theweekuk--2020-12-18--The Week Unwrapped: Sporting peril, boycotting France and farming tomorrow

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days .
To get six free issues of The Week magazine and a moleskine notebook visit theweek.co.uk/offer and enter promo code : pod25 In this week ’ s episode , we discuss : At the age of 42 , former England rugby player Steve Thompson says he can ’ t remember a thing about winning the World Cup in 2003 .
Diagnosed with early onset dementia he has now joined a group of players , all under the age of 45 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s governing body over what they claim is a failure to protect them from concussions .
The matter raises many questions , including an existential one : can a sport continue , knowing some players may suffer long-term harm ?
In the week that a French court convicted several accomplices of the gunmen involved in the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo , many majority-Muslim nations are organising a boycott of French businesses and products .
Their beef is with Emmanuel Macron ’ s rhetoric about “ radical Islamist separatism ” - and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea of secularism .
Farmers in countries including the US and China are using facial recognition technology to identify and monitor pigs , cows and even crop plants , as part of the global push to make the industry more productive and sustainable .
With UK farming practices also facing a major shake-up under new government plans , what other seeds are being sown for a greener agricultural future ?
You can subscribe to The Week Unwrapped on the Global Player , Apple podcasts , SoundCloud or wherever you get you get your @ @

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days.
To get six free issues of The Week magazine and a moleskine notebook visit theweek.co.uk/offer and enter promo code: pod25
In this week’s episode, we discuss:
Sporting head injuries
At the age of 42, former England rugby player Steve Thompson says he can’t remember a thing about winning the World Cup in 2003. Diagnosed with early onset dementia he has now joined a group of players, all under the age of 45, bringing legal proceedings against the game’s governing body over what they claim is a failure to protect them from concussions. The matter raises many questions, including an existential one: can a sport continue, knowing some players may suffer long-term harm?
Boycotting France
In the week that a French court convicted several accomplices of the gunmen involved in the attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, many majority-Muslim nations are organising a boycott of French businesses and products. Their beef is with Emmanuel Macron’s rhetoric about “radical Islamist separatism” - and his determination to enforce a very French idea of secularism.
Green revolution
Farmers in countries including the US and China are using facial recognition technology to identify and monitor pigs, cows and even crop plants, as part of the global push to make the industry more productive and sustainable. With UK farming practices also facing a major shake-up under new government plans, what other seeds are being sown for a greener agricultural future?
You can subscribe to The Week Unwrapped on the Global Player, Apple podcasts, SoundCloud or wherever you get you get your podcasts.


theweekuk--2020-12-18--GCHQ unveils annual Christmas card puzzle - can you solve it?

As the UK nears the end of a year full of twists and surprise , the nation ’ s intelligence and security agency is keeping up tradition by releasing its annual Christmas card puzzle .
The GCHQ website says “ the card is sent by our director Jeremy Fleming to colleagues and partners across the world ” , but also invites members of the public to have a go at “ one of our most fiendish puzzles to date ” .
“ Problem solving is at the heart of what we do , ” said a spokesperson for the agency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gives puzzlers an insight into the skills you need to be a GCHQ analyst.
” Following last year ’ s snowflake sudoku , the 2020 challenge is in “ the form of a bauble which contains a hidden message ” , says The Telegraph .
“ Those attempting it will need to complete a series of letter sequences before plotting their answer from an enigmatic ‘ frosty ’ location.
” The only tip offered by GCHQ is to “ bring together a mix of minds by sharing it with the wise men and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solution ” .
But according to The Telegraph , “ to find the solution , the wise will have to find the missing letter at the end of nine seemingly random sequences on the Christmas card , which shows a stylised bauble with an arrow running through it ” .
The card instructs wannabe sleuths to : “ Plot your single-letter answers in the corresponding golden nodes on the bauble .
Follow the flow of arrows from somewhere frosty to unblock the message.
” The Telegraph has promised to reveal the answer on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see how close they have come to matching the code-cracking ability of Britain ’ s intelligence experts ” .

As the UK nears the end of a year full of twists and surprise, the nation’s intelligence and security agency is keeping up tradition by releasing its annual Christmas card puzzle.
The GCHQ website says “the card is sent by our director Jeremy Fleming to colleagues and partners across the world”, but also invites members of the public to have a go at “one of our most fiendish puzzles to date”.
“Problem solving is at the heart of what we do,” said a spokesperson for the agency. “Taking on this Christmas cracker gives puzzlers an insight into the skills you need to be a GCHQ analyst.”
Following last year’s snowflake sudoku, the 2020 challenge is in “the form of a bauble which contains a hidden message”, says The Telegraph. “Those attempting it will need to complete a series of letter sequences before plotting their answer from an enigmatic ‘frosty’ location.”
The only tip offered by GCHQ is to “bring together a mix of minds by sharing it with the wise men and women in your household to find the solution”.
But according to The Telegraph, “to find the solution, the wise will have to find the missing letter at the end of nine seemingly random sequences on the Christmas card, which shows a stylised bauble with an arrow running through it”.
The card instructs wannabe sleuths to: “Plot your single-letter answers in the corresponding golden nodes on the bauble. Follow the flow of arrows from somewhere frosty to unblock the message.”
The Telegraph has promised to reveal the answer on Saturday so that would-be sleuths can “see how close they have come to matching the code-cracking ability of Britain’s intelligence experts”.


theweekuk--2020-12-18--Coronavirus: Swedish king says nation has ‘failed’ in pandemic response

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theweekuk--2020-02-03--Best books of the year 2020: what the critics say

