Sunday, July 31, 2011

Our pick of the week: The story, the stat, the quote, the tweet

Stormtrooper Stormtrooper wars. Photograph: Paul Kane/Getty Images AsiaPac

Blue-sky thinking

Steve Hilton's bizarre plans to boost the economy caught many unawares this week. The Financial Times revealed that David Cameron's shaven-headed strategist had some "blue-sky ideas" for the economy. The story could have come straight from an Armando Iannucci script, with the guru suggesting that the government should ignore European labour regulations by scrapping maternity leave and bin all consumer rights for nine months. Malcolm Tucker would no doubt have some choice (four-letter) words for Hilton's suggestions. Coalition HQ has plenty to mull over after the disappointing GDP figures, but they're probably not desperate enough to take any of Hilton's proposals too seriously – yet.

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… confirmed wolf attacks have taken place on livestock in France so far this year. The rise of Canis lupus has caused controversy with pro- and anti-groups fighting over what should be done about them. Wolf expert Jean-Marc Moriceau said they could reach the forests just south of Paris within 10 to 15 years, but fear not, there is no threat of a British invasion.

Andrew Ainsworth

"If there is a Force, then it has been with me," proclaimed the Star Wars prop designer, who this week won a legal battle with Star Wars creator George Lucas over the right to sell replica Stormtrooper helmets in the UK.

@tweetbox360

Tasteless tweeting came to the fore again this week after the death of Amy Winehouse. The Microsoft account was attacked after it urged fans of the star to "Remember Amy Winehouse by downloading the ground-breaking Back to Black over at Zune". An apology followed after fans bombarded the Twitter address with outraged messages criticising the opportunistic move.


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