No safety for children asylum seekers?
With reference to Nicky Harley's report Inside the battle to save the child asylum seekers taken from UK migrant hotels (March 10): It is alarming to read that since July 2021, 4,600 child migrants have been placed in hotels. I feel for their plight and cannot imagine what might happen to the 76 minors who have gone missing. It makes one question why we allow children in on their own, without at least one parent or a trusted accompanying adult who can take responsibility for them.
If minors are with their parents, asylum hotels could be ok. But reading about the many children under 16 who have gone missing, with the reports of criminal gangs and exploitation, it is upsetting to imagine their fate in trafficking rackets. One can only hope that they're found soon. They've presumably been a lot already to have sought asylum in the first place, add to that more trauma. It would take a lot to recover from such circumstances.
Kevin D, Abu Dhabi
The courage of medics volunteering in Ukraine
With reference to the video report by Oliver Marsden Meet the Finnish medic risking her life to volunteer in Ukraine (March 14): This is very inspiring. The work that people like her and all evacuation teams are doing for refugees is fantastic. These are super human tasks and they take a lot of courage and bravery. All good wishes and a lot of luck to her.
Bhupinder Singh Mamik, Dehradun, India
The challenge of the global population
About Patrick Ryan's article Global energy crisis compounds misery for refugees, Dubai conference hears (March 14): Professor Mukesh Kapila made many valid points regarding state of affairs about dire circumstances facing world refugee crises. However, nowhere in his address did he mention why such circumstances are at an increase worldwide. It’s like we are chasing a moving target when we know full well what is the root cause of our ills. The truth is that we are in a spiral, directly connected to population growth. It seems to be a natural progression without a solution in sight. Thus the well-read and well-informed academicians will continue toeing the line while skirting the real elephant in the room.
G Mangat, Cincinnati, US
A football fan's praise for Ronaldo
With regard to John McAuley's article Cristiano Ronaldo booked and hooked as Al Nassr advance in King's Cup (March 14): Nobody would talk much about these teams without the five-time Ballon d’Or winner being there so – great job, Ronaldo.
Perla Kormos, Budapest, Hungary
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
