Innholdsfortegnelse for 1563 i The Week

Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, who began a five-year sentence, for conspiring to illegally raise campaign funds, at La Santé prison in Paris this week. Sarkozy, who maintains his innocence, said he would take two books with him: a biography of Jesus and Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, in which the hero escapes from an island prison, then seeks revenge. George Abaraonye, who has been ousted as president-elect of the Oxford Union over comments that appeared to celebrate the death of US activist Charlie Kirk. Abaraonye had reportedly sent a WhatsApp message reading, “Charlie Kirk got shot, let’s f**king go”. Of 1,746 votes cast, 1,228 members elected to remove him. Reform UK, which suspended four councillors after a video of a heated virtual council meeting was leaked.…

Paris Louvre heist: Eight priceless pieces of jewellery worn by 19th century queens and empresses of France have been stolen from the Louvre, in a seven-minute daylight raid that French media have called “the heist of the century”. A team of four masked thieves posing as builders used a truck-mounted ladder to enter via a first-floor window using an angle grinder. They then smashed the display cases and fled on scooters, dropping one item, a crown worn by Empress Eugénie, as they left. Justice minister Gérald Darmanin said the theft gave “a deplorable image of France”, and an official report leaked the next day called the Louvre’s security system “inadequate”. Paris Lecornu survives: The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, narrowly survived two parliamentary votes of no confidence last week, winning…

1 Lay Lady Lay, written and performed by Bob Dylan 2* I Am Enough, written and performed by Tallulah Rendall 3 Suzanne, written and performed by Leonard Cohen 4 Walk on the Wild Side, written and performed by Lou Reed 5 Wish You Were Here by David Gilmour and Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd 6 Cold Little Heart, written and performed by Michael Kiwanuka 7 Diamonds by Sia Furler, Benjamin Levin, Mikkel Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, performed by Rihanna 8 Heroes by David Bowie and Brian Eno, performed by David Bowie Book: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima Luxury: a bed * Choice if allowed only one record…

Many recent ransomware attacks are the work of closely linked, overlapping groups known variously as Scattered Spider, Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters and ShinyHunters, among other names. They stem from a large underground network that calls itself “The Community” or “The Com”, based largely in the US, the UK and Canada. Many members came into contact with each other as gamers, playing online games such as Minecraft, particularly among “griefing” circles. Griefers deliberately disrupt and “troll” other players. Members of The Com then graduated to cybercrimes: such as cryptocurrency theft and online grooming. The security company Darktrace describes Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters as “English-speaking, aged 16 to 21, and a little bit neurodiverse”. Paul Foster of the National Crime Agency thinks “Covid probably accelerated their development: more time online, more time on devices”.…

A religious revival – or a revolution? David French The New York Times “Something important is stirring in Christian America,” says David French. The steady decline of Christianity has paused. People are more curious about faith. Young churchgoers are now attending church more frequently than older parishioners. As a lifelong evangelical, I should be happy about this apparent religious revival, but there’s a dark aspect to it. This was evident at the recent memorial service for the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, where calls for love and forgiveness (notably from his widow) were mixed with declarations of hate. It was still more evident in the far-right “ReAwaken America” tour that crisscrossed the US during the Biden presidency, mixing Christian nationalism with conspiracy theories and calls for vengeance. Some Christians are now…

The NHS in England’s total liabilities for medical negligence claims have hit £60bn. The figure – an estimate for the cost of settling all claims as of March this year, and any not yet received for the period before that – is four times the one in 2006/07. A number of factors are behind the spiralling costs, including fast-rising legal fees and a jump in the number relating to babies who were left brain damaged as a result of poor maternity care (usually awarded large settlements to cover a lifetime of care). Most cases are brought against GPs, and about three-quarters of claimants settle for £25,000 or less, but the damages are dwarfed by the cost of defending these cases. In 2024/25, £183m was spent settling low-value claims – but…

