The week UK English Magazine

NEWS The main stories… What happened A Games to remember What the editorials said “What a great Games!” said The Daily Telegraph The host city’s performance has been uneven – with empty seats, pools The Rio 2016 Olympic Games ended with that turned green, and filthy water in a carnival-inspired closing ceremony on Guanabara Bay, where the sailing took Sunday night, bringing to a close 16 days place “But Team GB has truly stolen the of competition, featuring 11,303 athletes show.” Just 20 years ago, at the Atlanta from 206 nations, along with a refugee Olympics, Britain won a solitary gold team A total of 306 gold medals were medal, in rowing “With the help of the doled out in a Games that cost the host Lottery, combined with the added impetus nation £8.8bn Team GB finished second in of hosting the 2012 Games in London, it the medal table, below the US and above has been possible to identify and train top China, with 27 golds and 67 medals in all athletes in sports across the board.” – bettering its haul of 65 at London 2012 Britain won golds in 15 disciplines, a The Brownlee brothers: silver and gold wider spread than any other country In the later stages of the Games, Nick Skelton won a showjumping gold at the age of 58, while brothers Alistair and British athletes in Rio have covered themselves in glory, said Jonny Brownlee took the gold and silver in the triathlon The The Observer But Team GB’s “no compromise” model also women’s hockey team beat the favourites Netherlands in a “raises difficult questions” The £347m in Lottery and public penalty shoot-out in the final, watched by some nine million money spent since 2012 has been targeted ruthlessly Sports viewers on the BBC Nicola Adams became the first woman to that were unlikely to reap a medal were denied funding – even successfully defend an Olympic boxing gold, while Jade if, like basketball and football, they are popular at grass-roots “Headhunter” Jones also retained her title in taekwondo level among the country’s less well-off and less healthy By Last Saturday, Mo Farah won the 5,000m, completing a contrast, sports such as cycling and rowing, favoured by the “double-double” of 5,000m and 10,000m titles in consecutive better-off, have received massive investment Meanwhile, Olympics Mark England, Team GB’s chef de mission, said: across the country, public sports facilities are “decaying” “I have no doubt this is our greatest ever Games.” We “must nurture the shoots as well as the tallest blades” What happened The tragedy of Aleppo Harrowing pictures of a dazed and bloodcovered Syrian boy rescued from his bombed home in Aleppo last week provoked international outrage Video footage showed five-year-old Omran Daqneesh in the back of an ambulance just minutes after he had been pulled from the rubble of an apartment building destroyed by an air strike on the rebel-held east of the city Released by opposition activists, the pictures were immediately shared on social media across the world Five other members of Omran’s family were pulled out alive, but his ten-yearold brother later died in hospital What the editorials said Over the last five years “tens of thousands” of civilians have been killed in Syria’s civil war, said The Times Yet it has taken the picture of one small, traumatised boy to “prick the world’s conscience” His “shocked face” is a reproach to the West for letting “this madness continue” But international condemnation has little effect on the Assad regime, said The Guardian Last summer a similar storm of protest greeted pictures of a three-year-old Syrian boy, found drowned on a Turkish beach after a refugee boat capsized Yet a year later the combatants were still locked in a war being “fought with callous disregard for humanitarian conventions” The conflict is actually intensifying, said The Wall Street Journal Russian and Syrian aircraft have stepped up their attacks in Aleppo in direct response to recent rebel gains But even with the Russian air cover, Syria’s “demoralised” army – Assad can now deploy only 20,000 “battle-ready troops” – seems incapable of winning an outright victory in the city The “bloody stalemate” looks set to continue Omran: a reproach to the West The attack was widely blamed on Russian warplanes supporting the army of President Assad, which is attempting to encircle the city To deflect international criticism, Moscow agreed to support a 48-hour truce to allow humanitarian relief into the east of the city, which has been entirely cut off from aid since last month It wasn’t all bad A San Francisco-based tech tycoon is pouring millions into the small north Devon village where he spent his childhood holidays British-born Bebo founder Michael Birch, 46, returned to Woolsery – where members of his family have lived since the 1700s – and was shocked to find that its pub, hotel and chippy had all closed down So rather than see the village die, he set about buying and restoring them Residents have described his support as like “winning the lottery” Water voles have returned to a lake in the Yorkshire Dales for the first time in half a century Around 100 voles were reintroduced last week to Malham Tarn, England’s highest freshwater lake The creatures were once found in nearly every waterway in Britain, but are now the country’s fastest-declining mammal – facing a range of threats, including the American mink, which preys voraciously on them Reintroduction schemes and efforts to control minks are yielding dividends, however: voles are now repopulating parts of Cornwall and the South Downs A gang of muggers chose the wrong target when they set upon 77-year-old Winifred Peel The trio surrounded Mrs Peel at an ATM, near her home on the Wirral, shoved her aside, and pressed the button to get £200 from her account Mrs Peel, who goes to the gym four times a week, was shaken, but wasn’t giving up without a fight She managed to grab one of the thieves by the collar, then rammed his head against the machine several times The muggers ran off, but were soon caught – and all three have now been jailed COVER CARTOON: HOWARD MCWILLIAM THE WEEK 27 August 2016 …and how they were covered NEWS What the commentators said What next? “Imagine a country that isn’t very successful, but wants to boost its image in the world,” said Peter Hitchens in The Mail on Sunday Its economy is “rocky”, its cities “grubby”, its schools poor So this country spends huge amounts of money on winning medals, choosing sports where the competition is weak “The country I am thinking of is East Germany.” But doesn’t it apply equally to Britain today? “We used to ridicule the communists for this,” said Simon Jenkins in The Guardian Now we’ve joined them They call it “financial doping” It’s no surprise that it works “Who needs to cheat with drugs when medals go to money?” Tokyo 2020 will be more difficult for Team GB, said The Daily Telegraph Japan will invest heavily in its athletes, and the Chinese team, after a disappointing showing in Rio, will be keen to make a strong statement on its own doorstep The Australians, likewise disappointing in Brazil, “won’t lie down” And – assuming that Russia can allay the concerns of the Olympic authorities over doping – there will be a full Russian delegation as well Come, come, said Martin Kettle in The Guardian “The truth is that the Olympics is good national value.” The £350m that we have put into the Olympic effort since 2012 is “a tiny proportion of total public spending over the same period” And it creates all sorts of benefits: inspiring people to take part in sports; making people from all sorts of backgrounds feel a part of Britain; creating a general “feel-good factor” All the big economic powers invest in the Olympics, said Dominic Sandbrook in the Daily Mail: just look at the medal tables Shouldn’t it be a source of pride that we it well? And the old sneer, that we are only any good at specialised “sitting-down sports” such as rowing, cycling and sailing, is no longer true, said Jim White in The Daily Telegraph Hockey, swimming, diving, running, triathlon, boxing, gymnastics, tennis, golf and taekwondo are not exactly “sedentary” For Brazil, though, the games were less of a success, said Jonathan Watts in The Observer In the midst of an economic crisis, it has spent billions on stadiums though it “can barely afford wages for doctors and teachers”; while a big security presence in the Olympic areas led to chaos in the favelas Yet the Games will certainly leave a positive legacy, said Beatriz Garcia on The Conversation Tourism has boomed The run-down areas chosen as venues for the Games have been rehabilitated And thanks in large part to the Olympic infrastructure effort, 63% of the population now have access to public transport, up from 18% seven years ago The Paralympic Games will take place in Rio next month, said BBC News online However, they face major budget cuts, as the organising committee has not raised enough money in ticket sales to fund them (see page 6) What the commentators said What next? The picture of Omran Daqneesh has “captivated the world”, said Robin Wright in The New Yorker But he is just one of a generation of “war-ravaged” young Syrians facing the worst conditions in the world More than a third of all casualties in Aleppo are now children Only a “trickle of food” is reaching the city, there is no safe drinking water, and the injured are in constant danger: last month alone saw 42 air strikes on medical facilities, according to a group of Aleppo doctors who appealed to the White House for US intervention What’s more, only 35 doctors remain for a population of 300,000 in the rebel-held district, said Zaher Sahloul, a Syrian-American doctor, in The Guardian On my own visits, I have had to operate in hospitals without anaesthetics and under bombardment Omran’s plight should remind the world of “a tragedy that has been unfolding for years” The UN says it is prepared to start delivering aid to Aleppo this week, but it first wants a commitment from all the warring parties – not only Russia – that they will respect the truce It is also calling for a regular, weekly two-day halt in the fighting It’s high time for a “robust” intervention from the US, said Thanassis Cambanis in Foreign Policy Under the “detached” leadership of President Obama, America “has let deadline after deadline lapse without consequence”, emboldening Assad and his Russian allies Let’s now step up our training of “vetted” rebel groups, provide them with anti-aircraft weapons and deploy US special forces But who precisely are our allies, asked Jonathan Spyer in The Spectator The idea of a potent “moderate” rebel force is a “myth” Today the Syrian rebellion is run by Islamist forces, in particular the so-called “Army of Conquest” coalition, which has links to al-Qa’eda To be sure, an Assad victory would be a “disaster” leading to the region’s domination by an anti-West Shia coalition led by Iran But a rebel victory would turn Syria into a “Sunni Islamist dictatorship” The best answer may be to leave Assad in control of some “enclaves” while helping