Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1344 i The Week

What happened “Code red for humanity” A landmark study called this week for the world to take urgent action to curb climate change before it was too late. The report by the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) concluded for the first time that the evidence human activity was warming the atmosphere, oceans and land was “unequivocal”. It was now likely, it said, that by 2040, and possibly much earlier, the Earth’s average temperature would rise by more than 1.5°C above preindustrial levels – the limit set in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Heatwaves, droughts, floods and other extreme weather events will become more frequent, and sea levels would be “very likely” to keep on rising; rises of up to two metres by 2100 are possible. But the report added…

Rihanna, who was named as the world’s richest female musician, with an estimated £1.2bn fortune. But though the singer has had a string of hits, most of her fortune derives from her cosmetics business. Rihanna (real name Robyn Fenty) launched Fenty Beauty in 2017, in partnership with LVMH. Her aim, she said, was to cater to “every type of woman”, with “all skin tones”. TikTok, which overtook Facebook Messenger to become the most downloaded app in 2020. The Chinese video-sharing platform was the only app in the top five not owned by Facebook. Space tourists, with news that Virgin Galactic is now taking bookings for its space flights. Prices start at $450,000 for a seat.…

42% of Scottish adults would like to see an independence referendum held in the next five years; 40% are against it. 14% did not express an opinion. Asked if they thought the Yes side would win, were a referendum to be held in six months, 40% of respondents said they thought it would, while 36% said they thought the No side would win. Redfield & Wilton Strategies/The National Over a third of doctors (37%) have experienced abuse at work in the last month, including 51% of GPs. Half have seen colleagues being abused. In hospitals, most of the witnessed abuse was directed at nurses; GPs were more likely to see it directed at reception staff. 67% of GPs say the abuse has got worse in the past year. The BMA/The…

Lalibela, Ethiopia Rock churches under threat: A Unesco World Heritage site, famed for its cave churches, was seized by Tigrayan rebels last week. The 11 rock-hewn churches, built by King Lalibela in the 13th century, are a sacred pilgrimage centre for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, and could well be destroyed should Ethiopian forces launch a counter-attack on the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The civil war in Ethiopia has been raging ever since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed authorised an attack on TPLF last November. Mocímboa da Praia, Mozambique Rebel stronghold falls: The Mozambique army, aided by troops from Rwanda, has retaken the key port of Mocímboa da Praia from Islamist extremists. Over the past two years, the town had served as a base for the insurgents in their fight to control…

How we’ve been radicalised by the experts Josh Glancy The Times One curious aspect of this pandemic, says Josh Glancy, has been the rise of wild conspiracy theories. And not just among QAnon types or anti-vaxxers. An increasing number of my once liberal, sober-minded friends share similar beliefs – that the mainstream media is suppressing the truth about vaccine side effects; that the virus is a Chinese bio-weapon. What’s got into them? Doubtless social media is partly to blame for spreading crank theories, but there’s another factor fuelling this radicalism: the arrogance of the health experts who’ve held sway during the crisis. Consider all the blood-curdling warnings issued before the unlocking of England last month. Dr Mike Ryan of the WHO damned it as an act of “moral emptiness”; Professor…

Disney has been maligned Disney princesses have got a bad rap from some feminists, who have accused them of perpetuating antiquated stereotypes about helpless women who need rescuing by males of the strong and silent type. Indeed, one scientist in the US was so anxious about the impact of her own daughter’s obsession with Disney, she organised a study into the issue. In 2012, Professor Sarah Coyne, of Brigham Young University, recruited around 300 four-and five-year-olds – boys and girls – and interviewed them and their parents about their favourite toys, films and games. A year later, she found that the boys and girls who engaged with “princess” culture were more likely to display stereotypically female traits. The finding triggered scores of articles about the impact of gendered play, and…

“Boris Johnson, eh? What’s he like,” asked Katie Edwards in The Independent. When it comes to making ill-judged jokes, the PM just can’t seem to help himself. In his latest, on a visit to a windfarm on the east coast of Scotland last week, he suggested that Margaret Thatcher had helped decarbonise the economy by closing coal mines. Thanks to her, he said, “we had a big early start and we’re now moving rapidly away from coal altogether”. Laughing, he then told reporters: “I thought that would get you going.” Unsurprisingly, the joke sparked a fierce backlash: Labour called it “shameful”; Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon labelled it “crass and deeply insensitive”. And for people like me, who hail from pit communities that were devastated by Thatcher’s brutal closures, it…

