Table of contents for V. 1302 in The Week

What happened The Northern showdown Boris Johnson imposed the strictest coronavirus restrictions on 2.8 million people in the Greater Manchester area this week, after talks with local leaders collapsed without a deal on financial support. On Friday morning, the area was due to follow Merseyside and Lancashire into Tier 3 restrictions. The announcement came after an 11-day stand-off between No. 10 and the Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham. Local leaders in the area had initially requested a £90m support package, before lowering their demand to £65m. But No. 10 refused to increase its offer of £60m. In response, Burnham accused the Government of “playing poker with people’s lives”. “Tough days lie ahead,” he warned. In other parts of the country, including London, Essex and York, millions of others have been…

Drivers in Paris, who are going to find it increasingly difficult to park their cars. Local officials have announced plans to remove half the city’s street parking spots by 2025, and use them to create more green spaces. There are also plans to reduce the speed limit from 50km/h to 30km/h (19mph) next year. Jodey Hopcroft, an amateur runner, who ended up having to cover 49 miles to complete her virtual London Marathon, owing to the official app not functioning properly. She walked for 15 hours, often through pouring rain, before the app registered that she had travelled the official distance of 26.2 miles. The Health and Safety Executive, the agency set up to prevent death or injury in the workplace, with reports that it has recorded 218 accidents involving…

More than 26% of UK adults say their household income has gone down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions that have followed. 3.4% say their income has fallen by more than half. 36% of people say they trust Boris Johnson to lead the country’s response to the pandemic, while 44% do not, giving him an overall rating of -8%. Matt Hancock has a trust rating of -13%, while Rishi Sunak has one of +19%. Nicola Sturgeon has a rating of +13%, rising to +22% in Scotland. BMG/The Independent 67% of Britons would support a “circuit-breaker” lockdown, in which the whole country goes into a lockdown for at least two weeks. 26% would oppose it, and 8% don’t know. YouGov/Sky News…

Washington DC Getting personal: President Trump accused his Democrat rival Joe Biden of belonging to an “organised crime family” this week, as he sought to exploit leaked emails that, according to the Trump camp, prove that Biden’s younger son, Hunter, corruptly traded on his father’s status to further his business links in Ukraine. Trump’s personal lawyer, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has spent months digging for dirt on Biden, last week passed to the New York Post the hard drive of a computer that allegedly once belonged to Hunter. Giuliani claims emails found on it show Hunter offered to fix up a meeting between a Ukrainian gas company boss and his father, when the latter was US vice-president. The paper also published photos of Hunter (pictured) – whose…

“More and more does this pandemic remind me of the religious wars and doctrinal schisms of bygone times. In both religion and medicine, Apocalypse lends the sage his soapbox. In both cases an invisible force is interpreted to a frightened populace by a priesthood. In both cases, people start wearing strange costumes and headgear. In both cases we’re urged to inform on each other for alleged heretical behaviour. Within the priesthood – ecclesiastical or medical – schisms arise – though, like ‘the’ Church, ‘the’ science is awarded the definite article. And as in religion, the trumpets shall sound or a vaccine arrive. But how long, oh Lord, how long?” Matthew Parris in The Times…

Don’t be fooled by the tears of a dictator Simon Tisdall The Guardian It’s not often you see a dictator beseeching his oppressed people to forgive him. The sight of a sobbing Kim Jong Un doing just that at a North Korean military parade last week was clear evidence, to some, that US and UN sanctions were hitting home. The opposite is true, says Simon Tisdall. The attempt to pummel a rogue state into submission, especially during the Covid crisis, inflicts terrible suffering on its people, but intensifies the defiance of its rulers. Even if it has brought Kim to tears, it hasn’t stopped him developing an ICBM – on show at the parade – capable of bypassing US missile defences and hitting any US city. In the case of…

What are President Trump’s chances of re-election? On paper, it doesn’t look good for him, said Byron York in the Washington Examiner. He’s trailing Joe Biden by around ten percentage points in national polls and is also behind in key battleground states such as Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin. But these polls “don’t tell the whole story”. Before writing Trump off, consider this “jaw-dropping” number from Gallup. Asked late last month whether they and their family were better off or worse off than they were before Trump was elected, a “whopping” 56% of respondents said they were better off. By comparison, only 45% said the same in a Gallup poll after Barack Obama’s first four years in office; and only 47% after George W. Bush’s first term. That so many voters…