It wasn’t as calamitous as his first Oval Office encounter in February, said The Guardian, but Volodymyr Zelensky’s latest visit to the White House last Friday did not go well. Ukraine’s president had hoped that Donald Trump, who has taken a tougher line against Russia in recent weeks, might agree to sell Kyiv long-range Tomahawk missiles. But Trump, who had shared a two-hour phone call with Vladimir Putin the previous day at the Russian leader’s request, not only ruled that option out but lectured Zelensky on the need to make territorial concessions. He apparently tossed aside maps of Ukraine during the ill-tempered meeting, warning Zelensky to accept Putin’s terms or be “destroyed” by Russia. Trump’s harsh tone should concentrate the minds of European leaders as they explore the idea of…

This F1 season has, for much of its duration, had the appearance of being a “two-horse race”, said Tom Cary in The Daily Telegraph. Not only has McLaren had the fastest car, but in Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, the team has had two drivers capable of capitalising on that superiority. And with the constructors’ title already won by McLaren, it seemed inevitable that one of the pair would go on to claim the individual title. That assumption must now be put “firmly to bed”. In the past few weeks, Max Verstappen has emerged as a genuine contender for what would be a fifth consecutive title. Last weekend, the Dutchman followed up recent wins in Italy and Azerbaijan with a “perfect, star-spangled weekend” at the US Grand Prix: he won…

Cricket England’s cricketers clinched a semi-final spot in the Women’s World Cup with a four-run victory over India. Tennis Jannik Sinner earned $6m (£4.47m) by beating Carlos Alcaraz 6-2, 6-4 in the final of the Six Kings Slam exhibition tournament in Riyadh. Emma Raducanu ended her season early after suffering back problems. Football West Ham remain second-bottom of the Premier League after losing 2-0 to Brentford. Arsenal hold their place at the top after beating Fulham 1-0. Manchester City moved to second, with a 2-0 victory over Everton.…

In February 1974, Patty Hearst – the 19-year-old granddaughter of the newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst – was abducted in California by a band of left-wing guerillas calling themselves the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), said Clive Davis in The Times. They demanded huge ransoms – but also released recordings of Hearst saying that she’d joined their cause. She was then spotted taking part in a bank robbery, leading to her arrest in September 1975. Her case caused a sensation, and posed a question that divided America: had she actually become a terrorist, or had she (as she testified in court) been raped and coerced by her captors? These events, and this question, provide the inspiration for this sharp and intriguing new play by English playwright Katherine Moar. Moar’s “riveting” memory…

The Iris Affair is “a delightfully preposterous new thriller” that is packed with twists, said Lucas Hill-Paul in the Daily Mirror. Made by Luther creator Neil Cross, Sky’s new show stars Niamh Algar as Iris, a “maths whizz” and genius codebreaker who completes a cryptic treasure hunt designed by venture capitalist Cameron Beck (Tom Hollander). He is so impressed by her astonishing abilities that he recruits her for a secret task: unlocking “a mind-bogglingly complex set of codes” to gain access to a supercomputer so advanced, it could solve climate change, cure cancer or end world hunger. There’s just one problem: the computer, named “Charlie Big Potatoes”, is fast becoming sentient. A film with a Bond-franchise budget might just have done this plot justice, said Anita Singh in The Daily…

“A modern answer to the traditional almshouse, designed to combat loneliness”, has won the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Stirling Prize, said BBC News. The complex, in Bermondsey, south London, has 59 flats for pensioners on low incomes, plus communal facilities, including a roof garden with raised food-growing beds, courtyard and community kitchen. Designed by Witherford Watson Mann, it beat other contenders, including the restoration of the Big Ben tower in London and a new fashion college campus. The Appleby Blue Almshouse is “arranged around a central courtyard filled with shimmering ginkgo trees and tinkling pools”, said Catherine Slessor in The Guardian. Its vibe “has more in common with an Alpine spa hotel than the pokey rooms and grim corridors usually associated with housing for elderly people”. Glazed galleries leading…

With only two tickets for the Pub Awards event, Lilian decides to bring Fallon. Tracy and Fallon think it’s unfair, so Lilian suggests a draw instead. Dropping into a neighbouring farm on the way home, David and Akram find the farmer, Mulligan, dead in the milking parlour. Shaken, David wonders if he could have done something to prevent it; both agree to look after Mulligan’s cows until his family are contacted. There’s awkwardness as George takes Eddie and Clarrie for lunch at The Bull; serving them, Fallon remains professional but later confesses how hard it was seeing George again. Mulligan’s daughter Esme arrives at the farm and is shocked to learn of his death. Lillian tries to rig the draw, but Tracy twigs and ends up winning. George leans on…

