Table of contents for 1522 in The Week

What happened Starmer hits back Keir Starmer took a thinly veiled swipe at Elon Musk on Monday by condemning those “spreading lies and misinformation” about grooming gangs. The PM had endured days of attacks from the entrepreneur, who had accused him of failing to tackle the gangs targeting vulnerable young women in towns and cities across England as director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013, and of being“complicit in the rape of Britain”. Starmer defended his record, and that of the safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, whom Musk had branded a “rape genocide apologist”. Before the PM’s comments, several European leaders, including those of France and Norway, had criticised Musk for meddling in other nations’ politics. Musk began his tirade after it emerged that Phillips had declined a request from…

“Whack! That’s the sound of social care reform once again being hit into the long grass,” said Isabel Hardman in The Spectator. Since the turn of the century, there have been two government commissions, three independent commissions, five white papers and 14 parliamentary inquiries into social care reform and how to fund it. Labour, back in charge after 14 years in opposition, promised action at last – the creation of a “National Care Service” no less. So what’s its big idea, unveiled last week? It’s yet another review. Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has tasked the cross-bench peer Louise Casey with delivering interim findings by 2026, followed by a full report in 2028 setting out a long-term plan, including on funding. Instead of setting out solutions, said The Guardian, Labour…

London, after an analysis found that its roads were the most congested in Europe last year. The analytics company Inrix calculated that London drivers had spent 101 hours on average in traffic last year, a 2% increase on 2023. Paris came second. Tom Hanks, who was among the tens of thousands of people who had to flee their homes to escape surging wildfires in Pacific Palisades, in north Los Angeles. Driven by strong winds, the fires were described by locals as the worst they’d ever seen.…

If an election were held tomorrow, Reform UK would win 120 seats, according to a “mega poll” of 17,000 voters by Stonehaven. Labour would win 278, the Conservatives 157, the Liberal Democrats 47 and the SNP 24. British adults believe that Labour has made three decisions that are worse for the party than Partygate was for the Tories: winter fuel allowance cuts (51% versus 16%), changing inheritance tax on farms (36% versus 24%) and not compensating Waspi women for pension changes (31% versus 22%).  More in Common/LBC 46% of British adults say they are not confident that the police would turn up and properly investigate if their home was burgled. Savanta/Lib Dems…

Jesse Eisenberg’s sadness The actor Jesse Eisenberg’s mother was a professional clown, yet he was an anxious, unhappy child who missed a lot of school owing to mental health problems, says Olivia Ovenden in GQ. At the time, he couldn’t see why other children didn’t share his anguish. “It was mystifying to me why we weren’t all crying all day long, because it seemed like the world is so sad and scary.” He would look at his peers and wonder: “How are they existing? Don’t they know school is tomorrow as well?” But he learnt to use humour to protect himself, and he assumed that everyone else was also telling jokes to mask their pain. Then he met Ricky Gervais. He asked him: “Are you depressed? No? Well then, how…

A drunken Zambian police officer was arrested after freeing 13 suspects from custody so that they could celebrate the new year. According to a police spokesman, Detective Inspector Titus Phiri was “in a state of intoxication” when he “forcibly seized cell keys” from a constable and told the suspects – who were accused of crimes including assault, robbery and burglary – that they were free to go. All are still on the run. Residents of a town in Nottinghamshire have been left perplexed as to why a plate of bananas keeps appearing on the same street corner every month. Up to 20 bananas are placed, peeled, opposite a community centre in Beeston on the second day of every month. Some believe they are being left out for animals, though no…

So the bromance is over, said David Gauke in The New Statesman. For weeks before Christmas, Nigel Farage had basked in the admiration of the world’s richest man. There was speculation that Elon Musk was planning to give as much as $100m to Reform UK; and in an interview this week, Farage described the X/Twitter owner as a “hero” who made his party look “cool”. Then, that same day, it came: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.” Musk did not explain his post on X, but it seems he’d been angered by Farage refusing to endorse his demand that Tommy Robinson, a co-founder of the English Defence League, be freed from jail. A minority of right-wingers in America get “misty eyed” about Robinson,…

