Innholdsfortegnelse for 1410 i The Week

What happened Fears that Nato allies could be dragged into direct involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine were stoked this week when a missile landed in Poland, a Nato member, killing two people. The strike, on a farm four miles from the country’s eastern border, came as Russia launched a renewed aerial bombardment of Ukraine, leading to power cuts in cities across the country. But although Ukraine was quick to describe the blast in Poland as a Russian attack, the US and others seemed anxious to avoid any suggestion that a collective Nato response might be in order. Poland’s President Duda echoed US officials in saying that the missile had most likely been fired by Ukrainian air defences. This week’s bombardment of Ukraine came days after Russian troops retreated from…

Was realising the dream of the Middle East’s first World Cup worth it, asked Andrew England in the FT. “Qatar is about to find out.” The Gulf kingdom has spent $6.5bn on stadiums and facilities and $200bn on infrastructure in order to host the tournament, which kicks off on Sunday. But ever since it was awarded the World Cup by Fifa in 2010, “ceaseless questions” have been asked about the “morality” of the decision. Within months, allegations of bribery were made against members of Fifa’s executive committee who voted for Qatar. Because of the country’s climate, the tournament had to be moved to the winter, disrupting the football season. Concerns have been expressed about Qatar’s lack of media freedom, its anti-gay laws and its lack of football heritage. Most of…

Paris Airport man dies: The man whose story inspired the Steven Spielberg film The Terminal has died in the airport where he lived for 18 years. Born in Iran in 1945, Mehran Karimi Nasseri came to Europe in the 1970s in search of his biological mother, reported the BBC, claiming to have been expelled from Iran for protesting against the Shah. Lacking a passport, he ended up at Charles de Gaulle airport, and stayed on from 1988 to 2006, initially owing to difficulties in proving his refugee status, later by choice. After 2006, he moved between hotels and a homeless shelter in France, but a few weeks ago he returned to live in the airport, where officials said he died from a heart attack. Milan, Italy Referee arrested: A top…

“In politics, you shouldn’t change your mind: you will be accused of a U-turn. And just as, in journalism, suburbs are always ‘leafy’, so U-turns are ‘screeching’ or ‘humiliating’. But while I get the political problem of U-turns, I’m struggling with the common sense. Far from there being too many, U-turns are too rare. By far the bigger problem is people ploughing on with actions and views because they have made a decision, and that’s that. At the core of Liz Truss’s gigantic error was her self-confident certainty. We should start valuing uncertainty, doubt, pragmatism and flexibility more. We are over-committed to certainty. I’m not sure we should be.” Daniel Finkelstein in The Times…

We need the state to charge our batteries Editorial The Guardian “A global green industrial revolution.” That’s what Boris Johnson promised us earlier this year, says The Guardian. At its helm was to be a shiny new £3.8bn gigafactory in Blyth, churning out batteries for electric cars. And the reality? The Northumberland site remains a “muddy field” and the startup behind it, Britishvolt, is “more or less broke and up for sale”. Why? Quite simply, the Tories failed to offer proper funding support. Elsewhere, governments have invested billions in attracting leading battery manufacturers – key to future car production: in Western Europe, an estimated 41 gigafactories are either running or in the works; in the UK we have three (including Britishvolt). This “laissez-faire immobilism” threatens our entire car industry. Jaguar…

Clever pigs act as peacemakers Pigs are intelligent enough to identify a conflict situation – and step in to calm it down, new research has suggested. An Italian team spent six months observing 104 pigs which lived on an ethical farm outside Turin, where they were able to roam around woodland in relatively natural conditions. Their study revealed that after a fight between two animals, a bystander pig would often approach and initiate some seemingly soothing physical contact with the warring parties – touching them with their snouts, rubbing them with their ears, or simply sitting down next to one of them. After such contact, the victim pig’s anxiety levels appeared to decrease; while the aggressor became calmer, and their attacks on the victim became less frequent. The researchers also…

