The Week 1539

What happened Farage on the march Nigel Farage declared “the end of two-party politics” last week after Reform UK won sweeping gains in local elections in England. His party picked up 677 of the 1,641 seats being contested and took control of ten councils, thrashing the Conservatives in the shires and Labour in its northern strongholds. Both those parties lost around two-thirds of their seats. Reform also won two mayoral elections and claimed victory, by six votes, over Labour in the Runcorn & Helsby by-election. The BBC projected that if the results were extrapolated to a national vote share, Reform would have won 30%, while Labour would have won 20%, the Lib Dems 17% and the Tories 15%. It’s the first time a third party has topped that measure. Keir…

What happened Israel’s security cabinet this week approved a new plan which, according to one official, entailed “the conquest of the Gaza Strip” and its indefinite occupation. Under the plan, dubbed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots”, Israel will send thousands of troops into Gaza later this month. Rather than attacking Hamas targets then retreating – Israel’s strategy until now – troops will remain to stop Hamas regrouping. Officials said the population would have to be moved for their “protection”; there has also been talk of “voluntary” removals abroad. “We are finally going to occupy the Gaza Strip,” said the far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich. The Israeli cabinet also approved a plan to allow aid into the Strip via Israeli-controlled “distribution hubs”. Owing to Israel’s blockade, the UN and other agencies have not…

A charred scroll that was buried under hot ash during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius has been found to be the work of the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus. The papyrus had been carbonised in the heat that engulfed Herculaneum in AD79, but scientists have now been able to virtually unwrap it on a computer – and decipher enough of the text to identify it. The scroll was excavated in the 18th century from a villa that may have belonged to Julius Caesar’s father-in-law. A 115-year-old who lives in a care home in Surrey has been named the world’s oldest living person. Ethel Caterham, who was born in 1909, is the first Briton to claim the title since 1987. Raised in Tidworth, Wiltshire, she worked in her youth as an au pair…

Controversy of the week The end of the Tories? “History cautions against writing obituaries for the Conservatives,” said Robert Shrimsley in the FT, but if last week’s local elections are anything to go by, “the party of Peel and Disraeli, Churchill and Thatcher, is in desperate trouble”. Kemi Badenoch’s Tories did even worse than predicted, losing 676 councillors and control of every local authority they were defending, as well as all but one of six mayoral elections. When those results were projected nationally, Conservatives polled a measly 15% – half of Reform UK’s 30% – leaving them in serious danger of being replaced by Nigel Farage’s upstart party as the main opposition. Worse, said Justine Greening in The Guardian, there’s no clear way out of this crisis. “Out-Reforming Reform” won’t…

A new trend may be emerging among young men: eyelash trimming. In the past few years, young women have sported ever-longer, thicker lashes, but online, barbers have recently posted clips of men having their lashes cut – which involves running an electric razor across closed eyes. According to one caption, the customer said it looked “more masculine”. Only one in three families sit down together every day for a meal, according to a survey of 2,000 households with children aged eight to 16. But 77% of those families say they have their phones out at the dinner table. The research, commissioned for The Week Junior, also found that just over half of children aged eight to 16 use a phone or other device while eating.…

Warren Buffett, who announced he is stepping down as head of Berkshire Hathaway, one of the world’s largest conglomerates. The investor had often talked about retiring; nevertheless, his decision, aged 94, took some by surprise (see page 40). Flouting the law, after one of Britain’s most prolific fare dodgers was accused of travelling without a ticket on the morning of his court appearance last week. Charles Brohiri has been caught without a ticket at almost every station across three networks, and owes £30,000 in unpaid fines. Sentencing was adjourned.…