[~OMAR~]

Fighting has erupted in Sudan’s Darfur region – including the use of heavy weaponry, and attacks on civilians and essential healthcare infrastructure – escalating a crisis now in its third week that was sparked by two rival generals. Across the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, the sound of gunfire echoed through the streets throughout Sunday and airstrikes hit its twin city Omdurman. A Jordanian public broadcaster showed images of the towering Sudanese central bank ablaze. Sudan’s police force said it had deployed Central Reserve forces to the streets of Khartoum. That group last year faced sanctions from the US for serious human rights abuses related to its attacks on pro-democracy protesters and activists. Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de facto head of state and head of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), has nominally agreed to peace talks in South Sudan. Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, said he and his Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries would agree to talk only once a full ceasefire was respected. “Cease hostilities. After that we can have negotiations,” he told the BBC. The RSF said the SAF had violated a fragile ceasefire with airstrikes and “indiscriminate shelling”. Amid a communications blackout from much of Darfur, which is 500 miles west of Khartoum, evidence slowly emerged of widespread destruction, amid fears that fighting in the capital could enflame longstanding tensions in the region. Toby Harward, the principal situation coordinator for UNHCR in Darfur, said: “[The UN refugee agency] is extremely concerned that if the fighting isn’t brought to an immediate end, it could unleash communal conflicts that will have an absolutely devastating effect on the very fragile social fabric of Darfur and risk repeating previous conflicts.” Fighting between SAF and RSF militias broke out in two areas of Darfur during fierce battles in the capital earlier this month. A major hospital in North Darfur sustained damage and UN offices in two cities reported looting and destruction. Community leaders in Darfur attempted to keep the peace on the ground despite increasing violence by local militias, sometimes with links to Khartoum. Observers described increasing use of heavy weaponry by both the RSF and forces aligned to the SAF amid fears that other local militias across Darfur were arming themselves. Late last week, the RSF commander Maj Gen Abdel Rahman Jumaa in West Darfur posted a video message to citizens and opposing forces as his troops held rifles in the background. “The RSF are winning on the ground,” he said. “Hemedti is the strong man that Sudan needs.” Sporadic violence continued in al-Geneina in West Darfur close to the border with Chad, where schools, hospitals, public buildings and camps for those internally displaced were reduced to little more than burnt-out shells. “There is complete destruction of key infrastructure in al-Geneina including local markets, a teaching hospital and gathering points,” said Mohamed Osman of Human Rights Watch. “It’s complete destruction on top of already poor infrastructure.” Some in al-Geneina, including former medical workers, estimated that up to 250 people had been killed in recent violence. “The worst day was on Thursday when at least 100 people were killed, mostly people who were already displaced by previous fighting living in camps,” said one former resident of al-Geneina who asked not to be named. He told the Guardian that tribal militias had arrived from outside West Darfur to provide backing for the RSF, adding that internally displaced people had stormed a police station in order to take weapons and fight back after they were attacked. “The police are few in number, and unable to fight the RSF to protect people,” he said. “But despite that, the RSF and their militias attacked them.” Residents said that no hospitals or clinics were currently functioning in the town due to previous fighting, and that a doctor had been killed. “Luckily there are some trained students who know how to administer first aid, otherwise the loss of life could have been much higher,” the resident said. Bakheet Ali, 46, told the Guardian that he had been trapped for almost a week by recent fighting, and had only recently escaped to get food for his family. “We didn’t have food, we preferred to die of hunger than getting hit by a bullet on the street,” he said. UNHCR said that at least 20,000 people had fled West Darfur and crossed into Chad, and that thousands more were expected to cross in the coming days. The rise of the RSF and Hemedti is intimately linked to violence in Darfur under the reign of former dictator Omar Al Bashir, currently wanted by the international criminal court for perpetrating crimes against humanity and genocide in the region. Bashir employed Hemedti and his militia, formerly known as the Janjaweed, to crush any potential revolt in the region using extreme violence. Osman said the withdrawal of peacekeeping forces from the African Union and United Nations in the Darfur region two years ago meant that civilians were often left to fend for themselves as militias resupplied and increased recruiting. Harward said that civilians remained vulnerable amid ongoing fighting in West Darfur. “There is an obligation to protect civilians and refrain from attacks on schools, healthcare facilities. People need to be able to access food, fuel, medicine and other critical supplies,” he said. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/30/civilians-darfur-region-sudan-fighting-escalates]

