MPs back new bill for medical graduates, designed to limit brain drain to countries including the UK and US
A new bill to impose five years’ mandatory service on Nigeria’s medical graduates in an effort to stop the exodus of doctors to the UK and the US has been attacked as “obnoxious”.
The bill, which could be put to a public hearing in the next few days, passed its second reading in the Nigerian parliament’s lower house last month.
Continue reading...Commission says corporations and forestry companies competing for estates are driving up prices in already squeezed market
Land ownership in Scotland is at risk of becoming more elitist and unequal because wealthy corporations and forestry companies are dramatically driving up land prices, a new study has warned.
The report from the Scottish Land Commission found that a significant number of Highland estates and hill farms were sought by corporations last year as an investment or as sites for planting new conifer plantations.
Continue reading...Which? magazine also lists fake missing person appeals among most widely used deceptions
Dating cons known as “pig butchering”, fake missing person appeals and dodgy apps are among the most widely used and convincing scams in circulation this year, according to Britain’s leading consumer watchdog.
Pig butchering – so-called by fraudsters because they “fatten up” the victim by forming a romantic connection before executing the investment part of the scam – has been flagged by Which? magazine as one of the most pernicious scams.
Continue reading...Asset managers told they have key role to play on climate crisis in open letter before Shell’s annual meeting
A coalition of university investment funds has called on institutional investors to rebel against the boards of fossil fuel companies and their backers.
As Shell prepares for its annual shareholder meeting this week, representatives from the Universities of Newcastle, Sussex, Bristol and from Trinity College, Cambridge, have written an open letter to the asset management industry urging “bold action” to stop new fossil fuel projects.
Continue reading...Co-author says UK’s oldest form of social housing could be part of solution to care crisis
Poor, older people living in almshouses enjoy longer lives than far wealthier people living elsewhere, a study has found.
The secret to longer life has been intensely sought after for centuries. But research using data from almshouses going back 100 years has found that the solution devised in early medieval times to help poverty-stricken knights returning from the Crusades is still relevant today.
Continue reading...Survey of 236 young people caught up in 2017 blast shows 29% have not received any mental health support
Nearly one in three children and young people caught up in the Manchester Arena attack have not received any professional help, a study has found.
A survey of 236 young people affected by the atrocity found that 29% had not had any psychological help, despite most feeling damaged by the blast six years ago.
Continue reading...Ellie Taylor, 15 at the time of 2017 terrorist attack, was shocked by how hard it was to obtain trauma counselling
Ellie Taylor had been looking forward to the Ariana Grande concert for months. It was a 15th birthday present from her mother and was perfectly timed – the day of her first GCSE exam. The date was 22 May 2017.
Ellie, now 21, recalls shards of memory from that appalling day. She remembers watching Martyn Hett “living his best life” as he danced in Block 103 – he was a stranger at the time but she later recognised his face on the news.
Continue reading...Motion to adopt Better Chicken Commitment carried by 96%, but directors cited need for low prices
Feathers are flying at the Co-operative Group after thousands of its members voted to improve welfare for chickens reared for meat at the annual meeting on Saturday – but were partly overruled by the company’s directors, who said they wanted to keep prices down.
A motion led by the Humane League UK campaign group asked the mutual to adopt the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) – a set of standards adopted by the likes of Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and the Greggs bakery chain – and report on welfare improvements in a year’s time. It was supported by 96% of the 32,000 Co-op members who voted at the AGM.
Continue reading...Choose Love garden uses materials found in refugee camps and plants that grow on migration routes
A centrepiece garden at this year’s Chelsea flower show has been built with the help of a team of asylum seekers with a design that recreates Europe’s migration routes and uses materials found in refugee camps.
The Choose Love garden, named after a charity working with displaced people, uses the sustainable “superadobe” building technique found in camp architecture.
Continue reading...Supermarket shortages mean community food projects will have a prominent place in this year’s show
Supermarkets have rationed fresh fruit and vegetables in recent months as a combination of Brexit, bad weather and labour shortages has hit supply and driven prices up.
Those shortages have led to a surge in people growing their own, according to the Royal Horticultural Society, and that trend will be reflected at the Chelsea flower show from 22 May.
Continue reading...Cost of period products has risen and campaigners say saving is not being passed on by retailers
The Treasury is analysing whether the removal of the “tampon tax” – trumpeted last week by Rishi Sunak as one of the benefits of Brexit – has helped lower prices at all, amid concerns the saving is not being passed on by retailers to women.
