Student protesters at Stanford Law School prevented US Circuit Court Judge Kyle Duncan from delivering a guest lecture. Duncan, who is on the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, had been invited by student organisation the Federalist Society to talk about the impact of his court’s decisions on rulings by the Supreme Court. Liberal students denounced Duncan for allegedly threatening rights of some groups, including LGBTQ+ individuals and black voters. Around 100 protesters jeered the Federalist Society students when they entered the lecture room. A group of between 50 and 70 protesters continued to shout personal insults and use vulgar language to disrupt the speech. Although the law school has guidelines prohibiting disruption, none of the five school administrators present attempted to enforce them. Duncan stated later that he believed the event had been a “setup”.
Conservative non-profit organisation, the Dustin Inman Society, is suing the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for defamation. The SPLC is renowned for its “hate map” that features so-called “hate groups” across the United States. The map includes neo-Nazi groups and the Ku Klux Klan, as well as conservative organisations that disagree with the SPLC's policy positions. The Dustin Inman Society, based in Georgia, has been campaigning against illegal immigration and advocating enforcement of immigration laws, and was not classified as a hate group until a staffer at the SPLC registered as a lobbyist opposing legislation it favoured. Most of the evidence the SPLC cited in branding the organisation a hate group traced back to before a 2011 Associated Press interview in which Heidi Beirich, then-director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project, specifically stated it was not a “hate group.”
Nationwide profits have risen 39% this year, boosted by rising interest rates. The UK’s largest building society warned that the higher costs faced by customers could push people towards financial difficulties. CEO Debbie Crosbie stated, “We will continue to support those borrowers who face payment difficulties.” Nationwide's pre-tax profits rose to £2.2bn ($2.8bn), as revenues rose to £4.7bn, which was a 20% increase. The society also announced it would provide eligible members with a £100 “fairer share payment”, with a total value of £340m. Provisions for bad loans rose to £126m, compared to an unwinding of provisions of £27m the previous year.
Nationwide, the UK’s largest building society, is to pay £340m to customers in an unusual move following a 40% surge in annual profit due to a string of Bank of England rate hikes. It will make a £100 payment to eligible customers in July and plans to do so again in future years. CEO Debbie Crosbie explains that the move is possible because the company is owned by its customers.
The UK's largest building society, Nationwide, has announced that it will return £340m to its millions of members following record annual profits of £2.2bn. Members, of which there are 16.3 million, will be notified on Friday if they are eligible for the cash payment of roughly £100, and the company plans to give members annual distributions going forward. Alongside its "Fairer Share" scheme, Nationwide is offering all members a bond paying a rate of 4.75%.
Chinese researchers have developed a test called preimplantation DNA methylation screening that could dramatically increase the success rate of fertility treatments by verifying the health of developable embryos. Chinese authorities are eager to take steps to increase the current population, which fell for the first time in sixty years last year. According to the research, the live birth rate of assisted reproductive technology, often having an IVF process, increased from under 30% to 72%.
Retirees considering drawing down money from their registered retirement income funds (RRIFs) earlier than the revenue agency's mandated age of 71 need first to appreciate what tax bracket they will be in after retirement, according to Doug Chandler, Canadian retirement research actuary at the Society of Actuaries in Calgary. The highest tax brackets will be for those people whose Old Age Security is clawed back, Chandler told Globe Advisor. Despite that, he said "the answer isn't that clear" and that financial advisers need to consider what their clients want – whether the size of the estate that goes to beneficiaries is more important than the risk of financial distress. Chandler recommends advisors project various scenarios for clients and be aware of the fact "that Canada’s tax rates are not linear".
Nationwide, the UK's largest building society, is set to distribute £340m in cash to its customers after posting record profits of £2.2bn. The move by Nationwide comes as part of its "Fairer Share" scheme, which will see customers who are eligible for payment informed on Friday, with payments being made in June. The payments are equivalent to £100 for millions of the building society's members and will be subject to the organisation's financial strength each year. Nationwide is also offering all members a Fairer Sharer Bond to pay a rate of 4.75%.
Nationwide Building Society has said it will distribute £100 ($139) payments to 3.4 million of its members in June, following good financial results. The £340m windfall will be sent to members who hold certain qualifying accounts. Nationwide has touted the payments under the title of "Fairer Share" and say the scheme is aimed at customers "with the deepest relationships".
Nationwide Building Society is sending a £100 windfall to 3.4 million members who have "the deepest relationships" with the bank. A total of £340m ($480m) is being distributed to those with a qualifying current account, and either a qualifying savings or mortgage product. To qualify for the Fairer Share payment the current account must have been opened by March 31 2023, and still be held by June 2023. Eligible members will be contacted by the bank from 20 May with funding expected to be received by all automatically from June.
