Table of contents for 1540 in The Week

What happened “An island of strangers”? Keir Starmer pledged to “take back control” of Britain’s borders this week, as he unveiled a package of measures aimed at slashing net migration. Announcing the white paper, the PM spoke of the “incalculable damage” done to the country by the failure of Tory governments to limit immigration, and said Britain risked becoming “an island of strangers”. He refused to set a target, only promising to bring numbers down in this Parliament, but the Home Office said that net migration could fall by 100,000 a year by 2029 as a result of the proposed changes. These include the scrapping of new visas for care workers; a tax on the income universities receive from foreign students; tougher language tests for migrants and their dependants; tightened…

Gardeners, as fears grow of coming hosepipe bans, owing to an exceptionally dry spring. Met Office data shows that the three months from February to April were the driest in England since 1956. Three water companies have implemented the first stage of their drought contingency plans, though no bans are yet in place. Cheese eaters, who were told that their love of comté – which is now France’s most popular artisan cheese – is taking a heavy toll on the environment, and is “terrible” for cows. Reportedly, soaring demand has led dairy farmers in the Jura, where comté is produced, to adopt more intensive methods, with knock-on effects for animal welfare and local rivers. Clean energy, after a project to build Britain’s largest offshore wind farm was scrapped by its…

40% of 15- to 18-year-olds say they are constantly distracted by their mobile phones while trying to study for exams. 50% say that they are sometimes distracted, and 10% say that they never are. The average amount of time they say they can focus on revision before picking up their phone is 14 minutes. Perspectus Global/The Times 34% of Germans are in favour of their country developing nuclear weapons; 49% oppose it. In Britain, 55% support the nation retaining its nuclear weapons and 27% oppose it. YouGov 68% of British people want the country’s oil and gas to be produced domestically, rather than imported. Survation/The Daily Telegraph…

Memories of a Hitler Youth Ingo Baldermann was 15 years old when he heard a call for volunteers to defend Germany. It was April 1945, but he had been convinced by propaganda that victory was still possible, so as a member of the Hitler Youth, he signed up. He and other boys were duly formed into units of five. They were given First World War rifles, a few rounds of ammo, and a heavy anti-tank weapon – but no helmets – and told to go and destroy the rapidly advancing American tanks. “We were being sent on a suicide mission, although I wasn’t aware of it at the time,” Baldermann, now 96, told David Crossland in The Times. They were cocky at first; but then they started to see exhausted…

Lorna Rooke, an NHS worker, won £29,000 in compensation because she was likened by colleagues to Darth Vader. Croydon Employment Tribunal found that the comparison to the sci-fi baddie legally constituted a workplace “detriment”. A co-worker took a Star Wars-themed personality test on Rooke’s behalf and shared it with the team. The test described the Darth Vader type as a “focused individual” who brings people together. Rooke claimed the “Vader incident” had caused her to leave her job; the panel disagreed, but did deem it an actionable “detriment”. Cannes Film Festival has banned nudity from the red carpet, in response to the celebrity craze for “the naked dress”. Isabelle Huppert and Naomi Campbell wore such dresses last year, while Bella Hadid (above), a Cannes regular, wore two see-through outfits. “For…

BRAZIL A third of our nation is living in the dark Folha (São Paulo) Our literacy levels are a “national disgrace”, said the Brazilian daily, Folha. The latest round of data shows that an “embarrassing” 29% of Brazilians aged 15-64 are “functional illiterates”. According to the Functional Literacy Indicator the government set up in 2001, in its bid to tackle the nation’s stubbornly high illiteracy levels, some 7% of the population still can’t read words or phone numbers. And fully 12% of university grads still struggle with long texts and large sums. In a world of “letters and numbers”, how is it that almost a third of working-age Brazilians are “practically in the dark”? One cause is clear: the school dropout rate. According to Unesco, nearly half a million Brazilian…

These days, the real threat to the secrecy of the papal conclave comes from digital technologies. Nevertheless, the Vatican stuck to some centuries-old precautions last week. As per tradition, ravioli and pies were banned from the roster of meals served to the cardinals: both dishes can too easily be stuffed with illicit notes. Asparagus was also off the menu, owing to its diuretic qualities, which could have made the hours of long deliberations harder for some elderly cardinals. All this does not improve the quality of the food on offer. Italian cardinal Mauro Piacenza described it as “food you can eat at a train station”: cutlets, salad, pasta with “watery sauce”, he elaborated. “Not exciting.” Ringo Starr (pictured) endured years of ribbing at the hands of his fellow Beatles. Once,…

