Table of contents for V. 1306 in The Week

What happened Johnson’s “reboot” Boris Johnson brought forward to 2030 a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars this week, as part of what he dubbed the Government’s “green industrial revolution”. The £12bn plan also includes initiatives to boost hydrogen production, quadruple offshore wind power by 2030, and create thousands of renewable-energy jobs in the UK’s traditional industrial heartlands. The move was seen as an attempt to reset Johnson’s premiership following the dramatic departure last week of his key aide Dominic Cummings, along with Lee Cain, his director of communications. The pair had clashed with Allegra Stratton, No. 10’s new press secretary, who had the backing of Johnson’s fiancée, Carrie Symonds (see page 22). Johnson’s effort to regain the initiative received a setback on Sunday when it…

I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, which was voted the best radio comedy of all time, ahead of Hancock’s Half Hour and Round the Horne, by a panel including Adrian Edmondson. Billed as the “antidote to panel games”, the show launched in 1972 with the bandleader Humphrey Lyttelton in the chair. Following his death in 2008, Jack Dee took over. Pigeon fanciers, after a two-year-old racing pigeon sold for a record s1.6m at auction. New Kim retired in 2018 after winning the title of Best Young Bird in Belgium, but could breed for another eight years. She was bought by a Chinese collector.…

Jeremy Corbyn has been reinstated as a member of the Labour Party, weeks after he was suspended for claiming that the scale of anti-Semitism in the party had been “dramatically overstated” by his opponents. A panel of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) decided to readmit Corbyn on Tuesday, after he “clarified” his comments, made in response to a damning Equality and Human Rights Commission report. Keir Starmer described it as “another painful day for the Jewish community”. A day later, he stated that his predecessor would not yet have the whip restored, meaning that he cannot sit as a Labour MP.…

Washington DC Covid chaos: US president-elect Joe Biden has warned that America’s ability to combat Covid-19 could be undermined if Donald Trump does not help facilitate an orderly transition of power. New cases in the US have almost tripled over the past month, to a seven-day average of 160,000 a day, and the rate is still moving upwards. As of last Friday, a record 69,000 patients were in hospitals across the country. On average, around 1,100 people a day are now dying with Covid – around half as many as at the peak in April. However, Biden’s team has so far been refused access to official Covid-19 data and vaccine distribution plans. “More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” said Biden (pictured). “It’s about saving lives, for real –…

“My grievances with the world of online meetings are several and bitter. The sound is tinny. The hilarity of intruding pets and children has run its course. The camera undersells my hair. Of all the crimes of Zoom, though, much the worst is its chilling effect on interruption. To cut across someone is to risk that grim dance of confusion in which both parties talk simultaneously, the spoken equivalent of colliding pedestrians mirroring each other’s movements. Interruption is a form of conversational hygiene. It forces you to ensure the seaworthiness of a comment before putting it out. The pressure keeps us honest; even history’s greatest talkers were bores without it.” Janan Ganesh in the FT…

A French public radio station wrongly reported the deaths of 100 celebrities including the Queen, Brigitte Bardot and Pelé. Radio France Internationale – the French version of the World Service – blamed a technical error after it published scores of preprepared obituaries online. Among those falsely declared dead were Yoko Ono, Sir Alex Ferguson and Clint Eastwood. The Queen’s obituary opened by saying: “The United Kingdom awoke an orphan this morning”, before adding: “All Albion laments the disappearance of its sovereign”, who has been “immovable” as England’s “post-colonial history has unfolded, full of sound and fury”. A statue adorning a bank in the city of Palencia is the latest victim of a bungled restoration job in Spain. The botched work – which has been dubbed the “potato head” – joins…

EUROPE Trump is gone but populism is here to stay Politico (Brussels) Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump has robbed Europe’s populists of their biggest inspiration, says Paul Taylor. For four years, Trump looked on approvingly as his “ideological soulmates” – the likes of Hungary’s PM Viktor Orbán and Poland’s de facto ruler, Jarosław Kaczynski – sowed division in the EU. Even in the face of criticisms in Brussels, those leaders could count on support from Washington during Trump’s time in office. No longer. Biden regards those leaders as “pariahs” and will look favourably on European efforts to put pressure on them over their assaults on judicial independence, civil rights and media plurality. Those who nailed their colours publicly to Trump’s mast – such as Slovenian PM Janez Janša, who…

The wombat’s backside is an impressively sturdy thing, made up of four fused plates, surrounded by layers of cartilage, fat, skin and fur. And it has a range of uses. The creatures dig with their bums. They also use them for defence: as cubs, they learn to back into predators, then use their powerful rear legs to kick them; and their posteriors are just the right size to “plug” a burrow to stop unwanted guests entering. And they play a role in mating rituals: “A female will go and bite the bum of a male and then run off, and he has to chase her,” Dr Alyce Swinbourne, an animal scientist at the University of Adelaide, told The Guardian. “Or the male will bite her rump, which will cause her…