Britons are feared to have been stranded in Sudan following reports that the country’s armed forces had prevented a number of people from reaching the last rescue flights out of the war-torn country on Saturday. On Saturday night, it was announced that 1,888 people on 21 flights have been evacuated from Sudan – the vast majority of them British nationals and their dependents – but the last flight was yet to leave despite being scheduled to depart at 6pm. Earlier, the Conservative chair of the foreign affairs select committee told the Observer she had received information that elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces had blocked British nationals as they attempted to navigate the treacherous route to an airbase north of Khartoum. Alicia Kearns MP said: “I’ve had some messages saying the Sudanese armed forces have been stopping people from crossing through Khartoum to get to the airstrip. I think we need to look into that and see if that’s got any truth to it. If so, you’ve got British nationals who are stuck and being stopped from getting to the evacuation point.” Hundreds of people had been told to risk the ongoing fighting and try to make it to the evacuation centre at the Wadi Seidna airbase – about 14 miles north of Khartoum and its twin city, Omdurman – while the Sudanese armed forces continued to attack the positions of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. Kearns’s bleak update followed fresh airstrikes and artillery fire in the Sudanese capital, and came amid mounting concern over the broader humanitarian disaster unfolding on Sudan’s borders, with thousands waiting for days in the open air to enter Egypt, or walking hundreds of miles to cross into South Sudan. Among them were Rana Ameen, a 23-year-old engineering student, who said she and five members of her family had paid the equivalent of £475 per person to reach the border crossing with Egypt, almost 600 miles away. To even reach the bus station on the outskirts of Omdurman, the family was forced to negotiate the centre of the capital, where bitter fighting between two generals has caused hundreds thousands of people to flee. Once at the border, the situation only deteriorated as they were forced to wait in the desert for three days to cross. “It was a deadly trip,” she said. “At the border crossing, there was barely food, water and no bathrooms. Babies were crying as they lay on the ground. Women were very tired. Thousands of men were standing in very long lines to get visas.” On Friday, the deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, said they had imposed the deadline on rescue flights after a lack of demand for seats. However, Kearns urged ministers to check on the location of all 2,000 people who had registered as needing assistance to ensure they had all reached the UK. She also criticised the communication strategy of the government over the past week as being too intermittent. “The system proves that bureaucratic nonsense and siloed thinking continues to be a problem, even in a crisis,” she added. On Saturday night shortly after 9pm, the Foreign Office said that the final flight, which had been scheduled to leave at 6pm, was still at the airfield near Khartoum. No reason was given for the delay. James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, said: “The UK has brought more than 1,888 people to safety from Sudan thanks to the efforts of staff and military working around the clock to deliver this evacuation – the largest of any western country. “We continue to press all diplomatic levers to secure a long-term ceasefire and end the bloodshed in Sudan. Ultimately a stable transition to civilian rule is the best way to protect the security and prosperity of the Sudanese people.” Anyone left behind faces an uncertain future and may choose to head north to Egypt, the opposite way to South Sudan or broadly east towards Port Sudan on the Red Sea. A sense of Sudan’s rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis began to emerge on Saturday, with images of refugees holding Saudi Arabian flags after successfully crossing the Red Sea to the port of Jeddah contrasting sharply with stories of people waiting days to cross into Egypt. Thousands more are sheltering in the open border region with Chad, while others have travelled east to Ethiopia. The International Organization for Migration estimates that at least 75,000 people have been newly displaced by the fighting, although this number may not include thousands more who fled to Sudan to seek shelter from conflict in surrounding nations and have now been forced to flee a second time. Terrified refugees found little welcome on the border with Egypt, where just a few local police officers had been dispatched to process thousands of exhausted people. “Thousands of people were there at the crossing but very few border employees,” said Ameen, who said there had been only one police officer deployed to check hundreds of passports at a time. The Egyptian ministry of health said it had deployed teams to two border crossings with Sudan to aid new arrivals in need of care, almost two weeks after fighting began. Egypt has long sought to militarise its border region with Sudan as a way to crack down on migration, impeding access to civil society or aid groups from the Egyptian side in order to worsen an already harsh environment for arrivals. Moneer Abdel Mohsen, a Sudanese citizen who fled across the Egyptian border and took a flight back to the United Arab Emirates after a trip to Sudan to see friends, said he had waited a day and a half at the border crossing. “It was chaos at the border,” he said. “People were sitting on the floor. I spent those one and a half days without sleep, food or water.” He added that prices for bus tickets, which cost him the equivalent of almost £200, are increasing every day. “I felt so sad leaving my friends behind. But only those who have money can leave the country,” he said. [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/29/sudanese-army-blocks-britons-from-boarding-last-rescue-flights]

True or false: cheese gives you bad dreams and oysters are aphrodisiacs? We investigate good, bad and mad health advice Tracey Ramsden Chicken soup helps cure colds and flu TRUE “When you’ve got a cold, the best thing you can eat is a hearty, nutritious soup,” says Rhiannon Lambert, a nutritionist and the author of Re-Nourish: A Simple Way to Eat Well. “Chicken contains vitamin B12, plus other antioxidants and vitamins which support the immune system and aid digestion. It’s also rich in protein, which is good for cellular repair. Adding more veg also increases the vitamins and minerals that are needed to aid recovery.” Chocolate causes acne FALSE “The skin is your largest organ and has its own microbiome – its own bacteria – so the better you eat, the better your skin,” says Lambert. “Small amounts of chocolate won’t hugely impact skin health but chocolate with less sugar and dairy is better. More important for skin health is hydration – you should drink a minimum of 1.5-2 litres (6-8 glasses) of water a day. Coffee is a diuretic, but the amount of fluid you take in outweighs what you lose in urine. Tea is also fine, but avoid drinking it with a meal, because tannins in tea block iron absorption.” (Iron deficiency can lead to symptoms such as itchy skin.) An apple a day keeps the doctor away FALSE “It’s untrue but it may keep you away from the pharmacy,” says Dr Hazel Wallace, nutritionist and author of The Female Factor. “One study looked at healthcare practices of daily apple eaters and found they used fewer prescription medications. This had more to do with them being healthier overall – apple eaters also had higher educational levels and were less likely to smoke – than specifically with eating apples. However, since apples are nutritious, one a day is not a bad idea.” Going out with wet hair gives you a cold FALSE “If wet hair makes you shivery, it’s an inflammatory response, so you probably already have a viral infection brewing,” says Punam Krishan, a GP and author of How To Be a Doctor and Other Life-Saving Jobs. “But if you’re otherwise healthy, you won’t catch a cold. Lack of sleep and stress affect your immune system, leaving you susceptible, but you only catch colds from other people, particularly in cold weather. Viruses and bacteria spread easily when we’re huddled indoors with no ventilation.” [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/apr/29/20-health-advice-myths-investigate]

