Author: James Martin
Emmanuel Macron will push for a cap on excessive executive pay should he be re-elected president after he described as “shocking and excessive” the €19m (£15.7m) pay packet handed to the head of carmaker Stellantis.Macron, who is campaigning in the run-up to the final vote for the French presidency on 24 April against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, told France Info radio that he was in favour of an EU-wide ceiling for top executives’ pay.The multimillion-pound payout handed last year to chief executive Carlos Tavares, when French carmaker PSA merged with Italian-US rival Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis, one of…
10.18am EDT 10:18 White House press secretary Jen Psaki has followed up on Joe Biden’s remarks on Thursday indicating that he is “ready” to go to Ukraine if the opportunity presents itself, after reports emerged that the US was considering sending a “high-ranking” official. Biden is not hopping a plane to Kyiv any time soon it seems. Psaki spoke on Thursday night at a live taping of the progressive “Pod Save America” podcast in Washington, DC, Politico reports in its handy daily email newsletter. “He’s ready for anything — the man likes fast cars and aviators,” Psaki said, referring to…
According to the latest estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BA.2 caused 86% of new Covid-19 cases nationwide last week.In some ways, this feels like a familiar place. Cases are going up again. At least one major city is reinstating its mask mandate. Broadway shows have canceled some performances. But there continue to be reasons for optimism.Despite BA.2’s near-complete takeover from two other circulating Omicron subvariants, BA.1 and BA 1.1, US hospitalizations are at record low levels, and they continue to drop. Deaths also continue to fall. Even though those numbers tend to lag behind case…
Boris Johnson has suffered undeniable political harm in becoming the first serving prime minister fined for breaking the law, and things could get worse if he is punished for other lockdown-breaking parties. But, at least so far, there is little appetite for ousting him. Tory MPs cite the Ukraine war, and perhaps more critically the lack of a credible alternative. Here are Johnson’s potential rivals – and why Conservatives fear they do not measure up.Rishi Sunak: damaged goodsIt has not been the best few weeks for the man previously assumed to be the heir in waiting. Firstly his spring statement…
A South American wildflower long believed to be extinct has been rediscovered.Gasteranthus extinctus was found by biologists in the foothills of the Andes mountains and in remnant patches of forest in the Centinela region of Ecuador, almost 40 years after its last sighting.Extensive deforestation in western Ecuador during the late 20th century led to the presumed extinction of a number of plant species, including Gasteranthus extinctus – the reason scientists gave it that name.Despite reports that more than 97% of forests in the western half of Ecuador have been destroyed or converted to farmland, including most of the Centinela Ridge,…
According to the 2020 STD Surveillance Report, cases of gonorrhea had risen 10% by the end of the year, and rates of syphilis, both primary and secondary, were up 7%. Primary and secondary refer to different stages of syphilis infection.”In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically disrupted life as we knew it,” Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said Tuesday. “While there were moments in 2020 when it felt like the world was standing still, sexually transmitted diseases were not. The unrelenting momentum of STDs continued even as prevention and…
The unprecedented wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats from European capitals – now close to 400 – is not just a symbolic, if reversible, act of revulsion at the war crimes for which Russia stands accused. It is part of a decades long battle to police the dividing line between espionage and diplomacy, one in which the west of late has been accused of too often ignoring a resurgence in Russia’s clandestine activities, either because of an excessive focus on domestic terrorism, or excessive reliance on intercepts.Sir John Sawers, the former head of M16, last year said he suspected the…
Plant sunflowers and lavender in your garden this spring to reverse the decline of previously common garden species, the RSPB has urged the British public.The bird charity has launched a “nature on your doorstep” campaign to highlight that UK gardens and balconies combined cover 4,000sq km, an area more than twice the size of Greater London. Together these connected habitats could help reverse the fortunes of species including starlings, bumblebees and hedgehogs.Decades ago, all of these species were abundant, but they are facing threats because of habitat loss and the changing nature of agriculture. Starling numbers have fallen by two-thirds…
When a trio of paying customers and their astronaut chaperone were blasted off to the International Space Station, their voyage was touted as a milestone for the commercialisation of spaceflight.For the Michelin-starred Spanish chef José Andrés, however, the recently departed mission ushered in another – albeit more niche – breakthrough: the first time paella was sent into orbit.“Astronauts from different countries and nationalities and backgrounds – and they are all going to be eating, at once, paella Valenciana,” he said on social media. “And this makes me so proud.”Andrés is the latest in a string of top chefs around the…
3.50am EDT 03:50 And with that we are going to put this blog to bed – thank you for spending Good Friday with us. Before we go, let’s re-cap the big ones: Federal party leaders attended Good Friday services, amid a campaign trail ‘truce’ for Easter. Anthony Albanese, Jenny Morrison and Tony Abbott attended the same Easter service. The Centre for Public Integrity warned a federal anti-corruption commission that is unable to hold public hearings would be largely ineffective. Huge airport queues moved quickly but Easter flights departed without baggage amid airport staff shortages. Golfing great Jack Newton died aged…