As Parliament resumes, our next item of business is consideration of business motion <IP_ADDRESS> in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, on the suspension of standing orders in relation to consideration of an SSI later this afternoon. I would ask any member who wishes to speak against the motion to press their request-to-speak button now, and I call on Joe Fitzpatrick to move motion <IP_ADDRESS>. Formally moved. Thank you. No one is asked to speak against the motion. The question is that motion <IP_ADDRESS> be agreed. Are we agreed? We are. So the next item of business is portfolio questions. Question 1 has not been lodged. Question 2, Rhoda Grant. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported shortage of dentists in rural and island communities. Mr Eileen Campbell. Thank you. We have seen a substantial increase under this Government in the numbers of high-street dentists providing NHS dental care in Scotland. We recognise the potential challenges facing very remote and island communities, and that is why we have put recruitment and retention allowances for high-street dentists in place. The areas where those allowances are available are reviewed annually to ensure that the needs of our island and rural communities are reflected. Rhoda Grant. I thank the minister for that answer, but it has had little impact. She will be aware that a dentist's practice has closed in use with proposals to close another one there. The lack of dentists in Lewis means that 6,000 people are without a dentist in a similar situation in Shetland, where people are being asked to fly to the mainland to access private dental treatment. Nothing that she has specified has changed that. It is not enough, and she knows the poor dental health impacts on an individual's overall health. What is she going to do to make sure that my constituents can access dental services close to home? Officials are working closely with the board in relation to Lewis in the past few months, and we expect a new high-street dental practice to open within the coming months in Stornoway. As soon as an opening date has been confirmed, we will be sure to let interested members know about that. In Shetland, capacity has been built because this is the first time that a high-street dental practice is offering NHS dental services happening, and that will open in Shetland. That will enable the board to free up the public dental service to ensure that those islands that are further away from the mainland of Shetland have access to dentists. However, I should point out that this record of this Government is strong when it comes to dentists. Over 91 per cent of the people in Scotland are registered within NHS Dentist. That is compared to only 52 per cent in September 2007, so what we inherited in 2007 has been drastically overcome. We will continue to build on that record to ensure that people across the country, regardless of whether they live in rural or island communities, get the access that they deserve. Edward Mountain I want to question the minister further, because it is not just about dental health. In Caithness, we have the situation where there are plans for a many NHS Highland to pull services between three medical surgeries, which is totally unacceptable. Does the minister have a view on that, or is that acceptable as well? I was slightly tangential, but if the minister can briefly respond. I think that we are endeavoured to ensure that we engage with the member about the issues. What we are doing as a Government is ensuring that adequate provision is provided locally for people who are requiring medical help and support, and ensuring that the clinical health service is driven by evidence that ensures that appropriate sightings of specialist services are delivered in a safe way for patients. We have a strong record again on ensuring that medical provision and medical support are provided in localities suited to people, and we will again, in the issue that Edward Mountain raises, continue to work with him to ensure that that provision can be enhanced. Gillian Martin I have a relevant supplementary question. I remember a situation in Aberdeen in Aberdeenshire a year ago, when there were queues around the block to register with NHS dentists. Such was the demand of patients relative to the shortage of NHS dentists. Can I ask the minister how the number of dentists has been trained and employed to deliver NHS services has changed in the last decade? The minister will note that it is for the chair to decide which is relevant and what is not relevant. Gillian Martin is right and correct to point out that there has been significant change over the past 10 years. Part of that success has been down to the opening of Aberdeen dental school, whereby the member represents in 2008, which has helped to increase the supply of dentists in the north of Scotland by 31 per cent over the same period. Over the past 10 years, the number of dentists providing NHS general dental service, both independent and employed, has increased by almost 30 per cent. We now have nearly 3,350 dentists in Scotland, providing NHS general dental services. We continue to train dentists to ensure that the dental workforce of the future reflects the needs of our population, with 178 students expected to graduate this year compared to 133 in 2008. Colin Beattie To ask the Scottish Government how many nurses from the rest of the EU have registered to work in Scotland since the EU referendum was held, in the light of a recent report suggesting that there has been a 96 per cent decline for the UK as a whole. Shona Robison It is important to note that, despite the huge drop in registrations across the UK as a whole that the member refers to, the nursing and midwifery council has recorded an increase of approximately 7.4 per cent over the year to May 2017, and the number of EU-trained nurses registered to an address in Scotland. Colin Beattie I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. The cabinet secretary might be aware that, as the nursing establishment has expanded following the application of workforce planning tools, that the boards have a number of vacancies to fill. We, the minister, therefore agree that losing the option of freely recruiting nurses from elsewhere in the EU will result in great strains in the NHS and might impact on patient services across the region, and in my constituency of Midlothian North and Musselborough in particular. Shona Robison I very much agree with the member on that. The health foundation figures that the member refers to show a 96 per cent drop in the number of nurses from the EU registering to practice in the UK as a whole since July last year, and it is extremely concerning with only 46 EU nurses registering in April this year. The point is that, without EU nurses, it will be even harder for the NHS and social care providers to find the staff that they need to provide our services, which would be another negative consequence of a hard Brexit that we need to avoid. Dean Lockhart I remind the cabinet secretary that nurse shortages have existed for a long time before the EU referendum. In fact, when health secretary, the First Minister, cut nurse training places by a fifth, will the cabinet secretary accept that the current shortages of nurses in Scotland is as a result of that decision? Shona Robison Of course, what Dean Lockhart has not acknowledged is that we have more qualified nurses and midwives than previously. The number has increased by more than 2,700 whole-time equivalent under this Government. Of course, there is more to be done, and that is why there has been a commitment. In fact, the fifth successive rise in student nursing and midwifery intakes this year, the fifth successive rise to bring us closer to delivering our commitment to create 1,000 extra nursing and midwifery training places over the course of this Parliament. I would have thought that that was something that Dean Lockhart would have welcomed. Bill Bowman To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support NHS Scotland's recruitment of nurses and midwives. Workforce planning is the responsibility of NHS boards who have fully delegated powers to recruit and plan their workforce to best serve the needs of the population. The Scottish Government works closely with NHS boards in their recruitment efforts, and a great deal is already being done to deliver sustainable solutions to workforce challenges. Since 2007, the number of qualified nurses and midwives in NHS Scotland has increased by 6.7 per cent. That is over 2,700 whole-time equivalent more qualified staff. We have also recommended a fifth successive increase in nursing and midwifery student intakes in 2017-18. Of course, a national health and social care workforce plan is being developed to strengthen workforce planning practice, including within the nursing workforce. Bill Bowman Thank you for that reply. The Royal College of Nursing wrote to me this morning and said that nursing morale is low and that teams are struggling to recruit and retain the staff that they need. The latest figures show that the nursing and midwifery vacancy rate stands at 4.5 per cent, the highest ever reported. With unful posts at this level, how will patients receive the care that they need? I will say to Bill Bowman that we work very closely with the RCN. I meet them on a regular basis and listen to any concerns that they raise. In terms of nursing vacancies, in some specialities in particular, because of the creation of more posts, that has an impact on the number of vacancies. However, it is important that vacancies are filled. Of course, some of the work that is going on with boards is to make sure that, as we drive down agency costs and the reliance on agency recruitment, part of the solution to that is the filling of substantive posts. That work is on-going with boards to make sure that vacancies are filled. There are some challenges, in particular specialities, such as pediatrics and district nursing. Partly linked to the creation of new posts. Of course, we have a major expansion of health visitor posts, which will take some time to fill, but great efforts are being made in order to do that. Anas Sarwar Under the cabinet secretary, we have seen a workforce crisis, with more than 2,500 nursing and midwifery vacancies. When will the cabinet secretary publish the workforce plan before the summer recess? When will she clamp down on the £175 million of agency spend? When will she scrap the NHS pay cap? Should we accept that the cabinet secretary to help create the problem can't be the one that can fix the problem, so instead wait for that expect to reshuffle and ask the question of the next health secretary? Anas Sarwar Such a charmer. In response to the questions that Anas Sarwar has raised, on the workforce plan, it will be published before the recess. On agency spend, the Government has less agency spend than we inherited when Labour was in power. Of course, as I answered in my previous work on the way to drive that down, but it is still less than what we inherited. On the pay cap, I would hope that we can address the issues of pay with the staff side. As I said previously, it is important that we take that issue forward. As the First Minister herself has said, in relation to the position of rising inflation and costs, we very much recognise that. The discussions with the staff side are under way in order to find a way forward that we can jointly agree on. Of course, he might also want to reflect on other parts of the islands where the pay of nurses under this Government is higher than any other parts of this Government, particularly for the lowest-paid staff in the NHS, more than £1,000 more than other parts of the islands. We have done a lot of work, and we will continue to do that work in partnership with the staff side. Stuart McMillan To ask the Scottish Government whether the health secretary has met the new chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. If so, what was discussed? I have met the new chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Jeane Grant, and we discussed matters of importance to local people. Stuart McMillan I thank the cabinet secretary for that reply. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the new chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde gives the board the opportunity to significantly improve its communications with elected representatives and the wider public, not least in matters of local service changes? Jeane Grant Yes, I expect all health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to meaningfully communicate and engage with all local stakeholders in line with national guidelines and standards, especially when local service changes are proposed. I know that the new chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is taking the opportunity to review a number of arrangements at the board and is fully committed to working effectively with local representatives and local people in the best interests of patients. Maurice Corry The people in my area of West Scotland are concerned by the suggested moving of GP out-of-hours services from the Vale of Leven hospital to RAH Paisley. It is viewed locally that this goes against the spirit and substance of the vision for the Vale. The public are concerned by the time distance that would be placed between them and a primary care source. Can the minister confirm whether the moving of GP out-of-hours services from the Vale is going to go ahead or not? Jeane Grant The issue of out-of-hours services is very challenging because Greater Glasgow and Clyde have found it very difficult to recruit GP to the out-of-hours services. Given that is the challenge, they have to continue to provide a safe service and they are having to look at the best way to do that. I would expect to make sure that people within the locality of the Vale of Leven hospital continue to get a good, safe out-of-hours service. Of course, the wider amount of work that we are doing around out-of-hours, led by Sir Lewis Ritchie, is to set up an established urgent care hubs that will be multidisciplinary in nature to make sure that we are not relying solely on GPs to provide that out-of-hours care. That is a sustainable solution, but it will take some time to roll out across Scotland. I am very happy to keep the member informed of the progress of that. Ivan McKee I am sure that the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board has decided to proceed with its plans to close Lightburn hospital and that a final decision will be passed to the cabinet secretary. Can the cabinet secretary expect to formally receive those proposals and what the process will be for consideration, for example, while the cabinet secretary will be interested to meet directly with users of the current facilities? Ivan McKee Cabinet secretary, I expect to receive the board's formal submission shortly. In all such cases, I will carefully consider all the available information and representations before coming to a final decision. That will include meeting with local service users and stakeholders to hear their views. The member will be aware of the history of Lightburn hospital and what I have said, as the First Minister said previously, that I would not consider approving proposals that do not address the concerns that were expressed previously in 2011, when the issue was last considered. Those issues have to be effectively addressed. On how long it will take to make a decision, I will take as long as it is required in order to fully look at all the issues and take the time to meet local people, as I am sure the member would expect me to do. Pauline McNeill As the cabinet secretary says, the fate of the future of Lightburn hospital remains in her hands. In her deliberations, the issue can be considering the fact that many current users of Lightburn hospital will not be able to travel to the potentially proposed sites such as Stop Hill or Parkhead, because there is no bus service. She will be aware, I am sure, that of the very low car ownership of people in the east end. Will the cabinet secretary take that factor into account when she makes her deliberations? If people cannot access the service by public transport, they cannot access the service at all. Pauline McNeill Of course, all those issues are the issues that I would look at in terms of accessibility and transport issues. Those issues are important. I can assure Pauline McNeill that I will consider that as part of my deliberations. Neil Bibby Scottish Government, when it last met NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, what issues were discussed? Pauline McNeill Both ministers and Scottish Government officials regularly meet with all health boards, including Greater Glasgow and Clyde, to discuss matters of importance to local people. Neil Bibby I last met the health secretary at a protest in Paisley against the closure of the RAS children's ward award that the Scottish Government said was safe. The health secretary cannot ignore that thousands of families and NHS staff in Renfrewshire are totally opposed to this closure. The health secretary said that she would listen. Local SNP politicians may be silent, but the message from families and staff is loud and clear. The RAS should not be downgraded and the children's ward should be saved right now. Will the health secretary and the Scottish Government therefore prove that they are finally listening to families and staff and stop the closure of the RAS children's ward without any further delay? Pauline McNeill As Neil Bibby will be aware, after I had the pleasure of meeting him on 19 May, I had a very important meeting with local parents, who are the most important people in all of this. At that meeting, which they felt was constructive and a good format in order to hear in detail some of the views of local parents, I gave an undertaking to have a further series of local meetings with local people to consider. That is the right process to undertake. I thought that Neil Bibby would appreciate that I should take the time in order to meet as many local parents as possible. I would think that it would be very odd if he thought otherwise. I will continue to do that. I have another visit planned at the beginning of July to visit the hospital and indeed to meet further local parents as part of the very clear service change process that is laid out for ministers to follow. That is what I will do. Question 7, David Stewart. To ask the Scottish Government what initiatives it is supporting to tackle obesity and type 2 diabetes. Mr Eileen Campbell. In line with the evidence, we have invested in a range of programmes to tackle obesity by making it easier for people to be more active, to eat less and to eat better. Those include football fans and training, the healthcare retail standard, eat better, feel better and a £50 million investment in active schools between 2015 and 2019. In tackling type 2 diabetes, our newly formed expert group is leading on the development and implementation of a diabetes prevention framework that will complement our wider health strategy to identify high-risk population and support early diagnosis, treatment, education and lifestyle management. David Stewart. Presiding Officer, 5 per cent of the population of Scotland have diabetes, and since 2008, there has been a 25 per cent increase in diagnoses. Diabetes costs then excess around £1 billion a year in direct costs, and the nine diabetes care processes are a key tool to prevent avoidable complications such as kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, sight loss and amputation. Will the minister introduce robust reporting and monitoring processes to assess how well each and every health board is delivering those services to people with diabetes? Minister. I appreciate the interest that David Stewart takes on that as well. The Diabetes Survey 2016 aims to be published within 12 months of the end of each calendar year, so there is already a process in gathering information. The expert group is also looking at a range of areas where we can enhance our knowledge of diabetes. The other thing that I would mention is that the obesity strategy consultation will also be important in terms of the preventative work that we can try to help people to avoid going down the route of acquiring diabetes in the first place. Tomorrow, I am speaking at a conference with podiatrists on some of the work that they are doing to enhance their knowledge on how to help treatment and help people to cope with the impact of having diabetes. I ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to support the development of more innovative approaches to improving the treatment of conditions such as diabetes. Examples of current innovative approaches include the My Diabetes, My Way, the current SBRI innovation process to develop personalised care and education for people who have type 1 diabetes and the work of the Scottish Diabetes Research Network, which supports the setup and delivery of clinical and epidemiological research across Scotland. Innovation is one of the priorities of the Scottish Diabetes Improvement Plan, and we will continue to ensure that we provide the support that the diabetes community needs to develop and adapt innovative approaches to ensure that people get the help and have the right support that they require. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce waiting times for adults referred for psychological therapies. We have put in place a £54 million comprehensive package of support to improve access to mental health services for adults on children, which will provide funding for additional staff for workforce development and for in-depth improvement support to local services. In this first year, £4.3 million has been awarded to boards across Scotland to build capacity within mental health services. Further funding has been awarded to NHS Education Scotland to provide each board an individual tailored offer of funding and workforce development. As part of a comprehensive package of support for boards, £4.6 million was announced for healthcare improvement Scotland to establish a mental health access improvement support team, which is working in partnership with boards to improve access to mental health services. I thank the minister for that response. I am glad to say that the hard work of staff at NHS Forth Valley has resulted in improvement in camp services in recent months. However, the issue of waiting times remains a problem for adults referred for psychological therapies at NHS Forth Valley. According to the latest ISD figures, only 40 per cent of adults' patients waiting for psychological treatment were seen within the Scottish Government's target timetable of 18 weeks. That left nearly 500 people waiting too long for support. Does the minister agree that NHS Forth Valley needs more support to address those concerns? I am glad that Dean Lockhart recognised the great improvements that we have seen in NHS Forth Valley in terms of waiting times for access to camp services. He has gone up from 57.1 in 2015 to 99.7 in 2017. That shows the value of the improvement that he is working with NHS Forth Valley. He should be aware that there has been an initial focus on camps. We will be looking to see from the team and from boards to share the lessons that we have learnt in camps to improve the delivery of psychological therapies to adults. We have also seen, as a result of the higher profile of mental health, almost double the number of people in NHS Forth Valley coming forward for psychological therapies. That is also why it is really important that we make sure that we increase the number of lower-intensity interventions for people who want psychological therapies. Monica Lennon The minister will know that there tends to be a sharp drop-off in referrals to psychological therapies for adults over the age of 65. From the £54 million package that the minister referred to in our earlier answer, can she say what specific work the Government is carrying out to reduce this inequality to ensure that adults across Scotland have the same level of service or access to psychological therapies regardless of their age? Monica Lennon is absolutely right that one should get access to services regardless of age. I am very well aware of the work that Age in Mind is doing in relation to that. However, the whole emphasis of the mental health strategy has been to ask one to get help fast, which applies to older people over the age of 65, as well as to anybody else. Jamie Greene