Table of contents for 1477 in The Week

What happened Lee Anderson was suspended from the Tory Party on Saturday after refusing to apologise for claiming that “Islamists” had “got control” of London’s mayor. The former Tory deputy chair said that Sadiq Khan had given the capital away to extremists, and referred to them as Khan’s “mates”. He later conceded that his words had been “clumsy”, but insisted he was right, arguing that pro-Palestinian protests and threats to MPs showed that Khan had “lost control of the city”. Rishi Sunak said Anderson’s comments were wrong and unacceptable. However, the Prime Minister denied accusations from Labour – and the former Tory co-chairwoman Baroness Warsi – that his party harboured Islamophobic tendencies. Anderson, who said he had been given “phenomenal” private support from Conservative MPs, refused to rule out joining…

Sadly, it’s impossible to explain the chaos that erupted in the House of Commons last Wednesday without “striding straight into the weeds” of Parliamentary procedure, said Tom Peck in The Times. The furore began when the SNP used one of its rare opposition day debates, when it can table a motion, to call for a ceasefire in Gaza – and to set a trap for Labour. The motion described the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza as “collective punishment”, a view Keir Starmer won’t allow his MPs to support. The idea was to put Labour MPs in “an impossible hole”: they had to vote either against the ceasefire, or against their leadership. Hoping to avoid such a split, Labour tabled an amendment, calling for a ceasefire in less contentious terms. The…

Indian Railways, which ordered an inquiry after a freight train travelled 43 miles without a driver. The 53-carriage train’s driver disembarked at a station in Jammu during a crew change. The train then set off by itself down a slope and gathered speed, hitting 62mph. It was eventually stopped by blocks laid across the track. Primary school teachers, who say they are now spending a third of their day, on average, supporting children who are not school-ready, at the expense of teaching time. According to a poll of staff, a quarter of children are not toilet trained when they start school; 46% are unable to sit still; 37% can’t dress themselves; and 28% try to swipe books as though they were touchscreens. Prince Harry, after Donald Trump warned that Joe…

73% of Iranian adults want a secular government instead of a theocratic dictatorship, according to an anonymous state-run poll – up from 31% in 2015. Less than 8% of adults believe that women should be forced to wear the hijab, down from 19%. The Daily Telegraph 64% of British adults support banning the sale of smartphones to under-16s. 71% say they’d back safety software being automatically installed on children’s phones, which would alert parents if youngsters had searched for dangerous or inappropriate content. More in Common 75% of people in Italy say they regularly drink bottled water, as do 61% of people in the US, 58% in France and 42% in the UK. Statista/The Independent…

Hanif Kureishi’s accident Just over a year ago, Hanif Kureishi’s world turned upside down, says Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. While visiting Rome, the novelist collapsed, hit his head, and came around to find that he was paralysed – unable to move his arms or legs. Kureishi, 69, spent months in hospital, but has now come back to London, and to a starkly different life. He has had to have a bathroom installed in his living room and hire a carer; but the accident has changed things in other ways too. “People suddenly begin to speak well of you,” he reflects. “Hundreds of people have been supportive and compassionate. It’s not something you would normally see – it’s normally something that happens to you when you die.” With physio,…

A £35-per-head “Willy Wonka Experience” in Glasgow was so disappointing that angry parents called the police. The “immersive” event was billed as a “chocolate fantasy like never before”, and attracted families from across Scotland and the north of England. But attendees were instead met with a near-empty warehouse decorated with a handful of plastic props and a small bouncy castle. Children were left in tears. One attendee complained he “didn’t even get a Freddo”. It was closed within hours of opening. Google’s AI chatbot Gemini has been ridiculed for generating “woke” images of ethnically diverse Vikings, German soldiers, knights and other historical figures. Asked to produce a picture of a pope, Gemini showed a Southeast Asian woman wearing holy vestments. The bot also produced images of Native American “Vikings”, black…

BRUSSELS Why is the EU set on driving us into danger? EUobserver (Brussels) The EU is threatening to lead us down a very dangerous road, says Ceri Woolsgrove. Its transport committee has proposed lowering the age at which people can drive an HGV from 21 to 17, so as to lure more truckers into the profession. “What could possibly go wrong?” EU rules already allow member states’ national governments to lower the age limit for lorry drivers to 18, and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that it’s a bad idea: research in Germany shows that 18- to 20-year-old truckers cause about a quarter of all accidents per licence holder. Just as crazy is the committee’s proposal to alter rules to enable 16-year-olds to drive “2.5-tonne SUVs” – despite plentiful…

