Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1234 i The Week

What happened Tory big spenders The two Conservative leadership candidates engaged in a bidding war over their Brexit and spending plans this week as they took part in a series of events across the UK. The underdog in the contest, Jeremy Hunt, toughened up his no-deal rhetoric, saying that as prime minister he would decide by the end of September whether there was a “realistic” chance of reaching a fresh agreement with the EU. If he thought there wasn’t, he would abandon negotiations and divert all the Government’s efforts into planning for a no-deal exit. The Northern Irish backstop, he said, “has to change or has to go”. Boris Johnson described the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by Theresa May as “a dead letter”, and hammered home his message that he would…

A review of the marriage laws is to examine whether couples in England and Wales should be able to tie the knot wherever they like. Currently, the Marriage Act 1949 states that weddings can only be conducted in places of worship, register offices or other licensed “permanent and immovable” buildings. The Government has now suggested the rule is “outdated”, and that people should be free to marry at home or outdoors. Justice Secretary David Gauke said people should be able to “express their vows in a way that is meaningful to them”. The Law Commission will consult with faith groups and other stakeholders and make recommendations in 2021.…

Strasbourg New blood: After days of wrangling, European leaders formally agreed this week that Ursula von der Leyen, the German defence minister, should succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission. A close ally of Angela Merkel, she needs now to have her appointment confirmed by the European Parliament. The European Council also agreed that Belgium’s outgoing PM, Charles Michel, should take over from Donald Tusk as EU council chief, and that Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, should be the next president of the European Central Bank (see page 46). Reggio Emilia, Italy Children “sold” by carers: Police in the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia have arrested 18 people – including doctors, social workers, psychotherapists and a town mayor – on suspicion of conspiring to…

This week’s edition of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs featured academic and author Jared Diamond 1* Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft by Bach, performed by Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Players 2 Piano Quintet in E-flat major by Schumann, performed by Samuel Rhodes, Dolf Bettelheim and the Beaux Arts Trio 3 Das Wandern by Schubert, performed by Gerald Moore and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau 4 Jesu, meine Freude by Bach, performed by Andrew Davis 5 Finlandia by Sibelius, performed by Esa-Pekka Salonen with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra 6 Piano Trio No. 4 by Dvorák, performed by Beaux Arts Trio 7 Intermezzo in A major from Six Pieces for Piano by Brahms, performed by Arthur Rubinstein 8 Symphony No. 9 by Mahler, performed by Klaus Tennstedt with the London Philharmonic…

The original ASMRtists were the unintentional kind: the most famous accidental pioneer is the American painter Bob Ross. His 1980s-90s TV series The Joy of Painting, known for its close-up shots of repetitive brushstrokes and soft-spoken instructions, draws millions of ASMR fans online. Recently the 78-year-old Welsh stone carver Ieuan Rees has also attained a cult following for his videos, in which he taps away and discusses his craft in his gentle, lilting voice. Documentaries about Japanese printmakers and traditional barbershops have their devotees, too. But for some, making ASMR content for YouTube is a full-time job and a few have become celebrities in their own right. With 2.3 million subscribers, 22-year-old Taylor Darling, aka ASMR Darling, is thought to make more than $1,000 per day in advertising revenue from…

A lost wallet honesty test People are more likely to return a wallet if it has cash in it than if it’s empty, a study has found. Researchers posing as members of the public dropped off 17,000 “lost” wallets at the reception desks of banks, hotels and museums in cities in 40 countries. Some contained no money, the others cash worth about £10. They each also had a shopping list, a key and three business cards with contact details for the “owner”, who appeared to be a local. The team expected the person at reception to be more likely to return the wallet if it was empty, but in fact, only 40% of empty wallets were returned, compared with 51% of the ones with cash. (There were regional variations, however:…

Contrary to popular belief, Conrad Black and his wife Barbara Amiel (pictured) did not go to a party in 2000 at Kensington Palace dressed as Cardinal Richelieu and Marie Antoinette. “Barbara was a friendly barmaid and I was just an ordinary cardinal,” insists the former newspaper magnate, who was recently pardoned by President Trump after serving more than two years in jail for obstruction of justice and fraud. “I did not have the great Richelieu’s goatee and moustache, or his insignia as duke, prime minister, minister of foreign affairs and grand admiral. The historical ignorance of the press is distressing, even after all these years, and it is a relief not to employ them any more.” Diana, Princess of Wales was in talks to star opposite Kevin Costner in a…

