Table of contents for 1460 in The Week

“There is a time for peace and a time for war. This is a time for war.” So declared Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, as he rejected calls for a ceasefire, two days after Israel had entered what he termed the “second phase” of its war against Hamas. The ground offensive had been widely anticipated in the three weeks since Hamas’s devastating 7 October attack on Israel, in which 1,400 people, most of them civilians, were killed. But its launch opened a new stage in the conflict, said The Wall Street Journal, which Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry estimates has already cost 8,500 Palestinian lives, including those of 3,500 children. Within 24 hours of the fresh offensive beginning, Israel had sent tanks and ground troops into Gaza, and had hit…

Israel says that 239 hostages were seized on 7 October. Many may be being held in the network of tunnels under Gaza that Israeli forces are seeking to destroy. Among them are at least 33 children, and some 135 foreign or dual nationals, including 54 Thai citizens (most of them farm labourers seized during Hamas’s attacks on the kibbutzim). Hamas has released four captives so far – a US-Israeli mother and daughter and two elderly Israeli women; and Israel said this week that its forces had rescued a female soldier. Israel has vowed to get the hostages out alive, said Adam Goldman and Eric Schmitt in The New York Times, but given the conditions in Gaza, that will not be easy by military means. For that reason, the focus is…

GB News, which unveiled its latest high-profile recruit from the Tory Party. Boris Johnson is reportedly being paid a six-figure sum by the TV channel to present a programme where he will air his “unvarnished views” on issues such as the war in Ukraine. Johnson joins fellow Tories including his ally Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is paid £350,000 a year for his presenting gig. Rail passengers, with news that plans to close almost all railway station ticket offices in England over the next few years have been scrapped. A public consultation had attracted 750,000 responses, 99% of which were objections. Waste, with the launch of a new, plastic-free paper Remembrance poppy. The original poppy, in 1921, had flowers made of cotton or silk; a cardboard version was used during the Second…

In a poll taken on 25 and 26 October by the Israeli newspaper Maariv, 29% of Israelis said they thought the military should immediately escalate to a large-scale ground invasion. 49% said it would be better to wait. 22% were undecided. 77% of adults in Great Britain think the Government has achieved not very much or not much at all in the 12 months since Rishi Sunak became PM. YouGov 23% of US adults believe that “true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save the country”, up from 15% in 2021. Among Republicans, the figure is now 33%; among Democrats it’s 13%. Public Religion Research Institute/The Guardian…

Missing Charlie Watts The Rolling Stones’ drummer Charlie Watts died in 2021, and the loss still weighs heavily on his bandmate Mick Jagger. “It’s a couple of years now and I still think about Charlie a lot,” he told Ben Beaumont-Thomas in The Guardian. “I miss his laconic humour. His taste in music. His elegance. His don’t-care attitude – he didn’t get intense. Keith [Richards] and I get a bit intense.” The pair spent many years sniping at each other: Richards dubbed Jagger “Her Majesty” and “Brenda”. But Watts didn’t do all that, “and it rubs off a bit – I’m not as intense as I used to be. I think about him when I’m playing, and what he would have played; whether he’d have liked this song, because I’d…

A tunnel at a Sainsbury’s car park in Bude, Cornwall, has regained its crown as one of the UK’s top-rated tourist attractions on the travel site Tripadvisor. The site recently lifted a ban it had imposed over doubts about some reviews. The 70-metre perspex tunnel has a 4.5-star rating; it has been hailed as “a wonder”, and “breathtaking”, with a “perfect curve”. An attempt in Dorchester to break a world record for the largest gathering of people dressed as ghosts has ended in failure. Organisers of the event had hoped to top the record of 560 set in Ireland in 2017, but heavy rain spooked some participants, and only 204 showed up. A charity shop in Swansea has asked members of the public to stop donating sex toys. “Please be…

BELGIUM A failed state at the heart of Europe Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich) It’s odd to think of Belgium, a wealthy nation and the home of the EU, as a “failed state”. But that’s how some Belgians are starting to see things, says Josef Kelnberger. And with good reason. “Belgium has been a base for European jihadism for decades”, and is a key entry point for drugs into Europe from South America. Yet the state appears ill-equipped to confront such challenges. A recent example of its dysfunction was the killing of two Swedish football fans by Abdesalem Lassoued, a Tunisian Islamist; the authorities had ignored an extradition request from his home country, where he was wanted for fleeing jail, for a year. If officials had acted, the killings would’ve been avoided.…