During a visit to Scotland in the 1980s, Donald Sutherland (right) recently told Total Film magazine, he was greeted at Glasgow airport by an exceptionally pretty young air hostess wearing a miniskirt and knee-high boots. “You’re Donald Sutherland, aren’t you,” she asked. “Yes, I am,” he purred, only to receive the less than flattering response: “You’re not nearly as ugly as you are on the telly.” Diana Rigg, who died aged 82 in September, won legions of fans late in her career for playing the matriarch Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones. She never watched the show herself, and on set, she was a fiery presence, according to a new book. She received director Mark Mylod’s careful instructions with the words: “Thank you! Go away!” And her co-star Jessica Henwick…

“The difference between Parliament and theatre is that Parliament is under-rehearsed and badly lit.” Actress and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson, quoted in The Times “Old words obscure new situations.” Kim Stanley Robinson, quoted on The Browser “Instagram has created a generation of people who confuse travel with having a personality.” Sathnam Sanghera in The Times “A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.” Douglas Adams, quoted in the Montreal Gazette “Growing old’s like being increasingly penalised for a crime you haven’t committed.” Anthony Powell, quoted on ArtsJournal.com “If you want to make people weep, you must weep yourself. If you want to make people laugh, your face must remain serious.” Painter Giovanni Casanova, quoted in Forbes…

Lewis Hamilton is such a superlative racing driver that victory, for him, has come to seem almost commonplace, said Giles Richards in The Guardian. Yet last Sunday, having just won the Turkish Grand Prix, he sat for a while in the cabin of his car, “head in his hands and in tears”. He had just achieved what many “once thought impossible”: matching Michael Schumacher’s tally of seven F1 titles, having also recently surpassed the German as the winner of the most individual races. Taken together, the two achievements mean Hamilton is unquestionably the most successful F1 driver of all time. And he achieved this latest milestone with his best display of the season, said Phil Duncan in The Daily Telegraph. Although he started the race in sixth position on the…

To The Times Those who doubt that Hilary McGrady (“National Trust told to learn from slave row”) is on a mission to lead the National Trust away from its core purpose of looking after the buildings and land placed in its care need only read the autumn edition of the trust’s magazine. In it, the director of volunteering, participation and inclusion says: “At the National Trust we have a duty to play a part in creating a fairer, more equitable society.” It is clear that the National Trust Acts from 1907 to 1971 place no such duty on the trust. However, the actions of the director-general and her staff suggest they have this ambition at the centre of their strategy. The trust must not become a vehicle for those endeavouring…

Kylie: Disco BMG £11 Two years ago, the world’s favourite Aussie soap star turned pop diva made an “unconvincing detour” into Nashville-style country, said Will Hodgkinson in The Times. Understandably, Kylie fans were worried that the album, Golden, signalled a “new exploratory phase” in her career. “What if she ended up on a jazz odyssey?” Or worse? So it’s a great relief to report that, in a year when “unexpected directions from beloved pop stars have been about as welcome as a second lockdown”, Kylie has returned in triumph to her disco roots. Kylie’s “natural habitat” is the dancefloor, agreed David Cheal in the FT – and this “terrific” album is a “remorselessly upbeat succession of catchy tunes which encourage dancing and singing to a degree that is almost irresponsible…

It opens with the shooting of a stag that spends the next three episodes “limping” in agony across our screens – and that’s not the most “explosively nasty” thing in the fourth season of The Crown, said Camilla Long in The Sunday Times. Covering 1979 to 1990, it is the best series yet, rescued from the “sentimentality and bad acting” of the third by two new characters – Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) and Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson). Through their stories, Diana is portrayed as the real victim, seen early on as a “nervous teenager” humiliated by a “monstrous” Princess Margaret for failing a test of etiquette, said Carol Midgley in The Times. Corrin is superb, and Peter Morgan’s dialogue for Diana and Charles (Josh O’Connor) is “nuanced and heartfelt”. Thatcher…

In the Light of What We Know by Zia Haider Rahman, 2014 (Picador £9.99). This epic novel touches on so many of the big themes of recent history – from 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan to the financial crisis of 2008. It addresses class and privilege in a refreshing and thoughtful way, and the characters are so vivid that they haunted me for weeks after I finished reading it. Electrifyingly brilliant. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, 1951 (Penguin £8.99). Every American reads this coming-of-age novel at least twice. The first time it made me laugh; the second time it made me cry. Both are correct responses. You cannot help but love the rebellious protagonist, Holden Caulfield, with his visceral aversion to “phoney” adult society. Shutterbabe: Adventures…