In late January, the Royal Navy submarine HMS Vanguard test-fired a missile off the east coast of America: it was meant to travel to the edge of space before landing in the mid-Atlantic. Instead, said Ross Clark in The Spectator, the 58-tonne Trident II D5 “plopped straight into the sea”. The failure, news of which only emerged last week, is thought to have been caused by the system’s first-stage boosters failing to ignite, said The Times. Whatever the cause, the abortive launch undermines the credibility of the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent, especially following a similar fiasco in 2016. The Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, insists that the system remains “dependable and formidable”, the failure an “anomaly”. Maybe. But Trident is meant to warn off Britain’s enemies. “The word ‘plopped’ is not…

Shamima Begum’s hopes of returning to the UK from her detention camp in northeast Syria have been dashed again, said Haroon Siddique in The Guardian. Last week, three Court of Appeal judges ruled unanimously that Sajid Javid, as home secretary in 2019, had acted lawfully when he revoked her citizenship on grounds of national security. The court left it to others to judge whether it had been a harsh way of treating someone who may have been “influenced and manipulated” to run off to Syria as a 15-year-old schoolgirl to join Islamic State, merely ruling that the decision had been procedurally fair. It was sufficient that Javid had considered such factors, even if he had ultimately rejected them. Begum’s lawyers have promised to fight on, but it’s hard to see…

It was only the Carabao Cup final, and the team they were facing lacked a “killer instinct”, said Jason Burt in The Daily Telegraph. But when you consider the full circumstances, Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Chelsea on Sunday – secured thanks to Virgil van Dijk’s header with just two minutes left in extra time – has to rank as one of Jürgen Klopp’s “greatest achievements”. The Reds went into the game missing 11 first-team regulars, including Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold. During the first half, Ryan Gravenberch was stretchered off, and by the second half many of their senior players were tiring. Klopp’s response was to bring on a trio of teenagers – Jayden Danns (18), and Bobby Clark and James McConnell (both 19) – together with 21-year-old Jarell Quansah,…

by Chris Bryant Bloomsbury 336pp £25 The Week Bookshop £19.99 The two subjects of this book by the Labour MP Chris Bryant – James Pratt and John Smith – were the “last men to be executed in Britain for the crime of sodomy”, said Rupert Christiansen in The Daily Telegraph. As the pair had sex in a Southwark lodging house one Saturday in 1835, they were spied through the keyhole by the landlord and landlady, who summoned a special constable. Arrested and taken to Newgate Prison, they were tried at the Old Bailey two months later, and hanged soon afterwards. Bryant interweaves an account of all this with a “richly detailed portrait of the more squalid and miserable aspects of Georgian London”. His research is “exemplary” – how, you wonder,…

Two “prestige” new BBC Radio 4 series, Why Do You Hate Me? and The Gatekeepers, cover broadly similar terrain, said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer. Both are about “the internet state we’re in” – a world where differences are inflamed and encouraged because “engagement” equals money. And both follow hard on the heels of the second series of Jon Ronson’s Things Fell Apart. It is brilliantly researched and very fair, but the subject matter can be a bit depressing, so I was reluctant to dive in further. But I was glad I did. Presented and researched by the “excellent” Jamie Bartlett, of The Missing Cryptoqueen fame, The Gatekeepers tells a rollicking tale about how social media enabled a new digital elite and their platforms to conquer the world. On the…

John Singer Sargent was an artist who “clearly loved clothes”, said Francesca Peacock in Prospect. His world “was one of lavish haute couture and costumed dress”: an in-demand painter of society portraits, Sargent (1856-1925) specialised in likenesses “of society beauties in miles of silk” and “serious canvases of serious men” – themselves often no less lavishly attired. He played with the costumes in which he depicted his subjects, changing colours of garments to better suit a picture, and conjuring outfits from his imagination when models “only had rolls of fabric to pose with”. Indeed, after altering the colour of a sitter’s dress in one portrait, he proclaimed himself both “painter and dressmaker”. This new show at Tate Britain explores the artist’s “interest in and skill with fashion”, bringing together dozens…

Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, 1871 (Puffin £5.99). At Christmas 1955 my parents took me to see a stage version of this, starring Juliet Mills. She was 14. I was seven. It was love at first sight. From then on, Carroll’s extraordinary story, published as the sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, became my favourite book. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, 1939 (Faber £10.99). My life-long addiction to namedropping began when I was a small boy living near Gloucester Road in London and was introduced to T.S. Eliot at our local church. The great man introduced me to his collection of witty and whimsical cat poems and encouraged me to learn Macavity by heart. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, 1890 (Penguin £7.99).…

Programmes Discovering the Music of Antiquity The uncovering of an Ancient Greek musical score sets musical historians on a mission to have it sung in a modern arrangement and played on period instruments. Mon 4 Mar, BBC4 21:00 (60mins). Storyville: Navalny Another chance to see the Oscar-winning documentary about the late Russian opposition leader, made after he was poisoned in 2020. Mon 4 Mar, BBC4 22:00 (95mins). Sarah Everard: The Search for Justice Documentary about the investigation into Sarah Everard’s murder by a serving Met officer, and its consequences for policing. Tue 5 Mar, BBC1 21:00 (60mins). This World – Why Planes Vanish: The Hunt for MH370 Ten years after the Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared, can new evidence and technology shed light on its fate? Wed 6 Mar, BBC1 20:00…

Robert Badinter 1928-2024 Robert Badinter was a French socialist and humanitarian, described by Emmanuel Macron as “France’s conscience”. An eminent lawyer and a minister in the Mitterrand government, he equalised the age of consent for same-sex relationships (from 18 to 15), and held a series of major positions: he was the president of the commission set up to resolve legal issues arising from the dissolution of Yugoslavia; he was also the honorary co-chair of the World Justice Project. But he was best known at home and abroad as the man who abolished the death penalty in France, at a time when most French people supported it. A survivor of the Holocaust, whose father had been murdered at Sobibor, he had been a crusader for abolition since witnessing the guillotining of…

Jacob Rothschild There was arguably “no greater financier in the last half century” than the fourth Baron Rothschild, who has died aged 87, said Joe Middleton in The Independent. His death marks “the passing of a consummate dealmaker”, and one of the UK’s most prominent philanthropists and champions of the arts. Known simply as Jacob by everyone in the City, Rothschild was described by one friend as having “the charm of a prince, the financial acumen of a Byzantine banker and the ambition of a king”. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, Rothschild could trace his banking roots back to late 18th century Frankfurt – the family famously financed the Duke of Wellington during the Napoleonic Wars. Yet he ended up building “his own empire”, said The Daily Beast.…

The 1964 film Mary Poppins has had its rating lifted from a U to a PG because it contains “discriminatory language”. In the film, Admiral Boom twice refers to Hottentots – a word used by Europeans to refer to the Khoekhoe, a group of indigenous people in South Africa, and which became a derogatory term for black people generally. The British Board of Film Classification had been asked to review the film ahead of a re-release in cinemas. Waitrose is cashing in on Easter by selling what it calls a “hot cross bunettone” – a hybrid of panettone and a hot cross bun. The £8 creation is studded with candied orange peel and sultanas, and has a cross on its top. It is “the ultimate Easter treat”, says the retailer’s…

Around £4.7bn that would have been spent bringing HS2 to Manchester and Leeds will be used to fund transport projects in rural areas, towns and small cities in the north of England and the Midlands, the Government announced this week. Local authorities will determine how to spend the money, which will be delivered in instalments over seven years from April 2025. The Department for Transport suggested that it might go on refurbishing bus and railway stations, filling in potholes, or expanding mass transit systems. Labour said it was a re-announcement.…

Paris Tower strike: Staff at the Eiffel Tower went on strike for six days last week, forcing the closure of the landmark and disappointing an estimated 100,000 visitors to the French capital. Unions said that Paris City Hall – which owns 99% of the firm that operates the tower – had overestimated revenue from ticket sales, and underestimated the cost of necessary repairs to the wrought-iron structure. As a result, the maintenance budget was insufficient to ensure the safety of staff and visitors. However, on Saturday the two sides said they’d agreed a deal to end the strike, which includes €380m being invested in repairs by 2031. Paris Farmers’ rage: France’s biggest agricultural show descended into chaos last Saturday, when scores of angry farmers stormed the exhibition centre where the…