In this captivating family memoir , 20 years in the writing , Hadley Freeman describes the lives of her grandmother and three great-uncles – all of whom fled from a shtetl in Poland to Paris after the First World War .
Settling into their new lives , they took French names – then followed their own paths : one married an American , and emigrated ; another ran a hugely successful fashion salon ; a third became a millionaire after inventing a microfilming machine .
But inevitably the rise of fascism , and the Holocaust , shaped all of their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ praise for Freeman ’ s precise and gripping account of lives upended by the vicissitudes of history .
The winner of this year ’ s Booker Prize is a tale of poverty , addiction and abuse set in and around Glasgow in the 1980s .
Shuggie Bain ’ s mother is an alcoholic ; his father , a violent , fitfully present taxi driver .
As family members drift away , he becomes his mother ’ s sole carer – and it is their relationship that forms the novel ’ s emotional core @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for his poetic , slang-studded prose , and for his ability to find good in his characters , no matter how despicable their behaviour .
Some critics , however , thought the book would have benefited from more rigorous editing .
The critics ’ top eight choices based on Christmas selections in national newspapers , the London Evening Standard , the TLS , The Spectator and the New Statesman .
Plus , we take a look at some of the other best books which were released in 2020 .
In his unconventional book @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a linear approach and instead traces the Fab Four ’ s story in 150 brief and self-contained chapters that roam seemingly at random through their life and times , and vary widely in tone .
One moment , he is recounting the fate of John Lennon ’ s tooth ( sold at auction to a Canadian dentist for £19,000 in 2011 ) ; the next , he is analysing the band ’ s role in helping America recover from JFK ’ s assassination .
Critics found the book original , and immensely enjoyable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ portrayal of Ringo Starr as something of a joke figure .
The concluding volume of Mantel ’ s Thomas Cromwell trilogy begins with the beheading of Anne Boleyn in 1536 and culminates , some 900 pages later , with the execution of Henry VIII ’ s chief adviser .
In between , we follow the self-made blacksmith ’ s son as he grapples with a seemingly impossible list of tasks – including overseeing the dissolution of the monasteries and brokering Henry ’ s third and fourth marriages .
Critics found the finale funnier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that the array of incident and detail made it a somewhat laborious read .
Jimmy and Tully are working-class lads from Ayrshire who become best friends in their teens .
In the first half of Andrew O ’ Hagan ’ s novel , set in 1986 , the pair travel to Manchester for a weekend of music and drugs .
In the second half , set 31 years later , Jimmy learns that Tully is dying of cancer , and his friend asks him to help arrange his death at a Dignitas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from O ’ Hagan ’ s own experience , and while some admired his emotional directness , others felt his portrayal of Tully slipped into sentimentality .
In Maggie O ’ Farrell ’ s novel about Shakespeare ’ s family , the playwright himself is a peripheral figure , referred to only as the “ Latin tutor ” , the “ husband ” or the “ father ” .
Instead , the focus is on his wife , Anne Hathaway ( here called Agnes ) and his son , Hamnet , who died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ O ’ Farrell ’ s confident depiction of Elizabethan England and her sensitive portrayal of parental grief .
But some felt that at times her concentration on her characters ’ inner lives came at the expense of narrative excitement .
Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s , Ferdinand Mount spent many holidays with his uncle ’ s wife .
Aunt Munca owned a Rolls and kept a permanent suite at Claridge ’ s – but he always sensed that something wasn ’ t quite right .
Years later , he investigated her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of lies , deceptions and broken promises .
Kiss Myself Goodbye is his account of Aunt Munca ’ s extraordinary life .
Reviewers described it as a beautifully written , exquisitely crafted work that is as gripping as any good detective novel .
In his life of Graham Greene , Richard Greene ( no relation ) argues that the novelist was a courageous and decent man with a risk-taking nature .
From the games of Russian Roulette he played in his teens to his trips to various war zones , he comes across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to danger .
Greene links this restlessness to the bullying he suffered at school and to his bipolar disorder .
The book was compared favourably to earlier biographies , which depicted Greene as a rather seedier character , but some critics felt that in seeking to understand his subject , the author had played down his subject ’ s flaws .
• “ After a number of deplorable books about Greene , here is [ one ] which does not dwell too pruriently on the sex life , and celebrates a man who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distinctively brilliant novels.
” ( A.N .
Wilson , TLS ) • “ The best biography I have read this year… conjures [ Greene ] back to life in a sensible , unsensational way.
” ( Nicholas Shakespeare , The Spectator ) • “ At last Graham Greene has the biographer he deserves.
” ( Ian Thomson , London Evening Standard ) To order these titles or any other book in print , visit theweekbookshop.co.uk , or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835 .
Opening times : Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Diane Cook Bea ’ s five-year-old daughter , Agnes , is slowly wasting away .
The smog and pollution of the overdeveloped , overpopulated metropolis they call home is ravaging her lungs .
Bea knows she can not stay in the city , but there is only one alternative : The Wilderness State .
As Agnes embraces this new existence , Bea realises that saving her daughter ’ s life might mean losing her in ways she hadn ’ t foreseen .
Emily St. John Mandel , the New York Times bestselling author @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a virtuosic debut , brutal and beautiful in equal measure ” .
Dangarembga channels the hope and potential of one young girl and a fledgling nation to lead us on a journey to discover where lives go after hope has departed .
Here we meet Tambudzai , living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare and anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job .
At every turn in her attempt to make a life for herself , she is faced with a fresh humiliation , until the painful contrast between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reality ultimately drives her to a breaking point .
In her review for The Guardian Lara Feigel says This Mournable Body “ provides a powerful finale to the Zimbabwean author ’ s trilogy ” .
In her youth , Tara was wild .
She abandoned her arranged marriage to join an ashram , took a hapless artist for a lover , rebelled against every social expectation of a good Indian woman - all with her young child in tow .
Years on , she is an old woman with a fading memory , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and leaving the gas on all night , and her grown-up daughter is faced with the task of caring for a mother who never seemed to care for her .
This is a poisoned love story .
But not between lovers - between mother and daughter .
Francesca Carington of The Daily Telegraph says : “ There ’ s a lot more to praise in Burnt Sugar : a concern with corporeality and illness , smells and shrieks erupting through the feverish prose .
It ’ s a corrosive , compulsive debut.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Mussolini ’ s army looming , recently orphaned Hirut struggles to adapt to her new life as a maid .
Her new employer , Kidane , an officer in Emperor Haile Selassie ’ s army , rushes to mobilise his strongest men before the Italians invade .
“ The star of the novel is Mengiste ’ s gorgeous writing , which makes The Shadow King nearly impossible to put down , ” says Michael Schaub of NPR .
“ Mengiste has a real gift for language ; her writing is powerful but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refusing to let go.
” In this brilliant debut novel , described as “ psychologically compelling ” by the Observer , Wallace spends his summer in the lab of lakeside Midwestern university breeding a strain of microscopic worms - a life that ’ s a world away from his childhood in Alabama .
His father died a few weeks ago , but Wallace didn ’ t go back for the funeral , and he hasn ’ t told his friends – Miller , Yngve , Cole and Emma .
For reasons of self-preservation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a wary distance even from those closest to him .
But , over the course of one blustery end-of-summer weekend , the destruction of his work and a series of intense confrontations force Wallace to grapple with both the trauma of the past , and the question of the future .
Lucy Knight of The Sunday Times calls Real Life “ an elegant take on the ‘ campus novel ’ and a deeply moving study of race , grief and desire ” .
Tom Bower is a veteran journalist who is famous for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said Rachel Sylvester in The Times – among them Robert Maxwell , Conrad Black , Tony Blair and Jeremy Corbyn .
You ’ d assume that with his latest effort he would have repeated the trick , but instead he has produced an “ oddly sympathetic ” portrait .
It ’ s not that Boris Johnson : The Gambler is a whitewash .
Bower is alive to his subject ’ s “ faults and mistakes ” : Johnson is portrayed as “ obsessed with money , incorrigibly disloyal ” , dishonest and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rather than holding him responsible for such failings , Bower presents them as the “ inevitable product ” of a chaotic , disturbing and deeply unhappy childhood .
For him , “ Boris ” – as he is chummily described throughout – is primarily a victim .
The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale In 1938 Alma Fielding , a housewife from Thornton Heath in south London , apparently became possessed by a violent spirit , said Lucy Lethbridge in the Literary Review .
A six-fingered handprint appeared on a mirror ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saw eggs fly through the air and a fender tumble down the stairs .
Kate Summerscale ’ s great coup is to have discovered the notebooks of Nandor Fodor , a Hungarian journalist sent to investigate these events by the International Institute for Psychical Research .
Months of rigorous tests led Fodor to believe that while Fielding had certainly faked some of the manifestations , she was indeed possessed by some kind of uncanny force .
Summerscale , the author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher , has “ an enviable nose for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are still singular and disturbing ” .
She places this story in its historical context : the craze for spiritualism brought about by the memory of the First World War and the threat of renewed conflict .
“ All over Britain , ” she observes , “ domestic furniture seemed to be bristling into life.
” For the past two decades , the American writer Marilynne Robinson has devoted herself to a single novel sequence , exploring the world of a small group of characters from the fictional Midwestern town of Gilead , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Gilead in 2004 , and continuing with Home ( 2008 ) and Lila ( 2014 ) , this “ remarkable ” series of “ companion pieces ” has rightly won “ countless awards ” .
Jack , the fourth instalment , tracks the life of the young Jack Boughton , who in earlier novels was known mainly by his reputation : he was the “ black sheep ” son of Reverend Robert Boughton .
In this latest outing , Jack is living a footloose life in postwar St Louis , and having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Della , which falls foul of the period ’ s anti-miscegenation laws .
As complex and fluidly written as its predecessors , this work “ fits beautifully into the subtle weave of Robinson ’ s Gilead books ” .
A “ sultry , soapy , literary novel ” , Nightingale is a bit like “ the bastard offspring of Ian McEwan and Shirley Conran ” , says The Times .
It follows a young nurse as she moves from Paris to rural France to be a live-in carer for a tyrannical dying businessman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and sexual passion ” , in an exciting debut novel filled with dramatic plot turns and juicy villains , says the newspaper .
A gripping account of the life of Gladys Deacon , a famously beautiful young American who dreamed of marrying an English aristocrat , and did , only to end her long and curious life in a mental asylum .
The story of the Duchess of Marlborough , told by the British writer and broadcaster Hugo Vickers , is “ a tale of upper-class scandal , misery and madness ” , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Graham Swift The 1996 Booker Prize winner ( for his novel Last Orders ) sets his newest book in Brighton in 1959 .
In Here We Are , Swift looks back on the lives of three young “ end-of-the-pier ” performers , telling the story of the “ off-stage drama between a magician , his assistant and a compere ” , says the London Evening Standard .
Wiener ’ s “ darkly funny and perceptive ” memoir details her disillusionment with the world of tech after spending several years working for start-ups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said The New York Times .
She explores what it was that motivated her former colleagues , and how the tech industry has reshaped San Francisco in particular .
“ If you ’ re already skeptical about tech and its implications for society , this book may confirm your worst fears , ” says the newspaper .
An enigmatic book , Strange Hotel follows a nameless female protagonist from country to country , from one hotel room to the next .
“ Even the plushest hotel room can lack soul ” , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each holds complex and often painful memories .
This is the third novel from Eimear McBride , who made an award-winning debut in 2013 with A Girl is a Half-formed Thing , about a young woman ’ s complex family relationships , and followed it up with The Lesser Bohemian , about a relationship between a young student and a 38-year-old actor .
McCann , who won the US National Book Award in 2009 for his novel Let the Great World Spin , takes on the Israel-Palestine conflict in a work that is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard , often brutal fact ” , said The Guardian .
Telling the story of two fathers , one Israeli and one Palestinian , bound together by grief for their daughters , this is a highly ambitious novel in both form and themes .
“ If you can read it without sobbing , you ’ re a monster , ” the Guardian adds .
A moving memoir left behind by the celebrated journalist Deborah Orr , who died in October .
Recounting growing up with brutal honesty , Orr tells of “ trying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upbringing ” in Scotland , in the shadow of the steelworks at Ravenscraig , said The Times .
The book also explores her painful relationship with her domineering mother – Orr concludes : “ My own life had really been about two irreconcilable things : defying my mother and gaining her approval.
” From the author of The White Tiger , which won the 2008 Man Booker Prize , comes the tale of a young Tamil trying to avoid deportation from Sydney , Australia .
“ Maltreated by police in Sri Lanka , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ student visa , only to find the glossily advertised college he had enrolled at is a tawdry swindle , ” explains The Sunday Times .
The newspaper describes it as a “ reverse-pattern companion piece ” to White Tiger .
“ Brimming with empathy as well as indignation , this novel engagingly extends Adiga ’ s fictional concern with deprivation and injustice , ” concludes the paper .
My Wild and Sleepless Nights by Clover Stroud This motherhood memoir lays bare the all-encompassing everyday detail of bringing up five children , ranging in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ How brilliant for someone to write about the blankness as well as the beauty ; the lust , the exhaustion , the hypocrisy , the failure and the soaring joy ” , says Nell Frizzell at The Telegraph .
“ What a relief to have someone report from the frontline of this essential human endeavour.
” The city in question is London , 1948 , seen through the eyes of Jamaican Lawrie Matthews , after disembarking from the Empire Windrush , although it is “ war-damaged , shabby and often openly hostile to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explains The Sunday Times .
This “ hotly anticipated debut ” , set in Brixton , south London , is a tale of young love and striving for a better life , which sees Lawrie under suspicion of a crime he didn ’ t commit .
Chronicling an abusive gay relationship in the 1970s , this slim volume ( just 128 pages ) packs a punch , “ with a pleasure or peculiarity on every page ” , says The Guardian .
It opens with a blow-by-blow account of an open-air blowjob at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ A Story of Low Self-Esteem ” , it ’ s a recollection by the character Colin , “ who is ‘ short and fat and tired of being bullied ’ and grateful for the attention of good-looking Ray ” , says the newspaper , which calls it a “ a sparky yet sad vision of gay subculture ” .
To order these titles or any other book in print , visit theweekbookshop.co.uk , or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835 .
Opening times : Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm @

