Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1278 i The Week

When Boris Johnson declared the national lockdown almost seven weeks ago, he thought he was taking one of the toughest decisions of his premiership, said Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer. But that was easy compared with the choices he’s now facing about how to ease the restrictions. On Sunday, he is due to deliver another televised address to the nation unveiling some of those measures. The PM is expected to announce plans to, among other things, reopen more public spaces, allow more children to start returning to school, and get more people back to work. The stakes for Johnson are high. He has to balance the huge economic costs of the lockdown against the ongoing health risks (the UK’s official death toll from Covid-19 overtook Italy’s this week to become…

“The problem with killing coronavirus is that it’s already dead,” said Tom Whipple in The Times. Bacteria, by contrast, are complex living systems – they eat, excrete, reproduce; antibiotics can work by interfering with any of these processes. But a virus is just “a bit of protein mindlessly replicating its way through the world”. And that is why it was big news when, last week, an international clinical trial showed that the drug remdesivir had been successful in treating Covid-19 patients. “What did success look like?” Patients taking the drug left hospital four days early – after an average of 11 days, rather than 15 – and “may (or may not)” have had slightly better survival rates. “It was, genuinely, a huge breakthrough.” But it was also, clearly, “no miracle…

Nearly a quarter of employees in Britain are now on furlough, with the Government effectively paying their wages, new figures from HMRC have revealed. In total, 6.3 million workers at 800,000 companies have been put on the job retention scheme. The Treasury covers the cost of 80% of their salary, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month. Some companies are paying staff the additional 20%. The Office for Budget Responsibility has said it expects the cost of the programme to reach £39bn between March and June, a figure that does not include the cost of a separate scheme covering self-employed workers. More than two million claims for welfare support have also been received since the middle of March, six times more than in the previous equivalent period.…

Dublin Historic kindness: Hundreds of Irish people have contributed to an appeal for funds for Native American tribes hit by the coronavirus crisis – paying back a debt of gratitude dating from Ireland’s Great Famine. In 1847, as news of the famine spread across the world, the impoverished people of the Choctaw Nation – who had recently been driven out of their lands in Mississippi and resettled in Oklahoma – sent $170 (about $5,000 in today’s money) to help feed the hungry of Dublin. In 2018, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited the Choctaw to thank them in person. And in recent weeks, Irish people have responded to an online appeal on behalf of Navajo and Hopi families in Utah, who are struggling with a chronic lack of access to water (about…

“The pandemic has intensified family relations, and correspondingly intensified my own need to play competitive games. Setting myself against my children is a way to pry myself loose: sitting around the kitchen table, looking in their eyes as I plot to destroy them. Even in war there is some minimal requirement of care for the enemy. Within a game – and perhaps only within a game – all demands of care are lifted. I can capture your pieces without apology. Within the scope of the game, I want to eradicate you. You are another self – but not the kind of self I have to promote, or protect, or be considerate of. You are the kind of self that is an enemy.” Agnes Callard in The Point Magazine…

Don’t let the NHS become too German Nick Timothy The Daily Telegraph Our health service should be more like Germany’s. That’s what a number of free-market reformers are now arguing, says Nick Timothy. Germany has fared far better than we have in this crisis: it has a lower death rate, more ventilators, more intensive care beds, more testing capacity. All of which, they claim, shows that we should adopt a German-style market-based health system, one that is funded through insurance payments and delivered by a mix of private, public and charitable organisations. Yet in so far as it’s the health system, not its enviable industrial capacity, that explains Germany’s early success (now less certain) in tackling the virus, this has more to do with the high degree of local accountability…

Hedgehogs better off in lockdown The lockdown seems to be making hedgehogs safer – and also more amorous. Vehicles pose one of the biggest threats to the animals, and according to one study, based on sightings, the number of the creatures killed on the roads has more than halved in recent weeks. The fall is likely to be down to the drastic reduction in traffic levels. However, the researchers, from Nottingham Trent University, said that they can’t discount the possibility that sightings have declined simply because people are staying at home more. Since lockdown began, conservationists have also been receiving more calls about the animals’ mating ritual – which involves male hedgehogs sniffing at the female’s spines while snorting loudly. But if Britain’s back gardens are getting noisier, the world’s…