If there is such a thing as a “Trump Doctrine”, said The Wall Street Journal, it’s the conviction that foreign policy issues can be solved through “personal diplomacy and showmanship”. Both were on full display last weekend during the US president’s visit to East Asia. On Saturday, Trump met his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at the G20 summit in Japan, where the two agreed a tentative truce in their countries’ trade war. The next day, Trump held a third meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Trump had, via Twitter, extended a last-minute invitation to Kim to meet for a handshake in the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas. The leader of the Hermit Kingdom accepted, and Trump became the first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea.…

Wimbledon In the first round Cori Gauff, a 15-year-old American, defeated Venus Williams, the five-time champion. Naomi Osaka, the world No. 2, suffered a straight-sets defeat to Yulia Putintseva. Dominic Thiem, the fifth seed, and Alexander Zverev, the sixth, were also knocked out. Football Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford signed a new five-year contract. Rugby league Leeds Rhinos boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Super League with a 31-12 win over Catalans Dragons.…

In Fabric Dir: Peter Strickland 1hr 56mins (15) Britain’s answer to Luis Buñuel ★★★★ The key thing you need to know about this disturbing black comedy is that it’s about a “killer dress”, said Joshua Rothkopf in Time Out. Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays a middle-aged woman persuaded to buy a particularly bright red number by a sinister saleswoman with a startling line in pretentious sartorial chat. Asked for advice on sizing, for example, she replies: “Dimensions and proportions transcend the prisms of our measurement.” Yet the dress is cursed. Skin rashes start appearing; washing machines start to run amok – these are only some of the tribulations suffered by the dress’s various owners. This “surrealist nightmare about the January sales in Reading” is proof that its director is “modern Britain’s answer…

Johann König is one of Germany’s most influential art dealers, says Philip Oltermann in The Guardian. He runs a fashionable gallery in a converted brutalist church in Berlin with an annual turnover of s20m. But oddly enough, for someone in his line of work, he can hardly see: aged 12, he was playing with gunpowder when it exploded, severely damaging both eyes. Initially, he dealt in concept art and sound installations, but now he sells paintings too. At first, König was wary of telling people in the art world. “How seriously can you take someone who can’t see the artwork they are trying to sell you?” he wonders. “I always thought someone would find me out.” But now, in what he calls his “coming out” memoir, entitled Blinder Galerist (“blind…

Programmes Arena: That Summer An extraordinary film that gives the backstory to the much-loved 1975 documentary Grey Gardens, about Jackie Kennedy’s aunt and cousin – both called Edie – who lived in chaos in a crumbling East Hampton mansion. This film is based around recently found footage of an earlier time, when the two Edies were facing eviction. Sun 7 July, BBC4 21:00 (80mins). Imagine... Edna O’Brien: Fearful and Fearless Alan Yentob meets the great Irish novelist to talk about her life. Sun 7 July, BBC1 22:30 (65mins). Dark Money Four-part drama about a family who accept a pay-off to keep quiet when their son is abused by a film producer. With Jill Halfpenny and Babou Ceesay. Mon 8 July, BBC1 21:00 (60mins). Britain’s Next Prime Minister: The ITV Debate…

Lamb and chorizo burger with apricot salsa Serves 4 200g cooking chorizo, skinned and chopped 500g lamb shoulder, minced 4 brioche burger buns for the salsa: 3 ripe, fresh apricots, chopped 1 medium red onion, finely chopped 1 tbsp chopped or torn mint leaves juice of ½ a lemon pinch of sugar pinch of chilli flakes sea salt and black pepper • Evenly mix the chorizo into the lamb mince. Divide into four balls and flatten into patties a little bit larger than the buns, to allow for shrinkage. • Get your grill fired up, or if you’re cooking indoors, set a griddle pan over a medium to high heat on the hob. • Combine all the salsa ingredients in a bowl. Season to taste. The chorizo is quite salty…

