Villains
Hedgehogs, which have become “killing machines” in New Zealand, says Tess McClure in The Guardian. The “trundling, spiky creatures”, brought over by British settlers to remind them of home, have few natural predators in New Zealand, so have proceeded to eat up and endanger native insects. There are thought to be more of them in New Zealand than in Britain.
Hero
Karl-Günther von Hase, a long-serving German ambassador to London who died last week aged 103. He spent years doing his best to ease tensions between Germany and Britain and was famous for his discretion. An international communiqué, he observed, should be “like a bikini: it reveals a good deal but keeps the essentials hidden”.
Villain
Elon Musk, who wiped $250bn off the value of Bitcoin when he announced that Tesla would no longer accept payment in the cryptocurrency. Until recently one of Bitcoin’s leading evangelists, Musk now says the environmental cost of “mining” it is at odds with his mission to mass-produce electric cars.
Hero
Procter & Gamble, which is teaming up with Harry and Meghan’s Archewell Foundation to “build more compassionate communities” and “unlock positive, compassionate and creative spaces”, as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex put it in a statement. “Whatever it means, it sounds admirably ambitious” for a company so far best known for selling mouthwash and laundry detergent, says the Telegraph’s Michael Deacon.
Villains
Wild boar in Rome, a herd of which surrounded a woman on her way out of a supermarket and stole her shopping, rekindling a debate about their presence in the city. Last October a family of wild boar were shot and killed by police in a playground near the Vatican.
Villains
The jury for the Turner prize, who keep finding new ways not to do what the award was intended to do – reward good artists. This year’s wheeze is a shortlist of “collectives”, including a duo who “examine the systems that organise the world through food”, whatever that means. I despair, says art critic Waldemar Januszczak. “Someone please close down the farm.”