows like Love Island: in 2017, a contestant said “like” 36 times in 90 seconds. Once the preserve of retirees, cruises are becoming popular with millennials looking for an Instagrammable holiday, where the journey is part of the experience and you can visit multiple destinations in a single trip. According to Mintel, 38% of those interested in taking a cruise in the next five years are aged 16-34.…

Bruges Too touristy: In an effort to stem the flood of tourists to Bruges, its mayor has announced that the famously beautiful Belgian city – a Unesco heritage site – will no longer advertise itself or promote day trips. It will also cut the number of cruise liners allowed to dock at nearby Zeebrugge from five to two. For years the city has enforced a ban on new hotels and on locals renting their houses as holiday homes, but the crowds kept coming: 8.3 million tourists visited last year, 900,000 more than in 2017. Six million were day-trippers who stayed for a matter of hours – spending relatively little but creating huge crowds in Bruges’s narrow medieval streets and on canal banks. Brussels Far-right bloc launched: Marine Le Pen, of…

An Archer for 70 years As the last remaining member of The Archers’ original cast, June Spencer has been playing Peggy Archer (now Woolley) since before the series’ current writers were born, says Claire Armitstead in The Guardian. Her character was a young wife, pregnant with her third child, when the series launched in 1951. (That baby was Tony Archer, now the patriarch of Bridge Farm.) Peggy has since outlived two husbands, while Spencer, who has just turned 100, has outlived the actors who played them, and her own husband, Roger. She’s not on the show as often as she was, but she’s still recognised – when she speaks. Getting off a plane recently, she stopped to thank the crew, “and the stewardess said, ‘Are you famous? Ah yes, you’re…

A Pakistani politician live-streamed a press conference on Facebook, not realising that the social media site’s “cat filter” was turned on. Shaukat Yousafzai had his face adorned with feline ears and whiskers until aides realised the mistake. “All necessary actions have been taken to avoid such incidents in future,” promised a spokesman for his party. A former Royal Marine has donated two of his toes to a hotel in the Yukon for use in its drinks. The Downtown Hotel has served Sourtoe cocktails since 1973: guests are given a shot of whisky containing the digit, which they are required to touch with their lips. However, the original toe – dating from the 1920s – was swallowed by a punter in 1980; others have been stolen. Nick Griffiths made his donation…

A “vicious cycle” in energy use Extreme weather is commonly seen as a product of climate change. But it is also becoming a significant driver of the crisis, a new report suggests. In its annual review of global energy trends, BP calculates that global demand for energy grew by 2.9% last year – the biggest rise since 2010 – and that a significant factor in this was the number of much colder and hotter days than normal, which led to a greater use of air conditioners, fans and heaters. As a result of this additional energy usage, carbon emissions rose by 2% – faster than in any year since 2011, and roughly the carbon equivalent of having 400 million more cars on the roads. Spencer Dale, the company’s chief economist,…

In a video interview that went viral last week, the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg spoke candidly about his sinister plan for world domination: “Imagine this for a second,” he said, “one man with total control of billions of people’s stolen data, all their secrets, their lives, their futures…” The only problem was that it wasn’t real, said Hannah Jane Parkinson in The Guardian. The “exquisitely realistic” video, which had been put together as part of an art project, was just the latest example of a “deepfake” – the term used to describe a cheap and simple technique using artificial intelligence to edit or create footage so that it shows people doing and saying things they never did. The Zuckerberg clip followed hot on the heels of a less sophisticated attempt…

“Nothing in Gary Woodland’s record suggested he would hold on to win the US Open,” said Derek Lawrenson in the Daily Mail. In his previous 30 majors, the 35-year-old American golfer had finished in the top ten on only two occasions. And he was up against Brooks Koepka, who looked set to become the first man in more than a century to win three US Opens in a row. But in the end, it was Woodland who “played like the favourite, rather than the underdog”; Koepka came second, three strokes behind him. Woodland has always had a talent for striking the ball, said James Corrigan in The Daily Telegraph. Over shorter distances, however, he used to be let down by “suspect” chipping. But since last December, when he started working…

GDP tells half the story To The Guardian As an economist, I endorse Dan Button’s article (“Stop obsessing about GDP: focus on well-being”). The most we can say is that a succession of GDP figures over months should indicate whether the economy is growing or moving into recession. To extract meaning from GDP trends we have to break it into its components: consumption, investment, government spending, the trade balance. Consumption is by far the largest of these, and the main driver of the economy, but its level is precariously underpinned by unsecured private debt. It is broadly accepted that real investment (in new productive capacity) is dismally inadequate for the continued growth of a modern economy; much of what does take place goes into buying paper assets. As for government…

Best books… Victoria Hislop The bestselling novelist picks six of her favourite books. She is talking about her new novel – Those Who Are Loved, set during the German occupation of Greece – at the Chalke Valley History Festival, Wiltshire (24-30 June; cvhf.org.uk) Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan, 2019 (Jonathan Cape £18.99). The latest novel from my favourite author tackles the subjects of artificial intelligence and what it is to be human. He does this in a surprising, original way, and Adam, the strong, seductive “robot”, is a character that will haunt me for a long time. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez, 1985 (Penguin £8.99). Set in Colombia, where I re-read it recently, this is one of the most wonderful love stories I’ve ever…