So that’s finally it, said Sid Lowe in The Guardian. Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest footballer of all time, is to leave Barcelona, the club he joined at the age of 14 and where he has spent his entire career. For 17 consecutive seasons he has played for them, winning 35 trophies and scoring 672 goals in 778 appearances (the most by any player for one club). To Barcelona fans he is a god. But at a press conference last Sunday, the Argentine broke down in tears after confirming that he is indeed heading for the exit. At the conference Messi revealed that he’d been close to signing a new contract, having agreed to a 50% pay cut. But Barcelona, citing financial difficulties, then pulled out of the deal. It…

To The Daily Telegraph I was surprised by Simon Heffer’s claim that pensioners have “enjoyed remarkably good times”. The over-75s have just had their net income reduced by £160 due to the withdrawal of the free television licence. Pensioners are also taxpayers, and make a net contribution to the economy of some £60bn a year. In the last decade, we have seen a massive effective transfer of income from pensioners to young housebuyers through low interest rates, which have decimated savers’ incomes. But the greatest unfairness comes from the focus on percentage increases, which give more to those who already have, such as Mr Heffer, and next to nothing to those at the bottom end. Many of our members are either on pension credit or just over the limit, which…

Isata Kanneh-Mason: Summertime Decca Classics £10.99 The British pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason is a “profound and greatly gifted artist” with a “virtuoso technique”, said Jeremy Nicholas in Gramophone. What truly sets her apart, though, is her ability to “engage your emotions”. For her second solo album, she bypasses the “over-recorded mittel-European 19th century repertoire”, and instead gives us a “fresh mix” of American works, and also four by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, on which she “radiates” warmth and joy. There is a “magically atmospheric” rendition of the Summertime section from Earl Wild’s Fantasy on Porgy and Bess, and a “thrilling, engrossing” account of Samuel Barber’s Sonata that places Kanneh-Mason in the front rank of interpreters of that “ferociously difficult” work. Kanneh-Mason brings “muscularity and grandeur” to the Barber, and displays her “jazzy flamboyance”…

Two years ago, Channel 4 gave us the series I Am..., comprising three hour-long dramas devised in collaboration with the lead actresses – Vicky McClure (I Am Nicola), Samantha Morton (I am Kirsty) and Gemma Chan (I am Hannah). These were “strikingly truthful stories told in a strikingly truthful way”, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. Now a second season is here, with a different trio – Suranne Jones, Letitia Wright and Lesley Manville – but “no less power or commitment”. “Jones can go straight to the Baftas without passing Go” for her performance in I Am Victoria, said Benji Wilson in The Daily Telegraph. Playing an affluent working mother “caught in a frenzy of lifestyle perfection”, she gives “a masterclass in gilded fragility”, constantly wiping down gloss-white surfaces and…

Best books… Rachel Kushner The US novelist chooses her five favourite books. The Hard Crowd, her first collection of essays, is published by Jonathan Cape. She is speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on 17 August (edbookfest.co.uk) The Bikeriders by Danny Lyon, 1967 (Aperture £25.95). This masterpiece of “new photojournalism” portrays members of an outlaw motorcycle club from Chicago and gives a sense of their lives in a time of great upheaval. There’s an honesty and beauty in the moments Lyon captures, no doubt on account of his commitment to understand rather than judge. Also, the women in the Bikeriders are my attitude and fashion idols. Their hair is pretty good, too. Angels by Denis Johnson, 1983 (Vintage £9.99). I write about Johnson in my latest book, and I…

Autocar To celebrate the Boxster’s 25th birthday, Porsche has released a limited-edition version of the car often credited with turning the luxury marque around. In essence, the Porsche Boxster 25 Years is simply last year’s 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 with a few cosmetic tweaks; no bad thing, of course, considering that car was “already arguably the greatest Boxster in the model’s quarter-century”. Top Gear The special edition is twice as expensive as the early Boxsters it is celebrating, and around £6,000 more than the 718 GTS 4.0 it is based on, but Porsche promises it has £10,000 worth of extra equipment, including fancier seats, a heated steering wheel, and the Porsche Dynamic Light System. A paddleshift gearbox is an option, “but c’mon, this is a retro throwback – stay manual”.…