Six cattle died mysteriously in Texas, with their tongues removed, the hide around one side of their mouths gone and no blood spilled, authorities said this week. The cause of death for the six animals was unknown, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Wednesday. As of Friday, there had been no updates in the case, a dispatcher said. The cattle were found along Texas State Highway in three counties — Madison, Brazos and Robertson — with each animal part of a different herd and in a different pasture, the sheriff’s office said. Five of the animals were adults, the sheriff’s office said. One was a yearling. It wasn't immediately clear when they died. The sex of the animals wasn’t disclosed. In two cases, the animals’ genitalia and anuses had been removed with a circular cut that the sheriff’s office said had been made with the “same precision as the cuts noted around the jaw lines of each cow.” Investigators with the Madison County Sheriff's Office discovered five of the deaths after ranchers alerted authorities to a dead 6-year-old longhorn-cross cow, the statement said. The grass around the bodies of all six animals was undisturbed, with no signs of struggle and no footprints or tire tracks found, the sheriff’s office said. “Ranchers also reported that no predators or birds would scavenge the remains of the cow, leaving it to decay untouched for several weeks,” the sheriff’s office said. The sheriff's office noted that similar incidents have been reported across the United States and it was coordinating with other law enforcement agencies. In 2019, authorities in Oregon found five dead bulls that had their sex organs and tongues removed, The Associated Press reported. The deaths prompted theories that included everything from carrion bugs to spaceships and cult killings, according to the AP. It wasn't clear if the deaths were solved. An FBI agent who investigated an earlier wave of mysterious cattle deaths on tribal lands told The Associated Press that there was no indication that anything other than common predators were behind the deaths. [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/six-cattle-died-mysteriously-texas-tongues-removed-authorities-say-rcna80957]

Live Performance Title: Pedro Capó - La Fiesta (Live Performance) Signer Name: Pedro Capó Live Performance Location: - Official YouTube Link:

Nick Movie: Blood & Gold | Special Trailer | Netflix Time: 29.04.2023 Netflix / Amazon / HBO?: Netflix Duration of the movie: Trailer:

a Ya the panda arrived in the U.S. 20 years ago as a fluffy gesture of China's friendship with America. But she returned home Thursday the subject of online nationalistic fervor. News of her touching down in Shanghai was welcomed by Chinese social media users and some animal welfare activists who have been vocal in their concerns about Ya Ya’s care and condition at the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee, as well as her symbolic role in world affairs. The zoo has denied mistreating the 190-pound panda, but her return trip to China marked the culmination of an intense online campaign that has mirrored the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing. Ya Ya’s trip was closely followed online, and people shared screenshots tracking the animal’s flight path into Shanghai. Vanessa Mai, a 22-year-old English student from Guangdong who told NBC News she had signed up to a campaign to save Ya Ya, said the panda was “getting a lot of exposure now and she will definitely be better off in China.” Some animal welfare groups have questioned her condition and complained that her fur looks mangy and she looks thin. They have also blamed the zoo for the death in February of Ya Ya’s mate, Le Le — both contentions denied by the zoo as well as Chinese officials. An image from Chinese broadcaster Phoenix News was also po[CENSORED]r among Chinese social media users. It shows the bear relieving herself before the trip — and leaving muck as an apparent gift for keepers. For decades, China deployed the iconic black-and-white animals in the service of so-called panda diplomacy. But this four-legged soft-power play by Beijing does not come free for recipient nations. “They rent pandas for $1 million a year, usually on 10-year contracts,” said Stanley Rosen, a professor of political science and international relations at the University of Southern California’s U.S.-China Institute. “If a cub is born, that’s another $400,000 given back to China, all of which is put into conservation efforts.” Despite the effort and money that keeping Ya Ya cost the zoo, and assurances from Chinese officials that she was in fact being treated properly, some Chinese social media users and animal rights groups around the world continued to raise concerns about her welfare. “Refuse the meaningless panda diplomacy,” one person wrote on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo, where over 400 million users have responded to the #Yaya topic. “Don’t let them be uprooted from their homeland again,” another wrote. Even the hawkish state-run Global Times tabloid, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, has weighed in — linking the panda to Chinese-American relations, which have hit a low point amid tensions over Taiwan, the U.S. downing of a Chinese surveillance balloon and Beijing's growing assertiveness internationally. “If this had not happened during a period when Washington is intensifying its containment and suppression of China, this matter would not have caused such a stir,” it said in an editorial. “Whether it’s a corn-milling plant, a crane, or an unidentified flying object, anything with a ‘China’ tag could be seen as a ‘threat’ by the U.S.” Ya Ya, who is 22, arrived in Tennessee on loan from China in 2003, which China and the U.S. maintained much more cordial relations. [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/panda-yaya-china-memphis-zoo-diplomacy-washington-beijing-geopolitics-rcna81566]

