Sats results: Standards slip in Year 6 tests
Sats results show year 6 standards in reading, writing and maths have slipped in England since the pandemic. 59% of pupils met the expected level. The government says the Sats results were as expected due to the pandemic and there is ‘more work to do’ to help pupils catch up. By 2030 it wants 90% of children leaving primary school to have the expected standards in reading, writing and maths. Unions said further investment in schools and teaching staff was needed to achieve that target. The government said it values the work teachers up and down the country are putting into education recovery. £5bn has been allocated to help pupils catch up and children struggling in English and maths will ‘receive the right evidence-based targeted support to get them back on track’. The education unions and former advisor Sir Kevan Collins said the recovery fund falls short of what was required - around £15bn.
Snake Island: Russia drops phosphorus bombs
Snake Island is a critical outpost for controlling shipping lanes for the export of Ukrainian grain and accessing the key port of Odessa. After Moscow retreated from the Black Sea outpost in a ‘gesture of goodwill in order to organise humanitarian grain corridors’ they launched a barrage of strikes on the island. Russian Su-30 fighter jets used phosphorus bombs, according to the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s army, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi. Phosphorus can kill, maim and poison victims, burning through bone upon contact with flesh. Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of using the weapons multiple times during Putin’s invasion, including in attacks last month on the western city of Lutsk and Popasna in the east. Pray for victims with phosphorus burns to be swiftly transported to medical burns units for skin grafts and specialised medical support. Pray for the registration of phosphorus as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Positive eco-friendly story
‘Sand batteries’ could be a key breakthrough in storing solar and wind energy all year round. Solar energy stored in sand batteries could help get Finns through the long cold winter, which is set to be even tougher after Russia stopped its gas and electricity supplies. The new technology has been devised by young Finnish engineers Tommi Eronen and Markku Ylönen, founders of Polar Night Energy. This innovation could be used worldwide. Whilst a number of other research groups are testing the limits of sand as green energy storage, the pair are the first ones to successfully rig it to a commercial power station.
Africa: Financial trials
Ghana has previously refused to seek help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support its crippled economy. However, they will now be making a U-turn and asking the IMF to rescue them from poverty inflicted by the pandemic and inflation. Sierra Leone has launched a redenominated currency to strengthen its value. However, critics and the opposi¬tion say the redenomination of the leone is confusing and adds no value. Uganda opposition figure Besigye was released on bail after being detained in the capital Kampala for two weeks for leading protests against sky-rocketing consumer prices. See The pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war could leave a lasting financial impression for a decade. 30 million Africans experienced extreme poverty in 2021 and 22 million jobs were lost in the same year due to the pandemic. The trend is expected to continue until 2023. The economic disruptions from the Ukraine war could push a further 1.8 million Africans into extreme poverty this year.
