3 November - The Knowledge

In the headlines

Donald Trump’s chances of returning to the White House suddenly look much rosier, with the Republican he backed for the governorship of Virginia now looking certain to win. The Democrats only have themselves to blame for Glenn Youngkin’s victory, says Holman W Jenkins Jr in The Wall Street Journal. They paint anyone who disagrees with them “as a white supremacist and a pro-Trump Nazi”. A four-year-old girl who was snatched from her parents’ tent on a camping trip in Western Australia two weeks ago has been found alive and well. Police rescued Cleo Smith from the home of a 36-year-old man after neighbours spotted him buying nappies in nearby Carnarvon. A man in rural Brazil died when he was chased by bees into a lake, then eaten by piranhas before drowning, reports Brazilian newspaper Estado de Minas.

Snapshot

Gone viral

Six weeks after it first erupted, the lava flows from the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma have become a tourist attraction, says El Pais. More than 10,000 visitors have flocked to the Canary Islands to witness the flows. Some residents of La Palma have welcomed the tourists, but others are less keen. “They call it a spectacle,” says Carmen Justiniana, 50, “but for us it is not.”

Love etc

Tottenham Hotspur’s new manager, Antonio Conte, has firm opinions about how his players should perform in the bedroom, says Callum Boyle in the online magazine Joe. In 2019, while managing in Italy, he said: “In the periods of competition, the intercourse should not last long and they should be on the bottom. They need to make as little effort as possible. And it is preferable that they are with their own wives. That way they are not obliged to put in an exceptional performance.”

Noted

A vicar returned to his Victorian terraced house in Luton following a work trip to find his home had been fraudulently sold for £131,000. The Rev Mike Hall’s identity had been stolen and used to bank the proceeds. He told the BBC it was a “shock seeing the house completely stripped of furniture” – when he got there, building work was under way. Police refused to throw the new owner out, claiming it was a civil matter.

Tomorrow’s world

From next year, iPhones will know if their owners have been in a car accident – and automatically dial the emergency services. According to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal, the “crash detection” feature will sense sudden spikes in g-forces.

Quoted

Quoted 03-11

“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.”

Billy Graham

Life

For her role as Italian murderer Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott’s film House of Gucci, out on November 26, Lady Gaga spoke in an Italian accent for nine months – on and off camera. “I lived as her for a year and a half,” she tells British Vogue. She had to dye her hair while preparing for the part: “It was nearly impossible for me to speak in the accent as a blonde.”

Snapshot answer

It’s an architect’s drawing of the Tour Triangle, a 590ft tower in Paris that has enraged the traditionalists who zealously guard the city’s historic skyline. After 13 years of political and legal wrangling, work is finally set to begin on the £595m hotel and apartment building in southern Paris. It was approved by the city council, but neighbourhood mayor Philippe Goujon said the tower has been rejected by “all residents of the district”.