Liz Truss Plans More Immigration in Effort to Fill Vacancies and Drive Growth

THE GUARDIAN: Government likely to lift cap on agricultural and broadband workers, and alter shortage occupations list

The prime minister, Liz Truss, may also ease the English-language requirement in some sectors. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Liz Truss is preparing to increase immigration to fill job vacancies and boost economic growth in a move that will anger some of her ministers and MPs.

The prime minister plans to raise the number of workers allowed to enter the UK, government sources have confirmed.

Reports claim the government will lift the cap on seasonal agricultural workers and broadband engineers, and make other changes to the shortage occupations list, which will allow key sectors to recruit more overseas staff.

Truss is said to be keen to recruit broadband engineers to complete a pledge to make full-fibre broadband available to 85% of UK homes by 2025. It has also been suggested that she could ease the English-language requirement in some sectors to enable more foreign workers to qualify for visas.

The proposals faces resistance from cabinet Brexiters including the home secretary, Suella Braverman, and the trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, according to the Sunday Times.

One Conservative MP said that many new Conservative voters in “red wall” seats will be baffled by any softening of immigration rules.

“The government is going to have to explain to those people who thought we were a pro-Brexit government and want to curb immigration why we seem to be changing tack,” the MP said. » | Rajeev Syal | Sunday, September 25, 2022

This woman must surely be taking the effing piss! We have come out of the European Union because of too many 'immigrants' coming into the country—note that most of those people were then part of our homeland - Europe – of which we were a part; and they were largely of the same cultural and religious background: Judaeo-Christian, And when we were in the European Union, everything was going just fine. But that was too much for this turncoat: the once committed Remainer who turned Brexiteer when it suited her career ambitions. Were this woman to be an object, one would say she is not 'fit for purpose'. I therefore say this: Eject the woman from her position as soon as possible, before she does any more damage to this once great country. Shame on her! Shame on the Tories! The party is as corrupt as corrupt can be. – © Mark Alexander

Cheeky Maybe, But Very Nice!

Frech vielleicht, aber sehr nett!/ Effronté peut-être, mais très gentil !
Many thanks to Smdca on Pinterest for this lovely and interesting photo.

„Ich gehe da nicht hin“

„REFERENDEN“ IN DER UKRAINE
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Putin will Russlands Eroberungen im Osten und Süden der Ukraine annektieren. Dafür soll es jetzt fingierte Volksabstimmungen geben, aber eine Frau in Cherson sagt Nein. Ein Protokoll.

Nennt mich Uljana Schewtschenko. Das ist ein Deckname, den ich benutzen muss, weil die Russen meine Stadt besetzt haben. Für eine Künstlerin ist es nicht leicht, den Namen zu wechseln, aber es muss sein.

Meine Stadt ist Cherson im Süden der Ukraine. Viele sprechen hier Russisch, und deshalb sagen die Orks: Da leben Russen. Auf mich trifft das nicht zu und auf viele meiner Freunde auch nicht, auch wenn wir mit Russisch aufgewachsen sind. Ich bin zweisprachig, und das geht so: Auf der Arbeit spreche ich Ukrainisch und auf Facebook auch. Aber zu Hause sprechen wir Russisch. Manche meiner Freunde lehnen das Russische jetzt total ab. Ich nicht, ich benutze beide Sprachen. Aber vielleicht kann ich das nur deshalb, weil ich nicht so viel gelitten habe wie andere.

Dass Putin unsere Stadt jetzt durch ein Referendum annektieren will, ist für uns keine Überraschung. Ich glaube, er macht das wegen seiner Mobilmachung zu Hause. Das geht leichter, wenn er seinen Bürgern sagen kann: Cherson und die anderen ukrainischen Gebiete, die wir besetzt haben, das ist ja Russland. Aber jeder weiß ja, dass dieses Referendum sowieso einen Dreck wert ist. In Cherson ist nur noch ein Viertel der Leute da, der Rest ist weg. Wie sollen die paar, die geblieben sind, denn den „Willen des Volkes“ ausdrücken können? » | Von Konrad Schuller | Sonntag, 25. September 2022

Elections en Italie : qui est Giorgia Meloni, la jeune dirigeante du parti postfasciste aux portes du pouvoir ?