1 Jeepster by Marc Bolan, performed by T. Rex2 Symphony No. 5 – IV: Adagietto by Gustav Mahler, performed by Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, conducted by Franco Mannino3* Life on Mars?, written and performed by David Bowie4 La Vie en Rose by Louiguy and Édith Piaf, performed by Alan Dunn5 I’ll Never Fall in Love Again by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, performed by Bobbie Gentry6 Satellite of Love, written and performed by Lou Reed7 Where Love Lives (Come On In) by Lati Kronlund, performed by Alison Limerick8 I Left My Heart in San Francisco by George Cory and Douglass Cross, performed by Tony Bennett Book: Gypsies by Josef Koudelka Luxury: a lemon tree * Choice if allowed only one record…

The Royal Mail’s origins date back to 1516, when Henry VIII knighted the first Master of the Posts, Sir Brian Tuke: letters were carried from one “post” to the next by couriers. At first only accessible to the king and his court, the service was opened up to the public by Charles I in 1635. In 1660, the Post Office Act brought it under public ownership; initially, the addressee had to pay the postage. By 1665, the Royal Mail still only employed 45 sorting and delivery staff; but in 1685 the penny post was introduced in London, and it expanded rapidly. By 1785, “post boys” had been replaced on major routes by mail coaches, which were faster and guarded by armed men. In the 19th century, the Royal Mail began…

Two drugs hailed as a turning point in the fight against Alzheimer’s can cause brain shrinkage, scientists have warned. Lecanemab and donanemab have been shown to slow the progress of the disease and are being evaluated for use in the NHS. But side-effect data shows that, in some cases, patients’ brains have shrunk, said The Daily Telegraph, with those on the highest doses losing up to three teaspoons’ full, according to Dr Madhav Thambisetty, of the National Institute on Ageing in the US. Loss in brain volume is regarded as a “very bad thing”, dementia specialist Prof Rob Howard told the paper. It means neurons have died “and you’ve lost more capacity”. However, the drugs’ manufacturers said such loss was “not associated with worsening in measured neurodegenerative outcomes”, and might…

“Are the menopause protesters happy now,” wondered Jan Moir in the Daily Mail. For years, the likes of Davina McCall and Mariella Frostrup have been campaigning to “make the menopause more visible in public life”. Pointing out that menopause is a natural phase experienced by half the population, they want people to be able to talk about it without embarrassment, and for more to be done for women going through it. Well, now something has been done. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issued new guidance last week, warning employers that failure to make “reasonable adjustments” for perimenopausal and menopausal employees could amount to disability discrimination. Such adjustments might include providing cooler uniforms or fans for women experiencing severe hot flushes, and rest rooms for those struggling with brain…

“Everyone has three lives. The public, the private and the secret.”Gabriel García Márquez, quoted in The Sunday Times “Marriage has no guarantees. If that’s what you’re looking for, go live with a car battery.”Erma Bombeck, quoted on Brides “There is no greater rocket fuel for success than the urge to leave your small town.”Janice Turner in The Times “My instinctive belief is that it is probably impossible for poor old Homo sapiens to get to the bottom of it all.”Astrophysicist Paul Davies, quoted on Evolution News “Has anything good ever come of a white man owning a private Caribbean island?”Marina Hyde in The Guardian “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realise half of them are stupider than that.”George Carlin, quoted on The Knowledge “The most common way…

To The Times If Sir Lindsay Hoyle were trying to be impartial, knowing the decision he was about to make might cause difficulties, he would have spoken to all party leaders before making it. That it appears he did not seek their opinions suggests that he knew they would not consent, and decided to go ahead regardless. One can only conclude, therefore, that his actions were indeed partisan. He should resign. He should then be required to submit to an inquiry to ascertain who said what to him, including any threats made. This might allow him some honour in his retirement. Tim Lee, Everdon, Northamptonshire To The Times Many years ago as a very junior employee, I confessed to a stupid mistake. My boss said everyone made mistakes and that…

by Roxana Robinson Magpie 336pp £16.99 The Week Bookshop £13.99 At a performance of Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, two 60-year-olds who were briefly a couple in their youth cross paths, said Amity Gaige in The New York Times. The woman, Sarah, is divorced; the man, Warren, is married. They have dinner together, and realise that they have “unfinished business”. From this premise, the American novelist Roxana Robinson builds a pitch-perfect study of “late-life love”, said Joan Frank in The Washington Post. It’s not a remotely sentimental or cloying tale; Robinson charts the many obstacles the couple face, including the “implacable” rage of Warren’s grown-up daughter. Written in “shapely and sensuous” sentences, Leaving is a “wondrous feat”. “Affection between older people” is just one theme here, said…

