Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chairman of Fox and News Corp, handing the reins to his eldest son Lachlan. But it's not quite a retirement – in a memo to staff, the 92-year-old media mogul promises to continue "reaching out to you with thoughts, ideas, and advice". A beautician specialising in eyelash extensions is one of five Bulgarians living in Britain who have been charged with spying for Russia, says the Daily Mirror. Vanya Gaberova, 29, who owns a beauty salon in Acton, west London, will appear in court along with four others on Tuesday. This year's Booker Prize shortlist includes more men called Paul than it does women. In a change from the usual dominance of female writers, the literary prize committee has nominated three Pauls, one other man and two women. "It could have been more Pauls," says Robert Webb, one of the judges. "These Pauls should count themselves very lucky." |
Sunak at the COP26 climate conference, back when he was chancellor. Christopher Furlong/Getty |
Rishi Sunak has "declared war on the green establishment", says Allister Heath in The Daily Telegraph. And predictably, he's now being monstered by everyone from left-wing think-tanks and eco-zealots to big business and members of his own party. But it was "the best speech he has ever given". Banning petrol cars by 2030 was always a "dangerously utopian" policy, dreamt up by Boris Johnson because it sounded "better" than the original target of 2040. Charging infrastructure won't be ready, we won't produce enough electricity and there won't be enough truly cheap, long-range electric cars available to allow those with smaller budgets to replace their old vehicles. Despite all the hysterics, the PM isn't trying to "ditch decarbonisation", he just wants to do it at a more reasonable speed, while "keeping the public onside and avoiding a revolt". |
It's a high-risk strategy, says Rachel Cunliffe in The New Statesman. The reaction from big business is "furious" – companies like Ford, with complicated supply chains and long-term strategies, don't like it when the government "suddenly pulls the rug out from under them". There's also a substantial political risk. Sunak has never been "well-loved" in his party, where many influential operators are committed environmentalists. Zac Goldsmith called the announcement a "moment of shame", and said it revealed Sunak's "low opinion of voters" that he believed they would "join him on the side of destruction". And it's simply not clear that voters do want to join him. Net zero is backed by a clear majority, and many will assume the reason green targets are being watered down is because the government is too incompetent to meet them. Sunak is selling this U-turn as "pragmatic", but it could prove to be the miscalculation that defines his legacy. |
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Robb Report has scoured property listings to find the most expensive home on sale in every US state. There's quite a range. At the bottom end is Nebraska, with a sprawling $3.89m McMansion, while New York and California are tied for the priciest pad at $195m – a 12,500 sq ft Manhattan penthouse and an oceanfront Malibu estate respectively. Other highlights include a modernist lakeside bungalow in Idaho, $24.5m, and a Gilded Age mansion in Washington DC, $29.95m (though it isn't technically a state). See the full list here. |
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Sadly, as an author I was never offered a book signing. I approached my nearest bookshop in Muswell Hill to ask if they'd be interested in hosting a launch, stressing that I was a local author. The manager wearily replied: "Sir, everyone in north London is a local author." |
David Staples, London N10 |
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A Korean-made K9 howitzer on the production line. Jung Yeon-je/Getty |
South Korea is fast becoming one of the largest arms dealers in the world, says The Economist. It sold $17bn worth last year, more than double the sum in 2021, and wants to be the fourth-largest exporter in the world by 2027. Its biggest customer is Poland, to which it is selling 1,000 tanks – more than are operating "in the armies of Britain, France, Germany and Italy combined". South Korea's success in the industry is based on several factors: its experience working with top-drawer American kit; its high-tech civil sector; and the fact that, because of the threat across its northern border, it has "hot production lines" that can "ramp up quickly". |
The glorious Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes. Archive Photos/Getty |
Airbnb's best days are behind it |
The morning after a wedding in Vermont this summer, says Kate Lindsay in The Atlantic, my friends were happily recovering in a hot tub while I battled a rubbish disposal machine. Then I scrubbed the kitchen counter. "And stripped the bed. And took out the recycling." Because whereas my friends had sensibly booked a hotel room, I had made the mistake of staying at an Airbnb. So, despite forking out for the $95 cleaning fee, I was stuck "completing a baffling list of pre-checkout chores". Truth is, there's something "a bit off" with Airbnb these days. When it launched in 2008, the idea seemed revelatory: hosts would make money from "that guest room no one uses"; visitors would get a cheap stay and a "uniquely personalised travel experience". It felt "more casual than a hotel", and all the better for it. |
But Airbnb soon turned corporate. People bought up homes purely to list them on the site. "Mega hosts", with 21 or more properties, now account for 30% of listings. Sure, it's still cheaper than a hotel. But the romance has gone. Guests wanting somewhere "quaint and homey" end up in an "IKEA display room"; keys are kept in lockboxes, and local recommendations "in a binder that sits on a kitchen table". Ultimately, Airbnb suffers from the same problem as all gig economy companies, like Uber and Etsy: if you frame yourself as a DIY alternative to an established industry, you can only grow "in the same direction" as the very thing you want to replace. So before long, everyone loses interest. |
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Instagram/@napoli_on_the_road |
Forget Naples: the world's best pizza is officially made in Chiswick, west London. Michele Pascarella, owner of the pizzeria Napoli on the Road, was recently crowned "global pizza-maker of the year" at the prestigious 50 Top Pizza World 2023 awards. The 31-year-old Italian, who moved to London in 2011 and was commended for his innovative ingredients and puffed-up crust, says he has had to turn away more than 2,000 customers since the news broke. A member of the Qatari royal family even wanted to reserve two tables – one for him and one for his security team. |
A retired Boston University professor named Barbie Oppenheimer "has had a summer to remember", says BU Today. The topically titled grandmother – whose father-in-law was a third cousin of the atomic bomb maker J Robert Oppenheimer – says any time she tries to book a hotel or a doctor's appointment, they assume she's pulling their leg or ask for selfies. The newsy-named nana says the person most impressed by it all has been her seven-year-old granddaughter. "She's offered to be my publicist." |
It's Honda's Motocompacto – a new electric scooter based on a much-loved design from the 1980s. Weighing just 18 kilograms, it can be folded up into a suitcase shape and lugged around to where it's needed. Three and a half hours of charging time gets you a range of up to 12 miles; it will go on sale in the US for $995 later this year. |
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"Doing what you do well is death. Your duty is to keep trying to do things that you don't do well, in the hope of learning." Irish novelist John Banville |
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