In this captivating family memoir, 20 years in the writing, Hadley Freeman describes the lives of her grandmother and three great-uncles – all of whom fled from a shtetl in Poland to Paris after the First World War. Settling into their new lives, they took French names – then followed their own paths: one married an American, and emigrated; another ran a hugely successful fashion salon; a third became a millionaire after inventing a microfilming machine. But inevitably the rise of fascism, and the Holocaust, shaped all of their destinies. Reviewers were unanimous in their praise for Freeman’s precise and gripping account of lives upended by the vicissitudes of history.
The winner of this year’s Booker Prize is a tale of poverty, addiction and abuse set in and around Glasgow in the 1980s. Shuggie Bain’s mother is an alcoholic; his father, a violent, fitfully present taxi driver. As family members drift away, he becomes his mother’s sole carer – and it is their relationship that forms the novel’s emotional core. First-time author Douglas Stuart was praised for his poetic, slang-studded prose, and for his ability to find good in his characters, no matter how despicable their behaviour. Some critics, however, thought the book would have benefited from more rigorous editing.
The critics’ top eight choices based on Christmas selections in national newspapers, the London Evening Standard, the TLS, The Spectator and the New Statesman. Plus, we take a look at some of the other best books which were released in 2020.
In his unconventional book about The Beatles, Craig Brown rejects a linear approach and instead traces the Fab Four’s story in 150 brief and self-contained chapters that roam seemingly at random through their life and times, and vary widely in tone. One moment, he is recounting the fate of John Lennon’s tooth (sold at auction to a Canadian dentist for £19,000 in 2011); the next, he is analysing the band’s role in helping America recover from JFK’s assassination. Critics found the book original, and immensely enjoyable, but some took exception to the portrayal of Ringo Starr as something of a joke figure.
The concluding volume of Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy begins with the beheading of Anne Boleyn in 1536 and culminates, some 900 pages later, with the execution of Henry VIII’s chief adviser. In between, we follow the self-made blacksmith’s son as he grapples with a seemingly impossible list of tasks – including overseeing the dissolution of the monasteries and brokering Henry’s third and fourth marriages. Critics found the finale funnier than its predecessors, but a few said that the array of incident and detail made it a somewhat laborious read.
Jimmy and Tully are working-class lads from Ayrshire who become best friends in their teens. In the first half of Andrew O’Hagan’s novel, set in 1986, the pair travel to Manchester for a weekend of music and drugs. In the second half, set 31 years later, Jimmy learns that Tully is dying of cancer, and his friend asks him to help arrange his death at a Dignitas clinic. The book is partly drawn from O’Hagan’s own experience, and while some admired his emotional directness, others felt his portrayal of Tully slipped into sentimentality.
In Maggie O’Farrell’s novel about Shakespeare’s family, the playwright himself is a peripheral figure, referred to only as the “Latin tutor”, the “husband” or the “father”. Instead, the focus is on his wife, Anne Hathaway (here called Agnes) and his son, Hamnet, who died of plague aged 11. Reviewers applauded O’Farrell’s confident depiction of Elizabethan England and her sensitive portrayal of parental grief. But some felt that at times her concentration on her characters’ inner lives came at the expense of narrative excitement.
Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, Ferdinand Mount spent many holidays with his uncle’s wife. Aunt Munca owned a Rolls and kept a permanent suite at Claridge’s – but he always sensed that something wasn’t quite right. Years later, he investigated her history, and uncovered a shocking trail of lies, deceptions and broken promises. Kiss Myself Goodbye is his account of Aunt Munca’s extraordinary life. Reviewers described it as a beautifully written, exquisitely crafted work that is as gripping as any good detective novel.
In his life of Graham Greene, Richard Greene (no relation) argues that the novelist was a courageous and decent man with a risk-taking nature. From the games of Russian Roulette he played in his teens to his trips to various war zones, he comes across as an inveterate thrill seeker, addicted to danger. Greene links this restlessness to the bullying he suffered at school and to his bipolar disorder. The book was compared favourably to earlier biographies, which depicted Greene as a rather seedier character, but some critics felt that in seeking to understand his subject, the author had played down his subject’s flaws.
Praise
“After a number of deplorable books about Greene, here is [one] which does not dwell too pruriently on the sex life, and celebrates a man who gave us half a dozen or more distinctively brilliant novels.” (A.N. Wilson, TLS)
“The best biography I have read this year… conjures [Greene] back to life in a sensible, unsensational way.” (Nicholas Shakespeare, The Spectator)
“At last Graham Greene has the biographer he deserves.” (Ian Thomson, London Evening Standard)
The Week Bookshop
To order these titles or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
2020’s recommended reads
The New Wilderness by Diane Cook
Bea’s five-year-old daughter, Agnes, is slowly wasting away. The smog and pollution of the overdeveloped, overpopulated metropolis they call home is ravaging her lungs. Bea knows she cannot stay in the city, but there is only one alternative: The Wilderness State. As Agnes embraces this new existence, Bea realises that saving her daughter’s life might mean losing her in ways she hadn’t foreseen. Emily St. John Mandel, the New York Times bestselling author of Station Eleven, calls it “a virtuosic debut, brutal and beautiful in equal measure”.
This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Dangarembga channels the hope and potential of one young girl and a fledgling nation to lead us on a journey to discover where lives go after hope has departed. Here we meet Tambudzai, living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare and anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job. At every turn in her attempt to make a life for herself, she is faced with a fresh humiliation, until the painful contrast between the future she imagined and her daily reality ultimately drives her to a breaking point. In her review for The Guardian Lara Feigel says This Mournable Body “provides a powerful finale to the Zimbabwean author’s trilogy”.
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
In her youth, Tara was wild. She abandoned her arranged marriage to join an ashram, took a hapless artist for a lover, rebelled against every social expectation of a good Indian woman - all with her young child in tow. Years on, she is an old woman with a fading memory, mixing up her maid’s wages and leaving the gas on all night, and her grown-up daughter is faced with the task of caring for a mother who never seemed to care for her. This is a poisoned love story. But not between lovers - between mother and daughter. Francesca Carington of The Daily Telegraph says: “There’s a lot more to praise in Burnt Sugar: a concern with corporeality and illness, smells and shrieks erupting through the feverish prose. It’s a corrosive, compulsive debut.”
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
Ethiopia. 1935. With the threat of Mussolini’s army looming, recently orphaned Hirut struggles to adapt to her new life as a maid. Her new employer, Kidane, an officer in Emperor Haile Selassie’s army, rushes to mobilise his strongest men before the Italians invade. “The star of the novel is Mengiste’s gorgeous writing, which makes The Shadow King nearly impossible to put down,” says Michael Schaub of NPR. “Mengiste has a real gift for language; her writing is powerful but never florid, gripping the reader and refusing to let go.”
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
In this brilliant debut novel, described as “psychologically compelling” by the Observer, Wallace spends his summer in the lab of lakeside Midwestern university breeding a strain of microscopic worms - a life that’s a world away from his childhood in Alabama. His father died a few weeks ago, but Wallace didn’t go back for the funeral, and he hasn’t told his friends – Miller, Yngve, Cole and Emma. For reasons of self-preservation, he has become used to keeping a wary distance even from those closest to him. But, over the course of one blustery end-of-summer weekend, the destruction of his work and a series of intense confrontations force Wallace to grapple with both the trauma of the past, and the question of the future. Lucy Knight of The Sunday Times calls Real Life “an elegant take on the ‘campus novel’ and a deeply moving study of race, grief and desire”.
Boris Johnson: The Gambler by Tom Bower
Tom Bower is a veteran journalist who is famous for his scathing unauthorised biographies of powerful men, said Rachel Sylvester in The Times – among them Robert Maxwell, Conrad Black, Tony Blair and Jeremy Corbyn. You’d assume that with his latest effort he would have repeated the trick, but instead he has produced an “oddly sympathetic” portrait. It’s not that Boris Johnson: The Gambler is a whitewash. Bower is alive to his subject’s “faults and mistakes”: Johnson is portrayed as “obsessed with money, incorrigibly disloyal”, dishonest and “riddled with insecurities”. But rather than holding him responsible for such failings, Bower presents them as the “inevitable product” of a chaotic, disturbing and deeply unhappy childhood. For him, “Boris” – as he is chummily described throughout – is primarily a victim.
The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale
In 1938 Alma Fielding, a housewife from Thornton Heath in south London, apparently became possessed by a violent spirit, said Lucy Lethbridge in the Literary Review. A six-fingered handprint appeared on a mirror; a glass spontaneously shattered; visiting reporters saw eggs fly through the air and a fender tumble down the stairs. Kate Summerscale’s great coup is to have discovered the notebooks of Nandor Fodor, a Hungarian journalist sent to investigate these events by the International Institute for Psychical Research. Months of rigorous tests led Fodor to believe that while Fielding had certainly faked some of the manifestations, she was indeed possessed by some kind of uncanny force. Summerscale, the author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, has “an enviable nose for events, once briefly notorious, that are still singular and disturbing”. She places this story in its historical context: the craze for spiritualism brought about by the memory of the First World War and the threat of renewed conflict. “All over Britain,” she observes, “domestic furniture seemed to be bristling into life.”
Jack by Marilynne Robinson
For the past two decades, the American writer Marilynne Robinson has devoted herself to a single novel sequence, exploring the world of a small group of characters from the fictional Midwestern town of Gilead, said Erica Wagner in the FT. Beginning with Gilead in 2004, and continuing with Home (2008) and Lila (2014), this “remarkable” series of “companion pieces” has rightly won “countless awards”. Jack, the fourth instalment, tracks the life of the young Jack Boughton, who in earlier novels was known mainly by his reputation: he was the “black sheep” son of Reverend Robert Boughton. In this latest outing, Jack is living a footloose life in postwar St Louis, and having a relationship with a black woman named Della, which falls foul of the period’s anti-miscegenation laws. As complex and fluidly written as its predecessors, this work “fits beautifully into the subtle weave of Robinson’s Gilead books”.
Nightingale by Marina Kemp
A “sultry, soapy, literary novel”, Nightingale is a bit like “the bastard offspring of Ian McEwan and Shirley Conran”, says The Times. It follows a young nurse as she moves from Paris to rural France to be a live-in carer for a tyrannical dying businessman. Queue “village jealousy, rows and sexual passion”, in an exciting debut novel filled with dramatic plot turns and juicy villains, says the newspaper.
The Sphinx by Hugo Vickers
A gripping account of the life of Gladys Deacon, a famously beautiful young American who dreamed of marrying an English aristocrat, and did, only to end her long and curious life in a mental asylum. The story of the Duchess of Marlborough, told by the British writer and broadcaster Hugo Vickers, is “a tale of upper-class scandal, misery and madness”, says The Times.
Here We Are by Graham Swift
The 1996 Booker Prize winner (for his novel Last Orders) sets his newest book in Brighton in 1959. In Here We Are, Swift looks back on the lives of three young “end-of-the-pier” performers, telling the story of the “off-stage drama between a magician, his assistant and a compere”, says the London Evening Standard.
Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener
Wiener’s “darkly funny and perceptive” memoir details her disillusionment with the world of tech after spending several years working for start-ups in New York and San Francisco, said The New York Times. She explores what it was that motivated her former colleagues, and how the tech industry has reshaped San Francisco in particular. “If you’re already skeptical about tech and its implications for society, this book may confirm your worst fears,” says the newspaper.
Strange Hotel by Eimear McBride
An enigmatic book, Strange Hotel follows a nameless female protagonist from country to country, from one hotel room to the next. “Even the plushest hotel room can lack soul”, said the BBC, and for her, each holds complex and often painful memories. This is the third novel from Eimear McBride, who made an award-winning debut in 2013 with A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, about a young woman’s complex family relationships, and followed it up with The Lesser Bohemian, about a relationship between a young student and a 38-year-old actor.
Apeirogon by Colum McCann
McCann, who won the US National Book Award in 2009 for his novel Let the Great World Spin, takes on the Israel-Palestine conflict in a work that is “both spectacularly inventive and grounded in hard, often brutal fact”, said The Guardian. Telling the story of two fathers, one Israeli and one Palestinian, bound together by grief for their daughters, this is a highly ambitious novel in both form and themes. “If you can read it without sobbing, you’re a monster,” the Guardian adds.
Motherwell: A Girlhood by Deborah Orr
A moving memoir left behind by the celebrated journalist Deborah Orr, who died in October. Recounting growing up with brutal honesty, Orr tells of “trying to escape from a working-class, anti-bookish upbringing” in Scotland, in the shadow of the steelworks at Ravenscraig, said The Times. The book also explores her painful relationship with her domineering mother – Orr concludes: “My own life had really been about two irreconcilable things: defying my mother and gaining her approval.”
Amnesty by Aravind Adiga
From the author of The White Tiger, which won the 2008 Man Booker Prize, comes the tale of a young Tamil trying to avoid deportation from Sydney, Australia. “Maltreated by police in Sri Lanka, he has come to Australia on a student visa, only to find the glossily advertised college he had enrolled at is a tawdry swindle,” explains The Sunday Times. The newspaper describes it as a “reverse-pattern companion piece” to White Tiger. “Brimming with empathy as well as indignation, this novel engagingly extends Adiga’s fictional concern with deprivation and injustice,” concludes the paper.
My Wild and Sleepless Nights by Clover Stroud
This motherhood memoir lays bare the all-encompassing everyday detail of bringing up five children, ranging in age from newborn to teenager. “How brilliant for someone to write about the blankness as well as the beauty; the lust, the exhaustion, the hypocrisy, the failure and the soaring joy”, says Nell Frizzell at The Telegraph. “What a relief to have someone report from the frontline of this essential human endeavour.”
This Lovely City by Louise Hare
The city in question is London, 1948, seen through the eyes of Jamaican Lawrie Matthews, after disembarking from the Empire Windrush, although it is “war-damaged, shabby and often openly hostile to black immigrants such as him”, explains The Sunday Times. This “hotly anticipated debut”, set in Brixton, south London, is a tale of young love and striving for a better life, which sees Lawrie under suspicion of a crime he didn’t commit.
Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones
Chronicling an abusive gay relationship in the 1970s, this slim volume (just 128 pages) packs a punch, “with a pleasure or peculiarity on every page”, says The Guardian. It opens with a blow-by-blow account of an open-air blowjob at the eponymous Surrey beauty spot. Subtitled “A Story of Low Self-Esteem”, it’s a recollection by the character Colin, “who is ‘short and fat and tired of being bullied’ and grateful for the attention of good-looking Ray”, says the newspaper, which calls it a “a sparky yet sad vision of gay subculture”.
The Week Bookshop
To order these titles or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.