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”Thomas Edison, quoted on Today “AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime there’ll be great companies.”Sam Altman, quoted in The Times “The men of action are, after all, only the unconscious instruments of the men of thought.”Heinrich Heine, quoted in Forbes “Riches should come as a reward for hard work, preferably by one’s forebears.”Historian Steven Runciman, quoted on The Knowledge “I think everyone should get sacked at least once.”Anna Wintour, quoted in The Daily Telegraph “More is more and less is a bore.”Iris Apfel, quoted in The Paris Review “It happened, so it can happen again.”Holocaust survivor Primo Levi, quoted in the Daily Mirror “Maybe all…

To The Times I was disturbed that all migrants will have to be fluent in English and will be required “to express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions”, to speak English “flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes” – and that the required standard is to be “almost the equivalent of a foreign-language A level”. My paternal grandparents arrived here in 1900 and spoke no English all their lives. My father only spoke English fluently after attending school at the age of five. My three brothers and I share between us four doctorates: two were university professors, one a principal lecturer and another a Hunterian professor at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Integration by education takes time (a generation) and cannot be…

In the past few years, there has been a “big shift” in red wine drinking, “away from tannin” and towards lighter, more easy-drinking styles, says Victoria Moore in The Daily Telegraph. At its worst, this has led to a taste for sickly “dry-sweet red wines” with high residual sugar. But at its best, it has led to red wines of “mouthwatering freshness and purity”, which are perfect at this time of year and which, like white wines, benefit from being chilled. One example is Morrisons’ The Best Chinon 2023 (£9.25), a Loire red made from cabernet franc that was introduced a couple of years ago, and has proved a “surprise hot-seller”. Meanwhile, over at The Wine Society, there’s Les Gourgoules Corbières Château de Caraguilhes 2023 (£14.50), a “syrah-grenache-carignan blend” that is…

Hurr offers high-end items from vetted peer-to-peer lenders and it also has partnerships with brands such as Burberry. Rentals are for up to 20 days, or there is a subscription service, which gives unlimited rentals over 30 days (hurrcollective.com). By Rotation is the largest shared wardrobe of designer fashion, with more than 500,000 peer-to-peer “rotators”. You can easily filter your searches, and lenders are responsible for cleaning (byrotation.com). Try before you buy with My Wardrobe HQ, which offers rentals from more than 500 brands, with the option to buy, plus a subscription service (mywardrobehq.com). Front Row has a team of experienced stylists to help with everything from luxury sourcing to wardrobe decluttering. Rentals are for three or five days (frontrow.uk.com). Cocoon rents designer handbags to its members. Its flexible membership plans…

Voaara Madagascar Set on a small island off the east coast of Madagascar, this new 100-acre resort is a picture-perfect tropical escape, says Lisa Grainger in Condé Nast Traveller. Its forests are alive with birdsong, its palm-fringed beach is white, and its seas are the “palest” aquamarine. There are seven thatched beach cottages and a three-bedroom pool villa, all with “super-comfy” beds. In the restaurant, the “starry” Spanish chef Aleixandre Sarrion draws on “fresh island ingredients” for his “Med-meets Asia” menus; and there are two massage rooms, a boat for fishing or diving trips, and bikes for exploring the island and its wooden villages. Doubles from £945; voaara.com.…

Ørsted/Harbour Energy: North Sea chill “Ill winds are blowing for Labour’s 2030 deadline for clean energy” – a key manifesto pledge that will mean the rapid roll-out of wind and solar farms, said Nils Pratley in The Guardian. The latest setback is the news that Ørsted, the troubled Danish developer, has “stopped work” on Hornsea 4, off the Yorkshire coast, because it can’t make the numbers add up and would rather write off £400m-plus than chance its arm. “One wind farm alone, you might think, cannot put a serious dent in the overall 2030 project.” But Hornsea 4 is “a bad one to lose”. It is a “vast” 2.4 gigawatt project, set to be one of the world’s largest offshore wind farms. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband “would be within his…