“We’ve had Meghan the actress, Meghan the people’s princess, and Meghan the wound-licking, Oprah-confiding ex-royal,” said Alice-Azania Jarvis in The Times. “Now the artist formerly known as Ms Markle has a new guise: Meghan the trad-wife.” Last week the Duchess of Sussex unveiled the trailer for her new Netflix lifestyle series, With Love, Meghan – a “honey-hued” cringefest in which the bouncy-haired 43-year-old is seen picking berries, cutting cakes and arranging flowers. “We’re not in the pursuit of perfection, we’re in the pursuit of joy,” she purrs, as she floats around the enormous kitchen of a rented house near her own in Montecito. With Love, Meghan?, asked Paul Baldwin in The Daily Express. “God, even the title makes you want to stick your fingers down your throat.” I’m no Meghan…

Book of the week Every Valley by Charles King Bodley Head 352pp £25 The Week Bookshop £22.99 (incl. p&p) Handel’s Messiah, composed in 1741, “occupies a unique place in the Western musical canon”, said Lucasta Miller in the Financial Times. The oratorio remains a “vigorously living work” that is “brought into new being each time it is performed”. Meanwhile, its “Hallelujah Chorus” has “become a recognised soundtrack for celebration”. In his fascinating new book Every Valley, Charles King, a Washington-based professor of government, “dives deep” into Handel’s masterpiece, which he describes as “the greatest piece of participatory art ever created”. The book does many things: it tells the story of the Messiah’s composition and early performances in Dublin and London; it offers portraits of various figures who helped bring it…

“Alice Longstaff, who died in 1992, was well known in her home town of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire, but not elsewhere,” says Mark Brown in The Guardian. Longstaff was born on a farm in 1907 and left school at 14, apparently determined to become a photographer. She then “took amazing photographs for 70 years“. She became the go-to snapper for “generations of Hebden Bridge residents getting married or needing passport photos”; but she also took many “end-of-the roll” pictures that “charted the people and everyday life of Hebden Bridge, as well as the distinctive beauty of the town and its surrounding Calder Valley landscape”. After her death, the charity Pennine Heritage was given a large collection of negatives. These have now been restored and are being seen for the…

Eddie is outed as a ticket tout. On Christmas Day, Joy is about to propose to Mick when her daughter Rochelle turns up out of the blue. Joy is delighted, but Rochelle is evasive about how she’s been – and where. Alice tells Brian about a job offer, but decides The Stables is better for her. Helen informs Tony and Pat that she ultimately sees herself living at Bridge Farm with the boys, leaving them reeling. Rochelle meets some villagers – including Rex, who invites her to his New Year’s Eve party. Kirsty urges Rex to ask Rochelle out. Rex tells Kirsty about complications over the beaver enclosure; Kirsty reckons they should do a wild release. Joy awkwardly asks Rex not to pursue Rochelle, as she’s more vulnerable than she…

Canteen 310 Portobello Road, London W10 (@canteen.310) “It came from nowhere,” says Tom Parker Bowles in The Mail on Sunday. This Italian restaurant arrived on the site of the old Pizza East on London’s Portobello Road “without a whisper of hype or PR”, and though it’s only been open a few weeks, it is already “magnificent” in every respect. It’s a cavernous space, “a mixture of industrial and homey”, and tables “turn at a decent pace”, which is useful as they don’t take bookings. Jess Filbey, who trained at The River Café, leads a mainly female kitchen – “and by god can it cook”. Deep-fried olives stuffed with Italian sausage are “hot, salty and savoury”. Puntarelle, that “exquisitely bitter chicory”, is roasted in the oven before being doused in an…

● Wool rarely needs washing, it is breathable, and most people wear another layer under a jumper. Spot-clean marks as soon as you notice them and steam to refresh. ● Washing machines have wool settings, but it’s best to hand wash knitwear in cool water with specialist detergent. Agitate gently and never wring it out. Adding hair conditioner will help smooth out the fibres. ● If you do resort to the machine, put your knitwear in wash bags to minimise friction. ● Don’t tumble dry: dry flat on a towel and reshape when damp. ● Allow knitwear to breathe before putting it away after use. If you aren’t planning to wear a jumper for a while, store it in a breathable bag with a sachet of lavender. ● Today’s debobblers…

