Home//The Week/V. 1250/In This Issue
The Week|V. 1250The main stories… …and how they were coveredWhat happenedBrexit in limboBoris Johnson this week won MPs’ backing in principle for the legislation implementing his Brexit deal. However, the Commons rejected the tight timetable for passing the law, thwarting the Prime Minister’s “do-or-die” pledge toleave the EU by 31 October. Johnson had suggested he might pull the plug on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) if MPs forced a further delay, but he instead announced that he was “pausing” the bill, while he waited to hear how long an extension the EU would grant. Anything but a short one, he said, would prompt him to drop the WAB and force an election.The PM had hoped to get the Commons to ratify his Brexit deal in a “meaningful vote” on Saturday. But that plan was derailed when MPs backed an…9 min
The Week|V. 1250Good week forPeople bored by Brexit, who now have their own dedicated news channel. Sky News Brexit-Free is to run from 5pm to 10pm on weekdays, on the broadcaster’s pay-TV platform.Londoners, with the news that the capital’s pollution charge has cut its toxic fumes by a third. Nitrogen dioxide and other pollutants have fallen sharply since the daily charges for older cars, raised to £12.50 this year, were introduced in 2017.Long-distance flying, after the first non-stop flight from New York to Sydney was successfully completed. A Qantas Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flew the longest ever scheduled commercial passenger flight, which took 19 hours and travelled 10,066 miles.…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Poll watchBoris Johnson has overtaken Jeremy Corbyn in terms of support among 18-to 24-year-olds. Asked who would make the best PM, 32% say Johnson and 29% Corbyn. 29% are unsure.YouGov/The Daily Telegraph50% of people in the UK think the country should now leave the EU, and 42% want it to remain. 30% think we should leave with a deal, and 20% are in favour of leaving without a deal.Channel 5/The Times72% of those aged 18 to 22 said they would fear being branded a “snowflake” if they took a sick day because of poor mental health. 63% of Britons do not realise there is no legal difference between a sick day taken for mental or physical issues.Milkround/The Times…1 min
The Week|V. 1250The world at a glanceJerusalemBibi concedes defeat: The Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has failed in his efforts to form a new coalition government following September’s inconclusive election. His political rival and former army chief, Benny Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White alliance, will be given 28 days to form a government. If he too fails, Israel could face its third general election in less than a year: Netanyahu had similarly failed to cobble together a workable coalition after a previous general election in April. Gantz, a political newcomer who has capitalised on pending corruption cases against Netanyahu, won one more seat than Likud in the recent poll but, like Netanyahu, he has no clear path to a parliamentary majority. Both are under intense pressure from the president to form a government of…3 min
The Week|V. 1250Viewpoint: Social justice“‘Justice,’ wrote Pascal, ‘is as much a matter of fashion as charm.’ Seldom have the demands of justice been so faddish: everything depends on whether the group to which people belong is in vogue. Tibetans are no longer à la mode, though the destruction of their civilisation by the Chinese state continues, and few consider the persecution of Christians in the Middle East worth mentioning. The Kurds are receiving attention, but it will surely not be long before they are re-forgotten. Being identified as a victim of injustice has become a kind of privilege, handed out to favoured groups according to the shifting diktats of progressive opinion.”…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Best articles: BritainFake news is better than censored newsNiall FergusonThe TimesAn odd thing happened last week, says Niall Ferguson. “Mark Zuckerberg gave a speech with which I mostly agreed.” Within legal limits, declared the Facebook boss, people should be able to say anything they want on his platform. At a time when so many seek to shrink the space of acceptable debate, how refreshing to hear it argued that free speech means tolerating not only “views we disagree with, but also views that are downright mendacious”. It’s for that reason that Facebook has a policy of not fact-checking political ads and has refused to take down a Trump campaign ad accusing ex-vice president Joe Biden of corrupt practices. Another Democratic presidential candidate, Elizabeth Warren, was so enraged she created a fake ad…4 min
The Week|V. 1250Catalonia: a “democratic tsunami” of protestIf you want to see a real “political emergency”, forget Brexit, and look to Catalonia, said George Kerevan in The National (Glasgow). Over the past two weeks, crowds half a million strong have been demonstrating, and clashing with police, on the streets of the regional capital, Barcelona, while daily protests “have brought the economy to a standstill”. The cause of this civil unrest is the Spanish supreme court’s decision last Monday tojail nine political leaders and activists for prison terms of between nine and 13 years – “for merely holding a peaceful referendum” on independence in October 2017. By last Tuesday evening, demonstrators had set light to barricades in the centre of Barcelona, and were hurling rocks at riot police, who returned fire with tear gas and rubber bullets. By…3 min
The Week|V. 1250What the scientists are saying…Slow walkers have slower brainsA slow walking pace in middle age could be a sign of accelerated ageing, scientists have found. Researchers analysed the walking speeds of more than 900 men and women from New Zealand, all of whom were 45 years old, and also gave them tests to determine their biological ages. Walking speeds – their maximum speed, and their average speed –proved to be remarkably accurate predictors of mental and physical health. In IQ tests, the slowest walkers averaged 16 points lower than the fastest; they typically had lower total brain volumes and cortical thickness; and their lungs, teeth and immune systems were less healthy. Furthermore, strangers who were shown pictures of their eyes, and asked to estimate their ages, assumed them to be older than their fleet-of-foot…3 min
The Week|V. 1250GossipMargaret Thatcher was a plain eater, happiest with a boiled egg – which caused problems when she lunched with the German chancellor Helmut Kohl in his home town, according to Charles Moore’s new biography (see page 29). Kohl arranged for his favourite dish – sow’s stomach – to be served, but the sight of the fatty meat horrified Thatcher. “She kept chasing it round her plate,” her private secretary Charles Powell reported. “She ended up trying to hide it under her fork.” Kohl then presented her with a bottle of what she later described as “filthy sweet wine” as a parting gift. “Oh Charles,” she exclaimed to Powell on the flight home, “that man is so German!” Michael Sheen (pictured) believes that his home town, Port Talbot, is a stopping-off…1 min