The surprising uses of a microwave In a recent survey, a third of respondents said they couldn’t live without their microwave, says Silvana Franco in The Daily Telegraph. I can understand that, as I use mine more than ever – including for tasks I once thought were beyond it. This is largely because of a host of new accessories for microwaves. For example, with a microwave bacon cooker, I can make crispy bacon in a couple of minutes – and cleaning up is easy too, as it goes in the dishwasher. Even more “ingenious” is the microwave toastie-maker, a gadget I was “entirely sceptical” about until I tried it. With its silicone-encased metal plates, it yields a toastie with a crisply golden exterior and “piping hot middle”. I have also…

The Grand Designs presenter offers his top tips for a successful building project ● Before ordering a bathroom or kitchen from a supplier, order something relatively small – a door handle or towel rail – so you can check the quality is up to scratch. ● Online reviews for tradespeople are unreliable: they may have written them themselves. Membership of a guild or federation often means nothing. Ideally, ask people you know for recommendations. The best builders will probably be busy for the next few months. ● Renovation projects involve managing multiple tradespeople and suppliers, and ordering countless components. Don’t assume you can manage it all yourself. ● Expert advice may be expensive, but it is invaluable. A quantity surveyor will manage the costs of a building project. Architects and…

Lady Annabel Goldsmith 1934-2025 A few months after founding the Clermont Club, his notorious gambling club in Berkeley Square, in 1962, John Aspinall leased its basement to his friend Mark Birley, an advertising executive. Birley converted the space into a nightclub, and named it Annabel’s, after his wife. It became, and remains, one of London’s most celebrated society hotspots. Yet for Lady Annabel Goldsmith, who died last week aged 91, her association with the club was just one chapter in a long life that was gilded and full of fun, but also punctuated by tragedy. Born in London in 1934, she was the daughter of Robin Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, later the eighth Marquess of Londonderry, and Romaine Combe. She spent her childhood between three family piles: Mount Stewart in Northern…

The deal Down Under “Trump’s hand with China is improving,” said John Authers on Bloomberg. The US president has signed an $8.5bn deal with Australia “to develop an alternative supply of rare earths” in the hope of loosening China’s stranglehold on production. That should strengthen America’s longer-term bargaining position. The caveat, ahead of his summit with Xi Jinping, is that China may think its chances of extracting concessions “will never be stronger”. Mine, baby, mine The move sent shares in NYSE-listed Alcoa, which is mining gallium in Western Australia, up 7.5%, said CNBC. Yet Australia’s largest rare earth producer, Lynas Rare Earths, took a hit from profit-taking – having already gained a whopping 190% this year. Producers are also wary of Trump’s plan to build a “strategic mineral reserve and…

Jonathan Andic The death last December of Mango founder Isak Andic – who fell down a ravine while hiking at Montserrat, near Barcelona, with his son Jonathan – was initially ruled a terrible accident, said James Badcock in The Daily Telegraph. But the case has been reopened as a potential homicide and Jonathan, 44, is reportedly under “formal investigation”. In a statement, the Andic family said they are “confident” his “innocence will be proven”. There were no witnesses to the incident and there is no direct evidence of foul play. But investigators have given “serious consideration” to evidence provided by Isak Andik’s partner Estefanía Knuth, who told police that the father and son had “a difficult relationship”. The fashion mogul’s fortune, comprising his 95% stake in the Mango chain, plus…

Club and Penguin, two of Britain’s classic biscuits, have reduced their cocoa content so much that they can no longer be legally described as chocolate. The brands, made by McVitie’s, have been reformulated, and the coating for both has been downgraded to “chocolate flavour”. Club’s famous slogan, “If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit, join our Club,” has been replaced with: “If you like a lot of biscuit in your break, join our Club.” People on dating apps are increasingly being chatted up by AI. “Chatfishing” means using chatbots to craft messages that are witty and seductive – leading to disappointment when the couple meet in real life. One woman complained to The Guardian that she had been “ChatGPT-ed into bed”.…