Long Covid: the emerging picture Headaches, extreme fatigue, rashes and hair loss are among the most common symptoms of Long Covid, a review into the condition has found. It remains unclear how many Covid-19 patients carry on being affected after their infections clear, but preliminary studies have suggested that between 10% and 20% of patients experience complications lasting longer than a month; and they include people whose bout of Covid was not particularly severe. Many sufferers complain of “brain fog” – which generally refers to an inability to concentrate, persistent headaches and difficulties tolerating loud noise. Breathlessness is another oft-reported problem, as is hair loss – though doctors are not sure if this is a direct result of Covid-19 or related to the stress it causes. “Many [patients] suffer a…

The late comedian Victoria Wood won plenty of awards in her time. And sometimes even she lost track of them, a new biography by Jasper Rees has revealed. In a letter to a friend, Wood recalled gazing at her trophies when she spotted one that she didn’t remember winning. “It was a bronze round one,” she wrote. After much thought, she finally realised that “it was a brass ceiling light the electrician had left”. No matter, she decided. “I will just leave it there and tell people it’s my prize for best new sitcom at the Oslo Television Festival.” Pete Townshend’s penchant for smashing guitars was key to The Who’s rock ’n’ roll credentials. But now, his bandmate Roger Daltrey has revealed these onstage outbursts weren’t as wild as they…

“It sounds smart, efficient and ever so sciencey,” said Janice Turner in The Times – a “circuit-breaker” lockdown of around two weeks, to stop Covid-19 in its tracks. Back in September, the Government’s Sage scientific advisory committee proposed such a limited lockdown, for around the October half term. Last week, Labour’s Keir Starmer abandoned his usual “lawyerly restraint” and split sharply from the Government to support the demand for a circuit-breaker. The polls show that a clear majority of people in the UK agree with him. Weary of the complex, multi-tiered rules we have now, they “crave clarity” – “a short, sharp shock instead of this eternal life-sucking gloom”: Wales has now instituted its own “firebreak”. But would it actually do any good, locking down the whole nation for a…

Rugby union: Exeter’s remarkable rise to the top Twenty-five years ago, when the first European Cup was held, the Exeter Chiefs were a minor club languishing in the fourth tier of English league rugby, said Robert Kitson in The Guardian. Last Saturday, they completed their remarkable transformation from a minnow to a giant of the game by claiming the biggest prize in European club rugby. Their victory over Parisian side Racing 92 in this year’s final was a “compelling, roller-coaster of a contest”, said Gavin Mairs in The Sunday Telegraph. And fittingly, it went down to the wire. When Exeter “flew out of the blocks”, scoring two early tries to open up a 14-0 lead, the outcome had seemed all too “predictable”. But Racing 92 had other ideas, and began…

To The Independent I am a third-year physiology student at Manchester Metropolitan University. Like all students, we were encouraged to return to university for the start of the autumn term. I live in a house with seven other students; last weekend, I and some of my housemates started to show Covid-19 symptoms, so we all got tested. The speed and ease of the testing system was good and we quickly got our results back. Of the eight of us in the house, six came back positive, one negative and one unknown. I immediately contacted my mum and dad, along with friends I had seen, and they went into isolation with immediate effect. The next morning at 8am, I was in bed with a fever, and was woken up by a…

Future Islands: As Long As You Are 4AD £10 “The synthesiser is a curious instrument,” said David Cheal in the FT. From the alienated soundscapes of David Bowie’s Berlin albums to the bouncy synthpop of Erasure or Vangelis’s Blade Runner soundtrack, the synth always seems to carry “a strain or a hint of sadness, remorse, regret, wistful nostalgia, yearning, longing”. That’s certainly the case with this excellent sixth album from the US band Future Islands. Over all 11 tracks, their synthesisers “float, grumble and groove, they make little pleading noises like hungry kittens, but, above all, they haunt”. If their last LP, The Far Field, was the Baltimore band’s driving album, this one sees them “spinning thrillingly off the tracks” and “reaching for the bottle”, said Damian Jones on NME.…

Anyone curious about the realities of the porn industry should watch Channel 4’s new drama series Adult Material, said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. Scripted by playwright Lucy Kirkwood, it is the story of Jolene Dollar (Hayley Squires), a porn actress who is using the money she makes from ”adult entertainment” to put her three kids through private school. At first, it is blackly comedic: at the height of her feigned passion, she makes a mental note to take the mince out of the freezer, and during a break in shooting, she discusses the merits of Velux windows. But things get darker when a young ingénue is injured at work and, taking her side, Jolene goes to war with the bosses. Squires delivers “a powerhouse of a performance”, said…

