Table of contents for 1480 in The Week

What happened Vladimir Putin declared a landslide victory in Russian elections this week, claiming a record 88% of the vote on a turnout of 77%. His win, in a poll from which opposition candidates had been barred, puts him on course to hold office until at least 2030. In a victory speech, Putin said the war in Ukraine and improvements to Russia’s armed forces were his priorities for his fifth term, and that the high turnout showed that he had massive public support. There were, however, signs of dissent: some Russians poured dye into ballot boxes; and thousands took part in protests organised by supporters of the late opposition activist Alexei Navalny in Russian cities and European capitals. In the run-up to the elections – held over three days, including…

“Did anyone have high hopes for Michael Gove’s definition of ‘extremism’?” asked Ben Sixsmith on The Critic. Do we trust the Communities Secretary – not exactly an uncontroversial figure – to define the boundaries of acceptable belief? Since the 7 October attacks, the Government has decided that the pervasiveness in the UK of extremist ideologies means that we need new tools to combat them. So Gove and his advisers have formulated a new definition of extremism – as “the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedom of others”, to undermine British democracy, or to “create a permissive environment” for others to do so. It’s a definition that, if applied, would “wreak havoc”, said Matthew…

Staff at Lloyds, the bank that owns Scottish Widows, have been urged to avoid using the word “widow” as it is “unnecessarily vivid” and may trigger “unwarranted” memories of trauma. Other expressions deemed unacceptable by the bank’s inclusive language guide include “headless chicken” and “guinea pig”, which could conjure images of animal cruelty. Marks & Spencer has unveiled a pair of £15 padded shorts for customers seeking enhanced buttocks. The “bum boosting shorts”, which will be available from May, have foam cheek pads sewn in them and are constructed to be seamless. A spokesperson for M&S said that many women hanker after a curvier, more sculpted silhouette.…

48% of adults intending to vote Tory at the next election say they’d rather have a strong, decisive leader with the power to override Parliament than a liberal multi-party democracy with regular elections. Hope Not Hate/The Guardian 51% of adults in Great Britain have seen people on social media speculating about the reason for the Princess of Wales’s absence from public life. 36% think the royal family haven’t gone into enough detail about her health; 41% think they have released the right amount; 5% think they’ve released too much detail. YouGov/Sky News More than four in ten people do not think the Tories can be trusted on law and order. Savanta/Liberal Democrats…

A Ukrainian under cover Artem Kariakin was a teenage football fan with a passion for match-day punch-ups – a subculture known as “the ultras” – when Russian forces occupied his hometown of Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, in 2014. Instead of fleeing, says Marc Bennetts in The Times, he began a perilous double life, hiding his pro-Ukrainian views while collecting intelligence for Kyiv. He finally left in 2021, and went public about his spying. He can’t go back: many locals blame him for the deaths of their loved ones in Ukrainian air strikes. He is now in Kyiv’s army, serving alongside many of his “ultra” foes. They called a truce after the invasion, but he looks forward to hostilities resuming. “If ultras can fight each other again, that will mean that Ukraine…

A Taiwanese student has been accused of plotting to have his legs amputated in order to claim $1.3m in insurance payouts. According to Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB), the 24-year-old took out five disability and injury policies, then, a few days later, plunged his feet into a bucket of dry ice for more than ten hours to get them so badly frostbitten that he underwent a double amputation. “Taiwan is a subtropical region,” noted the CIB. “There are no known cases of serious frostbite requiring amputation due to natural climate factors.” Staff at a wildlife centre in Virginia are dressing up as foxes to prevent orphaned kits from becoming too attached to their human carers. In a video posted online by the centre, a staff member can be seen bottle-feeding…

In other countries, it would be remarkable, said Fraser Nelson in The Spectator: last week, Vaughan Gething won the election to become the new First Minister of Wales – which will make him the first black leader of any European government. But here, “having a non-white leader” is no longer remarkable, thanks to Rishi Sunak in London and Humza Yousaf in Edinburgh having already achieved historic firsts. In a week in which MP Diane Abbott was denied the chance to speak in Parliament during a debate about racism against her, it can hardly be said that the struggle for inclusion is over, said Sunder Katwala in The Guardian; but Gething’s win shows “how much can change in a lifetime”. When he arrived in the UK aged two, in 1976, having…