The Week|V. 1250A prince’s lament: too much self-pity?“It’s starting to feel like another annus horribilis for the monarchy,” said Camilla Tominey in The Daily Telegraph. First there were the shocking allegations made against Prince Andrew. Then the Queen was dragged into a constitutional crisis over Brexit. Now the Duke and duch*ess of Sussex “have given a television interview that feels on a par with Diana, Princess of Wales’s explosive sit-down with Panorama”. It seems from ITV’s film Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, that the couple are close to the edge. Meghan said that she was “existing not living” under the pressures of royal life. Harry, for his part, revealed that his mental health requires “constant management”, and that being in the media spotlight is an awful trial; he said he would “not be bullied into playing…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Rugby World Cup: England and Wales march on...It was “a defining moment for this England team”, said Mick Cleary in The Sunday Telegraph. Their 40-16 victory over Australia in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday proved they are more than capable of handling “the stress of the big occasion”. The demons of 2015, when England were knocked out ofthe tournament in the pool stage, have been “well and truly banished”. Their biggest test came early inthe second half, said Chris Foy in the Daily Mail. The Wallabies scored a try, narrowing the deficit to just one point. But England didn’t panic. They “held the line and rallied”, securing their “finest World Cup victory for a generation” – and a place against New Zealand in this Saturday’s semi-final.On paper, at least, Australia were the better side “by virtually…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Sporting headlinesRugby Union In the World Cup quarter-finals, South Africa beat Japan 26-3 to set up a semi-final against Wales.Football Manchester United drew 1-1 with Liverpool. Tottenham drew 1-1 with Watford. Manchester City beat Crystal Palace 2-0. Chelsea beat Newcastle 1-0.Cricket Rashid Khan, the Afghan spin bowler, was the first pick in the draft for The Hundred, the new competition that will begin next summer. Australian cricketers Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc were among the other players picked.…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Review of reviews: BooksBook of the weekMargaret Thatcher: Vol. III – Herself Aloneby Charles Moore Allen Lane 1,072pp £35The Week bookshop £28.99 (incl. p&p)The third and final volume of Charles Moore’s Margaret Thatcher biography tells “a story of triumph and tragedy”, said Daniel Finkelstein in The Times. It begins in June 1987, with Thatcher embarking on a third term in office; her free-market policies spreading round the world; and the Cold War about to end. But from this peak, “all was downhill”. Thatcher’s wish to free “city-dwellers from the dead hand of left-wing councils” led her to stubbornly cling to a policy – the poll tax – that was “clearly a political disaster”. She fell out with Nigel Lawson, her long-standing chancellor, and a year after he resigned, in 1989, Tory MPs voted…3 min
The Week|V. 1250Theatre: There Are No Beginnings★★★★There have been rumblings of late about the fragile finances of Britain’s regional theatres, said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. Artistically, however, they look in rude health. Whether it’s at Chichester, Manchester, Bristol, Northampton, Nottingham or Sheffield, “exceptional work is being routinely done”, and there’s an “abundance of shows” that are worth travelling to see. One such “highly recommended” production has just opened at the newly rebuilt and reopened Leeds Playhouse (which has reclaimed its original Leeds name after almost 30 years as the West Yorkshire Playhouse). Deep in the bowels of the new building, the architects have cleverly carved out a snug but airy, brick-walled studio space – the uncompromisingly named Bramall Rock Void. There, the “reborn” Playhouse is presenting its inaugural in-house production – a piece which…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Where to buy…Ben Turnbullat Bermondsey Project SpaceLondon-based Ben Turnbull (b.1974) is an artist simultaneously fascinated and revolted by American culture. The lively, large scale collages in American History X, Volume III initially appear to be straightforwardly cartoonish, poppy depictions of the US’s most prominent historical figures and cultural icons (a skewed Stars and Stripes, a cigar chomping GI and, yes, Donald Trump), but on closer inspection they turn out to be composed of thousands of illustrations and speech bubbles cut from magazines, cowboy stories and comic books. The intention behind this repurposing of banal, kitschy imagery, one senses, is to demonstrate some of the heroic falsehoods behind the US’s founding myths: titles like How The West Was Won, It’s A Lie But It’s Made To Sound Like Fun do not leave much…1 min
The Week|V. 1250The Week’s guide to what’s worth seeing and readingShowing nowPre-Raphaelite Sisters at the National Portrait Gallery, London WC2 (npg.org.uk). A “riveting” exhibition telling the story of the women behind the movement (London Evening Standard). Ends 26 January.Book nowTwo new Chekhov adaptations are opening in London. Inua Ellams relocates Three Sisters to 1960s Nigeria. 3 December-19 February, National Theatre, SE1 (nationaltheatre.org.uk); Conor McPherson’s Uncle Vanya stars Toby Jones. From 14 January, Harold Pinter Theatre, SW1 (haroldpintertheatre.co.uk).The RSC’s big winter show is Mark Ravenhill’s musical adaptation of David Walliams’ children’s bestseller The Boy in the Dress, with new songs by Robbie Williams. 8 November-8 March, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (rsc.org.uk).There are numerous reasons to visit Margate this year: the Turner Prize at Turner Contemporary (turnercontemporary.org), the recently reopened Margate Caves (margatecaves.co.uk) and Margate Bookie, a literary festival, which has talks…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Striking town housesLondon: Commercial Way, Peckham. A Grade II detached Georgian house with many period features, from the trellised loggia and cast-iron balcony, to the sash windows, architraves and cornices. Accommodation runs to four floors, and the house also benefits from a large south-facing garden. The property has been in the same family for several decades and was originally bought from the Church. Master bed, 2 further beds, family bath, lower ground floor kitchen/dining room and recep, 1 further recep, office, storage, front and rear gardens. £1.195m; Munday’s (020-3318 8900).London: Crofton Road, Camberwell SE5. A high spec modern and contemporary house, maximising space and light, with stunning city views. Crofton Road is perfectly situated to access the many restaurants, cafés and boutiques of Bellenden Road, Peckham Rye and Camberwell and is within…3 min