The new Travelling Feast sees the food trucks of Michelin-starred chefs move between three different locations in Cornwall, like a circus of fine food (6-20 August, day tickets from £42 adult, £21 child; travellingfeast.co.uk). More than 200 music and comedy events, well-being sessions, family shows and talks are jammed into the programme for Fringe by the Sea in North Berwick (6-15 August, ticket prices vary, fringebythesea.com). The family-friendly Solfest in Cumbria provides rocking entertainment in a rural setting, with headliners Basement Jaxx, Razorlight, The Amazons and Maxïmo Park (26-29 August, day tickets from £38 adult, £11 child; solfest.co.uk). Margate’s vintage-style seaside theme park, Dreamland, mixes it up with its season-long Summer Social, featuring live DJs, concerts, street-food stalls and Margate’s biggest beer garden (until 23 September, free to enter, dreamlandsummersocial.co.uk).…

The Bank of England raised its inflation forecast for the end of the year to 4%, indicating that “some modest tightening of monetary policy is likely to be necessary” over the next two years. The first increase, to about 0.25%, is expected next year, with rates reaching 0.5% in 2024. Wall Street stocks jumped after the US Senate passed a $1trn infrastructure package – one of the largest federal investments in roads, bridges and rail in a decade. Investor confidence in Germany slumped to its lowest level this year on fears of new Delta variant cases and global materials shortages. David Cameron made around $10m from Greensill Capital before the finance company collapsed, according to documents obtained by the BBC’s Panorama, including $4.5m after cashing in shares in 2019. The…

● Bad/good news “Much can be gauged by the relationship between stocks (which gain on optimism) and gold (which gains on pessimism),” said John Authers on Bloomberg. A rising gold price signals concerns about currency debasement and inflation; “it’s a hedge against central banks losing control”. So what should we make of this week’s gold “flash crash”, in which the precious metal lost 4% of its value in a single session during Asian hours on Monday, before recovering by almost 2% to $1,730 per oz? Bad news for goldbugs would seem to indicate better news for the rest of us. ● Gold, oil and the dollar The sharp fall was certainly in line with the overall trend, said Neil Hume and Henry Sanderson in the FT. “Traditionally considered a haven…

Scarlett Johansson Gone With the Wind star Olivia de Havilland “set Hollywood aflame in the 1940s” when she won a law suit against Warner Bros. to escape a punitive exclusive contract, and struck a blow for actors’ independence, said the FT. Can Scarlett Johansson, 36, set a similar precedent over streaming? The “mega-actress” claims Disney used the movie Black Widow to lure punters to its streaming service and juice its stock price, at her expense – as her “bonus was tied to box office sales”. Disney has responded with “venom”, no doubt to discourage others. But even if Johansson wins, she probably won’t prompt a “watershed moment” given the reduced power of stars in the streaming economy. Musician Taylor Swift’s Spotify boycott ended in surrender after three years. Johansson is…

Controversy of the week Jabs for teenagers “Any parent can be forgiven for feeling perplexed, if not alarmed,” said Paul McKay in the Daily Mail. Three weeks ago, the government publicly ruled out the vaccination of healthy children. Yet now the NHS is pushing “full steam ahead” with plans to offer all 16- and 17-year-olds a dose of the Pfizer jab. But rest assured: there’s nothing sinister in this. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has just re-assessed its position in light of recent findings. Scientists are now confident the jab is safe for teenagers. And though it’s clear that the 1.4 million teens eligible for the jab are in very little danger of developing serious symptoms of Covid-19 themselves, they can still infect the vulnerable and unvaccinated.…

David Cameron, who was forced to deny claims that over two-and-a-half years, he was paid $10m in cash and benefits by Greensill Capital. He also denied reports that he had lobbied Matt Hancock, the then health secretary, on behalf of a second firm, US biotech company Illumina, which later won a £123m genetic sequencing contract from the Government. Roaming, after Vodafone became the second mobile phone giant to say it planned to reintroduce fees for using UK phones in the European Union. The charges, of up to £2 a day, will apply to new and upgrading customers from January 2022. WFH, after Google employees in the US were warned that if they opt to work from home permanently, they may face a pay cut – dependent on where they live.…