Richard Harris could be “relentless” in pursuit of a role, his son, the actor Jared Harris, has revealed. In the late 1960s, Harris launched a campaign to win the part of King Arthur in the film Camelot, which culminated with him tracking the director, Joshua Logan, down to a dinner party in Palm Springs. There, “he bribed one of the waiters to swap clothes with him and [started serving] food at the table. As Dad stops by Logan he goes, ‘There’s only one person for this part and it’s Richard Harris.’ Logan looked up and asked: ‘Are you ever gonna leave me alone?’ But it worked: Dad got the audition.” Years of being a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret honed Anne Glenconner’s diplomatic skills, and they have served her well on…

“In the 106-year history of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) there has never been a national strike,” said Andrew Fisher in The i Paper. That looks set to change this winter: in a ballot earlier this month, nurses working for hospitals and other NHS services across most of the UK voted to strike (although around half of hospitals in England will be unaffected, because turnout did not meet the 50% threshold). Their demand is simple: “fair pay for nursing”, after years of real-terms pay cuts (of about 20% since 2010). And it is in the interests of both nurses and patients that their demands are met. Nursing is in crisis. One in nine nurses left the profession last year alone: more than 40,000 in total. This exodus “reflects terrible…

“It had to be Ben Stokes, of course it did,” said Mike Atherton in The Times. Over his career, the 31-year-old has made a habit of being involved in the biggest moments in English cricket. And in front of 80,000 spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, he found himself at the centre of another. Facing Pakistan in the final of the T20 World Cup, England secured a tense five-wicket victory – largely thanks to an unbeaten half-century by their talismanic all-rounder. Chasing Pakistan’s 137-8, England regularly lost wickets – and with 30 balls left and 41 runs still needed, the match seemed to be hanging in the balance. But with the help of a few well-judged boundaries from Stokes – and some more from his partner Moeen Ali…

Rugby union England beat Japan 52-13 in the Autumn Nations Series. New Zealand beat Scotland 31-23. Tennis Great Britain reached the semi-finals of the Billie Jean Cup, before losing 2-1 to Australia. Switzerland went on to win the title. Football Arsenal extended their lead in the Premier League, beating Wolves 2-0. Second-placed Manchester City lost 2-1 to Brentford. Golf England’s Tommy Fleetwood claimed his first tournament for three years, winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa.…

Theatregoers will have no trouble getting their festive fix of A Christmas Carol this year, said Mark Lawson in The Guardian. By some counts there’ll be nine stagings in London alone. The perennial popularity of Dickens’s 1843 story obviously “reassures playhouse accountants jittery about blows to the box office from Covid and the cost-of-living crisis”, while writers and directors are drawn to the contemporary resonance of Dickens’s attack on wealth inequality. This year the RSC has got in early with a revival of David Edgar’s adaptation, first seen in 2017 – and set the bar “very high” with a version that combines “childish pleasures and grown-up ideas”. Rachel Kavanaugh’s “sumptuous production” provides the “full, chocolate-box experience of Dickensian Victoriana, with a cornucopia of wigs, waistcoats and wassail”, said Patrick Marmion…

Trying to recoup some of his “turkey” investment by selling the pheasants, George gets conned by Martyn Gibson. Even so, he tells Emma he wants to be rich like Gibson. Ruth, David and Pip discuss how to pay back Vince’s loan, for Ben’s sake. When Emma goes home sick from the Tearoom, George steps in and gets paid by Fallon. With Chris’s support, Alice gives a talk at her old rehab centre. Elizabeth talks to Ben and unwittingly reveals Vince’s withdrawal of investment. Ben blames himself and says he’ll give up uni to pay off the loan; distraught, David and Ruth won’t let him. When potential renters come to view the cottage, Alice teases Chris about being taken advantage of; Jakob does just that later and gets first refusal. Chelsea…