Molten gold Crinkled, gold-coloured jewellery like this simple pair of Jil Sander hoop earrings has a fun, kitsch aesthetic, but can work for dressed-up too (£102; matchesfashion.com). Aviators with a twist Never out of style, classic aviator sunglasses can be found in a variety of colours and shapes – like this square e pair – this summer (£79; arket.com). Utility jacket Casual, light jackets in khaki or neutral colours are set to be a wardrobe staple this season. Next’s is a good-value option (£35; next.co.uk). Tie-dye is back, used to make everything from classic T-shirts to striking blue and white denim. If you’re feeling creative, you could tie-dye a discarded piece from your own wardrobe (£22; warehouse.co.uk). Tailored shorts It’s not easy to pull off a look involving formal shorts, so this…

Back to the future in Ibiza The superyacht set’s latest toy is far less noisy and much more graceful than a jet ski, says Bridget Harrison in The Times. Resembling “Michael J. Fox’s hoverboard in Back to the Future Part II”, the eFoil is an electric-propelled surfboard that levitates silently over the water, making riders “look as relaxed and elegant” as a pro surfer. Getting the hang of one takes practice: on a beginner’s lesson, you may spend more time swallowing water than gliding effortlessly. But the helmet comes with an earpiece so that the instructor can deliver tips and encouragement: “Relax! Keep breathing!” The boards are controlled by a handheld Bluetooth switch and have an underwater wing that enables them to lift off. And though they cost about £9,500,…

Brenda Maddox, who has died aged 87, was an acclaimed writer and biographer with a particular interest in probing the marriages of great literary figures. As she once asked: “What is the unspoken bargain? What do you get out of it? What do you think you are expected to give for what you get?” She wrote about the relationship between D.H. Lawrence and Frieda (claiming that while he was largely faithful, she cheated on him even on their honeymoon); W.B. Yeats’s peculiar late-life marriage to Georgie Hyde-Lees, an English 25-year-old who professed to have psychic abilities; and the relationship between Nora Barnacle and James Joyce. She was drawn to Barnacle “not because I felt I knew her but because I didn’t. She was a mystery to be solved.” Barnacle had…

The owner of Alton Towers and Thorpe Park knows a thing or two about rollercoasters, said Alistair Osborne in The Times. Not enough, though, to enjoy its time on the stock market. “What with shares going up and down and up and down on the slightest news until everyone felt sick”, it had to get off the ride. Hence the plan to sell out for £5.91bn (including debt), to a trio of “less volatile” private buyers – Blackstone, the Canada Pension Plan and the Kristiansen family behind Lego. If they succeed in putting a rocket under Merlin, CEO Nick Varney could achieve his dream of “catching the Mouse” by overtaking Walt Disney as the world’s biggest attractions operator. The buyers have “bagged themselves a bargain” with Merlin, whose assets include…

The week’s best shares DWF The Sunday Telegraph Having listed in March, “shares haven’t gone far yet”. But with “savvy veterans” in the boardroom, DWF looks to begin life with the experience and know-how to prosper. Buy. 120p. Jadestone Energy The Sunday Times The oil and gas producer plans to double production by 2023 using “more efficient methods” and there are “encouraging early signs”. A 75% rally in share prices “suggests the market is starting to take note”. Buy. 58p. Premier Oil The Times “There is plenty of potential” on view if you can see beyond the firm’s $2.3billion net debts. They’ve been “falling fast” since a major oilfield came online – still, it’s “risky”, so watch closely. Buy. 75p. Sirius Minerals The Times The company has reached a pivotal…

Controversy of the week The end of liberalism? It was like that moment in a superhero movie when the villain outlines the plot, said Ian Dunt on Politics.co.uk. “The liberal idea has outlived its purpose,” Vladimir Putin explained to the FT journalist who’d come to interview him before last week’s G20 summit. It allows migrants to “kill, plunder and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants must be protected”, he continued, taking a swipe at Angela Merkel’s decision to allow a million refugees into Germany. Russia’s president may not quite look the part of a Hollywood villain: he’s more “a middle-management type with the eyes of a wolf”. But by pronouncing that liberalism “has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population”, he was…

A total of 371 NHS consultants own shares in private hospitals to which they refer patients. A study by the Centre for Health and the Public Interest (CHPI) also found that 67 doctors own equipment such as CT scanners in private hospitals and are paid a fee each time these are used; and that in 2017 and 2018, seven private hospital firms gave doctors who sent them referrals gifts and hospitality worth £1.5m. The CHPI warned that such “financial incentives” could lead to patients being given unnecessary procedures.…

