What the papers said in the week ending 5 March 2022
We of all ages are held in horror and dread of further developments in the Ukraine/Russian conflict
- Russia launches multiple rocket attacks in Kharkiv and renews Kyiv assault | Ukraine | The Guardian
- ‘It might be the last chance to get out’: citizens flee Kyiv as assault intensifies | Ukraine | The Guardian
- ‘Putin wants to kill us totally’: Ukrainians hold firm under bombardment | Ukraine | The Guardian
The Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury and the Methodist Church have spoken wisely and modestly for peace
- Ukraine: Asian bishops join Pope urging end to Russian invasion – Vatican News
- Ukraine: Archbishop of Canterbury asks people to stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’ – BBC News
- Statement on Ukraine from the Methodist Presidency
It is not easy to see how this can end well, nor what we might do to help
- Pacifists are being elbowed out of British politics just when we need them most | Andy Beckett | The Guardian
- Ukraine crisis: how you can help from the UK by donating cash and supplies | Charitable giving | The Guardian
There is an interesting positive interpretation of working class history which finds that tea-breaks may have been the secret behind Britain’s leadership of the Industrial Revolution
All else contributes to a patchwork of regrets:
We have a poor record in the treatment and care of people with lung diseases from bronchitis to asthma: Campaigners call for action over UK’s ‘shameful’ lung health | Asthma | The Guardian
An overreaction to the irritation of clanging during lockdown has led to the loss of the sound of bells in Dolina: Turmoil in small Italian town after judge silences church bells | Italy | The Guardian
We can buy extra years by giving time to muscle-strengthening exercises, not necessarily in the gym: Muscle strengthening lowers risk of death from all causes, study shows | Health | The Guardian
- That is perhaps not a surprising ‘research finding’. Nor is the observation that people who drink the most wine come to have the smallest brains – vulnerable to dementia and other problems in later life: Cutting back on final drink of day ‘could improve brain health’ | Alcohol | The Guardian
Ill-conceived legislation will deprive the Health Ombudsman of access to information which is need to investigate adverse incidents: www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/feb/28/patients-endangered-flaws-health-and-care-bill-nhs-ombudsman
Climate problems are dire and look to be getting worse: IPCC issues ‘bleakest warning yet’ on impacts of climate breakdown | Climate crisis | The Guardian
The wish and belief that the covid crisis is past, is given the lie internationally: Hong Kong shops ration food and drugs to curb panic buying amid Covid lockdown fears | Hong Kong | The Guardian
The NHS appears to be in sustained crisis: Mandatory Covid jabs for healthcare workers in England to be scrapped | Health policy | The Guardian
- Staffing crisis deepens in NHS England with 110,000 posts unfilled | NHS | The Guardian
- Private healthcare boom adds to fears of two-tier system in UK | Private healthcare | The Guardian
The UK gave the world the vision and practice of Geriatric Medicine – How can we now find that seventy years on, we are not equipped to meet the predictable needs of older people?
- NHS ‘woefully unprepared’ for care of an ageing England | Older people | The Guardian
- Press release: Royal College of Physicians warns the UK is facing a crisis in care for older people | RCP London
How can it be that Gordon Brown has to say that he is seeing more poverty in Britain now than ever before during his life-time, our life-times? First food banks, now bedding banks: in my time in politics, this is the worst poverty I’ve seen | Gordon Brown | The Guardian
- Train fares are becoming more expensive: Train fares to rise by 3.8% in England and Wales as London tube strike begins | Rail fares | The Guardian
- Postage stamps are becoming more expensive: Royal Mail ramps up price of first-class stamp by 10p to 95p | Royal Mail | The Guardian
- Yet 610,569 individuals are described as Ultra-Rich. This means they have assets in excess of 30 million dollars: Pandemic spurred record numbers of ‘ultra wealthy’ in 2021 | Money | The Guardian
- Pensioners are encouraged to be prudent: Pensions: have you talked to your partner about retirement? | Pensions | The Guardian
There is a least one call to remember Mary Whitehouse’s critique of modern ways: Ahead of her time? Programme re-evaluates Mary Whitehouse’s legacy | Mary Whitehouse | The Guardian
In this week, we have lost:
Francis Jackson – who composed hymns in the Anglican tradition and was organist at York cathedral: Francis Jackson obituary | Classical music | The Guardian
Sonny Ramadhin and Shane Warne, both of whom were spinners out of this world
- Sonny Ramadhin obituary | Cricket | The Guardian
- Shane Warne, preternatural genius who played with a carefree spirit | Shane Warne | The Guardian
David Jolley, Chair of Christians on Ageing, writing in a personal capacity
