Chaos for British workers who want to emigrate to Australia as government scraps visa programme for skilled foreign workers

I came across this story, when reqding through the main page of the Daily Mail. It was publish by Anthony Joseph for MailOnline and Daniel Piotrowski for Daily Mail Australia. The article talks about the new decisions that the Australian government is putting in place regarding their visa programme.   

• Malcolm Turnbull's government is abolishing 457 visas for foreign workers  
• Jobs including pilots, butchers, web developers will be scrapped on new scheme
• 'Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs,' PM Turnbull said
• Current 457 visa holders will NOT be affected by the shocking changes 
• Around 18,000 British citizens are on 457 visas - the second highest nationality 

Britons dreaming of a new life in Australia have been dealt a major blow after its Prime Minister scrapped the visa programme for skilled foreign workers. The 457 visa programme, which is currently used by around 18,000 British citizens, will end tomorrow and will be replaced by a new one.  Australia's Department of Immigration published a list of jobs removed from the new visa regime, which includes pilots, butchers, flight attendants, futures traders, web developers, public relations managers and journalists.

According to the Australian Government, by the end of last month, there were 177,390 457 visa holders in Australia.

The main countries of citizenship for primary visa holders in Australia were India (19,360), the UK (18,270), China (6,950) and Ireland (6,780).

And the largest numbers were employed in New South Wales (40,430) followed by Victoria (23,310) and Western Australia (14,790).

The top industries of employment for primary visa holders were accommodation and food services (15,260), other services (13,890) and information, media and telecommunications (10,030).

His programme also includes a longer-term four year visa where workers will need to meet a higher standard of English.

People will need to undergo a criminal record check and show work experience. 

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the shock decision won't affect current Australian visa holders.

'There will be a grandfathering arrangement. They will continue under the conditions of that visa.'

 

They've taken her': Nanny who looked after Madeleine McCann reveals despair of Kate and Gerry when they discovered she had gone missing at Portugese resort which was so unsafe child minders were given rape alarms to walk home

This story was published by the Daily Mail by Amie Gordon For Mailonline. It refers to the ongoing story regarding the search for missing Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May, 2007

• Nanny who looked after Madeleine McCann has broken her silence after 10 years
• Said she is haunted by the image of Gerry McCann desperately trying to find her
• Child minder said Madeleine's devastated mother Kate cried, 'They've taken her'
• Claimed the resort was considered so unsafe nannies were given rape whistles

A child minder who looked after Madeleine McCann has broken her silence nearly ten years after the three-year-old went missing. The witness, who was working at the Portuguese resort where Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007, said she is still haunted by the night's events a decade on.

She said Gerry McCann desperately tried to find his missing daughter as his wife Kate wailed, 'They've taken her'.

The woman, who has not been named, reportedly looked after Madeleine several times. She told The Mirror the resort Madeleine vanished from was considered so unsafe nannies were given rape whistles and told not to go out alone.

She said: '[Kate] was pacing up and down. The worst possible thing had just happened to her. 'She was crying, but almost in a catatonic state, and Gerry was very distressed. 'That's the one thing I really remember from him, looking under the cars. I can't forget that.'

The woman also claimed police missed out 'whole chunks' of information during their investigation and took some 90 minutes to arrive at the scene.  She said there was 'no way' the McCann's had any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

An insider said police had found a person who was close by when the three-year-old went missing while on holiday in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in 2007.  The source said: ‘There is just one person who detectives want to speak to, who was near the area where Madeleine disappeared almost ten years ago. An international search has been under way to find them.’

In addition, the Portuguese detective who led the search for Madeleine McCann has promised to 'clean out' her grief-stricken parents by suing them for damaging his reputation.

Goncalo Amaral, 57, claimed in a book that Madeleine died at the McCann's holiday house in Praia da Luz and Kate and Gerry covered it up.

The McCanns won a libel case against Amaral in 2015, but this was overturned on appeal and that decision upheld in another court.

This means Amaral is now able to sue the McCanns for damages potentially totalling tens of thousands of pounds.

 

North Korea vows to conduct WEEKLY missile tests and threatens 'all-out war' if Trump is 'reckless enough to use military means'

I found this news article on the Daily Mail page. It was published by Alex Matthews For Mailonline and talks about Vice Presidents’ Mike Pence’s visit to the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea.

• VP first visited a military base near the DMZ as tensions between the US and North Korea were ratcheted up
• Pence arrived at Camp Bonifas on Monday morning for a briefing with military leaders
• After North Korea's failed test National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said 'all our options are on the table' to try to 'avoid the worst'
• Frantic talks were taking place with allies including China to 'develop a range of options' regarding N Korea
• Trump and McMaster hope China will convince its neighbor to stop the crisis from escalating

 

North Korea has threatened to launch weekly missile tests after US Vice President Mike Pence warned that the 'era of patience' with Kim Jong-un is over.

Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol has ramped up the tension between the two nations by saying: 'We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis.'

He also said that an 'all out war' was a possibility if the US responded by taking military action against Pyongyang.

The secretive state's deputy U.N. ambassador has also accused Washington of turning the Korean peninsula into 'the world's biggest hotspot' and creating 'a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment.'

Kim In Ryong told a news conference today that U.S.-South Korean military exercises being staged now are the largest-ever 'aggressive war drill.'

He said North Korea's measures to bolster its nuclear forces are self-defensive 'to cope with the US vicious nuclear threat and blackmail.'