My mother, who has a “nose for incoming trouble”, predicted the crisis in veterinary care more than a decade ago, said Jemima Lewis in The Daily Telegraph. Her local vet had been bought up by a big US corporation, just as our elderly cat starting having seizures. “Swift and merciful euthanasia” would have been the correct treatment. But the vet, she complained, refused to put him down: “He uses this awful saccharine voice, and keeps saying he just wants to run one more test. But I can almost see the dollar signs spinning in his eye sockets.” Vets have changed over the past decade. In 2013, just 10% of practices in the UK were run by large corporations. Today, it’s 60%. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently completed a…

Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester United and Liverpool wasn’t just one of the games of the season, said Oliver Brown in The Daily Telegraph. It has to be a contender for the “greatest FA Cup match ever played”. In “123 minutes of hysteria”, no fewer than seven goals were scored, there was one “stunningly incongruous sending-off”, and the “see-sawing drama” was virtually endless. Eventually, it was the team that needed victory the most – United – that made it through to the semi-finals, said Henry Winter in The Times. They did so thanks to Amad Diallo’s “calmly placed” left-foot winner in the 121st minute. Rarely, throughout the difficult recent seasons, has Old Trafford “reverberated with such unrestrained delight” as when the 21-year-old’s shot went in. And, seconds later, there…

No respect for black MPs To The Guardian I miss my late husband, Bernie Grant, every day, but was painfully reminded of the challenges he faced as one of the first black MPs by Diane Abbott’s experience. Labour’s difficulties on race are deep-seated and long-standing, and it has always trumpeted the issue at its convenience. The first black MPs for almost 100 years – Bernie, Abbott and Paul Boateng – walked a tightrope to become selected and then again to get elected, and re-elected. Another candidate, Sharon Atkin, was deselected in 1987 for declaring the Labour Party was racist. As they sought to establish the first black presence in Parliament, there were huge expectations, and at the same time vicious abuse in the gutter press, intrusion into our families, threats…

by Alwyn Turner Profile Books 400pp £25 The Week Bookshop £19.99 According to John Buchan, the Edwardian era was “rather an empty patch” in British history. It’s a view many historians have shared, said Dominic Sandbrook in The Sunday Times – with the result that in “the public imagination, the period between 1901 and 1914 seems an endless summer of cricket matches and seaside holidays, starched collars and sweeping dresses”. Yet the Edwardian Britain depicted in Alwyn Turner’s “rollicking” history is a far more interesting place: it’s a “country of swindlers and murderers, populists and charlatans, imperial fantasies and saucy innuendos”. Turner dwells on figures such as the financier and fraudster Horatio Bottomley (a founder of the Financial Times and the inspiration for Kenneth Grahame’s Mr Toad), as well as…

The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means of Ascent by Robert A. Caro, 1990 (Vintage £30). I regard Caro as the greatest writer alive today. This is the second of his four magnificent volumes on LBJ, covering the 1948 Texas senate race, one of the most dramatic elections of modern times. A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel, 1992 (Fourth Estate £12.99). This is Mantel’s brilliant portrayal of the intimate and often murderous relationships between the central characters of the French Revolution. For a novel to add so much to our understanding of history was an immense achievement, and a thrilling read. Fire Weather by John Vaillant, 2023 (Sceptre £25). The book that has made the most impact on me in recent months – a gripping account of the fire…

Programmes Ukraine: Enemy in the Woods Unflinching documentary filmed by Ukrainian soldiers as they embark on a crucial mission in the snowbound forests of the eastern front. Mon 25 Mar, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Kate Garraway: Derek’s Story A final follow-up to Garraway’s two award-winning films about her late husband Derek Draper, documenting his final year. Tue 26 Mar, ITV1 21:00 (60mins). My Big Gay Wedding with Tom Allen To mark ten years since the UK’s first same-sex marriage, the comedian interviews activists who campaigned for the bill, and politicians who helped pass it, while planning a wedding for one couple. Wed 27 Mar, BBC1 21:00 (60mins). The 1980s Supermarket Nostalgic three-part look at the rise of supermarket giants such as Tesco and Iceland in the 1980s and their impact on national tastes…

