Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1247 i The Week

What happened Deal or no deal? Boris Johnson unveiled what No. 10 said was his “final offer” to Brussels this week, at the end of a Tory conference conducted under the slogan “Get Brexit Done”. The PM called the formal proposal, designed to replace the contentious Irish backstop, a “fair and reasonable compromise”. The UK was “not an anti-European country”, he said; it just wanted “a new relationship with the EU”. Under the plan, Northern Ireland would remain in the EU single market until at least 2025, but leave the EU customs union with the rest of the UK at the end of the transition period in 2021. The former would require a regulatory border down the Irish Sea; the latter would require customs checks within Ireland, although No. 10…

Spitting Image, which is set to return to TV screens, after 23 years. The new episodes of the satirical puppet show will feature appearances by Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg and Kanye West. So far, however, only a pilot has been filmed. The Brexit Party, with claims that its members earn more from second jobs than any other group in the European parliament. The party’s London member, Ben Habib, is the EU’s best paid MEP, with annual earnings of s960,000 from his property group.…

Asked who would make the best Prime Minister, 41% of Britons say Boris Johnson; 21% say Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson, and 18% say Jeremy Corbyn. Survation/Daily Mail 45% of UK adults think the Prime Minister should face criminal charges if he breaks the law by refusing to seek a delay to Brexit. 37% think he should not; 18% don’t know. YouGov/ The Sunday Times Boris Johnson is losing support among women: 47% now describe him as “dislikeable”, up seven points since the end of August. By contrast, the proportion of men who think he’s dislikeable has fallen, from 43% to 42%. Only 19% of women say the PM is honest, compared with 25% of men. YouGov/The Times…

Phoenix’s hard-up parents Joaquin Phoenix describes his childhood as “financially challenging”. His father was often unemployed, and Joaquin and his siblings used to busk on street corners to supplement their mother’s wages from her job as a secretary. For one birthday, he was given a bike – or rather, the remains of four bikes cobbled together: “A tyre from here, a saddle from there – but to me it was amazing,” he told Robbie Collin in The Daily Telegraph. On a road trip from Florida to California the family ran so short of money they could no longer afford to feed their dog – so his father persuaded a stranger in a supermarket to take it off their hands. “I don’t know how he managed to do it,” says Phoenix,…

Sports company Asics had to apologise this week after a big screen outside its flagship store in Auckland, New Zealand, broadcast pornography for nine hours. The Japanese company said that hackers had taken over the system to show the “objectionable content” – which was only turned off when staff arrived at the shop to open up at 10am on Sunday morning. “Head office and our IT team have begun a full investigation into what happened and who uploaded the page,” the store manager told the New Zealand Herald. An Action Man-style toy figurine of Osama bin Laden has been spotted on sale in a shop in the southern Russian city of Stavropol. The 12in-high model, which is on sale for around £25, comes with a flag, a little mobile phone…

SPAIN Don’t let Franco rest in peace El Diario (Madrid) Two years after parliament voted for General Franco’s remains to be relocated, Spain’s supreme court has upheld the decision, says Ignacio Escolar. His bones are to be taken from the Valley of the Fallen, a pharaonic mausoleum near Madrid, to a private location. Right-wingers are furious: they complain this “socialist” project infringes the Franco family’s rights. On the contrary, one wonders why it’s taken so long. There could be no more “perverse” monument than the Valley of the Fallen, built by slave labour to house the corpses of more than 30,000 victims of the Spanish Civil War. Yet even now Franco’s family hopes to block the move, appealing to Spain’s constitutional court and the European Court of Human Rights. What…

What is it about Greta Thunberg that makes people so angry, wondered Jennifer O’Connell in The Irish Times. How can a 16-year-old in plaits, who has dedicated herself to the not unreasonable cause of saving the planet, inspire such incandescent rage? Last week, following her speech to the UN, in which she excoriated world leaders for their lack of action, her critics were at it again. One commentator likened her to a figure in a Nazi propaganda poster; another referred to her as “mentally ill”. Of course, no one likes being made to feel bad about their life choices: it’s why we sneer at vegans and feel suspicious of people who don’t drink at parties. But mainly, her critics attack her because it’s far easier than discrediting her argument. Everything…