Xi Jinping’s phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskiy was a long time coming, but it should not have come as a surprise. Beijing is on everyone’s shortlist when it comes to prospective peacemakers in Ukraine. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is no exception. “I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table,” Macron told the Chinese leader during their meeting in Beijing this month. Though Xi replied that he would call the Ukrainian president, he was in no rush. He has no illusions about the difficulty of serving as mediator in a war where Ukraine and Russia are in diametrically opposing positions. Yet China’s recent success in bringing about the normalisation of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia may entice him to help engineer a diplomatic solution to the biggest war fought in Europe since 1945. But what would that solution look like? The Chinese have repeatedly stressed, most explicitly in the 12-point peace proposal they released on the one-year anniversary of the war, that peace in Ukraine can be restored only through negotiations that “ultimately reach a comprehensive ceasefire”. Despite conventional wisdom, Beijing was not advocating a ceasefire that would freeze the current battle lines as new borders (an arrangement that would leave large swathes of Ukrainian territory in Russian hands), but rather the beginning of a political process that would “ultimately” lead to a permanent cessation of the fighting. Moreover, the proposal said nothing about the territorial terms of a settlement and indeed stressed the need for both sides to show restraint – a formulation repeated in China’s readout of Xi’s conversation with Zelenskiy. Most importantly, it stressed the need to respect the “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries, regardless of whether they were weak or strong, rich or poor”. Zelenskiy and Xi Jinping Xi Jinping to send Chinese peace talks delegation to Ukraine The phraseology is pertinent: China is meticulous about its diplomatic language, especially in public statements. Beijing certainly wants to preserve its “no limits friendship” with Moscow, but has been careful not to adopt a stance so favourable to Russia that Ukraine would be unwilling to accept China as a mediator. Xi doubtless realises by now that Russia cannot achieve its territorial objectives – which, at minimum, are to partition Ukraine – by winning the war militarily, and that the fighting can only end through an agreement based on mutual compromise by the two parties. As important as Russia is for Beijing, Xi also wants to protect Chinese economic interests in Ukraine over the long term: China remains Ukraine’s largest foreign trading partner and has ploughed money into major infrastructure projects, including the modernisation of Mykolaiv port and the construction of a new subway line in Kyiv. The US and some of its European allies will probably dismiss Xi’s overtures to Zelenskiy as yet another stunt to obscure Beijing’s fulsome political and economic support for Putin during the war – for instance by importing Russian crude oil, which reached a 33-month high in March, and refusing to support UN resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion. This, in part, explains Washington’s rejection of Beijing’s 12-point plan. Yet China’s careful moves to position itself as the broker of a diplomatic settlement in Ukraine ought not to be dismissed summarily. Xi would not have wasted time having a long conversation with Zelenskiy to no end. Nor would the Chinese have announced their readiness to send “a special representative for Eurasian affairs to Ukraine and other countries” purely as a public relations gambit. China also would not go to such lengths if it didn’t have support from Russia and Ukraine for a diplomatic initiative. Tellingly, Zelenskiy was quick to characterise his call with Xi as “meaningful” and positive, and the Russian foreign ministry commended Xi for his “readiness to strive to establish” a diplomatic track. Xi-Zelenskiy call may have been prompted by ambassador’s undiplomatic comments We should be under no illusions: while China may be interested in jump-starting a negotiating process between Kyiv and Moscow, reaching an agreement that ends the war will not happen quickly, and it may even be unattainable. Xi can read the battlefield and the positions of the combatants as well as anyone, and he understands the blunt reality that there will be more, not less, war over the short term. The Ukrainian military is in the closing stages of preparing for a major counteroffensive against Russian positions in the south and east. The US and its Nato allies continue to coordinate efforts to ensure that Kyiv possesses the weaponry – including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, mine-clearing equipment and air defence systems – required for a successful campaign. The Russian military has spent months solidifying its defensive positions in the roughly 20% of Ukraine it controls, even as the Wagner mercenary group tries to capture Bakhmut after an eight-month slog. Neither Ukraine nor Russia will therefore rush to the bargaining table any time soon. And even if they do eventually sit down for talks, efforts at mediation could prove to be a fool’s errand given how far part Russia and Ukraine are on the minimal terms for a deal. Still, Xi’s call with Zelenskiy, and Kyiv and Moscow’s positive reaction to it, might at least stimulate creative thinking about ways to end the war. Without that, the death and destruction will drag on indefinitely. Rajan Menon is the director of the grand strategy programme at Defense Priorities, a professor emeritus at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York, and co-author of Conflict in Ukraine: The Unwinding of the Post-Cold War Order Daniel R DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a syndicated foreign affairs columnist for the Chicago Tribune and Newsweek [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/28/china-peace-ukraine-xi-jinping-moscow-kyiv]

Violet*, an advertising manager from Oxfordshire in her mid-40s, had confidently enquired about mortgage options to buy a new property last August. “We had found a property we liked and had a meeting with Barclays, who our current mortgage is with. After discussing options to port our mortgage [keeping an existing mortgage deal but buying a new property], and additional borrowing to buy the new house, the bank basically tick-boxed it all and even would have lent us considerably more than we needed,” she said. But the following week, Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget came, triggering a domestic financial crisis and higher mortgage costs for millions. “Our chain collapsed because of it, we lost the property we wanted to buy. We found a new house in the new year, for a whole £100,000 less than the one we wanted previously. Hurrah, we thought!,” Violet said. Despite the much lower mortgage request for the cheaper property, and although all the family’s other incomings and outgoings remained the same, their bank reduced the amount they were prepared to lend by £250,000. a house sold sign ‘Lots of us are very anxious’: why Britain’s buy-to-let landlords are selling Read more When pressed, Barclays explained that the bank’s affordability algorithm had changed. “They said basically, ‘Because of everything that’s gone on in the economy, we’ve pretty much doubled the amount needed for the average cost of living per person’. “The moment we confirmed our number of dependents – only two, we’re not the Baldwins! – a huge chunk of our monthly income was ringfenced to cover the cost of living: food, utilities, petrol.” The couple are now hoping to secure a mortgage with a loan-to-value of 78% with a different provider. “But with the interest rates and affordability calculations changing constantly, the stress continues. It’s all become a bit of a nightmare.” Violet is one of a number of prospective homebuyers who shared their unexpected struggles getting approved for residential mortgages. Last August, the Bank of England abolished a key mortgage affordability test that forced borrowers to be able to afford a three-percentage-point rise in interest rates, raising hopes that thousands of potential homebuyers would find it easier to get on the property ladder. But in the nine months since, growing numbers of people have had difficulties obtaining the mortgages they need: in January, UK mortgage approvals were the lowest since January 2009, excluding the period when the housing market ground to a halt during the pandemic. Despite some stabilisation of the market since the disastrous Liz Truss-Kwarteng mini-budget and approvals having risen for the first time in six months in February, mortgage lenders are expected to reduce the supply of home loans in the second quarter of 2023, the Bank of England’s recent latest credit conditions survey showed. Experts predict that even well-earning, middle-class homebuyers could have a hard time getting a mortgage in coming months, as UK lenders continue to tighten their lending criteria amid stubbornly inflation levels, high interest rates and economic uncertainty. “It is true that lenders are tightening their credit criteria, which will make it harder to secure a mortgage,” UK housing market analyst Anthony Codling said. “With demand outstripping supply, lenders will be able to ‘cherrypick’ those they believe to be the best applicants.” Although many of those who came forward to share their experiences were in high-earning professional jobs, had excellent credit histories and did not seek to stretch themselves financially, their mortgage applications were rejected because of tougher affordability checks they did not manage to pass. Lenders, they said, had downgraded their affordability dramatically because of high costs they associated with having children, refused to count income that might not be guaranteed in future, such as from contracted or flexible work, and had no confidence in their ability to repay short-term loans, even for relatively modest sums. As a result, they reported, banks and building societies offered vastly reduced lending amounts – if anything at all – forcing applicants to come up with tens of thousands of pounds at short notice to make up the shortfall, or to abandon their mortgage plans altogether. ‘If they aren’t lending to me, who are they lending to?’ Among them is Alison, a single mother-of-one and a partner in an architecture firm earning £220,000 annually, who tried to port a mortgage to a new property at the end of last year, but was unable to get approved for a £254,000 loan. When she complained, she was told she had failed the bank’s affordability test because she was now a mother with childcare costs, despite her income having doubled since she took out her previous mortgage in 2021, and that the bank could only consider guaranteed income. Eventually, she was approved for a £207,000 mortgage, about 60% of the value of her new property. “I had to come up with shy of £50,000 extra. If they aren’t lending to me, with my significant income, no credit card debt, and cash savings of £72,000 when I applied, I don’t know who they are lending to.” ‘They would not count any of my earnings’ Sandra, 62, and her husband, from Doncaster, could not get past their high street lender’s opaque affordability checks for a loan to fund home improvements – despite a joint household income of more than £100,000. “We wanted a small mortgage over £40,000 to build an extension. Our home is mortgage free, we never missed a payment for 30 years. We’re both still working, but because I’m self-employed and in receipt of two small private pensions they would not count any of my earnings.” At the time of application, Sandra had been a contractor for the Ministry of Justice’s tribunal service for five years, working three days a week on average with a day rate of £310-£410. “They treated that as if it was a zero hours job.” When the couple was turned down, it took a formal complaint before they found out the rationale, Sandra said. “I then made a complaint to the financial ombudsman, but they found nothing wrong, and said it was a ‘business decision’ to not count my self-employed income of almost £40,000.” They decided to not bother reapplying. “We were able to save almost £30,000 in 10 months without trouble, which clearly shows we could have easily afforded the mortgage. If we can be turned down like this, what chance does anyone have? It’s crazy.” ‘My credit rating was excellent’ An attempt to remortgage by Nicola, a self-employed international development consultant from Brighton who has owned property for 20 years and has an adult daughter living at home, similarly resulted in rejection on affordability grounds, shortly after the mini-budget. “I provided three years of tax returns, the mortgage was twice my annual income of around £120,000, my loan-to-value was 39%, my credit rating was excellent,” the 54-year-old said. “I formally complained. They just said it was ‘the computer’, an algorithm. I was really shocked.” Codling said: “Lenders are cautious about the economic outlook. Inflation has yet to be tamed and therefore the costs of living are still rising, and with employment levels so high, one might argue that their next move may be down. Lenders are therefore trying to manage the risks that they perceive are ahead of them.” [https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/apr/28/i-was-really-shocked-would-be-uk-homebuyers-describe-their-mortgage-battles]