theweekuk--2020-12-18--Fishing row rages on as Johnson urges EU to seal Brexit deal

Boris Johnson has told the EU that a Brexit trade deal could be agreed this weekend provided the bloc changes its position on the two key outstanding issues .
Speaking to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen by phone yesterday evening , the prime minister insisted that “ a deal can be done if Brussels gives ground on fish and state subsidies ” , The Telegraph reports .
MEPs have set a new deadline of this Sunday for agreeing a future trade treaty .
But Johnson warned von der Leyen that the long-discussed deal was in danger of “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EU “ substantially ” changes its position over fishing quotas .
The talks were in a “ serious situation ” , he added .
The EU chief reportedly agreed that sealing a deal would be “ very challenging ” .
Sources in the European Parliament struck a more optimistic tone , however , telling the paper that the two sides were “ close to an agreement ” .
All the same , Von der Leyen ’ s warning “ makes clear that fishing is now the biggest obstacle to a deal ” , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ James Forsyth .
Sources say “ Brussels wants eight years ’ unfettered access to British waters from 1 January , with little more than 20 % of its quotas handed back to begin with ” , according to The Telegraph .
The UK , meanwhile , has offered a three-year transitional period , conditional on the EU handing back at least half of its quotas now .
Commentators have pointed out that fishing accounts for only a tiny percentage of Britain ’ s economy .
Indeed , luxury department store Harrods “ is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fishing ” , tweets the Financial Times ’ economics editor Chris Giles .
But “ in some ways fishing - despite its small economic significance - has become the emblem of Brexit for supporters of the vote to leave ” , says The Times .
The EU Common Fisheries Policy “ has long been a source of discontentment ” in the UK , the newspaper continues .
As they stand , quotas for fishing “ are based largely on how member states fished in the 1970s , and this means that , despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UK has a poor share of the total allowable catch ” .
By contrast , the EU does well out of the arrangement , with European fishing vessels hauling in “ over 70 % of the allowable catch in British waters ” .

Boris Johnson has told the EU that a Brexit trade deal could be agreed this weekend provided the bloc changes its position on the two key outstanding issues.
Speaking to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen by phone yesterday evening, the prime minister insisted that “a deal can be done if Brussels gives ground on fish and state subsidies”, The Telegraph reports.
MEPs have set a new deadline of this Sunday for agreeing a future trade treaty. But Johnson warned von der Leyen that the long-discussed deal was in danger of “drifting away from us” unless the EU “substantially” changes its position over fishing quotas.
The talks were in a “serious situation”, he added.
The EU chief reportedly agreed that sealing a deal would be “very challenging”. Sources in the European Parliament struck a more optimistic tone, however, telling the paper that the two sides were “close to an agreement”.
All the same, Von der Leyen’s warning “makes clear that fishing is now the biggest obstacle to a deal”, writes The Spectator’s political editor James Forsyth.
Sources say “Brussels wants eight years’ unfettered access to British waters from 1 January, with little more than 20% of its quotas handed back to begin with”, according to The Telegraph.
The UK, meanwhile, has offered a three-year transitional period, conditional on the EU handing back at least half of its quotas now.
Commentators have pointed out that fishing accounts for only a tiny percentage of Britain’s economy. Indeed, luxury department store Harrods “is worth more to the UK economy than fishing”, tweets the Financial Times’ economics editor Chris Giles.
But “in some ways fishing - despite its small economic significance - has become the emblem of Brexit for supporters of the vote to leave”, says The Times.
The EU Common Fisheries Policy “has long been a source of discontentment” in the UK, the newspaper continues.
As they stand, quotas for fishing “are based largely on how member states fished in the 1970s, and this means that, despite a long, well-stocked coastline, the UK has a poor share of the total allowable catch”.
By contrast, the EU does well out of the arrangement, with European fishing vessels hauling in “over 70% of the allowable catch in British waters”.