Her stepchildren dubbed her “Acid Raine” – but Princess Diana later came to appreciate Raine Spencer’s kindness, and she wasn’t the only one. Performer Sammy Stritch once worked as a kitchen dogsbody at a birthday party a friend was holding for Raine – and recalls that she swung by the kitchen. Spotting the Charlotte Russe pudding he was holding, she said: “My favourite!” – at which point, Stritch dropped the dish. Raine simply fetched a tin of peaches and threw them in a bowl with broken biscuits, cream, glacé cherries and sherry. Later, as it was presented, she clapped her hands and said: “It’s that wonderful pudding we had in Portofino! How DID you know it was my favourite?” Michael Gove may wish he’d “curated” his bookshelves before his wife,…

There’s nothing like looking forward to a summer holiday, said Mark Palmer in the Daily Mail. The very thought of new surroundings and sunny skies sustains many of us through the chilly months. But the Covid-19 pandemic has put paid to all such plans for overseas travel. “This year, no one’s going anywhere.” Nearly 17,000 passenger jets – a large majority of the world’s total – are currently sitting idle on runways as a wave of mass layoffs and bankruptcies sweeps through the airlines. Meanwhile, “hotels, villas, holiday apartments, safari parks and all-inclusive beach resorts are shut, with no guarantee that they will open any time soon”. This is deeply frustrating for would-be travellers: Britons have shelled out an estimated £7bn on holidays they now won’t get to enjoy. But…

Cursing in Cabinet To The Times In your obituary of Professor Lord May of Oxford, OM, you report that he was reproved by the Cabinet Secretary for swearing, on the grounds that it was the first time that the F-word had been used in the Cabinet room. Not so. In 1973 I took the minutes of a meeting chaired by the prime minister that discussed a paper prepared by officials. Mr Heath opened the discussion by describing the paper as “f***ing awful”. After taking advice from more seasoned colleagues, I recorded the PM as having “expressed reservations” about the paper. Sir Nicolas Bevan, London Why pick on the old... To The Daily Telegraph Has it yet occurred to politicians that continuing lockdown for those aged over 70 when current restrictions…

Gallery worker shortlisted for BP prize A gallery attendant at the National Galleries of Scotland has won third prize in one of the art world’s most prestigious competitions – the BP Portrait Award. Michael Youds, who paints in his spare time, was one of three artists whose work was selected from nearly 2,000 entries. His prize, for his portrait of Tommy Robertson, the owner of a music shop in Edinburgh (see right), is £10,000, but he said that even if he’d won the £35,000 top prize, he’d not have given up his day job. “I’m probably one of those rare people who really enjoys their job,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “I like the range of art, and there are other artists there, so there’s a great atmosphere.” His work,…

Gavin wants to find out what Roy is thinking, but Philip warns him to be careful. Roy is having second thoughts about Philip’s stag night, but Kirsty convinces him. After a boozy night at The Feathers, Gavin presses Roy to go on to a club. Pip tells Adam about the thwarted barn development plan; he advises her to enlist Lilian’s help with Justin. A hungover Roy has lost his phone. Later, Gavin shows up to cricket practice and leaves something in Roy’s bag, while Adam teases Johnny about his hair loss. Harrison refuses to let Gavin join the team, to everyone’s consternation. Tracy and Susan have a heart-to-heart about Emma. Roy’s phone turns up, but Kirsty is furious because he drunkenly cancelled the wedding DJ – Roy denies it but…