Rome “Godmother” arrested: A suspected Mafia boss dubbed ‘a piccerella or the “Little One” for her diminutive size was arrested last Saturday, while trying to board a flight to Spain. Maria Licciardi, 70, was detained at Rome’s Ciampino airport as she checked in her luggage. Investigators claim Licciardi, whom they have been hunting for more than ten years, is a leading figure in the Camorra, the group responsible for much of the organised crime in Naples. Also known as The Godmother, she is said to have inspired the character of an aspiring gang leader in the award-winning Italian TV series Gomorrah. Paris Covid pass: The French government has pushed ahead with its plans to extend the country’s health pass, despite another weekend of mass protests – the fourth in a…

Growing up with Ian Dury Baxter Dury had an unconventional childhood in 1970s London: the musician’s parents were separated, and for a period he lived in a flat with his father – the rock star Ian Dury – and a fearsome drug dealer known as “The Sulphate Strangler”. Life in the flat was chaotic and unpredictable: it involved a lot of drink and drugs and once, the Strangler, a 6ft 7-inch giant, tried to squeeze the life out of Baxter for stealing the laundry money. Yet he remembers being “genuinely happy” in that time. Yes, Strangler was “mad”, he told Simon Hattenstone in The Guardian; but he was also “funny and kind and sweet”. Looking back, Baxter isn’t sure what role his father had intended Strangler – real name Pete…

A devout Russian Orthodox Christian is suing McDonald’s, for tempting her to break her meat-free Lent fast. Ksenia Ovchinnikova alleges that the fast-food chain’s advertisement for its cheeseburger and chicken nuggets was so mouthwatering, she couldn’t help but succumb. “I visited McDonald’s and bought a cheeseburger,” she told the court. She is seeking 1,000 roubles (about £10) in moral damages; but her own Church was not impressed. The Moscow Patriarchate’s office advised that she should “go to confession not to court”. The floods that swept Glasgow this week brought misery to many, but there were pockets of light relief. One resident of the city, surveying the water coursing down his street, was startled to see a woman in a mermaid costume attempting to swim in the flood. Unfortunately, the water…

JAPAN Tokyo’s apologetic medallists The New York Times The “wrenching” sight of Japanese athletes apologising for their failure to win gold medals has been a familiar one at the Tokyo Olympics, says Motoko Rich. Even second-place finishes have triggered tearful expressions of remorse. “I’m truly sorry,” said wrestler Kenichiro Fumita after winning a silver medal, that “I ended up with this shameful result.” These emotional displays of repentance seem to reflect an “absurdly unforgiving” view of success. So what explains them? Partly, they’re an extreme form of the apologies that are “everyday social lubricants” in Japan. On entering someone’s home, a visitor “literally says sorry”; workers taking time off apologise for burdening colleagues. But athletes’ apologies also reflect an instinct cultivated from childhood: that failure to achieve the best result…

Until recently, scientists thought that only humans and killer whales went through menopause. Then it turned out that female elephants also live well beyond their reproductive years; now, scientists have found that giraffes do too. Although giraffes were previously considered to have relatively weak family structures, the new study has shown that, like elephants and orcas, they live in complex, cooperative groups – and that the females can live up to eight years (around 30% of their lives) in a post-reproductive state. “It is baffling to me that such a large, iconic and charismatic African species has been understudied for so long,” said study co-author Zoe Muller of the University of Bristol. In groups of killer whales, the presence of older females has been shown to improve the survival rate…

Boris Johnson has told friends that he’ll be returning to Scotland for his holidays “over my dead body”. In 2020, he and his then-fiancée Carrie Symonds rented a house on the Applecross Peninsula, only to have to cut short the trip when its location was leaked to the press. Now, it transpires that that wasn’t the only drama. At one point, the PM went paddle-boarding and was swept out to sea by the current. Protection officers watching from the shore were so worried, they considered calling out a helicopter, but the PM paddled back half way, where he was met by officers who had swum out to save him. “It was fine in the end but it could have been a catastrophe,” a source told The Times. Donald Trump’s personal…