Francis Picabia at Michael Werner Gallery The French-Cuban artist Francis Picabia (1879-1953) was a wilful non-conformist who delighted in bad taste. He appeared to hate the idea of consistency, jumping, inter alia, from pointillism to cubism to Dada, and thence back to a figurative style that sailed – it was thought in the 1940s – sacrilegiously close to commercial art. This show, Women: Works on Paper, 1902-1950, brings together some 40 works relating to the one stylistic constant of his career: depicting women. Picabia baffles throughout: we get exquisite studies of costumed ladies that turn out to be copied from tourist postcards, magazines or pornography; there is even a portrait of Greta Garbo, this one transparently copied from a publicity shot. Yet there are also personal portraits of friends and…

The chef making history in Fitzrovia Eighteen months ago, Adejoké Bakare was serving her West African cuisine to “hungry hipsters” in a “cramped pop-up” in south London’s Brixton Village Market, says Nadia Cohen in The Times. Now, the 51-year-old has made history by becoming the first black woman in Britain to be awarded a Michelin star, for her Fitzrovia restaurant Chishuru. Bakare, known as Joké, grew up in northern Nigeria, where she learnt to cook from her grandmother. She moved to London in her late 20s, and worked for a property company while spending her weekends hosting supper clubs. In 2020, a friend alerted her to a culinary competition that offered its winner a residency in Brixton Village Market. Bakare entered (her friend had threatened to disown her if she…

● Store whole onions in an old pair of tights, tying a knot between each one so they don’t touch. Hang somewhere cool and dark and they will stay fresh for up to eight months. Don’t store onions with potatoes, as they will both spoil more quickly. Store cut onions in an airtight container in the fridge. ● Keep citrus fruit slices in airtight boxes or sealable pouches in the fridge. Coat apple wedges in citrus juice to prevent browning, or submerge in water with a good squeeze of citrus juice and keep in the fridge. One rotten apple will spoil the rest, so remove it. ● Store sliced lettuce or baby salad leaves in the fridge in an airtight container lined with kitchen paper to keep perky. ● Refrigerate…

Eleanor Fazan 1930-2024 Eleanor Fazan, who has died aged 93, was 15 when her mother arranged for her to be trained by Ninette de Valois at Sadler’s Wells. She was a talented dancer, but later, she could not imagine how this had come about, as she lived in Kenya, and de Valois had never seen her perform. Regardless, she left her home in 1945 and sailed from Alexandria to London on a troop ship. Left largely to fend for herself in the capital, she studied ballet for some years before deciding she’d be better suited to life on the chorus line. She made her professional debut in 1948, and after a few years she started to turn her hand to choreography. Her big break came in 1956, said The Guardian,…

From recent headlines, it’s easy to assume that the offshore wind sector “is set for another very ugly year”, said Simon Mundy in the FT. In February, the troubled Danish industry giant Ørsted announced plans to suspend its dividend and lay off 800 staff. The UK head of the German utility RWE reckons the Government’s “stingy” financial support for the sector “could deliver a disappointing result in this summer’s auction for offshore wind licences”. Still, analysts forecast “brighter weather ahead” – Morgan Stanley predicts that global offshore wind capacity will surge to over 350 gigawatts in 2030 (from less than 100GW today), and investors are “cautiously poking their toes” back into water. Ørsted’s share price – while less than a third of its 2021 peak – has risen 52% from…

Panda diplomacy, after Beijing unveiled plans to loan two bears to San Diego Zoo, to “promote mutual understanding” and enhance “people-to-people friendship”. There had been fears that once the last four pandas in the US were returned home later this year, Beijing would decline to agree any further lease deals. The BT Tower, which is to enter a new incarnation as a luxury hotel. The Grade II-listed, 177-metre-tall London landmark, formerly known as the Post Office Tower, once hosted a revolving restaurant, but it closed after a bomb exploded there in 1971.…

The UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, has announced that the price cap will drop by 12.3% in April, following a fall in wholesale gas and electricity prices. It means that, for the average household in England, Wales and Scotland, bills will drop by £238 a year to £1,690. That is the lowest level since March 2022, but still higher than in the winter of 2021, when prices began to surge. Falling fuel prices have also helped cause food price inflation to slow to 5%, its lowest rate in two years. According to the Food Foundation, a basket of basic food is 23% more expensive than it was two years ago.…