Josette Molland 1923-2024 Josette Molland, a member of the French Resistance who was deported to Ravensbrück in 1944, described the conditions in the Nazi camps as “unimaginable”. But in later life, she became determined to try to convey some of what she and other victims of Nazi persecution had been subjected to. Like many Holocaust survivors, she started giving talks in French schools; but Molland became concerned that her stories were not getting through to the youngsters she met, said The New York Times, so she returned to her first love of painting, in order to show them what life was like in the camps. The 15 paintings in the series are in a naive folk-art style, and chilling in their blank simplicity. One, called At the Dentist, depicts a…

Mike Lynch The former Autonomy boss, once one of the UK’s most successful tech bosses, has gone on trial in San Francisco – 13 years after allegedly masterminding what prosecutors have called the largest fraud in Silicon Valley’s history. Mike Lynch, who was extradited last year, sold his software company to Valley giant Hewlett-Packard for $11.7bn in 2011, and is now charged with falsifying accounts to juice the deal. In opening statements, prosecutors didn’t mince their words, said The Daily Telegraph – describing Lynch as a “controlling, dominating, intimidating boss”, who “spun a fabulous tale” to lure HP into overpaying, using an array of illegal accounting practices. Lynch, who faces a lengthy jail term, counters that HP’s own mismanagement caused the damage. The case, expected to last ten weeks, continues.…

What happened Rishi Sunak insisted this week that the economy is “turning a corner” as he sought to calm tensions in his party and quell talk of a leadership challenge. Anonymous briefings suggested that some MPs were manoeuvring to replace him with Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons. Her allies denied that she was involved in any plotting, and suggested that rivals on the right were trying to damage her. Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch told rebels to “stop messing around and get behind” the PM. Tory MPs are increasingly worried about their party’s dire poll ratings, which this month’s Budget failed to alleviate. Many are also unhappy about Sunak’s handling of the recent scandal involving the Tory donor Frank Hester (see page 21). When it emerged last…

Children find that encountering violent content is an “inevitable” consequence of going online, and many first see it at primary school, an Ofcom report has found. Every child interviewed by Ofcom had seen violence online, ranging from clips of street fights on Instagram or Snapchat to extreme gang violence and violence done to animals. “There’s peer pressure to pretend it’s funny,” said one 11-year-old. “Everyone was, like, joking about it,” said a 12-year-old, about a clip of an animal being harmed. The researchers noted that some older children seemed to have been “desensitised” to the violent content they saw.…

The Duchess of Sussex, who launched a new lifestyle venture, selling preserves and homewares. A preview video for American Riviera Orchard shows the Duchess, in soft focus, arranging flowers, baking in a kitchen and posing in a ballgown. British consumers, with figures showing that UK inflation has fallen to 3.4%, its lowest level for two-and-a-half years. The Groucho Club, which is expanding from its Soho base. The famously raucous private members’ club has chosen rural west Yorkshire as the site of its first branch outside the capital. Its club and hotel will be at Bretton Hall, near Wakefield.…

Grindavik, Iceland Volcano erupts: A state of emergency was declared in southern Iceland last Saturday after a volcanic system on the Reykjanes Peninsula, 30 miles southwest of Reykjavík, erupted for the fourth time in three months. Having been dormant for 800 years, the Svartsengi volcanic system became active in December. Its latest eruption – the largest so far – opened a fissure 2.9km long between two mountains. Lava flowed south towards the nearby fishing town of Grindavik at the rate of about 1km an hour, but was diverted from buildings by defensive barriers: evacuated in December, the town remains empty. A second westerly lava flow led to hundreds of holidaymakers being evacuated from the Blue Lagoon thermal spa, one of Iceland’s most popular tourist destinations. Brussels Migrant deal: As part…

1* Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2: No. 44, Chorus. Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth by George Frideric Handel, performed by The Sixteen, conducted by Harry Christophers2 Yesterday by Lennon-McCartney, performed by The Beatles3 Teenage Kicks by J.J. O’Neill, performed by The Undertones4 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Ewan MacColl, performed by Roberta Flack5 Because the Night by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith, performed by the Patti Smith Group6 Spasticus Autisticus by Ian Dury and Chaz Jankel, performed by John Kelly and the cast of Reasons To Be Cheerful7 If It Can’t Be Right Then It Must Be Wrong by Chaz Jankel, Derek Hussey and John Kelly, performed by John Kelly and the cast of Reasons To Be Cheerful8 Days by Ray Davies, performed by…