”Something magical is stirring at the King Power Stadium,” said John Percy in The Daily Telegraph. Just three years after capturing the most unexpected title in history, Leicester City are ascending the heights of the Premier League again. On Sunday, they followed up an impressive 2-1 win over Tottenham by “swatting aside a desperately poor” Newcastle 5-0. Since Brendan Rodgers was appointed manager in February, just two teams – Manchester City and Liverpool – have secured more points, and Leicester are currently third in the table, two points behind Manchester City. They won’t win the title this season – and they probably never will again – but there’s no doubt they’re back to being “top-six contenders”. “After all it has undergone”, it’s a wonder that this club is still standing,…

Best books… Colm Tóibín The Irish author picks five of his favourite books. He is talking about his new book, Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know (Penguin £9.99) at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on 12 October (cheltenhamfestivals.com) The Past by Tessa Hadley, 2015 (Vintage £8.99). This novel tells the story of an English family re-grouping after many years, deciding to spend an extended holiday together in the old family house. It is a deeply engrossing book that handles scenes and multiple characters with the drama, originality and subtlety that has become the hallmark of Hadley’s work. Against the Clock by Derek Mahon, 2018 (Gallery Press £10.50) is a book of luminous, melancholy and graceful poems, works of great technical assurance. Mahon’s poems are fully contemporary. They both enjoy and deplore the…

Programmes Thomas Cook: The Rise & Fall of Britain’s Oldest Travel Agent The UK’s best known travel company was 178 years old. This documentary looks at why the firm collapsed, leaving thousands unemployed and 150,000 holidaymakers stranded. Sun 6 Oct, C4 20:00 (60mins). Americas with Simon Reeve The intrepid traveller covers the entire length of the Americas in this new five-part series. Sun 6 Oct, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Motherland Anna Maxwell Martin returns as the mum in the second series of this astute comedy about life at the school gates. Mon 7 Oct, BBC2 22:00 (30mins). Million Dollar Wedding Planner As a wedding planner to some of Asia’s richest couples, Lelian Chew has witnessed staggering extravagance. This film follows her as she works on three lavish weddings. Thur 10 Oct,…

Baked sausages, apples and blackberries Serves 4 8good-quality chunky pork sausages 2 tart eating apples, halved (no need to peel or core) 2 medium onions, each cut into 6-8 wedges 2 rosemary sprigs 3½ tbsp maple syrup 1½ tbsp Dijon mustard 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 garlic cloves, crushed sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper 150ml chicken stock 125g blackberries mashed or baked potatoes, to serve • Preheat the oven to 190°C. Tumble the sausages, apples, onions and rosemary into a flameproof roasting tin, shallow casserole dish or ovenproof frying pan about 30cm across, in which the ingredients can lie snugly in a single layer. There shouldn’t be a lot of room around the ingredients or the juices will reduce and burn. • In a…

Humanscale Freedom Headrest Chair Described by The New York Times as “the gold standard in office seating”, the Freedom Chair is a design classic – it’s even been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art. It’s not cheap, but you’ll be hard pushed to find a more comfortable chair (from £829; uk.human scale.com). HÅG Capisco Puls 8010 Made by the Norwegian brand HÅG, this quirky looking stool-like chair forces you to maintain your natural sitting posture, offering a variety of sitting positions (from £336; backinaction.co.uk). Herman Miller Mirra 2 At the upper end of the scale, the Mirra 2 is stylish, supportive and so well built that it should last for years. It’s heavy, though, so you might need a floor protector (from £715; store.hermanmiller.co.uk). House by John Lewis Hinton…

Penrith resort getaway Perfectly located for visits to Ullswater and Derwentwater, the traditional North Lakes Hotel & Spa offers a 3-night stay from £183pp b&b. 0871-277 1070, lastminute.com. Arrive 5 December. Five-star Malta stay Situated at the centre of the island, 4 nights at the premier Corinthia Palace Hotel on a b&b basis costs from £418pp, including Bristol flights. 0871-474 3000, onthebeach.co.uk. Depart 13 November. Spanish winter sun Stay 5 nights at the Suite Hotel Atlantis Fuerteventura Resort, in the village of Corralejo, from £523pp all-inclusive, including London flights. 020-3451 2720, firstchoice.co.uk. Depart 28 November. Six nights, three capitals Four-star stays in Budapest, Bratislava and Vienna, with train and hydrofoil transfers, costs from £299pp b&b, including Edinburgh flights. 020-3011 1520, citrusholidays.co.uk. Depart 24 January.…

