The race for oil: will Jamaica be the next country to drill and what does that mean for its green pledges?
With early tests suggesting the presence of crude oil, the Caribbean island has begun to debate whether it could justify becoming a producerJamaica is closer than ever to drilling for oil. Tests on samples from the seabed off the Caribbean islandâs south coast earlier this year identified hydrocarbons, which suggest the presence of crude oil below ground.Jamaica imports all its fuel, which costs about $1.5-2bn (ÂŁ1.1bn-1.5bn) annually, depending on global oil prices. It is a persistent drag on an economy that generated $4.3bn from tourism, its biggest earner, in 2024. Continue reading...
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Fewer men should get prostate cancer screening, committee recommends
Government will consider the expert guidance, which concludes screening âlikely to cause more harm than goodâMost men in the UK will not be offered prostate cancer screening if the government accepts the final recommendation of an expert committee.The UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) said attempting to detect the disease using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test was âlikely to cause more harm than goodâ. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comBlairâs fossil fuel ideas âbizarreâ in face of energy and climate crises, experts say
Energy specialists say abandoning net zero and increasing oil and gas drilling would cause more instability for BritonsAbandoning net zero and drilling for more oil and gas in the North Sea would be a massive setback for the UK and would not help the economy, leading experts have said in response to claims by the former prime minister Tony Blair.âThis is a bizarre intervention to make during the worst May heatwave on record and when the Iran crisis is providing yet more evidence of the enormous costs of oil and gas,â said Ed Matthew, the UK programme director at the E3G thinktank. âClean energy is cheaper energy - it protects our bills from prices skyrocketing, its running costs are virtually zero, and it doesnât cause climate change which threatens economic collapse ... The government should ignore Blairâs ideological nonsense and focus on what works.â Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comMinisters in talks over shelving carbon tax on fertiliser to curb food inflation
Exclusive: Package of measures discussed with farmers, including pause on duty due to come into effect next year Ministers are in discussions about suspending a carbon tax on fertilisers, due to come into effect early next year, in an effort to curb food inflation.The move would be part of a package of measures, including the suspension of import tariffs on a range of foods including bread, biscuits and bananas. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comEU fines Temu for failing to stop sale of illegal and dangerous products
European Commission finds shoppers on Chinese website very likely to find unsafe items and imposes âŹ200m penaltyEU regulators have fined the Chinese shopping website Temu âŹ200m (ÂŁ173m) for failing to stop the sale of illegal and dangerous products.The European Commission imposed the penalty after a 19-month investigation that found consumers were very likely to encounter illegal or unsafe products including baby toys and electronics on the firmâs website. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comMarrried at First Sight UK had âunhealthyâ focus on sex, say showâs insiders
Crew members claim hit Channel 4 showâs culture was âtoxic from the top downâ amid allegations of rape by female cast membersMarried at First Sight UK had an âunhealthyâ focus on whether cast members were having sex, former and current workers on the show have said.One former crew member said the culture on the hit Channel 4 show was âtoxic from the top downâ. The claims from crew members were reported by the BBC, which previously broadcast allegations from two female cast members that they were raped by their on-screen partners. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comArgentinaâs âEuropeanâ self-image under renewed scrutiny after racist incidents in Brazil
Case involving seven-year-old boy is latest flashpoint in debate over race relations in Latin AmericaâArgentina needs to end its fantasy of being a European countryâ: Lucrecia Martel on the story of a killingA woman celebrating her 32nd birthday on a train journey in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais was horrified when a fellow passenger alerted her that an unknown man had been secretly filming her seven-year-old son.When confronted, the man â an Argentinian tourist â initially refused to show his phone. But after being pressed by other travellers, the man admitted he had sent the images to a WhatsApp contact. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comFamily accuse FCDO of lack of support over death of UK man in Grenada
Pathologist found Andrew Frederickâs death was a homicide but UK authorities refused specialist helpThe grieving family of a British man found dead in his home on the Caribbean island of Grenada have accused UK authorities of failing to support their fight for justice.The family of Andrew Frederick, 47, whose body was discovered on 4 January, are calling for an urgent review of the policies governing UK assistance to the loved ones of Brits killed abroad. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comMan who said knife was carried as part of Sikh faith guilty of murdering Southampton student
Prosecutors said Vickrum Digwa lied about the fatal attack on Henry Nowak after claiming self-defenceA man has been found guilty of murdering a university student with a 21cm-long knife that he said he was carrying for religious reasons.When police arrived at the scene in Southampton, Vickrum Digwa, 23, claimed his victim, 18-year-old Henry Nowak, had racially abused him and knocked his turban off, prompting police to handcuff the teenager before they discovered his fatal wounds. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comUS abortion restrictions are hindering access to miscarriage care, study finds
States with abortion bans are turning away from medications to a wait-and-see approach, with care falling below standardsAbortion restrictions in the US have made it more difficult to access care for miscarriages, a new study stays.The new research found that since the June 2022 Dobbs v Jackson Womenâs Health Organization decision overturning Roe v Wade, pregnancy care has fractured along state lines; itâs getting increasingly harder to access healthcare for miscarriages in US states with abortion restrictions. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comâI felt my humanity was bastardisedâ: Cynthia Erivo says reaction to Ariana Grande red carpet incident rooted in racism
Wicked co-star said reactions to the incident, which included suggestions she was Grandeâs âbodyguardâ, reflect an insidious view of Black womenWicked star Cynthia Erivo has said that reactions to the incident at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good, in which she stepped in to fend off a red-carpet invader who grabbed co-star Ariana Grande, revealed âthe insidious nature of how we view Black womenâ and put her off campaigning for Oscars.In an interview with Variety, Erivo said that she and Grande were âterrifiedâ when Johnson Wen jumped a barrier at Universal Studios Singapore and rushed towards them. âNobody moved. Nobody moved. So I moved because my brain went, âGet him away! Get him out of here!â ⊠And what people couldnât see is that he wouldnât let go [of Grande]. He wouldnât let go. So I just kept pushing at him to get him off.â Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.comUK risks £125bn hit a year from youth unemployment, landmark report says
Alan Milburn warns of âlost generationâ after number of young people not in work or education rises to more than 1mâA record of failureâ: whatâs in first part of Milburn report?Tell us: we would like to hear from young people in the UK about their job hunting experienceBritain risks a financial hit worth ÂŁ125bn a year from a worsening crisis in youth worklessness after a rise in the number of young people not in employment or education to more than 1 million.In a landmark government-backed report, Alan Milburn warned that Britainâs economy and the public finances were losing billions of pounds a year amid the growing risk of a âlost generationâ of young people. Continue reading...
Read original · theguardian.com