Kim Kardashian’s “shapewear” brand Skims has unveiled a skin-coloured, push-up bra that comes with fake nipples built into the fabric. “Earth’s temperature is getting hotter and hotter, the sea levels are rising and ice sheets are shrinking,” Kardashian explained on social media. “That’s why I am introducing a brand-new bra with a built-in nipple. So no matter how hot it is, you will always look cold.” Roger Lewis’s new biography of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor confirms their reputation for lavish spending. In the late 1960s, they employed a staff of 17, at a cost of $800,000 a year. Their dogs were another expense: once, while visiting the UK, they insisted on bringing the dogs, and to get around quarantine rules, spent $2,400 a week leasing a luxury Thames yacht…

“War is the unfolding of miscalculations.” Barbara Tuchman, quoted in the Washington Examiner “Man is made to adore and obey; but if you give him nothing to worship, he will fashion his own divinities, and find a chieftain in his own passions.” Benjamin Disraeli, quoted in The European Conservative “You’re not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on.” Dean Martin, quoted in The Times “The secret to a happy marriage is bed springs creaking from laughter, not sex.” Jilly Cooper, ibid. “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.” Muhammad Ali, quoted in Country Living “Do you know how many middle-aged men go out for a pint of milk and never come home? Not enough.” Jenny Eclair, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “That men…

To The Guardian Gavin Esler has it right. Almost every democratic country in the world except the UK has a written contract between its people and their government: a constitution. No sane person would agree to buy a house or a car from a salesman who said “their word was their bond”. And yet most British citizens seem happy to accept that situation with regards to their country. While there are plenty of other challenges facing the UK, a written constitution, created by the people, would go some way to resolving much of the dissembling, lying and corruption that are now endemic in our political system. It’s long past time to boot the dodgy car salesmen out of Westminster. Stephen Psallidas, Newcastle upon Tyne To The Guardian Gavin Esler makes…

by Sandra Newman Granta 400pp £18.99 The Week Bookshop £14.99 It’s quite a task, “to take on a classic and remake it from a new perspective”, said Erica Wagner in The Daily Telegraph. But that’s what US author Sandra Newman does in Julia – a retelling of George Orwell’s 1984 from the perspective of Winston Smith’s lover. A relatively slight character in Orwell’s original, Newman’s Julia feels fleshed out: she works as a mechanic in the Ministry of Truth, toiling on the “machines that produce fiction for the Party”; she lives in a dormitory with other women, and is “cynical, practical”, a “ruthless survivor”. Fascinating and “atmospheric”, Julia “succeeds, brilliantly”. It’s a book that works on more than one level, said Natasha Walter in The Guardian. As well as being…

GrassFed Arch S12, Water Lane, Hawley Wharf, London NW1 (020-4599 6724) Paul Foster is the owner of Salt in Stratford-upon-Avon, which specialises in “fine-dining dishes”, says William Sitwell in The Daily Telegraph. Evidently, in planning his next opening, he “cast a glance at London town and decided that he needs a place with less frippery”. Hence the “sweetly simple” concept at this compact space in Camden: top-quality beef, cooked over coal, served with a selection of sides. While GrassFed won’t win any awards for novelty, I am confident it will succeed because it executes that concept so well. Starters are the “perfect warm-up act”: toasted sourdough, served with beef fat-laced garlic butter, is “excellent”, while roasted bone marrow has a “glorious texture”. For mains, we have two cuts of beef…

● Cacti and other succulents can live happily on an east-, west- or south-facing windowsill. The main risk is over-watering. Unless they wrinkle, don’t give them any water from mid-October to early March. ● Phalaenopsis orchids only need water when their roots turn from green to silver. Placed on an east-, west- or north-facing window, they will bloom year after year. ● With hairy creeping rhizomes, the rabbit’s foot fern can tolerate periods of drought. Position close to a window and spritz the rhizomes when the soil is dry. ● Overwatering is the most common cause of houseplant death, but pennywort likes to sit in a few inches of water on a bright windowsill. Refresh the water every week. ● Capable of withstanding poor light and severe neglect, aspidistras can…

Matthew Perry 1969-2023 In 1993, Matthew Perry – then an up and coming actor of 24 – threw himself onto the floor of his cramped LA apartment and prayed: “God, you can do whatever you want to me. Just please make me famous.” Three weeks later, he won the part of the wisecracking data analyst Chandler Bing in Friends. The sitcom, about six twentysomethings sharing implausibly spacious apartments in New York, was an immediate success. It became one of the biggest shows of the 1990s, and is even now one of the most popular shows on Netflix. Chandler, with his stream of sardonic one-liners, brilliantly delivered, and his much imitated speech inflections (“Could she BE any more out of my league…?”), was widely regarded as the series’s best character. So…