MAURO SCROBOGNA / AP
LE MONDE : PORTRAIT | La cheffe du parti Fratelli d’Italia, donnée favorite dans les sondages aux élections législatives qui se tiennent ce dimanche 25 septembre, est entrée très tôt en politique et n’a cessé, depuis, de faire son chemin, jusqu’à incarner aujourd’hui le conservatisme transalpin.

Ce dimanche d’octobre 2019, il y avait des dizaines de milliers de personnes, venues de toute l’Italie, sur la piazza San Giovanni de Rome. D’ordinaire, cette large esplanade est le lieu de rendez-vous des rassemblements de la gauche. Mais, cette fois-ci, c’était au peuple de droite de crier sa colère. Quelques semaines plus tôt, après l’échec calamiteux de sa manœuvre consistant à rompre avec les « 5 étoiles » (parti antisystème) pour provoquer des élections anticipées, le dirigeant de la Ligue (extrême droite), Matteo Salvini, avait été évincé du ministère de l’intérieur et renvoyé à l’opposition, tandis que la gauche revenait aux affaires.

Ce meeting était l’occasion de refaire l’unité au sein de l’alliance des droites et, pour Matteo Salvini, de réécrire l’histoire de sa peu glorieuse sortie de scène, en gommant ses responsabilités évidentes pour se poser en victime innocente d’une gauche machiavélique. Silvio Berlusconi, tout heureux de voir se reformer l’alliance traditionnelle, ne s’était pas fait prier pour donner son onction au rassemblement. La dirigeante de Fratelli d’Italia, Giorgia Meloni, avait fait plus de difficultés, refusant de poser en obligée du leader de la Ligue. De plus, à Rome, elle est chez elle et n’a nul besoin de Salvini le Milanais pour se faire entendre… » | Par Jérôme Gautheret (Rome, correspondant) | vendredi 23 septembre 2022

! يا عزيزي

O my dear! / O mein Lieber! / Ô mon cher !
Thanks to Aninda khan on Pinterest / شكرا على هذه الصورة الجميلة

Kwasi Kwarteng Mulls More Beneficial Tax Cuts for High Earners

THE GUARDIAN: Reports chancellor is considering further changes to taxation after mini-budget ‘for the rich’

The government is considering a series of further tax cuts that could hand thousands of pounds to high earners, shortly after it announced the biggest giveaway in 50 years.

Plans under consideration could include bringing back a tax-free allowance for workers paid more than £100,000 a year, and lifting the amount pensioners can save before taxes kick in, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, on Friday delivered a mini-budget with tax cuts that will benefit many of the highest earners in the UK. Although it was not a full budget, it represented the biggest tax-cutting fiscal event since 1972 under another Conservative chancellor, Anthony Barber. » | Jasper Jolly | Sunday, September 25, 2022

Das Berner Oberland – Ein Sommer in den Schweizer Alpen | SWR Doku

Idyllische Almen, imposante Berge und … schmelzende Gletscher! In einem der begehrtesten Urlaubsziele der Schweiz stellt das Klima Mensch, Tier und Natur auf die Probe.

Das Berner Oberland in der Schweiz ist eine Region der Superlative: Hier liegt der höchste Gletscher der Alpen, der Aletschgletscher, hier fließen die größten unterirdischen Wasserfälle Europas, die Trümmelbachfälle. Und das berühmte Dreigestirn von Eiger, Mönch und Jungfrau lockt jährlich Touristen aus aller Welt in die Schweizer Berge. Flüsse und Seen in den Tälern machen das Land zum beliebten Reiseziel und sind gleichzeitig lebensnotwendige Quelle für Menschen, Tiere und Pflanzen. Alpwirtschaft, Ökologie und Tourismus sind gleichermaßen abhängig vom sensiblen Gleichgewicht der Natur. Der Sommer ist entscheidend für das Leben in den Bergen, das unmittelbar mit den Kreisläufen der Natur verbunden ist. Jonas und Fabienne fiebern als Jung-Senne dem Sommer auf der Schweizer Alp entgegen. Bis zum Herbst tragen sie die Verantwortung für 50 Kühe – und das Gold der Bauern: den begehrten Bergkäse. Die traditionelle Beweidung schafft die unverwechselbare Landschaft hier in den Bergen. Doch seit die Baumgrenze sich auch in den Schweizer Alpen immer weiter nach oben verschiebt, macht ein ungeliebter Gast den Tieren zu schaffen: die Zecke. Auf der Schweibenalp ist Gärtnerin Johanna Becker Expertin für Permakultur und weiß, welcher Salat sich besonders für die kühlen Höhenlagen eignet. Der nachhaltige Anbau von Gemüse und Kräutern lockt Freiwillige und Gäste in die Höhe. In den Berner Hochalpen, am Jungfraujoch, droht der größte Gletscher der Alpen gefährlich schnell zu schwinden. Wissenschaftler, Ingenieure und Mitarbeiter kümmern sich um den Schutz und Erhalt der Alpenregion und versuchen, die großen Herausforderungen, denen sie begegnen, zu meistern.

