COVID: how incorrect assumptions and poor foresight hampered the UK’s pandemic preparedness: Loveandrock/Shutterstock Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, has told the recently opened COVID-19 Inquiry that the UK’s pandemic planning was “completely wrong”. According to Hancock, the doctrine was “to plan for the consequences of a disaster” rather than stopping or containing the virus …
UK work visa for elite graduates is exclusive and based on flawed assumptions: The UK's high potential individual visa demonstrates short-sightedness about the experience, insights and skills that graduates from the global South could bring to the UK. Shutterstock The UK government’s announcement of a new work visa option aimed at attracting top graduates has …
Fossil lamprey larvae from South Africa overturn assumptions about vertebrate origins: A reconstruction of the Priscomyzon family. Kristen Tietjen Lampreys are an extremely bizarre order of fishes. Together with their cousins, the hagfish, they are the only living group of vertebrates branching from the family tree of animals before they had developed jaws. Vertebrates are …
Problematic assumptions raise questions about South Africa’s new land reform plan: Small-scale farming creates more jobs in South Africa.This one is in Soweto, Johannesburg. Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images/Getty Images The South African government recently announced a plan to allocate 700,000 hectares of state land to black farmers. Exactly how many farms and beneficiaries this will involve …