Serves 4 as a small plate or side 250g purple sprouting broccoli 2 tbsp olive oil 70g walnuts For the anchovy and garlic sauce: 6 garlic cloves 150ml milk 12 anchovy fillets in oil 120g unsalted butter 120ml olive oil 1 tbsp crème fraîche • Preheat the oven to 210°C/190°C fan/410°F/gas mark 6. • Trim off any very woody ends of the broccoli, then slice the stems horizontally into thinner lengths, being sure to keep the leaves. Toss in the olive oil and arrange in a single layer in a roasting tray. Season lightly. Roast in the oven for about 12 minutes, until starting to char. • Use that time to crush the walnuts lightly, then scatter them over the broccoli and return the tray to the oven for a further…

Discovered in 1923, White Scar Cave near Carnforth, North Yorkshire, is the longest cave in the UK that is open to the public. On an 80-minute, mile-long tour you’ll see a thundering waterfall and 400-million-year-old slate beds (£14; whitescarcave.co.uk). The Victoria Tunnel in Newcastle is a preserved wagonway that was used to transport coal to the River Tyne in the 19th century, and as an air-raid shelter during the Second World War. The 75-minute or two-hour guided tours are run by volunteers (from £10; ouseburntrust.org.uk). On a 45-minute tour of Dudley Canal and Caverns, a network of subterranean canals, you can spot fossils etched into handmade bricks while bats swoop overhead (from £10; dudleycanaltrust.org.uk). The Williamson Tunnels are an elaborate network of vaulted passageways below Mason Street in Liverpool, secretly…

Sisterly surfing in Mexico With large groups and “surfer dude” instructors, surf camps can be intimidating for beginners. Not so Siren Surf Adventures’ women-only retreats in Mexico, says Bridget Harrison in The Times. Former longboard world champion Kristy Murphy and her partner Cat Slatinsky host just five guests each week at an “airy” thatched villa beside the beach of La Saladita in Guerrero state. Their aim is to create the atmosphere of a “sisters’ surf trip”, with shared meals, fireside margaritas and mutual encouragement. And they succeed brilliantly, thanks in large part to their “never-ending enthusiasm” and the sheer beauty of the location. Participants may end up with aching limbs, but it’s a wonderful experience: surfing is “the ultimate in-the-moment activity”, and when you’re not out catching waves, the “chat”…

David Butler 1924-2022 As a young man, David Butler put his mathematical skills to use working out batting averages, said the Daily Mail. When the War broke out, and play was suspended, he started applying his love of statistics to one of his other great interests – elections – and a new science was born. He called it psephology, after the ancient Greek for pebble, because the Greeks used pebbles to cast their votes. In 1950, aged 25, he analysed the results for the BBC’s first televised election broadcast, a job he retained until 1979. He developed the concept of swing (the proportion of voters shifting allegiance from one party to another between elections), and in 1955 he introduced the “swingometer” to the election coverage. As shifts in voter preference…

One of the many gripes about “sustainable” ESG funds is that it’s often “far from obvious” why certain companies are included, said Alice Ross in the FT. Fox News, for example, was “a top ESG pick” for 2022 by the rating agency Sustainalytics. So was Airbus, and the chemicals giant Linde. If you’re passionate about the environment, specialist investment trusts might be a better bet. Since they are not “open-ended”, they “don’t have to meet demands for redemptions from investors”, making it easier to hold “less liquid” assets, like innovative private companies. Many London-listed trusts are now trading at attractive discounts, says Ewan Lovett-Turner at Numis Securities, reflecting uncertainty over energy price caps and rising interest rates. This could be the moment to pounce. Here’s a selection of options: Renewable…

Who’s tipping what The week’s best shares Associated British Foods The Times Primark’s owner has “slim chance” of avoiding a profits decline due to higher energy, freight and wage bills. But it is undervalued, given its US expansion, strong finances and a resilient food and agriculture arm. Buy. £15.09. Auto Trader Group The Times The online car marketplace is capital light, highly cash-generative with enviable operating margins and recurring revenue. At risk of a spending downturn by car retailers, but cheap given earnings potential. Buy. 571p. Belluscura The Mail on Sunday Belluscura makes portable oxygen machines for respiratory sufferers. Currently loss-making, but two devices have been approved and deals signed with major healthcare firms. Doubling manufacturing capacity. Buy. 56p. BP The Sunday Telegraph Strong finances are helping the oil and…

