FREE Take five: A news summary for anxious times
Lost your appetite for rolling news? These are the stories you need to know about this week…
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Hello! It’s Friday, which means it’s time for Take Five – and another attempt at succinctly summarising a week’s worth of chaos.
As ever, this weekly summary will aim to bring you up to date with the news stories that most matter to women and marginalised communities, without the need to immerse yourself in the anxiety of rolling news and intrusive updates.
Each week, I summarise five news stories you need to know about alongside five good news tales to lighten the load, and a further five longer reads, columns or interviews I’ve found engaging or enlightening over the last seven days.
I live in hope that one week I’ll begin by saying it’s been a quiet seven days on the news front. This week is definitely not that week. So, with a lot to tackle, again, let’s get cracking…
The headlines
1. OBR warns of worst fall in British living standards since records began
Britain is in recession and facing the biggest fall in living standards on record thanks to soaring inflation, borrowing costs and energy bills, the country’s budget watchdog has warned.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) says it is now anticipating a 15-month recession and a 7% fall in UK living standards – the biggest drop since comparable records began in 1956.
The OBR’s statement followed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s unveiling of a £55 billion package of tax rises and public spending cuts, designed to reassure markets following former Prime Minister Liz Truss’ catastrophic ‘mini-budget’.
Hunt yesterday claimed the UK economy was suffering as a result of the energy crisis brought on by Russia’s war in Ukraine. But Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the country’s financial woes were the result of Conservative mismanagement, adding: “As usual, it is ordinary working people who are paying the price.”
Read more here
2. Children shot and five sentenced to death as unrest continues in Iran
At least two children were among more than a dozen people killed this week during the latest surge in protests across Iran, called to mark the anniversary of the deadly November 2019 uprising.
A host of cities across the country witnessed chaotic scenes on Tuesday and Wednesday, with at least seven people, including a nine-year-old boy, shot dead in a shopping centre in Izeh Khuzesta, and at least five killed in a separate shooting in Isfahan.
Iranian news agencies have claimed unknown anti-government terrorists were responsible, but witnesses suggest unarmed civilians were shot by militia.
The human rights agency Harana says the latest killings bring the death toll for the recent protests, originally sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, to 348. At least five people are known to have so far been sentenced to death in connection.
Read more here
3. Two-year-old’s death caused by mould in housing association flat, inquest rules
The death of a toddler who suffered prolonged exposure to mould must be a “defining moment” for Britain’s housing sector, a coroner has said.
Two-year-old Awaab Ishak died in December 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by mould in the one-bedroom housing association flat where he lived with his parents in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
Awaab’s father, Faisal Abdullah had repeatedly complained to Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), an inquest at Rochdale Coroner's Court was told, but had been told to paint over the mould. A surveyor later described conditions in the home as “unfit for human habitation”.
Giving her findings on Tuesday, senior coroner Joanne Kearsley said: “I'm sure I'm not alone in having thought, ‘How does this happen? How, in the UK in 2020, does a two-year-old child die from exposure to mould in his home?’”
Read more here
4. Anger as first draft of Cop27 agreement leaves out loss and damages fund
A first draft of what could come to represent the final agreement of the Cop27 summit was released yesterday, prompting anger over the gaps in its content.
The 20-page paper, now being worked on past the conference’s scheduled end, fails to include a call to phase down fossil fuels or to establish a loss and damages fund – a key demand of at-risk developing nations.
Yesterday, the international NGO ActionAid called on the Egyptian presidency to withdraw and rewrite the draft, while Fredrick Njehu, senior Africa policy adviser at Tearfund, said the draft “signals betrayal of the most vulnerable countries who are counting the cost of inaction and facing ever bigger bills for loss and damage.”
Read more here
5. Republicans gain control of House as Trump confirms fresh run on the US presidency
The Republican party this week narrowly regained control of the USA’s House of Representatives despite a disappointing midterm election for the party.
Following a week of vote-counting, the party looks set to have a fractional majority, far short of the predicted ‘red wave’ but still sufficient to upset President Biden’s agenda.