“Hobbies are the backbone of this country, and what starts as a hobby can end up changing a whole neighbourhood. The other day, in a gap between two nondescript buildings near the Elephant and Castle, I saw an explosion of multicoloured hollyhocks. They were standing sentry around a playground, and on social media I was informed that they were the work of a guerilla gardener named Richard Reynolds who has created this ‘pocket park’ from salvaged plants. These include roses that originally bloomed on a recently demolished local council estate. This information thrilled me. People can do such marvellous things and this park wouldn’t exist if someone hadn’t had an extracurricular interest.” Jenny Eclair in The Independent…

It’s no business of business what I think Jodie Ginsberg The Daily Telegraph Employers are entitled to boss us about, says Jodie Ginsberg. But enforcing standards on how we behave in the workplace is one thing; dictating what staff can and can’t express in their private lives quite another. Too many companies, however, are crossing that line. Last week, Brian Leach, a till worker at Asda, was reportedly sacked by the supermarket chain after he shared a clip on his personal Facebook page of comedian Billy Connolly ridiculing organised religion. Asda “doesn’t tolerate any form of discrimination from colleagues or customers and takes such behaviour extremely seriously” was all the company was prepared to say. Maya Forstater, an internationally renowned researcher on tax avoidance, was fired by the Centre for…

CHINA Falling foul of Beijing’s censors The New York Times Chinese censors often “wreak havoc” on Western films, says Steven Lee Myers. But oddly, they now have even patriotic Chinese films in their sights. Their latest target is The Eight Hundred, a lavish drama about Chinese soldiers bravely defending a warehouse against Japanese invaders in 1937. It was abruptly pulled from the Shanghai film festival in June; now its opening has been cancelled. It seems the film excessively glorified the old Republic of China, led by Chiang Kai-shek, whose Kuomintang forces were later defeated by Mao Zedong’s communists and fled to Taiwan. In the past, the communists have lauded the action – and even turned the real-life warehouse into a memorial. But under Xi Jinping the political winds have shifted;…

The UK is generating more energy from zero carbon sources than fossil fuels for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, the national grid has announced. In what has been described as a “historic milestone” on the way to a net zero carbon future, gas and coal generated 46.7% of Britain’s power in the year to the end of May, while zero carbon sources generated 47.9%. The rest came from biomass burning. A decade ago, coal plants generated almost a third of the UK’s electricity. Now there are only seven left – two of which are earmarked for closure – and in the first five months of this year, they provided only 3% of UK electricity. Meanwhile, the amount of electricity derived from renewables has risen from 2% in 2009…

Why do we come back year after year, rain or shine? Because there is simply no other festival like Glastonbury, said Neil McCormick in The Daily Telegraph. This year, 130,000 people paid upwards of £250 to spend the weekend at Worthy Farm, Somerset, and were rewarded with blazing sunshine: it was thought to be the hottest Glastonbury on record, and the first where single-use plastic bottles were banned (in 2017, 1.3 million had been discarded), leading to queues at fountains. But festival-goers are a resilient lot, and despite the heat they sung their lungs out. “Oh my goodness,” was all a tearful Kylie Minogue could say, “as the words of her cheesy Europop hits floated back to her with the spooky beauty of the world’s biggest choir.” Her set was…

The world’s scientists and doctors came to a decision some while ago on homeopathy, said Leyla Sanai in The Spectator: it doesn’t work. “There has been extensive research, and the unambiguous conclusion is that it has no more benefit than any other placebo.” In 1846, Queen Victoria’s physician declared that homeopathy was an “outrage to human reason”. A BMA inquiry concluded that it had no scientific validity in 1986. And in 2017, NHS England’s chief executive, Simon Stevens, described homeopathic treatments as a “misuse of scarce funds”, and ruled that they should no longer be available on the NHS. Yet the “heir to the throne, who is neither a doctor nor a scientist, begs to differ”. Prince Charles still believes that homeopathy works, and last week, announced that he has…