Police in England and Wales are to be given new powers to tackle "disruptive" slow walking used by protesters to block roads. The new legislation would give officers more leeway to intervene when protesters attempt to block roads by slow marching. It will need to be approved by Parliament before it comes into force. Just Stop Oil, Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion are among the groups to have used the tactic. The government says the new law is required because the police lack clarity on when their existing powers can be used. Is it legal for Just Stop Oil to block roads? Just Stop Oil protest slows central London traffic Current legislation gives police the power to set conditions on protests that are likely to cause "serious disruption to the life of the community". But the government says what this means in practice is not legally clear, leaving forces reluctant to act during certain demonstrations. It has introduced a new law that specifies officers should be able to take into account the cumulative impact of disruption, and whether people are prevented from carrying out day-to-day activities. They will also be able to take into account the wider geographical impact of protests, rather than just the impact on people who live and work in the area. Home Secretary Suella Braverman said it would "clearly define" when police can step in to stop "selfish" protestors "wreaking havoc in people's everyday lives". The legislation will have to be approved by the Commons and Lords before it comes into effect, a process that normally takes several weeks. 'Deeply troubling' The new law follows attempts by the government to beef up its broader powers to tackle protests in the Public Order Bill, which recently passed through Parliament and will become law shortly. The legislation will create a new criminal offence for those who seek to lock themselves to objects or buildings. The government says the new law will allow the police to more effectively tackle "disruptive and dangerous" tactics used by protestors, but has been heavily criticised by civil rights groups. On Wednesday, Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the legislation was "deeply troubling". He said it imposed restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly that are "neither necessary nor proportionate". [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-65410634]

Nick Movie: Black Mirror - Saison 6 | TEASER OFFICIEL VOSTFR | Netflix France Time:: 27/04/2023 Netflix / Amazon / HBO?: NETFLIX Duration of the movie: - Trailer:

An American Airlines flight headed to Phoenix on Sunday morning returned to Ohio's John Glenn Columbus International Airport because a bird strike disabled an engine, officials said. A post-strike engine fire was captured on cellphone video that has been verified by NBC News. It shows flames from the No. 2 engine licking the airborne plane's right wing. Takeoff was scheduled for 7:43 a.m., according to tracker FlightAware, and the bird strike happened roughly at 8 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The aircraft turned back to the airport shortly afterward and landed safety, American Airlines said in its own statement. "The flight landed normally and taxied safely to the gate under its own power," it said. "The aircraft was taken out of service for maintenance and our team is working to get customers back on their way." The Boeing 737-800 had 173 passengers and crew and was carrying 30,000 pounds of fuel, according to radio traffic with an air traffic controller. No injuries were reported. The diverted version of the flight was minutes from landing at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Sunday afternoon, according to FlightAware. Passenger John Fisher told NBC affiliate WCMH of Columbus that passengers were quickly made aware of the bird strike because of the sounds produced by the collision. “Apparently we struck a flock of geese and the engine started making real loud ‘clonk, clonk, clonk’ noises,” he said. “They eventually turned the engine off and turned around and went back to the airport.” Emergency crews responded after the aircraft landed, but the schedule of flights and arrivals at John Glenn Columbus International Airport was not affected, the airport said. Recommended [https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/plane-engine-catches-on-fire-after-striking-flock-of-geese-171208261678]

