David Beckham turned 50 in "glittering fashion" last week, with a star-studded birthday party in London's Notting Hill, said Marianka Swain in The Telegraph. "But it seems there was a ghost at Goldenballs' sumptuous feast. Or, rather, there were two."

The former England football captain's eldest son, Brooklyn, and his wife Nicola Peltz Beckham, were notably absent from the celebrations, adding to long-running speculation of a feud at the heart of the Beckhams' apparently "close-knit" family.

'It's not a feud!' 
The first murmurs of "trouble in paradise" emerged after Brooklyn's lavish wedding to Nicola in 2022, said Maddy Mussen in London's The Standard. Nicola wore three different gowns – but none of them were created by her fashion designer mother-in-law, Victoria Beckham. And bridal umbrage was apparently taken when "Victoria's close friend, singer Marc Anthony, gave a gushing speech – all about Victoria", said The Sunday Times. 

Later that year, Nicola insisted in an interview with the newspaper: "It's not a feud! I keep seeing everywhere that word, 'feud, feud, feud'!".
But Brooklyn's absence from last week's party was "all the more eyebrow-raising", given that the couple were apparently in the UK at the time. And Victoria made no mention of her oldest son in an Instagram post last Wednesday, which featured photos of the entire family – with the notable exception of Brooklyn – at the Beckhams' Cotswolds mansion.

Stiff upper lips 
This whole saga is "playing out" much like another "British-family-meets-American-wife drama: The Sussexes", said Suzanne Duckett in London's The Standard. Like Meghan Markle, Nicola is a "glamorous", "outspoken" American woman who has been "framed as the wedge between a beloved son and his heritage".

British families are built on a foundation of "stiff upper lips" and "silent sulking" that baffles "therapy-forward, emotionally articulate" Americans. Add to the mix fame, egos and "billion-dollar expectations", and you have a "transatlantic mini-series begging to be commissioned".

In what the Daily Mail said was perhaps a "father's last-ditch attempt to reach out to his beloved son" last weekend, David posted a throwback photo of himself with Brooklyn as a young boy, with the "simple, heartfelt caption: '@brooklynbeckham I love you'".

The Bank of England's decision to cut its base rate from 4.5% to 4.25% was widely expected, but marks an "important moment for the UK economy", said BBC News.

Rates are "down a full percentage point from their peak" this time last year, and further "gradual and careful" cuts are on the horizon in 2025. But who stands to gain from the decision, and who will be left counting the cost? 

Winners 
Mortgage payers: An interest rate cut is likely to help homeowners nearing the end of a fixed-term mortgage, as well as prospective buyers, but lenders usually work to the longer-term interest rate forecast. Still, it's likely to be "music to mortgage-borrowers' ears", said ThisisMoney, especially those on tracker mortgages, who should see an "immediate benefit". 

Small business owners: Smaller businesses "historically" benefit from rate cuts, said Aberdeen Investments. They typically deliver "higher returns" after a rate cut, compared to larger companies, as they "tend to have more exposure to the UK domestic economy".

Losers 
Savers: The cut is "unequivocally bad news" for savers, said Isaac Gross, economics lecturer at Monash University, on The Conversation. With money "growing more slowly", it's harder to build income "over time". But "don't worry", said Akoni Hub – if you're "proactive", you "don't have to settle for low returns – even with a base rate cut". In fact, it can be the "perfect nudge" to research better deals, often offered by challenger banks keen to "attract new customers".

Retired people: Left work? The chances are that you "rely on income from interest-bearing assets" to fund your retirement, including fixed-term or cash savings accounts, said Gross on The Conversation. Coupled with a cost-of-living crisis, a base rate cut "only makes things worse" as returns for this group "shrink", making it hard to fund a typical lifestyle in retirement. As retirees have "less time to ride out any market turbulence, as is currently being experienced", said The Telegraph, their cash savings growth will be impacted.

Co. Kilkenny: Gowran Castle, Gowran 
This is a fine 18th century manor house with 13th century origins. Main suite, 4 further beds (1 en suite), family bath, kitchen, 3 receps, gym, billiards room, 1-bed cottage, 14 acres of grounds, tennis court, parking. €2.25m; Savills

Co. Galway: Inver Lodge and The Inverbeg Estate, Rosmuc 
A magnificent sporting estate with three residences and 68 acres. Inver Lodge: 4 beds, 2 baths, kitchen, 2 receps, 1-bed annexe. Shannavara House: 3 beds, family bath, kitchen, recep, fishing across ten lakes and rivers, shooting rights. €2.9m; Matt O'Sullivan

Co. Cavan: Lough Sillan, Shercock 
A delightfully situated house with panoramic lakeside views. The property is set in 1.6 acres of grounds and is 60 minutes from Dublin airport. Main suite, 4 further beds (1 en suite), 2 baths, kitchen, 2 receps, garden, boathouse. €850,000; Sotheby's

Co. Mayo: Tavanaghmore, Knockmore 
Charming rural retreat with a private jetty on Lough Conn. 5 beds, 3 baths, kitchen, 3 receps. €500,000; Sotheby’s

I was a tabloid editor when Madeleine McCann disappeared – I still ask if we went too far
Alison Phillips in The i Paper
The McCanns have now endured "18 aching years" without their daughter Madeleine, writes Alison Phillips. I was The Mirror's assistant editor when the little girl went missing, and "day after day", we splashed on the investigation's "twists and turns". The "appetite for information was ferocious", but some of the tabloid scrutiny of the McCanns "tipped into unhinged cruelty". It sold newspapers but "added to a sense" that British journalism was "losing its way".

Europe cannot remain on the sidelines in Gaza
Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff on Politico
"Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed" and much of Gaza "lies in ruin", says Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, the former EU ambassador to the Palestinian territory. Yet despite outcries over the bloodshed, "when it comes to action", Europe "has been largely absent". This "failure to step up carries serious geopolitical costs", including "undermining" the bloc's "credibility as a champion of international law". If EU leaders "remain bystanders", their "lofty" foreign-policy declarations "will ring ever more hollow".

US-UK deal is free trade in name only
Eliot Wilson in City A.M.
Donald Trump's insistence that the UK-US trade deal was "full and comprehensive" and a "MAJOR TRADE DEAL" was "enough to alert us to what the agreement was not", writes Eliot Wilson. While it "undoubtedly represents trade liberalisation", that's only compared to the benchmark of the "protectionist heights that the president created in April". The agreement is merely the "best accommodation" that the UK government can make within "the topsy-turvy, funhouse-mirror Trumpian interpretation of commerce and economics".