Jimmy Carter 1924-2024 Jimmy Carter, who has died aged 100, grew up on a peanut farm in rural Georgia, and rose to become the 39th US president. A born-again Christian driven by an almost missionary zeal, he won the 1976 election on an outsider’s promise to clean up Washington and heal the nation after the “twin traumas” of Watergate and the Vietnam War. Over the next four years, he scored some notable achievements, said The New York Times, including the Camp David Accords that led to peace between Israel and Egypt. He failed, however, to turn around the ailing US economy; and his approval ratings slumped. The “peanut farmer” may have been principled and honest about the crisis facing America, but he looked weak and ineffectual – incapable of overcoming…

Whatever happened to Laura Ashley, “the middle England brand known for its floral fashions and soft furnishings”, asks Isabella Fish in The Times. Having fallen into administration during the pandemic in 2020, Laura Ashley currently has “no branches of its own” – leaving UK aficionados to hunt down designs in Next’s high street shops. But the brand is now “preparing for a new lease of life” under US ownership. Marquee Brands, the owner of Ben Sherman, has bought the label from the US restructuring firm Gordon Brothers for an undisclosed sum. The timing looks good. Classic British interiors are apparently having a moment in the US. It’s time to chuck in the chintz.…

Reeves is all alone on the world stage Mehreen Khan The Times Rachel Reeves“will cut a lonely figure” on the world stage this year, says Mehreen Khan: Britain’s Chancellor is fast “running out of ideological bedfellows”. Labour’s electoral success“was an anomaly in the broad sweep towards conservative and hard-right politics” in 2024. Assuming the trend continues in Germany and Canada, Reeves will be the G7’s only remaining centre-left finance minister – bereft of allies such as the US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, soon to be replaced by the Wall Street fund manager Scott Bessent. “The Democrats’ electoral embarrassment is particularly chastening for Reeves, who has now dropped the Bidenomics buzzwords” that used to pepper her speeches. Besides, in many areas “Labour’s approach is at direct odds with the tougher merger…

The rise of “romantasy” fiction – aka “fairy porn” – has been confirmed by news that Spotify’s top audiobook last year was Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses, about a 19-year-old who visits a land of fairies (sample sentence: “I locked my legs around his back, careful of the wings”). An app for book lovers has removed its AI-powered end-of-year “wrap” feature, after it challenged users’ taste in books. One was told that they were clearly a “diversity devotee”, and asked if they were “ever in the mood for a straight, cis white man’s perspective”. Another was told that their taste for romantic fiction had “set the bar for my cringe-meter”, while a third was advised not to forget “to surface for the occasional white author”.…

Justin Welby officially stepped down as Archbishop of Canterbury this week. On his final day, he laid down his bishop’s crozier – a ceremonial staff – after attending an Evensong service, in a symbolic act marking the end of his ministry as the 105th archbishop. Welby resigned in November after being criticised in an independent report for his handling of abuse allegations against John Smyth, a barrister who ran Christian camps. Most of the functions normally carried out by the Archbishop of Canterbury will be carried out by the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, until a successor is appointed, a process that is expected to take months. Minister refers herself The Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq referred herself to the ministerial standards adviser this week after questions were raised about her…

Vienna Far-right talks: Austria faces the prospect of a far-right government taking power for the first time since 1945, now that the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) has agreed to enter coalition talks with the anti-immigration, Russia-friendly, Freedom Party (FPÖ), founded in the 1950s by a former SS officer. Although the FPÖ won more votes (29%) than any other party in last year’s general election, it has hitherto been excluded from coalition negotiations by the other parties. But the failure of the ÖVP and Social Democrats to agree on key issues led to the collapse of negotiations this week and the resignation of Austria’s chancellor, Karl Nehammer, a leading ÖVP politician. His party has now abandoned its long-held commitment to keep the FPÖ out of government: with support for the FPÖ…