Actor Simon Russell Beale teams up with renowned choir The Sixteen, led by Harry Christophers, for a series of weekly online concerts. A Choral Odyssey will see the ensemble perform in different locations – including Hatfield House, Magdalen College, Oxford and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at The Globe – with each programme reflecting its architectural setting. Russell Beale and Christophers will talk about the works, and the series will culminate in an “as live” stream of The Sixteen’s Christmas at Cadogan concert on 23 December. Wednesdays to 23 Dec; £10, available on demand until 31 Jan (thesixteen.com).…

Autumnal soup with rice, barley and lamb Serves 4 2 tsp olive oil 300g lamb neck fillet, cut into chunks salt and pepper ½ a large onion, finely chopped 50g wholegrain rice 50g pearl barley 500g mixed root vegetables, peeled and cubed ½ tsp ground allspice ¼ tsp cayenne pepper 700ml lamb stock 1 bay leaf parsley, to garnish • Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large saucepan. Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper, then fry over a high heat for a few minutes until browned. • Add the rest of the oil, onion, rice and barley, and gently fry for 1 minute. Add the veg and spices, season, and cook for 2 minutes, then add 40-50 minutes, or until the pearl barley is cooked but…

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 These premium earbuds deliver great sound and are packed with features, including solid noise-cancelling. The battery lasts 7 hours plus another 21 hours with the charging case (£279; en-uk. sennheiser.com). AirPods Pro Apple’s first noise-cancelling earbuds are comfy and offer a nice sound. You can squeeze the stem to activate Siri and answer calls; and you have to use Siri to adjust the volume (£249; apple.com). Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Known for its hi-fi systems, Cambridge Audio has now made its first wireless earbuds – and they’re really good. They sound great, and have 45 hours of battery with their charging case (£90; cambridgeaudio.com). Beats by Dre Powerbeats Pro If you’re nervous about losing tiny earbuds while exercising, the over-ear Powerbeats are a sensible option.…

Rabbi Lord Sacks 1948-2020 Jonathan Sacks, who has died aged 72, was the former Chief Rabbi of Britain – and a hugely respected voice in British intellectual life. As Chief Rabbi, he was the head of a large network of Orthodox congregations – not Reformist or ultra-Orthodox ones. Yet he was regarded, by many Jews and non-Jews, as the leader of British Jewry; and though widely loved, he sometimes struggled in his efforts to balance the concerns of his various audiences. “There are great Jewish leaders and there are very few great Jewish followers, so leading the Jewish people turns out to be very difficult,” he observed. The first crisis came in 1996, when he angered Reform Jews by failing to attend the funeral of the Reform rabbi, Holocaust survivor…

The vaccine-led shares rally continued, boosted by positive news of a second jab from the US pharma Moderna. The FTSE 100 has gained over 700 points since the start of November and Euro stocks are on course for a record month. The Stoxx 600 index has jumped by about 14% so far this month, and US indices have breached new highs. But economists warned the situation is still bleak, with hospitalisations in the US reaching a new record and news of a worrying new outbreak in Japan. The pound held steady at around $1.32 as Brexit talks entered their final week. Many forex traders believed the chances of a deal being struck by the 19 November deadline were slim, noting that the next two to three weeks will be crucial.…

● Crypto mania “Guess who’s back,” said Eric Lam on Bloomberg. “In a return to the mania that made it a household name”, bitcoin is once again closing in on record highs – topping $18,000 on Wednesday morning for the first time since December 2017. Three years ago, Bitcoin’s price crashed dramatically when the new year kicked in. Could this latest bubble pop as spectacularly? It’s too early to call, but traders expect a wave of profit-taking. “We should have many people selling at these levels,” said Vijay Ayyar of the Luno cryptoexchange. “Especially those that bought at the top in 2017-18.” ● Staying power? The world’s best-known digital currency “has suffered plenty of wild price swings” since launching in 2009, said Justin Harper on BBC Business. But the pandemic…

Lekan Akinyanmi One “fake sheikh” was enough to fool the Duchess of York and former England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who both fell for the same newspaper sting, said Alistair Osborne in The Times. So you can’t really blame Lekoil boss Lekan Akinyanmi for getting duped by a whole “bunch of them”. Akinyanmi thought he’d secured a $184m loan from Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, learning too late that he was the “victim of a sheikhdown”. By the time Lekoil wised up, it had handed $450,000 in fees to an “iffy middleman”. Since Akinyanmi – a Nigerian who founded the Aim-listed oil explorer in 2010 – ‘fessed up in January, there’s been a Kroll inquiry and a board shake-up. It hasn’t stopped the share-price “dissolving”, with a 24% dip this week.…

