Innholdsfortegnelse for 1539 i The Week

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…

Royal Parks police, which is being scrapped after 150 years. Scotland Yard said the unit, which polices 5,000 acres of royal park across London, would be disbanded from 1 November, with its 77 officers redeployed to local teams, in order to cut costs. The national mood, after a study that looked into whether various populations are “flourishing” put the UK close to bottom of the table. Researchers surveyed 200,000 people on six continents, asking them about things like their sense of purpose, the quality of their relationships and their financial stability. The UK came 20th out of 22, ahead of only Turkey and Japan. Rebekah Vardy, who was ordered to pay Coleen Rooney about £1.4m in legal costs arising from her failed “Wagatha Christie” libel case against her former friend.…

Berlin Fragile leadership: Germany’s parliament has confirmed Friedrich Merz as chancellor – at the second attempt. Merz won 325 votes in the secret ballot in the 630-seat Bundestag, nine more than required; but in the first round of the vote, which is normally a mere formality, the conservative CDU/CSU leader had lost by a margin of six, indicating that 18 members of his new alliance with the SPD had rebelled. The loss – unprecedented in postwar Germany – was described as a “catastrophe” for Merz that underlines the fragility of his coalition. The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Alice Weidel, was quick to use his initial defeat to demand fresh elections. The AfD won 20.8% of the vote in February’s general election and is Germany’s largest…

“Visiting the Isle of Mull last week, Prince William declared that city-dwellers had ‘lost their ability to come together and know their neighbours’. Really? Come on, William, how much time have you spent on the No. 16 bus recently? There is community in cities. It just looks different from elsewhere. Saying hello to everyone you pass is lovely in the shires but is inappropriate in a city. Every day on the Tube, I watch people give up their seats for the elderly, indulge children’s desire to play, point out when someone is about to leave a bag behind. They just do this almost entirely in silence, through eye contact, smiles and nods – a mark of respect in a large community.” Charlotte Ivers in The Sunday Times…

The fear that is firing Trump’s trade war James Kynge The Observer How Elon Musk must regret having scoffed, back in 2011, at the idea that the Chinese car company BYD could ever challenge Tesla, says James Kynge. Today, BYD sells far more cars than Tesla and outshines it “in almost every metric of performance”. It’s just one illustration of how China is surpassing the US across the advanced tech frontier. In 2021, Chinese phone maker Xiaomi announced that it was going to make electric vehicles (EVs): two years later, its highly automated production lines were churning out a model every 76 seconds; it sold more EVs in its first year of production than Ford and GM. Or look at phone technology: most of the UK still uses 4G phone…

E. coli may be driving bowel cancer Once considered a disease of older age, bowel cancer is rising alarmingly among young people around the world. In England, rates in the under-50s are going up by 3.6% a year – faster than anywhere else in Europe. The reason for this has been unclear: those who are diagnosed tend not to have the obvious risk factors (which include a family history of the disease, and excess weight). But now researchers have suggested a possible culprit – E. coli. Some strains of the bacterium (not those that cause food poisoning) produce a toxin that is known to damage the DNA of cells in the lining of the gut. So a team looked for these mutations in tumours from 981 patients in 11 countries.…

Rumours of a rift between Brooklyn Beckham and his parents were rife again this week – but David Beckham didn’t let that get in the way of his lavish 50th birthday celebrations. Having had a party for his US pals in Miami last month, he threw a reportedly wild bash at his home in the Cotswolds. He then flew to Paris for a third party, before more celebrations with Tom Cruise and other A-listers at a restaurant in Notting Hill. A source told The Sun that Beckham was “heartbroken” about the feud with his son, who wasn’t at any of these events. But David himself declared that he had had an “amazing week”. The singer Lauryn Hill is notorious for turning up late for her gigs. Frustrated fans have often…