theweekuk--2020-12-10--Home, cooked: the best food delivery in London

With London now back in Tier 3 , eating out is no longer an option .
So to get your fine-dining fix - and to support your favourite local restaurant - takeaway is now your best bet .
• Tried and tasted : best restaurant meal kits to eat at home The good news is that having done it all before , many of London ’ s greatest restaurants had delivery options ready to go this time round .
Here is our pick of the bunch , from the high end to the cheap and cheerful .
If you have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to imagine enjoying the food at home .
Its menu seems intimately intertwined with its gorgeous interior design and sophisticated service .
And yet much of the magic lingers in the home delivery experience .
The Week opted for the Dragon Menu for two which opens with the restaurant ’ s immaculately rendered dim sum , including a superb langoustine har gau with Prunier caviar .
A tough act to follow , but the dumplings are yet upstaged by a series of knock-out mains including a rich black truffle roasted duck , lean-as-you-like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the restaurant ’ s rightly famed roasted silver cod in champagne and honey .
I had doubts about how the fish in particular would travel - we needn ’ t have worried .
Turn the lights down and you are transported to Mayfair via Shanghai .
The meal ends with an entire box of festive-themed macarons courtesy of Hakkasan ’ s sister restaurant Yauatcha - think gingerbread and mulled wine .
If Michelin judges tested takeaway , they might be tempted to dole out stars to Hakkasan at Home .
hakkasan.com @ @ @ @ @ @ @ food on offer in north London , so when news came through that a new branch of Rosa ’ s Thai Cafe had opened in Finsbury Park not too far from this reviewer ’ s home , Tier 3 suddenly began to feel rather more survivable .
The menu is a whip through the best of Thailand , including - inevitably - chicken satay , Massaman curry and Pad Thai .
But it is all done with precision and freshness , with flavours that zing with individuality rather than bleeding into one another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crunch , fruit is fresh and the meat lean and well-cooked .
Plus the portions are somehow just the right size , generous but unlikely to leave you feeling as though you have massively overdone it .
And with branches scattered all over London , there is simply no reason to eat poor quality Thai takeaway anymore .
rosasthaicafe.com Barbecue obsessive David Carter opened Smokestak in 2016 , following years of hard graft on the festival and street-food scene .
Not every food truck operator with dreams of glory made it , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evident love of fire and smoke turned his humble brisket bun into something resembling high art .
No wonder his cult following ; no wonder the successful transition to a fixed location restaurant .
Now , Covid has turned things around again with Smokestak ’ s barbeque hitting the road again , though this time it doesn ’ t come in a truck , but is delivered straight to your door via the restaurant ’ s pre-order service ( available Friday and Saturday ) .
It is hard to go wrong here , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 30-day dry-aged beef rib .
There are veggie dishes here too that are worth a look in , such as the unctuous salt baked beetroot , with goat cheese and hazelnut , and not-quite-vegetarian options like the mushrooms on toast with beef dripping gravy .
Yes , this is largely a carnivore ’ s paradise - and it is hard to imagine how meat could be better respected or more thoughtfully prepared than this .
smokestak.co.uk One of the joys of eating at Park Chinois is the restaurant ’ s retro chic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weekends the live music and stage shows .
Also , is there a finer spot in London for people watching ?
Last time The Week visited we were seated next to the UK ’ s then foreign secretary and a tableful of what we can only assume were Instagram influencers .
And while the lavish decor and human traffic can ’ t be enjoyed at home , the spectacular dumplings certainly can .
Available via Supper and Deliveroo seven days a week , the expansive menu by chef Lee Che Liang offers everything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spring rolls and the restaurant ’ s popular Duck de Chine .
Or if you can ’ t choose , just pick from one of the four set menus on offer , which range from £45 for one to a massive family-style spread for four to share at £440 .
parkchinois.com For a high-end restaurant that has only recently begun delivering , Benares ’ takeaway menu is surprisingly extensive , including a wide range of tandoor dishes , curries , and biryanis as well as a selection of the restaurant ’ s exquisite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ list of specials of the day and there is plenty of deliciousness to choose from .
The Week tried the tasting menu for two , which offered a host of highlights , including a superb prawn kasundi - a marinated tandoor grilled prawn which travels surprisingly well - and an unctuous rogan josh , perfect for a cold winter ’ s night .
The black dahl was also superb , as were the pair of soft , milky Gulab Jamun which finished the meal .
It isn ’ t cheap , as you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Mayfair , but the quality is sublime , the portion sizes very generous and the home delivery experience flawless .
benaresrestaurant.com From the team behind Michelin-starred east end restaurant Lyle ’ s and spin-off wine bar Flor , ASAP Pizza offers New York-style pies made with heritage British wheats and topped with exceptional produce .
ASAP only delivers on Sundays ( when Flor ’ s kitchen is otherwise closed ) but it is worth putting a date in your diary and ending the weekend right .
The menu includes Flor head chef @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Porco Rosso with red pesto , mortadella , stracciatella and guindillas ; Spice Grrl , with tomato and ’ nduja sauce , caciocavallo , honey , sicilian oregano ; and the Marg & Rita with tomato sauce , mozzarella , basil , and spenwood .
Lyle ’ s and Flor can do no wrong , and their classy pizzas are no exception .
asap.pizza There was a time when eating burgers meant a choice between McDonald ’ s or Burger King .
Then everything changed and the “ dude food ” revolution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to upper-echelons of takeaway .
Among the best to join the revolution was Honest Burgers which has quickly become a contemporary classic due to its high-quality meats and of course its scrumptious rosemary chips .
Now , the chain ’ s burgers can be delivered right to your door - a small upside of the pandemic .
It is hard to go past the eponymous Honest burger with its red onion relish and smoked bacon , but the veggie alternatives are also exceptional .
The coleslaw is also a must .
honestburgers.co.uk On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the world ’ s simplest and most democratic dishes .
It is readily available , light on the wallet , and easy to prepare .
And yet the gulf between good pasta and the merely adequate stuff you might whip up at home on a bog-standard Wednesday night can be vast .
This is where Officina 00 comes in .
Not only can fresh pasta be delivered straight to your door that you can then finish yourself , Officina 00 also now offers its superb menu as takeaway , so all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eat .
We tried the aubergine parmigiana and a burrata to start , both of which were cheesy appetite boosters , then a corzetti ( a kind of flying saucer-shaped pasta ) with sausage , mushroom and port and a pumpkin gnocchi , rich with gorgonzola .
The portion sizes are not massive , but the flavours are spectacular .
If you are hungry/greedy , like us , you might want to order a bit too much .
officina00.co.uk

Sometimes you don’t want the faff and fiddle of intricate food that has been broken down into its constituent parts and put into a box to be reassembled, with some difficulty, at your end. Sometimes all you really want is a good steak, some chips, a crisp salad and an artery-clogging dessert. That is what Spanish chef José Pizarro has done with this dinner box, which on one level is very simple, but offers a solid interpretation of the national cuisine it represents.
Spanish food often thrives due to the quality of its ingredients: a seafood paella is at its best when the prawns are juicy and fresh; the best jamon comes from pigs that have been painstakingly reared. The same is true of this meal box which has in it the elements listed above, though the steak isn’t just any steak, it is a 30-day dry-aged “Txuleton” cut, and the chips are triple-cooked. And that rich dessert – well that is a chocolate ganache, served with olive oil and shortbread.
For some people this may feel as though the price is unwarranted, but what you are paying for is Pizarro’s eye for good ingredients. And it is hard to beat an easy-to-prepare meal that tastes great.


theweekuk--2020-12-18--‘Asparagus psychic’ predicts trouble for Harry and Meghan

A psychic who uses asparagus to see into the future has predicted that Prince Harry will return the UK next year , unaccompanied by wife Meghan .
After throwing asparagus into the air , Jemima Packington , 64 , the world ’ s only asparamancer , said : “ What we have here , very interesting , is the letter H. We have two spears plus a crossbar here .
I do n't see any M at all whatsoever .
I see no letter M but I do see letter H coming into the fold.
” Bid for your chance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ City is auctioning the chance to dynamite a casino formerly owned by Donald Trump .
The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City went bankrupt and shut in 2014 .
A bidding process will determine who gets the right to hit the button that will destroy the 39-floor casino , with proceeds going to charity .
The mayor said his office has already been “ bombarded ” with phone calls about the auction .
Man jailed for jet-skiing to his girlfriend A Scotsman has been jailed for riding a jet ski across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with his girlfriend .
Dale McLaughlan , 28 , was sentenced to four weeks in prison for the 25-mile journey from Scotland ’ s Isle of Whithorn to the Isle of Man , after his trip was found to break coronavirus rules .
“ The craziest thing is he can ’ t even swim , ” said a relative , adding that he ’ s a “ nice lad but thick as a brick ” .

A psychic who uses asparagus to see into the future has predicted that Prince Harry will return the UK next year, unaccompanied by wife Meghan. After throwing asparagus into the air, Jemima Packington, 64, the world’s only asparamancer, said: “What we have here, very interesting, is the letter H. We have two spears plus a crossbar here. I don't see any M at all whatsoever. I see no letter M but I do see letter H coming into the fold.”
Bid for your chance to destroy Trump’s casino
Atlantic City is auctioning the chance to dynamite a casino formerly owned by Donald Trump. The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City went bankrupt and shut in 2014. A bidding process will determine who gets the right to hit the button that will destroy the 39-floor casino, with proceeds going to charity. The mayor said his office has already been “bombarded” with phone calls about the auction.
Man jailed for jet-skiing to his girlfriend
A Scotsman has been jailed for riding a jet ski across the Irish Sea to spend some time with his girlfriend. Dale McLaughlan, 28, was sentenced to four weeks in prison for the 25-mile journey from Scotland’s Isle of Whithorn to the Isle of Man, after his trip was found to break coronavirus rules. “The craziest thing is he can’t even swim,” said a relative, adding that he’s a “nice lad but thick as a brick”.


theweekuk--2020-03-16--Sports documentaries and TV shows you can stream right now

