What the papers said in the week ending 27 March 2022
Looking for topics focussed on older people/older Christians we might start with the note that Dagny Carlsson has died aged 109. Originating in Kristianstad, South Sweden her early life included years working in a shirt factory, followed by time making corsets and then working for the Social Insurance Agency. But at the age of 99 she took a computer course and began to blog. She had fame as the world’s oldest blogger. Dagny Carlsson, world’s oldest blogger, dies aged 109 | Sweden | The Guardian
- Correspondence gives thanks for articles which are of special interest to the over 70s. Some would favour a page devoted to the over 70s, but is this really necessary or useful? – We find quite a lot which is relevant without fear of becoming confined to a ghetto. Saved by a screen break at the cinema | Film | The Guardian (A regular page for the over 70s. Jane Edmunds)
- Sixties protest songs had a sunny side too | Folk music | The Guardian (Page for the over 70s? Carol Dunnett)
Perhaps a final comment on prayer: Anglocentric culture of excluding Wales | Culture | The Guardian (When I pray coincidences happen. When I don’t, they don’t’. – A quote from Archbishop William Temple)
Front pages and many others are devoted to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Awful in its every aspect. We pray for a resolution – surely a legitimate call for prayer from all places, all beliefs and love for the world. ‘We didn’t really say goodbye’: families ripped apart by the war in Ukraine | Ukraine | The Guardian
- Russian attack on Kharkiv kills Holocaust survivor, 96 | Ukraine | The Guardian
- Russian shelling has reduced Mariupol to ‘ashes of a dead land’, Ukraine says | Ukraine | The Guardian
- 150,000 people stuck in besieged city of Chernihiv – as it happened | World news | The Guardian
- UN head says time for Russia to end ‘unwinnable’ Ukraine war | Ukraine | The Guardian
On Thursday the Russia-Ukraine conflict was displaced from the first 13 pages of the Guardian by reports and reactions to the Budget:
- Advice before had been to protect the poor, including older poor, from the combined effects which are increasing the cost of living: Raise benefits and pensions to help lower earners, thinktank tells Rishi Sunak | UK news | The Guardian
- In the event there is widespread disappointment and dismay that people are at risk of hardship:
- UK’s most vulnerable face crunch as Rishi Sunak helps better-off | Spring statement 2022 | The Guardian
- Rishi Sunak tackled over failure to help poorest families | Rishi Sunak | The Guardian
- The Guardian view on Sunak’s spring statement: a big cut in living standards | Editorial | The Guardian
- These are certainly difficult times financially: How has the UK economy fared in the two tumultuous years since Covid? | Economic growth (GDP) | The Guardian
- And the better-off of whatever age must be prepared to help: UK households could face £2.4bn bill for energy firm collapses | Energy industry | The Guardian
- Taxing questions for wealthy pensioners | Letters | The Guardian
Wondering where we are in living or dying with Covid-19 people are undermined by guidance which has reduced restrictions on social movements but also removed free testing. The number of cases reported is growing in many parts of the world and other aspects of healthcare are agin difficult to maintain. Over 80% of UK GPs think patients are at risk in their surgery, survey finds | NHS | The Guardian
- Covid restrictions easing across Europe despite surge in cases | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- Weekly Covid cases in UK increase by 1m, figures show | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- NHS under pressure from new Covid wave across England, says Chris Whitty | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- Reassurances that new variants are less harmful fall hollow as we see the long-term harm to friends who are survivors: Long Covid can change who you are profoundly | Letters | The Guardian
The environment and other matters:
Young people put their elders on trial in a play which blames us for the climate crisis: New season at London’s Donmar to include ‘shocking’ play on climate crisis | Theatre | The Guardian
New extremes in this crisis are reported and icecaps melt both North and South: Heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles alarm climate scientists | Climate crisis | The Guardian
The man who killed David Amess MP claimed interest and concern for the Christian Church: Terror suspect posed as Christian before killing MP David Amess, court told | UK news | The Guardian
Orchards have been lost to the plough and building trade: ‘More than 80% of traditional orchards lost’ in England and Wales since 1900 | East London and West Essex Guardian Series (guardian-series.co.uk)
Hedges give more to life than do fences – Hardly a surprise to hear this, but hedges do need attention: Swap your fence for a hedge, says RHS as it begins climate study | Plants | The Guardian
The National Trust encourages us to enjoy and celebrate blossoms – This is just the time for this: Spring blossom watch in the UK | National Trust
It is wonderful to read of a breakthrough in communication with patients who cannot move a muscle: ‘Emotional moment’: locked-in patient communicates with family via implant | Science | The Guardian
It is helpful to find advice to parents (and grandparents) of babies who do not sleep peacefully: Crib sheet: experts issue advice for new parents to cope with sleepless nights | Children | The Guardian
Less good to know that avian flu remains a problem and that approaches to contain it mean that hens are not able to be out and about in the fresh air. Lockdowns are not restricted to the human species: The end of free-range eggs? Year-round bird flu outbreaks may keep hens inside | Bird flu | The Guardian
The conclusion of the trial of those who murdered Dr Gary Jenkins sees life sentences for the perpetrators: Gary Jenkins: girl, 17, and two men get life sentences for homophobic murder | Cardiff | The Guardian
A mini-series of letters rejoices that independent cinemas in Marple, Wotton-under-Edge, Southwold and elsewhere still allow us the dignity and relief of an intermission, with ice-cream, and sometimes a uniformed commissionaire Big screens, ice-cream and God save the Queen | Film | The Guardian
David Jolley, Chair of Christians on Ageing, contributes this review of the papers in a personal capacity