Kurdish-led forces, our strongest allies, to crush Isis That would at least recognise the new reality: that, as a “unitary state”, Syria “no longer exists” According to The Times, Moscow is pressing Turkey for permission to operate from the key Incirlik air base, already used by Nato and home to a stock of US nuclear warheads Ankara’s agreement would be seen in Washington as evidence of an alarming alliance between Moscow and a vital member of Nato THE WEEK Blackmail or child abuse – which is more harmful? Which merits more police attention? You might think these precisely the sorts of question that call for nuanced human judgement, the answers varying according to the context You’d be wrong As The Times reports this week, senior police officers now seem eager to outsource such judgements to a “menu of harm” index developed by Government statisticians and Cambridge University academics Taking a range of factors into account – the number of offenders in jail for a given crime, for example – the index vouchsafes that blackmail is actually more serious than child abuse, robbery of personal property than child abduction This contracting-out of moral judgement to expertise is not a lone example: we it all the time Look how we defer to economists Their proper role is to explain economic outcomes (which they’re good at) and, to a lesser extent, to predict them (which they’re pretty bad at) What they’ve no business telling us, however, is what those outcomes should be and how we must act (The assumption that economic expansion is the overriding purpose of social organisation is itself a moral judgement.) Yet such is the urge to divest ourselves of moral responsibility, we invite them to so In his new book, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, Yuval Noah Harari speaks of our ever growing anxiety about losing control of the power to decide our fate, as authority shifts from humans and politics to algorithms and indices But we’re not losing control We’re ceding it Jeremy O’Grady Subscriptions: 0844 844 0086; overseas +44(0)1795 592921; theweek@servicehelpline.co.uk The Week is licensed to The Week Limited by Dennis Publishing Limited The Week is a registered trade mark of Felix Dennis Editor-in-chief: Jeremy O’Grady Editor: Caroline Law Deputy editors: Harry Nicolle, Theo Tait Consultant editor: Jemima Lewis Assistant editor: Daniel Cohen City editor: Jane Lewis Contributing editors: Charity Crewe, Thomas Hodgkinson, Simon Wilson, Rob McLuhan, William Underhill, Digby Warde-Aldam Editorial staff: Alanna O’Connell, Nell Lewis, Tigger Ridgwell Picture editor: Xandie Nutting Art director: Nathalie Fowler Sub editor: Kari Wilkin Production editor: Michael Haydock Founder and editorial director: Jolyon Connell Production Managers: Ebony Besagni, Lawrence Brookes Newstrade Director: David Barker Direct Marketing Director: Abi Spooner Inserts: Abdul Ahad Classified: Emma Greenwood, Henry Haselock, Henry Pickford Account Directors: Scott Hayter, John Hipkiss, Victoria Ryan, Jocelyn Sital-Singh UK Ad Director: Caroline Fenner Head of Investment for Dennis: Marc Young Executive Director – Head of Advertising: David Weeks Chief Executive, The Week: Kerin O’Connor COO: Brett Reynolds Chief executive: James Tye Dennis Publishing founder: Felix Dennis THE WEEK Ltd, a subsidiary of Dennis Publishing Ltd, 30 Cleveland St, London W1T 4JD Tel: 020-7907 6000 Editorial: The Week Ltd, 2nd Floor, 32 Queensway, London W2 3RX Tel: 020-7907 6180 email: editorialadmin@theweek.co.uk 27 August 2016 THE WEEK Politics NEWS Controversy of the week Cutting the flab “Why are you looking so grumpy?” That’s what my kids asked me when I got home last Wednesday night, said Jamie Oliver in The Times I had to explain to them I was angry because “the Prime Minister had let British children down” Last week Theresa May flunked her first big test as PM She had a golden opportunity to show she was serious about tackling the scourge of obesity, by fulfilling the promise that Health Secretary A third of British children are overweight Jeremy Hunt made last year to take “draconian” action to force food companies to change their ways But when the Government unveiled its long-awaited obesity strategy, it proved utterly feeble “Everything about it stinks of ‘we don’t care’.” It certainly looks as if May has put the interests of business before those of the nation’s children, said George Eaton in the New Statesman The key measures advanced by health campaigners – curbs on advertising (notably the use of cartoon characters to promote cereals and snacks) and on supermarkets offering promotional deals on junk foods – have been ditched And although the industry is being asked to reduce the sugar content in food that children enjoy by 20% by 2020, said Sarah Boseley in The Guardian, it’s only a voluntary process, which was started under Cameron’s government – and which has been largely ineffectual The key measure is the sugar tax, already announced by George Osborne in March: yet this only applies to soft drinks (it will put 8p on a can of Coke) and won’t come in for two years Nor is any action being taken on fat – as much a cause of obesity as sugar Instead, schools and parents will be asked to push children to an hour of exercise a day And that’s exactly where responsibility should lie, said Emma Gill in the Manchester Evening News “How long are we going to blame the Government and advertisers for a problem that ultimately lies with us parents?” It’s we who decide what our children put in their mouths It may not always be fun being “the fruit-and-veg pusher, but it’s part and parcel of being a parent” No, said Polly Toynbee in The Guardian: what we refuse to admit is that “fat is a class issue” A third of British children are deemed to be overweight, but “most of the seriously obese are poor” And that’s hardly surprising: when you have no prospects, are excluded from the finer things society has to offer, and are regarded as bottom of the pecking order, small pleasures occupy a key place in your life “It is inequality and disrespect that make people fat.” That’s why Government has a central role to play And under the previous Labour government it played it rather well, said The Observer It devolved responsibility for nutrition to an independent Food Standards Agency which was “insulated from heavy industry lobbying” Hence it was able to broker industry-wide deals – to reduce salt content in food, for example – that were copied around the world But to its shame, the coalition government in 2010 restored nutrition policy to the Department of Health, so exposing it once again to the powerful food and drinks lobby And May’s “craven” U-turn is the result Spirit of the age Burial space in Manhattan is at such a premium that one church is charging $7m for the privilege The Basilica of St Patrick’s Old Cathedral is offering for sale a crypt that can accommodate six people The church, one of New York City’s oldest, is billing the crypt as “a premier place of eternal rest” Of the 11 remaining cemeteries in Manhattan, just one, New York Marble Cemetery, still sells plots: last year, it put two on the market for $350,000 each As more and more councils introduce parking charges, thefts of blue badges are skyrocketing More than 2,000 of the badges – which enable disabled drivers to park for free, and on some single and double yellow lines – were recorded stolen last year, triple the total stolen in 2013 THE WEEK 27 August 2016 Good week for: Emigration, with reports that 10,647 UK passport holders enquired about the possibility of moving to New Zealand in the seven weeks after the Brexit vote, more than double the number in the same period last year Nearly 1,000 of them registered with Immigration New Zealand on 24 June – the day the result was announced Noel Edmonds, who was tipped to become Britain’s highestpaid daytime TV presenter Although Channel is axing his bestknown game show, Deal or No Deal, Edmonds is due to present several new shows for the station next year, including one called Sell or Swap, and another called Cheap Cheap Cheap These are expected to earn him £10m a year Ramen noodles, which were reported to have overtaken tobacco as the most valuable commodity in US prisons Researchers say the terrible quality of the food in American jails probably explains the popularity of the instant noodles Bad week for: Working mothers, who face a growing gender pay gap, new research has found Young childless women working full-time typically earn 10-15% less than male peers; but among women with children, the gap rises to more than 33% (see page 44) Waste management, with news that councils had to divert 338,000 tons of potentially recyclable rubbish to landfill last year, because it was contaminated In some areas, 15% of waste sorted for recycling has to be rejected, often because householders haven’t washed out containers properly Boring but important Help to Buy “sham” The Government’s Help to Buy Isa has been criticised as a “sham”, following revelations that it can’t be used to fund the exchange deposit on a home Since the scheme’s launch last year, more than 500,000 aspiring first-time buyers have opened the accounts, which pay a 25% “bonus” of up to £3,000, supposedly towards a deposit However, it emerged last week that the bonus is only paid after the exchange of contracts, as the sale nears completion; the Treasury says this is intended to ensure recipients use it to buy a house Labour called the scheme “misleading”, while experts warned that savers might be able to take legal action Ofsted chair resigns The chair of Ofsted has resigned over his controversial comments about the Isle of Wight At a conference last month, former City businessman David Hoare described parts of the island – where he has a home – as a “ghetto” where “there has been inbreeding”, blighted by “a mass of crime, drug problems, and huge unemployment” Following an outcry, Hoare apologised twice, but this week he quit with immediate effect Poll watch 84% of people think EU migrants living in Britain should be allowed to remain after Brexit, according to an ICM poll for The Observer 62% want the number of low-skilled migrants cut However, just 12% want to cut the number of highly skilled immigrants; 46% want it to increase Meanwhile, an Ipsos Mori poll found that people are less gloomy about the economy than they were immediately after the EU referendum 43% expect the economy to worsen over the next year (down from 57% last month), while 28% think it will improve 38% of people think more grammar schools should be created 23% want all existing grammar schools to be scrapped 67% would send their children to one YouGov/TES Europe at a glance The Hague, Netherlands Jihadi repents: A Malian jihadi has become the first person to be convicted of war crimes for destroying cultural artefacts A former member of the Ansar Dine group, Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi entered a guilty plea at the International Criminal Court on Monday He admitted to ordering the destruction of nine shrines and a mosque in