The Week|V. 1250Wine choiceGreat pinot can be famously pricey, says Fiona Beckett in The Guardian. But there are plenty of excellent value wines to root out, especially from less high-profile pinot-producing countries such as Romania, Germany and Chile.Try, for example Waitrose’s dark-fruited Romanian Pinot Noir at just £5.99, or the lush, full-bodied Cono Sur 20 Barrels (£16; Tesco). Walt Pinot Noir 2017 (£9.99; Simply Wines Direct) is a “deep, plummy pinot from, of all places, Germany” (which produces some terrific pinot). Try with duck or pheasant. Domaine Denis Carré Hautes Côtes de Beaune 2017 (£21.50; Berry Bros & Rudd) is inexpensive (for burgundy), “silky, sexy and delicious”.Morrison Chilean Pinot Noir 2017/18 (£8.50) has “bright, sweet raspberry notes”; try with brie. And I was “utterly blown away” by New Zealand’s Prophet’s Rock Home Vineyard…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Tips of the week… how to use up your food scraps● Egg shells are especially high in calcium, and while they might not seem appetising, they’re easy to add to food. First, to get rid of the risk of salmonella, soak them in boiling water, or roast them. Then just crush them into a powder and add to any meal.● Watermelon seeds are a great source of protein and vitamin D. To make them into a snack, add spices and put them in the oven for ten minutes.● The outer leaves of green vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts or cauliflower are perfectly edible and high in vitamins. You can eat them roasted, in a stir fry, or even raw. Just be sure to wash them well first.● The peel of citrus fruit often contains more vitamins and fibre than the…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Hotel of the weekLundies House SutherlandOccupying a former manse in the village of Tongue on Scotland’s north coast, this newly opened guest house is a great retreat for outdoorsy types and “dreamers” alike, says Steve King in Condé Nast Traveller. Danish owners Anne and Anders Holch Povlsen – well known for their plans to “rewild” huge tracts of the Highlands – have created “Scandi-Scot” interiors that feel “rustic” but “sumptuous”, with “museum-quality” furniture and collectable art. Food is “scoffable”, locally sourced and includes plenty of “foraged exotica”, and activities such as cycling, sailing and stalking (from the Povlsen’s Kinloch Lodge, nearby) are all easily arranged.Doubles from £400. wildland.scot…1 min
The Week|V. 1250ObituariesCritic who defended the primacy of the Western canonHarold Bloom 1930-2019Harold Bloom, who has died aged 89, was a colossus of American letters, said The Daily Telegraph, regarded by some asthe greatest literary critic in the English-speaking world, “and by others as a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary –an ‘Eeyore of Academia’, with nothing new to say”. Either way, he was “impossible to ignore”. He claimed, not unreasonably, to be the best read man in America – he was said to be able to read and absorb a 400-page book in an hour, and he re-read The Pickwick Papers twice a year for fun. From his elevated perch at Yale, he lectured on“Kafka, Dostoevsky, Proust or Cervantes, quoting huge chunks off the cuff and discovering numerous hitherto unimagined connections between them”.Equipped with a…5 min
The Week|V. 1250Boeing: crash investigation uncovers “smoking gun”The Boeing board met in Texas this week amid “renewed heat” over the 737 Max affair, said The New York Times. The plane-maker has been navigating the fall-out from two fatal crashes – one in Indonesia in 2018, the other in Ethiopia this year – which were found to be at least partially caused by the jet’s automated flight system. It has now transpired that a pilot “warned about trouble” while the plane was still being tested in 2016. “Granted, I suck at flying,” Mark Forkner, the company’s then-chief technical pilot, texted a colleague – but “this was egregious”; he added that the aircraft’s anti-stall system was “running rampant” in flight simulator sessions. But the problems were never raised and the US Federal Aviation Administration cleared the 737 Max for…1 min
The Week|V. 1250When to sellThe investment industry puts huge effort into encouraging you to buy funds – but rather less into telling you when to sell, said Mark Atherton in The Times. Here are some warning signs that it may be time to get out…Too many mistakes Every fund manager is entitled to make a few, says Justin Modray of Candid Financial Advice. But watch out for “a worrying trend”. Alarm bells should have rung when Woodford’s fund suffered a series of setbacks, as holdings in Purplebricks, Provident Financial and AA crumbled.A surge in redemptions An exodus of money can really damage a fund, said Brian Dennehy of Fundexpert. “Woodford was forced to sell his most liquid holdings to meet redemptions, increasing the proportion of unquoted holdings. It became a vicious circle.”Failure to stick…1 min
The Week|V. 1250PoliticsControversy of the weekA decent deal?Boris Johnson came to power because many people thought he’d drive a harder, better bargain with the EU over Brexit than Theresa May, said Tim Shipman in The Sunday Times – and that he would sell it much more effectively to MPs. He has not disappointed. Faced with the obstacle of the dreaded Irish “backstop”, which would have kept Northern Ireland in the customs union in the absence of a comprehensive border agreement, Johnson picked up a new idea: creating an EU customs partnership just for Northern Ireland, as long as the devolved assembly in Stormont gave its democratic consent. He also appointed the diplomat David Frost as the new Brexit “sherpa”. European officials found Frost’s approach “a blast of fresh air”. “We spent three…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Bad week forBritain’s apple farmers, who have been forced to leave more than 16 million apples rotting in orchards as EU fruit-pickers stay away. A weakening pound and confusion over visa regulations have been blamed for a 16% shortfall in the seasonal workforce.Las Vegas weddings, after one of its most famous venues, A Little White Wedding Chapel, failed to find a buyer after six months on the market. The city has been struck by a “love recession” in recent years, with nuptials falling from 128,238 in 2004 to 74,534 in 2018.Millennials, who are the first generation since the Second World War to be poorer than their predecessors. A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that people born in the early 1980s had an average median income of £27,884 by their…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Europe at a glanceRuinerwold, Netherlands“Cult” captives released: Dutch police have arrested the 67-year-old father of a family of six held captive for nearly a decade in a farmhouse in the village of Ruinerwold. Gerrit Jan van Dorsten (pictured) is alleged to have formed his own cult, and to have forced his children, aged between 18 and 25, to stay inside the house as they awaited “the end of time”. Police discovered five of the children and their father in a secret basem*nt after the sixth escaped and raised the alarm. The tenant of the farm, an Austrian named Josef Brunner, has also been arrested. Both are thought to be ex-members of the Unification Church, popularly known as the “Moonies”.The Hague, NetherlandsMost-wanted list: The EU’s crime agency, Europol, has published a list of its…4 min