Male pilots and cabin crew for British Airways can now wear make-up at work. An update to the airline’s grooming rules also gives the green light to “man buns”, nail polish and false eyelashes. An internal memo urged staff: “Be bold, be proud, be yourself”. However, visible tattoos are still an adornment too far. The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich is limiting visitor numbers to its new Moon exhibition on Mondays, to make it easier for influencers and other social media users to get the “perfect Insta shot” of its Moon installation. Lots of museums now encourage selfies and the like to generate online buzz; but the College also hopes that if the influencers come on Mondays, there’ll be fewer of them on other days.…

Washington DC Journalist’s death: The US Department of Justice has angered the government of Israel by launching its own investigation into the death of the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank in May. Abu Akleh was reporting on a raid on a refugee camp by the Israel Defence Forces when she was shot dead. Her family say she was targeted by Israeli forces; Israel denies that, but admits an Israeli bullet probably killed her. Israel’s defence minister, Benny Gantz, has said his country “will not cooperate” with the probe, which he called an “interference” and a “grave mistake”. San Francisco, California Back to work: Elon Musk ordered Twitter’s workforce back to the office last week, days after announcing thousands of redundancies. In an email, the billionaire said…

GERMANY History shows these protesters are teddy bears Die Zeit (Hamburg) It’s not just people in Britain who are fed up with climate protesters causing chaos with attention-grabbing stunts, says Nils Markwardt. Climate activists calling themselves Last Generation have for weeks been causing disruption on Germany’s roads, too. But when a woman injured in a cycling crash died after her ambulance was delayed by a protest, the public outcry reached a new volume. There’s no reason to suppose the woman would have survived had it not been for the delay, but critics see the incident as evidence that climate protests are out of hand. What short memories they have. These stunts are “tame” compared to ones seen in the 1970s and 1980s. Back then, students protesting against rising transport fares…

Three short weeks ago, as he entered No. 10, Rishi Sunak promised to restore “integrity, professionalism and accountability” to the British Government, said Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer. Instead, he seems to be presiding over a “culture of shamelessness”. First, Sunak reappointed Suella Braverman as Home Secretary, though she had resigned six days earlier over serious security breaches. Then last week, that “pound-shop Machiavelli” Gavin Williamson – whom Sunak had bafflingly restored to the Cabinet despite him having been sacked by both Theresa May and Boris Johnson – was forced out once again, over multiple complaints of bullying. He had allegedly told a senior civil servant to “jump out of a window” and to cut his own throat. Anne Milton, his deputy when Williamson was chief whip, said that he…

During his first week in the jungle, Matt Hancock plunged his hands into a trough of offal; he chowed down on camel’s penis and cow’s anus; he crawled through a tunnel seething with vermin while sewage and maggots rained down on his head. For five nights, viewers of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… voted for the former health secretary to be subjected to the show’s notorious “Bushtucker Trials”, to win food for his campmates. And how did he cope with it all? Rather well, said Lloyd Evans in The Spectator. All over the country, people were longing for him to “whimper and fail”, but Hancock “let them down”. He went into the jungle with an “expiation strategy”, believing that by accepting public humiliation, he could be cleansed of “the Covid curse”;…

They battled valiantly till the very end, despite being a player down, said Alex Bywater in The Mail on Sunday. But the bare facts are that England’s women’s rugby team suffered abject heartbreak in Auckland on Saturday. For the second time in succession, they lost to New Zealand in a World Cup final. But what an “astonishing 80 minutes of rugby” this was, said Elgan Alderman in The Times. The Red Roses went into the match as favourites, having not lost a game since 2019. And they dominated the early stages, with thrilling tries from Ellie Kildunne and Amy Cokayne giving them a 14-0 lead after 15 minutes. Then came the “pivotal moment”, said Fiona Tomas in The Daily Telegraph: England’s winger, Lydia Thompson, was red-carded for a high tackle.…