Mixed weather ahead for the Chancellor Michael Simmons The Spectator The Reeves “jobs tax” is beginning to bite, says Michael Simmons. The latest figures show that the UK unemployment rate has risen to 4.5%, with “131,000 fewer job vacancies than this time last year”. True, the data covers the period up to March – before the rise in the minimum wage and the £25bn national insurance hike took effect. But the fact that the labour market was “already faltering” shows “how deeply businesses were bracing for impact”. April’s data could well turn out to be even worse. The Bank of England believes the effect of tax hikes on employment “appears to be fairly small”. Yet “a slew of data” from independent bodies – including KPMG and the Chartered Institute of…

What happened Washington and London hailed a “historic” agreement last week after the UK became the first country to seal a deal with President Trump since he launched his global trade war. The deal cut US tariffs on British car exports from 27.5% to 10%, and removed all levies on British steel, aluminium and Rolls-Royce engines. In exchange, the UK offered greater market access to US agricultural exports, including beef and corn ethanol, although it retained its ban on chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef. Trump announced the deal in a televised event in the Oval Office, flanked by Britain’s US ambassador, Peter Mandelson; Keir Starmer joined by speakerphone. No. 10 later described it as a “win for both nations” and promised to build on it. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader,…

Central London has lately become home to several snail farms, but they don’t, it seems, produce much in the way of escargots. Officials at Westminster Council say that whenever they’ve investigated these “farms”, they have found that they consist of a few boxes of snails in a vast empty office. But that, it seems, is all it takes to claim that an empty commercial building is an “agricultural facility” – and so exempt from business rates. Westminster Council first became aware of this “ludicrous” tax avoidance three years ago, reports The Times, but it is not exclusive to London. Snail farms have also popped up in empty offices and department stores in Liverpool, Bradford and Preston, among other cities – potentially costing their councils hundreds of thousands in lost revenues.…

Nicola Ranger, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, warned this week that nurses could go on strike unless ministers dramatically improve their “completely unacceptable” offer of a 2.8% pay rise for all NHS staff in England. After strikes in 2022 and 2023, nurses won a 5% pay rise for 2023/24. But Ranger said that their earnings had been eroded in real terms by 25% since 2010, and more needed to be done. Resident doctors in England – formerly known as junior doctors – have already launched a ballot for a possible fresh round of strikes, although they have been awarded a total salary increase of 22.3% for the two years 2023/24 and 2024/2025.…

Berlin Closing the border: The day after being sworn into office last week, Chancellor Friedrich Merz fulfilled one of his party’s main pre-election pledges by instructing the federal police to tighten border controls to ensure all undocumented migrants – barring children, pregnant mothers and other vulnerable groups – be denied entry. The ruling, a bid to curb the rise of the far-right AfD (see page 16), lifts an order issued by Angela Merkel in 2015, allowing entry to hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers, many fleeing war in Syria. It has infuriated Germany’s neighbours, Austria and Poland, and legal experts say that rejecting people claiming asylum violates EU law. But the new government – a coalition between Merz’s conservative CDU-CSU and the Social Democrats – remains adamant. We intend to…

1 Slave to Love, written and performed by Bryan Ferry 2 Rebel Yell by Billy Idol and Steve Stevens, performed by Billy Idol 3 Move Closer, written and performed by Phyllis Nelson 4 Wish You Were Here by David Gilmour and Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd 5* Playing with Knives by Andrew Meecham, Carl Turner and Dean Meredith, performed by Bizarre Inc 6 Columbia by Noel Gallagher, performed by Oasis 7 Nebraska, written and performed by Lucy Rose 8 Wicked Game, written and performed by Chris Isaak Book: Essential Bushcraft by Ray Mears Luxury: Lego Millennium Falcon * Choice if allowed only one record…

On 22 April, terrorists attacked tourists in Pahalgam meadow, a lush green area surrounded by woods and snow-capped Himalayan peaks, which has to be reached on foot or by pony. Witnesses said that gunmen asked the visitors: “Are you a Hindu or a Muslim?” If tourists said they were Muslim, they were asked to recite the Islamic declaration of faith. Hindu males were shot at close range. By the time Indian forces arrived, 26 people were dead, 17 were wounded. The atrocity was claimed by The Resistance Front, also known as Kashmir Resistance, a group that emerged in 2019. It is widely considered both an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, and a deniable Pakistani proxy force. Lashkar-e-Taiba was formed in 1985, when jihadism was being encouraged in Afghanistan by Pakistan and…

