Category: #ukreport

A Dutch farm is offering cow cuddling as a form of therapy. Those who want a spot of “koe knuffelen” (or cow hugging) start by taking a tour of the farm before hugging one of the cows for up to three hours. The cow’s warmer body temperature and slower heartbeat is believed to promote positivity and reduce stress by boosting oxytocin in humans, the hormone released in social bonding.

Punters pay £360 to eat a meal on stationary plane

Diners have snapped up the chance to pay up to £360 per head to eat a meal on a stationary plane. Singapore Airlines offered sittings on-board two stationary A380 superjumbos, with meals at seats and the chance to watch a movie, as the plane sits on the tarmac. “Flights to nowhere” have proved popular in Asia and beyond, with the Taiwanese carrier EVA, Japan’s ANA and the Australian carrier Qantas offering options.

Peru opens site for single tourist

Peru has re-opened the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu for a single Japanese tourist who had waited almost seven months to visit the citadel. Jesse Katayama had travelled Peru in March “with the dream of being able to enter,” the world heritage site, explained Culture Minister Alejandro Neyra. However, it closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Katayama said afterwards that this tour had been “truly amazing”.

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Coronavirus lockdowns have given rise to a trend that has added a welcome slice of comfort to countless peoples’ live.

As Reuters reported back in April, Britain has been home to a “baking frenzy”, with online recipe searches hitting all-time highs and flour stocks running low.

Not everyone is going to make it into the tent as a contender for The Great British Bake Off, but we can all create tasty breads, cakes and sweet treats in our own kitchens using a few key pieces of kit.

Here we pick out some of the best baking equipment on the market…

InnoGear 32-Pieces Cake Piping Nozzles Tips Kit

This extensive collection of cake piping nozzles in a great-value buy to help you take your cake decorating to the next level. Ideal for techniques from writing names to icing on zigzags, stars and more, the 32 nozzles come with a special case for tidy storage.

£7.99; amazon.co.uk

KitchenAid Artisan 5KSM125BLT Stand Mixer

Beloved by seasoned bakers, this stand mixer is a versatile piece of kit that includes a dough hook for kneading, a whisk, and a flat beater for mixing heavy ingredients. Smaller models are also available.

£349; currys.co.uk

Salter Disc Electronic Digital Kitchen Scales

Baking is a precision science and these Salter scales will weigh out your ingredients in exact qualities in both imperial and metric measurements. The “Add and Weigh” function allows you to measure multiple ingredients in the same bowl or pan, and the sleek design is compact, with an easy-to-clean stainless steel top.

£20; salterhousewares.co.uk

Breville Hand Mixer with HeatSoft Technology VFM021

This clever new tool is like a hand mixer and a hairdryer combined. It blows warm air through the ingredients as you mix, which can cut down on preparation time if you’re using cold butter.

£50; lakeland.co.uk

Round Homemade Bread Dough Proving Basket

When making bread, a breathable proving basket to hold the dough while it rests will allow the outer skin to dry out, helping the loaf keep its shape and forming the foundation of the crust.

£11; lakeland.co.uk

A string of countries accused of perpetrating human rights abuses are on course to win election to the United Nations Human Rights Council, despite protests from activists and political dissidents.

China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Cuba and Pakistan are expected to secure places on the governing board of the organisation in a vote today – a move described by Geneva-based monitoring group UN Watch as “like making a gang of arsonists into the fire brigade”.

Each country must win 97 votes in the UN General Assembly to be appointed as one of the council’s 14 member states, “meaning a concerted campaign among democracies could still stand a chance of blocking their election”, The Times reports.

But “thanks to backroom deals”, Cuba and Russia are running unopposed, while China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are competing with Nepal and Uzbekistan for Asia’s four seats, the newspaper says.

The UK government is among the global powers that have been urged to oppose their election. Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy has written to her opposite number Dominic Raab citing UN guidance that countries should “take into account the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights” when voting, The Guardian reports.

Arguing that the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang is “prima facie, a crime against humanity”, Nandy and Labour are calling on Downing Street to “oppose China’s election” and “make clear to the world the reasons for doing so”.

If elected, it would be China’s fifth term on the council, having waited nine months to be eligible again under the terms of re-election. Yang Jianli, an exiled dissident, last week told a press conference organised by UN Watch that during the past year, Beijing has “escalated human rights repression across the board”.

Downing Street has refused to confirm how Britain will vote, with a Foreign Office spokesperson simply saying that “as the foreign secretary has said, the international community will not turn a blind eye to egregious human rights violations and abuses in Xinjiang”.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that the appointment of China and Saudi Arabia, which also held a seat on the council until 2019, would “prevent scrutiny of their abuses and those by their allies”.

The New York City-based organisation’s UN director, Louis Charbonneau, argues that “serial rights abusers should not be rewarded with seats on the Human Rights Council”, adding: “It’s not good for human rights or for the rights council when the worst rights violators get elected.”

