Conservative Party heavyweight Sajid Javid has been named as the UK's new Health Secretary after Matt Hancock was forced to quit the role for breaking Covid rules.
A former chancellor of the exchequer, Mr Javid steps in as the government tries to bring an end to coronavirus restrictions despite a rise in infections fuelled by the Delta variant of the virus.
He returns to the Cabinet more than a year after losing a power struggle with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's former adviser Dominic Cummings, who criticised the government recently.
Mr Javid was one of the contenders for the Conservative leadership in 2019. That contest was eventually won by Mr Johnson.
He subsequently became chancellor, the UK equivalent of finance minister, but resigned last year after a clash with Mr Johnson over the hiring of departmental aides.
Mr Javid said he had no option but to resign after he was ordered to replace his political advisers.
"I was unable to accept those conditions. I don't believe any self-respecting minister would accept such conditions," he said.
It followed reports of clashes between Mr Javid and Mr Cummings, who was then Mr Johnson's top adviser.
Mr Cummings was himself ousted in November amid a power struggle in the Prime Minister's Downing Street office, which was rumoured to involve Mr Johnson's wife, Carrie Johnson.
Mr Cummings suggested on Saturday that Mrs Johnson was behind Mr Javid's return to the government.
He claimed that he had "tricked" Mr Johnson into removing Mr Javid, whom he described as "bog standard" and "awful" for the National Health Service.
Mr Javid said his top priority now was to bring about a "return to normal" in the UK.
"We are still in a pandemic and I want to see that come to an end as soon as possible," he said.
High-flying family
Mr Javid’s Pakistani parents arrived in the UK in 1961, where his father worked as a bus driver in Rotherham, northern England before setting up his clothing business, Scallywags, in Bristol.
The middle sibling of five children, he acknowledges his Muslim heritage but does not practise a religion.
His brother Basit is deputy assistant commissioner at London’s Metropolitan Police; Atif is a property entrepreneur and Khalid is the founder of property finance firm Blackstone Financial Solutions.
The eldest brother Tariq, 52, was found dead in a Sussex hotel in 2018 having taken his own life. Tariq had been a successful retail entrepreneur.
Mr Javid has spoken of his personal memories of racial abuse as a child.
He graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in economics and politics in 1991 as the first of his family to attend university.
He had a successful career in the upper echelons of the financial sector, starting with a spell at New York’s Chase Manhattan bank.
On his return to Britain, he worked at Deutsche Bank International, rising to the board of directors.
He was elected MP for Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, in 2010. He is married and has four children.
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
The five pillars of Islam
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
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
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