“The real problem of humanity is the following: We have Palaeolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology.” Biologist E.O. Wilson, quoted in The New Yorker “What’s the use of falling in love if you both remain inertly as-you-were?” Novelist Mary McCarthy, quoted on BrainPickings.org “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons history has to teach.” Aldous Huxley, quoted in The Washington Post “How is it possible to expect that mankind will take advice, when they will not so much as take warning?” Jonathan Swift, quoted in Forbes “The past is never where you think you left it.” Writer Katherine Anne Porter, quoted in The New York Times “However airy the enclosure they inhabit, it’s still a cage.”…

Football Chelsea have re-signed Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, agreeing to pay Inter Milan £97.5m for the striker. The Belgian, 28, previously played for the Blues from 2011 to 2014, making just 15 appearances. Tennis Jannik Sinner won the Citi Open in Washington DC to claim the biggest tournament of his career so far. The Italian, 19, beat the US’s Mackenzie McDonald 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in the final. Olympics The US finished top of the medals table, winning 39 gold medals. China, in second place, won 38; Japan, in third, won 27.…

The Maltese Falcon Released in 1941, John Huston’s adaptation of the novel by Dashiell Hammett laid the groundwork for film noir with its labyrinthine plot, moody lighting, femme fatale (Mary Astor) and jaded, tough-guy detective (Humphrey Bogart). Double Indemnity Released in 1944, Billy Wilder’s drama crystallised the new style with its dramatic visual approach and wildly cynical plot. Barbara Stanwyck stars as the housewife who lures Fred MacMurray’s insurance man into murder in this adaptation of James M. Cain’s novel. Laura The rich array of twisted character studies is what sets Otto Preminger’s 1944 film apart. Gene Tierney plays the advertising girl onto whom a procession of upper-class men project their ideals; Dana Andrews is the detective who must investigate her murder. The Big Sleep Adapted from Raymond Chandler’s detective…

Neil and Jazzer’s conversation is interrupted when they spot Shula riding in the distance. The horse rears up and Shula is thrown to the ground. Neil calls an ambulance and emotionally tells the unconscious Shula that he is with her and not going anywhere. Recovering at home with her arm in a sling, Shula is visited by Susan, who is surprised to learn that, unbeknown to her, Neil arranged to help Shula with her shed. Ruari takes the chance to acknowledge his bisexuality to Jennifer and Brian and counsels them about Alice’s alcoholism. Susan warns Neil that people are starting to gossip about the amount of time he is spending with Shula. The next day, he drops in on Shula and cooks her dinner, making a fuss when she spills…

What the experts recommend The rehabilitation of butter In Colorado, a butter bar has opened, serving “flights” of flavoured handmade butter, says Clare Finney in The Guardian. The idea sounds so pretentious it’s easy to laugh, and yet it could be argued that Bella La Crema is the “next step” in a movement that has been gathering pace for years. Two decades ago, hardly any chefs made their own butter. Then Heston Blumenthal began serving his goat’s milk butter at The Fat Duck, and others followed suit. At The Sportsman in Kent, Stephen Harris churned butter from local milk and flavoured it with salt he made by boiling seawater. Soon, chefs were “pushing the boundaries of flavoured butter, enveloping herbs, spices, vegetables and meat into its golden folds”. We’ve now…

Yoto Headphones These excellent portable headphones fold up neatly into their cloth carry bag, and feel really durable without seeming bulky. Plus the sound is warm and deep (£24.99; uk.yotoplay. com). BuddyPhones  School+ Headphones A fantastic option for home school – with a mic that is great at cancelling out background noise – these are really light (90g), well made, and comfortably padded (£26.90; amazon.co.uk). Groov-e Kidz Wireless DJ  Style Bluetooth Headphones With no padding on the headband, the Groov-e headphones aren’t the most comfortable, but they more than make up for that with their great sound and crisp mic for a low price (£24.99; groov-e.co.uk). Planet Buddies Colour & Swap Headphones Eco brand Planet Buddies deploys no single-use plastics in any of its products. The headphones offer decent sound…

Eloquent physicist who unlocked the secrets of the universe Steven Weinberg 1933-2021 One of the most brilliant theoretical physicists of his generation, Steven Weinberg, who has died aged 88, shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work into the nature of forces. His research built on that of Albert Einstein, whose dream was to find a single theory that could account for the four known fundamental forces in the universe (gravity, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force). It was one of Weinberg’s great achievements to join two of them, with his unified theory of electromagnetism and weak interactions, said The Daily Telegraph; this work provides the basis for the Standard Model of particle physics, the “framework constantly being tested by the Large Hadron Collider”. Steven…

