Politics (Page 257)

Sopotnicki / Shutterstock In the early days of the pandemic, many countries closed their borders to stop the spread of COVID-19. International travel has continued to be limited with changing caveats, including “essential” travel only, restrictions on travellers from particular countries and vaccination “passports”. While a necessary public health measure, these restrictions have been especially disruptive to migrant families. For these families, travel is a necessary part of fulfilling familial obligations and maintaining a sense of “familyhood” and belonging across borders. These policies present a new layer of “everyday bordering” for transnational families. The term “everyday bordering” describes how policy and media narratives around migration affect migrants’ everyday lives and define who “belongs” in a nation state. In the UK,Continue Reading

WIRED approved picks from Apple, Samsung, Shark and more are discounted ahead of Black FridayContinue Reading

A further 4,181 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Republic, as the chief medical officer said the country still had time to reverse the trajectory of the disease. Dr Tony Holohan called on people to follow the public health advice and asked anyone eligible for a booster to take it. Ireland is currently going through a fourth wave of the pandemic, prompting fears about the capacity of the health system to cope. According to the latest figures, there are 668 patients in hospitals with the disease, with 125 in intensive care. “We can change the trajectory of this disease,” Dr Holohan said in a statement. Advertisement “Small changes, by all of us, will make a big difference collectively.Continue Reading

WIRED approved picks from Apple, Samsung, Shark and more are discounted ahead of Black FridayContinue Reading

wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock Adverse birth outcomes in England – which include stillborn babies, premature birth, low birth weight and the death of the mother during pregnancy or after birth – are closely linked to inequality. A report on maternal deaths in the UK has found that in comparison to white women, black women are four times more likely to die when childbearing. Asian women, or women with mixed ethnicity, have twice the risk of dying. Reports from previous years have documented similar outcomes. Furthermore, a recently published study has found that a mother in England who is black or South Asian has an increased risk of stillbirth, premature birth or low birth weight, as does a mother from a lower socioeconomic background.Continue Reading

When the Syrian refugee crisis began in 2011, the journeys of thousands of people fleeing their home country to cross the Mediterranean were widely documented in the media. But the public response was tepid until 2015, when a photograph of drowned Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi on a Turkish beach was printed in media around the world. The photo prompted international responses, a change of EU policy on refugees, and a surge in donations to charities working with refugees. Images shape our perceptions of the world and have the capacity to become political forces themselves. While more refugees risk their lives to cross the English Channel and the Mediterranean, not to mention the Belarus-Poland border, our research has found that theContinue Reading

Artist's impression of the viking camp established in 873 at Repton (Derbyshire, England). Compost Creative, Author provided For many years, archaeologists and historians have provided an increasingly informed insight into the dynamic world of the vikings, chipping away at the clichés of a crazed, capricious people preoccupied with beards and bloodshed. One particular approach to understanding viking activity has been to study the encampments they set up along the coasts and rivers of western Europe, allowing them to substitute their ships for a fixed, onshore position whenever cold, fatigue, hunger, or other conditions compelled them to. Often called “winter camps” or longphuirt, more than 100 of these sites were witnessed across the Atlantic archipelago and European mainland during the ninthContinue Reading

Alamy/PA The “Teflon premier” has finally encountered something that may stick: the revival of a word first heard the last time a British Conservative government entered its second decade – but with a twist that’s very much of the age of Boris Johnson. “Sleaze” is squarely associated with the “short 1990s” – the decade before the Labour election landslide of 1997. That John Major was prime minister for seven years is widely overlooked, perhaps because he so often appeared overwhelmed, from the moment of his great triumph – the 1992 election win that many even within his own party did not believe would happen. The architect of that fourth successive victory, party chairman Chris Patten, admitted to Major that theyContinue Reading

The HSE’s chief clinical officer has called on the public to wear masks in outdoor congregated settings such as sporting events. Dr Colm Henry also said that people did not have to go out every night just because bars, restaurants and nightclubs were open. Speaking on RTÉ radio, Dr Henry called on people to halve their social contacts, which he said would help to reduce transmission of the virus. He also urged anyone with symptoms to stay at home, self-isolate and book a PCR test. When asked if he thought that Ireland would have to impose a lockdown as had been done in Austria, Dr Henry said he hoped not and pointed out that Ireland had a higher vaccination rateContinue Reading