Two of the leading candidates to chair a national inquiry into grooming gangs withdrew this week. Annie Hudson, a former social worker, announced her decision after several survivors of child sexual abuse quit the inquiry’s victims’ panel citing a “toxic environment”. Jim Gamble, a former police officer, followed on Wednesday. The victims had raised concerns about the inquiry being chaired by a former policeman or social worker – professions that often failed to investigate grooming gangs. They were also concerned by suggestions that the inquiry’s scope might be widened to include other forms of child sexual abuse. The Government insisted that its focus remains on grooming gangs. “Terror group” ruling Palestine Action can appeal against the Government’s decision to proscribe it as a terror group, the Court of Appeal has…

Washington DC Bolton charged: John Bolton – Donald Trump’s former national security adviser – was indicted last week on 18 federal charges of mishandling classified information. Since he was fired in 2019, Bolton has been one of Trump’s most prominent critics on the right; in a memoir, he described his former boss as “stunningly uninformed” and unfit for office. But while Trump has made no secret of his wish to pursue his political enemies through the courts, legal experts say the case against Bolton (above) is stronger than those recently launched against two other Trump adversaries – James Comey, the former FBI director, and Letitia James, the attorney general of New York. Prosecutors accuse Bolton of improperly sending secret and classified documents to close family members via email. They say…

“Almost any derivative for the word husband makes me want to move to the Moon. ‘Hubby’ for instance, or ‘the hubster’. Should you even be allowed to get married if you think hubster is an acceptable word to refer to an adult man? Likewise, ‘wifey’. While we’re in this area, could we have a moratorium on ‘mama bear’ and ‘papa bear’, unless you’re at the zoo, or in the Rockies. Those who refer to their dogs as ‘furbabies’ should also be discouraged. Are you going anywhere nice for your holibobs? Find another hairdresser, if that’s their line of enquiry. And since it’s looming, a few may need reminding that ‘Chrimbo’ is unforgivable.” Sophia Money-Coutts in The Telegraph…

Will he be seen as the man who ruined Britain? Phillip Inman The Guardian How will Ed Miliband be remembered? As the Energy Secretary who delivered Britain’s net-zero future, or the man who killed off UK industry? Right now, the latter looks more likely, says Phillip Inman. Our factories pay over four times more for electricity than their US peers – prices that are obliterating the UK’s energy-intensive manufacturing industries. Official data in May showed that the output of these firms – makers of paper, chemicals, plastic, metal products and so on – has fallen by a third since 2021, to its lowest level in 35 years: “great for UK carbon emission figures”, not so great for the UK’s industrial base, which supports a host of other businesses. Energy costs…

The bats that feast on birds The Spanish bat expert Carlos Ibáñez was puzzled when, some 25 years ago, he started to notice the presence of feathers in the droppings of the greater noctule, Europe’s largest bat. When he also found severed wings on the ground, he came up with a theory that the noctule – which is well known to catch insects in flight – feasts on birds. Other scientists questioned whether a mammal not much larger than a golf ball (discounting its 18-inch wingspan) was even capable of taking down a robin, say. Now, however, bats have been caught in the act. For the study, wild greater noctules in southern Spain were fitted with tiny “backpacks” containing ultra-light instruments to record their movement, acceleration, altitude and vocalisations. When…

In Washington DC last week, Rachel Reeves “started laying the groundwork for a painful Budget”, said Hugo Gye in The i Paper. Speaking at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund, the Chancellor “adopted a strategy of doom and gloom”, confirming that both tax rises and spending cuts are on the table for 26 November, to help reverse an estimated £22bn black hole in the public finances. Reeves blamed a likely growth downgrade by the Office for Budget Responsibility on Brexit, and warned that “those with the broadest shoulders should pay their fair share”. Having already gone after non-doms and private schools, Reeves clearly believes the wealthy can be squeezed a bit more before the pips squeak, said Fraser Nelson in The Times. Problem is, we currently have a…