The week’s best shares 3i Group The Times The blue-chip investment group has a diverse portfolio in private and quoted companies, and a stake in 3i Infrastructure, which backs wind farms and fibre optic networks. Modestly priced with a prospective 3.27% yield. Buy. £11.11. Bunzl The Times Bunzl provides everyday items – from till rolls to plastic cutlery – to the grocery, retail, health and cleaning sectors. Demand for PPE and hand-sanitiser has meant first-half revenues grew. Highly cash-generative. Buy. £24.40. DCC Investors Chronicle The sales and marketing group’s profits are up, thanks to its standout performer healthcare, which offset weakness in its liquefied petroleum gas arm. The dividend has been raised, reflecting resilient diverse operations. Buy. £55.80. Marshalls The Mail on Sunday Marshalls specialises in products for outdoor spaces,…

Controversy of the week Democracy in tatters “Five months after China imposed an oppressive national security law on Hong Kong, any hope this would not be followed by a creeping crackdown is gone,” said the FT. The city’s government last week ousted four pro-democracy lawmakers from the Legislative Council (LegCo), its “de facto parliament”, after the National People’s Congress in Beijing gave it the power to remove “unpatriotic” politicians without going through the courts. The 15 remaining opposition lawmakers resigned in protest. Having in effect dismantled the “one country, two systems” model Hong Kong was promised at the handover in 1997, China “no longer seems bothered with keeping even an appearance of democracy”. Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, insisted there was no shame in a legislature lacking an opposition.…

Dido Harding, the head of NHS Test and Trace, who started self-isolating after being contacted by the NHS app. “Nothing like personal experience of your own products,” she tweeted. Her husband, Conservative MP John Penrose, was told to isolate by the app last week. The medical director of NHS England, Stephen Powis, is also self-isolating. Wild Mountain Thyme, which became the most-mocked film of 2020, based on its trailer alone. On social media, fans noted the shocking Irish accents adopted by its stars (including Emily Blunt and Christopher Walken); the ambiguity of period (was it 2020 or 1954?); and the profusion of Irish clichés. “Even we think this is a bit much,” tweeted the National Leprechaun Museum. Christmas traditions, with reports that half of schools have dropped plans for their…

Edinburgh New restrictions: Nicola Sturgeon announced this week that 2.3 million people in Scotland would be placed under “nearlockdown” restrictions as of 6pm on Friday, in an effort to make a “limited and careful easing” of rules possible over Christmas. Eleven local authority areas were due to be placed under Level 4 restrictions, the highest level in Scotland’s five-tier system: West and East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, North and South Lanarkshire, West Lothian, East and South Ayrshire, and Stirling. Under Level 4, all non-essential shops must close, along with hospitality firms, gyms, beauticians and indoor attractions. Schools will remain open, however, and up to six people from two households can meet outdoors. Sturgeon said the measure was intended to be “short and sharp”, and that the rules would…

Melvyn Bragg’s roots He is one of the most celebrated broadcasters of his generation – but it was only down to a twist of fate that Melvyn Bragg ever left Cumbria. The son of a tailor and a publican, he grew up in a flat above his father’s pub, in Wigton. Then from his grammar school, he won a place at Oxford. It was an unusual trajectory, he told Julia Llewellyn Smith in The Times. “People from my background just didn’t stay on at school after O-levels. I did so almost accidentally only because my teacher went to talk to my parents and gave me the idea of university.” Bragg, 81, who now sits in the House of Lords as a Labour peer, has enjoyed his illustrious career. Yet he…

A voting system that drives us crazy Stephen I. Vladeck The New York Times If the presidential election has taught us anything, says Stephen I. Vladeck, it’s that we desperately need to reform our ridiculous voting system. The US is unique among advanced nations in allowing each state to run its own election, with its own rules and counting methods. Some states count postal ballots before election day. Others ban the processing of such ballots until polling stations have closed, meaning that the votes cast first end up being counted last. Each state has its own procedures for when to release results. This haphazard arrangement causes much delay and confusion, with results emerging over a protracted period, during which the prospects of candidates can rise and fall unpredictably. The process…

British teenagers are getting taller – but not as fast as their peers in similarly wealthy countries, an international study has revealed. In 1985, 19-year-old boys in Britain were, on average, 176.4cm tall, placing them 28th in the world; today, at 178.2cm, they are ranked 39th. British girls, meanwhile, have dropped from 42nd place (with an average height of 162.7cm) to 49th (163.9cm). Girls in Ireland recently overtook them. Researchers put the relatively meagre growth of British teenagers down to poor diet and high BMI. “Height is about the availability of good things – sufficient animal protein, dairy, legumes and vegetables, which all help growth,” said Prof Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London, co-author of the Lancet-published study. The Netherlands heads the table for both sexes; Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor)…