Could Pope Leo end the abuse crisis? Joan Vennochi The Boston Globe The appointment of the first US pope has caused much excitement in the States. “Everything dope, including the Pope, comes from Chicago!” exclaimed the city’s mayor, Brandon Johnson on X/Twitter. But there’s another reason beyond patriotic pride why people should welcome Pope Leo XIV’s nationality, says Joan Vennochi. He could be the “best hope” the Catholic Church has of finally taking proper action against sexual abuse by the clergy. The US Church has a far from spotless record on this front, but thanks to America’s litigious culture and robust free press, bishops in the US have been forced to introduce much stricter policies on abuse than bishops elsewhere. The US, for example, has a zero-tolerance policy that requires…

A fungus that is already thought to kill millions of people a year will spread further into Europe, the Americas and Asia as the world warms, researchers have warned. The aspergillus family of fungi is found in soil, on dead leaves and in damp buildings. Its spores are usually harmless, but in people with weakened immune systems, or conditions such as asthma, they can cause serious respiratory infections, liver damage, cancer and other diseases, and they are estimated to be behind some 1.8 million deaths a year. The University of Manchester study found that if the world continues to rely heavily on fossil fuels, the Aspergillus fumigatus, one of the more common strains, could expand its range by 77% by 2100. This would mean an extra nine million people in…

With the title race decided a fortnight ago, and the relegation battle settled long before that, all the remaining jeopardy in the Premier League concerns which clubs will qualify for the Champions League, said Dale Johnson on ESPN. The shake-up of Europe’s elite competition – which this season had its group phase replaced with an expanded league format – means the financial rewards associated with qualifying are now greater than ever. Merely participating guarantees around £15m, and this dramatically increases with success: Arsenal, who reached the semi-final this season, earned approximately £96m in prize money for doing so, with further millions accruing from extra ticket receipts and sponsorship revenues. This year, the qualification saga has an extra twist, because the overall strong showing of English clubs in Europe means that…

Football Carlo Ancelotti has been appointed as Brazil’s first permanent foreign manager. The 65-year-old Italian will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and take up the role on 26 May. Tennis Emma Raducanu’s three-match winning streak at the Rome Open ended with a 6-1, 6-2 loss to world No. 3 Coco Gauff. Rugby union England rugby star Maro Itoje has been appointed captain of the British and Irish Lions for the team’s tour of Australia. Coach Andy Farrell’s squad also includes Marcus Smith, but not his son Owen Farrell.…

At Beechwood, police looking for Rochelle search Joy’s house; later, Rochelle calls to say she’s handed herself in. At the cricket, Ambridge triumph over Rosseran, and Lynda talks to Freddie, who’s still shaken by the abattoir incident. Rochelle is adamant she won’t betray the activists but Usha, as her solicitor, convinces her of the risk of going to prison. Rochelle is granted bail and leaves court to stay with a friend of Mick’s. Freddie is downcast as repercussions of the protest damage the abattoir’s business. After more veiled comments from Lawrence, Rosseran’s manager, Lynda, says she won’t fraternise with a racist. As Lilian and Tony wait for Peggy at the Village Hall for the VE Day celebrations, they get a call to say that Peggy has passed away peacefully. Next…

In defence of anchovies The British have long had an aversion to anchovies, says Julie Bindel in The Spectator. In 2020, they were voted the “most hated food in the UK” – along with oysters, olives and liver – and took top spot again in 2022. I get why they are so disliked: salted anchovies have a pungent flavour, while the texture of the fresh and pickled varieties can be “challenging”. If guests warn me they dislike anchovies, I’ll avoid “serving them brazenly”, but I will sneak them into a seasoning or relish, and “no one ever notices, except in the form of praise for my flavours and seasoning”. That’s the beauty of anchovies: when used as a background component in a dish, they “add something no other seasoning can”,…

Cora Sue Collins 1927-2025 Cora Sue Collins, who has died aged 98, was one of a galaxy of child stars who were contracted to MGM in the 1930s. She was never the shiniest of them, said The New York Times: the likes of Mickey Rooney and Shirley Temple were better known. But over 13 years from 1932, when she made her debut as a “chubby-cheeked” four-year-old, she appeared in nearly 50 films, and acted alongside some of the biggest stars of the period. In 1933, Greta Garbo hand-picked Collins to play her as a child in Queen Christina. Dubbed “Baby Garbo”, she got on well with the reclusive star, who often invited her for tea in her lavish suite on the MGM lot. The pair worked together again two years…