Columbia, South Carolina Primary win: Donald Trump continued his inexorable march towards the GOP presidential nomination on Saturday, emphatically beating his last remaining rival, Nikki Haley, in the Republican primary in her home state of South Carolina. He won 59.8% of votes to Haley’s 39.5%, adding to his convincing primary wins in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada’s caucuses. In a victory speech in Columbia, Trump declared he had “never seen the Republican party so unified”, and accused Joe Biden, his likely rival in November’s presidential election, of “destroying our country”. Haley, who served as South Carolina governor from 2011-17, vowed to stay in the race until at least 5 March, when voters in 15 states and one US territory will cast their ballots on “Super Tuesday”. Earlier on Saturday, in…

“In most democracies, defeated politicians have to make a living elsewhere. America is almost unique in being able to keep election-losers in handsome employment within politics. There is always a TV slot, a think-tank sinecure, a speaking gig, a book deal. So lucrative and ego-feeding is America’s political industry, that even non-Americans strive to crack it. Last week, Liz Truss gave a speech of virtuoso dottiness to a right-wing conference in Maryland. Don’t knock it as a career move. There is more income, less stress and often larger audiences to be had as a touring windbag than as a minister. Why moderate to win office if you can have the same trappings out of it?” Janan Ganesh in the Financial Times…

What happens when Britain stops working Kate Andrews The Spectator Britain is suffering from a chronic ailment, says Kate Andrews. “Mass worklessness.” Employers are crying out for staff, yet ever more people are dropping out of the labour force. A quarter of the working-age population of Blackpool, for instance, is on out-of-work benefits. This is a recent phenomenon. Four years ago, workforce participation in the UK was at 79.5%, the highest level on record. Then came the pandemic, which upended labour markets everywhere. But while other workforces have bounced back, ours has not. And that’s largely due to the growing number of people being signed off work with depression and anxiety. This is a huge drag on the economy. Had the proportion of people in the UK workforce kept pace…

I’ve got an idea for Donald Trump’s next fundraising gimmick, said Thomas L. Friedman in The New York Times. Following the release of the former president’s line of $399 gold “Never Surrender” trainers, perhaps he should start selling white flags at $1,000 a pop, emblazoned with the words: “We surrendered Ukraine to Russia.” The flags could be autographed by him and the Republican “sycophants” in congress who have blocked a crucial $61bn military aid package for Kyiv. Trump is dead set against it; and it is truly depressing how many Republicans have surrendered their principles to take his side. Their party has always championed the “classic US great-power approach” to foreign policy, based on US leadership and strong alliances, but now it just strikes poses and stays on the right…

Women achieve more with less Women tend to take less physical exercise than men; but the good news is that they seem to reap more health benefits than men from each minute of exercise that they do. Doctors in the US examined data on more than 400,000 adults aged between 27 and 61 who’d been tracked for up to 22 years, during which time some 40,000 of them died. As expected, they found that engaging in regular moderate to vigorous exercise cut the odds of an early death in both genders – but whereas active women were 24% less likely to have died than their sedentary counterparts, the figure for men was just 15%. In general, women need to do about half as much brisk walking, swimming, spinning or other…

Johnny Depp has forged an “epic bromance” with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, according to Vanity Fair. The actor reportedly felt a “genuine connection” with MbS when they were introduced in 2022, after a film the actor was starring in received Saudi backing. Bin Salman apparently admitted to Depp that he felt he’d been unfairly portrayed in the press as a brutal dictator, an argument Depp was open to, because his faith in the media had been shaken by its coverage of his court battle with his former wife Amber Heard. When Tom Hanks visited the Houses of Parliament in 2011, he was given a tour by the then deputy speaker Nigel Evans. The pair were soon surrounded by starstruck fans; then the late Tory MP Brian Binley…

Violence against MPs is not a new phenomenon, said The Sunday Times. In 2000, Andrew Pennington, a Liberal Democrat councillor, was killed by a mentally ill man armed with a sword, as he protected the MP Nigel Jones. In 2010, Stephen Timms, the Labour MP for East Ham, was stabbed and seriously injured by a woman acting in the name of al-Qa’eda. But it’s clear that an increasingly “intemperate” political climate, fuelled by social media, has “turned the prospect of physical violence into an almost constant source of worry” for many politicians. The MPs Jo Cox and Sir David Amess were murdered in their constituencies. Rosie Cooper, Labour MP for West Lancashire, resigned after learning about a far-right plot to kill her. Mike Freer, the Tory MP for Finchley and…

