Hero
North West, who has mastered the art of the insult at the tender age of eight. She has told her mum, Kim Kardashian West, that her house is “ugly”. “It’s all white. Who lives like this?” She has a point, says The Cut – Kim’s house “is hyper-minimalist, almost to the point of looking completely empty”.
Heroes
Maggots, which have been hailed for their ability to “tackle antibiotic resistance”, says the Telegraph. The NHS is reintroducing “maggot teabags” –porous bags containing live larvae – due to their unrivalled ability to break down dead tissue and kill infection. The treatment, which was common in the early 20th century, has dwindled in popularity after the rise of antibiotics in the 1940s.
Villains
Underwater cables, which have “mesmerised” brown crabs, according to a study by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. The submarine power lines produce electromagnetic fields that draw the crustaceans to their pipes, where they “sit still”, abandoning attempts to hunt, migrate or reproduce.
Heroes
Critical English readers, who are keeping American novelists on their toes. “The Bad Sex Award is English, right?”, asked Jonathan Franzen at the Cheltenham Literature Festival. He’s still cross that his 2010 book Freedom was nominated for the award. What was wrong with referring to “a protruding pencil of tenderness”, wondered Franzen. “I don’t get it.”
Heroes
Livae Nanjikana and Junior Qoloni, two men from the Solomon Islands who were lost at sea for 29 days. They survived by eating coconuts they fished out of the water and collecting rainwater with a piece of canvas. “I look forward to going back home,” said Nanjikana, “but I guess it was a nice break from everything.”
Hero
The Ministry of Justice, which is allowing prisoners to play chess in an international competition for the first time. The Intercontinental Online Championship for Prisoners attracts chess masters from behind bars in 31 countries, including the US and Trinidad & Tobago. The UK captain, Malcolm Pein, says the team are especially “motivated and excited at the prospect of playing the Russians”.