The public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 has concluded that the tragedy was the culmination of “decades of failure” by governments, “systematic dishonesty” by cladding manufacturers, and a “chronic lack” of leadership in the fire service. The damning final report, released this morning, found that all 72 deaths were avoidable. Eating 30 plants a week can significantly reduce menopause symptoms, according to a new study. Data from 70,000 women showed that those who switched to a high-fibre diet with lots of leafy greens saw the severity of hot flushes, mood swings and other symptoms fall by about a third. Gifted dogs can remember the names of their favourite toys for at least two years. Most pooches can learn words linked to actions such as “sit”, but researchers have found that only a small group – border collies in particular – can get to grips with a wide range of words denoting specific objects, and recall them long after. 🐶

Let’s celebrate British history, warts and all

George Orwell observed that England is “perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality”, says Philip Johnston in The Daily Telegraph. To judge from the “depressing” findings of this year’s Social Attitudes Survey, our intellectuals aren’t the only ones. Over the past decade, the proportion of people who say they are proud of Britain’s history has fallen from 86% to 64%. And who can blame them? “The Left has hammered away at our history for years, leaving it a bloodied wreck.” Rather than praising the Royal Navy for helping end the slave trade, we single out Britain for having been involved in it in the first place. Rather than marvelling at our role in the Industrial Revolution, we castigate ourselves for “being the perpetrators of global warming”.

The results of this survey are far more nuanced than people realise, says Alice Thomson in The Times. Britons are just as proud of our artistic endeavours as we were in 2013, and “far more impressed” by Shakespeare and Austen than back in 2003 – an encouraging trend, given the “competing distractions of iPhones and Netflix”. Besides, is it really so bad that pride in our history is falling? Yes, some of our institutions and academics have gone too far, becoming too embarrassed by the British empire. But we can still enjoy Matilda and Willy Wonka while recognising Roald Dahl’s anti-Semitic views; the National Trust can “celebrate our heritage and scones” while also noting contextual connections to slavery. If anything, the fact that Britons can now acknowledge the flaws in their heroes should be seen as “a sign of maturity”.

Keir Starmer turned 62 on Monday, says The Guardian, but his “entire senior team forgot to wish him a happy birthday” at their morning meeting. Asked by reporters how the prime minister would be celebrating, his official spokesperson admitted, “regrettably, I think we all forgot”. A rather sheepish insider later added that it was “really bad”.

This ad for the electricals shop Currys has racked up 2.1 million views on X. The concept is simple enough: “Letting our Gen Z colleague write our marketing scripts”. The results – including such nonsense as, “if you’ve got the guap, a pizza oven is peak flex... these are giving me life, no gassin’, go full brat summer” – are sublime. See the full clip here. And for those who can’t get enough, watch the outtakes here.

Canada’s grisly experiment with assisted dying

Proponents of assisted dying always reject the slippery slope argument, says Nicholas Tomaino in The Wall Street Journal – the idea that if you let some people take their lives with the help of a doctor, soon you’ll let everyone do it. They should look at what’s happened in Canada. In 2016, Canadian lawmakers legalised “medical assistance in dying”, or MAID, with what they thought were “imposing limits”. Only those with “grievous and irremediable” medical conditions would be eligible; doctors would be “reluctant gatekeepers”. But the courts soon ruled that this was discriminatory, and many of the safeguards – such as the minimum 10-day assessment period between request and provision – were removed. The message was clear: “If you want to die, you needn’t wait.”

The consequences have been extraordinary. Physician-assisted suicide is now the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada: an astonishing 13,241 people took their lives this way in 2022, up from 1,018 in 2016. The belief that doctors wouldn’t just “rubber-stamp” applications has proven totally misguided. Around four-fifths are approved, for everything from “vision/hearing loss” to “diabetes”. There’s more to come: the government is making mental illness an eligible condition in 2027, and the courts may well force it to do so sooner. You may not think this is dignified, or compassionate, or any of the other terms deployed by assisted dying campaigners. But as those of us who worry about the slippery slope have always warned, it’s definitely “logical”.

A new exhibition in Marseilles is exhibiting exhibitionists in all their glory, says Le Monde. Paradis naturistes traces the history of naturism in France from the start of the 20th century to the present, from an all-naked campsite in Cap d’Agde on the Mediterranean coast to Physiopolis near Paris, once a self-proclaimed naturists’ island. The photographs, which also include nude gymnastics on the shores of a lake and a civilised tennis match in Val-de-Marne, leave little doubt that nudism is “about much more than just dressing down”.

When Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, he “didn’t do it alone”, says The Washington Post – he also relied on a long list of investors. And those investors are not doing well out of it. Recent financial filings suggest that the eight largest initial investments are now worth $5bn less than they were: Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is about $1.4bn down; Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison have each lost around $720m. Overall, the stake held by Musk and his partners has shed $24bn in value, “a vaporisation of wealth that has little parallel outside the realm of economic or industry-specific crashes, or devastating corporate scandals”.

It’s a house on the Canary island of La Palma that has become an unlikely tourist attraction after being all but buried in volcanic ash. Owner Amanda Melián says she is still not allowed to enter the property, three years after the eruption of the nearby Tajogaite volcano. Angry at coming across tourists taking pictures every time she visits the site, she has now covered the front of the house with a giant green tarpaulin. “It’s not fair that I am homeless and others profit from it,” she tells The Times. “So it’s over.”