The actor, writer and half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller picks the books that inspired his new children’s book, The Day I Fell Into a Fairytale, which is out now, published by Simon & Schuster at £12.99 The Princess Bride by William Goldman, 1973 (Bloomsbury £7.99). Goldman was an author before becoming one of Hollywood’s most successful screenwriters, and it shows. On discovering that he wrote The Princess Bride for his daughters, I hatched a plan to write a book for each of my three children. The Iron Man by Ted Hughes, 1968 (Faber £6.99). The story of the Iron Man literally pulling himself together after he falls off a cliff – his hand crawls along the beach holding one of his eyes, looking for the rest of…

Eddie Izzard, Sara Pascoe, Bridget Christie and Ed Byrne are among the big-name comedians performing live at the O2 Forum, Kentish Town, London W5. Various dates, from 23 October (ticketmaster.co.uk). This year’s Stratford Literary Festival Winter Weekend will mix live and online events. Appearing in person are Rory Bremner, Hilary Mantel, Lemn Sissay and Matthew Parris. Online, Margaret MacMillan discusses war and Richard Eyre talks to Hermione Lee about her biography of Tom Stoppard. 20-22 November, Stratford Play House, Stratford-upon-Avon (stratfordliteraryfestival. co.uk).…

Because of their oil-absorbing properties, aubergines can be greasy, says Christine Smallwood. This method of preparing them, with only a small amount of oil, gives them a satisfying creaminess – and is a great way to make the most of any unused space in the oven when you’re baking something else. Patè di melanzane (aubergine pâté) 1 large aubergine (about 500g) ½ garlic clove, crushed 1 heaped tsp of capers a pinch of dried oregano 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped, to garnish (optional) 8 small slices of toasted bread salt • Heat the oven to 180°C. • Put the whole aubergine on a baking tray (as it is, no oil or seasoning). Prick in half a dozen places with a small pointed knife to…

The Daily Telegraph Volvo is aiming to make half the cars that come off its production lines battery-electric by 2025 – and this XC40 is its first step towards that goal. The non-electric version was European Car of the Year in 2018, so can making it eco-friendly too make it unbeatable? So far, it’s a no. The car retains its speed and “simple and pleasing design”, but is inefficient and “staggeringly expensive”. What Car? The XC40 line-up, which used to contain only diesel and petrol engines, now has mild hybrid petrol ones, a plug-in hybrid, and this pure electric version. This high-spec version – the only one so far released – has two motors, 402bhp and a 260-mile range. It accelerates faster than most rivals, but is beaten by many…

Georgina Mace 1953-2020 “Science tells us the names of more than 32,000 species threatened with extinction, including the European hamster, the North Atlantic right whale and the golden bamboo lemur,” said Phoebe Weston in The Guardian. “We know this thanks to the work of Georgina Mace, who has died, aged 67 of cancer.” Mace radically reformed the Red List of endangered species compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature – a cornerstone of modern conservation work. Created in 1964, the list was at first a “haphazard affair” dominated by the “glamorous” favourite species of politicians and celebrities, such as polar bears, leopards and chimpanzees – some of which, as Mace remarked, “weren’t endangered at all”. Under her leadership, it was grounded in quantitative data based on population trends…

Shares in the Manchester-based retailer Boohoo lost almost a fifth of their value on Monday after its auditor of six years, PwC, threw in the towel, citing “reputational concerns”, said Ben Chapman in The Independent. The scandal engulfing the fast-fashion chain and its suppliers in the Leicester garment industry is growing. Police at the National Crime Agency are now investigating “allegations of widespread VAT fraud and money laundering”, after a BBC probe found evidence of one wholesaler using a “network of fake companies”. There is no suggestion that Boohoo – whose profit-pulling brands include PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal – knew about the alleged wrongdoing. But PwC’s defection rattled investors enough to slash its value from £4bn to around £3.2bn. Finding a replacement auditor might not be easy, said The Daily…

UK stocks are at their cheapest for decades – trading at a 42% discount compared to other markets, according to Columbia Threadneedle. Does this mark “a once-in-a-generation buying opportunity” – or will things get substantially worse before they get better? The Sunday Times sought the views of some investment experts. Markets that posted positive returns in 2020 either have the virus under control, or hold a sizeable number of stocks that have benefited from virus-enforced changes in habits. Britain fails on both counts, said Emma Wall of Hargreaves Lansdown. “The UK has neither economic certainty… nor a host of technological giants – and it shows.” Things aren’t looking pretty, agreed Tom Stevenson of Fidelity. ”If the UK were a middle-aged man, he’d have just got divorced, lost his job and…