From the superb Formula 1 : Drive to Survive on Netflix to the excellent All or Nothing series on Amazon Prime Video , there ’ s hours of sports entertainment to binge-watch when at home .
Here we pick out some of the best sports documentaries and sports TV shows you can stream right now .
Also check out our list of sports movies to watch on Netflix and Amazon .
Critics have raved about The Last Dance , which focuses on the career of NBA legend Michael Jordan and his final season with the Chicago Bulls .
As proved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ documentary series co-produced by ESPN Films and Netflix is not just for sports fans .
BBC Sport ’ s Ciaran Varley reported that The Last Dance overtook Tiger King as the world ’ s most in-demand documentary .
Where to watch : Netflix All or Nothing : Tottenham Hotspur After reaching the Champions League final in 2019 the following season saw the Amazon cameras go behind the scenes at Tottenham .
Mauricio Pochettino did not last long as manager with Spurs replacing him with Jose Mourinho .
The Special One ’ s arrival @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” for Amazon , says Radio Times .
The latest All or Nothing “ needed Mourinho more than they realised ” .
The series is narrated by star actor Tom Hardy .
Where to watch : Amazon Prime If you liked season one of Formula 1 : Drive to Survive then you ’ ll love season two .
Made by the team behind Senna , Amy and Diego Maradona , it ’ s no surprise that this ten-part series has been such a success .
Roll on season three , that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Netflix This documentary tracks the British tennis star ’ s journey from 2017 to 2019 as he battles injury , surgery and rehabilitation before returning to the court .
Where to watch : Amazon Prime Shame in the game : racism in football Racist incidents in UK football are on the rise and drastic action needs to be taken .
This BBC documentary shows the impact that racist abuse can have on players and their families and asks : what can be done to stop this ?
Where to watch : BBC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hernandez went from being an NFL star for the New England Patriots to being a convicted killer .
Where to watch : Netflix Go behind the scenes of the “ yellow wall ” with this four-part docu-series about German football giants Borussia Dortmund .
Chronicling the 2018-19 season , the series goes in depth with some of the Bundesliga ’ s star names .
Where to watch : Amazon Prime All or Nothing : Manchester City Look back at Man City ’ s record-breaking Premier League title-winning season of 2017-2018 .
The dressing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instructing his players is a joy to see .
Amazon also has All or Nothing series on Tottenham , the New Zealand All Blacks rugby union squad , the Brazilian national football team and a number of NFL franchises .
Where to watch : Amazon Prime Cheerleading is not a sport ?
Say that to the cheer squad of Navarro College as they bid to win the coveted US national title .
Described by Netflix as “ gritty , inspiring and exciting ” , TheWeek.co.uk ’ s three-word review of Cheer is “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cult viewing .
Where to watch : Netflix Base jumpers may well be the bravest sports men and women out there .
Go inside this risky extreme sport as jumpers launch themselves off mountains and buildings .
Where to watch : Channel 4 Produced and premiered by Netflix , the first season of Last Chance U looks at the American football program at East Mississippi Community College .
There ’ s high drama and emotions on and off the pitch .
A terrific watch even for non-American football fans .
Where to watch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Downton Abbey , brings a new six-part drama to Netflix .
Set in the 19th century The English Game looks at the invention of football and how it rose to become the world ’ s game by crossing class divides .
Where to watch : Netflix

From the superb Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Netflix to the excellent All or Nothing series on Amazon Prime Video, there’s hours of sports entertainment to binge-watch when at home.
Here we pick out some of the best sports documentaries and sports TV shows you can stream right now.
Also check out our list of sports movies to watch on Netflix and Amazon.
The Last Dance
Critics have raved about The Last Dance, which focuses on the career of NBA legend Michael Jordan and his final season with the Chicago Bulls. As proved by its Emmy win, the ten-part documentary series co-produced by ESPN Films and Netflix is not just for sports fans. BBC Sport’s Ciaran Varley reported that The Last Dance overtook Tiger King as the world’s most in-demand documentary. Where to watch: Netflix
All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur
After reaching the Champions League final in 2019 the following season saw the Amazon cameras go behind the scenes at Tottenham. Mauricio Pochettino did not last long as manager with Spurs replacing him with Jose Mourinho. The Special One’s arrival in north London “saved the day” for Amazon, says Radio Times. The latest All or Nothing “needed Mourinho more than they realised”. The series is narrated by star actor Tom Hardy. Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
If you liked season one of Formula 1: Drive to Survive then you’ll love season two. Made by the team behind Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona, it’s no surprise that this ten-part series has been such a success. Roll on season three, that’s all we say. Where to watch: Netflix
Andy Murray: Resurfacing
This documentary tracks the British tennis star’s journey from 2017 to 2019 as he battles injury, surgery and rehabilitation before returning to the court. Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Shame in the game: racism in football
Racist incidents in UK football are on the rise and drastic action needs to be taken. This BBC documentary shows the impact that racist abuse can have on players and their families and asks: what can be done to stop this? Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez
This three-part documentary examines how Aaron Hernandez went from being an NFL star for the New England Patriots to being a convicted killer. Where to watch: Netflix
Inside Borussia Dortmund
Go behind the scenes of the “yellow wall” with this four-part docu-series about German football giants Borussia Dortmund. Chronicling the 2018-19 season, the series goes in depth with some of the Bundesliga’s star names. Where to watch: Amazon Prime
All or Nothing: Manchester City
Look back at Man City’s record-breaking Premier League title-winning season of 2017-2018. The dressing room footage of head coach Pep Guardiola instructing his players is a joy to see. Amazon also has All or Nothing series on Tottenham, the New Zealand All Blacks rugby union squad, the Brazilian national football team and a number of NFL franchises. Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Cheer
Cheerleading is not a sport? Say that to the cheer squad of Navarro College as they bid to win the coveted US national title. Described by Netflix as “gritty, inspiring and exciting”, TheWeek.co.uk’s three-word review of Cheer is “peppy, colourful and heartening”. Cult viewing. Where to watch: Netflix
Over the Edge
Base jumpers may well be the bravest sports men and women out there. Go inside this risky extreme sport as jumpers launch themselves off mountains and buildings. Where to watch: Channel 4
Last Chance U
Produced and premiered by Netflix, the first season of Last Chance U looks at the American football program at East Mississippi Community College. There’s high drama and emotions on and off the pitch. A terrific watch even for non-American football fans. Where to watch: Netflix
The English Game
Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, brings a new six-part drama to Netflix. Set in the 19th century The English Game looks at the invention of football and how it rose to become the world’s game by crossing class divides. Where to watch: Netflix


theweekuk--2020-12-18--Coronavirus: overwhelmed NHS hospitals diverting patients as experts warn of third wave


theweekuk--2020-12-18--Quiz of The Week: 12 - 18 December

Quiz of The Week: 12 - 18 December


theweekuk--2020-12-21--Celebrities who died in 2020

Celebrities who died in 2020

The world has lost a starry line-up of famous faces from show business and sport over the past 12 months .
Film fans worldwide mourned the passings of James Bond icon Sean Connery and Spartacus star Kirk Douglas , while the sudden death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash caused both grief and shock .
Meanwhile , the music industry marked the loss of “ Architect of Rock and Roll ” Little Richard and guitar pioneer Eddie Van Halen .
As the year nears its close , here is a reminder of the celebrities we said goodbye @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jones died in January , four years after being diagnosed with dementia .
In a statement , his family said : “ We are deeply saddened to have to announce the passing of beloved husband and father , Terry Jones .
“ Terry passed away on the evening of 21 January 2020 at the age of 77 , with his wife Anna Soderstrom by his side , after a long , extremely brave but always good-humoured battle with a rare form of dementia , FTD.
” Paying tribute to Welsh-born Jones , fellow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He was far more than one of the funniest writer-performers of his generation , he was the complete Renaissance comedian - writer , director , presenter , historian , brilliant children ’ s author , and the warmest , most wonderful company you could wish to have.
” The death of basketball legend Bryant on 26 January shocked both the sporting community and the wider world .
The 41-year-old was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas , California , along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers .
“ He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the history of our game , with accomplishments that are legendary , ” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said of Bryant , who spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers .
“ But he will be remembered most for inspiring people around the world to pick up a basketball and compete to the very best of their ability.
” Hollywood icon Douglas died on 5 February at the age of 103 .
The actor - best known for his starring role in Stanley Kubrick ’ s Spartacus - had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1996 .
He is survived by his wife of 65 years , Anne , and his sons Michael , Joel and Peter .
“ It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103 , ” Michael said in a statement .
“ To the world , he was a legend , an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years , a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to aspire to.
” Love Island host Flack was found dead in her flat on 15 February , in an apparent suicide by hanging , just weeks before she was due to go on trial for allegedly attacking her boyfriend .
How media outlets had reported the allegations against Flack became a topic of controversy after her death , with her management criticising the Crown Prosecution Service for pressing ahead with her “ show trial ” even after her alleged victim said he did not support it .
Then-Labour leadership contender Keir Starmer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amplifying ” damaging social media posts about Flack .
Born Richard Wayne Penniman , Little Richard would go on to earn the nickname of “ The Innovator , The Originator , and The Architect of Rock and Roll ” .
He died on 9 May at the age of 87 .
His death prompted an outpouring of tributes from leading figures in the music industry including Bob Dylan , Paul McCartney , Keith Richards , Mick Jagger , Jimmy Page and Brian Wilson .
McCartney tweeted : “ I owed a lot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his style ; and he knew it .
He would say , ‘ I taught Paul everything he knows.
’ ” Jagger wrote : “ He was the biggest inspiration of my early teens and his music still has the same raw electric energy when you play it now as it did when it first shot through the music scene in the mid-Fifties.
” The creator of some of the most recognisable movie themes in history , Italian composer Ennio Morricone died on 6 July at the age of 91 .
His style @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is best known for his work for the so-called Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone , including Fistful of Dollars , The Good , the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West .
Despite his considerable influence in Hollywood , Morricone had to wait until 2016 before receiving his first and only competitive Academy Award , for his score to Quentin Tarantino ’ s film The Hateful Eight .
Ever the eccentric , his death - at a hospital in his birth city of Rome - was confirmed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statement that Morricone had written himself , titled : “ I , Ennio Morricone , am dead.
” Fellow composer Hans Zimmer said : “ Ennio was an icon and icons just don ’ t go away , icons are forever.
” Part of the 1966 World Cup-winning England squad , Leeds United legend Jack Charlton died on 10 July at the age of 85 .
The bruising central defender , who was also famed for his charismatic off-field persona , passed away after a lengthy battle with dementia .
Throughout his long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proved himself time and again as both a player and a manager .
Despite the footballing rivalry between the England and Republic of Ireland national teams , Charlton secured a place Irish football folklore by managing the “ Boys in Green ” to their first major finals at Euro ’ 88 and the World Cup quarter-finals at Italia ’ 90 .
The England football team tweeted that they were “ devastated ” by his passing , while the Football Association of Ireland hailed Charlton as a man who “ changed Irish football forever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ household name for his starring role in Hollywood blockbuster Black Panther , Chadwick Boseman died on 28 August at the age of 43 following a secret four-year battle with colon cancer .
“ It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman , ” the actor ’ s family said in a statement .
“ Chadwick was diagnosed with stage-three colon cancer in 2016 and battled with it these last four years as it progressed to stage four .
A true fighter , Chadwick persevered through it all , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you have come to love so much.
” The famed guitarist and co-founder of rock band Van Halen died on 6 October at the age of 65 .
The Dutch-American musician , who pioneered guitar techniques including two-hand tapping , had been receiving treatment for throat cancer .
Shortly after his death , the band ’ s long-time frontman David Lee Roth posted a photo of himself beside his former bandmate , along with the message : “ What a long , great trip it ’ s been.
” The first - and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ - actor to play James Bond on the big screen , Sean Connery died in October at the age of 90 , having retired from acting in 2006 .
The Edinburgh-born movie legend had “ been unwell for some time ” , according to his son Jason , who added that his passing marked “ a sad day for all who knew and loved my dad , and a sad loss for all people around the world who enjoyed the wonderful gift he had as an actor ” .
Current Bond star Daniel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up to pay tribute to Connery .
“ He defined an era and a style .
The wit and charm he portrayed on screen could be measured in megawatts - he helped create the modern blockbuster , ” Craig said .
One of football ’ s greatest ever players , Diego Maradona died on 25 November at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack .
His “ multiple skills as creator , organiser and striker brought him worldwide acknowledgement as one of the best players ever known ” , and saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1986 World Cup , and to the final in 1990 , says The Guardian .
Although he struggled with addiction to drugs and alcohol for much of his life , Maradona was a player with “ unrivalled vision , and a touch and ball control that he ascribed to the abnormal rotational capability of his ankles ” , the paper adds .
Described by the BBC as a “ bubbly blonde who packed a lot of personality into her 4ft 10in frame ” , Barbara Windor died at the age of 83 on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alzheimer ’ s in 2014 .
Windsor had become “ a national treasure ” during her long career , which saw her go “ from saucy minx in the Carry On films to the matriarch of the Queen Vic in EastEnders ” , the broadcaster adds .
She was made a dame in the 2016 New Year ’ s Honours for her services to charity and entertainment .
Tinker , Tailor , Soldier , Spy author John le Carre died from pneumonia on 12 December at the age of 89 .
Born David @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own experiences as a Cold War-era spy when penning his renowned espionage novels .
He was working for the British intelligence service in West Germany when his debut novel , Call for the Dead , was published in 1961 .
Le Carre went on to publish a string of bestsellers , including The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and The Night Manager , but “ was not a comfortable player in the metropolitan literary scene ” , The Guardian says .
He refused a nomination for the Booker Prize in 2011 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turning down the opportunity to become one of the nation ’ s peers , however , he described himself as “ English to the core ” .