The rewards of nursing… To The Daily Telegraph Successive governments have failed to ensure that nurses’ wages have kept pace with other forms of employment. This is no doubt due to their union’s non-militant activity in the past, and it is not surprising that they are now being forced to take desperate measures. Most nurses spend at least three years at university followed by intensive training in hospital. Yet compare their pay with that of train drivers, who, after two years’ training, can earn £60,000 a year without the stresses and strains involved in caring for the sick. Is this really fair? Stanley Brewer, Ottery St Mary, Devon …are intrinsic to the job To The Daily Telegraph Having spent my working life as a registered nurse, I am appalled by…

by Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe Bodley Head 368pp £20 The Week Bookshop £15.99 “McKinsey & Co is the biggest name in the consulting business,” said Lloyd Green in The Guardian. Established in 1926 by the accountant James O. McKinsey, the firm – or “practice”, as it calls itself – employs 30,000 people, has offices in more than 130 locations, and counts many politicians among its alumni. In this informed and “fascinating” book, the journalists Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe place its activities “under the microscope” – and conclude that they raise cause for serious concern. Indeed, said Tim Adams in The Observer. McKinsey, they suggest, has been instrumental in creating a corporate culture that “works for the benefit of the elite 1%”. It was a McKinsey partner who first…

There have been very few bingeworthy podcasts starring big-name Hollywood actors actually acting, said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer – as opposed to presenting or being interviewed. One was 2016’s Homecoming, a whodunnit focused on a patient-psychiatrist relationship, and starring Catherine Keener, David Schwimmer and Oscar Isaac. Now Isaac is back with Case 63, a superb remake of a Chilean podcast, Caso 63, which fans of Homecoming are likely to enjoy. It has a similar shifting-reality set-up, but this time Isaac’s “patient-with-a-secret” is being treated by Julianne Moore. A “powerful double act”, they lift an “interesting script into something subtler, sexier and more gripping”. This is first-rate storytelling that ends with such an “almighty twist that you may well find yourself listening to the whole thing all over again”. Bible…

Scoop by Evelyn Waugh, 1938 (Penguin £9.99). Lord Copper, the questing vole, the Daily Beast – all have become part of press folklore, thanks to the greatest journalist novel of the lot. After more than three decades in the trade, I find it as true as ever. George III by Andrew Roberts, 2021 (Allen Lane £35). Invariably and lazily labelled as the King who lost America and went mad, George III was really one of the greats. Uxorious, intellectual, conscientious and cultured, he saw off Napoleon and shaped today’s constitutional monarchy while, for better or worse, his flag was raised over much of the globe. Not bad for a monarch who never travelled further than Worcester. I may be biased (full disclosure: the book is dedicated to me), but this…

Programmes Messi On the eve of his final World Cup, teammates and school friends of the enigmatic Argentinian footballer discuss different aspects of his extraordinary life story. Sat 19 Nov, BBC1 22:55 (60mins). David Baddiel: Jews Don’t Count Talking to Stephen Fry, Sarah Silverman and others, Baddiel explores why antisemitism isn’t taken as seriously as other forms of discrimination. Mon 21 Nov, C4 21:00 (75mins). Tokyo Vice Drama set in turn-of-the-millennium Tokyo, where a young American journalist is drawn into the world of organised crime. Michael Mann directs. Tue 22 Nov, BBC1 21:10 and 22:50 (60mins each). The Ice Cream Wars Documentary about the gangland clashes over ice-cream vans in 1980s Glasgow, and their deadly consequences for one family. Wed 23 Nov, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on…