Gladys Berejiklian Until recent explosive events, the premier of New South Wales was deemed to have had a good crisis – exhibiting “peerless leadership during the pandemic”, said Jacqueline Maley in The Sydney Morning Herald. But even Gladys Berejiklian’s most ardent fans have been shaken to the core by a burgeoning scandal focused on the business deals of her ex-lover, Daryl Maguire, which has been playing out in a sensational anti-corruption inquiry. It was news to most that Berejiklian had had “a close personal relationship” with Maguire – an ex-MP who was sacked for corruption in 2018. Berejiklian, a former banker, has based her political brand on being a hard-working “goody two shoes” who helped restore public trust to a government hitherto rife with “grift and corruption”. Which makes questions…

The week’s best shares Britvic The Sunday Telegraph The Robinsons, J20 and Fruit Shoot maker is also Pepsi’s sole bottling partner in Britain. It has completed a £240m supply chain investment, has only modest debt and is making hay with low-cal soft drinks. Buy. 745.5p. De La Rue The Times The bank note-manufacturer’s turnaround looks positive: it’s poised to capitalise on the shift from paper to polymer and additional security features. Cost-cutting has improved the balance sheet, and trading is good. Buy. 140p. Hikma Pharmaceuticals Investors Chronicle This generic drug-maker has prime market positions in all its geographies, adeptly tuning into demographic trends. Currently building a pipeline of complex rival-deterring medicines. High margins; strong cashflow. Buy. £26.85. Stock Spirits Group The Times Lockdown boosted retail sales in core Polish and…

In a meadow filled with wildflowers, a middle-aged man wearing a faded sun hat knelt beside a clump of clover and prepared to break the law. Martin White removed a carrier bag from his battered rucksack and began quickly opening the lids of dozens of matchbox-sized pots. As he shook each pot, a flake of brilliant blue fluttered free. Over the course of about five minutes, White released 72 mazarine blues, a butterfly named after the striking colour used in 17th century porcelain. For the first time in more than a century, this rare insect took to the skies of Britain. One by one, the butterflies spread out on the pink clover. Some flashed silver-blue as they zigzagged across the meadow. White watched closely. A darker-coloured female curled its abdomen…

Controversy of the week Will Biden win? With less than two weeks to go, and some 30 million votes already cast, Donald Trump is struggling to stave off the prospect of a “humiliating defeat” by Joe Biden, said David Smith in The Guardian. The most recent CNN poll shows the Democratic candidate leading nationally by 57% to 41% among likely voters. Poll averages give him a healthy lead of around 10 points. Crucially, Biden seems to be ahead in most of the key swing states that will decide the vote: Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. “Trump appears to be haemorrhaging support among two crucial voting blocs.” One is the elderly. Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman, suggests this is because “they think Trump is a f***ing lunatic who screwed up…

Russian military intelligence was planning to use a cyberattack to disrupt the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Foreign Office has revealed. Russian athletes had been banned from the event in Tokyo – which did not take place owing to the pandemic – following a series of state-sponsored doping incidents. A joint British and US investigation revealed that the Russians had conducted reconnaissance work into the organisers, logistics providers and sponsors. Russian hackers had earlier tried to disrupt the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, with a “false flag” operation designed to look as though it came from China or North Korea.…

York Institutional prejudice? Downing Street has been accused of snubbing John Sentamu, the Church of England’s first black archbishop, by failing to give him a life peerage. According to precedent, Sentamu should have been given an automatic peerage on his retirement as Archbishop of York in June. However, his name was absent from Boris Johnson’s recent honours list. David Lammy, the shadow justice minister, tweeted that it was evidence of “blatant institutional prejudice”. However, a Whitehall insider claimed the omission was merely the result of a procedural delay, and would soon be rectified. Belfast Covid protest: The PSNI made a number of arrests and issued fines last Sunday when hundreds of people gathered at Stormont to protest against new Covid restrictions. The demonstration followed the introduction last week of a…

Nigella on food and death Nigella Lawson says she hated her childhood. Her mother, Vanessa Salmon, and father Nigel, then a journalist, had a fraught relationship. Mealtimes were a source of dread, and her mother could be frightening. “She was one of those people who was full of stress and anxiety,” Lawson told Hadley Freeman in The Guardian. “You know, if you knock something over it will be difficult, and I’m clumsy...” Her mother liked to cook, but didn’t allow herself to eat what she liked until she was 48, and dying from cancer. “My attitude towards food is such a repudiation of her, a triumph over her, thinking, ‘I’m not going to play that game. I’m not going to be that thin.’” She wasn’t the last person Lawson would…

