Anti-war protester detained but questions remain
Good evening,
Fingers are being pointed in different directions over the death of Russian blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, killed by a bomb apparently hidden in a hollowed-out bust.
Russia claims Ukraine helped orchestrate the St Petersburg cafe attack, while Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak suggested it was a case of "domestic terrorism".
"The spiders are eating each other in a jar," tweeted Podolyak, before separately claiming that Russia was returning to the "Soviet classics" of deeper isolation, political repression and the arrest of foreign journalists.
| Hollie Clemence
Executive Editor |
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| TODAY'S BIG QUESTION | | The killing of the influential pro-Kremlin blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in an explosion in the heart of St Petersburg on Sunday has shocked Russia and sparked fierce speculation about who was responsible.
Described by the Financial Times (FT) as "one of the most prominent pro-Kremlin 'military correspondents'" and by CNN as "one of Russia's most outspoken and ultranationalist military bloggers, known for his ardent pro-war commentary and occasional criticism of Moscow's battlefront failures", Tatarsky was born Maxim Fomin in Ukraine's Donbas region.
The 40-year-old took his alias from a popular novel set in the 1990s by Russian author Victor Pelevin and joined Kremlin-backed separatists in 2014 when Vladimir Putin ordered his forces into eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea, before later moving to Moscow. Following last February's invasion of Ukraine he returned to Donbas to rejoin separatist forces, amassing more than half a million subscribers to his Telegram channel over the next year.
Following his death from what authorities called an "unidentified improvised explosive device" believed to have been hidden in a gold bust of himself presented to him by a member of the audience in the cafe where he was speaking, the Russian foreign ministry was quick to point the finger of blame at Ukraine. It claimed that Tatarsky was a "danger" and faced constant death threats from "the Kyiv regime and its abettors". |
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SPEED READS | | A French government minister has sparked a political row after she appeared – fully clothed – on the cover of Playboy magazine.
Marlène Schiappa, minister for the social economy and associations, gave an interview on gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights to the French-language edition of the former soft-porn magazine that now styles itself a lifestyle publication. She was photographed wearing a white dress.
But the cover was described by the French prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, as "not at all appropriate, especially in the current period", according to Le Monde. |
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GETTING TO GRIPS WITH . . . | | Sought-after certification faces criticism as more multinationals are awarded ethical status |
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WHAT THE SCIENTISTS ARE SAYING… | | If the sound of people chewing drives you to distraction, you are not alone. Researchers have estimated that almost one in five people in Britain suffer from misophonia, a condition characterised by an extreme emotional reaction to certain noises, often related to eating and breathing. People with the condition do not merely find the sound of people sniffing or slurping annoying: it makes them angry or panicked, and they can struggle in social and work settings as a result. (A separate condition, hyperacusis, is when everyday sounds seem much louder than they should.) The condition was first described in 2001, and though some doctors are not convinced that it should be classed as a mental disorder, it is recognised by the NHS. To find out how prevalent it is, a team at King's College London surveyed 768 people about the impact of sounds on their lives. They found that about a quarter of people were bothered by sounds such as chewing gum, and that of the total, 18% had a reaction strong enough to be classed as misophonia.
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T H E W E E K M A G A Z I N E |
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| Take a step back from the noise of the news and enjoy a fresh perspective with The Week magazine. Start your trial today and enjoy your first six print and digital issues for free, then continue to save 60%. Sale ends 6 April. |
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Spirit of the age | | A cruise line is aiming to attract "digital nomads" with a 135-country, round-the-world trip that takes three years to complete. For £73,060, passengers will get full-board accommodation on a ship that has been remodelled with remote workers in mind. As well as the usual cruise features, it will have offices, meeting rooms and full Wi-Fi. Life at Sea Cruises says demand has been unprecedented, with the newly retired also proving particularly keen.
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| picture of the day | | Jodie Comer arrives at the Royal Albert Hall for the Olivier Awards, where she picked up the Best Actress gong for her West End debut as Tessa in Prima Facie.
Jordan Pettitt/PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo
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Good week for... | Nathan Anthony, a home cook and former BT manager, after his new book became the fifth-fastest-selling cookbook of all time. Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Fryer Book is a follow-up to the bestselling Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Slow Cooker Book, both of which he wrote while working full-time for BT. | |
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Bad week for... | British 'danger tourist' Miles Routledge, who is believed to have been detained by Taliban secret police. The 23-year-old has built up followers online by posting about his travels to dangerous countries. | |
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PUZZLES | | Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section |
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instant opinion | | Your digest of analysis from the British and international press from the past seven days
"There was a time when the over-enthusiastic sucking of a Werther's Original was considered a hanging offence in the theatre," said The Times in its leading article. "But the pandemic has changed things." Now theatre ushers are reporting "deteriorating standards of audience conduct" since lockdown restrictions were lifted. "Punch-ups, vomiting and general boorishness have led almost half of these front-of-house staff to consider quitting their jobs," according to research by the theatre union, Bectu. While "delinquent behaviour" in the theatre is "as old as the Bard" – who, in Hamlet, took aim at theatre-goers "capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb shows and noise" – Bectu wants venue owners to "advertise expected standards of behaviour". They could point rowdy theatre-goers to Hamlet, Act 3, Sc 2, said the paper. "But Aretha Franklin's Respect might enjoy more cut-through." |
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| Recipe of the week | | These prawn pancakes are an unusual marriage of Korean and Indian traditions |
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DOWN TO BUSINESS | Monday afternoon markets | The price of oil surged after Opec+ producers announced an unexpected cut in output. Brent crude jumped to nearly $85 a barrel, while WTI was close to $80, marking the sharpest rises in nearly a year.
FTSE 100: 7,640.59, up 0.26%
Dax: 15,648.89, up 0.81%
Dow: 33,044.30, up 0.56%
Dollar: £1 = $1.2364, down 0.15%
Euro: £1 = €1.1386, up 0.27%
Brent crude: $79.40, up 0.16%
Gold: $1,975.60, down 0.24% | |
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WIT & WISDOM | "Hollywood is like high school with money." | Michael Ovitz, quoted in The Wall Street Journal | |
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