Twenty years ago, the door for Chinese snooker was “pushed ajar” when Ding Junhui beat Steve Davis in the final of the UK Championship, said Aaron Bower in The Guardian. Since then, while snooker has grown rapidly in China – the country now has around 300,000 snooker halls, and the game is “treated as a national sport” – one thing that has been missing is a “Chinese world champion”. On a “mild Monday evening in Sheffield”, the wait finally ended, as Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams 18-12 to lift the title at the Crucible. The 28-year-old, who’d beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan in the semi-final, dominated the final with “effortless swagger”, though the 50-year-old Williams rallied late on by winning four straight frames at the start of the final session. Zhao, however,…

Football Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been at the club since childhood, has confirmed that he will be leaving at the end of the season, possibly to join Real Madrid. Tennis Jack Draper became the first British player since Andy Murray to be ranked in the world’s top five after reaching the final of the Madrid Open – which he lost in three sets to Casper Ruud. F1 Oscar Piastri extended his lead in the drivers’ rankings by winning the Miami Grand Prix. His McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, finished second. Lewis Hamilton came eighth.…

Lisa Sanditz at Huxley-Parlour Gallery The American painter Lisa Sanditz has a load on her mind. She seems concerned about the environment, about the US’s current political climate and, first and foremost, about bringing up her young son in the midst of it all. But you don’t need to share her worries to enjoy the paintings here in this show, Big Boy. Sanditz (b.1973), it’s fair to say, is an artist who leaps from style to style within the confines of a single canvas. A work such as Big Cat, for instance, might evoke everything from 19th century French symbolist painting to Peter Doig or even Quentin Blake’s illustrations for Roald Dahl. Similarly, Big Boy/Big Gulp sees a picturesque Upstate New York valley rendered in a patchwork of registers which…

Jane Gardam 1928-2025 Jane Gardam, who has died aged 96, was regarded by many as the “unsung heroine of English fiction”, said The Daily Telegraph. Although the humanity, clarity and wit of her writing won comparisons with Jane Austen and Katherine Mansfield, she never achieved the “popular acclaim of contemporaries such as Margaret Drabble or Penelope Lively”. Nevertheless, she had many admirers, and was showered with prizes – including two Whitbread awards. Having come to prominence when she was in her 40s, she produced what is arguably her finest book at the age of 76, said The Washington Post. 2004’s Old Filth reflects on the life of a retired barrister, Sir Edward Feathers, who was known to his colleagues as Filth, because he had “Failed in London, tried Hong Kong”.…

The strangely sunny mood on Wall Street Jonathan Levin Bloomberg US stock market investors “seem remarkably confident” that Donald Trump’s tariffs won’t be so bad after all, says Jonathan Levin. The S&P 500 has recovered all its losses since 2 April, when Trump unveiled the highest import duties in a century – despite “downward revisions” in the outlook for corporate earnings, and rising bond yields. Sure, Trump opened up “space for bilateral negotiations” when he bestowed a 90-day reprieve on his hair-raising “reciprocal tariff” rates. Yet the grace period ends in July, with “few signs” of real progress. There is plenty of chat about talks with a host of countries, including China, but “only scattered evidence of forthcoming policy moderation to support the market’s optimism”. Asked at the weekend about…

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 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.…

Britain and India announced a “landmark” trade deal on Tuesday, under which New Delhi agreed to cut tariffs on 92% of British goods sent to India. Import duties will be cut from 150% to 75% on whisky and gin, from 33% to zero on lamb, and from more than 100% to 10% on cars, subject to a quota. Tariffs on 99% of Indian imports to the UK will also be eliminated. In addition, the UK operations of Indian employers will not have to pay national insurance on staff relocating here, for three years. The UK Government described the deal as a “bright shining light”, and said that it would increase bilateral trade by £25.5bn by 2040 (it was £43bn in 2024), and boost UK GDP by nearly £5bn, or 0.1%.…