At the Tory party conference in Manchester, Chancellor Sajid Javid announced plans to raise the UK minimum wage to the highest level in the developed world. He didn’t say how much the move would cost business, or how much it would add to the public sector-pay bill. The pound dropped after a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, Michael Saunders, warned that the Bank could be forced to cut interest rates even if Britain managed to avoid a no-deal Brexit, because the economy has weakened dramatically over recent quarters against an uncertain global backdrop. The WTO reported that deepening trade tensions were hitting home: global trade in merchandise is expected to expand by just 1.2% in 2019, “the weakest year since 2009”. Tesco boss Dave Lewis announced…

Controversy of the week A “toxic” Parliament? It was “the most repulsive parliamentary spectacle this country has seen in our lifetimes”, said Jonathan Lis in Prospect. Summoned back to the Commons last Wednesday, to face MPs for the first time since the Supreme Court ruled that his suspension of Parliament was unlawful, Boris Johnson did not apologise. He did not show humility. Instead, he doubled down – thundering that he would “not betray the people”. He declared that Parliament should “stand aside”; he used the phrase “Surrender Act” no fewer than 15 times to describe the Benn Act, which stops the UK leaving the EU without a deal. But the real nadir came when the Labour MP Paula Sherriff invoked the memory of her friend Jo Cox, pleading angrily with…

Communal living, with a study showing that 90% of shared flats and houses in London – and a third across the country – have no living room. The Times’ report says landlords are maximising their returns by turning communal spaces into bedrooms. Labradoodles, after the man who created the mixed-breed dog described it as his “life’s regret”. Australian Wally Conron created the first labradoodle in 1989 as a guide dog for a woman whose husband was allergic to dog hair. But he says now most of the labradoodles he meets are “crazy or have a hereditary problem”. Common Entrance, Britain’s oldest exam, with news that it is to be scrapped. Introduced in 1904 to select boys for entrance to 13 leading private schools, the exam – which covers 11 subjects…

Paris MeToo sued: The journalist who started a French version of the #MeToo movement has been found guilty of defaming a TV executive she’d accused of sexual harassment. Sandra Muller started the hashtag #BalanceTonPorc (“rat on your pig”) in 2017, when, in a series of tweets, she accused Eric Brion of lewdly propositioning her at a function in 2012. Brion didn’t deny his comments were inappropriate, and had apologised by text the next day. But he sued her on the grounds that she had portrayed him as a sexual predator, and that the publicity had ruined his career. Muller, who was ordered to pay s15,000 in damages, has said she will appeal the verdict. Vienna Kurz wins big: Austria’s former chancellor Sebastian Kurz, 33, is set to return to power…

1 Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys, Jeff Bhasker, Salaam Remi and Billy Squier, performed by Alicia Keys 2 Mi Gente by Andrés Davis Restrepo, Ashadally Adam, Mohombi, José Osorio and Willy William, performed by J Balvin and Willy William 3* Bankrobber by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, performed by The Clash 4 Samaritans by Adam Devonshire, Joe Talbot, Jon Beavis, Lee Kiernan and Mark Bowen, performed by Idles 5 Anarchy in the U.K. by Glen Matlock, John Lydon, Paul Cook, Steve Jones, performed by the Sex Pistols 6 Don’t Look Back in Anger by Noel Gallagher, performed by Oasis 7 Local Boy In The Photograph by Kelly Jones, Richard Jones, Stuart Cable, performed by Stereophonics 8 54-46 Was My Number by Frederick Hibbert, performed by Toots and the Maytals…

The Supreme Court’s decision in R (Miller) v the Prime Minister and Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland was a model of clarity and brevity. A full panel of 11 justices last week found unanimously that a decision to prorogue Parliament “will be unlawful if the prorogation has the effect of frustrating or preventing, without reasonable justification, the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions”. The court stated that a government had no right simply to suspend Parliament “for as long as it pleased”. In this case, the Prime Minister had given no convincing argument for why a long suspension was necessary – therefore it was “unlawful, void and of no effect”. Simple and rational though it seems, this was a revolutionary judgment. It stepped over the extensive…

Will tumbrels be rolling into Silicon Valley? Joel Kotkin City Journal Be careful what you wish for, goes the adage, because you might just get it. Silicon Valley’s tech elites are now learning that lesson, says Joel Kotkin. Over the past few decades, they’ve thrown money and support behind progressive causes, helping turn California into a Democratic stronghold. Until recently, that stance worked to their benefit. The Obama administration was “deferential” to tech firms: “Google representatives met in the White House weekly, and more than 250 people shuttled between working for Obama and Google during his presidency.” But Silicon Valley now finds itself in the cross hairs of the progressives it championed. California has just passed a new bill that will effectively give gig workers the same rights as employees…