“Few figures have ruffled the feathers of the City establishment” quite like Mike Ashley – the unpredictable “tracksuit and trainer tycoon” who founded Sports Direct and built the sprawling high street empire Frasers, said Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph. News of his exit has ruffled some more. The bombastic entrepreneur is quitting as CEO, in favour of the group’s “head of elevation” Michael Murray, 31, a relatively inexperienced consultant who doubles as Ashley’s prospective son-in-law. “Let’s hope he goes through with the marriage or there’ll be some awkward board meetings.” Shares in the group, in which Ashley has a controlling 64% stake, yo-yoed. Traders quickly wised up that this is “a transfer of power in name only”, observed Nils Pratley in The Guardian. Despite listing in 2007, Frasers is…

“Boris vs. Rishi hasn’t quite reached Blair-versus-Brown standards of hand-to-hand combat,” said Robert Crampton in The Times, “but the neighbourly conflict between Nos. 10 and 11 is escalating nicely.” Last weekend it was reported that the PM – apparently “apoplectic” about the Chancellor’s call to ease travel restrictions – had even aired the possibility of “demoting his heir apparent” to Health Secretary. Both parties have since made efforts to smooth over the cracks. Still, tensions remain over “a series of dividing lines” ranging from social care funding to “levelling up”, said Rowena Mason in The Guardian. At their heart is “an ideological split”. Johnson has pledged to end austerity and wants “big spending to deliver his priorities”, even after the economic blow of the pandemic. The Chancellor is “much more…

The week’s best shares Anglo American Investors Chronicle Strong demand for Chinese metals has driven record profits for the diversified miner. Iron ore production rose 3%, copper by 5% – and the Quellaveco mine should boost production next year. Yields 5.3%. Buy. £32.78. Ibstock The Times Improved production facilities should help to propel the brickmaker’s margins. Rising costs for materials and freight are being absorbed by customers, thanks to a strong demand and a supply shortage. Buy. 221p. Legal & General Group The Times The life insurer’s potential 6.8% yield looks secure given 14% profit growth and an identical uplift in cash generation. Activity in the US is set to improve, and there’s potential to grab market share. Buy. 263.8p. Rentokil Initial Investors Chronicle The core pest control unit has…

The Sun was still low in the sky on the spring morning last year when Martin Papworth, a National Trust archaeologist, arrived in the Dorset village of Cerne Abbas. Setting off along a wooded path at the foot of Giant Hill, he carried a bucket of excavation tools in each hand. Cerne Abbas is an ancient settlement. At one end of the village, beneath a meadow, lie the foundations of what was, a thousand years ago, a thriving abbey. Close by is a spring-fed well named for St. Augustine, the sixth-century monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Atop Giant Hill lies an earthwork known as the Trendle, possibly an Iron Age temple or burial mound. The object of Papworth’s interest was another mysterious man-made part of the landscape:…

It was always likely that the pandemic, and its associated restrictions, would be a boon to streaming services, and so it has proved: new figures show that for the first time, a majority of British households (52%) are subscribed to Netflix. The streaming giant now has 14 million UK subscribers, three million of whom signed up in 2020. Overall, the average UK resident spent five hours and 40 minutes a day watching screen-based content, almost an hour more than in 2019. But traditional TV saw its audience share decline, from 67% to 61%. And while over-45s typically watched channels such as the BBC for more than three hours a day, those aged 16 to 24 tuned in for just 17 minutes, down from more than 60.…

Pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have achieved the best A-level results ever, raising fears of a squeeze on university places. With exams cancelled for a second year, students were again graded by teacher assessment, though with modifications to the system used last year. And the trend for higher results persisted, with nearly 45% of entries receiving either an A or A* grade, compared with 38% in 2020 and 25% in 2019. The biggest beneficiaries were private school pupils, whose proportion of top grades rose nine points to 70%; at state schools, the rise was six points. In Scotland, the proportion of children getting A grades in their Highers and Advanced Highers also rose, to almost 20 points above pre-pandemic levels.…