The Week|V. 1250PeopleAtwood on her childhoodMargaret Atwood was born just after the start of the Second World War, and the bleakness of that era shaped her world view, says Horatia Harrod in the Financial Times. “There’s an atmosphere that children pick up. People were very worried. I remember cities in the winter, the blackouts, the radio: ‘This is London calling North America.’ In my juvenile writing, wars featured very largely.” Her concern for the environment was born of summers spent in the Canadian backwoods, where her father – an entomologist – had a research station. “There was no electricity, no running water, no people... the big fears in those environments were forest fires, thunderstorms, bears and drowning.” Yet she has no time for critics who want to explore the psychological roots of…3 min
The Week|V. 1250Shooting pheasantsWhat sort of numbers are involved?Every year, at least 35 million pheasants – and possibly up to 50 million – are released into the countryside; and around 15 million are shot. These game birds, hatched and reared in conditions comparable to those of free-range chickens, have a biomass greater than that of the combined wild bird species in the UK, according to a2018 study. “No bird has had a greater impact on the English landscape,” write the naturalists Mark co*cker and Richard Mabey in Birds Britannica. Love of shooting shapes the management practices of many landowners, and the season, which runs from 1 October to 1 February, sustains an industry worth hundreds of millions of pounds.Where do pheasants come from?Originally, from Asia. Phasianus colchicus is named after the River Phasis…5 min
The Week|V. 1250IT MUST BE TRUE… I read it in the tabloidsA mortuary in Cleveland, Ohio is offering bereaved families a new type of memento: their loved one’s tattoos, presented as a parchment-like artwork. The Save My Ink Forever service involves the surgical removal of skin, which is then sent to a laboratory for preservation before being mounted and framed. “With the art in tattoos and how much they mean to people, why not keep them after they die?” said Kyle Sherwood, who developed the idea with his father Michael. “We are helping families and fulfilling their last wishes – we are not trying to create a freak show.”The Vatican has launched an interactive rosary bracelet with a crucifix interface to help tech-savvy worshippers. The Click To Pray eRosary is activated when the user makes the sign of the cross, syncing…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Best articles: InternationalUNITED STATESTrump’s hypocritical cry of nepotismCNN (Atlanta)Truly, Donald Trump knows no shame, says Jill Filipovic. To deflect attention from the impeachment inquiry against him, the president has been noisily denouncing Hunter Biden, accusing him of trading on the name of his father, the former vice-president Joe Biden. This is “stunningly hypocritical” given the behaviour of his own family. “The Trump clan has gone far beyond even normal self-dealing – that is, you get rich after you leave office – and are explicitly profiting during his presidency.” Eric and Donald Jr are actively promoting the Trump business overseas in countries such as Turkey, the Philippines, India, Indonesia and Uruguay. Ivanka Trump dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping and her father at Mar-a-Lago in April 2017 on the same day that China…3 min
The Week|V. 1250Humpbacks use flippers to herd preyHumpback whales are known for their cunning hunting techniques – notably using their blowholes to cast “nets” of bubbles around their prey, and so corral them. Now, a study has revealed that some whales have added a further refinement: once they’ve encircled prey in a bubble net, they use their exceptionally long pectoral fins (flippers) to herd the fish together, before lunging at them with their cavernous mouths. (Humpacks are filter feeders, who fill their mouths with prey-laden water.) The discovery was made by researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who had used aerial cameras attached to drones to film humpbacks feasting on juvenile salmon, which are released from hatcheries in southeast Alaska every spring.Writing in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the team suggests the whales have developed…1 min
The Week|V. 1250The climate warriors: losing goodwill?You have to take your hat off to Extinction Rebellion (XR), said Catherine Bennett in The Observer. Considering how little time it has been around, this loose collection of what the Prime Minister described as “uncooperative crusties” has achieved a lot. The group has “persuaded a previous government to declare a climate emergency, changed the national conversation and initiated policy change”. And it has done all this while keeping the public largely on side – or at least it had until now. But the group’s targeting of blue-collar workers at Canning Town Tube station in East London last week severely depleted the stock of goodwill. Some demonstrators climbed on top of a train during rush hour, causing chaos. Footage of the ensuing scene, “showing the climate protesters looking, literally de…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Gandhi: cast as a racist villainCould there ever be a less offensive proposal, asked Tom Slater in The Spectator, than Manchester’s city council’s decision to erect a 9ft statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside its cathedral? Howbetter to promote peace in thewake of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack than by commemorating the apostle of non-violence on the 150th anniversary of his birth. No one, you’d think, could object to that. You’d be wrong. The Gandhi Must Fall campaign, promoted by Manchester University’s student union “liberation and access officer”, opposes the plan on the grounds that Gandhi made racist comments about Africans. So the students are claiming the moral high ground over a man who led amovement that gave birth to the world’s biggest democracy. It’s as hilarious as it is tragic.But Gandhi’s record in South Africa,…2 min
The Week|V. 1250...but Ireland go homeTo think that Ireland were once considered rivals to New Zealand’s crown, said Peter O’Reilly in The Sunday Times. They had beaten the All Blacks twice in three years, most recently last autumn. But the two sides’ reunion, in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, was no “contest of equals”. The All Blacks were “merciless”, scoring seven tries en route to winning 46-14. Nothing worked for the Irish: all their moves were “mistimed or misconceived”. Even the things they’re meant to do best – building territorial pressure, holding onto the ball – went awry. Joe Schmidt, the head coach, was hoping for a fairy-tale end to his Ireland career, said Daniel Schofield in The Sunday Telegraph. Instead, he bowed out with this uncharacteristic performance, in which “the most clinical and…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Pick of the week’s correspondenceBoris’s false boastTo The Independent“Boris’s deal” reminds me of “Boris bikes”. For they too were imagined, proposed, planned and developed by his immediate predecessor, only for Johnson to take credit for them within a few weeks of assuming office. There are even many who still believe the original scheme would have been significantly better. I searched for a word for “one who takes credit for the work ofothers”. Aside from “plagiarist”, I was offered “fraud, charlatan and impostor”.Simon Hinks, BrightonHarry should clam up...To The TimesI understand why Prince Harry is suffering mental torment in his attempts to shield his wife and son from media coverage he considers false and malicious, but starring in a lengthy television documentary to voice his anguish can only attract the very attention that is causing…4 min