Nick Movie: Missing Dead or Alive | Official Trailer Time:-- Netflix / Amazon / HBO?: netflix Duration of the movie: - Trailer:

The Lotus Emira has only just launched, but work is already advancing on the all-electric model that ultimately will replace it. Currently known only by the internal design code Type 135, the two-seat sports car will be clearly aimed at the bit of the market the British manufacturer is most associated with. Basically, it's an EV successor to the Elan and Elise. Whereas Lotus plans to engineer its SUVs and sedan in Germany and produce them in China, the brand is developing the Type 135 in the U.K. and intends to produce the model at its longtime home in Hethel, initially alongside the Emira. The sports car will be the first model to use Lotus's new LEVA platform—that's Lightweight Electric Vehicle Architecture—that combines a bonded-aluminum structure with a so-called "chest battery" mounted behind the passenger compartment rather than under the floor. A cast-aluminum subframe behind it serves as the mounting point for the control-arm rear suspension and the motor. Lotus insiders say the Type 135 will use a single axial-flux motor producing up to 470 horsepower and driving the rear wheels. Power will come courtesy of a 66.4-kWh battery pack. The LEVA platform will also support a brawnier twin-motor, all-wheel-drive configuration, but that's being reserved for a larger and more expensive model. Simplified, with Added Lightness The Type 135 version will be the lightest and simplest—two classic Lotus qualities. Although the mass of the battery pack means it will weigh more than its gasoline-powered predecessors, the Type 135 is still anticipated to come in at less than 3300 pounds. It will launch as a coupe in 2025, later followed by a roadster. Renault subsidiary Alpine is also planning to use the LEVA platform as the basis for its next-generation electric sports car, one that the company hopes to sell in the States. Philippe Krief, Ferrari's recently departed R&D boss, will develop that version, so we can experience the same core package in two different guises. As for the name, that could be hiding in plain sight, given the British brand's need to start every model with the letter E. Add that to LEVA and you get Eleva, which means "to raise" in several Romance languages. [https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a43592400/lotus-type-135/]

Plans aimed at stopping people crossing the Channel in small boats have been approved by MPs, after the government defused a Tory backbench rebellion. The Illegal Migration Bill cleared its final stages in the House of Commons by 289 votes to 230. Around 20 Tory MPs wanted to require court approval to detain unaccompanied children longer than three days. But they agreed not to push the issue to a vote, after ministers pledged to work with them on a "new timescale". Ministers have yet to specify the limits in the bill itself. The government has made a series of concessions to different sections of the Tory party, in order to head off rebellions during the bill's final stages in the Commons. However, the bill is expected to run into opposition at its next stage in the House of Lords, where it could be heavily amended. UK migration bill set to be toughened Asylum plan risks breaching human rights - watchdog How is the UK stopping Channel crossings? The bill, unveiled in March, is a key part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plan to "stop" small boats crossing the English Channel. It will place a legal duty on the home secretary to detain and remove those arriving in the UK illegally, to Rwanda or another "safe" third country, taking legal precedence over someone's right to claim asylum. This has prompted outrage from opposition parties and charities, which argue the bill is unworkable and could breach international law. There has also been concern, including among Tory MPs, over new powers in the bill to detain people - including children - on the suspicion that they are liable for removal. A group of rebel Tory MPs, led by Tim Loughton, tabled an amendment to place new limits on the circumstances in which unaccompanied children could be held. But as the bill neared its final Commons passage, he agreed to withdraw it "on trust" after Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick pledged he would listen to concerns. The government introduced amendments of its own, enabling it to set a unspecified limit on child detention in the future, with Mr Jenrick promising to work with MPs on designing a new limit. However, the commitment was dismissed as vague by the SNP's Alison Thewliss, who added: "We do not trust them to do the right thing here." Mr Loughton said any changes brought forward by the government in the Lords must include a maximum detention time for children within the bill. Modern slavery The government faced strong criticism from former Prime Minister Theresa May and former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith over the potential impact of the bill on victims of modern slavery. The bill would take away temporary protections against removal from the UK that are currently offered to suspected victims of modern slavery or human trafficking while their case is considered. The two senior Tories had tabled an amendment, which would have exempted people who have suffered exploitation in the UK from being deported, but they did not force a vote on it. Speaking in the Commons, Mrs May said the current version of the bill would mean "more people will stay enslaved and in exploitation", by giving traffickers "another weapon" to stop victims going to the police. To get the bill through, ministers have also promised to consult on new safe and legal routes for migrants, after pressure on the issue from backbenchers. Under a new amendment, it has committed to publishing a report on new routes within six months of the bill becoming law. It has also addressed concerns from the Tory right with a separate amendment giving UK minsters more leeway to ignore European court rulings. However, even with the government's concessions, the bill is still expected to face significant opposition when it proceeds to the Lords in the coming months. Labour's shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said the bill was an "expensive and unworkable, headline-chasing gimmick". Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said it was "nothing more than half-baked legislation that is immoral, ineffective and incredibly costly for the taxpayer". [https://www.bbc.com/news/65397710]