Inflation will fall, whatever the Bank does David Smith The Times Browsing in a well-known high-street chain the other day, it was striking how much prices had gone up, even in just a few months, says David Smith. I checked and, sure enough, clothing retailers have “sneaked through some quite hefty price rises” in their autumn ranges: September’s figures, showing a 3.2% hike, exceeded the increase a year ago. If inflation is meant to be falling, “nobody appears to have told clothing retailers”. It shows that “the reality for many people is still one of rising prices”. But salvation, of sorts, really is in sight. Much of the impact of 14 consecutive interest rate rises “has yet to feed through”, but higher rates are already biting companies hard. A fall…

“Even given all that is already known about poor decision-making, avoidable deaths, lockdown-breaking parties and atrocious procurement” during the pandemic, the evidence being heard at the Covid Inquiry still has the power to shock, said The Guardian. This week, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, testified, and his testimony was as damning as expected. Cummings said that the Government’s initial plan for dealing with Covid was a “joke”. He described the Cabinet Office, at the heart of No. 10, as a “dumpster fire”. Official data, he said, was inconsistent and communication failures were rife; he called Johnson’s absence on holiday in February 2020, as Covid loomed, “insane”. Cummings’ evidence was certainly hair-raising, said The Times. In his WhatsApp messages, he described the then health secretary Matt Hancock as “slippery”,…

Germany, after a new report found that the country’s reputation for serious toil is misplaced. Researchers at a think-tank found that the average German works fewer hours over a lifetime than the typical citizen of any other EU nation except Luxembourg. They also work among the fewest hours per year. Woody Allen, whose first French-language film, Coup de Chance, was judged a flop in France. Critics said the dialogue was wooden and the lighting was weird, and audiences stayed away.…

Paris Language fight: The escalating conflict over the use of gender-neutral language in France took a new turn this week, when the senate voted in favour of a bill banning its use from job adverts, legal documents and other official literature. Among the new forms favoured by the Left and some feminists are iel – to replace the pronouns il and elle – and feminine endings added to masculine nouns and adjectives when referring to mixed groups of people (thus sénateurs becomes sénateur.rice.s). This week, President Macron waded into the fight, urging France not to “give in to the spirit of the times”, and arguing that the masculine could perform a neutral function requiring no further elaboration. Businesses have increasingly adopted the new forms in the cause of non-discrimination, but…

1 Mr. Bojangles by Jerry Jeff Walker, performed by Nina Simone2 Symphony No. 5 (Adagietto) by Gustav Mahler, performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker, cond. Sir Simon Rattle3 Agnus Dei by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Iestyn Davies and The English Concert, cond. Harry Bicket4 I Cried For You, written and performed by Katie Melua5 Casta Diva from Norma by Vincenzo Bellini, performed by Maria Callas and the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra, cond. Tullio Serafin6* The Best by Mike Chapman and Holly Knight, performed by Tina Turner7 Metamorpheme by Owen P. Jones and Pete Nelson, performed by Shakespeare and The Bible8 Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622: Adagio by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by Karl Leister and the Berliner Philharmoniker, cond. Herbert von Karajan Book: the works of George Eliot…

Humans have long tried to refine opium to preserve its painkilling properties while making it safer and less addictive. The result – first with morphine (in 1805) and codeine (1832), and then with semi-synthetic and synthetic forms such as heroin (1898) and oxycodone (1916) – has only been to produce more powerful and dangerous drugs. This was the case with OxyContin, a version of oxycodone which was supposed to protect users from addiction with its slow-release formula. However, Purdue Pharma had conducted no clinical studies on how addictive or prone to abuse the drug might be. A pioneer of direct marketing to doctors and medical “thought leaders”, Purdue discovered that many physicians wrongly assumed that oxycodone was less potent than morphine—a misconception that it exploited. In 2007, Purdue Pharma pleaded…

America is failing to keep its people alive David Wallace-Wells The New York Times Since the phrase “deaths of despair” was coined in 2015, says David Wallace-Wells, it has become the standard explanation for America’s falling life expectancy. The central claim of the thesis still stands up: there has indeed been a worrying rise in deaths from suicide, overdose and liver disease among the white working class and the middle class. But the focus on these particular problems and demographic groups has blinded people to the fact that the country’s mortality crisis is far wider than this. Outside of the richest 1%, Americans across the board are dying at higher rates than their British counterparts. At every age below 80, they are more likely to die than people in similarly…

