Mercury prize favourite … Paul Weller. Photograph: Dean Chalkley Paul Weller is now the favourite to win the Mercury prize after bookmakers William Hill said the singer was at the centre of the “biggest turnaround in music betting for the last 40 years”. The 52-year-old musician’s... 

‘A fiercely bright, posh, confident chap’ . . . Ben Schott. Photograph: Francesco Guidicini / Rex Features Ben Schott, presenting Almanacs – The Oldest Guide to Everything (Radio 4), is a fiercely bright, posh, confident chap. He has reason to exude confidence, given that he... 

Cristiano Ronaldo is now a father. Photograph: Eamonn and James Clarke/EMPICS Entertainment Etiquette update: mentioning “the curse of the Nike advert” is now desperately outmoded – it’s time to start talking about its staggeringly pedestrian vision of the future. Oh sure,... 

The New York headquarters of the Goldman Sachs investment bank. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA Goldman Sachs faces the threat of legal action from Royal Bank of Scotland, which lost $800m (£523m) on the complex mortgage security at the heart of a record-breaking fine by the US regulators. Even...