1 Symphony No. 9, 2nd Movement by Beethoven, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic (cond. Simon Rattle) 2* St Matthew Passion by Bach, performed by Bach Collegium Japan (cond. Masaaki Suzuki) 3 Two Organa, 1st Movement by Oliver Knussen, performed by the London Sinfonietta (cond. Knussen) 4 Blue in Green by William Evans and Miles Davis, performed by Miles Davis 5 Living for the City, written and performed by Stevie Wonder 6 One Fine Day (from Madama Butterfly) by Puccini, performed by Mirella Freni with the Vienna Philharmonic (cond. Herbert von Karajan) 7 Symphony of Psalms by Stravinsky, performed by the English Bach Festival Chorus and the LSO (cond. Leonard Bernstein) 8 Let’s Say We Did by John Schofield and Mark-Anthony Turnage, performed by John Schofield et al Book: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier Luxury: a grand piano * Choice…

In England and Wales, there are two main types of hate crime. There are the “stirring up” offences: since the 1970s, “incitement to racial hatred” has been a crime – for instance, distributing racist material or spreading inflammatory rumours about racial groups. Later laws criminalised incitement on grounds of religious and sexual identity. Secondly, there are the “aggravated offences”, in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Many crimes – assault, criminal damage, harassment, public order offences – can be charged as aggravated crimes, attracting higher sentences, where there is evidence that they were motivated by hostility based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity (or “perceived” race, religion etc.). In Scotland, all hate crimes were consolidated into one Hate Crime and Public Order Act, which came into force…

ISRAEL This targeting of hospitals is unjustifiable Haaretz (Tel Aviv) It’s time the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) left Gaza’s hospitals alone, says Haaretz. Last month, for a third time, they raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital – the last major medical facility in the Strip’s north. Around 350 people had to be evacuated, many in a state of undress, and five medics were killed. The IDF said the hospital was being used as a command centre by Hamas, that it had arrested over 240 terrorists there, and that the hospital’s director is suspected of being a Hamas operative. And to prove these contentions, it released pictures of two pistols and a knife found there. But “this meagre haul does the opposite of supporting the IDF’s claims”: the presence of small arms…

More cancer cases than ever are being caught at an early stage in England, when the chances of successful treatment are higher. NHS data on 13 common cancers, including breast, prostate and lung cancer, shows that between September 2023 and August 2024, 120,958 of the 206,038 cases diagnosed were identified at stage one or two, up 2.7% on pre-pandemic levels. Officials said the rise showed that initiatives to persuade at-risk groups to come forward for screening were paying dividends. These include targeted lung health check (TLHC) programmes, in which scanning trucks have parked outside supermarkets and other venues. However, NHS England is still not likely to meet its target of 75% of cases being diagnosed at stage one or two by 2028; and one in three cancer patients are still…

“New year, old issue,” said Mark Wallace in The i Paper: how do you fix the NHS? That was the question the PM chose for his first big speech of 2025. Keir Starmer sounded uncompromising as he described the problems facing NHS England: the waiting list for elective procedures is 7.5 million strong; just 59% of patients are seen within the 18-week target. Labour has promised major investment: an extra £26bn, on top of a budget of some £200bn. But this week, Starmer declared that in return he wants “top to bottom” reform. The NHS, he insisted, cannot “become the national money pit”. Some of the reforms he announced were “sensible”, if limited, said The Times. Labour wants to move some patients away from congested hospitals by opening 14“community diagnostic…

“A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.” Bob Hope, quoted in The Economist “All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory.” Novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, quoted in The Times “I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” Clarence Darrow, quoted in The Observer “There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before the age of five.”  Arthur Schopenhauer, quoted on UnHerd “At the bottom of all tributes paid to democracy is the little man, walking into the little booth with a little pencil, making a little cross…

Why the NHS is in crisis… To The Daily Telegraph Your leading article makes a valid point about blockages in hospitals caused by elderly and infirm patients, but the main problem is that we simply do not have enough beds. Japan, for example, has 12.6 beds per 1,000 people. Germany has 7.8. We have but 2.4. Terry Crocker, Bristol …the PM’s plan… To The Times In his article “I won’t let our NHS die – this is my prescription”, Keir Starmer sets out his plan to reduce hospital waiting lists. Among other things, it will involve “diagnostic centres operating 12 hours a day, seven days a week”. It appears, given that trained staff cannot be produced overnight, that this will involve doctors and nurses etc. working additional hours. This seems…

