Would | Common News Update

Sep252022 by adminNo Comments

Would more UK gas actually bring down prices?

Science

Getty ImagesThe government has confirmed it is ending the ban in the UK on fracking, a controversial technique that involves drilling and using liquids at high pressure to release shale gas. In her first speech as prime minister, Liz Truss said: "We will get spades in the ground to make sure people are not facing unaffordable energy bills."She has pledged to increase domestic energy production with more oil and gas from the North Sea as well as fracking.And the new Business and Energy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg told MPs on 22 September: "We also need more secure and cheaper supplies of gas, which is why we are going to issue more licences and why we are looking at shale gas."He has said the government expects to award "more than 100 new licences" for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea...

Mar262021 by adminNo Comments

‘They threw me away so I would suffer as I died’: How rape is used as a weapon in Tigray conflict

World

In the Ethiopian city of Adigrat, the general hospital may be the only thing that actually works in a community which now lacks all government-run services.The health facility's front door is firmly open and the wards are full. In fact, there are far more patients than beds, and we watched the staff treat gunshot wounds and shrapnel blasts and the after-effects of beatings in this war-ravaged corner of the Tigray region.The physical damage inflicted by this vicious conflict made a strong impression on our team but the trauma and distress was difficult to handle for there is so much pain in this dilapidated building.Warning: This article contains detailed descriptions of violent rape and other details some readers may find distressing Image: In t...

Mar52021 by adminNo Comments

Cladding rules: ‘I would never have bought my flat if I knew’

Business

NHS worker Holly Ciesielczuk bought 75% of her first-floor flat in Redbridge in March 2019, under shared ownership.But when she tried to borrow more money to increase her share of ownership a year later, she hit a stumbling block.Following their initial survey, her mortgage lender requested an EWS1 form - an external wall safety certificate for the building, which can be obtained following checks.These were first developed to assess the potential financial impact of cladding on high-rise flats, after 72 people died at Grenfell Tower. To begin with, only those who owned flats in tall buildings with dangerous flammable cladding were affected. But after the government extended its advice to smaller properties in January 2020, mortgage lenders began demanding fire surveys from a much wider ran...

Feb172021 by adminNo Comments

Ashley Judd: I would have died or lost leg without African rainforest ‘heroes’

Entertainment

Actress Ashley Judd has said she might have died or lost her leg without the help of locals who came to her aid when she suffered serious injuries in a fall in the African rainforest.The Hollywood star, best known for films including Heat and Double Jeopardy, said she broke her leg in four places and suffered nerve damage in the incident in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sharing pictures and a lengthy post on social media, Judd, 52, said she spent five hours "in primal pain" on the rainforest floor before having her bones manipulated back into a position so she could be moved. She was then carried for three hours to a dirt road before being transported on a motorbike for six hours.The actress had travelled to the country to take part in a research camp looking into bonobo apes."Frie...

Feb52021 by adminNo Comments

Democrats’ $50,000 student loan forgiveness plan would make 36 million borrowers debt-free

Finance

The Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other Democratic legislators on Thursday, reintroduced a resolution again calling on the White House to forgive $ 50,000 in student debt for all borrowers by executive action."During a time of historic and overlapping crises, which are disproportionately impacting communities of color, we must do everything in our power to deliver real relief to the American people, lift up our struggling economy and close the racial wealth gap," Schumer said in a statement."Democrats are committed to big, bold action, and this resolution to cancel up to $ 50,000 in federal student loan debt is one of the strongest steps the president can take to achieve these goals."The resolution, first made in the Sena...