The Week|V. 1250Novel of the weekGirl, Woman, Otherby Bernardine EvaristoHamish Hamilton 464pp £16.99The Week bookshop £13.99Bernardine Evaristo took up writing after becoming “frustrated by how few black women were depicted in British fiction”, said Johanna Thomas-Corr in The Sunday Times. Last week, the 60-year-old writer (pictured) became the first black woman to be awarded the Booker Prize (winning it jointly with Margaret Atwood) for this “triumphantly wide-ranging” novel about the “struggles, longings, conflicts and betrayals of 12 (mostly) black women”. A “big, bold, sexy book that cracks open aworld that needs to be known”, it richly deserved the award. With acast-list that includes a lesbian radical playwright, a mixed race orphan and gender-neutral social media influencer, Girl, Woman, Other admittedly sounds like “some sort of ‘woke’ nightmare”, said Siobhan Murphy in The Times. Yet it…1 min
The Week|V. 1250FilmOfficial SecretsDir: Gavin Hood 1hr 52mins (15)Tense fact-based thriller with Keira Knightley★★★This “pacy, palm-clammying” thriller takes us back to a time, not so long ago, when a Western government telling lies “still counted as a major scandal”, said Phil de Semlyen in Time Out. An “on-form” Keira Knightley plays Katharine Gun, the GCHQ whistle-blower who, early in 2003, received an email from the US security services that asked her to help blackmail the UN into endorsing the invasion of Iraq. She was so outraged, she printed out the email and posted it to The Observer. Gavin Hood’s “polished” if rather “colourless” film boasts a “raft of great British character actors”, from Rhys Ifans as a shouty reporter to Ralph Fiennes as Gun’s barrister, said Ian Freer in Empire. But its…4 min
The Week|V. 1250A false dawn for artThe dawn chorus is a wonder of the natural world you seldom get to hear in the city. But from 31 October, says The Independent, you’ll be able to hear something very like it in central London. In an installation at Somerset House, the artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg has created a ten-minute version featuring the songs of chiffchaffs, goldfinches, wood pigeons and other species. But the birds’ warbling is not all it seems: it is interspersed with synthetic birdsong created by the scientists from an AI company that helped with the project – birdsong that sounds eerily like the real thing. The aim is to highlight the way noise and light pollution is distorting the repertoire of Britain’s birds, forcing them to sing louder and higher, disrupting mating patterns and…1 min
The Week|V. 1250The Archers: what happened last weekElizabeth shows Ruairi photos of Siobhan and tells him how brave his mother was during her last weeks at Lower Loxley. They agree to retrace Siobhan’s favourite walk. The Grundys keep busy after Joe’s death. Clarrie’s shocked to see Susan arrive with flowers. The two of them apologise to each other. Clarrie has her best friend back and claims Joe had a hand in it. Eddie puts off calling Alf. Emma brings round cards from the children. Ed tells her that Joe thought she was one in a million. Things become awkward when Keira says she liked it when Ed came home at night. Emma hurries away. Elizabeth tells Brian about her afternoon with Ruairi. Brian broaches the subject with Jennifer, and the two of them chat to Ruairi. Jennifer…1 min
The Week|V. 1250ConsumerNew cars: what the critics sayThe IndependentThere was a time when Volvo buyers were proud that their car would last them 20 years. The new models still could – but they won’t. Technology is simply moving too fast for that to be plausible. So what fate awaits the nation’s vast fleet of SUVs, now that cars are going green? Volvo has decided that its best hope of lengthening the XC90’s shelf-life lies with the “mild hybrid” B5 version.The Daily TelegraphThe new system consists of a small electric motor and battery to aid the diesel engine and reduce emissions. The electric assistance in the mild hybrid (plug-in hybrid and petrol engine models are also available) comes in delightfully “unnoticed”, with an exceptionally smooth stop-start. The air suspension is also excellent, and…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Where to find… the most scenic park runsThe nature reserve around Holkham Hall in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, has salt marsh, pine woodland and beaches. The hall is owned by the 8th Earl of Leicester, who joins the park run each Saturday.England’s only “mountain forest”, Whinlatter Forest Park in Keswick, Cumbria, is a World Heritage Site. Come prepared for a tough and hilly trail, though.The world’s first all-sand beach park run, Northern Ireland’s East Strand Beach route heads from the resort town of Portrush down a golden beach popular with surfers.The dramatic medieval ruins of Fountains Abbey in Ripon, Yorkshire (another World Heritage Site) make for a beautiful run in a mysterious landscape, with intricate bridges and Studley Royal Water Garden.In the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Mole Valley park run is a one-lap route through…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Getting the flavour of…Walking in tiger countryIt sees fairly few foreign visitors, but India’s Jim Corbett National Park is justly famed for its “amazing” birds and its burgeoning population of tigers, says Harriet O’Brien in The Daily Telegraph. Located in the foothills of the Himalayas, a seven-hour drive north of Delhi, it was named after the early 20th century conservationist, author and hunter who lived nearby, and whose Raj-era heyday is conjured by the “wonderfully shabby-chic” hotel at its heart, Jim’s Jungle Retreat. From there, guests strike out on “exhilarating” 4x4 safaris and village visits. Still more “magical”, however, is Vanghat Lodge, a low-key “eco-haven” you can reach only on foot. Guided walks in its environs yield rich wildlife sightings; there are many birds, of course, and also the possibility of tigers. Greaves…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Companies in the news ...and how they were assessedWeWork: $39bn discountBack in January, WeWork’s largest backer, SoftBank, valued the office space company at $47bn. What a difference ten months makes, said James Cook and Michael O’Dwyer in The Daily Telegraph. Around $39bn, in fact. After being forced to pull its flotation, the once red-hot property group desperately needed a financial lifeline, and has now accepted a “rescue proposal” from SoftBank valuing it at just $8bn. The $10bn refinancing deal was one of two WeWork considered. But a rival debt package offered by JPMorgan faced “headwinds” because the Wall Street bank wasn’t underwriting the debt itself. Even though SoftBank already owns about a third of the “embattled” company, the bailout is humbling for WeWork, said CNBC. The deal will hand the Japanese conglomerate, led by billionaire Masayoshi Son, up…3 min