the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu after it was captured by Islamists in 2012, and destroying several artefacts himself, using iron bars and a pickaxe In court, al-Mahdi (pictured) begged the Malian people for forgiveness, described the jihadis’ actions as “evil”, and urged other Muslims not to “get involved in the kind of acts I got involved in” NEWS Berlin Partial burka ban: Germany’s federal interior minister has proposed a partial ban on the wearing of the burka and other full-face veils, saying that such coverings “have no place in our society” Thomas de Maizière said he planned to introduce legislation to have the veils banned in places where “it is necessary for our society’s coexistence”, including government offices, courts, schools and universities Officials had been considering a complete ban on full-face veils (although these are a rare sight in Germany) but were reportedly warned that this would amount to an unconstitutional encroachment on religious freedom De Maizière is a member of Chancellor Merkel’s CDU, and one of her close confidants Merkel herself recently underlined her objections to the burka and other veils, when she told an interviewer that “a fully veiled woman has almost no chance of integrating successfully in German society” Berlin Germans told to stockpile food: The German government is set to advise its citizens to stockpile food and water in case of a national emergency, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, according to a leaked report The Concept for Civil Defence, which was leaked to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper, states that “an attack on German territory, requiring conventional defence of the nation, is unlikely” but cannot be ruled out Under the plans, which were due to go before ministers this week, citizens would be advised to store enough food to last ten days, and five days’ worth of drinking water, as well as fuel, candles, torches, matches and cash Opposition MPs have dismissed the proposed advice as “scaremongering” Ventotene, Italy Show of unity: The leaders of Germany, Italy and France – the EU’s three largest countries by population once Britain leaves – met for a summit this week to discuss the union’s post-Brexit future The meeting was long on symbolism: Merkel, Renzi and Hollande (pictured) met on the small island of Ventotene, where they visited the grave of Altiero Spinelli, an anti-fascist intellectual considered a progenitor of European unity However, it was short on substance, with no concrete policy proposals The talks were aimed at agreeing a common position before a summit of all EU countries, apart from the UK, in Slovakia next month Budapest Pig’s head comment: A Hungarian MEP has suggested that pigs’ heads should be strung up along Hungary’s border fence to deter migrants György Schöpflin, a member of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party, made the comment on Twitter, after Andrew Stroehlein of Human Rights Watch criticised border guards for using scarecrows made from sugar beet to try to put off refugees “Refugees are fleeing war and torture, Hungary Your root vegetable heads will not deter them,” Stroehlein had written The MEP replied: “Might so Human images are haram But agree, pig’s head would deter more effectively.” Campaigners say his comment reflects a deep strain of xenophobia within the Fidesz government According to Human Rights Watch, migrants at Hungary’s border with Serbia have been attacked by dogs, and beaten with batons and fists Paris Race hots up: President Hollande’s former economy minister, Arnaud Montebourg, has announced that he plans to stand for his party’s presidential nomination The third – and most high-profile – of Hollande’s former ministers to announce his candidacy, Montebourg accused the president of betraying his Socialist Party’s left-wing ideals, and described his presidential term as indefensible Hollande himself has not yet confirmed that he will stand in the primaries, in January, but he is expected to so, and Montebourg’s declaration is a further blow to his already slim hopes of re-election Hollande’s current economy minister, the 38-year-old pro-business centrist Emmanuel Macron, is also expected to enter the race Separately, Nicolas Sarkozy formally launched his campaign to win the centreright’s presidential nomination Amatrice, Italy Devastating earthquake: A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck central Italy in the early hours of Wednesday morning, killing at least 60 people Hundreds have been injured and thousands may have been left homeless The village of Pescara del Tronto, in Le Marche, was levelled to the ground, as was much of the small town of Amatrice, in Lazio, about 80 miles northeast of Rome “The town isn’t here anymore,” said its mayor, Sergio Pirozzi Many of the dead are believed to have been asleep when their houses collapsed around them The tremor – which was followed by several aftershocks bigger than magnitude 5.0 – shook Lazio, Umbria and Le Marche, and was felt in Rome The death toll was expected to rise this week as rescuers reached remote hamlets in the area As daylight dawned on Wednesday, villagers were using shovels and even their bare hands to try to dig out their neighbours Catch up with daily news at www.theweek.co.uk 27 August 2016 THE WEEK NEWS The world at a glance Shishmaref, Alaska Climate refugees: The residents of a village on a tiny low-lying island off the coast of Alaska have voted to abandon their homes to the rising seas, and relocate en masse to the mainland Shishmaref (population 580) lies on a slither of land north of the Bering Strait which has been losing 10ft a year to coastal erosion for several years A number of houses have already crumbled into the sea, and the Inupiat Eskimo villagers have been warned that unless more is done to protect the island, their whole settlement could be under water by the middle of the century The cost of the necessary sea defences has been put at $110m; relocating the village could cost $180m Dozens of coastal villages in the US are similarly threatened: in February, the US government granted $48m for the relocation of 60 people from Isle de Jean Charles, in Louisiana, which is disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico Charlotte, North Carolina Trump’s non-apology: Donald Trump surprised the US last week by striking a more emollient tone, and finally apologising – or appearing to apologise – for some of the caustic and offensive comments he has made on the campaign trail “Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing,” the Republican presidential candidate told a rally in Charlotte “And believe it or not I regret it And I regret it – particularly where it may have caused personal pain.” It was not entirely clear, though, whether Trump really meant to apologise, or to whom – of the many people he has insulted – he was referring When asked whether he was apologising to the people he has hurt, he replied: “Well they have to take it as they see it.” (See page 15.) New York Swimmer under fire: The gold medalwinning swimmer Ryan Lochte has lost lucrative sponsorship deals with Speedo, Ralph Lauren and others as a result of his drunken escapade at the Olympics, and subsequent lies to the police Lochte and three teammates vandalised a toilet door at a petrol station after a night out in Rio de Janeiro, and were confronted by security guards However, he later told his mother he’d been robbed at gunpoint by men dressed as police She reported this to the press, and when he was questioned about it, he stuck to his story – only for it to unravel in the face of CCTV evidence This week, the New York Post said he represented “everything the world hates about Americans” San Bernardino, California Thousands flee wildfires: A state of emergency was declared in California last week as 2,700 firefighters – plus ten air tankers and 17 helicopters – struggled to contain a wildfire that has destroyed around 300 buildings over a 37,000-acre area More than 82,000 residents were ordered to evacuate their homes after the fire broke out near the Blue Cut hiking trail in San Bernardino county, 70 miles east of Los Angeles In a rare phenomenon known as “firenadoes”, flames were sucked up by whirlwinds, causing ash to rain down across the area Years of drought and a scorching summer have fuelled a reported 4,084 fires in California this year, up from 3,790 in the same period in 2015 Mexico City Police “executions”: An investigation by the Mexican human rights watchdog into a notorious police raid, in which 42 alleged members of a drugs cartel were killed, has concluded that half of the dead were executed by officers who then conspired to cover up the extrajudicial killings The police, whose raid was backed up by a Black Hawk attack helicopter, said that the suspects had been killed in a firefight However, the fact that only one officer died raised suspicions The report concludes that five suspects were killed in the initial assault on the ranch in Michoacán state, but that 22 people were then executed; the remaining 15 died in unclear circumstances Many are believed to have been asleep on a verandah, and to have been shot as they fled across fields Caracas Coup warning: Venezuela’s embattled socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, has warned his opponents that if they attempt to overthrow him, he will respond with a force that will make President Erdogan’s crackdown on presumed coup plotters in Turkey look like child’s play “Did you see what happened in Turkey?” Maduro (pictured) asked during a televised event last week “Erdogan will seem like a nursing baby compared to what the Bolivarian revolution will if the right wing steps over the line with a coup.” THE WEEK 27 August 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Paralympics in crisis: The Paralympic Games are to be dramatically scaled down owing to a funding crisis and disappointing ticket sales With just a few weeks before the Games kick off, on September – the International Paralympic Committee’s president, Sir Philip Craven, announced earlier this month that only 12% of tickets had been sold, and the Games would be subject to large-scale cuts to venues, staffing and transport “Never before in the 56-year history of the Paralympic Games have we faced circumstances like this,” he said The Brazilian organising committee was two weeks late in paying £7m in travel grants, meaning that ten countries may now struggle to get any competitors to Rio at all The world at a glance Cairo Lose weight or face sack: Egypt’s state TV has suspended eight female presenters for being overweight, and told them to slim down within a month, or face the sack The ultimatum – reportedly issued by the station’s female boss, Safaa Hegazy – has outraged the women affected, and been condemned by women’s rights groups Khadija Khattab (pictured), who has worked for the channel for 20 years and presents a current affairs show, defended her appearance as that of a “common, natural Egyptian woman” Gaziantep, Turkey Wedding bombed: At