Washington DC No third term: Donald Trump has described himself as an “eight-year president”, apparently quashing his supporters’ hopes that he might try to run for a third or even a fourth term. While there is a constitutional two-term limit on US presidents, Trump has repeatedly hinted that he would be seeking a way around this, and The Trump Organisation recently started selling Trump 2028 merchandise. But on Sunday, Trump told NBC that he was “looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody”. When asked who that might be, he said “I don’t want to get involved in that”, but lavished praise on J.D. Vance, his VP, and Marco Rubio, the secretary of state (pictured). Later, he said that his previous talk of running again had…

A Florida man is facing charges for marrying three different women in three different counties in the state – which he was able to do because counties don’t share records. “He took each one of us to a county over to get married,” said Brandi Betsey. “There are no safeguards, and I feel that’s part of where the system failed,” said Michele Betsey. “If the counties did talk, it would have saved me a lot of heartache,” said Tonya Betsey. Henry Betsey Jr, who is unemployed, pleaded not guilty to a bigamy charge. William Martin Sanchez Lopez, a Uruguayan living in Milan, has broken the Guinness World Record for the “largest eyeball pop”. He can pop his eyeballs out 0.74 inches, by relaxing the muscles around his eyes – eclipsing…

COLOMBIA “A den of bandits” led by a drug addict El Colombiano (Medellín) A “cesspool of corruption, drugs and vulgarity”, that’s what the Casa de Nariño – the official residence and workplace of Colombia’s president – has become, says Rafael Nieto Loaiza. The Leftist government of Gustavo Petro has been beset with scandal ever since he became president in 2022: buying off congressmen with disaster relief funds, appointing as ministers people who’d been indicted for corruption – you name it. But a line has now been crossed: there are deeply disturbing claims that Petro is a drug addict. His own former foreign minister has suggested this addiction is what explains Petro’s two-day disappearance during an official visit to France in 2023, and his “erratic” behaviour generally. Petro unconvincingly denies it.…

“It’s easier to list the things that work than the things that don’t,” lamented one of Marks & Spencer’s workers last week, as the retailer continued to count the cost of the sustained cyberattack that has crippled its digital operations. M&S has been forced to stop taking orders via its websites, apps and over the phone, and to suspend recruitment; with its automated stock systems disrupted, stores have struggled to keep shelves full. At one point, staff were having to check fridge temperatures in person owing to concerns about digital monitoring systems. M&S is not alone, said Sarah Butler in The Guardian. The Co-op revealed last week that it had also had to shut off parts of its IT system after an attempted hack: it ordered all staff members to…

A few weeks ago, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 14, was a “fringe player for the Rajasthan Royals and the youngest of a bunch of teenagers” on the books of teams in the Indian Premier League, said Andy Bull in The Guardian. “On 19 April, he made his debut and hit his very first ball for six.” Nine days later, “in an hour of incendiary batting”, he struck a hundred off 35 balls, including 11 sixes, against Gujarat Titans. It was the second-fastest century in IPL history, after Chris Gayle’s 30-ball century in 2013, and made Suryavanshi the youngest IPL centurion by an astonishing five-and-a-half years. “By the time he went to bed that night, Suryavanshi was one of the most famous people in India.” “Boss Baby”, as Suryavanshi has become known –…

A government we want… To The Guardian Many people (including me) voted Labour at the last general election because we wanted change – change from policies that put corporations and old ideas above the people. With this Labour Government, we’ve got more of the same. In my anecdotal experience, most Reform UK voters just want something different and don’t really care what. Yes, some think we have too many refugees, but I believe the majority of them aren’t bigots, just misled. By contrast, those I know who vote Labour want progressive policies that make a difference to people’s lives. We want the rich to pay their fair share of tax (something in common with Reform voters). We want clean industries and waterways. We want energy and water prices to reduce…

“It is not just heads that roll in Shakespeare’s bloodiest drama,” said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. Prisoners are dismembered; a woman is raped, and her tongue cut out; hands are cut off and bodies mutilated “until they are mere meat, then cooked and fed to loved ones”. In director Max Webster’s superb production, his first for the RSC, all this, and more, is handled with chilling brilliance. No specific contemporary parallels are drawn, but the design evokes modern-day torture chambers from Bagram and Guantanamo to Syria and Iran. Blood ebbs into a grilled gutter, and “hi-tech torture equipment, suspended from pulleys, is brought on and off the stage” – the sight of which makes the skin crawl. But for all its blood-letting, Titus is a play that also “glitters…