Dog-friendly rural retreat Relax in front of the wood-burner in Llanbedr Felfre Shepherd’s Hut in Narberth, Pembrokeshire. A 3-night stay costs from £193pp, self-catered. 01237-459801, holidaycottages.co.uk. Arrive 29 November. Southeast Asian elegance Tour the Mekong River from Cambodia to Vietnam aboard the luxurious Indochine. 8 nights cost from £2,141pp, all-incl. (excluding flights). 020-8328 1281, croisieurope.co.uk. Arrive 6 December. New year, New York Bring in the new year at the Park Central Hotel, a short walk to Times Square. 5 nights cost from £1,969, room-only (incl. London flights). 0344-472 9646, thomascook.com. Depart 29 December. Moroccan retreat Stay 7 nights at the Riu Tikida Garden hotel, Marrakech, which is close to the city, from £532pp, all-incl. (including Manchester flights). 020-8612 8000, firstchoice.co.uk. Depart 9 December. Covid-19: please check government websites for testing…

Amazon/Meta: competitive culling There’s no end in sight to the jobs bloodbath currently rampaging through Big Tech, said Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph. “Large numbers have been shown the door” at Twitter, Snap and Stripe – with major cost-cutting also expected at Google, Microsoft and Intel. This week, it was the turn of Meta and Amazon. The Facebook owner is shedding 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce, while Amazon has earmarked some 10,000 roles for the chop – the biggest cull in its history. Amazon’s retrenchment “during the critical holiday shopping season” shows how quickly the global economy is “souring”, said Karen Weise in The New York Times. Only recently, the e-commerce giant had been “fighting to retain” staff but, like other tech groups, it has been caught…

What caused Britain’s fiscal “black hole”? Alex Brummer Daily Mail Less than six months ago, the then chancellor Rishi Sunak was thought to have some £30bn in “headroom” to make tax cuts this autumn. It is “one of life’s mysteries”, says Alex Brummer, how that transformed into the £70bn black hole that has dominated discussion of this week’s Autumn Statement. Those looking for scapegoats blame Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, but the “real villain” is inflation, which has increased both government costs (notably welfare bills) and, just as significantly, raised the price of servicing the national debt. At least half the upsurge in borrowing costs can be traced to index-linked gilts (as opposed to conventional gilts, which aren’t linked to inflation). These now account for 23.9% of the UK’s total…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1338 An Ettinger pass holder and two Connell Guides will be given to the sender of the first correct solution to the crossword and the clue of the week opened on Monday 28 November. Send it to The Week Crossword 1338, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6JR, or email the completed grid/listed solutions to crossword@theweek.co.uk. Tim Moorey (timmoorey.com) This week’s winner will receive an Ettinger (ettinger.co.uk) travel pass holder in assorted colours, which retails at £115, and two Connell Guides (connellguides.com). ACROSS 8 Condescend to include Head of State in plan (6) 9 Cutting tool noticed behind group of shops (8) 10 Weapon lacking force causes anger (4) 11 Such as Kennedy and Monroe? (10) 12 Means supply again? (8) 13 Not exactly drinks for everyone (6)…

Only 20% of voters say they trust Suella Braverman to deliver a satisfactory solution to the problem of cross-Channel migration; 61% do not. 37% of voters trust Labour to find a solution to the problem. Savanta/The Independent 55% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 in England and Wales have seen real-life violence online in the past year. 24% have seen another child carrying a weapon online. 13% have watched a sexual assault online. Youth Endowment Fund More than a quarter of British voters say they’d consider voting for a new party led by Nigel Farage, including 38% of Conservative voters and 43% of Leave voters. Public First/The Daily Telegraph…

The long view of a historian Simon Sebag Montefiore has a hard time not name-dropping, says Alice Thomson in The Times. King Charles is a long-time friend, and he and Camilla sometimes pop in for kitchen suppers. He has hung out with Elton John, Mick Jagger and the Spice Girls; and his biographies have been read by everyone from Vladimir Putin to Bill Clinton. His latest doorstopper is a history of dynastic families. Spanning several continents, it ranges in time from the Neanderthals to the Trumps, weaves in the Caesars, Incas, Mughals, Borgias, Zulus, Romanovs, Habsburgs and Saudis, and encompasses war, incest, necrophilia and a lot of sex. All told, it makes the antics of our own royal family look quite banal. For instance, he is not surprised that Prince…