least 54 people were killed and scores more injured when a suicide bomber attacked a Kurdish wedding party in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border, last Saturday Around half of the dead are believed to have been under the age of 14 Although President Erdogan initially said the bomber was a child, aged 12 to 14, working on the orders of Islamic State, officials later backtracked, saying they were still conducting DNA tests to establish his or her identity If Isis was behind the atrocity, it may have been in retaliation for offensives by Kurdish militias and pro-Ankara Syrian opposition forces against Isis in Syria Hundreds of rebel fighters are reportedly in southern Turkey, preparing for an offensive on the Isis-held Syrian town of Jarablus NEWS Pyongyang Anger at defector: North Korea has denounced its former deputy ambassador to the UK, who defected to South Korea last week, as “human scum who lacks even an elementary level of loyalty and even tiny bits of conscience and morality that are required for human beings” The Korean Central News Agency, the official mouthpiece of the Pyongyang government, said that Thae Yong Ho – who had been living with his family at the North Korean embassy in Ealing, west London – was a criminal who had defected in order to escape charges of misusing government funds, selling state secrets and child rape The South Korean government said Thae was the highest-ranking diplomat to have defected from the North to the South, and that he had been motivated by his disgust for Kim Jong Un’s regime Manila 1,800 killed in seven weeks: Almost 1,800 people suspected of being either drug dealers or users have been shot dead by police (712) or murdered by vigilantes (1,067) in the seven weeks since Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the Philippines’ president on 30 June The figures were cited by the country’s top police officer at a senate hearing into extra-judicial killings Vastly higher than previous estimates, they exclude those killed between Duterte’s election on May and his swearing-in Juba Leader flees: South Sudan’s opposition leader and former vice-president Riek Machar has fled the country following a resurgence in violent civil disorder Fighting broke out in the capital Juba in July, between Machar’s bodyguards and President Kiir’s government troops Machar subsequently claimed that he had left the city following a botched assassination attempt According to his spokesman, Machar escaped into the bush, and made his way to DR Congo He is now said to be in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, preparing to undergo medical treatment Two weeks ago, the UN Security Council voted to send 4,000 more peacekeepers to Juba However, President Kiir has so far refused to accept them Kinshasa Yellow fever kills hundreds: The World Health Organisation is spearheading an urgent vaccination campaign, centred on Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, aimed at halting the worst outbreak of yellow fever in the region for 30 years The epidemic began in Angola late last year and has since spread into DR Congo and claimed at least 500 lives; related cases have also been seen in Kenya and China (to which Angola has close economic ties) Yellow fever, which is passed on by mosquitoes, has no known cure, and the current strain has a fatality rate of around 20% The vaccine is effective, but officials are struggling to get hold of it in sufficient quantities: each batch takes up to six months to make, and only four companies produce it Last month the WHO said it was nine million doses short Riyadh Bin Laden’s boy: Osama bin Laden’s favourite son has called on Saudi citizens to join al-Qa’eda, in order to overthrow the kingdom’s rulers and drive US influence out of the Arabian peninsula In an audio message posted online, Hamza bin Laden (pictured as a young boy) – who is believed to be about 24 and whose whereabouts are unknown – urged Saudi youths to join al-Qa’eda in Yemen to “gain the necessary experience” to fight the House of Saud It was Hamza’s second propaganda message in weeks, and has increased speculation that he aims to take over the leadership of the terror network 27 August 2016 THE WEEK NEWS Why Farage can’t forgive Nigel Farage is thoroughly enjoying his retirement from politics “The pressure is off, and it is wonderful,” he told James Lyons in The Sunday Times Having stepped down as leader of UKIP after the Brexit vote, he hopes to forge a new career as a talk radio host, here and in the US “The English accent is really quite an advantage there, it really is I mean, James Corden and what he is doing out there – it is amazing.” Farage feels only sympathy towards his main Brexit opponent, David Cameron “I thought to myself that morning when he walked out that the only thing I’m going to say is something nice, because on a human level I always feel a bit sorry for him.” The same is not true of George Osborne – “that departing weasel” – whose warnings of economic apocalypse Farage cannot forgive “I’d have dragged him out by the scruff of his neck I thought his behaviour was despicable Pasty-faced bastard I’m pleased to see the back of him I hope he never, ever appears in public again.” Working for Goebbels Brunhilde Pomsel is 105, and the last surviving member of the Nazis’ inner circle As Joseph Goebbels’s secretary, she was at the heart of his propaganda machine – yet she insists she had no idea about Nazi atrocities, including “the matter of the Jews” “I know no one ever believes us nowadays – everyone thinks we knew everything,” she told Kate Connolly in the The Guardian “We knew nothing – it was all kept well secret.” Goebbels, she says, always had a “gentlemanly countenance” He wore “suits of the best cloth, and always had a light tan He had wellgroomed hands – he probably had a manicure every day There was really nothing to criticise about him.” She fondly recalls People watching him walking into the office: “He’d trip up the steps like a little duke, through his library into his beautiful office.” Only once did she glimpse something frightening behind the façade: when she saw him on stage in 1943, calling on the German people to wage “total war” “No actor could have been any better at the transformation from a civilised, serious person into a ranting, rowdy man In the office he had a kind of noble elegance, and then to see him there like a raging midget – you just can’t imagine a greater contrast.” Still, she insists her own conscience is clear “Those people nowadays who say they would have stood up against the Nazis – I believe they are sincere in meaning that, but believe me, most of them wouldn’t have The idealism of youth might easily have led to you having your neck broken.” Trump’s doppelgänger Ann Coulter has found her perfect man The right-wing polemicist (pictured) has been arguing for years that the US needs to crack down on immigration, build a wall to keep Mexicans out, and stop pandering to politically correct liberals And now Donald Trump is promising to turn her vision into reality “I’ve been doing nothing but watching Trump on TV,” she told Will Pavia in The Times “I wish there was a Trump channel where you could just watch him 24 hours a day I’d never sleep He’s like the alpha male doppelgänger of me.” She approves of all his ideas – even his threat not to honour America’s commitments to Nato “Who cares?” she shrugs “Maybe you guys are losing sleep over what happens to Ukraine, but I promise you out-of-work steel workers could not give two f***s.” She is confident, too, that he will build the wall she dreams of “Absolutely A big, beautiful wall with big, gold Ts on it.” You have to be tough to survive 60 years in Hollywood – but Ellen Burstyn has always had grit The 83-year-old actress grew up in Depression-era Detroit with a single mother who was physically violent “If it were now, I would have gone to a police station, but there were no laws then,” she told Tom Shone in The Daily Telegraph “There was no such thing as child abuse Parents owned their children They could whatever they wanted All my life I have asked myself the question: who would I be if I had grown up in a loving home? I don’t know if I would be placid and satisfied; a happy, jolly, sedentary person Did hardship stimulate me? I wanted out of there, and I got out on the day I was legally able to.” Burstyn jumped on a bus to New York, taking just two suitcases and $3, and built a career as an acclaimed character actress She remains fascinated by the idea of being someone else – so much so that she once spent three days sleeping rough in New York, to see how it felt “That was a big experience I went up to a restaurant with outside tables where there were two women eating I said: ‘Excuse me but I have to take a subway and I have no money, can you spare a dollar?’ One of them reached into her pocket and gave me a dollar As I walked away I felt really proud that I had gotten that I was like: ‘Hey, I begged! I got it!’ Yet I felt tears streaming down my face Why was I crying? It was because she hadn’t looked at me.” Viewpoint: A university education “The characteristic gift of the university is the gift of an interval Here is an opportunity for you to put aside the hot allegiances of youth without the necessity of at once acquiring new loyalties to take their place Here is a break in the tyrannical course of irreparable events; a period in which to look around upon the world and upon oneself without the sense of an enemy at one’s back or the insistent pressure to make up one’s mind; a moment in which to taste the mystery without the necessity of seeking a solution And all this, not in an intellectual vacuum, but surrounded by all the inherited learning and literature and experience of our civilisation Michael Oakeshott, quoted in The Observer Farewell Arthur Hiller, director of Love Story, died 17 August, aged 92 Donald Henderson, epidemiologist, died 19 August, aged 87 Marianne Ihlen, Leonard Cohen’s lover and muse, died 29 July, aged 81 Lord Rix, actor and manager of West End farces, who campaigned for people with learning difficulties, died 20 August, aged 92 Desert Island Discs returns on 25 September THE WEEK 27 August 2016 Consistency - that’s the FP CRUX European Special Situations Fund* - decile rankings† Since Launch** Years Years Years FP CRUX European Fund* - decile rankings† Since Launch†† Year to Date Months Years Years Year Months Hitting targets again and again Months As you can see from the tables shown, the managers of CRUX’s European funds, have a strong track record for European equities and seldom miss a beat when it comes to delivering consistent returns **01.10.09 ††02.11.15 They focus on world-class businesses that may have originated in Europe but, in many cases, now dominate their global niches It’s helped the managers deliver in both rising and falling markets 0800 304 7424 www.cruxam.com Stay in tune with these funds, consult your financial adviser or visit cruxam.com *Data source: FE Analytics, 30.06.16 (class I Acc), based on a bid to bid, total return, income