The world has lost a starry line-up of famous faces from show business and sport over the past 12 months. Film fans worldwide mourned the passings of James Bond icon Sean Connery and Spartacus star Kirk Douglas, while the sudden death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash caused both grief and shock. Meanwhile, the music industry marked the loss of “Architect of Rock and Roll” Little Richard and guitar pioneer Eddie Van Halen. As the year nears its close, here is a reminder of the celebrities we said goodbye to this year. Terry Jones Monty Python star Jones died in January, four years after being diagnosed with dementia. In a statement, his family said: “We are deeply saddened to have to announce the passing of beloved husband and father, Terry Jones. “Terry passed away on the evening of 21 January 2020 at the age of 77, with his wife Anna Soderstrom by his side, after a long, extremely brave but always good-humoured battle with a rare form of dementia, FTD.” Paying tribute to Welsh-born Jones, fellow Python star Michael Palin said: “He was far more than one of the funniest writer-performers of his generation, he was the complete Renaissance comedian - writer, director, presenter, historian, brilliant children’s author, and the warmest, most wonderful company you could wish to have.” Kobe Bryant The death of basketball legend Bryant on 26 January shocked both the sporting community and the wider world. The 41-year-old was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other passengers. “He was one of the most extraordinary players in the history of our game, with accomplishments that are legendary,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said of Bryant, who spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers. “But he will be remembered most for inspiring people around the world to pick up a basketball and compete to the very best of their ability.” Kirk Douglas Hollywood icon Douglas died on 5 February at the age of 103. The actor - best known for his starring role in Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus - had been in good health despite suffering a stroke in 1996. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Anne, and his sons Michael, Joel and Peter. Skip advert
“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” Michael said in a statement. “To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to.” Caroline Flack Love Island host Flack was found dead in her flat on 15 February, in an apparent suicide by hanging, just weeks before she was due to go on trial for allegedly attacking her boyfriend. How media outlets had reported the allegations against Flack became a topic of controversy after her death, with her management criticising the Crown Prosecution Service for pressing ahead with her “show trial” even after her alleged victim said he did not support it. Then-Labour leadership contender Keir Starmer also criticised mainstream news outlets for “amplifying” damaging social media posts about Flack. Little Richard Born Richard Wayne Penniman, Little Richard would go on to earn the nickname of “The Innovator, The Originator, and The Architect of Rock and Roll”. He died on 9 May at the age of 87. His death prompted an outpouring of tributes from leading figures in the music industry including Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page and Brian Wilson. McCartney tweeted: “I owed a lot of what I do to Little Richard and his style; and he knew it. He would say, ‘I taught Paul everything he knows.’” Jagger wrote: “He was the biggest inspiration of my early teens and his music still has the same raw electric energy when you play it now as it did when it first shot through the music scene in the mid-Fifties.” Ennio Morricone The creator of some of the most recognisable movie themes in history, Italian composer Ennio Morricone died on 6 July at the age of 91. His style was varied and versatile, but he is best known for his work for the so-called Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone, including Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West. Skip advert Despite his considerable influence in Hollywood, Morricone had to wait until 2016 before receiving his first and only competitive Academy Award, for his score to Quentin Tarantino’s film The Hateful Eight. Ever the eccentric, his death - at a hospital in his birth city of Rome - was confirmed by his lawyer, who subsequently distributed a statement that Morricone had written himself, titled: “I, Ennio Morricone, am dead.”
Fellow composer Hans Zimmer said: “Ennio was an icon and icons just don’t go away, icons are forever.” Jack Charlton Part of the 1966 World Cup-winning England squad, Leeds United legend Jack Charlton died on 10 July at the age of 85. The bruising central defender, who was also famed for his charismatic off-field persona, passed away after a lengthy battle with dementia. Throughout his long career in the beautiful game, Charlton proved himself time and again as both a player and a manager. Despite the footballing rivalry between the England and Republic of Ireland national teams, Charlton secured a place Irish football folklore by managing the “Boys in Green” to their first major finals at Euro ’88 and the World Cup quarter-finals at Italia ’90. The England football team tweeted that they were “devastated” by his passing, while the Football Association of Ireland hailed Charlton as a man who “changed Irish football forever”. Chadwick Boseman Having only recently become a household name for his starring role in Hollywood blockbuster Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman died on 28 August at the age of 43 following a secret four-year battle with colon cancer. “It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman,” the actor’s family said in a statement. “Chadwick was diagnosed with stage-three colon cancer in 2016 and battled with it these last four years as it progressed to stage four. A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much.” Eddie Van Halen The famed guitarist and co-founder of rock band Van Halen died on 6 October at the age of 65. The Dutch-American musician, who pioneered guitar techniques including two-hand tapping, had been receiving treatment for throat cancer. Skip advert Shortly after his death, the band’s long-time frontman David Lee Roth posted a photo of himself beside his former bandmate, along with the message: “What a long, great trip it’s been.” Sean Connery The first - and for many fans, the most iconic - actor to play James Bond on the big screen, Sean Connery died in October at the age of 90, having retired from acting in 2006. The Edinburgh-born movie legend had “been unwell for some time”, according to his son Jason, who added that his passing marked “a sad day for all who knew and loved my dad, and a sad loss for all people around the world who enjoyed the wonderful gift he had as an actor”.


theweekuk--2020-12-21--What the closure of Calais means for Brexit

The new and highly contagious variant of Covid-19 is not only a threat to public health - but also a political challenge for the UK government as it seeks to finalise a trade deal with the EU .
Negotiators missed another deadline for agreement yesterday as they struggled to resolve outstanding differences about fishing quotas and support for industry .
But the travel ban imposed on British goods and passengers imposed by France and several other European countries may complicate the final phase of talks .
“ The timing of the ports shutdown could not be worse for the government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the end of the ‘ standstill ’ transition period and just days before Christmas , ” the Daily Mail reports .
The closure of the Calais - and the resulting logjam of lorries in Kent - will have a “ devastating effect ” on food deliveries , transport executives told The Guardian .
Brexit stockpiling , Christmas deliveries , Covid restrictions and migrant checks on the French side meant that “ cross-Channel freight was already under huge pressure ” , the paper reports .
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said France ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just a few hours notice , was “ surprising ” and would cause “ significant disruption ” .
He warned hauliers and other drivers to stay away from Channel ports .
Although the French restrictions are scheduled to last for just 48 hours , “ the EU is planning to block all passenger traffic to and from England ” , according to the German newspaper Bild .
Politicians on both sides of the argument said the government should rethink its Brexit strategy in response to the disruption .
Nigel Farage “ accused the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the mutant coronavirus crisis to force the UK to sign a ‘ bad ’ post-Brexit trade deal ” , the Daily Mail reports .
He said Britain should abandon talks and “ walk away ” from the EU .
Keir Starmer told ITV political correspondent Paul Brand that he does “ not want an extension to the transition period ” despite the increasing Covid crisis , adding that Labour ’ s position remains that the prime minister should “ get on and get a deal ” .
Nicola Sturgeon , meanwhile , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ risk a no-deal Brexit on top of the threat posed by the virus and called for an extension to the transition period .


theweekuk--2020-12-21--Coronavirus: will more areas of the country face Tier 4 restrictions?

