The Week 1570

Linguistics experts at Aberystwyth University are compiling the first-ever complete dictionary of ancient Celtic languages, reports The Guardian. It won’t be a vast tome, because so much of the written record has been lost, but Dr Simon Rodway and his team hope that, by scouring sources ranging from Julius Caesar’s account of his conquests to ancient memorial stones, they will be able to gather more than 1,000 words, from as far back as 325BC. Well over half a millennium after they went extinct as a breeding species in Britain, white storks are to be reintroduced to the capital, as part of an ambitious new rewilding project. The birds have already been reintroduced to the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, and storks hatched there have successfully returned home after migrating to Morocco.…

What happened Pressure on Zelensky As Donald Trump continued to pile pressure on Ukraine to agree a deal to end the war with Russia, Kyiv drew up a revised peace plan to present to Washington. On Monday, President Zelensky discussed its details at a meeting at Downing Street with Keir Starmer, France’s President Macron and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz. The talks are believed to have focused on the possibility of Kyiv gaining access to billions in frozen Russian assets held in European banks, and security guarantees for Ukraine after any ceasefire. Zelensky reiterated his insistence that Kyiv has “no legal right” to cede land to Moscow, a key Russian demand. Russia had rejected a revised ceasefire deal last week; but Trump continued to blame Zelensky for the lack of…

What happened Reform UK has received a record £9m donation from Christopher Harborne, a British-Thai cryptocurrency mogul, according to the latest quarterly declarations to the Electoral Commission. It’s the largest-ever single donation by a living person to a British political party. News of the gift comes at a time when Reform is leading in the national polls, but has been forced onto the defensive over a series of other, less welcome, stories. Last week Nigel Farage denounced what he called “a false story” in the Financial Times, which reported that he had told donors that he expected “a deal or merger” between his party and the Tories ahead of the next general election. “The idea I’d work with them is ludicrous,” he said. Reform also faced more questions about Farage’s…

Controversy of the week Trump vs. Europe Ever since Donald Trump was elected, “this moment has been coming”, said Daniel Finkelstein in The Times. “Now it has arrived.” Last week, his administration officially “brought an end to the Pax Americana, the long period of postwar stability underpinned by US power”, with the publication of a stark new “America First” National Security Strategy. The 33-page document outlines an alarming “new world order”, said Steve Bloomfield in The Observer. Trump’s USA asserts its “pre-eminence” in the western hemisphere, and its right to shape European affairs. Yet Washington will no longer “hector” partners in the Middle East and beyond about democracy or human rights. “There is not a word of criticism of either Russia or China”; in fact, the document states that the…

More than half of teenagers have gone online for mental-health support in the past year, including 25% who’ve used AI chatbots, a survey has found. Those who had been affected by serious violence, either as victim or perpetrator, are the most likely to have sought help online, according to Youth Endowment Fund research. Among them, 90% had gone online for support, almost twice the rate of the others surveyed (48%). A “reality” show in which contenders are dropped into perilous situations, and must fight each other to the death, is being hailed as the first to be entirely AI-generated. In Non Player Combat, contestants have human vulnerabilities and detailed backstories, but even the challenges they face are created by AI.…

Nnena Kalu, a 59-year-old from Glasgow, who became the first artist with a learning disability to win the Turner Prize. Kalu’s work – colourful cocoon-shaped hanging sculptures and swirling drawings on paper – was lauded by the judges for its “lively translation of expressive gesture” and “powerful presence”. Take Back Power, a new activist group, which made headlines with its first stunt: throwing crumble and custard over the case that houses the Crown Jewels, at the Tower of London. The group’s chief demand is the creation of a new citizen’s assembly, to tackle inequality by imposing higher taxes on the rich; but it appears to be run by former members of Just Stop Oil. Residents of Tunbridge Wells, whose water supply was finally restored. Thousands of households and businesses in…