The most violent single confrontation during the strike took place on 18 June 1984. Miners from across Britain had assembled at the British Steel coking plant in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, to stop lorries full of coke leaving the plant for Scunthorpe’s steel furnaces. This was illegal, since the miners’ dispute was with the NCB, not British Steel. That day, after three weeks of picketing, 8,000 miners faced some 6,000 police, including 42 mounted officers, led by South Yorkshire Police but bolstered by officers from 17 other forces. Police would later claim the miners rioted, launching a “barrage of missiles”. The miners said they had pushed at police lines, a “ritual” at pickets, but claimed the police launched a savage, unprovoked attack, and they only responded after that. Either way, the…

Don’t allow Trump to read these papers Tom Nichols The Atlantic There’s a tradition in the US of allowing presidential candidates access to classified intelligence briefings so that they’re up to speed on key issues if they win the election. It’s a sensible practice, says Tom Nichols, but it should be skipped in the case of Donald Trump. He’s too much of a national-security risk. Were he a federal employee, as I was for many years, he would never pass the vetting process for security clearance. In our annual refresher courses at the Department of Defence, we were advised to look out for certain red-flag behaviours and characteristics in our colleagues that might identify them as “insider threats”. Trump checks “almost every box” on the list. Does he express hostility…

Health officials have issued a warning about a worrying rise in whooping cough in England – and urged parents to make sure their children are vaccinated against the disease. There were 553 cases recorded in January, compared to 858 for the whole of 2023, raising fears that this could be a bumper year for the bacterial infection. The apparent surge follows a “steady decline” in vaccination rates in babies, for whom the illness (also known as the 100-day cough, or pertussis) can be particularly serious, the UK Health Security Agency said. Just 92.9% of two-year-olds had completed their six-in-one jabs, which includes whooping cough, in September 2023, down from 96.3% in 2014. Meanwhile, uptake of the maternal vaccine, offered to women during pregnancy, has dropped from more than 70% in…

The British state faces a looming crisis, said Chris Smyth in The Times: the sheer number of people, particularly young people, who are out of work because of their mental health. New government figures have revealed the scale of the problem for the first time. In total, two million people are receiving universal credit for health reasons; of whom more than two-thirds are deemed incapable of any work. Numbers are rising very fast: in just a year, total claims for health benefits under universal credit have surged by 400,000. And of all such health claims made in the past two years, 69% involve “mental and behavioural disorders”. Among the under-35s, mental health issues are now by far the most common work-limiting condition – a dramatic shift that has taken place…

“Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home.”Phyllis Diller, quoted on The Huffington Post “Most of American life is driving somewhere and then driving back wondering why the hell you went.”John Updike, quoted on The Knowledge “For every complex problem, there’s a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.”H.L. Mencken, quoted in The Times “When you look annoyed all the time, people think that you’re busy.”George Costanza in Seinfeld, quoted in The Economist “History is not the soil in which happiness grows. Periods of happiness are empty pages within it.”Hegel, quoted in First Things “Parents – especially step-parents – are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don’t fulfil the promise of their early years.”Anthony Powell, quoted in…

To The Times The Government’s definition of extremism is to be welcomed. It is, however, important to recognise just why it has become so necessary. The primary reason is the development of the internet and social media, which have given rise to extremist echo chambers linking like-minded people. People with extreme views are often now not routinely challenged by rubbing up against more moderate people who put forward balancing arguments. So their convictions increasingly know no bounds. Hence the new definition of extremism is a proportionate response to radically new forms of communication. The Rev Canon Charles Jenkin, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk To The Times The debate on defining extremism takes me back to the Indian government attack on the Golden Temple in 1984. Thousands of Sikhs were killed. The…