Facebook has made its biggest acquisition in five years, says The Times – of a neural interface start-up that is developing “mind-reading” wristbands. The band, designed at CTRL-labs in New York, contains sensors that pick up the electrical signals sent from the spinal cord to muscles in the hand, instructing them to make particular movements. It decodes these signals, translates them into digital code, and then feeds them into a computer, so that the wearer only has to think about typing, for example, for the words to appear on screen. Facebook claims that with this technology, you will gain “control over your digital life”. “We spend a lot of time trying to get our technology to do what we want rather than enjoying the people around us,” said Facebook’s head…

“Go back to where you came from.” It’s a “standard racist taunt, one that I’ve heard since my first day in Britain”, said Kenan Malik in The Observer. So in July, when Donald Trump told four US congresswomen of colour to “go back to the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came”, most people agreed it was a racist statement. And when the presenter Naga Munchetty discussed the issue with her co-host Dan Walker on BBC Breakfast, her condemnation of the tweet as “embedded in racism” seemed both honest and obvious. But it wasn’t, apparently, to the BBC: its editorial complaints unit last week responded to an objection from one viewer by ruling that it was wrong for Munchetty to “comment critically”, and upheld the complaint, albeit only…

“Dullness in matters of government is a good sign, and not a bad one – in particular, dullness in parliamentary government is a test of its excellence, an indication of its success.” Walter Bagehot, quoted in The Guardian “If nobody learns from the past, then there’s no point in raking it up.” Billie Holiday, quoted on the Browser “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” Mark Twain, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.” Educator Laurence J.…

Don’t blame Herriot To The Daily Telegraph As James Herriot’s son, I feel compelled to respond to the accusations levelled at him by members of his own profession, namely that his failure to charge professional fees has led to the general public expecting modern vets to work for nothing. It is true that, for a very small proportion of his clientele, some of whom were suffering financial hardship, he provided free treatment. I regard this as a compassionate and Christian act, and not an explanation as to why modern vets are “underpaid and exhausted”. I have not met anyone who expects free treatment. I have, however, heard countless complaints about high veterinary fees. I realise that today’s vets endure great pressures: high overheads, the challenges of keeping up to date…

Hunter Barnes at David Hill Gallery For nearly two decades, the American photographer Hunter Barnes (b.1977) has been focusing his camera on marginalised and largely voiceless communities, including Tamil refugees, Native American tribes and people living in extreme rural poverty in the US heartlands. Outside of Life: Lowriders, Coolers, Bikers and Bloods brings together a selection of his work, documenting his time spent with biker and lowrider gangs, inmates of California State Prison and the Bloods of East St. Louis. By turns confrontational and revealingly sensitive, Barnes’s monochrome pictures capture individuals who have either chosen or been condemned to lead lives beyond the norms of bourgeois society. One could argue that these photographs are exploitative – that the artist himself is no more than a tourist slumming it – but…

Apple season is upon us, says Susy Atkins in The Daily Telegraph, and if you’re a fan of apple (or pear) puddings, you’ll need a “delectable dessert wine” to go with them. Here are three: Tesco Finest Sauternes 2015 Bordeaux, France (14%, £12 for 37.5cl; Tesco) is a “gorgeous little bottle”. The wine’s mix of “late harvested, nobly rotted (botrytis) sauvignon blanc and sémillon grapes” gives the perfect balance of sugar and acidity for an apple pie or pear tart. The Ned Noble Sauvignon Blanc 2015 Marlborough, New Zealand (11.5%, £14.99 for 37.5cl or £11.99 in a mixed six; Majestic) is made by the Waihopai River vineyard where the grapes are “left on the vines long enough to develop concentrated sugar levels”. Campbells Rutherglen Muscat Victoria, Australia (17.5%, £12.50 for…

● As a rule of thumb, you replace your mattress every seven years. But if you keep feeling achey when you wake up, it might be a sign you need to replace it sooner. ● If you tend to sleep on your side, choose a soft or medium mattress: it will mould to your body’s natural curve and provide the level of cushioning you need. ● Front sleepers are usually better off with a firm mattress; back sleepers should opt for firm or medium-firm. ● If you and your partner have conflicting requirements, look for a mattress that has different sides. The Dormeo S Plus comes in two halves, which join together. Each has a firm side and a softer side, so you can flip it according to preference. ●…