Albany, New York Cuomo quits: New York State’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, resigned this week, days after a five-month investigation concluded that he had sexually harassed 11 women. The report, by the state attorney general, also found that his administration had been “rife with bullying and intimidation”. Announcing his resignation, Cuomo criticised the report, and said he didn’t feel his behaviour had “crossed a line”. However, he acknowledged that the women had been offended by his behaviour, and said he was “deeply” sorry. Cuomo, 63, whose serious-minded briefings made him a star of the early stages of the pandemic, initially looked as though he planned to tough it out, but senior Democrats including President Biden had urged him to quit, and he’d been threatened with impeachment. Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul will…

Glasgow Flood chaos: Torrential rain wreaked havoc across Glasgow this week: trains were cancelled as railway lines turned into canals (pictured), roads became impassable, and on one street, around 50 families had to be evacuated from their homes as flood waters reached 4ft. Businesses were forced to close, and in one dramatic moment caught on camera, rain came pouring into a branch of TK Maxx on Sauchiehall Street, causing parts of its ceiling to collapse. The downpours caused similar disruption in Edinburgh, and more rain was forecast for several parts of the country. Nottingham Nudist campaign: A regular visitor to Sherwood Forest has launched a petition calling for its operators to “stop promoting nudity”. The RSPB, which runs the woodland along with Nottingham Council, says naturists have enjoyed walking through…

The hidden tax that robs the poor of dignity Annie Lowrey The Atlantic Progressives may be cheered to hear that the Biden administration is expanding the welfare state through a new child tax credit and other initiatives. But far more important than creating new programmes for the poor, sick and needy is to make the existing ones work, says Annie Lowrey. It’s impossible to exaggerate how hard it is for Americans to access the safety net that’s meant to be there for them in times of trouble. Partly that’s because US social security is so fragmented: federal, state and local offices each administer different systems under different rules. But even more, it’s because the government rations access to the system by forcing applicants to negotiate an endless series of obstacles:…

Children who become ill with the coronavirus usually recover quite quickly, a new study has found. Fewer than one in 20 children who experience symptoms are still symptomatic a month later; and most recover within a week, according to an analysis of data on 1,734 children from five to 17 years old, reported to the Zoe Covid Symptom Study app last autumn and winter. Headaches and tiredness were the most common symptoms reported. “Can children have prolonged illness after Covid-19? Yes they can, but it’s not common and most of these children get better with time,” said Emma Duncan, a professor of clinical endocrinology at King’s College London. A separate survey by the Office for National Statistics found that 34,000 under-18s in the UK are currently experiencing prolonged symptoms of…

“Like many people, I’ve spent a lot of this year playing the great new game of holiday roulette,” said Rachel Cooke in The Guardian. It began in January when a group of us gambled on booking a house in rural France. Our bet appeared to pay off last week when France was put back on the amber list, meaning that fully vaccinated Britons can visit the country without having to quarantine on their return. But my friends and I are now caught up in another game: negotiating our way through the confusing rules on Covid tests. It’s a complex business, said Janet Street-Porter in The Independent. For most purposes, cheap lateral flow tests are deemed sufficient. But even fully vaccinated people have to take more expensive PCR tests two days…

The Olympics: Team GB and “the miracle of Tokyo” Postponed for a year and then playing to empty stadiums: this was in many ways a downbeat Olympics, said Ben Bloom in The Daily Telegraph. But it was a bumper one where Team GB was concerned. Its haul of 65 medals – equalling its tally at the 2012 London Games and just two short of the 67 won in Rio in 2016 – far exceeded expectations. In the final week, the medals had kept on coming: there was a gold apiece for husband-and-wife Laura and Jason Kenny, the “golden couple” of British cycling (with his victory in the keirin event, Jason became Britain’s most decorated Olympian ever, with seven gold medals to his name). There were golds in both the women…

Greasy political palms To the Financial Times We learn (“Elite Tory donors’ club holds secret meeting with Johnson”) that wealthy people can pay £250,000 a year to buy regular access to senior ministers, and that the Labour party runs a similar scheme, which costs £5,000 a year. Both sides point the finger at the other but deny that their own scheme involves any impropriety. What better evidence could there be of the current state of British politics? Patrick Gray, secretary, Radical Reform, Oxford The great betrayal To The Times From 2004 to 2007 I had the privilege of living and working in Afghanistan, helping to rebuild the country. My time was mostly spent in Kunduz and Taloqan, two towns utterly opposed to the Taliban but which have, in the past…