Responding to a written question from the Labour MP Ruth Cadbury, the government said a tax reduction was able to “contribute to the conditions for price reductions” and it was “looking into whether this important zero-rating is being passed on by retailers to women as intended”.
Continue reading...Campaign funded by Entain urging people to write to MP was shameful, says chair of parliamentary group
The owner of Ladbrokes, Entain, has been accused of “dishonest” lobbying after it funded an operation mobilising people to complain to their MP about proposals to reform gambling laws.
The government last month unveiled plans for tighter regulation, including measures it said would make gambling safer but would also reduce revenue for brands such as Coral and PartyCasino, owned by Entain.
Continue reading...Concerns attempts to block local deals with Lib Dems or Greens risk allowing Tories to regain control of councils
Labour faces accusations of overcentralised meddling after the party’s national executive vetoed planned coalitions with the Liberal Democrats or Greens in a series of formerly Conservative-held local authorities.
While it is longstanding Labour policy that local parties need a green light from the national executive committee (NEC) before forming coalitions, some activists say attempts to block deals risk allowing Conservatives to regain control instead.
Continue reading...Former DUP leader calls Sinn Féin electoral gains a ‘wake up and smell the coffee moment’ for unionism
The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) is facing renewed calls to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland after a Sinn Féin electoral “tsunami” reshaped local government.
Chris Heaton-Harris, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, on Sunday joined a chorus urging the DUP to end a boycott that has paralysed the executive and assembly at Stormont. “Alongside the new councils, it remains my hope to see the assembly and executive return to work,” he said.
Continue reading...UK PM says at G7 summit that end to war will need to recognise country’s territorial integrity
Rishi Sunak has said a ceasefire in Ukraine would not be enough, as any end to the war will need to recognise the country’s territorial integrity and include a plan for “just and durable” peace.
The UK prime minister said the last session at the G7 summit in Japan had involved a “conversation about peace” in Ukraine and what it should look like, with more neutral countries India and Brazil also taking part.
Continue reading...The celebrated author of Money and London Fields, whose works defined the 80s literary scene, died of oesophageal cancer on Friday at his home in Florida
Martin Amis, the influential author of era-defining novels including Money and London Fields, and the memoir Experience, has died at the age of 73 at his home at Lake Worth in Florida . His wife Isabel Fonseca said that the cause was cancer of the oesophagus.
Amis was among the celebrated group of novelists including Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes, whose works defined the British literary scene in the 1980s.
Continue reading...British poet who wrote lyrics for Sunshine of Your Love, White Room and many more also had acclaimed solo career
Pete Brown, a cult figure in British poetry, rock, psychedelia and rhythm and blues who wrote lyrics for many of Cream’s classic songs, has died aged 82. He had been living with what he recently described as “various forms of cancer” for a number of years.
The family of his long-term late collaborator Jack Bruce wrote on social media: “We are extremely saddened to learn of the death of Jack’s long term friend and writing partner Pete Brown who passed away last night. We extend our sincere condolences to Pete’s wife Sheridan and Pete’s children as well as all his family and friends. Love from the Bruce family.”
Continue reading...Indian rice tycoon Karan Chanana, who gave the Conservatives more than £220,000, is under scrutiny by India’s finance ministry
A leading Tory donor who has given more than £220,000 to the party is being investigated over allegations of fraud and money laundering.
Karan Chanana, head of the global rice brand Amira, is being investigated in India over claims that tens of millions of pounds of bank loans were unlawfully diverted into shell entities. Chanana has not responded to the claims.
Continue reading...The party had 134 elected councillors by 5pm on Saturday, with gains achieved across the region
Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill has hailed a “momentous” result as the party remains on course to become the largest in councils in Northern Ireland.
As the count stretched into Saturday evening, the republican party had 134 elected councillors by 5pm, with gains achieved across the region.
Continue reading...With cost of cleanup to be passed on to bill payers, analysis shows they will also pay £624 more by 2030 to fund investor payouts
Water companies will pay an estimated £14.7bn in dividends by the end of this decade, while making customers pay for new investment to stem the tide of sewage pollution in seas and rivers, analysis for the Observer has revealed.
Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron denounced the billions going to shareholders as “absolutely scandalous” while families struggling with the cost of living would be facing increases in bills to pay for the sewage cleanup.
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