To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce hospital waiting times in the west Scotland parliamentary region. I announced on 30 May that £50 million was being made available to NHS Scotland to help improvement in performance and reduce waiting times for patients. The funds are being distributed across all territorial boards, including those in the west of Scotland parliamentary region. The west of Scotland boards will receive up to £23 million in total from the additional funding. Jamie Greene I thank the Government for that answer. Last quarter, NHS North Ayrshire and Ireland had the worst waiting times of any health board in Scotland. We have only 73.6 per cent of people meeting the 18-week referral to treatment guarantee. In March this year, that was over 2,000 people waiting too long. Cabinet Secretary, why does she think that the specific health board's performance is at the bottom of the spectrum? What specific support might she be able to offer to help it improve? More important, when will she set out a timeline for when Scotland's health boards will meet the Government's own waiting time targets? I recognise some of the particular challenges in waiting times performance in Ayrshire and Ireland. I can tell the member that the board has been allocated £3.7 million to improve waiting time performance. Part of the challenge that Ayrshire and Ireland have is the recruitment and retention of key specialist staff. That has been a long-standing issue in Ayrshire and Ireland. Ayrshire and Ireland are being supported to look at solutions to that and how they will overcome some of those challenges. In terms of the plans, all boards are drawing up their clear plans for waiting time improvement and recovery performance. Those plans are due to come in to the Scottish Government very soon indeed. I will be very happy to keep Jamie Greene informed about some of the detail of the plan for Ayrshire and Ireland, if he so wishes. In the last quarter, 95.6 per cent of patients waiting for chronic pain services in Ayrshire and Ireland waited over 18 weeks. To put that into perspective, in the quarter ending in March this year, of the 295 patients referred for chronic pain, only 13 were seen within the target 18-week period. Does the cabinet secretary agree that that is completely unacceptable? What specific action is the Government taking to ensure that those suffering from chronic pain in Ayrshire and Ireland are given the treatment that they need within the Government's own targets? There is a lot of work going on. Of course, the figures for chronic pain services and the waiting times for that is something that the Scottish Government gathers information on, which is unusual. It is not really gathered elsewhere. However, it is very important that we use that information to make the improvements that need to be made. Elaine Campbell, the Minister for Public Health, has established an expert group that is looking at how to make those improvements. Support will be given to Ayrshire and Ireland elsewhere in order to make the improvements. I agree with Colin Smyth that that performance is not acceptable—it is not as we would want it to be. We know that people who are suffering from chronic pain have a very severe impact on their quality of life, so it is very important that that work is taken forward. Again, I am sure that Elaine Campbell will be happy to keep the member updated of progress. To ask the Scottish Government how many patients in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were not treated within the legally guaranteed treatment waiting time in 2016. In the year 2016, over 85,100 patients in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde were seen within the legal treatment time guarantee, with around 3,000 patients waiting longer than 12 weeks. I recognise that, for some patients, they are waiting too long for treatment, which is why I have made the £50 million available to NHS Scotland, with up to £11.2 million being made available to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. That additional funding will build up their capacity to make sure that all patients are treated in a timely fashion. Despite the actions of the cabinet secretary, the treatment waiting time guarantee failure is actually going up and not down. As she has said, the independent statistics have shown that over 3,000 patients waited longer than the Government's own legal guaranteed treatment target. To put that in context in terms of the sharp increase since March 2016 to December 2016, there was a 5,600 per cent increase in the number of patients waiting over 12 weeks. How can the cabinet secretary justify this rise?  Does she not recognise—let's just get one more example of her complete mismanagement of our NHS? The reason that I have announced the £50 million is because I recognise that the waiting time performance needs to be improved and the impact on patient care. That £11.2 million that I gave in my first answer will be deployed to deliver the plan that Greater Glasgow and Clyde has been working on in order to deliver an improvement in the waiting time performance. That has not impacted us yet because the plan is being drawn up and the money has only just been recently announced. The waiting time performance and the improvement that we will expect to see over the next few months will be of benefit to patients in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and, of course, elsewhere in Scotland as that money begins to have an impact. Emma Harper The cabinet secretary has answered the initial part of my question, which was about what investment is being made in the NHS to improve waiting times, but I wonder if the cabinet secretary could outline what additional support is provided to health boards to reduce waiting times. Officials work closely with boards to improve waiting times performance. That is why officials are working with the Greater Glasgow and Clyde to agree a plan for increasing activity, which will support the reduction of waiting times, particularly focusing on those patients with the longest waits. In addition to that, a prig programme of reform is under way on modernising the outpatient journey in order to make sure that outpatient performance improves and that there are a range of changes that are laid out in the modernising outpatient programme. That work is very, very important to make sure that those who are coming through the system are getting to the right health professional as quickly as possible in order to have their needs assessed. Question 12 has not been lodged. Question 13, David Torrance. To ask the Scottish Government how it promotes cervical screening awareness. The Scottish Cervical programme is supported by a range of national and local resources, including a suite of public communication materials that are also available in a number of languages. A new advertising campaign launched in February this year develops in partnership with Joe's Trust to raise awareness of cervical screening amongst women aged 25 to 35. Various local initiatives, including cervical screening awareness workshops, dropping clinics for women from disadvantaged backgrounds, dedicated staff working with women with learning difficulties and NHS board run workshops for staff to promote cervical screening. The Scottish Government is also working closely with Cancer Research UK and colleagues in NHS boards to develop a facilitators programme to support and promote cervical screening in GP practices and pilot projects to target uptake amongst those less likely to participate in screening. We are also investing up to £5 million of funding from the cancer strategy in screening programmes to reduce inequalities in access to screening in Scotland. David Torrance, I thank the minister for that answer. The majority of cervical cancers are caused by a persistent human papilloma virus infection, which causes changes to cervical cells. Can the minister provide an update of progress on the HPV primary screening in Scotland? Yes, thank you. The UK National Screening Committee recommended the introduction of HPV primary screening in January last year. Following on from that recommendation, a full and detailed business case has been developed for the implementation of that recommendation in Scotland. It was considered by the Scottish Screening Committee at the start of this year. The SSE recommended to ministers that the HPV primary testing should be introduced in the Scottish Cervical Screening programme over the course of the next two years. We are now working with the NHS national services division and NHS boards across Scotland to implement that change. To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Forth Valley and what issues were discussed. Scottish ministers and officials meet regularly with NHS Forth Valley to discuss matters of interest to local people. The cabinet secretary and the chamber are clearly aware that NHS Forth Valley has met waiting time targets for those needing specialist child and adolescent mental health support, which is a marked improvement in the last year following support from healthcare improvement Scotland. I note the cabinet secretary's response to question 8 earlier, however, can she advise the chamber what action the board is taking to improve their adult mental health service performance? As the member said, within Forth Valley, there has been a focus on CAMHS and NHS Forth Valley are to be congratulated on their progress on the hard work that it has taken to reach this point. I will be looking to see that team and boards look to share the lessons and best practice to improve access and delivery of psychological therapies as matters are taken forward, as well as the improvements support. The £54 million package of support to improve access to mental health services also includes funding for additional staff, workforce development and capacity planning within local services, which will support improvements in adult mental health services. We remain determined that we will hit our 90 per cent target and will continue to work with boards to make sure that that happens right across Scotland, including Forth Valley. To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the highest quality of food is served in our hospitals. Minister Eileen Campbell Thank you. Patients have a right to expect high quality and nutritious food that meets their specific needs and aids recovery. The Scottish Government has a strong set of nutritional standards in place for hospital food and, in March 2016, we consulted on refreshed and expanded guidelines in the Scotland's national food and drink policy becoming a good food nation, which advocates greater use of fresh, seasonal, local and sustainable produce. Given recent revelations in public food procurement and where our food comes from in hospitals through the central Excel contract, does the Scottish Government not recognise that, as her colleague does in education, an inquiry into nutritional value of hospital food is appropriate? I apologise, but I did not hear all of that question. However, I think that it was about procurement. It was just to say that our contracts do endeavour to encourage more local sourcing through an increased focus on fresh and local and seasonal produce. There has been an increase in the proportion of food sourced from Scotland. Recently, the Scottish Government has convened a cross-industry meeting to examine increasing Scottish sourcing through public sector contracts, where we agreed to look at how we can build much more capacity of local producers and streamline the contracts process to make it far more accessible for local producers and increase regional buying. I would also say that we take the issue very seriously. Scotland was the first country in the UK to develop a document specifying catering guidelines and nutritional standards for food in hospitals. We will certainly look to see where improvements can be made. We have already made improvements across hospitals, but there is no denying that good-quality food is part of the healing process and will endeavour to make improvements where we can. Thank you very much, and that ends portfolio questions. Thank you. We will just take a few moments for members to change seats for the next item of business.