Graham King An eye-opening new entrant to The Sunday Times Rich List of billionaires is an Essex businessman known as the “Asylum King”, said the newspaper. Graham King, 58, founder of Clearsprings Ready Homes – which provides migrants with accommodation – has been enjoying very brisk business. “Run from a nondescript blue office building next to a dual carriageway in Rayleigh”, near Southend, Clearsprings saw profits jump by 60% to £119.4m last year. King’s personal fortune bounced by 35% to £1.015bn. King is a seasoned operator, having won his first government contract in 2000, said Rosa Silverman in The Daily Telegraph. The son of a Canvey Island caravan-park tycoon with sidelines in taxis and nightclubs, he soon became known as a “millionaire asylum baron” who did deals “from his mobile…

The UK’s loudest amphibian has made a comeback in the South Downs National Park, thanks to efforts to restore its habitat. Natterjack toads – whose croaks can be heard up to a mile away – were reintroduced to the site in Hampshire in 2021; now, they have been recorded breeding there for the first time in 50 years. A total of 28 toadlets have been counted at Blackmoor, where shallow ponds had been created, and heathland restored, to make ideal conditions for their return. Thousands of people have reached the top of Mount Everest. A former Royal Marine decided to make the challenge harder – by including it as the final part of the world’s longest triathlon. Mitch Hutchcraft started his journey by swimming across the Channel to France. He…

Wartime decoys, with reports that the Ministry of Defence has been sending fake tanks and air defence systems to Ukraine, so that the Russians waste their materiel destroying cheap cut-outs, instead of the real thing. Officials said that inflatable tanks similar to those used in the Second World War are now easily identified as such by drones and satellites; but these ones are harder to spot. George Galloway, the ex-Labour MP and leader of the Workers Party of Britain, who travelled to Tehran to accept an award named in honour of an assassinated Hamas leader; he then flew to Moscow, to attend Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day celebrations.…

Following an emotional debate in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, MSPs backed proposals to legalise assisted dying in Scotland, by 70 votes to 56. The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would give mentally competent people over 16 who have been diagnosed with a terminal condition the right to end their life. The bill will now progress to the next stage in the parliamentary process. It will only become law if MSPs approve it in a final vote, which is likely to take place later this year.…

Washington DC Afrikaner refugees: The first white South Africans granted refugee status by the Trump administration flew into Washington DC on Monday, where they were greeted by the deputy secretary of state, Christopher Landau. “This is the land of the free,” he told the 59 Afrikaners. “It is such an honour for us to receive you here.” Donald Trump used an executive order on his first day in office in January to put a halt to almost all refugee admissions to the US. However, he later made an exception for Afrikaners, members of the minority group descended from mainly Dutch settlers that established the Apartheid regime in 1948. Trump has claimed that white farmers in South Africa are “being killed” and facing “genocide”. Pretoria has strongly rejected the idea that…

“For more than 1,000 years, courts in England have announced ‘All rise’. From now on, the message will be: ‘All rise, if able.’ This has upset a lot of people. ‘Another tradition trashed to the god of wokery,’ said Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform. Trashed? We used to say all rise; we still say all rise. We now add three syllables out of politeness. And that’s really all it is. Not consigning tradition to the bin. I’ve got a parent, aunties, uncles in their 80s. They’re not as quick to their feet as they used to be. In court, they might worry about being thought disrespectful. So now, politely, we consider them. We used to regard such behaviour as a very British virtue.” Martin Samuel in The Times…

The “golden age” heralded by Trump Editorial The Observer Amid the turmoil of his presidency, Donald Trump has retained a steady focus on one thing, says The Observer: making money. Forbes estimates his personal wealth has more than doubled to $5.1bn in the past year, thanks to his crypto, media and real-estate ventures. Unlike every president since Lyndon B. Johnson, he didn’t place his business interests in a blind trust: he handed control to his sons, who are busily cashing in on his behalf. Last week, as Trump prepared to visit the Middle East, his middle son, Eric, was in Dubai as the “advance guard” of the “family firm”, selling a crypto coin issued by a new company 60% owned by the Trumps, and then in Qatar, announcing a $5.5bn…