The bestselling husband-and-wife crime-writing duo – Sean French and Nicci Gerrard – choose their favourite books. Their latest thriller, The Last Days of Kira Mullan (Simon & Schuster £18.99), is out this week Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, 1847 (Wordsworth £3.99). This Victorian classic about an unloved orphan growing into a woman who is free, equal and passionately loved is a gothic romance, an erotic masterpiece, a work to read when you’re young, old, and all the ages in between. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner, 1926 (Penguin £9.99). Miss Willowes is a young spinster living with her stiflingly respectable London family when she decides to move to the countryside and discover her destiny. Which is to become a witch. Townsend Warner’s debut novel is like a joyously funny and sexy…

Programmes Our Tiny Islands Meera Syal narrates this four-part series (previously shown on More4) about the UK’s 6,000 small islands, their landscapes, history and culture. Sat 11 Jan, C4 20:00 (60mins). The Dry Season two of the comedy-drama about a thirtysomething Irish woman trying to remain sober while living with her dysfunctional family. Sun 12 Jan, ITV1 22:15 and 22:50 (30mins each). How Not to Get Dementia GP Dr Claire Taylor meets patients living with dementia, and the scientists working on treatments for it. Thur 16 Jan, C5 19:00 (55mins). Lucy Worsley Investigates: 1066 The historian looks at the Battle of Hastings, starting her investigation in Normandy. Fri 17 Jan, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Films West Side Story (2021) Steven Spielberg’s vibrant remake of the beloved 1961 musical about star-crossed lovers…

Not only are pistachios highly nutritious, they’re also forgiving to the baker, say Michael and Pippa James. The moisture provided by their fat content makes this cake almost impossible to overbake. Our top tip is to freeze the pistachios before blitzing – that way they won’t get smooshed between your food processor blades. Eat this cake for afternoon tea – preferably after an invigorating walk. For the cake: 140g unsalted butter, softened 250g raw (demerara) sugar 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped (or 1 tsp real vanilla paste) grated zest of 1 orange 3 eggs, at room temperature 150g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp fine sea salt 150g pistachios, roughly ground 2 tsp ground cardamom seeds 140g sour cream or crème fraîche For the icing: 110g icing sugar 20g lemon…

Glenshee, in Aberdeenshire, is the UK’s most extensive ski area – 25 miles with 36 runs over four mountains, 22 lifts, a café and ski hire. It has something for all standards, but does get busy (ski-glenshee.co.uk). A great resort for beginners, Lecht, also in Aberdeenshire, is one of Scotland’s smaller resorts with shorter runs. It’s popular with families, but is less busy than other resorts. There’s a café and ski hire, too (lecht.co.uk). Cairngorm Mountain, in Aviemore, is one of Scotland’s most popular resorts, with 13 lifts and 18 miles of runs, from green to black. There’s a ski school, kit hire and a café on site (cairngormmountain.co.uk). Nevis Range, in Fort William, has 12 miles of pistes with a variety of slopes, from beginner to more advanced off-piste…

Tulip Siddiq “We all have generous aunties,” said Sam Leith in The Spectator, and some are “kind of embarrassing”. So perhaps we should approach the case of City Minister Tulip Siddiq “in a spirit of charity and understanding”. Siddiq, whose brief includes stamping out corruption and money laundering, is embroiled in a scandal of her own – tied to her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s former PM, who fled the country in August accused of human rights abuse and “rampant corruption”, including siphoning off billions abroad. It is alleged that the MP for Hampstead and Highgate has long benefitted from property “freebies” linked to Hasina’s Awami League party. When journalists began probing how Siddiq, 42, became the owner of a two-bedroom flat near King’s Cross in 2004, she insisted “her parents…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1447 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 20 January. Send it to The Week Crossword 1447, 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, as well as two Connell Guides (connellguides.com). ACROSS 8 Dean, for example takes out Rector (6) 9 Shellfish only eaten by seamen (8) 10 Slang perhaps used in school restaurants? Not half (4) 11 Homely meat dish? (7,3) 12 A few editions of the paper occasionally (9) 14 Let off playing obsolete instruments (5) 16 Offering no return on investment? It’s a temporary…