A Bristol man has ended up with a conviction for assault after breaking wind in an Uber. James Mallett, 35, was being driven to a nightclub in an intoxicated state when he let rip. The driver, Aleksander Bonchev, ordered him to get out of the cab – at which point Mallett punched him in the face. The driver retaliated, breaking his finger, and later lost his job with Uber. Mallett was jailed for six months, suspended for 18 months, at Bristol Crown Court. “He behaved in an unattractive manner that night,” his lawyer conceded. Pilots flying to and from Los Angeles International Airport have observed a mysterious phenomenon: a person wearing a jetpack flying through the sky. The latest incident happened last Wednesday, when the crew of a China Airlines…

POLAND The relentless assault on the rule of law Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich) What will it take for Brussels to finally take action against Poland’s “devastating” assault on the rule of law, asks Florian Hassel. For five years, the EU has idly watched on as the ruling far-right PiS (Law and Justice) party has “systematically” eroded judicial independence. Brussels “conscientiously” records every offence – but no punishment ever follows. The European Court of Justice – the EU’s highest court – ruled last November that a special chamber set up in Poland to “discipline” its judges should be disbanded. A year on, it’s still in operation, and judges who dare to criticise Poland’s government are still being sacked and harassed. The EU isn’t completely helpless – two years ago, the ECJ forced…

A bar-tailed godwit has set a new record for the longest non-stop avian flight, says The Daily Telegraph. The male set off from its Alaskan breeding ground on 16 September and flew southwards over the Pacific. Eleven days later, it arrived in Auckland, New Zealand, having travelled more than 7,500 miles (12,070km): the previous record, set by another godwit in 2007, was 7,257 miles (11,680km). The bird, which was tagged last autumn, flew at speeds of up to 55mph, and followed a somewhat indirect course – possibly to help it capitalise on changes in wind direction. Scientists have in recent years improved their understanding of the remarkable flying prowess of the godwit. The birds can double their size before a long journey, but then lighten the load by shrinking their…

In the past few years, hundreds of people have been killed in terrorist attacks in France – from the scores massacred at the Bataclan theatre in 2015, to the 85-year-old priest whose throat was slit as he said Mass in his church in 2016. Now the French must add to that list Samuel Paty, the teacher beheaded in a town near Paris last week, after showing his pupils – during a discussion about freedom of expression – cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that had led to the Charlie Hebdo massacre in 2015. (Muslim pupils were offered the chance to step out for that section.) A parent at the school got wind of the incident and, backed by his imam, started an online campaign to have Paty sacked. The killer, who…

“Without rejuvenation, the Union will be gone within ten years,” said Jeremy Warner in The Daily Telegraph. “Brexit and Covid have combined to seal its fate.” An Ipsos Mori poll last week found the highest ever level of support for independence, with 58% of Scots who have made up their mind saying they would vote Yes, and only 42% saying they would vote No. Among young voters, support for independence was even more clear-cut, with 79% of 16- to 24-year-olds opting for Yes. The pandemic has helped to make the case for separation, “in that it has already led to the effective reimposition of a border”. And though Edinburgh has made many of the same mistakes as London, Nicola Sturgeon has “cleverly” deflected the blame for any failings onto Westminster.…

Chess, like most sports, has been severely disrupted by the Covid-19 crisis, said Archie Bland in The Guardian: most “in-person events” have been cancelled. But it can always be played virtually, and that’s broadly what has occurred. Solving one problem, however, has given rise to another: the clandestine use of powerful chess calculators able to rapidly calculate “near-perfect moves in any situation”. The authorities have introduced various rules to counter this form of cheating: in top matches, players “must agree to be recorded by multiple cameras, be available on Zoom or WhatsApp at any time, and grant remote access to their computers”. However, that has not been enough to prevent several high-profile incidents of “computer doping”. The most sensational so far uncovered took place in the final of the PRO…

Masterpieces of African cinema from the 1950s onwards are available on DVD (look for directors such as Ousmane Sembène and Youssef Chahine), but many more recent examples are available online. Here are five of the best: Atlantiques (Atlantics) Mixing ghost story, detective story, social drama and romance, this visually ravishing 2019 Cannes prizewinner was the feature debut of French-Senegalese director Mati Diop. Its heroine, Ada, is a young woman whose poverty-stricken lover leaves to seek his fortune in Europe, but goes missing at sea. Timbuktu Abderrahmane Sissako’s Oscar-nominated film is an account of the 2012 occupation of the Malian city by Islamist jihadis. We witness the cruel and absurd reality of militant religious rule through the eyes of ordinary people, including a female singer, a cattle herder and a refugee…