“This was more like it,” said Paul Newman in the Daily Mail. In their 31-run victory over India, on Sunday, England finally looked much more like the side “full of the thrills and spills” that had made them World Cup favourites. Having lost three of their first seven matches in the tournament, this was a must-win game – one of their most important, in any cricket format, in several decades. And at Edgbaston, England proved that they are able to “handle the great expectations” made of them, scoring 338 runs in a thrilling win. It might not have been enough – only a victory over New Zealand, who they were due to play on Wednesday, would guarantee their passage to the semi-finals – but by defeating the World Cup’s last…

Trade secrets To The Independent A recent piece of news that largely passed under the radar, such is the UK’s Brexit obsession, was the fact that the EU and South American economic bloc Mercosur has clinched a huge trade deal after 20 years of negotiations. It is the EU’s biggest deal to date and aims to cut or remove trade tariffs, making imported products cheaper for consumers while also boosting exports for companies on both sides. The agreement is set to create a market for goods and services covering nearly 800 million consumers, making it the largest in the world in terms of population. It should be noted that the EU is already Mercosur’s biggest trade and investment partner. A matter of days later, adding to the irony, the EU…

Best books… Michelle Paver The novelist and author of the bestselling Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series picks her favourite books. Her latest novel for adults, Wakenhyrst, a gothic thriller set in Suffolk, is published by Head of Zeus at £14.99 Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, 1932 (Penguin £7.99). Pragmatic Flora descends on her doomed cousins the Starkadders, and the result is a mercilessly funny satire on rural melodramas. I picked it up when I was a teenager and knew nothing about it: a marvellous surprise. I envy anyone reading it for the first time. Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant, 1885 (Oxford World’s Classics £8.99). The rise of a young man on the make in 1880s Paris. It’s so vividly written you can practically smell the splendour and the squalor,…

Sherry is not only for Christmas, says Fiona Beckett in The Guardian. Summer is the perfect time for enjoying lighter styles, such as fino and manzanilla, and mixing sherry with soft drinks such as lemonade (known in Spain as a rebujito), or with tonic (jocularly known as a she & T). Williams Humbert Bodegas Lustau Fino en Rama 2018 Jerez de la Frontera (£15.10; gourmethunters.com) is a “rich, complex, nutty fino for hardcore aficionados”. It has a slick label to boot. Alegría Manzanilla Superior (£5.49 for a half bottle; Waitrose) is a distinctively sharp and salty sherry from the coastal town of Sanlúcar. Try it with fried fish or salt cod croquetas. Inocente Fino Valdespino (£8.57 for a half bottle; ahadleigh-wine.com) is a classic, single-vineyard fino. Dry but nicely smooth…

Small Scottish town Stay at the 4-star Carnoustie Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa, which has great views over the sea and town, for 3 nights. From £159pp b&b. 01904-717362, superbreak.com. Arrive 9 August. Quaint Maltese village A 4-night stay at the Solana Hotel in Mellieha, located less than 2km from the beach, costs from £388pp b&b, including Birmingham flights. 0871-474 3000, onthebeach.co.uk. Depart 2 October. Six-night multi-city trip Kick off in Prague, saunter on to Vienna and spend your final 2 nights in Budapest. From £329pp room only, including flights and train transfers. 020-8099 6144, viva-holidays.co.uk. Depart 5 September. Exotic Antigua getaway Perfect for lazy days lounging by the pool, the idyllic 4-star Blue Waters Resort offers a 7-night stay from £1,504pp b&b, including London flights 020-8974 7200, travelrepublic.co.uk. Depart…

Huawei: yuge U-turn? One of the big surprises of the G20 summit in Osaka was the apparent relaxation of President Trump’s ban on US companies doing business with Huawei – “a concession even Beijing had not expected to win as part of a trade truce”, said Demetri Sevastopulo and Tom Mitchell in the FT. The effective ban on selling software, hardware and services to the controversial Chinese group, supposedly on national security grounds, sent shock-waves through the global tech industry in May. This “yuge U-turn” suggests it’s back to business as usual, said John Oates on The Register. At least, that’s what the tech industry hopes, though it’s not clear from the “Trumpian word salad” at Osaka exactly what the move will mean. Moreover, any perceived weakening of resolve…