“The National Gallery has spent £16.4m on a rare Renaissance masterpiece by an unknown artist,” says Michael Murphy in The Daily Telegraph. The Virgin and Child with Saints Louis and Margaret and Two Angels (pictured, detail) is thought to have been painted in the Low Countries or France, around 1510 (analysis of the wood used shows that it was cut down after 1483). It features the Virgin Mary seated with Christ as a child, flanked by saints and angels; one of the angels is plucking a Jew’s harp, and Margaret is kneeling on a “snarling dragon”. In the background, on top of a pillar, is an “unruly child showing us his behind”. It has been suggested that the painting may be the work of Jan Gossaert, the Flemish artist. Bought…

After accidentally injuring Rochelle with a cricket ball, Rex invites her to stay on the boat – just as friends. Zainab and Khalil delight their parents with recreated versions of their lost wedding photos. After some initial tensions, Helen and the boys settle into life with Tom and Natasha at Beechwood. Saskia surprises Rochelle at Rex’s boat, and tells her that the group are ready for action – Rochelle says she’s not. Meanwhile, Joy visits Rochelle with news about a potential new job in a vegan restaurant. As the Academy Trust visits the abattoir, Freddie gives Rochelle a security pass, allowing her to let Saskia and the protesters in. Things turn ugly when they storm the conference room in balaclavas and handcuff Vince and Freddie. After livestreaming the protest and…

Walcot House 90B Walcot Street, Bath (01225-530499) In its previous incarnation, Walcot House was a “nightspot called Cadillacs”, fondly remembered as the “crappiest nightclub in Bath”, says Tom Parker Bowles in The Mail on Sunday. Now, the “sticky carpets have been ripped out, the disco ball retired”, and the “vast, breezily cavernous space” turned into an extremely civilised restaurant. The cooking “mixes English ingredients with French technique” – very much the hallmark of the great West Country and South Wales chef Stephen Terry, who is a clear influence here. Cornish fish soup is “boozy, swaggering”, the croutons covered in Westcombe cheddar and “the aioli packing a pungent punch”. Asparagus, the first of the season, comes “draped in hollandaise”. For mains, there’s a “generous slab” of perfectly pink venison, and a…

● Try locating it with the Find My feature on Apple or Google if you’ve activated this. You can use a computer browser or a friend’s phone to do this. ● You can also use Find My to lock your phone remotely and mark it as lost. This helps protect your data and blocks Apple or Google Pay, and it can leave a message on the screen for anyone who finds it. ● Block your SIM via your network provider. Ask them to check for any new “charge to bill” activity and to disable that option. ● Contact credit card companies for any cards that were stored on your phone and disable Apple or Google Pay for them. ● Change passwords on accounts, prioritising your email, so thieves can’t reset…

Gary Stevenson The star Citibank trader, turned bestselling author and economics firebrand, is “a timely new prophet for the Left”, said Jim Armitage in The Sunday Times. “With his brash, poacher-turned-gamekeeper critique of capitalist excess, Gary Stevenson “has become a kind of Owen Jones meets Thomas Piketty” – “a viral socialist tribune” whose YouTube videos draw huge, youthful audiences. On a recent UK tour for his book The Trading Game – a rip-roaring account of his City days that is “by turns hilarious and terrifying” – Stevenson filled theatres across the UK. He’s enjoying his new political power: “I can’t walk down the street without five people coming up to me and saying: Don’t give up. Don’t give up.” A postman’s son, Stevenson, 38, grew up poor in Ilford, said…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1464 Two Connell Guides and three Week-branded items will be given to the sender of the first correct solution to the crossword and the clue of the week opened on Monday 19 May. Send it to The Week Crossword 1464, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6JR, or email the completed grid/listed solutions to crossword@theweek.co.uk. By Paul McKenna This week’s winner will receive Week-branded items, as well as two Connell Guides (connellguides.com). ACROSS 9 Whatever happens because of some trial (2,3,4) 10 Old forbidding whiff (5) 11 Goods primarily carried by old ship (5) 12 Calm from street facing trouble (9) 13 Most excellent drink with engineering corps (7) 15 Duke gets out of foolish madness causing resentment (7) 17 Admired opus on refreshing way to work (5,8) 21…