Easy to make and so much tastier than shop-bought versions, these pittas are the perfect complements to dips, salads and many other dishes, say Ronen Givon and Christian Mouysset. If you have a glass oven door, the kids will enjoy watching them puff up magically in the oven. Makes 8 140g wholemeal flour 250g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting 1 tsp sea salt 1 tsp caster sugar 2 tsp easy-blend dried yeast 250ml warm water oil, for oiling • Put the flours, salt and sugar into an electric mixer, then sprinkle over the yeast and stir together. With the machine running, gradually mix in enough of the warm water until a soft dough is formed, then beat for 5 minutes on low speed. • Increase the machine…

Charismatic Bollywood star who found fame in Hollywood Irrfan Khan 1967-2020 Irrfan Khan, who has died aged 53, was one of the biggest stars of Hindi cinema, said The Times. But though he was often referred to as a Bollywood leading man, it was a term he objected to. The Indian film industry “has its own technique, its own way of making films that has nothing to do with aping Hollywood”, he said. “It originates in Parsi theatre. So why did they lose their identity by calling it Bollywood?” Yet with a clear understanding of their similarities and differences, he mastered both genres, and became one of the few Indian actors who were also in demand in Hollywood. Khan made his screen debut aged 18, in Salaam Bombay!, the Indian-American…

Spain’s Telefónica has spent the past five years trying to get shot of its O2 mobile phone business. But hola! – it looks like opportunity has struck when least expected, said The Times. O2 is reportedly “closing in” on a multibillion-pound merger with Virgin Media that could “reshape the British telecoms market” by creating a “formidable competitor to BT”. The deal is a joint venture between Telefónica and Liberty Global – the outfit controlled by the US “cable cowboy” billionaire John C. Malone, which bought Virgin Media for £15bn seven years ago. Shareholders are hot to trot: if nothing else, the deal will result in big cost savings. “Making life hell for BT” is probably just an added bonus for Malone, 79, “an opportunistic dealmaker” who has spotted that “mobile…

The Financial Conduct Authority “struck a potential blow for the little guy” on International Workers’ Day last week, said Lex in the FT. Amid concerns the insurance industry is dodging paying out on claims for “business-interruption insurance”, the watchdog plans to put a test case through the courts to provide some clarity for policyholders and insurers. “A revolt by clients has shone an unflattering light on the UK-listed insurer Hiscox in recent weeks”: some 300 policyholders are taking the company to court in a class-action suit. But the legal review will also consider business-interruption policies underwritten by Axa, Touchstone and Zurich. Disputes typically centre on ambiguous wording, said Will Kirkman on ThisIsMoney.co.uk. According to Ashwin Mistry of broking group Brokerbility, the fault lies with insurers who have “deliberately broadened” the…

The week’s best shares Craneware Investors Chronicle Craneware provides software to help the US healthcare industry identify cost savings. Margins are healthy, sales are up with strong revenue visibility, and long-term prospects are bolstered by the new cloud arm. Buy. £19.50. Fevertree Drinks The Times Shares in the tonic-water maker are still pricey, but Fevertree’s resilient low-cost operating model (it employs just 170 people globally and contracts out bottling) is attractive. Global sales are growing rapidly. Buy. £18.02. Helical The Sunday Times This real-estate player buys tired buildings in vibrant parts of London and Manchester and refits them in modern, quirky style for rent. Shares are down 21%, but a £48.5m sale to a French investor is “encouraging”. Buy. 364.5p. McCarthy & Stone The Times This retirement home specialist has…

“The scars of England’s penalty shoot-out failures have seared themselves into the national psyche,” said Rhys Blakely in The Times. Think, if you can bear it, of Chris Waddle “blazing the ball over the crossbar” in Turin 30 years ago, or Gareth Southgate “tapping it to the keeper” in the Euro 96 semifinal. Around the world, it’s “a stereotype held as gospel” that the English are bad at penalties. But according to a new study by a team at the German Sport University of Cologne, there is no English “penalty curse”. In fact, they have concluded that England has “some of the best penalty takers in the world”. Analysing the penalty kicks taken at World Cups and European Championships since 1976, when penalty shoot-outs were introduced at major tournaments, they…