New insights into Alzheimer’s Scientists in Edinburgh have exposed live brain tissue to toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer’s, in an effort to see how the disease develops. The groundbreaking project involved the scientists putting on scrubs and stationing themselves in operating theatres at the Royal Edinburgh Infirmary, where they were handed tiny pieces of healthy brain tissue from cancer patients that would otherwise have been discarded (with the patients’ consent). The scientists put the tissue straight into flasks with an oxygen-rich artificial spinal fluid to keep it alive, then jumped into taxis back to their lab, a few minutes away. Once there, the samples were sliced into pieces, each a third of a millimetre thick, before being laid out and placed in an incubator at body temperature. By applying to…

In the end, the jury at Newcastle Crown Court reached a unanimous verdict, said Jan Moir in The Mail on Sunday. Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were found guilty of criminal damage – for cutting down the Sycamore Gap tree next to Hadrian’s Wall. The evidence was certainly damning. Graham’s car and phone had been geolocated close to the Sycamore Gap on 27 September 2023, the stormy night when the tree was cut down; on both their phones was a video, dating from that very night, of a large tree being chainsawed. The pair, the jury heard, had discussed the story triumphantly by text the following day. But they later fell out, and Graham reported Carruthers to the police, suggesting that his friend had taken his car and…

“After 14 years dazzling in whites”, the legendary Indian batsman Virat Kohli has announced that he’s retiring from Test cricket, said Ali Martin in The Guardian. Though the news was hardly a shock – Kohli is 36 – it still felt like a “seismic” moment. That’s because, in terms of his impact on Test cricket in India, Kohli is “second only to Sachin Tendulkar”. A fluent, attacking batsman, and a “combative” figure on the field, Kohli excelled in all formats of the game, said Will Macpherson in The Daily Telegraph. In 50-over matches (which he says he will carry on playing), he is “arguably the greatest of all time”. As a Test player, he will be best remembered for his “extraordinary peak” between 2014 and 2019, when in 55 Tests…

“So, here it is, and it’s hard to imagine it better done,” said Sarah Hemming in the FT. Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, which he left in draft form, is certainly not his greatest work, and is perhaps not even a musical: more a “surreal drama in which music is part of the texture”. But it’s still uniquely Sondheim: “witty, wry and suddenly wise”. And in its European premiere at the National Theatre, even the work’s “unfinished state makes sense”. Directed by Joe Mantello, Here We Are provides a “bonkers, bitty and sometimes brilliant coda to the great composer-lyricist’s work, superbly delivered by a terrific cast”. The plot is drawn from two films by the Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel), which have been…

Whenever you hear a news report about “young people doing something bad”, said Tilly Pearce in The i Paper, it’s “almost instinctual” to ask yourself how their parents could have let it happen. This one-off drama from Channel 5 “takes this idea and runs with it”, imagining a near-future in which parents can be tried alongside their children as “accessories to criminal acts”. Set in 2035, it introduces us to David (Ben Miles) and Dione Sinclair (Claire Skinner), “seemingly perfect” parents who are hauled in for questioning when their teenage daughter Teah (India Fowler) is arrested for a serious offence. The exact nature of her crime is not immediately revealed to them, allowing “no-nonsense” judicial inquisitor Sarah Willis (Derry Girls’ Saoirse-Monica Jackson) to conduct a cat-and-mouse interrogation that is intended…

Self-Portrait by Celia Paul, 2019 (Vintage £12.99). In this mysterious yet clear-eyed memoir, the artist tells her life through the painting of loved ones, immortalising shared time with a graceful generosity. I found this book in the Aldeburgh bookshop, and Paul’s writing, like her painting, conjured the landscape beneath my feet. A Life’s Work by Rachel Cusk, 2001 (Faber £10.99). This was one of the first books that opened the door to shitting on the hallowed ground of being a mother. It tore through me, a conversation that I needed to have with myself but wasn’t prepared for. Its true weight is in how Cusk describes the guilt inherent in trying to be both a loving mother and an artist. All Fours by Miranda July, 2024 (Canongate £9.99). I am…

