The Week 1558

Archaeologists have found the remains of a previously unknown castle on the Hebridean island of Islay, dating to the 12th and 13th centuries. In a new book about the project, Dr David Caldwell says the castle occupied two islands in Loch Finlaggan, and included a large square tower, 19 metres tall, probably built to protect a lord or king. Finlaggan was the seat of the Lords of the Isles – semi-autonomous rulers, from the 13th century, of large swathes of the region. Having achieved four A*s in his A levels, a 14-year-old from Staffordshire is about to begin a biomedical engineering degree at Imperial College London. But though Elias Kim is prodigiously clever, he is ordinary in his family. All his siblings have aced their exams; two of his sisters,…

What happened Starmer’s leadership crisis As Keir Starmer prepared for Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain this week, Labour MPs were questioning how long the PM could survive in office. The speculation over his leadership follows the sacking last Thursday of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US over his links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which came on the heels of the resignation of the deputy PM, Angela Rayner. Starmer initially backed Mandelson in the Commons, but changed his position after the publication of new emails showing that the Labour peer had urged Epstein to fight for early release from prison after he was found guilty of a child sex offence in 2008 (see page 21). To add to Starmer’s woes, one of his top aides, Paul Ovenden,…

What happened Days after Polish and Nato forces scrambled to shoot down Russian drones that had flown into Poland’s airspace, Russian troops gathered in neighbouring Belarus for large-scale war games; Indian and Iranian troops also participated. The Zapad 2025 exercises included a simulated nuclear strike. Although they were billed as defensive, analysts said they were designed to intimidate Europe. In total, 19 drones crossed into Poland last Wednesday. Moscow’s allies claimed that they had strayed there accidentally, but days later, another Russian drone violated Romanian airspace. Warsaw said the incursion was a test of Nato’s defensive capabilities, and invoked Article 4, which brings a threat to the attention of its council. Nato then launched an operation to bolster its eastern flank. Donald Trump said he would impose tougher sanctions on…

Controversy of the week “Unite the Kingdom” “From all corners of the land they came,” said Ian Gallagher in The Mail on Sunday, “bearing flags and banners and pride – or was it rage – in their hearts”. As Elgar’s Nimrod blared out from a loudspeaker, a sea of some 150,000 people marched through central London last weekend, under the slogan “Unite the Kingdom”. It was perhaps “the most vivid expression yet” of the discontent felt across the country over migration. It was led by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, but dismissing everyone involved as fascist would be a mistake. Granted, there was “hooliganism at the margins”, said Trevor Phillips in The Times. Far-right thugs attacked the police; 24 people were arrested. But strikingly, most attendees were ordinary people –…

British boys aged 15 to 17 now spend, on average, nearly 34 hours a week playing video games – more time than many will spend at school. The figure comes from a survey of 1,000 parents by the charity Ygam. It also found that, while almost all parents felt their children derived some benefits from video games, such as help with relaxing, 79% were concerned that their children spent too much time on screens, and 67% worried that they were becoming addicted to them. The Royal Yachting Association has urged its trainers only to use the term “man overboard” if it is to raise the alarm in an emergency. At other times, the inclusive language guide suggests that the term “person in water” may be more suitable.…

Owen Cooper, who at 15 became the youngest-ever male recipient of an Emmy, when he won a best supporting actor award for his breakout role in the TV drama Adolescence. In his acceptance speech at the ceremony in Los Angeles, Cooper, from Warrington, said that when he started drama classes two years ago, he never imagined it would lead him to this moment. Nominative determinism, with news that Barking, in east London, is home to the capital’s noisiest dogs. Barking and Dagenham Council has received 2,239 complaints about dogs barking since 2020, more than any other London borough. Larry Ellison, the tech mogul, who briefly overtook Elon Musk to become the world’s richest man. Owing to the soaring value of his firm Oracle, his net worth reached $393bn last week…