reinvested, UK Sterling basis Decile ranking indicates the funds’ returns are in the top 10% of the IA Europe (ex UK) sector of 105 funds † Important information: Past performance is not a guide to future returns The value of an investment and any income from it are not guaranteed and can go down as well as up and there is the risk of loss to your investment FP CRUX European Special Situations Fund, previously Henderson European Special Situations Fund was restructured and consequently renamed on 8th June 2015 This financial promotion is issued by CRUX Asset Management, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority of 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS A free, English language copy of the full prospectus, the Key Investor Information Document and Supplementary Information Document for the fund, which should be read before investing, can be obtained from the CRUX website, www.cruxam.com or by calling us on 0800 304 7424 For your protection, calls may be monitored and recorded CITY Companies in the news and how they were assessed CITY 43 Asda/Walmart: return of price wars? When the US supermarket giant Walmart bought Asda 17 years ago, the move “sent shock waves” through Britain’s grocery sector, said Deirdre Hipwell in The Times But the combo “has never quite lived up to the hype”, and last week saw a new low when Asda reported its “worst sales fall on record” Like-for-like sales in the second quarter fell by 7.5% – an even more dire performance than “an already bearish market had expected” following a 5.7% fall the previous quarter The new boss, Sean Clarke, has a big challenge ahead of him, said Jon Yeomans in The Daily Telegraph Walmart, which said it was addressing Asda’s slump as a matter of “urgency”, has signalled a return to “retail basics” But “such a precipitous fall can augur only one thing”, said Simon Duke in The Sunday Times: “a price war” And with the “colossus” of Walmart behind it, “Asda has the firepower to serious damage” that could “torpedo Dave Lewis’s attempt to turn round Tesco” Let’s hope not, said Graham Ruddick in The Guardian More price cuts would be “ruinous” for the “Big Four” – “already struggling to make their largest stores profitable” following an ill-advised land-grab Asda and its rivals have a long battle ahead, but “a race to the bottom” is not the answer Volvo/Uber: robo-cabs The race to bring self-driving cars to consumers is revving up, said Richard Milne and Leslie Hook in the Financial Times Uber, “which has been investing heavily in driverless technologies”, has just formed a $300m partnership with the safety-conscious Swedish carmaker Volvo (which is owned by China’s Geely) to get a new self-driving car on the road by 2021 In its largest acquisition to date, Uber has also bought Otto – a company specialising in self-driving technology for trucks Perhaps the most eye-catching announcement of all, however, is news that Uber “will start testing the world’s first autonomous taxi fleet in the next few weeks” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania “The cars will not exactly be driverless,” said Samuel Gibbs in The Guardian: “they will have human drivers as back-up” But they are “the next step towards a fully automated fleet” that will hasten CEO Travis Kalanick’s stated “mission” to provide “transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone” Sports Direct: brotherly love Weeks ahead of what is expected to be “a stormy shareholder meeting”, Sports Direct is facing “new questions over its governance”, said Harry Wilson and Deirdre Hipwell in The Times It emerges that the retailer has been making hefty “undisclosed payments” to an obscure Cleethorpes-based company, owned by the elder brother of its billionaire founder, Mike Ashley Listed companies in Britain are required to disclose deals with parties who are connected with directors According to Sports Direct, the tie-up with John Ashley’s firm, Barlin Delivery, helped the retailer to “de-risk” its overseas delivery Investors don’t see it quite that way: one major shareholder described the deal as another “black mark” This isn’t the first time that Sports Direct has come under scrutiny for Ashley’s personal connections, said the FT In January, it emerged that he had put his daughter’s boyfriend, a 26-year-old former nightclub promoter, in charge of the retailer’s property team via a consultancy contract potentially worth millions Seven days in the Square Mile The world’s central bankers met in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, amid speculation about whether the US would raise interest rates next month following further evidence of a strengthening US economy Futures markets were pricing in a 28% chance of a hike The oil price hit a two-month high, breaking through $50/barrel, after Opec hinted at a production freeze Moody’s predicted Britain would avoid a recession, with the lower pound helping to support growth It forecasts 1.5% growth this year and 1.2% in 2017, some way above BoE forecasts The agency reported that growth globally is “stabilising” The TUC said Britain is facing a debt time bomb, with more than 1.5 million households barely able to cover the interest payments on personal loans Shares in WPP, the world’s largest advertising group, hit a record high after it reported strong growth in the first half: revenues, at £6.5bn, are up almost 12% on the same period last year Growth was helped by the pound’s weakness; shares are up 50% since the referendum RBS began charging some 70 financial clients, including banks and pension funds, interest for holding their cash Pfizer bought cancer specialist Medivation for $14bn India appointed Urjit Patel as the new head of its central bank, to replace Raghuram Rajan Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman resigned, with a $72m settlement, following a fraught battle for control with founder Sumner Redstone and family Woodford Investment Management: bonus ban breaks new ground One of the most prominent figures in the City doubtless sincerely held”, will probably give his has taken “the unprecedented step” of firm a “branding advantage” – provided plenty abolishing all staff bonuses at his firm, of other funds “stick to the bad old ways” It arguing that they little to boost could also alleviate internal politicking, said performance, said Patrick Hosking in The Hosking But there are downsides In a difficult Times “Star stock-picker” Neil Woodford has year, WIM could be “exposed” if it is unable to instead put all 35 employees of his fund reduce its total pay bill And without a deferred boutique, Woodford Investment Management bonus award to tie them in, “star performers (WIM), on a fixed salary “The radical shift in could be more amenable to poaching” policy is unheard of in the City where discretionary bonuses have traditionally been “It’s relevant that this radical move is being seen as necessary to drive performance.” But, made by a fund manager,” said Maggie Pagano according to Woodford and co-founder Craig in the Daily Mail Their own big bonuses are one Newman, the payouts “can distort behaviour, reason why they have consistently failed to Woodford: a radical move encouraging misconduct, recklessness and curtail excessive pay at the companies in which short-termism” The firm has increased its employees’ fixed they invest M&G’s Richard Woolnough took home £33m in 2014: salaries to compensate for the loss his fund is now “at the bottom of performance tables” It has become “an article of faith” that companies must pay ever-higher “The view from the moral high ground is fantastic,” said discretionary bonuses to get the best from staff If Woodford’s Jonathan Guthrie in the FT Woodford’s ethical position, “while move helps “prick” that bubble, bring it on THE WEEK 27 August 2016 44 CITY Talking points Issue of the week: c’mon the Reds China Everbright’s tilt at Liverpool FC highlights the country’s growing influence in English football Last year, China’s President Xi Jinping this year “The sudden attractiveness of outlined his ambition to make the English football is symptomatic of a country “a world football superpower” game swimming in cash after the Premier That aim may have come a step closer League’s recent £8bn broadcast deal.” now that China Everbright, a stateIt also shows the willingness of Chinese backed financial giant, is contemplating firms to pay big sums for businesses they buying a large stake in one of Britain’s reckon will flourish “in China’s vast most prestigious clubs, Liverpool FC, domestic market” The club fits the bill: said Jonathan Northcroft and Simon in the Middle Kingdom, Liverpool (or Duke in The Sunday Times The deal, “Liwupu” as it is rendered in Chinese) which could be sealed in the coming is “synonymous with football” weeks, is understood to value the club at around £800m and would “significantly Liverpool’s official position is that bolster its finances” It would also be “the club is not for sale and no active “the largest investment by China in the discussions are taking place”, said the UK since the EU referendum”, coming at FT But John W Henry is taking the a time of “great strain in Sino-British approach seriously enough to appoint “Liwupu”: synonymous with football in China commercial relations” The chief advisers Allen & Co Another potentially stumbling block is that it is unclear whether Liverpool’s current crucial player in the Everbright consortium (reportedly backed by US owner, Fenway Sports Group – the outfit founded by the China Investment Corporation, the country’s main sovereign American sports tycoon John W Henry – is willing to sell wealth fund) is Amanda Staveley of PCP Capital Partners – a “keen Liverpool fan” who brokered Sheikh Mansour’s deal to The move follows a flurry of recent football deals, said Marcus take over Manchester City in 2008 Liverpool have been in the Leroux in The Times Shortly after President Xi’s visit to doldrums of late: they won their last major trophy in 2012 But Manchester City’s training ground during his state visit last a “dearth of trophies” has “barely troubled the bottom line” October, a consortium of Chinese private equity groups paid Earnings have risen to £62m from £4m since 2012 Indeed, $400m for a 13% stake in City Football Group, which owns the “seen through a spreadsheet rather than from the Anfield terraces, club Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Liverpool is a sports marketing company with a football club West Bromwich Albion have all come under Chinese ownership attached” No wonder the Chinese are so keen to grab it Making money: what the experts think Santander account was even more striking when It’s been a terrible you consider that the summer for savers The current best-buy twoBank of England’s rate year fixed-rate bond – cut to 0.25% has “a product that would triggered a slide in be expected to pay interest-rate cuts across depositors more as they hundreds of accounts have no access to their Arguably the worst money for 24 months – affected, said Anna offers just 1.81%, said Mikhailova in The Naomi Rovnick