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Bill Maher has many fans. But no one is a bigger fan of Bill Maher than Bill Maher. His smugness is as apparent as it is nauseating. That self-satisfied grin, forever etched on his face, gets on my nerves. I’m sure I’m not alone. Twenty years ago, Maher, the human equivalent of Marmite, made his first appearance on HBO. Since then, his show, Real Time with Bill Maher, has grown in popularity – and for good reason. It’s a great show. Good comedians must be able to poke fun at themselves, not just members of the audience. Maher obviously never got the memo Not necessarily because of Maher, but more because

Already we’re deep in the school summer holidays. Hell for parents, who still have to keep their kids occupied for weeks on end; heaven for teachers, with all those weeks off. The biggest danger with so much time off is that, after a few weeks, your brain becomes addled For those of us fortunate enough to teach in independent schools, the holidays began on 1 July, which by now seems an age ago and we don’t go back to school until September. Two whole months off, on full pay. Long enough to forget about troublesome teenagers; long enough to dream dreams of new careers. A sense of space and peace

A reputation for excellence has long maintained the status of everything from French wines to Scottish tweed – but globalisation has disproved the myth that the best of any particular product can only come from one country. Cuba is no longer seen as the source of the finest cigars thanks to the increasing dominance of its near neighbour, the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic’s cigar-producing boom can be traced back to 1959 when the revolution in Cuba – then by far the world’s leading cigar exporter – led to the nationalisation of industry This year, Habanos SA – the Havana-based business that oversees all Cuban cigar sales – reported 2022