The outcome was confirmed just days after Donald Trump unveiled plans to make a fresh run on the US presidency in 2024.
The former president confirmed his intentions on Tuesday with a glitzy event at his private members club in Florida in which he declared “I am a victim”.
The good news
1. Australian economist and former UK envoy among those freed in Myanmar amnesty
Almost 6,000 people, including the Australian academic Prof Sean Turnell, Britain’s former ambassador Vicky Bowman and the Japanese film-maker Toru Kubota, were yesterday released from prison in Myanmar.
The country’s state-run MRTV said the foreign nationals, including 712 people it described as political prisoners, had been released and deported in a so-called amnesty timed to coincide with Myanmar National Day.
Thousands of people, including elected politicians, nurses, teachers, foreign nationals and journalists, are believed to have been arrested in the country since its military seized control in a coup in 2021.
Read more here
2. North Yorkshire doubles council tax on second homes to tackle housing shortage
North Yorkshire will become the first county in the UK to impose a mandatory doubling of council tax to discourage holiday let and second-home ownership.
It comes amid a major housing shortage in some of the county’s seaside towns, including Whitby and Scarborourgh, where more than a quarter of homes are now used as holiday lets.
Councillors in the region this week voted in favour of doubling charges for all second homes, a move that could be imposed from April 2024 if the government’s levelling up bill passes into law.
In Wales, communities have been given the power to quadruple bills on AirBnB and holiday lets to protect housing stocks for long-term residents.
Read more here
2. Majority of people in G7 nations back climate reparations
The majority of people living in the G7 nations believe their governments should pay reparations to developing nations most at risk from climate change, a new poll has shown.
As discussions over loss and damages continue at Cop27, research by Earth4All shows 65% of people believe rich nations should fund more of the cost of climate action.
Climate was also shown to be a top three voting issue in every G7 nation other than Japan, with 90% of respondents saying they expected to be personally impacted by global warming.
Read more here
4. Neurodivergent women sought for GCHQ cybersecurity careers
The UK’s Government Communications Headquarters, GCHQ, has issued a call for neurodivergent women to join its cybersecurity teams.
The spy agency this week revealed it’s actively looking to recruit women on the Autism spectrum or with ADHD to fill coding roles requiring “fast pattern recognition, sharper accuracy and greater attention to detail”.
Jo Cavan, GCHQ’s director of strategy, policy and engagement, said: “Neurodiversity is key to keeping Britain safe. At GCHQ, some of our most talented and creative people have a neurodiverse profile – including dyslexia, autism, dyscalculia and dyspraxia.
“Having a diverse team and a mix of minds better equips us to carry out our mission and tackle new and emerging threats posed by terrorists, criminals and hostile states.”
Read more here
5. Australian mining tycoon launches $25bn fund for Ukraine
An Australian billionaire who made his money from mining has launched a green investment fund aimed at raising at least $25bn for rebuilding efforts in Ukraine.
Andrew Forrest said he’d personally donated $500m to launch the Ukraine Green Growth Initiative, which organisers hope could one day reach $100m with the support of a range of sovereign wealth funds and private investors.
Forrest said the aim was to help Ukraine replace its destroyed coal and nuclear power stations with new and technologically-advanced green energy alternatives.
Read more here
The best of the rest
1. Margot Robbie Is Nobody’s Barbie
The Babylon Star on Navigating Hollywood: “The highs are really high and the lows are really, really low.”
2. The mums who are ambivalent about motherhood
Motherhood is hard – and many women have conflicting feelings about the role. Why is saying this so off limits?
3. Mona Eltahawy on arriving at postmenopause
Scientists might not know why we live so long after we cease to reproduce but I do: to be Mona. Not mother, not grandmother. Just Mona. This is my time. I am here to be known.
The former president’s campaign announcement included an inadvertent admission that he has a big problem.
No disclosure goes unpunished by the tabloids if you are a Labour politician - and the typical defence is to say nothing. The deputy leader has a different strategy, says Zoe Williams
How are you feeling about this past week? I’d love to hear your thoughts here…
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