What the papers said in the week ending 4 September 2021
This has been a busy week – perhaps more things happening – perhaps more people taking notice.
The church and religion have more column inches than usual as the economic strain on the establishment and the fragmentation of weekly routines consequent of lockdowns leave us looking for survival and maybe more: ‘A church without walls’: Anglicanism divided on shift away from tradition | Anglicanism | The Guardian
- Anglicans must have faith in inclusivity | Letters | The Guardian
- Historic problems find us struggling to find peace and confidence: Millions of children in religious groups in England and Wales vulnerable to abuse | Child protection | The Guardian
- Yet historic documents are valued: Medieval Hebrew prayer book expected to fetch up to $6m at auction | Judaism | The Guardian
The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is the beginning of a new series of problems MPs trying to rescue more than 7,000 people trapped in Afghanistan | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian
- After Afghanistan, Britain can no longer pretend to punch above its weight | Polly Toynbee | The Guardian
- What a story to tell the world: Britain values dogs more than Afghan people | Gaby Hinsliff | The Guardian
Consequences of Covid-19 and lockdowns come in many guises
- Strain on mental health care leaves 8m people without help, say NHS leaders | Mental health | The Guardian
- Lockdown weight gain puts more at risk of type 2 diabetes, NHS study finds | Diabetes | The Guardian
- UK tourism boom sparks backlash against ‘Tripadvisor warriors’ | UK news | The Guardian
- Covid booster jabs ‘not a luxury’ and protect the vulnerable, says WHO | World Health Organization | The Guardian
- Covid’s toxic divides could shape Europe for years, study says | Coronavirus | The Guardian
Responses in other realms to the current situation do not make easy reading for people of any age – perhaps most surely for older people: Scrapping free prescriptions for over-60s ‘could have devastating impact’ | NHS | The Guardian
- End-of-life choices are being limited by insurance companies | Letters | The Guardian
- Over-50s want climate crisis addressed ‘even if it leads to high prices’ | Climate crisis | The Guardian
- Air pollution is slashing years off the lives of billions, report finds | Air pollution | The Guardian
- Up to half of world’s wild tree species could be at risk of extinction | Trees and forests | The Guardian
- Protests grow against new council homes on green spaces in London | Housing | The Guardian
- Care workers in England leaving for Amazon and other better-paid jobs | Care workers | The Guardian
‘Chaos’ in No 10 as Johnson finalises social care funding plan | Social care | The Guardian
The Guardian view on the quantum world: where facts are relative | Editorial | The Guardian
Looking for peace and a philosophy which works has led some to turn to poetry: Martin Figura creates poetic record of life during pandemic at Salisbury hospital | Coronavirus | The Guardian
Many older people show an appetite for change and have a healthy and productive long-term view New tricks for life’s second (or third) act | Life and style | The Guardian
- Sarah Storey has been winning gold for more than 20 years Sarah Storey: the one-woman gold medal factory still in full production | Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020 | The Guardian
- Ted Warner is now 90 and has lived with his heart transplant for 30 years UK’s oldest living heart transplant patient says NHS is ‘best in world’ | Heart disease | The Guardian
- Monica Channell’s letter raised a smile as she found attendance at a craft workshop led to an invitation to weave her own coffin – Her letter found itself linked to a series of observations and quips about visibility in the Firth of Clyde and the West Midlands which kept the smiling going I like handicrafts, but this takes the basket | Craft | The Guardian
- Putting horses before houses in Hyde Park | Letters | The Guardian
- Festival sites: nowt so clear as folk | Festivals | The Guardian
- Family history buffs will be helped by a new mapping facility: Graves in 19,000 English churchyards to be mapped online | Anglicanism | The Guardian
The return of ABBA with new songs after a break of 40 years gives another boost to the creativity profile of later life and preparedness to be heard in these difficult times: Abba reunite for Voyage, first new album in 40 years | Abba | The Guardian
Pause for thought: Sobering news from research relevant to dementia and the hazards, previously unsuspected, of contact sports – It is not just heading footballs which carry the danger! Rugby players’ brains affected in single season, study suggests | Rugby union | The Guardian
We give thanks
- For a new medication which holds promise to reduce the incidence of heart problems and strokes ‘Gamechanging’ heart disease drug approved for use in England | Drugs | The Guardian
- For the impact for good which Angela Merkel has been – and hopefully will continue to be even after she stands aside from the frontline of world politics Angela Merkel’s 16-year battle with the centrifugal forces of politics | Angela Merkel | The Guardian
- And for Clare Wenger – who was close to us and opened our eyes to the strength which comes to older people from the natural networks we weave over a lifetime Clare Wenger obituary | Ageing | The Guardian
David Jolley