Alright guys the DPMS-SBR from Crossman is finally here Super excited. This has been probably one of the most hotly anticipated guns this year announced a shot show Of course a lot of very cool interesting features gonna make this gun a hell of a lot of fun for the backyard plinker out there Let's check it out in a little bit more detail. So starting at the front of the DPMS-SBR We have kind of a faux muzzle brake just to add to the look there and then rolling back into the handguard guys You'll notice that the gun honestly looks like it is full metal, although this is a glass-bedded polymer So it's very strong very resilient, but it is not metal now That's gonna help with the weight this gun's about six and a half pounds And I'll be honest with you guys any heavier in this thing wouldn't be as much fun to shoot as it is and would probably Kill a lot of that recoil because this gun does have blowback. So moving to the handguard guys We do have a quad rail system. You can see there we have rails on all four sides there Gun does come with a foregrip here, which is actually really convenient Of course you can adjust it on the Picatinny rail here if you like But really like it, you know, you got a couple places you can grip the gun comfortably with it So nice there, of course you could take it off and replace it with something else if you so desire But you have room for lights lasers optics, whatever the heck you want Got a lot of kind of room to play with this gun and customize it and make it your own which I love So moving up top guys We do have a standard front and rear flip-up sight these aren't spring-loaded So you do have to flip them up and down by hand But a good height to them should co-witness with a lot of red dots really nicely the front sight totally Unadjustable and the rear sight is windage adjustable only now You do have two aperture sizes here just like most standard AR sight sets You do have a finer aperture here in the back and that flips down revealing your larger aperture Really easy to work with quite honestly not my favorite set of sights here after using them a little bit But certainly good enough to get you going so talking about the controls on the gun pretty much everything With the exception of the forward assist functions like a real AR M4 variant Which is really cool guys, you know for being that polymer frame not actually full metal This gun has the real feel of the real steel thing. So Very cool gun. So obviously we have our magazine release now. You'll notice the magazine does not drop free You do actually have to pull it out. That's all right. I mean not a big deal We do have a charging handle that does actually cock the gun So that isn't very necessary and you will notice dust cover flips open there If we had a mag in it guys, this would actually lock back so you can see That the bolt set actually moves. All right, and that's where your blowbacks coming from It's that internal movement giving you that real feel when you shoot it Which is really unique and flipping it around to the other side guys Of course, we do have our bolt release or bolt catch whatever you prefer to call it here So you can just you know slap that in when you throw a new mag in and you are gonna have that bolt forward and ready to Shoot right away and of course our selector switch So we have it on safe here now semi auto and then full auto all the way to the back And yes, you guys heard me right full auto the magazines hold 25 rounds and you can dump them as fast as you want Bad ass and rounding it out at the back guys, of course a six-position adjustable buttstock Kind of unique in the way this one adjusts here We have this little tab right here that you are gonna go ahead press in and then you can slide it forward and back And you can feel it detent lock into position But cool thing about this this does come all the way off it overall feels really good keeps a nice short profile You're talking about going from about 27 inches to about 30 and a half inches So this will accommodate, you know, your junior shooters already grown adults as well Not gonna be a problem for folks of all shapes and sizes So one of the other really cool features of the DPM SSBR is your ability to break it down just like the real thing So in order to do that first things first, we're gonna remove the magazine make sure it's clear Alright all good now we're gonna decock it if you leave it cocked everything's under spring tension inside You don't want to do that. So simply pull the trigger and we are good to go now So put it back on safe. So you are gonna notice two pins right here guys I need a little bit of an Allen key to help me along here But we're just gonna push these in as far as we can and then I'm just gonna take an Allen key and give them a little bit extra Just to help me get them out All right, so we can actually fully remove the front one now normally on your real ars This is gonna typically have some kind of detent right here holding it in place So be aware that that is gonna come out all the way and then our rear one is actually held in with that detent So now that we have it apart So we have our upper and lower receivers here, obviously we could put the lower down You're not really gonna ever need the lower for anything Maybe if you change out a grip or the buttstock and it does look like you can do both I can actually verify that you can replace the grip if you so choose There are a couple springs in there so something to be aware of but as far as the upper goes This is gonna be great for clearing a jam.  It looks like and This guy is retained inside of there and you can kind of get to the barrel really easily here So if you did need to clear a jam obviously you're gonna put a rod in from the muzzle end and push that bb out Something to that effect a really not gonna be necessary to take it down and break it apart Unless you do have a jam or something like that. All right guys So now we are gonna get everything put back together properly here And we are gonna go ahead and show you guys how to load up co2 and bbs into the magazines So the magazines on the dpms sbr got a lot of weight to them That's gonna give you a lot of that real feel here But a few tips and tricks here when you're loading them pay attention all right They printed some words on the magazine for a reason so you see guys here It says open so you're gonna take that and press up this whole cover comes off and you will notice a couple things number one You have an Allen key included and this kind of sets right in to the magazine and stays there So this is really nice. So we are gonna take our co2 first. Let me get these screws backed out So we can actually get them in got some crossman co2 here We are just gonna drop them in nice and easy the next thing you're gonna notice and this one is really important guys are right here Okay, it says first that means you got to pierce the I guess the left-hand co2 cartridge first Okay, so we are gonna do that if you pierce the right one first guys It is all gonna leak out so it's gonna be a wasted cartridge. So follow the instructions. All right So you guys just heard it Pierce. We're good to go there Now we are gonna go ahead and do the right one now The cool thing about this guys is that you can run this gun on just one co2 cartridge if you want it to awesome feature there as Well, so now that we have our co2 loaded in we're just gonna replace our Allen key there Pop the cover back on and now we're gonna load BBs. So now that we have co2 in the magazine We're gonna go ahead and load up some BBs now Guys one of my biggest pet peeves with any co2 gun is when the follower doesn't have something to retain it All right, so upon initial inspection when I got this gun. I was not happy. Okay My thumb was getting chewed up and then I realized that Crossman included a speed loader This is huge. All right. So, you know, not a lot of guns come with this But in terms of the operation of the speed loader This one's pretty unique and gonna be very helpful in saving your guys's thumbs from getting ripped up So it's gonna come just like this you take this tab here You press it over and your feeder is gonna pop up what that's also gonna do is allow you to open the back door there for the Speed loader so we can actually put BBs in it. I've got some air venturi steels in here You just go ahead and pour them in guys So you'll notice that we have this kind of contraption on the end here What this does is actually allows us to pull our follower back So we simply slide this guy in here and he's gonna drop down and you'll notice now our feeder For the speed loader is lined up directly with the feed hole on the magazine So we're just gonna rock it forward and press and you guys can see BBs going into the magazine. All right guys. So once you get all of them loaded, we'll stop it there That's good enough, but 25 rounds, you know, the speed loader is gonna come in handy a lot guys These aren't perfect, you know, they do get jammed up sometimes But certainly better than holding this thing back with your finger and trying to just drop BBs in there So big ups to Crossman great addition there and now we are gonna head out to the range do some chronograph work We are gonna obviously test the gun for accuracy semi auto only full auto is just gonna be a spray and pray kind of deal And then we are gonna take a full shot count on both semi and full auto for you guys Let's see what happens. Let's get out there. All right guys So it dawns on me that maybe not everybody is familiar with how an AR 15 or m4 platform firearm works Because the DPM s functions basically the same way So in terms of what you would do when you are ready to shoot this guy, you have BBs in the mag You have co2 in the mag You're gonna load the magazine into the bottom make sure it locked into place. You're not able to pull it out Okay, next thing you're gonna go ahead and do is pull back the charging handle Okay, so you're gonna make sure you get in on that pin there pull it all the way back and release Very easy to do you pull that back and you are ready to go All right, so now we're gonna take it off safe now either into semi automatic or full automatic I'm gonna run it in full just so you see real quick All right now what you'll notice here. You notice how it just stopped right a fresh co2 in this gun That is because this functions exactly like the real thing. All right The bolt has actually caught open and you have your bolt catch here popped out a little bit So what we're gonna do we're gonna change out our mags I'm gonna pull that mag out put a fresh one with more BBs in there pop it in now I don't have to rack that charging handle again I can but it's a lot easier if you just pop that bolt catch right like that and then you're back in the game and ready to shoot Simple as that guys. All right guys. So before we take a look at these accuracy results We're gonna do full auto, but honestly guys It's a bit of a crapshoot when you start running this thing with the blowback full auto It just kind of sprays BBs everywhere. It's a lot of fun But that's not a real test of what this guns capable of accuracy why so we're gonna stick to semi auto Starting with the dust devils are fast as BB of course as they are the lightest 470 feet per second or so 10 shots in about a four and a half inch group not very good But eight of those ten in two inches which is not too bad at all could have certainly been me But still two inches for eight of ten not terrible moving to smart shots, which are our slowest BB 330 feet per second or so they are certainly the heaviest though keep that in mind All ten shots in about three inches and then you got nine out of ten in an inch and a half down here So not too bad certainly improving accuracy wise and then our steel BBs right at about 400 feet per second all ten in an inch In three quarters guys Very very good accuracy.  Let's check it out All right guys so with steel BBs shot count numbers looking at about seven mags a hundred and seventy five shots a piece This represents our semi auto target here and our full auto target here Now I will say the full auto target when we were done with that seventh mag It was out of CO2 totally done Whereas we still had a little bit left in the semi auto mag here But it was falling way off the paper so we decided to call it You could definitely feel that that kickback that blowback get weak right around 125 to 150 somewhere in that fifth or sixth magazine Just so you guys know we're taking about one shot a second and it's about 80 degrees here on their indoor range So something to keep in mind, but a lot of shots guys a hundred and fifty plus out of the DPM SS BR very good All right guys, so the DPM SS BR obviously this gun's a ton of fun We put like 2,000 rounds through testing it here. I can't put this thing down This is a lot of fun and having the ability to go full auto is absolutely fantastic. I really think Crossman nailed it on this gun You know with the blowback and everything the gun has for us function flawlessly guys And that is saying a lot for a sub two hundred dollar CO2 gun Especially with all the features that this one has Personally, I'd like to see a different sight set on here. I'd probably go ahead and mount a red dot or replace the open sights I'm just not a big fan of not fully adjustable sight sets and the front post site just doesn't agree with my eyes for some reason But certainly good enough to get you shooting right out of the box I think this speed loader was absolutely genius You know having something that pulls back the follow around the mags for you So you don't have to burn up your thumbs and everything is a big one And I think Crossman did quite well with that you get yourself some steel BBs You know those are gonna be most accurate for you probably but the dust doubles the smart shots out there That's gonna allow you to get that real steel feel for training purposes Or if you're looking to familiarize someone who is maybe not familiar with an AR type of platform This is gonna be a really good option to get them familiar with the functions that controls and even to some extent that feel with that blowback action So the Crossman D PMS is definitely a winner in my book guys Definitely when you should check out if you're looking to have some fun this summer with a CO2 BB gun Don't forget to check it out next time you are on pyramid air comm for the insider I'm Tyler Patner as always don't forget to like comment and subscribe. We'll see you guys at the next one