Watching the super-heavyweight boxers during my lunch break at McDonald’s, I was inspired to train for Rio and be a world champion. Suddenly my life began In the summer of 2012, it felt as if everyone in London was watching the Olympics. It was the same for us, on our lunch break in the McDonald’s staff room. I felt as if I was on the journey with those athletes – every punch that was thrown, every stride on the sprint. I loved watching Usain Bolt and the British boxers Anthony Joshua and Nicola Adams. I had been working at McDonald’s since I left sixth form, in the branch at Victoria station. Sometimes, I’d see people I’d gone to school with who were on their way to university, or starting their careers. I was taking a year out and I didn’t really have a plan for my life. It was starting to feel like I’d been left behind. That afternoon, with the TV on, there were three of us on our break and we were watching Anthony Joshua in the super-heavyweight final. It was a close fight, back and forth, but he battled on and got the victory. I thought: “I need a moment like this, I need this type of energy in my life.” Then I thought: “I’m going to get to the next Olympics.” If you’d been at my school and wondered which one of us might end up being an athlete, I wouldn’t be in the lineup – I’d be in the canteen. The others would be playing football at lunchtime, but I’d be waiting for seconds. By the time I was 19 and working at McDonald’s, I had joined a boxing gym and I’d started to drop weight, but I only went once or twice a week, in a failing attempt to keep fit. Nobody would have said I could have been an Olympian. I had been lazy before. If I’d been asked to do 10 push-ups, I’d only try to do five. But now I had a focus That afternoon, I told the manager at work I was going to need to reduce my hours, and then I went home and told my mum my plan: that I was going to take boxing seriously. I asked her if she would help fund my life for a while. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m going to be a champion one day.” She was worried. “Isn’t boxing dangerous?” she said. “And if you’re going to be a champion, aren’t you meant to start when you’re much younger?” We had seen other people try to make it in football and not get there. I was nearly 20, unfit and saying I was going to be a champion. It sounded ridiculous, but she supported me. I looked at Joshua’s rise – he won the big amateur tournament in London, then he was English champion, British champion, won silver at the World Championships and gold at the Olympics. I could set targets like that. Accomplishing them was a different thing, but I could see the path. I started training every day. I had a coach, Robert England, who saw me hit the pads and told me I had something. Around the same time, I started my degree at the University of East London, so I’d use the weights in the gym there, and I was running every day, no matter the weather. There were lots of times I thought it would never happen. I had started to win fights and, in 2014, I sparred with Joshua, who gave me lots of confidence. Then, in the spring of 2015, I fractured my hand. The Rio Olympics were the following year and I still hadn’t had an international fight – I wasn’t recognised by the England Boxing authority, let alone Team GB. I’d entered the English tournament, the ABA championships, but because my hand was injured I knew I wouldn’t make it to the end. My first fight was against a guy who’d got to the finals the year before. I won – and that was just enough to get on the radar. When my hand had healed a few months later, I went for an assessment with Team GB, and by the end of the year I was fighting internationally for the first time. Somehow, between then and the following spring, I managed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. In just under four years, I’d achieved my dream. Going to Rio was amazing. I was with all these athletes I looked up to and I could say: “I’m an Olympian, too.” It also taught me a valuable lesson. When I was aiming for the Olympics, nothing could stop me, but I didn’t set the target of winning a medal with the same intent. When I was eliminated, I was proud of myself for getting there, but I also thought: set a target, but don’t let that be it. When I turned professional soon afterwards and started winning titles, I racked up a lot quickly, because my mindset was never “I’m just happy to be here”. I am happy and grateful, but I am also thinking: what’s next? In March, I retained my world title, but I don’t live my life as the world champion. I understand that one day someone will be better than me, or if I have to retire; someone else will be world champion. Boxing doesn’t define me, but that decision I made on that lunch break changed my life. Sometimes, I don’t recognise the person I used to be. I remember being scared, afraid to speak up or stand out. I accepted things I would never accept now and I was someone who cut corners, rather than pushed myself. Now, I look at the world very differently, and I definitely believe it’s possible to achieve a dream, however big. [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/apr/26/a-moment-that-changed-me-i-was-unfit-and-flipping-burgers-when-i-decided-to-win-the-olympics]

MPs have urged the UK government to launch a public inquiry to assess the effects of Brexit in a parliamentary debate triggered by a petition. A three-hour debate was held after 183,000 people signed a petition calling for a public inquiry into the impact of leaving the European Union. The government says Brexit was a "democratic choice" and dismissed calls for a public inquiry. But some MPs branded Brexit a "disaster" and an "error". The UK officially left the EU in January 2020 after a referendum in 2016 saw Leave beat Remain by a margin of 51.9% to 48.1%. The decision meant making big, structural changes to the relationship between the UK and the EU, with areas such trade, investment and immigration affected. Most economists believe Brexit has had a negative effect on the UK economy, but some argue the benefits of leaving the EU will be seen over time. What impact has Brexit had on the UK economy? Is Brexit costing £1m a day and other claims UK is poorer as a country, says Michael Gove Monday's debate in Westminster Hall gave MPs an opportunity to discuss these issues, with most speakers criticising Brexit and those who backed it. The discussion was led by Martyn Day, an SNP MP whose party wants an independent Scotland to rejoin the EU. He said "concerns have been expressed that no impact assessment has been carried out to assess the damage that Brexit has created". He cited comments made by Richard Hughes, the chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility, who recently told the BBC Brexit had been similar to the Covid pandemic in its impact. The latest forecast by the OBR assumes Brexit will lead to a 4% reduction in the potential productivity of the UK economy, with the reduction building "over time with the full effect felt after 15 years". "The economic fallout from Brexit is stark," Mr Day said. "From my perspective, Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster—politically, economically and socially, for Scotland and the rest of the UK. Mr Day said he backed the petition, which said "the truth about Brexit" can only be established "by an independent public inquiry, free from ideology and the opinions of vested interests". Public inquiries are usually initiated by a government minister, who appoints an independent chair or panel to examine matters of public concern, and produce one or more reports. One recent example is the public inquiry into the UK government's handling of the Covid pandemic, which is under way. Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse said a public inquiry "would help us face up to reality and it would give a true picture of the impact on people, business and the whole economy". Like Mr Day, she cited analysis by the OBR which, in its latest forecast, assumes that "UK imports and exports will both be 15% lower in the long run than had we remained in the EU". The Liberal Democrats have said they would seek a closer economic relationship with EU if they were in government. That position is anathema to Brexit-backing Conservative MPs like Adam Holloway, who spoke in favour of leaving the EU during the debate. Mr Holloway said: "In reality, we are arguing today about whether we should have voted to leave the EU or whether we should rejoin." The Tory MP said the biggest benefit of Brexit was that "our sovereignty has been repatriated". He said EU membership had brought "social problems" and "enormous stress on public services", which some MPs in the room did not understand. "It is easy to undervalue sovereignty if the areas in which it was surrendered to the EU do not actually impact one's life," Mr Holloway said. "It is easy to disdain patriotism if someone is economically and socially mobile and derives their self-worth from a well-paid job, or if their life is made easier by cheap labour as a result of free movement." Leo Docherty, Conservative MP for Aldershot, was the minister put forward to represent the government in the debate. He said the government did "not believe that it would be appropriate to hold an inquiry into the impact of Brexit". He said: "Britain left the EU to do things differently and make our own laws, but this was not just political theory: our laws and tax framework and the way we spend our money all make a real difference to people's lives." [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-65384431]