by Emily Howes Orion 384pp £20 The Week Bookshop £15.99 The 18th century portraitist Thomas Gainsborough immortalised his two daughters, Molly and Peggy, in half-a-dozen canvases that charted their development from “carefree girls” to “fashionable young women”, said Mark Bostridge in The Spectator. In her “ingenious” debut, Emily Howes “delves beneath the surface” of the paintings to imagine what life for the sisters was like. It is not a happy tale, said James Walton in The Daily Telegraph. Peggy, the narrator, realises when young that Molly is sometimes “not herself”. As Molly (who did indeed succumb to madness as an adult) becomes “increasingly erratic”, Penny becomes her sister’s protector. Marked by its nuanced understanding of family dynamics, this is a “hugely impressive” work. Howes writes “knowledgeably on everything from Georgian…

A taste of Scotland in north London When Gregg Boyd first moved to London in his 20s, he couldn’t believe how hard it was to find the “incredible produce” he’d grown used to while living in his native Scotland, says Marc Horne in The Times. This frustration led the Glaswegian, who was then working as an economist, to open a weekend market stall in the East End, where he sold haggis, neeps and tatties to some of the 200,000 or so Caledonians who live in the capital. His side hustle has now morphed into a full-time job: last month, Boyd opened Auld Hag: The Shoap in Islington – London’s first-ever Scottish deli. Alongside freshly baked goods such as Glasgow morning rolls and Aberdeen butteries, it sells smoked fish from Arbroath,…

● Checked tiles add interest and colour. Porcelain chequerboard tiles cost a fraction of the cost of marble or limestone. ● Bamboo blinds are an inexpensive way to add texture, warmth and natural colour. ● Good light switches and door handles can be expensive, but these are things you use every day, and so upgrading them can make a relatively big difference. ● Attractive panelling can be used to make a box room or bathroom look more elegant. You could use it to turn a redundant alcove into a discreet cabinet with a hidden push-release magnetic door. ● An under-counter skirt below a sink helps break up hard surfaces and saves on joinery. It can add a pop of colour, and as you won’t need much fabric, you may be…

One to watch: small US companies Many small-cap stocks have missed out on the monster rally. John Moore of RBC Brewin Dolphin suggests the JPMorgan American Investment Trust. You might also look at the Fisher US Small & Mid Cap Core fund. UK contrarian bets Darius McDermott of FundCalibre thinks the UK is now at a “fantastic entry point”. He rates Ninety One UK Special Situations, which invests in undervalued companies, and the Schroder Recovery fund. Japan – still overlooked? The Nikkei 225 was Asia’s best-performing market last year, posting a 28% gain. Schroders’ Alex Funk likes the Morant Wright Japan Nippon Yield Fund. Europe – a greener option European equities are cheap compared with the US, and showing “resilience”, says McDermott. The region is also leading the green transition.…

The week’s best shares Keywords Studios The Times The games developer partners with production titans, offering translation and marketing services for titles including Hogwarts Legacy, the Fifa series and Fortnite. AI concerns look overdone – plenty of scope for growth. Buy. £13.72. Kitwave Group The Mail on Sunday Kitwave delivers well-known food and drink brands to more than 40,000 shops, cafés, petrol stations and care homes. Sales are up 20%, profits by 39%. There’s an acquisition pipeline and plenty of growth potential. Buy. 342p. Melrose Industries Investors’ Chronicle Driven by its engines business, the aerospace specialist is “nicely on track” to deliver ambitious profit targets – helped by similarly impressive performance in its structures arm. Given healthy demand, prospects are bright. Buy. 615p. Mitie Group The Sunday Times The outsourcer’s…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1406 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 1 April. Send it to The Week Crossword 1406, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6JR, or email the completed grid/listed solutions to crossword@theweek.co.uk. Tim Moorey (timmoorey.com) This week’s winner will receive Week-branded items including a notebook, coffee mug and tote bag, as well as two Connell Guides (connellguides.com). ACROSS 1 Occasional work is copied (8) 6 Blossom that is seen behind duck (6) 9 Excessive rewards originating with stock? (5,5) 10 Dubious sort of bag beginning to slip (4) 11 Leaving post with unprotesting acceptance (11) 13 Second on leg is needed for some bowling (4) 14…