A breath of fresh air at the ECB? Ben Hall Financial Times Christine Lagarde’s appointment as president of the European Central Bank (ECB) is “by far the most important” of this week’s EU top jobs announcements, says Ben Hall. After eight years leading the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Lagarde – a skilled negotiator – has become “a superstar of international finance” and will become the first woman to lead “the heavily male” ECB. The question, though, is whether the bank “would be better off” with a more conventional expert to succeed Mario Draghi. Lagarde, a lawyer, “has no monetary policy experience at all” – and she joins at a tricky time. EU inflation is still stuck well below target and “the ECB’s monetary toolbox is looking quite bare”. Moreover, she…

● Dread stocks The deadlock in Westminster has put investors “on snap election alert”, triggering a sell-off in shares “most vulnerable to more political turmoil and a Jeremy Corbyn government”, said Tom Rees in The Sunday Telegraph. According to Goldman Sachs, stocks exposed to Britain’s rising political risk are currently trading “at a 10% discount to the rest of the market”. The Wall Street bank’s basket of laggards features 17 FTSE 350 stocks either at risk of nationalisation or “reliant on government contracts”, including RBS, National Grid, Royal Mail, Babcock International and United Utilities. These shares “tend to attract a high-risk premium”, said Goldman strategist Sharon Bell. “But that doesn’t mean that ultimately they would be negatively impacted.” Indeed, contrarian investors might even view Goldman’s handy list as a buying…

Theatre is set to be revolutionised by technology that will make it possible to recreate productions in 3D digital form – anywhere from schools to people’s living rooms. Avatars of actors could be shrunk to just inches high, so they can act, sing or dance on a coffee table – or be made life-size, so that the room becomes a stage, the technology’s developers at London’s Imaginarium Studios told The Guardian. The Church of England has issued ten guidelines for social media – or “digital commandments”. Launched by the Archbishop of Canterbury in a live video from Facebook’s British HQ, the guidelines urge users to “speak to others online as you would speak to them in person”, and to check that what they share is accurate.…

61% of Tory voters think Jeremy Hunt would make a good prime minister, up from 45% three weeks ago. Only 55% say the same about Boris Johnson, down from 61%. However, when asked who they would prefer to be PM, 48% of Tory voters said Johnson and 39% Hunt. Among the general public, 41% would prefer Hunt to be the PM, 29% Johnson, and 30% don’t know. YouGov/The Times The share of people who believe that in order to be English you have to be white has halved since 2012, from 20% to just over 10%. The biggest change is among over-65s: 16% of over-65s now feel you have to be white to be English, down from 35%. British Future/The Guardian…

Alice Cooper on horror Alice Cooper’s stage shows were infamous in the 1970s for their ghoulishness, with their guillotines and lashings of fake blood. But though he was accused of satanism, they were just a spectacle – inspired by his love of old-school horror movies. “I was a big fan of the classics: Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee,” he told Duncan Seaman in the I newspaper. “We went to the movies every Saturday and watched every one of those [films].” For his act, he simply took their blend of gore, theatrics and comedy, and put it to his music. While his father was a pastor in The Church of Jesus Christ, he had no problem with the shows. What he did think was wrong was the hedonism that went…

Police in Florida have arrested a suspect they dubbed a “hamburglar” after he allegedly broke into two fast-food joints and cooked himself a feast. Patrick Benson is most recently accused of smashing his way into a branch of Wendy’s and firing up the grill to cook himself a burger before stealing a safe. A chef from Essex has paid £3,000 to have the cast of Only Fools and Horses tattooed on his back. Dean Paine already owned a collection of scripts and props from his favourite sitcom, but said he wanted a more “personal tribute” to the show. A Spanish woman went to the police to complain that she had been swindled by the hitman she hired to kill her partner. She explained that the partner had cheated her out…

A “groundbreaking clinical trial” is under way for a new male hormonal contraceptive, says The Guardian. The gel, which must be applied daily to the chest, shoulders and upper arms, contains a mixture of progesterone – which switches off sperm production in the testes – and testosterone, to replace the loss of the hormone as a result of sperm production stopping. Adding this testosterone back has always been a major challenge in creating male contraceptions: the hormone is metabolised so fast by the liver, it can’t easily be delivered in the form of a pill. The gel is being tested on 450 couples at centres in the UK, Sweden, Chile and Kenya. Edinburgh resident James Owers, 29, who has been using it for nine weeks, said his sperm count dropped…