There could be 1.7 million people with dementia in England and Wales by 2040, a new study has warned. This is 42% higher than an earlier prediction, of 1.2 million cases. The research, based on data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and published in The Lancet Public Health, notes that incidence of the condition fell from 2002 to 2008, but rose from 2008 to 2016. If this trend continues, there will be roughly twice as many with dementia in 2040 as there are today. This would put health and social care services under great pressure, said the team that conducted the research at University College London. “We don’t know how long this pattern will continue, but the UK needs to be prepared so we can ensure that everyone…

It was at Bletchley Park that Alan Turing and others used early computers to crack German codes during the Second World War. This week, the estate in Buckinghamshire was hosting a Downing Street conference about “another world-changing innovation”, said the FT: artificial intelligence. Some 100 delegates, including representatives from the world’s biggest tech companies, were due to attend the AI Safety Summit, aimed at discussing the state of “frontier AI” – the most advanced forms of AI – and the dangers it presents. In a speech before the event, PM Rishi Sunak said that while he was “optimistic” about AI’s potential to transform the world for the better, the technology presents clear risks, some of them “existential”. Sunak’s position is that there should not be a rush to regulate –…

Just a under a year ago, England’s white-ball cricketers were riding high, said Paul Newman in the Daily Mail. The team had just triumphed in the Twenty20 World Cup, under new skipper Jos Buttler. Nothing, it seemed, could endanger their ongoing dominance of limited-overs cricket – not even the recent retirement of previous captain Eoin Morgan, the “biggest architect” of the side’s transformation from “no-hopers” to world beaters. Fast forward 12 months, however, and the picture looks very different. The World Cup, which is being held this year in India, is proving the most “miserable” in England’s history. With just one win from six games, Buttler’s side currently stand bottom of the ten-team table, beneath Bangladesh, Netherlands and Afghanistan. They still have a theoretical chance of making the semi-finals, should…

Football: Jude Bellingham scored a double on his “El Classico” debut as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1. In the Premiership, Man City beat Man United 3-0, though Tottenham remain top after a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace. F1 Max Verstappen won the Mexican Grand Prix; Lewis Hamilton finished second. Athletics Peru’s Kimberly García thought she had set a new world record in the 20km racewalk at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. However, officials later insisted that the record would not stand, as the course had been measured incorrectly.…

by Matthew Parker Abacus 608pp £25 The Week Bookshop £19.99 On the morning of 29 September 1923, Britain’s “shy, stamp-collecting” monarch George V “awoke as the master of a quarter of the world’s land area and a fifth of its population”, said Dominic Sandbrook in The Sunday Times. Overnight, the British Mandate for Palestine had come into legal effect – meaning this was the moment that the British empire had “reached its maximum territorial extent”. In this riveting book, historian Matthew Parker uses the day as a jumping off point to paint a “vast portrait” of the British empire at its zenith. Ranging “from the tiniest islands of the Pacific to the jungles of Burma, the cities of Australia and the corridors of Whitehall”, his account is prodigious in its…

“Very occasionally, a play comes along that is so weirdly inept that you don’t quite know how to respond,” said Clive Davis in The Times. Were you to stumble across Penelope Skinner’s “shambles” of a play at the Edinburgh Fringe, “you could put it down to an undergrad experiment”. To find it in the West End – with Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily James in lead roles – is baffling and infuriating, when you consider how much theatregoers will have paid to see it, many lured by the presence of two stars who are incapable of redeeming the material. Scott Thomas, playing a once-famous actress who now lives as a virtual recluse in Cornwall, “exhibits no gift for comic timing, but simply raises her voice and hopes for the best”.…

“If you remember Milli Vanilli at all,” said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph, “it will be for their ignominious end.” They were the French-German R&B duo (Rob Pilatus and Fabrice Morvan) who had a run of hits at the end of the 1980s, before causing a sensation when they were forced to admit that they’d not sung on any of their own records. They became the first act ever to have their Grammy revoked, and went down in history as frauds – but do they deserve their reputation? Milli Vanilli, a new feature-length documentary on Paramount+, uses talking heads and archival material to argue that the “hatred and blame” that were piled on Morvan and Pilatus (who died of an overdose in 1998) should have been directed at Frank…