Programmes The Bombing of Pan Am 103 First two episodes of a six-part drama about the bombing of a passenger flight over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, and the effort to bring its perpetrators to justice. Sun 18-Mon 19 May, BBC1 21:00 (60mins each). Code of Silence In this new crime drama, a deaf woman (Rose Ayling-Ellis) working in a police canteen is called upon to use her lip-reading skills to help catch a criminal gang. Sun 18-Mon 19 May, ITV1 21:00 (65 and 60mins respectively). The British Blood Scandal: Poisoned at School Documentary about the haemophiliac children who were given infected blood products at their school. Tue 20 May, ITV1 21:00 (60mins). Faking It In the first episode of this reboot of the 2000s reality show, a…

This side dish comes together extremely quickly and would make a great accompaniment to most meals, says Sugen Gopal. I use tenderstem broccoli, but you could easily swap it out for other seasonal green vegetables, such as purple-sprouting broccoli, asparagus or green beans. Broccoli and cashew stir-fry Serves 4 300g tenderstem broccoli 2 tsp salted butter 50g cashews, roughly chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tsp oyster sauce To serve: 2 tbsp crispy fried shallots • Start by blanching the broccoli: immerse it in boiling water for 2 mins, then drain and plunge into ice-cold water. Leave to drain in a colander. • Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat and, once bubbling, add the cashews and then the garlic. Stir frequently and cook until the…

● Buy battery packs, and keep them charged. You should keep torches and spare batteries to hand, and a stash of cash, as shops won’t be able to take cards. Also keep your car topped up with fuel. ● It will be very dark at night, so get some hurricane lamps too, plus their batteries. A camping stove (and spare canisters) could be handy – but NB, not all are safe for use indoors; and don’t forget matches. Outdoors, you could use your barbecue. ● Keep a box of enough dry or tinned food to last 72 hours – bearing in mind you may not be able to cook it. Nuts and dried fruit are good options; don’t forget treats such as chocolate, and drinks including bottled water, in case…

David Horowitz 1939-2025 David Horowitz, who has died aged 86, was a former Marxist firebrand who became one of Donald Trump’s more extreme cheerleaders, said The Washington Post. He wrote dozens of books, including 2017’s bestseller Big Agenda: President Trump’s Plan to Save America, and became a regular on Fox News, where he called Barack Obama an “evil man” who was “destroying our borders”. He was also a mentor to senior figures in the Trump administration, including Stephen Miller, the current homeland security adviser – a hardliner on immigration who has been described as a white nationalist. They met when Miller was still a high-school student, said The Daily Telegraph, and later joined forces to coordinate an “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” on college campuses. In 2012, Horowitz shared with Miller his…

The financial world will miss Warren Buffett’s “insightful” and “cheering” annual letters to shareholders, says Pilita Clark in the FT. Here is a sprinkling of his bon mots… ● “Investors can always buy toads at the going price for toads.” Beware overpaying for an asset in hopes it will turn into a prince, 1982. ● “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” 1989. ● “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.” 2002. ● “Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal.” 2002. ● “If a far-sighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favour by…

The week’s best shares Deutsche Telekom The Daily Telegraph The “digital telco” provides phone, IT, TV and digital connections – plus cloud computing and data centres – across Europe. Its US crown jewel is T-Mobile, with 130 million customers. A market leader with manageable debt. Buy. €32.35. Genus The Daily Telegraph The global genetics specialist, focused on producing healthier farm animals, is recovering from the collapse of pork prices in China. US demand for its gene-edited pig programme “could be strong”. Buy. £20. Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust The Daily Telegraph Orit invests in renewable generation assets, such as solar and wind. Power price fluctuations are mitigated by hedging and offset by subsidy revenues. De-risked via diversification across 18 countries. Yields 9%. Buy. 68p. Serco Group The Mail on Sunday The…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1465 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 26 May. Send it to The Week Crossword 1465, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6JR, or email the completed grid/listed solutions to crossword@theweek.co.uk. By Tim Moorey (timmoorey.com) This week’s winner will receive Week-branded items, as well as two Connell Guides (connellguides.com). ACROSS 1 England captain’s present for rummage (4,5) 6 Rested for a day (3) 8 Fantastic respect for Bond movie (7) 9 Feature of William? Big feet! (5) 10 Well established, like person at front of the queue (4-8) 12 Walk in US state strung out (6) 14 Sexy actress for president (6) 17 Agent’s daughter…