Issue 1346

Who gives a dam?
Loved by many but loathed by others, beavers’ reintroduction to the British countryside after an absence of four centuries is not without controversy or opposition, finds Roger Ratcliffe.

Cutting loose
There are no magazines in the hairdressers and she needed a mask to go to the toilet in the bar, but otherwise Saskia Murphy found some reassuring sights and sounds as she ventured out on the weekend of the new normal.

An emergency state of mind
After opening up the country in time for parliamentary elections, Serbia renewed lockdown measures last week, leading to mass protests in the capital and violent clashes with police. Nikoleta Kosovac reports from Belgrade.

Ringside seats
Who wouldn’t welcome the multi-million pound investment of a new arena in a previously deprived part of a city? The owners of Manchester’s existing arena for one. But although the plans have provoked a fierce corporate battle, is anyone else concerned, asks Neil Tague.

Plus
News, arts and entertainment, Tanni Grey-Thompson’s letter to her younger self, crossword, Sudoku and more.