The Week|V. 1250CommentatorsLet’s end the guessing game at the BankAlex BrummerDaily Mail“The choice of the next governor of the Bank of England has become the City’s longest soap opera,” says Alex Brummer. Time to end it. Mark Carney’s term comes to an end on 31 January next year, and we were promised an appointment in the autumn to ensure “a smooth transition which leaves markets untroubled”. The longer the Chancellor, Sajid Javid, drags the decision out, the less likely that becomes. The choice, it is true, “has never been more critical”, given the “volatility around Brexit” and “the need for a stable counter-force to Westminster in the Square Mile”. But though the search for “a rock star appointment” with international status, is “understandable” – it isn’t “essential”. Britain runs a close second…3 min
The Week|V. 1250Issue of the week: has Libra had it?“Facebook’s uphill struggle with its cryptocurrency, Libra, just got a little steeper,” said Shona Ghosh on BusinessInsider. At a conference last week, JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon “dinged” the currency, calling it “a neat idea that will never happen”. Dimon, of course, has long been a digicurrency sceptic, famously dismissing bitcoin as “a fraud”. He also has skin in the game: in February, JPMorgan became the first US bank to launch its own cryptocurrency. Still, it was hardly the best start to Mark Zuckerberg’s efforts to persuade US lawmakers of the project’s benefits. All the more so, given a severely critical report from the G7 about the systemic financial risks that Libra could pose – and a warning from the chief executive of ING that banks may cut ties with…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Who’s tipping whatThe week’s best sharesAggrekoThe Motley FoolThe Glasgow-based supplier of temporary power generators, chillers and air conditioners has a $200m deal to power the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and earnings are forecast to rise by a quarter next year. Buy. 782p.Ashmore GroupThe TimesThis emerging markets investment specialist has an excellent track record and is careful to avoid over-exposure. The chief caveat, though, is that it is “only for those in it for the longer term”. Buy. 490p.British American TobaccoThe TimesE-cigarettes and vaping are controversial, but could yet prove a “momentous opportunity” for the tobacco giant, which aims to generate £5bn from this market by 2022-23. Shares are “a smoking hot bargain”. Buy. £26.93.PayPointThe Mail on SundayThe payments service – a “Neil Woodford favourite” – has had “a tough few months”; nonetheless,…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Spirit of the ageThe average congregation at a Sunday service in an Anglican church numbered just 27 people last year, according to figures from the Church of England (C of E). However, Church leaders claimed that Anglicanism was booming online; C of E prayer apps have been used more than five million times during the last year, and its prayers and sermons receive 3.6 million clicks every month.Channel 4 is set to screen a new reality show next year in which contestants pitch their plastic surgery “dreams” to a jury of 12. If three-quarters of the jurors approve the plans, the procedures are given for free. The Surjury, to be hosted by Love Island’s Caroline Flack, aims to allow people “to explore their choices more thoroughly”.…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Abortion decriminalisedAbortion within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy became legal in Northern Ireland at midnight on Monday, following a chaotic day in Stormont. Westminster MPs had amended a bill in the summer to end the outright ban in Northern Ireland (previously applied in almost all circ*mstances, including rape and incest), and to introduce same-sex marriage, which will become legal in January. Opponents of abortion, led by the DUP, tried to recall Northern Ireland’s Assembly, which has been suspended since 2017, but were unable to block the legislation as other parties walked out. The UK Government will now assume responsibility for providing terminations locally by April 2020, until which time women will be offered free transport to abortion services in England.…1 min
The Week|V. 1250The world at a glanceNew YorkClosing Rikers Island: New York’s city council has voted to close down the notorious Rikers Island prison, one of the world’s largest penal facilities and a byword for violence and neglect. Under the $8.7bn plan, approved last week, the sprawling complex of ten jails, on an island in the East River between the boroughs of Queens and the Bronx, will be shut by 2026, to be replaced by four smaller jails located closer to the city’s main courthouses. “Rikers Island is a symbol of brutality and inhumanity,” said thecity council speaker Corey Johnson. “As a city we must do everything we can to move away from the failed policies ofmass incarceration.” The movement to close Rikers gained steam following the death ofKalief Browder, a remand prisoner who killed himself…4 min
The Week|V. 1250Castaway of the week1 Loch Lomond, written and performed by Sir Harry Lauder2 Scarlet Ribbons by Evelyn Danzig and Jack Segal, performed by Harry Belafonte3 Ride a White Swan by Marc Bolan, performed by T. Rex4* Solsbury Hill, written and performed by Peter Gabriel5 The Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra6 Piano Concerto Number 2 in G Minor, Second Movement by Camille Saint-Saëns, performed by Stephen Hough and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra7 I Shot The Sheriff by Bob Marley, performed byBob Marley and The Wailers8 Soave sia il vento – Così Fan Tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by Renée Fleming, Anne Sofie von Otter and Michele Pertusi, and the Chamber Orchestra Of EuropeBook: The Oxford Book of English Short StoriesLuxury: selection of seeds…1 min
The Week|V. 1250The rise and fall of the poacherThe raising of game has had a surprisingly big impact on British social history. The game laws – developed out of the Norman forest laws – decreed that only large landowners had the right to pursue and kill game: rabbits, hares, partridges etc. The aristocracy upheld its feudal “game privilege”, with all its ferocious penalties, well into the 19th century. In his classic history of the subject, The Long Affray, Harry Hopkins compares it to a low-level civil war: keepers easily outnumbered the police; their woods were mined with mantraps. There were hundreds of fatalities, and thousands of casualties. Those convicted of poaching were often transported or condemned to penal servitude.Until the mid-19th century, only 0.5% of the population was entitled to hold a game licence. So the man who…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Best articles: EuropeSWEDENAn ignoble taste in literaturePolitico (Brussels)It’s “shocking” that this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature was handed to “an apologist for genocide”, says Edi Rama. The Austrian author Peter Handke is a long-standing supporter of Slobodan Miloševic; he applauded the late Serbian leader’s “genocidal” campaigns in the Yugoslav wars and delivered a eulogy at his funeral. Handke presents the atrocities committed byMiloševic’s regime as Western allegations, rather than “iron-clad” facts. He ignores Serbia’s state-sponsored genocide, and even credits Miloševic with making a peace that was in fact forced on him. Defenders say Handke’s political beliefs should be ignored, and we should just focus on his work. But his political pamphlets are “calls to hate”, and even his literary works show great ethical blindness, depicting the Serbs “as ordinary, empty-pocketed, innocent souls”.