The corona-crisis appears to have encouraged millions of people to cut down on their smoking, or give up entirely. According to a YouGov survey, 2% of UK smokers have quit, because they’re worried their habit makes them more vulnerable to Covid-19; a further 8% say they are trying to give up, and 36% say they have cut down. Extrapolating the findings suggests more than 850,000 people have given up smoking, or are trying to, and 2.4 million are smoking less. Scores of rebel botanists are using chalk to identify the weeds that grow up walls and in the cracks on city pavements, in an attempt to change people’s perceptions of these diverse but neglected plants. The idea of naming wild plants began in France, and has spread around Europe. Now…

Last month, Australia called for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak, said Charles Moore in The Daily Telegraph. “Not unreasonable, you might think.” The virus was “made in China”. And now that it has killed hundreds of thousands of people, and hobbled the global economy, the world would like to know how it happened. But Cheng Jingye, China’s ambassador to Canberra, responded by igniting a diplomatic firestorm. If Australia pushed for an inquiry, he warned, Chinese tourists might “have second thoughts” about going there. Chinese students might start to wonder whether it was “not so friendly, even hostile”. And “maybe the ordinary people will say, why should we drink Australian wine or eat Australian beef”. In the past, Chinese diplomats have been colourless figures, said Gordon…

47% of children aged six to 15 say they have seen content online during the lockdown that they would rather have avoided, as it made them feel scared, uncomfortable or confused. 13% say they see harmful content daily. 82% of parents and 73% of children would like there to be age ratings for videos on YouTube and Facebook (a feature the British Board of Film Classification has been working on). YouGov/BBFC/ The Daily Telegraph 24% of UK adults say they have watched or listened to a religious service since the lockdown started. Among people aged 18 to 34, the figure is 34%. Of those who have tuned into services, 5% have never gone to a service in a church. ComRes/The Guardian…

Nigeria’s President Buhari thought he’d found the perfect candidate when he appointed the MP Tobias Chukwuemeka Okwuru to the Federal Character Commission. Unfortunately, journalists pointed out that he had died in February. The president’s media aide Lauretta Onochie defended the move, saying Okwuru was alive when the recruitment process started. It’s not the first time such an error has been made: in 2017, the president appointed at least five people who had died to government agencies. A Londoner has taken to wearing a greenhouse to shield himself from Covid-19 as he exercises. Terry Stubbs, 67, donned the outfit to give him “extra protection” as he walked three miles to wish his grandson happy birthday. The greenhouse costume has won him fans in Uxbridge, where people have stopped to take photos…

SAUDI ARABIA Shot dead for voicing dislike of flying taxis Foreign Policy (Washington) Saudi Arabia’s “thuggish” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) has created another martyr, say Sarah Leah Watson and Abdullah Alaoudh. Three years ago he unveiled plans for a new $500bn high-tech city, Neom, on the Red Sea coast. MbS hopes the city – which would be 33 times the size of New York – will attract a global crowd of entrepreneurs and investors. His vision is of a futuristic city where flying taxis ferry people around and robots outnumber humans. But the project involves displacing 20,000 tribespeople, many of whom won’t be bought with vague promises of compensation. One leading opponent was Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, who posted a video last month insisting that he and his neighbours…

With its protruding spine, body longer than a T. rex’s, and crocodile-like jaws, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus was a fearsome predator. Now, archaeologists have shown that it was also a proficient swimmer – making it the first known example of an aquatic dinosaur. Study of spinosaurids has been limited since the Second World War, when rare fossil samples were destroyed in a bombing raid on Munich. But after a well-preserved specimen was unearthed in Morocco in 2015, scientists were able to analyse a complete tail, and found that it had a “fin-like” structure, suggesting it functioned like a giant paddle. Further analysis of a life-size model of the tail revealed that it could deliver eight times as much forward thrust as other theropod tails – enough to drive the creature’s seven-tonne body…