Sin has been providing artists with inspiration for millennia, said Nancy Durrant in the London Evening Standard. Indeed, it’s difficult to imagine what the history of art would look like without it: during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, depicting sexual vice in the context of cautionary and biblical scenes allowed painters to provide pictorial titillation for their powerful patrons, with “plausible deniability of impropriety”. In recent centuries, meanwhile, artists have explored transgression as a means of personal confession or societal critique. You could organise a huge exhibition around the theme, yet with this small, free show, the National Gallery has opted to explore it using just a handful of exhibits. The exhibition brings together 14 works dating from the Middle Ages to the present day to examine the ways…

What is the best all-round red to drink at this time of year, asks Susy Atkins in The Daily Telegraph. “I’m nominating grenache.” Mainly because it so perfectly matches the flavours of deep autumn: beef and lamb casseroles, squash and onions roasted with herbs, cheese-topped bakes. Thriving in arid climates (the South of France, Australia, many of Spain’s red regions, where it is known as garnacha), this grape is “rarely subtle”: it produces wines with a “robust alcohol level, bags of sweetly ripe, juicy plum” and, often, a “twist of black pepper”. For a “no-nonsense, plummy and rich” grenache from Spain, try Extra Special Old Vine Garnacha 2019 (£6; Asda): it would go perfectly with peppered steak. The Best Côtes du Rhône Villages 2019 (£8.25; Morrisons), which is 60% grenache…

Dyson Corrale hair straightener  Dyson’s new hair straightener is cordless, making it really easy to use. It heats up in about 30 seconds, stays warm for about 30 minutes, and has flexible copper plates that shape around your hair (£399; johnlewis.com). Cloud Nine The O  Heated Roller Set Designed to deliver instant volume, this induction-heated roller set is beautifully easy to use. Just stick a roller in the holder, and it will be hot in four seconds (£169; cloudninehair.com). Dyson HS01 Airwrap The Airwrap remains one of the cleverest hair gadgets on the market. Sold with a plethora of tools, it styles gently by using the airflow to wrap hair around it (from £400; johnlewis.com). ghd Helios  professional hairdryer This new top-end hairdryer from ghd is great for giving a…

Flybe: return flight? When it comes to speedy recoveries, take a look at Flybe, said Julia Buckley on CNN. The Exeter-based regional airline, an early casualty of the first wave of the pandemic, is announcing a comeback in the second. Seven months after being wound down, the brand and its “remaining assets” have been sold for an undisclosed sum to Thyme Opco, a UK-registered investment firm affiliated with hedge fund Cyrus Capital. According to administrator EY, Flybe (once Europe’s largest independent regional airline) could be back in business in 2021 – news welcomed by the aviation world as a “sliver of hope” after a crippling year. Virgin Australia, Latin America’s Avianca and Compass Airlines have all gone bankrupt since the pandemic began; maybe Flybe will “pave the way for…

Newlyweds are increasingly risking serious injury to capture striking wedding photographs of themselves; this week, Network Rail criticised the “plain stupidity” of a pair who’d posed for pictures on a live train track. In the US, a bride was photographed hanging off a cliff edge in New Hampshire, seemingly held up by her new husband’s hand (in fact, she was wearing a roped harness under her wedding dress). Nearly two-thirds of childless single adults aged 20-34 have either never left the family home, or have moved back into it, according to new research into the “boomerang” generation. There are now an estimated 3.5 million young single adults living with their parents in the UK, a third more than a decade ago.…

Drivers who even touch their phones while at the wheel will in future get an instant £200 fine, the Government has warned. The current law, from 2003, only bans “interactive communication”. This created a loophole for drivers caught taking photos or playing games on their phones while driving. The new law closes that loophole, but to the consternation of safety campaigners, hands-free functions remain legal. Drivers can also still use their phone to make payments if the car is stationary.…

Amsterdam Royal U-turn: The Dutch king and queen cut short a trip to their holiday home in Greece last weekend in the face of public anger that they’d gone away at a time when people are being urged to stay at home as much as possible. “We see people’s reactions to media reports, and they are intense, and they affect us,” said King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima in a statement issued hours after they’d landed in Greece. They flew home a day later. The volte-face was an embarrassment not only for the royal family – which is already facing an inquiry into its funding – but for PM Mark Rutte, who’d signed off on the trip. He apologised for making the “wrong assessment”. Paris Raids on Islamists: Police officers in…