…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Tunisia: a remarkable experiment in democracy“Tunisia has come along way from the days of the Jasmine Revolution,” said the Khaleej Times (Dubai). When a young fruit seller named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in 2010 in protest at mistreatment by local officials, it sparked an uprising that toppled the dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and triggered a wider revolt across North Africa and the Middle East. Since then, the other countries involved in the so-called Arab Spring have succumbed to either civil war (Libya, Syria, Yemen) or renewed authoritarianism (Egypt). But Tunisia has “stuck with” democracy, even in the face of terrorist attacks and economic stagnation. Last week, its people exercised their power once again by electing a 61-year-old law professor, Kais Saied, as their new president.Saied is “unlike any other aspiring leader…2 min
The Week|V. 1250The carrier bag conundrumToday, plastic bags are considered a major environmental menace. But the bags were invented to save the planet. A Swedish engineer named Sten Gustaf Thulin developed them in the 1950s as a green alternative to paper bags, which required trees to be chopped down. They were strong and light – and he figured people would use them again and again. “To my dad, the idea that people would simply throw these away would be bizarre,” his son Raoul told the BBC. It didn’t work out that way: half a century on, a trillion of the bags are produced each year, and they cause so many problems, several countries have banned them – but there are still no perfect alternatives: paper uses so much energy and water to produce and transport,…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Blocking access to p*rn: a plan that failed“The end came not with a bang, but with a written statement,” said Rowland Manthorpe on Sky News. Last week, Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, quietly announced that the Government had abandoned its proposal to require users of online p*rnography to prove they’re 18. Under its “p*rn block”, commercial p*rn sites would have been obliged to require all UK-based users to complete an age-verification process – either online, by supplying documentation such as passport or credit card details, or by purchasing “p*rn passes” from newsagents, which could then be used to access the sites. No one who’d followed the proposal was “remotely surprised” by the decision: the much-delayed plan was never “coherent”. Morgan said its “objectives” would instead be delivered by new regulation…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Murray’s most impressive triumphIn April, Andy Murray stepped out of his car, entered a sports club near his Surrey home, and hit a tennis ball against a wall, said Stuart Fraser in The Times. It was the first time he had practised his forehand and backhand since undergoing a hip operation earlier this year, and he didn’t know if he would ever play again without pain. Now, just six months later, the Scot has won an ATP singles title – the 46th, and undoubtedly the most impressive, of his career. On Sunday, in an “enthralling” European Open final, he came back from a set down to beat Stan Wawrinka. Murray has had to dig deep many times before – but coming back from hip surgery is “the deepest hole he has ever emerged…1 min
The Week|V. 1250A dire deal for Northern Ireland?To The TimesYour leading article treats the objections of the Democratic Unionist Party to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal as if they are only a matter of whether the Prime Minister can secure enough votes in the House of Commons.I am afraid they go much wider than that. They represent real fears among Unionism that this is the beginning of a slippery slope to a united Ireland. The creation of a hard border with the rest of the UK imperils their identity as British citizens. And the changes in the principle of cross-community agreement at Stormont to accept a simple majority in this case threaten the very basis of power-sharing enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement. It is essential to remember there are two communities in Northern Ireland and we have…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Theatre: Lungs★★★★Duncan Macmillan’s “potent, prescient but not wholly persuasive” two-hander about love, reproduction and the future of the planet was first staged in 2011, said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. And for this “slick” restaging at the Old Vic, director Matthew Warchus has managed to secure “acting royalty”. Literally. Claire Foy (as the Queen) and Matt Smith (Prince Philip) were the “glittering jewels” at the centre of the first two series of Netflix smash The Crown. Now the pair of them are “granting us an audience” in the theatre – this time playing a thoroughly modern young couple who can’t decide whether they should breed, given the impending climate catastrophe. The carbon footprint of a new human is an estimated 10,000 tonnes of CO2, exclaims Foy’s character: “I’d be giving…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Exhibition of the week George Stubbs: “all done from Nature”The 18th century artist George Stubbs will forever be associated with his paintings of horses, said Rachel Campbell Johnston in The Times. His talent for capturing them was unparalleled: he painted his most famous work, a life-sized likeness of the champion racehorse Whistlejacket, with such “attentive skill” that, according to legend, when the real horse was led past the picture by a stable hand, it“reared up to attack what it thought was a rival stallion”. Yet Stubbs was no one-trick pony. In fact, he was an unflinchingly precise painter of humans and dozens of other animal species, with an expertise rooted in detailed anatomical observation. Rejecting the dramatic history painting fashionable at the time, hegrounded his work in rigorous scientific study, believing that knowledge could be “pictorially expressed”. This new…2 min
The Week|V. 1250The ListBest books… John HumphrysThe veteran broadcaster, who retired from the Today programme after 32 years last month, picks his favourite novels. He is talking about his memoir, A Day Like Today, at the Stratford Literary Festival Winter Weekend, on Saturday 2 November (stratlitfest.co.uk)Predictable, perhaps, but my list must start with To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 1960 (Arrow £7.99). It passes one crucial test: it appeals to children as well as adults. There are two heroes: the young Scout and her father Atticus, a lawyer who defends a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Their overpowering sense of what is right shines through the pages.A young girl is also at the heart of Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, 2005 (Black Swan £8.99), which is set in…2 min
