There is a "good chance" that the UK and the US could reach a "great" trade agreement, Vice President J.D. Vance said in an interview with UnHerd this week. And according to a White House official, an agreement is expected "soon". "Two weeks," the unnamed source told The Telegraph, "or maybe three."

"While this would be a win" for Keir Starmer, said The Spectator, "questions remain over the substance". What would be included, and perhaps most importantly, "can we really believe it will happen?"

What did the commentators say?
A US-UK alliance would not only be a boost to our post-Brexit economy but also "an almost unimaginable political prize" for Starmer, said The Independent. With only "the most modest" EU reset in sight, the US deal is the UK's "best prospect available among major economies", especially as efforts with China have "yielded relatively little".

But the potential terms of a US "deal" remain unclear, said the BBC's Faisal Islam. The latest talks seem to have been about science, tech and AI cooperation "in return for avoiding tariffs". Yet Britain still faces a 10% "reciprocal tariff" and a 25% levy on cars, despite there being "no US trade deficit". The UK side "has much to complain about".

A particularly "contentious" issue would be "any move to make it easier for US farmers to sell in the UK", said Politico's Andrew McDonald. That would be likely to anger British farmers, "who’ve already shown their willingness to storm Whitehall in their tractors".

What next?
Let's not "lose sight of the big picture as Trump sees it", said Martin Kettle in The Guardian. The president's tariff war "aims to obliterate" the global trade system and replace it with "a world trade order based on might is right, as represented by the US".

For Britain, a free trade agreement with Trump's US "should be seen as a way of protecting British trade interests": it is a "defensive" measure, "not the key to unlocking UK prosperity".

In 1963, Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was showered with praise after becoming the first woman in space – but the all-female crew on this week's 11-minute Blue Origin spaceflight have attracted almost universal criticism.

Those aboard included pop star Katy Perry, who said the flight would encourage young girls to go into space "without limitations". But this was "anything but a boost for feminism", said Jawad Iqbal in The Spectator.

'Childlike, girlish silliness'
"Touted" as a "win for science" and a "triumph of feminism", the flight was instead a "perverse funeral for the America that once enabled both scientific advancement and feminist progress", said Moira Donegan in The Guardian.

The crew did include aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe and bioastronautics researcher and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, alongside Perry, journalist Lauren Sánchez (who is engaged to Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos), film producer Kerianne Flynne and TV presenter Gayle King. But the pre-flight promotion was "light on substance" and "heavy on a childlike, girlish silliness", with Perry saying they were putting "the 'ass' into astronaut", and other crew members only interested in "talking about their makeup and hair".

'Profoundly antifeminist'
As for women going into space "without limitations"? Sure, as long as they are "rich, famous or happen to be on close terms with a billionaire", said The Spectator's Iqbal. This will "surely go down in history" as the "most self-indulgent and pointless trip into space. Ever."

Any hope that "celebrity feminism could rub off in some way on the larger culture" has disappeared, said Jessica Grose in The New York Times. "Trickle-down feminism" has been "snuffed out by the reality of celebrity behaviour", like this "morally vacuous" stunt for Bezos' private space venture.

The Blue Origin crew have "presented a profoundly antifeminist vision" of womankind's future, said The Guardian's Donegan – one that is "dependent on men, confined to triviality, and deeply, deeply silly".

Suffolk: Woodside Cottage, Saxmundham
A fine brick-and-flint cottage set in landscaped gardens. 3 beds, family bath, shower, kitchen/breakfast room, 2 receps, gardens. £500,000; Savills.

Northamptonshire: Blacksmiths Hill, Aynho
This elegant Grade II cottage has retained many characterful features, including exposed beams and an inglenook fireplace. Main suite, 2 further beds, family bath, kitchen/dining room, recep, garden. £495,000; Hamptons.

Essex: Keepers Cottage, Shalford
This charming 17th century Grade II thatched cottage has plenty of period features, including brick open fireplaces and timber doors. 3 beds, family bath, kitchen/breakfast room, 3 receps, garden, terrace, garage, home office. £450,000; Beresfords.

Devon: Village Road, Woodbury Salterton
Located in the heart of the village, this delightful thatched cottage is set behind a timber gate in mature gardens. 2 beds, family bath, kitchen/breakfast room, recep. £395,000; Bradleys.

East Sussex: Southover High Street, Lewes
This Grade II gem sits on an attractive Instagram-worthy street. 2 beds, family bath, kitchen, 2 receps, courtyard garden. £425,000; Strutt & Parker.

Wiltshire: Sunton, Collingbourne Ducis
A characterful, semi-detached and sympathetically updated Grade II cottage in a tranquil rural hamlet. 2 beds, family bath, kitchen, utility, 2 receps, garden. £395,000; Hamptons.

Trump's epic quest to save the world is going disastrously wrong
Allister Heath in The Telegraph
With his "tendency to hubris and self-delusion", Donald Trump has made "too many mistakes", writes Allister Heath. The "overall direction of travel is excellent" and could be a "net positive for America and Western civilisation", but economics will "ultimately determine" if the US president "succeeds or fails". He was "elected to make America richer", but "his protectionist escapades are making it poorer". It's "time for an urgent course correction".

Artists must stop fearmongering. AI is not a threat to the music industry
Robin Millar in City A.M.
"Extremely wealthy, high-profile artists" are shouting that their "oeuvres must be 'protected' from AI", a "rallying cry that echoes the panic around Napster in the 1990s", writes record producer Robin Millar. But it's a "misconception" that "allowing AI models to study and learn" from music is "theft". The "real conversation" is "about how to integrate AI responsibly into the creative landscape". That calls for "nuance, not fearmongering".

Just who is rocketman Jeff Bezos trying to impress?
Janice Turner in The Times
"I let out a yelp" during this week's Blue Origin rocket launch, writes Janice Turner. Jeff Bezos' spacecraft is "the most penisy thing ever constructed that wasn't an actual sex aid". It looks so different to the "Apollo rockets of my childhood", which were "long, slender and pointy", like "hypodermic needles or pens" – "far more decorous than this stumpy yet intrepid metal phallus briefly penetrating the heavens".