Jews and Muslims are coming together to attend fast-breaking Ramadan meals hosted by synagogues around the country, The Times reports. Last week, some 40 Muslims joined Jews, Christians and Sikhs at an iftar dinner at a synagogue in Birmingham. Middle Eastern pastries, salads, hummus and curry dishes were served; and Jewish Shabbat prayers and Muslim Dua prayers were said at the end of the evening. One attendee said that, at this time, “it did feel very poignant”. A shop owner on a remote Orkney island is auctioning off Easter eggs in aid of the RNLI, after mistakenly ordering rather more than he required. Dan Dafydd, who owns Sinclair General Stores on Sanday, had worked out that he could sell 80 eggs, but instead ordered 80 cases of them, leaving him…

HMRC abruptly reversed a decision this week to close its self-assessment helpline for six months from 8 April. On Tuesday, it announced that most people would have to use online services instead; and it also unveiled new restrictions to the VAT and PAYE helplines. HMRC said that the reforms followed a series of successful trials, and would allow its advisers to “focus support where it is most needed”. But some 24 hours later, HMRC said the line would stay open after all, acknowledging that the public had not been given sufficient notice.…

Joe Biden, after the 81-year-old’s new shoes sparked renewed debate about his physical frailty. The US president was spotted wearing a pair of chunky $150 wide-soled Hoka trainers; his aides said he used them to exercise, but there was speculation that they were intended to stop him tripping over. Damien Hirst, who faced questions about the dating of three of his sculptures made by preserving animals in formaldehyde. The works, which have been exhibited around the world, are described as being from the 1990s. But it seems they were created in 2017. Asked to clarify the situation, Hirst’s lawyers said that these works had been dated to when they were conceived, not when they were made, which is his “usual approach”. Casualty, the long-running BBC medical drama, with the departure…

Salt Lake City, Utah Arming teachers: Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, has signed into law a divisive bill designed to encourage teachers to carry guns in schools. Staff with permits can already take guns onto school property in Utah; the new law incentivises them to do so, by shielding them from legal liability if they accidentally injure a pupil (unless they were “grossly negligent”); and making provision for them to have firearms training, and somewhere safe on site to store their weapons. The bill was bitterly opposed by campaigners; but Cox said it would make schools safer. Washington DC A growing rift: The US senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, called last week for new elections in Israel to oust Benjamin Netanyahu, in a sign of a widening rift in US-Israeli…

“We are always debating abolishing the royals, but given the way we treat them, don’t be surprised if they vote to abolish themselves. Kate’s illness should have been met with sympathy; instead she’s been subjected to preposterous rumour, and a photo she lightly tweaked has been analysed more times by more fantasists than the JFK film. Britons want our royals to be distant yet familiar, to show us everything but never too much. They must be word perfect but unscripted; exotic but down to earth; classy yet modest. Unless we show their offices some respect, all we will wind up with is celebrities who have not chosen to be celebrities, which is a very cruel state of affairs.” Tim Stanley in The Daily Telegraph…

A scandalous way to treat our children Editorial The Times Last week, NHS England called time on the routine prescribing of puberty blockers to children with gender-related distress. About time, says The Times. That this experimental treatment has been dished out to hundreds of children as young as 11 since 2011 is “a medical scandal”. Many had troubled backgrounds. More than a quarter had spent time in care; autism was also a common factor. Did clinicians never stop to think that these children’s worries about gender identity might be “symptoms of anxiety and depression rather than the cause”? The doctors pushing this treatment characterise puberty blockers as an “on-off switch” pausing physical development while children come to terms with their gender identity. Yet it’s now known that these blockers, also…

Microplastics linked to stroke risk It is well established that microplastics can make their way into human organs via food and water and even the air we breathe – but it has never been clear what impact, if any, this has on our health. Now, however, a study has linked the accumulation of microplastics in the body to a raised risk of heart attacks, strokes and early death. The research involved 257 people in Italy who’d been diagnosed with carotid artery disease, and had fatty plaques removed from their blocked arteries. Analysis of these revealed that 60% of the patients had microplastics (polyethylene in most cases, but also PVC) in their plaques. The patients were then monitored for almost three years, during which time those who had plastic in their…

