News Read - 17th May 2017
Hello hello hello! This is what Iâve been reading today!
1) FT -Â British MPs targeted by hackers in co-ordinated attack
Interestingly enough, it seems that Russia is apparently trying to discredit politicians in the Western world who they donât like. Apparently this was seen in Britain before the General Election was announced with fewer than 10 MPâs and their political staff although no one in the cabinet was actually targeted so it does appear that although there could be a threat to meddling in the upcoming election, it doesnât seem to be affecting us just yet.
The group identified in Russia was supposedly responsible for the discrediting of Hillary Clinton as well as Emmanuel Macron. Luckily for us it doesnât always work its magic though!
2) BBC News - Brexit: Lib Dem manifesto pledges new EU referendum
This was an interesting one to read because I havenât really looked into what the Liberal Democrats have decided to offer this time around having lost 50 seats in the 2015 general election after they backed up on many of their promises in their coalition with the Tories. One of these was the scrapping of tuition fees which clearly didnât happen.Â
This article shows that the main things they want to pledge are:
- free school meals - housing benefits for young people to help them up the housing ladder - 66% off of local transport for 16-21 year olds - Building 300,000 more houses a year (this will cost ÂŁ3 billion by 2022).
The main thing they appear to want to do this time is to brighten the futures of the children of this country and although I donât agree with Brexit, I donât think people will buy the Lib Demâs version of democracy, allowing it to be overturned, particularly the EU.Â
3) Â BBC Health - 'Fat but fit is a big fat myth'Â
This is an interesting article that attempts to weigh up the risks of being obese but otherwise metabolically healthy and whether there is enough evidence for or against the claim that this is a state which can be maintained and is possible. The main point that I took away from the article is that simply being overweight, even if youâre well now can lead to you developing heart problems and blood pressure problems simply because of that fact. The other main point I took away is that often being overweight can suggest that your health could be improved generally by eating better and taking care of yourself.
I am wary of saying that because I know thatâs a hard thing to do for various reasons but I am willing to bet that by ingraining good eating and well being habits into yourself as soon as you can is more likely to lead to you living a longer and healthier life generally.Â
And to finish:
4) The Economist - Labourâs dangerous safe space
A short and brilliant article about how although it doesnât seem as though the Tories are anywhere near as loud on social media as Labour, they are loud where it counts, quietly and targeting people who may have been either swing voters or perhaps less likely to vote overall. This worked for them in 2015 and could work for them again this year but there is not much to be done if Labour sticks to the online echo chamber that has been created. It needs to break out and breach new territories.
Please do let me know if you read anything else that catches your eye!