“The undisguised brutality of our time is weighing heavily upon us.” So wrote Sigmund Freud in January 1920, two days after his daughter, Sophie, succumbed to Spanish Flu. Now, a century on, we are in the midst of another pandemic – and for those bereaved by it, these are intensely sad times, said The Guardian. Some may feel anger, as well as grief, about the way this crisis has been handled. And with millions of people stuck at home on their own, or in families with pre-existing problems, it is unsurprising that ONS figures show a sharp rise in anxiety levels in the UK population, or that police are pointing to an increase in suicides, and suicide attempts. And yet, not everyone is suffering. Some adults have reported finding “relief…

“Less than a month ago, Boris Johnson was close to becoming the first prime minister to die in office since the Victorian era,” said Martin Kettle in The Guardian. Last week, he returned to work, and became the third prime minister of the 21st century to celebrate the birth of a new baby in No. 10. “It would require a heart of stone” not to be moved by this vertiginous ascent “from darkness into light”. The Prime Minister’s “trials, tribulations and triumphs” during the pandemic have become “a metaphor for the nation’s struggles”, said The Daily Telegraph. The birth of Johnson and his fiancée Carrie Symonds’ new son, Wilfred, is happy and cheering news. “No amount of government publicity could make the point better that life goes on and adversity…

To The Guardian Your editorial is incomplete. As with almost everything else I’ve read about Covid-19, one group has been ignored. When will someone notice the thousands of care workers, mainly women, who continue to visit and look after people living in their own homes? They are exposed to as many, if not more, risks of infection and seem to be at the end of the line when PPE is provided, yet are getting little, if any, recognition. And what about the district nurses, too? Jennifer Hewitt, Wendover, Buckinghamshire To The Guardian My son works in a care home where, in the past few weeks, there has been a rise in coronavirus cases and some deaths. He is paid £9.50 an hour to care for people who are often critically…

BC Camplight is the stage name of Brian Christinzio, a “quirky” US singer-songwriter who lives in Manchester. Shortly After Takeoff is his fifth album, and it’s a “real gem”, said Neil McCormick in The Daily Telegraph – the “loveliest and strangest” he has produced so far. Christinzio’s “oddball songs evoke Harry Nilsson being produced by Brian Wilson, with a quality of fearless self-exposure and black wit reminiscent of John Grant”. Dealing with themes of grief and mental ill-health, this album is a touching “black comedy of emotional isolation” that will reward repeat listening. Christinzio has previously spoken of his “reluctance to dwell on pretty melodies or memorable choruses. That’s not the case here,” said Michael Hann in The Guardian. He still won’t “hammer a hook down your throat” – but…

This “beautiful” adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel, set in Ireland and following the complicated relationship between two students, is one of those rare instances when “the screen version thrashes the book”, said Carol Midgley in The Times. Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) first meet at school, and what follows between them is the sole concern of the series, as it lays bare the euphoric highs and humiliating lows of a first sexual romance. Connell is popular, sporty and working class; Marianne is a studious loner, from a wealthy family. Between them, they pack in “all your formative experiences”, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. Early bedroom encounters are memorably awkward; the cruelty and anxieties of school life are all there. But much like the book, the raw intimacy…

The Imitation of Christ attrib. Thomas à Kempis, c.1418-1427 (Penguin, used from £1.10). Written anonymously, in Latin, the book is a lesson in humility, particularly for writers: “Do not let the writer’s authority or learning influence you, be it little or great, but let the love of pure truth attract you to read.” All is vanity, he writes. The supreme wisdom is to despise the world. A Sor Juana Anthology by Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz, 1988 (Harvard University Press £21). Sor Juana renounced writing some years before her death. And if that isn’t enough to endear her to writers, there is this: she died while tending to the sick during an epidemic (the word pandemic had not yet been invented). With an introduction by the Mexican poet Octavio…