“I remember it as though it were yesterday,” said Joan Smith in The Guardian. “The fear we lived with in the North of England, the suspicion about neighbours and colleagues, the sense that we couldn’t rely on the police to protect us.” All those decades-old feelings of “anger and hurt came rushing back” last week with news of the death from Covid-19 of Peter Sutcliffe, the so-called Yorkshire Ripper, who between 1975 and 1980 murdered 13 women, and tried to kill seven others, in cities and towns across the North. It has become a “lazy, dangerous commonplace” that Sutcliffe mutilated and killed “prostitutes”, said Nicci Gerrard in The Observer. “He did not. He mutilated and killed women.” Sutcliffe was motivated by “misogynistic hatred”, and he didn’t care who his victims…

England went into Sunday’s Uefa Nations League match against Belgium with a slim theoretical chance of reaching the finals, said David Hytner in The Guardian. But actually, that wasn’t their priority. Ahead of the “serious business of the European Championship finals next summer”, Gareth Southgate was looking for a “cohesive” performance against the world’s top-ranked side. And though Belgium emerged as 2-0 winners at the Den Dreef stadium, that is arguably what he got. Southgate’s men “hogged the ball”, hit more shots on target than the Belgians, and spent most of the second half in opposition territory. They probably played better than they did in winning the reverse fixture 2-1 last month. Yet one big worry remains for Southgate’s side: its lack of potency in front of goal. In five…

Football Scotland qualified for next summer’s Euros by beating Serbia on penalties – the first time they have qualified for a major tournament since the 1998 World Cup. In the Women’s Super League, leaders Manchester United drew 2-2 with Manchester City. Second-placed Arsenal drew 1-1 with Chelsea. Tennis Dominic Thiem beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the opening match of the ATP Finals, in London. Rafael Nadal beat Andrey Rublev. Rugby Union England beat Georgia 40-0 in their Autumn Nations Cup opening game.…

Book of the week The Weirdest People in the World by Joseph Henrich Allen Lane 704pp £30 The Week Bookshop £23.99 (incl. p&p) “For obvious reasons, sweeping theories of Western civilisational dominance aren’t the trendy publishing proposition they once were,” said James Marriott in The Times. Yet the Harvard anthropologist Joseph Henrich has written a very “good one”. His new book proposes that one factor above all others explains the success of Western societies: the “psychological strangeness of their populations”. Westerners, he argues, are “WEIRD”, meaning: “Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic”; but they are also highly unusual in their thinking. Asked to complete the sentence “I am...” ten times, Westerners will typically focus on their personality and accomplishments: “I am smart, I am a lawyer, I am good at…

The Life Ahead – reviewed on this page – stands in a long tradition of films centred on the ambivalent relationship between an abandoned child and a lone adult in need of redemption. Here are five great examples: The Kid The little tramp adopts a foundling baby in Charlie Chaplin’s first feature film, from 1921. It established Jackie Coogan as Hollywood’s first major child star, and is hilarious and poignant, depicting the era’s slums with a realism informed by Chaplin’s own childhood. Paper Moon In 1974, the ten-year-old Tatum O’Neal became the youngest ever Oscar-winner for her astonishingly confident performance in Peter Bogdanovich’s gritty but funny Depression-era movie. O’Neal’s real-life father, Ryan, plays the conman with whom she travels across dust-bowl Kansas. Gloria Actor-turned-indie-film-director John Cassavetes struck out in a…

“Zanele Muholi’s black-and-white portraits are as beautiful as they are harrowing,” said Chloë Ashby in The Art Newspaper. Take Basizeni XI, Cassilhaus, North Carolina (2016): it shows the South African photographer, “draped in deflated bicycle tyres, with pursed lips and a far-off look”. It’s a personal work – a reaction to the death of Muholi’s sister – but a political one, too. “The tyres reference the history of necklacing, a brutal form of punishment inflicted upon those suspected of aiding the apartheid regime.” Born in Umlazi, Durban, in 1972, Muholi – who chooses to use the gender-neutral pronouns they/ them – has lived through a tumultuous period in South African history, witnessing the end of white rule, and the transition to democracy. But the primary subject of their work is…

I wondered if sales of no- and low-alcohol drinks would take a knock this year as a result of lockdown, says Victoria Moore in The Daily Telegraph. But on the contrary, they have continued to rise – up 30% year on year. One of the biggest winners has been alcohol-free and low-alcohol beers, and deservedly so: they “really work as drinks”. One of my favourite producers is Big Drop Brewing Co., which has just released its first single-hop style beverage – the luminous, honeyed Fieldhopper Golden Ale (0.5%; £22 for 12 x 330ml bottles, bigdropbrew.com). There are a lot of frankly poor zero-alcohol “spirits” out there, but one I do like is the Salcombe Distilling Company’s New London Light (around £27.50 and available from Amazon, John Lewis and Master of…