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…

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.…

80% of people in the British arts world who have voiced their opinions on controvertial issues such as trans rights or Israel/Palestine “have experienced intimidation or ostracism”; in 2020, the figure was 45%. In the online poll, based on 483 responses, 53% strongly agreed that they would not publicly admit to right-of-centre opinions. Freedom in the Arts 72% of Russian soldiers fighting against Ukraine, across a range of ages and ranks, favour an end to the war; 22% are opposed. Verstka/The i Paper 64% of British voters support King Charles in his latest row with Prince Harry (see page 21), while 36% support his son. Find Out Now/The Mail on Sunday…

The Rust disaster In October 2021, the director Joel Souza was in rehearsals for his western Rust when a gun being held by its star, Alec Baldwin, accidentally went off. It should have been loaded with blanks, but a live round had found its way into the chamber. The film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, was killed, and Souza was hit in the shoulder. He had hired Hutchins, he told Ryan Gilbey in The Guardian, having specifically sought out a woman for the film (see page 27). “Somebody told me, ‘Women can’t shoot westerns.’ And I thought, ‘F**k you. I’m going to stick that up your ass and only look at women.’” And he had been impressed by Hutchins: after setting up a shot, she’d always ask: “How can we make it…

In the 20 years that followed the fall of Saigon, about 800,000 Vietnamese refugees safely fled the communist regime, in one of the largest mass exoduses in modern history. Escaping over land was extremely difficult: Vietnam is bordered only by Cambodia (where the Khmer Rouge had taken control), China and Laos (both allies of Vietnam). So most refugees fled in small boats over the South China Sea – becoming known as the “boat people”. Many made their way to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong; some reached Japan, or even Australia. Journeys were fraught with risk: boats were often unseaworthy and sank, or ran out of food and water; many were raided by pirates, mainly from Thailand, who raped women and killed those on board. It is estimated that 200,000…

Bad news for the US oil industry Kate Aronoff The New Republic “Drill, baby, drill.” That was Donald Trump’s great battle cry on the campaign trail, says Kate Aronoff, and his administration has continued to champion the oil industry in office. Yet the irony is that Trump’s policies are, in practice, threatening to destroy his favourite sector. His global trade war has sent oil prices tumbling, by raising fears of a widespread recession that “would crater already sluggish demand”. Tariffs are also making it more expensive to build and maintain rigs. If oil prices stay low, many oil firms are going to struggle to break even in America, where drilling is comparatively expensive. A recent report suggested that if prices fall below $50 per barrel, US production would fall by…

A quick “superjab” to treat 15 forms of cancer, including of the lung, bowel, kidney and bladder, is to be rolled out by NHS England. The widely used immunotherapy drug nivolumab, or Opdivo, is currently administered via an intravenous drip, which takes up to an hour. By contrast, the injectable form – which was approved by the UK regulator last week – can be administered in just three to five minutes, which should be far more convenient for patients. And as they have to have the treatment fortnightly or monthly, NHS bosses say that the injectable form will also save medical staff a huge amount of time, freeing them up to treat more patients. The faster treatment won’t cost the NHS any more than the IV one, owing to a…