Tips of the week... how to do a digital spring clean ● Sift through your notifications settings and decide which apps you actually want to hear from. Allow only those. ● Clear out your photo folder, keeping just one picture where you have 15 versions of it, and get rid of things like screenshots. ● Download a password manager, like 1Password or Dashlane, to generate and save strong passwords for your accounts. Use two-factor authentication for important accounts to protect against phishing. ● Trawl through your deleted emails and click unsubscribe on all the circulars and so on that you don’t need to keep getting. ● At myactivity.google.com, you can find all of the ways Google has been monitoring you. You can delete all the information, and set up automatic…

Royal Dutch Shell: slashing the dividend “Not many constants have held steady in the City over the past 77 years,” said Lex in the FT: “a few ancient watering holes, the Bank of England and the rock-solid Royal Dutch Shell dividend.” That last one has now disappeared. Last week, Shell slashed its “sacrosanct” shareholder payment by two-thirds, the first such cut since WWII. Cutting the dividend should save Shell $10bn a year, according to Barclays. But think of the havoc it will cause “everyone managing a pension or investment fund”, said Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail. Shell and BP together pay out almost one-fifth of FTSE 100 dividends. Although more highly geared than its rival, BP has held its dividend. Why couldn’t Shell? Either CEO Ben van Beurden…

Bounce Back Loans alone won’t crack it Kate Burgess Financial Times The arrival of “Bounce Back Loans”, helping small businesses bridge the chasm in their finances created by Covid-19, appears to have eased a blockage, says Kate Burgess. Barclays reported it had 200 applications in the first minute of offering the rejigged scheme, which provides small firms with loans of up to £50,000. It’s easy to see why business owners are sold. Compared with its predecessor (the clunky Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme plan), BBLs are “easy-peasy” to apply for and loans don’t have to be repaid for six years. The scheme, which is 100% guaranteed by the Government, isn’t risk-free: “it sidesteps many of the bank’s normal regulatory checks” and “many financiers fear it will draw in fraudsters hoping…

“Few thought he could do it”, said The Times – but last week Matt Hancock defied the sceptics and smashed his target of delivering 100,000 Covid-19 tests a day by the end of the month. On 30 April, 122,347 tests were completed, up from a mere 10,000 a day just four weeks earlier. The Health Secretary had every right to laud this as an “incredible achievement”. One can quibble with how the figure was calculated, said Laura Hughes in the FT: 40,369 of the tests were regarded as “completed” simply by virtue of having been put in the post. But by setting a “big, hairy target”, Hancock did undeniably change the pace of things: it spurred the setting up of “superlabs” where rooms full of robots have processed 20,000 tests…

Oxford University’s Student Union has called for all “ableist, transphobic, classist and misogynistic content” to be removed from compulsory student reading lists. Though Oxford is in lockdown and students have gone home, the Union managed to pass a motion calling for minority groups to be protected from books and lectures containing “hateful material”. The university says it has no plans to introduce such a policy, while Professor Richard Dawkins questioned what students of history would be able to study if it did, given the prejudices of “just about everyone who ever lived before these privileged juveniles were born... If you don’t know what a university is for,” he added in his tweet, “please leave Oxford and make way for those who do.”…

Liverpool Regional variations: The northwest of England has overtaken London as the UK’s number one Covid-19 hotspot, in terms of the number of people in hospital with the virus. As of Sunday, there were 2,191 Covid-19 patients in hospital in the northwest, which includes the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, compared with 2,033 in the capital. The peak of hospitalisation there was on 13 April, five days later than in London; and the tail-off to the virus’s curve has been less steep than in London. Liverpool’s Labour mayor, Joe Anderson, said the figures were a tragedy but “not a coincidence”, and that “high levels of poverty and deprivation coupled with cuts to NHS services” had lead to higher mortality rates. According to a study published late last month, a third…

Horgan’s breakthrough When Sharon Horgan moved to London from Ireland in her 20s, she had vague plans to become an actor. Seven years later, she was working in a job centre, her creative pursuits limited to appearing in the odd play above a pub. Then a friend asked her to appear in a BBC pilot he was recording. “That was just way, way, beyond anything I could have dreamt of or hoped for,” she told Ben Machell in The Times. Arriving at the BBC, she was “shaking” with nerves. “I was convinced that I had nits. I remember walking past Joanna Lumley in reception and just having this vision of giving her nits.” She didn’t get that part but, a few weeks later, she bumped into a friend in a…