● Some products and appliances are built to be easier to fix at home than others. Anything made from seamless moulded plastic is liable to be impossible to fix. ● Also look out for devices that require irregular-sized screwdrivers to open them. ● Before you buy a digital product, look it up on iFixit.co.uk, which give a repairability score out of 10. An iPhone gets 6, while a Fairphone 3 gets 10. Fairphone is a Dutch company that uses recycled or ethically sourced materials and allows you to fix or upgrade specific components. ● Some companies actually offer to repair their goods. Outdoor brand Patagonia, for instance, and Nudie Jeans. Look out for firms that offer repairs, and support them. ● Where possible, buy things second-hand, and look for refurbished…

Des O’Connor 1932-2020 Des O’Connor, who has died aged 88, was a singer, comedian and chat show host, often described as one of the nicest men in television. A consummate light entertainer, instantly recognisable with his ready smile and perma-tan, he sold 16 million records, performed at the Palladium more than 1,200 times, and hosted his own prime-time TV shows for 40 years. Although central to his appeal, his cheesy, “middle-of-the-road” geniality made him the butt of jokes – by Morecambe and Wise in particular; but he took it in good part. In fact, he had supplied many of the lines the duo used against him, said The Times. “One of the barbs of which he was particularly proud was: ‘Des O’Connor’s a self-made man. Well, it’s nice of him…

The home-sharing giant Airbnb is expected to make its stock-exchange debut next month, valued at around $30bn. There’s nothing like a quick spruce-up to impress would-be punters, said The Wall Street Journal – and Airbnb has dressed to impress. Its filing documents are full of hints on how to turn deep cutbacks into a profit. Indeed, “by overhauling its business and shedding costs to help manage lockdown restrictions”, Airbnb managed to post a profit of $219m in the third quarter. Quite a makeover for a business that looked in tatters when Covid-19 forced it to shelve its original IPO in March. Bankers then had hoped to portray Airbnb as the “Amazon of travel”. But co-founder Brian Chesky was left “scrambling to save his company” when the shutters came down, said…

Here’s a glimpse of what the future may have in store next year, says Tom Standage in The Economist: Fights over vaccines The focus will shift from the effort of development to the daunting task of distribution. A mixed economic recovery The gap between strong and weak firms will widen as “patchy” growth continues. Patching-up efforts Can US president-elect Joe Biden repair the “crumbling rules-based international order”? US-China Rather than calling off the trade war, expect Biden to work with allies to wage it more effectively. A new front line Companies will be under pressure both geopolitically and also from stakeholders on climate change and social justice. Tech consolidation The pandemic prompted many new online behaviours. In 2021, we’ll see which ones stick. A less footloose world Tourism will continue…

Managers concerned that the office Christmas party might not be as much fun on Zoom can spice up their events – by paying for a celebrity to join in the fun. The speaking agency JLA says that as online events will be far cheaper, firms might choose to hire a comedian like Jimmy Carr or Al Murray to host a quiz for their staff, or chef Michel Roux to run a festive cooking demonstration (at a cost of up to £30,000). A 20-year-old maths student has become a viral sensation by posting sped-up videos of himself doing jigsaw puzzles on Instagram and TikTok. Nathan Tozer has 300,000 followers, and over the past three years has spent 851 hours, 50 minutes and 39 seconds completing 58 puzzles with a total of…

The Government awarded £10.5bn in contracts for PPE between March and July without putting them out to tender, according to a National Audit Office report. The parliamentary watchdog also found that companies with links to politicians or senior officials were directed to a “priority” channel. Regarded as “pre-sifted for credibility”, these firms were ten times more likely to win contracts than other firms. The NAO said in many cases, there was little explanation as to why contracts had been awarded, and potential conflicts of interest had not been explored. In one case that hit the headlines this week, a Miami-based jewellery designer named Michael Saiger (pictured) used his experience working with factories in China to win £200m in contracts, then paid £21m to a Spanish businessman to source the PPE.…

Stockholm Failings of the “Swedish model”: Rates of Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations are surging in Sweden, dashing hopes that its light-touch approach to the pandemic in the spring might have given its population greater immunity to the disease. Last week, Anders Tegnell (right), the state epidemiologist who has led Sweden’s response to Covid, admitted that levels of protective immunity were far lower than he had predicted in the summer, and that the crisis was moving in the “wrong direction”. “I hoped he was right. It would’ve been great. But he wasn’t,” said his predecessor Annika Linde. “Now we have a high death rate, and we have not escaped a second wave.” Even so, Sweden’s daily death toll is a fraction of its April peak, with a seven-day average of just…