Government advisers have warned that Tier 4 Covid-19 restrictions will probably be rolled out across more of the country, after the rules were imposed on London and parts of the Southeast on Saturday.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday “warned the Tier 4 restrictions could be extended nationwide”, after describing that new strain of Covid as “out of control”, the Daily Mail reports.
The paper says the decision to introduce a further tier of lockdown restrictions was spearheaded by Imperial College London’s Professor Neil Ferguson, who led the move into a first lockdown in March before resigning after being caught breaking the rules.
Ferguson today told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “this virus is unpredictable, how people behave is unpredictable, so we will track the epidemic as we always have done. Policy will be formed on the basis of that”.
Asked about the potential for the measures to be in place until spring, he added: “The tiers are reviewed every two weeks and will continue to be reviewed. But I certainly agree it's not looking optimistic right now.”
Whitehall sources told The Telegraph that Tier 4 orders “may stay in place for months, until most over 50s have received the vaccine”, with “ministers believ[ing] at least 20 million people will need to have been vaccinated before any significant relaxing of the measures can be considered”.
The Whitehall figures also told the paper that further areas could be placed into Tier 4, even before Christmas, if “the new variant fuels spikes elsewhere”, adding: “A full national lockdown could not be ruled out.”
So far, the majority of cases have been contained within London and the Southeast. However, as of Sunday, Wales had reported 28 cases and the Southwest 27 cases, suggesting that it is on the move across the country.


theweekuk--2020-12-21--Coronavirus: what the new Covid-19 strain means for the UK’s vaccination plan


theweekuk--2020-12-21--Expert hails ‘vintage year’ for Loch Ness sightings

While in other ways less than perfect , 2020 has been a “ vintage ” year for Loch Ness sightings , says the keeper of the Official Loch Ness Sightings Register .
Gary Campbell said that when Nessie was spotted near Urquhart Castle by Karen Scott and her partner when they were visiting from Aberdeen on 24 November , it was the 12th accepted sighting this year .
A boy of 12 has held a rave in his school ’ s toilet .
Cael Bell promoted the event on Snapchat , inviting “ all year 8 boys ” at St @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Greater Manchester to have it large with him .
He promised everyone attending would be given a Cadbury Twirl and bottle of Lucozade .
However , the event lasted only 30 minutes before it was shut down by teachers .
A woman who won a lottery prize of 10,000 Australian dollars ( £5,600 ) said she only bought the ticket so she could meet the minimum purchase total to use a payment card .
The woman , from Queensland , Australia , said she needed to spend $ 5 more to meet this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ animal on it because she ’ s a vet .
She says the winning was a “ blessing before Christmas ” .

While in other ways less than perfect, 2020 has been a “vintage” year for Loch Ness sightings, says the keeper of the Official Loch Ness Sightings Register. Gary Campbell said that when Nessie was spotted near Urquhart Castle by Karen Scott and her partner when they were visiting from Aberdeen on 24 November, it was the 12th accepted sighting this year.
Boy holds rave in school toilets
A boy of 12 has held a rave in his school’s toilet. Cael Bell promoted the event on Snapchat, inviting “all year 8 boys” at St Antony's Catholic College in Urmston, Greater Manchester to have it large with him. He promised everyone attending would be given a Cadbury Twirl and bottle of Lucozade. However, the event lasted only 30 minutes before it was shut down by teachers.
Lottery winner was only meeting card minimum
A woman who won a lottery prize of 10,000 Australian dollars (£5,600) said she only bought the ticket so she could meet the minimum purchase total to use a payment card. The woman, from Queensland, Australia, said she needed to spend $5 more to meet this minimum and chose the ticket with an animal on it because she’s a vet. She says the winning was a “blessing before Christmas”.


theweekuk--2020-12-21--Donald Trump mulled using ‘martial law’ to keep the presidency

Donald Trump asked aides whether he could impose martial law and order a full rerun of last month ’ s election , according to several anonymous White House sources .
“ The possibility of using the military to enforce a second term is said to have been emphatically rebuffed by many of his closest advisers , ” says The Times , “ but the fact that it was raised in a chaotic Oval Office meeting on Friday marks a new , severe turn in his attempts to defy his defeat ” .
The US president also sought to appoint his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unleashed conspiracy theories about a Venezuelan plot to rig voting machines in the United States ” , to oversee an investigation into voter fraud , The New York Times reports .
“ Ms Powell ’ s ideas were shot down by every other Trump adviser present , all of whom repeatedly pointed out that she had yet to back up her claims with proof , ” the paper adds .
Undaunted , Trump reportedly went on to discuss the possibility of introducing military rule , an idea first proposed by his former national @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ could take military capabilities and he could place those in states and basically rerun an election in each of those states ” , Flynn told the right-wing channel Newmax .
Both Flynn and Powell reportedly attended the meeting at the White House on Friday .
Although Trump has denied the claims and described them as “ fake news ” , reporters have stood by their detailed accounts , which they say came from White House insiders .
Friday ’ s events “ alarmed some White House staffers - people who are used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and had some Trump officials sounding the alarm to the press ” , CNN reports .
Last week the US electoral college confirmed Joe Biden ’ s victory in the election by a margin of 306 to 232 .
“ But Mr Trump , egged on by supporters like Ms Powell , has never conceded and , holed up inside the White House , he continues to assert that he actually won , ” says The New York Times .


theweekuk--2020-12-22--Novichok put in Alexei Navalny’s underwear, says Russian spy

Agents of the Russian security services tried to kill the opposition leader Alexei Navalny by poisoning his underpants with the deadly nerve agent Novichok , according to a member of the assassination unit .
“ The stunning disclosure from an agent who belonged to an elite toxins team in Russia ’ s FSB security service came in a lengthy phone call , ” CNN reports .
“ In what he was told was a debriefing , Konstantin Kudryavtsev also talked about others involved in the poisoning in the Siberian city of Tomsk , and how he was sent to clean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was talking to Navalny himself , who had “ phoned two members of the team from Russia ’ s FSB spy agency ” , says The Guardian .
“ One recognised him immediately and hung up ” , but Kudryavtsev “ was seemingly duped into thinking he was talking to an aide working for a top FSB general ” .
Navalny fell ill aboard a flight from Tomsk to Moscow in August .
He spent several weeks in a medically induced coma at a hospital in Germany , before making a full recovery @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he had been poisoned with a type of novichok , the Soviet-era poison that was also used in the Salisbury attacks in 2018 , ” The Times reports .
In his conversation with Navalny , posted on YouTube , Kudryavtsev says the FSB team disabled security cameras in the hotel where the opposition leader was staying and broke into his room with the poison .
“ When asked by Mr Navalny to describe what item of clothing the agents had smeared with the nerve agent , Mr Kudryavtsev replied : ‘ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ When pressed further , he said : ‘ They told us to work on the underpants .
On the inside part .
The crotch.
’ ” According to tests carried out by the US army , “ the groin is one of the areas of the human body that is most sensitive to nerve agents ” , the paper explains .
Investigative journalists has previously suggested that the poison had been delivered in a negroni recommended by his hotel bartender .
It “ tasted like the most disgusting thing I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said last week .

Agents of the Russian security services tried to kill the opposition leader Alexei Navalny by poisoning his underpants with the deadly nerve agent Novichok, according to a member of the assassination unit.
“The stunning disclosure from an agent who belonged to an elite toxins team in Russia’s FSB security service came in a lengthy phone call,” CNN reports. “In what he was told was a debriefing, Konstantin Kudryavtsev also talked about others involved in the poisoning in the Siberian city of Tomsk, and how he was sent to clean things up.”
In fact, Kudryavtsev was talking to Navalny himself, who had “phoned two members of the team from Russia’s FSB spy agency”, says The Guardian. “One recognised him immediately and hung up”, but Kudryavtsev “was seemingly duped into thinking he was talking to an aide working for a top FSB general”.
Navalny fell ill aboard a flight from Tomsk to Moscow in August. He spent several weeks in a medically induced coma at a hospital in Germany, before making a full recovery.
“Laboratory tests in Europe revealed that he had been poisoned with a type of novichok, the Soviet-era poison that was also used in the Salisbury attacks in 2018,” The Times reports.
In his conversation with Navalny, posted on YouTube, Kudryavtsev says the FSB team disabled security cameras in the hotel where the opposition leader was staying and broke into his room with the poison.
“When asked by Mr Navalny to describe what item of clothing the agents had smeared with the nerve agent, Mr Kudryavtsev replied: ‘The underpants’,” The Times recounts. “When pressed further, he said: ‘They told us to work on the underpants. On the inside part. The crotch.’”
According to tests carried out by the US army, “the groin is one of the areas of the human body that is most sensitive to nerve agents”, the paper explains.
Investigative journalists has previously suggested that the poison had been delivered in a negroni recommended by his hotel bartender. It “tasted like the most disgusting thing I’ve had in my life”, he said last week.


theweekuk--2020-12-22--Downing Street ‘incandescent’ after France closed border

Downing Street officials were reportedly left “ incandescent ” by Emmanuel Macron ’ s decision to close France ’ s borders to British hauliers amid fears of the new Covid-19 strain .
A source in No .
10 told The Times that Downing Street staff could barely conceal their anger at the French plan , saying Macron “ was trying to leverage the new strain of the coronavirus to apply pressure in Brexit negotiations ” .
They added that “ Macron was motivated by a need to appear decisive to his own voters ” , a claim the paper notes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials said that the move to block British lorries was part of a failure to coordinate across the block , describing it as a “ shitstorm ” .
“ All European governments are being kicked for not doing enough .
The curve is rising anyway , it is not going well , ” they said .
Over 1,500 lorries are stuck in Kent waiting to leave the UK as “ politicians thrash out a plan to reopen France ’ s border to trade and travel ” , the BBC reports .
Home Secretary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that 650 lorries are stacked up on the M20 , with a further 873 at a lorry park .
Patel added that testing lorry drivers at ports was “ part of the discussions ” and said that `` getting those tests up and running can happen relatively quickly ” .
The bloc is “ understood to be pressing for UK arrivals to be tested for the virus before entering their countries ” , the BBC says .
Almost every EU country has blocked travel from the UK and leaders are in talks about @ @ @ @