Digis Mak

19Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

‘Trashing democracy’: Australia gripped by scandal over ex-PM Scott Morrison’s secret jobs | Scott Morrison

When he was prime minister, Scott Morrison often told the Australian people he was focused on just one thing: “jobs, jobs, jobs”.What Australians didn't know was that those jobs – plural – turned out to be his own.In an unprecedented power grab unseen in Australian politics even during the uncertainty of the second world war, it emerged this week that Morrison had sworn himself into roles in five different ministries between March 2020 and May 2021, in most cases without the extant minister knowing.He sat as a ghostly understudy in health, finance, resources, treasury and home affairs, all portfolios where the appointed minister had unilateral decision-making powers. Thus far, he has been able to explain the ministries hoard only as “a safeguard” during the Covid pandemic.The Queen's r...

19Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

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Haven by Emma Donoghue review – a seventh-century Room | fiction

All nations beguile themselves with stories, and Ireland has long been susceptible to the warm tingle of mythology. Some cherished beliefs, though, are not only comforting but at least partly true. For instance, during the collapse of the Roman empire, Irish scholars really did salvage much of Europe's literary heritage. Mind you, this had as much to do with their remoteness and obscurity as their zeal for learning.Emma Donoghue's latest novel takes a disenchanted view of these events. Set in the seventh century, it strips away the misty hagiography shrouding this period, dispensing with saints and scholars in favor of striving and imperfect humans. Though it retains some of the starkness and figurative grandeur of mythology, this is a tale that entertains no illusions.From the out...

19Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

Europe

Florida man who died after eating raw oysters with had cocaine and fentanyl in his system

A south Florida man, who died in July after eating raw oysters that contained a dangerous bacteria from warm seawater, had cocaine, cannabis and fentanyl among other drugs in his system, a medical examiner's report has revealed.An autopsy for Roger 'Rocky' Pinckney, 44, concluded that oxycodone, and opiates were also found in his body after his death on July 31, the Broward County Medical Examiner said. Other than testing positive for drugs in his system, the medical report said that Pinckney's blood had vibrio vulnificus, a pathogenic bacterium that causes an infection often incurred after eating seafood, particularly raw or undercooked oysters. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the bacteria doesn't make an oyster look, smell, or taste any different. It added that ab...

19Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

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We fled the Taliban in chaos, shock and terror. A year later we have a new home and hope | Zahra Jewel

JJust over a year ago, I watched in horror from my window as Taliban gunmen appeared on the corner of the street in my beloved Kabul. Now, a year on, I am writing this from my desk in my family's new home in London. We have our own walls to paint, a kitchen to prepare meals in, my young daughter has her own bed. From my window I can see our new neighborhood and can finally dream of new horizons for me and my family.For the past year, after the terror, chaos and shock of our evacuation from our homeland by the UK government, we have been living in a state of limbo in a hotel in central London, along with 400 other Afghans who also found themselves refugees overnight .We were lucky. Our hotel was clean, the staff were kind and I cannot thank the UK government enough for what they did ...

19Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

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Think abortion is legal in Great Britain? Ask the two women currently facing life sentences | Charlotte Proudmann

Like many people in Britain, you probably watched with horror the US supreme court's reversal of Roe v Wade, thinking, “Thank goodness women could never be prosecuted for having an abortion here.”But let me tell you, it already happens here.Two women are currently awaiting criminal trial in England for abortion-related offences, both facing charges that carry a maximum sentence of life. At least 17 women have been investigated by police over the past eight years for having had abortions.In Oxford, a 25-year-old mother of one is facing trial for allegedly taking the drug misoprostol – one of the two pills routinely prescribed by doctors to abort a pregnancy. But her baby was born alive and she was subsequently reported to the police. She is being charged under the Offenses Against the...

19Aug

By Eddie CorpNo Comments

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Sixty minors participate in the Healthy Educational Spaces of Mérida

Children who participate in the camp with their monitors, yesterday at the García Lorca school. / JM ROMEROIt is the ninth edition of these summer camps for children from families without resourcesThe 50 vacancies in the 'Healthy Educational Spaces' program promoted by the Board have been filled in the city this season. Due to the high demand that it has had, they have finally welcomed more children, 59 in total. In total, 34 minors have been welcomed in the Federico García Lorca school and 25 in the 'Ciudad de Mérida'. This ninth edition, in which all restrictions due to the pandemic have been eliminated, began on July 1 and has brought with it new features. The children go on excursions to parks and monuments that are in the capital of Extremadura. On the 30th, both urban camps...

19Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

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Energy bills are squeezing businesses and people as UK costs soar

A high street decorated with British Union Jack bunting in Penistone, UK. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has warned "a tsunami of fuel poverty will hit the country this winter."Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesLONDON — Facing soaring energy bills, rising costs and rapidly declining consumer purchasing power, small businesses across the UK are struggling to make ends meet.New data on Wednesday showed UK inflation jumped to a 40-year high of 10.1% in July as food and energy costs continued to soar, exacerbating the country's cost-of-living crisis.The Bank of England expects consumer price inflation to top out at 13.3% in October, with the country's average energy bills (set via a price cap) expected to rise sharply in the fourth quarter to eventually exceed an annual £4,266 ($5,170)...

19Aug

By Eddie CorpNo Comments

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World expectation before the premiere of ‘The house of the dragon’

Filming of 'The house of the dragon' in October last year in the Plaza de Santa María. / TODAYThe first chapter of the HBO series, shot in part in Cáceres and Trujillo, can be seen in Spain starting next MondayFans of the already emblematic HBO series 'Game of Thrones' have an important date next Monday, August 22, the day on which Spaniards will be able to watch the first installment of the long-awaited prequel 'The House of the Dragon'. The official premiere is announced for 9:00 p.m. on Sunday in the United States, 3:00 a.m. on Monday in Spain, although the platform has not yet confirmed if it will be simultaneous in both countries. The world expectation before the premiere is great and it is also in Cáceres since it is expected that the city will have a leading role since in Octob...

19Aug

By Eddie CorpNo Comments

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The southern ring road of Badajoz will cross over the Olivenza road roundabout

The second section of the southern ring road will join the Valverde highway with the Olivenza highway. / TODAYThe second section of the ring road will begin at a new roundabout between Las Vaguadas and La DehesillaThe southern ring road will cross the new Olivenza road roundabout with a flyover, so that drivers using the ring road will not have to use the roundabout. The project for the next section to be built by the Junta de Extremadura has just been released to the public and can be consulted as well as submit claims. Once Badajoz can already circulate between the fairground and the Olivenza highway, through a new bridge, the Board advances in the processing of the next stretch that it wants to build. This will be approximately 4.6 kilometers long and will join the Olivenza highway...

19Aug

By George LaningtonNo Comments

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Stalled monkeypox vaccines raise risk of spillover, wider outbreak

There are growing concerns that a monkeypox vaccination drive could be stalled amid a shortage of supply.Xinhua News Agency | Getty ImagesConcerns are mounting that the window of opportunity for containing the escalating monkeypox outbreak may be closing, with vaccine shortages leaving some at-risk groups waiting weeks to get jabbed.Health professionals have warned that a failure to get the outbreak under control could see it spill over into other populations or species.The UK Health Security Agency has said that it expects to run out of its initial batch of 50,000 vaccines within the next two weeks, and may not receive further doses until September. Meanwhile, other high-case countries are considering new inoculation methods amid dwindling supplies.Bavarian Nordic — the sole supplier...