Welkom back and if you're just joining us, this is the buzz. Talk to us on our social media handles at Y24 channel on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Today our star of the week is Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote. Like I mentioned, he is a businessman, philanthropist and the richest man in Africa. Get to know more about him up next. Aliko Dangote is a Nigerian billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He was born on 10 April 1957 into a wealthy family. His great-grandfather was the richest first African at the time of his death in 1955. Dangote showed interest in business from a very early age and while in primary school he would buy cartons of sweets and sell to his classmates. He has a bachelor's degree in business studies and administration. Aliko established the Dangota group as a small trading firm in 1977. Today it is a multi-trillionaire business with many of its operations in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Togo. He then expanded to cover food processing, cement manufacturing and freight. The Dangota group also dominates the sugar market in Nigeria and is a major supplier to the country's soft drink companies, breweries and confectioners. It is the largest refinery in Africa and the third largest in the world, producing 800,000 tons of sugar annually. The group has moved from being a trading company to be the largest industrial group in Nigeria, including Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote Cement and Dangote Flour. The billionaire has diversified and is into almost every industry. The group owns sold factories and flour mills and is a major importer of rice, fish, pasta, cement and fertilizer. The company also exports cotton, cashew nuts, cocoa, sesame seeds and ginger to several countries. It also has major investments in real estate, banking, transport, textile, oil and gas. The Dangote company employs more than 11,000 people and is the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa. Aliko is a philanthropist and never finds it difficult to extend a hand where needed. He has donated money to the Nigeria Sport Ministry to renovate the national stadium in Abuja. In 2014, he donated $750,000 to halt the spread of Ebola. In March 2020, he donated $500,000 towards the fight against the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria. Dangote has been named the richest man in Africa from 2012. The Taikun is known to be an avid enthusiast of Arsenal FC in England and has shown interest in buying the football club. Dangote has been married and divorced twice and has three daughters and an adopted son.


Tom, around the Northwest this Thursday afternoon there's a documentary being made at the moment about the Micah scandal. Siobhan Baal is a young filmmaker from England and is here until the end of the month to film some of the stories of families affected by defective blocks and I'm delighted that she's joining us on the line now and on Zoom so we're streaming as well. Siobhan, good afternoon to you. Hello, how are you? Good, good. Now tell us how come you've ended up, you're born and lost, how come you've ended up here and in a show and making a documentary about Micah? See I'm lucky enough that we've had a place in Greencastle since I was very young learning to walk. My mum's from Derry originally but her mum came from Cadbury and quickly's point so she spent summers on Caldaf Beach and she wanted me and my siblings to have the same so I've spent summers here and loved every second. So you're well familiar with the area and you're yeah and before you ever took out your camera well familiar I suppose with the whole Micah crisis? Yes, unfortunately so I mean it's something that I've known about from being here you can't miss the signs and I knew when I got these skills I wanted to try and contribute to all the great work that's happening here. And continues so what do you hope to what do you hope to do in the documentary? So what I'm doing is really listening to the voices of families and people involved no matter of your background job or who you are it's about that experience of being in a home with defective blocks I mean a thing away from like the policy and everything that's talk that's going on what I can do is try and bring those voices to light I'd like someone to sit and watch it and really feel all those feelings that go into it and you know a home is more than just walls and a roof it's you know hope streams family memories that go into that and I just want to try and get that across along with you know what's like to wait for so long for some sort of light at the end of the tunnel. You've already done some filming and you've heard some of the stories and it's heartbreaking and you've summed it up well there I mean you know it's much more than four walls and a roof. Well yeah exactly and I can't thank the people who've spoken to me enough they've opened their doors to me and they've been so honest and open and a lot of these people have done media interviews before so they're going over things that they've had to talk to strangers about before and so I can't thank them enough for how open they've been with me and it's just trying to collect as many of those as possible because this is not a case of one or two homes it's you know it's more a case of who doesn't have it than who does and that that's shocking in itself. Yeah yeah the scale is unimaginable but very real. Yeah and I think for myself it's been great I mean I know the area well but I've come and enjoyed the scenery and the landscape and seeing family and summers but also this has been the education for myself about the other side of inner showing that I've not seen and I'm lucky enough not to have personal experience of and I think it's like putting a pair of glasses on once you know what you're looking for you can drive around and you can spot it everywhere. And will the documentary be all around it? Will it show the look behind the scenes with the ongoing campaign? Yeah I hope so I've been talking with redress focus groups and I will be there tonight at the meeting to meet people and listen to all like the fantastic work that's going on so I'll be touching on that as well because I think that's something that we should already be celebrating as well the community voice that has come together and continues to refuse to be silent I mean all the finance stuff going on recently has been from the push of focus groups here so definitely I'm talking to people involved all the work going on to just touch on that as well in amongst some of the really upsetting stories going on too. And it's an ongoing campaign and it's important that it gets as much publicity as possible I mean even in this past week campaigners were at an important meeting and made their presence felt and I suppose things like this are important as well in the overall picture in that you know that stories are told and recorded and in this case filmed. Yes exactly I mean I can't comment on all the things going with the authors I think I can't remember how many focus groups are but so many sides but this is something I now can do and I know there's been lots of interviews that have happened over the years but collecting it all together in one place where you have I've been talking to people all stages of the scheme from demolition to rebuild and having that all in one place I think is really important almost a piece of history just there. And where are you at with filming and what would you like more of I mean if there's people listening now and they're affected by this you know would you like to hear from them or are is there any particular groups that you'd like to like to involve? So I've heard from lots of homeowners who are still waiting on their applications to be moved forward and anyone is open to approach me because I do want to capture how many people are involved but I am really looking now to film a demolition and that is something hard to ask people to do because it's obviously quite an upsetting and emotional thing but it's a piece of imagery that I don't yet have and I think it's a piece of imagery that'd be really powerful so really if I had to be selective people who know they've got a demolition coming up now if that's not happening in May that's fine because I've got a place here and I'm more than happy to come back so if you know it's coming up my email is on sort of articles and that can be shared for anyone to get in touch with me and as those have said I work by myself it's just me and quite a small camera so it's not a big crew and I won't be asking you to speak to me because I cannot appreciate you know the emotions of riding high with that and I'll try and be as inconspicuous as possible okay and if someone's listening and they are in that situation and they're happy enough to to let you film how can they reach you um so my email address is um Baal Shavon so b-a-h-l-s-i-o-b-h-a-n at gmail.com so if you just pop me an email and we can we can chat further okay Baal Shavon at gmail.com okay Shavon the best look with the project with the rest of the filming thanks for thanks for chatting


