The Week

A 91-year-old Jewish woman has returned to Jersey for the first time since local sailors rescued her from the Nazis in June 1940. Irène Probstein was nine when she, her mother and brothers were collected by boat from St Malo, just before German forces reached the French port, as part of an operation by the St Helier Yacht Club to pick up stranded British troops. She is thought to be the last survivor of the rescue. She said that she had wanted to thank the island, and its people. A live video stream of barn owls in North Yorkshire is proving an unlikely YouTube sensation. Robert E. Fuller, an artist, launched the project in lockdown, when he started filming a nest outside his home in Thixendale, near York. He has now…

What happened The largest rail strike in a generation brought much of Britain’s train network to a standstill this week. Led by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), the walkout involved 40,000 staff employed by the infrastructure owner Network Rail and 13 train operating companies. The first strike, which also included 10,000 London Underground workers, was held on Tuesday; a further two were scheduled for Thursday and Saturday. The dispute centred on below-inflation pay rises and likely redundancies. The RMT is seeking a pay rise of at least 7% with no job losses. Boris Johnson called for a “sensible compromise” and urged union leaders to agree to reforms such as phasing out ticket offices, saying the rail network would “go bust” if it didn’t modernise. The leader of…

What happened The European Commission boosted Ukraine’s hopes of joining the EU by recommending it as an official candidate for membership. The Commission also recommended Moldova for candidacy – the first step on the route to joining to the bloc; but Brussels said Georgia must pass reforms for its accession to be considered. All three states applied to join the EU after Russia invaded Ukraine. The Commission’s decision followed a visit to Kyiv by France’s President Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz and Italian PM Mario Draghi. After his own visit to Kyiv last week, Boris Johnson warned of the risk of “Ukraine fatigue”, and said the country’s allies must show that they are there “for the long haul”. His remarks were echoed by Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who warned that the war…

Nicola Sturgeon is limbering up for battle, said Fraser Nelson in The Daily Telegraph. The SNP leader launched her new bid for Scottish independence last week “with speeches, a 72-page economic dossier and the promise of a referendum next year”. It will be an uphill struggle. Under devolution rules, the UK Government needs to agree to the vote, and “it won’t”: it argues that the Scots roundly rejected independence in 2014. The SNP could, in theory, appeal to the Supreme Court. That’s “a long shot”, but say it works, and she gets her referendum, “what then?” Polls show a slim majority for staying in the UK even now, after Brexit, an inflation crisis, and with a lawbreaking old Etonian in No. 10. Barely a third want a poll next year.…

Builders may still be associated with white vans and fried breakfasts – but a new poll suggests that the clichés are out of date. Three-quarters of the 2,000 construction workers surveyed said they regularly discuss their emotions with colleagues; a similar proportion enjoy reading, and one in five love art. One in three are either vegetarian or eat meat less than twice a week, and only four in ten drive a white van. Dozens of American candy stores are currently trading in London’s West End, raising speculation about how these emporiums can be viable. Now, news from Westminster Council has shed light on the matter. It says it is investigating 30 of the shops for alleged business rates evasion, and selling counterfeit goods.…

Dame Kelly Holmes, who came out as gay at the age of 52. The Olympic champion said she had first realised she was gay aged 17, when she was in the Army, but same-sex relationships were banned, and she was scared of being court-martialled. It was a brush with Covid, she explained, that had made her realise that by losing her fear, and showing her “true self”, she would be free. Kate Bush, whose track Running Up That Hill made it to No. 1 in the UK charts, 37 years after its release. It makes Bush, 63, the oldest female artist to get to No. 1; she also now holds the record for the longest gap between No. 1 singles; her last, Wuthering Heights, was in 1978. Her song has been…