The Emerald Prague This art nouveau house, just “moments from the main square” of Prague’s Old Town, has been divided into 13 apartments designed in five different styles, says Condé Nast Traveller. What links them is “a materials-first approach that celebrates the existing elements of the space”: ceiling cracks have been retained, plaster work reveals its natural patina. Much of the furniture is made by local craftsmen, but there are antiques and more contemporary pieces too. The entrance “doubles as a gallery with works for sale by up-and-coming artists”. Breakfast can be delivered or cooked in your kitchen by a chef. Apartments from about £135 per night; the-emerald-prague.com…

Jacques Chirac 1932-2019 Jacques Chirac, who has died aged 86, spent 18 years as the mayor of Paris, and was twice prime minister, before becoming president of the Fifth Republic in 1995 at his third attempt. To occupy the Élysée Palace had been his lifelong ambition. Yet once there, he drifted, said Stephen Jessel in The Guardian. His 12 years in office were not without positives: he will be remembered for refusing to back the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003; and for becoming the first French leader to acknowledge the complicity of the French state in the deportation of 75,000 French Jews to Nazi death camps. He also saved thousands of lives, by improving the safety of France’s notoriously dangerous roads. But he did too little to tackle the…

When Credit Suisse hired private detectives to tail a departing star banker, Iqbal Khan, last month, it hoped to uncover whether he had been preparing to poach bankers and clients for his new job with arch-rival UBS, said the FT. Rather than shoring up the Zurich-based lender’s defences, however, the surveillance op has plunged the bank into its “worst reputational crisis in years”. The affair – which culminated in a confrontation outside a Zurich restaurant last month – has already forced the resignation of COO Pierre-Olivier Bouée, who had ordered the operation. But now events have taken a more sinister turn with the reported suicide of a security consultant, who acted as a middleman between the bank and the private investigators. Credit Suisse has cleared its chief executive, Tidjane Thiam…

● Trade war bites At the start of Donald Trump’s presidency in January 2017, he trumpeted a plan to create “one million US jobs” via an alliance with the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The idea, as The Washington Post noted, was to encourage US small businesses to sell goods into the Chinese market. How expectations have changed. Over the past 18 months, “the cut and thrust of trade negotiations between the US and China has regularly swung between hope and frustration”, said Michael Mackenzie in the FT. When they resume later this month, many investors are no longer looking for a deal, “just a sign that talks are on track”. The latest signals don’t inspire hope. The White House is apparently weighing a plan to stop Chinese firms listing on…

Taming the boors of Lloyd’s Lex Financial Times “Optimistically-named rescue plans punctuate the recent history of Lloyds of London,” says Lex. The insurance market’s near collapse in the mid-1990s prompted a “reconstruction and renewal strategy”. But not much seems to have changed. “Isolated from trends within banks and corporate HQs”, Lloyds has remained “a last great bastion of the City’s old, boorish schoolboy culture”: surveys reveal widespread sexual harassment. Reforming the culture is the number one priority of CEO John Neal, whose “Blueprint One” also aims to “reverse the big losses of the past two years”. Neal’s plan is to turn Lloyds into a high-tech open-source insurance platform. Good luck to him. For more than 300 years, Lloyd’s has “fought off global competition” to remain one of the world’s last…

Help is at hand for toddlers bewildered by the current political crisis: a new picture book, The Little Island, promises to introduce pre-schoolers to the “complexity” of the Brexit debate. Described as “Animal Farm for the Brexit generation”, it tells the story of some ducks and geese who live on an island on a pond beside a farm. The geese, representing Leavers, want the island to be cut off from the farm, while the ducks want to stay. Japan Airlines is introducing an online booking tool that will display where seats have been booked for infants, so that other passengers can select seats away from them. The “child icon” will pop up to alert customers to the presence of children aged between eight days and two years.…

The Health Secretary has said he is considering making childhood vaccinations mandatory, to combat the recent drop in immunisation rates. At the Tory party conference, Matt Hancock said he was “looking very seriously” at the idea, which would mean unvaccinated children would not be allowed to start school. However, Downing Street later stressed that this was not on its agenda: it said the Government hoped to boost the vaccination rate by making it easier for parents to book appointments for the jabs. In 2018-19, rates for the first round of the MMR jab (measles, mumps, rubella) fell to 90.3% in England, well below the 95% required for “herd immunity”.…