Diese Doku von Viktor Apfelbacher und André Schäfer trägt den Originaltitel: „Das Berner Oberland – Ein Sommer in den Schweizer Alpen“, Ausstrahlungsdatum im SWR Fernsehen am 11.9.22. Alle Aussagen und Fakten entsprechen dem damaligen Stand und wurden seitdem nicht aktualisiert.

Alle Aussagen und Fakten entsprechen dem damaligen Stand und wurden seitdem nicht aktualisiert.

‘They Have Nothing to Lose’: Why Young Iranians Are Rising Up Once Again

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Amid growing repression, a sickly economy and bleak prospects, the death of one young woman was all it took.


Dozens have reportedly been killed by security forces as demonstrations continue to spread across Iran. Protests began after Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the morality police. | Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The 22-year-old woman emerged from the Tehran subway, her dark hair covered with a black head scarf and the lines of her body obscured by loose clothing, when the capital city’s Guidance Patrol spotted her. They were members of Iran’s notorious morality police, enforcers of the conservative Islamic dress and behavior rules that have governed daily life for Iranians since the 1979 revolution, and newly energized under a hard-line president who took office last year.

By their standards, Mahsa Amini was improperly dressed, which could mean something as simple as a wisp of hair protruding from her head scarf. They put her in a van and drove her away to a detention center, where she was to undergo re-education. Three days later, on Sept. 16, she was dead.

Now, over eight days of rage, exhilaration and street battles, the most significant outpouring of anger with the ruling system in more than a decade, her name is everywhere. Iranian protesters in dozens of cities have chanted “women, life and freedom” and “death to the dictator,” rejecting the Iranian Republic’s theocratic rule by targeting one of its most fundamental and divisive symbols — the ailing supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In several of the videos of the uprising that have torn across social media, women rip off their head scarves and burn them in street bonfires, including in deeply religious cities such as Qum and Mashhad. In one, a young woman atop a utility cabinet cuts off her hair in front of a crowd of roaring demonstrators. In another, young women dare to dance bareheaded in front of the riot police. » | Vivian Yee and Farnaz Fassihi | Published: Saturday, September 24, 2022; updated: Sunday, September 25, 2022

Related here and here and here and here (auf Deutsch).

Are the Islamic Republic of Iran's days numbered, perhaps? Is freedom on the horizon for Iranians at last? – © Mark Alexander

Welche Zukunft hat das Commonwealth nach dem Tod der Queen? | Fokus Europa

Was hält den Staatenbund noch zusammen und wie wichtig ist er für die Identität Großbritanniens? Einige Länder haben bereits angekündigt, ihre Mitgliedschaft zu beenden.

EuroMillions Lottery: UK Winner Picks Up £171m Jackpot

THE GUARDIAN: Ticket-holder comes forward to become third biggest National Lottery winner of all time

A ticket-holder has come forward to claim the £171m jackpot from Friday’s EuroMillions draw, operator Camelot has said.

Their win makes them the third biggest National Lottery winner of all time and instantly richer than the singers Harry Styles, who is worth an estimated £100m, and Adele, worth an estimated £150m.