VE Day was celebrated around the world, across the Allied nations and the British Empire. In Paris, thousands of people flocked to the Champs-Élysées and crowds sang It’s a Long Way to Tipperary. In the US, 15,000 police were required to control the vast crowds in New York’s Times Square. Official celebrations, though, were muted out of respect for President Roosevelt, who had recently died. His successor, Harry Truman, ordered that flags be kept at half mast as part of the 30-day mourning period. Celebrations were also subdued in Australia and New Zealand, while the war with Japan continued. “Since when has it been customary to celebrate victory halfway through a contest?” asked The Sydney Morning Herald. Stalin, meanwhile, insisted that the Soviet Union maintain the agreed schedule and the…

Tell us if you’re bending the knee to Beijing Jonah Goldberg New York Post “No animals were harmed in the making of this film.” It was the much-publicised death of a horse during the filming of the 1939 movie Jesse James that forced US studios to start running that message in movie credits, says Jonah Goldberg. Perhaps it’s time we made them include another one, along these lines: “This film has been altered to fit the demands of the Chinese Communist Party.” Over the past decade or so, Hollywood has made countless changes to films to pacify Beijing. The 2012 remake of Red Dawn, for instance, was re-edited to turn the invaders from Chinese to North Koreans. The 2016 movie Doctor Strange changed a character from a Tibetan monk to…

Online searches for two malaria drugs surged after Donald Trump suggested they could be used to treat Covid-19. In recent weeks, Trump, Elon Musk and other public figures have suggested that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine offer protection against the disease, although there is no evidence to back that up, and the drugs can have serious side effects. To gauge what impact this had on consumers, scientists used Google Trends to analyse online searches for the drugs. They found that in the days after Trump and Musk’s statements, searches from people who appeared to be trying to buy the drugs shot up – by 1,389% in the case of hydroxychloroquine. “We estimate there were more than 200,000 total Google searches for buying these two drugs in only 14 days following high-profile endorsements,”…

“If you were to design a vulnerable target for a virulent new illness like Covid-19, it would be hard to come up with a better one than a care home,” said Juliet Samuel in The Daily Telegraph. It’s the “perfect breeding ground” for the virus: “two dozen elderly people, many with health conditions, all sharing kitchens, sitting rooms, books, TVs, playing cards and carers”. But it was only last week, when the Government began finally to include care-home deaths in the official death toll, that we found out exactly how “harrowing” the virus’ impact has been, said The Times. According to the most recent ONS data, the weekly number of virus-related deaths in care homes in England and Wales rose to 2,794 in the week to 24 April, up 36%…

“Be sincere. Be brief. Be seated.” Franklin D. Roosevelt’s advice on public speaking, quoted in The Times “A person can do as they will, but not will as they will.” Arthur Schopenhauer, quoted on The Browser “Time misspent in youth is sometimes all the freedom one ever has.” Anita Brookner, quoted in The New York Times “One is not born a woman: one becomes one.” Simone de Beauvoir, quoted in The Times “Every revolutionary opinion draws part of its strength from a secret conviction that nothing can be changed.” George Orwell, quoted on Vice “No Sir, there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn. A tavern chair is the throne of human felicity.” Dr…

Britain’s cinemas shut their doors in late March, abruptly ending theatre runs for dozens of new films. Here are five of the best to be granted an early digital release: Calm With Horses Douglas “Arm” Armstrong (Cosmo Jarvis) is the feared enforcer for a family of drug dealers in the west of Ireland, trying to please his employers, and be a good father to his autistic son, while battling his own rage. Gritty and poignant, and featuring some fine central performances. On Curzon Home Cinema. The Call of the Wild In the Klondike gold rush, a weathered old prospector (Harrison Ford) forms an unbreakable bond with a dog that has been uprooted from its home in California and set to work on a sledding team. It’s a gripping and touching…