in FT Sunday Times, are the 3.6 million Britons Santander has cut its rates; will Lloyds? Money There are still a few generous deals who hold their cash in around The Club Lloyds current account, Santander’s instant access 123 account, for instance, pays 4% on balances of which currently pays 3% on balances £4,000-£5,000 but – ominously – that too between £3,000 and £20,000 That rate is now “under review” will be slashed to 1.5% in November, removing “one of the few remaining options for savers looking for a decent ● Rate-chasing return on their cash” TSB, Nationwide, Tesco and Bank of Scotland also still have high-interest ● Stand-out appeal accounts on the market, said Richard It was probably only a matter of time Evans in The Sunday Telegraph The before Santander succumbed, said Andrew problem is that “all pay their best rate on Hagger of the consumer advice site only a small tranche of your overall MoneyComms “Paying 3% with instant balance”, so you need to open “a number access was probably too good to be true in of them” to make a difference – a “fiddly the current depressed savings market.” process” that’s complicated to manage, The average rate paid on current accounts particularly given that some accounts have with balances of £5,000 fell to 0.30% this a finite period of higher-interest rates But month Returns from conventional instant with no end in sight to ultra-low rates, access savings accounts are even worse: savers are going to have to get used to more than a third now pay 0.25% or less, this kind of “active cash” strategy, said “with some offering returns as measly as Rovnick “Rate chasers” have never had 0.01%” The “stand-out appeal” of the to work so hard ● Savings stinker THE WEEK 27 August 2016 Mind the gap! “If you’re a woman, you will earn less than a man,” observed Theresa May in her first statement as Prime Minister Sadly, she is right, said Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, in The Times “The gap between men and women’s wages is one of the most persistent features of the labour market” – as new research from the IFS demonstrates True, some progress has been made: the difference between the average hourly pay of men and women fell from 28% in 1993 to 18% last year But during those two decades, the gap between men and women with higher qualifications hasn’t closed at all Women with degrees still earn 20% less per hour than men, while those with A-levels earn 25% less The biggest losers are mothers, said Gemma Tetlow in the FT By the time their first child is 12, they earn 33% less than men per hour That discrepancy might reflect “mothers missing out on promotions, or simply accumulating less labour market experience”, according to the IFS “Training, progression and promotion are much harder to come by if you work part-time,” said Johnson That might be down to “cultures of presenteeism” or losing out on “informal interactions down the pub” Whatever the reason, we seem to have “a big problem in the way we organise work in the UK” Bank holiday offers Great savings on books, DVDs and CDs, plus even more offers and competitions on TheWeekSociety.co.uk WIN a beachside holiday in Abu Dhabi SAVE 20% on all books, plus FREE UK standard delivery on orders over £20 Fill your bookcase with the latest books reviewed in The Week, the Man Booker Prize longlist and many more Use code ‘AUGUST20’ OFFER ENDS TUESDAY Win a five night stay at the five-star Beach Rotana, for two people on a half board basis Boasting 11 restaurants, a private beach and swimming pool – it’s the ideal place to unwind after a day exploring Flights not included Competition closes: 20.09.16 In partnership with ROTANA HOTELS & RESORTS WIN FREE Page Financial Plan – worth £500 Visit TheWeek.co.uk/Bookshop or call 0203 176 3835 Claim one of 400 FREE Page Financial Plans written by a local independent financial adviser Each plan gives a personalised summary of your current financial situation and lists simple tips to positively approach your goals Terms & conditions apply In partnership with VOUCHEDFOR FREE WIN a year of men’s shaving supplies worth over £200 Win a whole year of shave and skincare essentials, worth over £200 The prize includes an exclusive razor and 12 month’s supply of blades, plus shave gel, face wash, moisturiser and energising facial tonic Competition closes: 30.09.16 In partnership with GRÜUM SAVE 20% on all DVDs and CDs, plus FREE UK delivery when you spend £33 or more WIN Choose from over 15,000 titles on DVD and CD; from romantic classics and world cinema to mellow jazz and pop, rock and roll Use code ‘AUGUST20’ OFFER ENDS TUESDAY SAVE £20 on Market Porter’s free range BBQ selection With this exclusive discount for readers of The Week, get the perfect free range barbecue meat selection for just £39 Includes all your barbecue essentials such as sausages and burgers, along with a free range spatchcock chicken, rump steaks and pork belly ribs In partnership with MARKET PORTER Now just £39 Visit TheWeekEntertainment.co.uk or call 0844 848 2005 For more information or to enter, visit TheWeekSociety.co.uk Terms & conditions: Bookshop: Use the code above to claim 20% off any purchases Free delivery is standard UK delivery only, and on orders of £20 or more Offer ends midnight Tuesday 30th August 2016 Entertainment: Use the code above to claim 20% off your entire purchase, excluding delivery costs Delivery of £2.99 will be charged for any transaction for less than £33 once the discount has been applied Transactions of £33 or more, after the discount has been applied, will get free delivery Offer ends midnight Tuesday 30th August 2016 Commentators A dangerous time for global trade Dan Roberts and Ryan Felton The Observer How about a North Sea Union? Ambrose Evans-Pritchard The Daily Telegraph Corporate sponsors can be ruthless James Surowiecki The New Yorker Why French businessmen dress better Adam Thomson Financial Times “Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton don’t agree on much,” say Dan Roberts and Ryan Felton But they have formed “an unlikely alliance” over trade “Never before have both main presidential candidates broken with the orthodoxy that says globalisation is always good for Americans.” Last week, Clinton, once a supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (the proposed giant deal with Asia) reaffirmed her opposition to it – breaking faith with a tradition of multilateral deals led by the US for more than 70 years The TPP has become “a lightning rod for disagreement over whether continued trade liberalisation is good for the US economy” Many companies find “the lack of political support for trade” perplexing Yet crucial sectors – notably America’s biggest export industry, car-making – refuse to back a deal that, in theory, opens up important new markets; they worry that it could unfairly benefit Japan The big concern if the US does withdraw is that scrapping the TPP would allow China to seize control of the Asian trade agenda If it fails, the rest of Asia will have no choice but to move in the direction China wants to go European leaders “are starting to look for creative ways to heal the referendum rift”, says Ambrose Evans-Pritchard For instance, the prime minister of Flanders – Belgium’s dominant region – has proposed a “North Sea Union” to cushion the Brexit shock The bloc outlined by Geert Bourgeois would consist of Britain, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Norway, and would focus on “blue industry”: creating an “integrated sphere for offshore energy and marine research”, with “a defence and security” element The idea of a North Sea Union was first proposed by the German state of Bremen six years ago, “but has suddenly become topical again” Bourgeois wants to avoid what he calls a “new EU”, favouring “a light structure” run on an “intergovernmental basis” Bourgeois’s overture is a signal that EU politics is moving beyond the “grief and anger” stage of the upset “The majority of the EU now agrees that anything other than a soft Brexit would have a huge cost,” said Bourgeois And he is well-placed to work on a framework for cooperation “The Belgians are masters of this kind of statecraft.” After falsely claiming to have been held up at gunpoint in Rio, the swimmer Ryan Lochte has lost four lucrative deals from sponsors including Speedo and Polo Ralph Lauren, says James Surowiecki He chose “the wrong era for misadventure”: brands are much quicker to dump athletes “for even the appearance of bad behaviour” than they were in the past Companies are still keen to bask in the “reflected glory” of athletes, and there is evidence that the strategy works: a 2012 study found that endorsements boosted sales by 4% But there is now greater awareness of how these deals can backfire “The key moment in this evolution” of “reputational risk” was the Tiger Woods debacle, which cost his sponsors “billions of dollars in market capitalisation” The upshot is that sponsors are much more likely to sever relationships quickly They insist on tighter “morals clauses” in contracts, and would rather sign a “team of endorsers” than “make big bets” on individuals The endorsement economy, in short, “is much tougher and less forgiving than it once was” “I first noticed how well French business leaders dress in 2013”, when Publicis chief Maurice Lévy unveiled his doomed $35bn merger plan with the US group Omnicom, says Adam Thomson Lévy strode out in a black suit, crisp white shirt and black tie: “it was understated but elegant and brimming with confidence” His opposite number’s blue shirt and gold tie came a distant second The Lévy black-white-black combo is a classic in France Indeed, the “flamboyant” London code of pink and striped shirts “could easily derail a promising career” in Paris And in France, clothes fit; while if you remove an Englishman’s jacket you will probably “discover a spinnaker billowing under his arms” What explains this style gap? I blame school uniforms, which English children wear and the French not Choosing what to wear makes French children more aware of clothes and fit; uniforms bought by value-conscious parents, by contrast, are either too large, or too small The lesson, if you’re heading for Paris, is to play it safe: “rein in the colours, and above all, wear a suit that fits” CITY 47 City profiles Roger Jenkins The former Barclays banker, credited with “saving” the bank during the crash by bringing on board Middle Eastern investors, hopes to become “America’s new cannabis king”, says the Daily Mail The muscular Scot – nicknamed “Roger the Dodger” for his expertise in tax avoidance – is backing a fund that aims to farm in California, months before the state votes on whether to allow “recreational” use If the measure is approved, the market for legal cannabis in the state is expected to grow from $2.7bn today (medical use is already permitted) to $6.6bn by 2020 Jenkins, who once dated supermodel Elle Macpherson and “happily” awarded his ex-wife a £150m divorce settlement, was once the City’s best-paid banker Time will tell if the “green rush” proves as lucrative Philip Hammond The new Chancellor’s racy business career belies his “understated”, somewhat boring image, says the FT A product of “the swashbuckling Thatcher era”, he was “a risk-taker” whose business ventures didn’t always pay off After cutting his teeth running school discos in Essex, Hammond “bought and sold Ford cars from the nearby Dagenham plant” and, after Oxford, sold summer trips to the city to Iranians – a venture scuppered by the 1979 revolution After a bruising experience with a medical device company, liquidated in 1986, Hammond eventually cleaned up in property with house-builder Castlemead As his friend and business associate Lord Moynihan recalls “He always saw the opportunity He was never not thinking about how to make money.” 