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Author: dizzy

  • Saudi aid campaign collects $160m for Gaza

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    Original article republished from Middle East Monitor under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

    An aerial view of makeshift tents of Palestinian families, who left their homes and took refuge in Rafah city due to ongoing Israeli attacks in Rafah, Gaza on January 01, 2024 [Mohammed Fayq – Anadolu Agency]

    A Saudi national fundraising campaign to provide aid for the people of Gaza has, so far, raised more than SR600 million ($160 million), organisers said on Monday, Arab News reports.

    According to the report, the initiative was launched on 2 November, 2023 by Saudi aid agency, KSrelief, through the Sahem platform for charitable donations, in line with directives from King Salman and Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman.

    The report says the platform called Sahem, especially in the context of the Gaza war, stands as a remarkable example of how digital platforms can mobilise support and resources for humanitarian causes.

    The delivery of the aid, which includes 24 tons of food, medical and shelter supplies, is being coordinated by KSrelief to help Palestinians affected by the conflict within the Gaza Strip, the report added.

    READ: Gaza aid from Britain screened in Cyprus and sent via Egypt

    Original article republished from Middle East Monitor under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

  • First-time buyers fall to ‘lowest level in a decade’

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/first-time-buyers-fall-lowest-level-decade

    Woman looking at advertisements in an estate agents window, July 20, 2023

    CAMPAIGNERS have blasted a lack of regulation in the housing market that leaves people trapped with no choice but to hand over their wages to landlords.

    Today’s condemnation came as new figures revealed that the number of first-time buyers had plunged to its lowest level in a decade.

    Figures issued by the Yorkshire Building Society showed that the number of first-time buyers in the mortgage market in 2023 stood at 290,000, shrinking by a fifth compared with 2022.

    The decrease in first-time buyers followed a string of now-paused interest hikes first made by the Bank of England in December 2021, which pushed up borrowing costs, including mortgages.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/first-time-buyers-fall-lowest-level-decade

  • Energy price cap rise will ‘hammer households even harder’ this year, union body warns

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    https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/energy-price-cap-rise-will-hammer-households-even-harder-this-year-union-body-warns/

    Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
    Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

    The leading trade union body has slammed government policy for benefiting corporate profiteering at the expense of household bills, leading renewed calls to nationalise the energy sector after the 5% energy price cap rise.

    Households will be ‘hammered even harder’ in 2024 the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said, as the Ofgem price cap rise came into effect from January 1, which will see households across the country face a 5% increase in their energy bill.

    It has led to further warnings from charities about struggling households facing another cold start to the year and renewed calls for government support to help households struggling with their energy bills.

    “No one should struggle to get by in one of the richest countries in the world,” said TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak.

    “But 13 years of wage stagnation and cuts to social security have left millions badly exposed to sky-high bills this winter.”

    With energy bills already 50% higher than two years ago, Nowak said the price cap rise will only “hammer households even harder in the coming year”.

    …

    Warm This Winter, a coalition of 50 leading UK charities, warned of the effects the government’s inaction at tackling the energy crisis will have across services.  

    “Failure to avert this cold homes crisis will lead to pressure on the NHS, a mental health catastrophe and additional winter deaths caused by living in cold damp homes,” said Fiona Waters, Warm This Winter spokesperson.

    …

    https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/energy-price-cap-rise-will-hammer-households-even-harder-this-year-union-body-warns/

  • Rishi Sunak slammed over ‘barefaced lie’ after claiming asylum backlog has been cleared

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    One of the many occasions climate destroyer and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak uses a private jet.
    One of the many occasions climate destroyer and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak uses a private jet.

    https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/rishi-sunak-slammed-over-barefaced-lie-after-claiming-asylum-backlog-has-been-cleared/

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being condemned for his ‘barefaced lie’ after claiming, incorrectly, that the government had met its pledge to clear the backlog of so-called legacy asylum claims.

    The prime minister posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the Home Office had dealt with 112,000 “legacy cases” – relating to claims made before June 2022 – by the end of last year.

    However, thousands of asylum cases are still awaiting a final decision, with Downing Street forced to admit that 4,500 “complex cases” remain outstanding. That means that the government has not cleared the “legacy” backlog of pre-June 2022 asylum claims.

    Furthermore, the Home Office has revealed that there are more than 98,000 asylum applications still awaiting a decision, largely consisting of claims made since June 2022. 17,000 claims have also been withdrawn by the Home Office, with Yvette Cooper saying that the government has ‘no idea where those people are’.

    To add to the humiliation for the PM, his post on X was community noted with the message “the backlog has not been cleared” and a link to a BBC report confirming the target has not been met.

    …

    https://leftfootforward.org/2024/01/rishi-sunak-slammed-over-barefaced-lie-after-claiming-asylum-backlog-has-been-cleared/

  • George Monbiot and the Public Order Bill (Act)

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