The Calcutta Cup – the annual Six Nations clash between Scotland and England – used to be a fixture that filled Scotland with dread, said Gerard Meagher in The Observer. Not any more. At Murrayfield on Saturday, Scotland beat England 30-21 to earn their fourth successive victory in the Cup – a feat they last achieved in 1896. As was the case a year ago at Twickenham, England’s chief tormentor was winger Duhan van der Merwe, who was deservedly declared player of the match for his three brilliant tries. An especially impressive feature of Scotland’s performance was the determination they displayed after a torrid first quarter, during which “nigh-on everything” went wrong, and they fell 10-0 behind. It was only as the clock hit 20 minutes that Gregor Townsend’s team…

Football Everton’s ten-point deduction for breaching the Premier League’s spending rules has been reduced to six points, following an appeal. A Lauren Hemp brace helped England’s women beat Italy 5-1 in a friendly match. Rugby union Italy and France drew 13-13 in the Six Nations. Italy were denied victory when Paolo Garbisi hit the post in the final minute. Snooker World No. 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan was whitewashed 6-0 by Mark Selby in the quarter-finals of the Players Championship in Telford. The tournament was won by Mark Allen.…

“When did ‘facts’ become subjective?” roars Matt Smith, as his character, Thomas Stockmann, reaches breaking point. The line “could have been written yesterday”, said Sarah Hemming in the FT. In fact, Henrik Ibsen’s great political drama dates from 1882, “long before terms such as ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ became common currency”. However, in this “blistering, modern-dress production”, brilliantly updated by acclaimed German director Thomas Ostermeier and featuring a “superb” central performance by the former Doctor Who star, the piece feels shockingly fresh. Ibsen’s play tells the story of the whistleblower Dr Stockmann, who reveals that the spa waters of his town are polluted; but as the disastrous commercial implications become clear, the community unites against him. The principal innovation of Ostermeier’s adaptation is to turn the famous scene, in…

“The challenge when making a documentary about conjoined twins is acknowledging the reality of the life-shortening condition without resorting to fake positivity – or, worse yet, piling on the misery,” said Ed Power in The Daily Telegraph. This “refreshingly humane and optimistic” documentary from BBC One walks that tightrope “to perfection”. It tells the story of Marieme and Ndeye Ndiaye, who were born in Senegal in 2016 and, before long, moved to the UK with their father, Ibrahima, to receive treatment. The initial plan had been to separate the sisters; but “when it was discovered that Marieme’s heart could not survive the procedure, the roadmap had to be redrawn”. The twins are portrayed “not as victims or charity cases to be gawped at”, but children bursting with personality; and the…

Once every two months, in the Accademia Gallery in Florence, Eleonora Pucci clambers up a scaffolding assembled around the 5.17-metretall figure of Michelangelo’s David, and gets to work on dusting it. Pucci, an art restorer, uses a cloth, fine brushes and a vacuum, says Angela Giuffrida in The Guardian. The trickiest part of the job, which takes at least half a day, “is capturing the dust and spiders’ webs that lurk in David’s curls”. While she’s up there, she takes photos of the statue to check for cracks and other signs of damage. David, created by Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504, has been in the Accademia since 1873; it attracts around two million visitors per year. According to the Accademia’s director, Cecilie Hollberg, the job is rather like cleaning a…

Ed is impressed when Emma contacts Miles Titchener about the grazing land so that they can progress their tree-surgery plans. Vince tells an unnerved Jolene that he’s making progress with his investigation; later, he guesses that gangster Markie has already intimidated Jolene and advises her to tell Harrison. Miles agrees to let the land to Emma and Ed; Natasha has her doubts. In town, Markie approaches Jolene, warning her to keep quiet for her and her family’s sake. Harry apologises to Harrison, who tells him to get help. On discovering Harry’s driving ban, Harrison says Harry must tell Alice or he will – Harry threatens to make trouble for Harrison if he breaks police confidentiality. When Fallon learns of the situation, she concocts a hasty plan to stop Alice and…