Ruben Amorim travelled to Anfield on Sunday knowing that a defeat “might seal his fate”, said Oliver Holt in the Daily Mail. With Manchester United having started the season poorly, their Portuguese manager was under mounting pressure. He was also burdened by the knowledge that it had been fully nine years since United last won at Anfield. But instead of succumbing once again to the Reds, United preyed on the champions’ “startling new vulnerabilities” to eke out a 2-1 victory that may signal a “turning point” for Amorim. They opened the scoring with their very first attack, when Amad Diallo “threaded a pass” to Bryan Mbeumo, who beat Liverpool’s keeper at close range. The Reds equalised in the second half, when Cody Gakpo – who’d struck the woodwork three times…

Dark Star: A Biography of Vivien Leigh by Alan Strachan, 2018 (Bloomsbury £15.99). I love biographies, and while I’ve never read one of Leigh before, this came so highly recommended that I picked it up in hardback. A great read about a complex, fascinating, troubled woman. Far from the Tree by Andrew Solomon, 2012 (Vintage £22). When I first met Andrew at the Nantucket Book Festival I hadn’t read any of his works, but went to his talk and was struck by how thoughtful, gentle and fearless he was. His writing is exactly the same. This non-fiction book examines what happens when parents are raising a child they barely recognise. A child who is not at all like them physically, intellectually, in temperament or personality. It is riveting, filled with…

Programmes Trigger Point Season three of the nail-biting crime drama explodes onto screens, with Vicky McClure reprising her role as a police bomb disposal officer. Sun 26-Mon 27 Oct, ITV1 21:00 (60mins each). State of War: Fighting the Narcos As drug cartels turn Ecuador into one of the world’s most violent countries, this documentary follows a priest, a governor and a grieving father to shed light on life in the country. Sun 26 Oct, ITV1 22:20 (80mins). Once Upon a Time in Space Four-part series using personal accounts from astronauts and scientists to tell the human story of space exploration. Mon 27 Oct, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Mary at 90: A Lifetime of Cooking On a boat trip with comedian Tom Allen, Mary Berry looks back at her career and shares some of her…

For me, soups are always superior when the veg has been roasted beforehand (as opposed to boiled), says Flora Shedden. The squash and apple in this recipe both develop a lovely natural sweetness when they are left to roast and caramelise; the other great thing about this recipe is that you just shove everything in a tray to cook together. Serves 4-6 1 butternut squash (about 900g), peeled and deseeded, then cut into 1cm slices 2 eating apples (about 250g), cored and cut into 1cm slices 1 large onion (about 250g), cut into wedges 4 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole 45g fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 45g/3 tbsp apple cider vinegar 10g sage leaves 1kg chicken (or vegetable) stock olive oil, for cooking sea salt and freshly…

The West Somerset Railway, a branch line of the Great Western Railway, is the longest standard-gauge heritage line in Britain. There are ten restored stations on the 20-mile route from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead (west-somerset-railway.co.uk). Ffestiniog Railway, Snowdonia, is a narrow-gauge railway run by the world’s oldest independent rail company. It was created in the early 19th century to transport slate from the quarries to ships in Porthmadog, 13.5 miles and 700ft below (festrail.co.uk). The miniature Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway was built for recreation in 1927, and travels 13.5 miles from Dungeness to the resorts of Hythe and Dymchurch on the Kent coast (rhdr.org.uk). The narrow-gauge Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway travels seven miles from the coast to the foot of Scafell Pike in Cumbria. It was built to transport iron ore.…

The Fortingall Perthshire Sir Walter Scott declared Glen Lyon the “longest, loneliest and loveliest” of Scotland’s valleys – and The Fortingall hotel, built in 1891, occupies an enviable perch at one end of it. Fresh from a recent eight-month revamp, it’s a lovely base for a Highlands holiday, says Jo Rodgers in Condé Nast Traveller. The ten rooms have “inviting but restrained” decor, with lots of “earthy” colours and textured wallpapers. There’s a restaurant serving “hearty” fare, and lots to see nearby, including the Fortingall Yew, which stands in the neighbouring churchyard and is thought to be between 3,000 and 9,000 years old. Doubles from £270 b&b; fortingall.com.…