27 August 2016 THE WEEK Shares CITY 49 Who’s tipping what The week’s best buys Air Partner The Mail on Sunday Air Partner’s main business is chartering commercial, private and freight jets – and business is brisk thanks to growing global demand Successful moves into brokering aircraft sales and air safety bode well Undervalued Buy 377.5p Games Workshop The Daily Telegraph After going through difficult times in 2015, shares in the table-top games-maker have now recovered and are offering good value – with strong cash generation and healthy overseas sales Buy 535p Just Eat London Evening Standard Heartened by “a beast” of a first half, broker Jefferies has upped its rating for the online takeaway company and increased profit forecasts by 18% The new target price is 1000p Buy 599.5p Ithaca Energy The Daily Telegraph Despite suffering deep losses in the first half, the North Sea oil explorer should be on the verge of a production boom when its Greater Stella oil field opens Cost efficiencies and progress on tackling net debt should further strengthen its position Buy 67p Mears Group The Times Recent acquisitions have seen Mears branch out of its core social housing business into care provision The National Living Wage has meant a rethink of business partnerships, but continuing contracts with local authorities bode well long term Buy 416p Morgan Sindall 850 800 750 700 CEO buys 500,000 650 600 550 March April May June July August Co-founder John Morgan spent £3.2m affirming his faith in the construction firm’s turnaround after interims revealed a 21% increase in profits Improved cash management has helped cut debt by a third, making it easier to weather the postreferendum construction storm …and some to sell Form guide Gem Diamonds Daily Mail Core earnings at the mining firm have slipped, owing to a dip in value of the diamonds at its Lesotho mine Revenue and profit are both down, with a resulting 4.3% fall in share price There’s not much to indicate a rebound Sell 122p Laird Daily Mail The electronic components business just lost its CEO to a rival – a worrying development Analyst Berenberg doubts whether the group will be able to meet market expectations in the second half of the year Sell 299p Premier Farnell London Evening Standard The struggling parts distributor saw its shares slip, after one of its suitors, Dätwyler, declined to raise its bid Further momentum looks unlikely now that US-based Avnet will probably emerge as the winning bidder Sell 183.78p HSS Hire The Sunday Times Last year’s disastrous float led to two profit warnings at the tool rental business, and a plunge in shares Management attributes the slide to the erratic nature of the business; analysts argue it should never have gone public Sell 79p Merchants Trust Investors Chronicle Equity income funds are usually a good bet for income seekers, but underperformance, combined with a high level of expensive debt, make Merchants a risky option – despite the ever-increasing dividend Sell 434.45p William Hill Sharecast Rank Group and 888 Holdings have thrown in the towel on their pursuit of a three-way merger with the bookie Analyst Berenberg argues that William Hill’s size makes it a tough target for other potential suitors Sell 306p Shares tipped 12 weeks ago Best tip Booker The Times up 3.03% to 180.3p Worst tip Greencore Group Shares down 6.92% to 358p Market view “Fed watching… has been the single biggest waste of my time in the past two years.” Hedge fund manager Stephen Jen laments continued mixed messages about US rate rises Quoted in the FT Market summary Key numbers numbers for investors Key investors FTSE 100 FTSE All-share UK Dow Jones NASDAQ Nikkei 225 Hang Seng Gold Brent Crude Oil DIVIDEND YIELD (FTSE 100) UK 10-year gilts yield US 10-year Treasuries UK ECONOMIC DATA Latest CPI (yoy) Latest RPI (yoy) Halifax house price (yoy) £1 STERLING 23 Aug 2016 6868.51 3743.52 18565.44 5266.36 16497.36 22998.93 1342.00 49.70 3.68% 0.64 1.55 0.6% (Jul) 1.9% (Jul) +8.4% (Jul) $1.322 g1.169 ¥132.391 Best shares Best and and worst performing shares Week before 6893.92 3748.86 18593.32 5240.39 16596.51 22910.84 1339.40 48.95 3.66% 0.68 1.58 0.5% (Jun) 1.6% (Jun) +9.20% (Jun) Change (%) –0.37% –0.14% –0.15% 0.50% –0.60% 0.38% 0.19% 1.53% WEEK’S CHANGE, FTSE 100 STOCKS RISES Price % change 486.20 +10.07 Barratt Developments 1870.00 +7.72 Persimmon 165.10 +7.35 Taylor Wimpey 57.59 +6.75 Lloyds Banking Group 1629.00 +6.19 Travis Perkins FALLS Fresnillo Randgold Resources Admiral Group Old Mutual Standard Chartered Following the Footsie 7,000 6,700 6,400 1836.00 8020.00 2122.00 204.50 626.00 –7.37 –6.58 –5.86 –4.22 –4.15 BEST AND WORST UK STOCKS OVERALL 0.27 +292.84 Sigmaroc 1.30 –45.26 AEC Education Source: Datastream (not adjusted for dividends) Prices on 23 Aug (pm) 6,100 5,800 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug 6-month movement in the FTSE 100 index 27 August 2016 THE WEEK SOURCE: SHARES Admiral Group The Times Shares in the insurance group have fallen despite “good enough” half-year figures and rising premiums Admiral’s low cost-base should help it weather volatility, and worries about the solvency ratio look overstated Buy £21.22 Directors’ dealings The last word 52 Farewell to my funny, loving, schizophrenic big brother Alastair Campbell’s brother Donald, who died earlier this month, struggled for years with schizophrenia Yet he remained extraordinarily positive, especially when playing the bagpipes Here, his “little brother” pays tribute to his funny, loving, happy sibling about him while he was surrounded by people who were all discussing terrible things they were about to to him Then he would laugh and say: “Absolutely mad, innit, Grace?” Medication helped to give Donald long periods free of the His illness, not mine, voices in his head and is the real reason I the hallucinations campaign for better before his eyes that understanding and otherwise reduced treatment of mental him to a sometimes illness, not least terrified and other because people who times aggressive have schizophrenia human being He had have such shortened a marriage, though it life expectancy I talk didn’t last He had about my own better luck in work, problems of depression holding down a job he and addiction partly loved at Glasgow because I am asked to University for 27 and because I think years; at his farewell openness is better all last year – due to round if we are going physical ill health – The Campbell brothers playing the pipes at Charles Kennedy’s memorial service to break down the the turnout and the taboo and so win the fight for the services and treatments we warmth were evidence of the huge contribution he had made need I never talked about Donald’s illness in public, mainly because our mum didn’t want me to Donald had two main roles at the university: he was the principal’s official piper, who played at dinners, ceremonies and That was not out of the shame and stigma that many people graduations; and he was part of the security team, mainly sadly still feel attaches to mental illness She was hugely proud of working at the control point in the university library It meant him for what he managed to he got to know hundreds of achieve despite what he called students; he loved the banter, “You heard voices once and you’re Mr Bloody taught some of them the pipes “this shitty illness” It was more that, with one son in the media and often ordered anyone with Mental Health Why don’t they come spotlight, she worried that if feet on a library table to “kindly and talk to a real expert?” Donald’s head were in any way use the carpets” Glasgow above the parapet, it could have University was a model made him even more vulnerable Donald, on the other hand, employer for someone with severe mental illness, and his role was totally up for it Like a lot of mentally ill people, when he as piper gave him a sense of purpose and status, which he loved was well he thought he ought to be famous And when he was He piped out thousands and thousands of students from their ill he thought he already was He was competitive about his graduations One of the greatest sadnesses in his life was that illness “Saw you on the telly again talking about your latterly, because of breathing problems caused by his medication, psychotic breakdown, Ali You heard voices once and you’re he was unable to play other than on electronic pipes – “Second like Mr Mental Bloody Health Why don’t they come and talk best, Ali, but I’m still better than you.” to a real expert?” The very last time he played the “real” pipes, we performed Our mum having died two years ago, Donald and I were together at a memorial service for the former Liberal Democrat planning to make a film together – centred on him – about living leader Charles Kennedy, who had been rector of the university with schizophrenia He had caught the telly bug a bit when we “Good lad, that Charlie Kennedy – always stopped for a chat.” appeared together in a film about bagpipes, one of our shared He had to give up halfway through to get his breath, and I loves My daughter Grace, a film student, had begun to record finished alone It didn’t stop him adding this to his brotherly interviews with Donald about the ups and downs in his life since boasts: “Did you see Nicola Sturgeon nodding along to my he was first diagnosed while serving in the Scots Guards in his playing? Alex Salmond isn’t the only one who knows I’m a better early 20s So he would sit and tell her about the time he was in a player than you.” (Salmond had once said in an interview that waiting room, and the electrical plugs were talking to the lights Donald was the better player of the two of us – on this, at least, THE WEEK 27 August 2016 © UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW PHOTOGRAPHIC UNIT My big brother died on Tuesday August It was a massive, horrible shock, even though we have always known that people with his condition live on average 20 years less than the rest of us Donald was 62 His condition was schizophrenia The last word he was right.) Our sibling rivalry went back to the one piping competition in which I beat him, aged ten – I got gold; he got bronze – and to his dying day he swore the judges confused us He was probably right 53 favoured form of psychiatric treatment, and Donald had his fair share of that My dad was a self-employed vet and had to get back