The Feral Beast: Dressed to leave

The first casualty of the Evening Standard's Russian takeover is one of the paper's longest-serving employees, Keith Dovkants. The impeccably coiffured investigative reporter admits he has been there longer than he can remember, and, although nearing retirement age, is not thought to be going entirely voluntarily. Dovkants is cagey when I call, but insiders confirm his departure. Lebedev father and son put in a glamorous appearance at Derry Street on Thursday, with Alexander delivering a witty speech. Hours later, Dovkants' departure was in the air. As the snappiest dresser in the office, could he have made the error of out-Gucci-ing his bosses?

Dave is key to Mail political ed

Following Benedict Brogan's move to the Telegraph, speculation is mounting over who will be the next political editor at the Daily Mail. Tory blogger Iain Dale has tipped every vaguely right-wing journalist in Westminster, but the smart money is on Brogan's number two, James Chapman. Eminently capable, he is, more importantly, close to David Cameron. Since Mail editor Paul Dacre has the ear of Gordon Brown, a hotline to Dave is just what they need.

Oborne's omniscient

Fans of Peter Oborne have been delighted by the sharp increase in his contributions to the Mail over the past couple of weeks. Oborne, who is freelance, usually writes his Saturday column plus the occasional op-ed, but has been all over the paper of late. The cause of this unexpected bounty is, I'm told, a £50,000 tax bill. "Peter's frantically scribbling away to rake some cash in," whispers my source. "The features desk are delighted because he's such a good writer."

Remembering friends

Matthew d'Ancona pens a touching tribute to Ivan Cameron in the current Spectator, impressive given how quickly it must have been written as the mag would have gone to bed soon after the news broke on Wednesday. But even more impressive is how effortlessly young Danks drops puffs to his mates – one for Dylan Jones's book Cameron on Cameron, another to Gordon Brown's tome Courage. Quite by chance he writes for Dylan's mag GQ and is editing Gordon's latest book on "Britishness". How cosy.

Shiatsu for the hamsters

Touching to hear that The Guardian is looking after its staff. Those with five minutes to spare from the hamster wheel of working across the daily, Sunday and online platforms, not to mention all that blogging and vlogging, are being invited to enjoy "shiatsu in the workplace – a simplified, incense-free version of the treatment administered on a stool". The list of ailments it claims to help includes: "insomnia, muscular tension, headache, stress and anxiety, digestive dysfunctions, low energy and gynaecological complaints". Golly.

No memories of their own

A nostalgic photo in Monday's Guardian showed a room full of subs beavering away on the paper circa 1930. But it was credited to Getty Images, the photo library giant, suggesting the newspaper has no photographic records of its own.