This week’s edition of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs featured the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer 1 Out on the Floor by Darian and Al De Lorym, performed by Dobie Gray 2 Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 by Beethoven, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (cond. Herbert von Karajan) 3 Welcome To My World by Ray Winkler and John Hathcock, performed by Jim Reeves 4 Falling and Laughing by Edwyn Collins, performed by Orange Juice 5 Oh Happy Day by Edwin Hawkins, based on 18th-century hymn, performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers 6 Three Lions by David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, performed by Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds 7* Piano Concerto No. 5, 2nd movement, Adagio un poco mosso by Beethoven, performed by Jean-Efflam…

If a GM jab is welcome, why not GM food? Dominic Lawson The Sunday Times It could bring an end to this pandemic, says Dominic Lawson. But could the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine also end entrenched resistance to genetic modification? Even though millions of diabetics have for decades safely taken GM insulin, GM technology is still demonised by everyone from Prince Charles to Greenpeace. Even though the consumption of “golden” rice (a strain modified to include beta-carotene genes) can correct the vitamin A deficiency that leads to the deaths of thousands of children in poor countries every day, its distribution is still being halted by green lobby groups. The EU, too – largely to protect its own farmers – does what it can to put obstacles in the way of the biotech…

Is your fire harming your brain? An open fire is certainly cosy – but there is growing evidence that it is not a healthy way to heat a home. There have long been concerns about the amount of particulate matter released by fires; now researchers have found a link between open fires and poor cognitive function. A team from Lancaster University examined data on 7,000 over-50s in Ireland who’d disclosed their heating arrangements and undertaken tests to gauge cognitive decline for a study at Trinity College Dublin. They found that the participants with open fires achieved lower scores in the tests than those who heated their homes by other means – and that the link persisted even after other factors (including whether they lived in the countryside or in a…

“If American politics can seem hard to follow,” spare a thought for anyone trying to work out what has been going on in Britain, said Fraser Nelson in The Daily Telegraph. Last week, a long-simmering civil war in Downing Street suddenly exploded into open conflict. On one side, we had Dominic Cummings – key member of the Leave campaign, architect of the Government’s Brexit strategy “and much else besides”. On the other, Carrie Symonds, a former Tory spin doctor, and the PM’s fiancée – plus assorted allies. The Brexit deadline was fast approaching, yet in this mêlée – “a cross between a Hammer Horror movie and a Carry On film” – the future of government was being decided. We all know how it ended, said Toby Helm in The Observer.…

“Nine long years elapsed between the isolation of the measles virus in 1954 and the licensing of a vaccine,” said The Economist. In the case of polio, the process took two decades. How remarkable, then, that scientists appear to be on track to produce an effective and safe Covid-19 vaccine within a single year. And not just one, either: over 320 of them are in development, several in advanced trials. Last week Pfizer announced that interim results suggested its vaccine’s efficacy was more than 90%, said Ian Sample in The Guardian. This week, another US firm, Moderna, revealed that its candidate appeared to show 94.5% efficacy. At £38 to £45 for a course of two shots, Moderna’s vaccine would be more expensive than Pfizer’s (£30 per course), but it would…

For the first time in its 84-year history, this year’s Masters was held in November, not spring, said James Corrigan in The Daily Telegraph. That wasn’t the only groundbreaker: Dustin Johnson, who won the tournament, finished with a tally of 20 under par – a milestone never previously achieved at Augusta. The 36-year-old American entered the tournament as world No. 1, said Ewan Murray in The Guardian. And over the four days, he entirely justified that ranking with a “cold-blooded”, utterly dominant performance. Only on the final day were there any “wobbles”, as successive bogeys at the 4th and 5th holes briefly reduced his lead to a single shot. Yet with birdies at the 6th and 8th holes, he pulled away again, and after that was never really in trouble.…

Yes, we need lockdown... To The Spectator Your leader (“A lockdown too far”) suggests that the Prime Minister should have shown “leadership” and ignored Sage’s call for a second national lockdown. Sam Carlisle (“No respite”) illustrates why this would have been a mistake. Carlisle reminds us that “half of community paediatricians were deployed to acute services” during the pandemic’s first wave. Many other specialists were similarly redeployed. That the NHS was not overwhelmed in the first wave was precisely because most routine work stopped and staff were redeployed en masse to treat Covid-19 patients. Leaving projections aside, there were in fact 13,000 Covid-19 patients in hospital on Sunday 8 November. This is only 7,000 fewer than at the peak. Hospitals in Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Nottingham have already been forced…