1 Waltz No.2, from Suite for Variety Orchestra by D. Shostakovich, performed by Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin (Sloane) 2 A Transport of Delight, written and performed by Michael Flanders and Donald Swann 3* Piano Concerto No.2 – iii. Andante by J. Brahms, performed by Hélène Grimaud with The Vienna Philharmonic (Nelsons) 4 Farewell to Stromness, written/performed by P. Maxwell Davies 5 Quartet for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello No.1, K478: Allegro by W.A. Mozart, performed by Daniel Barenboim, Michael Barenboim, Yulia Deyneka and Kian Soltani 6 Pavane, Op.50 by G. Fauré, performed by BBC Philharmonic and City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus (Tortelier) 7 Dancing Queen by Abba, performed by Christine Baranski, Julie Walters and Meryl Streep 8 Ständchen, from Schwanengesang, by F. Schubert, performed by Peter Schreier and András…

The first windmills are believed to have been invented by the Chinese around 2,000BC, for pumping water. In the second half of the first millennium, the Persians developed wind-powered mills – with sails that rotated on a horizontal plane – to crush grain. In northwest Europe in the 1100s, there was a technological breakthrough in the form of the first vertical-axis windmills: i.e. their sails, mounted on a tower, rotated on a vertical plane. For 600 years, windmills were used across Europe to mill grain, before losing out to coal-powered mills during the Industrial Revolution. In 1887, the engineer Professor James Blyth built the first known electricity-producing turbine, a 33ft cloth-sailed device that powered his holiday cottage in Kincardineshire. He offered the surplus electricity to nearby villagers, who rejected it…

Covid and the disease of inequality Fareed Zakaria The Washington Post “Pandemics should be the great equaliser,” says Fareed Zakaria. They affect everyone, regardless of wealth or race. But across the world, Covid-19 has dramatically increased levels of economic inequality. The World Bank estimates that about 100 million people will fall back into extreme poverty this year. In America, too, the divide between rich and poor is becoming more stark. Two new studies estimate that between six million and eight million people in the US have been pushed into poverty over the past few months. A recent survey found that 38% of Americans who have lost work due to the pandemic lack even a month’s worth of savings. In the recessions of 1990, 2001 and 2008, the top and bottom…

Cancer survival rates could fall significantly because of the Covid-19 crisis, Cancer Research UK has warned. It estimates that since March this year, three million people have missed cancer screenings – which could translate into thousands of cancers being missed. During the same period, at least another 350,000 people with suspected symptoms of cancer have not had the hospital referrals they’d normally have had. “Cancer services already needed drastic improvement before Covid-19 hit,” said Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK. The pandemic has “made this worse, leaving millions waiting for screening, urgent referrals and treatment”. The problem is twofold: services being suspended (screenings for breast, bowel and cervical cancer were paused in the spring), and people with symptoms being more reluctant to visit their GPs.…

It’s five months since Boris Johnson promised a “world-beating” test and trace system – and we’re still waiting, said The Guardian. The Government announced this week that it is trialling two new rapid tests (a swab test, and a swab and saliva test) that can give results in an hour or so, as part of its Operation Moonshot plan to deliver up to ten million tests a day. The hope is that the mass testing of people even without symptoms will enable workplaces to reopen, and much of normal life to resume. Time will tell. In the meantime, the existing system continues to creak. Some 300,000 people a day are now being tested (and Downing Street says it’s on course to hit its target of a million by Christmas). But…

“Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best. Genius must always have lapses proportionate to its triumphs.” Max Beerbohm, quoted on ArtsJournal.com “A rule of thumb – the more that ‘patriotism’ is invoked by a country’s political elites, the less healthy its political culture will be.” Nesrine Malik in The Guardian “Insanity is relative. It depends who has who locked in what cage.” Ray Bradbury, quoted in Time “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” Philip K. Dick, quoted in the Penobscot Bay Pilot, Maine “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” Albert Einstein (attrib.), quoted in The Observer “Some memories are realities, and…

Uncaring healthcare To The Guardian I have just seen an official circular from a large group medical practice in Manchester, announcing that, because of winter pressures, the Covid pandemic and the designation of Manchester as a high-risk zone, they will now be dealing only with “urgent” cases, nothing of a “routine” nature. If we have Covid symptoms we are instructed to get a test, but the surgery is unable to arrange it; “minor ailments” are to be taken to a pharmacist, or “please implement self-care where appropriate”. What is not made clear is how a patient is to know if a symptom is “minor” (what if a tickly cough, for example, is lung cancer?), or how a patient is to know when self-care is “appropriate”. There you have it: non-healthcare…