What about Lee Muddy? Yeah, you ever spoke to him still was it? Yeah, not talked to him. Yeah, but yeah He's trying to get out now. So if the president of What's his name that Muhammad? Why did I have to have princes and stuff something the king of the king Muhammad?  Bloody hell since 2005 I was 15 I was 15 yeah 2005 because I know you are talking on everyone else is basically art Mm-hmm. So why is he not? Much was it they took huh much was it they took 53 mil net cash Imagine that brother.  They're keeping your pants Could you imagine 53 million panning cash and had to leave a lot behind literally millions one it laugh in a fan I'd 20 mil straight away didn't I? But he needs to be freed like it's been way too long the king of Morocco needs a friend like It's just it's been why he's just going over the top now. He's served all these years I mean this over 10 years like In this garbage these kids these kids with babies when he got arrested and went to prison now. They're Fully grown like adults.  Why did they keep him? Why isn't Morocco? Why is he still there? Can you not get it because he's dad was Moroccan? So we got the citizenship was yeah, yeah, yeah I remember watching the documentaries because you'd posted something that people are making videos I watched those videos you are sending traffic towards that just about his life Somebody made up videos about and put it together just a few weeks ago. You FC one.  He's just people trying to get famous off. He's nice And just done this thing with you see but let him tell that story when he gets out Let him and his family have that money for his story.  Basically. We've been leaked it.  He's the bad man. Do you know I mean not no one else He's the one I look up to and he could prop a scrap. I didn't realize how good that scrapper He was me to see some of these fakes I Just rocks is just so like as a kid.  Yeah Bangs him straight out. I was like whoa and then obviously not a lot of people have done good with Anderson Silva Look how good he done and that's off at the back of Party in and live in that high life. He weren't really training for that fight. Yeah, I think he had an injuries It's a match and he would have trained probably for that fight. Mm-hmm Who was the guy who was thinking my family in? T. O. J's.  I can't remember he denies it Yeah, he knocks him out.  That's what Lee don't he would go in gaffes and the bully boys He would bang out or the bouncer's he would knock out 10 15 of them But we know this like people in my area jumping so I don't doubt that T I was always absolutely got spanked Do you think you'll get it? Oh Lee. Yeah, he has to He has to at one stage showing everyone serves their time Like that saying it you can lock locks, but you can't stop the clocks So his time's got to come at one stage or another but he's he's a reform character now. He's a Muslim He's like doing the good things. Do I mean for his life and his family if he's like from when I speak to him from now Till 10 years ago. He seems like a total different person. What I'm saying about this and that he's like nah, nah Like you've got to do it this way, bro. Like totally different. Like he don't agree with everything I do.   What's wrong with you, bro?  Well, they was he was it he was in rabbit and that was actually proper sick like it was like six-man Bumpeds like you had the air parcels like food and stuff like it was good He was training he was looking healthy, but then obviously something happened I don't really know. I've only read the stories about it that it got caught with stuff or saying go Oh, there's someone put saying in a cell or someone someone done something or reported something And then he got moved to security and now he's in a block and it's just it's horrible like for two years I think now he's in the block. He can only make one phone call week to his family every Friday Fucking discussing the weather treating them that honestly. It's a joke. Hope they don't need a lot of petition and stuff here Well, yeah, no just like people I to try and get them out I don't know cuz I don't really listen, but that is actually a good idea. What why not? Why shouldn't we? That's 16 years on it. No, they get killed. I've nothing like a hand Straight in man 56 mole. Come on. I imagine it but that's actually a good idea We should do a petition.   I'll get him straddle up This can't be fucked.   He's that one out Jordan. The dress is like a woman Alex Reed. Yeah, that div Then but then him on the street was the eight in the other 80% He was a total different animal like there's no other way to describe him I haven't road rage getting that banging Bodger bang bang bang like he was just not kiss a law to himself Like literally Lee Murray law. How good do you think he would have been if it put 100% for what case fire to cage He would have what he would be world champion 100% Michael Biscayne got world champion Lee Murray would have smacked the shit out of Michael Biscayne 100% And that's not even a joke Michael Biscayne knows it as well like Lee Murray was a False if obviously don't forget a stabbing happen as well, but if he would have just been a fire Sky was the limit for him like literally you've seen him fire He was just an animal Exactly and even people say no, he's only a banger. He's only a banger But if you look at his use UFC fire, he won on the floor So he was learning that he was doing good at that Yeah, you can't just go into UFC as an novice on the ground and then beat a grand fighter With the renaissance like not renaissance. What was it? Forgot a name of the choke he done But yeah winning by obviously submissions, right?


The opening day of the first international series of the year here in Oman got off to a brilliant start. An outstanding field on a great golf course here at Al Mujah. A day to remember for the Omani Amitah as an Al Rumi. It might have been a 78 but you'll remember there's Birdie at the 12th for a long time. The defending champion is Takumi Hakkanae. He has 70 today for two under par. This the highlight for the Japanese. Around a 17, two under. He's got a little bit of work to do tomorrow. Good to see Christopher Broberg back on the Asian tour. He won the qualifying school in Thailand in January. This a birdie at the 17th for the Swede and around a 68 for four under par. Mito Pereira certainly started as one of the favorites this week. The Chilean had a good day too. Out among the earliest starters around of 67, five under par. There's a glorious approach into the second. Manav Shah of the US won his tour card at that same tour school and with three holes to play he's right up there at six under par. He began his round with four birdies in a roll. This is Wacken Neiman. The Chilean perhaps the favorite for the start of the week. This 66. You would only make three more after that eagle at the third though. A little bit disappointing perhaps. The man at the top of the leaderboard coming towards the end of the opening round. Not surprisingly, David Pughes last week's winner in Malaysia. Hold that putt for Birdie at the eighth. So nearly followed it with an eagle here at 12. How did this one stay out? Another birdie though, one of seven for the Spaniard and at 65 for seven under par. David Pughes off to a splendid start as he looks to make it two wins in a row on the Asian tour.


What's the best way to stay healthy in the face of so much conflicting nutrition information? Well, ideally you would go to the source, the gold standard, the peer-reviewed medical literature, and read through the stacks of the latest medical journals. But who's got time for that? I do. Welcome to the Nutrition Facts Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger. If you had a plant-based diet, you may wonder, do we really need to take supplements like vitamin B12? Let's find out. Hello from Jonathan. How do you recommend navigating supplements, multivitamins, protein powders? I'm not sure what to trust. Give me the lax regulation. Absolutely. Well, certainly this regulation is indeed lax. So what protein powder to get? No protein powder. Why would anyone need protein powder to get protein? Same way, you get carbs.  And no reason to take a multivitamin. There are some things that people may need in supplement form. For example, vitamin D for getting an adequate sunshine, vitamin B12, vitamin B12, 45 foods. So how do you get supplements that aren't contaminated with something or actually have what they say they have? Probably the best way to do it is to get one that is USP certified. So that's a third-party certification entity that makes sure that whatever says on the label is what is actually in the bottle. It doesn't mean it's good for you or anything. I mean, the USP certification of snake oil, but at least it would be actual snake oil at the dose that they say on the package. So it's kind of true than advertised. Okay, this is from Heidi Newton, a plant-based mostly fruit diet. Okay, for anyone to take vitamin B12 supplement, absolutely. Or even vitamin B12 fortified foods. One of those two critically important for anyone eating a plant-centered diet, even if it's not strictly plant-based, critically important to do. Okay, Gabrielle or Gabriel, what can cause tingling sensation in a whole food plant-based diet besides B12 deficiency? I presume you mean tingling sensation kind of fingers and toes. That's a sign of a peripheral, typically a sign of peripheral neuropathy. So let's say you have a problem with your nerves. Why would it show up as tingling in your fingers and toes? Well, those are the longest nerves in your body. So the nerve in your toe actually goes all the way up to your spinal cord, from your toe all the way up to spinal cord. One nerve, like one long, skinny, teeny little string of spaghetti, but like almost microscopic, actually microscopic, all the way up. Isn't that amazing? One, you know, you think of cells as being microscopic. This cell is like, you know, three feet long. So you can imagine if there's any problems with your nerves. Those are the nerves that are gonna really show it first, right? As ones that are so long and vulnerable. And so you get this kind of, that typical thing. But it can be caused of all sorts of things. There's all sorts of toxins, medications that can do it. And so you just really need to go to a neurologist and they go through the differential diagnosis, all the various things that can cause it. There are other nutritional deficiencies that can do it. And you just, some heavy metal tuxesies can do it. All of those autoimmune diseases, all sorts of things. So you just gotta get checked out. We got mechanic curcatsy. Do you have short-term effects with insufficient B12 rules? So I presume clinical effects. Do you actually feel differently in the short term from insufficient B12? You may not, which makes it so insidious, but you can start showing these subclinical issues in terms of rising, homocysteine or something, which you wouldn't really feel, but may have negative consequences. So a regular, reliable source of vitamin B12 is critically important. And so for those eating plant-based diets, for example, I would recommend either sufficient vitamin B12, 45 foods, or taking one, 2,000 microgram B12 tablet once a week. Get all the B12 you need. Super cheap, safe, easy, convenient, and critically important. Can you synthesize enough vitamin D during the warm months to last you throughout winter? Yes, in terms of enough vitamin D to live. I mean, that's the whole point, is that during the summer months, you have high latitudes.  The next year. But do you have enough in your body for optimal health? That we don't know the answer. And we suspect that it's probably dipped too low. And indeed you see that study, the Oxford study on vegans in the UK, high latitude, vitamin D perfect in the summer, dips too low during the winter months. And so it's probably good when you're going to insufficiency sunshine to supplement your diet with vitamin D. And I would recommend 2,000 international units of vitamin D three a day for anyone getting insufficient sun. It doesn't matter where you live. Even in the warmer months, if you're inside all day, it doesn't matter how much sun there is outside, you're not going to make enough because it actually relies on cutaneous exposure without sunblock, without clothes. But we have next, this is from Stephanie. I don't know if vitamin D three is okay for a hopeful plant-based because I read vitamin D two is vegan rather than vitamin D three. Okay, there are vegan sources of both vitamin D two which is sourced predominantly from fungi, from mushrooms. And vitamin D three, which is sourced predominantly from sheep's wool, but is also from lichen, which is kind of an algae-based multi-cellular organism, but not an animal. Yeah, you can get vegan vitamin D three. All D two is vegan, but D three is probably preferable just because the studies showing increased longevity with vitamin D supplementation were all done on vitamin D three. And so since that's what the studies were done on, we don't know if that necessarily translates to D two. So I would just use D three if you have a choice. And if it's important for you to be vegan, you can get a vegan D three. No problem. We would love it if you could share with us your stories about reinventing your health through evidence-based nutrition. Go to nutritionfacts.org slash testimonials. We may be able to share it on our social media to help inspire others. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, or studies mentioned here, please go to the nutrition facts podcast landing page. There you'll find all the detailed information you need plus links to all the sources we cite for each of these topics. For a vital, timely text on the pathogens that cause pandemics, you can order the e-book, audio book, or hard copy of my latest book, How to Survive a Pandemic. For recipes, check out my new How Not to Diet Cookbook. It's beautifully designed with more than 100 recipes for delicious and nutritious meals. And of course, all the proceeds I received from the sales of all my books go to charity. NutritionFacts.org is a non-profit science-based public service where you can sign up for free daily updates and the latest in nutrition research via bite-sized videos and articles. Everything on the website is free. There's no ads, no corporate sponsorship, no kickbacks. It's strictly non-commercial, not selling anything. I just put it up as a public service as a labor of love as a tribute to my grandmother, whose own life was saved with evidence-based nutrition.