Programmes The Secret World of Crisps Dawn French narrates a documentary looking at the cut-throat industry behind the marketing of our favourite savoury snacks. Sun 15 Aug, C4 20:00 (60mins). Children of 9/11: Our Story Nearly 20 years on from 9/11, six young people who lost parents in the 9/11 attacks talk about them and the events that followed. Mon 16 Aug, C4 21:00 (120mins). Britain’s Puppy Boom: Counting the Cost Vet Fabian Rivers explores the huge rise in dog ownership since the first lockdown, and reveals how demand for the most popular breeds has given rise to a trade in illegally imported puppies. Wed 18 Aug, BBC1 22:35 (60mins). BBC Proms: A Night at the Opera Opera stars and the BBC Philharmonic perform excerpts from works including Handel’s Rodelinda,…

It takes a bit of skill to do it, but burning food on embers creates wonderful flavour, says Martin Keane, the founder of Woodsmith. Take our perfectly burnt salsa, which involves cooking veg and citrus in the embers until they’re just so. After being skinned, chopped and squeezed, the ingredients are turned into a delicious salsa to dollop onto your favourite something grilled. Serves 8 8-10 logs (applewood is best) 6 tomatoes 4 onions 4 peppers 6 chillies 1 bulb of garlic 2 limes handful of chopped coriander 50ml olive oil salt & pepper • Prepare your fire. Once you have a good bed of coals from the fire, you are ready to cook. All of the ingredients will be cooked directly in the embers so will remain whole and…

● Don’t bother pre-rinsing, says Liam McCabe of Wirecutter. Modern dishwashers are designed to clean dishes that are actually dirty, and if you skip the pre-rinse, you’ll save water, energy and effort. ● Experiment with detergents. When it comes to cleaning, good detergent is more important than a good dishwasher. Look for protease, amylase, subtilisin, or just generic “enzymes” in the ingredients. ● Try a rinse aid. It reduces chalky water spots, stops hazy films being left behind and helps dishes dry more completely. ● Load it well. Aim the dirtiest surfaces down, towards the wash arms. Also, try not to load very crusty dishes in the corners of the upper racks because that’s where the cleaning action is weakest. ● Don’t forget the maintenance. Whenever you notice a drop…

Virgin Atlantic: float rumour Refused state aid last summer and close to collapse, Virgin Atlantic managed to secure a £200m injection from a US hedge fund as part of a £1.2bn restructuring. Insiders warned then it would be “little more than a sticking plaster”, said Oliver Gill in The Sunday Telegraph. Now the renewed quest for cash may force Richard Branson to relinquish control completely of the airline he founded in 1984. Virgin Atlantic has reportedly hired Citi and Barclays to advise on “a surprise public debut on the London Stock Exchange”. The airline – 51% owned by the Virgin Group and the remainder held by US carrier Delta – has dismissed the story as “speculation”. But if the float goes ahead, Branson, an “arch-opponent” of Brexit, will probably…

A tobacco company that tries to profit from treating lung diseases “invites unflattering comparisons with the man who, having killed his mother and father”, asks the court for mercy because he is an orphan, said Dasha Afanasieva on Reuters Breakingviews. Yet that is what the world’s largest tobacco company, Marlboro-maker Philip Morris, is seeking to do, with its £1bn bid for Vectura, a UK pharma specialising in medical inhalers. Philip Morris’s pitch – that it “wants to be a ‘wellness’ company and will quit fags one day, honest” – has infuriated medical groups, said Nils Pratley in The Guardian. Rival bidder Carlyle – a major US private equity firm that is hardly “the embodiment of saintliness” – thus finds itself in the unusual position of being able to present itself…

Why recovery will be slower than expected David Smith The Times This week has heralded some spectacular figures for the economy: the forecast 4.8% rise in second-quarter growth translates into an “annual rise of around 22%”, a number we’d be lucky to achieve over ten years in normal circumstances. “Savour the moment,” says David Smith. It’s a one-off. This year’s Q2 figure looks great as it’s being compared with the particularly “depressed lockdown levels” of the equivalent April-June quarter in 2020. But signs are that consumers are “adopting a cautious approach” and the pace of growth is slackening. In its monthly assessment, the British Retail Consortium describes sales as “strong, but slowing”, a finding backed by Bank of America’s UK “consumer whisperer” survey, which sees confidence levelling off due to…