Nationwide Building Society will pay £100 ($130) to each of its 3.4 million most loyal savers in June, at a total cost to the lender of £340m, after reportedly posting its strongest financial results ever. Customers who have both a Nationwide qualifying current account and either a savings product or mortgage will automatically receive the windfall, assuming they held these on 31 March. The building society said it wanted to reward its longest-serving customers. Nationwide also plans to introduce the Fairer Share Bond, a two-year fixed-rate bond at 4.75%, which will be offered to all 16 million members.
Revenue at Tesla Motors UK rose 75% to £2.8bn last year despite spiralling electricity prices eating into sales demand for electric vehicles. The manufacturer registered profits of £31m. The company has reduced the prices of its leading models in the UK to boost sales. Tesla's Model Y sold 35,551 vehicles last year, making it Britain's most popular electric car. Policymakers and industry analysts suggested the market for EVs had peaked, and less-affluent buyers were deterred by persistently high battery prices.
Nationwide Building Society has launched Nationwide Fairer Share, a new reward for its members ' with the deepest relationships’. A £340m ($470m) pot will be distributed to eligible members holding qualifying products - a current account, savings or mortgage product - with payments to be automatically sent out in June to account holders who held the relevant product on 31 March. Nationwide also launched a Fairer Share Bond, with a 4.75% rate available to all the society's 16 million members.
A Bolivian priest has been arrested and placed in pre-trial detention on suspicion of abusing seminary students. Milton Murillo, a Catholic parish priest at the Church of San Roque, is being held in relation to abuses committed 10 years ago. The case surfaced following the recent emergence of a scandal involving Jesuit Alfonso Pedrajas, who left behind a diary confessing to abusing 85 minors in Catholic boarding schools in Bolivia during the 1970s and 1980s. The Bolivian government is setting up a Truth Commission to investigate allegations of sexual abuse against children and may pass a law abolishing statutes of limitations for these types of crimes.
Bruce Power workers vote overwhelmingly in favour of strike at nuclear plant
CBC
23-05-19 18:43
The Society of United Professionals has announced that 1,200 of the roughly 4,000 employees at the Bruce Power nuclear plant in Ontario, Canada, have voted to strike over a range of issues. These include forced shift work for day workers, the need for whistleblower protection provisions and the contracting out of union members' work. Accusing the plant's management of being "highly profitable" thanks to the contributions of employees, the union's local vice president, Dave Ceksters, also noted that hybrid and remote work arrangements were a major issue for employees. Bruce Power generates 30% of Ontario's electricity.
Toronto Star has won four awards of excellence in the international Society for News Design’s annual competition. The Toronto-based newspaper won three awards in the special coverage category and one award in the features cover category. The awards contest honours excellence in print and digital visual storytelling, design and journalism that was produced in 2022. More than 2,700 entries in 11 categories were received from around the world, with the winners selected by 27 international judges. The winners were chosen to recognise “outstanding and excellent visual storytelling.”
The vice-chancellor of Oxford University, Irene Tracey, has defended the right of feminist Kathleen Stock to speak on campus, calling it a matter of “freedom of speech”. Stock, who quit as a lecturer at the University of Sussex following controversy over her views on gender identity, is due to speak at the Oxford Union later this month. Some student groups have called for her invitation to be cancelled and a protest is to be held on the day of the talk. Tracey said that enabling students to deal with differing viewpoints is part of the university’s role.
Fewer than one-quarter of surveyed British customers would invest in an electric car (EV) when they go on sale in the UK in 2025, according to data from insurer Aviva and The Daily Telegraph. However, the poll revealed that customers saw lower running costs and environmental benefits as positive factors of owning an EV, though more than 50% still believed the cars were less safe than petrol cars. Respondents also said the cost of EVs and the lack of charging points around the country were hampering adoption. The figures conflict with recent research carried out by the RAC Foundation and the International Council for Clean Transport, which found EV uptake rates could climb to one-third of new car sales by 2025 if the motivation was there for consumers.
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is launching an awareness campaign to improve diagnosis rates for dementia among Black and Asian people. Over 25,000 people from ethnic minority backgrounds have dementia in England and Wales, including many who remain undiagnosed, with this number projected to grow seven-fold by 2060. The campaign’s launch coincides with Dementia Action Week in 2023. The move follows a report critical of the NHS for its lack of support for dementia patients from ethnic minorities, and revelations that hospitals have failed to identify dementia in 30% of patients.
The Village Landais in Dax, south-west France, is a purpose-built community for elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease. It is, in essence, a large care home: all 120 residents have Alzheimer’s disease, but there are no wardens. They live independently in small, self-contained houses on the 17-acre site, each designed for four to eight people, in flats arranged around leafy squares. The village has a grocery store, a hair salon and library, and a few months ago opened its own pub, called La Dernière Séance (“The Last Picture Show”). Access is controlled with key codes to control residents wandering off. The cost of building the village, at €28 million, was funded largely by the state. It has been hailed as a model of cutting-edge dementia care, with a holistic approach that has seen it compared to a spa or holiday resort. It is staffed by a team of around 50 carers. At present, waiting lists are so long that some people have applied for French citizenship to qualify for a space in the village.