When President Zelensky flew to Washington two months ago, to sign a minerals deal designed to ensure ongoing US assistance for Ukraine, his televised meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office ended so explosively, there were fears that the US might walk away entirely. But Kyiv pressed for the talks to resume, and before the funeral of Pope Francis, the two leaders met again, said CNN. This time they spoke one on one, in the solemn calm of St Peter’s Basilica. Washington said the meeting had been “very productive”, and last week it unveiled a new “historic economic partnership” with terms more favourable to Kyiv than the original, which Trump had told Zelensky that he had to accept – “because you don’t have the cards”. Under this deal, Ukraine…

“I am not doing so bad. I mean, at this point in his administration William Henry Harrison had been dead 68 days.”Bill Clinton after his first 100 days in 1993, quoted in The Times “The majority always has its way in the end. So does the undertaker. But neither gains in pleasantness by the fact.”H.L. Mencken, quoted in The Knowledge “We are here on Earth to do good to others. What others are here for, I don’t know.”W.H. Auden, quoted in Forbes “Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost for ever, even to the protagonists.”Norman Mailer, quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle “California is a tragic country – like Palestine, like every promised land.”Christopher Isherwood, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “How did nerds go from being beaten…

To The Spectator Rod Liddle seems to have fallen into the same trap as most writers who support the Supreme Court’s ruling on the trans issue – which is to refuse to differentiate between those who have undergone a full gender reassignment, so that they effectively no longer have the same bodies they were born into, and those who simply put on a dress and call themselves a woman. While it can clearly be argued that a man in a dress might pose a risk to women in single-sex spaces, it can hardly be suggested that a trans woman who has undergone full gender reassignment is in the same category, and should be refused access to women’s toilets and similar places. To refuse to allow those who have taken irreversible…

It’s not hard to see what the American writer Lila Raicek was trying to do with her reworking of The Master Builder, Ibsen’s 1892 drama about an ageing architect who is undone by his passion for a young acolyte, said Sarah Crompton on What’s on Stage. By transplanting the action from 19th century Norway to modern-day Long Island, she clearly wanted to turn “Ibsen’s musings on male creativity and potency into a more relevant discussion of sexual politics”. Alas, the result is a dud, said Nick Curtis in The London Standard. The script is stilted and “howlingly pretentious”, and nothing is clear. “Who really loves whom? Who knows? Who cares?” The production marks film star Ewan McGregor’s return to the stage after 17 years, which has created considerable hype, but…

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, 1847 (Penguin £7.99). This was the first “proper” book I read, when I was eight years old. Then, I was rapt by the story of Jane’s childhood and the cruelty and deprivation she suffers. In my teens I came to understand the more adult themes of love, betrayal and integrity. I have read it every decade of my life since. The Complete Poems by John Keats (Penguin £12.99). I am a proud trustee of the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association and have always been a great fan of Keats’s poetry. His work embodies what it is to be young, with its ardent, yearning language. The Odes… – To Autumn, to a Nightingale, and on a Grecian Urn – are particularly fine. Middlemarch by George Eliot, 1871 (Penguin £8.99).…

Programmes A Life Among Elephants Wildlife pioneer Iain Douglas Hamilton, who led groundbreaking research into elephant behaviour in the 1960s, looks back on his life, with contributions from his contemporary Jane Goodall. Sat 10 May, C4 16:25 (60mins). Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire Documentary revisiting the 1985 tragedy in which 56 football supporters lost their lives. Sun 11 May, BBC2 21:00 (90mins). Inside our ADHD Minds Chris Packham helps neurodivergent people connect with their families via short films that illuminate what’s going on in their minds. Mon 12 May, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Shock and Awe: Trump’s Return As America reels from the first 100 days of Trump’s second term, Robert Moore meets people at both extremes of the political spectrum. Tue 13 May, ITV1 21:00 (60mins). 25 Years of Location, Location, Location Kirsty…

Crisp on the outside and soft and chewy in the centre – these nutty delights are everything a good cookie should be, says Emma Petersen. All you need is one bowl and they come together in no time, especially as I developed them with the intention of skipping the usual lengthy dough-chilling step. This makes them a perfect choice for any day you want your kitchen to smell like a bakery, without breaking a sweat. Makes 6-8 cookies 160g coconut sugar 1 large egg, at room temperature 70ml mild olive oil 1 tsp vanilla extract 140g plain flour 1 tsp cornflour/cornstarch ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda/baking soda ¼ tsp fine sea salt 40g macadamia nuts, roughly chopped 60g dark/bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped a pinch of flaky sea salt • Preheat…