New York Domingo quits Met: Plácido Domingo (pictured) has withdrawn from all future engagements at New York’s Metropolitan Opera following allegations of sexual harassment made by several women, including a soprano who said he’d reached down her robe and grabbed her bare breast. The 78-year-old tenor had been due to sing the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth last week, but instead issued a statement saying that his long association with the Met had come to an end after “51 consecutive, glorious years” and 706 performances. “We are grateful to him for recognising that he needed to step down,” said Peter Gelb, the opera house’s general manager. Dallas, Texas Officer guilty: A white police officer who shot dead her unarmed black neighbour in his apartment in Dallas last year has been…

“Watching the angry Westminster exchanges last week, it struck me that what both sides in the furious debate after the Supreme Court’s ruling were doing was tweeting in person. @attorneygeneral: This Parliament is dead. @labourwomen: Unfit for office! #jocox. @ukpm: Humbug! No surrender! The shouts and unparliamentary applause were ‘likes’ and ‘retweets’. Every speech was delivered in hope of going viral; every point reduced to a simplistic 280-character “burn”. Except there were no mute or block buttons. Here were the raging political by-products of our social media age, clashing head-on in real life.” Janice Turner in The Times…

How the data-crunchers killed the mavericks Janan Ganesh Financial Times I want to record a death, says Janan Ganesh: the death of the maverick. It’s a fatality you see in every walk of life. Professional football, for example, no longer has room for unorthodox players like Mesut Özil, Glenn Hoddle or Michel Platini – individualists who “elevated teams without being entirely of them”: the game has become too systematised to accommodate them. Same goes for the music industry. It’s not that you’re getting old: songs really are more formulaic than they used to be. The big labels have crunched the data to work out the ingredients of a successful track and have got far slicker at replicating them. No need for intuition: management science and data analytics tell them precisely…

The Democrats might beat President Trump at the ballot box in 2020, said Jamelle Bouie in The New York Times, but even if they do, they could be losing to him in the courtroom for decades to come. Trump’s two appointments to the nine-member Supreme Court – one of whom only got the job because Republican leaders unfairly blocked President Obama’s choice – have ensured that America’s top court will have a conservative majority for the foreseeable future. And Trump is doing his best to ensure that’s true of the lower courts too: he has already appointed more than 150 federal judges. These judges, who all enjoy life tenure, will frustrate any future progressive agenda. That’s why, if the Democrats do win, they should “play hardball back” by expanding the…

Natural birth riskier after C-section Women who have had one C-section should consider opting for another with their next child, as a new study has found that having a vaginal birth after a surgical delivery is associated with a slightly increased risk of complications. A team at the University of Oxford analysed data on 74,043 births in Scotland to mothers who had previously had at least one C-section. About 60% of the births in the sample were by elective C-section, while the rest were scheduled to be vaginal deliveries (though some ended up as emergency C-sections). Overall, 1.8% of mothers who’d planned to have a vaginal birth suffered serious complications, while only 0.8% of those who’d elected for a C-section did. And 8% of the babies born naturally suffered post-birth…

Princess Margaret was famously grand, yet according to her friend and former lady-in-waiting Anne Glenconner, she enjoyed mucking in with the chores. Whenever she went to stay with Glenconner in Norfolk, the Princess would pack a pair of Marigold gloves so that she could wash the car, and also a kettle – “because she was used to having breakfast in bed and wanted to make her own tea”, says Glenconner in a new memoir. “The problem was that she didn’t know how the kettle worked... and I ended up doing everything anyway.” Theresa May has been spotted looking unusually smiley and relaxed in the past few weeks – and she is not the only one enjoying a degree of schadenfreude at the travails of the current PM. This week, Jeremy…

“It was perhaps inevitable that Boris Johnson’s premiership would be dogged by tales of sexual misadventures and impropriety,” said Benedict Spence in The Daily Telegraph. On Sunday, it was reported that while he was mayor of London, Johnson did have an affair with Jennifer Arcuri – the pole-dancing US tech entrepreneur who received £11,500 from a promotional body overseen by the mayor, and who was given privileged access to overseas trade missions that he led. On the same day, the journalist Charlotte Edwardes published a column in The Sunday Times about Johnson’s “wandering hands”. She wrote that at a Spectator lunch party around the turn of the century, Johnson – then the magazine’s editor – grabbed “enough inner flesh beneath his fingers to make me sit suddenly upright”. Later, she…