Delamina 56-58 Marylebone Lane, London W1 (020-3026 6810) This agreeable new restaurant is a sister to Delamina East, a popular Israeli joint in east London that began life as a Shoreditch pop-up, says William Sitwell in The Daily Telegraph. The sort of place, that is, which attracts “trendy people, people with beards who may or may not tuck their shirts in (I can’t keep up)”. This Marylebone version retains the same sense of fashionable informality: it’s light and airy, café-style, with wooden tables, bare brick, splashes of grass-green, floaty linen curtains and Camargue chairs. As for the food, it’s decidedly moreish. Lamb chops with a chimichurri sauce are “wonderfully tender, charred at the edges and succulent”. Grilled courgettes, nestled messily among crispy fried onions and drizzled with labneh, are…

The Daily Telegraph After a 17-year hiatus, the Toyota Supra has returned – and the many who’ve put their names on the waiting list for the fifth generation of this cult sports car will not be disappointed. Redesigned for the 21st century, the car has a “stand-out toughness”, and an engine that is “a monster in Savile Row tailoring”. The car could do with further tweaks, but in this class, Toyota is “back in the game”. Auto Express The bold design includes a long bonnet that hides a “muscular” six-cylinder, 335bhp engine (delivering 0-62mph in 4.3 seconds), and a “double-bubble” roof covering a cosy cabin. The Supra was built in tandem with the BMW Z4, and inside there’s almost more BMW kit than Toyota. The spec is substantial, and the…

The Dower House East Sussex The artist Quentin Bell lived at the Dower House, which nestles in the South Downs in the village of West Firle. Now, Bloomsbury set followers can stay in his old home, says Gemma Bowes in The Times. Bell was the son of Vanessa and nephew of Virginia Woolf, and at his “pretty, flint-faced” cottage, the “colours greet you with a bang”. Rooms are “busy with paintings”, busts, pots and textiles; outside there are sculptures, “strutting” pheasants and astonishing views. It’s an “exuberant” place, where guests should feel at home. Charleston, the Bloomsbury meeting place, now a museum, is just a short, “glorious” walk away. The house sleeps seven in four rooms. Visit airbnb.co.uk.…

Franco Zeffirelli, who has died aged 96, was “one of the most influential, flamboyant and controversial designer-directors of the 20th century”, said Tom Vallance in The Independent. Working first as an actor, then as a designer of sets and costumes, he finally emerged as one of Italy’s greatest postwar directors – triumphing everywhere from La Scala and Covent Garden to The Old Vic, where he staged a “legendary” Romeo and Juliet, starring the young Judi Dench. Most of his best films were either operatic or Shakespearean; however, he also managed to rally an all-star cast for Tea with Mussolini (1999), which was based on his own early life. As a young man, he had fought with the Italian Resistance; later, he became involved in right-wing politics. For eight years, he…

The pound dropped to a near six-month low against the dollar and the euro as Boris Johnson edged closer to No. 10, accentuating market fears of what one trader called “a looming confrontation with the EU”. The pound was further weakened by the fading prospect of a currency-boosting interest rate rise from the Bank of England. The president of the ECB, Mario Draghi, pledged to relaunch quantitative easing and slash rates if inflation fails to pick up in the eurozone. The move prompted a jump in equity prices and sent government bond prices sharply higher. It also provoked fury from President Trump, who accused Draghi of “unfairly” manipulating the euro. The price of bitcoin rose above $9,000 to a 13-month high as the cryptocurrency continued its rally. To date this…

Laxman Narasimhan It used to be a business axiom that “nobody ever got fired for buying IBM”, said The Times. Today, the same is sometimes said about hiring the consultant McKinsey & Co. Reckitt Benckiser – the UK consumer goods group behind Dettol, Vanish and Cillit Bang – has taken “the maxim a bit further” by hiring a McKinseyite as its new boss. Indian-born Laxman Narasimhan, who comes from PepsiCo, joins a thriving club: more Fortune 500 CEOs “are alumni of McKinsey than any other company”, as are countless politicians and policy wonks globally. Narasimhan arrives at a sticky time: Reckitt’s margins and shares appear to have peaked. Still, he can always rely on the mothership. It’s “drilled into you”, says a fellow alumnus: “once a McKinseyite, always a McKinseyite”.…

The full scale of disruption from Heathrow’s expansion project was finally revealed this week as the airport produced its “masterplan”, said Gwyn Topham in The Guardian. At the beginning of a 12-week consultation period, campaigners warned of “the severe impact for years to come of more than 700 extra planes per day in the sky after 2026”, when the controversial third runway is due to open. According to the campaign group Hacan, the runway’s construction will require more than a million lorry-loads of earth to be shifted – and when complete, around 300,000 more Londoners are likely to be under “concentrated” flight paths. “Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Heathrow’s flying unicorn,” said Alistair Osborne in The Times. This £14bn project is absurd. There are thousands…