Over this Halloween, Historic England is asking people to help record the “ghost signs” still to be found on buildings across England, says Steven Morris in The Guardian. Ghost signs are usually hand-painted advertising signs or old shop signs from the late 19th or early to mid 20th centuries, such as the Sankeys Soap sign on the former Beehive Mill building in Manchester (pictured). Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said that he found ghost signs very evocative, and that these faded relics can tell us much about our architectural and social history. “Once you start looking up on high streets and hunting for ghost signs, you’ll find that they’re hidden in plain sight, tucked away down alleyways or hiding among rooftops,” he says. Historic England wants people to…

A firework display results in one of the horses at the Stables getting badly injured. Jakob saves the horse, but Alice is determined to stop the village fireworks on Bonfire Night from going ahead; Mia volunteers to help her. On a night out with Ian and Adam, Helen snaps at Lee and walks out – she can’t continue with the relationship. Encouraged by Stella and Pip, Adam suggests to Ian that they should be more affectionate in public; Ian admits that he can’t shake the shame he felt as a teen for being gay. Helen tells a distraught Lee that it’s over between them; he can’t understand, but agrees to move out. Mia’s petition to stop the fireworks backfires. Helen breaks the news to Ian and her parents. Adil’s sister,…

This is the ultimate autumn recipe, says Claire Thomson: it’s one to cook in mid-November, when beaujolais nouveau is released. The other ingredients – prunes, thyme, garlic and Dijon – will also flatter and elevate the chicken. Serve it on a pile of buttery mashed potato, with a glass of the same wine in hand. Go old-fashioned and tie your parsley and thyme stalks, wrapped in the bay leaves and secured with some kitchen string, into a bouquet garni. Serves 4 1kg whole chicken thighs, legs, drumsticks or breasts 50g butter 4 large or 12 small shallots, peeled (leave the root on to help them hold together) 1 tbsp tomato purée 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 thyme sprigs, plus ½ tsp picked thyme leaves ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves…

Northcote in Langho, Lancashire, has held a Michelin star for 20 years. Its cookery school has a range of courses for beginners to confident cooks from £235/day, run by Richard Ogden and Ben Hinchliffe, plus guests (from £288/night; northcote.com). Lainston House just outside Winchester, Hampshire, has a state-of-the-art cookery school offering relaxed half- and full-day masterclasses from £99, with 10% off room rates (from £283/night; exclusive.co.uk). Learn to cook in the kitchens of the two-Michelin-starred restaurant at The Raymond Blanc Cookery School in the grounds of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Great Milton, Oxfordshire (half-day courses from £210, rooms from £925/night; belmond.com). Housed in a converted stable wing of the 17th century Swinton Park castle, in Masham, North Yorkshire, the cookery school has a wide range of courses using local…

Gaudi’s underrated birthplace The city of Reus, in the Spanish province of Tarragona, is best known as the birthplace of the architect Antoni Gaudí, says Katja Gaskell in the Daily Mail. “But it’s often overlooked by tourists”, who head to Barcelona up the coast, to marvel at his Sagrada Família. Yet Reus too “is dripping in beautiful buildings; its narrow paved streets are lined with charming family-run stores dating back hundreds of years, and the food is local, fresh and delicious”. A good way to get to know this compact city is to follow the Modernista Route (it’s set out in a leaflet you can pick up from the tourist office), which stops at 26 listed buildings. Other attractions include the Gaudí Centre, dedicated to the architect who left when…

Bill Kenwright 1945-2023 Bill Kenwright, who has died aged 78, enjoyed a six-decade-long career in which he not only produced some 500 plays and musicals, but also became chairman of Everton FC. Not everything he touched turned to gold, said The Guardian. He produced some flops, and such was the fury among fans over his stewardship of Everton that, earlier this year, board members were advised by the police to stay away from home games for their own safety. But what was never in doubt was his “impish charm”, his “ingenuity in raising – and making – money”, or his commitment to his twin passions. “He kicked every ball, just as he breathed every song on the stage.” The son of a builder, Bill Kenwright was born in Liverpool in…

Jamie Dimon During the nearly two decades that Jamie Dimon has run JPMorgan Chase, he has never sold shares in the Wall Street bank – until now, said Michelle Chapman in The Independent. According to regulatory filings, Dimon will sell one million shares (worth around $140m at present prices) from a family stash of around 8.6 million. The move went down like a lead balloon with investors, despite assurances it was merely for “financial diversification and tax planning purposes”. They can’t really complain. Under Dimon, JPM has become a $3.2trn titan: shares have tripled on his watch. Even so, Dimon – considered “a powerful and frank voice” on Wall Street – has recently expressed grave concerns, saying: “This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades.”…

