No going out to buy ingredients you don't already have, though. Crumpets are treats.

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A 5.5-magnitude earthquake has hit near southern Puerto Rico, jolting many people from their beds and causing damage across the island.

The author of The Miniaturist on the beguiling blend of tradition and modernity (and pancakes) in a city that provided the inspiration for her 17th-century-set debut novel and Waterstones Book of the Year 2014

• Top 10 free things to do in Amsterdam
  
• A new Amsterdam – and a new Rijksmuseum

Amsterdam is classically romantic but is also funky, forward-thinking and citizen-friendly. In the old centre, around the southern canal belt, there are these beautiful 17th-century merchants’ houses that 21st-century Amsterdammers still live in. I’ve always thought it wears its historical cloak quite casually and doesn’t just dwell in the past.

The Rijksmuseum is stunning and I love it as a fascinating, cool, accessible museum, as well as for the part it played in inspiring The Miniaturist. I came across Petronella Oortman’s doll’s house there by chance. It’s an exact scale replica of her real home, and Oortman spent a fortune having it created. I thought at the time it was an interesting story, but I didn’t think I was going to write a novel about it. I’m in its debt, really.

Two gems from the wizard of recreational maths

UPDATE: Puzzle solutions can be read here.

Today’s column is a celebration of John Horton Conway, the legendary British mathematician, who died of coronavirus earlier this month, aged 82.

Conway was an inspirational, iconoclastic genius who invented and studied countless puzzles and games, in addition to his more highbrow work in group theory, number theory, geometry, topology and many other fields.

The answers to today’s puzzles

Earlier today I set you two puzzles that the late John Horton Conway suggested for this column:

1) The Miracle Builders

Jeet Heer

The post How to Caricature a Cartoon Presidency appeared first on The Nation.

Handful of stars will be interviewed live from their living rooms

'This has made the lockdown worthwhile'

'It's very weird without an audience,' one fan wrote

Unexpected crossover between pop culture icons has been a secret for almost three decades

Actor said she did not make her accusations public at first for fear of being labelled a 'troublemaker'

The Toronto Zoo announced on Wednesday it had successfully hatched a baby Madagascar spider tortoise, its first successful hatching of the critically endangered species.

As the fiancée of the Prime Minister gives birth to a baby boy, we chart her fashion hits

The blonde bombshell has had quite the fashion journey

Long weekend breakfast, sorted

Hilarie Burton got candid about the strain her fertility struggles had on her marriage.

Maguire, Adam Levine, and Sarah Silverman for the All-In For Feeding America event last month, raising $1.75 million (£1.4 million) for the hunger relief organisation.

Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey believes Roberto Firmino doesn't focus on scoring goals, instead providing the 'gel' that glues his side together.

"We hereby want to communicate that the directors below signatories have transferred to President Bartomeu our decision to irrevocably resign from our status as FC Barcelona executives," the letter said.

Real Madrid attacker Eden Hazard will be running again in the next few days, Belgium coach Roberto Martinez has revealed.

Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen has hinted that he will look to leave the club once his contract expires this summer.

Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen says he has received several "serious proposals" since the Premier League was brought to a halt by the coronavirus pandemic.

Everton say they are "appalled" and have strongly condemned the actions of Moise Kean as "completely unacceptable" after the player was reported to have flouted coronavirus lockdown measures.

QPR boss Mark Warburton says he cannot see how football's transfer window can go ahead this summer, in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois believes it would be unfair to hand Barcelona the title in LaLiga – because Los Blancos were the better team.

Former Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic believes Liverpool's Roberto Firmino would be the perfect link-up man for his former side.

Most Europeans support a universal basic income, yet young people doubt democracy’s capacity to deliver change

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The coronavirus crisis seems to be encouraging belief in radical change. An astonishing 71% of Europeans are now in favour of introducing a universal basic income, according to an opinion poll designed by my research team at Oxford university and published today. In Britain, the figure is 68%. Less encouraging, at least to anyone who believes in liberal democracy, is another startling finding in the survey: no less than 53% of young Europeans place more confidence in authoritarian states than in democracies to tackle the climate crisis. The poll was conducted by eupinions in March, as most of Europe was locking down against the virus, but the questions had been formulated earlier. It would be fascinating now to ask Europeans which political system they think has proved better at combating a pandemic, as the United States and China, the world’s leading democracy and the world’s leading dictatorship, spray viral accusations at each other.