to work I was in my late teens, on a long college holiday, and decided I wanted to stay down there I didn’t have a driving licence at the time but went north to collect Donald’s car; I spent my days in the hospital with him and my nights either finding someone to put me up or sleeping in the car So the drugs worked Kind of But decades of powerful anti-psychotic medication takes a toll When it came to “normal” illnesses such as colds and flu and chest infections, the gaps between them became Donald reciprocated after my own – “not as shorter and the quantity of “normal” psychotic as mine, Ali” – breakdown in the drugs required to treat them grew larger 1980s We went on a road trip, visiting Added to which, a recent change of his friends and relatives around Britain He was main medication for the schizophrenia – great company: a strong glue in our close necessary to deal with his physical illness and extended family, and a very loving and and weight increase – seemed to have sent supportive brother Donald was very clever him haywire mentally In the end but not very well educated (the reverse of a Sibling rivalry: the young Campbells something had to give His life It is a lot of people I know) I have no idea when source of great sadness that my last conversations were with the his mind started to go wrong, but I know that of all of us he psychotic Donald, not the loving, giving, funny Donald who was the one who found schoolwork hardest I’ve often wondered brought so much to our lives by making so much of his own too whether those times when he just couldn’t seem to get himself out of bed, which my parents saw as a sign of teenage Like me and our brother, Graeme, and sister, Liz, Donald was rebellion, were the first indications of an illness about which we born and raised in England, but an adult life that started in the knew absolutely nothing when that call from the military came, a Scots Guards as a teenager and, once he had been discharged on call after which, our mother said many times, her life was never medical grounds, was lived almost entirely in and around the same again Glasgow – a lot of it in the piping world – meant that he had a 100% Scottish accent (200% when psychotic) When we were He had many doctors, nurses and psychiatrists, and to the end he interviewed together for the piping film, the interviewer doubted received fantastic NHS care in several parts of the country and we were brothers, because although I have tinges of a Scots various moments of crisis One of them once said to me: “Donald accent when with Scots, I have is my greatest success story lived most of my life in England Keeps his job Owns his own “There was only one bagpiping competition in flat Drives himself Stays active We were brothers, all right which I beat him, aged ten To his dying day, Has a passion for his music Has Living very different lives But very close No death have I ever more friends than any of us Has he swore the judges had confused us” dreaded more than this one a positive attitude almost all the time.” That last bit was He had little interest in politics; even less in sport His passion certainly true I wrote a book about my depression and called it was the bagpipes The piping was a gift from our father, also The Happy Depressive If we had ever made the film about Donald, who taught us when we were very young and growing Donald, we were going to call it The Happy Schizophrenic “It is up in Yorkshire Indeed, if ever I Desert Island Discs, the first what it is, Ali I got given a bit of a crap deal, but you’ve got to song will be Donald Campbell by Donald Campbell, a tune make the best of it Know what I mean?” It helped that, unlike written in honour of my dad and played by my brother on one of me, he did God, and his faith was certainly a comfort the CDs he recorded for the university For Donald Jr, piping became a life-defining passion He competed at a high level The He loved people and he loved life If there were an extended judges were aware he could sometimes be “out of form up top”, family vote – I have about 60 cousins – to elect its most popular as once when my sons, Rory and Calum, and I went to see him in member, he would have walked it He worked almost all his life a piobaireachd competition – top-rank stuff Donald’s mind was He didn’t like hospital for all the obvious reasons but also wandering, and the judges smiled as he stopped prematurely, because he didn’t like to be a burden on the NHS, which he felt said: “Bugger it – I was away with the fairies there”, saluted and had already given him more than most He adored his nieces and left the stage But he was competing, composing, recording and nephews and was obsessed with the idea that he should have teaching almost to the end something to leave them, even though several of them already earn more than he ever did He was always a giver He joined the Army as a young man, largely so he could be in one of the guards’ bands – he hoped to spend more time piping My sister, Liz, was the last person to visit him, shortly before the than soldiering He was serving in Northern Ireland, however, respiratory collapse that led to his death In recent days he had when his comrades and superiors started to notice that he was become unusually violent as the voices became more and more behaving strangely The next thing we knew, he was in a nowunmanageable But he could be calmed a little when Liz played defunct military psychiatric hospital in Netley, Hampshire When him his piping CDs Right until the end of it, he never lost the we got the call, I travelled down with my dad Donald was on his music in his soul And though the Donald who died was the sick own in a room, bewildered and scared, and had been drawing all Donald, the workings of his mind divorced from people and sorts of weird things on the walls Insofar as he spoke, he talked events around him – which is what schizophrenia is, not the absolute nonsense My dad and I just stood there, shocked to the “split personality” cliché that compounds the stigma – in there core Those eyes were not the eyes we knew somewhere was the real Donald The real Donald leaves behind so much grief precisely because he inspired so much love, and It was a tough place That is no criticism of the doctors and gave so much love to so many – not least his little brother nurses They were operating at a time when servicemen and women who wanted to leave early had to buy their way out, and Alastair Campbell is an ambassador for Time to Change, a so, among the really serious cases evident to all, the medics were campaign to end mental health discrimination A longer version on the lookout for people feigning mental illness so as to be of this article first appeared in The Sunday Times © The Sunday discharged It was also a time when electric-shock therapy was a Times/News Syndication 27 August 2016 THE WEEK Crossword 55 THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1019 This week’s crossword winner will receive an Ettinger (www ettinger.co.uk) Bridle Hide Red Travel Pass Holder, which retails at £95, and two Connell Guides (www.connellguides.com) An Ettinger coin purse and two Connell Guides will be given to the sender of the first correct solution to the crossword and the clue of the week opened on Monday September Send it to: The Week Crossword 1019, 2nd floor, 32 Queensway, London W2 3RX, or email the answers to crossword@theweek.co.uk Set by Tim Moorey (www.timmoorey.info) ACROSS Not all there in British race started properly (7-7) Introduce lager back at home (4,2) Nonsense about delays regularly for poor country folk (8) 10 Reading skill not stodgy and risque (8) 11 Singular cut demonstrated once (6) 12 Drink brewed by teenager (5,3) 15 Run fast behind old US airport (1’4) 17 More cutting after leaving court (5) 18 Popular position, for example (8) 20 Crime writer’s sinister? The opposite (6) 22 What’s left on highway and as well on roundabout (4,4) 24 Slash delicate material price (8) 25 Father Ted recalled in US state capital (6) 26 Product of light industry in Shanghai? (7,7) DOWN One could be a regular breakfast dip (7) Now for a sort of shirt gift (2,7) Nation making an appearance in Eton game (5) Poor Hodgson passes over lowest points in Euro championship (5) Doctor Who’s after ways to get publicity from these? (4,5) Empty potty son’s removed (5) Former army unit storing tons furthest from the centre (7) 13 PM pauses at work? (3-6) 14 Ring master from Sri Lanka turned up (3) 16 A label stuck on long weapon immediately (2,1,6) 17 Rot found in two English trees (7) 19 Refurbished entrance not right for eatery (7) 21 Money brought about that is for linked advertising (3-2) 22 Nick’s good buy (5) 23 Veteran car down under not starting (5) 10 11 12 13 17 20 14 15 16 18 21 24 22 19 23 25 26 Name Address Clue of the week: Take in (4-4, first and last letters H) The Times Tel no Clue of the week answer: Solution to Crossword 1017 ACROSS: Somnolent 10 Apace 11 Ephesus 12 Lenient 13 Lot 14 Groundlings 17 Macho 18 Tor 19 Slain 21 Soldiered on 23 Aid 25 Throw up 27 Seepage 28 To-dos 29 Cooperate DOWN: As well Emphatic Monsignori Mews Stalingrad Naan Cavern Jettison 15 Outer space 16 Los Angeles 17 Misstate 20 Aga-sagas 22 Laredo 24 Dieter 26 Wash 27 Stop Clue of the Week: Creature featured in pop song (6, first letter W) Solution: WEASEL The winner of 1017 is Peter Wholley from Royston The Week is available on CD and via the e-text service from National Talking Newspapers on 01435-866102; www.tnauk.org.uk Sudoku 563 (very difficult) Fill in all the squares so that each row, column and each of the 3x3 squares contains all the digits from to Solution to to Sudoku Sudoku 562 228 Solution 5 1 9 6 8 2 9 6 9 8 5 Puzzle supplied by Puzzle supplied by Charity of the week Millions of adults struggle with their everyday maths skills National Numeracy wants this to change Numeracy is the maths you need for everyday life It’s an essential skill – and an entitlement – linked to better wages, employment chances and even health We want everyone in the UK to reach a level of numeracy that enables them to meet their full potential, and we believe a major shift in attitudes is needed to make this happen In 2014 we developed the National Numeracy Challenge, which anyone can use to check and improve their numeracy level Over 83,000 people have registered, two million questions have been answered, and four out of five people who use it improve their score Visit www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk to find out how to get involved, or check your numeracy level confidentially for free at www.nnchallenge.org.uk P1088B P1088P SOURCES: A complete list of publications cited in The Week can be found at www.theweek.co.uk/sources For binders to hold 26 copies of The Week at £8.95 (www.modernbookbinders.com) Registered as a newspaper with the Royal Mail Printed by Polestar Bicester Distributed by Seymour Distribution Subscriptions: 0844-844 0086; overseas +44(0)1795-592921 Check your subscription online at www.subsinfo.co.uk, or email theweek@servicehelpline.co.uk 27 August 2016 THE WEEK