It was an uncomfortable coincidence that Meloni’s swearing-in came precisely a century after the world’s first fascist takeover: the March on Rome, on 28-30 October 1922. After the First World War, Benito Mussolini’s National Fascist Party harnessed discontent with Italy’s meagre gains from the Treaty of Versailles, as well as fears of a socialist revolution, using a potent brew of nationalism, populism and violence – provided by his blackshirt militias. On 24 October, Il Duce told a rally in Naples: “Our programme is simple. We want to govern Italy.” He told supporters that if the government did not resign, they must march on Rome. Thousands then marched (or took trains) to the capital, where King Victor Emmanuel III, the head of state, was faced with a choice: mobilise the army…

A dangerous gamble with our democracy Megan McArdle The Washington Post The Democrats took a huge risk earlier this year, says Megan McArdle. During the primary season, groups affiliated with the Democratic Party spent millions of dollars boosting crazy Trumpist candidates, cynically calculating that these inexperienced figures would be easier to beat in a general election. The help took the form of campaign ads that attacked mainstream GOP candidates or highlighted the views of fringe candidates on issues such as gun rights and abortion, in a way slyly designed to enhance their appeal to GOP voters. In Michigan, for instance, Democrats helped knock out incumbent Republican Peter Meijer – one of only ten Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump over the 6 January Capitol riots – by spending hundreds…

An immunotherapy drug used to treat one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer is to become available on the NHS. Officials have struck a deal to supply pembrolizumab to patients in England with triple negative breast cancer. Triple negative tumours account for only about 15% of all breast cancer diagnoses, but are among the hardest to treat: they are responsible for one in four breast cancer deaths. Given alongside chemotherapy, the drug pembrolizumab can help shrink the tumours and stop them spreading, and could obviate the need for some women to have their entire breast removed. Pembrolizumab, also known as Keytruda, is already given to some patients with incurable cancer; now it will be made available on the NHS to around 1,600 patients with earlier stage tumours, where…

Imagine travelling to Paris and finding that the Louvre had moved to Marseille, or that the Bastille Opera had relocated to Lyon. “Tourists would be furious,” said David Lister in The Independent. Yet in the name of the “levelling up” agenda, officials are now seeking to deprive London of one of its major cultural attractions. Last week, as part of a wider package of funding cuts, Arts Council England announced that English National Opera’s subsidy would be axed in April, unless it leaves its home in the London Coliseum and sets up shop further north, perhaps in Manchester. To expel a “national flagship” from the capital in this way is bizarre. Hundreds of musicians, singers and technical staff could lose their jobs. ENO’s departure would mean that while European capitals…

“Oh, you hate your job? Why didn’t you say so? There’s a support group for that. It’s called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.” Drew Carey, quoted on ArtsHub “The simplest way to explain the behaviour of any bureaucratic organisation is to assume that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies.” Robert Conquest, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “An honest mistake always favours the restaurant.” Robert Half, quoted in Forbes “Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal.” E.O. Wilson, quoted in the Montreal Gazette “The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion.” Molly Ivins, quoted in El Defensor Chieftain “History’s what people are trying to…

George Russell has long been known as a racing driver of huge potential, said Giles Richards in The Guardian. And at the São Paulo Grand Prix last Sunday, the 24-year-old Englishman “emphatically” delivered on his promise. He secured his maiden F1 victory with an “outstanding performance”, in the process “holding off no less a driver than his Mercedes teammate” Lewis Hamilton. Having started in pole position, Russell was barely challenged early in the race. But in the final few laps, he was relentlessly pursued by Hamilton, who was seeking his first victory of the season. The pressure on the younger man was “immense”, but Russell showed the “composure of a future champion” to hold off the seven-time champion. Aside from being a breakthrough for Russell, this race proved Mercedes are…

