News Headlines - 19 October 2018

▽Britain’s ‘moment of truth’ postponed – POLITICO

With an accord on divorce terms still out of reach, EU officials said Tuesday that they are not inclined to call a special Brexit summit in November — meaning the next opportunity for EU leaders to affirm a Brexit agreement may not come around until December.

▽Please, no Brexit talk: Merkel, Macron hit the bar for beer and fries | Reuters

Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of Belgium and Luxembourg surprised late-night drinkers by dropping by a Brussels bar for beer and fries after an evening of summitry on Brexit with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

▽UK – Graduate unemployment rate falls to lowest level in 39 years

The unemployment rate for graduates six months after leaving university fell to 5.1% this year, the lowest since the 1979 survey when it was 4.9%, according to a study from Prospects, a provider of skills, education, care and support.
Prospects’ data also found that employment increased from 74.2% to 76.6% (184,295) as 4,540 more graduates found jobs compared to last year. The proportion of employed graduates in professional-level roles also increased, from 71.4% to 73.9%.

▽Marie Antoinette's jewels on display ahead of Sotheby's auction - France 24

Marie Antoinette's dazzling diamonds and pearls, unseen in public for two centuries, went on display in London on Friday before going on sale next month in one of the most important royal jewellery auctions in history.
The treasures were secretly whisked out of Paris in 1791 in the aftermath of the French Revolution and have been privately owned by relatives ever since.
The collection, held by the Italian royal House of Bourbon-Parma, is being sold by Sotheby's auction house in Geneva on November 14.

▽In Haruki Murakami’s New Novel, a Painter’s Inspiration Is Supernatural - The New York Times

In “Killing Commendatore,” the narrator’s dreaminess mainly feels unfocused, and a story that might have been engaging at 300 or 400 pages is drawn out to almost 700... The narrator enjoys listening to Mozart, Beethoven and other greats of the Germanic classical repertoire. “Their music was deep, amazing and gorgeous,” he informs us, sounding like an online review.
And what about the narrator’s wife? In these 700 pages, we don’t find out too much about her, or indeed about any of the women who float like shades through the novel... “Killing Commendatore” is a baggy monster, a disappointment from a writer who has made much better work.