From TV “talent” to market trader Chef and cookery writer Allegra McEvedy is probably best-known for her TV work (she is a judge on Junior Bake Off) and as the co-founder of the Leon chain. But for the past few weeks, she has been battling to save the project that is closest to her heart – Albertine, the cosy wine bar that her mother set up in the 1970s. Sarah McEvedy died in 1988, and for Allegra – who was 17 then – the wine bar, in London’s Shepherds Bush, had remained an “emotionally charged” place. So when it came up for sale in 2017, she bought it. Three years on, it was still going – an achievement in itself. Then came the lockdown. It hit at a bad time:…

Sea creatures print East End Prints have a huge selection of unusual prints on offer, like these sea creatures by Amber Davenport. Prints are available framed or unframed (from £20; eastendprints. co.uk). Cyberjammies Olivia floral print dressing gown This light dressing gown made from a cotton blend is perfect for summer. It’s machine-washable, and has a fresh floral design (£32; johnlewis.com). Billie lamp A striking, colourful lamp can have a big impact on a room. The Billie lamp has a soft blue glaze over a terracotta body. Shades are sold separately. You can choose one of the bold colours in their range, or use one of your own (from £182; laurielamps.com). Houtique Tropicana lamp Created by the Milan-based designer Serena Confalonieri, these cheerful and delicate Tropicana lights are inspired by…

Global stock markets nudged higher as investors focused on the gradual reopening of the world’s big economies. The oil price rallied on hopes of revived economic activity and evidence that production cuts are starting to counter the supply glut: the price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, surged 12% on Tuesday to above $30. But the stand-off between Washington and Beijing over the origins of the pandemic stoked fears that the trade war between the world’s two largest economies could reignite. EU-UK trade talks were reported to be heading for crisis ahead of the next round of negotiations next week. There’s agreement on basic free trade discussions, but continued wrangling on key issues including data sharing, competition rules and fishing. Talks between the UK and US on a post-Brexit trade…

● Under pressure Is the pound headed for “a new bout of volatility”? Investors seem to fear so, said Philip Georgiadis in FT Money. Fund managers and others trading in the futures market “have increased their bets” against sterling “to the highest level of the year”. Indeed, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, “sterling shorts have overtaken longs for the first time since mid-December”. Bets against the pound “have been linked in recent years to sentiment about the prospects for Brexit”, said Emily Gosden in The Times. Although the damage wrought by the pandemic is also affecting sentiment, it looks like nothing much has changed. The pound’s “slip” to around $1.24 is linked to renewed “concerns about a lack of progress in talks for a new trade…

Elon Musk Ah, new fatherhood – how it makes one reassess one’s priorities. Just ask Elon Musk. In the run-up to the birth of his child on Monday, the Tesla founder was “kvetching” at state-imposed “fascist” lockdowns, said Antony Currie on Reuters Breakingviews. Truth is, Tesla is having a pretty good crisis: “its $160bn valuation bests all but Toyota”. But even that seems to have offended Musk, who went on to wipe some $14bn off the electric carmaker’s value (and a good $3bn off his own) by tweeting that, in his opinion, the “stock price is too high”. In a bizarre series of further posts, the entrepreneur outlined that he is “selling almost all physical possessions” and “will own no house”, adding that his girlfriend, the musician Grimes, is “mad…

Football: when should the Premier League return? “Disinfected footballs. Training in face masks. Ghostly games in deserted stadiums. Testing regimes and quarantine bubbles.” That’s what the Premier League could look like, if the current season is resumed, said James Gheerbrant in The Times. It has been on hold since 13 March, leaving 92 matches still to be played. But the league is now pursuing what it calls “Project Restart”: a plan to conclude the season during the pandemic. The hope is that the first games could take place in mid-June, with the season coming to a close in late July. But those matches would have to be held behind closed doors, in neutral stadiums, to ensure that no club’s home fans are tempted to congregate outside. And players would have…