Joe Biden will face a special counsel investigation after a second cache of classified files from his time as vice president was found in his garage. The discovery has "shattered the political glow" the President has enjoyed since the Democrats' strong midterms performance, says the FT, and could complicate plans to launch his re-election campaign in the coming weeks. The UK economy unexpectedly grew by 0.1% in November, boosting hopes that Britain could avoid a recession. Output was nudged up by growth in the services sector, an increase in pub outings to watch World Cup matches and early Christmas shopping. Chester Zoo has announced the birth of a western chimpanzee, the world's rarest species of chimp. In line with tradition, the new addition will be named after a pop or rock star: previous primates welcomed there include Dylan (Bob), Alice (Cooper) and Annie (Lennox). |
A new era of cheap, abundant energy |
It might sound an odd thing to say in the middle of an energy crisis, says Andrew Sissons in the FT, but we may be entering a "new era of abundant energy". Not because of nuclear fusion – exciting as recent breakthroughs in that field are – but because of boring old renewables. Over the past week, "renewable energy has met more than half of the UK's demand for electricity", breaking records for wind power generation. Gas, the dirty and expensive bit of the electricity grid, chipped in just 14%. Parts of Scotland were regularly powered with "zero carbon emissions". |
"And there is a lot more to come." The UK is on track to double offshore wind capacity from 14 to 28 gigawatts by 2027, and the plan is for it to nearly double again to 50GW by 2030. To put that in context, our average electricity demand this week was 33GW. Building this kit is only getting cheaper, driving electricity prices fantastically low. And the age-old problem of keeping the lights on when the wind isn't blowing is fast being solved by improvements in energy storage tech. In other words, there is now the prospect of "abundant, clean, nearly inexhaustible energy" by the late 2030s. This will allow us not only to gorge on electricity guilt-free, but also to fix some major problems: desalination plants and carbon capture facilities are amazing solutions to urgent issues, but they guzzle power. Lucky for us, our new challenge may not be using less energy, "but figuring out how to use more".
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This video, taken in Kenya's Masai Mara reserve in October, shows more than a dozen tourist-carrying jeeps surrounding a cheetah in the seconds after it made a kill. Behold, says the Twitter user who first posted the clip, "your once-in-a lifetime safari": a gripping chase, followed by "the mass Toyota 4x4 migration". Watch the full horror here. |
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California has passed a new law requiring companies with 15 or more employees to give salary estimates for all job postings. Much like when New York City introduced similar legislation last year, says Bloomberg, some firms are "taking a liberal interpretation" of how wide a pay range can be. Tesla has one job available paying between $83,200 and $417,600, depending on experience. At Netflix, a role is listed at $90,000 to $900,000. |
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M&S cafes are selling a new "Magic Coffee", says The Times, which the company claims will be "bigger than the flat white". The drink, which hails from coffee mecca Melbourne, looks like a cortado, an espresso mixed with roughly the same quantity of milk. But the Magic Coffee has a "ristretto" base – essentially an espresso with finer-ground beans and half the amount of water – which allows for more milk on top. The supermarket's bosses are so convinced it will become a hit that they've already trademarked "Magic Coffee" to stop rivals hopping on the trend. |
Come on, get back to the office. Getty |
A shocking waste of lives and money |
One of the biggest surprises about post-Covid Britain, says Fraser Nelson in The Daily Telegraph, is the "huge, debilitating hole" in our workforce. Alongside the 375,000 over-50s who "lost the habit of working and didn't fancy getting back into it" are 2.5 million "long-term sick", most suffering mental health issues. Then there are the 3.5 million deemed "unable to work", even though 700,000 of them say they want a job. It's a mess. A fifth of adults in Liverpool, Glasgow and Birmingham are on out-of-work benefits. Jobcentres ought to be coaching people back into work, but, incredibly, "they can't find enough people to work at the Jobcentres". |
This is a shocking failure by the Tories – and it's also a political headache. "A panic is now on in No 10" after Labour's work and pensions spokesman Jon Ashworth gave a speech showing how well his side understands the issue. He sounded "just like a Tory circa 2009", talking about the scandal of millions on benefits as "a waste of lives, not just money". The Tories used to be good at this stuff: before lockdown a record 33 million people were in work; David Cameron boasted of leading "the workers' party". But now the roles have reversed – the Tories claim they have a plan ready, but they're still not even willing to admit how many people are on benefits. This is a huge and complex problem. "Denial, as a strategy, is not a great place to start." |
"What is going on with Austin Butler's voice?" asks Danielle Cohen in The Cut. Ever since the actor played Elvis in Baz Luhrmann's biopic last year, he has refused to drop the rocker's distinctive drawl. At the Golden Globes on Tuesday, the 31-year-old sounded like he was "possessed by a southern ghost with laryngitis". Butler insists all this is entirely natural, claiming his DNA "will always be linked" to Elvis after immersing himself so fully in the role. The whole saga is ridiculously poncy, and "I can't think of anything more Hollywood". Listen to a before-and-after comparison here. |
The term "spinster" for unmarried women used to apply only to those aged 23 to 25 – anyone older was called a "thornback". When this unflattering term resurfaced in 2019, one Twitter user imagined an extended classification for single ladies: "Venus deathtrap" for 29-35; then "lady of the blade" (35-40); "fanged dowager" (40-45); and for those 45 and older, "terrified silence, shifting eyes, if you speak of her she will know and she will show you no mercy". |
It's a man in Japan who spent more than £18,000 on a full-size wolf suit to fulfil his "childhood dream" of being an animal. Made by specialist animatronics firm Zeppet Workshop, the grey and white outfit is modelled on a timber wolf. "It only took about three days from the final fitting to the delivery," says the lucky (unnamed) recipient, "but the three days felt very long. It was a kind of excitement I have not felt for a long time." |
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"They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. Golf is more complicated than that."
American golfer Gardner Dickinson |
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