LVMH/Kering/L’Oréal: rays of hope Is luxury back in style? Ask Bernard Arnault’s accountant, said Ty Roush in Forbes. The French billionaire behind LVMH enjoyed a personal wealth boost of more than $19bn last week, after the “luxury bellwether” reported “sales growth for the first time this year” – surpassing forecasts by pulling in €18.3bn in the third quarter. While demand across the US and Europe remained “solid”, the group cited “a noticeable improvement” in the crucial Asia market. Trebles all round – and not just at LVMH, which enjoyed its best day in the market since January 2024. Its “ray of hope” fuelled a rally across the sector, giving a much-needed 2% boost to France’s “luxury-heavy” CAC 40 index. There are signs of progress at Kering, the battered Gucci-owner, which…

The OBR is a hindrance to growth Andy Haldane Financial Times When the Office for Budget Responsibility was created in 2010, to provide independent assessments of the UK’s public finances, it was rightly welcomed as an effort “to depoliticise analysis of fiscal policy”, says Andy Haldane. But the OBR became much more than a “second pair of eyes”. Because it also assumed responsibility for macroeconomic forecasts and assessing the impact of fiscal measures, “the role and expertise of the Treasury on macro matters” was effectively outsourced. “The OBR has de facto monopoly rights over judgements on debt sustainability – it is prosecutor, judge and jury.” And that has made it overly conservative when striking the delicate balance between stimulating growth and maintaining fiscal discipline; it’s not surprising that Liz Truss…

The week’s best shares Audioboom Investors’ Chronicle This resilient, profitable, global podcast leader has a highly scalable content business: providing distribution, marketing and production services. A strategic review could prompt takeover interest – and double shares. Buy. 675p. Croda International Sharecast Berenberg raised its target price on the speciality chemicals firm – citing market-share gains in beauty activities and strong performance in fragrances and flavours. Beauty gains outweigh plateaus in the health business. Buy. £28.98. Dunelm Group The Mail on Sunday The homewares retailer “has many good qualities”, not least a grip on costs that sustains margins in an inflationary world. The new CEO’s tech nous should drive digital transformation further. Yields nearly 4%. Buy. £11.23. Meta Platforms The Times The world’s most valuable social media firm is investing heavily…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1488 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 3 November. Send it to The Week Crossword 1488, 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 Inside ranch or a genial place to lie up (9) 10 Fruit I have on old limes initially (5) 11 Went on horseback over one of these (5) 12 Small sweet band (9) 13 Strike equipment? (7) 15 Old-fashioned easy chair enveloping a Conservative (7) 17 Supporter allowing time for a change of opinion (6,7)…

What happened The Government continued to face questions over the collapse of the trial of two British men accused of spying for China between 2021 and 2023. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) abandoned the case last month, citing the failure of Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Collins to designate China as a threat to national security. No. 10 bowed to pressure last week to publish Collins’s witness statements to prosecutors. The first of these was produced under Rushi Sunak’s government, the later two under Keir Starmer’s. Critics said the later statements, which stressed the need to maintain good relations with Beijing, had doomed the case. The head of MI5 declared that he was “frustrated” by the collapse of the spy trial. China, said Ken McCallum, presented a national security threat…

Graham Linehan, who will face no further action for his social media posts criticising transgender people. The Father Ted co-creator was arrested at Heathrow Airport in September, provoking an uproar among free speech advocates. The Metropolitan Police also said it would no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents, though it will continue to record them. Local heroes, after Sam Fender, aka the “Geordie Springsteen”, won this year’s Mercury Prize, which was held for the first time in Newcastle. Fender saw off the likes of Pulp, Wolf Alice and CMAT to win the award for his third album, People Watching.…

45% of Britons think that too many young people go to university; 23% think the number is about right; 10% don’t think enough go. 46% of Britons think that apprenticeships prepare young people for future better than university; 6% think that universities are superior in this regard; 43% think they have equal utility. YouGov 13% of British Indians now back Reform UK, compared with 4% at the last election. The 1928 Institute/The Guardian A quarter of all American adults believe that God ordained Donald Trump to be the winner of the 2024 election, with 60% of white evangelical protestants holding that view. Public Religion Research Institute…