The point of the opposition is to provide an alternative government, ready to take power if the need arises, said The Times. But at present Labour isn’t able to perform this role – because Jeremy Corbyn “isn’t up to the job physically or mentally”, or so insiders say. Westminster is awash with rumours about his poor health. One senior civil servant claims that Corbyn, now 70, is “too ill to carry on as leader of the Labour Party, let alone prime minister”; there are even claims that he has had a “mini-stroke”. Labour MPs and officials say that critical policy discussions are forgotten the next day. “Something has happened – he doesn’t seem all there sometimes,” according to one aide to a senior Labour politician. Even members of his own…

“There are no pleasures in life worth giving up for two more years in a care home in Weston-super-Mare.” Kingsley Amis, quoted in The Times “If I stop to kick every barking dog I’m not going to get where I’m going.” American athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, quoted on Huff Post “Progress happens too slowly for people to notice; setbacks happen too fast for people to ignore.” Morgan Housel on the Collaborative Fund blog “I think the first prerequisite to civilisation is an ability to make polite conversation.” W.H. Auden, quoted in Forbes “The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend feeling sorry for themselves.” Barbara Corcoran, quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle “Silicon Valley is a bit like the Vatican; slightly insular, massively wealthy… and mostly run…

After a dreary start to the season, Formula One needed “a shot in the arm”, said Giles Richards in The Guardian. And in the Austrian Grand Prix, on Sunday, that’s exactly what it got: for the first time this season, someone other than Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, the two Mercedes drivers, won a race. It was a gripping battle between the sport’s 21-year-old young guns, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. The day had seemed to belong to Leclerc: the Ferrari driver led for most of the race. But despite dropping back to seventh early on, Verstappen staged a remarkable comeback. With two laps to go, the Red Bull driver delivered the coup de grâce: he forced Leclerc off the road, and surged ahead to victory. This was a glimpse…

To The Times Charging migrants for care will not help to fund the NHS, as by the Government’s own estimate “health tourism” accounts for only 0.25% of the NHS budget, a tiny amount when compared with other costs. The people who will be hit hardest by this policy are long-term migrants who have been unable to regularise their status, asylum seekers trapped waiting years for a decision from the Home Office and those people in the UK who do not have a passport. These are people more likely to be in precarious or low-paid work: they do not have thousands of pounds to pay for the care they need. In practice, the exemptions for particularly vulnerable people, and for treatment considered urgent, do not work. Research from the Equality and…

María Berrío, Caroline Walker, Flora Yukhnovich at Victoria Miro This show brings together pieces by three young artists whose work has been championed by the influential Instagram account The Great Women Artists. If that doesn’t sound like the most thrilling premise for an exhibition, the work itself more than makes up for it. María Berrío creates arresting, figurative collages created from layers of Japanese paper, depicting scenes inspired by both folklore and the trials faced by Latin American migrant communities. Meanwhile, Flora Yukhnovich draws on rococo painting traditions to create soaring canvases that balance drama and delicacy to stunning effect. Best of all is Caroline Walker, whose paintings depict women working in apparently mundane environments – open-plan offices, supermarket counters or shopping mall outlets – from odd, fly-on-the-wall perspectives that…

Tom bumps into Jazzer and they agree there are no hard feelings. Jim returns and Jazzer welcomes him back with sherry and coffee cake. When Jazzer and Alistair ask Jim how he’s really feeling, he reacts badly and tells them both to move out. Ed is offered £5,000 for Peppa the ram. Shula tells Jim that he should blame her, not Alistair, for the party as she organised it. Jim asks if she invited Harold Jayston. Shula says he invited himself and played tunes on Jim’s keyboard. Horrified, Jim says the keyboard is now tainted and smashes it. Pat brings up the post-nup with Tom and Natasha. Natasha is happy to sign one. Tom is furious and storms off. Shula again visits Jim, who apologises for his behaviour. Shula begs…

Wild Flor 42 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex (01273-329111) There’s a refreshing lack of pomp and pretension at this delightful new modern European restaurant a “mere saunter” from the Hove seafront, says Tom Parker Bowles in The Mail on Sunday. Sunshine streams in through the front windows, there’s a blackboard scrawled with inviting specials, and vast bottles of port and brandy adorn the shelves. We kick off with icy manzanilla, anchovies and a plate of Ibérico charcuterie and thick-crusted sourdough, and all is right with the world. Plump fingers of slow-cooked hogget are “heavy on the baa and bleat”. Asparagus with cheddar curds, hazelnuts, chervil and a sharp citrus dressing is a “clever” and precisely balanced dish, with an “absolute control of acidity”. Ox tongue – slow-cooked and then…