Volunteers in Somerset have completed an ambitious project to recreate a 140,000-piece Roman mosaic using traditional tools. The team at Avalon Archaeology, a reproduction village near Glastonbury, spent five years handmaking the tesserae and laying them down in small sections at a time. They followed a mainly geometric pattern that was excavated at Hurcot near Somerton, filling any blank spots with additional details including fish, a dolphin and an elephant. Britain’s longest-serving Royal Mail postman has retired after 60 years. Robert “Rocky” Hudson, from east London, began his career aged 16 in December 1964, as a telegram messenger. He carried out his final shift overnight on 28 December at the Docklands Delivery Office, which he’d joined in the 1980s after his wife died from a brain haemorrhage aged 26. “I…

Demi Moore, who won a Golden Globe for her comeback performance in the body horror film The Substance. Collecting the award, the first major gong of her career, the 62-year-old said that she had been told early on that she was a “popcorn actress” – one who will star in box office hits, but never win critical acclaim. Gavin and Stacey, after the finale of the BBC comedy – a Christmas Day special – was the most watched scripted TV show for more than 20 years. Some 12.3 million people tuned in on the night; seven million more watched on iPlayer. Ageing rockers, with figures showing that 12 of the 20 highest earning gigs and tours by UK and Irish artists last year were by over-60s, including The Rolling Stones,…

The Treasury Minister Tulip Siddiq referred herself to the ministerial standards adviser this week after questions were raised about her links to the regime of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, the former PM of Bangladesh who fled the country last year after weeks of protests against her rule. Siddiq, who has responsibility for financial crime, is alleged to have been given a flat in London by one businessman connected to her aunt, and to be living in a £2.1m house that belongs to another associate (see page 37).…

New Orleans, Louisiana Isis attack: The Islamic State supporter who killed 14 people in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year’s Day had earlier scoped the scene on a bicycle, recording what he saw on Meta smart glasses, the FBI has disclosed. Shamsud-Din Jabbar was also wearing the glasses during the attack, in which he rammed a pick-up truck into a crowd on the city’s famed Bourbon Street, then got out and started shooting; but he had not activated their livestream function. The 42-year-old US army veteran (above) was shot by police, who later found an Islamic State flag in his truck and two handmade bombs hidden nearby. This week, investigators were testing bomb-making materials found at his home in Houston. Born in Texas and raised a Christian,…

“The buzzword of 2024 to be banished in 2025 is ‘reimagine’. ‘Pivotal to our Reimagine Strategy is the House of Brands,’ burbles Jaguar. The National Portrait Gallery reimagined its collection; the British Museum is reimagining its Western Range; the Horniman Museum has ‘reimagined museum spaces’. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change is ‘Reimagining Government for the 21st Century’. Clandon Park burnt down, and the National Trust has now commissioned architects to reimagine rather than restore it. Enough! Such reimaginings all point in the same ideological direction, which suggests that they are not imaginative at all.” Charles Moore in The Spectator…

Beware the fury of frustrated graduates Gaby Hinsliff The Guardian A sense of security, of smugness even. That’s what a middle-class, white-collar job used to give. It didn’t place you at the top of the pile, but you were a “reassuringly long way off the bottom”. Not any more, says Gaby Hinsliff. Salaries of the newly graduated have fallen in real terms over the past 20 years by 4% on average, even as the minimum wage has risen by 60%. In sectors such as publishing and journalism, young graduates struggle to land jobs with starting salaries barely above the £25,000 a year a minimum-wage worker can now earn for stacking shelves. Some prestige still clings to such careers, but the money has gone. And with AI eating up junior roles…

In 1954, a growing number of people in Bellingham, Washington, suddenly started noticing small dents and chips in their car windscreens. The damage was initially blamed on vandals, said Zeynep Tufekci in The New York Times, but as a deluge of similar complaints streamed in from car owners across the state and beyond, people sought other explanations. Some blamed cosmic rays or fallout from H-bomb tests, while others attributed it to a radio transmitter on a naval base. It turned out to be none of these things, just a simple case of mass hysteria: people were seeing long-present imperfections in their windscreens that they’d previously overlooked. A similar dynamic has played out over the past month in New Jersey, where a spate of reports of mysterious low-flying aircraft has provoked…