Camelot’s Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at the National Lottery, said: “What an amazing year for UK EuroMillions players. We are delighted to have received a claim for the third biggest ever win and look forward to supporting the ticket-holder and helping them to start to enjoy their truly life-changing win.” » | Jane Clinton | Sunday, September 25, 2022

Lavrov to UN: Annexed Ukraine Territories Will Have Russia's 'Full Protection' | DW News

Russia says thousands of reservists have answered the call to fight in Ukraine – while others have been fleeing the country, or staying and protesting against Vladimir Putin’s mobilization order. As Moscow bolsters its war effort, Russian-installed officials are holding sham 'referendums' that would lay the groundwork for Russia to annex four occupied regions of Ukraine. Ukrainian officials and witnesses say residents are being coerced into taking part, often at gunpoint. At the UN General Assembly, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the four regions will be under Russia's 'full protection' if they are annexed by Moscow.

Jessica Berlin | Putin hat schon verloren – doch kann die Ukraine auch siegen? | NZZ Standpunkte 2022

Ein russischer Blitzsieg über die Ukraine schien im Februar eine ausgemachte Sache. Doch nach einem halben Jahr Krieg scheint sich das Blatt zu wenden. Die Ukrainer haben die gegnerische Artillerie-dampfwalze im Donbass abgewehrt und unternehmen nun offensive Vorstösse. Die russische Armee zeigt mehr und mehr Schwächen. Nach wie vor setzen beide Seiten auf Sieg. Putin hat Europa offen den Gaskrieg erklärt, was erneut Stimmen laut werden lässt, die einen raschen Frieden fordern. Einen solchen wird es geben müssen, aber wann ist die Zeit dafür gekommen? Wer soll mit wem worüber verhandeln? Was bleibt von den russischen Kriegszielen, und wie könnte ein Sieg der Ukraine aussehen? Wie ist es um die Zukunft der Ukraine in Europa bestellt? Darüber spricht NZZ Chefredaktor Eric Gujer mit der deutsch-amerikanischen Politikanalystin Jessica Berlin. | Sendung vom 24.09.2022

heute 19:00 Uhr vom 24.09.22 Scholz in Saudi-Arabien, Gaspreisbremse, Strafe für Deserteure

Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (SPD) hat bei seinem Treffen mit dem saudischen Kronprinzen Mohammed bin Salman den Mord an dem Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi angesprochen. Bin Salman war vom US-Geheimdienst für den brutalen Mord am Journalisten Jamal Khashoggi vor vier Jahren verantwortlich gemacht worden. Diese und weitere Nachrichten des Tages in den ZDFheute Nachrichten um 19 Uhr.

El hombre en piedra: bellas esculturas

Teachers and Nurses Face Tax Increase after Mini-budget Hands Out to Bankers

THE OBSERVER: Research by the Liberal Democrats shows that key workers will be worse off next year but top bank bosses will enjoy huge perks

Liz Truss’s government is promising a cut in the basic tax rate, but freezing the tax thresholdPhotograph: Tayfun Salcı/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
Teachers and nurses will see their income taxes increase next year while top bank bosses will enjoy a cut worth more than £100,000, according to a new analysis of Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget.

While the tax-cutting package brought forward a promised reduction in the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19%, that cut will be more than offset by a decision to freeze the point at which people start paying tax. It means that some key workers will be paying more income tax next year.

A teacher on a starting salary of £25,700 will see their income tax rise by £121 in 2023-24 once the threshold freeze is taken into account, according to research by the Liberal Democrats. An NHS nurse will also face a £107 rise. Meanwhile, a top banker earning £2.5m will enjoy a tax cut of more than £117,000. » | Michael Savage and Jon Ungoed-Thomas | Saturday, September 24, 2022

This woman is shameless! She has a face of brass! The sooner the electorate dumps her, the better it will be for us all.

She appears to like to compare herself to Margaret Thatcher. Dream on, Truss! Margaret Thatcher even though she was in so many ways a wonderful leader, had her faults and weaknesses, too. But one thing she had which Truss doesn’t have is any understanding of Christianity. Thatcher’s background, by contrast, was steeped in Christianity; moreover, Truss’s lack of understanding of Christianity shows in her uncaring policies.

I thought we had reached rock bottom with BoJo, but Truss has stolen the prize even after just a few days in office! – © Mark Alexander

Iran Hijab Protests: 35 Dead as President Warns of ‘Decisive’ Action

What Iran's Protesters Want and What They Will Get | DW News

Iran has seen an eighth straight night of protests sparked by the death of a young woman detained by the country's religious police. Crowds of protesters gathered hours after counter-demonstrations backed by the government. The unrest has spread to towns and cities across Iran. Activists say at least fifty anti-government protesters have been killed by Iranian security forces.