The Week|V. 1250TelevisionProgrammesWestwood: Punk – Icon – Activist A look at the life and career of Vivienne Westwood, the artist and punk who became the doyenne of British fashion. Sat 26 Oct, BBC2 21:00 (80mins).For Sama An extraordinary, harrowing documentary, filmed over five years by Waad al-Kateab – a Syrian woman living in Aleppo. She documents falling in love, getting married and giving birth, all while bombs fall around her. Sat 26 Oct, C4 21:00 (105mins).Pose Ryan Murphy’s stylish drama about ballroom culture in 1980s New York returns for a second season. Sat 26 Oct, BBC2 22:20 (110mins).Seven Worlds, One Planet David Attenborough’s latest blockbuster nature series explores the differing wildlife and landscapes of the world’s seven continents. Sun 27 Oct, BBC1 18:15 (60mins).Inside Lehman Brothers Documentary about the whistle-blowers who exposed…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Recipe of the weekThis creamy, cardamom-scented carrot pudding is widely enjoyed during the Hindu festival of Diwali, which falls this weekend. And it is also a popular sweet among India’s Jewish community at Passover, says Leah Koenig.Carrot halwaServes 6-8 85g unsalted butter, cut into chunks 455g of carrots, grated on the large holes of a box grater ¼ tsp kosher salt 710ml milk 100g sugar 45g golden raisins (sultanas) ½ tsp ground cardamom ½ tsp ground cinnamon, plus more for serving finely chopped pistachios and toasted coconut, for topping• In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots start to soften. About 5 minutes.• Add the milk, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.• Reduce the heat…1 min
The Week|V. 1250The best… children’s craft kitsNeo Memphis Colour-in cap This cap has a fun 1980s-style black and white pattern that children can colour in with fabric pens. You might want to keep an eye on them if they’re using these permanent markers at home, though (£19.50; notonthe highstreet.com).Sew & Glow Kit With this “ingenious” kit, children can learn about electronics while making their own light-up badges and accessories using coloured felt, a little bit of circuitry and conductive electro-thread. It’s suitable for children aged eight and above (£20; techwillsaveus.com).Paint-Your-Own Dinosaur Money Box For younger children, this simple paint-your-own money box with six paint colours is rewarding and fun. You can also get the boxes in a range of other shapes, from butterflies to tractors (£2.50; hobbycraft.co.uk).Press-Out Paper Village Pleasingly old-fashioned, this book lets children aged…1 min
The Week|V. 1250This week’s dream: a subarctic Eden in Russia’s Far EastThe length of California but with less than 1% of its population, Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula is a subarctic Eden – “a distant otherworld of majestic, magnetic wilderness”, say Eva Sohlman and Neil MacFarquhar in The New York Times. Pointing down from the northeast ofSiberia towards Japan, it is the only landmass to sit directly over the “grinding tectonic forces” of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, and has around 300 volcanoes, of which 30 are still active. In late summer, its rivers run red with a “crush” of salmon, and an estimated 20,000 brown bears roam its forests. Mining, poaching and tourist development all threaten its delicate environment, but for now it is largely pristine, a natural playground offering endless trekking, climbing, fishing, rafting, surfing and heli-skiing to adventurous visitors.The…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Seven days in the Square MileAs news of the UK’s deal with the EU broke last week, the pound jumped – and so, by her own admission, did the new head of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva. Both the IMF and the World Bank had identified a no-deal Brexit as one of the key factors that could turn a slowdown in the global economy into full-blown recession. The Government’s subsequent setbacks in Parliament saw sterling edge back from a six-month high above $1.30, steadying at $1.28 mid-week.The Chinese economy grew at its weakest rate in almost three decades in the third quarter as the trade war with the US, and weakening domestic demand, hit home: GDP expanded by 6%, down from 6.2% in the previous quarter. Local governments are reportedly facing increasing strains as tax cuts,…1 min
The Week|V. 1250City profilesChristine LagardeOne Halloween deadline likely to be met is the changing of the guard at the European Central Bank. But the former IMF boss Christine Lagarde will need all her celebrated political savvy to deal with “an unprecedented revolt” in the ranks, said Bloomberg. Appointed in July – as the continuity candidate to succeed Mario Draghi – Lagarde is already under big pressure to reverse her predecessor’s plan to restart quantitative easing. Following a September meeting described by one participant as “the most tense he can remember”, a cabal of hawkish big-hitters, led by the Bundesbank’s Jens Weidmann (who she beat to the top job), is shouting for a change of strategy. Lagarde, it seems, has a big “German problem”. A magic wand is needed.Stéphane CourbitOne of “the powerhouses of…1 min
The Week|V. 1250Woodford fall-out: what the experts think● Industry ripplesIt has been a rough couple of weeks for the wealth management industry “capped by the final throes of Neil Woodford’s investment fund empire”, said Kate Burgess in the FT. Shares in the 300-year-old wealth manager Rathbone Brothers, a noted “adviser to the moderately affluent”, plummeted almost 10%, following a strategic update underlining “past, present and future strategic challenges”. This update – unfortunately timed within days of Woodford’s defenestration – was “telling”. Clearly, the “large-scale collapse” of such a prominent fund manager as Woodford has badly dented “already weak investor confidence”.● In the darkThe alarm is all too understandable, said Tanya Jefferies on Thisismoney.co.uk. An army of small investors in Woodford’s flagship Equity Income Fund had hoped to recover some of their losses before the fund was liquidated…2 min
The Week|V. 1250Hero rats: Tanzania’s life-saving rodentsBefore dawn in the pre-dawn glow of Morogoro, a town in eastern Tanzania, Peter Parker is preparing for a morning’s graft. It is quiet and crisp, the sunrise postponed by the height of the surrounding Uluguru Mountains, but Parker and his roommates – colleagues, really – have been restless in their dormitory for much of the night.They are in training, and like all eager cadets, by the time they are roused at 6.30am, some are already exercising, some hydrating, some in contemplation, but all are focused. They know the routine by now: a pair of supervisors help them, one by one, onto a bus, then drive them a few miles down a dirt track to a large field, where they are met by dozens of trainers clad in overalls. There,…10 min