California’s vole-hunting squirrels Elsewhere, they mainly stuff their pouches with nuts, fruit and seeds, but in northern California, squirrels have taken to hunting, decapitating and consuming voles. This discovery was “shocking”, said Jennifer E. Smith, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who has been studying California ground squirrels in the San Francisco Bay Area for over a decade. “We had never seen this behaviour before.” From June to July, her team documented more than 70 interactions between squirrels and voles; and in 42% of these, the squirrels were hunting the smaller rodents. “From then, we saw that behaviour almost every day,” said co-author Dr Sonja Wild. Squirrels sometimes eat lizards and eggs, and meat left out by humans, but “direct study of hunting behaviour by squirrels remains…

Keir Starmer’s phone call with Donald Trump before Christmas was a crash course in “international diplomacy, Trump-style”, The Times reports. As the PM tried to discuss issues such as Ukraine, the president-elect allegedly veered off on a series of wild tangents. At one point, he started going on about the number of birds being killed by wind turbines in the US; later, he started telling Starmer about meeting the Prince of Wales at the reopening of Notre-Dame. He praised William’s “modern” beard; and also had kind words for Starmer’s wife, Victoria, saying she was “beautiful” and his “greatest asset”. Nepo babies are fighting back. In a new documentary, Mel B’s daughter Phoenix Chi Gulzar (above) asks why the children of celebrities are accused of exploiting their parents’ fame to unfair…

On 20 March 2019, President Trump proudly brandished a sheet of paper before White House reporters, said Adrian Blomfield in The Daily Telegraph. On it were two maps of Syria. The first, swathed in red blotches, showed how much territory Islamic State had held in the country when he became president. The second, almost perfectly white map, showed what the jihadist group now held: just one tiny area near the town of Baghuz. And that, boasted Trump, would disappear very soon. It did, in a matter of days; but last week’s deadly ramming attack in New Orleans, by a man apparently inspired by the group, is a reminder that Isis is still far from eradicated. Indeed, analysts have been warning for months that the group is having something of a…

Last year, a 16-year-old Luke Littler announced himself as a once-in-a-generation talent by reaching the final of the PDC World Darts Championship, said Oliver Holt in the Daily Mail, though in the end he lost that match to Luke Humphries. Last week, however, in the final of the 2025 Championship, the teenage sensation “went one better” by beating Michael van Gerwen 7-3. In the process, he became the youngest player to lift the darts world title by an astonishing seven years. By contrast, van Gerwen, 35, had “big-game experience coming out of his nostrils”, having won the world title three times and appeared in six previous finals, said Sean Ingle in The Guardian. Yet as the match got under way at a raucous Alexandra Palace, he looked the more nervous…

To the Financial Times Your recent editorial (“The reshaping of the Middle East”) devotes several column inches to the prosecution’s case against Israel without allowing any to the defence, and without any attempt to explain why Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategy has resulted in burgeoning domestic public support. The editorial ends with the familiar siren call for “Netanyahu to end the conflict and agree a deal to release the hostages” and the even older plea that “ultimately, Israel’s security can only be guaranteed with peace”. Putting aside the obvious rejoinder that it takes both sides to end a conflict, I would suggest that Israel – and Netanyahu in particular – has learnt from the 2011 hostage exchange (which included releasing Yahya Sinwar). These deals merely encourage further hostage-taking. Netanyahu’s subsequent, equally disastrous,…

Shares for the year ahead Amcomri Group The Mail on Sunday Amcomri buys engineering and manufacturing firms from retiring UK owners, and helps them boost efficiency and grow. Turnover and profits are rising, and shares are up since the December float. Buy. 59p. GSK The Sunday Times The pharma giant faces patent cliff concerns for its HIV medicine, but cancer claims against heartburn drug Zantac have been settled. Risky, yet shares are too cheap given expected approvals for respiratory and oncology drugs. Buy. £13.43. Hornby The Sunday Times A “trailblazer” in the tech-free games field, with its model-kit brand Airfix celebrating its 85th birthday and the 1:72 Spitfire selling more than 20,900 kits. Car-racing brand Scalextric is “ripe for a revamp”. Mike Ashley has invested. Buy. 19p. ME Group International…