Miriam Margolyes has incurred the wrath of devoted Harry Potter fans by suggesting that if they’re post-pubescent, they should “get over” the series. The actress told ABC News that though she was proud to have appeared in the Potter films, she believes they are for children. “If your balls have dropped, then it’s time to forget about it,” she said. “You know, go onto other things… grow up.” Cara Delevingne’s LA mansion was consumed by a fire last week – along, presumably, with its eccentric fittings. These included a ball pit, a see-through piano and a “vagina tunnel” connecting two rooms. “One enters the so-called rebirth canal through a vulval soft sculpture,” it was reported in 2021, “and then proceeds to crawl out of a washing-machine door suggestive of a…

“Has there ever been a story that has made you more nauseous about the state of British public life” than the Frank Hester scandal, asked Simon Kelner in The i Paper. It was bad enough to learn last week about the “grotesquely offensive and racist” remarks the businessman made about the then Labour MP Diane Abbott in 2019: that she made him “want to hate all black women”, and that she “should be shot”. To make it worse, we then had to listen to Rishi Sunak initially prevaricating over Hester’s shameful comments, and refusing to give back the £10m that the IT entrepreneur – whose business has won £400m in public sector contracts – had donated to the Tory Party. It’s an “obscene” sum “to inject into a system that…

The men’s Six Nations Championship reached its conclusion last Saturday, and from a cursory glance at the final standings, you’d be forgiven for assuming that “not an awful lot changed”, said Robert Kitson in The Guardian. Ireland were crowned champions for the second year running, and France were again runners-up. And as in 2023, England and Scotland were the “meat in the club sandwich”, with Wales and Italy occupying the bottom two positions. Yet such a bald summary fails to tell the whole story, for while this may not have been a “vintage Six Nations in absolutely all respects”, it was a tournament packed with surprise and drama. No less than ten of the 15 matches were decided by four points or fewer, showing just how fierce the competition was.…

Tennis Carlos Alcaraz of Spain successfully defended his Indian Wells title, beating Daniil Medvedev 7-6, 6-1 in the final. It was the 20-year-old’s first title since winning Wimbledon last July. Football Nottingham Forest have been docked four points for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules. The penalty pushes them into the relegation zone, with nine matches remaining. Golf Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1, became the first player ever to retain The Players Championship. He earned victory over Wyndham Clark on the final hole.…

A string of Hollywood stars have turned up in the West End this year, said Sarah Crompton on What’s on Stage. The latest is Billy Crudup, who has crossed the pond to reprise his role in a play that brought him off-Broadway acclaim in 2017. David Cale’s Harry Clarke is a funny, smart and “effortlessly engrossing” one-man piece about a fantasist and conman from the American Midwest who starts to speak in a fey upper-class English accent as a child, then moves to New York, where he reinvents himself as a sexually omnivorous Cockney wide-boy. And Crudup is simply superb in it. He doesn’t quite nail the accents, but he “charismatically mines each twist and turn”, and lands his lines “with immaculate timing”. It amounts to a “real tour de…

In 2015, video clips started to appear online, in which two children made a series of horrific allegations of sexual and physical abuse against parents and teachers at their school in north London, said Daniel Keane in the Evening Standard. “They claimed the abuse was all part of a Satanic ritual which also involved the killing of babies and drinking of their blood.” Police found no evidence of wrongdoing, but the videos “spread like wildfire”, fuelling conspiracy theories that refused to die, even when it emerged that the children had been coerced into making false allegations by their abusive stepfather. This “excellent” Channel 4 documentary tells the story of the fallout from the hoax through the eyes of four mothers at the school. They are played by actors, who lip-sync…

For nearly 100 years, a 55-foot mural was the backdrop to the restaurant at Tate Britain, said Alex Marshall in The New York Times: a 1927 painting by Rex Whistler depicting a hunting party riding through a fantastical landscape. Few visitors noticed two small details: a depiction of a white woman dragging a black boy by a rope, as the boy’s unclothed, terrified mother watches from a tree; and another picture of the boy, shackled, behind a cart (pictured). It was only in 2020, after George Floyd’s murder, that campaigners demanded the mural’s removal. Last week, Tate finally unveiled its response. Installed in the room, no longer a restaurant, is a video work by the black British artist Keith Piper that examines Whistler’s racist imagery, in the form of a…

