What the papers said in the week ending 26 February 2022
The news of the week is the invasion of the Ukraine by Russian troops. There are some of us who can remember the Second World War. For most it was something in the recent past of our childhoods, and the lived-in consequences as the world rebuilt through stages of trust and eventually cooperation.
The sudden transition from a degree of confidence to one of uncertainty is shocking and will arose memories and feelings buried deep. The day Putin invaded Ukraine | News | The Guardian
A particularly worrying aspect is that President Putin’s mental stability is being questioned Putin’s absurd, angry spectacle will be a turning point in his long reign | Ukraine | The Guardian
Prayers are what we most can give
Covid:
Despite assurances and the decision to relax precautions in England, the threat and effects of Covid-19 and its variants is undeniably still with us, even if we are vaccinated: The Queen tests positive for Covid | The Queen | The Guardian
- UK government has abandoned its own Covid health advice, leak reveals | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- New treatments offer additional hope: The Covid treatment pill is here – and big pharma will ultimately decide who gets it | Othoman Mellouk | The Guardian
- We are learning more about transmission by droplets: Children ‘breathe out fewer aerosols’, which may reduce Covid risk – study | Coronavirus | The Guardian
- But the impact on mental health will be prolonged: Millions in England face ‘second pandemic’ of mental health issues | Mental health | The Guardian
- As will its influence on personal and business activity and economies: Lockdown lifestyles: how has Covid changed lives in the UK? | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian
Almost 15,000 ‘ghost flights’ have left UK since pandemic began | Airline emissions | The Guardian
Other threats:
Confidence in the ethical standards of major banks has been damaged again: Revealed: Credit Suisse leak unmasks criminals, fraudsters and corrupt politicians | Credit Suisse | The Guardian
The extremes of weather and other aspects of the environment crisis are with us daily: Storm Franklin threatens UK with more travel chaos and power cuts | UK weather | The Guardian
The rise in cost of fuels and inflation are already having consequences for everyone, but are most threatening to the most vulnerable: Homelessness set to soar in England amid cost of living crisis | Homelessness | The Guardian
- Supermarkets wasting 200,000 tonnes of food that could go to needy, say charities | Supermarkets | The Guardian
- UK petrol prices poised to hit record 150p a litre soon, warns RAC | Global economy | The Guardian
- Millions will be worse off after below-inflation universal credit rise, say experts | Universal credit | The Guardian
- Energy bills: Britons in shock as suppliers confirm price rise | Money | The Guardian
- UK households face biggest fall in living standards since 1950s, say experts | Inflation | The Guardian
And so we are reminded again about World War 2 and the austerity years. Those years were well spent and led to improvements in the lives of people of all ages and backgrounds in this country and elsewhere eventually. We surely must not lose all this.
Thoughts:
Dr Clare Gerada’s reflection on changes in General Practice in the 30 years of her career is poignant and challenging: How general practice lost its personal touch | Letters | The Guardian
Historic England’s call for projects about the world of ordinary people seems perfectly timed and led the Guardian to quote WH Auden The Unknown Citizen The Guardian view on ordinary histories: often quite extraordinary | Editorial | The Guardian
- The Unknown Citizen by W. H. Auden – Poems | Academy of American Poets
- The People: The Rise and Fall of the Working Class, 1910-2010 | Reviews in History
We learn more about the mechanism by which singing reaches parts which other stimuli cannot – we know how potent music and especially singing can be for people with dementia – but it applies to us all Scientists find part of brain responds selectively to sound of singing | Science | The Guardian
We have agreed that dogs and other animals have souls – we receive confirmation that dogs show grief: Dogs experience a form of mourning when another dog in the household dies | Animal behaviour | The Guardian
Symptoms of some kinds of cancer are easily missed or dismissed: Ovarian cancer symptoms are being ignored, UK charity warns | Ovarian cancer | The Guardian
- Diet has relevance to the risk of cancer – cancers of the bowel and prostate are less common amongst non-meat eaters: Vegetarians have 14% lower cancer risk than meat-eaters, study finds | Vegetarianism | The Guardian
It is, perhaps, not surprising that well-off people have bigger gardens than poor people – and garden space is health-giving. Public parks may compensate to some extent if well placed Poorest areas of England have less than third of garden space enjoyed by richest | Inequality | The Guardian
Caribbean people of the Windrush Generation brought with them the horticulture of their homelands – this is recognised and celebrated by the Gardens Museum of Lambeth ‘I grew yam on my veranda’: inside London’s little-known Windrush gardens | Gardens | The Guardian
And also:
Scotland shows the way in curling: Winter Olympics 2022 curling gold medal: How Eve Muirhead’s childhood dream came true against all odds in China | The Scotsman
More to be found from the Romans near London Bridge: Lavish Roman mosaic is biggest found in London for 50 years | Roman Britain | The Guardian
Older Chinese people demonstrate that romance never dies: China’s dating shows for over-65s challenge taboos about older people and sex | China | The Guardian
And David Hockney shows that talent is not dimmed by age: David Hockney exhibition will feature artist’s latest self-portrait | David Hockney | The Guardian
David Jolley, Chair of Christians on Ageing, in a personal capacity
