It may surprise you but there is some good news in what follows, even if, like so much of our world right now, it begins with something not so cheerful.
A friend, a news-junkie, tells me that recently she cannot bear to switch the news on TV or look at a newspaper. “Is there no good news?” she wondered. “Anywhere?”
Another friend said that normally she wakes up at 7am to the radio news but has switched to a music-only channel because she “just cannot bear” hearing any more about coronavirus, US President Donald Trump and foreign conflicts about which she can do nothing.
News fatigue affects us all, including those of us in the news business. The unimaginable, unforeseen horror of the Beirut explosions last week suggests a world out of our control.
Watching from afar those reporters in Lebanon telling the world about the tragedy, it struck me that what news reporters do is not just a piece of professional work, it is often a piece of their hearts.
Behind those news reports from that great city we heard reporters who themselves are citizens, brothers, sisters, friends, of those whose lives have been shattered, and who personally are deeply affected, but who weep off-camera.
In a much smaller way, the past few days had a touch of personal sadness for me too. We saw the passing of one of the few human beings I have ever met who I believe unreservedly requires the term "a great man" – the Irish politician and Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume.
Hume really was Ireland's Nelson Mandela. He stood like a rock for fairness and peace, and against bigotry and violence. He sat down with the gunmen of the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland. He persuaded them to change – and they did. He was welcomed in the White House, the European Parliament and in the homes of the ordinary people of Derry, the Northern Irish city where he had his roots.
Hume befriended me and helped me endlessly when I was a young reporter during the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland commonly known as "The Troubles". He put me right countless times. He made the world a better place.
Hume died with dementia. It is a terrible curse, not just for those directly affected, but also for their families. When former US president Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, his wife Nancy described it as "the long, long goodbye". She added that "when you come right down to it, you're in it alone and there's nothing that anybody can do for you. So it's lonely".
But in all that sadness, that is where the good news comes in: dementia rates are falling all around the world.
A Harvard University study published in the journal Neurology says that dementia rates dropped 13 per cent each decade for the past 27 years. In Britain, the likelihood of a man dying with dementia fell by almost a quarter, 22 per cent, in a decade. The study involved 50,000 people in Europe and the US, although there could be implications for people around the world and, as usual, further studies are needed.
The rate of decline in dementia in women is not so clear, but researchers believe lifestyle changes may provide the key. Healthier lifestyles – including giving up smoking, and many more at-risk older people taking a class of drugs called statins – mean reductions in cardio-vascular disease, such as strokes and heart attacks. There may also be a link between better heart health and lower dementia rates.
Other researchers speculate that better-educated populations and more stimulating lives for older people could reduce cognitive impairment. Gill Livingston, a researcher in University College London, suggests that even encouraging the use of hearing aids might help elderly people with hearing loss by preventing them from withdrawing from conversations and other activities that stimulate the brain.
Despite so much gloomy news, in the words of the 17th century English theologian Thomas Fuller, perhaps 'the darkest hour is just before the dawn'
One other bit of good news – well, possibly – caught my eye this week. The British government, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson leading the charge, is suggesting that we all get fitter and lose some weight, since so many are obese.
Unfortunately it is – as usual with Mr Johnson – a confusing message, since it comes as his government is offering cheaper meal deals to those eating out, including in fast food restaurants, in the hope of boosting the economy rather than trimming waistlines. But despite so much gloomy news, in the words of the 17th century English theologian Thomas Fuller, perhaps “the darkest hour is just before the dawn".
When during the 1990s many in Northern Ireland accepted terrorism as a fact of life, Hume believed in the dawn. He never ceased in his efforts for peace. Perhaps Covid-19 will encourage us all to improve our health. And while it may be difficult to imagine anything good coming from Beirut’s darkest hour, if Hume were alive, he would encourage us to help the people of Lebanon and to change its dismally corrupt politics.
For my friends who find the daily news so grim – I do too. But among it all, there are always reasons to hope. Losing hope is the worst news of all.
Gavin Esler is a journalist, author and presenter
Everton 1 Stoke City 0
Everton (Rooney 45 1')
Man of the Match Phil Jagielka (Everton)
RESULT
Bayern Munich 5 Eintrracht Frankfurt 2
Bayern: Goretzka (17'), Müller (41'), Lewandowski (46'), Davies (61'), Hinteregger (74' og)
Frankfurt: Hinteregger (52', 55')
Results
Stage 4
1. Dylan Groenewegen (NED) Jumbo-Visma 04:16:13
2. Gaviria (COL) UAE Team Emirates
3. Pascal Ackermann (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe
4. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal
General Classification:
1. Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 16:46:15
2. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:07
3. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 0:01:35
4. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:40
5. Rafal Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
