Research Finds

Elisabeth Zetland, a senior researcher at MyHeritage, found that the actual Luigi has immigrated to US from ItalyThe Washington state businessman who inspired Nintendo to give the name Mario to its mustachioed, superhero plumber did not have a brother named Luigi like the fictional video game star famously does.But it has only just been determined that Nintendo may have unknowingly named its mascot’s brother after another of the real-life Mario’s close relatives: his father, Luigi, whose biography evokes that of millions of 20th-century US immigrants from Italy. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MPs say profit-making levels in England are ‘scandalous’ and call for cap on amount private companies can make from NHSPrivate firms providing services to the NHS including healthcare and consultancy have made £1.6bn in profits over the last two years, research reveals.The findings – on the basis of contracts worth £12bn – have prompted claims of “scandalous” profiteering, concern that the health service is being “taken for a ride” and calls for ministers to impose a cap on maximum profit levels.£2bn of the £12bn of contracts went to firms with owners based outside the UK.£533m of that £2bn went to companies owned by people living in tax havens such as Jersey and the Cayman Islands.Firms, especially those owned by private equity outfits, used £353m of their £12bn NHS income to pay interest on debts. Continue reading...

Survey also found 65% of gen Z think ‘things are better if men do paid work and women do care work’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastYounger fathers are more likely to cling to outdated ideas that frame men as the money earners and women as caregivers, new research has found.The Australian State of the World’s Fathers report is based on a global survey of 8,000 parents, with 533 from Australia. Continue reading...

US, top carbon emitter in history, has ‘a lot of responsibility’ for causing ‘substantial’ harm globally, scientist saysThe US has caused an eye-watering $10tn in global damages to the world over the past three decades through its vast planet-heating emissions, with a quarter of this economic pain inflicted upon itself, new research has found.By being the largest carbon emitter in history, the US has caused greater harm to worldwide economic growth than any other country, ahead of China, now the world’s largest emitter that is responsible for $9tn in GDP damage since 1990, according to the findings of the paper. Continue reading...

Handful of billionaires gave huge sums in particular to media organisations that boosted rightwing politicians, says Liam Byrne MPMore than £170m was given to MPs, political parties, media organisations and thinktanks aligned with the UK’s populist right over the past five years, new research from the Labour MP Liam Byrne has found.Byrne, a former cabinet minister who chairs parliament’s business committee, said he had identified a “media-political complex” funded largely by a handful of billionaires. Continue reading...