Before adding that his country 'is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US.'

B1. Discuss the marketing strategies used by your selected industry. Refer to your three main texts.

Marketing strategies are an important tool used across all media industries as they help to ensure that the targeted audience build their knowledge about the text prior to its release, in order to increase their viewing/purchase of it. When taking a more focused look, the texts within the film industry in particular all follow the film promotion process. This is known as the practice of promotion specifically in the film industry, and usually occurs in coordination with the process of film distribution. It therefore, includes factors such as; press releases, advertising campaigns, merchandising, franchising, media and interviews with the key people involved with the making of the film, like actors and directors. Within this short essay, I will be exploring and discussing the different marketing strategies and how they are used in my three chosen texts:

·      ‘Skyfall’ (2012)

·      ‘Kingsman; The secret service’ (2014)

·      ‘Pride’ (2014)

First of all, Celebrity branding is a very commonly used form of advertising campaign or marketing strategy, which involves celebrities their social status or their fame to help promote the film. A trace of this technique can be identified to have been used in ‘Skyfall’, with Daniel Craig playing the main character in the film; James Bond. As a result, the audience who are already familiar with the actor due to his previous successful roles in ‘Casino Royale’ (also from the James Bond series) and other film like; ‘The girl with the dragon tattoo’ and ‘Infamous’ as well as his fans, will straight away be attracted to watch the next text he will be starring in, as they will expect the film to be of a high standard and with good acts preformed.

Similarly, ‘Kingsman; the secret service’ also follows the same marketing trick as one of the main roles in the movie is played by Colin Firth, a Golden Globe Award winner for his role in ‘The King’s Speech’ (2010). This as a result, means that fans of the actor as well as, people who have previously seen films with him in them will be more attracted to see ‘Kingsman’ due to the knowledge of his acting skills.

Films are also marketed through various posters and billboards which, can be found around cinemas, high streets as well as, on buses. ‘Skyfall’ was marketed traditionally through posters on various Billboards around the Centre of London, on billboards in tube stations and posters on buses. Additionally, there were even complete trains covered with Skyfall ads. Following, the movies further success, it is not also known to have become the first film to lend its name to a train in the UK, after the East Coast train was unveiled on Platform 007 at London King’s Cross Station, meaning that the movie as well as, all other James Bond movies will continue to be advertised even after the main marketing strategies have ended. ‘Kingsman’ however, took a completely different approach to the marketing of the film and instead of relying on billboards, 20th Century Fox has launched an interactive movie trailer to promote its latest film Kingsman: The Secret Service, created to let users navigate through a series of gamified challenges to explore the film.

Using this type of marketing, means that the audience can get much more creative with it, leading them into becoming an active audience before they have even seen the movie. As a result this helps to encourage them to see the film itself to find out how the storyline of the film correlates with the events they decided upon in the ‘game’.

The independent film ‘Pride’ however, comes into contrast once again. The film was promoted on a much smaller, which some may even consider a ‘more budget’ scale, as it was completed through trailers which were advertised on social media and YouTube. This was done as advertising this way is better for independent studios because it is more cost effective; it would cost a lot less for the company to promote their film by posting trailers on the internet, as opposed to paying for TV advertisements. Furthermore, the film was also promoted in newspapers and magazines through the reviews. These would have influenced others to go watch the films and would attract audiences. This can be good publicity for the film and can spread either a good or bad reputation.

Insurance premiums set to soar after compensation changes

I was able to find this story on the BBC News Page. It was published on the 27^th February 2017 by Brian Milligan; Personal Finance reporter.

The story reveals how the average car insurance premiums could increase by up to £75 a year as a result of a government ruling as the industry experts have said.

A new formula for calculating compensation payments for those who suffer long-term injuries has been announced by the Ministry of Justice.

But the Association of British Insurers (ABI) called the decision "crazy".

The Ministry of Justice said it had no choice under the current law, and said it would consult on possible changes.

Shares in insurance companies fell, with some saying that profits would be hit by millions of pounds.

·      What the change means?

When the victim of an accident is awarded compensation in a lump sum, the discount rate reduces their payout.

This is to make up for the extra money they could make by investing that lump sum over many years.

The Ministry of Justice has decided to reduce the discount rate from 2.5% to minus 0.75%.

This is because the formula is based on gilt yields, or the interest rate on government bonds.

By the time inflation is taken into account, real returns on such bonds have become negative.

'£1,000 increase'

Reducing the discount rate to minus 0.75% was a "crazy decision", said Huw Evans, director-general of the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

"Claims costs will soar, making it inevitable that there will be an increase in motor and liability premiums for millions of drivers and businesses across the UK," he said.

"We estimate that up to 36 million individual and business motor insurance policies could be affected in order to over-compensate a few thousand claimants a year."

Experts said higher insurance premiums could cost drivers under the age of 22 up to £1,000 a year.

"We anticipate an increase of £50-£75 on an average comprehensive motor insurance policy, with higher increases for younger and older drivers - potentially up to £1,000 for younger drivers, and a rise of up to £300 for older drivers," said Mohammad Khan, UK general insurance leader at accountancy firm PwC.

However, accident victims are set to benefit as they will receive higher pay-outs.

Lawyers who had campaigned in favour of the changes welcomed the news.

"People already coping with the most severe injuries have been deprived of the help and care they need for years," said the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.