Leading article: Without a paddle

Own up. Through a week that brought you more Labour donation shenanigans, a pro-Iranian coup by the US intelligence services and a cut in interest rates, what you were really waiting for was the next gripping episode in the Darwins' family drama. Within the space of a week, a five-year-old family tragedy has turned into a John Stonehouse-style plot, a widow's quest for a new life, her tearful remorse, and a couple's bizarre sequel to Not in Front of the Children.

With the sons now threatening to disown their parents, it is now coming full circle as a family tragedy of another sort. You couldn't make it up nor, it appears, indefinitely, could the Darwins. Before long, the rules of sub judice will return the family to obscurity. In the meantime, we offer just two observations. We have learnt a lot this week, most of it unflattering, about Panama City. And the gentle pursuit of canoeing will never be the same again.