When I was growing up, we always had Dijon mustard in the fridge, mainly to eat with boiled meats, pork sausages or ham, says Paola Bacchia. But Mamma also paired it with chicken, garlic and wine in a dish she cooked in her electric frying pan. I used to think it contained cream, as the sauce was so creamy – but, in fact, it didn’t. The leeks are my addition, and make an ideal bed for the chicken thighs. This dish is lovely with mashed potatoes, polenta or even bread – anything that will catch the delicious sauce. Serves 6 2 large leeks 6 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 80ml white wine or dry white vermouth 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 15g butter…

The market town of Narberth, Pembrokeshire, has antiques shops galore, from Malthouse, an Aladdin’s cave with 25 dealers, to Bazaar, a warehouse. Every eight weeks, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, hosts one of Europe’s largest antiques fairs (iacf.co.uk), plus there’s Newark Chapel Antiques Centre and more than 30 stalls at Newark Antiques & Interiors. House renovators should try Yew Tree Barn’s reclamation yard in Low Newton, Cumbria. The nearby village of Cartmel also has a monthly antiques fair from April to November (cartmelantiques.co.uk). Rait Antiques Centre in Perth and Kinross has an interesting mix of antiques. It’s a 15-minute drive from Perth, which is home to Lindsay Burns, one of Scotland’s best auctioneers, with sales every few weeks. Petworth, West Sussex, has about 30 antique shops tucked away in its medieval streets, including…

Husk Thorington, Suffolk Husk was launched in 2021 as a Friday- and Saturday-night supper club in a converted barn in Suffolk. Last year, owners Joey O’Hare and Katy Taylor added four spacious and stylish bedrooms, says Laura Jackson in The Times, making this a great place for a peaceful weekend, just 20 minutes by car inland from Southwold. Joey’s modern European cooking is excellent, and is served with “bold”, mostly organic wine pairings. Rooms (in another barn) have “eclectic” antique furnishings and an air of “soothing Scandi calm”, and there’s a natural pool and a two-person sauna. Doubles from £434 b&b, with supper club for two; huskthorington.co.uk.…

Shein: London revisited Wall Street’s loss could be the City’s gain, said Bloomberg. Fast-fashion giant Shein is considering switching its huge initial public offering to London because of potentially insurmountable “hurdles” in its “preferred location”, New York. The online retailer, founded in China but now headquartered in Singapore, filed to float last year, and is aiming for a valuation of $80bn-$90bn. But amid a backlash from some senators, who are demanding disclosure about its operations in China, Shein has now judged it “unlikely” that the US Securities and Exchange Commission will approve the application. A London listing would be a boon for the beleaguered market “after one of the worst years for IPOs in its modern history” – it raised just $1bn last year. But Shein’s stay might be as…

The risks of a Russian asset grab Alex Brummer Daily Mail The second anniversary of Russia’s “barbaric” invasion of Ukraine has prompted more calls for economic sanctions. But it would be a great mistake, says Alex Brummer, to seize the $300bn of Russian sovereign assets that are frozen in the West, as US officials and the UK Foreign Secretary, David Cameron, have proposed. Using the funds “would take a bargaining chip off the table” that might be useful during peace negotiations – and would send a dangerous message. Western democracies, and the prosperity of the City and other financial centres, are underpinned by the rule of law. Removing that assurance would signal to other countries “to think about other choices” for their sovereign deposits. When it comes to China, which…

The week’s best shares Cambridge Cognition Holdings The Mail on Sunday This neuroscience data specialist creates cutting-edge tests on mobile devices to assess brain functions: memory, attention etc. Profits should rise as digital testing gathers pace. Buy. 51p. Dunelm Group The Times The value-led homewares retailer has continued to grow post-lockdowns, despite struggling with forex and increased freight rates. Cash generative with rising profits. Aiming to open stores in inner London. Buy. £11.01. EnSilica The Sunday Times The global chip shortage is prompting European industry to source locally. EnSilica designs chips for planes, cars and heart monitors. Revenues are up and there’s a promising consultancy arm. Could attract a suitor. Buy. 50.5p. Hargreaves Services The Mail on Sunday Hargreaves delivers tailored environmental and industrial services to the infrastructure, energy and…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1403 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 11 March. Send it to The Week Crossword 1403, 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 Red or white wine about right for president (6) 4 Harry and Piers injured (8) 10 Chatter about West African republic (5) 11 Loveless couple associated with suspicion for a very short time (9) 12 Type of car to sell back (4) 13 Novel brought back…

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