Villain
The Prime Minister’s barber, whoever he or she is. “Can anyone explain the baffling mystery of Boris Johnson’s haircut?” asks Carol Midgley in The Times. “It’s quite astonishing that he waited three months for that dog’s dinner.” The Downing Street janitor “could have put a pudding bowl on his head” and seemed like Vidal Sassoon by comparison.
Hero
Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, which kindly closes one of its busiest roads at night so hundreds of frogs and toads have safe passage to their breeding grounds. They like to winter on one side of the road and breed in the ponds on the other. The city authorities are considering building a special tunnel – after all, the frogs were there long before the roads.
Villain
Idris Elba, who isn’t black enough to play TV detective John Luther, according to a BBC diversity chief. “He doesn’t have any black friends, he doesn’t eat any Caribbean food, this doesn’t feel authentic,” says Miranda Wayland. This will surprise many viewers: Elba played Luther in five series, attracting audiences of up to 10 million.
Hero
Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom that vaccinated almost 93% of its adult population in just 16 days. But first it waited for the stars to align. Although the first batch of vaccines arrived in January, a panel of Buddhist monks advised waiting until 27 March to begin. The stars were not auspicious until then, they decreed. And the first dose had to be administered by, and given to, women born in the Year of the Monkey, which occurs every 12 years.