To The Guardian Regarding Daniel Lavelle’s article (“It shouldn’t be down to John Lewis’s Christmas ad to stand up for children in care”), this is advertising masquerading as a charitable campaign. The main motivation for using charity in this way is to increase profit. The charity angle appeals to customers because it gives a warm glow to enhance the Christmas spirit. Instead of “buy one get one free”, we have “buy one get one warm glow free”. It allows us to overspend, overeat and drink with a clear conscience. Capitalism wins both ways – it creates poverty and then uses it as a vehicle to hide greed. We have to rely on the largesse of big business when the Government refuses to step up to the mark, but this type…

by Anthony Quinn Abacus 432pp £16.99 The Week Bookshop £13.99 Anthony Quinn is a “fine prose stylist, able to evoke the past with vivid immediacy”, said Alex Preston in The Observer. His ninth novel is a sweeping epic that consists of three interlinked sections. In the 1780s, Laura Merrymount – daughter of the Gainsborough-esque portraitist William Merrymount – strives to escape from her father’s shadow and become a painter herself. In Chelsea a century later, we meet the young artist Paul Stransom and his sister Maggie – who abandoned her own dreams of becoming an artist to care for their dying mother. And finally, in 1980s Kentish Town another artist, Nell Cantrip, suddenly acquires late-career fame. Marked by its “intricate”, immaculate plotting, this novel is a “rollicking read”. I found…

John Currin at Sadie Coles HQ Since emerging in the early 1990s, the American artist John Currin (b.1962) has become one of the world’s most successful (and richest) painters. Nevertheless, his work has consistently proved divisive: his default mode – essentially taking the fundamentals of rococo and mannerist painting and injecting them with an often grotesque dose of kitsch Americana – has solicited as much criticism as it has praise, particularly for his sometimes highly sexualised subject matter. This show of new paintings is typical Currin: two depict individual female nudes, one a group of three. Yet while the works borrow from soft pornography, he pays almost tender attention to the ageing process: breasts sag, lines around the figures’ eyebrows are rendered with minute detail; in Currin’s hands, fabric becomes lustrous,…

● Washing clothes can damage them, and most need far less washing than you think. Some don’t need washing at all. Jumpers, for instance, can be aired by an open window and brushed or combed to remove dirt and bobbles. ● Spot-clean stains on jeans with mild detergent and use an odour-removing spray. Wash them on a cold cycle only after every five or six wears, and add a scoop of table salt to the drum to stop colour fading. ● If you have clothes moths in your home, you can cook items made only from natural fabrics at 50° for 30 minutes to kill the eggs and larvae. Freezing kills them too, but it takes much longer. ● Tights lose elasticity if washed a lot, so try washing them…

Leslie Phillips 1924-2022 Leslie Phillips, who has died aged 98, made his name playing suave womanisers in British film comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. With his twitching pencil moustache, languid officer-class drawl and cheerfully mischievous leer, he specialised in a lighthearted sort of lechery, said The Daily Telegraph. “Ding dong, you’re not wrong!” said his character Jack Bell, on meeting Shirley Eaton in 1959’s Carry On Nurse. It became his catchphrase. And few actors could pack as much “lustful anticipation” into a single word as his “Hell-o!” Yet Phillips did not rate the Carry On… films, and in later life, he tried to avoid being typecast as blazer-clad bounders, said The Times. In the 1980s and 1990s, he played weightier roles in films including Empire of the Sun and…

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao Cryptocurrency prices rallied this week after the Binance boss Changpeng Zhao announced plans to create “an industry recovery fund”. It cemented his role as “one of the last men standing” following the collapse of rival Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange, said The Wall Street Journal. “Crypto is not going away. We are still here. Let’s rebuild!” tweeted Zhao, 45, to his 7.7 million followers, vowing to make digital coin holdings more “transparent”. It was an unexpected turn of events for Binance: critics (including UK regulators) have long argued that the world’s biggest digital exchange has done far “too little to promote transparency”. But for CZ, as he is universally known, this is a pivotal moment. “Binance stands to become even bigger should crypto trading recover from the FTX…

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