Wiggins on his abuser Bradley Wiggins was 13 when his cycling coach began to sexually abuse him. They were staying in a hostel in Dorset. Stan Knight, who was then in his 70s, took him into the showers, and told him that he was going to show him how to clean his crotch, to avoid getting saddle sores. Knight assaulted him that night, and the abuse went on for the next three years. Wiggins was a lonely child, preyed on by a man who first identified and then exploited his aching need for a father figure: his father had left when he was a baby; his stepfather was a sometimes violent bully, says Polly Vernon in The Times. Yet even now, he feels shame about the abuse. He finally spoke…

A lorry driver from Barnsley spent six days in intensive care after eating 3kg of cola bottles in 72 hours. Nathan Rimmington, 33, ordered a bulk bag of the sweets after developing a sudden “hankering” for them – and found that he “couldn’t stop eating”. By the end of his binge, he was sweating profusely and was in so much pain that he couldn’t walk. He was referred to hospital, where he was treated for inflammation of the intestine – acute diverticulitis. “It was really stupid,” he admitted. To the shock of his owners, a puppy has grown to the size of a Shetland pony. Mal, an Alaskan Malamute, was diagnosed with a form of canine gigantism after hitting 13st and reaching 6ft in height when standing on his back…

INDIA Why Good Samaritans are such a rarity The Times of India (Mumbai) It’s an ugly thing to have to admit, said The Times of India, but when people in this country witness one of the countless accidents that occur on India’s dangerous highways, they are much more likely to video the aftermath than go to the aid of the victims. The ministry of highways now hopes to change that by significantly raising – from about £40 to £210 – the reward given to any bystander whose intervention helps save the life of an accident victim. This is a fundamentally bad idea. The reason so many people are reluctant to help is due to a well-founded fear of police harassment. Encounters with the police invariably result in hours of questioning,…

The Tourette’s activist John Davidson had an interesting time when he went to Holyrood Palace in 2019 to receive his MBE. He bellowed “F**k the Queen!” at the monarch when she was awarding him his honour; she was unfazed. He then had to sit quietly while all the others received their gongs. Davidson tried to keep his focus by reading the order of service, but when he heard the words “for services to waterskiing”, he lost control. “And I went: F**king waterskiing!” At that point, he told The Daily Telegraph, he was given royal assent to leave the building. When Michael Gove was preparing for a ministerial trip to China in the 2010s, he was given some stark advice by the security services. He should use a burner phone, and…

“I love humanity. My problem is humans.”Sean Penn, quoted in The New York Times “It is one of the mysteries of the modern era that those who have least interest in the normal world feel most qualified to advise the rest of us how to live in it.”Hadley Freeman in The Sunday Times “The definition of a good speech, I once read, is a joke at the beginning, a joke at the end, and the shortest possible time between.”Bill Nighy, quoted in The Observer “After you make a fool of yourself a few hundred times, you learn what works.”Gwen Stefani, quoted on The Knowledge “Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.”Billy Crystal, quoted in The i Paper “Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made…

Patrick Procktor at The Redfern Gallery By rights, Patrick Procktor (1936-2003) should be one of our best-loved artists. Prodigiously talented, and now, alas, largely forgotten, Procktor emerged in the early 1960s fully formed, with a graphic genius to rival his friend and contemporary David Hockney. He drew and painted with a live-wire delicacy at times reminiscent of Egon Schiele: his portraits of friends and lovers bring their subjects screaming into the display space, his washed-out landscapes sharing the same ethereal quality seen in the best works by Michael Andrews. This show, Stages, is curated by Procktor’s biographer Ian Massey, and brings together a vast treasure trove of his pictures from 1962 to his death, from densely peopled Pop art scenes to psychedelic, near-abstract experiments that nodded to the counterculture while…

John Gurdon 1933-2025 When John Gurdon was 15 years old, he was in the bottom set at Eton for all the sciences. In biology he ranked last in a year of 250, and his end-of-term report was crushing about his ambition to become a scientist. “On his present showing, this is quite ridiculous,” wrote his teacher, Mr Gaddum. To expend any more effort on the subject would, he added, “be a sheer waste of time”. Gaddum had, of course, wildly underestimated his pupil, said The Times, and in 2012, when he was 79, Gurdon took pleasure in reading this report at the press conference in London where it was revealed that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. The citation for the prize, which he shared with the…