One Sunday morning Woo Yeongbok got up at 5am in her home in Hyesan, North Korea, a city on the Yalu River that marks the border with China. “I could hear Chinese chickens crowing,” she says. Smugglers brought goods across the river, but not much came in the way of news about the outside world. She rose early because it would take seven hours to climb to a place on a nearby mountain where she was meeting a smuggler. “Obviously we are not allowed to have a mobile phone,” Woo says. “If you have one and the police raid your house and find it, you’re in a lot of trouble. The police have a way to figure out if you have one. It’s very dangerous.” She needed the smuggler’s phone…

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From Washington to Tel Aviv, from Beirut to Cairo, policymakers are fixated on a prospect still more alarming than what is happening in Gaza, said Gideon Rachman in the FT: the fear that Israel, Iran, the US and even Saudi Arabia could be pulled into a “general war in the Middle East”. For many, the situation has frightening parallels with Europe just before the First World War. Then, the logic of Great Power alliances meant that the murder of an Austrian archduke in June 1914 inexorably led to a full-scale European conflict, said Ben Judah in The Sunday Times. The worry now is that Hamas’s attack on 7 October – and Israel’s increasingly brutal response – will trigger a similar pattern of escalation, with the US and its two main…

Gen Z influencers are fuelling a new wellness trend on TikTok. It is called “silent walking”, and it involves going for a walk – without using your phone to listen to music or podcasts or make calls. “The first two minutes are mayhem. Your mind is racing, you’re going to have anxiety,” explains one exponent. “But something happens after two minutes where your brain just gets into this flow state and suddenly you can hear yourself.” Nearly half of 13- to 24-year-olds in the US think that most sex scenes in films and TV shows are unnecessary, a UCLA study has found. Some 44% feel that romance in the media is “overused”, and 51% want to see more dramas about friendships and other platonic relationships.…

Keir Starmer repeated his call for a pause in the Israel-Hamas conflict this week, to allow humanitarian aid to get into Gaza, but insisted this was not the right time for a ceasefire. Labour has been bitterly divided on the issue since Starmer appeared to defend Israel’s right to impose a siege on Gaza in an interview three weeks ago, though he later said he had been misinterpreted. At least 250 Labour councillors have called for a ceasefire, as have more than 60 Labour MPs (including 15 frontbenchers), and the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. In his speech on Tuesday, Starmer said that while he understood the calls, to freeze the conflict now would leave Hamas able to prepare fresh attacks.…

Las Vegas, Nevada Pence bows out: Former US vice-president Mike Pence has backed out of the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, having struggled to mobilise support and raise campaign funds. Opinion polls had given him a less than 4% share of the Republican vote, to Donald Trump’s 59%. Speaking at an event in Las Vegas on Saturday, Pence, 64, said that he’d realised it was “not my time”. Pence had no real base in the GOP, having served in Donald Trump’s administration, but then alienated Trump supporters by refusing to oppose the certification of the 2020 presidential election. San Francisco, California X falls again: Elon Musk has informed staff that the value of X – the platform formerly known as Twitter – has fallen to $19bn, less than…

“‘Every journalist has a book inside him,’ said Russell Lynes, an editor at Harper’s Magazine. ‘That’s a very good place for it.’ Whenever I feel the urge to let it out, to pour my soul into 300 intensely felt yet cogently argued pages, I pay a visit to Robbie Millen, The Times’s literary editor. The walls of his office are lined with books. The table is piled with books. The floor is covered in books. A few, a very few, are honoured with a review; the rest are destined for a grey sack, into which he loads books en route to literary oblivion. Their fate reminds me of the wise words in Ecclesiastes. ‘Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.’”…

Memo to China – money can’t buy love Matthew Parris The Times The multitude of developing countries attending the international conference China held last month to mark the 10th anniversary of its Belt and Road Initiative may have confirmed many people’s fears that China is taking over the world. There they all were, the beneficiaries of vast infrastructure projects, seduced into Beijing’s orbit by the BRI. But fear not, says Matthew Parris. I write this sitting on a Chinese-built train, on a Chinese-built railway, in the middle of Zambia. But being badly built, it has broken down. As it keeps on doing. And as Zambia can’t pay the debt on this big project, it’s asking Beijing for more money to put things right. So the BRI hasn’t secured fealty. “Debtors…

