The Week Unwrapped podcast: Blackouts, braces and bronzes

(Image credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

published 17 December 2023

Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Arion McNicoll, Emma Smith and Suchandrika Chakrabarti

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Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden advised Britons earlier this month to stock up on torchers, battery powered radios and candles to prepare for possible power cuts or cyber attacks. The advice appeared to come from out of the blue, but this week Kenya experienced a serious power outage – which may have been sabotage. How likely is an extended nationwide blackout in the UK? How bad it would be ? And how prepared do we all need to be?

One of the finest Italian Renaissance bronzes ever made, a miniature of an ancient Greek marble statue of Apollo, has been donated to the nation in lieu of a £10.5 million inheritance tax bill. The Apollo Belvedere, by Antico, will go on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The acquisition, made under the government’s acceptance in lieu (AiL) scheme, will be formally announced by the Arts Council later this month. What is the acceptance-in-lieu scheme? How does it work? And what kind of art can you use to pay your tax bill?

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