Russia needs more warships now. Russia needs to strengthen its naval forces now. The nation's Navy Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov has said the military campaign in Ukraine has demonstrated that all of the best innovative ideas should be implemented immediately, he added. The special military operation has shown that we need to speed up. The Navy head told Zvezda TV channel speaking on the sidelines of the international Maritime Defense show in the Russian city of Kronstadt. All the best ideas should be adopted not just soon but immediately, he stated, calling for a shortening of the lengthy design and development as well as research and engineering phases. Russia's Black Sea Fleet is taking part in the campaign in Ukraine. According to the Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Viktor Sokolov, the Fleet's vessels have launched a total of 180 missile strikes at key Ukrainian military facilities. Yevmenov also said that Russia's defense industries plan to enhance their shipbuilding capabilities to be able to produce three mine sweeping vessels per year instead of one. This year alone, the Russian Navy expects to receive 44 new ships including both warships and support vessels. Under the enhancement and modernization plans, the Navy is expected to receive more hypersonic Zircon anti-ship missiles as well as new Bore and Bore A nuclear-capable submarines which are equipped with 16 intercontinental ballistic missiles each.


Welcome to The Anxious Morning, where each weekday morning we take a look at ideas, concepts, and lessons designed to help you understand and overcome your anxiety. For more information, visit us at theanxiousmorning.com. Sometimes on The Anxious Morning, I'll try to give you a peek behind the scenes at what it looks like for me to produce my podcast, write books, and create social media content. When I have something to share that I think might be helpful, I'll do that. In addition number 67, I went over the differences between therapy and mental health information you find on social media platforms. In that addition, I mentioned boundaries. Therapists are trained and encouraged to create clear boundaries that govern the relationship with their clients. Even early on in my graduate training as a therapist, that is being drilled into me on a regular basis. There are quite a few reasons for that, including safety of both client and clinician, acknowledgement of an unequal power dynamic in a therapeutic relationship, and a need to ensure that the needs of a client are the guiding force in the relationship. It's also important for a therapist to take care of their own mental and emotional health so they can be of service to others. Boundaries are important for this reason too. I am not anyone's therapist. My current role online as an educator, guide, and advocate means I can provide you with information that might help you understand your problem and to understand what you can do to improve your situation. I can cheer for you, encourage you, and create virtual communities that also perform these functions. I can help you feel less alone by sharing my experiences and helping to connect you with others that are going through what you are going through. I am so grateful to be able to perform this function and fill this role. However, I also have to do my best to operate from an ethical base to ensure that you remain safe in your interactions with me. People asking for help are vulnerable people. People providing that help are by default in a position where they can exploit that vulnerability even when they don't intend to. That's complicated, so we develop ethical standards designed to keep proper distance so that things don't accidentally go awry. As a social media content creator, I am not obligated to adhere to ethical standards because there are none in that context. As a therapist in training, I am required to adhere to the ACA Code of Ethics and to the best of my ability to all pertinent professional standards of conduct. This is in your best interest and mine. So what does it all mean? When I do not respond to your direct messages, this is why. Instant messaging on the internet is not an appropriate setting to provide anything that even remotely looks like therapy, so I just can't do that. I don't know you or your situation, so I cannot give you personal advice. It would not be safe or proper for me to do that. When I do not accept your friend requests on Facebook, this is why. I understand that you are inviting me, but nonetheless, even in this very loose relationship, I am the helper and you are the person asking for help. Which means that I must steer clear of forming any kind of personal relationship with you, even if that relationship is electronic. I must keep our interactions confined to the comments section. When you ask about my personal life and want to know why I don't share more about my family or friends or what I do every day outside the anxiety arena, this is your answer. Friends are engaged in mutual sharing and disclosure at some level. I can't really create a friendship with you, and in a helper-helping relationship, there is no expectation of mutual sharing or disclosure. Believe it or not, this is one of the things that makes your therapist so valuable. Now, I could go on, but for a while I've been meaning to address some of this, and this seemed like a good time to do it. I am not trying to be cold or unfriendly, and I am not rejecting you. I am not too important to interact with you. I am just trying to do the right thing for everyone by acting safely, professionally, and ethically. Besides, I'm really not that interesting anyway. You're not missing anything. Thanks so much.


And Tuesday we found out the US consumer confidence for June jumped more than expected. The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index bounced to 36.6 in June versus 32.3 in May, but well below 45 forecast. Canada's GDP plunged a record minus 11.6% in April. The UK economy shrank more than it has done in over 40 years at the start of 2020 and that the outlook for the global labor market in the second half of 2020 is highly uncertain according to the International Labor Organization. Welcome to the Tick-Mail Update, I'm Kiana Danielle, the founder of the Investiva Movement. Make sure to subscribe to the Tick-Mail YouTube channel and support us by liking and sharing this video with your Porex trading friends. On Wednesday we'll be eyeing the German unemployment change, the US manufacturing PMI numbers, as well as the FOMC minutes. Today I'm looking at the Aussie Yen pair on the four-hour chart as it has broken above the Ichimoku Cloud but also hit a medium-term resistance level at 74.67. With this, while we could expect a temporary pull back towards the upper band of the Ichimoku Cloud, the general momentum before the pair is bullish with the next resistance level set at 76.6. Will you be buying the Aussie Yen pair at the lower levels? Head over to the comment section and let me know. Of course, trading in the financial markets involves a risk of loss and you should only trade the money that you can afford to lose. If you like this video, give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the Tick-Mail YouTube channel. I'll get back to you with more updates tomorrow.


So Informatica was on that knife's edge. They had a good product set in the sense that they foresaw that data was going to become more important and they are a good data company. They've got a great suite of data management tools that's very relevant to this marketplace. But in many respects, the question was, were they going to step up and be one of the companies that successfully transitioned to the cloud and the services model, or were they going to try to fight against it with product set? And they have been making that transition and it seems to be going quite well. As data gets into the cloud and as people are using all of these different types of new data processing techniques to your point about the catalog, if you don't have a fundamentally, if you don't have a catalog that tells you where your data is, who is using it, what it is for, et cetera, you just lose control. You just cannot keep in control of your data. And so what people are realizing is as they do new business initiatives, they've got to have the data catalog. In a place where technology is changing unbelievably fast, we're graduating nearly as many men as women in fields of science, data, analytics, computer engineering, et cetera. But we're not seeing a combination of women in leadership roles as much as we would expect. We're not seeing the retention of women in those roles. Disruption with a purpose is intelligent and we believe with our technology that our customers can then unleash the power of their data to create what we call their next intelligent disruption. So we were very thoughtful about the choice of words there because disruption can be considered a negative, but we see it as very much a positive and a way for customers to leapfrog the competition and set the tone for their markets.