The Guardian View on the Tory Trickle Up Policies: Redistributing to the Rich

THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: Kwasi Kwarteng thinks Britain needs to give millionaires huge handouts and concrete over the country. He’s wrong

Kwasi Kwarteng came to the Commons determined to bury the politics of redistribution. But the Conservative chancellor revived it with a “ mini-budget” that attached rocket boosters on to bankers’ pay, gave millionaires a £40,000 handout by abolishing the top rate of tax and cut levies for businesses and buy-to-let landlords. It is in a cost of living crisis that Mr Kwarteng has chosen to show his true colours. Ordinary families are choosing between heating and eating. The nation’s public services are falling apart. The chancellor’s medicine for such ailments is to shower money – and to loosen regulatory safeguards – on the City, energy companies and housebuilders. » | Editorial | Friday, September 23, 2022

Italian Voters Appear Ready to Turn a Page for Europe

THE NEW YORK TIMES: With the hard-right candidate Giorgia Meloni ahead before Sunday’s election, Italy could get its first leader whose party traces its roots to the wreckage of Fascism.

Supporters of Giorgia Meloni at a joint rally on Thursday for the Brothers of Italy, League and Forza Italia parties in Rome. | Andreas Solaro/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
ROME — Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s hard-right leader, resents having to talk about Fascism. She has publicly, and in multiple languages, said that the Italian right has “handed Fascism over to history for decades now.” She argued that “the problem with Fascism in Italy always begins with the electoral campaign,” when the Italian left, she said, wheels out “the black wave” to smear its opponents.

But none of that matters now, she insisted in an interview this month, because Italians do not care. “Italians don’t believe anymore in this garbage,” she said with a shrug.

Ms. Meloni may be proved right on Sunday, when she is expected to be the top vote-getter in Italian elections, a breakthrough far-right parties in Europe have anticipated for decades.

More than 70 years after Nazis and Fascists nearly destroyed Europe, formerly taboo parties with Nazi or Fascist heritages that were long marginalized have elbowed their way into the mainstream. Some are even winning. A page of European history seems to be turning.

Last week, a hard-right group founded by neo-Nazis and skinheads became the largest party in Sweden’s likely governing coalition. The far-right leader Marine Le Pen — for a second consecutive time — reached the final round of French presidential elections this year.

But it is Italy, the birthplace of Fascism, that looks likely to be led not only by its first female prime minister in Ms. Meloni but the first Italian leader whose party can trace its roots back to the wreckage of Italian Fascism. » | Jason Horowitz | Saturday, September 24, 2022

Related articles: En français. Auf Deutsch. In English.

Iran Protests Surge to Dozens of Cities

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Iranians fed up with oppressive rules and a battered economy have faced bullets, tear gas and arrests to demand an end to the Islamic Republic’s rule.

Demonstrators on the streets of Tehran this past week. Protests spurred by a woman’s death in custody have expanded to include outrage over economic problems and frustration with moral strictures. | Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Protests in Iran against the government spread to more than five dozen cities on Friday even as the authorities escalated a crackdown that has reportedly killed dozens of people and brought the arrests of prominent activists and journalists, according to rights groups and news media reports.

Internet access — especially on cellphone apps widely used for communication — continued to be disrupted or fully blocked, affecting Iranians’ ability to communicate with one another and the outside world. News from Iran has trickled in with many hours of delay.

In many cities, including Tehran, the capital, security forces opened fire on crowds. On Boulevard Ferdous and at the Shahrak Ekbatan apartment complex in Tehran, the forces fired at windows; in the city of Rasht, they threw tear gas into apartments, according to witnesses and videos on social media.

Iranian state media said Friday that at least 35 people had been killed in the unrest, but human rights groups have said the number is likely to be much higher. A previous death toll of 17 issued by the state media included at least five members of the security services.

The videos posted online and the scale of the response from the authorities are difficult to independently verify, but video and photographs sent by witnesses known to The New York Times were broadly in line with the images being posted widely online.

In Iran’s northwest, the small city of Oshnavieh reportedly fell to protesters when local security forces retreated after days of intense fighting, the editor of a Kurdish news site said. » | Farnaz Fassihi | Saturday, September 24, 2022

Verwandt.