The magic of a 22-minute exercise Sitting for long periods, we are often told, is bad for our health; indeed, a new study has found that sitting for more than 12 hours a day – easily done if you have an office job and a long commute – increases the chances of an early death. But there is good news: it takes just 22 minutes of exercise to undo the damage done by the sedentary lifestyle. For the study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, 11,989 people aged 50 and above wore activity trackers for several days; their health was then followed for five years (during which time 805 of them died). The data showed that those who spent more than 12 hours a day sitting were 38%…

Following Hamas’s terror attack on Israel, “a pogrom that saw the murder of 1,400 Jews”, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels, said Douglas Carswell in The Daily Telegraph. Rallies have been held in colleges across America. In the UK, there have been mass demonstrations on three Saturdays running. “Were the protesters lamenting the death of Israeli citizens? Were they there to demand the release of young children taken hostage by Hamas?” No, these protests didn’t denounce the violence: they ignored, excused and even celebrated it. Many protesters have “literally chanted for the destruction of the state of Israel”. The “charitable interpretation” is that the protesters were expressing solidarity with Palestinian civilians, said Yascha Mounk in The Spectator. But if defending…

“There is nothing new under the sun,” said John Rentoul in The Independent, but if you are writing a book, you do need to try to put the old words into a fresh order. That was a lesson that Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, learnt to her cost last week, when the FT found that chunks of her new book, The Women Who Made Modern Economics, had seemingly been lifted, unacknowledged, from Wikipedia, an obituary in The Guardian, and “even the writing of a Labour frontbench colleague”, Hilary Benn. It’s very embarrassing, but Reeves is not the first politician to be caught copying. During his 1988 White House bid, Joe Biden told an audience that he was the first Biden in “a thousand generations” (i.e. since the latter part of…

On paper, it didn’t look like a “genuine contest”, said Tom Kershaw in The Times. On Saturday, in a “custom-built arena in Riyadh”, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury took on Francis Ngannou, a Cameroonian-French mixed martial artist competing in his first professional boxing bout. But instead of proving a “lucrative cakewalk” for the Englishman, the fight nearly turned into a “historic upset”. Any idea it would be an uncompetitive walkover was “emphatically dispelled” in the third, when Ngannou knocked Fury to the canvas with a left. The “Gypsy King” rose wearing a “dazed expression”, and the rest of the fight was tantalisingly close. After ten rounds, Fury was declared the points winner, though one of the judges reckoned Ngannou had won. If 37-year-old Ngannou felt daunted by the occasion he…

by Jane Martinson Penguin Business 320pp £25 The Week Bookshop £19.99 The business empire built by David and Frederick Barclay has long been famed for its secretiveness, and its willingness to use lawyers to ensure that its secrets were kept, said Daniel Thomas in the FT. So hats off to Jane Martinson, who in this lively book “forensically” tells the story of how the twins emerged from a “large, working-class family in southwest London”, made a fortune in the postwar property market, and then moved on to “bigger” deals, as they invested in retail, hotels and newspapers. She also “dives deeply into the fractious island politics” of Sark, and its neighbour Brecqhou, which the brothers acquired in 1993, and on which they built an enormous mock-gothic castle. Given the brothers’…

Amid the deluge of horrific news from Israel and Gaza, podcasts are proving to be an “invaluable, and nimble, source of measured reporting”, said Charlotte Runcie in The Daily Telegraph. The BBC has faced stinging criticism, from both sides, for its handling of the conflict. But I would strongly recommend a new podcast series, The Conflict, from the broadcaster’s superb chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet. The 20-minute episodes offer expert and “fiercely immediate war reporting” that is “immersive, immediate, detailed and evocative”. Similarly, Katya Adler’s new daily explainer series Understand: Israel and the Palestinians (Radio 4) is steeped in the expertise she gained as the BBC’s former Middle East correspondent. Meanwhile Rory Stewart, on his The Rest is Politics podcast, gave “one of the most succinct and accessible, even-handed explanations…

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James, 2014 (Oneworld £9.99). I listened to this on audiobook read by actors with great command of Jamaican patois. It’s horrendously violent and the sex in it is quite shocking at times, but I was amazed by the versatility of the language. A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell, 1951-1975 (Arrow £20 each). This 12-volume novel covers life in England from 1921 to 1971. The title is based on a painting by Poussin, and with this as his theme, Powell humorously explores the relationships and foibles of a group of upper-echelon characters over 50 years. Don’t be daunted by the volumes; you’ll be sad when it finishes. A Book of Mediterranean Food by Elizabeth David, 1950 (Penguin £12.99). I’m…