It took 200 years to install a statue honouring the pioneering feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, said Alexandra Topping in The Guardian. Last week, a permanent memorial to her was finally unveiled on north London’s Newington Green (near the school that she set up) after a ten-year, £143,000 fundraising campaign. Unfortunately, it was met not with delight but with raised eyebrows, “dismay and bafflement”. Created by Maggi Hambling, an “important” but “divisive” artist, the silvered bronze sculpture consists of a “swirling” abstract “mingle of female forms” topped by an idealised effigy of a naked woman, who bears scant resemblance to Wollstonecraft herself. The plaque clearly states that the statue is “for Wollstonecraft, not of her”. Nevertheless, critics were quick to pounce, questioning why the “mother of feminism” should have been celebrated with…

As a favour to Jazzer, Johnny agrees to spread the word about the homebrew among his mates. Jazzer decides to take Johnny under his wing to boost his confidence with women, starting with a house party. Lynda makes a heartfelt appeal on Radio Borsetshire for Christmas Show volunteers. Opening an 18th birthday card from his aunt, Ruairi finds a CD recorded by his mum, Siobhan, and is overcome. Kirsty tells Helen about the plan to move to Wales and suggests Helen think about buying her house; Helen is interested. Brian gets angry when Ruairi tells him about the CD – it was reckless of his aunt to send it. Jennifer intervenes and soothes Ruairi, telling him how strong his mother was, and to listen to the CD when he feels…

Nigella: a balm in troubled times Nigella Lawson has returned to our screens, says Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph – and tuning in to her new show is the “television equivalent of sinking into a heavenly bath”. That said, Cook, Eat, Repeat (BBC2) does feature some unusual-sounding recipes. Nigella kicks off the first episode with a bhorta (a fried dish from the Indian subcontinent) made from mashed fish fingers. She then shares a recent discovery: that banana skins, soaked in boiling water, make a delicious addition to a curry (“They just go so velvety and swell and soften...”). Although her “great gift” is making anything seem luxuriant, I’m not sure I’ll be trying all these dishes. Then again, her TV shows have never been just about the recipes. You…

The Daily Telegraph MG has made what is “currently the only battery electric estate on sale in the UK”. It has also produced an impressively cheap large EV – something Elon Musk has been promising for some time. Its looks are “nondescript”, and the cabin is “old-school” and not especially comfortable. But given that current electric car batteries are only useful for about a decade – “would you want to pay more” for an EV? What Car? The car is fairly spacious in front and back, and has a 464-litre boot (seats up). There is “hard plastic almost everywhere you look and feel” in the cabin, and the touchscreen is mounted too low so you have to take your eyes far off the road. All models get rear parking sensors…

The free Hogwarts Digital Escape Room lets you explore the school of witchcraft and wizardry as first-year pupils, with trivia questions and puzzles (free; norweld.org). This Durham-based escape room which has now come online asks players to use the internet and any tools at their disposal to find the identity of a mysterious Mr X (free; escapedurham.co.uk/mr-x). Trapped in the Web has eight themed rooms – space race, cabin fever, out of hours, etc. – with full storylines and clues to collect and puzzles to solve alone or as a team (£9 each; trappedintheweb.com). Unlike offline escape rooms, The Panic Room has no time limit on its games, such as CSI murder mystery-style challenges, so you can start and stop whenever you want (from £15; thepanicroomonline.net). Your aim in The…

Moderna/Pfizer: market timings Markets leapt again after reports of a second “blockbuster Covid jab” from Moderna just a week after Pfizer’s breakthrough, said Julia Bradshaw in The Daily Telegraph. But questions are being asked about the early release of sensitive test data to the media. The red-hot news that the vaccine showed nearly 95% efficacy landed in journalist’s inboxes al-most an hour before the US pharma’s public announcement “sent the FTSE 100 surging more than 1% in minutes on a wave of optimism”. That’s rather a worrying gap. There is no suggestion Moderna broke any rules – the press release came with an “embargo” prohibiting early disclosure. But that seems a flimsy barrier given the “market-moving” nature of the information. As one former trader observed, you are relying on…

Get ready for a “shambolic” New Year Jeremy Warner The Sunday Telegraph Deal or no deal, Britain’s departure from the EU on 1 January “promises to be a shambolic nightmare”, says Jeremy Warner. Freight prices look set to surge, and many smaller handlers could go under. The Government’s antiquated Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (Chief) system is “struggling to cope with even its present workload, which will more than double once we leave”. This was meant to be replaced last March with a shiny new service, but “Government incompetence”, it seems, “is not confined to test, track and isolate procedures”. Industry insiders reckon there’s no “realistic chance” the system will work, “even for the limited purpose of trade with Northern Ireland”. If things are this bad even with…