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Did the pandemic drive a desire for more generous welfare? New research suggests not
The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most serious public health crisis in a century. It resulted in governments taking unprecedented powers to regulate people’s social lives, and undertaking substantial fiscal interventions to cushion the impact on people’s finances and the broader economy. Some have suggested that the experience would beContinue Reading
Uptake of children’s COVID vaccines is low in the UK – and their slow, confused approval is to blame
Prostock-studio/Shutterstock No single protection will control the coronavirus. But if forced to choose just one, it would always be a vaccine. This was recently vindicated after my five-year-old son brought omicron home from school, exposing a household that has shielded to a greater or lesser extent since 2020. Thankfully, heContinue Reading
Counting stars in Orion can help beat light pollution – here’s how to help
The UK countryside charity CPRE is asking for help with its Orion Star Count 2022 project. You can take part this weekend by counting how many stars you can see in Orion and letting them know the results. That’s it. This activity brings people together and allows us to appreciateContinue Reading
Latest: Putin says sanctions imposed on Russia by the West are akin to war
Updated at 4.30pm Russian president Vladimir Putin said Western sanctions were akin to war on Saturday as his forces pressed on with their assault on Ukraine, where planned civilian evacuations from two besieged cities were called off. Russia and Ukraine traded blame over the failure to provide safe passage to civilians fleeing theContinue Reading
Ukraine: Russian opposition to the invasion is giving Putin cause for alarm
Vladimir Putin’s military aggression against Ukraine is meeting more opposition from Ukrainians than he expected. The Russian president also saw widespread condemnation of his military’s aggression in Ukraine at the UN General Assembly. But the opposition Putin faces domestically in Russia is also likely giving him cause for alarm. ThereContinue Reading
Ukraine war: families of unhappy Russian conscripts could undermine Kremlin’s war effort
What do ordinary Russians think about the war that Vladimir Putin has unleashed on Ukraine? The Kremlin’s justifications: that Ukraine’s leadership has been subjecting ethnic Russians in that country to genocide and that the government in Kyiv is led by neo-Nazis appear far-fetched to most people outside Russia. So doesContinue Reading
New Jersey will end omicron public health emergency, NYC to lift indoor vaccine mandate
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy speaks to volunteers as he meets with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during the gubernatorial election in Newark, New Jersey, November 2, 2021. Eduardo Munoz | Reuters New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday said large-scale mitigation measures are no longer needed to fight Covid, liftingContinue Reading
Russia Blocks Facebook and Twitter in a Propaganda Standoff
The Kremlin’s latest escalation shows the stark choices ahead if US platforms want to keep operating in Russia.Continue Reading
Ukraine: nonviolent resistance is a brave and often effective response to aggression
Screengrab of unarmed Ukrainian civilians trying to stop Russian convoys. Twitter Responses to the Russian invasion have been swift. Thousands of people both in Ukraine and abroad are enlisting to fight against the odds. Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are being forcibly mobilised. An “international legion”Continue Reading
Health and Social Care Secretary sees how the South West is battling the COVID backlog
· Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid visits the South West region as part of his week-long national ‘Road to Recovery’ tour · Javid opens government-funded £56.7 million ground-breaking facility at Porton Down tackling COVID-19 and future health threats · Visits follow government and NHS publishing COVID Backlog Recovery Plan to reduce waiting times, give patients more control overContinue Reading