In September, “dozens of nations condemned Saudi Arabia before the council over serious rights violations and demanded accountability for the murder Jamal Khashoggi”, the dissident journalist killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey in October 2018, Al Jazzera reports.

The council has “alleged other serious rights violations in Saudi Arabia, including reports of torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances, and HRW noted the Saudi-led coalition also continues to commit war crimes against civilians in Yemen”, the news site adds.

The potential election of Russia is extremely controversial too, with Moscow accused of repeatedly carrying out state sanctioned attacks on dissidents living in foreign countries.

Appointing Russia to the body would “entirely discredit” the UN as a defender of human rights, according to Bill Browder, who founded the Global Magnitsky Justice campaign following his close adviser Sergei Magnitsky’s death in a Moscow prison after being denied medical treatment.

The Week’s daily round-up highlights the five best opinion pieces from across the British and international media, with excerpts from each.

1. Rachel Sylvester in The Times

on halting a multi-billion pound benefits cut

Red Wall Tories want a U‑turn from Johnson

“In March, the chancellor promised to do ‘whatever it takes’ to help people and businesses get through the coronavirus crisis. ‘We want to look back on this time and remember how we thought first of others and acted with decency,’ he told MPs. Alongside the furlough scheme, he announced a temporary boost to the basic rate of universal credit. It was a clear recognition that the previous level was too low for the growing number of families who would rely on the benefit. But the uplift is due to end in April and in his recent winter economic plan Mr Sunak refused to guarantee that the additional support would continue. If the government sticks to its plan and gets rid of the £20 increase, it would take the level of unemployment support to its lowest in real terms since 1990-91 and its lowest ever relative to average earnings. Of course the uplift was always supposed to be time-limited but voters are loss averse — we are far more likely to be furious when money is taken away from us than to be grateful if we receive more.”

2. Richard Brooks in The Guardian

on ruining the state’s ability to function

The failure of test and trace shows the folly of handing huge contracts to private giants

“The multibillion pound surge in outsourcing of public services during Covid-19 has attracted many headlines, but it is not just a public spending scandal. It is a vivid demonstration of our government’s inability to perform the essential roles society asks of it. Furthermore, this dependency on outsourcing to profit-driven companies undermines any promise to ‘build back better’. After drastic public health services cuts over the past decade – coupled with extensive outsourcing of procurement to commercial logistics companies – a stripped-down health service was under-resourced for the challenge of a pandemic. The only feasible response was what is increasingly the default choice across government: outsource the work required. Covid-19 has prompted a gold rush for government contracts not seen since the heady days of New Labour’s private finance initiative.”

3. Rupert Hawksley in The Independent

on the cold, dark coming months

Don’t kid yourself – a long, hard winter of lockdown awaits

“The government must not assume that we will be okay, simply because we know the routine. The casualness with which local lockdowns have been imposed and lifted, as well as the poor messaging, suggests that this government thinks rounding us up and shutting the gate as and when infections rise is straightforward. It isn’t. If we are required to do it, our mental health cannot be disregarded. As we become increasingly used to living under lockdown, whatever form that takes, the risk is that we accept feeling low as another part of the ‘new normal’. That should never be the case and the government must ensure that adequate support is put in place. A long, hard winter awaits. There is no sugar-coating it, I’m afraid. The temptation will be to hibernate – wake me up when this is over, folks. But succumb and we’ll be doing ourselves and those around us no favours.”

4. Kate Andrews in The Spectator

on the oncoming queues at job centres

Britain’s unemployment crisis is closing in

“When the furlough scheme comes to an end in a few weeks’ time, there will be a painful realisation for many employees that their jobs no longer exist. The Jobs Support Package — set to replace furlough — takes us well into the new year. Some workers who would have discovered this month that their job was no longer viable may now discover that later on when that package draws to a close. In this sense, unemployment still looms large: the IFS Green Budget, published today, expects the rate to increase to around 8 to 8.5 per cent (2.8 million) in the first half of 2021. As well, revisions to the ONS’s methodology for collecting unemployment data have revealed a weaker labour market over the summer than was initially published. As Capital Economics reports: ‘whereas previously employment was thought to have fallen by 94,000 since February, after adding in August’s fall it has now declined by 482,000′ — a significant revision. Meanwhile, redundancies between June and August increased by a record 114,000 on the quarter, totalling 227,000.”

5. Katelyn Beaty in The New York Times

on the Supreme Court nominee

Why Only Amy Coney Barrett Gets to Have It All

“In the Christian tradition, icons are meant to remind flawed humans of what they could become. Paintings of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and the saints remind the devout to aspire to holiness and sacrifice in their daily lives. Meditating on an icon can be a form of prayer: Lord, make me more like them. Amy Coney Barrett, whose Supreme Court confirmation hearing began Monday, is a living icon for conservative Christian women. Judge Barrett has combined the dual pathways of motherhood and career into one, showing that both can be holy vocations. Her judicial record holds out the renewed possibility of a conservative Supreme Court majority for decades; her role as a mother of seven, including two adopted children and one with special needs, is a testament to the ways her pro-life views bear out in her personal life.”