Programmes JFK: 24 Hours that Changed the World Marking 60 years since his assassination, this meticulous account of JFK’s final day traces events from his arrival in Dallas to the return of his body to Washington DC. Sat 4 Nov, C4 20:00 (60mins). Liz Bonnin’s Wild Caribbean In a new six-part series, the wildlife presenter explores the region’s natural wonders, starting in the Dominican Republic. Sun 5 Nov, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). Louis Theroux Interviews: Anthony Joshua Theroux meets the former world champion boxer in the London gym where his stellar career began. Tue 7 Nov, BBC2 21:00 (45mins). Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius Three-part docuseries exploring The Bard’s early years, as he leaves Stratford and starts work in Elizabethan London. Juliet Stevenson narrates. Wed 8 Nov, BBC2 21:00 (60mins). The…

Breathtaking Bolivia This 11-day adventure will take you through lively cities, outstanding scenery and colourful market towns. From £1,088pp b&b (excl. flights). 0808-274 5111, intrepidtravel.com. Arrive 30 November. Three nights in Berlin Enjoy the city’s Christmas markets from the centrally located Steigenberger Hotel am Kanzleramt. From £293pp room-only (incl. flights). 020-8016 3295, thomascook.com. Depart 17 December. Deluxe Sardinia getaway Embrace “la dolce vita” with a 4-night stay at the four-star Blu Hotel Morisco, near Costa Smeralda. From £269pp half-board (incl. flights). 020-3026 2535, travelodeal.com. Depart 2 April. All-inclusive in the Maldives Stay 6 nights at the Adaaran Club Rannalhi beach resort, offering pristine beaches and excellent scuba diving. From £1,583pp (incl. flights). 020-4579 3550, etihadholidays.co.uk. Depart 1 May.…

BP/Shell: merger opportunity BP’s shares sank on Tuesday after the oil giant reported a fall in quarterly profits to $3.3bn, said Laura Hurst on Bloomberg. Nonetheless, temporary boss Murray Auchincloss – who stepped in following the shock exit of Bernard Looney – “gave a robust defence” of the strategy of focusing on the “transition” to net zero. BP will continue growing its low-carbon business, he said, batting away suggestions that it should emulate recent mega oil deals struck by US competitors Exxon and Chevron. The complacency is extraordinary, said Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph. “Prematurely shorn of a chief executive”, with a strategy that looks “completely up in the air”, BP is now “highly vulnerable to an opportunistic swoop”. Instead of waiting for US competitors to pounce, ministers should…

Odey Asset Management, the hedge fund set up by Crispin Odey, has “finally succumbed to the sexual misconduct scandal” that felled its founder earlier this year, said Ben Martin in The Times. After months of trying “to insulate itself against the fallout from the allegations”, the firm has announced that all its funds “have now been moved to new homes”, and that it will be closing. “It marks the end of an era for Britain’s hedge fund industry.” The firm, which Odey established in 1991, was one of the oldest UK players and “propelled its founder into the upper echelons of the City elite” before becoming mired in controversy. Assets under management peaked at above $13bn in 2015, but had shrunk to $3.8bn by April 2022. The claims about Odey’s…

The week’s best shares Bunzl The Times Bunzl, which distributes workplace products from cleaning supplies to coffee cups, has a record of good acquisitions and is now targeting higher-margin safety kit suppliers. Revenues are down, but the de-rating looks too severe. Buy. £27.99. Destiny Pharma The Mail on Sunday Destiny designs drugs to curb the use of antibiotics and help post-surgical recovery – thus cutting healthcare costs. Not risk-free, but has new drugs at an advanced stage and a promising pipeline. Buy. 50p. Fevertree Drinks The Daily Telegraph Although hit by high inflation and interest rates, the soft-drinks firm is gaining market share in the UK and growing in the US, as product innovation continues. Benefitting from improving margins and a £60m cash pile. Buy. 964.5p. Invinity Energy Systems The…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1387 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 13 November. Send it to The Week Crossword 1387, 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 Cringes for Republican in grip of America (10) 6 Like one ending for Trump at an early date (4) 10 Legal fee concerning new student (9) 11 Collect coming from a Catholic service (5) 12 Got ball down in reserve reportedly (5) 13 USA lad in…