Home Office to announce closure of 11 asylum hotels in next week pred 8 urami in 38 minutami Exclusive: closures are part of pledge by Labour to end all use of hotels for asylum seekers by end of this parliamentThe Home Office is to announce the closure of 11 asylum hotels this week as part of its pledge to close all such facilities by the end of this parliament.The use of hotels to house asylum seekers has been controversial since it became widespread at the start of the Covid pandemic. Anti-migrant protesters have staged demonstrations outside hotels, claiming asylum seekers are living a life of luxury there. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump’s new budget ignores dying Americans and gives away record sums to the US military pred 8 urami in 38 minutami President’s proposed budget slashes health department by 12% while throwing $1.5tn – a 42% increase – to the militaryAmericans are dying in droves. Deaths due to avoidable causes in the United States –which could be dealt with via prevention or proper healthcare – far outpace those in most of country’s peers in the industrialized world. Most notably, Americans die of treatable conditions at nearly twice the rate as Spaniards, French, Japanese and Australians.They would most likely live longer if they enjoyed better access to healthcare. Americans are the most likely to skip a doctor’s appointment due to its cost, the most likely to skip a medical test and to skimp on prescription drugs. This is unsurprising, given the extraordinary lack of public health insurance in the United States. Americans face the highest out-of-pocket expenses for medical services in their peer group. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Wes Streeting attacks Trump’s ‘outrageous’ Iran war rhetoric pred 9 urami in 29 minutami Health secretary says failure of peace talks disappointing and UK-US relations have undoubtedly been strainedMiddle East crisis – live updatesWes Streeting has criticised Donald Trump’s rhetoric on Iran as “incendiary, provocative and outrageous” and called the failure of US-Iran peace talks disappointing but said the success of future negotiations was necessary “in all of our interests”.“As ever in diplomacy, you’re failing until you succeed,” the health secretary told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News. “So while these talks may not have ended in success, that doesn’t mean there isn’t merit in continuing to try.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
JD Vance says talks failed due to Iran’s refusal to give up nuclear programme pred 9 urami in 55 minutami Iranian delegates say Washington needs to do more to win their trust if talks in Islamabad to resolve US-Iran conflict are to be successfulMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe US vice-president, JD Vance, has blamed the failure of marathon negotiations with Iran on the country’s refusal to abandon its nuclear weapons programme, while Iranian delegates have claimed Washington needs to do more to win their trust.Vance, who left Islamabad on Sunday morning after 21 hours of talks with Iranian officials in the Pakistani capital, said his team had been very clear on its red lines, as hopes faded of a quick end to the conflict that began on 28 February. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