Those two contrasting but equally striking survey results show how high the stakes will be as we emerge from the immediate medical emergency, and face the subsequent economic pandemic and its political fallout. What kind of historical moment will this turn out to be, for Europe and the world? It could lead us to the best of times. It could lead us to the worst of times.

As most film and television production grind to a halt, broadcasters are turning to animation studios for fresh content.

FDA working with manufacturers to prevent shortages

Alexion Pharmaceuticals has agreed to buy Portola Pharmaceuticals in a $1.4 billion deal that brings it a first-in-class therapy for treating life-threatening bleeding. According to financial terms announced Tuesday, Boston-based Alexion (NASDAQ: ALXN) will pay $18 for each outstanding share of Portola (NASDAQ: PTLA). That price is a a nearly 132 percent premium to Monday’s […]

Alexion has announced it is to acquire Boston-based blood disorder specialist Portola Pharmaceuticals in a transaction to the value of $1.41 billion in cash.

Following a couple of active M&A years, USA-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals has now reached a definitive…

Jorge De Castro Font, 45, a former senator in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, pleaded guilty today to 20 counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit extortion.

The Department today announced that it has reached a consent decree with the Policía de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Police Department or PRPD) that will, if approved by the federal district court, resolve a complaint the Department filed in March 2008 alleging that the PRPD engaged in unlawful employment discrimination based on gender and retaliation, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin and religion, and also prohibits retaliation against persons for filing charges of discrimination.

The Department today filed a lawsuit on behalf of David D. Sweatt, a Michigan Army National Guard member currently serving in Iraq, against Americraft Carton Inc. (Americraft), alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

Alberto Goachet, 67, a political consultant and aide to former Puerto Rico Sen. Jorge De Castro Font, was sentenced today to three months in prison, three months of home detention and three years of supervised release. Goachet pleaded guilty on Dec. 4, 2008, to a one-count information charging him with conspiring with De Castro Font and others to launder money provided by a Puerto Rico businessman to De Castro Font.

Rene Soliz of Alice, Texas, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, to a violation of the Lacey Act for attempting to receive fifteen Tanzanian leopard tortoises that were transported into the United States in violation of a law, regulation or treaty, specifically, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The Department announced a settlement that, if approved by the court, will resolve its lawsuit filed on behalf of David D. Sweatt, a Michigan Army National Guard member currently serving in Iraq, against his former employer, Americraft Carton Inc. (Americraft).

Five defendants were sentenced this week for their participation in a corruption scheme involving the 2000 resident commissioner and 2004 gubernatorial campaigns of a former governor of Puerto Rico.

Rene Soliz of Alice, Texas, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, to serve three years of supervised probation, 250 hours of community service and pay a $1,500 fine for violating the Lacey Act by attempting to receive 15 Tanzanian leopard tortoises that were transported into the United States.

A federal jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico, found four San Juan Municipal Police Officers guilty today of felony federal civil rights charges related to the fatal beating of Jose Antonio Rivera Robles.

Dr. Candido Negron Mella pleaded guilty and was sentenced today for his participation in a corruption scheme involving the 2000 Resident Commissioner campaign of a former governor of Puerto Rico.

I view today’s hearing as a listening session for the federal officials here. We are going to spend today listening to you and hearing what you think the federal government can and should be doing to work with the people of Puerto Rico.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel R. Dominguez sentenced former San Juan, Puerto Rico Police Officers, Carlos Pagan Ferrer, 32, and Juan Morales Rosado, 32, today for their role in the fatal assault by San Juan officers against Jose Rivera Robles, an unarmed civilian.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel R. Dominguez sentenced former San Juan, Puerto Rico, Police Officers, Aaron Vidal Maldonado and Jose Pacheco Cruz today for their roles in the fatal assault by San Juan officers against Jose Rivera Robles, an unarmed civilian.

The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) has agreed to implement major capital improvements and upgrades to resolve alleged longstanding violations of the Clean Water Act at 126 drinking water plants across the island and violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act at three others.

"As many of you know, it has been a priority of President Obama since day one that our government be open, transparent and accountable," said Associate Attorney General Perrelli.

The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with Morton’s of Chicago/Portland Inc. to settle allegations that it required two non-citizens authorized to work in the United States to present more documents than legally required to establish their work eligibility.

Puerto Rico Senator Hector Martinez Maldonado and Juan Bravo Fernandez, the former president of one of the largest private security firms in Puerto Rico, have been charged in an indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico for their alleged roles in a bribery scheme involving legislation beneficial to Bravo Fernandez’ business.