FORD PULLS THE PLUG ON PETROL CARS
BRITAIN’S most popular motoring brand will not come with an internal combustion engine from 2030 after Ford revealed that it would go allelectric for new cars in Europe by the end of the decade.
The announcement was seen as a statement of intent by the American group, in contrast with the vaguer zeroemission targets of its main rivals in the European market.
Ford, one of America’s three big automotive manufacturers, has not made a car in Britain for two decades. It confirmed that its plant at Cologne in Germany would become the central location for its drive into electrification in a $1bn investment programme.
The company said that by 2026 all new Ford cars in Europe would be fully electric or plug-in hybrid with a petrol engine back-up.
It said that by 2030 all new cars would be fully electric.
FRESH from his seventh consecutive Australian Open title, Dylan Alcott is serving up his plan to improve the treatment of people with disabilities in hospitals.
His organisation Get Skilled Access is seeking $1.4m from the federal government for a trial across five hospitals, in which people with disabilities would educate and train health professionals on disability awareness and inclusive practices.
It comes after the organisation identified problematic incidents during the pandemic, including a person with a disability in Victoria who had their home coronavirus test repeatedly delayed, meaning they had to drive and wait three hours at a testing site. Another case involved a non-verbal
COVID-19 patient denied access to a carer and then put in quarantine with limited communication.
In its submission to the government, the organisation said there was “a significant gap in disability understanding and inclusion capability in the health sector”.
“COVID-19 highlighted the unique problems Australians with a disability face in our health system,’’ Alcott said.
LONDON: The Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, has been admitted to a London hospital as a “precautionary measure”, according to a statement from Buckingham Palace. Other sources said he was not suffering from symptoms of COVID-19.
The 99-year-old was said to be in “good spirits” in the private King Edward VII Hospital in Marylebone, where the palace said he was taken on Tuesday evening (UK time) after he complained of feeling unwell.
The Duke of Edinburgh was ”expected to remain in hospital for a few days of observation and rest”, the palace statement added.
Sources said he was not taken in by ambulance and had felt well enough to walk into the hospital.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office said the PM had sent his “best wishes to the Duke of Edinburgh as he undergoes a few days of rest”.
The duke and the Queen, 94, have been maintaining social distancing rules at Windsor Castle because of their age, and they received their first COVID-19 vaccinations in January.
Philip is becoming increasingly frail. He retired from public duties in 2017, aged 96, following a hospital stay for an infection. He had a hip operation in 2018, and he spent four nights at King Edward Hospital in 2019 suffering from a “pre-existing condition”.