Tips of the week... how to care for cut flowers ● Bacteria are the enemy of cut flowers, so start by making sure your vase is clean. ● Trim the stems at a 45-degree angle to increase the surface area for taking in water and remove all the leaves that sit below the water level in the vase. ● Bacterial growth clogs the stems and stops them being able to take in water, so water should be changed at least every other day. Trimming the stems again will also help, as will washing the vase. ● Mixing new flowers with old ones will dramatically shorten the vase life of the new ones because of the transfer of bacteria. ● Don’t place flowers near a source of heat, or on a…

The Nare Hotel Cornwall At The Nare, you feel as though you’ve been “transported” into an Agatha Christie novel, says Hattie Garlick in The Daily Telegraph. Sitting on a cliff overlooking Carne Bay, the hotel is beloved by the elderly smart set, but now offers a four-night family break. It doesn’t come cheap, but the price includes chauffeur-driven transport from anywhere in the UK. On arrival, you’re greeted by “wonderfully old-fashioned” doormen. Children get “their own bucket and spade” while adults are offered Scotch and cold cuts. Cream teas are “laid on every afternoon” and the “sherry decanters are always full”. Spa treatments and “charming” activities add to the fun. Ultimate Nare Family Break costs £4,195 for four. narehotel.co.uk.…

Judith Krantz became an overnight sensation at the age of 50, with the publication of her first novel, Scruples. While international brands had yet to take over the world in 1978, it predicted the consumer excesses of the next decade, with its lavish descriptions of international jet-setters and their glitzy, bitchy, sex-filled lives, and helped define a new genre: the bonkbuster, also known as “sex and shopping”. Apparently convinced that women were defined by the clothes they wore, Krantz, who has died aged 91, filled her book with references to designer labels and name-dropped real celebrities. In one, the “brilliant, ambitious” real estate developer Donald Trump appears and when it was (like most of her novels) turned into a glossy miniseries, the future president played himself. Born in 1928, Judith…

Global stock markets rallied on hopes of a positive outcome from compromise between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Osaka. Trump agreed not to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods, and China agreed to buy US agricultural produce. The S&P 500 rose to new record highs as investor expectations for looser monetary policy at major central banks grew. The appointment of the dovish Christine Lagarde to the top job at the European Central Bank cheered traders who expect her to continue the ECB’s “super-accommodative ways”. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 index reached its highest level since June 2018. Opec members agreed to maintain their production cuts in an effort to prop up the oil price in the teeth of weakening demand. Gold chalked up its best…

Jonathan Ive It’s the end of an era at Apple. Jonathan “Jony” Ive, the London-born designer whose products revitalised the company and heralded the smartphone age, is leaving, said Tim Bradshaw in the FT. He will start a new venture called LoveFrom – with Apple as his first client. When Ive became leader of Apple’s design studio in 1996, the company was teetering. Yet the release of his first blockbuster – the candy-coloured iMac – “kick-started a prolific and profitable two decades unlike any other in Silicon Valley history”. Alongside his boss and friend Steve Jobs, with whom he ate lunch most days, Ive “sat serenely at the centre of a revolution” that brought the iPod, the iPhone and, latterly, a “new frontier in wearable devices”. Not bad for a…

The Great Firewall of China by James Griffiths (Zed Books £20). A Hong Kong-based journalist explains how China has built an electronic surveillance state – and how it is subverting free speech abroad, says John Thornhill in the FT. “An alarming and essential read.” Bitcoin Billionaires by Ben Mezrich (Little, Brown £20). An entertaining account of how the Winklevoss twins bounced back after losing out on Facebook, and reinvented themselves as crypto-entrepreneurs. Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas by Safi Bahcall (St Martin’s Press £22.99). Bahcall, a physicist and biotech entrepreneur, brings an innovative and entertaining approach to the discussion of why innovative companies stagnate, says Andrew Hill in the FT. Find the right balance, and crazy breakthroughs (“loonshots”) are possible. Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialised World…