Rugby World Cup: Japan’s second miracle Four years ago, at rugby’s last World Cup in England, Japan pulled off one of the sport’s greatest upsets by defeating South Africa 34-32, said Mick Cleary in The Sunday Telegraph. So remarkable was the win that it was turned into a Hollywood movie – The Brighton Miracle – which premiered in Japan “to widespread interest” last month. “They will have to rush the follow-up into production”, because the Cherry Blossoms – this year’s hosts – have just produced another giant-slaying feat. Last Saturday, at the Shizuoka Stadium, they beat Ireland, the world’s second-ranked team, 19-12. This was no mere fluke, but an “utterly, utterly deserved” victory, said Tom Cary in the same paper. Ireland started well, scoring two tries to open up a…

To The Times Lord Sumption’s words defending the Supreme Court’s decision were powerful and important. As a former Supreme Court justice himself, but one whose 2019 Reith lectures lamented “the decline of politics and the rise of law to fill the void”, Lord Sumption is no fan of judicial overreach. As he emphasised, the British tradition is to be governed by politics, not judges – but politics cannot operate if our central political body, Parliament, is shut down. We should reflect on how we have sunk so low that judges must intervene to defend Parliament against the actions of a Prime Minister. The lambasting of politicians has long been routine, but herein lie the seeds of corrosive populism. We now badly need an organised movement to defend politics itself. Short-term,…

An early Renaissance masterpiece by the Florentine painter Cimabue has been discovered in a kitchen on the outskirts of a town north of Paris, where it was spotted during a house clearance, says Angelique Chrisafis in The Guardian. Christ Mocked, by the 13th century artist who taught Giotto, is estimated to be worth S4m- S6m. For years, the work had gone unnoticed in the house of a woman in her 90s near the town of Compiègne. It had been hanging in her kitchen, arousing little interest from the family, who assumed it was an old religious icon, and though it had been placed directly above a hob, the picture was in good condition. When the unnamed woman moved out, an auctioneer was contacted to look at the contents; “You rarely…

Leonard tells Jill he has recreated the scrap cakes for the Flower and Produce show. Jill’s worried about accusations of nepotism. Lexi’s waters break on Kirsty’s rug; on hearing the news, Ian rushes from the show, leaving Peggy to judge. Jill is damning about the scrap cakes, but Peggy likes them and they come third in their category. At the hospital, Jennifer’s affronted when the midwife says Lexi wants Kirsty to be her birthing partner. Adam and Ian are thrilled when Lexi gives birth to a boy. Vince Casey invites Lilian to lunch. It becomes clear he wants to find out about Justin’s interest in Crowthers. Despite getting drunk, Lilian doesn’t blab. Roy calls in on Lexi at Ambridge Hall. Lexi says she’s feeling isolated, but doesn’t want to impose…

The Small Holding Ranters Lane, Kilndown, near Cranbrook, Kent (01892-890105) It’s rare to find top-notch yet unpretentious fine-dining at sensible prices, says Grace Dent in The Guardian. But that’s what you get at The Small Holding in Kilndown, opened by chef Will Devlin last year. The setting is lovely: there’s still a “real sense” of the low-key 90s-style country pub about this place, despite it being prettified with designer paints and fancy hand soaps. Outside, there’s a beer garden – plus a full acre of working kitchen garden with added pigs, geese and chickens. It’s the kind of rural find that “addled city dwellers” dream of, and the cooking is first-rate, “retaining joy, pace and mischief throughout”. Of our 11-course lunch I especially loved “sweetcorn, egg, mushroom” – a soft,…

New cars: what the critics say Auto Express There was a time when the release of a new Astra would have been a “seismic event” in the car world. But conventional family hatchbacks aren’t fashionable any more – and today, the Astra isn’t even among the top ten bestselling cars in the UK. So, in an effort to “enhance its appeal”, Vauxhall has given the car a number of mechanical upgrades, including a new engine for every model. Autocar Those changes under the bonnet make quite a difference. The 1.2-litre petrol three-cylinder engine is light and lively; the car runs along at “a satisfyingly effective pace and with a fair slice of enjoyment”: it goes from 0-60mph in 8.8 seconds. The new Astra is agile, too, with “front-end bite and…

