The Week 1552

The first Montagu harrier chicks to be hatched in England in six years took their maiden flights this week. The migratory raptors have long been one of Britain’s rarest species, and their nests, which tend to be in arable fields, are often accidentally destroyed. The breeding pair were spotted in May, and once their chicks hatched, their nest, in a wheat field, was closely protected by the RSPB and the local farmer, who described it as “fantastic” to have the birds on the farm. The world’s most premature baby has celebrated his first birthday – and also won a place in Guinness World Records. The book’s compilers said that Nash Keen had overcome “phenomenal odds” to survive being born at the gestational age of 21 weeks. His mother’s due date…

Recognising Palestine: an empty gesture? Almost two years into a conflict that has cost tens of thousands of lives and caused “apocalyptic” devastation in Gaza, Western nations have decided that the time is ripe for a “pointless” gesture, said Hussein Agha and Robert Malley in The Guardian. President Macron initiated it at the end of last month by declaring that France would formally recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN general assembly in September, joining the 147 other countries that already do so. Keir Starmer swiftly announced that Britain would do the same unless Israel allowed more aid into Gaza, committed not to annex the West Bank and agreed to a ceasefire. Canada then declared its intent to follow suit. Israel angrily dismissed the announcements, saying that they only rewarded Hamas…

Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to fully reoccupy the Gaza Strip, according to reports in the Israeli media. The Israeli PM is said to be determined to resume full control of the enclave, despite opposition from the chief of staff of his country’s armed forces. He views it as the only means to achieve Israel’s central war aim, said Dov Lieber in The Wall Street Journal – the “total defeat” of Hamas. But his critics say that Israel should focus on securing a ceasefire which would free the 20 or so living hostages still held by Hamas, and on easing Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, which has left Israel isolated abroad. Reoccupation isn’t yet “formal policy” of the Israeli government, said Jonathan Sacerdoti in The Spectator: it still has to be approved by…

Controversy of the week Trump’s deadline Donald Trump has spent years boasting about his closeness to the man he calls “Vladimir”, but his “cherished bromance” with Russia’s president is “now at breaking point”, said Hugh Tomlinson in The Observer. In the last fortnight, Trump has set an accelerated 8 August deadline for Moscow to either agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or face crippling secondary sanctions, and deployed two nuclear submarines closer to Russia in response to veiled threats made by Russia’s former PM, Dmitry Medvedev. Insiders say the US president is “genuinely pissed off” with Putin and frustrated that, despite their many phone calls, he has done nothing to rein in the bloodletting in Ukraine. “He talks, we have such nice conversations… and then people die the following night,”…

Keir Starmer told his biographer that as a child, he didn’t like his first name – apparently given to him in honour of Labour co-founder Keir Hardie; and it seems he has now put other people off it. Last year, no child was named Keir in England and Wales for the first time in three decades. At the name’s peak, in 1998, there were 70 baby Keirs. By contrast, Nigel – which is very rare, with zero recorded in three of the last ten years – may be experiencing a mild resurgence: five were registered in 2024. More A-level students are taking PE than French, German and classical languages combined, according to a report by the Higher Education Policy Institute. In poorer areas, only 47% of pupils study a language…

GB News, with figures showing that four years after its launch, it has overtaken BBC News as Britain’s most-watched news channel. It claims to have attracted an average of 80,600 viewers across each day in July, compared with 78,700 for BBC News. The official ratings agency Barb has yet to confirm the data. Gary Lineker, who may be about to make his primetime TV comeback. Sources say he has been lined up to present The Box, a new ITV gameshow in which celebrities take on daring challenges.…