DINNER PARTY INTEL: When Sepp sold out

1. Joke’s on Sepp

Sepp Blatter now admits that making Qatar the venue for the Soccer World Cup, which starts on Sunday, was a mistake. As president of Fifa at the time, he will forever be linked to that mistake — and the joke that went with it. In the joke, an astonished reporter asks Blatter whether he can name even one Qatar player. “Sure,” Sepp shoots back, “Eric Clapton.”

2. A grave matter

Msunduzi municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has put on hold a plan to demolish a cemetery in Pietermaritzburg that contains Voortrekker graves. It had intended to “recycle” the graves at Chief Albert Luthuli Road Heritage Cemetery, but after objections it has postponed the demolition “until further consultation”, according to a municipal spokesperson.

3. Losing in Las Vegas

The Republican Party in the US spent almost $1bn in its efforts to win the Senate in last week’s midterm elections, according to National Public Radio. It turned out to be a losing bet. The party’s last chance of flipping the Senate disappeared at the weekend in the gambling state of Nevada (capital Las Vegas) when yet another Donald Trump-endorsed candidate was beaten by a Democrat.