Many families with children were clamouring to get back to in-person learning during the covid-19 pandemic. But many pupils were less eager to do so, and some still have yet to properly return. Thousands of children disappeared from the rolls. Fortunately, a few schools seem to have worked out how to coax some of their pupils back to their desks.

DONALD TRUMP’S criminal trial is nearing its denouement at last. The prosecutors’ star witness is due on the stand imminently, at which point their tale of the former president’s duplicity will start to cohere. In 11 days of testimony other witnesses have skewered Mr Trump, flattered him and revealed his predilections, including his habit of signing cheques in Sharpie pen. But none has yet implicated him directly in the charged crimes. That is up to Michael Cohen, his former lapdog lawyer who, after going rogue six years ago, has been busy writing books with the subtle titles “Disloyal” and “Revenge”.