Chris angrily tells Alice he knows about Harry’s drinking and says that, as an addict, she must have seen the signs. The new cowhides in the Tea Room divide local opinion. Emma and Ed take up Will’s offer of financing their tree surgery business; when George casts doubts on their ability, Will asks Brian to look over the business plan. Alice and Chris have another emotional exchange about his trust in her as a mother. After urging from Kate, Jakob awkwardly apologises to Paul. When Ed and Emma discover Brian’s input, they seek their own advice from Justin. To cheer up Alice, Brian takes her to the races and runs into an old friend, Justin’s ex Miranda. They meet for coffee without telling Justin, and she invites him to an…

Ulverston WalkFest focuses on the Lake District’s history, with rugged hikes taking in slate mines and castles (27 Apr-6 May; ulverstonwalkfest.com). The Isle of Wight Walking Festival has themed walks along the island’s 500-odd miles of footpaths (11-19 May, 5-13 Oct; isleofwightwalkingfestival.co.uk). The three walks a day at Ballater Walking Festival, Aberdeenshire, range from strong to easy and take in spectacular Munros and granite tors (18-24 May; walkballater.com). The National Forest Walking Festival has more than 90 walks, including “Bench to Bench” ones, for those with less mobility (18-30 May; nationalforest.org). Mid Devon Walking Festival has guided and self-guided walks, live music and foodie events (14-29 Sept; visitmiddevon.co.uk). The Saltmarsh Coast Walking Festival shows off the Essex coast’s history and bird life (27 Sept-6 Oct; visitmaldondistrict.co.uk). SOURCE: THE OBSERVER…

Lunuganga Sri Lanka Regarded as “the father of tropical modernism”, the architect Geoffrey Bawa (1919-2003) spent 50 years developing this “otherworldly estate” near Sri Lanka’s southwest coast as a home for himself. It’s a “wonderland”, says Harriet Compston in Condé Nast Traveller, now managed as a ten-bedroom hotel by the local Teardrop Hotels group. Furnished with antiques and objets Bawa found on his travels, the rooms are “sublime”. So too are the gardens, with their well tended lawns, “emerald” rice paddies and huge old trees. There’s a new swimming pool, and a verandah restaurant serving modern Sri Lankan cuisine. Doubles from £312 b&b; teardrop-hotels.com.…

John Lewis: the great row back In its pomp, John Lewis was often seen as a bellwether of the wider economy. Perhaps the same is true in its weakened state, said Aoife Morgan in Retail Gazette. Like the UK economy, the retailer has “turned a corner”, according to analysts – returning to profit for the first time in three years. What’s “the secret sauce”, asked Alistair Osborne in The Times. A strategic row back: “an overdue return to retail basics”. John Lewis has junked outgoing chair Dame Sharon White’s “daft target” of achieving 40% of earnings by 2030 from activities beyond retailing – such as financial services and property development – and the result is a £56m pre-tax profit. Shoppers may see improvements in John Lewis and Waitrose stores from…

We should learn to love higher rates… Katie Martin Financial Times At one point last year, “higher for longer” were the three scariest words in the English language for investors, says Katie Martin. Yet higher interest rates have lost their power to shock. Even last week’s news of a surprise uptick in US inflation to 3.2% – which might bolster the case for delaying rate cuts – failed to rattle markets. This is a shift worth celebrating: “a sign that interest rates are shedding their suffocating dominance over global markets”, and that stocks are climbing for no other reason than “they’re worth it”. We are in a new era, where the apparent need to keep interest rates high is “a bullish signal for risky assets” because it signifies a thriving…

Anyone who grew up in the 1990s may well remember this movie scene: a three-tonne orca leaping to freedom over a harbour wall and swimming off into the sunset with his family. It was the closing scene of Free Willy, a film that captured the hearts of a generation, telling the story of an orphaned boy racing against time to free a killer whale from captivity before the creature is destroyed. Free Willy was released in the UK 30 years ago, and it went on to spawn three sequels and a TV series. But it also helped to expose the dark side of orcas in captivity – not least the real-life story of Keiko, the whale who played Willy. Rescuing him took many years and millions of dollars – and even…