Proposals for the reintroduction of lynx to Scotland are to be discussed by MSPs at Holyrood. The wild cats were once native to Britain, but were driven to extinction 500 to 1,000 years ago. A group of conservation organisations believe bringing back lynx would benefit ecotourism and help control roe deer where they damage woodland. But farmers' union NFU Scotland said any proposals to reintroduce lynx were unacceptable to farmers and crofters. Ariane Burgess, Scottish Greens MSP for the Highland and Islands, will help to lead the discussion during the Lynx to Scotland event at the Scottish parliament later. Opinions divided over reintroduction of lynx Into the wild: Could lynx return to Scotland? MSPs, senior advisors and rural groups are set to attend. Rewilding charities Scotland: The Big Picture, Trees for Life and The Lifescape Project have organised the event. They said research suggested the Highlands could support about 400 wild Eurasian lynx. Peter Cairns, executive director of Scotland: The Big Picture, said: "It's good news that politicians and policy makers are now seriously discussing the return of lynx, which would have strong public support. "Scotland is one of the poorest places on Earth for nature, and if we are serious about tackling the nature and climate emergencies, these conversations really matter." The potential for reintroducing lynx was debated in Holyrood last week, after a parliamentary motion by SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson received cross-party support. The motion noted calls on the Scottish government to rectify lynx extinction in Scotland by a managed reintroduction, following appropriate assessments. NFU Scotland said there were concerns about the impact of lynx on livestock. A spokesman said: "The past few years have seen a long line of brazen and presumptuous claims from organisations about the imminent reintroduction of predators to the UK. "The only application to date, to reintroduce lynx to Kielder in the North of England, was rejected." Last year, the first detailed social feasibility study into a trial reintroduction of lynx to Scotland found divided opinions. The Lynx to Scotland project commissioned the research in the Cairngorms National Park and Argyll. The study found opposition among rural residents and workers. The perceived benefits included ecotourism and lynx helping to control roe deer numbers in areas where they damage woodland, but there were concerns that lynx could prey on livestock. According to the researchers, there was very little concern that the cats posed any danger to people. Eurasian lynx are found in the wild in western Europe, Russia and central Asia. [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-65374055]

King Charles tried to stop the Duke of Sussex taking legal action against newspapers over alleged phone-hacking, court papers claim. In a witness statement, Prince Harry said he was "summoned to Buckingham Palace" and told to drop the cases because of the effect on the family. The duke is suing the publisher of the Sun, News Group Newspapers, over alleged unlawful information-gathering. But NGN wants to stop his claim, saying he has run out of time to bring it. The case is one of three major cases that Prince Harry has made against tabloid newspapers, all alleging unlawful information-gathering. The other cases concern the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail groups. Prince Harry relentless in personal press battle Prince Harry accuses the Sun's journalists and private investigators working for them of illegal intrusion into his personal life, dating back to when he was a teenager. In documents revealed at the High Court on Tuesday, Prince Harry claimed that Buckingham Palace and the newspaper group had struck a backroom deal - which is why he did not bring a claim earlier. He said he first became aware of the alleged deal in around 2012. He said that under the deal, courtiers had secretly agreed that members of the Royal Family would put off legal claims, and the newspaper group promised to one day settle out-of-court, so as to spare the Royal Family embarrassment. "The reason for this was to avoid the situation where a member of the Royal Family would have to sit in the witness box and recount the specific details of the private and highly-sensitive voicemails that had been intercepted." Prince Harry said courtiers were "incredibly nervous" about a repeat of the damaging disclosure of an intimate phone call between his father and Camilla, the Queen Consort, which had been intercepted and published at a time when King Charles was still married to Diana. NGN lawyers deny there was ever a secret agreement. According to the court documents, Prince Harry said that by 2018 he had felt "frustrated that nothing had been resolved" and wanted to "force a resolution" to the phone-hacking claims. He said Queen Elizabeth II supported an attempt to hold the publisher to its word and agree a settlement, and she gave consent for royal staff to email the newspaper group and raise the prospect of involving lawyers. But when he ultimately decided to sue in 2019, Prince Harry claimed his father then tried to stop him. "I was summoned to Buckingham Palace and specifically told to drop the legal actions because they have an 'effect on all the family'," said the duke. "This was a direct request (or rather demand) from my father, Edward Young and my father's private secretary, Clive Alderton." Prince William 'settled privately' Prince Harry's court papers also claim that his brother, Prince William, was paid a "very large sum" by the owners of the Sun newspaper to settle his own historical phone-hacking claims. The payment was made in 2020 - but the documents do not disclose the amount Prince William settled for and do not have the details of what it related to. The Prince of Wales' spokesman said he would not comment on ongoing legal proceedings. Sun publisher sets aside £127m for hacking cases Prince Harry at centre of phone-hacking trial Kate Middleton 'voicemails hacked' Prince Harry message 'was hacked' NGN has denied that any secret agreement existed, with Anthony Hudson KC saying the prince's claim was "flatly inconsistent" with other parts of his case and there was "extreme vagueness" surrounding the circumstances of the alleged deal. He said Prince Harry had not said who made the agreement, who it applied to, when it was made, or a date when it was meant to expire. The Sun's owners say the prince's claim for damages should be scrapped because he had run out of time - and are applying to end his case. If they succeed in their application it could block a similar high-profile damages claim from the actor Hugh Grant. Lawyers for Mr Grant are also opposing the newspaper's bid to end the case over this week's three-day hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing the judge will determine whether their claims will progress to a trial, due to be heard in January next year. [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65387663]