Rembrandt-Velázquez, at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, pairs works by the Dutch painter and his Spanish contemporary, finding unexpected parallels. There will also be paintings by other 17th century masters (11 October-19 January; rijksmuseum.nl). Vienna’s “most eye-catching” show this season is Caravaggio & Bernini at the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Devoted to the great painter and the great sculptor of 17th century Rome, it brings together 80 of their works (15 October-19 January; khm.at). Of all the exhibitions organised to mark the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death, the Louvre’s is the “must-see”. Key works like La Scapigliata will join the “peerless” paintings in its own collection (24 October-24 February; louvre.fr). Munich’s Alte Pinakothek will show how Van Dyck emerged from the shadow of his teacher, Rubens, and include a remarkable self-portrait he painted…

Walking in unspoilt Georgia Close to the Russian border, Georgia’s Racha highland region is “untouched by tourism”, says Yvonne Gordon in The Sunday Times. So much so that “even most Georgians haven’t been here”. It’s a fabulous place for walkers, with good trails, stupendous mountain views and “amazing food” and wine. On a walk from Shovi to the Buba glacier (a seven-hour round trip), the “steep and muddy” path through forest opens out into a meadow of “pink and white daisies, buttercups and butterflies”. At the top – 8,000ft high – you can fill your water bottle with chilled stream water and take in the views of “jagged mountaintops” framed by “puffy clouds”. Near the small town of Ambrolauri is the country’s “first glamping site”, where “space-age” pods cluster on…

Imperial Brands: smoke signals Big Tobacco bosses headed for Washington last week for meetings with politicians and public health officials, “amid turmoil” in the “crucial” vaping market, said Alex Ralph in The Times. A notable absentee was Alison Cooper of Imperial Brands – she was too busy fighting fires at home in the City to attend. Shares in the company, once one of the FTSE 100’s most reliable stocks, tumbled 13% on news of a “choker of a profit warning”, said Jim Armitage in the London Evening Standard. Like other tobacco outfits, “Imps” – whose legacy brands include Rizla and Lambert & Butler – has been seeking to reinvent itself. Like everyone else, it had been led to believe that vaping was the future, but now finds there’s a…

“Want to know how to make money,” asks Mark Atherton in The Times. “The answer could be resting at the bottom of a glass.” Booze is cited as one of the key factors making Finsbury Growth & Income, a fund run by Nick Train, the top UK income investment trust over five years. Fund managers love a tipple, so here are some favourite holdings. Diageo The international drinks giant, whose portfolio of brands includes Guinness and Johnnie Walker whisky, is a favourite of many fund managers. No surprise really, given its “consistent growth” and “growing cashflows”. At Finsbury, Diageo has produced “a return of more than 20 times the shares’ original value”. Heineken The Dutch brewing company has also delivered big time for Train and others. Fund managers seem to…

Paul Donovan There’s turmoil at Credit Suisse, but over at arch-rival, UBS, life is getting back to normal, says The Times. The bank has given its London-based senior economist, Paul Donovan, his job back after a three-month suspension. Donovan “unwittingly triggered” an international row in June when – in a set of innocently intended remarks about the swine flu epidemic – he referred to “Chinese pigs”. Cue “outraged headlines in China”, where the phrase is apparently notorious as “a term of abuse” used by the British against the Cantonese during the First Opium War. UBS is clearly keen to let bygones be bygones. Still, it might have picked a better time to rehabilitate Donovan. With nice timing, it coincides with the People’s Republic’s 70th birthday celebrations. Andrea Leadsom The Business…

The week’s best shares 4imprint Group The Times 4imprint provides a wide range of promotional materials for corporate events: from branded T-shirts to mugs, notebooks and balloons. Cash-generative, a market leader and rapidly growing in the US. Buy. £29.50. Essentra The Sunday Telegraph Essentra’s cigarette filters business is “surprisingly steady” and management has ambitious plans for its pharmaceutical packaging division and components arm. Sales are up 3.7%, and it yields 5%. Buy. 416p. Hermès The Daily Telegraph The Paris-listed luxury goods firm benefits from “huge global demand” for its limited supply of desirable merchandise. Chinese demand allows the firm to grow without threatening its scarcity factor. Buy. S625. Ideagen Investors Chronicle Ideagen supplies risk management software to firms in regulated sectors, including aviation, pharma and banking. Speculative, but recurring revenues…