Meltdowns and Emotional Regulation. Don't know why I'm doing this, do some speedbugging. So we've talked a little bit about the dynamic between you two. The things that may come up, but you're not very happy about the dissatisfactions, the crossed wires as we would say. I would also like to bring up that one of the problems of being a lexophymic is that the threshold for noticing emotions is so high. It's so high that you may even get to a point where you get to that 70% or 70-80 threshold of noticing something, noticing those emotions, that anger, and once you get to that point it's kind of too late, it's kind of overwhelming, it causes you to have outbursts or causes you to have a meltdown even, and this happens in a lot of


You're listening to the ECB podcast bringing you insights into the world of economics and central banking My name is Katie Ranger Today is Thursday, 2nd of February 2023 And it's time for our regular episode with the latest monetary policy decisions taken by the ECB's governing council Here's President Christine Lagarde presenting those decisions in our press conference The governing council will stay the course in raising interest rates significantly at a steady pace and In keeping them at levels that are sufficiently restrictive To ensure a timely return of inflation to our 2% medium-term target Accordingly the governing council today decided to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 50 basis points and We expect to raise them further In view of the underlying inflation pressures We intend to raise interest rates by another 50 basis points at our next monetary policy meeting in March And we will then evaluate the subsequent path of our monetary policy keeping interest rates at restrictive levels Will over time reduce Inflation by dampening demand and we will also guard against the risk of a persistent upward shift in inflation expectations In any event our future policy decision policy rate decisions will continue to be data dependent and follow Meeting by meetings approach the governing council today Also decided on the modalities for reducing the euro systems holdings of securities under the asset purchase program As communicated in December The asset purchase program portfolio will decline by 15 billion euros per month on average from the beginning of March Until the end of June 23 and the subsequent pace of portfolio reduction will be determined over time Partial reinvestments will be conducted broadly in line with current practices in particular The remaining reinvestment amounts will be allocated proportionally to the share of Redemptions across each constituent program of the app and under the public sector purchase program To the share of redemptions of each jurisdiction and across national and supranational issues For our corporate bond purchases The remaining reinvestments will be tilted more strongly towards issues with a better climate performance Without prejudice to our price stability objective This approach will support the gradual decarbonization of the euro systems corporate bond holdings In line with the goals of the Paris agreement The decision decisions taken today are set out in a press release available on our website the detailed modalities for reducing the app holdings are Described in a separate press release which will be published at 3 45 Local time. I will now outline in more details how we see the economy and Inflation developing and will then explain our assessment of financial and monetary conditions So looking at the economic activity first According to euro stats Preliminary flash estimate The euro area economy grew by 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022 While above the December euro system staff projections This outcome means that economic activity has slowed markedly since mid-22 and we expected to stay weak in the near term Subdued global activity and high geopolitical uncertainty Especially owing to Russia's unjustified war against Ukraine and its people Continue to act as headwinds to euro area growth together with high inflation and tighter financing conditions These headwinds dampen spending and production especially in the manufacturing sector However supply bottlenecks are gradually easing the supply of gas has become more secure firms are still working off large-order backlogs and Confidence is improving Moreover Output in the services sector has been holding up Supported by continuing reopening effects and stronger demand for leisure activities Rising wages and the recent decline in energy price inflation Are also set to ease the loss of purchasing power that many people have experienced owing to high inflation This in turn will support consumption Overall the economy has proved more resilient than expected and should recover over the coming quarters The unemployment rate remained at its historical low of six point six percent in December 2022 However, the rate of at which jobs are being created may slow and unemployment could rise over the coming quarters Government support measures to shield the economy from the impact of high energy prices should be temporary targeted and tailored to preserving incentives to consume less energy In particular as the energy crisis becomes less acute it is important to now start rolling these measures back promptly in Line with the fall in energy prices and in a concerted manner any such measures falling short of these principles are Likely to drive up medium-term inflationary pressures which would call for a stronger monetary policy response Moreover in line with the EU's economic governance framework fiscal policies should be oriented towards making our economy more productive and Gradually bringing down high public debt Policies to enhance the euro areas supply capacity Especially in the energy sector can help reduce price pressures in the medium term To that end governments should swiftly Implement their investment and structural reform plans under the next generation EU program The reform of the EU's economic governance framework should be concluded rapidly Turning now to inflation according to preliminary your euro stats flush estimate Which has been calculated using euro stat estimates for Germany inflation was eight point five percent in January This would be zero point seven percentage point lower than the December figure With the decline owing mainly to a renewed sharp drop in energy prices Market-based indicators suggest that energy prices over the coming years Will be significantly lower than expected at the time of our last meeting Food price inflation edged higher to fourteen point one percent as The past surge in the cost of energy and of other inputs for food production is Still feeding through to consumer prices price pressures Remains strong partly because high energy costs are spreading throughout the economy Inflation excluding energy and food Remained at five point two percent in January With inflation for non-energy industrial goods rising to six point nine percent and Services inflation declining to four point two percent Other indicators of underlying inflation are also still high Government measures to compensate households for high energy prices will dampen inflation in 23 But are expected to raise inflation once they expire At the same time the scale of some of these measures Depends on the evolution of energy prices and they expected contribution to inflation is particularly uncertain Although supply bottlenecks are gradually easing Their delayed effects are still pushing up goods price inflation And the same holds true for the lifting of pandemic related restrictions While weakening the effect of pent up demands is Still driving up prices, especially in the services sector wages Wages are growing faster supported by robust labor markets With some catch up to high inflation becoming the main theme in wage negotiations At the same time Recent data on wage dynamics have been in line with the December Euro system staff projections Most measures of longer term inflation expectations currently stand at around two percent But these warrant continued monitoring Turning to our risk assessment the risks to the outlook for economic growth Have become more balanced Russia's unjustified war against Ukraine and its people Continues to be a significant downside risk to the economy and could again push up the costs of energy and food There could also be an additional drag on euro area growth if the world economy weakened more sharply than we expect Moreover, the recovery would face obstacles if the pandemic were to re-intensify and cause renewed supply disruptions However, the energy the energy shock could fade away faster than anticipated and Euro area companies could adapt more quickly to the challenging international environment This would support higher growth than currently expected The risks to the inflation outlook have also become more balanced, especially in the near term on the upside Existing pipeline pressures could still send retail prices higher in the near term In addition a stronger than expected economic rebound in China could give a fresh boost to commodity prices and foreign demand Domestic factors such as a persistent rise in inflation expectations above our target or higher than anticipated wage rises Could drive inflation higher? Also over the medium term on the downside the recent fall in energy prices If it persists May slow inflation more rapidly than expected This downward pressure in the energy component could then also translate into weaker dynamics for underlying inflation A further weakening of demand would also contribute to lower price pressures than currently anticipated especially over the medium term So let's now look at the financial and monetary conditions as we tighten monetary policy Market interest rates are rising further and Credit to the private sector is becoming more expensive Bank lending to firms has decelerated sharply over recent months This partly stems from lower financing needs for inventories But it also reflects weakening demand for loans to finance business investment in the context of a steep upward move in Bank lending rates and a considerable tightening in credit standards, which is also visible in our most recent Bank lending survey Household borrowing has continued to weaken as well Reflecting rising lending rates tighter credit standards and a sharp fall in the demand for mortgages as loan creation decelerates Money growth is also slowing rapidly with a marked decline in its most liquid components Including overnight deposits only partially compensated by a shift to term deposits So summing up The governing council will stay the course in raising interest rates significantly at a steady pace and In keeping them at levels that are sufficiently restrictive to ensure a timely return of inflation to our 2% medium term target Accordingly we today decided to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 50 basis points and We expect to raise them further In view of the underlying inflation pressures We intend to raise interest rates by another 50 basis points at our next monetary policy meeting in March And we will then evaluate the subsequent path of our monetary policy Keeping interest rates at restrictive levels will over time reduce inflation By dampening demand and we'll also guard against the risk of persistent upward shift in inflation expectations Moreover from the beginning of March 2023 the APP portfolio will decline at a measured and predictable pace as The euro system will not reinvest all of the principal payments from maturing securities Our future policy rate will content decisions will continue to be data dependent and determine meeting by meetings We stand ready to adjust all of our instruments within our mandate to ensure that inflation Returns to our medium term target Those were the decisions taken by the ECB's governing council today If you want to find out more check out the show notes for the full transcript and the Q&A session with journalists We'll also link to an easy to understand overview of what we decided The next monetary policy press conference will be held on the 16th of March 2023 In the meantime keep an eye on the ECB podcast for new episodes From the European Central Bank, I'm Katie Ranger and this was another episode of the ECB podcast If you like what you've heard, please subscribe and leave us a review Until next time thanks for listening