The Week 1513

What happened Donald Trump swept to an emphatic victory over Kamala Harris in the US presidential election, to seal a historic return to the White House as America’s 47th president. With some results still to be declared, Trump looked on course to win all seven swing states that had been expected to decide the race, and possibly the popular vote too – a feat that has eluded every Republican candidate since 2004. Trump also becomes the first former president in 132 years to be returned to the White House after having previously lost a presidential contest. Speaking at a campaign event in Florida early on Wednesday morning, he said his victory would usher in a new “golden age” for the US. “America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate,”…

What happened Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves sought to reassure markets and voters about last week’s Budget following a significant backlash. The PM and Chancellor insisted that the £40bn in tax rises and extra £28bn of extra annual borrowing were one-off measures to kickstart reform, not the start of several such increases. The Budget pushed up long-term government borrowing costs. The bond markets steadied after two days, but criticism continued in other quarters. There was anger over plans to limit inheritance tax exemptions on farms (see page 20) and family firms. Health leaders warned that the £25bn rise in employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) would harm GP practices, hospices, social-care providers and other organisations run as private businesses. In a blow to Reeves, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated…

Sea eagles are due to be returned to the Severn Estuary after an absence of 150 years. The birds, which have a wing span of up to 2.4 metres, were persecuted to extinction in the UK in the early 20th century, but were reintroduced to Scotland from Norway in the 1970s. There are now estimated to be 152 pairs across the country; and a project has been launched to investigate the feasibility of bringing the species back to Wales. It’s hoped that the first birds will arrive in 2026. A crack team of African giant pouched rats has been trained by scientists to recognise the scent of commonly smuggled animal parts such as rhino horn, pangolin scales and elephant tusks. The eight rats that completed the programme were also taught…

Controversy of the week “Leaders of opposition parties sometimes struggle to have their voices heard,” said The Times. That won’t be a problem for Kemi Badenoch, who was elected leader of the Conservative Party on Saturday, winning 53,806 votes from Tory members to her rival Robert Jenrick’s 41,388. The 44-year-old MP for North West Essex is outspoken, charismatic and “admirably combative”. The party has made a “rational gamble” in choosing her: that boldness and clear convictions are needed to get the party out of its electoral slump, even if, on the flip side, she can be brusque and accident-prone. Badenoch is “a high-risk but potentially high-reward choice”. Her diagnosis is “that her party’s failures have been driven by timidness”, said Katy Balls in The Guardian: by “a slow slide into…

In a new trend on social media, users are pushing back against the negativity of the online world by expressing gratitude for the “privilege” of having mundane lives. Posts include: “What a privilege it is to worry about doing household chores”; “what a privilege it is to stress about work” (with a video of a commute), and “what a privilege it is to feel bloated from overeating”. Brat, the word redefined by the singer Charli XCX earlier this year, has been named by Collins Dictionary as its word of the year. On TikTok, the star explained that the archetypal brat is “that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes”, and who “has a breakdown, but kind of like parties through…

The Government’s new Value for Money tsar, with reports that he will be paid the equivalent of a £247,000pa salary – more than the prime minister. David Goldstone, the chair of the Office for Value for Money, will be paid £950 a day, and is expected to work one day a week. He previously oversaw the delivery of the London Olympics, which cost four times its original estimate. Vegans, after the National Trust voted that half the food sold at its cafés and other food outlets should be plant-based, to help tackle climate change. Some 57,500 members voted for the motion, with 20,111 against. The Nemo, a new hybrid potato that has been hailed as the saviour of the spud. The unusual-looking pink-and-cream potato – named after the clown fish…