Vince wangles a discount from David on his daughter’s wedding. Kirsty researches gambling support for Gavin. Philip says he’s handling it, but Kirsty won’t be brushed off. She’s tells Philip she knew he’d been keeping secrets. Alistair offers to help her and Philip understand what Gavin’s going through. Gavin’s not keen on keeping up the pretence that he has a gambling problem, but Philip insists it will divert attention from the truth. The Borchester museum confirms that Ben’s coins are a rare find. Gavin struggles to answer Alistair’s questions about his gambling, so Alistair shares his own experience. He says it had its roots in his mother’s death and his tricky relationship with his dad. Gavin admits he’s been living in a way that has made him easy money, but…

What the experts recommend The secret to perfect fluffy rice Getting long-grain rice right can challenge even experienced cooks – with sogginess and excessive dryness both common problems. But there is a “foolproof” way to ensure you end up with fluffy white rice every time, say Allegra McEvedy and Paul Merrett in The Times. Allowing 70g of rice per person, bring a pan of slightly salted water to the boil (use plenty of water and you don’t need to worry about measuring out ratios) and tip the rice in. Then give it a good stir and pop a lid on the pan. After simmering for 12 minutes, drain the rice into a sieve or colander. Once it’s well drained, sit the sieve or colander over the empty pan and run…

Tips of the week... how to dress for cold weather ● A thermal base layer is important for keeping the middle part of your body with all your vital organs warm. Materials that are designed to adapt to your body temperature and wick sweat are great at keeping you at the right temperature. ● For maximum warmth, choose a hat that covers your ears. ● As well as gloves, look into reusable handwarmers that you can keep in your pocket. You click them to make them heat up, and boil them in water to reset them. ● A thinner neck warmer is often more effective than a thick woolly scarf because it protects you from the wind. ● Thicker socks don’t necessarily mean you’ll be warmer, especially in tight shoes,…

Derek Mahon 1941-2020 Derek Mahon was “one of the great poets of his generation”, said The Irish Times. Along with his friends Seamus Heaney and Michael Longley, he was part of the “flourishing of poetry from Ulster” in the second half of the 20th century. Mahon was “a truculent character”, and a loner by nature, who lived an itinerant existence, moving from Belfast to Dublin, Paris, London and New York, and then returning to Ireland for the last years of his life. Although a prolific and successful poet, publishing more than 20 volumes of collections and winning numerous prizes, Mahon led a troubled personal life and struggled with alcoholism for many years. Heaney saw in his work “a dominant mood of being on the outside”, and Mahon himself said that…

The pound dipped briefly following Boris Johnson’s warning that the UK could walk away from trade talks with the EU, but quickly recovered; some investors dismissed the Government’s stance as “posturing”. Traders also shrugged off a downgrade by Moody’s, which slashed the UK’s credit rating to Aa3, citing virus-related economic damage and a “weakening in the UK’s institutions and governance”. The ONS reported that government borrowing hit £36.1bn in September – £28.4bn more than last year and the third highest in any month since records began in 1993. The Government promised to set up an emergency task force to help companies prepare for the end of the Brexit transition period. But business groups described a 22-minute call with the PM and Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove as a “disappointing” box-ticking…

● First in, first out Reports that British officials paid up to £320m of taxpayer money to Chinese state-backed companies to secure medical supplies have “sparked anger from critics”, said Ben Gartside in The Daily Telegraph. They reckon the UK should be distancing itself from a regime that has herded Uighur Muslims into camps and cracked down on free speech in Hong Kong. For China’s critics, it’s also galling that the People’s Republic has become the first big economy to recover from “the disease-induced world slump” – having notched up 4.9% growth, year-on-year, in the third quarter , said Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail. But with the West now looking at “a £21trn shortfall in output”, there is comfort to be drawn from China’s recovery from the depths of…

The silence in currency markets David Smith The Times The pound has often been “the prism through which the economy’s performance is measured”, says David Smith, and in recent times, “the sterling story has been a Brexit story”. The referendum vote in June 2016 vote sent sterling tumbling and it is still down by an average of 10% against a basket of currencies compared with the equivalent period before the vote. “Whatever else Brexit means, it certainly means devaluation.” Still, something “rather curious” has been happening lately. Although business groups have reacted angrily to the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, and economists at Allianz have estimated such an outcome would push UK GDP down by 5% (“adding a big 2021 recession to the one this year”), the currency markets have,…