Sheffield Tap, in the former refreshment rooms of Sheffield station, is an elegant spot for a pint – with a mahogany bar and terrazzo floor, plus a brewery in the former first-class dining room (sheffieldtap.com). In York station’s former Edwardian tea room, the magnificent Grade II*-listed York Tap serves British real ale and continental craft beer, plus York Pie bar snacks (yorktap.com). On Platform 4 of Stalybridge station, the Stalybridge Buffet Bar is a Mancunian institution. It has an excellent selection of ales and keg beers (beerhouses.co.uk). The Head of Steam in Huddersfield station can be accessed directly from Platform 1. It has a beer garden on St George’s Square, and serves local craft beer, real ale, and pie and mash (theheadofsteam.co.uk). The Parcel Yard is housed in the Grade…

Domaine de Primard Guainville, France Catherine Deneuve’s beloved country home for 25 years until 2014, this 17th century château west of Paris opened as a hotel in 2021, says Ellen Himelfarb in The Times. Set in 100 acres on the Eure River, it is a “rustic retreat” for Parisians who don’t want to stray too far from the “beau monde”. Decor is smart, with “serpentine” sofas, gilt-framed paintings, and an “antique-mirrored” bar, and guest rooms are spacious. (Deneuve’s own bedroom is now the signature suite.) The bistro and fine-dining restaurant are good, and it’s a delight to roam the estate, where the quiet is “transporting”. Doubles from £250; lesdomainesdefontenille.com.…

Bet365: Et tu, Denise? If you want to crack the booming US gambling market, “it’s best to find an American partner, buy an American business, or just emigrate”, said Nils Pratley in The Guardian. Denise Coates, founder of Bet365, may have taken note. Britain’s richest woman – who built the online behemoth from a static cabin in a Stoke-on-Trent car park – is “exploring a full or partial sale” of the family-owned company, which may be worth £9bn. “The lure of a US jackpot is the most likely explanation.” Rival Flutter (Betfair, Paddy Power), which switched its listing from London to New York last year, talks about a $70bn “opportunity” in North America – a market still in a “land grab” phase as individual states liberalise their gambling laws. Bet365…

Drills fall silent The price of benchmark Brent crude has slid by some 12% since early April, to around $62/barrel – driven by uncertainty about the impact of tariffs on global growth. Since low oil prices discourage more drilling, note analysts at Liberum, “President Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ strategy is unravelling.” BP bashed “The timing is especially poor for BP”, as it refocuses on oil and gas “just in time for what could be a prolonged downturn”. BP assumed that “Brent would not go lower than $70/barrel”. Rival Shell is now reportedly weighing the merits of a takeover bid. Saudi squeeze The Middle East’s petro-states are feeling the pressure. Saudi growth slowed to 2.7% in Q1 (from 4.4% in late 2024) due to a recalibration of infrastructure spending. Inflation silver…

The week’s best shares Camellia The Mail on Sunday The world’s largest independent tea producer also specialises in avocados and macadamia nuts – playing into global health trends. Should reward patient investors. Buy. £46. Impax Asset Management The Times Shares have slumped to bargain levels – given the green investor’s credibility, expertise and “sticky clients”. Sustainability imperatives haven’t gone away. No borrowings and cash rich; even a halved dividend would yield almost 10%. Buy. 140.8p. Oxford Instruments The Daily Telegraph Profits are rising at the FTSE 250 firm, whose equipment is used to analyse matter at an atomic and molecular level. In an improving competitive position, amid growing demand for its kit. Pounce on share weakness. Buy. £16.42. Roche Investors’ Chronicle Currency movements are a worry, but the Swiss pharma’s…